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New submitter Benzainload895 writes "The Verge has an article about why life on other worlds would be far stranger than we might expect. They also interview some astronomers who are trying to narrow down the most likely locations for life. Quoting: 'As it turns out, the small planets with long orbits that Kepler was finding were the ones it was least disposed to find. [After estimating how often red dwarf stars have planets and taking into account their expanded habitable zones, they] came up with an estimate Cowan says is "starting to get really close to a hundred percent, where for every [red dwarf] out there you should expect there to be a habitable rocky planet." Furthermore, research exploring these planets suggests weirdness — and lots of it — in what life they might harbor. For instance, the dim light coming from a red dwarf may not be enough for plant photosynthesis like on Earth. This may lead plants to be black instead of green in order to absorb more available light. Even weirder, these planets likely don't spin as they orbit. Since red dwarfs are smaller and cooler than the sun, planets circle them at close range, creating greater tidal forces than on our planet. While the tidal force on Earth moves the ocean up and down a few meters, that force on a red dwarf planet would be so strong it'd gradually slow down the rotation of planet completely. The result? One side of the planet would face its star in a permanently sunny day, while the other side would face the stars in an endless night."

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If you want to see a sight that you are not likely to see many other places, plan to spend your morning on Monday, Oct. 19, or Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility in Sturgeon Bay for the fall salmon run. There you will see an assembly line of Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish & Wildlife employees working alongside volunteers to collect data from Chinook salmon and harvest eggs for the 2016 stocking of Chinook in Lake Michigan. “Our goal is to get 1½ million eggs for the hatchery in Wild Rose,” said Nick Legler, a DNR fisheries biologist, who was explaining the role of the facility to an ecology class from Sturgeon Bay High School on Monday, Oct. 12. Legler began his tour by explaining why the DNR has a fish-stocking program, and why the agency began stocking salmon native to the Pacific Ocean – Coho and Chinook – in the lake back in the 1960s. In essence, the stocking program began because of invasive species from the Atlantic Ocean that entered the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway, beginning with the sea lamprey, which decimated the native lake trout population, and then the explosion of Alewife without the trout to predate on them. “Between predation by sea lamprey and overfishing, the native trout population was decimated,” he said. “Without lake trout in the system, the Alewife came in. Without a predator to control them, Alewife populations exploded. State agencies responded by stocking fish. We’ve stocked native fish like lake trout, but also non-native, Chinook, Coho, steelhead and brown trout.” “Strawberry Creek was the first stocking location on the lake,” Legler said. “When you consider that they are native to the Pacific Ocean, this little small stream in Sturgeon Bay, probably less than half a mile before it dumps into the bay. It’s an artificial run, and maintained through stocking, but it’s one of the biggest runs in the lake.” To help the big fish through the small stream, Legler said a diesel engine and water pump out in Sturgeon Bay supplement the tiny creek so the Chinook can make their spawning run to the collection pond, where the fish are hoisted up by a net to the processing area. First stop is a CO2 tank, where the fish are stunned, and then each fish is slid through a device with a pneumatic piston that kills them. “They spawn once and then they die,” Legler said. “So all these fish are going to die anyway.” The next step has each fish sexed, weighed and measured. The female fish are hung on a hook and the body cavity is filled with compressed air to extract all the eggs. “We’ll collect 100 percent of eggs we need for stocking right here in Strawberry Creek,” Legler said. “Our stocking quota is about 800,000 fish.” Another area finds fish biologists from the Madison DNR office looking for abnormalities among the fish and taking tissue samples to check for viruses and ensure the health of the stocked fish. Employees of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service man another table where, using metal detectors, they extract the tiny wire tag that was inserted into the young salmon’s snouts before they were stocked. “All the fish stocked at Strawberry Creek have the same code,” Legler said. “We can look at how the fish are moving, where they were stocked, look at which stocking locations are doing best.” Legler explained that tagging used to be done on a much smaller scale by hand, but since 2011 every Chinook has been tagged before stocking thanks to a mobile automated system that can process up to 8,000 fish an hour. The fish are dumped into tubes, sorted by size and automatically cycled into a machine that clips the adipose fin to indicate that it is a tagged fish, and then the tiny wire tag is inserted into the snout. “There are a lot of neat things we can learn from the coded wire tag,” he said. Once the fish have been tagged, the whole process of stocking begins again. “We’ll stock right here in this pond about 120,000 fish,” Legler said. “The hatchery will raise the fish to fingerlings, and then we stock them into the pond. We’ll hold and feed those fish in this pond for about four to six weeks. The whole idea is to get them to imprint. When they mature as adults, they’ll be able to find their way back to spawn.” The Chinook that were being processed on this day looked very dark. Legler explained that is because of all the stress of spawning. “These fish are not feeding actively,” he said. “In the lake they are silver. When they come into the creek for spawning, they put all their energy into that and begin dying.” He also noted that although 20-pound Chinook are fairly common, they haven’t been seeing many of them this year because of a lack of Alewife in Lake Michigan, which he attributed to the filter-feeding Quagga mussels hogging up all the plankton that the Alewife eat. “We’ll know once we crunch all the data, but I think a 20-lb. fish will not be that common,” Legler said. The question on everyone’s mind was what happens to the tubs of fish carcasses? “Nothing goes to waste here,” Legler said, explaining that the Chinook carcasses are used three ways. The bulk of the carcasses are sold to Dramm, a fertilizer plant in Manitowoc where the fish are turned into organic fertilizer. Some of the smaller fish in good shape are sent to area food pantries, where fillets are distributed to users of those services, and some go to raptor rehabilitation centers. They also collect way more eggs than they need, so the extra eggs are sold to Atlas-Mike’s Bait of Fort Atkinson, where they are turned into fishing bait. To visit the Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility, take County U off of Hwy. 42-57 for about one mile, then turn left on Strawberry Lane, where you go for about another mile. The facility is on the right side.

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Astronomy news for the week starting Friday, December 21, 2007. Wishes for the best of Holidays to all. It's a busy week! The Moon starts us off in its waxing gibbous phase as it heads towards full the night of Sunday, December 23rd, Christmas Eve-Eve, thereafter reversing its phases and waning in the gibbous. Two days before full, the waxing gibbous passes through perigee, where it is closest to the Earth. The evening of Saturday the 22nd finds it in northeastern Taurus to the south of Auriga. The following night (Sunday the 23rd), the Moon takes on Mars, passing just barely north of it (the planet occulted as seen from Alaska and western Canada). Christmas Eve then finds the waning lunar disk smack in central Gemini. Finally, the night of Thursday the 27th, look for the Moon just south of Regulus in Leo to west of Saturn. Two major events vie for attention. First, Mars passes its long- awaited opposition to the Sun the night of Monday the 24th, Christmas Eve, when it will rise at sunset, set at sunrise, and cross the meridian high to the south at local midnight, giving the red planet its best visibility. The planet is now also in its fastest retrograde (westerly) motion. The Earth then begins to pull away from Mars, but the difference in position is so slow that Mars will be nicely visible in the evening well into the summer of 2008. Countering the event, Jupiter, nearly opposite Mars, passes conjunction with the Sun the night of Saturday the 22nd. Becoming a morning object, Jupiter will become visible in dawn toward the end of January. The other major event is the start of astronomical winter the night of Friday the 21st, the Sun passing the winter solstice in Sagittarius at 12:08 AM Central Time (1:08 AM EST, 11:08 PM PST, 10:08 PM PST). Winter thus actually begins the morning of Saturday the 22nd in eastern North America, the night of Friday the 21st in the western states and provinces. At that moment, the Earth's axis will be tilted away from the Sun, the Sun rises as far southeast and sets as far southwest as possible, the days are shortest, nights longest, and the Sun is as high at the south pole as it is ever going to get. From here on, the Sun will begin once again to climb the sky toward the equator, even as the days -- for awhile -- become still colder. This is a good time to try to find one of the sky's larger critters, Cetus, the sea monster (or more benignly, the Whale). Look in early evening to the south of Aries and just to the north of the celestial equator for the faint ragged circle that makes its head, the body falling to the southwest, ending in bright Deneb Kaitos. In the middle is the fabulous variable star, Mira.

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The translation and transliteration below are adapted, with permission, from the Seif Edition of the Transliterated Siddur, for Shabbat and Festivals, a Mesorah Publication for the OU Centennial, with Introductory Essays and Comments by Rabbi Benjamin Yudin. Meaning of “Bond of Life” The term “bond of life” which appears below in the request that the deceased’s soul be “bound in the bond of life,” most probably refers to the attainment of greater and greater closeness to Hashem. Hashem is called, “Chai HaOlamim,” the “Life of the Worlds,” meaning the source of life in “Olam HaZeh,” “this world,” the world of the here-and-now, and in “Olam HaBa,” the “world to come,” the indescribable spiritual “world” which we confidently expect to experience, as a cardinal principle of the Jewish faith, after death. For Martyrs: Hebrew Text Yizkor Prayer for Martyrs of the Holocaust – Hebrew Text For Martyrs: Transliteration nishmot hak’doshim v’hat’horim she-hum’tu v’she-nehergu v’she-nishchatu v’she-nis-rfu v’she-nit-b’u v’she-nech-nku al Kiddush Hashaym, ba-avur sheb’li neder etayn tz’dakah ba-adam. tz’rurot bitz-ror hacha-yim Avraham, Yitzchak v’Ya-akov, Sarah, Rivkah Rachel v’Lay-ah, v’im sh’ar tzadikim v’tzidkoniyot For Martyrs: English Translation May the L-rd remember the souls of the holy and pure ones who were killed, murdered, slaughtered, burned, drowned, and strangled for the sanctification of the Name, because, without making a vow, I shall give to charity on their behalf. As reward for this, may their souls be bound in the Bond of Life, together with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah; and together with the other righteous men and women in the Garden of Eden. Now let us respond: Amen

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Regional Immunization Manual Competency #3: Vaccine Development and Evaluation Competency: Integrates into practice knowledge about the main steps in vaccine development and evaluation. The health professional will be able to perform the following: - Describe, in general terms, the process to obtain marketing approval for vaccines in Canada. - Describe what can be learned about vaccines after they are approved for marketing, via surveillance activities and more formal post-marketing studies. - Characterize, in broad terms, the key roles and responsibilities for each of the following relative to the postmarketing assessment of vaccine safety and effectiveness: - Vaccine manufacturers - Canadian regulatory authority (Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate) - Public Health Agency of Canada - Provincial/territorial Health departments - Vaccine providers - Healthcare providers who don’t administer vaccines - Vaccine recipients or their parents/caregivers Vaccine safety is of the highest importance and concern for all vaccine stakeholders. Knowledge of vaccine development, clinical trials, and the surveillance system will help health care providers communicate the safety of vaccines which in turn will build public confidence in vaccinations. - Vaccines must be thoroughly tested before they can be called safe and effective for human use. - It can take up to 10 years to test and develop a vaccine. - Table 1describes the stages of vaccine development from the lab to Health Canada approval. Table 1 Stages of Vaccine Development Canadian Vaccine Licensing When the pharmaceutical company has successfully conducted the lab studies, animal studies, and human studies, the vaccine must meet Canadian licensing standards before the vaccine can be considered for use in Canada. The Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate (BGTD) under Health Canada is the Canadian authority that regulates biological drugs (products derived from living sources) for human use. - inspect and regulate manufacturing plants. - review and assess the data provided by the manufacturer from clinical trials - verify that the product meets standards of safety and efficacy - Approve the vaccine & the product monograph submitted by the manufacturer - Conducts pre-release testing of every lot of vaccine - Monitors safety after release with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) & the manufacturers Table 2 Canadian Vaccine Licensing Source for this section: BCCDC Immunization Competency Program Other Resources for Learning: Back to the Table of Contents

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Hydropower represents an important source of renewable energy generation in Louisiana, where wind and solar resources are not plentiful. The Overton Lock and Dam, owned and operated by the Vicksburg District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, was originally built to incorporate a hydropower facility, so the design and construction of the generation capacity will fulfill the original intention of the designers of the dam. |Project||River||FERC No.||Expected COD||Design Capacity||Annual Generation||Dam Owner| |Overton Lock & Dam||Red River||P-13160||2019||52.0 MW||207.4 GWh||USACE| This project will produce over 207 gigawatt hours annually of low-cost, domestic energy that is safe, reliable and emissions-free. 19,000 Homes Powered Investment in this project will provide hundreds of local jobs through construction, operation and maintenance. The lifetime of this project is expected to exceed 80 years, contributing to the local economy for several generations.

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Surrounded by friends and family, celebrating with good food and drink, birthdays are happy occasions that we all look forward to. But new research suggests that, of all days, we're most likely to die when we're celebrating the passing of another year of our life. The study, carried out at the University of Zurich and published in Annals of Epidemiology, studied data from more than two million people over the age of 40. It showed that people are 18.6 percent more likely to die of heart attack on their birthdays, while the risk of stroke shoots up by 21.5 percent. There was also a 34.9 percent rise in suicides and a 44 percent rise in deaths from falls on birthdays. There seems to be consensus that the research is accurate. Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, explained to The Telegraph: "It seems to be a valid finding... There are two camps [when it comes to explaining the effect] - one is the camp that suggests you eat too much and you're getting on a bit and that causes you to die. "The other is a placebo effect. You are knife-edged on death. And you kept yourself going until your birthday. You think 'that's it I've had enough I'm out of here'." Image by Omer Wazir under Creative Commons license

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(Yahoo News UK) – With a solar eclipse due on 26 February, there are plenty of celestial treats to keep stargazers happy in 2017. Last year was packed with astronomical action including supermoons, Tim Peake’s history-making spacewalk and the arrival of NASA’s Juno probe at Jupiter and this year is set to be big just as big for space botherers. From meteor showers to solar eclipses, here are the space events you don’t want to miss in 2017… - Annular solar eclipse – 26 February 2017 At the end of February, the moon will pass in front of the sun, creating a bizarre halo effect. Unfortunately, this year’s eclipse will only be visible over South and West Africa and some of South America. - Jupiter at opposition – 7 April 2017 The largest planet in our solar system will reach ‘opposition’ in April, meaning that it will slide into view as Earth moves into position between the sun and Jupiter. The massive planet’s face will be illuminated by the sun and will be visible through binoculars or a telescope. - Saturn at opposition – 15 June 2017 In summer, Saturn will move into its closest position to Earth, giving us the best view possible. A telescope will be needed to see the huge planet’s famous rings while Saturn is fully lit up by the sun. - Perseid meteor shower – 12/13 August 2017 One of the brighter meteor showers of the year, the Perseids happens annually between 17 July and 24 August, this year peaking 12-13 August. The best time to view the shooting stars is between midnight and dawn. - ‘Great American’ total solar eclipse – 21 August 2017 For around two minutes, a 70-mile stretch between Oregon and South Carolina will be plunged into total darkness in a rare total eclipse as the sun will totally disappear behind the full moon. Stargazers elsewhere in the US will get a partial view of the stunning eclipse. - Cassini probe will crash into Saturn – 15 September 2017 Launched in 1997, NASA’s probe finally made it to Saturn in 2004 and has been beaming back vital data to Earth ever since. The probe will be destroyed when it plunges through Jupiter’s atmosphere but not before sending back never-seen-before images. - Leonid meteor shower – 17/18 November 2017 The Leonids meteors will be visible in the night sky throughout November, peaking between 17 and 18 November. The glowing pieces of comet debris will be visible to the naked eye. - Supermoon – 3 December 2017 While 2016 saw stargazers treated to several supermoons, 2017 will see just one. December’s full moon, also known as the Full Cold Moon, will appear slightly bigger and brighter than normal. The best time to watch will be around sunset when the distinctive orange moon will appear. - Geminid meteor shower – 13/14 December 2017 Unlike most meteor showers, the Geminids are associated with an asteroid, rather than a comet. The glowing fireballs should be visible to the naked eye between December 7 and 16, but the best time to catch a glimpse is between 13 and 14 December.

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Broken? aims to raise difficult questions and provoke conversations about what Michelle Alexander, author of the The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, calls “the most pressing racial justice issue of our time.” The exhibit explores the U.S. criminal justice system through photographs and testimonies of formerly incarcerated people and of community leaders working for prison reform. Featuring: Picture Justice students, Christopher Gregory/Black Box and Zach Gross PROOF: Media for Social Justice United Nations International School The United States of America is the global leader in incarceration. With just five percent of the world’s population, it is home to 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, including one-third of the world’s incarcerated women. Over 6.9 million people in the US are currently incarcerated, on probation or on parole. That’s one in 35 Americans and one in six Black men. In fact, there are more Black men in the criminal justice system today than there were enslaved in 1850. How did it get to be like this? How did the “home of the free” become the world’s biggest jailer? How “just” is the U.S. criminal justice system? Broken? is an exhibit of PROOF: Media for Social Justice, in partnership with the United Nations International School (UNIS) and participating Picture Justice students. The exhibit aims to raise difficult questions and provoke conversations about what Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, calls “the most pressing racial justice issue of our time.” Broken? explores the U.S. criminal justice system through photographs and testimonies of formerly incarcerated people and of community leaders working for prison reform. Produced by PROOF: Media for Social Justice, Broken? features the work of Picture Justice students who partnered with professional photographers, journalists and educators to conduct research on mass incarceration, learn ethical reporting and photojournalism techniques, and create this large-scale photo exhibition. An ongoing partnership between PROOF and UNIS, Picture Justice is a creative photojournalism program designed to educate high school students about social justice issues and empower them with the tools and confidence they need to lead change in their own communities. Picture Justice fosters critical thinking and active citizenship, promotes compassion and empathy, and equips students with the communication skills they need to relay their experiences to the wider public. The content for Broken? was created by high school students from the United Nations International School. The exhibit was designed by Willhemina Wahlin, the Creative Director for PROOF: Media for Social Justice. Wahlin has worked as a journalist, editor, copywriter and graphic designer in Australia and Japan, and has been the Creative Director of PROOF since 2009. She is a Lecturer in Graphic Design at Charles Sturt University in Australia, where she is also a doctoral candidate. Her practice-led research focuses on the design of exhibitions that deal with ‘difficult knowledge’ topics, such as genocide, gender-based violence and contested histories. PROOF: Media for Social Justice is a non-profit organization based in New York City that uses visual storytelling and education to inspire global attitude and policy changes. It was founded in 2006 under the vision of Leora Kahn, a longtime photo editor, documentary producer and human rights advocate, who sought to unite the skills and experiences of internationally renowned photojournalists for social good. The United Nations International School (UNIS) is a Kindergarten-to-12th grade, coeducational, college-preparatory day school, established in 1947 by a group of United Nations parents to provide an international education for their children, while preserving their diverse cultural heritages. UNIS has over 1,550 students in two locations, serving the United Nations, as well as international and New York communities.

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YOUNG MILL-WRIGHT and MILLER'S GUIDE, by Oliver Evans Fig. 12, Plate VII., is a hopper-boy; which consists of a perpendicular shaft, A B having a slow motion, (not above 4 revolutions in a minute,) carrying round with it the horizontal piece C D, which is called the arm; this, on the under side, is set full of small inclining boards, called flights, so as to gather the meal towards the centre, or to spread it from the center to that part of the arm which passes over the bolting hopper; at this part, one board is set broadside foremost, as E, (called the sweeper,) which drives the meal before it, and drops it into the hoppers H H, as the arms pass over them. The meal is generally let fall from the elevator, at the extremity of the arm, at D, where there is a sweeper, which drives the meal before it, trailing it in a circle the whole way round, so as to discharge nearly the whold of itsload, by the time it returns to be loaded again: the flights then gather it towards the centre, from every part of the circle; which would not be the case, if the sweepers did not lay it round; but the meal would, in this case, be gathered from one side only of the circle. These sweepers are screwed on the back of the arm, so that they may be raised or lowered, in order to make them discharge sooner or later, as may be found The extreme flight at each end of the arms is put on with a screw, passing through its centre, so that they may be turned to drive the meal outwards; the use of which is, to spread the war, meal as it falls from the elevator, in a ring, round the hopper-boy, while it, at the same time gathers, the cooled meal into the bolting hopper; so that the cold meal may be bolted, and the warm meal spread to cool, by the same machine, at the same time, if the miller chooses so to do. The foremost edge of the arm is sloped up in order to make it rise over the meal, and its weight is nearly balanced by the weight w, hung to one end of a cord, passing over the pulley P, and to the stay iron F. About 4 1/2 feet of the lower end of the upright shaft is made round, passing loosely through a round hole in the floght arm, giving it liberty to rise and fall freely, to suit any quantity of meal under it. The flight arm is led round by the leading arm L M, there being a cord passed through the holes L M, at each end, and made fast to the flight D C. This cord is lengthened or shortened by a hitch stick N, with two holes for the cord to pass through its end being passed through a hole at D, and fastened to the end of a stick; this cordmust reeve freely through the holes at the end of the arms, in order that the ends may both be led equally. The flight arm falls behind the leader about 1-6th part of the circle. The stay-iron C F E, is formed into a ringat F, which fits the shaft loosely, keeps the arm steady, and serves for hanging the hands of an equal height, by mean of the screws C E. Fig. 13, Plate VII., is a perspective view of the under side of the flight arms. The arm a c, with flights and sweepers complete; s s s show the screws which fasten the sweeper to the arms. The arm c b, is to show the rule for laying out for the flights. When the sweeper at b is turned in the osition of the dotted line; it drives the meal outwards. Fig. 14, Plate VII., represents a plate of metal on the bottom of the shaft, to keep the arm from the floor, and 15 is the step gudgeon. This machine, also has appeared under various constructions, the best of which is represented by fig. 12, Plate VII.-(See the description Art. To make the flight-arm C D, take a piece of dry popular of other soft scantling 14 feet long, 8 by 2 1/2 inches in the middle, 5 by 1 1/2 inches at the end, and straight at the bottom: on this sltlrike the middle line a b, fig 13. Consider whihc way it is to revolve, and cipher off the under side of the foremost edge from the middle line, leaving the edge 3/4 of an inch thick, as appears by the shaded part. Then, to lay out the flights, take Set your compasses at 4 1/2 distance, and begining with one foot in the centre c, step towards the end b, observing to lessen the distance one-sixteenth part of an inch ever step; this will set the flights closer together at the end than at the centre. Then, to set the flights of one arm to track truly between those of the other, and to find their inclination, with one point in the centre c, sweep the dotted circle across every point in one arm; then, without altering the centre or distance, make the little dotted marks on the other arm, and between them the circles are to be swept for the flights in it. To vary their inc;omatopm regularly, from the end of the centre c, and 2 1/2 inches from the middle line at d, and then with the compasses set to half an inch, set off the inclination from the dotted circles, on the line c d; the line c d then approaches the middle line, the inclination is greater near the centre than at the end, and varies regularly. Dove-tail the flights into the arm, observing to put the side that is to drive the meal to the line of inclination. The Bottom of them should not extend past the middle line, the ends being all rounded and dressed off at the back side, to make the [oint sharp, leaving the driving side quite straight, like the floug r. (See them complete in the end c a.) The sweepers should be 5 or 6 inches long, screwed on behing the flights, at the back side of the arms, one at each end of the arm, and one at the next part that passes over the hopper: their use is described in Art. 88. The upright shaft, should be 4 by 4 inches, and made round for about 4 1/2 feet at the lower end, to pass lightly through the center of the arm. To keep the arm steady, there is a stay-iron 15 inches high, is legs 1/2 inch by 3/4, to stride 2 feet. The ring at the top should fit the shaft neatly, and be smooth and rounded inside, that it may slide easily up and down; by this the arm hangs to the rope that passes over a pulley at the top of the shaft, 8 inches diameter, with a deep groove for the rope or cord to run in. Make the leading arm 6 by 13/4 inches in the middle, 2 by 1 inch at the end, and 8 feet long. This arm must be braced to the cog-wheel above, to keep it from splitting the shaft by an extra stress. The weight of the balance w, must be so nearly equal to the weight of the arm, that when it is raised to the top it will decend quickly. In the bottom of the upright shaft is the step gudgeon (fig. 15.) which passes through the square plate 4 by 4 onches (fig. 14;) on this plate the arm rests, before the flights touch the floor. The ring on the lower end of the shaft is less than the shaft, that it may pass through the arm: this gudgeon comes out, every time the shaft is taken out of the arm. If the machine is to attend but one bolting-hopper, it need not be above 12 or 13 feet long. Set the upright shaft close to the hopper, and the flights all gather as the end c b, fig. 13. But, if it to attend, for the grinding of two pair of stones, and two hoppers, make it 15 feet long, and set it between them a little to one side of both, so that the two ends may not both be over the hoppers at the same time, which would make it run unsteadily: then the flights between the hoppers and the centre must drive the meal outwards to the sweepers, at the end c a, fig. 13. If it be to attend two hoppers, and cannot be set between them for want of room, then set the shaft near to one of them; make the flights so that they will all gather to the centre, and put sweepers over the outer hopper, which will be first supplied, and the surplus carried to the other. The machine will regulate itself to attend both, although one should feed three times as fast as the other. If it be to atend three hoppers, set the shaft near the middle one, and put sweepers to fill the shaft near the middle one, and put sweepers to fill the other two, the surplus will come to the centre one, and it will regulate to feed all three; but should the centre hopper over stand while the other are going, (of either of these last applications,) the flights next to the centre must be movable, that they may be turned, and set to drive the meal out from the centre. Hopper-boys should be driven by a strap in some part of their movement, that they may easily stop if any thing catch in them; but many millwrights prefer cogs; they should not revolve more than 4 times in a minute. 1. When the meal elevator is set in motion to elevate the meal, the hopper-boy must be set in motionalso, to spread and cool it; and as soon as the circle is full, the bolts may be started; the grinding and bolting may like wise be carried on regularly together; which is the best way of working. 2. But if you do not choose to bolt as you grind, turn up the feeding sweepers and let the hopper-boy spread and cool the meal, and rise over it; and when you begin to bolt, turn them down again. 3. If you chose to keep the warm meal seperate from the cool, shovel about 18 inches of the outside of the circle, in towards the centre, and turn the end flights, to drive the meal outwards; it will then spread the warm meal outwards, and gathter the cool meal into the bolting hopper. As soon as the ring is full with warm meal, take it out of the reach of the hopper-boy, and let it fall again. 4. To mix tail flour or bran, &c., with a quanity of meal that is under the hopper-boy, make a hold for it in the meal quite to the floor, and put it in; and the hopper-boy will mix it regularly with the whole. 5. If it do not keep the hopper full, turn the feeding sweepers a little lower, and throw a little meal on the top of the arm, to make it sink deeper into the meal. If the spreading sweepers discharge their loads too soon, and do not tail the meal all around the circle, turn them a little lower; if they do not discharge, but keep too full, raise then a little. Return to Home Page

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Catholics had he not, at the last moment, seen fit, in the negotiations with the Holy See, to demand the right of approving appointments to canonries. But all the king's concessions, which were really extorted from him by the force of circumstances, and despite his dogged reluctance, came too late, and the nego- tiations in regard to the question of canons were still in progress when the Belgian Revolution broke out. As to the causes of an event so decisive for the future of the Belgian people, it is highly improbable that if King William had given them grounds for complaint only in religious matters, the public dis- content would have culminated in a revolution. The Catholics, faithful to the teachings of the Church and to the counsels of their pastors, had no wish to exceed what was lawful and knew that they should confine themselves to peaceful protests. But the Govern- ment had injured many other interests to wliich a great number were more sensitive than they were to the oppression of the Catholic Church, at which they would have been wholly indifferent if, indeed, they would not have rejoiced. It wiU suffice to recall the principal grievances. Although Holland's popula- tion was less than Belgium by almost half, each nation w'as allowed the same number of deputies in the States-General. Acquaintance with the Dutch lan- guage was at once made obligatory for all officials. The greater number of institutions of the central Government were located in Holland, and the ma- jority of the offices were reserved for the Dutch. Taxes on corn and on slaughtering weighed most hea\-ily on the southern provinces. The press was under the arbitrary control of the Government and the courts, and they \-igorously prohibited any criti- cism of the Government and its deputies. The Gov- ernment stubbornly opposed the introduction of the jury system, the verdicts of which, inspired by a saner appreciation of public feeling, would often have calmed opinion instead of inflaming it. Lastly, as if wishing to fill the measure of its blunders, the Government shamelessly hired an infamous forger condemned by the French tribunals, a certain Libri- Bagnano, whose journal, the "National", never ceased insulting and taunting every Belgian who had the misfortune of incurring the displeasure of the Government. There came a time when the Liberals, who, as late as 1825, had applauded the Government in its persecution of the Church, fomid themselves attacked in their turn, and began to protest with more violence than the Catholics had ever done. Then the ine\-itable happened. Equally op- pressed, the two parties forgot their differences, and joined forces. The fiery anti-clerical Louis de Potter, author of various historical works extremely irre- ligious in tone, was one of the first to advocate, from the prison in which he was confined for some violation of laws concerning the press, the union of the Catho- lics and the Liberals. This union was made the more easy because the greater part of the Catholics, under the influence of the teachings of Lamennais and the pressure of events, had abandoned their stand of 181,5 and had rallied to the doctrine of "liberty in all and for all". Once effected, the union of Catholics and Liberals soon bore fruit. Their first step, pro- posed by the Catholics who wished to employ lawful means only, was the presentation of petitions by every class of society in turn. Hundreds of petitions piled up in the offices of the States-General, demand- ing liberty of education, freedom of the press, and the righting of other WTongs. While these petitions were being circulated the perfect order that was maintained deceived the king. On a tour which he made through the southern provinces, to convince himself personally as to the state of the public mind, he received such demonstrations of loyalty that he persuaded himself that the petitioning was a factitious movement, and went so far as to declare, at Liege, that the conduct of the petitioners was infamous (1829). This false step was his undoing. In the face of his refusal to initiate any reforms, the country became incensed, and the direction of the national movement passed from the hands of the peaceful Catholics into those of the impatient Liberals. The resistance soon took on a revolutionary character. The ecclesiasti- cal authorities had foreseen this, and had for a long time opposed both the "Union", and the petitions which were its first manifestation. The Bishops of Ghent and Liege had come forward to remind the faithful of their duties to the sovereign; the Arch- bishop of Mechlin had assured the Government of the neutrality of the clergy; the nuncio had shown his disapproval of the "Union", and the Cardinal-Secre- tary of State had stigmatized it as monstrous. But the religious authorities soon found themseh'es pow- erless to control the movement. The Catholics, imi- tating the Liberals, had recourse to violent language; their most important periodical refused to print the conciliatory letter of the Bishop of Liege, which one of the Liberal leaders styled an episcopal-ministerial document; the lower clergy, in turn, allowed itself to be drawn into the current; the Government, wilfully blind, continued wantonly, in its imprudence, to pile up the materials for a great conflagration; at last, nothing was lacking but a fuse. This came from France. The revolution of July, 1830, lasting from the 27th to the 29th, overthrew the government of Charles X; on 25 August, of the same year, a riot broke out in Brussels and brought on the revolution which culminated in the conflicts between (24-26 Sep- tember) the Dutch troops and the people of Brussels assisted by re-enforcements of volunteers from the provinces. The whole country rose up; at the end of some weeks the Dutch army had evacuated the soil of the southern provinces, and Belgium was free. III. Independent Belgium (1830-1905). — As has been shown, not only was the revolution the work of two parties but the chief role in it had been played by the Liberals, and for a long time, although a minority in the nation, their ranks supplied the prin- cipal leaders in national life. The Catholics did not close their eyes to this state of things. Sincerely at- tached to the Union of 1828, they wanted a unionist policy without lajnng too much stress on party names. The provisional government which assumed the di- rection of affairs after the revolution had but one Catholic among its ten members, and had as head and inspiration, Charles Rogier, who, in September, 1830, had come, at the head of the Liege volunteers, to lend a strong helping hand to the combatants in Brussels. The constituent Congress, convoked by the pro\isional government, was in great majority composed of Catholics; partisans of liberty "in all and for all", in conformity with the teachings of Lamennais. The Liberal minority was split into two groups; the stronger professed the same ideas of liberty as the Catholics; the other was made up of a small number of sectarians and of State idolaters who had dreams of bringing the Catholic Church into subjection to the civil power. The leaders of the Catholic group were Count Felix de M^rode, a member of the provisional government, and Baron de Gerlache, President of the Congress; the most prominent among the Liberals were Charles Rogier, Joseph Lebeau, Paul Devaux, J. B. Nothomb, and Sylvan Van de Weyer; the group of sectarians followed the orders of Eugene Defacqz. The Constitution which re- sulted from the deliberations of the Congress reflected the dispositions of the great majority of the assembly and showed at the same time a reaction against the tyrannical regime of King William. It proclaimed the absolvite freedom of worship and of the press, which the Liberals put first, and also freedom of ed- ucation and association, two things especially dear

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Compressed air is a vital part of industrial operations, including powering pneumatic tools and garage service lifts. It is often thought of as a “free” source of energy when in fact it is one of the least efficient and most expensive in the industry. Even the smallest compressed air system can be a relatively large component of energy consumption and cost. High-Efficiency Compressor Systems Multiple stage compressors vary their speed to match load. Switching to a variable speed compressor can result in significant energy savings. Dryers help remove the moisture in the air, increasing the efficiency of compressed air production and reducing energy load. Select the drying technology that gives you the maximum allowable pressure at dew point. Compressed air requirements may change over time or vary between shifts. Compressor controls allow compressor speed to vary to match need. Air Compressor Receivers Air receivers are designed to provide a buffer capacity between the supply and the demand sides of a compressed air system. Having enough storage capacity near the compressor plant protects the compressors and dryers from sudden shift in demand. They also prevent false loading of the compressors. Low-Pressure Drop Filters The filter is a typical place where the air distribution system loses pressure; pressure drops can significantly reduce system performance. If you lose more than 0.5 psig at the filter, consider replacing the filter Air-entraining air nozzles draw in (or entrain) surrounding atmospheric air, reducing compressed air use at the nozzle. Click here for a complete list of incentives. Determining Potential Savings The independent Compressed Air Challenge provides information on energy saving potential of compressed air systems. Visit the Compressed Air Challenge website for more information or contact an Efficiency Maine Qualified Partner for more information. Our locator tool will help you find one in your area. As part of the project approval process, you will accept the C&I Prescriptive Program’s Terms and Conditions.

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If you want to change the code in multiply-by-seven, just rewrite it. To install the new version in place of the old one, evaluate the function definition again. This is how you modify code in Emacs. It is As an example, you can change the multiply-by-seven function to add the number to itself seven times instead of multiplying the number by seven. It produces the same answer, but by a different path. At the same time, we will add a comment to the code; a comment is text that the Lisp interpreter ignores, but that a human reader may find useful or enlightening. The comment is that this is the “second (defun multiply-by-seven (number) ; Second version. "Multiply NUMBER by seven." (+ number number number number number number number)) The comment follows a semicolon, ‘;’. In Lisp, everything on a line that follows a semicolon is a comment. The end of the line is the end of the comment. To stretch a comment over two or more lines, begin each line with a semicolon. See Beginning a .emacs File, and Comments in The GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual, for more about comments. You can install this version of the multiply-by-seven function by evaluating it in the same way you evaluated the first function: place the cursor after the last parenthesis and type C-x C-e. In summary, this is how you write code in Emacs Lisp: you write a function; install it; test it; and then make fixes or enhancements and install it again.

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In the period since the nation was rocked by the economic recession, nothing has been as heartbreaking to observe as its impact on the employment prospects of African-American young men. Young men in their late teens and 20s are among the most challenged and underserved segment of the nation’s population. In New York City alone, just one of every four young Black men has a job, according to the Community Service Society of New York. The impact of those numbers has been well-chronicled. Prisons are bulging with young, African-American men. There has been a growing absence of young Black men in the lives of their children. It is a scenario that has been portrayed — on the rare occasions when the media focuses on it at all — as a miserable, bleak and unsolvable feature of American life. What is heartening, however, are the growing number of institutions, organizations and initiatives that have sprouted in recent years to address the employment condition of young Black men. There has been growth in programs aimed at assisting young men of color with their educational preparedness, their job-readiness and their ability to avoid confrontations with the police. Some of the programs involve vast sums of money and influential benefactors. For example, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has committed more than $30 million of his own money to pay for programs to improve the circumstances facing young Black and Latino men in New York. That money was matched by Bloomberg’s fellow billionaire and hedge fund manager, George Soros. There is the Open Society’s “Campaign for Black Male Achievement,” an outstanding set of programs, funded largely by Soros, that aims to address Black men and boys' exclusion from economic, social, educational and political life in the United States. Also, there is the fine work being undertaken by Black Male Engagement, a program in Detroit and Philadelphia designed to highlight the Black men and boys engaging and leading others to service in their cities. Some projects take a novel approach. In fact, there is an innovative video called “Question Bridge: Black Males,” which includes interviews with 150 Black men in 11 cities. It is a reflection of 1,500 videos of conversations with men representing a range of geographic, generational, economic and educational levels. The video centers on images of Black men reflecting on themselves, their challenges and their responsibilities. But it also offers, in a medium that speaks more profoundly to young people, an opportunity for Black men to evaluate themselves through the experiences of others in their age group and older. The project can be seen at the Brooklyn Museum and the Chastain Art Center in Atlanta. There can be no stone unturned in the effort to ease the plight affecting young Black men in America. It should involve not just targeted federal programs, such as many of the initiatives included in President Obama’s recent budget plan. It will have to involve the efforts of the nation’s predominantly Black civic groups and fraternities, as well. America is in a period in history when Republican forces are seeking to reverse a number of gains that have positively affected life for Black and Latino citizens, in areas ranging from education to voting rights. What is encouraging about this period is that there are others who have taken seriously the challenge of crafting solutions and strategies to assist and elevate the conditions of some of the most vulnerable and overlooked Americans. And it couldn’t have come a minute too soon. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of BET Networks. BET National News - Keep up-to-date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world. (Photo: REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly /Landov)

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- Historic Sites God, Man, Woman, And The Wesleys In early Georgia, the founders of Methodism got off to a terrible start April/May 1984 | Volume 35, Issue 3 Oglethorpe did not interfere with the Wesleys’ “methods of salvation”—except when John dared to reprove him for “talking too much to the women.” The handsome, gallant soldier at first took the admonition good-naturedly—and continued his attentions to certain of the ladies aboard. But when John rebuked him again, Oglethorpe told him in no uncertain terms to confine his shipboard efforts to the colonists. The preacher noted in his diary that he had begun most earnestly praying for the founder of Georgia. To the Wesley brothers, one experience of the voyage stood out as the most wonderful. They were very frightened during the storms at sea, and their fear puzzled them. John, after being terrified when a wave rolled over part of the ship and nearly drowned him, asked himself, “How is it that thou hast no faith, being still afraid to die?” A few days later the ships were caught in a hurricane. While the English screamed and whimpered in terror, the Moravians calmly sang songs of praise. When the gale died down, John exclaimed to one of them, “Were you not afraid, and were your women and children not afraid?” “I thank God, no,” came the answer. “None among us is afraid to die.” John talked at length to the English passengers of the “Germans’ calm born of great faith.” That night he wrote wistfully in his diary of discovering people who had overcome fear. The Wesleys, bachelors who had had no experience with women of questionable character, felt they had a duty to save the souls of several “women of the world” aboard the Simmonds . John concentrated his efforts on Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Welch. Lively, daring, young Mrs. Hawkins was the wife of the doctor being sent to the colony; she had such a shady reputation that the lenient Georgia trustees had almost rejected the couple as colonists, finally accepting them only because of the need for a doctor. Mrs. Welch, a friend of Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins, was crude in speech and manner; she was pregnant, sick, and quarrelsome. The two women eased the boredom of the voyage by pretending John Wesley was leading them from their sinful paths. His diary, page after page, tells of his progress in saving their souls. Mrs. Hawkins in particular put on a good show: she wept aloud and proclaimed that she knew, from her “close conversations” with John Wesley, that God had sent him to her. Ingham and Delamotte recognized that the women were playing an ugly game; they knew from experience that Mrs. Hawkins was actually flirting with John Wesley. Charles, too, soon caught on, but none of them could convince John that his two penitents were actually amusing themselves at his expense. He was surprised when the women, resentful because he had remained blind to their charms, became hostile toward the end of the voyage. They had several times fought over the preacher during the journey; now they resolved together to have revenge upon the “holy Wesleys” once Georgia was reached. On February 6, 1736, the travelers arrived at Savannah, a village of some two hundred houses and over five hundred inhabitants. Oglethorpe, the Wesleys, and the Moravians, on going ashore, gave thanks to God for a safe voyage, but not many of the other newcomers bothered. The Wesleys were very conscious of being strangers in a strange land, but they got busy with their job. When John Wesley returned to the Simmonds on an errand, he found that some of the crew and passengers who were on board waiting for temporary camps to be prepared were celebrating the end of the voyage by getting drunk—illegally so, as the statutes of the colony forbade the consumption of alcoholic beverages. He promptly staved in the casks of rum—which may have been the first incidence of the enforcement of prohibition in America. In spite of the animosity shown him by Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Welch on the voyage, the gullible preacher did not give up. Soon after arriving in Savannah, he read to Mrs. Hawkins from The Life of God in the Soul of Man . He was disappointed because the “serious effect” it had on her “quickly vanished in light company.” The Moravian minister with whom he lodged until his parsonage was prepared counseled him to let Mrs. Hawkins alone and quietly “commend her to God,” advice that he did not heed. Charles Wesley decided to apply himself to the salvation of Mrs. Welch, whose ribald manner he attributed largely to the evil influence of Mrs. Hawkins. Mrs. Welch remained “all storm and tempest.” After a week, Oglethorpe, Charles Wesley, Ingham, and the majority of the new colonists—four small boatfuls—including the Hawkinses and the Welches, went to Frederica, a new settlement on St. Simons Island, about one hundred miles south of Savannah. John Wesley and Delamotte remained at Savannah.

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Rebirth of Le Corbusier’s Salvation Army Building The Cité de Refuge. © FLC/ADAGP/Cyrille Weiner The residents of the Cité de Refuge in Paris count themselves lucky indeed. Not only do they live in a historic monument designed by one of the 20th century’s greatest architects, Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret) and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, but some of their studio apartments are bigger, brighter and better-equipped than those of many of my professional friends in this city with increasingly out-of-reach real-estate prices. The Cité de Refuge was built by the Salvation Army (Armée du Salut in French) and opened in 1933 on what was then the outskirts of Paris so that the delicate sensibilities of the city’s inhabitants wouldn’t be disturbed by having to mix with the building’s impoverished residents. Ironically, the city has grown up around it, and the Cité is now hemmed in by the mostly banal high rises of the Rive Gauche development area around the Bibliothèque The skyline around the Cité de Refuge. The green building, designed by Maison Edouard François and nicknamed the “Vertical Chameleon,” will be covered in vegetation. Nationale de France in the 13th arrondissement. By some miracle, 80 years after it was built it has not been converted into a luxury hotel but is still owned by the Salvation Army and still provides help and a home for the down and out. What’s new is that the building, which was in a pitiable state, has just been restored as closely as possible to the way Le Corbusier intended it Above: the Cité de Refuge in 1933; below, in 1952. © FLC/ADAGP by François Chatillon, chief architect for Historical Monuments, and François Gruson of the agency Opéra, who had the unusual task of working on a 20th-century masterpiece rather than a centuries’ old château or monument and meeting such complex challenges as trying to figure out exactly what colors Le Corbusier and Jeanneret intended for the building. This was not the building’s first restoration, and trying to decide what was original and what was not made the job more difficult. In the end, some changes were left in place. “It’s a palimpsest,” said Gruson during a visit to the renovated building. Many features of the original building were rediscovered when walls that had been added over the years were knocked down, opening up The main hall today. © FLC/ADAGP/Cyrille Weiner generous spaces and revealing such thoughtful details as a small terrace with a light- colored wall positioned to reflect light into the room on a gloomy day. Some changes were necessitated by evolving laws and standards. While the residents once slept in dormitories, they are now housed in rooms or studios, and the buildings (an extension, the Centre Espoir, built in 1978, has also been renovated) are now accessible to the disabled. Since the mission of the Salvation Army is not only to provide a bed and nourishment to the needy but also to help reintegrate them into society, the building, which is pretty much self-sufficient, has its own kitchen, dining room, rooftop terrace/garden, classrooms, workshops, laundry, library and gym. One may well wonder why such an avant-garde architect was chosen for this project. Therein lies the tale of the Princesse de Polignac, née Winnaretta Singer, who contributed one-third of the cost of the building and dictated the choice of architect. A colorful character who lived in Paris and hosted performances of works by the greats of the music world in her salon,, , and (Marcel Proust, who was a frequent guest – along with , , , and drew on the princess’s salon and the music he heard there for his novel), she had made it clear to her first husband that she was not interested in sex with men by jumping onto an armoire on their wedding night and threatening to kill him if he came near her. Her marriage to her second husband, the Prince Edmond de Polignac, was more felicitous. He was gay, she was a lesbian, and they were great friends, making for the perfect mariage de raison. The princess’s sympathy for the disinherited was such that she had a room built for herself in the Cité de Refuge because she wanted to die there among the poor. In the end, it was not fated to happen, but the good news for tourists is that her modest studio is still there and will soon be available for short-term rentals. Not bad: a princess’s room in a building by Le Corbusier. Now that’s something to put on your postcards. Guided tours by residents will eventually be available. For those who wish to know more about the social and architectural history of the building, the book La Cité de Refuge: Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret, L’Usine à Guérir (available in French only) by Olivier Chadoin and Gilles Ragot will be published in March by Les Éditions du Patrimoine. La Cité de Refuge: 12 Rue Cantagrel, 75013 Paris. Métro: Bibliothèque-François Mitterrand. Tel.: 01 53 61 82 00. Reader reaction: Click here to respond to this article (your response may be published on this page and is subject to editing). © 2016 Paris Update

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The ALH 84001 Controversy - by Ricky Leon Murphy: Back to Astrobiology The ALH 84001 The rock is called ALH 84001 and on August 7, 1996 an announcement was made that indicates ancient, microscopic life existed on Mars. By studying a rather un-assuming potato shaped rock, it was determined not only that it originated from Mars, but it also contained complex organic compounds, magnetite, carbonate minerals and even fossils of rod-like structure. While it seems that scientists were not looking for anything in particular when studying this rock, they seem to have stumbled on a proverbial gold mine – or have they? While the evidence to support the presumption of life seems un-deniable, the question many are asking is have all other explanations been ruled out. Since then, this small self-effacing rock has been the hotbed for debate for the past 10 years. The difficulty in choosing a side is two-fold: not once has either side denied the possibility of life on Mars, and there are limited samples to provide evidence to support any claims of life. But ultimately it seems the evidence strongly suggests that life did exist A Brief History: With data from the Mars Global Surveyor and the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), the case for water once flowing on Mars is pretty strong. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is thought to have been enough to sustain liquid water about 3.7 to 3.9 billion years ago. It is also during this time that heavy bombardment of Solar System debris had ceased [R5]. With the necessary conditions available (a heat source, an atmosphere, volcanism), it is possible life could have appeared. As the planet cooled (because is small), volcanism ceased, greenhouse gasses (no longer replenished) escaped into space and the water, with further impacts, would have evaporated – lost into space [R5]. Any life that had appeared would now have dried up, locked into the crust. When a meteor impacted the crust 16 million years ago, it sent pieces of it into space (because the gravity is not as strong as Earth) - and pieces of the crust would still have features of water erosion due to lack of tectonics. As the debris traveled through space for a time, it ultimately landed in Antarctica some 13,000 years This 1.9 kilogram, potato shaped rock was picked up at Alan Hills, Antarctica on December 27, 1984 [R2][R4]. It sat on a shelf for about 10 years before being examined, and that is when all the excitement hit the fan. A paper was published on August 16, 1996 in Science magazine by the team studying this meteorite (now called ALH 84001) led by David S. McKay. This paper outlines four pieces of evidence to support that life once existed on Mars. These are: - Carbonate minerals were detected similar to carbonate deposits of Earth-based biological life - The presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) – complex organic molecules - The presence of the mineral Magnetite - The presence of what appears to be rod-like It seems the evidence is surprisingly overwhelming that life did exist on Mars, but since this announcement was made alternate explanations have been offered to explain each of these attestations. The potato shaped ALH 84001 (Image By using Stereo Light Microscopy (SLM), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), McKay’s team concluded that fractures within ALH 84001 contain carbonate material – specifically Iron, Calcium, Sulfur, Magnesium and Phosphorus [R6]. It is suggested that these deposits were formed when water poured through the rock. This alone is not indicative of life, but according to the McKay team this first piece of evidence is the base by which the other three are supported [R2]. The problem with this first piece of evidence is that while the presence of these minerals does imply that water did flow through, this same material can also form given the right conditions. For example, this same material can form without any biologic influence under high temperatures of several hundred degrees Fahrenheit [R4]. Water is not necessary. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons – or PAHs – are a complex form of organic material that is believed to form by biological breakdown like decomposing plant life [R4]; this material is believed to be formed by bacterial decomposition. The organic material is made up of phenanthrene, pyrene, chrysene, benzopyrene and In order to rule out any contamination, PAHs levels were compared between ALH 84001 and the area surrounding Alan Hills. It was concluded by McKay’s team that the PAHs within ALH 84001 were not cross-contaminated with the Alan Hills site. While McKay’s team confirmed the levels of PAHs between Alan Hills and ALH 84001 suggest these formed on Mars, there is evidence that contamination could still be a factor. A second meteorite from Mars, one much younger than ALH 84001 also contains the same levels of PAHs. This demonstrates the likely hood of contamination by the Antarctic ice sheets [R4]. In addition, the formation of PAHs is not required to form by biologic activity and may form by other means [R5]. For example, PAHs can form in interstellar space as well as smokestacks and automobile engines [R4][R5]. While the presence of Magnetite can be formed by way of organic or inorganic processes, it has been established by McKay et al that the Magnetite present in ALH 84001 is similar to Earth formed Magnetite. It is further established that the Magnetite crystals were formed by biological processes (bacterial decomposition) based on the Magnetite’s hexa-octahedral crystal shape – a process that is not found by formation through inorganic methods [R7]. While the Magnetite evidence seems compelling, another group examining the Magnetite crystals discovered defects and fracture not consistent with the organic formation of the crystals – instead indicate formation by inorganic methods under high temperatures [R4]. In addition, the presence of Magnetite and Greigite (which is still unconfirmed strongly suggest the appearance of biological formation is simulated by temperature changes [R5]. Perhaps the most dramatic piece of evidence is the presence of microfossils of what looks like nano-bacteria. In fact, the microfossils found look exactly like the nano-bacteria found on Earth (although much smaller) Further, the age of the rock implies that Mars was wetter and warmer in the past so that the formation of these nano-bacteria is possible [R2][R6]. It is these micro-fossils that support the evidence for PAHs [R13]. A scanning electron microscope was used to capture the image of the micro-fossil in question, but it is argued that the process of scanning can produce “fractures” that can look like these microfossils [R4]. While there is no mention of any possible contamination by terrestrial sources, it is suggested that these microfossils can be mineral grains and therefore An example of this would be fossilized mineral grains found in Columbia River In addition, the nano-bacteria have a size limitation of 150nm for replication [R16] and the samples in ALH 84001 are smaller. Aware of the debate with the ALH 84001 results, Gibson and McKay et al released a paper with additional supporting data. It is acknowledged that contamination and misinterpretation is possible; however, data discovered within two additional Mars meteorites – Nakhla and Shegotty – as well as confirmation from a second examining group support the initial claims. The team acknowledges the process of carbonate material can form under high temperature. It is asserted that early Mars was warmer and wetter providing the right conditions for the carbon material to form. In addition, impacts on Mars would also provide the right conditions for the carbonate materials to form as well. Regarding Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: The McKay team reports that PAHs are not a diagnostic for life, but PAHs present with carbonate material supports life. Contamination has been ruled out by other teams examining ALH 84001. In addition, PAHs have also been detected in the meteorite Nakhla. Additional teams studying ALH 84001 have also ruled out any terrestrial contamination as well as any formation by result of high temperature and shock. Reexamination demonstrates three types of Magnetite crystals are present suggestion formation through abiotic process in a low temperature environment – ruling out fracturing caused by high temperatures, or temperature fluctuations suggested by the presence of Greigite. Regarding Rod-Like Microfossils: While it is accepted that the micro-fossils can be fossilized minerals, nano-bacteria can also mineralize. Terrestrial analogs have been detected in the blood-stream of mammals which rules out the possibility of artifacts caused by electron microscope scanning. The nano-fossils are most likely smaller parts of larger bacteria explaining the small size. The McKay team is careful to state that the evidence is circumstantial and must be examined in context. Each piece of evidence relies on each other and must be looked at as a whole. Discovered inside cracks indicated formation Can form through non-biological process in high Biological process can still form carbonate material in high temperatures. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Formed by biological process – breakdown of organic Can form in space, high temperatures and possible No claim to direct PAHs formation and biological process. Contamination ruled out by other studies. PAHs found in another meteorite from Mars – in conjunction with carbon material suggests Crystal shapes equal to material found on Earth – through biological process. Crystals examined were fractured, formed likely by Three types of crystal shapes, all by biological process. No evidence of formation by high temperature. Scanning electron microscope reveals bacteria Could be fractures caused by the scanning, could also be mineral grains. They are too small to replicate. Nano-bacteria can mineralize. Same shaped nano-bacteria found in mammalian blood rules out artifacts. Smaller nano-bacteria part of larger bacteria. The process of examination performed by the McKay team is a testament to the Scientific Method. Their initial results were carefully laid out while providing data for any counterpoints, such as contamination (being one of the main issues). They were careful to announce any “hard facts” and stated their evidence was circumstantial. The arguments against the data were presented; the processes defining the arguments were reasonable, but explainable by rebuttal. In addition, the data was confirmed by a separate examining group – and this was even indicated by one of the contender’s papers [R4]. The data presented and the arguments resulting are enough to demonstrate that life could have existed on Mars. The fact that two additional meteorites were found to support the results of ALH 84001 corroborate this. The debate will no doubt continue, and rightly so. It was Carl Sagan who said “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Until Astronomers find a smoking gun to prove life – which is an extraordinary claim outside the realm of Earth – the data will most likely be interpreted based on point of view [R1] Becker, Luann; Popp, Brian; Rust, Terri and Jeffrey Bada. “The Origin of Organic Matter in the Martian Meteorite ALH84001.” EPSL. Elsevier. 14 January 1999. [R2] Gibson, Everett K. and David S. McKay. “The Case for Relic Life on Mars.” Scientific American, Volume 277, Issue 6, page 58. December 1997. [R3] Gibson, E.K. et al. “Life on Mars: Evaluation of the Evidence within Martian Meteorites ALH84001, Nakhla, and Shergotty.” Precambrian Research. Elvevier. 12 July 1999. [R4] Knoll, Andrew. “A Martian Chronicle.” The Sciences. July/August 1998. [R5] Lunine, Jonathan. Astrobiology. A Multidisciplinary Approach. Pearson Addison Wesley, San Francisco. 2005. [R6] McKay, David S. et al. “Search for Past Life on Mars: Possible Relic Biogenic Activity in Martian Meteorite ALH84001.” Science, volume 273. 16 August 1996. [R7] Thomas-Keprta, Kathie et al. “Truncated Hexa-octahedral Magnetite Crystals in ALH84001: Presumptive Biosignatures.” PNAS, volume 98, number 5. 27 February 2001. [R8] ALH84001: Origins and History: [R9] Doubts About ALH84001: The JSC Mars Meteorite Team Responds: [R10] It’s dead Jim. But was it ever [R11] Mars Meteorite ALH 84001 – An [R12] Mars Meteorites: [R13] Marsnews.com – Life on Mars: [R14] The ALH 84001 Meteorite: [R15] What is ALH 84001? [R16] Evidence for Past Life on Mars? Pass your 70-573 book on first try using exam 70-506 and 70-682 vce prepared by certified experts to provide you guaranteed success; they also prepare exam 70-431 & 70-576 vce with full devotion. Back to Top | Back to Astrobiology

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10.3.2 Landfill CH4: regional trends Landfill CH4 has historically been the largest source of GHG emissions from the waste sector. The growth in landfill emissions has diminished during the last 20 years due to increased rates of landfill CH4 recovery in many countries and decreased rates of landfilling in the EU. The recovery and utilization of landfill CH4 as a source of renewable energy was first commercialized in 1975 and is now being implemented at >1150 plants worldwide with emission reductions of >105 MtCO2-eq/yr (Willumsen, 2003; Bogner and Matthews, 2003). This number should be considered a minimum because there are also many sites that recover and flare landfill gas without energy recovery. Figure 10.5 compares regional emissions estimates for five-year intervals from 1990–2020 (US EPA, 2006) to annual historical estimates from 1971–2002 (Bogner and Matthews, 2003). The trends converge for Europe and the OECD Pacific, but there are differences for North America and Asia related to differences in methodologies and assumptions. Figure 10.5: Regional landfill CH4 emission trends (MtCO2-eq). Notes: Includes a) Annual historic emission trends from Bogner and Matthews (2003), extended through 2002; b) Emission estimates for five-year intervals from 1990–2020 using 1996 inventory procedures, extrapolations and projections (US EPA, 2006). A comparison of the present rate of landfill CH4 recovery to estimated global emissions (Table 10.3) indicates that the minimum recovery and utilization rates discussed above (>105 MtCO2-eq yr) currently exceed the average projected increase from 2005 to 2010. Thus, it is reasonable to state that landfill CH4 recovery is beginning to stabilize emissions from this source. A linear regression using historical data from the early 1980s to 2003 indicates a conservative growth rate for landfill CH4 utilization of approximately 5% per year (Bogner and Matthews, 2003). For the EU-15, trends indicate that landfill CH4 emissions are declining substantially. Between 1990 and 2002, landfill CH4 emissions decreased by almost 30% (Deuber et al., 2005) due to the early implementation of the landfill directive (1999/31/EC) and similar national legislation intended to both reduce the landfilling of biodegradable waste and increase landfill CH4 recovery at existing sites. By 2010, GHG emissions from waste in the EU are projected to be more than 50% below 1990 levels due to these initiatives (EEA, 2004). For developing countries, as discussed in the previous section (10.3.1), rates of landfill CH4 emissions are expected to increase concurrently with increased landfilling. However, incentives such as the CDM can accelerate rates of landfill CH4 recovery and use in parallel with improved landfilling practices. In addition, since substantial CH4 can be emitted both before and after the period of active gas recovery, sites should be encouraged, where feasible, to install horizontal gas collection systems concurrent with filling and implement solutions to mitigate residual emissions after closure (such as landfill biocovers to microbially oxidize CH4—see section 10.4.2).

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Sociedade & Natureza versión On-line ISSN 1982-4513 ROSOLEN, Vania et al. Changes in the total and isotopic soil carbon after conversion from Cerrado to agricultural systems in the Triângulo Mineiro. Soc. nat. [online]. 2012, vol.24, n.1, pp. 157-167. ISSN 1982-4513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1982-45132012000100013. The Cerrado soils suffer impacts related to the conversion of the original vegetation in agricultural systems, e.g., in the imbalances of stocks and nature of carbon. The Triângulo Mineiro region has been deforested by supporting the expansion of agribusiness and presents serious problems related to soil erosion. This study aimed to assess changes in content (Ctotal) and in nature (δ13C) of soil organic carbon after conversion of cerrado in different agricultural uses (pasture, soybean and soybean / corn), management (tillage and no-tillage). The results showed that changes in the values related to the use and management are also determined by the textural characteristics of soils formed by the alteration of different rock types. Among the different uses and management, the greater enrichment of the carbon content was determined in the no-tillage soybean / corn in a clayey soil and the further impoverishment was determined in not managed pastures developed in sandy soils from sandstones of Adamantina and Marília Formations. These studies are useful for use as quality indicators for environmental conservation. Palabras llave : Brazilian savannah; soil organic matter; total organic carbon; carbon isotope; agricultural systems.

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Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità Print version ISSN 0021-2571 NOALE, Marianna et al. Longevity and health expectancy in an ageing society: implications for public health in Italy. Ann. Ist. Super. Sanità [online]. 2012, vol.48, n.3, pp. 292-299. ISSN 0021-2571. http://dx.doi.org/10.4415/ANN_12_03_10. INTRODUCTION: While the prolongation of life expectancy is due to medical, economic, social and public health advancements, longevity may not necessarily be an indicator of real development. Epidemiologic data indicate, in fact, that advanced age carries the risk of multiple diseases, disability and loss of autonomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: How the years gained are lived need to be assessed evaluating quality of life, health status, and disability. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Good health care planning should aim to ensure that the years of life gained are lived in good health conditions in the light of the World Health Organization's declaration that "increased longevity without quality of life is an empty prize. Health expectancy is more important than life expectancy". Keywords : demographic ageing; life expectancy; disability-free life expectancy; health planning.

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The Grand Geyser, the largest predictable geyser in Yellowstone, can spout boiling water over 150 feet in the air. Yellowstone National Park is a United States National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the world's first national park, set aside in 1872 to preserve the vast number of geysers, hot springs, and other thermal areas, as well as to protect the incredible wildlife and rugged beauty of the area. The park is principally contained within the northwest corner of Wyoming, but also extends into the states of Idaho and Montana. The calcite terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. These springs flourished with water until the late 1970s, but are currently dry. Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world and covers 3,472 square miles (8,987 km²), mostly in the northwest corner of Wyoming. The park is famous for its various geysers, hot springs, and other geothermal features and is home to grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western U.S., much of the Midwest, northern Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific Coast. The eruption dwarfed that of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and left a huge caldera. Yellowstone typically erupts every 600,000 to 900,000 years with the last event occurring 640,000 years ago. Its eruptions are among the largest known to have ever occurred on Earth, producing drastic climate change in the aftermath. Although it is commonly assumed that the park was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the park's name comes from the Yellowstone River that flows through it, which is in turn named after sandstone bluffs found farther down its course in eastern Montana. On March 1,1872, Yellowstone became the first National Park reserve declared anywhere in the world, by President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1978 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . Geological characteristics form the foundation of an ecosystem. In Yellowstone, the interplay between volcanic, hydrothermal, and glacial processes and the distribution of flora and fauna are intricate and unique. The topography of the land from southern Idaho northeast to Yellowstone results from millions of years of hotspot influence. Some scientists believe the Yellowstone Plateau itself is a result of uplift due to hotspot volcanism. Flora and fauna The park is the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems remaining on the planet. Black bears, grizzly bears, deer, elk, bison, bighorn sheep and wolves can all be found within the park borders. Raptors such as Bald Eagles (pictured above), Golden Eagles, and Falcons are commonly seen throughout the park. This Bald Eagle was photographed while hunting for prey near Mammoth Hot Springs, in the northern portion of the park. It is not at all unusual to see many types of bears, like this black bear, near the roadways or up on the ridges of Yellowstone in the summertime, usually foraging for food. Primary geothermal features include geysers, mud pots, hot springs and fumaroles, which exist because of the active volcano that Yellowstone sits on top of. Geothermal features are formed by superheated water heated by the volcano. The pressure is so intense that it gets released into the air as hundreds of gallons of steaming water, or, when the pressure is not as intense, hot springs or mud pots are formed. Various colors of the pool are due to different types of bacteria growing in different temperatures. A good way to learn about the geothermal features is through the Young Scientist Program. Please check with a Ranger at the Old Faithful Visitor Center. The weather in Yellowstone National Park can change very rapidly from sunny and warm to cold and rainy, so it's important to bring along extra layers of clothing which can be used as needed. - Summer: Daytime temperatures are often in the 70s (25°C) and occasionally in the 80s (30°C) in lower elevations. Nights are usually cool and temperatures may drop below freezing at higher elevations. Thunderstorms are common in the afternoons. - Winter: Temperatures often range from zero to 20°F(-20°C to -5°C) throughout the day. Sub-zero temperatures over-night are common. The record low temperature is -66F (-54°C). Snowfall is highly variable. While the average is 150 inches per year, it is not uncommon for higher elevations to get twice that amount. - Spring & Fall: Daytime temperatures range from the 30s to the 60s (0 to 20°C) with overnight lows in the teens to single digits (-5 to -20°C). Snow is common in the Spring and Fall with regular accumulations of 12" in a 24 hour period. At any time of year, be prepared for sudden changes. Unpredictability, more than anything else, characterizes Yellowstone’s weather. Always be equipped with a wide range of clothing options. Be sure to bring a warm jacket and rain gear even in the summer. Official map from the National Park Service; in the public domain and not protected by copyright. The principal airport serving Yellowstone is the Jackson Hole Airport (IATA: JAC) located within Grand Teton National Park. United and Delta serve Jackson Hole year-round, from Denver and Salt Lake City respectively. American and Frontier provide service on a seasonal basis. Alternative airports with limited/seasonal commercial service can be found in: Alternative airports may have less airline service than Jackson Hole. The park has 5 entrances. The nearest cities to each entrance are given. - North - Accessed from Gardiner (Montana) via US Route 89 (56 mi, 90 km from Livingston). This entrance is open all year and leads to the park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs, 5 miles (8 km) inside the park boundary. The iconic Roosevelt Arch is located at this entrance. - Northeast - Accessed from Silver Gate and Cooke City via US Route 212 (Beartooth Highway). The entrance and road to Cooke City are open all year, but Route 212 past Cooke City is closed in winter (mid-October to late May). - East - Accessed from Cody (53 mi, 85 km) via US Route 14/16/20. This entrance is closed in winter (early November to early May). - South - Accessed from Grand Teton National Park via US Route 89/191/287. This entrance is closed in winter (early November to mid-May). - West - Accessed from West Yellowstone via US Route 20/191/287 (60 mi, 97 km from Ashton (Idaho). This entrance is closed in winter (early November to late April). All vehicles and individuals entering the park must pay an entrance fee that is valid for seven days. The entrance fee provides entry to both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Fees are $25 for non-commercial vehicles, $12 for hikers and cyclists, and $20 for motorcycles and snowmobiles. One year passes are available as an alternative to the seven day fee. The Park Annual Pass is $50 and provides entrance to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The Interagency Annual Pass is $80 and provides entrance to most federal recreation sites across the country including Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Most visitors use private vehicles to get around inside Yellowstone National Park. There is no public transportation available within the park. Roads can become very crowded whenever people stop to view wildlife; use pullouts, and be respectful of other motorists to help avoid bear-jams. For a fee, classic buses will lead passengers on a guided tour of the Grand Loop Road Xanterra Resorts provides bus tours within the park during the summer season. The Lower Loop Tour departs from locations in the southern part of the Park only. The Upper Loop Tour departs from Lake Hotel, Fishing Bridge RV Park, and Canyon Lodge to tour the northern section of the park only. The Grand Loop Tour departs from Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel to tour the entire park in one day. During the winter season snowcoach tours are provided from various locations. Call (307) 344-7311 for information or reservations. In addition, during the summer season, commercial businesses offer tours originating from many area towns and cities. During the winter season, some businesses provide snowcoach tours for most park roads or bus transportation on the Mammoth Hot Springs to Cooke City road. Cycling in the park can be a very rewarding experience, but due to the great distances in the park some additional planning is necessary to ensure that lodging is available each night. The park reserves a number of campsites for cyclists, but during the busy summer season it is probably best to reserve sites in advance wherever possible. Clepsydra geyser at play, Lower Geyser basin. Yellowstone is world-famous for its natural heritage and beauty - and for the fact that it holds half the world's geothermal features, with more than 10,000 examples. Travelers to Yellowstone can view more than 300 geysers (such as "Old Faithful"), pools of boiling mud, and an amazing assemblage of wildlife, such as grizzly bears, wolves, bison and elk, all while standing on the surface of the Earth's largest known "super-volcano". - Mammoth Hot Springs. Mineral-laden hot water flows from springs, depositing calcite and other substances in its wake. Over time, these deposits form large terraces and other shapes. Some of the terraces grow several inches per day. - Fort Yellowstone. The historic center of activity during the United States Army's tenure of the park. - Bunsen Peak. The hike to the top of this 8,564 foot peak takes approximately three hours round trip. The peak overlooks the old Ft. Yellowstone area and it is only a gradual climb. Bring water and snacks (and bear bells if you think they'll work). - Boiling River. This small swimming hole is one of very few spots in the park where visitors can soak in naturally-heated water. It tends to be very crowded, so try to visit very early in the morning during peak season. Looking like an image from space, mattes of cyanobacteria thrive in the scalding waters of Biscuit Basin. - Norris Geyser Basin. One of the parks many spectacular thermal areas, and home to Steamboat Geyser, the world's largest geyser, which can throw water more than 300 feet into the air when it erupts. The Norris area is the hottest, most acidic, and most changeable in the park. - Roaring Mountain. A collection of steam vents and hot springs which make noises ranging from a nearly inaudible whisper to a roar that can be heard miles away. This thermal feature is right beside the park highway. - Gibbon River. - Virginia Cascades. - Artist Paint Pots. A half-mile hike takes you past many colorful hot springs, steam vents and bubbling mud pots. - Monument Geyser Basin. Although largely extinct, Monument Geyser Basin contains several intriguing travertine structures and some great views on its mile-long access trail. - Gibbon Falls. These 84-foot falls tumble down a staircase-like rock -- easy to see from a pullover area on the park highway. - Madison River. The river creates a canyon with steep, tree-covered rock walls on each side. - Terrace Springs. - Firehole Canyon Drive and Firehole Falls. - National Park Mountain. The mountain where the Madison and Firehole rivers meet. As legend has it, this is where the idea came about to preserve Yellowstone as a National Park. Geyser basins, including Old Faithful - Upper Geyser Basin. The most popular visitor area in the park, the Upper Geyser Basin is home to the largest number of geysers in the park, with over 100 located within a one square mile area. Boardwalks allow access to the most interesting areas. Do not leave the trails; the surface here is thin and unstable and has a real chance of depositing you in a boiling pool of water if you walk where you're not supposed to. - Old Faithful The world's most famous geyser, with large eruptions occurring an average of about once every hour and a half. Despite its reputation for having eruptions you can set a watch to, the timing between each eruption has actually been increasing over the past several decades. Rangers are able to predict the geyser's eruptions to within about 10 minutes, provided the duration of the previous eruption is known. - Other geysers in Upper Geyser Basin that are well enough understood to be predictable (sort of!) are Grand Geyser (probably the finest predictable geyser in the park), Castle Geyser, Daisy Geyser, and Riverside Geyser. Check at the Old Faithful visitor center for predictions, which will have uncertainties of an hour or so associated with them, sometimes more. - Lower Geyser Basin. Unlike Upper Basin, most active areas here are accessible by car. Great Fountain Geyser is the largest geyser in this group, is easily reached by car, and is well enough understood to be predicted, after a fashion; check at the Old Faithful visitor center, and when you get to the geyser, check the bulletin board again, as its behavior allows periodic updating of the predictions. The Grand Prismatic Spring, viewed from above. There is a trail that goes around the back of the spring which has a small turn-off that lets intrepid climbers rise about 400 feet above the spring, and capture the entire basin in one view. For a closer view, there are raised boardwalks around the spring and nearby pools (viewable in the detail of the picture) - Midway Geyser Basin. This geyser basin is on a hill overlooking the Firehole River. The runoff from its thermal features flows into the river, leaving steaming, colorful trails in its wake. Absolutely spectacular! - Grand Prismatic Spring. Perhaps this geyser basin's most famous feature, this is a mass of sapphire blue hot water with bands of yellow and orange around its edges. This spring is more than 300 feet across. - Excelsior Geyser once had such violent eruptions that it seems to have blown itself up. This geyser hasn't erupted in years, but it still discharges over 4000 gallons of water per minute into the nearby Firehole River. Lone Star geyser erupting, Check at Old Faithful Visitor Center for times - Lone Star Geyser Basin. This and the following are more "Do" than "See," as they require some hiking to reach them. The route takes off from the loop road south of Upper Geyser Basin and follows an old, now-closed road for a total of about 3 miles (5 km). Bicycles can make it most of the way to Lone Star. Nice hike for families. - Shoshone Geyser Basin. Serious hiking is required to reach this remote basin, which is beyond Lone Star and a good 7 miles (12 km) one way from the trailhead. - West Thumb Geyser Basin. With a little imagination, Yellowstone Lake looks like a left hand reaching southward. This thermal area is along the western thumblike section of the lake. Several geysers and hot springs (even a couple that are just a few inches across!) are in this area, including the following two sights: - Abyss Pool. There is an optical illusion with this brilliant blue hot spring that makes it look bottomless. - Fishing Cone. In the past, people used to catch fish in Yellowstone Lake and then cook the fish by dipping them into this partially submerged hot spring. This stunt is no longer allowed. - Shoshone Lake. - Yellowstone Lake. This is the largest freshwater lake at an elevation over 8,000 feet in the country. It spreads 20 miles east to west and 30 miles north to south. The Yellowstone River empties out into the lake. - Mud Volcano/Sulphur Cauldron. This area of the park has pools of mud that are constantly seething and boiling. - Mud Volcano This was once a hilltop thermal feature that would hurl mud into the nearby trees during eruptions. One particularly large eruption blew apart the Mud Volcano, leaving a hot, bubbling mud pool at the base of the hill. - Dragon's Mouth Spring Steam and hot water surge forth from within an underground cavern, creating waves in the surface mud pool. These surges of water and steam reverberate inside the cavern and make loud thumping or roaring sounds. - Sulphur Cauldron This vast hot spring is strongly acidic thanks to the action of microorganisms. - Natural Bridge. Dead trees near the summit of Mt. Washburn. These trees are the victims of a massive forest fire in 1987 that burned through over 30% of the forest running through the park. In a controversial decision, it went unchecked by the National Park Service, but has allowed for new growth to sprout in large parts of the park. - The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Chemical processes over time have left stripes and patches of different colors in the rock of this canyon. Depths of the canyon reach 800-1200 feet. Trails lead along the north and south rims of the canyon, but while traveling the entire trail in one day is possible, it makes for a long and tiring day. Best to make it two shorter (~3 hour) day hikes. If you're a photo buff, plan your walks so the sun illuminates the opposite side for great pictures. - Artist point - great spot to view the canyon and the lower falls. - The Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. These are the two largest waterfalls in the park. The Upper Falls is 109 feet tall and creates a small canyon. The large Lower Falls is about 309 feet tall, and creates the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. - Hayden Valley. Some people say it's the best place to watch bison in Yellowstone. Hayden Valley is home to a large number of animals, and includes the infamous Mud Volcano. - Mt. Washburn. One of the best places in the park for spotting bighorn sheep, a trail leads up the mountain to a lookout tower near the 10,243 foot summit. The altitude may affect some hikers, so it is best to be acclimatized to the higher elevation before attempting this hike. In addition, bring extra layers, even in the summer, since the top can be windy and cold. - Specimen Ridge. - Petrified Forest. This is home to a large petrified forest. It is accessible along the highway. - Tower Fall. The 100-foot tall waterfall plunges down a rock, creates a thin canyon, and a rapid creek. - Calcite Springs. - Car Free Week. Yellowstone opens its roads to bicyclists and hikers one week before car traffic resumes each spring (usually in April). This week is a rare opportunity to see Yellowtone's sights and wildlife without the crowds and traffic. Several West Yellowstone businesses rent bikes. - Young Scientist, . Students ages 5 and up can learn about Yellowstone's geothermal features. Students are given scientist toolkit, including an infrared thermometer, stop watch, magnifying glass and other gear. Once you've finished it, you have a choice of a patch or key chain. - Jr Ranger Program, . Jr Ranger Program provides an opportunity for children 5 - 12 to earn a Jr Ranger patch. Ages 5-7 can earn the wolf patch and Ages 8-12 can earn the Bear patch. In order to get a patch, a 12 page activity booklet needs to be answered correctly and checked by a ranger. An activity booklet costs $3. Many visitors believe they can visit all 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone in 1-2 days - all the while staying within sight of their car or tour bus. To truly appreciate this vast park, get off the park roads and paved tourist paths. A bison ambles along Norris to Canyon Road. Despite their docile appearance, bison are temperamental and can move extremely fast.They should be viewed from a safe distance through binoculars or telephoto lenses. - Hiking -- Walking as little as 100 feet away from the camera gangs will give you more of an appreciation for the park. Taking a few 3-4 hour day hikes on established hiking trails is even better, yet will still allow you the luxury of a hot shower in the morning and prepared dinner in the evening. - Wildlife Viewing -- There is a lot of wildlife to view within the park limits. Birds (osprey, bald eagles, and many, many other species,) bison, big cats, deer, wolves, fox, bears, big-horn sheep, elk, and other animals can all be seen within the park over a short period of time. The more time that you spend in the park, the more wildlife that you will see. Some animals, such as the wolves, bears, and the big-horn sheep are generally not viewable from the park roads. The spaces within the park are grand, so make sure to bring binoculars and/or a spotting scope to best view animals safely. - Horseback Riding -- There are many opporunities to enjoy YNP and the scenery there. Endulge in horse riding opportunities in YNP and a famous battlefield. - Photography -- Yellowstone holds unprecedented photo opportunities with natural environments, beautiful hydrothermal features and animals to be found throughout the park. The colors of the hot springs range from bland white (for the very, very hot) to yellows and blues, greens and oranges. Some of the features are very large, and the challenge can be finding a way to get them in the frame. Be creative! There have been a lot of pictures taken in Yellowstone, and there are a lot more still waiting to be taken. - Swimming -- Swimming is allowed (but not encouraged) at the Firehole Cascades swimming area, a section of the Firehole River that is warmed by hot springs. This area, accessible via the Firehole Canyon Drive, has a toilet but no lifeguard and not much parking. - Interpretive Programs Every major village within the park offers food, camping supplies, and souvenirs for sale, although these stores all close during the winter months. Gasoline and automotive services are available in the following locations: - Canyon (late April to early November). Gasoline, diesel and auto repair. - Fishing Bridge (mid May to late September). Gasoline, diesel, propane and auto repair. - Grant Village (mid April to mid October). Gasoline, diesel, propane, and auto repair. - Mammoth (early May to mid October). Gasoline and diesel. - Old Faithful (Lower) (mid April to early November). Gasoline and diesel. - Old Faithful (Upper) (late May to late September). Gasoline and auto repair. - Tower Junction (early June to early September). Gasoline. Vintage sign at Mammoth Hot Springs: There are a variety of restaurant venues scattered throughout the park. Most of the villages sell food supplies and may offer snack bars. The following restaurants and cafeterias are also available: - Old Faithful Inn Dining Room. - Old Faithful Snow Lodge Restaurant. - Old Faithful Lodge Cafeteria. - Lake Yellowstone Hotel Dining Room. - Lake Lodge Cafeteria. - Grant Village Restaurant. - Grant Village Lakehouse Restaurant. - Canyon Lodge Cafeteria. Great breakfast with omelet of the day ($4.2), links ($1.05 for two), bacon ($1.05 for two), hot oatmeal and a few other choices. - Canyon Lodge Dining Room. - Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel Dining Room. - Roosevelt Lodge Dining Room. Cocktails can be purchased in the lodge restaurants, and lighter beverages can be obtained at the snack bars. A small cauldron bubbles in the Upper Geyser Basin across from Old Faithful Inn. Lodging in the park fills quickly and should be booked in advance. Cancellations are common, so if a particular lodging option is unavailable it is a good idea to re-check frequently to see if it becomes available. Reservations for all lodges and cabins in the park can be made through Xanterra Parks & Resorts or by calling (307) 344-7311. All park accommodations are non-smoking and, reflecting the natural surroundings of Yellowstone, televisions, radios, air conditioning, and Internet hook-ups are not available. - Canyon Lodge and Cabins, . In the Canyon area the lodge options include the Canyon Lodge, Cascade Lodge, and Dunraven Lodge. Cascade Lodge and Dunrave Lodge offer hotel-style rooms, while the Canyon Lodge is actually a group of cabins. All lodging has a private bath. - Grant Village, . Offering an array of hotel-like rooms and cabins for families, this hotel complex provides the basic amenities without some of the flair of the Old Faithful Inn but at prices that are a bit lower, and Grant Village may have greater availability due to the number of rooms available there. There is a post office nearby, as well as a cafeteria, a soda-jerk diner, and a sandwich shop in the complex, as well as a reservations-only restaurant serving local fare. Even if you decide not to eat at the restaurant, do go in to check out the large array of beautiful photographs taken by one of the long-time Yellowstone Maintenance heads, who is also one of the park photographers. - Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins, . Located right on Lake Yellowstone (there's a boat pier and a restaurant right on the edge of the lake), the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins provide a rustic experience that probably won't excite a luxury traveler, but the staff provides the basics - decent rooms, reasonably good food, and breathtaking views of the lake and its surroundings. Watch out for mosquitos especially as you walk near the lake in mornings and afternoons in the summer, they come out in swarms, but DEET or similar mosquito repellant will keep them away. - Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel & Cabins, . Open year-round. The hotel offers rooms both with a private bath or with a shared bath. Another option is to stay in the many cabins located next to the hotel, also with private or shared bath. For hikers just looking to clean up, showers are available for $3.25 (inquire and pay fee in advance at front desk). - Old Faithful Inn, . A national historic site, this rustic hotel was originally constructed entirely of logs before two wings were added in the early 20th century. The vast lobby incorporates large tree trunks as pillars and a stone fireplace. Range of accommodations from rooms with shared bathrooms and showers nearby, to suites with private bathrooms and refrigerators. Located near Old Faithful Geyser. Open from May through October. - Old Faithful Lodge Cabins, . Large windows in the lobby face Old Faithful Geyser. Gift shop, restaurants, bakery. Open from May-Oct. - Old Faithful Snow Lodge, . Open December through March. - Roosevelt Lodge Cabins, . A trick of refraction, blue steam rises off the waters of Grand Prismatic Spring Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates campgrounds at Bridge Bay, Canyon, Fishing Bridge, Grant Village, and Madison. Same-day reservations can be made by calling: 307-344-7901. Future reservations can be made by calling: 307-344-7311 or by writing: Yellowstone National Park Lodges, PO Box 165, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. Reservations should be made well in advance and/or campsites should be secured as early in the day as possible. Campgrounds may fill by early morning, especially during peak season (early July - late August). Recreational vehicles over 30 ft should make reservations since there is a limited number of RV sites available in Yellowstone. Large RV sites are located at Flag Ranch, Fishing Bridge RV Park and West Yellowstone. Indian Creek, Lewis Lake, Mammoth, Norris, Pebble Creek, Slough Creek, and Tower Fall are operated by the National Park Service and do not accept reservations; all sites are first-come, first-served. - Bridge Bay. (27-May to 18-Sep). 432 sites, flush toilets, RV dump station. $17 per site. - Canyon. (06-Jun to 11-Sep). 272 sites, showers, flush toilets. $20.15 per site. - Fishing Bridge RV. (20-May to 02-Oct). 344 sites, showers, flush toilets, RV sewer station. This is the only campground offering water, sewer, and electrical hookups, and it is for hard-sided vehicles only (no tents or tent-trailers are allowed). $31 per site. - Grant. (21-Jun to 02-Oct). 425 sites, showers, flush toilets, RV dump station. $19 per site. - Indian Creek. (10-Jun to 19-Sep). 75 sites, pit toilets. $12 per site. - Lewis Lake. (17-Jun to 06-Nov). 85 sites, pit toilets. $12 per site. - Madison. (06-May to 30-Oct). 277 sites, flush toilets, RV dump station. $20.35 per site. - Mammoth. checkout: $14 per site. (Year round). 85 sites, flush toilets. - Norris. (20-May to 26-Sep). 116 sites, flush toilets. $14 per site. - Pebble Creek. (03-Jun to 26-Sep). 32 sites, pit toilets. $12 per site. - Slough Creek. (27-May to 31-Oct). 29 sites, pit toilets. $12 per site. - Tower Fall. (20-May to 26-Sep). 32 sites, pit toilets. $12 per site. Artist's Point -- the classic, iconic overlook of Lower Yellowstone Falls. Permits are required for all backcountry camping, and quotas are placed on the number of people that may use an area at a given time. The maximum stay per backcountry campsite varies from 1 to 3 nights per trip. Campfires are permitted only in established fire pits, and wood fires are not allowed in some backcountry campsites. A food storage pole is provided at most designated campsites so that food and attractants may be secured from bears. Neither hunting nor firearms are allowed in Yellowstone's backcountry. Permits may be obtained only in person and no more than 48 hours in advance of your trip, although backcountry sites may be reserved through the mail well in advance for a non-refundable $20 reservation fee. To reserve a site, download the reservation form from the Backcountry Trip Planner , call (307) 344-2160, or by writing: Backcountry Office, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. During the summer season (Jun-Aug), permits are available 7 days a week between 8AM and 4:30PM at the following locations: - Bechler Ranger Station - Canyon Ranger Station/Visitor Center - Grant Village Visitor Center - Lake Ranger Station - Mammoth Ranger Station/Visitor Center - Old Faithful Ranger Station - South Entrance Ranger Station - Tower Ranger Station - West Entrance Ranger Station In addition, permits may sometimes be obtained from rangers on duty at the East Entrance and Bridge Bay Ranger Station. However, these rangers have other duties and may not be available to provide assistance at all times. During the spring, fall, and winter seasons, ranger stations and visitor centers do not have set hours. To obtain a Backcountry Use Permit during these seasons, check the office hours posted at the nearest ranger station or visitor center. Fragile sinter crusts and ledges can give way, plunging a careless tourist into the boiling waters below Though many of the animals in the park are used to seeing humans, the wildlife is nonetheless wild and should not be fed or disturbed. Stay at least 100 m away from bears and 25 m from all other wild animals! Bison, elk, moose, bears, and nearly all large animals can attack! For any doubters, the National Park Service has put a series of animal attack videos online -- these animals are large, wild, and potentially dangerous, so give them their space. In addition, be aware that odors attract bears and other wildlife, so avoid carrying or cooking odorous foods and keep a clean camp; do not cook or store food in your tent. All food, garbage, or other odorous items used for preparing or cooking food must be secured from bears. Treat all odorous products such as soap, deodorant, or other toiletries in the same manner as food. Do not leave packs containing food unattended, even for a few minutes. Animals which obtain human food often become aggressive and dependent on human foods, and many can suffer ill health or death from eating a non-native diet. When camping, either filter, boil, or otherwise purify drinking water. Waters may be polluted by animal and/or human wastes, and intestinal infections from drinking untreated water are increasingly common. Always stay on boardwalks in thermal areas. Scalding water lies under thin, breakable crusts; pools are near or above boiling temperatures. Every year visitors traveling off trail are seriously burned, and people have died from the scalding water. No swimming or bathing is allowed in thermal pools. The weather can change rapidly and with little warning. A sunny, warm day can quickly become a cold, rainy or even snowy experience. Hypothermia can be a concern. Be prepared for a variety of weather conditions by bringing along appropriate clothing. Lightning can and does injure and kill people in the park, so watch the sky and take shelter in a building if you hear thunder. - Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone's southern neighbor is famous for its dramatic mountain vistas and its alpine lakes. Admission to Grand Teton is included in the Yellowstone price. Note, however, that the road connecting the two parks is closed during winter (early November to mid-May). WikiPedia: Yellowstone National Park Dmoz:North America/United States/Wyoming/Travel and Tourism/Parks/National Parks and Monuments/Yellowstone National Park/ |This is a guide article. It has a variety of good, quality information about the park including attractions, activities, lodging, campgrounds, restaurants, and arrival/departure info. Plunge forward and help us make it a star! wts:Category:Yellowstone National Park

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(A) Lord Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC : .............................. .............................. ... "Ram was and is for real. He was born on January 10, 5114 BC," Saroj Bala, IRS, Commisioner of Income Tax says, calmly, with the assurance of one who has tangible facts. Taking on the contemporary historical interpretation of Ramayana as a religio-literary text, and Lord Ram as a semi-mythical figure, is this unassuming person who zealously devotes her spare time to research in history when she's not playing the tax mandarin. And she has chosen the unusual combination of astronomy, Internet and literary texts to provide us a startling picture of Shri Ram. This might change the way we look at history and religion. We might refuse to begin reading Indian history from that comma, or hyphen called 'Indus Valley.' We might have to stretch the beginnings by a few thousand years because, as Saroj Bala says - Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC (which means to say 7,125 years ago, considering present Excerpts of an interview with the lady who has the intellectual courage to go beyond the obvious: What got it all started... As an amateur historian, I've always been interested in Indian culture and heritage. I am proud that we're Indians and the products of one of the oldest civilisations. However, British rule changed us; we developed a sense of being somehow inferior. But I could never reconcile to theories like the theory of Aryan invasion to India in 1500 BC. That would make Indian civilization only 3,500 years old. And if you choose archaeology to dig beyond 7,000 years, you'd have to dig more than 60 metres - something not being done in India as yet. So, archaeology is not the only answer. There's a lot of objective research of another kind that needs to be carried out in earnest. So, how can we say Ram was born on January 10, 5114 B.C... .............................. .............................. .. The Valmiki Ramayana (Bal Kanda 18.8.9) mentions (the planetary positions vis-à-vis zodiac constellations) at the time of Lord Ram's birth as 'the ninth lunar day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, asterism Punarvasu was in the ascendant and (as many as) five planets (viz, the Sun, Mars , Saturn, Jupiter and Venus) happened to be exalted (appeared in the zodiacal signs of Mesa or Aries, Makara or Capricorn, Tula or Libra, Karka or Cancer, and Mina or Pisces respectively) and Jupiter in conjunction with the Moon appeared in the zodiacal sign of Karka' My colleague Pushkar Bhatnagar of Indian Revenue Service is the real originator of this theory. He acquired a software named Planetarium, used to predict planetary movements and configurations. He had designed a software called 'Planetarium Gold Software' which is generally used by scientists to measure the distance and locations of planets from earth and to predict lunar and solar eclipses. By entering in this software, precise details of planetary positions vis-à-vis zodiac constellations described by Maharishi Valmiki in the Valmiki Ramayan, it is possible to determine important dates starting from Shri Ram's birth-date to the date of his return to Ayodhya. So, the same details were entered in the Planetarium Gold software to determine the important dates in the life of Lord Ram vis-à-vis the present planetary positions and zodiac constellations and calculated that Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC, (which means to say 7,124 years ago, considering present year 2010). More than just Ram's date of birth... The results have not just thrown up Shri Ram's date of birth; it has actually traced the entire sequence of incidents throughout Ramayan. Pushkar Bhatnagar starts with tracing Ram's birth. Then he moves ahead in the narrative. Valmiki Ramayan states Ram was 25-years-old when he went to exile. When the configuration of planets described at this point is fed into the software, the date thrown up matches perfectly with Ram's age at that juncture of his life - 25 years. Again in the 13th year of Ram's exile, during a war with Khar and Dushan, Valmiki describes a solar eclipse. The software proves that on that given day there was indeed a solar eclipse (with Mars in the middle). This solar eclipse and the particular configuration of planets could be seen from Panchavati (longitude and latitude plainly shown in the software). Hanuman Saw 8 Constellations while flying to Lanka... In the Sunderkand, when Valmiki describes Hanuman crossing the sea and returning from Lanka to Rameshwaram, he gives details of 8 constellations. Usually, one can see not more than 6 constellations at a given point of time. But since Hanuman was flying across, and it must have taken him approximately 4 hrs to get there, he could see 8 constellations - in two hours one constellation would have moved out of sight and another become visible. So, in a period of 4 hrs he saw 8 Historicising Shri Ram- Man or God... After researching on Shri Ram, I do believe he's a man who walked the earth in flesh and blood. There is an essential difference between the Valmiki Ramayana and the Tulsi Ramayana. Tulsidas was a devotee who looked up to Ram, but Valmiki was a contemporary. Valmiki has written Ram's life-history, as a biographer does - he's a contemporary of Ram, and this is not very different from what happens all over the world. Kings have always had their life-history written. The submerged bridge... Recently, NASA had put pictures on the Internet of a man-made bridge, the ruins of which are submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. This clearly should be treated as historical evidence that corroborates its mention in Valmiki Ramayana. Even if Adam's Bridge(as called by western ) is a natural geological formation, it could have been beautifully used by Ram to construct a temporary bridge for his army to cross over to Sri Lanka. this is one logic. another, which is more nearly that is, as per the description of Ram's birth time, the date come out as 10th jan, 5114BC , right?, and NASA is claiming the bridge age wud be 1.75million years ago! we know, in another calculation, that date was also calculated, if it is true! means, if we believe, Ram was born in the middle years of 28th treta yuga , then we have to believe that Ram could have been born in 1.75 million years ago(this is matching with the period mentioned by NASA about the age of Ram setu/adam bridge) !But after so many years it's impossible for any buildings, dwellings, statues, seals, coins, cloths, bones or weapons to exist. There also cannot be physical records or evidences of every person who walked this earth so long ago. physical evidence of Ramayan like what are available in Ayodhya or arbuda pahar(mount abu) , in many parts of india and sri lanka can not define the age of evidence of that much years old! Physical evidence of Ramayana all over India and sri lanka here is proving that Rama’s period were before 7000 years! and if those were happened in millions of years ago, we must have not got those evidences in front of our eyes! so, why we shud take the date million years back? NASA has the intention to misguide our hystory with the backing of our own government! the logic here is, bridge was made of stone, the age which was difined by NASA that was the age of stone! we know stones made itself in million years formation! so, they calculated it for million years! even today if, a stone brige is made, what will be the age of stone? exactly, it's million years! and this bridge was submerged due to the natural process! again, you can think that the names which were used in Ramayan or Mahabharat are not giving impression to be unknown or very old to us as long as million years! those names are so common to us even at The puzzle of Indian history... The presence of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Vedas cannot be explained by the short period between the decline of the Indus valley civilization and the Rig Vedic period. A civilization cannot suddenly burst into One needs to look at various sources of history to re-build it. Especially when looking at ancient history. One needs to excavate, look at literature, ancient texts, astronomy. Government apathy to archaeological diggings and investigation in this .............................. .............................. ............................. There's been a very strange development in the media and the people of India. We have started seeing ancient India as something equivalent to the word 'Hindu'. Anything that has happened on this land in the past is our common heritage. But, unfortunately, politicians with vested interests have divided the people for vote bank on artificial religious lines and making it appear that anything related to ancient India was related to Hindu, which is not the case and should not be [In such attitude, after some years, every history of hindu civilization will be destroyed or will not be revealed further as hindus are in large scale being converted & those once converted to other religion(muslim/christian) will not be interested to unvail the There has never been any strong will... It is not that researches have been not taken place. There has been excellent work done by noted historians like Sir Alexander Cunningham and Dr Lal. Cunningham has written as many as 21 volumes on ancient Indian history. But one needs special permissions to access these Unfortunately, Cunningham's work that has very important information has not seen the light of the day. Dr. Lal has pictured the ancient city of Dwarka and it can be read in 'The lost city of Dwarka'. He has listed out 1000 artifacts. Only 9 crores needed to be sanctioned by the government in placing a transparent tube to the sea-bed that could allow people to see for themselves the wonder that was Dwarka. And now people equate the sum total of ancient history to 'a temple or no-temple' at Ayodhya. Delay in research also because science hadn't Without the aid of science it is practically impossible to manually calculate the exact planetary configuration 7, 000 years back. It is science which is going to validate our history and prove that it is much older than 3,500 years. What would be the implications of your research on the society? .............................. .............................. ..... I seriously feel that there can only be positive effects of my research. In fact, Indians should seriously re-look how old is our history and culture. This is not the end of the research; it's just the beginning. People should be encouraged to do more in-depth research by all means such as archaeology, dating methods and Max Mueller had come up with the theory that Aryans had come to India in 1500 B.C. In the Internet, Max Mueller Foundations says that that they have re-looked at this theory and is of the opinion that this theory is no longer valid because Indian history is much older than that period. It's just that people have to open up their minds and find out the answers for themselves. (B) Lord Krishna was born on July 21, 3228 BC: Mr. Arun K. Bansal, the father of computer astrology in India, says that Hindu God Krishna was born on July 21, 3228 bc. Bansal rests his claims on two of his software packages’ the Leo Gold and the Palm computer programmes. They can simulate any planetary configuration that has occurred or could occur in time. And July 21, 3228 bc( which means to say 5238 years ago, considering present 2010 year), according to Bansal, satisfies every condition described during Krishna’s birth. Krishna was born in the Rohini nakshatra, in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, on the 8th day of the waning moon at midnight. Bansal says this was enough information for him to nail the date, working backwards from Krishna’s death, which he says occurred at 2 pm on February 18, 3102 bc. His entire case rests on the accuracy of this date, however. Bansal quotes extensively from the Shrimad Bhagwat and the Shri Vishnu Puranas, old Hindu calendars and the Mahabharata to illuminate the clues he chose to follow. "A shloka in the 38th chapter of the Shri Vishnu Puran, says that Kaliyuga started on the day Krishna died." He unearths another shloka in the Shrimad Bhagwat Purana (part 11, chapter 6) where Brahma himself speaks to Krishna about how old he is. "Brahma says that 125 years have passed since Krishna’s birth; this is just before Krishna plans his death." Though not empirically verifiable, the advent of Kaliyuga is traditionally taken to be 3102 bc, because all our panchangas or astrological journals maintain that 5,100 years of Kaliyuga had passed before 1999 AD. The belief is supported by mathematician Aryabhatta’s astronomy treatise Aryabhattiya, the Surya Siddhanta, an astronomical text that dates back to 400 AD, and a 5th century inscription from a temple in Aihole. Deleting 125 years from the date, Bansal figured Krishna was born either in 3327 or 3228 bc. The rest he left up to his software, merely feeding in the planetary configuration that Krishna was supposedly born under, to generate the row of figures that conforms to the Would astrology have thrown any light on what such an individual may have been like? Outlook asked Bansal to create a birth chart based on the date. His computer churns out 15 pages sectioned under tantalising headings like Love & Romance, Appearance, Personality, and Journeys. With Saturn in his seventh house, he would have been fated to court many women’ enter Radha, the gopis and later his 16,108 wives. But since the seventh house was also under the sign of Scorpio, which guarantees a joyful marital life, he’d also have had the power to keep them happy despite having to divide his attentions among them. An attractive appearance and personality would have come from the exalted moon under the sign of Taurus. Jupiter and the exalted Mercury in the fifth house will have conferred intelligence and oratory skills. Fame and power would have come from Ketu in the 9th house, though it would also have forced him to lead a life away from his Certainly stray statements do conform eerily to Krishna’s attributed qualities. "Endowed with a glowing complexion, you have bright eyes and an enchanting smile." Under personality comes?"You have great fancy for music, moonlight and money". Even the Bhagwad Gita seems to have its origin in his birth chart; it predicts that a person born under this astral spread would have been a great believer in karma who would advise others about karma and noble But there are a few adverse planetary configurations to contend with. The chart describes a life of continuous strife, peppered with battles and wars because Rahu, Mars and Venus are in the third house. Due to the location of Jupiter in Leo, he would also have been destined to be estranged from his mother or mothers in his case. With plans to announce the results of his research at the Somnath temple during this years Janmashtami festival for Krishna’s birthday, Bansal says that even the temple’s priests concur with his findings. "Another pandit, Shri Gyananda Saraswati in Benaras, who will come to the celebration in Somnath, has also come up with the same dates." At peace with his research, Bansal prefers to turn a blind eye to the long, long line of astrologers, godmen, NASA scientists, mathematicians and writers stretching all the way back to Aryabhatta who have worked on the same thing. They all quote the same scriptures, taking into account some or all of the astral happenings recorded in great detail, especially the ones during the calamitous time of the Mahabharata war, when Krishna was said to have been 90 years old. These include rare astronomical happenings like the solar and lunar eclipse that occurred consecutively in the space of a month just before the war, a fortnight that lasted only for 13 days instead of 15 when the moon was waning, and a comet that burned through the skies. Also, the planetary positions recorded during the Mahabharata war were roughly replicated 36 years later, when Krishna died. Most scholars prefer to concentrate on the Mahabharata war where a significant cluster of astronomical events occurred, before zooming onto their own set of dates that binds down the life of the eighth avatar of Vishnu in a specific time-frame. But the dates, while drawn from the same source, strain in opposite directions. At a colloquium organised by the Mythic Society in Bangalore in January last year, dates as wide as 1478 bc to 3067 bc were proposed. Contributors included S. Balakrishna (from NASA, US), using Lodestar Pro software, who proposed 2559 bc as the start of the war. Prof R.N. Iyengar (from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) brought the event closer historically, suggesting the date 1478 bc, while B.N. Narahari Achar (Department of Physics, University of Memphis, US) after "critically examining" the astronomical events in the Mahabharata pointed to 3067 bc. Authors like P.V. Vartak push back the date of the Mahabharata much further, to 5561 bc. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, in his book, The True History and the Religion of India, comes up with the same dates as Bansal does. Considering that there are 150 astronomical references provided about the characters and events in the Mahabharata in one lakh-odd shlokas, there is little consensus on what information is worth concentrating on. In addition, there is reason to believe that our scriptures "grew" over time, incorporating events of every period. So there is precious little we can attribute collectively to one age. Many scholars in fact wonder if all the references to Krishna in the scriptures refer to one person or whether the Krishna of Vrindavan and the Krishna of the Mahabharata are two different people. But then searching for that mythical date wouldn’t be half as engaging if the process weren’t so complicated. Any wonder that even though the gods have destinies, they prefer we view them through fogged glasses? Astrological notes on birth of Lord Rama and Krishna Rama and Krishna are arguably the two most important heroes of Indian hystory. However, little effort has been made to understand the real timelines when they could have walked on this earth, in flesh and I usually do not like to express my political views in this forum, but I am sorry to note that any attempt to find the truth about these historical figures is always discouraged by the so called secularists who are sitting in the upper echelons of education system in India. Rama was the seventh avatar of Vishnu and was the prince of Ayodhya. His chart has five exalted planets - four of them in Kendras. The fifth planet, Venus, is exalted in the ninth house, which is considered the most important trine. This chart has three of Pancha Mahapurusha Yoga, which I will be talking about shortly. Mercury could not have been exalted along with Sun - it cannot be more than one house away. This is quite an extraordinary chart and probably that is the main reason why researchers have not even begun to try putting a date on it. But I think its ridiculous and if we look at dates in vicinity of 7000 BC, I am sure we would definitely find such a There was an article in Outlook India based on a research paper by Mr Arun Bansal, according to which Krishna was born on July 21, 3228 BC. The chart of Sri Krishna comes out to be read by you about the various interesting interpretations of the chart in the article - the notable one being “You have great fancy for music, moonlight and money”

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Summary: INTERCAMBIOS: SPANISH FOR GLOBAL COMMUNICATION is a short, complete introductory language program, designed especially for two- or three-semester courses with fewer contact hours. The main purposes of the program are to develop students' listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Spanish, and to help students understand Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, in Latin America and in Spain. Highly integrated components in the program provide many o pportunities to learn and practice Spanish vocabulary, sayings, phrases, pronunciation, and language structures in culturally authentic situations, and situations relevant to students' lives. High-frequency vocabulary, realistic grammar presentations, and compelling cultural readings combine with powerful multimedia resources to provide an integrated program that can be completed easily in either a semester or quarter system. Plus, the INTERCAMBIOS program includes teaching and learning support that gives you and your students exactly what you need. Summary: INTERCAMBIOS: SPANISH FOR GLOBAL COMMUNICATION is a short, complete introductory language program, designed especially for two- or three-semester courses with fewer contact hours. The main purposes of the program are to develop students' listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Spanish, and to help students understand Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, in Latin America and in Spain. Highly integrated components in the program provide many opportunities to learn and practice Spanish vocabulary, sayings, phrases, pronunciation, and language structures in culturally authentic situations, and situations relevant to students' lives. High-frequency vocabulary, realistic grammar presentations, and compelling cultural readings combine with powerful multimedia resources to provide an integrated program that can be completed easily in either a semester or quarter system. Plus, the INTERCAMBIOS program includes teaching and learning support that gives you and your students exactly what you need. ...show less Edition/Copyright:5TH 08 Cover: Paperback Publisher:Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Inc. Published: 01/02/2006 International: No View Table of Contents PASO 1: NUEVOS AMIGOS EN MÉXICO. México. 1. Bienvenida a Monterrey! Language Functions. Greeting others. Introducing yourself and others. Saying where you and others are from. Describing people. Saying goodbye. Vocabulario esencial. Greetings. Personal introductions. Personal titles. Leave-taking expressions. Gramática esencial. Subject pronouns. Present tense of the verb ser. Agreement of descriptive adjectives. Cultura. Customs for greeting and meeting others. Addressing others: tú and usted. 2. Te gusta estudiar y trabajar en la universidad? Language Functions. Naming academic subjects. Saying your address. Saying your telephone number. Saying your age. Stating ownership. Indicating relationships. Expressing likes and dislikes. Describing daily activities. Vocabulario esencial. Classmates and friends. Academic subjects. Jobrelated subjects. Home. Office terms. Numbers 30-100. Colors. Idioms with tener (años, calor, frío, hambre, sed, sueño). Gramática esencial. Present tense of the verb tener. Possessive adjectives. Possession with de(l). Present tense of regular -ar verbs. Me gusta + infinitive. No me gusta + infinitive. Cultura. University Life in Spain and Latin America. 3. Necesito una pasantía para junio! Language Functions. Telling time. Extending invitations. Making appointments. Accepting and declining invitations. Expressing likes and dislikes. Describing daily activities. Expressing wants and intentions. Vocabulario esencial. Telling time. Days of the week. Months of the year. Gramática esencial. Present tense of regular -er and -ir verbs. Present tense of the verb querer. Present tense of the verb ir + a. Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns. Neuter demonstrative pronouns. Cultura. Twenty-four-hour system of time. Gestures. Perspectivas Imágenes. La etiqueta o "netiquette" en la red. Comercio entre los Estados Unidos y México. A leer! Using background knowledge and organizational features. A escribir! Organizing information and combining sentences. PASO 2: ECOTURISMO EN CENTROAMÉRICA. Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panamá. 4. Tenemos que estar de acuerdo! Language Functions. Naming family members. Describing your family. Describing your house. Describing your recent activities. Discussing your daily activities. Stating location. Expressing physical and mental states. Expressing knowledge and familiarity. Describing how and how often. Vocabulario esencial. Family members. The house. Marital status. Expressions with tener que. Gramática esencial. Some uses of the verb estar. Present tense of other irregular yo verbs. Uses of the verbs saber and conocer. Adverbs and adverbial expressions. Cultura. Hispanic families. Hispanic names. 5. Qué carrera quieres seguir? Language Functions. Describing your career plans. Describing your work-related activities. Expressing wants and preferences. Stating intentions and obligations. Describing people's routine activities. Describing weekend plans. Extending an invitation. Describing actions in progress. Vocabulario esencial. Professions. Buildings. Gramática esencial. Present tense of verbs with stem-vowel change (e .ie). Present tense of verbs with stem-vowel change (o .ue, e .i). Present progressive tense. Cultura. Higher education in Spanish-speaking countries. 6. Hace mucho calor en Panamá! Language Functions. Describing the weather. Commenting on the weather. Commenting on the seasons. Expressing your preferences. Saying the year when you were born. Specifying dates. Describing daily routines. Discussing past activities. Vocabulario esencial. Weather expressions. Seasons of the year. More expressions with tene. Numbers 100 - 2000. Gramática esencial. Present tense of reflexive verbs. Preterite tense of regular verbs. The verb form hace + time. Cultura. Climate around the world. Perspectivas Imágenes. La Ruta Maya. Ecoturismo en la Ruta Maya. A leer! Skimming and scanning for information. A escribir! Writing a narrative. PASO 3: BUENA ONDA! Chile. 7. Tengo ganas de ir a la playa! Language Functions. Expressing likes and dislikes. Describing leisure-time activities. Expressing preferences. Discussing past activities. Vocabulario esencial. Pastimes. Sports. Gramática esencial. Preterite tense of irregular verbs. Preterite with stem-changing verbs. Indirect object pronouns with gustar. Por and para. Cultura. Pastimes in Spanish-speaking countries. Sports in the Spanish-speaking world. International recruitment of athletes. 8. Salud y buen provecho! Language Functions. Naming common foods. Stating preferences. Ordering a meal. Referring to specific things. Referring to things already mentioned. Vocabulario esencial. Common foods. Restaurant expressions. Gramática esencial. Direct object pronouns. Double object pronouns. Imperfect tense. Cultura. Hispanic restaurant customs. Mealtimes in Latin America and Spain. Tapas bars. 9. Vacaciones de verano en diciembre? Language Functions. Naming gifts you have received. Naming gifts you need or want. Suggesting what gifts to buy. Expressing negative ideas. Expressing likes and dislikes. Describing childhood experiences. Vocabulario esencial. Jewelry. Electronic equipment. Sport equipment. Other common gifts. Gramática esencial. Affirmative and negative expressions. Preterite tense vs. imperfect tense. Verbs with different meanings in the preterite and imperfect. Cultura. Religious holidays in Spanish-speaking countries. Perspectivas Imágenes. Los pasatiempos en Chile. Centro de ski El Fraile. A leer! Guessing from context and printed clues. A escribir! Editing your writing. Language Functions. Naming fruits and vegetables. Specifying preferences. Expressing likes and dislikes. Expressing grocery needs. Comparing and contrasting. Expressing opinions. Giving advice. Making requests. Vocabulario esencial. Fruits. Vegetables. Shopping expressions. Gramática esencial. Informal (tú) commands. Comparatives. Superlatives. Formal (usted) commands. Cultura. Specialized grocery stores. Open-air markets. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 11. Vamos de compras! Qué chévere! Language Functions. Stating preferences. Discussing what to wear. Speaking with salesclerks. Talking about future plans. Persuading others. Expressing wants. Expressing intentions. Vocabulario esencial. Clothing. Clothing accessories. Colors. Shopping expressions. Numbers over 2000. Gramática esencial. The future tense. Present subjunctive following the verb querer. Cultura. Carolina Herrera. American vs. European clothing sizes. 12. Qué delicioso el café! Language Functions. Discussing personal money management. Communicating with a bank teller. Expressing your emotions. Discussing travel plans. Giving advice and suggestions. Expressing your opinions. Vocabulario esencial. Common business transactions. Money management and banking terminology. Gramática esencial. Introduction to the present subjunctive. Present subjunctive following other verbs of volition. Present subjunctive following expressions of emotion and impersonal expressions. Cultura. Coffee in the Spanish-speaking world. Changing money abroad. International Monetary Fund. Perspectivas Imágenes. De compras. Parque Nacional del Café. A leer! Summarizing a reading passage. A escribir! Writing a summary. PASO 5: BUEN VIAJE! Spain, U.S.A. 13. Te esperamos en Galicia! Language Functions. Specifying your lodging needs. Complaining about a hotel room. Describing a vacation trip. Expressing doubt and indecision. Expressing confidence and certainty. Extending an invitation. Describing your travel plans. Expressing cause and- effect relationships. Vocabulario esencial. Lodging (hotel). Gramática esencial. Present subjunctive following verbs and expressions of uncertainty. Present subjunctive in purpose and time (adverbial) clauses. Cultura. Finding lodging in Spain. Traveling around Spain. 14. Lo siento, pero no me siento bien! Language Functions. Communicating with medical personnel. Giving advice on health care. Describing past wishes and emotions. Stating previous uncertainties. Describing childhood experiences. Speculating on future actions. Vocabulario esencial. Common medical problems. The human body. Gramática esencial. Past (Imperfect) subjunctive. Conditional. Cultura. Taking medical precautions abroad. 15. Qué podríamos hacer nosotros por nuestro medio ambiente? Language Functions. Expressing opinions. Discussing possible solutions. Expressing environmental concerns. Describing possible scenarios. Giving ecological advice. Making recommendations. Vocabulario esencial. Environmental problems. Solutions to environmental problems. Other global concerns. Gramática esencial. "If" clauses. Infinitive versus subjunctive uses (summary). Indicative versus subjunctive uses (summary). Cultura. Education without borders. Noise pollution. Perspectivas Imágenes. La población hispana en los Estados Unidos. Si es Goya tiene que ser bueno! A leer! Reading critically. A escribir! Writing persuasively. Barnes & Noble.com Various Shipping Locations, USA Brand new, ships from the closest shipping location to your shipping address! $203.42 +$3.99 s/h GreatBookPrices Westminster, MD Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served. $203.43 +$3.99 s/h PaperbackshopUS Secaucus, NJ New Book. Shipped from US within 10 to 14 business days. Established seller since 2000. $216.41 +$3.99 s/h DiscountLawBooksInc. Lawrence, KS 1413019811 BRAND NEW W/FAST SHIPPING! This item is: IntercambiosSpanish for Global Communication (with Audio CD and vMentor? Spanish 3-Semester Printed Access Card), 5th Ed., by Guiomar Borr?s A.; FOR...show moreMAT: Book With Online Product; ISBN: 9781413019810. Choose Expedited for fastest shipping! Our 98%+ rating proves our commitment! We cannot ship to PO Boxes/APO Addresses or outside the continental U.S. To avoid ordering the wrong item, please check your item's ISBN number! ...show less Free Shipping Get Free Shipping on orders over $25 (not including Rental and Marketplace). Order arrives in 5-10 business days. Need it faster? We offer fast, flat-rate expedited shipping options. Not the right book for you? We'll gladly take it back within 30 days. To return an eTextbook: Your eTextbook is non-returnable once it's been activated. 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by mattpSport and Leisure History 9 May 2011 Dr David Dee (De Montfort University) The British Union of Fascists and the ‘Sporting Jew’, 1935-1939 In the 1930s the British Union of Fascists (BUF) published two newspapers which promoted their anti-Semitic agenda. The first was The Black Shirt, a paper intended for a working class readership. The second was entitled Action and was intended for a more middle class reader and was much more similar to a standard paper of the day. Using these publications Dr David Dee demonstrates that the conception of the Jewish Hidden Hand (a claim that Jews were using, abusing and controlling too much of British wealth, politics and society) and the claim that Jews were an ‘alien’ intruder on British soil, were demonstrated through comments on politics, the arts, and equally importantly their connection to sport. The Jew had no conception of fair play, the BUF claimed. The Jew would get in the way of other golfers and were unable to grasp the etiquettes involved in cricket. The often cited fear that Jews had too much control over banking and finance was also cited by the BUF in terms of damaging sports such as boxing, horseracing, and football. In all Dee identifies sport as an essential element in the BUF’s anti-Semitic argument. Indeed, sport was considered by the BUF as a vital signifier of Britishness which in their eyes represented a militaristic masculine ideology. The Jewish involvement and visibility in sport was therefore attacked in these newspapers on a regular basis and (unlike most fascist groups of the era) seems to have had a very real impact on the beliefs and perceptions of the British public.

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Email Copy Link Copied Economics is not only the study of money and its effects, but also the study of human behaviour, of why people do what they do. The global recession resulted in both macro and micro losses. When one sector of the economy fails, all others suffer as well, so that when the stock market nearly collapsed many regular people faced poverty and social problems. Some of the films on this list focus on recessions and its negative impact on individuals and their families, which are still felt today. Jump to navigation Jump to search Economics film is a film genre concerned with economicstypically about businessinvestingand finance. The genre often deals with issues concerned with economicstypically about businessinvestingand money. Economic films often touch upon themes that occur in the everyday world of business or in the economy in a general sense. Economics films have often been utilized to focus on economic, financial, political, social and philosophical issues. Common subject matter involving economic films are diverse. The genre often explores the essential themes related to economics such as moneywealthmaterialismgreedprofiteeringpowercorporatismeconomic inequalitycorporate criticismanti-corporate activismcorporate corruptionand dishonesty. Though economic films are socially conscious and focused on many aspects related to the business world, many other films are focused on extreme wealth, lavishness, self-indulgence, materialistic, and luxurious subject matter such as having braggadocios about high-end luxury goodscars, wine, houses, and expensive champagne.The New Mexico Economic Development Department provides New Mexico-based businesses or businesses relocating to the state with the information and resources they need to start and expand. Our film recommendations Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck. Originally a novel by John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath was considered highly controversial upon release due to Steinbeck’s political and economic beliefs- especially with regard to the poor. Grapes of Wrath was considered to have a Socialist outlook and was banned. However, the novel is considered to be a modern classic exploring issues . In the film, Hollywood helps liberate the trapped Americans. In real life, some are wondering whether Hollywood is the one in need of rescue. “Schizophrenic” is how one studio boss describes the state of Tinseltown. The economics of the film industry are changing. Germany’s economic freedom score is , making its economy the 25th freest in the Index. Its overall score has increased by point, with an increase in labor freedom offsetting. Home Economics is a short youth awareness film developed with the help of young people on the British Council Youth In Action Program. Rohan Green and his team set out to create a powerful short drama that highlights the pressures that young people face straight out of prison. The Foundation for Economic Education, founded in , is the world's top destination for young people to learn the crucial role of entrepreneurs and the importance of free markets.

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While many East Texas-area emergency rooms and doctors’ offices report seeing a large number of flu cases recently, the Gilmer hospital and two local doctors say they have not seen a large increase in victims of the sometimes severe respiratory disease. Dr. Rucker Steven Murry said that they were seeing a “moderate” number of cases. A nurse there said that keys to avoiding the flu include getting the annual vaccine, assuming you are able to take the shots, and if you are around a sick person “wash, wash, wash your hands.” The nurse at Dr. David Buller’s office said they are seeing both types A and B flu strains (different types, with A the more severe), but the number of patients is “not unusually high.” Gorge Leal, administrator of East Texas Medical Center Gilmer, told The Mirror that they are noticing an increase in cases coming there, “but not an alarming one.” Melanie Brashear, a pharmacist at The Med Shop, said that demand for flu shots is running high. “I’ve given 17 flu shots since noon,” she said at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. She pointed out that it takes about two weeks for the vaccination to reach its maximum effectiveness in the body. The antiviral agent Tamiflu is believed to cut the duration of the flu in people who began taking doses of it within 48 hours after symptoms appear (in those one year old and older). It may reduce the duration by up to a day and a half. Check with your doctor to make sure you can take a flu shot. Those who have ever had Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) or multiple sclerosis (MS—check with your doctor to see if you specifically can take the vaccine) cannot take the shots. There are other restrictions, as well. In addition to vaccination, here are the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s recommends to avoid the flu and to avoid spreading it: • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash right after you use it. • Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. • Try to avoid contact with sick people. • If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone, except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil is one brand) or acetaminophen (Tylenol is a name brand). • While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.

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Today we need an example of something weirdly-shaped and electrically conductive. There’s no shortage of such things, so we might as well go with the iconic. This is the Statue of Liberty: It’s made out of copper, which over the years has taken on a decidedly not-copper color due to chemical reactions between the copper surface and the surrounding atmosphere. But it’s still copper and thus a very good conductor of electricity. Unfortunately for our purposes here the statue is also hollow, and in fact the copper is only a few millimeters thick. This isn’t unusual, almost all metal statues of any size are hollow. Metal is very expensive and very heavy. But for the moment, go ahead and pretend the Statue of Liberty is in fact a solid mass of copper metal. Now apply an electric charge to it. Dump a bucket of electrons on it, fire up a Van de Graff generator, rub a balloon on your head and hold it close to the statue, whatever. Now there’s an excess of charge on the statue. How does it distribute itself? We know that charges experience a force when they’re placed in an electric field. Conversely an electric field is generated by the presence of charge. Thus the charges are going to be pushed around by their mutual repulsion until they reach a stable configuration. With a little thought we can figure out what the stable configuration is, even for something so complicated as the Statue. It’s not possible to quite do this in reality, but imagine that you want to very sensitively probe the electric field at a particular point. You do this by taking a single electron as a test charge, placing it at the location you want to test, and seeing which way it moves. In that way you can see what direction the electric field points. But at this point we can also extrapolate backwards. Once we charge up the statue, there can’t be an electric field anywhere inside. If there were, our test charge and all the other charges would be moving, which means they wouldn’t have found their equilibrium positions yet. Once they find their equilibrium positions, they aren’t moving anymore. Which means there’s no field. But if there’s no field, that means there’s no net charge – because charge generates an electric field. So is there no charge in the statue, despite the fact that we just put it there? The answer is that there’s no charge in the statue. Our argument shows that the equilibrium position of all the charge is on the surface of the statue. Any charged conductor will have all of its charge on its exterior surface. This argument only works for conductors, since it requires that the electrons be free to move. In an insulator they can’t, and so they’ll mostly stay wherever they’re put. Back to the Statue. All of the charge is on the surface, but we have no guarantee that’s it’s evenly distributed on the surface. In fact it’s not. In general the distribution on the surface will be a complicated function of the geometry. In particular it will tend to be highest at sharp points like the spikes on the crown, or (more saliently for other types of structures) lightning rods. And that’s a story for another day – though I’m pretty sure that other day will be tomorrow!

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A Swedish research team has found that owning a dog lowers risks of death associated with cardiovascular disease and other causes. In a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers used national registries, which included information on over 3.4 million Swedes between the ages of 40 and 80 to explore the relationship between owning a dog and an individual's cardiovascular health. Everyone included in the research didn't have any kind of cardiovascular disease in 2001. Dog Ownership Benefits According to the researchers' findings, dog ownership offered particular protective benefit for persons living alone, a subgroup previously reported to have higher risks of cardiovascular disease and death. Specifically, single dog owners had 33 percent lower risks of death and 11 percent lower risks of myocardial infarction, with those owning hunter dog breeds experiencing the most benefit. "Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in single households," said Mwenya Mubanga, the study's lead junior author. Why Are Dogs Good For One's Health? Epidemiological studies like this one look for connections within large populations but don't offer explanations as to how and whether dogs could offer protection against cardiovascular disease. Tove Fall, the study's senior author, said that one reason behind the results they observed could be that dog owners are generally more active physically than those who don't have canine companions. Another is that dog ownership translates to a higher level of social contact and well-being or that a dog can have an effect on its owner's bacterial microbiome, which affects their health. According to Fall, it's also entirely possible that dog owners and non-owners are already different well before man's best friend entered the picture. "Our results are generalizable to the Swedish population, and probably also to other European populations with similar culture regarding dog ownership," added the senior author. Dog Ownership Research In Sweden, each person is assigned a unique identity number. Every time an individual goes to the hospital, their visit is recorded in the nation's databases, which researchers can access after data has been scrubbed clean of information that can identify people. Registering dog ownership has also been mandatory in the country since 2001. The study was carried out by researchers from Uppsala University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Karolinska Institute, and Stanford University. It also received funding support from the Göran Gustafsson Foundation, the Agria-SKK Research Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences, and Spatial Planning.

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The Effect of Snow on Solar PanelsBy Matthew Wheeland - August 5, 2010 Can solar panels work in snow? Yes, we know it’s high summer right now, but because we run group discounts on solar in places like Denver, we get questions about snow and solar panels pretty much year round. Solar panels definitely work in snowy climates–homeowners in snowy Germany, for example, are leading the world in terms of putting solar panels on their roofs. What happens when snow gets on the panels? They can still work under a light snowfall, but after snow completely blocks out sunshine, they’ll stop generating power. This can happen after more than a couple of inches of snowfall. Because of the way that solar cells are wired together, if one area of a panel is covered with snow, it can shut off the rest of the panel as well. How can snow be removed from solar panels? It’s often possible just to wait for the snow to melt, which can happen quickly depending on the weather conditions. Black panels like SunPower’s help the snow melt faster. Because solar panels have a slippery surface and sit at an angle, it can be easy for snow to slide off (please note that this can sometimes happen unexpectedly, so you may need to be careful when walking underneath!). Sue Okerson, a PURE member in Denver, says that “It does mean we have to shovel the south side of the house more than once, but it’s so worth it. Our last Xcel bill was $6.36…fees and taxes! We love our system!” There are several other ways that people try to keep snow off their panels. First, ground-mounted panels can be tilted to a steeper degree in the winter to help snow slide off more easily; the angle can also better capture winter light. In heavy snowfall, some people choose to use a roof rake to sweep the snow off. A German company makes a product similar to windshield wipers to automatically brush snow aside, although this isn’t yet available in the United States. How can snow help? Like other electronics, solar panels actually work more efficiently in cold weather, so winter isn’t automatically a bad thing. On a clear day after it’s snowed, your solar panel output can actually be greater than in the summertime because the sun is reflected off the bright white ground. Homeowners in snowy climates have reported that their solar panels can operate at better than 100% of their rated power. When snow comes off panels, it helps clean them, which gives an additional boost to their productivity. Even if there are days when your panels are covered with snow and not pumping out power, it’s also important to remember that your total energy generation is calculated over a year, so day-to-day variations– or lower generation over winter months– can be made up at other times. Image credit: solardave.com

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From the alluring smell of concession stand snacks to the sounds of the marching band, Friday nights in the fall are full of excitement surrounding an all-American tradition: football. But the sport has gained increasing attention in recent years more for the injuries it can cause than for the game itself. Doctors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say concussions are a brain injury caused by a hard hit, and they are not to be taken lightly. As many as 3.8 million athletes suffer a concussion each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Concussions are significantly more of an issue than originally thought. If you have one concussion you are more likely to suffer from subsequent concussions,” says Jim Johnston, M.D., assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Neurosurgery at UAB. Physicians and athletic trainers in the UAB Sports Medicine department at Children’s of Alabama say concussion should be suspected in the presence of one or more symptoms, such as headaches, blurred vision, nausea or vomiting, cognitive impairment, abnormal or erratic behavior, drowsiness or slurred speech. “It can be any instance of trauma that causes these, and it doesn’t have to be a direct blow to the head – it can be a direct blow to the body that sends a strong enough force up to the head,” explains Marshall Crowther, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery at UAB. Nearly 30 states have passed concussion laws in recent years, with Alabama following suit in June 2011. In 2010, the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) put new rules into effect that stated if a student athlete exhibited concussion symptoms they must be held out until a physician clears them to return. See their concussion information form here. “We saw a threefold increase in concussions in the emergency room last year because of the rule change,” says Drew Ferguson, M.Ed., director of UAB Sports Medicine and an athletic trainer for more than 40 years. “Probably 90 percent of the ones we see clear up on their own, especially if it’s their initial concussion and the guidelines we give them are followed.” An athlete diagnosed with a concussion can expect to be out of the game for a minimum of a week. As with many aspects of this sports-related injury, everybody reacts differently, and you never can tell what the outcome will be. Players should be removed from the game immediately and have a medical assessment if any symptoms develop. “If you return to play too early you are much more likely to have a subsequent concussion and longer duration of symptoms with those concussions. It is like injuring your knee, if you go back too early instead of missing a month, you may miss a season, and we need to start thinking of concussions in the same way,” says Johnston. “We still don’t know a lot about long-term ramifications of concussions, why some people tend to have more prolonged problems or symptoms, so that’s still being researched,” says Crowther. To help parents and athletes get through the recovery process, UAB Sports Medicine is opening a Concussion Clinic at Children’s of Alabama. “We anticipate Mondays will be the busiest for concussions as we’re trying to capture the Friday night injuries that happened. Sometimes symptoms may not show up right away, it may be a couple days before they appear, so ideally we’ll see more acute injuries two to three days from the football game,” Crowther says. The concussion clinic staff consists of athletic trainers, nurses and physicians. In addition to treating concussions, they will work to educate parents, trainers, coaches and athletic directors about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of concussions.

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Perhaps you will find this excerpt helpful, or better yet, read it all. Restraint versus Control Just as there are both positive and negative forces in the world, so too, every person is a composite of positive and negative traits. We need these negative forces, however; without their power and vitality, many goals and aspirations would lack the energy necessary to be realized. Esau represents the raw, base forces in the world. His reddish complexion indicated the violent and brutal nature of his personality. Jacob did not prevent Esau from coming into the world; after all, the world needs Esau and his raw power. Rather, Jacob held on to Esau's heel, holding him back. The name Jacob refers to this aspect of restraint, reining in the fierce forces. Ultimately, however, our goal is not to simply hold back these negative forces. We aspire to gain control over them and utilize them, like a hydroelectric dam that harnesses the vast energy of a raging waterfall for the production of electricity. For example, the Talmud tells us that a person with blood-thirsty tendencies should become a shochet (ritual slaughterer) or a mohel, thus sublimating his violent nature for noble purposes. This higher aspiration is represented by Jacob's second name, Israel, which comes from the root-word sar, meaning 'to rule.' The name Jacob is appropriate when the Jews are in the Diaspora. There, they serve as a moral conscience to partially restrict the wild and violent forces in the world. But when redeemed and living in their own land, the Jewish people are able to attain the higher level of Israel. Then they have the opportunity to demonstrate how a nation may utilize its material capabilities for constructive and ethical goals.

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Researchers Want Robots to Play in the World Cup by 2050 But first they need to learn not to fall over. Bold Hearts in 2014. Image: Daniel Polani Robots are awesome, robots are terrifying. They can jump over hurdles, thrash us at Chess, and withstand radiation, venturing where no human will. But why do they still have so many issues playing a four-aside football game? "The essential problem is that the robots don't understand what they're doing. They're hardcoded to move from step to step, from action to action, from behaviour to behaviour," Daniel Polani, a UK robot football manager and professor of artificial intelligence at the University of Hertfordshire, told me. "It's a bit like driving through the fog where you can only see two yards ahead. This is what happens to the robot—they effectively have no big picture of what they're doing." RoboCup 2015, which is currently holding its 19th tournament in Hefei in Eastern China, involves teams of four robots from all over the world playing 20-minute football matches. The goal of the annual championship is to create robots that are agile, lithe, and robust enough to compete against pro human footballers by the 2050 World Cup. The researchers involved also hope to apply their findings to produce better rescue, disaster, and domestic robots. Itsuki Noda, the president of the RoboCup Federation and a principal research manager of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, told me that it probably wouldn't be hard to eventually engineer an agile robot. The main challenge would be making sure the robot could collaborate with and understand humans. "Our ultimate goal is to develop a soccer robot that can win against a human champion. It won't be so hard for robots to beat humans [at football]. We will be able to develop a very powerful kicking machine, and super-goalie robot that can move faster than a ball," Itsuki said. "But a robot should never injure a human, and furthermore, robots need to collaborate with humans, understand human intentions and show their intentions in ways that humans can easily understand. We would like to develop a robot system that can collaborate with humans." Polani heads up Bold Hearts, a team of four 30-40cm tall robots in the kids-sized humanoid league of the RoboCup. The team were the runners up in last year's finals in Brazil. Polani's teams robots are pre-programmed with around 50,000 lines of code, and as all the robots have to act autonomously on the field, the pre-match preparations are intense. Polani likens the process to rigorous Formula One conditions, where pit stop changes are choreographed down to a tee. "You can't be sloppy if you want to win this. You have to have a really smooth team where everyone knows what they're doing. It's like Formula One, just without the driver," said Polani. "These robots do not have foot sensors. It's like having someone tie soles of wood to your feet." While Chess was once considered a challenge for AI, it can now beat humans hands down. This, said Polani, was a bit of a let down as it didn't let people "learn anything about the nature of AI." But give AI a robotic body, make it interact with objects and other robots in space and time, and the challenge becomes significantly harder, as researchers must essentially coordinate teams of non-sentient beings in the physical world. "There's not just one player but multiple players against multiple players, with everything happening in continuous time. This makes it much harder to plan and predict things," explained Polani. In robot football, where your charges are pretty slow, strategy is key. Polani attributes his team's prowess last year to their software; they programmed their robot footballers to kick the ball to the side, rather than trailing around it. "This buys us around ten to 15 seconds of repositioning. We were a bit slower than some teams at getting to the ball, but when we were there, we were accurate," said Polani. While speed and accuracy are important, another challenge is keeping the robots upright. Most of the robots in the competition have no haptic feedback, so they have to process information from their surroundings visually. "If you have feeling in the soles of your feet you can stay upright more easily. But these robots do not have foot sensors. It's like having someone tie soles of wood to your feet, or like [walking in] Dutch garden shoes," said Polani. This year, Polani told me that his team were trialling out one robot with foot sensors. Given the unpredictability of these competitions, where whole robot teams can be felled by a faulty battery, a software or hardware blip, or simply overheating, Polani said he wasn't sure if they'd capitalise on the additional haptic feedback yet. But he expected other teams to follow suit next year. Each year, the rules of the competition change and become harder. This year, both an AstroTurf floor (as opposed to carpet), and the need to program robots to recognise the colour white have upped the stakes—previously there were more visible red cues for the ball and yellow for goal posts. Fouls are a pretty lax concept, and are often overlooked by the referee. A robot that stalls on pitch is dubbed an "incapable robot" and quickly lifted off the field to be resuscitated by its human handlers. Sometimes robots also end up bashing into one another, kicking or clinging to one another, but Polani said that they were disentangled and minor flaws ignored as the robots hadn't done it "intentionally." "If a robot systematically destroyed a robot they would be disqualified—if that happens we're moving ahead," said Polani. Since RoboCup's inception in 1997, where Honda unveiled a massive 130kg robot, things have come far. With technology becoming cheaper and more available each year, robots can be bought easily and smaller teams of researchers can get their robotic charges onto the field. But both Polani and Noda agree that robots need a sense of "intention" if they're to be effective players in and out of the pitch. In other words, they need to be self-conscious and fully aware of their actions and desires. Noda envisioned that neural network and deep learning technology could help in the future, but said that progress was still needed both in terms of hardware, motor, and sensor tech. "We also need to establish a model of a human's thinking process and we need more sophisticated brain science, theory of social interactions, symbol grounding problems, and human learning theories," he said. While no robot on the field looks like it can zip along at great speeds on the pitch, or work effectively without human intervention, both Noda and Polani are optimistic about seeing robot footballers on the real pitch by the 2050 World Cup. "If you look at the progress that we've made since 1997, our robots are much more flexible and better-controlled," he said. Robot footballers in the 2050 World Cup, he added, were "implausible, but not impossible."

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Alzheimer’s gene may show effects on brain starting in childhood, study suggests New research suggests that a gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease may show its effects on the brain and thinking skills as early as childhood. This is according to a study published today by the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 1,187 children aged between three to 20 years old who took part in genetic tests and brain scans and undertook tests of thinking and memory skills. The children had no brain disorders or other problems that would affect their brain development. The findings revealed that children with the higher-risk APOE4 gene had differences in their brain development on average compared to children with other forms of the APOE gene. The differences were seen in areas of the brain that are often affected byAlzheimer’s disease. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Ian Le Guillou, Research Officer at Alzheimer’s Society said: 'These interesting findings suggest that people with the APOE4 gene - which increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease - have differences in their brains from childhood. However, we need to be cautious in interpreting these results as although this study involved over 1,000 children, there were less than 30 in the highest-risk group. We would need to see these results replicated in a larger group, as well as having longer term follow-ups to better understand how the changes in the brain progress with age. 'Everyone's brain is slightly different and the trends found here could only be seen by taking the average across many people. We cannot say who will go on to develop dementia and having the APOE4 gene does not mean that you will. Although people with the gene are at an increased risk of dementia, there are still things they can do to lower their chances of developing the condition. This includes taking regular exercise, not smoking and keeping their blood pressure in check.'

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Activities practiced over time become habits -- and activities shape and are shaped by mindsets in the organization and character traits of the people. The people of Israel, delivered from bondage in Egypt, were encamped with Moses in the wilderness. Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro decided to pay a visit. Jethro celebrated God’s blessing on Israel and observed Moses at work. In Exodus 18, it is clear that Moses was a very busy leader, working alone and making decision after decision about everything that came to his attention. Seeing Moses exercise the mindset of a solitary leader, Jethro witnessed the withering effect on Moses and the unintended consequence that the larger community didn’t understand his decisions or the reasons behind them, because Moses wasn’t sharing the work. So Jethro suggested an entirely different set of activities: Moses should learn the law from God and teach it to the people; and he should set up a network of judges, selected on the basis of good character traits, to help hear the people’s cases. These new activities of teaching and preparing others to judge would open up growth opportunities for everyone. The burdens would be shared, and everyone’s eyes would be opened to God. Rather than thinking of his work as deciding, Moses needed to think of his work as cultivating. Of course this was -- and is -- easier said than done. Moses had to discern, identify and train the new judges and then trust them to do their work without getting in their way. The new judges had to buy into what Moses taught them and maintain the integrity of the new system of justice for the whole community. And the people had to learn to trust the judges as much as they trusted Moses. Throughout the process, Moses had to exhibit the trait of humility -- to step away from the center and trust and empower the judges. (That he was successful in doing so is noted by the narrator’s affirmation of Moses’ humility in Numbers 12:3). Thus, everybody had to practice new activities that, with enough repetition, became habits. Those habits, then, enabled a new mindset to permeate the community and instill in its people new traits of character. Today’s Christian institutions can learn a lot from Moses about what it means to be a transformative leader. He was willing to examine his mindset and work in new ways as the context changed. Mindsets are the default patterns of thinking we use to interpret the world, frame situations, contextualize relationships and respond to leadership challenges. These mindsets emerge from our experiences, but they also are shaped by the activities in which we engage, which establish our habits. A mindset that works well for us at one point in our lives may serve us poorly in another. This principle is what made Jethro’s advice in Exodus 18 so timely. Moses was willing to listen and risk engaging in new activities because he recognized that fundamentally his leadership was focused on God, not on himself. Moses -- and other leaders facing new circumstances or changed contexts -- can change their mindsets only if they engage in new activities that help them develop new habits. Consider, for example, a budding social entrepreneur who was her high school and college valedictorian and has a mindset shaped by continuous success. One of the lessons of starting a new organization is having a mindset of experimentation and “survivable failure.” This social entrepreneur will need to engage in activities that enable her to cultivate habits so she learns a new mindset that is otherwise unfamiliar and, initially at least, likely to be destabilizing. Another example: In late 2008, many Christian organizations faced daunting economic challenges because of the stock market implosion. The mindset of many leaders became dominated by fear and crisis. In April 2009, James Surowiecki wrote in The New Yorker that in such times business leaders tend to be far more worried about “sinking the boat” -- destroying the company by making a bad bet -- than about “missing the boat” -- letting a great opportunity pass. While a leader with a “crisis” mindset would be inclined to cut the budget and wait for better times, a leader willing to learn a new pattern of thinking might engage in new activities -- remembering the organization’s past, inquiring about current needs, strategizing about the organization’s contribution, experimenting with new services -- leading to new habits and a new mindset of “seeing opportunity.” Mindsets and activities require and reinforce each other, as do activities and traits. Mindsets are much easier to shape than are traits, which are signs of a person’s character. The Christian life is a journey of learning the ways of God in Christ. Scriptures and the Christian tradition have developed many and varied lists of virtues and characters traits, including the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, as well as the classic cardinal and theological virtues. Twenty-first-century Christian leaders would do well to consider the character traits that are essential to the habits they are seeking to develop in their organizations. The change in Moses’ practice, for example, both required and reinforced the trait of humility, which enabled him to be receptive to Jethro’s recommendation. Many leaders think about change as an announcement. Having a clear, compelling picture of the future that can be framed succinctly is important. As James Dubik, the U.S. Army general who directed the transformation of the Army in the 2000s, once told me, “Change is very practical: ‘What do you want me to do differently?’” A vision has to be translated into a set of activities that become habits. Paul points to this same truth in his letter to the Romans: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2 NRSV). Our minds are renewed by focusing on the things of God. The habits of worship, prayer, Bible study and service are what Christians do. Our activities are part of the renewal of our minds, and these activities form us. Ultimately, we are all about joining with God’s transformative work in the world. God has given a clear vision of his reign. It is for us to translate that vision into the activities, mindsets and traits needed where we live. How would you name the key activities of your organization? The critical mindsets? The essential character traits? Leadership Education at Duke Divinity suggests these lists as a starting place.

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Images of the first century Palestinian Jewish man named Jesus are more prevalent this time of year than any other. Depictions rendered by artists (namely by or inspired by an artist named Warner Sallman) are resurrected and pervade our social consciousness. Images grace the covers of popular magazines that otherwise would never have a religious figure on the cover. They often have phrases under then like “The Real Jesus” (US News and World Report) or “Uncovering Jesus”. They seek to offer readers some historical context for understanding the life and times of arguably the most influential person in human history. Art is a powerful tool. It can convey emotion, express complex ideas, offer hope, present mystery, and point to things beyond our present reality. Among the most popular pieces of art (or sets of art) in the world are depictions of Jesus created in the 40’s by an artist named Warner Sallman. Sallman was originally commissioned to create a more masculine image of Christ by Dr. E O Sellers (1924ish). The set of images presented to the world up to that time (as thought by Sellers and members of the institute he was dean of) were too passive. Jesus looked to him too effeminate, too gauntly, and too non-American. [This was 1920’s America]. Sallman woke up the day of the deadline for the submission with an idea and sketched it in charcoal. Sallman integrated other features that had become more and more popular every since the spread of Christianity in medieval Europe to distinguish Biblical characters worthy of veneration from depictions of the “negative” characters like King Herod and Judas who were depicted to have more “Jewish” features. This tradition was inherited in order to perpetuate and solidify the message that it was the “Jews”…a group somehow distinct from “Christians” that crucified Christ. [This was 1920’s America...the height of Anti-Semitism in America]. Sallman’s paintings captured the heart of America. By the 1940’s his pieces began to spread like wild fire. In 1940, based on his earlier sketches, he created what has become the most duplicated piece of art in the world, Sallman’s Head of Christ. His pieces were something unlike other images at the time in that they reflected the deepest held views of America about what the person they would worship should look like. [This was 1940’s America]. Sallman had captured an ideal. For a decade, between 1940 and 1950 pieces that would become as American as apple pie (maybe more so) were created by the same artist who had mastered the formula for what America wanted in their Jesus. To Sallman belongs not only the famous Head of Christ, but the ubiquitous painting of Jesus knocking at the door, and many others. But 1940s America was a very significant time in American and global history. The ideal figure that Sallman had created or based his images off of held a certain place in American and global society. To that ideal was granted certain rights and privileges not afforded to others. Sallman had created an exceptionally tall, strong looking, beautiful man who could be easily seen as strong enough to fight off attacks from a Japanese enemy, but gentle enough to open the door for a lady. He was John Wayne and George Washington combined! He was perfect! [This is 1940s America] The nation, or those in power, were complicit with the state of things. There was enough other mess going on. Good Christian folks may not have “supported” the segregation of the day but they weren’t making too much fuss about it. The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t at its peak. That wouldn’t be for another 20 or so years. The country had “enough on its plate”. We were trying to emerge from the Great Depression and FDR was president. Anti-Semitism was not as high as it was in the 20’s and 30’s but it was high. To white Christians (non-Jews), to Sallman, and to the Jesus he had created (to be a perfected image of their ideals, hopes, and dreams) this was the time some historians call the Golden Age of America. [OK…enough with the history] During this season of Christmas, where we are bombarded with images, I created (manipulated) an image to provoke thought and to engage in discussion. The work that I am committed to doing right now in my life as an artist is centered around exploring the role of sexuality and skin tone in the formation of identity. It is impossible for me in doing this work to not take seriously the function of the art that unlike any other time of the year is all around us, its history, and how it shapes all of our lives. People aren’t born thinking they are ugly, or inferior, or not good enough, or too black or too white or not strong enough or too fat or too gay or too feminine or too masculine. These things are constructed…slowly over time…with unbelievable precision. Us, our institutions, our art, our lack of understanding of history, our fear, and our hesitancy to deconstruct these things keep us here. I’m one of you. I’m afraid of what I don’t know. I afraid of being rejected. I’m afraid of being judged. I hate the thought of being isolated and unliked. I was afraid to post this image. I was afraid of what you might say or think of me. ...so I did it. This is not an attempt to make people think that Jesus was black. That doesn’t do anything for us. I do, in this season of mass consumption: of food, of stuff, of images of a first century Jew from Palestine named Jesus to take a moment to think about what all of it means. In this time of great discovery, of birth, of mystery, let’s be as imaginative and as hungry to meet Jesus as the Magi. …to ask ourselves where it all comes from, to ask why is it presented this way, to not be complicit, to think anew about what a Jesus who would have fought against segregation, who would have refused to drink, swim, or be baptized in a segregated pool. To think anew about a Jesus who may have been, on the flip side, not allowed to drink, swim, or be baptized with others. To think anew about maybe emphasizing less the images of any figure that has been dictated to us of any particular race and try to discover the essence of the truth within the teachings. …to fight against the structures: institutional, mental, personal, that separate us…to think boldly but with passion about how to do so…through thought provoking art, through conversations, through how we spend our resources, etc…to think about what we can do to not be a religion/group that performs our holiest of actions on the holiest of days in ways that don’t scream for _________________ only but instead all are welcome. PLEASE READ LET JESUS WALK PART 2 Creator of 50 Shades of Black

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Just about everyone knows mercury is a dangerous substance that should be avoided but few people realize how common it is in skin creams and other cosmetics, especially those targeted to Latino, Asian, African-American and Middle Eastern consumers. Many skin creams, soaps and lotions that advertise themselves as "anti-aging" or "skin lightening" contain mercury. Check the label for words including “mercurous chloride,” “calomel,” “mercuric,” “mercurio,” or “mercury.” All indicate the presence of mercury and mean you should stop using the product immediately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns. If the ingredients aren’t listed and there is no product label, don’t assume it’s fine. Federal law requires that ingredients be listed on the label of any cosmetic or nonprescription drug, so do not use a product that doesn’t have a label. In addition, don’t use drugs or cosmetics labeled in languages other than English unless English labeling is also provided, FDA advises. That’s also a sign that the product may be marketed illegally. Jason Humbert of FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs says these products usually are manufactured abroad and sold illegally in the United States, often in shops catering to ethnic communities. They are also sold online. “Even though these products are often promoted as cosmetics, they also may be unapproved new drugs under the law,” says Linda Katz, M.D., director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors. FDA does not allow mercury in drugs or in cosmetics, except under very specific conditions where there are no other safe and effective preservatives available – conditions that these products do not meet. Exposure to mercury can have serious health consequences -- both for those using products that contain mercury and for those around them. “Your family might breathe mercury vapors released from these products. Your children might touch washcloths or towels that are contaminated with mercury. It could be as simple as touching someone’s cheek or face,” said Dr. Arthur Simone, an FDA senior medical advisor. Pregnant women, nursing babies and young children are especially vulnerable to mercury toxicity, Simone adds.

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As a public school educator for 33 years, 29 of those in PSD, I found the editorial in the Oct. 6 Coloradoan interesting. If one reads Amendment 66, the following are what the money will be used for in classrooms across the state. 1. Teachers would be hired to decrease class size and help ensure children receive a well-rounded education with specials such as music, art and PE, often the first classes to be cut when budgets are thin. Amendment 66 makes this a priority. 2. Funding for early childhood education and programs like yearlong pre-K and kindergarten, programs for special needs kids (gifted, at-risk, English language learners) would be increased. Preparation of these students for life after high school is expensive but critical for our complex society. Funds for assistive technology — technology that helps special needs learners, including gifted and talented — is critical in delivering instruction. Amendment 66 would help here. 3. Senate Bill 191 requires teachers and administrators to be evaluated on the delivery of instruction and on the improving scores of the students on tests. SB 191 does not have the resources attached to it that allow districts to provide staff development for teachers as new, proven methods of instruction are developed to maximize each student’s scores. Amendment 66 allows for this. 4. Having taught in two rural districts in Colorado early in my career, I have experienced the hardships the current funding method places on teachers and administrators in rural districts. Larger districts can order “in bulk,” receiving reduced costs. Rural districts and smaller charter schools do not have this luxury. Additionally, due to lower funding, it is often difficult to get teachers to teach for lower wages. Amendment 66 helps address this. 5. Technology is growing at an increasingly rapid pace. In order to have graduates familiar with this technology, it is important that they are made aware of it and have experience with it. Amendment 66 would help with this. The cost of this funding? The equivalent of one Starbucks drink a week, $4. $133 per year to provide students and teachers with these opportunities, in my mind, is not too much to pay, considering the kids in school now will be the ones taking care of us in the future. I hope they have opportunities to gain the most diverse, most complete education possible so that when they enter postsecondary life they are ready. The Coloradoan expressed concern for accountability vs. transparency. Both are important and provided in Amendment 66. Accountability through test scores and transparency through the open records that are the budget allocations is required by both Amendment 66 and Senate Bill 191. Input is sought by PSD through a variety of parent and community groups and, of course, teachers. That there is a fear that the money may go to the administration is a matter of trust. Recognizing that Sandra Smyser is in her first semester as superintendent in PSD, which has many tenuous issues of trust with the administration as a result of the previous superintendent, I would hope you would allow the process to play out and if the trust is violated, individuals would speak with the members of the Board of Education to rectify this. Jennie Russell is a Fort Collins resident.

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Ancient Lizard Missing Front Limbs Remains from a 95-million-year-old marine creature with nubs for legs is clarifying how some lizards shed their limbs as they crept through evolutionary time and morphed into slinky snakes. Described in the current issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the snake-like lizard had a small head and willowy body. Extending 10 to 12 inches from snout to tail, the aquatic creature also sported a lengthy neck and relatively large rear limbs. Missing were all the bones of its forearms, including the hands and digits found in modern lizards. The oddball creature, Adriosaurus microbrachis, is a member of a lineage of lizards thought to be snakes' closest relatives. “It adds to the picture we have of what was happening 100 million years ago,” said lead researcher Michael Caldwell, a paleontologist at the University of Alberta, in Canada. “We now know that losing limbs isn't a new thing and that lizards were doing it much earlier than we originally thought.” The new fossil reveals the earliest record of this limb-shedding in a lizard and gives scientists a rare glimpse back to the time when terrestrial lizards evolved to be limbless and returned to their watery origins. In fact, the ancestors of all animals lived in aquatic and marine environments. Steps to limb loss Body parts once used in an animal’s evolutionary past but tossed aside or morphed via natural selection to provide another function are called vestigial limbs. “It has been clear for centuries that snakes are tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates) that lost their limbs,” Caldwell told LiveScience. “The process and pattern of this limb-loss has remained a mystery for a long time.” Fossils of lizards in transitional states—as the four-legged critters begin to evolve into snakes—have been rare. “What we have not had to this point is a fossil record of vestigial limbs in lizards,” Caldwell said. “This is the first.” Scientists initially collected the fossil during the 19th century from a limestone quarry in Slovenia. For nearly 100 years, the little lizard remained in a collection bin at the Natural History Museum in Trieste, Italy, before Caldwell and a colleague found it in 1996 during a visit to Europe. The scientists were surprised to find the lizard’s forelimbs were too small to be useful for walking, while its hind limbs appeared to be functional. "For some oddball reason, the forelimbs were lost before the rear limbs, when you would think it would be the opposite," Caldwell said. "The front limbs would be useful for holding onto dinner or digging a hole, but it must be developmentally easier to get rid of the forelimbs." Though the lizard find does not make for a “missing link,” Caldwell suggests it suffices as a critical data point for helping scientists understand the aquatic process of limb loss. MORE FROM LiveScience.com

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History of Daylight Saving - Development of New Zealand Standard Time - Origins of Daylight Saving in New Zealand - Daylight Saving Since 1974 - Daylight Saving Review New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to officially adopt a nationally observed standard time. New Zealand Mean Time, adopted on 2 November 1868, was set at 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich Mean Time was established by British Railways in the 1840s but was not made Great Britain's standard time until 1880. In 1941, due to emergency regulations in the Second World War, clocks were advanced half an hour in New Zealand. This advance was made permanent by the Standard Time Act 1945. The Act provided that New Zealand Standard Time was set 12 hours in advance of Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Time. In the late 1940s the development of the first atomic clock was announced and several laboratories began atomic time scales. A new time scale based on the readings of atomic clocks, known as Co-ordinated Universal Time, was adopted internationally in 1972. "New Zealand Standard Time" is currently defined in the Time Act 1974 as meaning 12 hours in advance of Co-ordinated Universal Time. The time for the Chatham Islands was set 45 minutes in advance of New Zealand Standard Time. Entomologist and astronomer George Hudson was the earliest known advocate of daylight saving in New Zealand. Hudson presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1895 advocating for seasonal time adjustment. However society members ridiculed his idea. It was not until 1909 that the issue was next raised, by Parliamentarian Hon Sir Thomas Sidey who argued for putting clocks forward by one hour during summer so that there would be an additional hour of daylight in the evenings. In that year he introduced a Member’s Bill to put this idea into effect. The Bill was rejected, but Sidey was persistent, reintroducing it every year for the next 20 years. It almost became law in 1915 and again in 1926 when it was passed by the House of Representatives, but was rejected by the Legislative Council (which was New Zealand’s upper house of Parliament until 1951). During the second reading of his Summer Time Bill in 1926, Sidey argued that: the extra hour of daylight after working-hours during the summer months is of especial value to indoor workers and the community as a whole as it gives one additional hour for recreation of all kinds, whether playing games or working in garden plots…one cannot overlook the economic advantages that will also accrue. There will be a saving in the consumption of artificial light. Much of the debate in the House of Representatives centered on the impact on people in rural areas and women in particular. Opponents of the Bill commented that: [Summer Time] will bring no happiness to the women of New Zealand who live in the backblocks. [the Bill] does not make the case for now requiring the wife of the working-man to get up an hour earlier in order to get her husband away to his work. In 1927 Sidey was successful. The passing of the Summer Time Act that year authorised the advancement of clocks by one hour between 6 November 1927 and 4 March 1928. The Act was only operative for one year, and when the Summer Time Act 1928 was passed extending the period of summer time from 14 October 1928 to 17 March 1929, the period of advancement was changed to just half an hour. This made New Zealand Summer Time 12 hours in advance of Greenwich Mean Time. The Summer Time Act 1929 enacted the provision of a 30-minute time advance from the second Sunday in October to the third Sunday in March the following year. In 1933 the period was extended from the first Sunday in September to the last Sunday in April of the following year. This continued until 1941, when the period of Summer Time was extended by emergency regulations to cover the whole year. This change was made permanent in 1946 by the Standard Time Act. Cartoon of T.K Sidey from New Zealand Free Lance, 30 September 1911. Courtesy of www.nzhistory.net.nz The Time Act 1974 provided that the Governor-General could declare, by Order in Council, a period of Daylight Time (daylight saving). Daylight Time is fixed as a one-hour advance on New Zealand Standard Time, and in the case of the Chatham Islands, is fixed at one hour forty-five minutes ahead of New Zealand Standard Time. The public response to a trial period of daylight saving in 1974/75 was generally favourable and the New Zealand Time Order 1975 fixed the period of daylight saving from the last Sunday in October each year to the first Sunday in March of the year following. In 1985, the Department of Internal Affairs undertook a comprehensive survey of public attitudes towards daylight saving and its effects on work, recreation and society. The results of the survey demonstrated that 76% of the population wanted daylight saving either continued or extended. In 1988, as a consequence of the survey and further feedback from the public, the Minister of Internal Affairs arranged for a trial period of extended daylight saving to be held from the second Sunday in October to the third Sunday in March. The Minister invited the public to write to him with their views on the five-week extension. Again the public response was generally favourable and a new Daylight Time Order was made in 1990. It declared that Daylight Time would run for 24 weeks from the first Sunday in October each year until the third Sunday in March of the following year. The end of daylight saving in 2006 generated public debate, which led to a review of the period. A petition to extend daylight saving was presented to Parliament with an estimated 42,000 signatures. The Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Rick Barker announced on 30 April 2007 that the period of daylight saving would be extended to run from the last Sunday in September until the first Sunday in April.

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We’re lucky to live in Maine. Whether we got here by birth or by choice, Mainers are surrounded by unparalleled natural resources that enrich our lives every day. Even better, Maine’s economy works together with its ecology in a way that is truly unique — an “eco/eco” partnership that sits at the heart of who we are. Maine’s legacy of land conservation is a key part of why this partnership works. Protecting our wild places has long been a core, nonpartisan value in Maine. That’s why recent political attacks taking aim at land conservation are so troubling. While claiming land conservation imposes a financial burden on homeowners, these attacks ignore the many benefits conserved land provides to Maine people and communities — including substantial economic benefits we all share. Take outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism, for example. The most recent analysis from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Census Bureau shows that in a single year, 1.1 million people participated in wildlife-related recreation in Maine, including residents and visitors. Of these, 341,000 fished, 181,000 hunted and 838,000 participated in wildlife-watching activities. Together, these nature-enthusiasts spent $1.4 billion on wildlife recreation in Maine. Conserved land supports these nature-based activities and many more. Are you a hiker? According to data collected by the Maine Land Trust Network, you can trek for more than 1,260 miles on trails conserved by Maine land trusts. A snowmobiler? Land trusts support more than 570 miles of snowmobile trails. A hunter? More than 2.3 million acres of land trust conserved land is open to hunting. A boater? Cast off from more than 200 launch sites on conserved land around the state. Conserved land supports Maine jobs, too. With more than 2.1 million acres of working forestlands, 36,000 acres of productive farmlands, and 65 access sites for marine fishermen, land conserved by Maine’s land trusts is deeply integrated into our forestry, farming and fishing industries. Conserved land also attracts businesses, which use things like acreage of open space to help determine where they want to set up shop or relocate. And don’t forget the quality-of-life benefits: Beautiful country with scenic vistas, places to watch wildlife, and outdoor recreation opportunities make communities more desirable and attract new residents. Rather than being bad for homeowners, evidence shows that properties often become more valuable when conserved land is nearby. And with very little infrastructure, conserved land provides these benefits to communities while requiring little in the way of public services and expenses in return. Finally, consider the vast “ecosystem benefits” of having conserved land in Maine. A recent study by the conservation science organization Manomet found that Maine receives $14.67 billion annually in uncounted benefits from its natural environment. This includes the many services we all receive from conserved land, such as drinking water, flood control, carbon storage, temperature moderation, filtration of pollutants by our wetlands, and the maintenance of productive soils for farming and forestry. Without conserved land, the cost to replicate these services would be staggering. Critiques of land conservation that don’t account for these benefits simply aren’t telling the whole story. More importantly, they misunderstand the special relationship Maine’s economy and ecology have always enjoyed, working not in opposition but in concert, each relying on and benefiting from the vitality of the other. Maine’s unique “eco/eco” partnership is rare, and it is something to treasure. The people of Maine understand this. It’s why they have repeatedly and overwhelmingly supported conservation initiatives like the Land for Maine’s Future program at the ballot box. It’s why so many take every opportunity to venture out to Maine’s forests, mountains, lakes and ocean, both to earn their livelihoods and to revel in the wonders of our incredible natural resources. They know that our state has always thrived not in spite of our legacy of safeguarding our land, water and wildlife, but because of it. Andy Beahm is the executive director of Maine Audubon. Follow BDN Editorial & Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions on the issues of the day in Maine.

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To start, let's take a look at what CSS is and why it's so important to modern web design. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and was introduced by the World Wide Web Consortium in late 1996 with the aim to separate web page content (written copy, images, multimedia, etc.) from presentation (fonts, colors, layout, page structure, etc .). Another chief goal of CSS is to improve and enhance web accessibility. Previous to the introduction of CSS, a web page's HTML markup defined both content and presentation. CSS is usually contained in a separate file from an HTML web page. This is why CSS files are frequently referred to as "external style sheets". When an HTML page or other type of web page loads like .aspx, .php, or .cgi, the page calls the external CSS file and reads all of the presentation properties defined in the file. The CSS file tells the HTML page how to style the website's content and in the case of tableless web design, where to place it. With CSS, a web designer can set rules for the presentation of individual web pages or an entire site. Traditionally, web pages were built using HTML with tables to layout the page structure and content. These cell based tables are very similar in form to a table found in Microsoft Excel and Word. An advantage of using tables is when used properly, it closely mimics the standard page layout in print media such as newspapers or magazine articles. However, as web technology has advanced and become more dynamic, a new era of design with greater possibilities has emerged. A new approach to designing and laying out web pages was created to break the constraints of structured table layouts. This approach is called CSS tableless design. It's important to understand that traditional table based design and CSS are not mutually exclusive; CSS is frequently used by web developers using table based design to control the properties of tables and other items on their web pages. On the other hand, tableless design would not be possible without CSS. However, instead of using tables, a tableless designer uses what are known as "DIV" s, which is short for "division". The name DIV is also derived from the HTML <Div> tag that forms the DIV in the HTML code. A DIV is a box, or more accurately described as a container, where web content is housed. Similar to table based design where content is contained within the cells of the table, with DIVs the content is housed inside DIV containers. A DIV's properties are defined within the CSS file. CSS tells the DIV where to appear on a web page, its width and height dimensions, and its appearance ie if it should have a background color or image, a border, or whether it should even be visible. There are a wide variety of other CSS properties that can be applied to DIVs. Instead of being constrained by the rigid grid structure of tables, DIVs can be made any size and placed anywhere on a webpage including layered on top of each other. This is what makes CSS tableless DIV design so powerful. The layout and design possibilities are essentially endless. Even though the use of tables for website page structure is deprecated, tables still play an important role in CSS tableless design. Tables should be used for structuring and presenting tabular data. An example of best practices for using a table in your design that many novice CSS tableless designers overlook is when building a web form, for example a company information request form. Sure, it may be obvious that using tables is best used to present data from a database or the results of a form submission, but when laying out the form itself, tables will save you a lot of time. Therefore, it is important for CSS tableless designers to understand how to use tables and when they are a better and more efficient solution than using strictly CSS tableless design. It's been a hot button issue for some web designers as to which method is better, table based layouts or CSS tableless layouts. Let's take a look at 9 reasons why CSS tableless design performs better than traditional table based web design and why it has become the preferred method of modern web design: 1. CSS tableless design allows web designers the possibility to make more complex layouts and designs when producing a website. With table based layouts, web designers are confined to creating layouts that can be rigid, inflexible, and based on grids. CSS tableless based layouts, on the other hand, allow the designer to be as creative as their imagination allows them to be. 2. If your intention is to improve search engine rankings for your website, then a CSS tableless design will help your cause. CSS tableless designs result in smaller web page file sizes, a reduction in the ratio of code to content, and the elimination of the extraneous "junk" HTML markup that many table based web editors use. This makes it easier for search engine spiders to crawl through your website and results in a more favorable ranking in search engines. 3. By using CSS style sheets it is extremely easy to maintain visual consistency throughout your website. When using table based layouts, it is easy to lose this consistency because each web page's style, layout, and design are frequently hard-coded individually into every page. If you need to make a change to your website across all pages, you'll have to change the code on each individual page. With CSS, all pages can use the same CSS document for their layout and styles. If you change a property in the CSS file, the changes will be instantaneously reflected across all pages of your website. 4. Updating a CSS tableless website is easier and less time consuming than compared to table based designs. For example, if you want to change font sizes and colors within your website, your external CSS file can be simply opened and the necessary changes made without making the change on each and every page of your website. To change the look of your website for special or seasonal promotions, the entire website "look and feel" can be completely altered simply by changing properties in the CSS file without touching the HTML code of the web page. 5. Redesigning a website using CSS tableless design is faster and less expensive than redesigning a website using table based design. This is because CSS tableless designs have separate files for content and visual data including web page structure whereas table based designs mix layout information with content in the same file. By separating the visual data and layout from the content, a web designer is able to quickly and easily make changes across the entire website. 6. Table web page designs rely heavily on the use of spacer .gifs, a transparent image used to control blank space within a table based web page. Having to create a series of custom sized transparent images to organize your web page layout creates messy code and a rigid page structure that can not be easily changed. CSS tableless design eliminates this problem by using DIVs instead of tables which can be easily resized, positioned anywhere on a page, or even dynamically manipulated through the use of scripting languages. 7. A common advantage of using CSS tableless web design is a reduction in web page file size which equates to your web pages loading faster. When compared to a CSS tableless layout, a table based web page frequently takes twice as long to load. Also, the amount of bandwidth you will save using a CSS tableless based approach, especially as your website grows in size, can be vast resulting in a faster overall loading website while saving you money. 8. Using CSS tableless web design makes your website more accessible by making content consumption and site navigation easier for users. You'll also do a much better job of accommodating those with visual impairments and other disabilities. Screen readers, Braille devices, and special browsers for the impaired have fewer problems with tableless designs because they can control the CSS file making font sizes larger, or even modify the web page structure to make it easier to read. 9. CSS enables the web designer to attach multiple style sheets for different media types. If a potential customer visits your site with her Blackberry or mobile phone, a different CSS style sheet is called which dictates a completely different layout and styling for your entire website formatting it for optimal viewing on the small screen of the device. CSS tableless design is a great method for developing modern websites and offers many valuable advantages over traditional table based design. Using CSS tableless design will provide your website visitors better usability and accessibility, faster page load times with greater, more elegant design possibilities. For the web developer and website owner, CSS tableless websites are easier and less expensive to redesign, update and maintain. When given a choice, CSS tableless design will be the best option for most present day website designs. </ Div>

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“Sustaining the Sanitation Revolution-India Country Paper” has been presented and published by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) for SACOSAN-III in 16-21 November 2008, paper is divided into two parts – rural and urban sanitation however, in both rural and urban spheres, it highlights the promising initiatives are underway to tackle the sanitation challenge in India. Individual Health and hygiene is largely dependent on adequate availability of drinking water and proper sanitation. There is, therefore, a direct relationship between water, sanitation and health. Consumption of unsafe drinking water, improper disposal of human excreta, improper environmental sanitation and lack of personal and food hygiene have been major causes of many diseases in developing countries. India is no exception to this. Prevailing High Infant Mortality Rate is also largely attributed to poor sanitation. “Results-Framework Document” has been developed and published in 2009-10 by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), is a manual about the rural households have access to and use safe and sustainable drinking water and improved sanitation facilities by providing support to States in their endeavour to provide these basic facilities and services. “Toilets and More” published by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) in SACOSAN-III November 2008, is a manual about the dissemination in all countries for achieving the common goal of new standards of hygiene, health and empowerment for the people of South Asian Region. “A Movement Towards Total Sanitation in India” is a ppt photo-essay, about the Total Sanitation Campaign of the Government of India. “Ensuring Water and Sanitation: The SHG way” written by Manu Prakash in 2005 and published by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India is a unique experiment where women were mobilized in groups and helped to acquire masonry and plumbing skills for constructing the household toilets and repairing of water and sanitation facilities on an entrepreneurial basis. COUNTRY PAPER SERIES School Sanitation And Hygiene Education In India Investment In Building Children's Future. Source : UNICEF

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What is a BOCES? In 1948 the New York State legislature created Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to provide shared educational programs and services to school districts within the state. Today there are 37 BOCES, incorporating all but nine of the state’s school districts. BOCES partner with districts to provide a broad range of services that help meet the evolving educational needs of students. BOCES membership is not currently available to the "Big Five" city school districts: New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse. The BOCES network is capable of including municipalities and divisions of the state with school districts in the provision of cost-effective services. - Preparing diverse populations for roles in the global economy. - Providing cost-effective shared services to school districts. - Initiating collaboration to close gaps in student achievement. For more information on BOCES go to www.boces.org

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What are two different words or phrases you would use to describe the internment of the Japanese-Americans citizens during World War II. 4 Answers | Add Yours First of all, please note that not all of the Japanese-Americans who were interned were citizens. The isseior first-generation Japanese Americans were not allowed to be citizens because no Asians could be naturalized as American citizens. Their children were born in the US and were therefore citizens. That said, the first word I would use to describe the internment is "unjust." It was unjust because it did not take individual rights into account. Instead, it simply said that all residents of Japanese descent were suspect and were worthy of incarceration. It is unjust to rule that people are guilty only because of their ethnicity. The second word I would use is "understandable." America was a racist society in those days. In addition, it was a society that was at war and was worried. In such a situation, it is very understandable that Americans would have acted in an unjust way. The internment of the Japanese-Americans was deplorable, but it was also not surprising in the circumstances. Rather than "understandable," I'd choose the word "typical." For the last two decades, the United States had sought to restrict immigration using the same racial justifications that were behind internment, and it has to be understood in that context. The second word would be "fearful." People deeply believed that the United States, especially the west coast, was vulnerable to an attack, and they regarded Japanese-Americans as a threat in that context solely on the basis of their race. America's actions were protective, because like post #3 mentioned, there was a true fear of a west coast attack. Looking at the Tanaka Memorial (Japan's strategic plan for world domination) puts this into perspective; if the war had gone Japan's way, there would have ultimately been an invasion or bombing of California. America's actions were paranoid, but because it was war time, people, especially the military and the government, had to be overly suspicious. I would also add a third word--embarrassing. Whenever I teach this part of American history to my students, they are always shocked and embarrassed that this happened in our recent past. I have had students verbally apologizing to Japanese-American students in my classroom before because thee other kids honestly felt so bad! The conduct of the United States - government, society, individual citizenry - was unfortunate and deplorable (already suggested) but, unfortunately, not surprising, given the circumstances and the general perceptions that were widespread and uninterested in rationally evaluating the facts. Join to answer this question Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.Join eNotes

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Athletes, bodybuilders and those interested in fitness lift weights to build muscle for various reasons. It may be simply related to becoming faster and stronger for a given sport. It may be for competitions where the body is sculpted into a winning physique. Or, it could simply be to improve your self-esteem with aesthetic muscle while gaining over-all health and boosting benefits. Whatever the reason, all of these individuals have a core factor in common that underlies the objectives they seek. That is to build bigger muscle through muscle hypertrophy. What Is Muscle Hypertrophy? So, what is muscle hypertrophy anyway? Hypertrophy of the muscle is the process in which skeletal muscle size is increased by cause these component cells to grow bigger. There are two elements involved in hyper trophy. These are called sarcoplasmic and myofibril hypertrophy. Increasing muscle glycogen storage is the main focus of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. In other words, this occurs when muscle cells experience and increase in sarcoplasmic fluid. The does nothing to increase strength. Sarcoplasm is myocyte (muscle fiber) cytoplasm. It is similar to cell cytoplasm except for the unusually high concentrations of stored glycosomes, which are glycogen granules. In addition, they also contain large amounts of an oxygen-binding protein called myoglobin. Sarcoplasma contains calcium ion concentrations that regulate and cause muscle contractions. Glycogen acts as a secondary type of long term energy storage that is found primarily in muscle, liver and red blood cells. A muscle fibril is the unit of muscle cells that are rod-like in appearance. Muscle fibers contain chains of myofibrils found within the tubular myocyte cells. They are held together by many different longer proteins. These include actin, myosin and titin, among other proteins. Together, the create myofilaments, which are bundles of thick and thin filaments composed of proteins. This aids in muscle contractions when thick (myosin) and thin (actin) filaments slide along one another. Myofibrillar growth occurs when more of these myosin contractile proteins increase in number, therefore, leading to an increase of strength. How To Stimulate Hypertrophy? Hypertrophy stimulation can occur with a range of stimuli. The increased volume of muscle cells is the adaptive response to help muscles generate higher amounts of force while delaying fatigue within anaerobic conditions. There are two primary training methods that stimulate muscle growth; strength and anaerobic. Both sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy occur as a result of strength training. Myofibrillar hypertrophy occurs dominantly from 2-6 repetitions of weight equal to 80-90% of a person’s one-repetition maximum. This helps build size and strength, primarily. However, increasing repetitions to the 8 to 12 range against submaximal loads produces primarily sarcoplasmic growth. Essentially, this leads to increased endurance. There are a number of approaches to achieving muscle growth, but the best method remains controversial. Generally, anaerobic strength training is considered to be the primary approach to increasing muscle growth, strength and endurance. Muscle hypertrophy is seen to occur while strength training, as well as short-duration, high-intensity anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise, which is lower-intensity training at longer duration, is more favored by endurance athletes rather than strength builders due to is ineffective results in muscle growth.

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|Communications data retention puts human lives at risk! (8 Oct 2010)| According to a report published by German civil liberties activists today, the registration of every telecommunication puts the protection of children and human lives at risk. Traceability of anonymous calls to crisis lines frustrates their work in persuading potential perpetrators not to commit violent crimes. The activists report that anonymous German crisis lines were, for example, able to avert a school shooting and an honour killing - had these calls been traceable, the potential perpetrators would probably never have contacted the crisis lines in the first place. Giving specific examples, the report paints a dire picture of the consequences of the registration of every phone call and Internet connection in Germany: This "data retention" policy is reported to have advantaged corruption, endangered scientific research, caused unemployment, made political critics go underground, promoted the abuse of personal data and frustrated the prosecution of crime. Earlier this year, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany declared unconstitutional und void the law requiring the recording of who communicated with whom via various electronic communications systems (data retention), thus ending the practise in Germany. According to today's report, the German police actually cleared a greater share of crime before the law came into effect. Even if one investigation or another was facilitated by collecting all call details, the policy is said to have frustrated many other investigations and put human lives at risk. All in all, a blanket and indiscriminate recording of details on every phone call, e-mail and Internet connection is found to be "useless for the prosecution of crime and totally disproportionate". European Union law is reported to allow Member States to deviate from a 2006 EU directive on data retention. |< Prev||Next >|

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* helps to facilitate a support network among families with a child with Down syndrome * serves as a resource for community members who would like to know more about Down syndrome and/or want to get involved * works with community members to promote acceptance and awareness of individuals with intellectual disabilities * is a source of new information as well local and national resources for families with a child with Down syndrome Down syndrome is identified by a presence of 3 copies of chromosome 21 instead of the typical 2 copies. This means that individuals with Down syndrome have a total of 47 chromosomes instead of the typical 46. Fabulous with 47's name came from our idea that you can be fabulous with 46 OR 47. For more information about Down syndrome, you can visit our WHAT IS DOWN SYNDROME page.

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Other name: German Giant Rabbit Scientific name: Oryctolagus cuniculus Country / Place of origin: Europe The Continental Giant Rabbit (also known as the German Giant Rabbit), is said to have originated in Belgium in the 19th century. The Continental Giant is an accepted breed with the British Rabbit Council, and comes in a white, or a coloured coat. Appearance: The Continental Giant is a very large rabbit that has a long body with a slightly arched back, well-rounded hindquarters, large thick ears (close to a fourth of the body length), and big bright eyes. The fur is dense and shiny with long guard hairs and a thick and soft undercoat. The recognized colors of the Continental Giant are white (with pink or blue eyes), agouti, black, dark steel, light steel, and opal. Average weight: 14 - 22 lbs. Lifespan: 5 - 10 years Grooming: Continental Giants require simple brushing at least once a week to remove loose and excess fur and prevent matting of the coat. Rabbits naturally groom each other by licking the ears, nose, top of the head, and around the eyes. Diet: Like other rabbits, Continental Giant Rabbits are herbivorous. The main ingredient of their diet is hay, preferably Timothy grass hay, which is rich in the fiber needed to prevent diarrhea, obesity, and hairballs is often recommended. Leafy vegetables, though also essential to a rabbit’s health, should be given sparingly to prevent digestive disorders. For variety, treats may be given (although occasionally because of potentially high starch or sugar content) such as carrots, peaches, plum, apples, papaya, pears, strawberries, and other fruits. Commercial rabbit pellets also add nutrients to the daily diet. Fresh water should always be available, either from a sipper bottle or in a stable water bowl. Housing: Continental Giant Rabbits can be kept indoors to protect them from extreme temperatures, predators, and other outdoor dangers. They should be allowed to roam and exercise, preferably where they can get sunlight and fresh air. Extension hutches, exercise pens or lawn enclosures are recommended for safe outdoor exposure.If kept in a cage, it is best to house them in a home built cage, as shop cages are just not big enough. The cage should be large enough that the rabbit can stand on its hind legs without its ears touching the roof of the cage, It should be at least 10 ft long as a full grown Continental Giant can reach between 3 ft and 4 ft.. Continental Giants can jump up to 2 meters high, and they are very good burrowers and will chew out of a run if the wire gauge is too big. It is therefore suggested that a specially made run is built with a roof of mesh 2cm x 1cm gauge, 3 to 4ft high by 8ft x 8ft minimum room. The floor of the cage should also be meshed. A hide box or sleeping quarters should be provided for times when the rabbit needs to hide or sleep in private. Baby toys and interesting items should also be available for entertainment. The Continental Giant needs plenty of exercise outdoors as they can easily become obese due to their size and appetite. Rabbits can be taught to use a litter box. To avoid health hazards caused by toxic wood shavings or clumping kitty litter, only organic litter should be used such as paper, citrus, or wood pulp. The Continental Giant can be allowed to roam inside the house as long as the areas where they are free to explore are “rabbit-proofed” for safety. If your garden is secure with a 6ft fence and has no flower borders and only a few cats as predators, then the Continental Giant could run free when you are around and be trained to return to bed with food at dinner times. Continental Giants will stand up to and warn off trespassing cats. They do tend to get along with family cats thou Health issues: Like other small mammals, Continental Giant Rabbits can be susceptible to colds and viral infections. Exposure to draft, sudden changes in temperature and stress can lower the rabbit’s resistance to sickness. Rabbits are also vulnerable to conjunctivitis (a bacterial infection of the eyelids caused by smoke, dust, and fumes) and ear mites. Intestinal ailments like coccidiosis (parasites propagated by unsanitary conditions), bloat, and hairball obstructions are also common in rabbits. Behavior / Temperament / Activity level: Continental Giant Rabbits are calm, friendly, and social, getting along with other domesticated pets like cats, dogs, and guinea pigs. They are best kept in pairs or trios but preferably one per cage to minimize injury from occasional infighting. They are most active at sunset and at daybreak. Because they are very large, timid, easily stressed, and physically fragile, they are not recommended as pets for small children.

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Alpha radiation consists of clumps of two protons and two neutrons. These are usually called alpha particles instead of alpha radiation. These are the lowest-energy of the three types of radioactive emissions, and are the largest particles. Alpha particles can’t penetrate far into the human body by external exposure, but they are quite dangerous when ingested. Beta radiation consists of electrons – one electron per radioactive decay. Although we are generally taught to regard electrons as a particle, when they are ejected from a radioactive decay event, they are often moving close to the speed of light and behave more like a form of energy. For this reason they are sometimes called beta particles and sometimes called beta radiation. They are much, much smaller and higher-energy than alpha particles, but have a lower energy than gamma rays. Its effects on the body fall between alpha and gamma radiation. Gamma rays are high-energy, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, similar to x-rays. Neutrons and larger clumps of protons and neutrons are highly damaging radiation, but they’re not normally emitted except as part of an uncontrolled chain reaction. In practical terms, gamma radiation can be the most dangerous type.

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ANSI Common Lisp 1 Introduction 1.8 Deprecated Language Features Deprecated language features are not expected to appear in future Common Lisp standards, but are required to be implemented for conformance with this standard; see Section 22.214.171.124 Required Language Features. Conforming programs can use deprecated features; however, it is considered good programming style to avoid them. It is permissible for the compiler to produce style warnings about the use of such features at compile time, but there should be no such warnings at program execution time. 1.8.1 Deprecated Functions 1.8.2 Deprecated Argument Conventions 1.8.3 Deprecated Variables 1.8.4 Deprecated Reader Syntax

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Get exclusive member benefits & effect social change. Join Today Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a condition in which you act out your dreams while you sleep. These dreams are often very vivid and can involve a wide range of movements. Unlike sleepwalking or night terrors, you can recall your dreams upon waking. RBD occurs in less than one percent of the population, according to the National Sleep Foundation. It was once believed that this disorder mostly affected men, but new data suggests that it occurs in both men and women with similar frequency. RBD can be treated with medication. However, it often occurs with other sleep problems or conditions, which may require additional treatment. If diagnosed, you should be monitored by your doctor. REM sleep behavior disorder may indicate a neurodegenerative disease or may be induced by some medications. During an episode of RBD, you may: After waking up, you’ll probably remember details from your dream. They will match behaviors you acted out while sleeping. For example, if you dream about someone chasing you, you might jump out of your bed to run away. In most cases, your episodes of RBD will happen at least 90 minutes after you fall asleep. Other people will experience these episodes during the later portions of sleep. You may have as many as four episodes in a night. You can also experience less frequent episodes. Sleepwalking is a different condition than RBD. You may experience similar movements while sleepwalking. However, it’s usually harder to wake up from a sleepwalking episode than an RBD episode. You’re more likely to be confused after waking up from sleepwalking. You’re also less likely to remember your dream. If you have your eyes open, walk around, leave the room, eat or drink, engage in sexual activity, or use the bathroom while sleeping, you’re probably sleepwalking. When you sleep, your body goes through stages of both non-REM and REM sleep. REM sleep is associated with dreams and is a critical component of your sleep cycle. It occurs for roughly 90 minutes to two hours each night. During typical REM sleep, your muscles are temporarily paralyzed while your brain is actively dreaming. In some cases, the chemical that causes your body to remain still and your brain to remain active doesn’t function properly. As a result, you can develop disorders such as sleepwalking, narcolepsy, or RBD. In RBD, your muscles aren’t temporarily paralyzed like they should be. This allows your body to react to your dreams. You may begin with small actions, such as talking or twitching, and progress to larger movements, such as jumping or kicking. These actions can harm you or your bed partner. According to the National Sleep Foundation, men are more likely to develop this condition than women. It can appear at any age, but it most commonly occurs after age 50. You may be at higher risk of RBD if you have a neurological disorder, such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple system atrophy. This disease is similar to Parkinson’s, but it involves more widespread damage. If you have RBD, you’re at a higher risk of developing: To diagnose this condition, you should talk with a sleep specialist. Your doctor will need to know your medical history and will perform a neurological exam. Your doctor may even refer you to a neurologist for more comprehensive testing. Your doctor may monitor your sleep patterns by asking you to keep a sleep diary. They may also ask you to fill out the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. This scale can help them determine how your sleep patterns are interfering with your daily life. You may be asked to perform an overnight sleep study. In this case, you will sleep in a laboratory attached to a heart rate, brain wave, and breathing monitor. These monitors will record your sleep stages, how you move throughout the night, and if you have any other disorders that may be affecting your sleep. In most cases, this condition can be successfully managed with medication. Clonazepam (Klonopin) is the most frequently used medicine. Your doctor may also prescribe melatonin, a dietary supplement that can help eliminate symptoms. You should talk to your doctor to learn which medication is best for you. You will likely need to take other precautions to protect yourself and your bed partner. For example: This condition can often be treated successfully with medication. If you take clonazepam to treat RBD, you may experience side effects. For example, you may experience morning sleepiness, memory problems, confusion, or decreased balance. The drug can also make sleep apnea worse. If you notice side effects that are interfering with your daily life, speak with your doctor. Switching to melatonin might help relieve your symptoms of RBD, while causing fewer side effects. You should also be checked regularly for neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. In some cases, RBD is the first warning sign of neurodegenerative disease. Written by: Cindie Slightham Medically reviewed on: Mar 10, 2016: Timothy J. Legg, PMHNP-BC, GNP-BC, CARN-AP, MCHES Enter your symptoms in our Symptom Checker to find out possible causes of your symptoms. Go. Enter any list of prescription drugs and see how they interact with each other and with other substances. Go. Enter its color and shape information, and this tool helps you identify it. Go. Find information on drug interactions, side effects, and more. Go.

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NewsDetails - Foundation 80% of children would eat more healthily if they knew that their football heroes did too Study by Beko, in association with FC Barcelona, the Barça Foundation and UNICEF analyses the influence of footballers in the fight against child obesity The influence of footballing heroes on children may help to solve major social problems such as child obesity, one of the biggest issues threatening modern societies around the world. Proof of this comes in the form of a study conducted by the leading appliance brand in Europe Beko, in association with FC Barcelona, the Barça Foundation and UNICEF, which concludes that 80% of children eat more healthily if they know that their football hero has a healthy diet. The study of 13,500 children aged 6 to 10 years in 18 countries analysed the major shortcomings in terms of the knowledge children have of healthy eating habits and sport, specifically football. The study forms part of the ‘Eat Like a Pro’ campaign, for which Barça star Gerard Piqué is its global ambassador. Another interesting conclusion of the survey is the possibility of children changing their dietary habits. When they are asked if they would prefer to eat unhealthy food rather than healthy food if given the choice, 50% say no, 19% say they don’t mind and 31% take the unhealthy option. Only one out of every five children knows that they should eat a recommended five items of fruit or vegetables a day. 72% of respondents know how many players there are in a football team, but just 21% gave the correct answer when asked what kind of daily intake of fruit and vegetable is considered a balanced diet. Compared by countries, French children produced the best results, with correct answers in 78% of cases, while those from the United Kingdom were second with 68%. That figure is much higher than the mere 16% who answered correctly in the United States and Germany, the 13% in Uruguay, 11% in Brazil, 10% in Thailand, 9% in Russia, and just 3% in China. Spain is somewhere in the middle, scoring 29%. 49% of children revealed that they speak more about football with their friends and families than they do about healthy eating. The goal of the ‘Eat Like a Pro’ campaign run by Beko, FC Barcelona, the Barça Foundation and UNICEF, is to teach children about the importance of healthy eating, encouraging them to imitate the healthy lifestyles of their sports heroes. Gerard Piqué, the programme’s ambassador, showed his support by meeting a group of boys and girls and speaking to them about the importance of eating properly. “When I was young, I wasn’t really interested in healthy eating, I only cared about football, but that all changed when I joined Barça and started to learn with the team nutritionists. It’s fantastic to see the passion for the beautiful game among children around the world, and to know my teammates and I are inspiring them is fantastic. We have an important role to inspire children to eat healthily, and I’m very happy to be able to do that through the Beko ‘Eat Like A Pro’ campaign”, he admits. Roland Kupka, Senior Advisor for Nutrition at UNICEF global, adds that “UNICEF is concerned about the increasing rates of overweight and obesity in children worldwide. Promoting eating among children to reverse this worrisome trend is of paramount importance. Our partnership with Beko and FC Barcelona is part of UNICEF’s strategy to make healthy eating and active lifestyles the norm among children and adolescents, everywhere.” Zeynep Yalim Uzun, Chief Marketing Officer at Beko commented: “Through our partnerships with FC Barcelona, The Barça Foundation and UNICEF we have developed a campaign that tackles a serious global issue, and one we felt we could make a difference to. The findings of this study confirm the job we still have to do to help prevent childhood obesity, but they show that ‘Eat Like A Pro’ can play a key role in helping families and inspiring children around the world to lead healthier lives.”

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|Rawles, Steven - Steve| |Green, Bartholomew - Bart| |Mcentire, Matthew - Matt| Submitted to: Aquaculture Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 5/22/2012 Publication Date: 7/2/2012 Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/55623 Citation: Rawles, S.D., Green, B.W., Gaylord, G., Barrows, F., McEntire, M.E., Freeman, D.W. 2012. Response of sunshine bass (Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis) to digestible protein/dietary lipid density and ration size at summer culture temperatures in the Southern United States. Aquaculture. 356-357:80-90. Interpretive Summary: Temperature and ammonia levels often increase dramatically in ponds during summer production of hybrid striped bass. Summer temperatures are also projected to increase in the Southern U.S. Ammonia is the primary waste product that fish excrete into the pond from the protein in the feed that they consume. Long periods of high ammonia in the summer can become toxic and cause fish stress, disease, and death. Producers will stop feeding or they will try to feed diets with lower protein in order to reduce ammonia in ponds. However, this practice means days of feeding are lost and fish production is lower. There is little data to guide producers toward the best feeding strategy or the optimum diet that will maximize production and minimize wastes into the pond during summer. We tested six diets that varied in digestible protein level from 33% to 47% and contained either 10% or 18% fat. We fed the diets to hybrid striped bass held in tanks at a constant high temperature that mimicked summer conditions in ponds. Half the tanks of fish received as much of their particular test diet as they would eat for four months. The other half were fed 20% less of the same test diets. At the end of the experiment, the diet that both maximized growth and retention of nutrients from the diet and minimized ammonia waste was the diet containing 40% digestible protein and 18% fat regardless of how much diet was fed. This information will help hybrid striped bass producers become more efficient at managing feeding and pond water quality during summer. Technical Abstract: Temperature and ammonia levels often increase dramatically in ponds during summer production of sunshine bass and summer temperatures are projected to increase in the Southern US. Extended periods of high ammonia result in fish stress, disease, mortality and significant loss of feeding days as producers attempt to reduce ammonia to manageable levels through reduced feeding or lower protein diets. A factorial feeding trial was conducted in temperature controlled tanks to investigate main and interactive effects of three digestible protein (DP) levels (33, 40, 47%), two lipid levels (10, 18 %) and two ration levels (full fed: satiation, restricted: 80% of satiation) on growth, body composition, nutrient and amino acid retention, and ammonia and phosphorus excretion in sunshine bass (mean weight:75g) reared at elevated temperature (30.5 +/- 0.5ºC) . Diets were balanced on an available amino acid basis to the profile of hybrid striped bass muscle and supplemented with lysine and methionine at the equivalent of 330, 400, or 470 g/ kg of muscle protein. Each DP x lipid x ration treatment was fed to triplicate tanks of fish for 116 days. All measured responses were significantly altered by main and interactive effects, but the patterns of interactions were similar among responses. Restricted feeding resulted in much lower final weights and weight gains but much higher ammonia excretion as a function of feed or N fed and body weight (BW), regardless of DP level. Lower dietary fat (10%) resulted in lower weight gains and poorer feed conversions as well as higher ammonia excretion (per g N fed/kg BW) regardless of DP or ration level. Weight gain (475%) and final fish weight (434 g) were highest at 47% DP/18% dietary lipid, but feed conversion, protein, energy and amino acid retention efficiencies were markedly poorer in the 47% DP diets regardless of lipid level due to hyperphagia in fish fed this diet. The 40/18 diet consistently outperformed the 33/18 diet in better growth and lower ammonia excretion as a function of N fed/ BW, and nearly equaled the growth attained by fish fed 47/18 diet. Increasing ration to satiation at elevated temperature resulted in much greater improvements in weight gain, final weight and lower ammonia excretion of fish fed the 40/18 diet, as opposed to those fed the 33/18 or 47/18 diets. Amino acid retentions were nearly equal between the 33/18 and 40/18 diets and restricting feed to 80% of satiation slightly improved feed conversions and protein and amino acid retentions. Consistent lipid x DP interactions generally indicated that the differences among responses to DP level seen at 18% dietary lipid significantly decreased or disappeared at 10% dietary lipid. Phosphorus excretion was low and not significantly altered by main effects. Results suggest that a producer desiring to reduce pond ammonia with the least compromise to production efficiency would be better served by feeding a 40% DP/ 18% lipid diet at a reduced level instead switching to a lower protein diet.

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Despite complaints that NCLB has reduced classrooms to one-size-fits all test prep environments, my perspective is that our classrooms have mostly always been, with a few exceptions, one-size-fits all teaching spaces. In working at all three levels of Pk-12, elementary educators do seem more likely to create spaces where students have resource material choices, opportunities to work collaboratively and participate in a variety of groupings, and experience differentiated activities. Secondary education classrooms still look a lot like the schools of my youth. .I don’t blame educators because we, most all of us, teach the way we were taught. Unlike medical schools, our colleges of education don’t offer simulation centers where education majors can work in controlled situations under highly trained, expert practitioner professionals. Unless through the luck of the draw in student teaching assignments, they also get little or no opportunity to learn how to work in redesigned learning spaces, use a systems approach to manage options and choices in using tools and resources, teach social and personal learning responsibility, and use a continuum of strategies from direct instruction to facilitation of independent and collaborative learners at work. Instead, schools of education tend to pitch young educators into a variety of “on the job” experiences with supervising teachers who may range from great expertise to being pretty bad models. When novices walk through our doors, unless a cognitive coaching model is in place, they often find themselves on their own, at the mercy of more experienced educators who may or may not choose or be able to assist them through the most at risk teaching years, from 0- 4. I want to be clear. I don’t see those who work in our schools at fault for not changing practices, particularly since the advent of the 20th century’s educational reform movement. As a nation, we’ve maintained structures in schools of education and the public school system that sustain tradition, schools of our past. We hold onto that which we know and with which we are most comfortable. The biggest difference often in the lives of children who attended schools twenty years ago or today is not classroom arrangement, the use of resources, the way learners are grouped or labeled, the testing and reporting systems, or the teaching. In reality … The biggest difference is in the imposition over the last decade of one size fits all test prep curricula and standardized multiple choice measures that states use to hold educators accountable for student achievement. Of course, multiple choice tests have been around a long time. I took them as a high school student a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. So did my son when he was in high school. If we wiped out today all the millions and millions of state-required bubble sheets that kids fill in annually, I bet kids would still be doing lots of teacher or district made multiple choice tests in their classes tomorrow. We might like to think in the good old days we were all doing passion-driven, hands-on,minds-on, problem-based, project learning with authentic and performance assessments, but experience says that mostly wasn’t true. Today’s kids typically still sit in hard seats, listen to a teacher at the board, do worksheets, and read textbooks. The big difference is we expect them to achieve at higher levels and drop out less than their peers of decades past. And, in truth, despite the media’s portrayal of a failed system, educators can and have improved standardized test results and dropout rates in many, if not almost all schools, across the country. It’s not as hard as you think – alignment of the tested and taught curricula will boost test results. That’s been proven. Our schools aren’t really failing based on test scores, but they are failing kids when it comes to what the President thinks America[s schools should do well. We all know it. Why doesn't he? "It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up? (State of the Union, 2011)” We know that boosting multiple choice test results is the wrong outcome if we really want a lot of kids- for argument's sake, let's say ALL means ALL- who can imagine, design, build, create, engineer, invent, produce, collaborate, make, compose, critique, and theorize. In reality, most curricula, assessment, and instruction were never designed around those indicators of success. That kind of work most often used to occur outside of school, under the shade tree learning mechanics, in extra-curricula activities such as Destination Imagination, or in special gifted and talented classes exemplified by De Bono's, Torrance's, or Renzulli's instructional design models. If that's the work we want all learners to accomplish, then we need to design an educational system that will accomplish it. I don't think it's rocket science or that it would even demand the resources we needed to put a human on the moon or fight a few wars over the last couple of decades. It's a matter of purposeful will. It's fascinating that those, such as our President and his Department of Education, and others who impose today's accountability measures aren't trying to change the educational system invented by Cubberley and friends in the early part of the 20th century. The corporate types of that era needed people to go to work in factories. So, yesterday's schools became factory training programs. Makes sense, right? But, the President said in his last State of the Union speech that .."What we can do -- what America does better than anyone else -- is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We’re the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It is how we make our living. ." The corporate types involved in running education today are trying to scientifically manage our schools based upon an industrial model that no longer exists, not one that sparks what the President envisions as "imaginators" in our schools, educators and learners alike.Today's learners need to acquire a breadth and depth of knowledge and skill that Cubberley could not have envisioned in 1910. Most of the competencies on today's workforce lists weren't even there ten years ago, let alone a century ago. The world has changed. The economy has changed. The technology has changed. But, our schools, for the most part, are not that different. In 2012, it would be inspiring for people in charge to put their resources behind radical redesign of the system, rather just pour money into "innovations" that, in truth, are just rehashed management by inspection models. We need 1950s style Bell Laboratory R and D teams to get to work on redesign post haste. Here's what I think would accomplish the beginnings of work towards such a redesign. We need to figure out how to ... - start with the idea that the educational system has been destroyed and begin to design for now, not yesterday, - create and fund appropriate and effective safety nets of services for children who live in poverty, - make a palette of tools, classroom environments, learning spaces, learning choices, and broadband connectivity accessible to learners in and outside of schools, - use locally-controlled and scored performance assessments to account for learning, - develop local curricula designed to increase passion, curiosity, interest, commitment,and drive among learners and their teachers, - elevate the education profession nationally so American youth are proud to make teaching a first choice career. If we start work now, we might be well on our way to a more productive, efficient, and effective learning system for our young people - by the end of the decade. It's possible. After all, we did put a human on the moon once upon a time.

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Colleges and universities learned from the communications failures during the Virginia Tech massacre, and many have established emergency plans that use various forms of technology to warn students of a security risk. This morning, Casper College in Casper, Wyo., faced a shooting on campus and used Twitter as one avenue to alert the community and communicate with students and faculty during the crisis. A Casper College instructor notes how he and students got word of the shooting: Political science instructor Chris Henrichsen said he was showing the film “Frost/Nixon” to his Wyoming and U.S. government class when he stepped into the hall to get something for a student and was told a homicide had occurred on campus. He went back to his classroom, where students were getting messages about the campus lockdown on their phones. Local media and students also used Twitter to relay information and rumors about the crime and to let friends and family know that they were okay. Touchingly, others immediately tweeted their support to the school of roughly 4,000 students. This shooting, like those before it, appears to have been a senseless act of violence and it will be hours before a fuller picture of what occurred is released. What is newsworthy about this attack is how the school and the surrounding community, from journalists to students and local citizens, used modern technology to warn each other of the attack almost immediately. There will always be confusion, uncertainty, and rumor during incidents of this type but thanks to modern technology, the ability to voice warnings and share sorrow is now almost instantaneous.

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The Spotted Black Crow (Euploea crameri bremeri) The subfamily Danainae, often referred to by their collective English Common name of "Tigers and Crows" display aposematic colouration as a warning to predators that they are distasteful and should be avoided. One such species, the Spotted Black Crow is predominantly black in colour, with typical white spots on its wings which is characteristic of several species of the Euploea genus. This Spotted Black Crow, shot last weekend, kept returning again and again to the flowers of the Stringbush to feed, even when disturbed. A moderately rare species, the Spotted Black Crow is often observed on the landward side of mangrove areas in Singapore. Its caterpillars feed on Apocynaceae plants which are lactiferous. It is the chemical compound in the host plant that gives the adult butterfly its distasteful properties.

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Types of Bone Cells: The bones are a core founding component of a living body that holds the structure of muscles and organs. The bones of the skeletal system are composed of two types of tissues, i.e., compact and spongy bone tissue. The Compact bone tissue covers the outer part of the bone structure and provides toughness and strength to the structure of bone. The Spongy bone tissue is present inside the compact bone tissue. It is pretty soft and helps for compression that might occur as a result to stress on the bone. Table of Contents Types of Bone Cells Both the compact and spongy bone tissues are composed of 3 main types of bone cells. These bone cells have distinct features, structure, and considered essential functions. These bone cells are Osteoclasts, Osteoblasts, and Osteocytes. These bone cells are embedded in the matrix of bony tissue and perform many vital functions. From hormones production to the provision of mechanical strength, the bone cells possess miraculous properties and functions fundamental to the normal bone functioning. This article gives an overview of the fundamental properties of the bone cells along with some essential functions. History of Osteoclasts Osteoclasts are distinct bone cells doing bone demolishing work. They were discovered in 1873 by Albert von Kolliker. - The resorption properties of osteoclasts, inside the bony tissue, were established in the early days of their discovery. - During the recent years, usage of the electron microscope and other technological advancements have help in comprehending the behavior of osteoclasts, in both healthy and diseased conditions. - Osteoclasts consist of diverse ultrastructure and multiple nuclei. These features led the discoverers to study osteoclast extensively, under light and electron microscope. - Osteoclasts showed completely different behavior as compared to other types of bone cells. Structure of Osteoclasts The occurrence of osteoclasts is quite scarce in the bony tissue. - It is estimated that in an area of 1mm of the bony tissue, almost 2 to 3 osteoclasts are found. - The structure of osteoclasts is related to their function. As osteoclasts have the fate of absorbing bone, they are giant bone cells with specialized membrane structures, ruffled borders and clear zones helping them in function of bone resorption. - Osteoclasts originate from liver and spleen as hematopoietic stem cells. - After their release, osteoclast travels through the bloodstream to reach out cells at the place of resorption. At the time of their arrival at resorption site, osteoclasts are composed of just one nucleus. At the time of their early life, osteoclasts are closely related to other cells regarding origin such as macrophages, monocytes, and granulocytes. These all cells are components of granulocyte macrophage colony forming a unit (GM-CFU). Numerous researches and studies have been conducted, in order to understand the structure of osteoclasts and their relationship with other closely related cells. Function of Osteoclasts The functions played by osteoclasts are incredibly crucial to the normal functioning of the bone. - Osteoclasts regulate the homeostasis of the bone. - If the number of osteoclasts gets lowered inside the bony tissue or they are not adequately developed, the bone dysfunctioning called Osteopetrosis develops. - On the other hand, when osteoclasts are present in increased numbers than required, the bone problem of Osteoporosis may develop. Therefore, the number and amount of osteoclasts in the bone controls the bone structural integrity . - Osteoclast resorbs bones by creating sealed compartments adjacent to the bone surface. Then, osteoclasts secrete acid phosphatases. These enzymes are acidic that functions to degrade the bone. The resulting edge and depression on the bone formed by the action of these enzymes are termed as “ruffled border“. - At the site of ruffled borders, osteoclasts are acted upon by carbonic anhydrase enzyme, and hydrogen ions are released, as result of chemical reaction between CO2 and H2O. - The resultant products of the reaction create an acidic environment at the site of ruffled borders and help in dissolving the bone, as shown in the equation: CO2 + H2O → H+ + HCO3-. The dissolved bone is converted as a matrix of calcium. History of Osteoblasts Osteoblasts are the bone cells with relatively different structure than other bone cells. - They are short-lived cells. In the late 1950s, Harold M.Frost was involved in extensively studying the properties and behavior of osteoblasts. - Frost discovered the collaborative nature of osteoblasts to work with osteoclasts, in the formation of the bone matrix. - He added through various experimentations that osteoblasts strengthen the integrity of the bony tissue. - Osteoblasts are also derived from bone marrow precursor cells (mesenchymal stem cells MSC). Osteogenic cells are undifferentiated and develop into Osteoblasts. Structure of Osteoblasts Osteoblasts are the bone cells possessing cuboidal and columnar shapes. - They possess a central nucleus which is found on the surface of the bone, i.e. present in old compact part of the bone. - It is reported that osteoblast compromise about 6% of total bone cells. - Osteoblasts are made from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) along with muscle cells (myocytes) and fat cells (adipocytes). - Osteoblasts work together in the form of clusters and perform their function of building up the bone. - Once the cluster of osteoblasts finishes its work, the shape of osteoblasts gets flattened. - At this stage, they are referred to as inactive osteoblasts. When osteoblasts become inactive, they transport towards the outer surface of the bone and settle along the line. - This phenomenon gives osteoblasts a specific name of lining cells. Following image represents the histological view of osteoblast, after staining: Osteoblast bone cells have some of the morphological features that have close resemblance with protein synthesizing cells. Protein synthesizing cells are characterized by the presence of prominent Golgi complex, rough endoplasmic reticulum along with many resembling secretory vesicles. Function of Osteoblasts Osteoblasts majorly perform two varieties of functions, within the bone tissue. Firstly, osteoblasts release multiple proteins essential to the formation of the bony structure matrix. Secondly, osteoblasts help in regulating the mineralization of bone. Some of the primary functions of osteoblasts are mentioned below: - Osteoblasts have special receptors for hormones such as estrogen, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and vitamin D. - Osteoblasts secrete important factors that activate osteoclasts, i.e. RANK ligand and other associated factors which communicate with other cells. - Osteoblasts also secrete a regulatory protein that is involved in the regulation of phosphate excretion from the kidneys. - After osteoblasts have finished the making up of new bone, some of them will differentiate into osteocytes and rest of them will surround the matrix of the bone. Some of them, if remained, will either stay on the surface of the new bone or mature into lining cells. - Lining cells are involved in the transport of calcium from inside and outside of the bone. - Non-useful osteoblasts undergo the programmed cell suicide process (apoptosis) and will get disintegrated. History of Osteocytes Osteocytes are the most abundant and long-lived bone cells with speculation of living for about 25 years. - During the 1950s, Gordan and Ham extensively studied osteocytes. In prior days of osteocyte discovery, it was thought that osteocytes are dormant cells and do not perform any function. - With the passage of time and advancement in technology, methods such as isolation culturing of bone cells, the formation of phenotypically stable cell lines and new animal models led to better understanding of osteocytes. Structure of Osteocytes Osteocytes are located inside the bone and have a connection with each other and with other cells with the help of their long branches. - Osteocytes are at the perfect position to sense any pressure or mechanical strain in the bone. It is estimated that osteocytes comprise about 95% of the total of cells of the bone. - Osteocytes are located in lacunae within the mineralized bone matrix. They possess a dendritic morphology. - It was also observed that osteocyte might differ in morphology from one another, by the bone type in which they are present. - Osteocytes with round shapes are present in the trabecular bones, and elongated osteocytes are present in the cortical bone. Osteocytes are derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) lineage through the differentiation of osteoblasts. In this process, four stages have been proposed or recognized: - Young osteocyte - Mature osteocyte The process of osteoblast differentiation is a tedious process involving many morphological and ultra-structural changes. The most significant change is the reduction in the size of osteoblasts. The number of many major organelles decrease, but the size of the nucleus increases corresponding to the decrease in secretion and synthesis of proteins. Function of Osteocytes Initially, osteocytes were defined according to their morphology rather than their function. This was because their function remained unknown for decades. Later, it was recognized that they play many different yet important roles in bone development and maintenance. Osteocytes perform different functions such as: - Osteocytes have a feature of secreted growth factors which can activate cells lining them or can stimulate osteoblasts. - The shape and arrangement of osteocytes help in the mechanical functioning of bones. The sensing ability and signal transportation characteristics also play a crucial role in this particular function. This phenomenon of osteocyte mechanical endurance occurs through piezoelectric effect. - The functional bone adaptation is regulated by the osteocytes. - The exchange of ions across the bone occurs with the help of osteocytes. General Functions of Bone Cells The bone cells perform diverse functions inside the human body. Some of the main functions of the bone cells are listed below: - Osteoclasts are involved in the maintenance of the ruffled borders in the bones. - Formation of bone marrow occurs with the help of osteoclasts. - Osteoclasts work under the influence of parathyroid hormone (PTH) to dissolve the bone. - Osteoclasts produce factors known as “clastokines“, which influence the working of osteoblasts. - Osteoclasts are also involved in the regulation of hematopoietic stem cell niche. - Osteoblasts are involved in the formation of unmineralized osteoid part of the bone. - Osteoblasts secrete enzymes known as alkaline phosphatase that create an acidic environment within their vicinity. - Osteoblasts also produce hormones like prostaglandins that are fatty in nature. - Osteoblasts have a role in the production of collagenous and non-collagenous proteins of the bone. - Lining cells of bones help in regulating the influx and the efflux of calcium ions from the bone. - Lining cells also regulate the bone fluid via regulation of mineral homeostasis. - Lining cells help in the activation of osteoclasts indirectly. - Osteocytes help in the bone turnover process and limiting the dissolution of the bone. - The bone adaptation function is performed by osteocytes coordinating the bone mechanical strength with the surrounding environment. - Osteocytes play a crucial role in calcium homeostasis. - Osteocytes help in the maintenance of bone matrix. - Osteocytes have a role in sensing pressure or crack of the bone and signaling other parts of the bone. - Upon mechanical stimulations, osteocytes produce secondary messengers such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Despite the medical and technological advancements, the full functioning of the bone cells is yet to be elucidated. The crucial aspect of the bone cells functioning would be to understand how the vast array of functions performed by bone cells can be used in the management of advanced bone dysfunctioning? Recent scientific advancements and stem cells culturing techniques provide a beacon of light to unveil the hidden secrets of the miraculous bone cells. - “Periosteal Osteoclasts, Skeletal Development and Ageing | Nature”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Origin and Structure of the Osteoclast | SpringerLink”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Historically significant events in the discovery of RANK/RANKL/OPG”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Differentiation and function of osteoclasts. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Bone resorption – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Definition of hematopoietic stem cell – NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms – National Cancer Institute”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Osteoclasts: structure and function. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulates immature marrow precursors but no CFU-GM, CFU-G, or CFU-M. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Osteoclast | cell | Britannica.com”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Carbonic anhydrase II plays a major role in osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption by effecting the steady state intracellular pH and Ca2+. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “JCI – Increased bone formation by prevention of osteoblast apoptosis with parathyroid hormone”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - Tribute to Harold M. Frost M.D.. . Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Biology of Bone Tissue: Structure, Function, and Factors That Influence Bone Cells”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Quiescent Bone Lining Cells Are a Major Source of Osteoblasts During Adulthood”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “PTH and PTHrP Signaling in Osteoblasts”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Bone Signaling & RANKL – Basic Science – Orthobullets”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Renal phosphate handling: Physiology”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Dynamics of the Transition from Osteoblast to Osteocyte”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Osteoblast – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Bone & Joint”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Osteocyte Signaling in Bone”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Histology – Bone Lab”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Dendritic processes of osteocytes are mechanotransducers that induce the opening of hemichannels”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Cortical or Trabecular Bone: What’s the Difference? – FullText – American Journal of Nephrology 2018, Vol. 47, No. 6 – Karger Publishers”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Osteoblast Differentiation at a Glance”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - – “Osteocyte: An Endocrine Cell … and More | Endocrine Reviews | Oxford Academic”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Function of osteocytes in bone. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Parathyroid hormone and bone cells | SpringerLink”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “The Great Beauty of the osteoclast. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Osteoblast – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Role of prostaglandin E produced by osteoblasts in osteolysis due to bone metastasis. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Identification of proteins secreted by human osteoblastic cells in culture. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Bone Turnover – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Studying osteocytes within their environment”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - “Fine-tuned ATP signals are acute mediators in osteocyte mechanotransduction. – PubMed – NCBI”. Accessed November 25, 2018. Link. - Image Source: Public Domain, Link

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Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises to check your understanding. Roald Dahl is one of the greatest storytellers the world has ever known. He’s sold well over 200 million books and you might also know stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG and Matilda from the film versions. Roald Dahl had a way of telling stories that makes them fun and easy to read. This, according to Roald himself, is because he found it very easy to remember what it was like to be a child. Roald was born in Llandaff in Wales on 13 September 1916. His parents were both from Norway but they moved to the UK before he was born. He went to several different boarding schools, living away from his parents for most of the year. Once, to play a trick on the owner of a sweet shop, he put a dead mouse in one of the jars of sweets! As punishment for that, he was caned (hit with a stick) at school. In fact, Roald hated violence and cruel behaviour, and in many of his stories the main characters are treated cruelly by their family, carers or teachers. However, they always come out on top. Roald’s dream was to go to exciting foreign places, and he got the chance when he got a job with the Shell Company supplying oil in East Africa. When the Second World War broke out, he became a fighter pilot and he almost died when he crashed his plane in the desert. Although he flew again after that, he soon became too ill to continue and was sent home and given a new job in the British Embassy in Washington DC. There, he started writing speeches and war stories, and his first pieces of writing were published. Have you heard of any of these stories? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Charlie is a young boy from a poor family and, like most children, he loves chocolate. Charlie buys Wonka chocolate bars hoping to find a golden ticket inside because whoever finds a golden ticket is invited to visit the Wonka chocolate factory and meet its eccentric owner, Willy Wonka. However, there are some wonderfully strange things inside the factory! The BFG is the Big Friendly Giant and he brings sweet dreams to children while they are sleeping. One night he is seen by a girl called Sophie, and he kidnaps her and carries her away to his homeland because he is scared she’ll tell the world about his existence. He is actually friendly, but the other giants are not. They bully the BFG and want to eat people. Sophie decides to get someone to help: the Queen! Matilda is a genius and she loves books, but her parents don’t understand her intelligence and are cruel to her. Matilda’s brainpower is discovered by her teacher, Miss Honey, who helps her to develop her intellect – and amazing mental powers! But Miss Honey is also being mistreated by Miss Trunchbull, the cruel headmistress, so Matilda tries to find a way to help her ... Boy: Tales of Childhood This book is told like a story, but it’s not a novel. It’s an autobiography of Roald Dahl’s childhood and school experiences. He describes his experiences with the dead mouse, horrible teachers, summer holidays to Norway and getting the job with Shell. So now you know a little more about the genius storyteller who created some of the UK’s best-loved tales, why not have a go at reading one of his books? Check out the official Roald Dahl website to find out more: www.roalddahl.com Worksheets and downloads Which Roald Dahl books have you read?

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Spinal syrinx sciatica can result from hydromyelia or syringomyelia conditions virtually anywhere in the spinal cord. Being diagnosed with a spinal syrinx is a very serious matter, since these hollows within the substance of the spinal cord can undermine the tissue’s ability to function correctly. Spinal syrinx are some of the most difficult to treat of all back and neck pain conditions, being that they exist within neurological tissue that is extremely delicate and sensitive to any type of intervention. In essence, treatment often makes the condition worse, rather than improving the quality of the patient’s life. This focused essay explores the presentation of sciatica in association with demonstration of a spinal syrinx or hydromyelia diagnosis. We will explain what a syrinx is, as well as how they can create sciatica symptoms. We write about sciatica in vivid detail throughout this website, but will summarize its definition here to clarify the diagnosis for patients who are just beginning their research on the topic. Sciatica is defined as neurological pain and other symptoms, such as numbness, weakness and paresthesia in the buttocks, legs and/or feet that is directly caused by compression of one or more of the lumbar or sacral nerve roots that eventually join to form the sciatic nerve. Pseudo-sciatica describes identical symptomatic expressions that are not caused by compression of the lumbar or sacral nerve roots that form the sciatic nerve. There are many, many types of pseudo-sciatica and this diversity is one of the major challenges of achieving an accurate diagnosis of the underlying symptomatic mechanism. A spinal syrinx is a fluid-filled cavity or cyst that forms inside the center hollow of the spinal cord. The name of the condition is syringomyelia, meaning damage to the spinal cord caused by a syrinx. In true syringomyelia conditions, there is no protection for the neurological tissues that are exposed to the expansion of this hollow space, while in hydromyelia conditions, there remains some protective lining between the nerve cells and the expansion of the hollow tube. Spinal cord tissues are extremely delicate and when they are stressed by the expansion of this interior space inside the cord, cells can fall into dysfunction or even die, eliciting dire motor, sensory and autonomic deficits throughout parts of the anatomy. One possible consequence of a spinal syrinx is the development of sciatica. A spinal syrinx can not form in the area of the spine that would involve true sciatica, since the roots of L4, L5, S1, S2 and S3 have already separated off into the cauda equina. Remember, the spinal cord usually ends around the L1/L2 levels of the vertebral column. Therefore, when a syrinx is responsible for creating sciatic nerve issues, the condition should rightly be called pseudo-sciatica, since the root causation does not come from compression of the formative nerve tissues, but instead originates from cellular tissue tracts within the spinal cord at higher vertebral levels. All the nerve roots that branch off the spinal cord, including those from L4 to S3 that eventually join together to create the sciatic nerve, begin as tracts of spinal cord tissue in higher regions of the anatomy. If these tracts are damaged before they form into individual nerve roots, then they might not provide proper functionality to the neurological tissues lower in the body. Basically, although the nerve roots that form the sciatic nerve are not directly present in the neck or middle back, the tracts of nerve cells that deliver messages to those roots are present. If these tracts are injured, then neurological messages will not reach the lower lumbar and sacral nerve roots properly or at all. When fluid or cyst material forms inside the normally thin hollow tube of the spinal cord, the canal expands, placing pressure on the cells that form the walls of this interior anatomical space within the cord. The pressure applied is usually in direct proportion to the size of the syrinx, defined by the amount of fluid or cyst material contained within the cord. The more force that is exerted within the central cord, the worse its effects will typically be. Likewise, the more force is exerted by the syringomyelia or hydromyelia, the more spinal cord tissue will be affected by compression-type injury. Picture a hollow tube running through any solid material. If fluid or some type of material accumulates within the tube under pressure, then its increase in mass will push outwards, damaging the surrounding container from within. Unfortunately, in this case, the surrounding container of the syrinx is the spinal cord itself and we all know just how sensitive and virtually irreparable the central nervous system components truly are. When damage is done to the spinal cord, effects might be widespread, diverse and permanent. Syringomyelia and hydromyelia, to a lesser degree, have the potential to cause extreme trauma to the spinal cord, although it must be made clear that these conditions are not inherently symptomatic in all patients. Size, location and other factors are all important in determining the clinical severity of a spinal syrinx. Some patients will not demonstrate any symptoms, while others might suffer dramatic, disabling and possibly fatal expressions. When sciatica is caused by a spinal syrinx, symptoms may range greatly. Pain in the legs is common, with a dull, achy feeling being most prevalent. Some patients complain of numbness in the buttocks, saddle region, legs and/or feet, and many also suffer muscular weakness in the same affected regions. Neurological deficits are also commonly experienced, with foot drop, sexual dysfunction and incontinence all being possible consequences of a syrinx. Typically, in spinal syrinx sciatica, the symptoms will be more patterned and predictable than in other types of sciatica conditions. Treatment of spinal syrinx formation is usually symptomatic in nature, revolving around physical therapy and pharmaceutical interventions. There are surgical procedures that can be used to treat a spinal syrinx, but these are fraught with high degrees of risk and many patients suffer recurrences of their syrinx even after the most successful operations. Most neurologists agree that a syrinx should only be treated surgically in matters of true emergency, such as to save life or preserve particularly important aspects of neurological functionality. Occasionally, a spinal syrinx will resolve all by itself, which is obviously the best case scenario. In other cases, the syrinx might be caused by some other structural defect in the spinal anatomy that can sometimes be surgically treated and rectified. In order to determine the best course of action for any particular syrinx, we strongly suggest seeking care from an expert in the field, such as a neurosurgeon who focuses on syrinx monitoring and therapy.

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Highlighting data from the American Immigration Council's report "... New Americans in Missouri Download the Fact Sheet (Updated 2014) Download the Previous Fact Sheet (2010 Version) Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for growing shares of the economy and population in Missouri. Immigrants (the foreign-born) make up 4% of the state’s population, and 41.6% of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. “New Americans”—immigrants and the children of immigrants—account for 2.2% of registered voters in the state. Immigrants are not only integral to the state’s economy as workers, but also account for billions of dollars in tax revenue and consumer purchasing power. Moreover, Latinos and Asians (both foreign-born and native-born) wield $9.8 billion in consumer purchasing power, and the businesses they own had sales and receipts of $5.1 billion and employed more than 34,000 people at last count. At a time when the economy is still recovering, Missouri can ill-afford to alienate such a critical component of its labor force, tax base, and business community. Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Missouri’s population and electorate. - The foreign-born share of Missouri’s population rose from 1.6% in 1990, to 2.7% in 2000, to 4% in 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Missouri was home to 243,263 immigrants in 2011, which is more than the total population of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. - 41.6% of immigrants (or 101,137 people) in Missouri were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2011—meaning that they are eligible to vote. - Unauthorized immigrants comprised roughly 0.9% of the state’s population (or 55,000 people) in 2010, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center. - 2.2% (or 70,929) of registered voters in Missouri were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2008 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates. More than 5% of Missourians are Latino or Asian. - The Latino share of Missouri’s population grew from 1.2% in 1990, to 2.1% in 2000, to 3.6% (or 216,372 people) in 2011. The Asian share of the population grew from 0.8% in 1990, to 1.1% in 2000, to 1.6% (or 96,187 people) in 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. - Latinos accounted for 0.7% (or 20,000) of Missouri voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 0.5% (14,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. - In Missouri, 84% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute. - In 2009, 88.7% of children in Asian families in Missouri were U.S. citizens, as were 91.2% of children in Latino families. Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Missouri’s economy. - The 2012 purchasing power of Latinos in Missouri totaled $4.9 billion—an increase of 574.7% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $4.9 billion—an increase of 684% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. - Missouri’s 9,752 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $3.7 billion and employed 25,336 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 6,178 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $1.4 billion and employed 9,520 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. Immigrants are integral to Missouri’s economy as workers and taxpayers. - Immigrants comprised 5% of the state’s workforce in 2011 (or 152,898 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. - Immigrants accounted for 5% of total economic output in the St. Louis metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute. In fact, “immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population. The economy of metro areas grows in tandem with the immigrant share of the labor force.” - Unauthorized immigrants comprised roughly 1.3% of the state’s workforce (or 40,000 workers) in 2010, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center. - If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Missouri, the state would lose $2.3 billion in economic activity, $1.0 billion in gross state product, and approximately 13,859 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group. Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes. - Unauthorized immigrants in Missouri paid $44 million in state and local taxes in 2010, according to data from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, which includes $8.3 million in state income taxes, $4.1 million in property taxes, and $31.7 million in sales taxes. - Were unauthorized immigrants in Missouri to have legal status, they would pay $57.2 million in state and local taxes, including $33.5 million in sales taxes, $19.4 million in state income taxes, and $4.3 million in property taxes. Immigrants are integral to Missouri’s economy as students. - Missouri’s 16,061 foreign students contributed $417.9 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2011-2012 academic year, according to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Immigrants excel educationally. - In 2011, 34% of Missouri’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had a bachelor's or higher degree, compared to 25.7% of native-born persons. - The number of immigrants in Missouri with a college degree increased by 61.5% between 2000 and 2011, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. - In Missouri, 83% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute. - The English proficiency rate among Asian children in Missouri was 85.5%, while for Latino children it was 90%, as of 2009. Published On: Fri, Jan 11, 2013 | Download File

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David Stanley Evans (1916 - 2004) David Evans died on Sunday the 14th of November 2004. David Stanley Evans died on 14 November 2004 in Austin, Texas. He was a noted observational astronomer whose career was divided between South Africa and Texas. He also used the extensive historical collections at the University of Texas to write several books on the history of astronomy. He was born in Cardiff, Wales on 28 January 1916. David received his BA degree in mathematics in 1937 from Kings College, Cambridge. He became a PhD student at Cambridge Observatory in 1937, and was one of Sir Arthur Eddington's last surviving students. He received his PhD degree in 1941 with a dissertation entitled, "The Formation of the Balmer Series of Hydrogen in Stellar Atmospheres." He was a conscientious objector to war and, thus, spent the war years at Oxford working with physicist Kurt Mendelssohn on medical problems, involving cadavers, relating to the war. During these years, David was scientific editor of "Discovery", and he was editor of "The Observatory". David left England in 1946 in order to take up the position of Second Assistant at the Radcliffe Observatory, Pretoria, South Africa. He and H. Knox Shaw were the entire staff after R. O. Redman left, and they aluminized and installed the mirrors in the 74-inch telescope. His notable scientific contribution was to use lunar occultations to measure stellar angular diameters during the 1950s. He succeeded in determining the angular diameter of Antares and determined that Arcturus was not circular but had an elliptical shape. The elliptical shape was later shown to be an instrumental artifact, but the utility of using lunar occultations to measure stellar diameters and stellar multiplicity was conclusively demonstrated. T. Gold presented David's paper on lunar occultation angular diameters at the January 1953 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society. For the rest of his life, David resented Gold's remarks, because he felt that he had been ridiculed. By 1953, David Evans was Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. David had designed and built a Newtonian spectrograph for the 74-inch Radcliffe Telescope with which he measured the first southern galaxy redshifts. David and his family spent 1965-66 in Austin, Texas, where he was a National Science Foundation Senior Visiting Scientist at the University of Texas and McDonald Observatory. They moved permanently to Austin in 1968 and David became a Professor of Astronomy and Associate Director of McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin. At McDonald Observatory, R. E. Nather had devised a high-speed photometer capable of measuring millisecond time-scale changes in brightness and with Brian Warner, he invented "high-speed astronomy". This instrument caused Evans to revive his occultation program and, over the next twenty years, he produced the major part of the angular diameters of late-type stars with his students and collaborators. In addition, David and collaborators used the extensive collections of the University of Texas to write "Herschel at the Cape". David was also involved in observing the occultation of ? Sco by Jupiter in 1972 and in observing, during a solar eclipse in 1973, the gravitational deflections in the positions of stars whose light passes near to the Sun. The eclipse was observed from Mauritania, and the observations confirmed Einstein's prediction again. David Evans and his students studied late-type stars that have large star-spots and others that flare. In addition, they studied stars whose lunar occultation observations had revealed them to be double or even more than two stars. David Evans's major scientific contribution was an application of his stellar angular diameters to deduce the surface brightness of stars with the result that with suitable color indices one could use photometry to deduce the angular diameter of stars. This is applicable to stars which can never be occulted by the Moon, and its application to Cepheid variable stars has yielded their distances. This relation between angular diameters and a V-R color index is called the Barnes-Evans Relation. Tom Barnes gives most of the credit to Evans, but said that David insisted that the authors be listed in alphabetical order. This work was greeted with initial skepticism but it stimulated an enormous amount of interest and has been used to measure distances to 100 Cepheid variable stars in our galaxy. The method gives a distance to one of them, Delta Cephei, that agrees closely with recently measured parallaxes using HST. The Barnes-Evans method yields distances which are accurate to a few percent and is applicable to Cepheids in nearby galaxies. Before coming to Texas, David Evans had never given a large lecture course at a university, and his efforts met with mixed success especially in introductory classes for freshmen facing a "science requirement." David had considerably more success supervising PhD dissertations. He was supervisor for four. He was promoted to the position of Jack S. Josey Centennial Professor of Astronomy in 1984, which is the position he held until his retirement in 1986. He was awarded the Gill Medal of the Astronomical Society of South Africa in 1988. David Evans had a remarkable facility for language, especially English. He was an author of eight books including a 1966 edition of "Teach Yourself Astronomy", which was an introduction to astronomy and an inspiration to a number of currently active astronomers. He also loved history, especially of Southern Hemisphere astronomy but also of the McDonald Observatory. In fact, David continued to be very active after retirement and when he died he had completed a book (with Karen Winget) on the eclipse expedition to Mauritania, which is not yet printed. University of Texas at Austin

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Kiwi useful properties Kiwi (agrimoniya) (Actinidia chinensis Planch) Kiwi - a perennial vine.Kiwi belongs to the genus Actinidia Chinese.The starting material for breeding served as the ancient culture of the Yangtze River valley, known in Chinese literature as mihoutao or monkey peach.Agronomists New Zealand called this culture "Chinese gooseberry".Seeds "Chinese gooseberry" arrived in New Zealand in 1904, and by 1930 th after sampling were obtained the basic grades of culture, called kivifrut.In Europe, they are grown in Italy, Turkey and France.In Russia, most of the fruit comes from Turkey and Italy.Currently, the kiwi is grown in the Crimea. kiwi fruit - juicy flavorful berry.The high content of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, iron, and an enzyme capable of cleaving proteins, make this a very valuable fruit.According to the content of vitamin C kiwi surpasses all known horticultural crops (sochnoplodnye), including citrus fruits.The kiwi fruit rich in vitamin P and carotene.Learn calorie kiwi here. The composition of kiwifruit (100g) contains proteins - less than 2 g, carbohydrates - about 15g and fat - less than 1 g, and disaccharides.Despite its small size, kiwi fruit contains large reserves of vitamin C, which is more than 2 times its content in oranges.B vitamins (B2, B1, B6, B3, B9), A, P, K and minerals such as - iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, manganese and zinc - all of which are contained in this little treasure.But most of all it is rich in potassium, high levels of which makes it useful in certain forms of hypertension, and iodine deficiency. Eating a kiwi fruit a day, you provide your body with a daily norm of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and for one, spend prevention of colds, enhance the body's resistance to various infections, reduces the risk of bleeding and normalize pressure and strengthens blood vessels.Well, if you are already ill, speed up the healing process. Berries kiwi fruits find love and eternal youth, vitamin bombs. Good cleans vessels kiwi juice or agrimonii.When varicose veins or thrombophlebitis should eat per day for 4-5 pieces agrimoniya . Use Kiwi in the fact that this fruit reduces the excitability of the nervous system and prevents blood clots, prevents premature graying of hair, promotes active stimulation of collagen, responsible for the elasticity and firmness of the skin, helping to reduce excess weight.Kiwi can get rid of kidney stones, rheumatism, heavy bleeding, tooth decay and some pain. way, kiwi, if necessary, will help you to get rid of unpleasant sensations in the form of heaviness in the stomach, regurgitation, or heartburn. the homeland of kiwi with a spoon to eat a soft-boiled egg.Cut off the tip, then rake the flesh until his skin, which is discarded.You do not eat kiwi fruit with skin, since it causes a burning sensation in the mouth. You can make a wonderful salad of kiwi with a pumpkin.This will require 300 g pumpkin, 2 pieces of kiwi and 2 tablespoons of honey.Pumpkin pulp grate, add the chopped kiwi and gently mix everything with honey. Kiwi added to many fruit salads on a par with oranges, pineapples, grapefruits, tangerines, etc.It should be remembered that the kiwi is not suitable for making jelly. 1 cup milk, 3 kiwis, 2 tbsp.spoon of liquid honey. beat with a mixer. 200 g of cheese, 4 kiwi fruit (cut into small pieces), 150 g of mayonnaise (preferably olive). All the mix. 2 bananas, 4 kiwi fruit, 2 tablespoons.spoons of sugar, a quarter of a lemon. 2 apples, 2 pears, mandarin 3, 4 kiwi. Cut, folded into a salad.Add a handful of raisins, pitted (soaked in boiling water).Beat 200g cream -x 33% with 100 g low-fat cottage cheese and 3 tablespoons of sugar and pour over fruit. Lemonade from kiwi fruit 1 kiwi fruit peeled and put in an enamel bowl, add the juice of 1/2 lemon, zest, erased from that of half a lemon and rubbing all good pestle, gradually adding sugar (3 tbsp. Spoons).The tumble mass is left to stand for 15-20 minutes and then pour 1 cold boiled water.All mix well, strain and drink.Before use, you can cool off in each glass put a pinch of baking soda.

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They have names like Pigeon Reef, West Sand, Taisho-To, and Scarborough Shoal. Most are no more than outcrops of rock poking out of the sea. Most have never been inhabited. Few have any direct economic value. If not for the perceived fish and oil wealth in the waters around them, the spat over these specks in the South China Sea would read like the bizarre disputes between Lilliput and Blefuscu in Gulliver's Travels. But for Beijing, the battle for these remote islands is part of a wider geopolitical aim: control over the entire South China Sea and its potential resource wealth. Tensions are rising. In August a Chinese Navy fighter plane buzzed a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon, narrowly missing it. Two months earlier, an armed Chinese vessel chased and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat. China is also at loggerheads with Japan and the Philippines, which the U.S. is obligated under treaty to defend. Speaking from his home in London, Bill Hayton, author of The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia, explains how China is a victim of its own propaganda, why the South China Sea is also crucial to American interests, and how "peace parks" could save collapsing fish stocks and defuse military tensions. The Nanhai, as the South China Sea is known, has always had a deep meaning to the Chinese. Explain its significance. Its meaning has been projected backwards. One of the things I learned researching the book was how the southern part of China related to Southeast Asia in a way that other parts of China didn't. For a long time it was seen as a frontier place, from which only bad things came. For the first few thousand years of the South China Sea trade, it was Malays and Indians and Arabs who did most of the trading. It was only relatively late, roughly after the tenth century, that the Chinese got in on the act. But it was always seen with ambivalence by the imperial court. The idea that the South China Sea belongs to China only emerges as a nationalist idea in the 20th century and has been projected backwards in history. You write about the Arab dhow found off Belitung Island in Indonesia, which National Geographic covered in 2009. How did it change our understanding of historical trade along the Maritime Silk Route? It shows how specialized and sophisticated the trade between China and the Middle East already was by then. You have pottery with Islamic motifs being custom made for markets separated by thousands of miles of dangerous sea. It's not just the province of explorers. This is a maritime trade. And we can tell from the different products and where they were distributed in the boat that this ship must have visited several ports, picking up different cargoes along the way. So we get a sense of how these places were connected in a thriving trade more than a thousand years ago. The focus of your book is the disputes over a number of islands, many of them barely more than outcrops of rock. Give us a brief tour of the hot spots. There are three main areas. There are the Paracel Islands, which are disputed between China and Vietnam. China now occupies all of them. Then there are the Spratly Islands in the south, which are disputed between China and Vietnam, but also Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and to a degree Indonesia. The third layer is the Scarborough Shoal, which is disputed between China and the Philippines. The problem is that no one is actually willing to clarify their claims and say, We were the first ones to stick our flag on this island—because they don't have the evidence. The first time a Chinese official set foot on the Paracel Islands was probably June 6, 1909, the first time on the Spratly Islands was December 12, 1946. The Vietnamese probably stuck their flag in the Spratly Islands as an independent country in 1956, although the French had been there before them. The Philippines came much later, in the 1970s. (Learn more about a local Vietnamese ethnic group known as the Cham, whose members remain wary of taking sides in the South China Sea dispute.) But it's not so much the islands that are valuable. It's the spaces in between them. That's where the fish and possible oil reserves might lie. So there's no incentive for the countries to try to limit their claims. They're at the stage where they want to make their claims as expansive as possible. Deng Xiaoping famously said that the islands of the South China Sea "have belonged to China since ancient times." Is there any merit to that claim? As late as the 1890s Chinese officials in Guangdong Province were denying responsibility for the islands. There was a case in 1898 where two British ships got wrecked on the Paracel Islands, and pirates looted the wreck. The British complained. But the governor of Guangdong Province denied all knowledge of the islands. Maps of that period don't mention the islands either. Everything changes in 1909, when a Japanese merchant is discovered digging up guano on Pratas Island, between Hong Kong and Taiwan. Because of the negative feeling toward foreign exploitation in China in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, this provoked a huge nationalist backlash, leading to boycotts of Japanese products and the decision to make the Japanese merchants leave. And it's only in 1909 that the Chinese authorities start taking an interest in the South China Sea. If one looks at the names of the islands in Chinese, it's clear many of them are simply translations of the British names. So, for example, Jinyin Dao in the Paracels is the Chinese for "Money Island." The word "Money" actually comes from William Taylor Money, chief superintendent to the Bombay Marine, the navy of the English East India Company. China has recently embarked on a major underwater archaeology program aimed at identifying the 2,000 or so shipwrecks off its coasts. How is maritime history being exploited to bolster territorial claims? The director of the Underwater Archaeological Research Centre has been pretty open that what he's doing is intended primarily to bolster China's claims to the islands. This is not disinterested scholarship. He sees his purpose as a nationalistic one. So there's an unfortunate but mutually beneficial arrangement between the government, which wants to bolster its claims to islands, and the archaeologists, who are looking to increase their ability to do underwater excavations. But if the archaeology becomes subject to a political agenda, then the scholarship won't be reliable. Tell us about the Selden Map—and how cartography has shaped the present conflicts. The Selden Map is fascinating because its history tells us an awful lot about the links between Southeast Asia and Europe at the time. It's a Chinese-made map, although where it was actually made is still not settled. It was called the Selden Map because it was bequeathed to the Bodleian Library in Oxford by John Selden, who was also one of the founders of international maritime law. Quite how it came into his possession is not yet known. Selden was connected to the English East India Tea Company, and he may well have known the person who stole the map—we assume it was stolen or raided from the Chinese owners. The map itself is richly decorated in the Chinese style, with images of landscapes and trees and plants. But what's also clear is that it contains navigational instructions. Is this the origin of the so-called U-shaped line? The U-shaped line, or Nine-Dotted Line, as it is also known, emerges much later, out of the nationalist anxiety of the early 20th century, when the old empire is overthrown by the modern Chinese republic. Up to then, China's borders had never been clearly delineated. Then in the early decades of the 20th century, Chinese cartographers attempted to show where the rightful boundaries of China should lie, which were, incidentally, well beyond its current boundaries. You can see this in a whole series of maps produced by the Shanghai Cartographic Society. And this is the origin of the U-shaped line. You say that the battle for these islands represents "psychology and perception trumping any practical benefits." Can you expand on that? The islands themselves are not worth exploiting. Once upon a time merchants mined guano as agricultural fertilizer. But those deposits have long since gone. What is at stake is the fisheries and perceived oil wealth. There are some oil prospects in part of the disputed areas. But the idea that this is some vast new Saudi Arabia waiting to be tapped is not borne out by the evidence. So it's all about nationalism? China has convinced itself that it's the rightful owner of the South China Sea and that anybody else's claim is invented, and secondary. From that basic belief, we get a whole series of actions, which have alarmed the region. Like installing oil rigs off the coast of Vietnam. These actions are all predicated on the idea that the South China Sea belongs to China. What I try to show in the book is how this sentiment only emerged in the first part of the 20th century. Nonetheless, it's clear that it's deeply held. Chinese school textbooks tell children that China has three million square nautical miles of maritime territory. The official map of the country has also been changed to show the U-shaped line in its entirety. Basically, the Chinese government is believing its own propaganda. The U.S. has recently beefed up its presence in the South China Sea, and there have been repeated near collisions with Chinese fighter planes. How close are we to a regional war? I think we're a long way away from that. But it's clear the Chinese don't want the Americans as close to their coast as they are. The American position is that the Law of the Sea gives them a perfect right to sail up to within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese coast and do whatever they like. That includes listening to submarines or flying surveillance missions along the coast. The Chinese are trying to stop this, which is why we've had confrontations in the air as recently as August. The South China Sea is vital to the U.S. as a military power and also in terms of commercial shipping. It's vital that the seaways are open for energy shipments and all the products of world trade that go backwards and forwards. The U.S. Navy can't just abandon them and trust that the Chinese are going to look after them. And this is where America's desire to be a world power bumps up against China's desire to be a regional power and control what it sees as its maritime backyard. You end the book with an alternative vision of mutual cooperation in the South China Sea. Imagine it for us. If the islands weren't there, everybody could agree to draw up zones where, according to the Law of the Sea, they were beneficiaries of the oil and fishing rights. The Philippines could get access to much needed energy sources. And the different countries could talk about managing fish stocks. Fish stocks face a potential catastrophic decline from overfishing. But since no country is willing to recognize the other countries' authority to regulate fishing, there's no overall body taking control. John McManus, who works for the American Coral Reef Center, has suggested the idea of a peace park, which could both demilitarize the area and be a place where fish stocks could recover. But it's not getting anywhere, because that would mean everybody would have to take a step back from their nationalist positions.

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Don’t hold back your dancing feet, says science In an age of constantly increasing pace of life, keeping ourselves fit mentally and physically has become quite a challenge. We are constantly looking for suitable means to cope with the stresses of modern life. Some people go to the gym. But not many are enthused by the idea of running on a treadmill or lifting weights on a routine basis. Some people play sports. But again, not all of us are the “sporty” types, willing to wake up early in the morning to play. Plus, if you are in a city such as Mumbai, space can also be a huge constraint! “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” Dance is an activity that is more creative than exercising and requires lesser space than sports. At the same time, it also provides much of the benefits of both! It improves the functioning of the heart and lungs, increases bone & muscle strength, helps in weight management and enhances coordination, agility & flexibility to name a few. But then, you probably knew that already. Here we give you some more excuses to put your dancing shoes on and groove to your heart’s satisfaction. Dance is an important tool, perhaps a necessity too, to become self-disciplined. Those who learn to dance learn to follow instructions, take initiative, appreciate the importance of technique & form and work as a team while expressing their individuality. It’s no surprise therefore that young dancers are more focused and hard-working, resulting in them becoming high achievers. 2 Wide Eyes In dancing techniques, head angles are defined and dancers have to see sideways without moving their heads, be it in solo or group performances. This helps them develop better peripheral vision, which in turn makes them more aware & observant of their surroundings. As dancers make progress and achieve more in dance, they also gain in confidence. This helps boost self-esteem, build better social skills and communicate more effectively in groups. Dancing helps improve cognitive skills by preparing the brain to learn in 2 ways: 1) it pumps more blood to the brain, thereby providing the brain the oxygen and glucose it needs to function well and 2) It integrates several brain functions at once – kinesthetic, rational, musical, and emotional, thereby increasing neural connectivity and making information transmission faster and better. 5 Stress Relief Dancing stimulates the release of endorphins, that reduce pain and enhance feelings of well-being. While endorphins are also released in other physical exercises, the impact is greater in dancing because of the additional “emotional high” created as a result of music and people bonding together. 6 Muscle Memory Dancing entails remembering a wide variety of steps, roles and styles. With constant practice, the movements become almost automatic as the brain creates neural pathways which become “muscle memory”. This muscle memory is very useful in day-to-day tasks involving the muscles such as driving. So whether you are a toddler or in your sixties, thin or obese, man or woman, start dancing immediately! It is probably the best conversation between mind, body and soul.

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Friday, September 05, 2008 Too often we see good athletes with poor flexibility. This cohort of would be athletic monsters are truly capable, and yet limited in their expressions of physical capacity. Poor mobility narrows ideal movement options and closes peak force production windows. What do we mean? Decreased flexibility means decreased functional tolerance. Let's use the seated press in the photo above as an example. To properly perform this seated pressing movement (adored by Coach Bergener) the athlete must be able to safely stabilize their lumbar spines in a lordotic or slightly curved position. Under very few circumstances is it OK to generate force with a rounded low back. To be able to perform the seated press with legs stretched out in front of the athlete in a long sitting position requires very good hamstring flexibility. The photo above is a good example of this. Now take the athlete in the photo below. Note his excellent neutral back position and good overhead position. Note that he is only able to attain this correct positioning with his hamstrings in a crosslegged and unloaded position. While there may be no real advantage to what your legs are doing when performing a low weight seated press, the metaphor should be clear. The athlete in the first photo has the capacity to press from either leg position, while the athlete below cannot long sit and press without compromise. Now tighten the metaphor up and think about the effects of short hamstrings on lumbar positioning during a heavy clean. Tight hamstrings means compromised leg positioning in order to maintain a safe spine. Or, tight hamstrings means that the athlete is going to have less functional wiggle room to get the movement right, and make it forceful. Note in the photo below, one male athlete in five is in the long sitting position. Get on it. at 8:45 PM

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Paper – ii educational psychology section-i change is accepted as the law of nature an theories of development and their educational implications. Unit-i the nature – scope – methods of educational psychology experimental, clinical, differential, case study and genetic methods – observation and introspection. Success quotes in urdu about life-urdu | how we can get success in life | زندگی میں کامیابی کا راز - duration: 5:03 golden words. The relevancy of educational psychology if one, however, thinks of the nature of the educator's role in another way, educational psychology, and education. Psychology gives insight and information, about the student mentality while education executes & acts in the specific direction to get the goals that the educational. Nature of educational psychology quiz mcq, nature of educational psychology multiple choice questions pdf, educational psychology quiz on nature of educational. The text also elaborates the nature and theories of learning and the aspects of memory such as remembering and forgetting education / educational psychology . Educational psychology is a dynamic discipline with immense potential applications it includes study of subjects such as theories of learning and motivation, span of. Lesson 1 the nature and scope of psychology lesson aim define psychology and explain basic theoretic approaches despite their interest in. Educational: also known as school psychology, this field work with the school system to improve student's success and wellbeing through an. Nature of educational psychology its nature is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a science of education we can summarize the nature of. It's about understanding the concept of psychology and education – a free powerpoint ppt presentation (displayed as a flash slide show) on powershowcom - id. Division 15: educational psychology provides a collegial environment for psychologists with interest in research, teaching or practice in educational.1 psychology of learning unit structure : 10 objective 11 introduction 12 meaning and definition of educational psychology 13 nature of educational psychology. Ppt on educational psychology nature of educational psychology its nature is scientific since it has been accepted that it is a science of education. Document read online nature vs nurture educational psychology nature vs nurture educational psychology - in this site is not the same as a solution encyclopedia you. Its nature is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a science of education we can summarise the nature of educational psychology in the following ways: 1. The nature of cognitive psychology could be understood by understanding the areas which it covers in it. The nature of intellectual styles (educational psychology series) ebook: li-fang zhang, robert j sternberg: amazoncommx: tienda kindle. Nature of individual differences in educational psychology - 3950149. Nature and purposes of children’s play discuss possible explanations for play—what do students think are its true purposes (10 minutes) can we define play. 1 nature of educaional psychologyprof darade dbasstprofarihant college of education, pune 2 basik naturebasic nature of psychology is scientific. Educational psychology as a foundation in teacher education: reforming an old notion penelope l peterson, christopher m clark, and w patrick dickson. Education, educational psychology review, journal of teacher education, and an edited volume, emotions and the nature of classroom communication.Download 2018. Education database.

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Is nuclear energy really part of the answer to preventing the devastating effects of climate change? Until the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, even some ardent environmentalists who’d previously rejected the technology had warmed to the idea. Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in nuclear power as people search for ways to prevent the worst of climate change. As part of a so-called nuclear renaissance, some of the myths surrounding nuclear energy have been broadcast with increasing frequency. Some, including President Obama, have argued that nuclear energy belongs in the mix as an effective means for combating climate change, and recently the president called for a tripling of public financing for new nuclear power plants. During his presidential campaign Obama declared, “If we want to arrest global warming, then nuclear energy is a powerful, powerful ally in that cause.” Obama’s opponent, Senator John McCain, called nuclear energy “one of the cleanest, safest, and most reliable energy sources on Earth.” In the words of the Energy and Environment Awareness Society, a nuclear industry advocacy group, “Nuclear power plants are as clean and as green as wind power.” Nuclear Proponents’ Misleading Claims So is nuclear energy really a green answer? It all sounds nice, but it’s profoundly misleading. For decades proponents of nuclear power have assured the public that nuclear facilities are not only a viable, green means of producing energy but also safe to operate and without risk to human health. To accept this claim requires that we deny the events of Windscale (renamed Sellafield) in the UK, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island, Vermont’s Yankee reactor, and the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho in the US, as well as the tragedy presently unfolding at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan. Because the Fukushima nuclear power plant’s demise has been making headlines for weeks and has been broadcast on television and computer screens the world over, and because experts warn that it may still be months before the plant is contained and stops spewing radioactive fallout into the environment, Japan’s tragedy is forcing us to take a longer and more thoughtful look at the nuclear energy option. When Nuclear Goes Wrong When things go wrong at nuclear power plants anywhere in the world, it’s not just the local citizenry and environment that pay the price. Those who reside thousands of miles away, indeed across oceans, even those not yet born, are potentially affected. The recent detection of Japan’s radioactive fallout in the milk supply in both California and Washington State, and in Boston’s rainwater, is a testament to that fact. To preempt a panic officials have done what they’ve always done when there are radioactive releases. They repeatedly state that what’s in the food, air, and water is just a small amount, and that it poses no risk to human health. In truth, no safe dose of ionizing radiation has ever been established. All radiation exposure increases one’s risk of cancer, and each dose is cumulative. Worldwide there are 443 nuclear power plants operating, 62 under construction, 158 on order, and another 324 proposed. Currently the US has 104 nuclear power plants, more than any other nation. A meltdown at any of these reactors will distribute radioactive material over at least half the planet. Nuclear Power and Greenhouse Gases In its most basic definition, a nuclear power plant is an extremely sophisticated kettle used to boil water. The boiling water produces steam that drives a turbine that runs a generator, which in turn produces electricity. Proponents of nuclear energy who claim that running a nuclear power plant produces no greenhouse gases neglect to acknowledge the most fundamental part of running an atomic plant: its fuel. And the entire process of acquiring, milling, enriching, and utilizing that fuel, and then managing, reprocessing, storing, or disposing of that fuel — called the nuclear fuel cycle — requires substantial fossil fuel and produces tons of deadly radioactive waste. The nuclear fuel cycle poses a risk to those who work in it, at every step of the cycle. The fuel, uranium, is toxic and nonrenewable. It requires an enormous expenditure of fossil fuels to mine, mill, and enrich. Mining uranium is hazardous to those who perform the work, and the process leaves behind a staggering environmental hazard. Mining uranium produces mountains of radioactive tailings that must be managed and contained for the foreseeable future. Today, our nuclear power plants are fueled by only about 5 percent of US-mined uranium, with the balance imported from Australia, Canada, and Russia. So while we’re doing less damage to our own lands and adding less to the tonnage of deadly mining waste at home, we remain the largest nuclear power plant user, and thus the largest importer of uranium. In this way, our demand leads to environmental damage and toxic legacy in the nations that supply us with uranium fuel. The Byproduct of Radioactive Waste No discussion of running nuclear power plants would be complete without consideration of its end product — not energy, but more deadly waste. We lack viable means for containing the radioactive waste produced by all of our nuclear power plants. At some point, and at great risk, the waste must be transported through our cities, then contained far from people, earthquake faults, tsunamis, and aquifers, and then guarded. The proposal for the Yucca Mountain storage site in Nevada, located on an earthquake fault, stated that radioactive waste would need to be stored there for 100,000 years — longer than all of recorded human history. Each year, the commercial nuclear power plants in the US alone are producing 3,000 tons more of high-level waste that must be added to the current burden. It’s one thing to burden ourselves with the enormously complex, dangerous, and costly process of storing and guarding radioactive waste, but it seems profoundly audacious to presume that we can saddle future generations with such a burden. Imagine the resentment we might hold were we charged with the logistics, risks, and costs associated with storing and guarding deadly radioactive waste produced by the Egyptian pharaohs. It’s reasonable to assert that we’ve never seen the true costs of building, operating, decommissioning, and storing the waste produced by a nuclear power plant. That’s because we fail to take into account costs associated with storing nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years. And what of the costs associated with illness in those who mine, mill, and enrich the uranium that’s used to fuel them? What costs can we assign to parts of the world that are lost forever to increasing tonnages of radioactive mining and milling tailings — toxic for a human eternity? What are the costs to the families who have been exposed from Chernobyl and those who will be sickened and die from exposure to Japan’s radiation? What are the costs associated with those who have for weeks been sent in to face obscene levels of radioactivity in an effort to quell the disaster at the Fukushima plant? Can we place a value on their lives and the emotional toll that will be felt by their families? How about the cost to those in Japan and those near Chernobyl who were forced to evacuate their homes and leave everything behind, and the costs to the governments, and ultimately taxpayers, of resettling those families into new homes possibly hundreds of miles away? Or the cost of the farmlands that can no longer be safely cultivated? Over time, how much of our planet will become uninhabitable due to nuclear waste, nuclear accidents, mining tailings, and groundwater contamination? The true cost is incalculable. The Real Path to Containing Greenhouse Emissions Since the true cost of nuclear energy becomes unacceptable once we look past the myths promulgated by the nuclear industry, how do we contain greenhouse emissions to forestall catastrophe? True conservation of electricity, and the significant reduction in actual need that would follow, has simply never been employed. A drive around any major city at nighttime will attest to this fact. The skylines are chock-full of high-rise office buildings, uninhabited at night, yet illuminated by thousands of lights. The ever-growing number of personal computers that also remain on in these offices only adds to that energy burden. The same goes for the thousands of car dealerships, supermarkets, and other commercial structures that remain illuminated around the clock. There’s likely not a homeowner in the developed world who couldn’t use less energy. Yet because we do precious little to cultivate an interest in and understanding of effective energy conservation, most of us continue to overconsume, oblivious to the cumulative impact. Conservation is environmentally, medically, and economically prudent, and it’s a realistic expectation we can hold for ourselves and our society, but someone must lead the way in a bold, demonstrable manner. Next, we should harness wind power. It has been estimated that the wind capacity of Kansas, North Dakota, and Texas could meet the energy needs of the nation. Then there’s the enormous untapped offshore potential for wind turbines. Add solar, which itself could meet the energy needs of 100 million Americans within 20 years, and one is challenged to justify the risks of nuclear power any longer. If we were truly inspired to contain greenhouse emissions, instead of building more nuclear power plants we could address the findings reported in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study Livestock’s Long Shadow. Published in 2006, the report surprised the scientific community when it revealed that all the cars that choke our freeways, the jetliners in the skies, and the trains traversing our cities don’t contribute as much greenhouse gas as the foods most of us choose to eat. Raising cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens for human consumption produces more greenhouse gases than all the forms of transportation combined. Vision, Honesty, and Accountability Skeletal tumors, thyroid and lung cancer, birth defects, radioactive waterways, mass relocations, enormous tracts of forfeited national lands, radioactive food, and enduring deadly radioactive waste — all inevitable if we continue to pursue nuclear power — should not be the price we pay for producing electricity. When it comes to developing energy policy, we need vision, honesty, and accountability — not only for the sake of those who reside on the planet today but also for future generations who will have to contend with the legacy we leave them.

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During the democratic uprisings that began in the Arab world in 2011, the entire world has focused on Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and now Syria. On February 16, Bahrainis participated in what the Qatar-based television station Al Jazeera has called a “secret revolution,” one that was “abandoned by Arabs, forsaken by West and forgotten by the world.” With no international reporters in Bahrain to capture the uprising, Al Jazeera documented, in trembling closeness, the courage demonstrated by the Bahraini protesters, and then the horrors and bloodshed that ensued once the ruler’s forces commenced their attack. This timely and inspiring footage, which ultimately tells a disheartening story, can now be seen in the new documentary Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark.The film documents how Bahrainis maintained their dignity through years of absolutism and then, inspired by events taking place elsewhere in the Arab world, gathered around the Pearl Roundabout in the capital city of Manama to demand freedom from a corrupt regime. It started with the familiar chant “the people want the fall of the regime” but ended when the regime crushed the protests at the Pearl Roundabout. Bahrain is a small island situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. Since the 18th century, the Khalifa family has ruled the country. The current head of the family is Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who became the emir of Bahrain in 1999 and proclaimed himself King of Bahrain in 2002. The documentary reveals that the ruling family acquired $40 billion in public land for themselves—approximately 10 percent of the country. The Al Khalifa family professes Sunni Islam and rules a majority Shia population. The Bahraini uprising has often been portrayed as a sectarian struggle between Sunni and Shia. However, Shouting in the Dark provides an alternative narrative that demonstrates the unity among Bahrain’s citizens and the political, rather than religious, nature of their demands. The demonstrators simply wanted their “minimum basic rights" as human beings. Shouting in the Dark narrates how Western rulers chose to ignore Bahrain because the Bahraini ruling familyis an important strategic ally in the Middle East. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, and the island state is located near Saudi Arabia's oil fields. Furthermore, the Gulf Cooperation Council—the political and economic union of the Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf—pledged to support the Khalifa ruling family. Saudi Arabia sent tanks to Bahrain to surround the Pearl Roundabout and restore order in the country. In the aftermath of the protests, the Bahraini government severely cracked down on the activists. State television launched a campaign that divided the people and ignited sectarian tension. The government accused the protestors of being traitors and blamed Iran for the violence that ensued in the roundabout. The Bahraini authorities arrested prominent Bahrainis like A'ala Hubail and his brother Mohamed Hubail, both members of the national soccer team, in connection with their participation in the 2011 protests, humiliated them on television, and then imprisoned and tortured them. Ayat al Qurmezi, a veiled young female, was arrested for reciting a poem that criticized the royal family. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Al Tajer and opposition politician Matar Matar were also arrested and are currently on trial. Security forces gunned down several peaceful Bahraini protestors in the streets and in their homes. Police detained many dissidents at police checkpoints, then later dumped their bodies on the road, marked with unmistakable evidence of torture. Shouting in the Dark is a painful, mesmerizing, and tragic documentary. Finally, with all this Al Jazeera footage in one place, it is possible to view the one Arab uprising that has largely been hidden from view. - Syria's Wealthy Dragged into Revolt - Syria Threatens to Use Chemical Arms Against External Aggression - Syria's Stockpile of Chemical Weapons is Making Israel Nervous - Fighting in Syrian Capital Adds to Growing Displacement Challenge - China and the Persian Gulf - Iran Sanctions: War by Other Means - In Egypt, Morsi's Silence Speaks Volumes - Consequences of the Fall of the Syrian Regime - Good Mideast Dictators - Syria: The End of the Beginning - Considering a Sunni Regime in Syria - Attacking Syria Is No-Win Situation for Turkey - Israel's Mass-Coalition Fails to Sustain as Last-in Becomes First-Out - Netanyahu Has Little to Fear From Kadima's Desertion - The Palestinian Authority's Legitimacy Problem - Beyond Libya's Election - Bahrain, Shouting in the Dark - United Nations Human Rights Council is Irredeemable - United States, Russia Continue to Jockey for Influence in Syria - Nawaf Fares Becomes First Syrian Envoy to Abandon President Assad - Will Syria Cause a Divorce Between Iran and Turkey? - US Fights Terror in Yemen on Economic Front But Cynicism Remains - Negotiations Behind U.S. Sanctions Against Iran - Has the Developing World Abandoned Iran? - Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Jailed for Tweeting in Bahrain - Insurgency and the Protracted War - Hillary Clinton Moves to Bear Hug Egyptian Leader - Should the West Believe Egypt's New President? - Time to Turn the Page on Egypt - Egyptian Revolution Frozen in Its Tracks - Israel: Defense Budget vs Social Justice - Israeli Governement Shaken By Social Protesters Focus on Military Service - Palestinian Businessmen Searching for New Markets - Hamas Demolishes Abu Amra Houses in Gaza - Is the Arab Spring Over? - The Arab Spring in the Long Run - Global Peace Index Bad for Middle East and North Africa - Saudi Arabia's Aged Stability Rocking - Putin's Visit and Israeli-Russian Relations - Israel is Swamped with Singles - Why Iran Should Get the Bomb Originally published by Foreign Policy in Focus

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Florence Independent School District Bullying Reporting Procedures Florence ISD strives to ensure a safe and supportive environment for its school community. Florence ISD expects that all members of the school community treat each other with courtesy and respect, and the district is committed to providing a learning and working environment for students, employees, and visitors that is free from bullying and cyberbullying. Bullying is defined in Section 37.0832 of the Education Code as a single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that: Bullying includes cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined by Section 37.0832 of the Education Code as bullying that is done through the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based communication tool. The district is required to adopt policies and procedures regarding: · Bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property; · Bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity; and · Cyberbullying that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the cyberbullying interferes with a student’s educational opportunities or substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related activity. Bullying is prohibited by the district and could include hazing, threats, taunting, teasing, confinement, assault, demands for money, destruction of property, theft of valued possessions, name-calling, rumor-spreading, or ostracism. If a student believes that he or she has experienced bullying or has witnessed bullying of another student, it is important for the student or parent to notify a teacher, school counselor, principal, or another district employee as soon as possible to obtain assistance and intervention. The administration will investigate any allegations of bullying or other related misconduct. The district will also provide notice to the parent of the alleged victim and the parent of the student alleged to have engaged in bullying. A student may anonymously report an alleged incident of bullying by completing the bullying incident reporting form found on the district website and submitting the form online or by placing the form in the secured dropbox in the front office of each campus. If the results of an investigation indicate that bullying has occurred, the administration will take appropriate disciplinary action and may notify law enforcement in certain circumstances. Disciplinary or other action may be taken even if the conduct did not rise to the level of bullying. Available counseling options will be provided to these individuals, as well as to any students who have been identified as witnesses to the bullying. Any retaliation against a student who reports an incident of bullying is prohibited. A copy of the district’s policy, FFI (LOCAL), is available in the principal’s office, superintendent’s office, and on the district’s website, and is included at the end of the FISD Student Handbook in the form of an appendix. Elementary School Students: Fill out Form Online and Submit Anonymously Middle School Students: Fill out Form Online and Submit Anonymously High School Student: Fill out Form Online and Submit Anonymously

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On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was lifted into low Earth orbit and promptly turned its attention to the depths of space. Today, over 10,000 publications and almost 22 years later, Hubble continues to change the way we see and understand our Universe with images that are truly awesome in every sense of the word. Case in point: the photo featured up top. The panoramic view of 30 Doradus — the brightest and most prolific star-forming region in our galactic neighborhood — is one of several breathtaking hi-res images released today in celebration of Hubble's 22nd anniversary. According to the ESA, the photograph "comprises one of the largest mosaics ever assembled from Hubble photos," combining observations made by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera with those of the ESO's MPG/ESO 2.2 meter telescope, which visualizes clouds of interstellar hydrogen and oxygen. Those observations produce the image seen below. The photo up top takes that image and adds data from the Chandra observatory, which reveals x-ray (blue), infrared (red), and optical (green) wavelengths. According to the ESA: The image [click here for hi-res] reveals the stages of star birth, from embryonic stars a few thousand years old still wrapped in dark cocoons of dust and gas to behemoths that die young in supernova explosions. 30 Doradus is a star-forming factory, churning out stars at a furious pace over millions of years. The Hubble image shows star clusters of various ages, from about 2 million to about 25 million years old. Other photographs released today include gorgeous close-up images of specific features within 30 Doradus and an annotated map of the Nebula that highlights notable stars, galaxies and cosmic clouds that can be seen in the photograph. For more info visit the ESA's Hubble site, where you'll find some very, very hi-res versions of these photographs that are definitely worth checking out. [30 Doradus | Close-up images | Annotated Map]

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Why Do Dogs Bark? Why do dogs bark? The answer is simple: dogs bark because they are telling you something, communicating with other dogs, or expressing an emotion. You've probably seen your dog with another dog at some point and watched how they interact. Dogs will bark at each other when they play or are just hanging out together. Unfortunately, we are only able to guess at the meaning of this barking behavior. However, when dogs interact with humans, the meaning of their bark is a little easier to understand. A simple way to understand barking as it relates to people is to compare it to a baby crying. Babies Cry and Dogs Bark Babies cry when they are hungry, sad, bored, lonely, need to be changed, sick and so on. When asking yourself, "Why do dogs bark?" the answer is no different. Your dog's bark will tell you when they are ready to have their dinner, when they need to go outside, when they aren't feeling good, when they would like a treat and more. It's learning to decipher just what that bark means that could take you some time. Once you have had your dog for awhile, you will begin to develop an understanding of what the barking behavior means much more clearly. Barking for No Reason Why do dogs bark at nothing? They don't. It may seem like there is no reason for the barking behavior, but that is not always the case. When you feel that your dog is barking for no reason, start to consider the possibilities. Are they hurt, hungry, ready to go for a walk or have them spotted someone outside your home? We may not notice some of these smaller things going on around us, but your dog will. If your dog is barking at the walls or at something non-existent, there my even by a psychological or health reason for the barking, so you may even want to have your dog checked out by the vet. Why do dogs bark nonstop? Try watching your dog to figure out what the meaning of their bark is. Often, if you watch them, a dog will point with their nose in the direction of whatever it is they want while barking at the same time. If you notice that your dog is barking nonstop and standing right next to the cupboard where you keep your doggie treats, then you've just figured out on your own what he or she wants! Dogs frequently show this behavior, and it's up to each owner to pay close attention to their pet to figure out what their bark is telling them. Barking non-stop means that there is a need not being met. In some cases, training will be required to curb the behavior, because that need may not be met all day every day. Barking after Discipline Why do dogs bark when you are telling them not to do something? Not all dogs do this, but if yours does, you can relate it to a teenager talking back to a parent. If you've ever been telling your dog to be quiet, sit, stay or to stop chewing on something only to have them begin barking at you or making another noise, they are talking back to you. It's their way of being defiant toward you. You will need to use some deference training to teach your dog that you are the boss to curb this defiant behavior. Knowing why your dog barks is key to curbing the behavior. Some barking behavior is simple to curb by meeting easy needs like providing food, water, or a trip outside. However, barking behavior that is a result of separation anxiety, fear, or dominance needs to be curbed with training before it escalates into more aggressive or damaging behavior. Dog aggressionAggressive Case Study Other Dogs Case Study on Dog Food Aggression Dog Aggression Case Study Dog Fear Aggression Case Study Help for people with aggressive dogs How to stop dog food agression How to Stop Your Dog’s Aggression towards People People How to Stop Your Dog’s Aggression towards Other Dogs Reasons for Aggressive Behavior in Dogs Types of Aggressive Dog Behavior What is Dog Fear Aggresssion? And How to Deal with it Top 'Stop Dog Aggression' Guides Dog barkingAdvice for Curbing Dog Bark Problems Dog Barking Case Study Dog Barking Solutions Why Do Dogs Bark How To Stop Dog Barking Guides Dog bitingCase Study Biting Dogs Dog Bites Heres Some Advice Reasons Why Your Dog Bites Top 'Stop Dog Biting' Guides Reviewed Dog chewingAdvice About Your Dog Chewing Furniture Chewing Dog Solution How to Stop a Dog From Chewing How to Stop Your Dog Chewing Top 'Cure Dog Chewing' Guides Reviewed Dog diggingAdvice for Owners of Digging Dogs How to Stop Dogs From Digging Top 'Dog Digging' Training Guides Reviewed Dog jumpingHow to Stop Your Dog from Jumping upon People and Other Dogs Jumping Dogs Case Study Jumping Dog Solution Case Study Review of Leading 'Stop Dog Jumping' Guides Dog trainingDog Aggression Training Methods Dog Training Books Dog Training Essentials Dog Training to Stop Biting Dog Training Jumping Method for Housetraining Your Dog How to Stop Your Dog Pooing in Your Car Training for Aggressive Dogs Case Study Top Dog Training Guides Reviewed Dog whiningAnother Whining Dog Case Study Case Study Advice for People with Whining Dogs How to Deal with a Dog’s Fears How to Stop Your Dog Whining Whining Dog Case Study 'Stop Dog Whining' Guides Reviewed |Home | Article Reproduction & Copyright Policy | Contact Us | More Dog Solutions|

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Like riparian forests, wetlands are critical for containing flood waters and they support a diverse array of wildlife year round. A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. The Florida Everglades are the largest wetlands in the United States.

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Creating "middle schools" for students in Years 7-10 could help teenagers make good decisions and avoid risky behaviour, according to a school principal. Principal of Christchurch's St Margaret's College, Gillian Simpson, says her school's initiative of separating Years 7-10 (Forms 1-4), has had a drastic impact on behaviour. "It's that crucial age from 11 to 15. One of the things we've lost in society is rites of passage ... we're trying to create rites of passage through that school system." She says it has stopped Year 10 becoming a "lost year", because students in that year assume a leadership position. "What we've done is make Year 10s, the old fourth form, the top of that middle school, so it runs from Year 7-10. "Those Year 10 students have risen to the challenge of leadership, ownership and responsibility. They are caring for younger ones and making decisions in the school." Simpson says more emphasis needs to be put on teaching young people respect and resilience, as well as achieving academically. Prime Minister John Key has commissioned urgent research to better understand the issues which can make adolescence a "powder keg" of bad decisions and risky behaviour. It was announced after the sudden deaths of two students from Auckland's King's College within a fortnight of each other. Sixteen-year-old James Webster died on May 8 after drinking vodka. Michael Treffers, 15, died after an incident at a Southern Motorway over-bridge a little over a week later. What do you think of the concept of "middle schools"? Do you think New Zealand should have them?

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Plan ahead. Harvest everlastings now for use later. Youíll find many uses for these versatile flowers. This article is intended to be a general introduction to everlastings. Future articles will provide more details on the different methods, and the kinds of plants that are suitable for each. Another article will consist of a list of everlastings. The simplest way to dry flowers is to hang them upside down in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place where theyíll be out of direct sunlight. People often use barns and sheds for this. Not all flowers are suited to air-drying. Check a book on everlastings for complete details. Dry your own roses for everlasting designs. Bunch them together into bunches, and use a rubber band to hold the stems together. Hang them up to dry. Flowering herbs can be dried the same way for use as everlastings. Suitable ones include anise hyssop, bee balm, chives, ladyís mantle, lavender, oregano, and yarrow. When you hear the word everlasting, you may automatically think of flowers. Yet, many kinds of materials can be used in dried arrangements. For a start, look through your garden to see if you have any plants with suitable green, gray, or silver foliage. Examples would include various herbs, such as artemisias (wormwood), horehound, and mints. Dried red peppers are often used as ornaments. These are usually strung together on string. They can be hung indoors or outdoors. A favorite place is beside doorways. Ideally, youíve been harvesting stems throughout the growing season that can be used for everlastings. Start in the spring, and continue through the fall months. Harvest more than you think youíll need of each kind, because some of them may shatter. (To prevent the blooms from shattering, you can use the special spray that is made to prevent this from happening) In addition to garden plants, wildflowers and other suitable natural materials can be prepared as everlastings. Examples include staghorn sumac, mullein, milkweed pods, and teasel. To dry flowers, pick them when they are blooming, but before the blooms are completely open. The best time to do this is early in the morning on dry days after the dew has dried off. Donít wait too late in the day, because the sun is too strong then, and it can cause blooms to fade. The next step is to strip the foliage from the stems. This speeds up the drying process. Everlastings can also be dried by various other means using materials, such as silica gel, or sand. They can even be dried in the microwave. To simplify things and save spaceónot to mention expensive materials like silica gel, some people remove most of the stem. This also speeds up the drying process. Commercially, roses and rose petals are freeze-dried, but this isnít a method that is practical for the average person. I read about a Thai company that was oven-drying orchids. If kept in glass containers, the dried orchid last for three to five years.

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The lyrics of the song American Pie clearly depict a loss of the intangible because the song depicts a poetic, musical notion that there was a day when the music died: In a voice that came from you and me(American Pie, Wiki). The Pearl Harbor Episode before that, and the 9/11 Episode after that caused loss to our nation too. And while the King was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in hell Could break that satan's spell And as flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw satan laughing with delight the day the music died. I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn't play And in the streets the children screamed The lovers cried and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken In both cases a part of the music of the U.S. Constitution died. After Pearl Harbor thousands upon thousands of Americans were put into concentration camps because of their race. After 9/11 thousands upon thousands of Americans have been put into media (TV, Newspaper, Magazine) built mental concentration camps where they are not allowed to question the government, on pain of being ridiculed and scorned by the main stream media controlled by corporations that are influenced by the government. Thus, in these two examples of national dementia, the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution were and are violated. The government gets by with it, in the 9/11 case, because they have the lackey media to do indirectly what they could not do directly. In the Pearl Harbor case the courts upheld the illegal and unconstitutional detentions like they once had upheld racial segregation and slavery. There are thousands of professionals and millions of non-professionals who do not believe that the 9/11 Commission got to the truth concerning the events of September 11, 2001, eight years ago today. These people are not given their rights, just as the Americans with Asian ancestry were not given their rights following Pearl Harbor in the early 1940's, some sixty or so years ago. What has replaced the constitutional rights is unwarranted wiretaps, torture, invasions, wars the majority reject, economic disaster due to wasteful spending, and an increasing sense that the government is inept and corrupt. The recent Birther movement is seen as a conspiracy theory, but at least they were able to go to court, even to the Supreme Court, to have their petition heard. However, even though the two bipartisan chairmen and the legal counsel of the 9/11 commission say they now know that perjured testimony and testimony from individuals who were tortured prior to the Commission coming into existence, gave information which the Committee relied upon in reaching its conclusions. The Birthers got their hearing and so should the Truthers, because the Constitution guarantees the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Many of these Truthers are grieving family members who only want a more honest Commission report, which is something we all deserve. Check out their website and give them support if you are so inclined. UPDATE: The public is not hoodwinked by the press as much as the press would hope: The public's assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys, and Americans' views of media bias and independence now match previous lows.(Pew Research). Good, stay sceptical until the press stops being the lackey for the neoCon far right. Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.

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Changes in the Crab Nebula This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals how wave-like structures unleashed by the powerful remnant of a dead star move outward over time in the heart of the Crab Nebula. The surviving remnant is the collapsed core of a burned-out star, and is called a neutron star. This powerhouse has about the same mass as the sun but is squeezed into an ultra-dense sphere that is only a few miles across and 100 billion times stronger than steel. It is a tremendous dynamo, spinning 30 times a second. This whirling dynamo is visible in the image as the bright object just below center. The object to the left of the neutron star is a foreground or background star. The image was assembled from three separate exposures taken between September and November 2005 by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Each epoch was assigned a different color to show the motion of the wave-like features over time.

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Governments are falling badly behind on low-carbon energy, putting carbon reduction targets out of reach and pushing the world to the brink of catastrophic climate change, says the International Energy Agency in its annual "Tracking Clean Energy Progress" report, issued yesterday. "The world's energy system is being pushed to breaking point. Our addiction to fossil fuels grows stronger each year. Many clean energy technologies are available but they are not being deployed quickly enough to avert potentially disastrous consequences." writes Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), in the Guardian. Over the past year, the typically conservative International Energy Agency has urged governments to stop subsidizing fossil fuels and to instead subsidize renewable energy to stabilize the earth's climate. Worldwide, direct fossil fuel subsidies added up to roughly $500 billion in 2010, in contrast to just $66 billion for renewable energy. In 2009, the G20 pledged to stop subsidizing fossil fuels, but that has yet to happen. With a price on carbon, solar energy can provide a third of the world's energy by 2060, says IEA. "We have a responsibility and a golden opportunity to act," says IEA Deputy Executive Director Ambassador Richard Jones. "Energy-related CO2 emissions are at historic highs; under current policies, we estimate that energy use and CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050. This would be likely to send global temperatures at least 6C [11F] higher within this century. Such an outcome would confront future generations with significant economic, environmental and energy security hardships - a legacy that I know none of us wishes to leave behind." IEA calculates the world must spend five trillion dollars by 2020 in energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean transportation to prevent global temperatures from exceeding a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) rise. The fuel savings from this investment would add up to $4 trillion, bringing the net amount down to one trillion. IEA presented the report to the 3rd Clean Energy Ministerial conference where energy ministers representing 23 countries (accounting for most of the world's emissions) met in London to discuss climate change policies. "The ministers meeting this week in London have an incredible opportunity before them," says Jones. "It is my hope that they heed our warning of insufficient progress, and act to seize the security, economic and environmental benefits that a clean-energy transition can bring." Green Technology Not Growing Fast Enough Onshore wind has grown 27% a year and solar PV, 42% a year (from a tiny base) over the past decade - a good start, but nowhere near enough. The world needs to generate 28% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020 and 47% by 2035 to reduce levels of carbon in the atmosphere to livable levels. Renewables make up 16% of the global electricity supply today. "Even more impressive is the 75% reduction in system costs for solar PV in as little as three years in some countries. This serves as evidence that rapid technology change is possible," IEA says. Other technologies are making only "halting progress" at best, such as vehicle fuel-efficiency gains, energy efficiency upgrades in buildings and industry, biofuels, geothermal and carbon capture. Nearly half of new coal-fired power plants are still being built without effective pollution prevention technology. While government targets for electric vehicles (20 million by 2020) are ambitious, as are continued nuclear expansion plans in many countries, translating plans into reality is easier said than done. Manufacturers' production targets for electric vehicles after 2014 are highly uncertain; and increasing public opposition to nuclear power is proving challenging to address. The world needs 40 coal plants to be fitted with carbon capture within eight years - so far none have been built. IEA makes three over-arching policy recommendations to move mainstream green technologies: 1. Level the playing field for clean energy technologies. Energy prices must reflect the "true cost" of energy - accounting for the positive and negative impacts of energy production and consumption; 2. Unlock the potential of energy efficiency, the "hidden fuel." The first priority of energy policy must be elimination of wasted energy. US Dept of Energy Sec't Chu said that raising efficiency standards for household appliances and for building construction should be a "no brainer." "It will save your citizens money and your country energy. There's a tremendous opportunity to build an infrastructure that literally could be twice as efficient as the ones that were built in the previous century," he said. 3. Accelerate energy innovation and public support for research, development and demonstration. This will lay the groundwork for private sector innovation, and speed technologies to market. UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey noted that making these investments in a"sluggish" economy is challenging, but "the risk is that recession delays low-carbon investment, leaving us a high-carbon legacy even when the global economy recovers and making meaningful action on climate change more expensive. "We don't start from a good place. 80% of our emissions from energy are already locked in, and the emissions gap is growing." In the first quarter of 2012, clean energy investment dropped to its lowest level since the depths of the recession in 2009. Solar, wind and other technologies are having a hard time finding financing because of constrained bank rules. For every Euro not spent on carbon reductions before 2020, 4.3 euros will be required after that to bring the world back to 2 degrees of warming rather than the 6 degrees the world is headed for now, said Jones.

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This resource highlights books, chapters, articles, and additional information related to the intersection of religion, spirituality, and psychology. Batson, C. D., Schoenrade, P., & Ventis, W. L. (1993). Religion and the individual: A social-psychological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. The authors examine the research concerning religion and the application of the scientific method to this area of inquiry. They look at the development and impact of religion on the individual within a social psychological framework. The text includes examinations of such dichotomies as whether religion is a source of individual freedom or a method of control, individuality or conformity, and health or mental illness. Browning, D. S., & Cooper, T. D. (2004). Religious thought and the modern psychologies (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. From within the context of hermeneutical theory, this text examines the interrelationship between theology and psychology. Chin, J. L. (Ed.). (2005). The psychology of prejudice and discrimination: Disability, religion, physique, and other traits (Vol. 4). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood. Part of a four volume set, Volume 4 includes information and research concerning discrimination and prejudice related to religion as form of diversity or difference. This text includes information on means to address religious prejudice and discrimination. Corrigan, J. (Ed.). (2004). Religion and emotion: Approaches and interpretations. New York: Oxford University Press. This anthology of writings discusses the interplay between religion and emotion from a range of perspectives and disciplines (e.g., history, anthropology, comparative religion, and psychology). Cox, R. H., Ervin-Cox, B., & Hoffman, L. (Eds.). (2005). Spirituality and psychological health. Colorado Springs: Colorado School of Psychology Press. This text blends theoretical, scientific, and practical approaches to an examination of spirituality and psychological health. Editors included developmental chapters, chapters on topics such as existentialism, transcendence, and evil, as well as a section on application. De Silva, P. (2005). An introduction to Buddhist psychology (4th ed.). New York: Palgrave. This text introduces the fundamentals of Buddhist psychology and includes coverage of a range of topics from motivation and emotion to consciousness and emotional intelligence. Dowling, E. M., & Scarlett, W. G. (Eds.). (2006). Encyclopedia of religious and spiritual development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This comprehensive, interdisciplinary reference covers all facets of religious and spiritual development. Each topic consists of short entries written by leading scholars in the field. Fukuyama, M. A., & Sevig, T. D. (1999). Integrating spirituality into multicultural counseling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This book examines the relationship between spirituality and multicultural counseling. Cultural aspects of spirituality and religion are discussed within the context of understanding clients and accessing resources that may be used for client growth and counseling. Gilbert, R. B. (Ed.). (2002). Health care and spirituality: Listening, assessing, caring. Amityville, NY: Baywood. This volume stresses the importance of listening in a health care context and an appreciation of religious and spiritual diversity. It includes chapters highlighting not only specific religious and spiritual perspectives (e.g., Judaism, Roman Catholic, Native American, non-affiliated spiritualism) but also different patient populations (e.g., medical, dying, trauma, addicted, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's). Hood, R. W., Hill, P. C., & Spilka, B. (2009). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: Guilford Press. This widely used psychology of religion text (targeting advanced undergraduate and graduate students) includes discussions of religious thought, belief, and behavior across the lifespan, links between religion and biology, the forms and meaning of religious experience, the social psychology of religious organizations, and connections to morality, coping, mental health, and psychopathology. Hood, R. W., Hill, P. C., & Williamson, W. P. (2005). The psychology of religious fundamentalism. New York: Guilford Press. The authors examine religious fundamentalism from within various traditions: the Church of God (Protestant fundamentalists), the snake handling sects, the Amish, and Islamic fundamentalism. They argue that fundamentalists are often misunderstood as their beliefs are not studied in context, from within the framework of their organized belief systems. They draw distinctions between fundamentalists and various religious militant groups. Houser, R. A., & Domokos-Cheng Ham, M. A. (2004). Gaining power and control through diversity and group affiliation. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood. This text focuses on issues of diversity, social identity, and power, including a chapter on religion and power. Irish, D. P., Lundquist, K. F., & Nelsen, V. J. (Eds.). (1993). Ethnic variations in dying, death, and grief: Diversity in universality. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis. This volume covers a broad range of ethnic and cultural variations in related to the needs of the dying as well as grief and bereavement traditions. Religious traditions discussed include Judaism, Buddhism, Islamic, Quaker, and Unitarian. Kelly, E. W. (1995). Spirituality and religion in counseling and psychotherapy: Diversity in theory and practice. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. The author provides an overview of the need and various facets related to inclusion of spiritual and religious discussions in the psychotherapeutic setting. The volume includes background information related to the major religions, discusses the psychological research and theory concerning spirituality and religion, discusses spirituality/religion and human development, and includes information related to assessment and evaluation. The author examines the interrelationship between spirituality/religion and other forms of diversity such as sexual orientation, ethnicity, and age. Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2005). Attachment, evolution, and the psychology of religion. New York: Guilford Press. The author presents a theoretical model of religion based on the interconnections between attachment and evolutionary theory. The volume includes a section concerning parapsychological beliefs. Kobeisy, A. N. (2004). Counseling American Muslims: Understanding the faith and helping the people. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood. Aimed at counselors and other clinicians, this text addresses the needs of Muslim clients in a post-9/11 United States. The author addresses the complexity and diversity of Muslims and the Islamic faith, highlights the growth of the Islamic faith in the United States, and provides relevant information and suggestions for counselors who work with Muslim clients. McMinn, M. R, & Dominquez, A. W. (2005). Psychology and the church. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science. The authors discuss the historic debates and tensions between psychology and the church. Provides information and principles to increase effective collaboration between the church and the psychology. Miller, W. R., & Delaney, H. D., (Eds.). (2005). Judeo-Christian perspectives on psychology: Human nature, motivation, and change. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. This text represents the final work commissioned by the Pew Charitable Trusts to examine the interplay between Judeo-Christian perspective and human nature through the lens of psychology. This text is divided into five sections (Foundations and Context; The Nature of the Human Person; Motivation, Virtues, and Values; Transformation, Change, and Development; and Reflections) with noted scholars contributing to each section. Morey, P., & Yaqin, A. (2011). Framing Muslims: Stereotyping and representation after 9/11. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Based on an analysis of cultural representations in the United States and the UK, this book explores the sources, construction, methods of dissemination, and functions of stereotypes of Muslims and explains the ways in which these simplistic representations diverge from the complex reality. Paloutzian, R. F., & Park, C. L. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: Guilford Press. This comprehensive handbook outlines the latest in empirical research, integrative theory, and application related to the psychological processes underlying religious behavior and spirituality. The handbook is divided into five sections (Foundations of the Psychology of Religion; Religion Through the Developmental Lens; Religion and Basic Psychology Subdisciplines; The Construction and Expression of Religion; Psychology of Religion and Applied Areas) with 30 chapters written by the leading scholars in the field of psychology and religion. Ramsey, J. L., & Blieszner, R. (1999). Spiritual resiliency in older women: Models of strength for challenges through the life span. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Particularly useful in relation to counseling and older adults, this text examines spiritual resilience in older women based on focus groups and in-depth interviews with older Lutheran women in the United States and Germany. Part I provides an overview of the cross-cultural methods and underlying research questions involved in this study. Part II provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of these older women examining issues of faith, resilience, loss, emotions, community, and personal relationships. Part III includes general conclusion and discusses the lessons that this research provides for those involved in work with older adults. Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of psychotherapy and religious diversity. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. This handbook elucidates the traditions, values, beliefs, and history of more than 24 major religions. Provides useful information related to culturally appropriate clinical practice with individuals from these various traditions. Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. E. (2000). Handbook of psychotherapy and religious diversity. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. This book discusses denomination-specific information that can be useful for therapists in working with clients who use their religions as the bases for their worldviews. The religions discussed are seven Christian traditions, and chapters on Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. Richards, P. S. & Bergin, A. E. (2005). A spiritual strategy for counseling and psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. The authors provide an overview of the empirical and theoretical literature related to "theistic psychotherapy," emphasizing the importance of those in mental health practices to treatment sensitive of and acknowledging clients religious and spiritual belief systems and lifestyles. Roehlkepartain, E. C., King, P. E., & Wagener, L. (Eds.). (2006). The handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This comprehensive handbook examines religious and spiritual development from an array of research-based perspectives. This text is highly interdisciplinary and presents research from such disparate fields as neuropsychology, moral development, education, philosophy, cognitive development, and cross-cultural psychology. It includes recommendations concerning public policy, programming, psychotherapy, and methods of research. Schumaker, J. F. (Ed.). Religion and mental health. New York: Oxford University Press. Drawing on scholarship from various disciplines such as psychology and anthropology, this edited text explores the historical, cognitive, affective, social, developmental, sociological, and cross-cultural interconnections between religion and mental health. Spilka, B., Hood, R., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (2003). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: Guilford Press. This comprehensive text examines the empirical research literature within domain of psychology and religion. Chapter topics range from religion and biology to developmental issues across the lifespan to mysticism and conversion. Spilka, B., & McIntosh, D. N. (Eds.). (1997). The psychology of religion: Theoretical approaches. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Examines a broad range of theoretical approaches to the study of psychology and religion. Includes a general introduction, a discussion of the functions and motivations, social psychological implications, developmental approaches, social cognitive perspectives, and chapters related to the experiential elements of religion. Batson, C. D., & Stocks, E. L. (2004). Religion: Its core psychological functions. In J. Greenberg, S. L. Koole, & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of experimental existential psychology (pp. 141–155). NewYork: Guilford Press. Using Maslow's broad theory of both conative and cognitive needs, this article examines religion from an existentialist perspective. Burke, K. (2006). Religion, spirituality, and health. In S. Gehlert & T. A. Browne (Eds.), Handbook of Health Social Work (pp. 282–304). New York: John Wiley & Sons. The author takes a broad look at the interrelationships between religion, spirituality, and health. The chapter includes discussion of general themes, historical information, an examination of religion and spirituality as a diversity issue, a discussion of the research, and a discussion of ethics, challenges, and obstacles. Dudley-Grant, G. R. (2003). Perspectives on spirituality and psychology in ethnic populations. In J. S. Mio & G. Y. Iwamasa (Eds.), Culturally diverse mental health: The challenges of research and resistance (pp. 341–359). New York: Brunner-Routledge. This chapter discusses the importance of spirituality among People of Color. Most discussions of spirituality and religion are taken from a Western perspective, and while this coincides with many worldviews of People of Color, it leaves out many other cultural practices, particularly those cultures that believe in indigenous healing practices. The chapter examines the roots of spirituality in the African American, Latino, American Indian, and Asian communities and proposes that traditional psychotherapies integrate spiritual practices into the thereauputic framework. Fischer, A. R., & DeBord, K. A. (2007). Perceived conflicts between affirmation of religious diversity and affirmation of sexual diversity: That's 'perceived.' In K. J. Bieschke, R. M. Perez, & K. A. DeBord (Eds.), Handbook of counseling and psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clients (2nd ed., pp. 317–339). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. The authors tackle what they see as a much-avoided issue in the field of professional psychology. They discuss the conflict that can arise when the ethical imperatives for psychologists to respect both sexual diversity and religious diversity intersects with the psychologist’s perception that her or his religion denounces same-sex relationships. The authors explore this dilemma and to encourage members of the field to debate openly so they can develop clearly articulated policy, rather than allow the conflicts to be addressed only locally and often individually. Fontana, D. (2011). The psychology of religion and religious experience. In P. R. Martin, F. M. Cheung, M. C. Knowles, M. Kyrios, L. Littlefield, J. B. Overmier, & J. M. Prieto (Eds.) IAAP handbook of applied psychology (pp. 603-614). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781444395150.ch26 The following topics are addressed in this chapter on the psychology of religion and religious experience: religion as social phenomena, religion and individual psychology, religion as inner experience, mystical experiences, and assessing individual differences in religious orientation. Fukuyama, M. A., Siahpoush, F., & Sevig, T. D. (2005). Religion and spirituality in a cultural context. In C. S. Cashwell & J. S. Young (Eds.), Integrating spirituality and religion into counseling: A guide to competent practice (pp. 123–142). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. This chapter uses cross-cultural and multicultural perspectives to understand religion and the role it plays in counseling and culture. In addition, the authors examine power and privilege within religion and culture. Finally, they discuss spirituality and growth as well as counseling implications. Hester, M. P., & Paloutzian, R. F. (2006). Teaching the psychology of religion: Teaching for today's world. In W. Buskist & S. F. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of the teaching of psychology (pp. 207–213). Malden, MA: Blackwell. This chapter discusses the benefits of adding a psychology of religion course to the curriculum and outlines the orientation and structure of such a course. Kastel, Z. (2012). Positive relations between members of groups with divergent beliefs and cultures. In S. Roffey (Ed.), Positive relationships: Evidence based practice across the world (pp. 245-259). New York, NY: Springer. Based on the experiences of practitioners working with divergent beliefs, this chapter seeks to identify ways in which people with different perspectives about religion and politics can respond appropriately and ethically to tensions arising from these differences. Klaassen, D. W., McDonald, M. J., & James, S. (2006). Advance in the study of religious and spiritual coping. In P. T. P. Wong & L. C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 105–132). Dallas, TX: Spring. This chapter examines the psychology of religious and spiritual coping based on research and theory in the field. Authors include traditional forms of research (e.g., cross-sectional, correlation, longitudinal), cross-cultural research using a range of qualitative methods, and studies of marginalized groups in the United States. Krause, N. (2006). Religion and health in late life. In J. E. Birren & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (6th ed., pp. 499–518). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. Authors examine the relationship among religion, health, and aging. Six dimensions are discussed: church attendance, social support, prayer, coping, forgiveness, and religious meaning. Each dimension is discussed and their connections to health and well-being in late-life is examined. Negy, C., & Ferguson, C. J. (2004). Religious bigotry: The neglected 'ism' in multicultural psychology and therapy. In C. Negy (Ed.), Cross-cultural psychotherapy: Toward a critical understanding of diverse clients (pp. 61–73). Reno, NV: Bent Tree Press. The authors argue that religious diversity is often excluded from work related to multicultural competency and particularly training related to clinical practice. They present examples of the harm caused by the lack of such training and discuss the negative impact failure to recognize one's own bias may have in therapeutic setting on the client. The volume includes a discussion of religious bigotry and coercion primarily, but not exclusively, from within the culture of Christianity. Robinson-Wood, T. L., & Braithwaite-Hall, M. (2005). Spirit matters: Women, spirituality, and clinical contexts. In M. Mirkin, K. Suyemoto, & B. Okun (Eds.), Psychotherapy with women: Exploring different contexts and identities. New York: Guilford Press. This chapter considers spirituality within therapeutic contexts. A case study is provided that explores similarities and differences between spirituality and religion. Discussed is the importance of clinicians, as a component of clinical competence, to be open to spirituality, their own and that of their clients, within the therapeutic event. Sherif-Trask, B. (2005). The challenge of cultural competence: An introduction to working with American Muslims and their families (pp. 269–279). In K. H. Barrett & W. H. George (Eds.), Race, culture, psychology, and law. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This chapter highlights the importance of cultural competence when working with clients from different cultural and religious backgrounds. The author provides an introduction to the topic of cultural competence when working with Muslims and their families, highlighting the variability within that population. Siegel, R. J., Choldin, S., & Orost, J. H. (1995). The impact of three patriarchal religions on women.In J. C. Chrisler & A. H. Hemstreet (Eds.), Variations on a theme: Diversity and the psychology of women (pp. 107–144). Albany, NY: State University of New York. This chapter discusses the role that Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity have on women's lives. Staton, R., & Cobb, H. (2006). Religion and spirituality. In G. G. Bear & K. Minke (Eds.), Children's needs III: Development, prevention, and intervention (pp. 369–378). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists. The authors acknowledge the role that religion and spirituality can play in children's development and their personal identity. This chapter argues that educators need to be aware of their own beliefs and respect children's belief particularly when different. The authors include a discussion of the challenges that may arise when a child's belief may be at odds with what is know about healthy child development from the field of psychology. Tovian, S. M., Freeman, B. G., & Muhammad, A. R. (2003). One God, one faith, one humanity. In J. D. Robinson & L. C. James (Eds.), Diversity in human interactions: The tapestry of America (pp. 157–173). New York: Oxford University Press. This chapter addresses the impact that differences in religious beliefs and backgrounds can have on human interactions. The authors provide information concerning the major religions and discusses the impact that religious stereotypes can have on individuals and interactions, Highlighting the current impact of these stereotypes on interactions with individuals from the Islamic faith. Walsh, F., & Pryce, J. (2003). The spiritual dimension of family life. In F. Walsh (2003). Normal family processes: Growing diversity and complexity (3rd ed., pp. 337–372). New York: Guilford Press. The authors examine the importance of religion and spirituality as an aspect of interpersonal diversity and discusses the role that these can play in family functioning, coping, and resilience. Worthington, E. L. (2011).Integration of spirituality and religion into psychotherapy. In J. C. Norcross, G. R. VandenBos, & D. K. Freedheim (Eds.), History of psychotherapy: Continuity and change, 2nd ed. (pp. 533-543), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/12353-033 This chapter discusses several trends supporting the need for therapists to better integrate religion and spirituality into psychotherapy. These include shifts in immigration, a stronger presence of Eastern religion and philosophy, shifts toward cognitive perspectives that allow for the incorporation of value differences, economic pressures toward managed care, and the increased availability of peer counseling. Ahluwalia, M. K., & Pellettiere, L. (2010). Sikh men post-9/11: Misidentification, discrimination, and coping. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1(4), 303-314. doi:10.1037/a0022156 This qualitative study examines the post-9/11 experiences of five Sikh men in order to facilitate the multicultural competence of psychologists seeking to understand the experiences of diverse groups. Awad, G. H. (2010). The impact of acculturation and religious identification on perceived discrimination for Arab/Middle Eastern Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16(1), 59-67. doi:10.1037/a0016675 This study investigates the effect of acculturation, ethnic identity, and religious affiliation on perceived discrimination for persons of Arab and Middle Eastern descent. Results indicated that Muslims reported a higher level of discrimination than Christians but this finding was moderated by level of acculturation. Ball, C., & Haque, A. (2003). Diversity in religious practice: Implications of Islamic values in the public workplace. Public Personnel Management, 32, 315–330. While the Islamic religion may be a minority religion in the United States, it is a major religion worldwide. Moreover, the number of Muslims in the United States is rapidly expanding. Due to recent world events there is a lot of misinformation in the media concerning the Islamic faith. This article describes the basic tenets of Islam, examines court cases relevant to religion and the workplace, and provides information related to Islamic values in the workplace. This is a good adjunct text for industrial/organization or human resources courses. Bouma, G., Haidar, A., & Nyland, C. (2003). Work, religious diversity and Islam. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 41, 51–61. The authors discuss Islamic workplace values and issues and sources of overlap with traditional human resource practices, addressing the importance of such understanding in the light of current discrimination against Muslims in many workplace settings. Boyd-Franklin, N. (2010). Incorporating spirituality and religion into the treatment of African American clients. The Counseling Psychologist, 38(7), 976-1000. doi:10.1177/0011000010374881 Using detailed cases as illustration, this article explores religious diversity in the African American community and makes recommendations for integrating spirituality into the treatment of African American clients. Religion is presented as a coping mechanisms for dealing with racism, adversity, and loss at different stages of the life cycle. Briggs, M. K., & Rayle, A. D. (2005). Incorporating spirituality into core counseling courses: Ideas for classroom application. Counseling and Values, 50, 63–75. This article describes classroom activities related to teaching spirituality and religion as diversity issues in a counseling course. Duffy, R. D., & Blustein, D. L. (2005). The relationship between spirituality, religiousness, and career adaptability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 429–440. This article presents the results of a study that examined the relationship between spirituality, religiousness, and career adaptability using a sample of undergraduate students. Hage, S. M. (2006). A closer look at the role of spirituality in psychology training programs. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 37, 303–310. See annotation below. Hage, S. M., Hopson, A., & Siegel, M. (2006). Multicultural training in spirituality: An interdisciplinary review. Counseling and Values, 50, 217–234. These two articles review the research concerning multicultural training related to issues of spirituality and religion in counseling and psychology training programs. The authors argue that multicultural competency is incomplete if such issue of spirituality and religion are not addressed and specialized training is not provided. Habermas, J. (2006). Religion in the Public Sphere. European Journal of Philosophy 14(1): 1-25. Religion plays an important part in policy making and socio-economical politics. Based on this realization, in this article, Habermas describes some of the most important events in world history and politics that were influenced by religious communities. Hawkins, I. A., & Bullock, S. L. (1995). Informed consent and religious values: A neglected area of diversity. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 32, 293–300. The authors discuss ethical issues related to psychotherapy and religious values, arguing that religious position and values must be made explicit in the form of informed consent within the psychotherapeutic context. Hicks, D. A. (2002). Spiritual and religious diversity in the workplace: Implications for leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 379–396. In this article, the author argues that spirituality and religious practice are highly diverse and interconnected topics that must be respected in the workplace. The text also outlines implications related to leadership. Hodge, D. R. (2003). The challenge of spiritual diversity: Can social work facilitate an inclusive environment? Families in Society, 84, 348–358. This author argues that the profession of social work is comprised largely of nontheistic practitioners and this impacts the shaping of conceptualization of spiritual diversity as a multicultural concern. This potential misrepresentation of others’ theistic beliefs may limit social workers’ effectiveness in working with religious populations and clients. Jackson, L. (2010). Images of Islam in US media and their educational implications. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, 46(1), 3-24. This article uses post- 9/11 images of Islam and Muslims in US media to illustrate the challenges faced by educators striving to teach about diverse groups in the presence of competing and inaccurate media messages. Johnson, K. A., White, A. E., Boyd, B. M., & Cohen, A. B. (2011). Matzah, meat, milk, and mana: Psychological influences on religio-cultural food practices. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(8), 1421-1436. doi:10.1177/0022022111412528 This article explores the likely origin and function of the food-related beliefs and rituals endorsed by diverse religious and cultural groups. The authors suggest that their process of inquiry may be applicable to explorations of a wide variety of religious/cultural beliefs and practices. Kim, C. L., Anderson, T. L., Hall, M. E., & Willingham, M. M. (2010). Asian and female in the white gods world: A qualitative exploration of discrimination in Christian academia. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 13(5), 453-465. doi:10.1080/13674670903384533 This qualitative study explores the role of the Christian university environment on discrimination experiences of 11 Asian/Asian-American female faculty at various Christian universities. Existing research provides the context for discussing these experiences, which are often marked by perceptions of differential treatment due to race and gender. Langer, N. (2004). Resiliency and spirituality: Foundations of strengths perspective counseling with the elder. Educational Gerontology, 30, 611–617. This article uses the constructs of resiliency and spirituality to describe a strengths based approach to caring for and working with older adults. Levitt, D. H., & Balkin, R. S. (2003). Religious diversity from a Jewish perspective. Counseling and Values, 48, 57–66. The authors discuss religion as an important component of multicultural competency and focus specifically on the impact for Jewish clients in a counseling setting. Milstein, G., Manierre, A., & Yali, A. M. (2010). Psychological care for persons of diverse religions: A collaborative continuum. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(5), 371-381. doi:10.1037/a0021074 Given the APA “Resolution on Religious, Religion-Based and/or Religion-Derived Prejudice” which states that it is not the role of professional psychologists to be spiritual guides, this article explores the potential collaboration of clergy and mental health care practitioners. The authors frame this discussion in terms of a continuum between clinical care provided by mental health professionals and religious care provided by clergy. A prevention science based model of Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) is offered to guide this collaboration. Ethical considerations and cultural variations of religious beliefs are addressed through this model. Northcut, T. B. (2004). Pedagogy in diversity: Teaching religion and spirituality in the clinical social work classroom. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 74, 349–358. This article provides a framework for teaching religion and spirituality from within the context of clinical social work. Oshodi, J. E. (1996). The place of spiritualism and ancient Africa in American psychology. Journal of Black Studies, 27, 172–182. This article examines not only religious diversity with a focus on African spirituality but challenges the notion of scientific humanism as a foundation for explorations of psychology and spirituality. Roysircar, G. (2003). Religious differences: Psychological and sociopolitical aspects of counseling. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 25, 255–267. This article focuses on the importance of recognizing and understanding religion as a source of diversity in a clinical context. The author primarily emphasizes the importance of understanding Islam in today's political climate for work with Muslim populations. The author also provides training vignettes. Russell, S. R., & Yarhouse, M. A. (2006). Training in religion/spirituality within APA-accredited psychology predoctoral internships. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 37, 430–436. This article provides results of an American Psychological Association survey of accredited predoctoral internship programs. The authors highlight the lack of formal training provided to future clinicians with respect to religion or spirituality as an element of cultural diversity. Saroglou, V., & Cohen, A. B. (2011). Psychology of culture and religion: Introduction to the JCCP special issue. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(8), 1309-1319. doi:10.1177/0022022111412254 This introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology describes current trends in relevant research from cross-cultural psychology, social and cultural psychology, and comparative psychology of religion. The special issue includes articles addressing theoretical and empirical considerations of how cultural-level dimensions (from ecology and biology to ethnicity, family practices, and socio-economic factors) shape religion’s functioning at the individual and collective level. Schulte, D. L., Skinner, T. A., & Claiborn, C. D. (2002). Religious and spiritual issues in counseling psychology training. Counseling Psychologist, 30, 118–134. The authors discuss the results of a survey concerning the inclusion or more often exclusion of religion and spirituality as topics for study within counseling programs and indicates that religion may not always be viewed as a diversity issue. Yarhouse, M. A., & Fisher, W. (2002). Levels of training to address religion in clinical practice. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 39, 171–176. The authors argue that most psychology programs do not provide training concerning religion as an issue of diversity and propose a 3-tier training system related to religion and spirituality as an aspect of diversity. Psych Web Resources These Psychology of Religion Pages by Michael Nielsen, PhD, include recommended readings, films, journal, organizations, Web sites, as well as sample syllabi and Listserv information. Division 36: Psychology of Religion Division statement: “Division 36 of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, brings together psychologists who recognize the significance of religion both in the lives of people and in the discipline of psychology. The division is nonsectarian. Membership and division activities are open to members of all faiths as well as to those who are not religiously affiliated or do not profess a particular personal faith commitment. “

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NASA Finds Hubble Trouble WASHINGTON — THE Hubble Space Telescope is disabled by a focusing flaw that may have been caused by an undetected human error during the manufacture of polished mirrors for the $1.5 billion craft. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced the problem Wednesday, sending a shudder of disappointment through an astronomy community that has waited years for what were expected to be unprecedented views of the universe from the orbiting telescope. NASA says the problem in one of the two Hubble focusing mirrors cannot be fixed from the ground. At least two of the five instruments aboard the spacecraft will be virtually useless until a repair mission is flown by the space shuttle. Plans call for such a mission in 1993, but the NASA says it hopes to make the flight sooner.

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As initially conceived, the Journal Archive Project possessed three aims: to (1) make relevant information in leading anthropology journals available to a world-wide audience, (2) reinforce analytical skills that undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology needed in their courses, and (3) allow students to participate in a public anthropology initiative that, for many, involved their first publications. As readers can see by perusing the journals listed above, the Project involved publishing on the internet understandable summaries of articles in the discipline’s leading journals. The summaries were produced by undergraduate and graduate students throughout Canada and the United States. Each article often had two distinct summaries written by two different students at two different institutions so readers could gain a “bifocal” view of that article’s concerns. Readers could compare and contrast different summaries of an article to gain a deeper sense of both the article’s themes and relevance. The “target” audiences for these summaries were: (a) people outside the discipline – such as journalists and general readers – who were curious as to how anthropological research entwined with their own interests as well as (b) anthropologists interested in the writings of fellow anthropologists through time. Since the summaries were searchable, anyone can read what had been written on a particular topic over the history of the discipline. The Project started in 2002. While it basically ended in 2006 – as the Center turned to the Community Action Project – some teachers persisted with it up through 2010. In respect to mobilizing anthropology students, the Project was quite successful. Hundreds of students participated in the Project. (The webmaster was frequently queried by students as to the best format for listing their Journal Archive publications on resumes and CVs.) Also, the skills developed in working with a range of teachers and students proved helpful in establishing the Center’s Community Action Project. However, the Journal Archive Project was less successful in making rarely read anthropological articles available to a world-wide audience. True a host of people from a range of countries visited this portion of the Center’s website. (In its best month, there were 60,000 page views). But, with the explosion of websites offering similar material, including the American Anthropological Association’s own “AnthroSource”, the Project became less significant as a readily accessible source of anthropological information. Readers could easily search for anthropological related material at a host of sites. While in 2002 it might be argued that the Project was offering a special service to readers, by 2006 it was clear this was no longer the case.

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National Forest Product’s Week Did you know that every year, Americans use an average of 681 pounds of paper, and that portions of trees are found in just about every product you use? National Forest Product’s Week, observed every year from October 15th through the 21st, is a perfect opportunity to learn just how much trees and forests help each American, and citizen around the world, to live. Trees have a life span just like people, and that lifespan is based on location, the amount of nutrients it gains from sunshine, water and the soil, as well as the amount of pollution that threatens its environment. Trees provide so much more than shade, nuts and paper, however. Did you know that the Pacific Yew tree produces a cancer-fighting chemical called taxol? Or that tree particles are found in chewing gum, tires, paints and hair spray, as well as mouthwash, shampoo and yes, even the ever-popular Twinkie? Don’t feel bad, most other people don’t know that either. Native Americans used trees for all kinds of things as well. They used the bark of some trees to construct canoes, and poles to erect their tepees and build longhouses and wikiups. They even made fishing nets and poles and weapons and sewing tools out of trees and tree parts, as well as their roots for medicines and food. Most musical instruments like flutes and drums and rattles were also made from wood, and that goes for other cultures around the world as well. Just think of all the things that trees can offer humans, and the list will be long and detailed. National Forest Week has been observed and celebrated in the United States since 1960, when the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States first approved it. It’s a time when our most valuable natural resource should be especially appreciated. Recycling programs begun in the 1960’s and 1970’s have gone a long way to saving many of our national forests and wild lands from the ravages of population’s demands, but pollution still threatens vast numbers of forests and woodlands all around the country; from the great redwood forests of the Pacific Northwest to the multi-colored displays offered to New England residents every year. Disease, pests and chemical pollutants have long threatened our national forests, and every year, thousands of acres of precious trees die due to forest fires and diseases caused by man. Every year, thousands of adults and children participate in re-forestation projects, and set out to replant areas that have been harvested for lumber or those ravaged by forest fires. Trees and forests provide a necessary and vital ecosystem for not only humans, but animal life as well, and without forests, many animal species would die off and disappear. National Forest Products Week serves to remind the public of the reliance Americans have on a natural resource that, while renewable, is still not keeping up with the demands of society on a daily basis. The week is a time when public attention is drawn to the growing needs of public demand, and is addressed with ideas and campaigns that strive to replenish those resources. Throughout the nation, groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, as well as adult organizations, make it a point to get outdoors and plant seeds or saplings in honor of National Forest Products Week. All Americans should remember that we are responsible for the land we live on, and we must respect that land or it will cease to support and nourish our needs. More and more Americans are becoming attuned to the need for nation-wide efforts to clean up our act and make sure that we don’t drain our natural resources beyond the point of no return. National Forest Products Week is the perfect opportunity for every American to do his or her part to ensure the continuance of our greatest natural resource, our forestlands.

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Parallel branching and scoping Generally, parallel branching is used when you need to execute different un-related activities simultaneously. Example 1: In your business process, if you need to call a web service and perform a transform. Since these two activities are un-related, they can be executed in parallel using a "Parallel" shape: What is a scope? scope" is a unit or a block which is executed as a context and is associated with a transaction type. In order words, a scope defines a context which maintains the state for a defined unit-of-orchestration code. If you were to open the *.ODX files in Notepad, you would notice that the scope shape placed in an orchestration would create the following: // Can be a transform or an expression shape. scope shape in the orchestration maps to a "scoped" segment of code. A segment defines the boundaries where the control is passed back to the BizTalk engine to persist data in the MessageBox store, thus enabling consistency and durability. scope shape in orchestration has two important properties: - Synchronized: This is a boolean flag which can either be " true" or " When two scopes in a parallel branch are set to Synchronized="true", then they would be executed independent of each other in such a way that each branch assumes that it is the only one being executed in the system. When an orchestration variable needs to be shared across several parallel branches, in that case, the scope's synchronization flag must be set to " true" or the 'Transaction Type' must be set to "Atomic". - Transaction Type: The 'Transaction Type' property can have the following values: - Long Running and Note: An orchestration (*.odx) file also has a 'Transaction Type' property. The classical definition of a transaction is - an atomic unit of work which results in moving the system from one consistent state to a new consistent and durable state. A transaction can either be "committed" or "rolled back" depending on various conditions. Note that a transaction which cannot be rolled back needs to be "compensated". This means that if an operation 'f(x)' has been performed on some data, in order to revert it back we need to perform an operation 'f(y)', which essentially performs an undo operation, this is known as "compensation" in simple terms. Orchestration 'Transaction Type' - A non-transactional orchestration cannot have 'scope' shapes set to either "Atomic" or "Long Running". - If an orchestration's transaction type is set to "Atomic", then the orchestration cannot have any other transactions within its 'scope' shapes. - Atomic transactions cannot contain nested transactions or catch exception blocks. However, they can have compensation blocks. - Long running transactions cannot be isolated from other transactions. However they can contain other atomic transactions and can have catch exception and compensation blocks. The image above highlights the various key properties to be set for an orchestration. Note: These properties are applicable only when the 'Transaction Type' is set to 'Atomic'. - Batch: A boolean value that determines if this transaction can be batched with other transactions across multiple instances of the orchestration. The default value is " true". It may improve performance with the possibility of losing isolation data. - Isolation level: This property defines the degree of isolation between the state changes performed by different atomic transactions. This is not applicable for Long-Running transactions. BizTalk supports three isolation levels. These are 'Read Committed', 'Repeatable Read' and 'Serializable'. The last one being the default value. - Retry: A boolean value which specifies that the atomic transaction can be retried in the event of a failure. Perform the following for Retry-"throw an instance of Microsoft.XLANGs.BaseTypes.RetryTransactionException" within the transaction boundary. - Transaction type: Can be either "Atomic" or "Long Running" or "None". Parallel branches - an example The above image shows two parallel branches whose "synchronized" property is set to " true". The reason being, both the branches set the " CityCode" value, hence the use of shared data. The message assignment shape "Assigning 10" has the following lines of code: OutputXMLMessage = InputXMLMessage; OutputXMLMessage.CityCode = 10; The message assignment shape "Assigning 20" has the following lines of code: OutputXMLMessage = InputXMLMessage; OutputXMLMessage.CityCode = 20; Line 1: The InputXMLMessage is assigned to Line 2: The property CityCode is set to "10" and "20" respectively. An error message appears, if the synchronized property is not set: 'OutputXMLMessage': if shared data is updated in a parallel then all references in every task must be in a synchronized or atomic scope - If the orchestration's transaction type is set to 'Atomic', then the default timeout value is 60 seconds. In this case, the time out value is an Int64 value. - If in the scope shape the transaction is 'Long Running', then the TimeoutException is thrown when the set timeout expires. In this case, the timeout value needs to set using: - If in the scope shape the transaction is 'Atomic' and timeout occurs, it is considered as an attempt failed. Quick orchestration takeaways - A parallel branch need not have a scope if the orchestration 'Transaction Type' = "none" and if no variable is being shared across the branches.

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This article or section is incompleteThis page is marked as lacking essential detail, and needs attention. Information regarding expansion requirements may be found on the article's talk page. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion. One Earth year was equal to 365.2425 Earth days in the Gregorian calendar. To compensate for the fraction of a day, a leap day was added to every year whose number was divisible by four, unless it was a century, unless it was divisible by 400. These leap years consisted of adding an extra day to the month of February. Instead of the usual 28 days, there would be 29. Scientists usually used a Julian year of 365.25 days for measurements and scientific comparisons. The mean solar year was 365.242190419 days in 2000 AD, and will be shorter still by the 23rd century. There was a reference to "terrestrial years" in dialogue in the revised final draft script of TOS: "The Conscience of the King". In the final version of that episode, however, this reference doesn't include the term "terrestrial". A month was usually the amount of time it took for a moon to orbit its planet. This was usually a portion of a year, and a large number of days (in which case it may be broken down into weeks). On planets without moons, a month could either A) not exist, B) be equal to a season, or C) be a fractional division of a season. For example, Vulcan "has no moon", so it is unknown what portion of a year is represented by the "month" of Tasmeen. The novelization of The Motion Picture could be read to imply that Vulcan's "months" are whole seasons. On Earth a month was originally the length of the lunar cycle (29.53 days). Most calendars at some point made the month one twelfth of a solar year (30.44 days). In Earth's most common calendar, the months are either 30 or 31 days long, with one shorter month (February) having 28 or 29 days depending on the year. A second was a portion of a minute, this could be a decimal hundredth of a minute, or some other fractional portion of a minute. On Earth a second was 1/60 of a minute, and was usually divided up decimally. The second is now precisely defined based on the atomic behavior of cesium, and the lengths of minutes, hours, and days are now defined in these seconds. This means that these other times are no longer exactly the same as their solar equivalents based on actual planetary motion. In the 23rd century, stardates were not directly related to Earth's calendar. Beginning in 2323, stardates were changed to be 1,000 per Earth year. The measurement of 1,000 stardate units per year was never explicitly stated on-screen, but can be inferred from numerous conversations. There are some apparent errors, or variations, however, in stardate calculation. One example is Annika Hansen's birth date being given as stardate 25479, and the year being given as 2350. If that is counted back, it would give the beginning year of 24th century stardates as 2325, which contradicts the Star Trek Chronology. It is unknown exactly how many days are equal to 1,000 stardate units in the 24th century; it could be 365.25, 365.2425, or just 365.

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A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine this week shows that an outbreak of bacterial skin infections in upstate New York is linked to a bad batch of tattooing ink. The outbreak of Mycobacterium chelonae infections occurred in the Fall of 2011 around the Rochester, New York area. The infection caused raised rashes on at least 19 people's tattoos. The study, which was a joint effort between the Monroe County Department of Public Health, the New York State Department of Health, the University of Rochester medical Center, Clinton Crossings Dermatology, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration, began when a dermatologist notified Rochester officials of a Mycobacterium chelonae infection in one of his patients. The common link of the tattoos was determined, and the cause was tracked to a gray ink used by a single tattoo artist in Rochester. The artist had purchased the ink from a supplier at a tattoo trade show in Arizona. Investigators inspected the manufacturer's operation, but did not find contaminated materials. The manufacturer voluntarily recalled the bad batch, and the unopened samples of the ink that investigators were able to test also contained the bacteria. 18 of the 19 patients that were identified as having the infection were treated successfully with antibiotics. The 19th "declined evaluation and treatment." The CDC states that bacterial contamination of tattoo ink can be caused by contaminated ingredients, poor manufacturing practices, or dilution with water that isn't sterile.

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Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter that promotes a healthy sleep cycle, decreases anxiety and depression and promotes well-being and happiness. Although soy does not contain serotonin, it contains three compounds that influence serotonin production: tryptophan, isoflavones and complex carbohydrates. In addition to the potential benefits of increased serotonin levels, eating more soy is a good way to introduce complete plant proteins to your diet. Your body requires 20 different amino acids for optimal, regular functioning. Although it is able to synthesize 11 of these, your body cannot produce the remaining nine "essential" amino acids. These amino acids must be obtained from dietary sources. Protein foods that provide all of the essential amino acids are called "complete proteins," and soy is one of the few non-animal complete proteins. This property is one of the explanations for soy's potential mood-enhancing effects. A 1-cup serving of tofu contains 89 percent of your recommended daily intake of tryptophan. This essential amino acid serves two important roles in your body. It is essential to your body's ability to produce niacin. Although you can also obtain this important B-vitamin from dietary sources, your body can synthesize it from tryptophan if you have an adequate intake of iron, riboflavin and vitamin B-6. A second important feature is tryptophan's role in your body's production of serotonin. Both niacin and serotonin are related to healthy cognitive functioning, including decreased levels of depression and anxiety. Soy is the best dietary source of isoflavones, which act as phytoestrogens in your body. Also known as dietary estrogens, these compounds help to regulate sex hormones in your body and reduce your risk of breast and other cancers. In addition, isoflavones may be able to increase your body's serotonin production. Soy phytoestrogen intake increases levels of both the serotonin reuptake transporter protein and an enzyme essential to breaking down tryptophan. Together, these compounds influence your body to produce greater amounts of serotonin. Complex carbohydrates are typically lower in sugar and take longer for your body to break down than simple carbohydrates. Soybeans and soy products are sources of complex carbohydrates. For example, a 1-cup serving of unsweetened soy milk contains 4.2 grams of carbs -- or 3.2 percent of your recommended dietary allowance -- but only 1 gram of sugar. According to MayoClinic.com's Dr. Daniel Hall-Flavin, complex carbohydrates have the additional benefit of increasing the amount of serotonin in your brain. This provides an additional route by which soy increases serotonin levels. - Personal Nutrition, 7th Edition; Marie A. Boyle and Sara Long - MedLine Plus: Tryptophan - University of Maryland Medical Center: Vitamin B3 (Niacin) - Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience: How to Increase Serotonin in the Human Brain Without Drugs - The Pharmacogenomics Journal: Soy and Social Stress Affect Serotonin Neurotransmission in Primates - MayoClinic.com: Coping with Anxiety: Can Diet Make a Difference? - The Vegetarian Resource Group: Protein in the Vegan Diet - Linus Pauling Institute: Soy Isoflavones - U.S. Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Soymilk (All Flavors), Unsweetened, With Added Calcium, Vitamins A and D - Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) - tofu image by Silvia Bogdanski from Fotolia.com

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Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a business wing of PG&E Corporation (PCG), announced that it has incorporated the new advanced hand-held laser scanner device, EXAscan, to improve natural gas pipeline safety. The revolutionary device offers accurate and effective means to maintain the safety and reliability of the pipelines. As per the company’s Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan ("PSEP"), the technology will complement other safety measures employed by PG&E to assess, repair and replace pipelines lying in its service coverage areas. EXAscan beats the orthodox ways of manually detecting pipeline corrosion and is rather a more time-saving and cost-efficient option for industry players. The technology will enable Pacific Gas and Electric to obtain information regarding any corrosion within minutes. This would help the company evaluate and make prompt decisions about pipeline operations. The laser tool was manufactured by privately held Canadian company Creaform and works by placing the device a few inches above a pipeline section which then gives a color coded three dimensional picture on the monitor and spots any probable hazardous signs like dents or warping and corrosion inside the pipelines. EXAscan’s capabilities are not confined solely to PG&E’s natural gas pipelines. The device can also be utilized in performing stress tests in hydroelectric infrastructures. PG&E’s engineers recently conducted stress tests to determine the reliability of the rotors at the Helms Pumped Storage Plant in Oakhurst-North Fork, California. We believe this state-of-the-art device will minimize chances of pipeline accidents resulting from infrastructural glitches and ensure the timely and smooth supply of electricity to customers. PG&E has also been fitting the latest Smart Grid technology and powering more than 400 of its distribution circuits. However, these modernization programs would cost the company substantially. Unless recovered by regulatory base cases, the costs may spill over to the customers’ bills. PG&E currently holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Another Zacks Ranked #3 operator in the utility domain to look out for is FirstEnergy Corporation (FE). Headquartered in San Francisco, California, PG&E Corporation is engaged in electricity and natural gas distribution; electricity generation and transmission; and natural gas procurement, transportation, and transmission and storage operations. The company has a market cap of $17.47 billion. FIRSTENERGY CP (FE): Free Stock Analysis Report

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Oregon's wolf population saw a modest increase of 10 percent in 2018. That's according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's most recent annual report, which counts 137 wolves in the state—up 13 animals from 2017. ODFW says in a statement that the annual count is based on verified evidence only, and that the actual number of wolves in Oregon is likely higher. The count includes 16 packs, up from 2017's total of 12. "The state's wolf population continues to grow and expand its range, now into the central Oregon Cascade Mountains too," Roblyn Brown, ODFW's wolf coordinator, says in a statement. The count also notes that the number of illegal wolf killings in 2018, two, is down from 2017, when there were four. It also highlights a 65 percent increase in livestock depredation due to wolves Oregon Wild, a local conservation group, applauds the increase in Oregon's wolf numbers but criticizes state-sanctioned killings. In a statement, Sean Stevens, the group's executive director, says, "Wolves are survivors, and even in the face of poaching, agency sanctioned killing, and anti-wildlife views held over from colonial settlement, they are still proving resilient in Oregon." Stevens continues: "The slow and steady progress of wolf recovery could still easily be upended if ODFW and the Trump administration succeed in their attempts to weaken protections." Conflict between conservationists and ranchers over the state's wolf management plan in January led four groups to pull out of stakeholder meetings arranged by Gov. Kate Brown. The Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, and Defenders of Wildlife protest the wolf plan, saying it allows for the potential increase of killings. In today's statement, Brown, ODFW's wolf coordinator, says ranchers use non-lethal control methods when possible. "As the wolf population has expanded into new areas in Oregon, livestock producers have adjusted the way they do business to remove bone piles and incorporate non-lethal measures that can reduce the vulnerability of their livestock to depredation by wolves and other predators," Brown says.

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While the risk associated with any particular variant is small, people with all or most of them have about double the risk of heart attack as those with none, according to Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and colleagues, reported in the Feb. 8 issue of Nature Genetics. One implication of the findings, Dr. Kathiresan said, is that it may be possible to identify people at the highest risk of myocardial infarction and begin preventive treatment early. "Since we already have effective ways to reduce heart-attack risk, individuals at higher genetic risk may benefit from earlier intervention," he said in a statement, although that's "something that needs to be tested in future studies." The study, from the international Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium, is one of several in that issue of the journal that discuss new genetic findings about heart disease risk. Most used the new method of genome-wide association, in which researchers examine the genes of cases and controls, seeking single-letter variants -- so-called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs -- that are associated with the disease in question. In the study by Dr. Kathiresan and colleagues, the researchers looked at SNPs in more than 24,000 people, including 12,713 people with early heart attack and 12,841 matched controls. Early heart attack was defined as occurring at 50 or younger in men and 60 or younger in women. The researchers found SNPs in six regions -- three on chromosome one and one each on chromosomes nine, 10 and 19 -- that had previously been shown to be associated with heart attack risk. But the study also turned up three new variants -- on chromosome 21 near a gene called MRPS6-SLC5A3-KCNE2, on chromosome 6 in the gene PHACTR1, and on chromosome two in the gene WDR12. Of the nine, three seem to be acting through low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, Dr. Kathiresan said, and one region seems to directly increase the risk of build-up of atherosclerotic plaque in heart arteries. Testing for the variants "could be useful in guiding treatments, such as who should get statins at an early age to lessen LDL cholesterol levels," he said. In a second study, a team led by researchers from Iceland's deCODE Genetics found five SNPs that were significantly associated with higher numbers of eosinophils, leukocytes involved in inflammatory responses. One of those -- in the gene SH2B3 on chromosome 12 -- was also significantly associated (at P=8.6x10-8) with myocardial infarction in six different populations, including 6,650 cases and 40,621 controls, according to Daniel Gudbjartsson, Ph.D., of deCODE Genetics and colleagues. The researchers said the variant they found, dubbed rs3184504, could reduce the anti-inflammatory activity of SH2B3 -- which is expressed in vasculature -- and lead to heart attack through the progression of plaques in coronary arteries. Using similar methods, a third international study, led by Jeanette Erdmann, Ph.D., of the University of Lubeck in Germany, found a region on chromosome three that appears to increase the risk of coronary artery disease. The region is in a gene dubbed MRAS that is highly expressed in the cardiovascular system and might be involved in the adhesion of cells to one another, the researchers said. | Dr. Kathiresan's study was supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Fannie Rippel Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Donovan Family Foundation. Dr. Kathiresan did not report any conflicts. Zalman S. Agus, MD Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Nature GeneticsSource Reference: Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium "Genome-wide association of early-onset myocardial infarction with single nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number variants" Nat Genet 2009; DOI: 10.1038/ng.327. Nature GeneticsSource Reference: Gudbjartsson DF, et al "Sequence variants affecting eosinophil numbers associate with asthma and myocardial infarction" Nat Genet 2009; DOI: 10.1038/ng.323. Nature GeneticsSource Reference: Erdmann J, et al "New susceptibility locus for coronary artery disease on chromosome 3q22.3" Nat Genet 2009; DOI: 10.1038/ng.307.

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Just "click on the thumbnails" for successively larger images--small, medium, and HUGE! A Turkey Retreat Wild Turkey- Meleagris gallopavo Wild Turkey- Meleagris gallopavo, Order GALLIFORMES - Family PHASIANIDAE - Subfamily Meleagridinae. Wow! My first turkeys in Ohio! These turkeys were found in the winter fields adjacent to the Miami Whitewater region in SW Ohio. There were 13 turkeys in the group. When I got out of the car, they immediately sought cover in the brush. Sorry for the poor photos--it was the best I could do! "The Wild Turkey was a very important food animal to Native Americans, but it was eliminated from much of its range by the early 1900s. Introduction programs have successfully established it in most of its original range, and even into areas where it never occurred before. Populations dropped drastically in 19th and early 20th century because of hunting and habitat loss. Northeastern populations were eradicated. Stocking programs successfully reintroduced turkeys to most of eastern range, and to areas outside the ancestral range in West. Populations continue to increase." What a wonderful late February day! Photos Copyright R. Hays Cummins. Authorization required. For permission, contact firstname.lastname@example.org Sources of species identification and other amazing info include (1) Cornell Lab of Ornithology--a fantastic site; (2)Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Peterson Field Guide Series, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company; (3) The National Audubon Society's Sibley Guide to Birds and (4) Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition, National Geographic, Washington, D.C. Winter/Spring Bird Collection Quicktime Movie A quicktime movie (CLICK on image Above) of bird photos taken over the 2004 Winter/Spring. I used a Canon 10D digital camera with a Canon 100-400 L lens, a Canon 300 L lens and a Canon 400 5.6 L lens. Site NAVIGATION--Table of Contents Listen to a "Voice Navigation" Intro! (Quicktime or MP3) WEATHER & EARTH SCIENCE RESOURCES OTHER ACADEMIC COURSES, STUDENT RESEARCH, OTHER STUFF

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What Scalia Meant to Italian-Americans Antonin Scalia made history when he became the first Italian-American appointed to the Supreme Court. Scalia, who died Saturday was the son of an immigrant from Sicily, and his biographer, Joan Biskupic, says the judge was always proud of his Italian heritage. He was born in Trenton, New Jersey, but moved to Queens as a young boy. His neighborhood was full of immigrant families: Italian, Irish, German, Jewish. His father, Salvatore, refused to speak English to anyone until he had mastered the language, but once he did he went on to get a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Learning was critical: His dad became a Romance language professor; his mom an elementary teacher. Scalia’s Italian heritage was also probably what got him through a smooth confirmation back in 1986, according to Biskupic, a judicial affairs reporter for Reuters. Then, as now, Supreme Court appointments could be very controversial. Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts was planning to give the conservative Scalia a hard time, recalls Biskupic, until he was reminded how many Italian Americans lived in his state. “In fact, during the confirmation hearing just about every senator ... vetting the nominee, had to claim some Italian connection," Biskupic says. "I remember [one senator] saying something to the effect of ‘I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I had an aunt who once had a babysitter who was related to someone who was Italian.' Everybody was claiming that ethnicity.” His appointment meant a huge amount to the Italian-American community, which in the 1980s still heard slurs about possible ties to organized crime. As part of her research for her book on Scalia, Biskupic reviewed Ronald Reagan's presidential papers. She found that “just about every Italian American group in the country sent in an endorsement.” Scalia went to Italy after he was confirmed. He told Biskupic about the welcome he got in a small town: "There was a parade, and he rode down the street," she says. "He was standing up on a balcony and all these people were cheering ... He said, 'I think they thought that I even was Ronald Reagan. "They were cheering so much,' he quipped, 'that I felt like Mussolini.'”

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I read Robert Yamamoto’s April 25 letter, “Yasukuni serves useful purpose,” with great interest. Japanese people — especially Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his Cabinet ministers and politicians in the Diet — should remember that Japan sent troops to the northeastern part of China early in the 1930s, established the country of Manchukuo, then started real fighting in July 1937. Yamamoto mentions “thousands of brave men who gave their lives for causes they could not possibly have fully comprehended.” Yes, those war dead are victims of the country’s policy under the leaders of the period. War drives human beings insane. Japanese soldiers killed civilians, children, women and old folks, and committed a countless number of atrocities. We must not forget the Nanjing Massacre of 1937. We must remember that Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army conducted cruel experiments on Chinese people. Of course, there were many kind-hearted Japanese soldier, but Japan had annexed Korea in 1910 and harshly ruled the Korean Peninsula until the end of World War II. If Abe and his party’s members feel sorry for what Japan did in China, Korea and other parts of Asia, they should refrain from visiting Yasukuni Shrine. We Japanese should try to understand the deep-rooted feelings of our neighbors and honestly apologize for the damage and suffering caused in neighboring countries. I agree with Yamamoto when he says, “Today, in an ever increasingly unstable world, we need government leaders to remember what could happen if they fail to make good decisions.” Just look at what happened in Iraq. But I don’t buy his negative view of those who criticize leaders for visiting Yasukuni. The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

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Send the link below via email or IMCopy Present to your audienceStart remote presentation - Invited audience members will follow you as you navigate and present - People invited to a presentation do not need a Prezi account - This link expires 10 minutes after you close the presentation - A maximum of 30 users can follow your presentation - Learn more about this feature in our knowledge base article Transcript of Geothermal Energy By: Tamia Phillips,Tiffany Edwards, Wesley Motley How is Geothermal Energy used to generate power? Geothermal power plants use steam from water heated underground to spin turbine blades that create electricity. The history of Geothermal Energy The first use of geothermal energy occured more than 10,000 years ago in North America by Paleo-Indians. The first industrial use of geothermal energy began near Pisa, Italy in the later 18th century. Steam coming from natural vents were used to extract boric acid from the hot pools that are now known as Larderello Fields. In 1904 Piero Ginori Conti invented the first geothermal eletric power plant in which steam was used to generate power. Continued History of Geothermal Energy The first geothermal plant in USA started in 1922. In 1946 the first ground-source geothermal heat pump was installed at the commonwealth building in Portland, Oregon. In 1960, pacific gas and electric gas began the first large geothermal power plant in San Francisco. Geothermal Energy is being used where right now? Many countries in the world, especially Iceland and New Zealand are using geothermal energy to produce power. What are the positive benefits of geothermal energy? Completely clean energy, No emissions or harmful waste, Completely renewable, low cost to operate and maintain. Efficiency of Geothermal Energy compared to fossil fuels Geothermal Energy is cleaner, more efficient and more cost-effective than burning fossil fuels and it can reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Where would be the ideal location to set up a Geothermal company? Somewhere near the California area. Mexico is #4 on the top ten Geothermal locations and it borders the south side of California. Is it available in your state? Yes, it is alternate energy source and is cost effective (in eden). Is Geothermal energy available in your community? Yes, geothermal energy is available in my state. It is efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. How is the source provided to customers? The system is installed into homes. Geothermal energy is transported via pipe, as in water to heat your house. Does Geothermal energy contribute to any form of pollution Natural features such as hot springs, mud pools, sinter terraces, geyser, and fumaroles and steaming can be easily damaged. Will it be easy to adjust to? Geothermal energy is removed through its natural resources. Can it work forms of energy? There is so much power that geothermal could power millions of homes. Geothermal Energy Is The Way To Go!!!!! Geothermal is the way to go! It is affordable, environment friendly, and efficient. Geothermal energy is very sustainable. Geothermal power has the potential to help mitigate global warming if widely deployed in place of fossil fuels. How much does it cost? Getting started with geothermal heat is expensive and is affected by many things: location, house size, and the ground that will have to be drilled. Estimates of actual cost are vague , but it is believed that you can expect the overall start-up cost to be double the cost of a standard heat pump with air conditioner. A geothermal heat pump for average sized house can be roughly estimated to cost around $7,500. You must add the cost of installation to this, which would increase the cost to about $10,000. What are the negative consequences? Its not available everywhere. Geothermal heat only works where the earths crust is hot close to the surface. Tends to mostly happen in volcanic regions.

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Here’s What You Need to Know About This Contagious Disease Called Leptospirosis. We want to alert you to a health concern for certain populations of dogs in Maricopa County. As many as 4 confirmed dogs in Fountain Hills have been diagnosed recently with canine Leptospirosis (also referred to as “Lepto”). According to the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association, other Maricopa County veterinarians are seeing an increase in the number of cases of canine leptospirosis. Key points pertinent to you and your pet(s): - Leptospirosis is caused by an infectious bacteria and is known as a zoonotic disease meaning the bacteria can be transmitted from animals to humans. - Infected animals (such wildlife or other dogs) spread the bacteria through bodily fluids such as urine. Humans and pets can become exposed through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated water, soil or food. - Dogs most at risk may include those that have frequent exposure to other dogs at dog parks, dog shows, boarding facilities, day care etc. Pets may also become infected through exposure to stagnate water. - Symptoms of an infection in pets can mimic other conditions. They include fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, refusal to eat, and severe weakness. If your pet displays these symptoms, it’s important your pet is examined by a veterinarian in which testing for Leptospirosis can be done. - The good news is there is a vaccination for dogs, which can help protect against several strains of Leptospirosis. The Leptospirosis vaccine is available locally at Hillside Animal Hospital.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention website contains helpful information about the symptoms in humans, prevention, and treatment for Leptospirosis, https://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/ Call Hillside Animal Hospital at (480) 391-7297 to have your pets examined by a veterinarian and discuss your pet’s lifestyle to see if vaccinating for Leptospirosis is right for your pet.

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Vision and Eye Health in Children 36 to < 72 Months: Proposed Data System Vision screening for preschool-aged children is endorsed by many organizations concerned with children’s health issues. Currently, there is a lack of data on the proportion of children screened and no effective system to ensure that children who fail screenings access appropriate comprehensive eye examinations and follow-up care. Following are recommendations for developing an integrated data system for recording vision screening and eye care follow-up outcomes in preschool-aged children. The recommendations were developed by the National Expert Panel to the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness and funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Guidance is provided regarding specific elements to be included, as well as the characteristics and architecture of such a data system. The panel recommends that efforts to integrate vision care data with other child health data should build on existing state-level approaches to data integration following national guidelines for uniform data collection. A targeted protocol would include expansion of the statewide immunization information systems to incorporate information on vision screenings and eye care. These systems already have the appropriate security measures to safeguard privacy of information. This approach would allow monitoring of vision care services provided by different types of health care professionals, including tracking of receipt of follow-up care and outcome measures. While ophthalmology and optometry currently do not utilize these systems, it is recommended that they be allowed to review existing data and to add limited clinical results and treatment recommendations from their comprehensive eye examinations. This webpage provides a synopsis of the article content. Read the complete journal article. Hartmann EE, Block SS, Wallace DK for the National Expert Panel to the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health. Vision Screening for Children 36 to <72 Months: Proposed Data System. Optom Vis Sci 2015;92(1): 24-30.Learn More Referencces for Vision and Eye Health in Children 36 to < 72 Months: Proposed Data SystemLearn More

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With more than 131 acres, Grant Park is a giant greenspace that provides a natural foil to urban living. It may not be as well-known as its sister parks, but that's OK with the runners, dog-walkers and nature lovers who make the park part of their daily routines. Tucked just south of Interstate-20 in a neighborhood of the same name, Grant Park is Atlanta's oldest surviving park. Railroad engineer Lemuel P. Grant, for whom the park is named, donated 100 acres in 1883. An additional 44 acres were added in 1890, according to the Grant Park Conservancy. The park houses Zoo Atlanta and Atlanta Cyclorama — a Civil War museum that boasts a giant oil painting depicting the Battle of Atlanta — and some of the city's grandest old trees. Get a dose of nature with this virtual stroll through the park: The azalea basin in Grant Park. (All photos copyright ©2013 Raymond McCrea Jones) A tree bursts into bloom. The roots of a gnarled tree in the azalea basin. A closer look shows the tree has a name carved into the bark. Constitution Spring is a now-defunct freshwater spring. This tucked-away corner also boasts a dense collection of native plants. A side view of the Cyclorama building, which houses the world's largest oil painting, a depiction of the Battle of Atlanta. The front entrance to Cyclorama, which was designed by John Francis Downing. The building was constructed to protect the huge painting, which is 42 feet tall by 358 feet wide and weighs about 9,000 pounds. Redbuds bloom near the entrance of Zoo Atlanta. Park-goers walk under the generous tree canopy to reach the zoo. The native azaleas put on a stunning display in April and early May. When the trees are in bloom, the park comes alive. This old stone bridge near the zoo was installed in the park in the 1890s and once served as a carriage entrance to the park. A stream once ran beneath the bridge and entered Lake Abana. Visitors come from all over the city and beyond. Zoo Atlanta is a big draw to the park, which supporters have dubbed "the peoples' park." Five pandas call Zoo Atlanta home, and three of them were born there. An exotic bird sits on a branch in the bird enclosure at the zoo. Satu, a 9-year-old male orangutan, glances at his latest visitors at the zoo. A miniature train ride gets zoo visitors where they need to go. Zoo-goers feed the farm animals. Outside the zoo, a squirrel forages for food. Before the trees leaf out, downtown Atlanta can be seen from the top of Fort Walker, which was part of a line of fortifications created to protect the city during the Civil War. What remains are the tell-tale berm and a historical marker. A plaque commemorating Fort Walker is all that remains. Also mentioned is Lemuel P. Grant, an engineer who not only designed the fortifications but also donated the land to create the park. Victorian houses line Cherokee Avenue along the west side of the park. The base of the Erskine Memorial Fountain and a wrap-around bench is tucked into a pocket near the Cherokee Avenue entrance to the park. The newest draw for visitors is the Grant Park Farmers Market, which is open every Sunday from the end of April through mid-December. Chef Kevin Gillespie provides a cooking demonstration during opening day of the farmers market. A tree blooms in Grant Park. Related park files on MNN:

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Introduction / History Most of the Saharia (or Sor) of India live in the state of Madhya Pradesh. They may also be located in the hills of the Ganjam district of southern Orissa, as well as in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the Plains division of Assam. They speak a Munda language that belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family. The Saharia are a tribal people who have had little contact with the outside world. Between 1864 and 1866, the hills region was brought under control by the British expeditionary forces, who executed or transported the Saharia leaders. When the British began collecting taxes, the Saharia rebelled. Even today they have a reputation as being extremely fierce, although anthropologists have not found this to be true. The Saharia who live in the hills have recently become aware of Indian national party politics. The younger generation is now learning to read and write their own language; however, most of the Saharia remain illiterate. What Are Their Lives Like? The hills Saharia are divided into five sub-tribes: the Jati, Arsi, Muli, Kindal, and Kumbi. This classification is based primarily on occupation. The Jati are farmers; the Arsi are weavers; the Muli are iron workers; the Kindal are basket makers; and the Kumbi are potters. The sub-tribes are divided into approximately 17 territorial units rather than clans. They are free to marry within these divisions, and they generally live as extended family units. The Saharia farmers use the "slash and burn" method of cultivation along the hill slopes. This has brought them into tremendous conflict with the Forestry Department. Their main crops include gourds, millet, sorghum, and wild rice. During the early 1900's, many of the Saharia migrated to other areas and took temporary wage-paying jobs on tea plantations or as road builders. Many remained in their new locations and became farmers or field workers. The most specialized occupation is the shaman. Shamans are religious leaders who cure the sick by magic, communicate with the spirits, and control events. There are also hereditary positions, which include village heads, deputy heads, pyre lighters (those who burn corpses at funerals), and priests of the village deity. Public opinion and gossip are the main forms of social control. Saharia villages generally contain several quarters called longlongs. Each longlong is inhabited by one patrilineage (the line of descent as traced through the male's side of a family) called a birinda. Several houses belonging to close relative may be joined together on one terrace. Conversations can be held between houses over the dividing walls. The houses have thatched roofs and are built of stone plastered with red mud. During the autumn, the villages are largely deserted; the people move to widely scattered "baby houses" in order to guard their crops against wild animals. The Saharia eat most kinds of animals. Their diet is based on a watery porridge that is sometimes garnished with vegetables or meat. Palm wine is a popular beverage. They prepare all of their food by boiling it. The villagers obtain necessary items in the weekly markets, which are located where the plains meet the hills. They exchange forest produce and millet for clothes, iron ax heads, plow tips, salt, chilies, jewelry, and buffalo for sacrifices. What Are Their Beliefs? The Saharia practice their traditional ethnic religions. However, they are also aware of Hindu values and use them in defining their own identity. As a non-literate culture, they associate literacy with the power of the shaman's familiar spirits. All illnesses and deaths are believed to be caused by the spirits of the dead. What Are Their Needs? Since most of the Saharia are illiterate, there is a great need for the Gospel to be presented to them through radio broadcasts and the Jesus film. Increased intercession and missions efforts are necessary for reaching the Saharia for Christ. * Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to India and share Christ with the Saharia. * Ask God to use the small number of Saharia believers to share the love of Jesus with their friends and families. * Ask the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of the Saharia towards Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel. * Pray that God will open the hearts of India's governmental leaders to the Gospel. |Profile Source: Bethany World Prayer Center|

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The term "PTSD" (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) has entered the popular vernacular, such that it is a term that is bandied about fairly commonly, and often incorrectly.Many times what people mean when they say "PTSD" is actually what psychiatrists classify as an Acute Stress Disorder (308.3), or an Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety (309.24), according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR), the publication that mental health scientists use to operationally define psychiatric syndromes for the purposes of carrying out research. In psychiatry there are no diagnostic blood tests or definitive biopsy samples; instead, diagnoses are arrived at by considering the presentation, history, and serial mental status examinations and by ruling out other medical conditions for which more objective laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures are available.Because mental health diagnosis is therefore inherently more subjective, in order to ensure that researchers were talking about the same clinical phenomenon it became necessary to devise a convenient method of classifying the various psychiatric disorders according to certain diagnostic criteria.This article briefly outlines the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for PTSD, so you can understand what doctors mean when they use the term and to improve communication between you and your healthcare provider, if you feel that you may be suffering from this disorder. Before enumerating the established diagnostic criteria, it's worth emphasizing again that all DSM criteria were developed, by consensus, among panel members of the American Psychiatric Association for the purpose of improving communication among researchers and ensuring the cross-validity of their studies.The DSM is chiefly followed to make sure that one group of researchers studying "PTSD" is actually studying the same disorder as another group studying "PTSD," so that meaningful conclusions can be drawn and comparisons can be made. Clinicians--practitioners seeing patients in a treatment, as opposed to a research, setting--are generally encouraged to follow the same guidelines, but the difference is that in the clinic we are less concerned with statistics and more concerned with patient outcome.Accordingly, if the DSM indicates that "4 out of 5 of the following criteria must be met for a diagnosis" of this or that disorder to be made, an experienced clinician is more than justified in substituting his or her own experience and judgment in making a diagnosis and proceeding with treatment if, for example, in any given case, only 3 criteria are clearly met, etc.In a clinical setting, it is more important to consider the entire presentation, including a patient's prior medical history and family history, than it is to be a stickler about the number of criteria that must be satisfied; the latter only becomes important in the context of conducting meaningful and valid comparative research. That said, for any given psychiatric syndrome there are certain core criteria which, if absent, more or less preclude the diagnosis.With PTSD, the principal criterion is that the condition follows a traumatic event (hence "post-traumatic").Without the presence of an obvious precipitating trauma, a diagnosis of PTSD cannot be justified.Likewise, the essential features of PTSD include the fact that the 1) trauma is followed by 2) re-experiencing, 3) avoidance, and 4) agitation. Trauma.The person was exposed to ("experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with") a traumatic eventthat involved actual or threatened death orserious injury to the self or to others.Earlier versions of the DSM specified that the trauma had to have been of a universal character; i.e., an event or experience that anyone in similar circumstances would have found traumatic, and of a severity so as to be life-threatening.Updated criteria are less stringent, allowing for the mere fear of loss of life or limb in order for a person to have been sufficiently psychologically scarred so as to develop the symptoms of PTSD. This more subjective interpretation of "traumatic" includes witnessing threatening or deadly events happening to others, in the absence of any perceived danger to the self, as well as merely hearing about violence or death done to others ("confronted with," although in this writer's opinion, this last form of trauma seems a bit broad, and at least to me suggests the presence of another, pre-existing anxiety disorder, and/or a personality disorder, or some other form of impairment in coping skills in such a vulnerable individual).PTSD can also develop in children who have experienced sexual molestation, even if it was not violent or life-threatening. The second component to having experienced or witnessed a qualifying trauma is likewise largely subjective: "the person’s response involved intense fear,helplessness,or horror."Thus, even if the trauma was not life-threatening per se, so long as it was perceived as such and the person reacted with intense fear or horror, this criterion is considered met.The point is that the trauma is beyond ordinary.Classic examples are kidnappings, rape, and events of war.Working for a mean boss does not usually qualify, unless s/he literally torments you. Once trauma has been endured, the PTSD syndrome itself consists of three major problems: mentally re-experiencing the trauma over and over again, engaging in avoidant behaviors to minimize traumatic recollections of the event(s), and persistent symptoms of increased physiological arousal. Re-living the trauma.The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in one or more of the following ways: recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections; nightmares of the event(s); flashbacks; and "intense psychological distress" and/or "physiological reactivity" at exposure to internal orexternalcues that symbolize or resemble the traumaticevent.Physiological reactions might include an elevated heart rate, sweating, chest pain, difficulty breathing, other symptoms of a panic attack, light-headedness, fainting, etc. Flashbacks consist of sudden, discrete episodes during which a person acts or feels as if the traumaticevent were actually recurring.This can involve actual perceptual disturbances such as experiencing illusions and/or hallucinations, including those that occurupon falling into or awakening from sleep (hypnagogic or hypnapompic hallucinations, respectively) or while under the influence of an intoxicating substance.In other words, if a person only flashes back when drunk or half-asleep, it still counts. Persistent avoidance.According to the DSM-IV-TR, three or more of the following: efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma; efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma; the inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma (psychogenic amnesia); markedly diminished interest or participation in formerly significant activities; feelings of detachment or estrangement from others; restricted range of affect ("a numbing of general responsiveness"); and/or the sense of a foreshortened future (not expecting to live out a normal life span, failing to make distant future plans). Persistent symptoms of increased arousal.Two or more of the following: difficulty falling or staying asleep; irritability or angry outbursts; difficulty concentrating; hypervigilance (paranoia); and/or an exaggerated startle response.Hypervigilance is treading with trepidation, metaphorically speaking, constantly looking over one's shoulder, half-expecting to re-encounter the trauma.It is especially common in attack victims and is often closely associated with being easily startled. Duration requirement.The DSM also requires that, for any given psychiatric syndrome, symptoms endure for a minimum period of time in order to justify making a diagnosis.If symptoms last only a few hours or days and then disappear forever, we do not diagnose mental illness.For PTSD in particular, symptoms are expected to persist for more than one month before a person is considered affected. Finally, the DSM requires that any mental health disturbance cause "clinically significantdistress or impairment in social, occupational, or other importantareas of functioning," a criterion that attaches to all disorders by definition, although here the requirement seems a bit redundant: it is unlikely that such would not be the case if all other criteria of PTSD are met.

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Lesson plans and mobility scenarios Our lesson plans support students throughout the entire mobility process, which includes the preparatory phase, the period during mobility and the post-mobility programme experience. We call this a "learning scenario" approach. - define their own cultural identity: Who am I? - prepare for a mobility experience imagine what it will be like - learn how to communicate in a foreign language - plan how to improve their language learning - prepare materials they are going to use with their peers in the host institution - practise their L2 skills - observe and collect examples of intercultural encounters - keep a portfolio or a personal diary of what they have experienced - interact with peers in the host institution - look back at their mobility experience - present their mobility to parents and friends in the home institution - assess how they improved their language skills Setting clear goals for the mobility experience PluriMobil helps to set clear goals, based on widely recognized reference documents, in particular on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures (FREPA/CARAP). It encourages the use of key tools of the Council of Europe, including the European Language Portfolio (ELP), the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters (AIE) and the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL). What kinds of mobility projects does PluriMobil support? PluriMobil supports all kinds of learning mobility projects: - Real life or virtual mobility activities - Short (one – two weeks) and longer (a period of months) mobility activities - eTwinning projects - Exchange of letters of parcels - Exchanges between schools or companies - Work placements abroad - Teaching apprenticeship abroad The PluriMobil resources can be flexibly adapted to multiple mobility projects across all teaching levels.

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Virtual design and construction (VDC) is a process used to enhance collaboration, reduce time and costs, and foresee project constraints before they occur. The process uses a computer-aided design model, which is often referred to as a building information model (BIM). It is sometimes viewed as building the project twice – once in the computer and once in the field. VDC takes advantage of these intelligent, feature-rich BIMs created during the design process to pave the way for open channels of communication among all project partners. VDC has helped developers foresee project constraints before they arise, which reduces rework and saves time and money. Consider the core component of VDC: the creation of a 3D project model using intelligent modeling techniques. It is important to note that this model is not an artist’s rendering of how the project is imagined. Instead, the model is an engineered collaboration of designs from different sources that is scalable, measurable and precise. Additionally, schedule and cost are added to the model to create a virtual execution of the construction project that is readily available throughout the process. The complete package can ultimately be turned over at construction completion for use in facilities management. VDC for wind farms VDC is a standard practice in the building-construction industry, but the core techniques of this intelligent model could also be beneficial to other types of construction projects, including wind farms. During the initial project development phase, VDC is used to communicate project ideas among the owner, construction company and design team. It is a way to visualize all of the project’s constraints and allow for easy changes before the project has begun. Additionally, the model can be used to educate landowners, financiers and public officials about the expectations of the project. Most wind projects have a civil construction element that can be quite sizable, especially in areas of complicated terrain. During the pre-construction phase, numerous alignment alternatives can be analyzed in order to verify the best location and the most cost-effective access roads for the project. By modeling the roads, slopes and pad areas, the earthwork component of the project can be properly accounted for in the budget and equipment needs. These models can be used to determine vehicle selections for earthwork, along with the mass haul associated with the area. In addition, the VDC model can be remotely exported to field equipment for machine-controlled grading via GPS, thus reducing time and unnecessary survey work. The GPS model also gives the equipment operator greater control over the accuracy achieved. Because most wind projects are located in rural areas, roads are not always available to accommodate the size of construction equipment and delivery vehicles that need to make their way to the project site. Being prepared to accommodate this need will significantly reduce project delays and allow for the widening of sharp curves when necessary, the changing of grades during design, or an additional helper vehicle for steep grades. Existing infrastructure is always a concern both above and below ground. Using GPS-controlled intelligent equipment and proper marking procedures, the model can warn the team about possible utility conflicts and address potential clashes before they occur. Clash-detection methods are always useful for coordinating each discipline’s designs. For example, in a wind turbine foundation where concrete rebar is modeled, electrical conduit clashes can be visually and electronically detected and resolved, eliminating field modifications and schedule delays. VDC can also have a significant impact on site-logistics planning. Due to the number of large pieces being delivered and the expanse that is required for storage, turbine-component deliveries can be quite complicated. By modeling the different components to include the location in which they are placed at delivery and the order in which they arrive on-site, wind energy developers can ensure the optimal plan is carried out and increase their confidence that deliveries will go smoothly. By designing each stage of the construction process in a workflow model, total disturbance areas are calculated. Typically, this area can be greatly reduced through accurate planning. What was once an estimation of the acreage that should be cleared for construction is now a precise, environmentally conscious, engineered model that eliminates unnecessary project construction limits. Landowners will embrace this mindful planning. Skeptics may argue that some renewable energy projects have such tight project timelines that they do not have time for VDC models. However, it is usually in the process of developing these fast-paced projects that many errors, including safety incidents, occur due to lack of pre-planning and the misguided assumption that each project is typical. Using the VDC model to properly plan each stage of the process can improve the safety, quality and productivity of the wind project. w Marketplace: Construction & Engineering Virtual Design: An Idea Whose Time Has Come By Sera Maloney Wind developers are beginning to see the significant benefits provided by virtual design and construction. NAW_body NAW_body_bi NAW_body_b_i NAW_body_bNAW_body_i

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In the world of electronics, most measurements involve standard analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuits. An understanding of how three types of popular converters work will help interpret specifications for equipment such as a data-acquisition system or PC-based measurement cards. Convert in a Flash As its name implies, a Flash ADC performs a conversion almost instantly. A chain of resistors establishes a reference voltage for each comparator, which also receives the unknown voltage signal. By simultaneously comparing this signal against the reference voltages, a Flash converter quickly produces a digital output. This type of converter requires 2-1 comparators for a resolution of n bits, so an 8-bit converter requires 255 comparators. Adding another bit of resolution more than doubles the number of comparators and increases the complexity of the encoding logic. Because the complexity of a Flash ADC increases rapidly for each added bit, manufacturers provide ADC resolutions of eight or fewer bits. Generally they offer high throughput, but a low number of effective bits. Approximate the Result A successive-approximation ADC applies an unknown voltage to a comparator and uses the output of an internal digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to home in on that signal. At the start of an 8-bit conversion, the ADC first compares the unknown voltage to the voltage produced by setting the DAC's most-significant bit (MSB) to a logic 1. If this voltage output does not exceed the unknown voltage, the circuit maintains the test voltage and tries the voltage associated with the next least-significant bit. If voltage added by this bit exceeds the unknown voltage, the converter resets this bit to logic zero (no added voltage), and moves on to the next least-significant bit, until it tries the voltage associated with each bit. The test voltages decrease by half in successive bit tests. Because this type of converter applies one test per bit, a 10-bit converter requires only two additional tests, yet it offers a four-fold increase in resolution over an 8-bit ADC. Resolutions for successive-approximation ADCs range from 8 to 16 or more bits. In most cases, circuits that employ a successive-approximation ADC require a sample-and-hold amplifier. Add the Difference A first-order sigma delta converter (or delta-sigma converter) relies on a modulator that produces a stream of serial information about an unknown signal. The modulator's negative feedback circuit causes the average value of the DAC's output to equal the unknown signal. As the unknown input signal becomes more positive, the number of 1's in the serial output increases, and the number of 0's decreases. Likewise, as the input signal moves toward a more negative voltage, the number of 1's decreases, and the number of 0's increases. Thus the ratio of the 1's to the total number of samples in the same interval the 1's density is proportional to the value of the unknown input signal. Because a sigma-delta converter oversamples a signal, the analog front end does not require a complex anti-aliasing filter. This type of converter circuit finds application in audio circuits and other devices that require conversion with 10- to 24-bit resolution and a high effective number of bits. Sample rates can exceed 10 MSamples/sec. |For more about ADCs and a list of helpful analog-converter references, visit my thread within the E2E Electronics/Test Forum: http://rbi.ims.ca/4913-537

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