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BOXING THE INTERNATIONAL SPORT - is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves, throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. - often called “the manly art of self-defense,” is a sport in which two competitors try to hit each other with their glove-encased fists while trying to avoid each other’s blows. The competition is divided into a specified number of rounds, usually 3 minutes long, with 1-minute rest periods between rounds. Although amateur boxing is widespread, professional boxing has flourished on an even grander scale since the early 18th century. Rules of Boxing :- - You cannot hit below the belt, hold, trip, kick, headbutt, wrestle, bite, spit on, or push your opponent. - You cannot hit with your head, shoulder, forearm, or elbow. - You cannot hit with an open glove, the inside of the glove, the wrist, the backhand, or the side of the hand. - You cannot punch your opponent’s back, or the back of his head or neck (rabbit punch), or on the kidneys (kidney punch). - You cannot throw a punch while holding on to the ropes to gain leverage. - You can’t hold your opponent and hit him at the same time, or duck so low that your head is below your opponent’s belt line. - When the referee breaks you from a clinch, you have to take a full step back; you cannot immediately hit your opponent–that’s called “hitting on the break” and is illegal. - You cannot spit out your mouthpiece on purpose to get a rest. - If you score a knockdown of your opponent, you must go to the farthest neutral corner while the referee makes the count. - If you “floor” your opponent, you cannot hit him when he’s on the canvas. - A floored boxer has up to ten seconds to get back up on his feet before losing the bout by knockout. - A boxer who is knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any round, depending upon the local jurisdiction’s rules. - A boxer who is hit with an accidental low blow has up to five minutes to recover. If s/he cannot continue after five minutes, s/he is considered knocked out. - If the foul results in an injury that causes the fight to end immediately, the boxer who committed the foul is disqualified. - If the foul causes an injury but the bout continues, the referee orders the judges to deduct two points from the boxer who caused the injury. - If an unintentional foul causes the bout to be stopped immediately, the bout is ruled a “no contest” if four rounds have not been fully completed. (If the bout was scheduled for four rounds, then three rounds must have been completed.) If four rounds have been completed, the judges’ scorecards are tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points is awarded a technical decision. If the scores are even, it will be called a “technical draw.” - If a boxer is knocked out of the ring, he gets a count of 20 to get back in and on his feet. He cannot be assisted. - In some jurisdictions the standing eight-count or the three knockdown rule also may be in effect. - In other jurisdictions, only the referee can stop the bout. Top 10 Greatest Boxers In World :- - Joe Louis - Mohammad Ali - Sugar Ray Robinson - Jack Johnson - Jack Dempsey - Mike Tyson - Julio Cesar Chavez - Rocky Marciano - Henry Armstrong - Willie Pep The talented Indian boxers :- - Mary Kom age 34. - Vijender Singh age 32. - Akhil Kumar age 36. - Jitender Kumar age 29. - Mohammed Ali Qamar.

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Migrated from Cuba circa 1933 One of America’s most beloved television couples almost wasn’t. When executives approached starlet Lucille Ball about adapting her popular radio show for TV, she insisted her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, be her co-lead. CBS was opposed to a Latino man playing the husband of an all-American redhead, but the couple wouldn’t budge. When executives relented, the television classic I Love Lucy was born. By some accounts, Ball and Arnaz were TV’s first interracial couple; undoubtedly they were the first bicultural one. Arnaz’s character, Ricky Ricardo, was designed to upend stereotypes: He was a successful businessman, and the rational one of the pair. Arnaz’s heritage was a focus of the show, but not as fodder for cheap jokes; only Lucy was allowed to mimic his accent. Arnaz was also an innovative producer. He and his crew developed the multicamera setup that allowed for recording on adjacent sets in front of a live audience, a system that would become widely used in television production. Arnaz negotiated to retain the rights to the show’s content so that he and Ball could advocate for, control, and profit from syndication. Because of this, Arnaz is considered the inventor of the rerun, and he and Ball became the first-ever TV-actor millionaires. The rest is history—xenophobic concerns about Americans’ ability to connect with a Cuban lead were all for naught. On January 19, 1953, the episode “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” drew more viewers than the inauguration of President Eisenhower the next day. Over half a century later, the show’s reruns continue to delight television audiences. Arnaz, who had arrived in the States as a teenage refugee, today has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kathleen “Kay” McNulty Migrated from Ireland in 1924 Before she programmed computers, she was a computer. One of about a hundred women employed by the army as human “computers” during World War II, Kay McNulty calculated missile trajectories. The work was painstaking; each weapon had its own firing table, each table had about 1,800 trajectories, and every trajectory took about thirty to forty hours of hand calculations. The slow pace of progress on a single table meant turnover was high, but McNulty had always had a knack for numbers and didn’t find the job tedious. She’d arrived in the States as a young girl when her father, imprisoned for his affiliation with the Irish Republican Army, moved the family to Philadelphia upon his release. At the time McNulty knew only Gaelic but went on to excel in school and become one of three women in Chestnut Hill College’s class of 1942 to graduate with a degree in mathematics. In an effort to speed up computation processes, engineers developed the ENIAC, one of the earliest computers. The media dubbed the eight-by-eighty-foot behemoth the “Giant Brain,” but few understood its power. McNulty was one of six people chosen to program the ENIAC. With no set programming language, the women invented and wrote programs out on cards, then physically input them into the ENIAC’s panels by hand via cables and switches. At the time, none of them knew they were performing calculations toward the development of the hydrogen bomb. As with many women’s roles during World War II, the contributions of McNulty and her colleagues were forgotten to such an extent that recent historians who came across a photo of women beside the ENIAC believed they had been placed there as models. The lack of acknowledgment, though, didn’t bother McNulty, whose interests in recognition lay closer to home. “If I am remembered at all, I would like to be remembered as my family storyteller,” she said. Today, most Americans can’t imagine their daily lives without computers, cellphones, or the Internet. Many of the apps and websites we use every day were created by immigrants. Andrew Grove (Hungary) A co-founder of Intel, he served as the company’s CEO, COO, and president, and was Time magazine’s 1997 Man of the Year for his contributions to “the growth in the power and the innovative potential of microchips.” Jerry Yang (Taiwan) Knowing only the word shoe in English when he arrived in San Jose, California, he went on to co-found Yahoo and organize the venture capital firm AME Cloud Ventures. Sergey Brin (Russia) The co-founder of Google and current president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., he’s one of the world’s top twenty richest people. Max Levchin (Ukraine) A co-founder of PayPal, he was particularly focused on fraud protection systems, including an early iteration of today’s CAPTCHA technology. Steve Chen (Taiwan) A former employee of PayPal and Facebook, he co-founded YouTube, now part of Google. Jan Koum (Ukraine) He co-founded WhatsApp, a Wi-Fi-based messaging platform popular for international communications, now owned by Facebook. Luis von Ahn (Guatemala) An early pioneer of CAPTCHA security challenge questions, crowdsourcing, and human computation methods, he co-founded the popular language-learning app Duolingo. Rus Yusupov (Tajikistan) Inventor of the short-form video-looping social media tool Vine, he co-founded Intermedia Labs and is the COO of HQ Trivia, a live game-show app. Christina Qi (China) In 2014 while an international student at MIT, she founded with friends in her dorm Domeyard LP, a hedge fund company that creates custom software for high-frequency trading. Today, Domeyard does $1 billion in trades each day. Migrated from the Bahamas in 1942 At first, Sidney Poitier was an accidental American. His parents, tomato farmers on Cat Island, Bahamas, traveled often to Miami by sailboat to sell their produce, and it was on one such trip that he was born, more than two months premature. It was 1927, and he was not expected to survive, but the family returned to the Bahamas a few months later with a healthy baby boy. He had no formal education. When he was ten, his family moved to Nassau, where he saw his first car, glass windows, running water, and electricity. It was also the first time he saw a motion picture. At fifteen he returned to Miami to live with his brother, but fled to New York City after a run-in with the KKK. He auditioned for the American Negro Theatre and was rejected for his thick accent and poor reading skills. Working as a dishwasher, he asked a waiter at the restaurant to help him practice reading the newspaper. He spent hours mimicking radio newscasters to reduce his accent. He returned to the American Negro Theatre and was again rejected, but did janitorial work in order to take classes, eventually squeezing himself into an understudy position. When one night a play’s star, Harry Belafonte, didn’t show, Poitier took the stage. A director who happened to be in the audience invited him to audition for an upcoming Broadway show. Poitier was nineteen. Eighteen years later, he would become the first black person and the first Bahamian to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role in Lilies of the Field. Poitier recently told the American Academy of Achievement’s What It Takes podcast that one of his life’s big regrets was not being able to find the waiter who’d taught him how to read. Mona May Karff Migrated from Moldova via Palestine in 1930 If life imitates chess, seven-time U.S. women’s chess champion Mona May Karff was a well-protected queen. Shrouded in mystery, so little was known about her origins that the United States Chess Federation listed her birthplace only as “Europe.” Karff was born in Bessarabia, a Russian territory most of which is known as Moldova today. Her father taught her to play chess before she’d reached double digits, and soon she was beating him and other challengers with ease. Of Jewish ancestry, she and her family moved to Tel Aviv, where she dominated the local tournament-chess scene. She set out for the United States at age twenty-one and briefly married her cousin. Karff was so quiet about her past that even her best friend didn’t know she had been married until nearly half a century later, though a subsequent long-term relationship with U.S. Open chess champion Edward Lasker was common knowledge. In 1950, she was one of the first American women to be named International Woman Master, but even the limelight couldn’t reveal much about her life beyond the board. She sometimes called herself by the initial N, but refused to explain where the N had come from. Friends knew only that she traveled widely for tournaments and pleasure, spoke eight languages, and liked art and opera. After her death it was discovered that, while not a queen, she was sitting on a small fortune: A talented stock market investor, she’d amassed millions and a large art collection from the comfort of her Manhattan apartment without anyone noticing. Copyright © 2019 by Sara Novic. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Probably the most important thing to remember is that there’s exercise, and there’s training, and only some of the time is exercising considered to also be training. Anytime your body is doing a physical task, that can be exercise. That could be walking, or carrying in groceries, or Crossfit; the activity does not matter. Training, on the other hand, is about performing specific activities to achieve specific results. There is nothing wrong with exercise, and there’s nothing wrong with training. Where people get confused is mistaking one for the other. Never confuse movement with action Health and fitness work the same way; Health is a the absence of illness and the presence of well-being, while fitness is the ability to do a specific task. More simply put: You Exercise to Stay Healthy You Train to Become Fit Exercise is largely for today; training is largely for some later time, like a competition. Exercise is broad, general, and with in reason, the more variety you’re able to include, the better. Training must limit the means you use to just the most appropriate means to achieve the goal. There’s a balance to be had between the two; and certainly, if you’re just sitting on your ass now, any exercise is a good thing. It will promote better health, which is a good and worthy thing to have. However, it isn’t the same thing as training. Training is the process by which we actually get better at a task. Coming up in the next post: We’ll cover strength training’s importance for the average person.

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Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been appearing in traffic signals and vehicle headlights for years and are poised to affect another source of light we use to navigate our cities and towns. Municipal street lighting retrofitted with LEDs has enhanced several communities’ nighttime environments, while significantly reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs. Administrators are well-versed in the financial strains of street lighting. It can account for up to one-quarter of a municipality’s electric bill, while maintenance can cost another 15 to 25 percent of their annual operating expense. However, what most municipalities lack, according to Mike Johnson, president, Alloway Electric Co., Boise, Idaho, is basic knowledge of lighting systems and technology. “They know the buzz words. They want ‘LED’ lighting, but they don’t really understand the nuances of laying out a specification, which will give them energy savings, best financial value, durability, maintenance and avoidance,” Johnson said. His contracting firm recently consulted with and installed 1,500 LEDs in Boise. The retrofit project will consume 60 to 70 percent less energy than the previous high-pressure sodium lighting technology and save the city $500,000 over the 15-year life of the lights. “Municipalities are usually very thankful to have someone guide them through the technical aspects of choosing a fixture that will be the best for their particular need,” Johnson said. Ripe retrofit market The street lighting retrofit market is ripe with opportunity. According to the 2011 Department of Energy report, “Energy Savings Estimates of Light Emitting Diodes in Niche Lighting Applications,” prepared by Navigant Consulting, there are more than 53 million roadway lights (street and highway) across the United States and 15 million parking lot lights. Of these, it is estimated that only 100,000 have been converted to LEDs. The largest installations to date have occurred in Los Angeles with 62,000 and 20,000 in Seattle. Edward Smalley, Seattle city light streetlight engineering manager and director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Municipal Solid State Lighting Consortium, is confident about the LED value proposition. “For the first time since Edison’s light bulb, a singular light source appears to show maximum potential to fill all three main needs for lighting: illumination performance, controllability and operational efficiency—providing light we want, when we want, at a cost we can afford,” Smalley said. Seattle’s LEDs are expected to last at least 12 to 15 years versus the typical four-year replacement cycle for its current high-pressure sodium streetlights. Of the city’s total 84,000 streetlights, 40,000 lights are in residential areas. Once those are retrofitted by 2014, the projected savings is $2.4 million per year to Seattle’s general fund. However, large-scale acceptance among municipalities has been hampered, said Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the City of Ann Arbor, Mich. In a recent budget, Ann Arbor established a moratorium on new street lighting. City staff members tasked with finding ways to reduce public lighting costs successfully piloted an LED replacement for their downtown pedestrian decorative globe lights with those made by Relume Technologies Inc., Oxford, Mich. The retrofit solved optical and thermal issues, had an estimated payback of 3.3 years, and reduced carbon emissions by 267 tons. Following this project, the city received a $630,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority for a second-phase retrofit of 1,400 downtown cobra-head lights. “Capital funding for lighting upgrades is not always available. Also, the industry is still maturing, and many vendors out there likely won’t be around in five or 10 years. So buyers have to be discriminating for awhile,” Brix said. “Among the larger obstacles for LEDs are the first costs and education,” Seattle’s Smalley said. “For education, identifying the appropriate luminaire for a specific application is crucial.” In surveys, Seattle officials noticed a negative public reaction to LED color testing at 5,000K to 6,000K. Adjusting the temperature to 4,000K changed public sentiment. “We’re receiving complaints on less than 2 percent of the more than 20,000 lights installed,” Smalley said. In addition to providing a high-quality light output for long periods, LEDs are strong performers in outdoor lighting applications: they are highly efficacious and resilient to vibration, they function well in cold temperatures, and they mitigate light trespass. Despite these characteristics, the major obstacle to greater market penetration continues to be the initial cost. Prices can be twice as high compared to conventional high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting sources, depending on the lamp or the fixture. Price is only part of the value proposition, said Mike McClear, Relume Technologies’ vice president of business development. He pointed out that the economics of LEDs are beginning to drive the sales process. “The price of LEDs is going down. The simple payback is in five- to seven-year terms for municipalities. If you add the incentives and the cash flow from the energy and maintenance savings, you’ve got a pretty good economic program,” McClear said. Cutting-edge business model While inroads are being made in major metropolitan areas, thousands of midsize and small communities struggle. “I think LEDs are a really disruptive technology compared to the existing traditional lighting. The failure modes are different. Performance measurement is different both thermally and optically. Smaller cities who don’t have a big staff rely heavily on electrical contractors [ECs] for their decision about what products to pick, how to get it done and how to weave through the maze,” McClear said. As appropriations for public lighting fight shrinking city budgets, ECs must stay abreast of sources to help with advanced planning and government programs with grant-making authority. Efficiency Vermont’s new municipal street lighting program is assisting its municipalities to upgrade their older systems to LEDs. The first known statewide program, it evaluates existing street lighting and provides financial and technical assistance to municipalities. Approximately 30 of Vermont’s 248 municipalities have signed up. According to Paul Markowitz, Efficiency Vermont’s community energy program manager, the first step involves evaluating lighting needs compared to lighting levels to determine whether any fixtures can be removed. After a comprehensive assessment, the Town of Hartford, Vt., determined that one-third of its fixtures could be eliminated, saving tens of thousands of dollars. To alleviate up-front challenges, the program provides grants to qualifying communities to offset acquisition costs. These incentives are tied to the undepreciated costs associated with removing old fixtures before the end of their useful life. In Vermont, most utilities have adopted new LED tariffs that are actually lower than the existing tariffs for comparable fixtures. Furthermore, most municipalities lease their street fixtures from their utility companies and are covering the full capital costs of replacement. If municipalities continue to lease, they can enhance the street lighting for no up-front cost. “We’re making this a sweet deal for municipalities. Lighting quality improves, and tariffs go down,” Markowitz said. As ECs prepare to consult municipal customers through the conversion process, Ann Arbor’s Brix has some sage advice. “Start with a pilot project. Cities are rightfully conservative, and seeing how one block of new streetlights goes makes it a lot easier to think about taking a bigger plunge. You’ve got to respect the city’s processes; they’re there for a reason, even if nobody seems to remember the reason,” Brix said. Bob Hahn, general manager of Lumecon LLC, a Relume Technologies distributor, said that there’s no town too small to think about LED conversions. “When you start looking at the $1,600 a month to keep eight old lights running and you switch them over to LEDs and drop down to $800 a month, that just freed up $800 in cash to fix sidewalks,” Hahn said. ECs are in the driver’s seat to provide an LED conversion roadmap, Hahn said. “If their business model is maintaining light bulbs, they really need to look at being an installer for new LED fixtures. If they can make that transition, there’s work out there for the next 50 years,” Hahn said. MCCLUNG, owner of Woodland Communications, is a construction writer from Iowa. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.

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GOAL: To halt human-elephant conflict and poaching; to ensure that forest elephants can safely move within the greater forested landscape; to protect endangered primates, such as the chimpanzee and drill, in the sanctuary and surrounding forests; to garner support for conservation from local communities. ACTIONS: Conservation activities include research and monitoring; establishing chilli pepper fencing and supporting primary schools The Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary is a 667km2 protected area situated close to Korup National Park on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. It is part of the Lower Guinea forest region and support high biodiversity and species endemism. Primate diversity is particularly high and the region supports the endemic drill and the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, the rarest and most range-restricted subspecies of chimpanzee on the continent. Primates in the region are highly threatened by hunting. With a population decline of over 80% between 2002 and 2011, the forest elephants of West and Central Africa are also highly threatened. The situation in West Africa is particularly critical given high human population densities and high rates of forest fragmentation. Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, Korup National Park and other neighbouring forest blocks once supported a significant population of forest elephant but after several decades of intense ivory poaching, their numbers have declined. Born Free has been working at the sanctuary since 2016, conducting rapid reconnaissance surveys to garner something about the status of these important wildlife populations. Investigations of the abundance, distribution and threats facing the chimpanzee and the forest elephant continue. Data on the seasonal ranging patterns of forest elephant are being collected so that management decisions can be taken that will enhance their survival in the longer-term. Since 2017 and in collaboration with the Korup Rainforest Conservation Society (KRCS), the project has established an Elephant Guardian Programme in villages around the sanctuary. The aim of this project is to create an environment where elephants are tolerated and humans and elephants can co-exist together, so that elephant can move unimpeded through the landscape. Although poaching pressure has markedly decreased in recent years, elephants are still vulnerable when they leave the sanctuary and are encountered in the vicinity of villages. Local communities are encouraged to inform project staff rather than elephant poachers when they encounter elephants, so that project staff can monitor the movements of the elephants. In return the project is assisting village primary schools so that whole communities can benefit and wherever elephant crop foraging is a problem, build chili-fencing as a conflict mitigation strategy for local farmers.

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August 9, 1814 August 12, 1937 August 12, 1959 August 15, 1841 This Week in Alabama History August 9 - August 15 The Treaty of Fort Jackson is finalized after warring Creeks, under the leadership of William Weatherford, aka Red Eagle, surrender to Gen. Andrew Jackson and cede their lands to the federal government. This event opened up half of the present state of Alabama to white settlement. Listen: Click the play button below to hear Archives Staff discuss this event on Alabama Public Radio. Other Events this Week President Franklin Roosevelt appoints Alabama senator Hugo Black to the U.S. Supreme Court. Black's nomination was soon confirmed by his Senate colleagues, but before he took his seat on the court that October he was compelled to address the nation by radio in order to respond to controversy about his membership in the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1920s. Black served on the court until 1971, retiring just a few days before his death. An earthquake centered in Huntsville, and felt over a 25-mile radius, causes minor damage. Many Huntsville residents at first believed the shock was the result of an explosion or missile test at nearby Redstone Arsenal. Julia Tutwiler is born in Tuscaloosa. Tutwiler, president of what later became the University of West Alabama, worked to secure the admittance of women to the University of Alabama, to reform Alabama's prisons, and to expand educational opportunities for women.

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Definitions for Arrestəˈrɛst This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word Arrest apprehension, arrest, catch, collar, pinch, taking into custody(noun) the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal) "the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar" arrest, check, halt, hitch, stay, stop, stoppage(verb) the state of inactivity following an interruption "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat" collar, nail, apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab, cop(verb) take into custody "the police nabbed the suspected criminals" check, turn back, arrest, stop, contain, hold back(verb) hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of "Arrest the downward trend"; "Check the growth of communism in South East Asia"; "Contain the rebel movement"; "Turn back the tide of communism" catch, arrest, get(verb) attract and fix "His look caught her"; "She caught his eye"; "Catch the attention of the waiter" halt, hold, arrest(verb) cause to stop "Halt the engines"; "Arrest the progress"; "halt the presses" A check, stop, an act or instance of arresting something. The condition of being stopped, standstill. The act of arresting a criminal, suspect etc. A confinement, detention, as after an arrest. A device to physically arrest motion. To stop the motion of (a person or animal). To stay, remain. To stop (a process, course etc.). To seize (someone) with the authority of the law; to take into legal custody. To catch the attention of. Origin: From arester, from *, from ad- + restare, from re- + stare, from steh₂-. to stop; to check or hinder the motion or action of; as, to arrest the current of a river; to arrest the senses to take, seize, or apprehend by authority of law; as, to arrest one for debt, or for a crime to seize on and fix; to hold; to catch; as, to arrest the eyes or attention to rest or fasten; to fix; to concentrate to tarry; to rest the act of stopping, or restraining from further motion, etc.; stoppage; hindrance; restraint; as, an arrest of development the taking or apprehending of a person by authority of law; legal restraint; custody. Also, a decree, mandate, or warrant any seizure by power, physical or moral a scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse; -- also named rat-tails Origin: [OE. arest, arrest, OF. arest, F. arrt, fr. arester. See Arrest, v. t., Arrt.] An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation or prevention of crime and presenting to a procedure as part of the criminal justice system. The term is Anglo-Norman in origin and is related to the French word arrêt, meaning "stop". Arrest, when used in its ordinary and natural sense, means the apprehension of a person or the deprivation of a person's liberty. The question whether the person is under arrest or not depends not on the legality of the arrest, but on whether the person has been deprived of personal liberty of movement. When used in the legal sense in the procedure connected with criminal offences, an arrest consists in the taking into custody of another person under authority empowered by law, to be held or detained to answer a criminal charge or to prevent the commission of a criminal or further offence. The essential elements to constitute an arrest in the above sense are that there must be an intent to arrest under the authority, accompanied by a seizure or detention of the person in the manner known to law, which is so understood by the person arrested Police and various other bodies have powers of arrest. In some places, the power is more general; for example in England and Wales—with the notable exception of the Monarch, the head of state—any person can arrest "anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing, have committed or be guilty of committing an indictable offence", although certain conditions must be met before taking such action. British National Corpus Rank popularity for the word 'Arrest' in Nouns Frequency: #1721 Rank popularity for the word 'Arrest' in Verbs Frequency: #458 Translations for Arrest From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary - تَوقيف, اعتقلArabic - приковавам, задържане, арест, хващам, арестуване, аретир, спиране, арестувам, успокоител, спирам, задържамBulgarian - arrestCatalan, Valencian - zatknout, zadržet, zatčeníCzech - arrestere, bremse, anholde, standse, pågribe, stoppeDanish - Verhaftung, Festnahme, verhaften, festnehmen, arretieren, ArrestGerman - συλλαμβάνω, σύλληψηGreek - parar, paro, arresto, detener, detenidoSpanish - دستگیر کردن, توقیف, دستگیریPersian - vangita, pysähtyminen, pidättäminen, pysähdys, pidätys, pysäyttää, pidättää, pysäyttäminen, esteFinnish - arrestation, arrêterFrench - coisc, gabhIrish - letartóztat, elfog, megállítHungarian - ձերբակալել, կալանք, ձերբակալությունArmenian - 検挙, 逮捕する, 捕えるJapanese - დაყოვნება, დაპატიმრება, დატუსაღება, შეჩერებაGeorgian - arrest, grijpen, vatten, aanhouden, stoppen, arresteren, in hechtenis nemen, oppakken, stilstand, arrestatie, stuiten, aanhoudingDutch - areszt, aresztować, powstrzymać, przykuć, aresztowaniePolish - deter, prisão, parar, prenderPortuguese - arestare, opri, arest, aresta, deține, deținereRomanian - арестовать, арест, арестовыватьRussian - stoppa, bromsa, fånga, gripaSwedish - จับตัว, ยั้ง, จับได้Thai - tevkif etmek, tutuklamaTurkish Get even more translations for Arrest » Find a translation for the Arrest definition in other languages: Select another language:

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Traditionally, Christmas trees were decorated on Christmas Eve and stayed up until the day after Twelfth Night, January 6th. Ironically, decorating an evergreen tree for Christmas supposedly started as the Protestant counterpart—as a symbol of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden—to Catholic Nativity scenes which are now often displayed under a tree. Early decorations were foods such as sugared plums, gilded apples, white candy canes and strings of popcorn and cranberries. Woolworth’s was one of the first retailers to sell glass ornaments imported from Europe, and later made in the US, as the tradition made it’s way across many lands and down the social ladder from royalty. Today, ornaments are made of glass, paper, wood, porcelain…most of us reminisce as we put up favorites from Christmases past and add new ones each year. Hosting a tree decorating party can be a quiet evening visiting—creating new memories while the work gets done—and before guests are off to a second or third party of the night.

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Like all human emotions, stress creates physiological changes in your body and can affect your health. While you are under stress, your heart rate can go up, your blood pressure may rise, and blood is shunted away from your midsection, going to your arms, legs, and head for quick thinking, fighting or fleeing. This is meant to be a temporary response to help with survival, but when stress becomes chronic, as is the case for millions of Americans, it can wreak havoc on your body, especially your digestive system. The stress response contributes to a number of detrimental changes with in your gut and can cause inflammatory bowel syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, ulcers, acid reflux, and other gastrointestinal diseases. The potential damage stress causes your body makes reducing stress even more important. Common stress-reduction tools include exercise, yoga, meditation, laughter, deep breathing, and positive visualization. You can also offset intestinal problems by improving your gut health. Avoid eating excess sugar and fructose, which distorts the ratio of good to bad bacteria in your gut, and increase the amount of fermented foods, which are rich sources of probiotics. What strategies do you find most helpful in trying to reduce stress in your own life?

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On Tuesday, the Federal Court of Switzerland ruled that the remains of Burandi’s deposed King Mwambutsa IV remain in Switzerland; The King died in Switzerland 40 years ago. The King expressed that he didn’t wish to be returned to his homeland for burial. King Mwambutsa IV fled Burundi in 1966 after leading the country to its independence from Belgium in July 1962. However, rivalries between the ethnic Tutsis and Hutus forced him to flee four years later. These conflicts still exist in Burundi today. King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng became king of Burundi on 16 December 1915. He was invested with full ruling powers 14 years later in 1929. He saw his country go from being led by Germany to Belgium after World War I and saw it gain its independence. Though the King gave his instructions for his burial, his daughter and the Burundian government campaigned for his remains to be returned, supposedly for a ceremony to promote national reconciliation. This was set to happen when a relative of the King gave permission for his remains to be exumed and repatriated in 2012. The King’s niece, princess Esther Kamatari, opposed this, saying her uncle’s last wishes should be honoured. And the highest court in Switzerland agreed. The judges upheld a ruling given by a lower court in Geneva last year. Meanwhile, for the past five years, the King’s remains have been stored for safekeeping at a Geneva funeral home in a cold storage unit. Today, Burundi is still in crisis and has been so for the last two years. It all started when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a third term. The United Nations estimate the termoil has left over 500 people dead. Princess Kamatari had to flee Burundi in 1970; she went to Paris and worked as a model for several top designers.

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Yangchuanosaurus is a dinosaur that was discovered in June of 1977 in China during the construction of the Shangyou Reservoir Dam. In 1978, it was named “Lizard from Yang-ch’uan, China” by Dong Zhiming. It’s believed that this dinosaur lived approximately around the late Jurassic period to the early Cretaceous period – approximately 163 to 145 million years ago. Some interesting facts about Yangchuanosaurus include the fact that not only was this dinosaur an apex predator but that it also may have hunted in packs. Carnivorous dinosaurs have long been thought to hunt alone but this dinosaur may have been the exception to the rule. If it did hunt in packs, like lions, then it would have been a most formidable foe and capable of taking down just about any dinosaur it chose as prey. As you can tell from the Yangchuanosaurus pictures, this dinosaur was large and fierce. It was approximately 33 feet long and weighed as much as 5200 pounds. It had a large and bony skull which was approximately 3.5 feet long and had dagger-like teeth. Its arms were short with 3 claws on each one and it ran on two very muscular legs that had 3 clawed toes. It also had a very long tail, which was about half its length, which it could have used as a weapon. Yangchuanosaurus was a carnosaur, which puts it into a group of dinosaurs known for their high intelligence (determined by comparing brain size to body size). This means they were probably very intelligent hunters which could use some form of basic planning to hunt and kill their prey. High intelligence, a powerful body and a high running speed probably made this dinosaur one of the top predators of its time. It was probably able to take down even the largest of sauropods. It definitely would’ve been a dinosaur that most other dinosaurs would have avoided.

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Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected. Lohardaga district (Hindi: लोहरदग्गा जिला) is one of the twenty-four districts of the Indian state of Jharkand. The district is named after the town of Lohardaga, the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was created from a portion of Ranchi district in 1983. The district is situated between 23°30' and 23°40' north latitudes and 84°40' and 84°50' east longitudes. The district covers an area of 1491 km². The inhabitants of this district mainly depend on agriculture, forest produce and seasonal migration to different parts of the country. 80% of the population depends upon agriculture. The main crop of this area is paddy. In the small irrigated area wheat is grown to meet the annual food sufficiency. Also this district is linked with larger vegetable markets like Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Calcutta. There is a cold storage in the district. But profitable vegetable cultivation is being limited to road side non-tribals. Generally, villagers of the district keep plough animals. Also they keep goats and poultry birds as buffer. Although there is a dairy chilling plant in the district head quarter, dairy is practised by very few people mainly non-tribal. The net sown area is only 55% of the total area of the district. Two blocks i.e. Kisko & Senha have large area under dense forest cover. The forest cover is around 32-35% of the total area of the district. The average land holding per household is 1.65 Ha. The per capita agriculture land is around 0.28 Ha. Net irrigated area is 13.4% of net sown area (0.8% by canals, 7% by wells, 2% by tanks & 3.6% by lift irrigation & others). Most of the villages except the hilly pockets of the district are connected with the roads. Still some of the hamlets have no linking roads. Electricity is supplied from Patratu Thermal Power Station which is in the Hazaribagh district. Out of 354 villages only 25 have rural electrification. Water supply system is not available in rural area. The villagers get their drinking water from tube wells and dug wells. In 2006 the Indian government named Lohardaga one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 21 districts in Jharkhand currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). It has five blocks: Lohardaga, Kuru, Bhandra, Kisko and Senha. This district has a pace setting institution Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Yojna in Senha block. There are 353 villages spread over in 66 Gram Panchayats. Total number of household are 50,374 out of which 91% were in the rural areas (1991 census). According to the 2011 census Lohardaga district has a population of 461,738, roughly equal to the nation of Suriname. This gives it a ranking of 549th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 310 inhabitants per square kilometre (800 /sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 26.67 %. Lohardaga has a sex ratio of 985 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 68.29 %. Education and health servicesEdit There are 318 primary schools, 68 middle schools, 20 High schools, 2 higher secondary schools and one college in the district. In this district, there is a district hospital, one referral hospital, five primary health sub-centres, ten additional primary health centres, seventy three health sub-centres. - ^ "District-specific Literates and Literacy Rates, 2001". Registrar General, India, Ministry of Home Affairs. http://www.educationforallinindia.com/page157.html. Retrieved 2010-10-10. - ^ a b c d e f g "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. - ^ "83 districts under the Security Related Expenditure Scheme". IntelliBriefs. 2009-12-11. http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2009/12/naxal-menace-83-districts-under.html. Retrieved 2011-09-17. - ^ a b Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme". National Institute of Rural Development. http://www.nird.org.in/brgf/doc/brgf_BackgroundNote.pdf. Retrieved September 27, 2011. - ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. "Suriname 491,989 July 2011 est." - ^ M. Paul Lewis, ed (2009). "Asuri: A language of India". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16th edition ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=asr. Retrieved 2011-09-28. |This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Lohardaga district. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.|

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Thursday, 26 August 2010 A quick note: The next chapter in the story of how our solar system formed will be up tonight, or at worst early as I can manage tomorrow, its been a long wait I know, but I hope you enjoy it. [Update: the next post is up, or the penultimate draft at least, but because I started it earlier than this one it will appear below this post] For the moment though, I'd like to direct your attention to the Dawn mission, which is gearing up for the first of its two encounters with suspected protoplanets left over from our solar systems construction. In July 2011 Dawn will reach Vesta, a world that just missed out on being a dwarf planet because an asteroid impact has turned its south pole into a gigantic crater, ruining its spherical shape. Its an object apparently covered in frozen basaltic lava, which suggests a story that could help us understand how these embryonic planets came about. Then in 2015 Dawn will reach Ceres, a dwarf planet, and largest denizen if the asteroid belt. Ceres is thought to be mainly composed of water ice, and could have hosted an ocean of liquid water beneath its crust for billions of years- its even just possible that, way down deep inside, remnants of that ocean survive to this day. Click here for a rundown on Dawns science objectives. In other news, our solar system got slightly older last week (you know what I mean, or you will if you follow the link), more details merge on how supernovas supplied the heavier elements that went into making our solar system, and a star system that looks a lot like our own has been identified. Catch you all tonight! List of links: Tuesday, 24 August 2010 The long road to worlds of rock and gas begins: Image above: Formalhut B, a relatively young planet, orbits amid the left over icy planitesimals at its star systems edge. Image courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) The Sun shines at last: Our Sun has formed, from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust. Surrounding it is a pancake shaped disk of gas and dust, known as the protoplanetary disk. Our relatively humble (by stellar standards- see the previous post) has reached the t-tauri phase, still shining by gravitational compression, callous and temperamental, belching out strong stellar winds, unpredictable monster flares, and still carving great gobbets of gas out of the protoplanetary disk with its intense magnetic field. This disk is the remnants of the solar nebula, now weighing in at less than 2% of the mass of the seething t-tauri star at ts center. Image above: a young (3 million years old) protoplanetary disc around AB Aurigae, a pre-main sequence star. Inset: a region where a giant planet or a brown dwarf may be forming. Image courtesy of The American Museum of Natural History. Birth by inferno: This disk is glowing bright pink to begin with: temperatures soar up to 3000 degrees kelvin, but it is about to cool rapidly: the newborn sun gives out a squeal: a stellar wind of incredible intensity, the x-wind. This furious gale of ions drives away much of the gas, chasing it to the depths of interstellar space. Without the extra gas and dust the disk becomes more translucent, and so no longer absorbs as much of its solar masters energy, or retains as much heat. The temperature of the disk drops rapidly, and materials that were previously kept in the gas phase by the intense heat begin to condense into tiny grains of slid matter. These grains are finer tan smoke, but they are the first direct solid matter ancestors of the planets which grace our skies today. Image above: A section of cometary dust, thought to be primordial matter from the protoplanetary disk. Image courtesy of NASA. An entrenched mystery: Here our story becomes less clear: we know that before the planets were fully formed our solar system went through three stages which would have made for bizarrely alien skies: The protoplanetary disk, full of tiny dust and gas. Image above: A piece of fluffy cosmic dust, collected by a high altitiude airplane.Image courtesy of NASA. Then an era of colliding bodies 1000 to 10,000 meters across, known as planetesimals. Image above: The asteroid Ida, and its tiny moon Dactyl. These bodies makes good approximations of large planitesimals in the protoplanetary disk. Finally, a solar system containing hundreds of worlds, ranging in size from roughly that of our moon to roughly that of Mars. Image above: Hubble space telescope images of two surviving protoplanets that never grew to maturity: Ceres (left) and Vesta (right). Ceres has grown sufficiently to qualify as a dwarf planet. Image courtesy of Hubblesite.org But how things went from dust to planetesimals is a stubborn problem: Dust particles colliding at the kinds of speeds predicted for objects of their size in the protoplanetary disk are difficult to clump together into larger objects. And once things get up to centimeter size the situation gets worse. The disk would be a machine gun hail of projectiles- but moving much faster tan a speeding bullet. Its hard to see how they could come together to make larger objects. The gas remaining in the disk may provide us with an escape: The gas is not evenly spread throughout the disk, it has turbulence, areas of greater and lesser density, and a process called sedimentation allows the dust in the disk to settle into a layer in the mid-plane of the disk. Where the gas is dense it slows the insane frenzy of collisions, and the particles will tend to linger in that area. As more particles pile up, like a traffic jam caused by a stretch of badly maintained road, the denser areas begin to exert a gravitational pull over other nearby particles. The gentlest forces tame the fiercest. Another possible route is that of gigantic vortexes; huge hurricanes of gas and dust may have formed in the turbulent structure of the disk, a result of the interactions of rosby waves of pressure. These vortexes would have behaved a bit like whirlpools in the flow, concentrating the minute dust particles at their centres. It is possible that these vortexes may have been complex and fascinating emergent structure in their own rights; like the great red spot on Jupiter, a vortex (anticyclonic)storm that has survived for hundreds of years (at least!) by consuming other storms like a titanic predator. Image above: The Great Red Spot, a storm hundreds of years old and bigger than Earth, consumes and absorbs a lesser storm, in a demonstrattion of how relatively simple phenomena like vortexes can show surprisingly complex behavoirs. Image courtesy of NASA. The foundations are laid: Whatever route our solar system took, after a few hundred thousand to tens of millions ( nothing' in cosmic time) of years the nature of the protoplanetary disk had changed. No longer a fairly smooth soup of as and dust, now the immense disk is crammed with irregular pieces of solid matter from 1 to 10 kilometers across. These planetesimals were not all alike. In the inner solar system, where the temperature was still warm- still in the region of thousands of degrees kelvin near the sun ward edge- materials with a low boiling point ( like water, methane, ammonia) never condensed into solid material, and either remained as gas or were driven into the cold depths of the outer solar system . Image above: Graph of the variation in temperature with distance from the sun, labelled with the condensation points of various solids. Image courtesy of shorstmyer.com. This had a profound influence on the destiny of the inner solar system. The only solid materials available to build planetesimals from were high temperature ones, like silicates, and metals such as iron, nickel, magnesium and aluminum. These are vanishingly rare in the protoplanetary disk. This put the inner solar system on a cruel starvation diet; While objects in the outer solar system could glut themselves son a ready supply of frozen gasses and water, the inner solar systems growth was hamstrung from the beginning. To make matters worse for the next phase, building protoplanets, the cramped confines of the inner system meant that competition for material was fierce, with little room for a growing object to spread its gravitational net for building material. Image above: The division of the solar system. The solid matter rich outer disk and the relatively impoverished inner disk are seperated by the 'frost line'. Image courtesy of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. In the outer solar system the lower temperatures, and lower orbital velocities, meant growth was easier; the protoplanets out here, in the realm of ices, may have reached as much a s fifteen times the mass of our earth. It is easy to see how the outer solar system became the domain of giants when such large infants fed off such abundant manna. Once the growing core of a giant planet reached a certain size on solid material ( around ten to fifteen Earth masses) its gravity was great enough that it could begin sucking down the tenuous but abundant gasses that had still not frozen out: Hydrogen and helium. These are the most abundant elements in the universe, so the solid cores were sealed away for eternity beneath all consuming oceans of these gasses. Image above: The ultimate fate of many protoplanets in the early outer solar system lies deep in the core of Jupiter, beneath oceans of ultra high pressure gas. Image courtesy of NASA. Now, in a break from my normal format, I'm going to present the next few sections in first person. I have used as light a touch of imagination as I can to fill in gaps where the data we have does not clearly tell us what the human expeiance of being inside such a disk would be like. Those who like their facts straight and unadulterated; please forgive me in this, but like the character below, I believe that the human experiance of space exploration is as vital a part of it as the science! Imagine a scientific project of unprecedented scale and power, a mission to a young star system with one objective: deliver a human to the inner most edge of a planetesimal disk, indistinguishable for all practical purposes from our young suns, with the means to conduct a pilgrimage from the innermost limit of the disk to the outermost, gathering incredible scientific data and images along the way. It is a mission that will take time, but let imagination have free reign, and put yourself in those lonely space boots; What I did on my Holidays: It has been a long journey getting here, but I was unaware of it. My 'suit' - more like a skin tight starship- kept me frozen for the decades long journey at two tenths of lightspeed. I began to 'thaw' as we approached this star system, just as the suit re-absorbed the immense loop of superconducting material that acted as a brake, bringing my speed down from the incomprehensible needed for interstellar travel to the merely insane speeds needed to cross interplanetary distances. I drop, on advanced AI autopilot, towards the central star: A young yellow dwarf still throwing off radiation and flares and guzzling gasses. The autopilot delivers me with machine precision and efficiency to the planetesimal with the lowest stable orbit above the star. By the time the slow process of reanimation has been completed, and I am aware of my surroundings fully, I am less than twenty kilometers from the target planetesimal. My boots touch the surface, kicking up a fine spray of powder that coats the suits white exterior with a layer of grey. As I stand upon the innermost chunk the sun is a sea of blinding, searing, white plasma lurking beyond the frighteningly close horizon, and above my suited head is a glittering wall of light reflected off the trillions of other bodies above me- sparser towards the suns poleward horizons, and becoming a churning ribbon directly overhead the equator. These planetesimals have little gravity, so a firm kick, and maybe a little help from the suits intra-system engine (I have a long way to go) on the ground ‘beneath’ me sends me drifting away from the sun. The rock I’ve just left is a mass of silicate materials: oxides and other compounds of silicon, iron, magnesium, aluminium, nickel, as well as other high temperature materials. It is a dark, irregular black cut out against the blinding glare of the star behind me. Anything with lower melting point has been driven further up the disk by the suns radiation and the disks own heat. The temperature is infernal; in the region of 1000 degrees Kelvin. My suit-enhanced senses find barely a trace of anything resembling the kind of organic chemistry life on earth is based on- this part of the young star system is truly hostile. the magnetic field is intense, and the t-tauri brat of a star behind my throws off a huge storm of ionised hydrogen and helium even as I ponder it. It can't hurt me in this suit unless I dive to within a few thousand kilometers of the stars surface, but it is an intimidating site. Far smaller storms have done for spacecraft back in near earth space. I turn back to journey ahead of me. Jumping from one rocky mound to the next the suns presence is quickly reduced from a wall of glare to a diffuse glow beneath me, as it is lost behind megatons of spinning boulders and waves of dust. As I climb higher out of the gravity well the glow of the star is lost completely to my unaided eyes- the only source of light is the occasional flash of light as two planetesimals collide nearby, accompanied by a hail of shrapnel. I navigate by infra- red, radar, and I have to step (hop!) quickly, even with my suits protection. I am frozen by the sight of something unexpected: a sudden, incredibly intense, flash of blue-white light that sets all the disk around me aglow: My sensors tell me that I have been hit by a huge wave of gamma rays. Somewhere beyond the disk something titanic has happened. My most likely candidates are the collision of two neutron stars, or a hypernova, giving off a gamma ray burst, somewhere within a few hundred light years. There's no time to ponder the terrible power of this event. Although the material of the disk has shielded me from the worst of the gamma rays, I know from the briefings on protoplanetary disks that he burst will trigger a lesser, but still dangerous and more protracted fury in the disk itself. The disk has been electrically charged by the ionising radiation, and within minutes I am caught in a lightning show as big as a solar system. The bolts are almost a tenth of an AU long, and billions of times more intense than a lightning bolt on earth. I'm not panicked- yet. The AI's handle on the conditions in the disk is good enough to predict where the worst parts of the lightning storms are, and I'm protected against anything but a direct hit. I need to move though: down and out of the main disk, away from the worst, and as fast as the intra-system drive will allow. Below me, spreading out in all directions, the channels of rock dust and gas are dancing to ten trillion flames of electrical power. I don't even see the sky below me, all I can think about is storm above, and the howling radio noise it is filling my headset with. This hyper-lightning is very different to its earthbound cousins: Because of the immense distances it spans it does not flash, rather it flows like water droplets sliding down a pane of glass, occasionally broken by flashes of red and ochre as an unlucky planetesimals is shattered into a cloud of molten droplets. I have no choice. Time is hard to measure out here, except by the slow rotation of the disk, but the worst of the storm is over fairly quickly. I plunge back into the disk, aiming for a point a little beyond where I left it, and resume my pilgrimage. The temperature is dropping, from close to a thousand kelvin to the lower hundreds. The chemical reactions on the planetesimals are getting more complex: although volatile elements like water still won't form solids they are increasingly able to cling to the surfaces of the planetesimals in ultra thin layers, and affect their composition. I jump towards the 'top' surface of the disk. Dimly through the glare of light reflecting off of stray gas and rocks out of the main plane I can make out that there is something wrong with the stars beyond, but before I can put my finger on what it is my suit alarm chimes: My maneuvers to avoid the hyper lightning have left the suit with little energy reserve, and I am wasting whats left with this diversion. I put the odd sky from my thoughts - after all a gamma ray blast like that could have produced all kinds of weird effects- and must resume my course through the long axis of the disk. As I climb higher out of the stars gravity well I'm forced to skirt the edge of a region where the rocky planetesimals are merging; the growing protoplanet is already many tens of kilometres across, and its gravity has grown to the point where it is pulling in, by accretion, smaller rocks by itself. It has not yet reached sufficient size to pull itself into a sphere, but its surface is warmed by the impacts and scarred with fresh craters. This huge pock mark faced baby will grow until it has cleared out the remaining planetesimals within its gravitational reach of its orbital track. This is a process that will take only tens of thousands of years- an eye blink in cosmic time. This growing rock is part of a new breed of object: the oligarchic phase. There are a lot more of these, and they are growing and competing with each other. The great disk is fast becoming a race to gobble up all the remaining matter- and the objects that are the biggest have the most gravity, so the most chance of attracting new matter and the least chance of having an impact blast matter back into the disk. The warm objects in the inner system are cruelly disadvantaged: their home contains less solid material, as high temperature materials are rare in the solar nebula, and the narrow confines mean the orbital tracks which each can claim are close packed and narrow. Navigating around the gravitational well of the planetary embryo has cost me more fuel reserves. A splinter of worry lodges in my chest, and but I haven't come all this way to give up. Mankind could have sent an unmanned probe- indeed most of the data gathered is being done so by the suits AI- but we thought it important to have a human along for the ride, to give a perspective beyond what cold data can provide Now, as the suns reflected radiance dims further, I'm seeing more changes in the planetesimals: By the weak light reflected down into the disk by material orbiting outside the main plane I can make out that the rocky silicates are being replaced by ices- not just water ice, but as I climb higher ammonia, methane, and other low temperature materials. The temperature has plummeted from the searing near star heat- and it will be getting colder, perhaps a slow as 100 degrees kelvin (- 173 degrees Celsius in old money). This is why the nature of the stepping stones I'm using has changed, and why they are no less densely packed even out here: I have crossed the frost line, the distance from the sun where water (and other volatile materials) can begin to condense out. There is much, much more low temperature than high temperature material in the disk, so out here there is enough solid material to keep the orbits crammed with planetesimals. The motion of the planetesimals here is less restlessly seething, as they move in a more stately fashion this far from the sun. This will soon be the realm of the giant planets: with more room and more solid material the planetary embryos I dodge around are already getting much bigger than those in the inner solar system. They will get bigger still- reaching up to 15 earth masses. Their gravity is formidable, and it is more important than ever on my reduced power reserves to avoid them. This means moving against a flow of gas and particles when I pass by one, as some are already acting as gravitational hoovers, drawing in raw materials at a staggering rate. Treasures beyond the end of the road: I'm still further out, the suit sending me stern warnings about its reserves, and now the darkness is nearly absolute, and a temperature of cryogenic cold, well below freezing. With less glare the occasional clear spot tantalises me with half glimpses of a starscape that looks oddly wrong still. I turn my suits sensors onto the hodge podge of ices I'm currently standing on: The organic chemistry in this part of the disk is complex, if mostly slow moving due to the low temperature. There is some evidence that tholins, complex particles of organic matter that are believed to be involved in the origins of life, can form in the cooler regions of the disk. There are some genuine oddities associated with this part of the disk: Microscopic globules of organic matter, that have been shaped into tiny hollow beads the same rough shape as a cell membrane, are preserved in the icy planetesimals. What is more the disk contains abundant water and organic precursors to more complex chemistry. Almost a foreshadowing of things to come... Image above: Hollow beads of organic compounds recovered from the tagish lake meteorite, viwed by electron microscope. Such material almost certainly rained down upon early Earth, enriching the prebiotic organic chemistry there. Image courtesy of Now, skirting the areas where nature is beginning to construct protoplanets and lay the foundations for mature planets, weathering storms of shrapnel and monster lightning bolts, I have travelled almost to the edge of the protoplanetary disk. The new born star is scarcely more than a bright speck, even if I had the fuel to hop out of the main plane of the disk and get a clear line of sight. Many of the planetesimals out here, over 200 AU from the sputtering t-tauri, are already nearing the end of their part in this story; this is the region that will one day be home of countless deep frozen comet nuclei, many of which will never journey inwards to grace skies with their twin tails of ions and dust, and odd, frozen, protoplanets, such as our own solar systems Sedna, Makemake,and Pluto. Image above: A comet, showing twin tails of dust and ions, spectacularly demonstrates the beauty that can come from even the dullest seeming things. In the outer solar sytem this beautifull object was a tiny dark speck of ices and organic compounds. Image courtesy of ESA. Standing on that last planitesimal, on the edge of the dim cliff before the long cold road to the rest of the galaxy, the central star is all but undetectable. The protoplanetary disk no longer sparkles with reflected light, but is a vast dark chasm beneath me, a counterpoint to the ocean of stellar light that bathed my feet at the beginning of this journey. Things here are quieter in the radio, almost a deathly silence, and the flashes of colliding planitesimals, and residual lightening, that lit the disk before are fewer, farther between, and clouded by dense wreaths of gas and dust. And as I look outwards from the farthest outpost of the protopanetary disk, my mouth dries with wonder. I know now what it was about the stars that looked odd in the half glimpses during my journey. I should have been expecting this: The sky is not dark, nor is it the sky as seen from Earth, with glittering band of our mily way galaxy stretched across it. My sky is now ablaze with a display that has never been seen by human eyes: the star behind me was wombed in the darkness of a collapsing nebula fragment, but it was not born alone. Above me are the little stars siblings, birthed by other fragments of the collapsed pre-solar cloud, and closer packed than any stars of our suns neighborhood. Yellows like our sun, red dwarfs with lifespans longer than the age of the universe ahead of them, and perhaps a few blue titans. Tens of thousands swarming in tight packed open cluster, less than a lightyear between them. With the infra red eyes of my suit I can make out still more: dwarfs down to the dimmest that can sustain our suns style fo fusion, and then the heat glows of brown dwarfs: objects no wider than Jupiter and as little as fifteen times as heavy, briefly warming themselves with lithium and deuterium fusion before they settle down into a long maturity of darkenss. image above: Open star cluster NGC 290, a stellar jewel box. Our sun almost certainly came from a similar cluster, and its skies would have been illuminated by hundreds of stars with less than a lightyear between each other. This is the new stars familly, showing their colours brighter than any star we can see from Earth, together for one glorious family photo before the tides of momemtum and gravity send them their separate ways. How do we know all this? Well, as you can guess from my experiment with the format above, a lot of what we've learned has been from studying protoplanetary disks around other young stars, like newborns and protostars in our old friend the orion nebula. We can study these disks with modern telescopes at resolutions high enough to pick out large planets, and we can see the channels they carve through the dust and gas. Spectroscopy is once again one of our most powerfull tools here, allowing us to get an idea of what is making up the tiniest dust particles in the disk, even though we can barely discern giant planet sized objects. We can compare these measurments to both computer models and materials preserved from our own ancient times, allowing us to build a detailed picture. We have ways of sampleing the ancient solar environment directly: Cabanaceous chondrite meteorites are believed to be the condensed remnants of the protoplanetary disk, and contain many structures and isotopic abundances we cannot explain any other way. We can tell by close examination of the mineral structures within them that many of these are essentially unaltered over 4 billion years of history. Very rare icy examples like the Tagish lake meteorite preserve a snapshot of the organic chemistry of that time, which was one of the important processes leading up to life here on earth. We aso have studies of materials captured from remants of the plantesimal era, most noteably comets, via sample return missions like Stardust, and missions explore comets remotely, such as ESAs Rossetta, Giotto, and NASAs Deep Impact. Some of these are citizen science internet projects that some of you will have been involved in. We have computer modelling, such as takes place at NASA Advanced Super computing (NAS) division. Computer models can't give us a direct view of the protoplanetary disk, but they can show us how various scenarios would have played out, and point our studies of the real world in more precise directions. A few specific events in the early solar system we do have more evidence for. The existence of a protoplanetary disk is one example: it is very hard to explain how all the planets orbit in the same plane, in the same direction, without one. And the existence of calcium and aluminum rich chondrules tells us that there had to be some dramatic high temperature events of a specific kind hapening. The amounts of radioactive iron isotopes in meteorites tell us that at some point our solar system was blasted by a supernova explosion- in fact its possible that there were more than one. And we know from observing other star clusters that, after they begin their new glorious lives, stars stay close to each other for a time, forming spectacular open clusters, stellar familys. And there is one place that we can go to to observe the protoplanetary disk directly, at close range- well almost. The rings of saturn are a very good approximation of many of the processes going on in the protoplanetary disk, includeing ice and dust coalescing into larger bodies under the influence of turbulence. Next: The rise of the Oligarchs. Thursday, 12 August 2010 Image above: The Large Magelenic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to our own.Image courtesy of astronet. A Zoo of beautiful monsters: Just a brief post today; PhD work and pesky real life have been taking up a lot of my time, and the next post-a journey through the solar system as the first stages of planetary accretion were kicking in- is bit of doozy to write as there a still a lot of unanswered questions about that time. Even so it is in the works, and I hope to have it finished within a week. For now though, a brief report on the vast Tarantula nebula. This is an immense region of collapsing, churning, star birthing, gas and dust, located in a small (by galaxy standards) next-door galaxy; the Large Magellanic Cloud. Probably similar to the pre-solar nebula that gave rise to our sun, planets, and ultimately us- but much much bigger; there is no known star forming region in our galaxy, or any nearby galaxies, as big as this. Image above: The immense Tarantula nebula, almost a thousand light years across. Image courtesy of NASA. In The Dominion of Great Beasts: Nestled in the center of the 650 light year wide cloud is the RMC 136 super star cluster: a hive of some of the biggest, most power full, most violent, stars ever found by astronomers. The cluster is only a a couple of million years old, and is composed of blue giant and super giant stars, as well as unstable Wolf Rayet stars. These are terrifying things to be around: Surface temperatures of 25000 to 50000 degrees kelvin, dense stellar winds that can reach 2000km/s- that's almost 1% of light speed- hundreds of times faster than any space ship ever built. Image above: A three stage zoom into the intense light of the RMC136 super star cluster. Left to right: the tarantula nebula, the nebula central section, and the super star cluster itself. Image courtesy of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The cluster provides most of the energy that illuminates the stunningly beautiful tarantula, and contains few stars less than 20 times as heavy as our sun. To a man these will live fast, burn brightly, and die young as a supernova blast. The nebula is home to many more extreme entities: including giant blue stars that are thundering through space at hundreds of kilometers a second- as though hurled out of the central cluster by their even larger siblings. Black holes and neutron stars from ancient supernova likely lurk between the folds of gas and dust. In the extreme conditions of the nebula it is even possible that 'strange' or quark stars lurk- entities that have only been guessed at by theory, and could re-write the stellar family tree. Image above: A huge blue star, weighing 90 solar masses, has been thrown out of the Tarantula nebula at over 100 km/s. How is unknown, but has likely lost some sort of gravitational battle with one or more of the hypergiant titans in the central cluster. Image courtesy of ESO. This incredibly fertile area of the universe exists due to its location: as its home galaxy tears through space at 300 km per second the tarantula nebula sits right on the leading edge- crushing the interstellar medium there until it begins to collapse into huge star forming regions. Near the core sit twelve monstrous suns, weighing in at up to 80 times our suns mass each. At in the very middle sit the triplets: three stars that are brighter than almost anything else in the galaxy besides each other. And the mightiest, R136a1, is not just lord of the cluster and nebula but is, as far as we know, the biggest star in the entire universe: 8.7 million times as bright as our sun, 265 times as heavy, and destined to end its life in one of the rarest events: a Hypernova, an explosion more than 100 times the size of a supernova. Image above: The biggest star in the known cosmos, RMC136a1, sits amid smaller stars that would still swallow our sun hundreds of times over. Image courtesy of ESO. No place for an Earth. Any planets in the central cluster must be orphaned wanderers from the outer regions, for the central stars will not live long enough to develop planets: what sights may have passed through those alien skies? At our distance of 160,000 light years the view is impressive. From a planet inside the cluster it would be mind altering: the nebula is so bright that if it were as close to us as a thousand light years it would cast your shadow onto the ground. Inside the central cluster there could be no night; not with every section of sky housing a titan sun. No planet near one of these monsters would hold onto its atmosphere, and the surface would be quickly exposed to a spectrum of radiation on par with the output of an industrial laser, or greater, in its intensity. The blue giants and super giants and titanic engines of fusion power, self sustaining hydrogen bombs on an immense scale: they put out over a million times the radiation of our sun, and most of that is searing, DNA shredding, high energy UV. The bare rock beneath your feet would be radioactive from absorbing high speed particles spat out by the savage Wolf-Rayets. However advanced a suits protection, I suspect the only reaction that would make sense at first would be a headlong dash into the relative coolness of the closest cave- shutting out the terrible vision of unimaginable power filling the sky. With time to adjust mentally, and a sophisticated filter to return the view to something the human eye could process, it would a sight of incredible beauty: a sky full of scattered short lived sapphire suns, against a multicoloured backdrop of brutally ionised gas. The suns themselves would look oddly deformed: the stellar winds they blow are so dense it is as though the surface of the star is exploding into space, making them into smears of intense light rather than well behaved orbs. Like all beauty it is short lived: on the edge of the nebula the Hodge 301 cluster has already lost its biggest and brightest as supernova, after a paltry 20 million years of life. The closest supernova of recent time 1987a, also occurred in the tarantula nebula. One thing is clear- for spectacular power and drama the tarantula nebula is hard to beat in the southern skies. How do we know this? The Large Magellanic Clouds great spider has been studied for centuries, using ground based telescopes, and more recently from space, and in near infra red light. Near infra red light is useful to astronomy because it is not absorbed or scattered by dust particles in nebula like the tarantula. This property allows astronomers to view inside structures like nebula and globules that are opaque to visible light. Surveys of this region have been made by many telescopes including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope in Chile; it was combining data from these two instruments that allowed the monstrous hyper giant star R136a1 to be identified. The most recent is the VISTA ( Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) survey of the Magellanic Clouds, which will map an area of sky a thousand times that of the full moon. The VISTA scope itself is located at the Paranal observatory in Chile, and this latest survey of the tarantula nebula is hoped to uncover more details of the less staggering, but still scientifically fascinating, areas of star birth in the nebula's outer regions. The survey also hopes to scan inside the Bok globule cocoons of growing giant and super giant stars in the region. Image above: The 4 meter VISTA telescope, in its dome in Chile. Image courtesy of ESO. This VISTA project, and other past present and future, will provide us with a detailed view of star formation in this incredible region of space and further inform our ideas of how our own lovely but humble star system came to be. Next (I promise): The Long Road To Worlds Of Rock And Gas. List of links:

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The latest news from academia, regulators research labs and other things of interest Posted: Aug 31, 2012 Nobel metal nanoparticles have potential as biofuel catalysts (Nanowerk News) Nanoparticles synthesized from noble metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver (Ag), osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold (Au) are attracting increased attention by researchers around the world looking for advances in such fields as biomedicine and catalysts. Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of South Carolina working at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities at Argonne including the Advanced Photon Source (APS), have been successful in synthesizing and characterizing monodisperse gold-core silver-shell nanoparticles utilizing a bio-template that has potential as a water soluble catalyst for converting biomass such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps, yard clippings, wood chips, and even municipal solid waste into fuels. Core shell nanoparticle inside Apo Noble metals are attractive avenues for this research because, for one thing, unlike base metals, they are corrosion-resistant when exposed to damp air. Bimetallic core-shell catalysts, where one metal is at the center, i.e., the core, and the second is at the surface, or the shell, provide distinctive properties, often a better reactivity, because the core metal particle could modify the lattice strain of the shell metal, which results in a shift of the electronic band structure of the shell metal. Such core-shell, nanometer-sized particles are being studied in most national labs and universities. In the field of bioinorganic chemistry, the use of protein cage templates has been recently developed as a promising method for the synthesis of uniform-size metal nanoparticle catalysts. In this research, the protein cage template is apoferritin (Apo), which is the ferritin protein devoid of an iron core. This protein complex consists of 24 identical subunits and has a spherical shape with an outer diameter of 12 nm and an inner cavity of 8 nm, as shown in the accompanying figure. The 8-nm cavity can be used as the location for a “nanoreactor” in which to synthesize the metal nanoparticles. The junction between the subunits consists of 14 empty channels, each 3-4 Å in diameter. These serve as a pathway between the exterior and interior of the protein core. The metal ions, which function as the nanoreactor, diffuse into the hollow core of the Apo through these channels and subsequent reduction of metal ions in the cavity leads to one metal particle per Apo ferritin. While the synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles has been proposed, to date there has been no report of a successful synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles inside Apo. The particles were characterized utilizing several research techniques: small-angle x-ray scattering carried out at the X-ray Science Division beamline 12-ID of the APS; extended x-ray absorption fine structure measurements at the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team 10-ID x-ray beamline, also at the APS; scanning transmission electron microscopy done at the Argonne Electron Microscopy Center; scanning electron microscopy at the Argonne Center for Nanoscale Materials; and fast protein liquid chromatography performed at the University of South Carolina. By carefully monitoring the amount of silver precursor, the researchers were successful in controlling the Ag shell thickness from one layer to several layers. This method should lead the way for preparation of other core-shell nanoparticles that might function as new, potentially high-performance nanocatalysts for catalytic biofuel reactions in the future. Such core-shell nanoparticles grown on a protein template can also be explored for future drug delivery systems.

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Written by Denise Deby. Thanks to Nature Canada for the post idea and information. The open window beside me brings in warm air, a few traffic sounds and an exquisite layering of bird songs. That’s spring in Ottawa, especially where there’s a few trees or a bit of green space nearby. Many of those birds have come quite a distance. According to Nature Canada, some species travel up to 25,000 miles round trip from their breeding grounds as far north as the Canadian Arctic to their wintering grounds as far south as parts of South America. Nature Canada is raising awareness about migratory bird species and celebrating their journeys with a Bird Day Fair on May 31, 2014. The event, which is free, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Andrew Haydon Park. Bird Day Fair activities include nature walks guided by local naturalists, a falcon demonstration and arts activities (you can help create a giant “bird nest” or get yourself “bird-banded,” for example). Several organizations, including the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club and Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton, will be there to provide information about their work. The Fair happens within the Lac Deschênes–Ottawa River Important Bird Area, part of an international network of sites considered significant to bird species and biodiversity. (Lac Deschênes is a fluvial lake—a lake within a river—located within the Ottawa River, and it’s home to many migratory waterbird species.) The Bird Day Fair coincides with International Migratory Bird Day, celebrated on the second Saturday of May each year to promote an understanding of birds and why they’re important.

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| "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", | from the Cotton Nero A.x manuscript 1400s. Via Wikimedia commons Versals, similar to today's drop-cap, are large capital letters used to draw attention to the beginning of a line, paragraph or chapter. Any letter style can be refined to be a versal and add decoration. In medieval times, versals were often ornate and had tiny illustrations that referred to the text. These letters are "built-up" line by line creating an outline. They can be left in that form or filled in and decorated. To create a versal first determine the area you plan for it to fill, the number of lines and the width's space. This will take up scroll text space, so consider your total text amount too. You might want to design this on a separate paper to get the angles and proportions correct and then transfer it to your scroll. You may even create several options if your deadline isn't looming shortly. |Vaterunser, Initial P. In: Albani-Psalter| 12th century. Via Wikimedia commons To create your versal, - Use a pencil to lightly sketch the letter beginning with its inner lines, so the enclosed spaces within the letter are well proportioned. - The outer edges of curved strokes are added next, followed by serifs and decorative flourishes. - Transfer your chosen design to your scroll, at this step using a 4H pencil and light strokes. - Next, using a small nib and ink or a .005 black Pigma Micron pen outline over the pencil marks and then erase them. - Fill in the center with ink, gilding, or paint. - Add decoration such as whitework after the paint is well dried, perhaps overnight. Continue as with any other illumination. While versals were intended as decoration to go with a text paragraph or page, today many artists elaborately decorate them for stand alone art. They also include them as part of one meaningful word or a proper name. I like to give them for SCA competition prizes or largess. Related Prior Post: Why Lay A Scroll's Groundwork With Permanent Ink? The Making Of An SCA Scroll, Part 1 The Making Of An SCA Scroll, Part 2

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Business Continuity Planning (BCP) & Health Checks What is it? All businesses face threats. While few will ever have to deal with the potentially catastrophic impact of natural disasters and terrorist attacks (covered under Disaster Recovery Planning), every business does face the very real threat of software or hardware failure, sometimes as the result of deliberate and malicious attacks. Such incidents could at best disrupt everyday business function and at worst could bring an organisation to a complete standstill. A vital aspect of the whole Business Continuity Management (BCM) strategy, Business Continuity Planning (BCP) describes a considered strategic plan which details the specific processes and procedures that need to be put in place in the event of an unforeseen isolated incident. The purpose of the BCP is to protect a business’s critical functions and enable it to continue or re-start with minimal disruption. BCP focuses on the management of an incident and its aftermath. It is the formulation of a plan that will be activated by IT professionals and business managers in the event of a major failing of any or all of an organisation’s systems. The general definition of this would be the loss of services, software, hardware failure, communications and/or the unavailability of critical personnel. A BCP will utlise the intelligence gleaned from a Business Impact Assessment (BIA) and will include a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) which is the area of business continuity that deals with technology recovery in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. Why implement a BCP? As part of an organisation’s plan to grow and succeed, the ability to maintain the availability and integrity of its business in the event of a system interruption is fundamental to its continued success. All businesses need to have a BCP in place which includes a detailed impact analysis, threat and risk analysis, impact scenarios and recovery requirements. Not only will this ensure that recovery time is minimal, but it also provides valuable reassurance to prospective customers and business partners by demonstrating a strong commitment to ensuring a safe and secure business environment. What to do next The first step is to determine the current Business Continuity Management status level, by identifying what measures are already in place and what is still required. This will be the basis upon which to develop a corrective action plan. SRM can provide support and assistance at a variety of levels, based on the requirements of ISO22301. From providing a checklist that represents a baseline set of measures, to which all organisations should comply, through strategic risk assessment workshops, ultimately driving and managing the whole BCP process on behalf of a client. There are a number of variables but many organisations will require an enhanced security management system which SRM has the experience and expertise to develop in conjunction with the organisation’s key personnel. Thanks, we've received your details. We'll be in touch shortly to discuss your requirements. In the meantime, please download your exclusive free copy of SRM's Guide to Cyber Essentials below. Download your free copy

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Before he announced the result of the Church of England’s General Synod vote on July 14, the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, called for “restraint and sensitivity.” Like everyone else at the university campus in the north of England where the synod was meeting, he knew how long it had taken to get there, how at the previous vote, in November 2012, the move to ordain women as bishops had been derailed by being just six votes short of the required two-thirds in the House of Laity, one of three Houses (the others are Clergy and Bishops) that make up the Church of England’s “parliament.” Yet once the vote was announced after five weary hours of debate — 152 in favor, 45 against, with five abstentions — Archbishop Sentamu couldn’t stop the whoops and cheers, or the bottles of champagne being uncorked outside. If, in one sense, the Church of England was only catching up with the 80 million-strong Anglican Church worldwide, where in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, Southern Africa, India and Ireland 37 women bishops have been consecrated, no one doubts the significance of the mother Church of Anglicanism going the same way. For those who saw this issue in terms of equality, this was the end of a road that began in the early 1900s, when women’s ordination began to be talked about as part of the suffragette movement. But not until the 1970s did the first Anglicans — the Episcopal Church in the United States — take the first step; and even though the General Synod declared in 1975 that “there is no fundamental objection to the ordination of women to the priesthood,” it took until 1994 for the Church of England to have its first women priests. Challenges of decision Having taken that decision — which led to an exodus of close to 500 Anglican priests becoming Roman Catholics — it was inevitable that women bishops would be next: currently 1 in 5 priests in the Church of England are female, and about 20 of them are in a position to be ordained as bishops. But getting to that point has been fraught. Unlike the Anglican Church elsewhere in the world, the Church of England is tied to the British state by establishment, seeing itself a national umbrella under which both Catholic and the Reformed traditions can coexist. Because bishops are in charge of dioceses, the challenge has been to develop structures of governance that allow those who object to a female episcopate — conservative evangelicals, as well as Anglo-Catholics — to continue in integrity as Anglicans. The new legislation, much simpler than previous tortuous attempts, commits bishops to respect and care for dissenters, with an independent ombudsman to resolve disputes. A roadblock for unity The other reason it has taken so long is that both supporters and opponents of the move have been aware of its implications for relations between the churches. That became clear in 2008, when the General Synod voted to consecrate women bishops without providing alternative structures of oversight for traditionalists, and Anglo-Catholic bishops left the synod hall in tears. At the Lambeth Conference — when the worldwide Anglican Church meets — later that year, Cardinal Walter Kasper, who at that time headed the Vatican’s Christian unity council, was blunt. He said papal teaching was clear that the Church has no authority to ordain women, that doing so would turn Anglicans away from the common position of the Churches of the First Millennium, and that consecrating women as bishops “effectively and definitively blocks a possible recognition of Anglican orders by the Catholic Church.” Cardinal Kasper was telling Anglicans, in effect, that they had to choose between the understanding of the episcopate held by the Catholic and Orthodox tradition on the one hand, or by the Reformed Churches on the other. For many Anglicans, who see themselves as incorporating both traditions, that choice has been painful. But it has been made easier by a second exodus of Anglo-Catholic priests who in 2008 reached the painful conclusion that, with women bishops on the horizon, there was no longer any point in hoping for their orders to be recognized by Rome. After the Lambeth Conference, Anglo-Catholic bishops went to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome to begin the talks that led the following year to a new canonical structure, akin to a diocese, that allows Anglicans to become Catholics as groups, with their clergy, while retaining many liturgical traditions. Committed to dialogue The idea for a uniate-type structure for ex-Anglicans within the Catholic Church had been rejected back in the 1980s by Rome for fear it would destroy hope of corporate unification held out at that time by the official Anglican-Catholic dialogue. The ordinariate signaled to both Catholic-minded Anglicans and Rome that unity was no longer achievable in practice, even if it remains, officially, the objective of Rome’s talks with all the churches. “The goal of ecumenical dialogue continues to be full visible ecclesial communion,” insisted Archbishop Bernard Longley, chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), following the July vote. Yet because “full ecclesial communion embraces full communion in the episcopal office,” he added, the Church of England’s decision “sadly places a further obstacle on the path to this unity between us. Nevertheless, we are committed to continuing our ecumenical dialogue, seeking deeper mutual understanding and practical cooperation wherever possible.” “Practical cooperation” is now the main focus of Catholic-Anglican dialogue. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has a warm relationship with Pope Francis, and the two Churches are working together both nationally and internationally on a host of issues, among them human trafficking. Following the synod vote, Archbishop Welby wrote to Pope Francis and Orthodox leaders to persuade them not to withdraw that cooperation, arguing that there is more that unites the Churches than divides them and that they should not let differences over issues such as women bishops prevent them standing together on major global questions. Nor will it. A woman bishop (a Canadian suffragan) already sits on ARCIC, and when they are ordained, Church of England women bishops are as likely to be received with ecumenical courtesy as their male counterparts. After all, Leo XII’s famous papal decree of 1896, Apostolicae Curae, which declares Anglican orders invalid for all time, has not prevented warm relations between Catholic and Anglican leaders before now, and it applies equally to men and women. Austen Ivereigh is a British Catholic journalist, commentator and director of Catholic Voices (www.catholicvoices.org.uk).

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Learn about composting and Bokashi! Join Solana Center for this 2-hour presentation at the beautiful Two Forks Farm, where you will learn the basics of backyard composting and get an introduction to Bokashi bran - an easy way to manage your food waste. Bokashi is a method for fermenting all organic waste, including meat, dairy, and liquids. The process uses lactobacillus bacteria to predigest waste matter, which minimizes odors and decreases composting time. Bring grocery bags, cash and checks to participate in a little fresh produce shopping from our hosts at Two Forks Farm! There will also be eggs for sale from their on-site chickens! Location and directions will be provided upon registration. In this workshop, we will cover the following topics: - What is composting and why it is so important - What tools and materials you'll need - Which items are compostable and which are not - What is Bokashi? - How is it used? This composting workshop is funded by: Mt. Helix, CA 91941

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Plastic trash has always been a huge environmental problem, especially when the ocean is involved. But few states have seen the impact of maritime pollution quite like Hawaii. Now, Hawaii has become the first state to officially implement a ban on plastic bags at checkout counters. "Being a marine state, perhaps, we are exposed more directly to the impacts of plastic pollution and the damage it does to our environment," Sierra Club of Hawaii director Robert Harris, said in 2012. On Jan. 17, a ban on retail plastic bags on the Big Island went into effect. Kauai and Maui already enforce a ban, while Oahu (the most populated island, home to the city of Honolulu) will join them in July 2015. Customers will be expected to either bring their own reusable bags to local shops and restaurants, or use paper ones provided by the establishments. Bulk items like meat, grains, or fresh produce will still come in plastic bags, but other items will be put in a paper or reusable bag. It won't be a massive adjustment to customers, since stores on the Big Island have been charging extra for plastic bags for the past year. "This is groundbreaking. By signing this environmentally friendly bill, Honolulu joined our neighbor island counties," said Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle when he signed Oahu's ban. "Hawaii has become the only state in the United States where every county has plastic bag legislation." Hawaii does not have a statewide ban on plastic bags, but rather a plastic bag ban either in effect or in the early implementation phases in four of its five counties. (Kalawao County, the only county not to enact such an ordinance, is largely unpopulated, accessible by land only via mule trail). No other states have such a de facto ban on plastic bags in effect, though cities do — as LiveScience has noted, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Portland (Oregon), and Washington, D.C. have bans as well. Countries like Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany either tax the bags or impose a small fee on them. Hawaii's Surfrider Foundation says that the plastic bag ban could be just one step. If the state imposes a fee for paper bags, the Foundation says consumption of disposable products would fall even farther.

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Over the holidays, SkyNews posted a video on YouTube which provides an overview of India’s current UID project aimed at gathering the biometric data of its 1.2 billion citizens in order to provide better access to the welfare state. As with most large scale biometric data gathering projects, there are arguments for and against the merit of the initiative from proponents and critics. Proponents say that the project will help lift many citizens out of poverty, keep welfare funds from being siphoned by corrupt politicians and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government spending on public welfare. Opponents argue that capturing biometric data is tantamount to an invasion of privacy and India’s government can’t be trusted to store this type of data which could be exploited to set up surveillance on citizens or shared with other countries. Some interesting facts about the UID project: - Over 1.2 billion citizens in India - 2.4 billion irises - 12 billion fingerprints Here is the video: What are your thoughts on India’s UID project? Will it be successful at its proposed intentions or exploited by the government?

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Image: Light Scattered by Gold Nanorods . Courtesy: US National Science Foundation MMG. Credit: University South Carolina NanoCenter. 2008 Visualization Challenge: Slideshow Science Podcast segment:Interview with a Competition Judge The "Light Scattered by Gold Nanorods" image "shows gold nanorods, embedded in a cell-populated collagen gel, scatter light as viewed under a darkfield microscope." " The collective excitation of electrons in the conduction band of gold nanoparticles arising from resonance with incident visible radiation is referred to as localized surface plasmon resonance. This excitation leads to resonant Rayleigh light scattering. Because of this strong scattering, individual nanoparticles, much smaller than the wavelength of light, can be observed using an optical microscope. There has been considerable interest in resonant Rayleigh scattering from gold and silver nanoparticles for biological and chemical analysis. In this application, a fibroblast seeded collagen gel, an in vitro material system often used to model wound healing, is embedded with nanoparticles. The pattern of scattered light will be tracked, using computerized pattern matching and image correlation techniques, to measure the deformation that occurs as the collagen gel contracts, in a simulation of the formation of scar tissue. It is hoped that these small scale measurements will illustrate local heterogeneity in the mechanical response of the material." " This image is part of a proof-of-concept experiment for an interdisciplinary project between engineers, chemists, cell biologists and artists from three schools at the University of South Carolina, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Information Technology and the School of Medicine. It was an entry in the 2005 Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge competition, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Journal Science. The competition is held each year to recognize outstanding achievements by scientists, engineers, visualization specialists and artists who are innovators in using visual media to promote the understanding of research results and scientific phenomena. To learn more about the competition and view all the winning entries, see the Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge Special Report (Date of Image: February 2004)". Source: NSF MultiMedia Gallery Gold Nanorods as Safer, More Effective Cancer Treatment Tools

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Why do earthquakes occur? Not a mystery, believe me! 2 How does an Earthquake occur? The Earth is really nonchalant when we look at it in a normal way, but below our bases, the Earth is relentlessly fluctuating. Below the earth’s surface are the Tectonic plates. These plates, when they slide one upon other, release a force causing the earth to vibrate. This is the reason why, earthquakes are also called as temblors. This energy travels at a greater speed, bursting in all ways. Most of the time, it does not create any loss to mankind, but when the magnitude increases, the loss is reflected in the lives of mankind.

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There are no microcontrollers in this project. In fact you wont find a single transistor. This classic regenerative tube radio, modeled after an early 20th century homebrew is complete with schematic and additional photos. For those who are not familiar with tube designs and for simplicity, the regeneration circuit can be thought of as feedback though this relation may be argued. Read the rest after the break which includes a crash course in tube operation. Continue reading “Homemade regenerative tube radio” Etching a printed circuit board generally takes a bit of time and uses a lot of etchant. [TechShopJim] posted a method that uses a sponge to reduce the amount of etchant used while speeding up the entire process. First, a resist is applied using either a sharpie or the toner transfer method. Using gloves to handle everything, he soaked a sponge in ferric chloride and continually wiped a copper-clad board until all the exposed copper was removed. This technique moves the etchant around more, keeping “fresh” etchant closer to the copper. If you can’t procure ferric chloride, you can also use our method that uses 2 household chemicals: hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid. The official Arduino Nano design has been updated to version 3.0. Like other new Arduino designs, it’s using the ATmega328 instead of the ATmega168. It’s also a slightly more reasonable $35. The small board is designed to be plugged directly into a breadboard and accessed via mini USB cable. This new design is also two layers instead of four making it easier to produce and modify. The new Nanos will ship at the end of the month. [Steven] was inspired by the BlinkM and Shiftbrite modules, but really wanted something that could be controlled via RS232. He decided to build his own RGB LED module capable of PWM that fit his needs. He’s using a PIC16F628 microcontroller as the base. Each module has 4 individually addressable LEDs with multiple intensities for each color. The units can be daisy chained as well. The schematics and PCB files are available on his site for download. [via Hacked Gadgets] Futaba’s character displays can be interfaced using the standard 8-bit or 4-bit parallel LCD interface, or a simple two-wire protocol. The protocol type is set by resistors on the back of the display, so it’s not particularly easy to change without a hot-air rework station. Today we’ll demonstrate a serially-interfaced VFD using the Bus Pirate. This is an interesting instrument. Part laser harp, part guitar, the Prism seems to have some potential. [Jeff-o] put some major time and effort into refinishing a guitar, building the circuit and putting it all together. He did a great job, the instrument looks fantastic and appears to work. We do have a request though; please post a video of it being played as an instrument. So many of these electronic instrument projects just spit out random noises. While we understand that some people are into that, we would love to hear some control. How about intentionally changing notes to make a melody? Based on the description, it should have control for pitch, and even speed of the oscillation. So let’s hear some music. We don’t care if you’re any good, just please play some music with it. If you would like to build your own, he has the schematics and PCB layout available for download.

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Molluscum contagiosum is a common skin infection in children that is caused by a poxviruse, named molluscum virus. It produces harmless, noncancerous growths in the skin's top layers. The disease is spread by direct contact with the skin of an infected person or sharing towels with someone who has the disease. Outbreaks have occasionally been reported in child care centers. View Full Article

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THE DROPPING DOLLAR, WHERE IS THIS LEADING? What is Money What is money? Money, printed paper or a stock certificate, often translates to NOTHING but confidence in the issuer, be that a government, corporate management, or a bank. In essence, it's a paper promise. - ZetaTalk: Paper Promise, written Sep 17, 2004 - The banking system or any paper money system is built on confidence, confidence that a note will be paid out in something solid, something other than a paper promise, which is what all money systems and bank notes are. Centuries past, when the world was operating primarily on the barter system, such promises were few and were backed by gold or silver, or land, or a herd of horses or cows, something solid. Villages and towns, farmers and those in the trades, all operated primarily by barter, a cabinet built by a carpenter and payment in a quarter of a slaughtered hog, a bushel of apples getting a tooth pulled by a dentist. Financial sophistication developed slowly, based on the growing confidence that the backer of a money system, a paper promise, could be counted upon to deliver something solid. Thus it was, until recently, that gold was considered the backing. When the press to use paper money to support a debtor economy ran beyond the supply of gold, the money systems were taken off the gold standard. In the past, a creditor could put his house and property up as backing for a loan, his herd, perhaps even his pending harvest of wheat, but could not get credit unless he had something solid as collateral. But today it is the norm for every person, without substance to his name, to have access to credit cards that allow him to go into debt beyond his ability to repay. The creditor is given credit on the assumption that he will repay. The funds he is loaned are assumed to have worth. And all pass paper promises around as though these were based on things that could be brought forth upon demand. As can be seen when whole countries default on the paper money they float out under their flag, the value of a dollar can collapse quickly. Argentina is a case in point, the money becoming worthless almost overnight. In days past when banks and paper money were closely tied to things, such a panic would result in the banks who had loaned money to farmers demanding payment in things, and any who deposited savings in the banks demanding payment in things, so that at the end of the shuffle those having made savings deposits would find themselves with a herd of cattle or some acreage, rather than paper money. When money became unhinged from solid backing, speculation crept in, resulting in inflated stocks, loans without collateral, a pyramid scheme that is a house of cards that would collapse with few left after the shuffle with anything solid in their hands. Most would be left holding worthless notes, uncollectable, standing atop a deep pile of bankruptcies. During the Great Depression, it was no secret that banks were in default, farmers and corporations bankrupt, but this was ignored as demanding payment that could not be produced would only put properties and empty buildings in the hands of banks who could not sell them as the market itself was dead. So a bankrupt status was ignored, and all floated along until life came back into the system and payments began to be made again, extension after extension made. This is what is occurring today, among countries and creditors and banking entities, to avoid a breach of confidence that would start a panic in the world at large. Say nothing, make no demands for payment in things, give extension after extension, and the house of cards, built on paper promises, stands. This assumes cooperation among all parties, and where this is holding today, as it did during the Great Depression, there is a difference. During the Great Depression, the world was not beset with natural disaster after natural disaster, as is starting to occur today. Commerce, trade, was reduced due to lack of confidence but at the base, the economies were solid and recovery followed renewed confidence. Today, all countries are in a crisis affecting their base economies. We mentioned that Crop Failure would follow the irregular weather, and it did. But buildings collapsing in earthquakes, trains running off suddenly twisted tracks, factories exploding as gas lines breach, and storms tearing at coastlines without remorse do more than represent an opportunity to rebuild. They represent insurance companies unable to pay for rebuilding, factories laying off workers or unable to function, and distribution of goods blocked. In other words, paralysis, rather than a fever of economic activity, results. When those at the top of the financial pile, or those whom they command, see the structure starting to become a pile of bankruptcies likely to tie up their ability to reach down and grab a thing, so they will not be left with worthless paper promises, all want to move first in order to get a thing before the other financial giants beat them to it. They are holding notes, and at the base these notes translate to land, buildings, inventories, oil deposits, ships, food stocks, herds, and virtual slavery of those who cannot pay but need to eat and have shelter. Indentured servitude, returned. We have mentioned that the pending pole shift has resulted in Leveling Wars between the Puppet Masters and their restless Puppets seeking to become opportunists during times when their masters might be unable to retain control. These wars will result in the pact of cooperation between creditor countries and corporations and those who own them cracking. Fail to cooperate and I'll call your notes due, and while you struggle under a rain of failures I will pluck what I wish from the pool and emerge owning you once again, but with you wasted and discredited, is the threat. Thus, where banks default because those they have loaned money to are going into bankruptcies, and where at base this is due to collapsing economies struggling with the effect of the current Earth changes, natural disasters, there is also the element of warfare among the Puppet Masters and their Puppets. To the extent that the rebellious Puppets are the political power in a country, that country may find itself fiscally undermined and corruption within that power structure exposed. To the extent that the rebellious Puppets are corporate heads, those corporate heads will find themselves unable to get the loans they need to continue, and forced into bankruptcy court. To the extent that a Puppet Master, and there are many, senses that the enemy is another Puppet Master, the property holdings of that Master will be undermined, whether this includes a country, a corporation, or financial holdings such as bonds. Watch closely, during this war of the titans in the financial realm, and you will see the swords flash and parry. Seeking wealth that will not disappear during a dollar devaluation or a dropping Stock Market, people seek things that will hold their value. But these too, are ephemeral. - ZetaTalk: Precious Possessions, written Aug 15, 1996. - During stable times, civilizations build on the past, the past dragged forward as welcome or unwelcome baggage. The past is intrusive, something the young and old are constantly reminded of, and serves as models for the young, rules to be guided by, and social norms for the newborn to adapt to. During tumultuous times the grip that the past has on society is broken, and priorities are reassessed. What are termed great works of art by humans are considered valuable only because they came from the past and carry a long list of credits. Each new admirer is thus bolstered and each potential critic is thus intimidated. Even frankly ugly works are thus floated forward, gaining in price. Possessions such as houses or land carry value as they are assumed to be permanent, the house standing until deliberately torn down and the land maintaining its view or agricultural productivity on into the future. After the coming pole shift surviving humans will be starving, broken, frightened, and will find that the price of a meal is nothing so worthless as a painting or statue from the past. A sharp knife, a sewing needle and thread, some seeds, these things will become the Does money buy love, security, good health and a long life, freedom from boredom and the wherewithal to be entertained. To a great extent, it does. May not buy love, but it can buy sex and physical attentions and the façade of love. It buys security from the standpoint of walls and guards and a well stocked enclave, but it does not protect from the forces of nature or disloyal servants and guards. It can buy medical care, thus a longer life, but modern medicine cannot cure all ills. It certainly buys entertainment and travel, toys galore. Beyond love, security, health and entertainment, money also gives one stature and respect. Or so goes the hope of those who cannot secure status any other way. Thus, some cons masquerade as wealthy, or take on the vestiges of wealth. - ZetaTalk: Status Symbols, written Oct 15, 1995 - Human society is rift with status symbols - big cars, big houses, titles after the name, designer clothing, the right neighborhood, membership in elite groups, and name recognition. For many, the status symbol looms more important that any underlying meaning, because the status symbol represents power. Those with money have more power than those without, almost invariably, as money can buy cooperation. Thus, most status symbols denote money. Where it is difficult to put on the facade of big money without the actual prop, those masquerading as well-to-do manage to do so surprisingly well on occasion by dressing well, acting arrogant, and getting others to foot the bill. Those with membership in elite, exclusive groups have more power than those without, as the membership cooperates with each other, doing favors, and thus each member has a larger reach. Thus, those with such memberships almost invariably advertise them in any introduction or brief biography they provide. Rarely are those without actual memberships able to assume this facade. This is not due to any difficulty in making up counterfeit certificates or cards, but due to the clubby way members communicate with each other. Phone calls on a first name basis, and introductions from someone known before a stranger is allowed into the midst. This ploy, claiming membership one does not possess, is not tried often as it is invariably counterproductive. Those with name recognition have more power than those without, as others are afraid of offending them for fear of the incident becoming widely known. Thus hotel accommodations or fast and often free service is provided as everyone suspects the cameras may be running in some manner. Scams where the power hungry assume the name of someone well known are usually short running, though all humans can have look-alikes and some of the famous have many. A certain dress, a little make-up, practice the voice and posture, and voile, one can walk about and pick up the perks at a party or convention. The counterfeit personage, emboldened by success, tends to use this routine more and more often and linger, thus eventually getting caught and dealing with a lot of disgust and venom thrown their way, outweighing any benefits gained. However, the easiest status symbol to attain, and the one most often used by the power hungry, is a title after the name. Doctor, Judge, CPA, Representative, Director, Manager, Esquire, President, Captain, General - how often are the titles verified as genuine? Almost never, unless the personage is applying for a job and even then this type of checking is seldom done if the personage has the proper demeanor. Thus, the power hungry can assume a title and get away with it in the main, winning deference and rapt attention at a minimum, entry where the doors were formerly locked, an audience where the message was formerly dismissed, and as any good salesman knows, getting the foot in the door is half the battle! They are home.Thus, when one finds status symbols in the form of titles after a stranger's name, particularly nebulous titles, one should not instantly assume they are dealing with a person who has earned the title, or any title for that matter. Because human society almost invariably bows to wealth, the lure of get-rich-quick schemes, like the lottery, is irresistable. - ZetaTalk: Get Rich Quick, written Jun 15, 1996 - Money may not buy love but it certainly covers a lot of fronts - good nutrition, housing, the ability to travel, hand servants, sexual gratification, life in a good climate, and a good view from the top of a hill. More significantly, money is a way out - out of having to work, having to do chores that hirelings can do, out of having to be polite to employers and bankers, and the possibility of a way out of any troubles with a quick cash settlement. Money can also allow the vision to be attained, and make the difference between embarking on a visionary path or languishing. It is not surprising, then, that get-rich- quick schemes are popular and make a lot of money for their promoters, who are themselves trying to get rich. In dealing with these assertions, that the secret is this or that, one should bear in mind that if it were all that easy, then everyone would be rich. Is this a closely held secret when it is for sale? Is anything being revealed that is special knowledge? These schemes generally include a lot of self confidence builders, which in and of themselves are calculated to make a difference in the lives of those who buy the packaged scheme. For the vast majority of mankind, on the bottom looking up and longing in most cases for better circumstances, the coming pole shift will bring a change to most. It will put us off the money system, in that the paper promise will be defunct, and the populace no longer have any confidence in printed paper or stocks and bonds. - ZetaTalk: Worthless Money, written July 15, 1995 - Money will begin to lose its value long before the cataclysms hit. This will be worldwide, and in almost all human cultures. Why should this be the case, when, as we have stated, the majority of humanity will either be unaware of the coming cataclysms or in denial? The financial structure of the world's financial empires is really quite fragile. Look to the swings of the stock markets, the bond markets, and other speculations. Panic sets in at a moment's notice. The problem is that financial matters are based on human perceptions of worth. This moves about, even in the most stable of times. The value of an item increases during shortage, plummets during times of plenty, and otherwise is affected by various perceptions of being in the right place at the right time. There are gamblers aplenty in the financial arenas. Look to history, to see how little it took to create financial panics. What with all the dire predictions made by many, true or untrue, many people worldwide will be on edge. Add to this the increasing crop failures, with consequent food shortages, affecting the markets in commodities. Humans of good heart concerned with survival through the cataclysms are advised not to look to the money markets for assistance. Changing Social Structure Per the Zetas, the barter system will prevail, going into the pole shift and certainly afterwards, and skills will replace the paper promise. - ZetaTalk: Barter System, written Dec 15, 2001 - We predict that long before the shift, a barter system will be replacing the current paper money system. The value of the dollar, in allcountries, will be falling, such that in any transaction one or both parties will feel they are getting a fair deal only if a thing, not a representation, is given or received. This is a common practice in countries where the dollar is falling, and a natural migration as the thought occurs readily to mankind, the barter system being recent in their cultural evolution. What will this mean for the common man, and what will it mean for the rich? The common man will find they are pleased with themselves if they have had the foresight to secure goods of value, such as seeds or tools or dried food. The value of appliances that are dead and not able to run, even of cars unable to run over broken roads, will be zero. The value of items that can increase worth, such as a needle and thread which can repair clothing otherwise worthless, or a shovel that can create a garden otherwise a weed patch, will balloon. The rich will of course whine endlessly, and try to convince anyone who will listen that their goods will return in value, which it will not. Moneys will be used as a medium of exchange, as will jewels and art, in some settings, for a brief period of time. This will occur until those being offered these at bargain prices realize the shift has happened worldwide, and rescue and a return to civilization as they knew it will not occur. Perhaps months, but more likely weeks, and only in limited settings. We advise the common man, as we have in the past, to relieve themselves of stock and jewels and paper money that will fall in value, perhaps suddenly and without warning. Better to stock up on things that will have value, candles and matches, school books and a guitar, than what the rich treasure. In that one's skill sets can be considered a bartering item, one should examine their own skill set by the following exam. If you were in the middle of a wilderness, alone, what steps would you take to survive? What is the first skill that you would need, and not have? Whom do you know that you would wish about you, in such as circumstance? What is that skill that they possess, that you perhaps could develop? Imagine a group in such a setting, having arrived at a land dump where various pieces of junk are about and could provide mechanical devices or shelter, if utilized creatively and resourcefully. How would you go about creating a comfortable home for yourself, and others, in such as situation? If you are clueless on how to use junk to structure a home, recycle and hook up, then perhaps you should work with a junk man, in his yard, and take lessons! What we are telling you is that you should mentally put yourself in this setting, and you will have no difficulty determining what is useless or most worthwhile, in a skill set. If you are an accountant, and cannot translate this skill into becoming a tailor or herdsman or cook, your skill is useless! What will this do to those used to having status, being on the top of the pile, because they had MONEY? This is not a simple arrangment, because the wealthy class has layers, all looking up at those with more control over society and down at those beneath them, and all quite used to their status. There's going to be a lot of screaming and yelling, especially among those who care more about their status and money than they do about their - ZetaTalk: Clash of Agendas, written Nov 15, 2003 - As the Earth changes leading up to the inevitable passage of Planet X with cataclysmic effects on Earth increases, pressure by all to promote their agendas increases, leading to a clash of agendas. When times are comfortable the pace can be slow, without pain or anxiety, but when time seems short, or when all seems to be crashing and about to be lost, agendas are pushed aggressively. What are these agendas, and in what way do they clash? Since those in the Service-to-Other work cooperatively, and do so increasingly in emergency situations, we will address primarily the agendas of those in the Service-to-Self, as affected by increasing Earth changes and awareness of the big lie by the general public. He with the gold, rules. The public assumes a broad ownership of corporations and media outlets, when the opposite is true. A very few individuals control the wealth of the world, install politicians to their pleasing, create global conflicts and create or destroy the fortunes of countries as well as individuals in the chess games they play with their control, and thus operate as Puppet Masters during the cover-up. Their agenda is to retain control, retain their position, and thus as their gold rules, they want minimal impact to their financial stature. No bank failure. No drop in stock value. No corporate bankruptcies. And as they assume this would occur if knowledge of a rogue planet in the inner solar system were to be broad, they consider hiding this as long as possible of prime Promised wealth, power, security, and opportunities outside of what their natural talents would afford them, puppets invariably allow their strings to be pulled. They are chosen because they can be controlled, by blackmail, by bribery, by intimidation, and if disappointed with the role they are assigned, they are alternately threatened and placated by their puppet masters, else eliminated. Puppets run amuck of their masters when they sense their world will not continue, and make demands. Occasional restless puppets are expected, with alternatives waiting in the wings, but when puppets panic en mass, malfunction, are absent, and many replacements are happening simultaneously, the chess game the puppet masters play does not go as planned. Accustomed to being secure due to ownership of goods and the power this brings, the upper class or moneyed class will react with more than shock when their property, whether corporate interests or stocks and bonds or real property, is flushed down the toilet during the increasing changes pummeling the Earth. Insurance companies will go under when their insured base surpasses their wealth, corporate bankruptcy will ensue when all but the corporate name have been washed or blown away, and clutching jewels and artwork, they will stand and wail. Banking empires, government security blankets, all run by puppets of the puppet master, will receive demands to do something to return the comfortable class to their comfort. Simultaneous demands on nervous and malfunctioning puppets creates an explosive situation. More malfunction. Wailing all around. At the base of the pyramid, the working man and woman observe the drama. From their standpoint, they are living in the Land of Oz, where nothing is as it has been pronounced, the good guys doing bad deeds, the economic recovery putting them out of their homes and jobs, and no one explaining why the Sun and Moon and seasons are not where they are supposed to be. The point of working for the comfortable class is for food and a roof over one's head, and when both seem tenuous, loyalty fails. The working class is thus simply not where expected to be, not the drones and robots anticipated, and the comfortable class now switches from simply wailing to panic. Insecurity translates to autocracy, so strong arm tactics against the working class are the first armament. This of course backfires when cities are collapsing and the leadership proven inept, so the working class becomes the rebelling class, and is absent even more. Thus, the clash of agendas means that none of the social structure operates as expected by those in the Service-to-Self, who find their banking empires collapsed, their real and corporate properties vanishing, their puppets wandering around confused, and the comfortable class fuming about the recalcitrant working class and lack of action by the puppets running the establishment's empire. Chaos, just as the serious pole shift precursors are about to ensue! I get a lot of email asking who the Puppet Master is, and would simply point out that the House of Rothchild funds ¾ of the US Federal Reserve, the other ¼ funded by the Rockefellers. Certainly Bush and Cheney and the CEO's of large corporations are selected with a lot of input from the Puppet Master. It has been pointed out that Kerry was hardly different from Bush in this regard. Both were members of Skull and Bones at Yale. What would life be like, for the wealthy, for the super wealthy, if the paper promise were to collapse, dollars and stocks and bonds be considered - ZetaTalk: What They Fear, written Sep 7, 2004 - We have mentioned that the establishment fears losing their perch on top of the pile, and being reduced to the stature of the common man. They fear, primarily: 1. A sudden panic in the masses to the extent they leave their jobs and the infrastructure collapses as maintenance is not done on power grids or water mains, and security over corporate assets is not maintained. 2. Opportunistic looting which catches like wildfire when it becomes apparent that security is lacking, the police or private security forces distracted by their own panic. 3. Military sent in to quell riots becoming brutal, as they have frankly been trained, creating in the populace a rebellion beyond panic that sets the common man against the establishment, a class war seething under the surface boiling and not settling. 4. Stock markets collapsing under sudden sell orders in an effort to liquidate cash, and banks unable to meet the demands that bonds and savings accounts be liquidated, so the financial system is no longer considered functional and squatters rights begins to prevail as the mindset of the masses. 5. Military units or militias becoming breakaway units such that rogue states are formed, the world in the main becoming a no-man's land where the safety of the elite cannot be assumed or assured. 6. The wealthy elite, and those in power when the big lies are exposed, becoming targets of those who have long resented them, with more than focused looting and retaliation unleashed as starving masses of humanity become organized. 7. The power of the elite no longer recognized when it is reduced to paper ownership no longer enforced by the courts and control over police and military forces no longer listening and consisting of paper money no longer having any value in a barter driven To counter these possibilities, the establishment has desired a firm date when sudden and unexpected Earth changes would occur that might throw the populace into a sudden panic, and the ability to close stock markets and banks in such an event, and to impose martial law to prevent rioting. These steps were viewed as stopping the erosion of power and wealth by substituting fear of punishment in the minds of the populace for their sense of self protection and opportunistic greed. Well timed martial law would supplant what the elite fear with a controlled setting, where: 1. Travel would be prevented, and jobs attended to, by force, with workers returned to their jobs by gunpoint if necessary. Thus the power and water utilities would work, and food distribution would continue. 2. Looting would be reduced greatly by curfews and travel restrictions, and the wildfire effect would never ignite. 3. Brutal military techniques would not incite rebellion as torture would occur behind doors, not in the streets, and the organization needed to incite rebellion unable to occur due to curfew and travel restrictions and selective arrests of likely suspects. 4. Access to stock markets and banking would be controlled, so that the system never reaches collapse due to liquidation demands it cannot meet and the populace feels they must continue to honor their bills and obligations, as the monster lives and has not died. 5. Spearheaded from central commands, martial law instituted to encompass all possible militia units would prevent breakaway by exposing such maneuvers. A unit on its own can breakaway, a unit required to check in and coordinate with others finds this option exposed, and thus inhibited. 6. The infrastructure of power and water utilities intact and supporting an intact financial system, the political and thus the legal system is likely to prevail and not collapse, and thus fear of the courts could be used to prevent retaliatory acts against the wealthy 7. The status quo continues, paper money and deeds and stock ownership of corporations still has the strong arm of the law behind it, and the common man sees the fist above them, uneroded, and continues to walk in the ruts of their workaday world, despite new dangers such as earthquakes and a tottering and wobbling Earth. For martial law to succeed at all, there must be a problem extreme enough to be recognized as a rationale for extreme protection, such as the continent rent in two by earthquake, a tidal wave tearing away all the cities along a coastline, or a wave of disease threatening to wipe out the country if not controlled by quarantine. And this threat must be real, else support for the strong arm of martial law would not be in place, and erosion would occur quickly. Thus, martial law imposed just ahead of such disasters would succeed, but attempts to impose it during such disasters would likely fail as the components of martial law are subject to panic too, and disrupted communications and lack of reassurance on the outcome feed that panic in the very control system the elite counts upon. Once again, the Catch-22 for the elite, as without a firm date on changes likely to incite panic, they cannot stop the wildfire they fear, but a firm date will not be forthcoming unless the public is informed about what is coming and likewise has the date, and thus cooperation with any martial law maneuvers serving the elite over the common man would be reduced. Is any of this happening? - Renowned Funds Manager Predicts Global Economic Collapse May 30, 2005 - There was an interview on CNBC of the renowned funds manager Julian Robertson. They used to call him, still do call him Never Been Wrong Robertson. He has predicted every economic cycle, every debacle, every bull market, and every bear market. "Where does it end?" And he said, "Utter global collapse." Not simply economic collapse; complete disintegration of all infrastructure and of all public structures of governments. Utter, utter collapse. That the end is collapse of simply epic proportion. In 10 years time, he said, whoever is still alive on the planet will be effectively starting again. And the comments were so negative. That the planet is not simply sinking into a sea of red ink; it is already sunk. He said that it will be necessary to control, in 5 years' time, food and water riots. Huge detention compounds on federal lands, probably in the West where the land is available, to potentially house 50 million or more citizens that will be in financial ruin. Food production will fall. Total collapse of public infrastructure. Total collapse of medical care systems. All public pension plans, Social Security will collapse. All corporate pension plans will collapse. He was moving into one of the new super-secure compounds for wealthy Republicans for when the "barbarians will be at the gate." ' My comment at the times was that during the Great Depression, the homeless lived on the street or with relatives, and food production did not stop. Is he talking about economics here, or a pole shift? Does word of the pending pole shift, and its impact on the wealthy, get around? I quote from an email I received in the Summer of 2005. - A high level manager I know has been invited to join a firm sponsored building project somewhere in the US (didn't tell me where) that would get him a bunker of sorts in their survival project, which is said to be quite luxurious. Seems only top managers were invited until the last six months. Suddenly they've become much more inclusive. Apparently they've revealed to him that they have had inside info on Planet X for several years and have been planning to survive for a year or two now. Poured lots of money into land acquisition and construction. The senior guys have flatly told him he won't have much more time - the end as they call it is that near in their opinion. Their inside info source is reputed to be the Federal Government at some very highly placed persons. This info has been disseminated to selected parties for several years. It's nothing new to them. They are telling my friend that they believe they're all going to be starting over and beyond food and shelter, their material possessions won't be worth a damn. No need for Bentley's and Jaguars. No need for much of anything but a way to seal ones self off from the world for a while - and make sure that they can eat while sealed off. How wide spread are these discussion among the wealthy? From another email received June, 2005. - Your public profile is increasing lately. More radio, more comments quoted, etc. While of course you're aware of the increased interview schedule, are you also aware that ZT and you are being quoted in water cooler conversations at some large (Century City / $500 hr plus / kind of) lawfirms in LA? I've some minor connections to a HUGE lawfirm that represents presidents and former kings, dictators, entertainment industry players, major celebs, etc. Even in those rather lofty circles, they do seem to have some passing familiarity with ZetaTalk and you. Thought you'd be interested (if not exactly flattered) to know that fact! If financial disaster is right around the corner, what would be the trigger? For the US, riding into Iraq to capture the oil fields of the Middle East, and floating a huge debt to do so, the road to disaster is obvious. The US debt has been supported largely by China's purchase of our bonds. China has lots of dollars it needs to invest, US dollars it needs to do something with, because the US is buying lots of China goods. China has made sure this trade imbalance stays in place, keeps their price low, by tying their currency to the dollar. Thus, as the dollar drops, and it is dropping, their goods do not go up in price. Thus, the US consumer keeps buying Chinas goods, China keeps collecting US dollars, and is forced to invest these dollars in US bonds, returning the dollars to the US. China, like any other trading partner, does not want the dollar to bottom out, as their investment would go be utterly gone, then, but other factors Iran is one of the largest oil producers, in 4th place, and holds the 3th largest oil reserves. Total oil production 1. Saudi Arabia 10.37, 2. Russia 9.27, 3. United States 8.69, 4. Iran 4.09, And 14th, Iraq Greatest Oil Reserves by Country, 2005 1. Saudi Arabia 261.9, 2. Canada 178.81, 3. Iran 125.8, 4. Iraq 115.0, And guess who one of Iran's biggest customers is? You guessed it - China! All the threats lately, out of the blue, really, against Iran. Almost like it was timed to happen NOW, the umbrage about Iran's potential nuclear material, which is years away from ever happening, per the It has been know for months that Iran was planning to open an oil bourse, a market, and have this based on the Euro. Other oil producing nations have already moved to the Euro - Venezuela and Norway, for instance, but this would be a BIG player in the oil production business, based not on the dollar, but the Euro. What does this mean for China? They now would not need a dollar reserve, in order to buy oil in DOLLARS, the former standard enforced for decades by the Saudis, so could dump their dollars. No longer a need to buy US bonds that lose more by the time they are cashed in that they were worth when purchased, even with interest. They can dump the dollars, and this would start a dollar dumping and a precipitous drop in the value of the dollar. - Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse Aug 3, 2005 - The Bush administration is prepared to undertake a desperate military strategy to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, while simultaneously attempting to prevent the Iranian oil Bourse from initiating a euro-based system for oil trades. Iran's oil bourse was scheduled to open on March 20, 2006, though it has now been delayed. In anticipation of China no longer investing in US bonds, the US has stopped reporting its M3 funds as of March 23, 2006. M3 is the report that would show WHERE the money comes from. It would show the money invested in the Fed is no longer coming from China, or similar sources, but from the printing presses. And a country printing its own money to stay afloat is a banana republic. This only goes one way. Down. - ZetaTalk: Iran Boondoggle, written Mar 17, 2006 - Right on schedule, leading up to the Iran announced date for the opening of its petroeuro oil bourse on March 20, 2006, the Bush administration is saber rattling and making threats, implying military action is not off limits and listing Iran as the worlds bogeyman. Reminiscent of the buildup to the Iraq War, Iran is listed as assisting terrorism by assisting the resistance in Iraq, perhaps harboring Bin Laden, and desiring nuclear weapons. Never mind that North Korea and all the other countries around the world produced nukes and thumbed their noses at the world while making threats against neighbors. Has the Bush administration gone mad? The US military is exhausted by Iraq, not able to get recruits even at a time of high unemployment in the US, unable to call a draft with an increasingly rebellious Congress defying Bush and a public in revolt on all fronts. The national debt is skyrocketing, with countries like China buying our bonds the only way the US is staying afloat other than to print money like a banana republic. The M3 reporting, which shows the source of the funds being pumped into the central banks, due to go secret on March 23, 2006, shows the relationship of the current press on Iran to financial, rather than terrorism or nuclear proliferation What do they hope to accomplish? Deflecting a precipitous drop in the dollar, at the very least. The world has used the dollar in oil trades for decades, due to a Saudi promise to hold to the dollar. What this does for the US is force countries around the world to retain dollars, as they need them to buy oil from the primary producers. Iraq slipped to the Euro in the years preceding the 2003 invasion, but was quickly returned to the dollar in 2003 by the US administrators who took over the Oil Ministry in Iraq. But the steady slide to slip to the Euro from the dollar has continued, with Norway, Venezuela, and Syria moving to the Euro of late. Even Dubai moved to put a portion of their oil trade in Euros, a reaction to the rebuke by America over the ports management debacle. What makes Iran so important, given the trend? Norway could hardly be invaded, as what would be the excuse? Venezuela has been put on the enemy list, but any invasion would be opening a second front, something the military has refused to even consider. But, as we mentioned, inciting the Iraq violence to spill over into Iran is possible, in the Bush mind, as it would be an extension of the Iraq front. This in essence forces the US military into Iran, bypassing debate, or so they hope. Iran is the 4th largest in oil production, and holds the 3rd largest oil reserves, so securing this under US occupation has been a goal of the Bush crowd all along. But the timing of the saber rattling indicates a financial issue as the precipitator. Few in the US, watching the financial experts drone on about the DOW as though it were holding steady on its own, would suspect the financial manipulations that go on behind the scene. The Plunge Protection Team, authorized into law during the Reagan era, allows the government itself to line up buyers for sellers; insist that sell orders be held until such buyers are arranged; allow military industrial contractors who put their pension funds at risk to assist in this manner to be compensated via their DOD contracts; and, if all else fails, simply manipulate the price of stock. Who would investigate this, the SEC? The SEC is a co-conspirator! Then take the good news the media chirps at the public, the economy is strong, unemployment down, and inflation in check. None of this is even remotely true, the opposite true in fact, with the numbers given to the media cooked. Employment statistics are cooked up from birth/death statistics, of all things, and not even related to actual employment! Then there is the matter of the debt, which requires huge amounts of cash infusions from countries like China, buying US bonds, to stay afloat. What happens, then, if the US dollar is no longer desired, because it is no longer needed for the oil markets? The dollar gets dumped. As it drops in value, as it has been dropping in value, it does not make financial sense for a country or individual to hold onto dollars. One day a dollar bill is worth $1.00, and the next worth only $.75 as the trading value of the dollar has dropped. Who in the financial markets wants to lose money? For those in the US, this means an increased price for products produced overseas, and this includes oil and gas. For countries like China, which have been buying US bonds only because they have such a glut of dollars from the US trade deficit, the motivation to buy US bonds vaporizes when they no longer have a glut and the dollar begins to drop at an accelerating rate. The US, to date, has been buying Chinese products more than China as been buying US products, thus the glut. But if the US citizen, pushed to the brink on credit card debt and now facing a housing bubble burst, can no longer shop, then China loses its glut of dollars and is no longer inclined to be nice to the US. Thus, the purchase of US bonds by China stops, and the US debt is no longer funded in a legal manner. Printing dollars also has a steady eroding effect, which would within months manifest. Each dollar printed without proper backing dilutes the worth of every other dollar afloat in the markets. So in addition to the rising cost of goods from overseas, due to the dropping US dollar, the US public would be dealing with horrific inflation. Even a compliant media, told to issue government statistics without question or comment, would not go along when the price of bread or gas doubles. Desperate times result, the Great Depression revisited. To prevent this seemingly inevitable future from emerging, the Bush administration hopes to intimidate Iran into giving up its oil bourse plans, thereby retaining the dollar supremacy in the oil markets, and in particular an oil market that China uses. This ensures China bond buying, which keeps the tenuous US afloat. Given all of this, what is likely to happen? The Puppet Master, as we have stated, set out to decapitate the Bush crowd, to eliminate them as rogue Puppets who were determined to secure the world's oil fields for themselves, for kingship of the world. His weapons have been primarily financial, raising the interest rates, thus creating problems at home for Bush, but leaks to expose Bush and erode public support have also been used. These decapitation thrusts have succeeded, but what is the Puppet Masters goal? Beyond weakening the Bush administration into virtual ineffectiveness, he wants the US out of Iraq, where it has created a mess. The Puppet Master is likely to create a financial crisis in the US to force the Congress to withdraw from Iraq. Dumping US dollars does not require an oil bourse in Iran, as it could occur at the request of the Puppet Master instead. The likely outcome is that the US will threaten and bluster, plant evidence against Iran that the US citizen and the world does not believe, rumble tanks and planes up to the border of Iran, and there the conflict stops. Support for the US debt will steadily drop, with the US quietly going banana republic at least to some degree. The US public will suffer the consequences, keeping the pressure on to stop the financial hemorrhage in Iraq that the US can no longer afford.

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Humans are the only species that smiles. Other animals may smile, but probably do so behind our backs. A smile is the sunroof of the head (albeit in a different position). It lets the sunshine in your soul pour through for a moment, until you revert to normal overcast conditions. Smiles come with teeth or without. One reason Americans can seem overly jolly is because they all have good teeth and don't mind displaying them. British teeth have been rotten for centuries and, because a smile was like lifting a drain cover, we developed a stiff upper lip instead. The ability to smile under pressure is hugely valuable: it's impossible to be intimidated, patronised, insulted or religiously converted when you're smiling. People like smiles, but they are also suspicious of them. Unless the cause of your merriment is obvious, people will assume you're smiling at some deficiency on their part. Smiles are incredibly fragile things. They're little bubbles of happiness and confidence that have managed to surface through the layers of angst, oppression and general misery. There are people who like nothing better than wiping the smile from people's faces. These people are the confiscators of life's footballs. The ability of two people to smile continuously into each other's eyes is reserved for lovers and for mothers and their babies. Given this fact, a smile could easily be classified as a reproductive organ. Indeed, some cultures require that an erect smile be covered with the hand or a veil. Real smiles involve the eyes. Customer services staff can arrange their teeth into a smile, but have trouble getting their eyes to coordinate. Raised eyebrows are a sure sign of a genuine smile since it's very difficult to do anything mean-spirited when they're in that position. Clever people rarely smile. They know that village idiots smile at the slightest thing and they don't want to be mistaken for people concerned with slight things. Ironically, a smile can achieve things any amount of cleverness can't. Smiles are like coal - using either contributes to global warming. Smiles are sometimes equally difficult to dig up. When you're feeling glum, you can jump-start happiness by smiling artificially. This reminds you how to do it, and also feels so foolish, you might smile despite yourself.

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Anesthesia is a way to control pain using anesthetic medicine. General anesthesia, which can be injected into a vein or inhaled, affects the entire body and makes the person unconscious. A person under general anesthesia is completely unaware of what is going on and does not feel pain during the surgery or procedure. Anesthesia interrupts the pain signals between a person's nerve endings and the brain. The health professional administering the anesthesia monitors the person's condition throughout the procedure. Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & John M. Freedman, MD - Anesthesiology The Health Encyclopedia contains general health information. Not all treatments or services described are covered benefits for Kaiser Permanente members or offered as services by Kaiser Permanente. For a list of covered benefits, please refer to your Evidence of Coverage or Summary Plan Description. For recommended treatments, please consult with your health care provider.

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The latest news about robots, robotics Posted: Jan 20, 2014 Robots learn from each other on 'Wiki for robots' (Nanowerk News) Now it’s not just people – robots are also connected by internet thanks to RoboEarth. Last week, after four years of research, scientists at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Philips and four other European universities presented this online platform through which robots can learn new skills from each other worldwide – a kind of ‘Wikipedia for robots’. This brings the development of robots that can carry out caring or household tasks a big step closer. The greying population means there is an urgent future need for robots to take over caring or household tasks. To enable robots to successfully lend a mechanical helping hand, they need to be able to deal flexibly with new situations and conditions. For example you can teach a robot to bring you a cup of coffee in the living room, but if some of the chairs have been moved the robot won’t be able to find you any longer. Or it may get confused if you’ve just bought a different set of coffee cups. “The problem right now is that robots are often developed specifically for one task”, says René van de Molengraft, TU/e researcher and RoboEarth project leader. “Everyday changes that happen all the time in our environment make all the programmed actions unusable. But RoboEarth simply lets robots learn new tasks and situations from each other. All their knowledge and experience are shared worldwide on a central, online database. As well as that, computing and ‘thinking’ tasks can be carried out by the system’s ‘cloud engine’, so the robot doesn’t need to have as much computing or battery power on-board.” Opening a box It means, for example, that a robot can image a hospital room and upload the resulting map to RoboEarth. Another robot, which doesn’t know the room, can use that map on RoboEarth to locate a glass of water immediately, without having to search for it endlessly. In the same way a task like opening a box of pills can be shared on RoboEarth, so other robots can also do it without having to be programmed for that specific type of box. Six research institutes RoboEarth will be presented next week after four years of research by the team of scientists from six European research institutes (TU/e, Philips, ETH Zürich, TU München and the universities of Zaragoza and Stuttgart). The operation of the platform will be demonstrated to a delegation from the European Commission, which financed the project, using four robots and two simulated hospital rooms. Source: TU Eindhoven If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on reddit or StumbleUpon. Thanks!

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Source: Purdue University By Amanda Gee WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Sept. 23, 2013 — Soybean producers can easily get an idea of the yield potential of their crops with a Purdue Extension soybean specialist's calculation method. Soybean yield potential is built on many factors, including the genetics selected, management decisions during the season and the weather. Yield components of soybeans are pods, seed size and number of seeds per pod. "Individual plant production varies, and every field will vary based on pests, soils, fertility and other factors," said Shaun Casteel. "But I've simplified the process of estimating soybean yields so that producers can scout multiple areas quickly while maintaining representative estimates." Casteel's system is based on estimated yield in one ten-thousandth of an acre. The basic formula involves multiplying the number of pods by the number of seeds per pod, then dividing that result by the seed size factor. That calculation will show the estimated bushels per acre. To calculate, producers first need to count the number of pods in one ten-thousandth of an acre, an area determined by a 21-inch length of a row of plants and how far apart the rows were planted. "Nearly 90 percent of our Indiana soybean acres are planted in 30-, 15- or 7.5-inch rows, so just remember that each count needs to be 21 inches long," Casteel said. "You will count the number of pods in one row for 30-inch width, two rows for 15-inch and four rows for 7.5-inch." Producers should count the number of pods that are at stage R5 or higher - when they can see seeds. Next, they must determine the number of seeds per pod. Casteel said using the average of 2.5 seeds per pod is best because there can be a range of 1-4 seeds per pod. "This value is conservative since we don't know exactly how the rest of the season will finish," Casteel said. Changing this one value can increase or decrease yield estimates. The third step is to calculate seed size factor. Casteel said the starting point is seed size factor 18, equaling about 3,000 seeds per pound. "If you expect larger seeds from late-season rains, you would divide by a lower seed size factor such as 15, which equals about 2,500 seeds per pound," he said. "If the field has late-season stress, such as a lack of water, you would divide by a higher seed size factor like 21, or 3,500 seeds per pound." For most Indiana fields in 2013, the seed size factor will be between 18 and 21, Casteel said. The three values – number of pods in stage R5 or higher, number of seeds per pod and seed size factor - go into Casteel's equation. For example, 250 pods times 2.5 seeds per pod divided by a seed size factor 15 equals 41.7 bushels per acre. Fair soybean growth with limited pod retention but with good late-season moisture will result in a fair crop. Although producers can start estimating yields as soybeans enter the R5 stage, the estimates will be more accurate as soybeans develop and enter R6, or full seed. If soybeans are just coming into R6, Casteel said the yield potential still depends on pod retention and seed size. The weather is an important contributor to yield potential, and dry conditions over the past 4-5 weeks have lowered yield potential in some fields. "Reductions in excessive heat and the return of rain helped yield potentials more in seed size than pod retention assuming the soybeans are into R6 and beginning to drop leaves," Casteel said. "If fields are green, soybean yield potentials could improve. If fields are losing foliage, yield gains will be very limited."

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Athens, Ga. - Invasive species such as kudzu, privet and garlic mustard can devastate ecosystems, and, until now, scientists had little reason to believe that native plants could mount a successful defense. A new University of Georgia study shows that some native clearweed plants have evolved resistance to invasive garlic mustard plants--and that the invasive plants appear to be waging a counterattack. The study, published in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is thought to provide the first evidence of coevolution between native and invasive plant species. "The implications of this study are encouraging because they show that the native plants aren't taking this invasion lying down," said study author Richard Lankau, assistant professor of plant biology in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "It suggests that if you were to take a longer view--a timescale of centuries--that exotic species could become integrated into their communities in a way that is less problematic for the natives." Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) was introduced to the U.S. from Europe roughly 150 years ago first in New York and Virginia and then to the Chicago area. The noxious plant continues to spread rapidly throughout the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast. "It's a pretty well-hated plant," Lankau said, because it can form dense carpets in forest understories and, even after being physically removed from an area, can reestablish itself within a year. Much of the plant's success is a result of the chemical warfare it wages with a compound known as sinigrin, which kills fungi that help native plants extract nutrients from the soil. The chemical is relatively new to North America, and this novelty gives garlic mustard a huge competitive advantage. Through a series of greenhouse and field experiments conducted over three years in five states, Lankau has shown that invasive garlic mustard produces more sinigrin in areas where more local plants are present. He found that native clearweed (Pilea pumila) plants, which were chosen for the study because they occupy the same forest understory habitat, show higher levels of resistance to sinigrin in areas where the two species have a longer history of coexistence. "It looks like the native plants have evolved in response to the traits of the invader," Lankau said. In addition to transplanting clearweed seeds back to their sites of origin, Lankau also planted them in all of the other study sites and monitored their growth. Each site has its unique soil chemistry and climate, and Lankau said he expected the plants to exhibit a home-field advantage. Instead, he found that native plants resistant to the invader did best in heavily invaded sites, regardless of where they originated. Surprisingly, he found that plants resistant to sinigrin actually did worse than their less-resistant-plant counterparts in areas where there was little or no garlic mustard. "It's not all good for those populations that are evolving tolerance," Lankau said. "Because they are less successful in the absence of garlic mustard, their resistance to the invasive species comes at a cost." Taken together, the findings suggest that the native and invasive species could reach equilibrium over a long period of time. Lankau said the study also raises the possibility that humans can help speed the adaptation of ecosystems to invasive species. He explained that removing invasive species and replanting natives often results in failure but replacing invasive species with native plants from an area where the plants have had time to adapt to the invader could be more effective. Rather than replanting clearweed from a recently invaded site in Michigan, for example, land managers could use plants from New York that are more likely to be resistant to garlic mustard. "When people talk about evolution, it's usually in the past tense," Lankau said. "But one of the important messages from this study is that it's an ongoing process that can happen fast. And this study suggests that we might be able to jumpstart that process through evolutionarily informed management." The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

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As one of today’s leading researchers of middle ear disorders, Dr. Bluestone offers a unique perspective on the diagnosis and management of common middle ear problems. Eustachian Tube: Structure, Function and Role in Middle-ear Disease is the first book to comprehensively cover these disorders in both adults and children. Eustachian Tube begins with an overview of middle ear anatomy, and the epidemiology of middle ear disorders. Then it discusses current tests of eustachian tube function, as well as the physiology and pathophysiology of the eustachian tube. Dr. Bluestone also draws on his extensive clinical experience to describe the latest surgical and nonsurgical methods of middle ear treatment. Throughout, photographs and drawings illustrate anatomy and pathophysiology. Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Epidemiology Chapter 3: Anatomy Chapter 4: Physiology Chapter 5: Pathophysiology Chapter 6: Pathogenesis Chapter 7: Pathology Chapter 8: Diagnosis and Tests of Function Chapter 9: Role in Management of Middle-Ear Disease Chapter 10: Role in Certain Complications and Sequelae of Middle-Ear Disease Chapter 11: Future Directions

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A new study shows that Facebook isn’t in danger of extinction. But maybe Princeton is. A Facebook data scientist released his own analysis today to poke at a recent study out of Princeton that predicted the social network would lose 80 percent of its users by 2017. The Princeton study has spread in a large portion of the consumer press, which has essentially taken the research at face value, even though it struggles to stand up to basic scrutiny. The Princeton researchers studied how popular Facebook is in Google searches and noted that it was trending downward. That observation—noting a decline in people searching Facebook—led to the conclusion that it would lose almost all its users within three years. Facebook’s data scientist decided to have a little fun with the analysis and turn it back on Princeton. Facebook’s data scientist found that Princeton has dropped in popularity according to its own stats based on Likes. “In keeping with the scientific principle ‘correlation equals causation,’ our research unequivocally demonstrated that Princeton may be in danger of disappearing entirely,” the unofficial Facebook study said. Facebook also used Google trends to track Princeton’s viability. Here’s what it found: “Princeton will have only half its current enrollment by 2018, and by 2021 it will have no students at all, agreeing with the previous graph of scholarly scholarliness. Based on our robust scientific analysis, future generations will only be able to imagine this now-rubble institution that once walked this earth.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm room, which could also factor into the current feud.

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|| Home | Free Articles for Your Site | Submit an Article | Advertise | Link to Us | Search | Contact Us || OTHER ITA SITES: Delicious Choices For The Coffee Connoisseur Coffee is a beverage, served hot or with ice, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. These seeds are almost always called the coffee bean. It is one of the most popular beverages in adults today. The coffee bean, itself, contains chemicals which are mind-altering (in a way some find pleasing) to humans as a coincidental result of their defense mechanism; those chemicals are toxic in large doses, or even in their normal amount when consumed by many creatures which may otherwise have threatened the coffee beans in the wild. A coffee bean from two different places usually have distinctive characteristics such as flavor (flavor criteria includes terms such as "citrus-like" or "earthy"), caffeine content, body or mouthfeel, and acidity. These are dependent on the local environment where the coffee plants are grown, their method of process, and the genetic subspecies or varietal. Some well-known arabica coffee beans include: * Colombian - Coffee was first introduced to the country of Colombia in the early 1800's. Today Maragogype, Caturra, Typica and Bourbon cultivars are grown. When Colombian coffee is freshly roasted it has a bright acidity, is heavy in body and is intensely aromatic. Colombia produces about 12% of the coffee in the world, second only to Brazil. * Colombian Milds - Includes coffees from Colombia, Kenya, and Tanzania, all of which are washed arabicas. * Costa Rican Tarrazu - from the Tarrazu Valley in the highlands outside of San José, archetypal estate coffee is La Minita. * Guatemala Huehuetenango - Grown at over 5000 feet in the northern region, one of the most remote growing regions in Guatemala * Ethiopian Harrar from the region of Harar, Ethiopia * Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from the area of the town of Yirga Cheffe in the Sidamo (now Oromia) region of Ethiopia * Hawaiian Kona grown on the slopes of Hualalai in the Kona District on the Big Island of Hawaii. * Jamaican Blue Mountain From the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica. Due to its popularity, it fetches a high price in the market. * Java from the island of Java, in Indonesia. This coffee was once so widely traded that "java" became a slang term for coffee .. and more. Some coffee bean varieties are so well-known and so in-demand that they are far more expensive than others. Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona coffees are perhaps the most prominent examples. Often these coffee beans are blended with other, less expensive coffee beans and the suffix "blend" added to the labelling, such as "Blue Mountain blend" or "Kona blend" even though they only contain a small amount of the coffee bean mentioned. One unusual and very expensive variety of robusta is the Indonesian Kopi Luwak and the Philippine Kape Alamid. The coffee bean is collected from the droppings of the Common Palm Civet, whose digestive processes give it a distinctive flavor. Auto and Trucks Business and Finance Computers and Internet Food and Drink Gadgets and Gizmos Kids and Teens Music and Movies Pets and Animals Politics and Government Recreation and Sports Religion and Faith Travel and Leisure

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Chapter5: Information Architecture Information architecture is organizing information so that it is easy to use. If we apply paradigm of design we learned last week, information architecture deals with the paradigm of engineering and paradigm of usability. (You can see nice pyramid about paradigm of design here) So it is about how to make information easy to find. So many interesting theories like information foraging is used. It will be especially useful, when there is many information in certain places, when the user will have to guess where the related information is located. Providing self-relevant categories and many hints(scent) about where the info may lies is key task for the information architect. There can be a really wide variety of category over specific items. However some of the user-centered techniques for creating such architecture includes card sorting ,closed card sorting, similarity matching. They request users to categorize and label various items. The reason these are user-centered is that from various categorization available, designer follows what the customer thinks naturally. One concept useful in this approach that is not discussed in the article is the concept of user’s mental model and designer’s representation model. By making these similar, we can achieve optimal organization. And that’s why we designers are interested in the model in user’s mind. There are many topology certain sites can have. For example there is hierarchy(tree), linear (sequence), matrix, full mesh, arbitrary network and hybrid. Even though there is no absolute answer to the topology, a topology is adequate at certain situation. One thing I would like to note is the horizontal vs vertical organization. If there is many contents, horizontal organization with many links at certain level which means short required level. Also the vertical organization means at certain level there is small number of links, which means deep required level. It seems horizontal organization performs generally better than the vertical organization. It seems because there are many choices, the probability of error also increases. So in vertical organization where the user has to make many choices, there can be more errors. So heuristically sublevel below 3 is now recommended. Chapter 11: Prototyping Let me begin with the different types and fidelity levels of prototypes. There is horizontal and vertical prototype. Also there is variations like T and local prototype. In terms of fidelity there is low, middle, high-fidelity prototypes. Also if we consider the interactivity, there is scripted and click-through, a fully programmed, Wizard of Oz type, physical mockup and animated prototype. So there is many types of prototype, and finding a adequate one to try seems daunting task. Or is it? Well, it seems common sense and reality check with time, budget and man power can reduce many choices into a few feasible rational selection. 1. First, matching the level of fidelity with the stage of progress is good idea. That means start with low fidelity, proceed to the high quality pixel perfect prototype. 2. You should know using programming makes it complex, because nature of program is that it should be perfect to work even for the prototype. Pen and paper are easy to create variations. So begin with the pen and paper and proceed to the programming if it is required. Please keep in mind that even though the prototyping code looks functional, development will prefer starting fresh. 3. Vertical prototyping is nice to test a certain feature which requires sequential interaction like check out. Horizontal prototyping is good for the general look and feel and feature set. 4. There is times when high fidelity prototype is required. When the time comes, you will probably know. Such event includes VC pitch, Big boss meeting, request from technical sales. However there are pitfalls when using prototyping. I already mentioned pitfalls with the programming in the previous blog post. There is a few more pitfalls. Interestingly, there is a pitfall with low fidelity prototype and pitfalls with high fidelity prototype. 1. Low fidelity prototype is nice if it is used with the people who understands the design process. However there are many cases where people don’t know about it. If the people is your boss, client or stakeholder, it can be problematic. For example, they may think you are an inexperienced amatuer (Maybe it is true that you are inexperienced amateur. Not in the sense, your design skill is not good enough but you are not experienced with clients, if you showed it to someone who can think like that. ) 2. High fidelity prototype also has its own pitfall. For example, the clients sees the prototype, they think it’s done and may even try to save money by declaring the job done. Other than that if you have a nice slick look and feel, most of your feedback can be on the topic of detail about look and feel not the interaction flow. Also people tend to be less inclined to criticize work if it looks done, for it is too late. By the way, the topics about the paper mockup was interesting. I wonder maybe our next class will be an art and craft with pen scissor glue developing paper mockup for the mini-hub.

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The Warren Wagon Train Massacre – White Man's Version There were many Indian massacres or atrocities committed in the nineteenth century that resulted in many more deaths to whites and Indians. This story tells of an incident that was particularly brutal. There were many Indian massacres or atrocities committed in the nineteenth century that resulted in many more deaths to whites and Indians. This story tells of an incident that was particularly brutal. 18, 1871, the next day after General Sherman, Gen. Marcy, and their escorts passed over the road between Fort Belknap and Fort Richardson, and two years and two days after the famous Salt Creek Fight, a wagon train, loaded with corn, and belonging to Capt. Henry Warren, who was a contractor at Ft. Griffin, was attacked by Chief Satanta, Satauk, (Satank), Big Tree, and perhaps other chiefs in command of about 100 warriors, not a great distance from Flat Top Mountain, about half-way between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, and on the identical road over which Gen. Sherman, Gen. Marcy and others passed during the preceding day. train, when attacked, was under the command of Nathan S. Long, wagon-master. Many warriors were armed with the most modern rifles, known at that time. The teamsters were as helpless as children, Nathan Long, John Mullins, J. S. and Samuel Elliot, B. J. Baxter, Jesse Bowman, and James Williams, were killed. Thomas Brazeale was seriously wounded, but escaped, and R. A. Day, and Charles Brady, escaped unharmed. Samuel Elliott was burned to death. The savages chained him to the wheel of a wagon so he could not move, and then built a fire around his feet. was difficult for Gen. Sherman, Gen. Marcy and others to believe that the Indians had committed such crimes. After making a personal investigation, Col. McKenzie reported to Gen. Sherman that the report was true, as related. Thomas Brazeale, the wounded man, also found his way to Jacksboro, and related how the savage tigers from the reservation near Ft. Sill sprang upon the defenseless teamsters, killed seven of their number, one of whom was burned to death, and carried away about forty mules, as well as such other things that seemed to suit their fancy. example of savage butchery has often been referred to as the Monument Fight, for after it happened, Capt. Henry Warren erected a nicely painted wooden monument where the tragedy occurred. We are told that this monument decayed and disappeared many years ago. Tecumseh Sherman, General of the Army, traveled north on an inspection tour of the forts. He was accompanied by Inspector General Randolph B. Marcy, who had been retained by United States government twenty years prior for several explorations, including, blazing a southern route to Santa Fe, locating the head waters of the Brazos and the Red Rivers and, with Major Neighbors, establishing suitable locations for the Indian Reservations. Sherman and Marcy were accompanied by two staff members and only fifteen cavalry men. dispatched his Adjutant, R. G. Carter, and a detachment to intercept and escort the General and his party. This precaution was prudent, considering the 80 plus miles the party traveled between Ft. Griffin and Ft. Richardson, at its midpoint, crossed the Salt Creek Prairie, and considered one of the most dangerous places on the entire United States frontier. These were the closest settlements to the Indian Territory (United States Indian Policy did not allow pursuit of the Indians onto the Reservations) so they were not only most convenient targets of short raids-, but also the first and last targets of opportunity for longer gracefully declined Carter's assistance indicating an air of nonchalance which suited his political philosophy about the degree of danger presented by Indians. When Marcy pointed out to Sherman that the area was dramatically less inhabited than it was when he had passed through there twenty years prior, Sherman pointed out the houses were spaced far apart and did not indicate serious concern on the part of the builders for believed a large portion of the raiders to be ex-Confederate renegades, and he had written to General J. J. Reynolds, commander of the department have seen not a trace of an Indian thus far, and only hear stories of people which indicate that what ever Indians there be, only come to Texas to steal horses... and the people within a hundred miles of the frontier ought to take precautions such as all people do against all sort of thieves... but up to this point the people manifest no fears or apprehensions, for they expose women and children singly on the road and in cabins far off from others as though they were in Illinois." Sherman's party crossed Salt Creek unaware that they were being watched by a Kiowa raiding party of one hundred fifty warriors, led by Chiefs Satank and Satanta, accompanied by the mysterious medicine man, Maman-ti. their ascension to the top of the hill, Maman-ti consulted with his owl, a symbol of death to the Kiowa. They feared even to look at an owl, which was fortunate for Maman-ti because his was only an owl skin with button eyes; he could blow air into the owl skin causing the wings to flap. He told the braves the owl warned against attacking the first target they saw, but glory would be theirs if they waited for the second. Luckily for Sherman, they saw his party first. Sometime later, traveling in the opposite direction towards Ft. Griffin, the Warren wagon train and its teamsters were the unfortunate ones. (White Bear) blew his trumpet signaling the attack. As they charged, the drivers attempted to circle their wagons. Addo-etta (Big Tree) and Yellow Wolf cut off the lead mules, scoring the first two coups. The teamsters opened fire, wounding --Red War Bonnet, a Kiowa, and killing Or-dlee, a Comanche. Big Tree shot one of the drivers out of his seat. Light-Haired-Young-Man, a Kiowa-Apache, was knocked off his horse and carried from the fight. The warriors circled the train, their fire killing three more drivers and wounding a fourth. The remaining seven bolted through a gap in the -circling Indians and sprinted -toward the timber around Cox Mountain. Two more died as they ran and a third was injured. Indians didn't pursue them into the timber, returning to their primary interest, the booty in the wagons. They continued circling the train, unsure of the number of defenders still remaining. An inexperienced young Kiowa, named Hautau (Gun Shot), charged a wagon. As he touched the canvas to claim it, Samuel Elliott, lying wounded inside the wagon, shot him in the face. Elliott was overtaken and chained, face down, to a wagon tongue and roasted over a slow fire. this time in Ft. Richardson, Sherman was receiving local citizens who related their individual accounts of the Indian atrocities they had encountered. The settlers recounted hundreds of deaths, and kidnappings in the depredations which had occurred over the last decade. Sherman was polite but unmoved, and spent the evening at a reception in his honor attended by the officers and their wives. Later that night he was awakened from his sleep and informed of the fate of the wagon train on the road he had just crossed. Now visibly moved, he ordered Mackenzie to take a detachment to investigate the report, and if true, to pursue the raiders even to the Reservation. departed with four cavalry companies consisting of over two hundred men, and headed west along the Butterfield Road in a heavy rain storm. Confirming the report, Mackenzie searched to the north for over 20 days with no success. On June 4th, the detachment arrived at Ft. Sill to find the leaders of the raid in chains and Sherman already departed, continuing his inspection tour into Missouri. Quaker Indian agent, Lawry Tatum and Colonel Grierson, commander of Ft. Sill, greeted General Sherman upon his arrival at the fort on May 23. When informed about the wagon train massacre at Salt Creek, Tatum stated that Satanta's tribe was reported off the reservation and he would make inquiries, several days later when Indians picked up their rations. When asked, Satanta, in a proud statement, had not only condemned himself, but also Big Tree, Satank and Eagle Heart as accomplices. given the information, Sherman, lacking authority to make arrest on the reservation, asked Tatum to call the chiefs to a meeting on the porch of Colonel Grierson's home at Fort Sill. A large number of chiefs gathered and Satanta again confirmed that it was he that had led the raid, and if anyone said different, they would be a liar. Sherman stated that Satanta, Satank, Big Tree and Eagle Heart were under arrest and would be sent to Texas to stand trial for murder, and that the Kiowa tribe would be responsible for returning the mules stolen in the raid. then changed his story, saying he only went along to blow his bugle (signaling commands to his warriors and confusing the commands given by the army) and observe the young men learning to be warriors. Kicking Bird offered to produce a large number of mules in retribution, but pleaded that they not arrest the chiefs. the shutters around the porch banged open and dozens of previously concealed soldiers brought their rifles to bear on the gathered Indians who had weapons concealed beneath their blankets. In the next few seconds, one warrior was killed and Eagle Heart escaped. The remaining three suspect chiefs were arrested and put in irons and confined awaiting their deportation to Texas. the morning of June 8th, Mackenzie and his troops left Ft. Sill, escorting the wagon containing the three manacled chiefs on their way to stand trial in Jacksboro, Texas. Satank told a Caddo scout "Tell my people I died beside the road. My bones will be found there. Tell my people to gather them up and carry them away." The old chief then covered his head with a blanket and began his death song. the next mile he had chewed enough of his hand off to escape a manacle. With a concealed knife, he stabbed one of the guards in the wagon and grabbed a rifle but before he could fire, Corporal John B. Charlton killed him. The soldiers left his body by the road approximately where he predicted he would be, and proceeded to Jacksboro with the surviving two trial was a nationwide media event, as it was the first time raiding Indians had been made to stand trial for their deeds in the community where they committed their crimes. Newspapers across the country carried headlines stating that twelve Jacksboro jurors had found them guilty of murder and that Judge Charles Soward sentenced them to be hanged. Edmund J. Davis was ultimately pressured to overturn the sentence. He was swayed by two sound arguments, first that the Kiowa would be easier to control if there existed a possibility of the Chiefs being returned, and second that Indians feared confinement more than death. Thus, on August 2, 1871, he commuted their sentences to life imprisonment. chiefs were sent to the Huntsville State Penitentiary and paroled in 1873. They immediately violated their parole by leading new raids into Texas and both were eventually rearrested. Satanta died of a fall from an upper story window while in prison. Big Tree was eventually released and helped establish and became a deacon in a Baptist church in Oklahoma. Mrs. Barbara Belding-Gibson points our in her book, Painted Pole, that the freeing of Satanta and Big Tree was a successful ploy by Lone Wolf to get them released. He represented himself to the U. S. as premier chief of the Kiowa and one who could speak for the Comanche. He insisted he would have to confer with Big Tree and Satanta before he could go to D. C. and make a treaty. Indians were transported to St. Louis to meet with Lone Wolf then returned to Huntsville while he went to Washington. There he declared he couldn't control his young warriors without the aid of Big Tree and Satanta. If they weren't going to be released, he promised there would be open warfare. The United States representatives agreed, without authority, and then pressured Governor Davis to release the Indians. © Contributed by Dennis Muncrief - 2009

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In September of 1995, I worked on a trail-building crew along the edge of Little Blackfoot Meadows, in the Helena National Forest near Elliston, Mont. It was a big piece of roadless country, mostly lodgepole pines over a lush carpet of whortleberry bushes. The meadows were a sunburnt dun color, and the willows along the braids of the marshy creek glowed deep yellow from frost. In the center of a wide meadow, we noticed what I first thought was a small herd of horses. As the animals moved, their leggy, preposterous gait revealed them to be moose, huddled together, their long heads up and watching. We wondered why they were all bunched up like that. That night, the weather shifted, and the next morning, on a bench above the meadows, two sets of big dog-like tracks showed in the skiff of snow. "Wolves," my boss said. "That's why those moose were acting like they were." I had never seen wolf tracks before. Kneeling to study them, I imagined the pair of wild rovers -- from who knows where, maybe Canada or Glacier National Park -- following ancient paths through the people-less valley. I liked being where the wolves were, in a place where so many of the region's original living components survived. We all did. No one could have predicted back then that the Northern Rockies wolves -- the 66 introduced into central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995 and 1996, plus a few that crossed the Canadian border and naturally re-colonized -- would become one of the most successful projects of the Endangered Species Act. Wolves were among the first species sheltered by the 1973 law, and in the years since the reintroduction, their numbers have risen to more than five times the initial goal of 300 individuals and 30 breeding pairs. The success of the reintroduction has made for some excellent, fractious politics. It's also revealed the weaknesses in the strategy of the environmentalists who have used continuous lawsuits to protect wolves. From the beginning, it was clear that the resurgent wolf population would need at least the threat of legal action to survive. Many of the West's cattle and sheep ranchers and hunters still hail the extermination of the region's original wolves (the last were slaughtered in a Yellowstone den in 1926) as the best way to deal with top-level predators that compete with human beings. Yet the pro-wolf lawsuits have ended in a colossal strategic failure: Congress has just brushed them aside and passed a bipartisan measure that strips Endangered Species Act protections from most Northern Rockies wolves, effective May 5. Suddenly, the whole Endangered Species Act looks vulnerable to more attacks from the law's traditional enemies as well as a surge of new ones. There are lessons we can pull from the apparent ruins. The thinking of the environmental groups that persisted in filing lawsuits can be summed up: They didn't trust the Clinton administration to manage wolves, then they didn't trust the George W. Bush administration, and then they didn't trust the Obama administration. Most of all they didn't trust the state governments, hunters and ranchers. They believed they could force people to tolerate wolves and refused to acknowledge the other side's point of view -- or at least, the courtroom arenas didn't allow them to acknowledge the other side. They ignored the public's perceptions of their actions, and they didn't see the risk of filing one lawsuit too many. In April of 2003, for instance, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to relax protections somewhat by downlisting wolves from "endangered" to "threatened" in nine Western states, 17 environmental groups filed suit, claiming that the decision was not "based on the best available science." The wolf population in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho at the time was estimated at 663, more than twice the original goal. Mike Clark, head of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, one of the groups in the lawsuit, told me recently that the goal of 300 wolves was "just a number selected by U.S. Fish and Wildlife. There was never any discussion of whether that was enough to have a sustainable population, and it was certainly never set in stone." But many Westerners didn't know that the feds' voluminous wolf plans contained a few sentences saying the goal might be adjusted to take into account ongoing research. There was enough science and legal argument on the environmentalists' side that U.S. District Judge Robert Jones in Oregon ruled in their favor, invoking the standard lawsuit language that the downlisting was "arbitrary and capricious." It seemed like a victory, but it delayed federal efforts to hand wolf management over to the state governments. During the next three years, as wolf numbers rose, science took a back seat to the fury over the notion that the federal government -- the Inland West's favorite whipping boy, especially in rural areas -- was imposing the wolves on hunters and ranchers, on behalf of anti-hunting, anti-ranching environmentalists. That perception wasn't completely accurate, but like the strongest propaganda, it felt true enough to have an impact. The lawsuit-oriented groups shrugged off any experts who disagreed with their own experts -- including Valerius Geist, a widely respected researcher and author who is also a professor emeritus of wildlife biology at the University of Alberta in Calgary. Geist reveres the North American Model of Conservation, a concept dating back to 1842 that prevents private ownership of wildlife while allowing hunting and fishing within the boundaries of laws set, mostly, by the states. It has been, arguably, the most effective wildlife conservation and restoration model in the world. Geist told me in 2000, while I was researching a story for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Bugle magazine, that wolf reintroduction was "a bad idea. ... Environmentalists have an idealistic vision that there is a balance of nature that can be achieved. What you will actually see is quite a depletion in your big-game (herds)." Geist thinks that "those dickybird fellows" -- as he calls most environmentalists -- do not really care whether the wolves reduce opportunity for big-game hunters, even though the special taxes hunters pay on firearms and their hunting-license fees basically paid for restoring the elk that allowed the wolf recovery: "The enviros have taken a free ride on the money provided by hunters, and they have never paid their share of wildlife costs."

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For Orthodox Christians, one of the oldest Easter traditions are dyed eggs, which are associated with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Eggs symbolize the empty rock tomb from which Jesus arose after his crucifixion and are used as universal means of greeting and presentation for Christian believers, while also foretelling the eternal life experience which awaits true believers after death. The choice of red — the color of life and victory — bears a long history and dates to ancient Mesopotamia, where early Christians stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Jesus, who was crucified for the salvation of all mankind. The reason the Greek Orthodox Church adopted the custom is still disputed and many sources indicate different reasons. The most renowned story links Mary Magdalene to the red Easter eggs custom, who being the first to have seen the empty tomb of Jesus after his resurrection, went to the Roman emperor to inform him of the miracle. The emperor, however, didn’t believe what he was told and announced that he would believe the claims of Mary Magdalene only if the eggs in a basket next to him would turn red instantly, which they did. A second story has it that the Virgin Mary offered her son’s guards a basket of eggs so that they would treat him well. The eggs turned red when Virgin Mary soaked them with her tears. According to a variation of the story, an unknown woman would believe in the news of Jesus’ resurrection, only if the eggs she was holding in her hands would turn red. Miraculously, the eggs changed color as soon as she formed her doubt. It is common belief that dyed Easter eggs can stay edible forty days without being refrigerated. If, however, a priest blesses the eggs on Easter Sunday, they are said to last a whole year without turning bad.

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This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) October 14, 1853 Șipotele Sucevei, Duchy of Bukovina, Austrian Empire (now Shepit, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine) |Died||June 6, 1883 Stupca (now Ciprian Porumbescu, Suceava County, Romania) Ciprian Porumbescu (Romanian: [t͡ʃipriˈan porumˈbesku]; born Ciprian Gołęmbiowski on October 14, 1853 – June 6, 1883) was a Romanian composer born in Șipotele Sucevei in Bukovina (now Shepit, Putyla Raion, Ukraine). He was among the most celebrated Romanian composers of his time; his popular works include Crai nou, Trei culori, Song for the 1st of May, Ballad for violin and piano, and Serenada. In addition, he composed the music for Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire, which was used for Albania's national anthem, Hymni i Flamurit. His work spreads over various forms and musical genres, but the majority of his work is choral and operetta. Ciprian Porumbescu was born into the family of Iraclie Porumbescu, an ethnic Romanian writer and Orthodox priest of Romanian origins, whose Romanian name was changed by Austrian authorities into Golembiovski. The name Porumbescu was changed from Golembiovski in 1881 when Ciprian was at school in Suceava. He studied music in Suceava and Cernăuți, then continued at the Konservatorium für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna from 1879 to 1881 under Anton Bruckner and Franz Krenn. His artistic career as a composer, conductor, violinist, and pianist started in Cernăuţi, and continued in Vienna, and later in Brașov where he taught vocal music at Romanian schools. Ciprian Porumbescu wrote poetry, lyrics and press articles, and actively participated in the public cultural life. He helped the rise of the Romanian music school during an age of enthusiasm generated by Romania's independence. Some of the most remarkable musical pages of the composer were inspired by national heroes and great army leaders, such as Stephen III of Moldavia and Dragoș Vodă. The appreciation of his music came from the melodic nature of his compositions and their folklore inspiration. In 1877, Porumbescu was arrested by the Austrian authorities due to his political ideals of independence manifested within the Arboroasa society; during detention, he contracted tuberculosis. He was released later after being found not guilty, going on to become a founding member of Societatea Academică Junimea (Junimea Academic Society). He died at the age of 29 in Stupca, which was renamed Ciprian Porumbescu in his honor. Ciprian Porumbescu left a legacy of more than 250 works, bringing him fame and popularity through his short life. The composer saw his work Crai nou ("New Moon") performed in Brașov, while his vocal works Pe-al nostru steag ("On Our Flag"), Tricolorul ("The Tricolor", dedicated to Romania's national flag), Cântec de primăvară ("Spring Song"), Serenada, Cântecul gintei latine ("Latin Nation's Song"), La malurile Prutului ("On the Shores of the Prut River"), and Altarul mânăstirii Putna ("Putna Monastery's Altar") were already in the public conscience. As a student at the Vienna Musical Conservatory, Porumbescu noted with great interest the success of operettas by Strauss, Suppé, Offenbach and others. His supreme goal was to replace the frivolity of subject-matter in the fashionable operettas with a plot that revived old Romanian traditions. Among them was Crai Nou (New Moon), in which the new-born moon will fulfill every lover's dreams of happiness (collected and published by Vasile Alecsandri), appeared the most appropriate for the dream-like environment of the local and earnest task he had in mind. The result was Romania's first operetta of the same name. Ballad for Violin and Orchestra Finished on October 21, 1880, the Ballad for Violin and Orchestra soon became the best known work by Ciprian Porumbescu, and a reference work in Romanian classical music of the 19th century. In seclusion at Stupca, the composer meditated, drafted and then finished the piece, full of poetry and bitter nostalgia, with light and shade, a mixture of "Doina", old dance and song, everything in the environment of serene melancholy. - Viorel Cosma, Muzicieni din România: P-S, Editura Muzicală, 1989, p.120 - Composer Ciprian Porumbescu - Constantin Ghiban, Cînta la Stupca o vioară. Editi̧a a II-a, Bucharest, 1961. |Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ciprian Porumbescu.|

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The Republic of Belau (the traditional name) is the most southwesterly part of Micronesia, lying 800 km east of the Philippines and is made up of an archipelago of over 340 tiny islands. It gained independence from the US in 1994 and also decided to remain autonomous from The Federated States of Micronesia. It is part of the Caroline Islands chain. The islands run roughly north to south over a length of some 200km. They can be split into the following main areas - Babeldoab, Koror, Peleliu, Anguar , the low coral atolls of Kayangel and Ngeruangel and the limestone Rock Islands. This group of islands is regarded as having some of the best diving and snorkelling in the world. Three nutrient-rich ocean currents merge here putting it in an area that has the most diverse marine life in the world. There are over 1,500 species of tropical fish and 700 different types of coral and anemones. In addition, there are large palagics - sharks and rays - and other life including giant clams, dolphins, whales and the almost extinct dugong, or sea cow. Dives drop to over 350m and visibility is excellent, quite often exceeding 60m. There are land locked marine lakes, accessable through tunnels from the sea, which house rare species of jellyfish, anemones and soft corals. Following WW2 naval engagements between the US and Japan, wreck diving is superb in certain areas. In total, there are over 100 dive sites around the islands and it has been named the Number One Underwater Wonder of the World in the past. There are, however, some serious environmental issues that affect the area, including dynamiting, sand and coral dredging and sewage treatment. Nevertheless, most of the islands remain in pristine condition.

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Most of us have been taught to stand firm in our convictions and rigorously defend them when required. Somewhere along the line, this stance became equated with the ability to make good decisions and provide effective leadership. However, recent studies by Duke University are showing that “my way or the highway” leadership tactics aren’t always the best choice. The ability to be humble, what scientists term intellectual humility, actually helps you to make wiser decisions and to be a valuable, sought-after leader. Research On Intellectual Humility The Duke study, run by professor of psychology and neuroscience Mark Leary, defines intellectual humility as “opposite of intellectual arrogance or conceit,” and that “it resembles open-mindedness.” Researchers also found this trait to be non-partisan, showing up in liberals, non-liberals, religious and non-religious subjects A recent article on Inc.com defines intellectual humility as “the willingness to accept that you might be wrong and to not get defensive when arguments or information that’s unfavorable to your position comes to light.” ZMEScience.com states that “intellectual humility is the opposite of intellectual arrogance, having a lot in common with open mindedness. Intellectually humble people can also have strong opinions on something, and they don’t necessarily have to be humble in other circumstances. Basically, this trait shows how likely you are to accept that you might be wrong when faced with evidence.” Embodying healthy humility can have a major positive effect on your personal and business success. Authentic Leadership International (www.boldermoves.com) can help you in this development and that of other traits to enhance your leadership skills and become a sought-after resource in your organization. Impacts On Decision-Making Intellectually humble leaders may be better poised to make more effective decisions because they can quickly absorb and accurately evaluate information coming at them without being overly influenced by their own beliefs, says the Duke study. When presented with facts, study subjects “who displayed intellectual humility also did a better job evaluating the quality of evidence — even in mundane matters,” according to the research. “For instance, when presented with arguments about the benefits of flossing, intellectually humble people correctly distinguished strong, fact-based arguments from weak ones.” Leadership And Intellectual Humility Inc.com states that while intellectual humility might sound brand new, it’s been studied by business leaders for many years, including people like Stanford business school professor Bob Sutton. Back in 2006, Sutton wrote that humility is a must for sound leadership. As a leader, it’s important “to not be too attached to what you believe because, otherwise, it undermines your ability to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ evidence that clashes with your opinions,” he stated. Duke’s professor Leary concurs, stating, “If you’re sitting around a table at a meeting and the boss is very low in intellectual humility, he or she isn’t going to listen to other people’s suggestions. Yet we know that good leadership requires broadness of perspective and taking as many perspectives into account as possible.” Intellectual humility allows leaders to listen to their teams and make the decisions that ensure wide-ranging success for everyone involved—and those are the leaders that will continue to thrive in today’s constantly shifting business arena. Looking for a way to practice humility by accepting a gentle growth challenge every week? Sign up here to access my Weekly Bold Move. Best of all, it’s completely free and with no strings attached. Colleen Slaughter, Your Big, BOLDER Life Mentor, is a speaker, coach, author and founder of Authentic Leadership International. She is passionate about providing ambitious International leaders with the courage, confidence and clarity they need to stop selling themselves short, to claim what they really want in business and in life and to go for it! Clients say Colleen has helped them find their voice, listen to it, and act on it, and that, by doing so, they have gained a sense of freedom, joy and fulfillment beyond measure. Colleen’s perspectives have been featured in ABC, NBC, CBS, Enterprising Women and the Woman’s Advantage® Shared Wisdom Calendar for 2012, 2015 and 2016. If she could be granted a superpower, it would be to vanish people’s feelings of self-doubt and unworthiness and to replace them with the deep understanding of how much they, and what they envision for themselves are important.

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What is throw-away prototyping model in software engineering and why do we need it? How does it differentiate from Evolutionary Prototyping? Throw-away prototyping is about creating, as fast as possible, a part of the future application to either ensure a feature is technically feasible or to show the feature to stakeholders or potential users in order to gather feedback from them. Since the source code of this prototype is not reused later when developing the application itself, it makes it a throw-away prototype. Knowing that it's a throw-away code helps focusing on the actual feature, while leaving aside aspects such as maintainability of the code, style, design patterns or testing. This makes it possible to finish the prototype very fast, without affecting negatively the technical debt of the final product. Throw-away prototyping is different from sketching. Sketching is more graphical and oriented towards user interfaces and user experience, and doesn't consist of writing programming code. Throw-away prototyping is usually used when sketching is not enough (for example when you need to show how a feature will perform on different smartphones or when you need to show the actual performance and responsiveness). Throw-away prototyping can present a risk when dealing with stakeholders without technical background and in a context of tight deadlines and very limited resources: stakeholders may try to convince you to reuse in the final product the source code from the prototype. It is natural to believe that it will shorten the time required to release the product, but actually, it will only delay the shipment date. One way to prevent this is to use for the prototype a language which can't be used in production (for example use C# when you know that the final product will be hosted on Linux servers with only Python installed). Fig. 1: Throw-away prototyping and sketching : prototypes help gathering early feedback before starting developing the actual feature. Evolutionary prototyping consists of building a prototype which is then refined based on the regular feedback from the stakeholders or potential users. Here, maintainability of the code, style, design patterns or testing count from the beginning, which makes it possible to evolve the prototype into a fully featured, enterprise-grade product. The earlier steps of the prototype contain only the core part of the future product, and then, features are added progressively. Fig. 2: Evolutionary prototyping : features are aggregated to the prototype to build the final product. Evolutionary prototyping is different from incremental prototyping. Incremental prototyping consists of building several prototypes, each one representing a part of the future system, and then combine them. Evolutionary prototyping is closer to Agile: often, you will be able to obtain early a working product with limited features and extend it until stakeholder have money. Incremental prototyping, on the other hand, is better suited for large projects with many contributing teams, each team working on a separate prototype. Fig. 3: Incremental prototyping : several prototypes are combined to form the final product. Evolutionary prototyping is different from Agile methodologies too. Agile is about iterations and frequent milestones where a fully functional product can be released to manufacturing. If you have a working product every Thursday, you're doing Agile. In evolutionary prototyping, you expand the prototype, but nothing forces you to have a fully-functional product regularly. You can spend two months creating the first prototype, than expand it with a few features in respectively two and three days, and then spend three months on another feature. You can't have this sort of irregular patterns in Agile. Specific Agile methodologies enforce additional rules. For example, if you don't do pair programming, you can't assert that you're doing Extreme Programming. If your team don't have daily meetings, you're not doing Scrum. Prototyping is used for many reasons. Maybe you want to gauge the user experience to a new application to estimate whether it's worth building, without incurring the expense of actually building it. Maybe you need something that talks to an existing program over the network to perform integration or load tests on your network, before you've had time to finish the actual software running on your node. Maybe you need to show your investors something that looks almost like a finished program so that they'll be more willing to come up with the investment needed to actually finish the program. (This has nothing to do with deception. Users and managers judge software solely by its interface, so it's important to present them with a good interface so that they will believe the project is as far along as it actually is.) A throwaway prototype is simply one that will not be incrementally transformed into the actual solution, but replaced by a new-written one. Obviously there is some waste involved in throwing away code that already does at least some of what you want, but the better architectural integrity of the proper code can easily offset that disadvantage.

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Female warriors, duelists and military commanders of the Middle Ages (5th – 14th century) Piracy during the 5th – 9th centuries was predominately a male activity, but there is a minority of historical female pirates especially during the Norman or Viking period. 5th Century CE – Princess Sela was the sister of Koller, king of Norway. She was a skilled warrior and pirate. She fought against King Horwendil, and was later killed by him c.420 CE 529 CE – Princess Halima was the daughter of King al-Harit and princess of the Ghassan kingdom. In an act of revenge she led a battle against the Lakhmids who had sacrificed her brother to their goddess. 530 CE – Tomyris was the leader of an Iranian nomadic tribe called the Massagetae; her exploits were recorded by historians like Herodotus and thus passed into legend. Her stories however have been recorded both in history books and in paintings. The Persian Emperor of the time, Cyrus (the Great) attempted unsuccessfully to subjugate the Massagetae. He decided to entrap the Massagetae, by leaving a camp full of wine, the Massagetae now drunk allowed the Persians to attack with little resistance and captured them. One of the captured was Tomyris’s son, when he realised his mistake he committed suicide. Tomyris was so furious at this deception she demanded a fight on equal grounds with Cyrus. Her wish was granted and she led a successful army that slaughtered the Persians, Tomyris chopping of the head of Cyrus, which she apparently then kept and used as a wine glass. 535 – 552 CE – In the Gothic war Procopius writes of an English Princess, referred to as ‘the Island Girl’. She is said to have led an invasion of part of Jutland, where she captured the young king, Radigis, who had jilted her after their betrothal. 590 CE – The Christian Synod of Druim Cett ordered that British women should no longer go into battle alongside their men. This ban probably had little effect, and traditions such as sword dancing which was taught by women remained. 6th Century CE – An elite Saxon female burial is discovered in Lincolnshire, England. The burial goods contain a knife and a shield; showing possible signs of a female warrior. 598 – 623 CE – Princess Zhao Pingyang of China, was the daughter of Emperor Gaozu of Tang (founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty). Zhao helps her father overthrow the Sui Dynasty, during his campaigns Zhao formed a women’s army, commanded by her she helped to capture the Sui capital of Chang’an. 624 CE – Hind al-Hunnud was known as the ‘Battle Queen’, and a member of the Quarish tribe of the kingdom of Kindah. She helped in the battle against Muhammad. In Arabic culture women played an important role in battle, some of the earliest roots of Arabic culture lay in the cult of the ‘battle queen’ and of tribal warfare. The battle queen mounted upon a camel led the armies into battle. In a more no combat role the battle queen sometimes only served as a symbolic function, that of goddess or commander in chief or field general. When fighting had commenced the battle queen always occupied the centre battle, with her accompanying retinue. Hind al-Hunnud fought the prophet Mohammad in the Battle of Badr in 724, and accounts describe her as ‘brandishing a broadsword with great gusto’. 625 – 705 CE – Wu Chao, known as ‘The Empress Wu’, is considered to have been one of the most powerful women in history. Crucially important is the fact that she was able to rise to such an important position at a time when women where confined to the realms of the family. Wu is said to have been the de facto power behind her Emperor husband, upon his death she then ruled alone. She is said to have been a forceful, innovative and ruthless leader, with the dismissal, exile or execution of any of her opponents. Her navy led a decisive victory at sea which ended China’s long running war with Korea, and her army won many battles over any her rivals, Wu herself surviving several assassination attempts. Her reign insured decades of peace and prosperity and it is said that no other woman except for Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great, retained so much power, over such a vast Empire. 625 CE – Nusaybah bint Ka’ab, was not only an early convert to Islam, but was the first female to take up arms in its defence. She took part in the Battle of Hunain, the Battle of Yamama, the Battle of Uhud, and the Treaty of Hudaibiyah. A devotee of Muhammad, he is quoted as saying that wherever he turned in the battlefield, Nusaybah was there defending and protecting him. At the Battle of Uhud she shielded Muhammad from enemy arrows, and received several wounds whilst fighting. c.632 – 705 CE – Apranik was the daughter of a Persian general, and herself a Persian Sassanid High Ranking Commander. When the Arabs attacked Persia, Apranik commanded a major battalion against the invaders. When the Sassanid Empire began to crumble Apranik was eventually killed, but remained a rebellious fighter until her death. Her white horse remains a symbol of freedom. 639 CE – Negan was a female guerrilla commander for the Sassanid Empire; she was one of the major resistance fighters against the Arab invasion. Neither born into nobility or military trained fighting only out of belief, Negan led a band of resistance fighters and died in battle a year after the invasion. 7th century CE – Dahia Al-kahina was a military leader of the Berbers and came to be known as leader of the African resistance. The Arabs had seized Cyrenaica, Egypt and Tripoli, and as the invasion spread Kusaila, leader of the Berbers was defeated and killed. Dahia then created a united front against the Arab invaders and counter-attacking them at every turn, she even drove them at one point to be holed up in Cyrenaica (Libya) for about 4 to 5 years. The Arabs regrouped and Dahia was eventually defeated in a battle somewhere in present day Algeria. It is still not clear as to whether Dahia died in battle, committed suicide, or was executed. 7th century CE – Khawlah Bint al-Kindiyyah was a woman warrior, who with the help from her female captains led an Arab army and stopped a Greek invasion of their homeland. The two armies met at Yermonks, the Arabs looking poorly organised against the disciplined Greeks. However in true battle queen style Khawlah and the other women captains – Oserrah, Alfra’Bint Ghifar al-Humayriah and Wafeira rallied the men and led them into the centre of the battle field. When a Greek soldier knocked Khawlah to the ground, Wafeira sliced his head off with a sword, and holding it high she inspired the soldiers to victory. Khawlah and her captains were later captured in a battle close to Damascus. Angered by the confiscation of their weapons and the treatment they received, the women led a charge against their Greek captors by using tent poles as weapons and successfully escaped. 722 CE – Queen Aethelburgh was the wife of King Ine of Wessex. In 722, she is said to have destroyed Taunton, (which her husband Ine had built earlier in his reign), in an attempt to find the rebel Ealdbert c.730s CE (active in) – Parsbit (also as Prisbit) was a Khazar noblewoman called ‘the mother of the Khagan’. What is known about her life is that she was said to have wielded enormous power, commanding armies, such as the expeditionary force that was led against Armenia by Tar’mach in 730. c.750 CE – Azad Deylami / Azad-e Daylami was from the Caspian Sea shores in the north of Iran. She was a partisan leader and became one of the most famous freedom fighters of the region. She fought bravely with her band of freedom fighters for many years against the Arab invaders c.783 CE – Fastrada, an East Frankish noblewoman who, along with other Saxon women entered into battle against Charlemagne’s forces bare breasted. Fastrada then went onto become Charlemagne’s third wife. c.815 – 838 CE – Banu, wife of Babak Khoramdin was a legendary Persian freedom fighter, who initiated the Khorram-Dinan movement, in an attempt to overthrow the Abbasid Caliph. She was an extremely skilled archer, fighting both for freedom and the preservation of Persian culture and language. Banu and Babak were eventually betrayed to the Caliph by one of their own officers. 869 – 918 CE – Ethelfleda, also known as our ‘Lady of the Mercians’, was the daughter of Alfred the great. Ethelfleda was considered to be a chief military strategist and the most brilliant tactician of her time. She led armies, built castles, united Mercia – re-establishing Tamworth as it capital. She also fought back an invasion from the Vikings, forcing them to surrender their stronghold at York and even conquered Wales, and made them to pay tribute to her. 890 – 969 CE – Olga of Kiev (Princess Olga), ruled Kievan Rus as regent after her husband’s death in c.945. Olga went to great depths to avenge her husband’s death at the hands of the Drevlians. She successfully slaughtered many of them, interring some in a ship burial whilst still alive. She raised an army which attacked Drevlian strongholds and ended the revolt, but more importantly she changed the system of tribute gathering; this act is seen as possibly the first legal reform in Eastern Europe. c. 950 CE – Thyra of Denmark was the consort of King Gorm the Old of Denmark. Thyra was referred to as a woman of great prudence and she is thought to have led an army against the Germans. Thyra and Gorm were the parents of Harald Bluetooth. c. 980 – 1000 CE – Queen Regnant Gudit of Bani al-Hamusa of Demot, (Ethiopia). She was a Northern Ethiopian ruler and possibly a Jewess. She became a military leader who attacked the ruling Aksumite Dynasty and is credited with its downfall. It still isn’t clear where Bani al-Humusa was situated: it is said to be south of the Nile and south-west of Shava. In the 10th and 11th centuries stories are told of Shieldmaidens, or Scandinavian female warriors. Few historical records mention the roles of Viking Age women and warfare. But a Byzantine historian by the name of Johannes Skylitzes, records a battle that took place in 971 in which the Scandinavian ruler of Kiev attacked the Byzantines in Bulgaria. The Norsemen suffered a crushing defeat, and the Byzantines were shocked to find amongst the fallen Norse were armed women. 1015 – 1042 CE – Akkadevi, was a governor Princess of a Province of Karnataka, A resistance campaigner who fought battles and superintended sieges. Akkadevi became a heroine of west-central Indian resistance to southern Indian aggression. 1040 – 1090 CE – Sikelgaita was a Lombard princess and the daughter of Guaimar IV, Prince of Salerno. She married the Duke of Apulia and accompanied him on his Byzantine conquests. At the Battle of Dyrrhachium, Sikelgaita is said to have fought in full armour, rallying her husbands despondent troops, and was compared to another ‘Pallas’ or second ‘Athena’. 1046 – 1115 CE – Matilda of Tuscany was an Italian noblewoman and one of the few medieval women to be remembered for her military accomplishments. She was the principle Italian supporter of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy. c.1059 – 1096 CE – Emma de Gauder, Countess of Norfolk, best remembered for defending Norwich Castle when it was under siege. Emma then negotiated safe passage for herself and her troops in return for the castle. She died around 1096 on the road to Palestine during the First Crusade with her husband. 1079 – 1126 CE – Urraca of León and Castile, was Queen regnant of León, Castile and Galicia and she also claimed the imperial title of Empress of All the Spains – ‘suo jure’. She quarrelled with husband Alfonso I of Aragon, the quarrel then turned into open armed warfare between the Leonese-Castillians and Aragonese. By 1112 a truce was brokered and the nightmare marriage was annulled. 1097 – 1136 CE – Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, was the princess consort of Deheubarth in Wales and a member of the princely Aberffraw family of Gwynedd. Her patriotic revolt and death in a battle against the Normans at Kidwelly Castle contributed to ‘The Great Revolt of 1136’. c.1120s CE – Liang Hongyu was a female Chinese general and wife of General Han Shizhong of the song army. She fought with her husband against the invasion by the Huns, commanding in battles. Liang is said to have had an exceptional military mind. During the battle with the Huns in 1129 her tactful use of drums and flags as communication signals enabled victory for the mere 8,000 Chinese, against the 100,000-strong Hun army. 1122 – 1204 CE – Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitane and Countess of Poitou was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe. She was queen consort of France 1137 – 1152, and queen consort of England 1154 – 1189. She married Louis VI and accompanied him and his army on the second crusade, the marriage however fell apart, and was annulled. She then married Henry Fitz-Empress, duke of Normandy (and eventually Henry II of England). They had three daughters and five sons. The two sons who survived Henry became kings of England after him: Richard I (the Lionhearted) and John (known as Lackland). In 1173 the sons rebelled against Henry with the full support of Eleanor, (stories pertain this to revenge for Henry’s adultery). The revolt was quickly suppressed and Eleanor was imprisoned from 1173 until 1189 (when Henry died). Upon Richard taking the throne, one of his first acts was to release Eleanor from prison. She now acted as queen regnant whilst Richard joined the Third Crusade of 1189. She outlived all of her children, except for King John and Eleanor, Queen of Castile. 1149 CE – The Order of the Hatchet, also called the ‘orden de la Hacha’ in Catalonia. It is a military order of knighthood for women, founded in 1149 by Raymond Berger, count of Barcelona. The honour given to the women was for the defence of the town of Tortosa against a Moor attack. The ‘Dames’ received many privileges with the honour, these included exemptions form all taxes, and they took preference over the men at public assemblies. c.1157 – 1247 CE – Tomoe Gozen was a rare Japanese samurai warrior, know for her bravery and strength. She fought alongside men in the Genpei War of 1180 – 1185. c.1160-1213 CE – Tamar, Queen Regnant of Georgia. Though she was a woman, she is always mentioned in Georgian history as King Tamar. Tamar was the first woman to rule Georgia in her own right. Under her rule Georgia achieved military superioty in the Middle East. A brilliant military tactician with a loyal army behind her, she led the men into battle and endured the hardships of an ordinary soldier. She was able to neutralise repeated invasions on her own nation, whilst conquering parts of Turkey, Persia, Russia and Armenia. The 13th Century sees trial by combat / judicial duels between men and women becoming more common place, particularly in Germany and Switzerland. It was used in Germanic Law to settle accusations, often with the absence of confession or witnesses, and was often used in rape cases. For the duels to be judged as fair, the man was placed into a pit up to his naval, whilst the women freely moved around it. Weapons of choice included singlesticks, leather belts, and fist-sized rocks that were wrapped in cloth. There was rules for the duelists, if either of the participants hands or weapons touched the ground, they were considered the loser and paid the penalty. For women, it was the loss of the right hand, and for men it was beheading. There were many different types of trial by combat / judicial duels, and they remained in use throughout the Middles Ages, slowly disappearing in the 16th century. 1236 – 1272 CE – Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England and the wife of Henry III of England. Eleanor was completely devoted to Henry and when Simon de Montfort tried to rebel against him, Eleanor raised troops in France for Henry’s cause. But Eleanor was not particularly liked in England, mostly likely as a result of her bringing so many of her relatives known as ‘Savoyards’ to England and then putting them into influential government positions. She was especially hated by Londoners, this hatred was returned. When her barge was sailing down the Thames it was attacked by the citizens of London. In retaliation Eleanor demanded from the city all back payments on a monetary tribute (queen-gold). Eleanor received one tenth of all fines collected. She went even further in her revenge campaign by levying other fines on citizens on the thinnest of pretexts. This fuelled further anger against her, and the citizens then pelted her with stones, mud and vegetables forcing her take refuge at the bishop of London’s home. When Henry died she remained in England as Dowager Queen and eventually retired to a convent. 1260 – 1306 CE – Khutulun (also as Aiyurug or Khotol Tsagaan), was the daughter of Kaidu, the most powerful ruler in Central Asia, his realms stretched from Western Mongolia to Oxus and the Central Siberian Plateau to India. Khutulun showed early promise as a child and became the favourite daughter of Kaidu, accompanying him on military campaigns. She became known as a superb warrior, with great strength and stealth. It was claimed that she could ride into enemy territory and snatch a captive as easily as a hawk snatches a chicken, both Marco Polo and Rashid al-Din wrote about her exploits. Kaidu relied on Khutulun both as a warrior and as a political advisor and had wished her to be named as the next Khan, but due to male relatives this was impossible. 1233 CE – In Italy, the ‘Order of the glorious saint Mary’, is founded by Loderigo d’Andalo, a nobleman from Bologna. In 1261 it was approved by Pope Alexander IV, this was the first religious order of knighthood to grant the rank of militissa to women. The order was later suppressed by Sixtus V in 1558. 1259 – 1289 CE – Rani Rudrama Devi was one of the most prominent rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty on the Deccan Plateau. She is acknowledged as one of the few female rulers in south India during her time. She was an intelligent and dynamic ruler, suppressing uprisings from neighbouring territories, and defended the kingdom from the Cholas and the Yadavas, which earned her great respect. Rudrama achieved many accomplishments in her time; one was to complete the fort of Warangal in the Kakatiya capital of Warangal that was started by her father. Parts of the fort still stand today, and Rudrama remains one of India’s most important women. 1295 – 1374 CE – Joanna of Flanders (also as Jehanne de Montfort and Jeanne la Flamme), was consort Duchess of Brittany and the wife of John IV, Duke of Brittany. There was conflict between the Houses of Blois and de Montfort for the control of the Duchy of Brittany. This came to be known as the Breton War of Succession from 1341 until 1364, and was an integral part of the Hundred Years War. When John died in 1345, Joanna organised resistance and used diplomatic terms to protect her son, John V, Duke of Brittany. She took up arms, and dressed in armour defended the town, urging women to ‘cut their skirts and take their safety in their own hands’. Leading a band of knights outside the town walls, she attacked an enemy’s rear camp, setting fire to it and destroying it in the process, earning her the title ‘Jeanne la Flamme’. Fate was to drive Jeanne a cruel blow, for she did capture Charles of Blois in battle, but she soon succumbed to madness and died in confinement. 1312 – 1369 CE – Agnes Randolph, Countess of Dunbar and March, (often referred to as Black Agnes of Dunbar, due to her olive skin complexion). She was the wife of Patrick, 9th Earl of Dunbar and March, and became renowned for her defence of Dunbar Castle against an English attack by William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury in 1338. Agnes was left with only a few servant and guards, but refused to surrender the fort, one account declaring that “Of Scotland’s King I haud my house, I pay him meat and fee, and I will keep my gude auld house, while my house will keep me.“. Montagu thought to be one of the best commanders of his day, had to finally abandon the siege after five months of stalemate, his troops withdrew leaving Agnes in sole possession of her castle. It was not uncommon for women in the Middle Ages to command garrisons whilst their husbands were away on military affairs, but it is her act of determinism and defiance that Lady Agnes is best remembered. c.1345 – 1409 CE – Han E, (also as Han Guanbao) or the Hua Mulan’ of Sichuan Province. Han E was orphaned and went to live with her uncle Han Li, she proved an excellent scholar in both literature and sword fighting. There was widespread dissatisfaction with the Yuan Dynasty and many rebel uprisings occurred. Some of these factions joined the ranks of the Red Scarf Army, attacking government troops, forcing them to retreat, which they did but along the way attacking the civilian population. Fearing their niece would be abducted and assaulted, they dressed her up as a boy. However even this didn’t prevent their loss and the ‘lad’ Han E was snatched by government troops along the way to serve as stable boy. As the Red Scarf Army approached and surrounded the government troops Han E killed the Yuan commander and then joined the Red Scarf Army under the name of Han Guanbao. ‘He’ was adopted as foster son to one of the sub-commandants. Han served for over 12 years taking part in military campaigns and was noted for her intelligence, bravery and diligence in her duties. She forbade herself to fraternise with other soldiers in banter, or drink in victory celebrations and to that end nobody ever guessed she was a woman. 1347 – 1404 CE – Eleanor of Arborea was one of the last and most powerful Sardinian judges and the island’s best loved heroine. The house of Arborea had great power that extended over one third of Sardinia. During a rebel uprising in 1376, Eleanor’s brother Hugh III was killed and Eleanor led an army and defeated the rebels. She now held the title of regent to her infant son Fredrick. Over the next four years Arborea was at war with the Crown of Aragon, much of its possessions were lost to Eleanor, and Arborea gained most of the island during the war. With military support Eleanor was able to negotiate a favourable treaty which allowed her other son Marianus V to rule, after the death of Fredrick. 1350 -1400 CE – Urduja was a legendary warrior princess and heroine in Pangasinan, Philippines. She commanded a army made up of men and women, and she is said to have fought and engaged in duels with other warriors. Many avoided her for the fear of being disgraced by her abilities. Some historians claim her to be a mythical figure, however she in found in Philippine school textbooks – under great Filipinos, and the capitol building in Lingayen is named Urduja Palace. 1363 – 1430 CE – Christine de Pizan was a Venetian born artist who strongly opposed stereotyping and misogyny in the male-dominated realm of the arts. She became a highly respected Poet publishing a book called ‘Livre des Faits d’Armes – Stories of Feats of Arms. The book was a vernacular study of international law and military strategy and was particularly important in proving that women in the middle ages could be as equally knowledgeable as men in their society. 1378 – ? CE – Agnes Hotot Dudley, took up arms in place of her ailing father and beat her opponent in a mounted duel. It is believed that Agnes’ father had quarrelled with another man, and this was to be settled with a duel in the form of a lance fight. However shortly before the duel her father was taken seriously ill, so Agnes disguised her sex, put on a helmet, mounted the horse and proceeded to the tourney grounds. After what is said to a ‘stubborn encounter’ Agnes dismounted her opponent. As he lay on the ground she removed her helmet, let down her hair and disclosed her bosom to prove she was a woman and shame her foe. The coat of arms of the House of Dudley shows a woman wearing a military helmet with loosened hair, and her breasts exposed, commemorating a female champion. Copyright: Joanna Winfield, 2011

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UNITED Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's recent statement about the troop levels needed to enforce the Vance-Owen plan to end the fighting in Bosnia raises a broader issue: the need to reinvigorate the UN's peacekeeping mechanisms. Speaking Sunday on the ABC News show, "This Week with David Brinkley," Mr. Boutros-Ghali suggested that if all sides sign the peace agreement, UN troops sent to the region must be ready to enforce it. In the expectation of a call from New York, NATO is devising plans that involve up to 50,000 troops for use in Bosnia. These steps mark another increment in the evolution of the UN's role. During the heyday of the cold war, the UN seemed little more than a ideological debating society for newly emerging nations. In the late '80s, as East-West tensions eased, the "good offices" of the UN became attractive to countries that wanted to extract themselves from long-standing regional conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq war, or the civil war in Angola. Now, the role appears to be heading for another advance to include enforcement - from peacekeeping to peacemaking. The distinction is not to be glossed over; Bosnia will be an important test. Strengthening the UN's ability to enforce agreements, or even to intervene to enforce interim cease-fires, is no substitute for negotiations. But negotiations require parties willing to talk, and just as important, willing to implement an agreement. One or both of these conditions have been missing at various times throughout the year-long war in Bosnia - with tragic results at a level not seen since World War II. Within any country asked to contribute troops to a peacemaking role, public opposition is understandable: Sons and daughters are being put in harm's way. Measures short of force, such as strict economic sanctions, must be the initial approach to the kind of intransigence and entrenched hatreds apparent in the Balkans. But without the support of member nations that would allow the UN to display the will and a credible ability to enforce agreements, the greater danger lies in the potential for regional conflicts to spread.

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Regular city commission meetings are typically held twice a month to conduct city business and provide citizens with an opportunity to participate in the government process. In addition, the commission meets for workshops on specific issues. Mayor and City Commission The mayor and city commission serve as the governing body of the City; they set policies and rules by which the City is operated, including establishing City goals and target issues, as well as setting City tax rates. The mayor and city commissioners each serve four-year terms. The terms of office are staggered, with elections held in even-numbered years (two seats during Presidential election cycles, and two others - plus the mayor - in mid-term election cycles). The mayor is considered to be a "leadership mayor", whose role includes presiding at city commission meetings, serving as the ceremonial head of the government, serving as the official head of the City for civil processes, and executing legal documents. The mayor is also considered the political leader of the government and is involved in dialogues and negotiations with county, state, and federal officials. Tallahassee's mayor is not considered a "strong mayor" because the position has no veto power and represents only one vote on the city commission. BoardDocs is intended for the use of subscribers and licensed customers. All users are required to read and follow the acceptable use policy.

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«CHAPTER 5 Hands-On Core Skills: The Speech-Language Pathologist as Facilitator of Positive Communication Change Introduction A brief discussion in ...» 05_Dwight_Pages 10/24/05 2:22 PM Page 83 Hands-On Core Skills: Facilitator of Positive A brief discussion in Chapter 1 of this text addressed words used for characterizing the role of the speech-language pathologist (SLP) in the therapeutic process, words used to describe the facilitative role of the SLP in the therapeutic process. The role of the SLP in therapy is to facilitate, or promote, increased communication skills in clients. SLPs accom- plish this by blending a thorough knowledge of the profession with the skillful, even art- ful, implementation of core skills in the therapeutic process. These core skills, called therapeutic-specific skills, are fundamental skills that the SLP employs as an ongoing, underlying, and integral part of therapy. Therapeutic-specific skills are skills that actu- ally constitute the underlying fiber, the essence of what SLPs do, fundamentally, to facil- itate increased communication skills in clients; therapeutic-specific skills are what the term implies: skills that are specific to the act of providing speech-language therapy in a manner conducive to effecting communicative improvement in clients. As an illustration, consider the architectural profession and the task of building a home. Though, perhaps, unable to cite the specifics of design, materials quantity, safety or durability codes, and so forth, the lay public probably has some understanding that, in order to build a home, there needs to be some place to locate the structure, something 83 05_Dwight_Pages 10/24/05 2:22 PM Page 84 84 Here’s How to Do Therapy from which to build it, and some way of ensuring that it holds together over time. Archi- tects know these things, as well. In fact, architects know that no matter how great, or small, the job, there are some underlying basic considerations that must be made in the daily task of operating as an architectural professional; factoring gravitational pull is probably one of those considerations. The architect may also consider the impact of natural elements such as rain, heat, cold, wind, and so forth when working through a project. Regardless of the size, or cost, of the project, it is inconceivable that an architect would design, or oversee, the construction of even a small storage building without considering the basic, underlying principles that serve, so powerfully, to impact activities of that profession. SLPs should view therapeutic-specific skills in the same manner: no matter how easy, or difficult, a case, no matter how old or new the clinical techniques employed, there are some basic considerations that are required as a function of operating as a clinician in the speech-language pathology profession; basic hands-on therapeutic-specific skills are among those considerations. Certainly, therapeutic-specific skills are not all particular to the speech-language pathology profession, for many of these same skills are used by educators, psychologists, and others. However, if used well by the SLP, in conjunction with a good knowledge base of the profession, these skills may well separate the SLP who is adequate, from one who is excellent. By design, therapeutic-specific skills are basic and global skills; they remain the underlying skills that SLPs bring to the implementation of most, if not all, speechlanguage therapy intervention programs and techniques. For example, when designing a specific fluency program aimed at reducing repetitions, blocks, and prolongations, authors of the program typically outline specific components for intervention, specifying how, when, and why the SLP should implement various aspects of the program. Rarely does the author of a fluency intervention program take the time, however, to teach or remind the SLP of the importance of pace, volume, proximity, enthusiasm, antecedents, direct teaching, and so forth, unless one or more of these therapeutic-specific skills is viewed as an integral part of the fluency intervention program itself; in this case, pace, for example, may be discussed as an integral part of some fluency intervention programs. Yet, it is believed that the authors of any intervention program expect SLPs to inherently know that in addition to learning the specifics of the intervention program, the SLP must also exhibit good clinical use of the core skills mentioned: pace, volume, proximity, enthusiasm, antecedents, direct teaching, and so forth. However, as mentioned, rarely does the author of a specific intervention program build in instruction in the core skills of therapy. How, then, is the SLP expected to acquire these core skills? Other than random occurrences of therapeutic-specific skills dispersed among various intervention programs, clinical supervisors are left to teach therapeutic-specific skills on an “as needed” basis as situations arise during clinical training for SLP students. Fortunately, most clinical supervisors have done good jobs of teaching these core skills, perhaps, using “teachable moments” as a major factor in instruction design. However, it is believed that information presented in this text, particularly in this chapter, serves to systematically help SLPs learn and implement underlying basic core skills that are integral to speechlanguage therapy. 05_Dwight_Pages 10/24/05 2:22 PM Page 85 Individualized SLP Outcomes/Performance Objectives: Figure 5–1. Therapeutic-Specific Workshop (TSW) Form. This example is for Workshops without the DVD vignettes. Workshops 1, 2, 12, 13, and 14 do not have DVD vignette accompaniments. 05_Dwight_Pages 10/24/05 2:22 PM Page 87 Practice the skills discussed in Sections A–D above. Revisit Sections A–D as needed to increase comfort with this section. Use SLP peers, friends, parents, other relatives, large dolls positioned in a chair in front of you to pose as the “client(s),” etc., for your practices. If no one is available to serve as your client(s), use yourself as the client(s) by standing or sitting in front of a large mirror as you practice; the effect of “using yourself as client(s)” is the same, and sometimes more powerful, than having another pose as client(s). Repeat practices until items 1–3 below are accomplished. (You may require more or less than the practice check boxes provided.) Check one box each time a skill is practiced. Enter date each skill is accomplished to your satisfaction in the date spaces provided. (Dates may/may not be the same for each skill accomplishment.) Thought Processes/Emotions I Experienced Learning the Skill(s) Presented in this Workshop Compared to What I Ultimately Learned from this Effort (Reflection Exercise): Date Post Organizer Completed: (Enter date here and in upper right corner, page 1): The Therapeutic-Specific Workshop Form (TSW Form) serves as a learning tool to guide students through the activities associated with learning new therapy skills; this form accompanies each skill to be learned. Additionally, 20 therapeutic-specific skills are highlighted on an accompanying DVD (found within the covers of this text) as demonstrations of how each respective therapeutic-specific skill might be represented within a therapeutic context. As a culminating experience for students learning therapy, two mini-therapy sessions (9–10 minutes in length) are provided for a synthesized view of several therapeutic-specific skills when used within the context of a therapy session. The completion of each TSW Form serves as an indicator that the SLP has both worked through the skills addressed in the selected workshop and has attained an adequate selfassessed level of comfort with the materials presented in the workshop. The basic foundation for the tutorials SLPs receive in this chapter is the Explicit Instruction Model of teaching, an instruction model that is both highly organized and task-oriented (Miller, 2002). Using an adaptation of this model, SLPs will be provided five cognitive aids designed to help focus content, attention, and learning: advance organizers, descriptions/demonstrations, think-out-loud questions, practice opportunities, and post organizers. These cognitive aids help the SLP process the components and requirements of each skill addressed in this chapter. Before going further, it is important that students obtain a basic understanding of what is required in the workshops for each therapeutic-specific skill. A TSW Form (see Figure 5–1 or Figure 5–2) is provided for each skill to be studied and contains specific procedures students are to follow in learning the selected therapeutic-specific skill. As an example, the Workshop Forms list sections for advance organizers, descriptions/demonstrations, think-out-loud questions, practice opportunities, and post organizers. An advance organizer is information introduced in advance of the new skill to be learned and is designed to bridge the gap between current knowledge and knowledge to be acquired (Williams & Butterfield, 1992). Advance organizers are presented before students proceed in acquiring a new therapeutic-specific skill. Advance organizers are an important part of understanding and gaining comfort in acquiring the therapeutic-specific skills presented in this chapter. Descriptions, well-organized explanations of the skills to be learned and the steps taken in learning the new therapy skill, along with demonstrations, written or visual presentations of skills implemented by the SLP, also serve to help students acquire the skills presented. Think-out-loud questions, which the learner verbalizes to him- or herself, help processing of new information by combining two modalities, auditory and visual, to reinforce retention of new concepts. Prompts for practice opportunities are designated points in learning to practice new skills with help from prompts in the vignettes or on the TSW Form. Prompts for practice opportunities provide the essence of the workshop opportunity; for it is the practice opportunities that ultimately lead to the desired comfort level that students achieve in the learning experience. Prompts for Practice Opportunities offer practice at three levels: (a) practice for accuracy in accomplishing the skill, (b) practice for personal comfort in accomplishing the skill—needed because students often report “feeling strange” practicing the skills, and (c) practice for speed/fluency in accomplishing the skill. Finally, a post organizer, a concluding activity that helps 05_Dwight_Pages 10/24/05 2:22 PM Page 93 Communicating Expectations (Therapeutic-Specific Workshop: Form 1; No DVD Track) The concept of communicating expectations is based on research regarding teacher expectations (Learman, Avorn, Everitt, & Rosenthal, 1990; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Smith, 1980). Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) found that gains in children’s IQs were related directly to the classroom teacher’s expectations for IQs to increase. Replications of the Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) work, often referred to as the “Pygmalion in the Classroom study,” were performed within numerous contexts over several decades (Brophy, 1983; Eden, 1990; Edmonds, 1979), with results indicating that children will perform to the levels expected and communicated, even when such communications are inadvertent nonverbal behaviors (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1992). In fact, Feldman and Theiss (1982) found that teacher expectations influenced student achievement and that preconceptions influenced both student and teacher attitudes. The effects of communicated expectations have broadened to wider circles over the past 10 years in that researchers found relationships between communicating expectations and performance indicators in courtrooms (Blanck, Rosenthal, Hart, & Bernieri, 1990), in management (Eden, 1990), and in nursing homes (Brophy, 1983; Learman et al., 1990) Good and Brophy (1984) suggested ways in which educators may reduce communicating expectations that have negative impacts on students. Among these suggestions were recommendations for: something; a zest or zeal for a subject (Webster’s, 1996). Often enthusiasm is portrayed in body movements, changes in vocal pitch and volume, or general attributes of animation. Webster’s (1996) defined animation as relating to spirit, movement, zest, and vigor. Some SLPs admit that they are not interested in portraying the animation suggested for working with very young clients, even though some of the same SLPs describe themselves as being enthusiastic. Clinical supervisors, must, therefore, survey student SLPs for expressions of enthusiasm and animation sufficient for effective speech-language therapy. When that level of enthusiasm is not present, it must be taught. This is where the concept of Showtime becomes important.

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The role and function of regional trade What are regional trading blocs? Regional trade blocs are intergovernmental associations that manage and promote trade activities for specific regions of Trade bloc activities have political as well as economic implications. For example, the European Union, the world’s largest trading block, has “harbored political ambitions extending far beyond the free trading arrangements sought by other multistage regional economic organizations“ (Gibb and Michalak 1994: 75). Indeed, the ideological foundations that gave birth to the EU were based on ensuring development and maintaining international stability, i.e., the containment of communist expansion in post World War II Europe (Hunt 1989). The Maastricht Treaty which gave birth to the EU in 1992 included considerations for joint policies in regard to military defense and citizenship. The decisions reached by development policy makers on whether regionalism or globalized trade should be pursued may influence a country’s earnings from trade. Regionalism differs from globalization in the size and area of markets. From the perspective of developing countries skeptical of free trade, regional trade blocs offer some form of protection against an aggressive global market. Four major trade blocs Some well known trading blocs include the EU (European Union; see Map 1), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement; see Map 2), MERCOSUR (Mercado Comun del Cono Sur, also known as Southern Common Markets (SCCM); see Map 3), and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations; see Map 4). The following maps show trade data for 2001 (UNCTAD 2002). The series of pie charts display the export composition of trade from each country in the bloc. General debates on trade blocs The debates surrounding the feasibility of regionalism contain sharp disagreements. Gibb and Michalak note, “the multilateral trading system is in decline and regionalism is on the ascendancy” (Gibb and Michalak 1994: 1). Although scholars such as O’Brien (1992) and Hopkinson (1992) argue that globalization may usher in the “end of geography”, regionalism has emerged as an alternative form of trade that attempts to counter more aggressive policies of free trade, especially as espoused by Some analysts such as Preeg (1989) argue that trade blocs are desirable because they complement globalized trade. Others view regionalism as a threat to free trade because trade blocs advocate and install protectionist policies that shield bloc members from the effects of free trade (Schott 1989). However, Gibb and Michalak remind us that “theoretical analysis based on liberal economic principles is…inconclusive in evaluating the impact of trading blocs on living standards, redistribution of income and welfare” (1994: 32). Furthermore, they note, “no overall consensus is likely to be reached in the foreseeable future…[and] preferential trading arrangements may or may not bring welfare gains for participating counties” (1994: 33). Regardless of the position taken on regionalism, the fact is very few countries develop and reduce inequality via regional trade alone. This is primarily due to the size of the market: globalization taps into a world market whereas trade blocs emphasize into regional markets, which are larger than the domestic market of a given country, but still smaller than the world market. Trade blocs have a range of reasons to “protect” the trade interests of their region: (1) To establish some form of regional control regarding trade that fulfills the interests of nations within that region; (2) To establish tariffs that protect intra-regional trade from (3) To promote regional security and political concerns or to develop trade in such as way as to enhance the security in the region; (4) To promote South-to-South trade, e.g., between Africa and Asia, and between Latin American countries; (5) To promote economic and technical cooperation among developing They also use several measures to restrain global (1) import quotas (limiting the amount of imports into the country so that domestic consumers buy products made by their countries in their region); (2) customs delays (establishing bureaucratic formalities that slow down the ability for the imported product from abroad to enter the (3) subsidies (government financial assistances toward sectors of the home economy so that they have an influx of capital); (4) boycotts and technical barriers; (5) bribes and voluntary restraints. Although the notion that the world is fragmenting into trade blocks is popular, what must be remembered is that there is not a clear definition of what a trade bloc is (Bliss 1994). Similarly, development and reduction in inequality has not been reduced by regionalism. Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a classic example: although a member of ASEAN since 1967, members of ASEAN--especially Thailand--have continued to conduct business with the oppressive military junta due to Myanmar’s abundant natural resources of teak, gems, and oil. Bliss appropriately cautions us on giving too much credit to trade blocs for development, noting that the efficacy of trade blocs “depends upon the definition of a trade bloc” which must also include an assessment of current political conditions of the region (1994:1). Bliss, C. J. (1994). Economic Theory and Policy for Trading Blocks. Manchester: Manchester University Press Brohman, J. (1995a). Universalism, eurocentrism, and ideological bias in development studies: from modernization to neoliberalism. Third World Quarterly 16(1), pp. 121-140. Gibb, R. and W. Michalak (eds). (1994). Continental trading blocs: the growth of regionalism in the world economy. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Hopkinson, N. (ed). (1992). Completing the Gatt Uraguay Round: renewed multilateralism or a world of regional trading blocs? Wilton Park Paper No. 61, HMSO, London. Hunt, D. (1989). Economic theories of development: an analysis of competing paradigms. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf. O’Brien, R. (1992). Global financial integration: the end of geography. London: Pinter. Preeg, E. M. (1989). The GATT trading system in transition: an analytic survey of recent literature. The Washington Quarterly 12, 201-213. Schott, J.J., ed. (1989). Free trade areas and U.S. trade policy, Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C., 1 - 59. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). (1999). Handbook of Trade and Development Statistics 1996/1997. Geneva: United Nations.

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A new crude oil pipeline through Myanmar due to begin operations in September will put China in a favorable position compared to other Asian economic powerhouses challenged by energy security issues. At a capacity of 440,000 barrels a day, the pipeline—running from Myanmar’s coast at the Bay of Bengal to China’s southern Yunnan region—will allow China to send less crude through the Strait of Malacca. The narrow waterway by Singapore, where the U.S. Navy has a strong presence, is considered a major threat to secure energy supplies by major Asian economies dependent on crude shipments from the Middle East and Africa. China—helped by its own domestic oil production of just over 4 million barrels a day—last year relied on the narrow waters for around 37% of its total demand. That share will drop to about 30% once the Myanmar pipeline comes on stream. In comparison, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan all rely on the Strait of Malacca for around 75% of their total oil consumption, in part due to their small domestic production. The Myanmar pipeline, which will run parallel to a major natural gas pipeline, comes on top of a string of oil and gas import pipelines already completed or planned to supply China’s less-developed inland regions. For more on this, go to Southeast Asia Real Time

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Construction & Construction Industry Construction is the process where a building or infrastructure is constructed; it is actually different from manufacturing process. Manufacturing works in group production of comparable items without a nominated purchaser, where construction takes place on a location for a known client. Big types of construction need association within multiple disciplines. An architect’s just manages the job where the job was supervised by a construction manager, design engineer, construction or project manager. They should have more knowledge in the design with other knowledge like environment impact on the project, scheduling, budgeting, construction-site-safety, availability and transportation of various building materials, coordination, problems occurred to public due to the delayed project and working. Types of Construction: Generally there are three parts of construction; they are buildings, infrastructure and industrial. Building construction is also divided into two: residential and non-residential. Infrastructure is generally known as heavy civil or heavy engineering which works on big public projects like dams, bridges, highways, railways, water or wastewater and service distribution. And the last one includes refineries, process chemical, power generation, mills and manufacturing different plants. Building construction is a process that adds structure to the construction of buildings and most of the building construction jobs are of small renewals like renovation of a room or bathroom or other rooms. Generally the owner of the property acts as laborer, paymaster and design team in the whole project. Building construction projects have common elements like design, financial, estimating and legal discussions etc and many more. About Construction Management: In the other hand, Construction industry is the second largest industry in the United States which holds around 8% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP. Naturally the construction industry constructs the important buildings and infrastructures for people. Construction industry has improved from its previous views and works not it is not – a. Simple and straightforward d. Routine and dull etc. It has come with new structures and become a. Diverse and interesting, It has now become an interesting field with full of challenges and excitement, also has more career options. There is a good salary structure for the professional construction managers and also gets increment and higher positions here. The demand of professional construction managers are increasing day by day and have excellent employment opportunities as the number of job openings are also growing. Construction managers must have the knowledge about the project, environment, work process, labors, legal authorities etc and have the ability to deal with all kind of problems.

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April 30, 2001 Sin Taxes, Family Planning Clinics and Tobacco Policies are Effective in Controlling Teenage Risk-Taking A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that state laws mandating taxes on beer, limitations on cigarette vending machines, and the increased availability of family planning clinics appear to help youth avoid risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking, and unsafe sex. Although previous studies have shown that vending machine restrictions and taxes on beer reduced teen smoking and drinking, this study is one of only a few which show that the increased availability of family planning clinics and condoms reduces unsafe sexual behavior in adolescents. The study’s results were presented April 30, 2001 at the Pediatric Academic Societies Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. Lead author David M. Bishai, MD, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of population and family health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, "There is a popular misperception that family planning clinics cause teenagers to have more sex. We found evidence of an opposite association. Where there were more family planning clinics, there was more abstinence, and among teens who were having sex there were fewer sexual partners." For the study, the researchers developed a new statistical model that can make simultaneous estimates about the effects of several different government policies on three seemingly unrelated teenage risk behaviors. The success of this model, they said, provides evidence that one or more common unobservable factors run through all three risky behaviors in youth. Some of these unobservable factors, the authors suggest, may be connected to teens’ impatience or their eagerness for immediate gratification, which prevent some youths from sensing the threat of future trouble from unseemly behaviors. Some adolescents are unable to make the connection between risky behavior today and an eventual bad outcome, or they simply think that the future bad outcome will not be that bad. The researchers obtained data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS), which were developed in 1995 and given nationally to a cross-section of youth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That same year, the YRBS was also conducted locally by 20 separate U.S. states and cities. The researchers combined the YRBS data with information on alcohol prices, as well as with state statistics on cigarettes and beer taxes, teen drinking and smoking, vending machine access, and the accessibility of reproductive health services. The authors developed a statistical model of teen-age risk-taking based on the assumption that the three risky behaviors under study were related by a set of unobservable factors common to all, and that this interrelationship allowed simultaneous estimation of the frequency of smoking and drinking, and the numbers of sex partners. The model’s estimates confirmed earlier findings that the prevalence of these risky behaviors generally increases with age and is less common in boys. African-American youth were less likely to smoke or use alcohol than children of other racial backgrounds but, as has been found in other studies, at any given age they were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse. State beer taxes were associated with a statistically significant reduction in the frequency of alcohol use. Similarly, increasing the availability of Title X family planning clinics was associated in the model with a statistically significant reduction in the number of sex partners. Laws limiting vending machine access had a statistically significant deterrent effect among youth who smoked, but cigarette taxes did not. Co-author Daniel C. Mercer, MS, graduate student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, "There are patterns of teenage behavior that are lost when each risky activity is studied separately. Studying more than one teen behavior at a time can tell us more than doing it the old way. With the new technique we can actually learn more about the effects of state policies on these behaviors." Support for this study was provided by the Faculty Innovation Fund of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.Public Affairs Media Contact: Tim Parsons @ 410.955.6878 or firstname.lastname@example.org

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At a recent event held by The Atlantic, scientists and researchers joined others in the biopharmaceutical industry to discuss genomics' ever-evolving and critically important role in treating disease. Speakers discussed topics including tailored drug therapies, newly developed approaches to vaccine administration, the changing face of research and recent advances with the human genome. The event included dialogue with Dr. Claire Pomeroy, President and CEO of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation; Robert Hugin, Executive Chairman of Celgene; and Dr. Ripley Ballou, Vice President of GSK and head of GSK Global Vaccines. The latest advancements in genomics have produced a seismic shift in how once fatal diseases are now treated. Dr. Claire Pomeroy described the beginning of her career as an HIV doctor, and how drastically patient treatment has changed as a result of genotyping: "I trained as an HIV doctor, and when I look back at the beginning of my career, there was nothing for me to do other than support my patients as they were dying. With genotyping, however, we were able to better understand the individual viruses and give patients drugs to help them respond. That changed everything." Today, safe and effective antiretroviral therapy medicines suppress the virus and prolong the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS, turning what was once a death sentence into a manageable chronic disease for many. In fact, a new study from the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) found that HIV patients in Europe and North America treated with a combination of three or more antiretroviral therapy (ART) medicines can achieve the same life expectancy of people without HIV. Despite advancements like these, however, Celgene's Robert Hugin acknowledged that there is still much to be done. He specifically emphasized the continued importance of breaking down patient populations in the quest to better understand diseases and develop personalized treatments accordingly. "There is not one breast cancer, there are hundreds," Hugin says. "The ability to redefine disease as we know it, and then attack it in its fundamental genomic identification–that is progress." GSK's Ripley Ballou, speaking on the same issue, explained that there would not be a path forward when it comes to stopping certain diseases without the genomic revolution. Genomic mapping enables reverse vaccinology, Ballou remarked, which means that we're no longer operating via an empirical method that relies on trial and error. "The genomics revolution eliminates some of the guesswork and allows us to sequence an entire genome of a virus, determining the proteins needed to create an effective vaccine. We’ve moved the starting point forward."

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These data were collected in July 2010 for tussocks transplanted in 1980-82 in a reciprocal transplant experiment and harvested in 2011. Important variables are garden name, source population, light-saturated photosynthetic rate, dark respiration, stomatal conductance and ratio of internal to external CO2 concentration. Data set ID: EML revision ID: In 1980-1982, six transplant gardens were established along a latitudinal gradient in interior Alaska from Eagle Creek, AK, in the south to Prudhoe Bay, AK, in the north (Shaver et al. 1986) .Three sites, Toolik Lake (TL), Sagwon (SAG), and Prudhoe Bay (PB) are north of the continental divide and the remaining three, Eagle Creek (EC), No Name Creek (NN), and Coldfoot (CF), are south of the continental divide. Each garden consisted of 10 individual tussocks transplanted back to their home-site, as well as 10 individuals from each of the other transplant sites (n = 10; 6 populations x 6 sites x 10 replicates = 360 total individuals). Gas exchange was measured with an LI-6400 Portable Photosynthesis System (LiCor, Inc., Lincoln, NE, USA). Six leaves from each tussock were placed across a 2 x 3 cm cuvette that was equipped with an LED light source (6400-02B, LiCor, Inc., Lincoln, NE, USA). After measurement, width of each leaf was measured with a comparator. Leaf area was calculated as the sum of the leaf widths (cm) times the length of leaves that were in the cuvette (2 cm). Afterwards the portions of the leaves that were in the cuvette wre dried for 24 hr at 65 C and weighed. For measurements of light saturated photosynthetic rate (AMAX), cuvette conditions were set to 380 ppm CO2, 15°C, 1500 μmol m-2 s-1 PPFD, and 40-70% relative humidity. After 10 measurements of AMAX, the light was switched off and 10 measurements of dark respiration (RESP) were made at 15°C after waiting 1 minute. The median For AMAX and RESP measured on both leaf area and dry mass basis the 10 measurements were averaged to produce a mean value for each tussock. The median value of the 10 measurements wasc calculated. Mean and median values for the stomatal conductance and the mean ratio of internal to external CO2 concentration were also calculated. Shaver GR, Fetcher N, Chapin FS (1986) Growth and flowering in Eriophorum vaginatum - Annual and latitudinal variation. Ecology 67:1524-1535 Funding for this research was provided by National Science Foundation grant ARC-0908936 with additional support from NSF-BSR-9024188. AMAX and RESP data are incorporated in a ms. submitted to Botany. Stomatal conductance and internal CO2 data are still unpublished. Version 1: Metadata entered and data checked NF, data uploaded to Pasta (Jan2014-JD) Version 2: Checked keywords against the LTER network preferred list and replaced non-preferred terms. Jim L 24Jan14 Version 3: Checked keywords against the LTER network preferred list and replaced non-preferred terms. Jim L 27Jan14 Download a comma delimited (csv) or Excel file (includes metadata and data sheets). Use of the data requires acceptance of the data use policy --> Arctic LTER Data Use Policy To cite this data set see the citation example on the LTER Network Data Portal page for this data set.

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The finished fiber has a core that can carry light, a piezoelectric layer, and electrodes that can carry electricity to and from the piezoelectric layer. The MIT researchers can send pulses of electrical current down the fiber, causing the piezoelectric layer to squeeze the fiber. The resulting vibrations can be used to create acoustic waves, and the fibers can also detect vibrations and changes in pressure, because these, in turn, generate an electrical signal. This work is described this week in the journal Nature Materials. Fink believes there are many possible applications for the new fibers. They could be woven into carpets that can count the number of people walking across them, or integrated into structural composites and used to sense cracks before they become serious. But one of the most promising applications, Fink believes, is in biomedicine. The fibers are less than a micrometer wide–narrow enough to be snaked into blood vessels or inserted into organs to monitor heart rate, blood flow, or biomarkers in the blood. Their ability to carry infrared light and to perform acoustic sensing offers a combination of properties similar to an ultrasound imager, a heart-rate monitor, and chemical spectrometer. “Having the piezoelectric and the optical fiber completely integrated makes the sensor much smaller,” says Juan Hinestroza, professor of fiber science and leader of the Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornell University. “This is important–especially in a blood vessel or in a composite material where you have very little room.” The piezoelectric layer of the MIT fiber can be used to modulate the optical signals bouncing off the insides of the fiber. Fink’s group has also made fibers containing a reflective layer that act as a sort of optical switch. The reflective layer interacts with specific wavelengths of light, determined by the thickness of the layers. Running an electrical pulse through the fiber squeezes the mirror, changing the color of light with which it will interact. If woven into a fabric the fiber could produce different visible patterns of color. “If you wanted to read information off a piece of clothing, or a plane or car, you could integrate these fibers,” says Fink.

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Screening Athletes For Heart Disease The goals of evaluating individuals for exercise and sports participation are shown in table 1. The most important reason to screen for heart disease is to prevent sudden, unexpected death. Heart disease may also lead to sudden incapacity which may result in injuries, and pre‐existing heart disease may be exacerbated by exercise. Also, almost all states in the USA require some type of pre‐participation screening of participants in organised sports. Since there are more athletes at educational institutions than in amateur organisations and professional organisations, most physicians encounter this issue in association with high school and university sports. It has been estimated that there are 5 million active athletes at the high school, university, professional and master's levels in the United States.(1) The sudden death rate among high school athletes is 1:100–200 000; among marathon runners 1:50 000; and among recreational joggers 1:15 000.2 Thus, athletic sudden cardiac death is a rare event. One could argue that, given this low frequency of sudden athletic death, no screening programme could possibly be cost effective. The idea of preventing such a low frequency event is challenging and the efficacy of any screening programme would be difficult to prove. Despite these clear realities, public interest in this problem is high. The reason for this was succinctly summarised by Maron and Zipes in the 36th Bethesda Conference Report: “Sudden cardiac deaths in competitive athletes continue to be highly visible, compelling emotional events with significant liability concerns. These catastrophes are frequently subjected to intense public scrutiny largely because of their occurrence in young otherwise healthy‐appearing individuals, including elite participants in collegiate and professional sports”.(3) Consequently, the purpose of this article is to acquaint the physician with the issue of screening athletes for heart disease and the current recommendations for this activity. CAUSES OF SUDDEN DEATH IN ATHLETES In athletes above the age of 35, especially men, the most common cause of sudden death is atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. In younger individuals atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is much less common and other diseases predominate (table 2). The most common cause of sudden death in young athletes is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The second most common is coronary artery anomalies, and the third is abnormal left ventricular hypertrophy.(2) Other diseases fall at 5% or less of cases of sudden death. Some diseases are more prevalent in certain groups of individuals such as the higher frequency of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy found in northern Italy. Although most athletic sudden death episodes are caused by cardiovascular disease, it must be remembered that there are other causes of sudden death such as commotio cordis, asthma, heat stroke, drug abuse and trauma that causes structural cardiac injury. Commotio cordis is a unique cause of sudden death where a projectile such as a hockey puck or baseball hits the anterior chest with enough force to induce ventricular tachyarrhythmias, but not cause cardiac contusion.(4) This has to be distinguished from more severe chest trauma, which causes actual structural cardiac injury such as the sudden deceleration of a skier hitting a tree. One can appreciate that there are a number of unusual congenital and acquired heart diseases of children that could make them susceptible to sudden cardiac death. Any screening programme to accommodate such diverse diagnoses is challenging. Thus, most screening programmes have focused on the most common entities such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in Italy. Also, athletic sudden death is 5–9 times more common in men than women, yet screening programmes usually are not different for the two sexes.(2) DIFFERENTIATING CARDIAC DISEASE FROM ATHLETE'S HEART Physiologic adaptation to exercise training results in cardiac structural and functional alterations that can be confused with heart disease.(5) Dynamic exercise training leads to increases in cardiac chamber sizes and left ventricular mass. Static exercise training increases left ventricular wall thickness and left ventricular mass. These changes in cavity size and hypertrophy can alter the ECG in ways that resemble pathologic chamber enlargement and may resemble patterns seen in myocardial inflammation or infarction. Dynamic exercise training also reduces resting heart rate and may lead to excessive vagal tone at rest, resulting in abnormalities such as atrioventricular block and wandering atrial pacemaker. In addition bradycardia may increase the frequency of premature ventricular contractions and short runs of ventricular tachycardia. All of these rhythm disturbances normally disappear with exercise in the trained athlete.(6) The degree of chamber enlargement and hypertrophy is roughly correlated to the level of aerobic training as represented by the maximum oxygen consumption (MV̇o2) at peak exercise. Thus, athletes with the highest MV̇o2 such as bicycle racers and long distance runners have very large hearts. By contrast athletes with little aerobic exercise training, such as golfers, have hearts that are in the normal range of size. Athletes with considerable static exercise training such as weight lifters often have thick left ventricular myocardial walls which may exceed the upper limits of normal. One study recorded wall thickness up to 16 mm in highly trained athletes.(7) Highly trained athletes with cardiac chamber enlargement may have abnormal physical findings such as an enlarged apical impulse, systolic flow murmurs, and third and fourth heart sounds. Such findings increase the challenge of distinguishing cardiac adaptations to exercise from those of heart disease. The ECG may help distinguish cardiac disease from exercise training adaptations, but there are considerable false positives that have to be dealt with. Pelliccia and colleagues, who evaluated over 1000 athletes by ECG, showed that 17% of men and 8% of women had distinctly abnormal ECGs, and a further 28% of men and 14% of women had mildly abnormal ECGs.8 When those with distinctly abnormal ECGs were evaluated further it was found that the majority of them were in the high aerobic conditioning sports such as cycling as compared to lower aerobically trained athletes such as equestrians, 89% of whom had normal ECGs. Among the 145 patients with distinctly abnormal ECGs, 14 were found to have cardiovascular disease. Among the other 131, two thirds had enlarged cavities or thickened ventricular walls by echocardiogram and the other third were completely normal on echocardiogram. Thus, most athletes with ECG abnormalities do not have heart disease. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SCREENING The most important time to screen athletes is pre‐participation.(9) Accordingly, potential medical problems that would preclude athletic activity or that need further evaluation can be identified before the individual starts participating in sporting activities. The American Heart Association recommends that high school and college athletes have a pre‐participation examination and that it be repeated every two years.(1) A new medical history only is recommended in the intervening years. Many schools fully evaluate their athletes yearly, but this frequency of pre‐participation examinations was felt to be a potential hardship on less affluent schools. The American Heart Association recommends a 12 point screening procedure that is outlined in table 3. As can be seen, eight of the 12 points are related to the history and the remaining four are physical examination elements. These points should be viewed as minimal criteria and a complete physical examination should be encouraged when feasible. For example, palpation of the carotid pulses and precordium are not included in the 12 points, but they may provide important information. Also, a history of any medication or recreational drug use should be sought. Many physicians use the occasion of a pre‐participation evaluation to address adolescent health issues in general. The American Heart Association did not recommend other testing on a routine basis, but rather that other testing be done on an individual basis when there are unexplained abnormal findings or suspicion of cardiovascular disease.(1) The European Society of Cardiology has taken a different approach and specified that an ECG should be done with each evaluation.(10) They believe that this will detect most cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the majority of cases of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Although the American Heart Association did not disagree with this assertion, they believe that the cost of doing ECGs versus the yield is prohibitive and that the cost of evaluating false positives, both in terms of financial cost and psychological impairment, are too great to make this practice cost effective.(1) Currently there are no comparative data using the two approaches and there are little data to support that either approach significantly reduces the risk of sudden athletic death. No matter what screening procedure is used it is impossible to achieve zero risk in sports. If cardiovascular or other abnormalities are found when evaluating an individual, an estimation should be made of how much physical exercise can be safely tolerated. This requires knowledge of the type of exercise the individual will be doing; how much static and dynamic exertion is required; and how vigorous the training programme is. In some sports training is often more vigorous than the actual competition—for example, boxing. The 36th Bethesda Conference report has a chart of all major sporting activities and what level of dynamic and static exercise are generally required to participate in the sports.(3) The report also discusses many cardiovascular diseases, including congenital heart diseases, and details what levels of exertion are acceptable at various severities of the disease. Combining this information will allow for a decision as to whether an individual patient can safely participate in a particular sport or not. For example, athletes with mild aortic stenosis can participate in all competitive sports, but moderate aortic stenosis would restrict an athlete to low to moderate static and dynamic sports such as diving or volleyball. The primary obligation of a physician to the athlete is their best medical interest, but the physician must avoid unnecessary exclusion from sports. Thus, when abnormalities are detected that may disqualify a person from the sport they are interested in, it behoves the general physician to request specialty consultation or testing. Also, the athlete should be temporarily withdrawn from activities until the issue can be resolved. If the general physician and the specialist both agree that the patient's condition requires disqualification, then they should not hesitate to disqualify the individual from participation. Such decisions, if based on a reasonable pre‐participation evaluation following the usual and customary medical practices of the region, have generally been upheld in court cases. Also, there seems to be little liability risk if an asymptomatic condition is missed.(8) The physician should resist pressure from competing interests such as the athlete, the family, the coach, the administrative officials of the educational institution, and the alumni. Such individuals may be interested in having the individual compete athletically for reasons that are not in the individual's best interest medically. Once a decision has been made, the physician should report only to the patient, or the patient's parents if the patient is a minor, the referring doctor, and in some cases the institutional officials when an institution is paying for the medical evaluation. It is unwise to make any public pronouncements or discuss cases with the press unless the above‐mentioned people all wish for this to be done. Evaluating the older athlete who wants to embark on a fitness programme or participate in competitive master's level sports is a different challenge. Here one must weigh the health benefits of exercise versus the risk of triggering a cardiovascular event in those with unsuspected cardiovascular disease.(11) Regular exercise decreases the overall risk of sudden death, but if sudden death occurs, it is more likely to occur during exercise. The focus in these athletes is coronary artery disease risk. They should be evaluated for coronary artery disease risk factors and if one risk factor beyond male sex is present an exercise test or some other screening procedure for coronary artery disease would seem warranted. Also an exercise test would determine the individual's overall fitness for athletic participation. If a patient has known coronary artery disease, even if they have been revascularised, high intensity competitive sports should not be permitted. Other contraindications to high intensity competitive sports are listed in table 4. Due to the potential costs involved, many institutions and government bodies have permitted or encouraged non‐physicians to do the screening of athletes.(12) Consequently, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, nurses and trainers are doing the pre‐participation evaluation in many institutions. Some institutions or states have a form that must be filled out on each athlete. There is no generally agreed upon form, and many are incomplete with regards to history or physical exam elements that may identify diseases known to cause sudden death. The Italian Sports Authority requires that a certified sports medicine physician do the evaluations.(11) The American Heart Association has taken a more inclusive approach and recognises that other well trained health professionals can do this actively.(1) The concern is how well trained some of these non‐physicians are. How accurately could a health technician pick out someone with Marfan syndrome from the rest of the basketball players? Also, trainers and nurses employed full‐time by the institution may not be as objective about disqualifying a star player. The Italian approach is close to ideal, but the cost of such a high level evaluation for preventing such rare events would be difficult to sell in other countries. How much testing should be required is controversial. The Italian Sports Authority requires an ECG.(10) This may not be much of an added cost in their system, but it would be in others. The higher prevalence of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in Italy, which almost always is associated with an abnormal ECG, and their interest in other conditions such as Brugada's syndrome, may make this practice cost effective. Also, Corrado and colleagues have shown that among 33 735 athletes screened in Italy, 22 were ultimately found to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by echocardiography (0.07%).(13) Of these 22, 16 had an abnormal ECG, only two had a heart murmur on examination, and only three had a family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Since not everyone had an echocardiogram, we do not know how many hypertrophic cardiomyopathies were missed and whether this approach prevented any sudden deaths. Nevertheless, it suggests that the ECG may be far superior to history and physical examination for detecting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This raises the issue of echocardiographic screening. Some have recommended a limited echocardiogram to assess for left ventricular hypertrophy, right ventricular enlargement and an enlarged aortic root, perhaps using one view such as a parasternal long axis view.(14,15) Proponents claim this could be done at low cost by trained technicians who would refer any abnormal cases for further evaluation or a more complete echocardiogram. This would detect many with abnormalities, but it still would not cover some causes of sudden death such as a tunnelled coronary artery. Even a limited echocardiogram would have some cost, which could be prohibitive. Also, the cost effectiveness of this approach has not been proven. At this time no major sports or medical organisation recommends routine echocardiography. Screening athletes for heart disease: key points - Pre‐participation athlete screening is mainly targeted at preventing tragic sudden deaths in young athletes - Athlete sudden deaths are usually caused by unrecognised cardiovascular disease - Cardiovascular disease can be difficult to distinguish from the compensatory adaptations of the heart and circulation to athletic training - Although it is difficult to prove the efficacy of screening, it is recommended by major health and sports organisations - The extent of screening procedures and tests should be decided based upon each individual or in mass screenings the most frequent causes of sudden death in the population THE VALUE OF PRE‐PARTICIPATION SCREENING There are few data on the value of pre‐participation screening, especially with regard to the prevention of sudden death, and the data that do exist are not particularly encouraging. For example, a retrospective study of 134 high school and college athletes, who died suddenly of cardiovascular causes, evaluated the results of their pre‐participation evaluation.(2) Four of them declined an evaluation, and 115 underwent history and physical examination. Of these, four were suspected of having some sort of cardiovascular abnormality which was correctly identified in only one case. All four were cleared to play despite the abnormality finding. This study suggests that pre‐participation screening in the USA is not sensitive for discovering important cardiovascular disease in young athletes (sensitivity 3%). Experience with screening in Italy of more than 33 000 athletes over seven years resulted in the identification of 22 (0.07%) with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using their protocol in which an ECG is done in all individuals.(13) This frequency is similar to that observed in a US study, using echocardiographic screening in all individuals, of 0.1% These data suggest that the Italian screening programme, which uses licensed sports medicine physicians and ECG, performs as well as echocardiography based screening for detecting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Also, in the same Italian study there were 269 juvenile sudden deaths, of which 49 died during athletic events and had undergone pre‐participation screening.(13) Of these 49, only one had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (2%) which is much lower than the 7.3% incidence in the 220 non‐athletes. This suggests that screening in Italy does decrease athletic deaths caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The most common causes of juvenile sudden death were arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, and anomalous origin of a coronary artery; none of which were reduced in frequency in the athletes. This indicates that screening, even with ECG, is not particularly effective for identifying subjects with these conditions. Screening has many problems.(14) The history and physical examination have a low sensitivity for detecting problems that could lead to sudden cardiac death. For example, ventricular arrhythmias, premature coronary artery disease, and coronary artery anomalies usually have no physical findings. Although sensitivity can be increased with non‐invasive testing, it will never be 100%. Diseases such as coronary artery anomalies are very difficult to detect, even with non‐invasive imaging. The specificity of the ECG is poor. The ability to differentiate the athlete's heart from disease by echocardiography is often challenging. Even at autopsy, the cause of death is not always clear. In a study of non‐traumatic military recruit deaths that were studied pathologically, 51% had cardiovascular disease, but in 35% the cause of death was unexplained. The major problem in screening is that there is a low prevalence of disease in the athletic population, so many of those suspected of having disease are false positives. Also, there is a low risk of sudden death even in athletes with disease. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SCREENING Ideally screening should be done pre‐participation by a physician trained in this activity, but other well‐trained healthcare workers are acceptable as long as they do not have a conflict of interest. Screening should be done yearly just before training for the sports activity begins. Every two years is acceptable, with a new health history in the intervening years. The evaluation should include a history of symptoms suggestive of heart disease, a family history of premature death or specific cardiac diseases, and questions about substance abuse. The physical examination should include blood pressure, femoral pulses, auscultation of the heart in the standing position and inspection for Marfan syndrome features. There should be a low threshold for delaying clearance to play to evaluate further suspected cardiovascular disease. Further evaluation may include ECG, echocardiography and referral to a cardiologist. Only after this evaluation is complete should an athlete be cleared to participate. In some situations restrictions will need to be advised or alternative sports activities that are safer for the individual recommended. If the physicians involved in this process follow guidelines from major medical and sports organisations and treat the athlete in the usual and customary way, legal risk should be minimal. 1. Maron B J, Thompson P D, Puffer J C. et al Cardiovascular preparticipation screening of competitive athletes. Circulation 199694850–856.856This is the American Heart Association committee recommendations on pre‐participation athlete screening. [PubMed] 2. Maron B J, Shirani J, Poliac L C. et al Sudden death in young competitive athletes. Clinical, demographic, and pathological profiles. JAMA 1996276199–204.204 [PubMed] 3. Maron B J, Zipes D P. 36th Bethesda Conference: eligibility recommendations for competitive athletes with cardiovascular abnormalities. J Am Coll Cardiol 2005451313–1375.1375American College of Cardiology consensus committee report detailing what sports are relatively safe for patients with various cardiovascular diseases at specific severities. 4. Maron B J, Poliac L C, Kaplan J A. et al Blunt impact to the chest leading to sudden death from cardiac arrest during sports activities. N Engl J Med 1995333337–342.342First description of commotio cordis. [PubMed] 5. Huston T P, Puffer J C, Rodney W M. The athletic heart syndrome. N Engl J Med 198531324–32.32An excellent review of this topic. [PubMed] 6. Biffi A, Pelliccia A, Verdile L. et al Long‐term clinical significance of frequent and complex ventricular tachyarrhythmias in trained athletes. J Am Coll Cardiol 200240446–452.452Systematic study of 355 competitive athletes with ventricular arrhythmias that supports their usually benign nature. [PubMed] 7. Pelliccia A, Maron B J, Spataro A. et al The upper limit of physiologic cardiac hypertrophy in highly trained elite athletes. N Engl J Med 1991324295–301.301 [PubMed] 8. Pelliccia A, Maron B J, Culasso F. et al Clinical significance of abnormal electrocardiographic patterns in trained athletes. Circulation 2000102278–284.284Comprehensive study of ECG findings in over 1000 athletes with clinical and echocardiographic correlates. [PubMed] 9. Paterick T E, Paterick T J, Fletcher G F. et al Medical and legal issues in the cardiovascular evaluation of competitive athletes. JAMA 20052943011–3018.3018Excellent review of this topic with numerous case examples. [PubMed] 10. Corrado D, Pelliccia A, Bjornstad H H. et al Cardiovascular pre‐participation screening of young competitive athletes for prevention of sudden death: proposal for a common European protocol: consensus statement of the study group of sport cardiology of the Working Group of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology and the Working Group of Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur Heart J 200526516–524.524European Society of Cardiology committee recommendations for pre‐participation screening. [PubMed] 11. Maron B J, Araujo C G S, Thompson P D. et al Recommendations for pre‐participation screening and the assessment of cardiovascular disease in masters athletes: an advisory for healthcare professionals from the working groups of the World Heart Federation, the International Federation of Sports Medicine, and the American Heart Association Committee on Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention. Circulation 2001103327–333.333 [PubMed] 12. Glover D W, Maron B J. Profile of pre‐participation cardiovascular screening for high school athletes. JAMA 19982791817–1819.1819 [PubMed] 13. Corrado D, Basso C, Shiavon M. et al Screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in young athletes. N Engl J Med 1998339364–369.369 [PubMed] 14. Maron B J. Sudden death in young athletes. N Engl J Med 20033491064–1107.1107Excellent review of this topic. [PubMed] 15. Murray P M, Cantwell J D, Heath D L. et al The role of limited echocardiography in screening athletes. Am J Cardiol 199576849–850.850 [PubMed] Story Credit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1994446/

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Canada is 1.7°C Warmer Than in 1948, and Future Extreme Heat Will Hit Public Health Canada was 1.7°C/3.0°F warmer in 2016 than it was in 1948, with the biggest temperature increases taking place in the winter months and the country’s northern territories, the Science Media Centre of Canada concludes in a backgrounder on climate change, extreme heat, and public health. “Warming of a degree or two may seem small, but it’s important to remember that these are average temperatures covering an entire year, and as average temperatures rise, so too does the occurrence of more extreme events,” states the five-page report, produced by SMCC with Health Canada funding. Like this story? Subscribe to The Energy Mix and never miss an edition of our free e-digest. “Scientists predict that almost all of Canada will continue to get warmer during the next 80 years. Even with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, Canada’s summers are projected to warm by 1.5° to 2.5° C by mid-century. Those temperatures will be higher if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated.” The report anticipates a doubling in the number of days above 30°C in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Windsor, with significant increases ahead for Hamilton, Kingston, Montreal, and Fredericton. “A record-breaking heat event that had previously occurred once every 20 years may well occur once every other year by 2100,” and extreme heat will become more common across the Great Lakes region and the Saskatchewan and Alberta plains. While anyone can be at risk from extreme heat, SMCC says a person’s vulnerability is determined in part by their physiology and their ability to take protective action. Children and senior “sweat less and may rely on caregivers to take actions to prevent illness during extreme heat events, or to notice they’re suffering in the heat,” the backgrounder notes. “Factors that can influence whether an extreme heat event poses a health risk to people include urban heat islands, a city’s proximity to water, access to air conditioning, the population’s vulnerability to extreme heat, and its experience with high temperatures.” (h/t to CleanTechnica for pointing us to this report)

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And while the sentiment has been echoed many times since, military overseas voting is still conducted essentially as it was during that Korean War-era election: a multi-step process almost entirely reliant on numerous pieces of paper moving through less-than-speedy postal systems. While virtually everyone involved in the process seems to agree that military people deserve at least equal opportunity when it comes to having their votes counted, indications are that in November 2008 many thousands of service members who try to vote will do so in vain. Worrisome? Depends Whom You Ask The key problems have always been time, distance, and mobility. "The military voter," says Samuel Wright, "is frequently, if you'll excuse the expression, a moving target." Wright, a recently retired Navy Reserve captain, has fought the military voting rights battle for nearly 30 years. Absentee voting from overseas is also complicated, involving—notes Brenda Farrell of the Government Accountability Office (GAO)—"registering, requesting a ballot, receiving the ballot, correctly completing the ballot, and returning the ballot to the appropriate election official." Each step, in most cases, requires forms and ballots be sent back and forth by mail. It is not difficult to anticipate problems when states print ballots just weeks before an election, then put them into a postal system requiring 18 days out—the average time it takes a piece of mail to reach a military voter—and 18 days back. In 2006, 1.4 million people in uniform were eligible to vote by absentee ballot; not all of them were overseas, but many thousands were. A million of their family members were eligible, too. Add the estimated 3.5 million other Americans outside the country, and the total number of potential absentee voters neared 6 million. "A million ballots were sent out, almost, to those voters," reports Rosemary Rodriguez, chair of the independent, bipartisan Election Assistance Commission (EAC) created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002. "But only 300,000 were actually counted," she says. Election officials told the EAC that some ballots never made it to those who requested them. Others weren't returned on time, or did make it back but were not filled out exactly right. Those figures differ starkly from a more sanguine estimate of absentee voting compiled by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), a Department of Defense agency. Created in 1986 by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), the voting assistance program was placed within DOD because it was military voters Congress sought most to accommodate. The program's staff of 15 or so is supposed to facilitate military and overseas voters' participation in federal elections. "The military voted at a rate of 73 percent" in 2004, claims FVAP Deputy Director Scott Wiedmann, basing his estimate on post-election survey responses from 15,026 military men and women. "There were actually another six percent that attempted to vote," he adds, "for a total of 79 percent voting participation." "We have some concerns about that survey," says Farrell, who heads GAO inquiries into military personnel issues. Most troubling, she says, are its low response rates and lack of critical analysis. "There are techniques that DOD could have applied through analysis to make the projections more likely to be accurate, and those were not taken." GAO is not alone in questioning FVAP estimates. The Defense Manpower Data Center—in a 2007 study of 30,000 active-duty service members—reported that just 22 percent voted in 2006. Military voting advocates claim it all adds up to a stark and disturbing disenfranchisement of military service members. "In the general population," says Bob Carey, a senior fellow with the National Defense Committee (NDC), a private advocacy group, "about 85 percent of the absentee ballots that are requested are actually cast. In the military, only about 25 percent." Carey estimates the low return rate kept more than 400,000 military people from making their voices heard at the polls in 2006. Getting Out (Enough of) the Vote? Through posters and other means, the voting assistance program works to raise voting consciousness. More important, it coordinates the network of voting assistance officers, assigned on top of full-time duties to help others request and cast ballots. The effect is spotty; some work hard at the task, others have little time to devote. DOD Inspector General's office surveys since 2002 have consistently shown that fewer than half of the military men and women questioned knew who provided voting assistance in their units. In addition, IG reports reveal trends indicating reduced awareness of voting assistance efforts. Also documented is marginal compliance with military service regulations requiring specific distribution of Federal Post Card Applications (FPCA) used to request ballots and Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots (FWAB) that voters can fill out and mail if hometown ballots have not arrived in time. Persistent problems led the IG in 2005 to term the FVAP "not effective" at training voters nor in disseminating information and voting materials. Criticizing the concept of collateral-duty voting assistance officers, the report concluded, "senior leadership can expect significant improvement only if a radically different approach is applied." The NDC and others have questioned the effectiveness of a key FVAP information tool—its text-heavy, not-so-easily navigated Web site ( www.fvap.gov ). While $600,000 has been committed to upgrade the web presence, improvements were still not available to potential voters during May 2008. In the meantime, the nonprofit Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF)—partnering with the NDC—has created an alternative for a fraction of the cost. Using a $100,000 grant from the Pew Center for the States, the OVF site ( www.overseasvotefoundation.org ), incorporating intuitive, pull-down menu design, allows potential voters to easily complete then print for signature only those forms specifically required by their state, territory, even county. You Can't Over- State the Role of States Elections in the United States are the province of the states, counties, and territories, thus limiting help the federal government can provide federal troops, even when they are voting for candidates to federal office. "There are 7,838 local election offices in the United States," says retired Captain Wright. "I counted 'em." Adds the GAO's Farrell: "When you think of all the states and all the territories having different rules, for something that seems common, the right to vote, it is a little overwhelming." Even when employing such common forms as the FPCA and FWAB, service members need to understand that state laws differ on how each should be filled out. If they don't do it the way prescribed by their hometown election officials, the forms can be tossed aside. "The state requirements are very nuanced and very complicated," says the EAC's Rodriguez. "One of the states cannot accept ballots that are sent [or] returned by Federal Express. It has to be the U.S. Mail. What kind of law is that? I mean, how does that facilitate participation by the military voter?" While wielding few carrots or sticks to influence the conduct of state or municipal elections, FVAP staffers say they do what they can to encourage election officials to consider the plight of military voters. "Occasionally there might be a candidate suing to get their name on the ballot," says the FVAP's Wiedmann, "or there might be a weather event that could cause a ballot to be sent out late, and when that happens, we work with the state for a remedy for that particular election." When it appears election officials are not complying with overseas absentee voting act rules—most frequently that ballots must, at a minimum, be mailed no later than 30 days before a state's return deadline—the FVAP can alert Justice Department prosecutors. "The Civil Rights Division has brought more than 30 enforcement lawsuits under UOCAVA," says Justice Department spokesperson Jamie Hais. "Since 2000 we have brought suits against nine states and successfully resolved threatened violations without the need for litigation with many other states." But according to a former Justice Department attorney who spent more than two years handling such cases, those actions typically resulted after election officials essentially turned themselves in. "Many of those prosecutions were pursued," says Eric Eversole, "after an election official admitted infractions when answering survey questions distributed by the FVAP. If election officials aware of potential violations simply chose to not return the survey, it's very possible such violations would not come to the attention of federal prosecutors." Why Not Vote Online? Billions of dollars travel on digital networks every day. Classified documents do, too. So why are military voters still required to send ballots through the mail? "If electronic systems are secure enough for huge sums of money," asks Captain Wright, "and for our nation's most important secrets, why cannot we have, in the 21st century, a system whereby the deployed service member could receive, mark, and return his ballot by secure electronic means?" "Because there's money at stake." reasons the EAC's Rodriguez, "the banking system invests a whole lot of money in security of that money. And there's a lot less money to invest in voting equipment, regrettably." About a dozen states will this year use e-mail or fax to send ballots to voters. Recipients will still have to return marked ballots by mail. For most voters, though, the process will continue to require back-and-forth mailing of registration forms, ballot requests, and ballots. Tests to determine the potential of online voting have been inauspicious. In 2004, Congress directed DOD to develop an Internet-based absentee voting demonstration project and the EAC to develop project guidelines. The 2004 Interim Voting Assistance System, which allowed voters to request and receive ballots securely, cost $576,000 and resulted in delivery of 17 ballots to potential voters. In 2006, the Integrated Voting Alternative Site allowed voters to request ballots. It cost $1.1 million; researchers were able to trace eight voted ballots to the test. In reviewing the efforts, GAO researchers noted "two presidential elections passing without significant progress in moving toward expanded use of electronic and Internet absentee voting." Concerns about security and paper trails brought those tests to an end. The EAC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are presently looking into such worries. It is expected that a NIST report, likely to be released after the coming election, will recommend e-mailing ballots to voters, while still requiring they be returned by mail. Red or Blue Voters? Or Red, White, and Blue? If and when military voters are able to cast ballots, do their votes favor one party over another and really add up? A political scientist who studies the military says, counter to some conventional wisdom, service men and women do not vote as a bloc. "What you find," says Peter Feaver of Duke University, "is a military that more or less tracks the demographics from which it comes." That is, people will vote generally like civilian counterparts of the same age, education, and ethnicity—though probably skewing just a bit more conservative than the norm in each group. And while career military people—a relatively small percentage of the total force—have tended to vote Republican in greater numbers, the leaning may not be hard and fast. "One survey [of] the same population every year has shown a steady erosion in that identity with the Republican Party," notes Feaver. "And if that survey is representative of what's going on in the broader force, then some of these previous findings may represent high water marks, rather than a continuing trend." While the numbers of potential military voters might seem impressive, added to the national bucket, they represent just a drop. "The military vote by itself is not likely to be decisive, in all but a few locales," confirms Feaver. "That being said, the military vote is symbolic of a national security vote," including, he notes, families of service members and others with ties to defense issues. And what of rumors over the years that some administrations have done everything they can to encourage a military vote and others have held back? Feaver says they are likely urban myths. He recalls the bipartisan uproar that resulted when Democratic Party activists took tentative steps to aggressively challenge military absentee votes in Florida during the tightly contested 2000 election. Democratic Party leaders quickly squashed the activists' plan. "If you got caught trying to dampen the military vote in any way," warns Feaver, "the consequences would be horrific for you—the political consequences of the outcry—even if you were able to shave a vote here or there." Light at the End of the Ballot Box More likely by default than design, the system by which many military people will try to vote this year will exclude too many. And in the states, there is little talk of reform. "Elected officials," says the National Defense Committee's Carey, "were elected by the current laws, which disenfranchise military personnel. And the military personnel don't represent that big of a voting bloc." They are also a group unable, by law and military custom of deference to civil authority, to advocate on their own behalf for better ballot box access. If change is to take place, it might take the shape of top-down reform—Congress, for instance, identifying a federal class of voters and instituting common rules for handling their votes. A bottom-up approach could find states—much as they did when, among themselves, they agreed on a Uniform Commercial Code—agreeing to a common set of laws for treating absentee ballots received from military and overseas voters. Change, however, frequently challenges political equities. Some strategists worry about creating precedents that further ease any form of absentee voting. State and county election officials say they wish they could help, but don't have the resources. While a handful of small changes may help dozens or hundreds vote more easily this election cycle, it appears any wide-scale online voting is far off. As hundreds of thousands of men and women serving their country try to vote this election year, defense leaders seem convinced most will be able. "There's definitely the opportunity for every military member and every overseas citizen to take part in the process," affirms FVAP Deputy Director Wiedmann. Many others, though, worry that the votes of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, will in the end not be counted. "If anybody should be receiving their ballots and able to vote without any problems, it should be the military voter," stresses the EAC's Rodriguez. When President Truman raised alarm bells about military voting during the Korean War, he asked Congress for helpful, temporary legislation—certain that states and territories, given time, would rectify the biggest problems. But interest waned, as it has time and again after subsequent conflicts. As Americans again prepare to make their voices heard at the polls, it is not clear how many of their countrymen in uniform will be able to equally exercise a privilege the Supreme Court in 1886 called "preservative of all other rights."

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Christian History Home > News > 2004 > The Real Twelve Days of Christmas The Real Twelve Days of Christmas Celebrating Christ's birth with saints of the faith during the actual Christmas season. 1 of 3 Sometime in November, as things now stand, the "Christmas season" begins. The streets are hung with lights, the stores are decorated with red and green, and you can't turn on the radio without hearing songs about the spirit of the season and the glories of Santa Claus. The excitement builds to a climax on the morning of December 25, and then it stops, abruptly. Christmas is over, the New Year begins, and people go back to their normal lives. The traditional Christian celebration of Christmas is exactly the opposite. The season of Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and for nearly a month Christians await the coming of Christ in a spirit of expectation, singing hymns of longing. Then, on December 25, Christmas Day itself ushers in twelve days of celebration, ending only on January 6 with the feast of the Epiphany. Exhortations to follow this calendar rather than the secular one have become routine at this time of year. But often the focus falls on giving Advent its due, with the Twelve Days of Christmas relegated to the words of a cryptic traditional carol. Most people are simply too tired after Christmas Day to do much celebrating. The "real" twelve days of Christmas are important not just as a way of thumbing our noses at secular ideas of the "Christmas season." They are important because they give us a way of reflecting on what the Incarnation means in our lives. Christmas commemorates the most momentous event in human history—the entry of God into the world He made, in the form of a baby. The Logos through whom the worlds were made took up His dwelling among us in a tabernacle of flesh. One of the prayers for Christmas Day in the Catholic liturgy encapsulates what Christmas means for all believers: "O God, who marvelously created and yet more marvelously restored the dignity of human nature, grant that we may share the divinity of Him who humbled himself to share our humanity." In Christ, our human nature was united to God, and when Christ enters our hearts, he brings us into that union. The three traditional feasts (dating back to the late fifth century) that follow Christmas reflect different ways in which the mystery of the Incarnation works itself out in the body of Christ. December 26 is the feast of St. Stephen—a traditional day for giving leftovers to the poor (as described in the carol "Good King Wenceslas"). As one of the first deacons, Stephen was the forerunner of all those who show forth the love of Christ by their generosity to the needy. But more than this, he was the first martyr of the New Covenant, witnessing to Christ by the ultimate gift of his own life. St. John the Evangelist, commemorated on December 27, is traditionally the only one of the twelve disciples who did not die a martyr. Rather, John witnessed to the Incarnation through his words, turning Greek philosophy on its head with his affirmation, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14, KJV). On December 28, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, the children murdered by Herod. These were not martyrs like Stephen, who died heroically in a vision of the glorified Christ. They were not inspired like John to speak the Word of life and understand the mysteries of God. They died unjustly before they had a chance to know or to will—but they died for Christ nonetheless. In them we see the long agony of those who suffer and die through human injustice, never knowing that they have been redeemed. If Christ did not come for them too, then surely Christ came in vain. In celebrating the Holy Innocents, we remember the victims of abortion, of war, of abuse. We renew our faith that the coming of Christ brings hope to the most hopeless. And, in the most radical way possible, we confess that like the murdered children we are saved by the sheer mercy of Christ, not by our own doing or knowing. Browse More ChristianHistory.net Home | Browse by Topic | Browse by Period | The Past in the Present | Books & Resources

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Take care of the basics and your ticker will thank you. Managing your blood pressure and cholesterol can slash your risk of heart disease in half, says a study at the Medical University of South Carolina. Researchers found that patients with high blood pressure (consistent readings of 140/90 mm Hg or higher) who treated only hypertension or high cholesterol reduced their risk of heart disease by 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively. But people who controlled both conditions reduced their heart risk by more than 50 percent. “It’s a double whammy,” explains Eric Topol, M.D., director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute. High blood pressure damages the lining of your arteries, allowing cholesterol to seep in. But when you treat both, you limit the amount of cholesterol that can enter and the places in which it can get lodged, Dr. Topol says. While many doctors over-treat high cholesterol (240 mg/dL total or higher), it’s important to get your blood pressure checked regularly—and not just at your doc's office. According to a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, it can take up to six tries to get an accurate BP reading, so get checked at places like supermarkets and drugstores, Dr. Topol advises. Ask for a reading on both arms, too, says Aaron Michelfelder, M.D., of Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine: Differences in blood pressure between your arms may be a sign of peripheral vascular disease, which raises your risk for heart attack and stroke. If you liked this story, you'll love these:

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Simonides 556-468 BC In 480 BC the Persian king Xerxes the Great launched an invasion of Greece with a huge army conservatively estimated at 360,000. To give the Greeks time to mount a defence, Leonidas, king of Sparta and commander of the Greek army, resisted the Persian advance into Greece at the narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae. When the Persians outflanked his small army, Leonidas and his 300 Spartans remained behind to delay the Persians as long as they could. They fought until the Persians had killed them all. The sacrifice of Leonidas and his men at Thermopylae to save Greece has passed into world history. There would be few Greek schoolchildren who are unaware of the small band of Spartans who gallantly sacrificed themselves to save Greece from a Persian invasion. The official relief of the 39th battalion on 6 September 1942 at Menari is one of the most famous images from the Kokoda Campaign. The exhausted survivors of the 39th Battalion are parading at Menari after the Battle of Isurava before their proud commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Honner. There were only about 180 members of the battalion left to parade and about a quarter of these were sick or wounded. They came to New Guinea as raw recruits and their average age was eighteen. When they faced Japans best jungle troops they were poorly equipped and supplied. At Kokoda, Deniki, and Isurava they blunted the momentum of the Japanese drive towards Australia along the Kokoda Track and paved the way for the ultimate Japanese defeat. Image courtesy Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Australia has its equivalent of Thermopylae in the Battle of Isurava, but very few Australian schoolchildren appear to have heard of it or the manner in which several hundred Australian soldiers held their ground on the Kokoda Track against 6,000 of Japan's best combat troops in August 1942. The Australians were heavily outnumbered, inadequately armed, and poorly supplied, but their resolute stand over four days at Isurava inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese and blunted the momentum of the Japanese drive towards Port Moresby. The stubborn resistance of the Australian troops at Isurava wrecked the Japanese timetable for crossing the Kokoda Track, gave time for Australian reinforcements to be brought up, and paved the way for the ultimate defeat of Major General Tomitaro Horiis army before it could reach Port Moresby. Every Australian child deserves to know how these gallant Australians saved their country from greatly increased Japanese aerial bombardment and a real threat of invasion of the mainland. Without their sacrifices, it is likely that many Australians would not have been alive to celebrate a centenary of Federation in 2001. Overview and Preparations for the Battle of Isurava The Battle of Isurava 26 August to 30 August 1942KOKODAINDEX

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Tuesday, 6 February 2018 Lex talionis ( Matthew 5 v 38 - 42 ) How many time have we heard people saying ,''an eye for eye, tooth for tooth'',and they take that literally,the words are taken from Exodus 21 v 24. I want to quote Alec Motyer on these words. ''This is often misused ( as if ' an eye for an eye ' was an expression of ancient savagery ), but it is actually a poetic and dramatic demand that the punishment should match the crime,no more and no less. When English law hanged a person for stealing a sheep , it was not because the principle of ' an eye for an eye' was being practised but because it had been forgotten . Nowadays,the great rule of equity is more often breached by mistaken leniency. The Lex talionis ( The law of retaliation ) is of course a law for the courts, not for private vengeance.The reference to the Lex talionis in the present context shows that its terms were illustrative not prescriptive. '' Our Saviour taught in Matthew 5 v 38 ff how we transcend this law,by turning the other cheek, to not resist evil, I think this does not rule out the law courts, were a fair settlement should be reached.

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Hoping to avoid environmental conflicts and speed development of renewable energy in Arizona, the Obama administration recently laid out a plan that puts into play 237,100 acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The draft plan for the Restoration Design Energy Project (RDEP) is among the more land-intensive of six alternatives considered by BLM, which ranged from using 43,700 to 321,500 acres. In the plan, the agency calls the alternative chosen a “blended” plan that “incorporates all of the concepts, issues, and protections from the other five alternatives.” BLM said the plan focuses on areas that are “previously disturbed or have low natural and cultural resource conflicts,” while still being attractive for development. “With some of the most significant solar resources in the world, Arizona’s renewable energy economy has great potential,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a statement. “This blueprint for Arizona will help focus activity in the places where it makes the most sense to develop renewable energy, both for the companies and for the landscape.” What constitutes land that is “previously disturbed” or has “low natural and cultural resource conflicts”? According to BLM, the answer includes former landfills, brownfields, mines, isolated BLM parcels and Central Arizona Project canal rights-of-way. The agency said, as well, that it sought out “lands within five miles of utility corridors and existing transmission lines or near a point of power demand, such as a city, town or industrial area.” If you’re wondering how this fits into the Obama administration’s push for “solar energy zones” in six states—including Arizona—where BLM is hoping to steer big solar development, the agency said the new plan, covering both solar and wind, complements that parallel process. The agency noted that as part of the RDEP draft, it is looking in to adding an additional solar energy zone, Agua Caliente. “If adopted, the BLM’s preferred alternative would designate a 6,770 acre Zone near Dateland in Yuma County, about 70 miles east of Yuma,” BLM said. BLM is taking public comment on the draft plan for 90 days from its release date of Feb. 17. For information on submitting a comment, as well as a schedule of public meetings to be held in Arizona, see the agency’s press release.

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What if you've decided to collect postally used stamps from around the world, but everyone you know lives in the same country as you? There are a few different answers to that problem. You could try to find a trading partner in another country. You could buy someone's ready-made collection. You could travel a lot and send yourself plenty of postcards. If you're looking for an answer that's a little easier and less expensive, you could try buying stamp mixtures. A mixture is traditionally a group of stamps that have been used on mail and are still affixed to envelope paper. Someone has torn away the corner of the envelope that bears the stamp, and the dealer sells you anywhere from a handful to a trunkful of these paper corners. Smaller mixtures sell for as little as $1, or you can spend a lot more money for a king-size version. Sometimes these miscellaneous mixtures are referred to as "kiloware," meaning a heavier package of envelope stamp corners packaged by the kilogram or half kilogram. Part of a recent mixture of worldwide stamps is shown in Figure 1. Collectors soak the paper corners in water until the stamps float free. Then they dry the stamps and flatten them so they can be added to a collection. Mixtures are usually thought of as unpicked, meaning no one has gone through the stamps ahead of you to pick out the best ones or to weed out the losers. As a result, you may find a gem or two from time to time, but you may also turn up a lot of duplicate stamps. That's a traditional definition of a stamp mixture, but collectors find the exceptions are more common than the rule in this case. Stamp dealers often assemble their mixtures with considerable care these days, offering mixes that consist of selected countries or a particular type of stamp. Some dealers even use the word "mixture" to describe a selection of off-paper stamps that has been sorted to certain specifications. Collectors commonly think of off-paper, sorted stamp selections as packets, rather than mixtures. Some packets in retail stores come carefully arranged on a flat board and covered with clear plastic so the collector can take a look at what's being offered. Other packets sold by mail often come packaged very modestly, with the stamps placed inside a small paper or glassine envelope. Packets are almost always considered to be a selection of all-different stamps. A packet of 50 different postally used United Nations stamps is shown in Figure 2. When a collector buys a mixture or packet by mail, what he ends up getting depends a lot upon the description offered by the dealer. Often, what the advertisement doesn't say is just as important as what it does say. For example, a packet described as "100 different stamps" may contain only smaller definitive stamps, such as the 1952 British 2½-penny stamp shown at left in Figure 3. Definitive stamps are printed again and again in enormous quantities, so they are often pretty easy to obtain. Some collectors enjoy collecting definitives, but the mix might be a big disappointment to a collector who wants to find larger, colorful commemorative stamps, such as the 1996 $1.50 New Zealand Fur Seal stamp shown at right in Figure 3. Because commemorative stamps are printed in limited quantities, they are often harder to come by. Christmas and holiday stamps are usually common, and they may appear in many mixtures. The phrase "100 different stamps" could mean all the stamps are from one country. To describe a selection of stamps from many different countries, dealers usually add the word "worldwide." Here are some other terms used to describe stamp mixtures and packets. The stamps may be described as "on paper" or "off paper." The "paper" in this case refers to the envelope corner the stamp was placed on. Stamps "on paper" are usually soaked off by collectors after they receive them. Stamps "off paper" have already been soaked off. Because stamps are so fragile, it's not unusual to get some damaged stamps in your mixture from time to time. The damage is easier to see if the stamp is "off paper," and dealers usually discard the damaged stamps they can see. Therefore, an "off paper" mix may have fewer damaged stamps. The words "all different" are easy to understand: All of the stamps are different from one another. Collectors also understand, however, that if the description does not say "all different" that they are likely to receive some duplicate stamps. "High values" can mean one of two things, and it is often hard to tell which meaning the dealer intends. The term can be used to describe postage stamps that are listed with a higher retail value in the stamp catalog, such as a stamp listed with a value of $3, rather than the catalog minimum, which is often 15¢. The term may also be used to describe the face value of the stamp, rather than its retail value. Some dealers advertise "No dunes" or "No CTO." "Dunes" refers to a specific group of Arab sheikhdoms known as the Trucial States: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Manama, Qatar, Ras al Khaima, Sharjah and Umm al Qiwain. The Mutawakelite Kingdom of Yemen is often included in this group. For many years these entities issued enormous quantities of colorful pictorial stamps that today are rarely listed in stamp catalogs. A mixture advertised as "No dunes" is not supposed to include these issues. One stamp created for the area known as Fujeira is shown at the top of Figure 4. Because so many stamps were issued for these areas that have relatively small populations, it is assumed they were made and sold just to create stamp packets, rather than to use for postage. Many of the "dunes" area stamps are also "CTO," which stands for "canceled to order." Often you can tell a CTO stamp because it has a neat cancel in one corner and full, undisturbed gum on the back. Because the gum is intact, the stamp obviously was not used for postage. Instead, it was "canceled to order" and sold to packet makers. Some collectors like CTOs because they often have colorful topical designs. Others do not like them because the canceled stamps never served a genuine postal use. Many eastern European communist bloc countries issued CTOs during the 1960s and 1970s. A 1978 CTO airmail stamp from Romania is shown at the bottom of Figure 4. The term "bank mixture" is sometimes used to describe a group of stamps obtained from the correspondence of a bank or similar establishment. The implication is that the stamps in the mixture may be high-value foreign stamps or of similar high quality. A "mission mixture" often consists of many definitive stamps and a few commemoratives, presumably clipped from daily mail by church parishioners or other contributors. Stamps sold on paper are sometimes offered by the ounce, such as, 1 ounce of stamps from Finland for $4. An average 1-ounce lot of stamps will have around 100 stamps, though lots consisting of mostly larger stamps may have fewer. If you would like to learn more about stamp mixtures, take a look at the Kitchen Table Philately column in Linn's Stamp News. Each week one of two mixture reviewers using the pseudonym "E. Rawolik" (which is the word "kiloware" spelled backward) reviews a mixture ordered from stamp dealers who advertise in Linn's and elsewhere. The reviewer's comments and criticisms provide detailed information about different mixtures, including a listing of the stamps received, the cost of the mixture, and averages that help determine the mixture's value. Every stamp mixture is a little bit different, but the KTP reviewers provide the kind of detail that a collector usually can't get from a small classified ad. July 07, 2015 10:27 AMIn 2008, Great Britain’s Royal Mail introduced a new postal product — a self-service, machine-vended label that customers could purchase and use to mail a letter. Read More › July 05, 2015 10:31 AMAlthough still 10-months away, the buzz surrounding World Stamp Show 2016 to be held next May in New York City is beginning to feel palpable. Read More › July 03, 2015 05:03 PMRegency Superior held a sale June 3-7 in conjunction with the Napex stamp show in McLean, Va. The sale included space memorabilia and autographs, as well as stamps and postal history. In common with other such sales, however, there were some crossover items that covered multiple categories. Read More › July 01, 2015 10:28 AMIn the Spotlight on Philately column this month, Ken Lawrence presents a lengthy and fascinating history of the United States 30¢ orange Benjamin Franklin stamp of 1917 with gauge 10 perforations on unwatermarked paper. Read More › Chad Snee discusses the recent sale of the glass locket containing the famed 1918 Jenny Invert airmail error stamp. Watch as Scott catalog senior editor Marty Frankevicz discusses a new Spanish stamp commemorating the first international congress on bullfighting as cultural heritage. Chad Snee reports on the National Postal Museum reception for the display of the British Guiana 1¢ Magenta stamp. It is always a treat to get to see stamp dealers’ own collections. In the recently concluded Linn’s United States Stamp Popularity Poll, the Circus Posters set of eight stamps was chosen as the overall favorite issue of 2014. Dispersal of the splendid Daniel B. Curtis collection continued March 25, with Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries gaveling items from United States back-of-the-book and possessions. The 175th anniversary of the first postage stamp, Great Britain's Penny Black, is May 6, but the stamp was placed on sale May 1, 1840, for mailers to use beginning on May 6, the designated issue date.

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Date: 12-Apr-2005 From: Cathleen Petree <CathleenPetreeearthlink.net> Subject: The Connections Between Language and Reading Disabilities: Catts, Kamhi (Eds) Title: The Connections Between Language and Reading Disabilities Subtitle: Current Findings and Future Directions Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Editor: Hugh W. Catts, University of Kansas Editor: Alan G. Kamhi, Northern Illinois University Hardback: ISBN: 0805850015 Pages: 248 Price: U.S. $ 69.95 Paperback: ISBN: 0805850023 Pages: 248 Price: U.S. $ 29.95 This is an edited book based on papers presented at a 2003 invitee-only conference under the sponsorship of the Merrill Advanced Studies Center of the University of Kansas. The participants were prominent scholars in the areas of language and reading and have research programs funded by NIH and other funding sources. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss theoretical issues and research findings concerning the relationship between developmental language and reading disabilities, specifically looking at neurological, behavioral, and genetic factors; other factors that contribute to reading difficulties in the middle elementary school years through adolescence; and, literacy outcomes for children with early language impairments and how these problems relate to children with dyslexia. The Foreward is written by Reid Lyon, Branch Chief, Child Development and Behavior Branch, NICHD-National Institutes of Health. This book will appeal to scholars in the areas of language disorders and reading disabilities, as well as to practicing speech-language pathologists, special educators, and reading specialists. It may also be used in graduate courses designed as seminars in either language disorders or reading disabilities in schools of communication disorders as well as in schools of education, especially special education departments.

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NEWS! How Homeopathy Works.30th October 2015 How Homeopathy Works … Homeopathy Works, WITHOUT SIDE EFFECTS. - As seen in this study within an intensive care unit. - How it can work at great dilution has been demonstrated. - DATABASE OF CLINICAL OUTCOME RESEARCH IN HOMEOPATHY. Death by Medicine doctors are often operating in the dark … “well below half” of the procedures doctors perform and the decisions they make about surgeries, drugs, and tests have been adequately investigated and shown to be effective. The rest are based on a combination of guesswork, theory, and tradition, with a strong dose of marketing by drug and device companies. link Make the change to … Safe, Cheap Medicine. - Homeopathy seeks to replace drugs that have severe side effects. - It aims to heal, not suppress symptoms. - It works toward decreasing a patient’s dependency on drugs. - Homeopathic medications are a cheap solution for health systems struggling with crippling drug expenses. - Homeopathy doesn’t seek to replace health systems. - It cannot replace surgery for injuries and cannot offer life support. - Homeopaths recognise conventional medications can be life saving, ie Salbuterol inhalers for acute attacks of asthma (though not without their own concerns). Deaths and Injuries by Conventional Medicine Iatrogenic deaths run at 1/4 million deaths per year in the USA, making them the 3rd most common cause of death: I suspect we can all name people in our families and extended families who have suffered iatrogenic injury, illness or death. The surprising thing is the number of deaths and injuries we are prepared to tolerate in order to continue supporting ‘conventional medicine’ as the main medical paradigm, in its current form. How Homeopathy works: - A substance that in large doses will cause the symptoms of a disease, can be used in minute doses to relieve the same symptoms, - that a substance that will produce very similar symptoms will heal that disease. - This is familiar in conventional medicine: - the use of cowpox inoculation to treat smallpox. - modern medications like Ritalin (which is capable of producing side effects that look a lot like the ADHD it is used to treat). an approach that utilizes medicines that stimulate the body’s own immune system to initiate the healing process [& it recognises] symptoms are actually efforts of the organism to deal with stress or infection. link ie, we raise a fever in response to an infection. We know this. Homeopathy is a fact, not a theory. - Homeopathy is a discovery, not an invention. - It is a system of medicine developed through observation of what heals, observation of natural laws. - It operates within a set of natural laws, and, as such, is ‘scientific’ Homeopathy is not a new discovery: The idea of a schism of two distinctly opposed and separate medical methods is not an accurate one: - Homeopathy is integrated into many state health systems worldwide link. - It is Europe’s #1 Alternative for Doctors. - ie,”60 percent of [Scottish] doctors’ surgeries prescribe homeopathic or herbal remedies” link. - About 20 per cent of doctors in Scotland have basic homeopathic training compared with one per cent 15 years ago. link - Doctors such as Constantine Hering were converted to homeopathy whilst trying to debunk it. - George Vithoulkas trains many medical doctors in homeopathy every year: Every year, during the summer months, groups of doctors from various countries gather to be trained at the Academy. They come from Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, Russia, the U.S.A., Canada, Austria, Japan, India, Mexico, Brazil, Greece etc. 12.000 medical doctors and homeopathic practitioners from 33 countries have been trained in the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy. Doctors are not necessarily averse to or sceptical of homeopathy: “according to an article in the British Medical Journal, 42% of British physicians surveyed referred patients to homeopathic physicians. . Another survey of British physicians discovered that 80% of recent graduates wanted training in either homeopathy, acupuncture, or hypnosis. ” History of Homeopathy Homeopathy was developed initially by (Dr and chemist) Samuel Hahnemann, who recognised that cinchona bark, successfully used to treat malarial fevers, had the ability to produce symptoms very like malarial fever. He was familiar with the ideas of Hippocrates and others. He recognised that some medicines used in high doses, healed the original disease, but created dangerous side effects. He began to experiment with how low a dose he could use to achieve healing (ie, in the use of mercury, etc). He also began to test (in himself and volunteers) many substances to see which symptoms they could produce (temporarily) in healthy people and if they would then heal the same symptoms in the sick. Conventional medicine relies on drugs that are often unproven and have to be taken continually to suppress symptoms or bear no relationship to the symptoms of the illness at all. This has hardly proven successful in curing. Ill health abounds, Effectiveness gaps are plentiful and, as we saw above, there is usually an undesirable payback to conventional drugs. Homeopathy was developed to overcome these problems. It has the capacity to do so. One of its obvious places is within the medical system as an integrated service. This would give patients the choice of treatment without side effects and would give doctors the opportunity to effectively treat patients with disorders that cannot currently be treated or cured. I help people treat all conditions, but specialise in working with people with complex problems like autism & autoimmune diseases. ***FREE 15 MINUTE CONSULTATION*** Find out how homeopathy may help your health problem. *1. Richard Wharton and George Lewith, “Complementary Medicine and the General Practitioner,” British Medicine Journal, 292, June 7, 1986, 1498-1500. *2. David Taylor Reilly, “Young Doctors’ Views on Alternative Medicine,” British Medical Journal, 287, July 30, 1983, 337-339.

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Smart Growth Planning Topics Smart growth concentrates new development and redevelopment in areas that have existing or planned infrastructure to avoid sprawl. Smart growth is sustainable and is characterized by compact, transit-oriented, bicycle-friendly land use, with neighborhood schools, walkable streets, mixed-use development and a wide range of housing choices. Its purpose is to conserve valuable natural resources through the efficient use of land, water and air; create a sense of community and place; expand transportation, employment, and housing choices; distribute the costs and benefits of development in an equitable manner; and promote public health. Smart Growth has four straightforward goals: - Support existing communities by targeting resources to support development in areas where infrastructure exists; - Save our most valuable natural resources before they are forever lost; - Save taxpayers from the high cost of building infrastructure to serve development that has spread far from our traditional population centers; and - Provide Marylanders with a high quality of life, whether they choose to live in a rural community, suburb, small town, or city. Since 1992 the State of Maryland has adopted a variety of Smart Growth laws and policies. Many of these laws and policies have been administered by the Maryland Department of Planning. Reinvest Maryland Toolbox Ever wonder what federal and state resources you might tap for your upcoming project, but don’t know where to start? More than 100 programs support infill, redevelopment and revitalization in Maryland. How to find the best ones to support your work? The Maryland Department of Planning developed the Reinvest Maryland Toolbox as a searchable, online resource to point you to the right programs.

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Athletes differ a lot in their reactions to a loss. Some may be barely affected or may forget the loss almost immediately. Others will be virtually devastated and may be low-spirited for days. When you perceive that a young athlete feels down after a loss, you should give him or her a chance to feel and express the emotion. For example, if a youngster cries after losing, this is a realistic expression of depth of feeling and should be accepted as such. At a time like this, a child needs support from significant others, rather than a command to “toughen up.” Respect and acceptance of feelings demands that parents and coaches not deny or distort what the child is feeling. For example, if a softball player struck out three times, she doesn’t want to hear, “You did great.” She knows she didn’t, and your attempts to comfort her may well come through as a lack of sincerity and understanding. Likewise, it isn’t very helpful to tell a child, “It doesn’t matter.” The fact is that at that moment it matters a lot! What are some guidelines for parents’ and coaches’ post-game behavior after a loss? - Compliment the sport officials for doing a good job, and be sure to thank them for their contributions. - STOP focusing on whether your child/team won or lost. - LOOK for signs that indicate how the kids are feeling (facial expressions, tears, body language). - LISTEN to what the youngsters say before you provide input. Begin with a supportive comment, and then ask open-ended questions: “What part of the game did you enjoy the most/least?” “What was the best/worst thing about your individual performance?” “Were you satisfied with your effort?” If not, “What do you intend to do about effort in the future?” “What was the most important thing you learned from the game?” What are some tips for helping young athletes deal with losing? - Don’t blame or get angry with your child/team. The kids feel bad enough already. - Avoid the temptation to deny or distort the feeling of disappointment. For example, it isn’t helpful to say, “It doesn’t matter.” - Point out something positive that was achieved during the game. Here are some things to say: “Great effort and improvement. Keep working hard, and winning will take care of itself.” “That was a tough one to lose, but your defense showed improvement. Stay with it, and it’ll pay off.” “Really good effort. That’s all anyone can ask. I’m proud of you.” “It never feels good to lose, but you showed terrific sportsmanship. Way to go!” - If a youngster hasn’t given maximum effort, communicate your unhappiness without putting him or her down as a person. Focus on the future and emphasize athletes owe it to themselves and their team to give maximum effort. - Ask your child/team, “Did you learn anything from this that you can apply in school and in other parts of your life?” Do you want to learn more about parenting and coaching young athletes? - The Mastery Approach to Parenting in Sports and Mastery Approach to Coaching are research-based videos that emphasize skill development, achieving personal and team success, giving maximum effort, and having fun. - To access the videos, go to the Youth Enrichment in Sports website at http://www.y-e-sports.org/

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Alaska’s Wildlife: on the Verge of Extinction (Живая природа Штата Аляска на грани исчезновения)код для вставкиСкачать Aвтор: Vera Nevyglas Дальневосточный Государственный Университет Путей Сообщения (ДВГУПС), кафедра Иностранные языки, "5". Хабаровск, 2001г. FAR-EASTEN STATE TRANSPORT UNIVERSITY Foreign language department RESEARCH PAPER "Alaska's Wildlife: on the Verge of Extinction" Done by: Checked by: Khabarovsk 2001 PLAN: 1. Wildlife Species.............................................4 2. Wildlife Problems..........................................7 3. Wildlife Center..............................................9 4. Bibliography.................................................11 INTRODUCTION "Alaska's mountains rise like walls; four seas and unimaginable distances form a mighty moat; and a patchwork of national parks and wildlife refuges protects more than a third of the state. It's a fortress for wildlife." Shielded from civilization, bears, wolves, moose, and caribou cast their huge shadows from coast to coast, and musk oxen travel the far north like refugees of the last ice age. Migratory birds flock river deltas each summer, and raptors prowl Alaskan skies year-round. As with any fortress, wild Alaska's perimeter is especially vulnerable. Tankers laden with oil from bays and coastal wetlands skirt the seaboard. Though now protected, endangered whales resist to rebuild their populations. Like sea lions and other marine mammals, they now must compete with massive trawlers-floating factories-for the sea's falling harvest. In this research paper I would like to investigate extinction problem. Many facts I have found show that this problem is very urgent. I am not sure that everybody understands it but if more people realize this many problems will be solved. ALASKA SPECIES Wildlife can be found everywhere in Alaska, from cities where moose, bears and wolves roam to more than 18 million acres designated by Congress as wilderness areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. However, most refuges in Alaska require travel via air transport, making them difficult and expensive to reach. Many species in Alaska such as black and brown bears, wolves, moose and many others are on the verge of Extinction. They are interesting in their own way. So, let's learn about them more than we do. Black bears are usually smaller than brown bears. They can look alike, but there are several ways you can tell the bears apart. Black bears don't have a shoulder hump like brown bears. Black bears also have a straight face, compared to the brown bear's bowl-shaped face. Their paws are different too. Black bears' claws are short and curved and brown bears have longer, straighter claws. Black bears have been known to live in every state, except Hawaii. They can be found in most forested areas in Alaska. Like brown bears, black bears hibernate in the winter. They start hibernating in the fall and come out of their dens in the spring. Their dens are found in hollow trees or rocks. They also build dens on the ground. A person may walk right over a bear den and not even know it, unless the bear wakes up, of course. Moose like bears can be brown or black but they have longer legs and larger body than bears do. Alaska is full of moose. In Anchorage, you have a good chance of spotting a moose on the Coastal Trail or in Kincaid Park early in the morning or just before sunset. Moose like to roam along roads and highways that are close to rivers and ponds. They also take walks through the city and neighborhoods. Musk oxen look huger than bears and moose. They are large animals with humped shoulders and dark brown shaggy fur that is so long it almost drags on the ground. A light brown patch of fur is on their back. Their legs are also light brown. Musk oxen have horns that look like big curls on the sides of their head. During the winter, they use their hooves to dig through the snow for grass to eat, but they try to stay in areas where the snow has blown away. The fur on a musk ox helps it survive the cold and windy winters on the arctic tundra. Under their brown shaggy fur is another layer of soft brownish fur that keeps them warm. Musk oxen have so much fur that if you were to shave it all off, they would only be the size of a small cow. If we move from the forest to the beaches we will see walruses. They are big and they eat a lot. Some can weigh up to two tons. They eat hundreds of pounds of clams, mussels, snails and sea worms almost every day. Using tiny whiskers on their face, they feel around for food on the bottom of the sea. When they find a clam, they use their lips to suck the meat out of the shell. Walruses change color when they go in and out of the water. On land, they are reddish-brown and when they swim, their skin turns pink or white. Their skin is so tough and thick that only killer whales and polar bears can chew through it. The polar bears are the world's largest land carnivore. The bears can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. These "sea bears" are excellent swimmers. They use their front feet to dog paddle and their back legs to steer. But the walrus is faster so can kill a polar bear by swimming under it and stabbing the bear with his long ivory tusks. Other sea species that you can see in Alaska are sea otters. They've been nicknamed "Old Man of the Sea" comes from the silver hairs and whitish-silvery head of older otters. The underfur is brown, dark brown or black; pale brown or silver guard hairs. Puffin's nickname "Parrots of the Sea" because of their brightly colored beaks. But these birds aren't always colorful. At the end of breeding season, their black feathers turn brown and their white face patches become dark, almost turning black. So, it must be very interesting to know how species are breeding. First of all, males should attract female's attention. For example, male walruses sing love songs to female walruses underwater. The songs sound like church bells. They also grunt and snort, and they stink like pigs. What is happing after that? As for puffins, both of parents incubate the single egg for 42 to 47 days. After it hatches, the chick stays in the nest for another 45 to 55 days, until it can fly. This is the variety of Alaska's wildlife. Many species are so beautiful but everything can't be so good in our life. There is one "little" problem: EXTINCTION! WILDLIFE PROBLEMS "Since life began on this planet, countless creatures have come and gone - rendered extinct by naturally changing physical and biological conditions." The State of Alaska is frightened of extinction. More than 1,000 wolves killed every year. Not a single wolf pack is protected from hunting and trapping throughout its entire variety in Alaska. Trapping within and outside of the park, cruelly impacts Denali National Park wolves, the longest studied and most widely viewed in the world. Trappers killed Denali's Savage River pack, and the last remaining female of the Headquarters' pack. Nearly 12,000 grizzly bears were killed in Alaska in the past 10 years. Alaska hunters kill about 22,000 caribou every year. Sea otters were nearly extinct due to heavy commercial harvests until the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 gave them full protection. An estimated 2,000 sea otters existed then, compared to as many as 160,000 by the mid-1970s. Alaska Natives may still hunt sea otters, which they use for food and other purposes. Moose meat is also a popular food among Alaskans. Between 6,000 and 8,000 moose are hunted every year. That's 3.5 million pounds of meat. Some of meat from the moose that are hit and killed on highways is used to feed the hungry. Puffin populations are abundant in Alaska, but they are declining in the Lower 48. Oil pollution and fishery conflicts are to blame for their decreasing numbers. Alaska Natives used to hunt the birds for food and clothing, making parkas out of puffin skins. Today federal and state laws protect their nesting colonies. The State does not have accurate population figures for wolves, bears, lynx, fox and other species - yet thousands are legally killed each year. It is legal to hunt and trap on most National Park lands in Alaska. Though wildlife viewers represent over 80% of Alaskan's, the Alaska Board of Game (Alaska wildlife-policy decision makers) consists entirely of hunters and trappers. Less than 3% of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's budget is devoted to wildlife viewing. Wolves Legally/Reported Killed Regulatory YearNumber killed1988-898581989-909411990-9110891991-9211621992-9310511993-9415831994-9514571995-9612301996-971280 Every year the population of wolves decreases. According to the table many poachers kill more and more wolves from year to year. The problem of killing wolves makes the government pay attention to the critical situation in Alaska. WILDLIFE CENTER The problem of extinction worries Big Game Alaska Wildlife Center. This center was created for helping animals, birds and mammals that can't fight for surviving. Last year Big Game Alaska Wildlife Center received moose, deer, black and grizzly bears, owls, bison musk ox and a variety of game are birds to care for. Big Game Alaska is entirely self-supported and relies on customer support to continue its mission of wildlife rehabilitation. The original members of Big Game's bison family were abandoned calves that had to be bottle-fed. The largest, named Big Boy now weighs more than 1 ton. Bison are gregarious and live in herds whose range includes grasslands and open woodlands. They have poor eyesight and depend on their sense of hearing and smell. Big Game Alaska has cared for and stabilized a large number of moose, the largest member of the deer family. Mattie, a 5-year-old cow moose was brought to Big Game when she was less than 5-days-old. Stray dogs in Palmer, Alaska, killed her mother. Mattie has starred in more than 10 commercials and loves to eat bananas. Seymour, a 4-year-old bull, was brought to Big Game when he was 1-year-old and faltering due to malnutrition. Black-tailed deer are often orphaned in areas where there is active logging and the deer are run over by trucks. Big Game has rehabilitated deer from the outermost tip of Southeast Alaska, as well as deer from the Prince William Sound area. These tiny fawns usually weigh less than 5 pounds when they arrive at the wildlife center. Black-tailed deer are smaller than their southern cousins. The antlers are similar to the mule deer, forking rather than all points coming from a single main beam. The black-tail deer is rarely found on the mainland of Alaska, preferring the islands of Alaska's coastal rain forests. Caribou are rarely orphaned because another member of the herd will usually care for any calves who lose their mother. A number of Big Game's caribou were rescued from islands that were overpopulated and could not sustain healthy animals. To prevent starvation some animals were removed and Big Game shared in the rescue effort. The Musk Oxen is a member of the goat family. It is an arctic survivor with a thick coat consisting of long (up to 36 inches) guard hairs covering a dense winter coat of harvestable warm fur called Qiviut. Qiviut is considered to be one of the warmest material in the world. The two male musk oxen at Big Game Alaska are part of a research program in conjunction with the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The under wool is combed out in May and Qiviut products are sold in the gift shop. Musk ox populations have been drastically reduced in recent years. Hunted to extinction in Alaska in 1865 and successfully reintroduced with a small herd from Greenland in the 1930s. CONCLUSION Alaska is often called the last frontier and with good reason, it contains some of the most remote and unexplored wilderness areas left in the world today. Alaska has always seemed to draw those looking for adventure and the Wildlife and Nature lovers. Alaska is made up of many diverse ecological regions and each has it's own special features that makes it a unique place. The Wildlife of Alaska is to me though, the most remarkable thing about "The Great Land", Seeing Eagle, Bear, Caribou and Moose on a daily basis never gets old, it just amazes! But we shouldn't forget that the beauty of Alaska isn't eternal. If we want to show our children where we lived we should take care of animals, birds and mammals. The problem of extinction isn't related to Alaska only. In our country this problem exists too. And in conclusion all of us should always remember the wise advice of a great English writer John Galsworthy who said: "If you don't think about the future you will not have it." BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Robert B.Weeden. Alaska. Promises to keep. - Boston, 1978. 2. Internet: * www.akwildlife.org * www.biggamealaska.com * www.inalaska.com * www.travelalaska.com 2

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In Christianity there are many diverse beliefs and denominations which include Pentecostals, apostolic faith, 7th day Adventists, and Jehovah witness amongst others. Some believe we should not eat certain foods, some say a certain day should be esteemed more than the other, some don’t believe in celebrating festive periods. Others include prohibition from wearing certain clothes, jewelleries amongst others (more reference in Romans 14). Rom 14: 17 “for the kingdom of GOD is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost” Whichever belief we may have as Christians, we should not judge our fellow Christians based on our different beliefs or values. No belief is superior to the other; that someone doesn’t consent to your belief does not make yours superior or inferior. Rather we should see ourselves as one as long as we believe in GOD and our LORD Jesus Christ. Christianity is more of a personal relationship with GOD. At the end of the day, GOD will not judge us based on our denominations but on our personal relationship with GOD. Rom 14:12 – “so then every one of us shall give account of himself to GOD” In conclusion, GOD is a GOD of diversities not divisions. That there are diverse beliefs even in Christianity does not mean that we should be divided. As someone rightly said “what we belief may divide us but in whom we belief should unite us”. 1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For GOD is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW Read more articles by EFEZOKHAE GRACE or search for articles on the same topic or others.

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Catholic Teachers Learn About Holocaust Fourth-grade teacher Humberto De La Rosa had never heard of the term "anti-Semitic." Like most of his students at St. Malachy, a Catholic school in South Los Angeles, which is 75 percent black and 25 percent Latino, the educator had little contact with Jews. De La Rosa was able to expand his limited knowledge of Judaism at the Bearing Witness Institute, a conference for Catholic educators that addressed anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and current issues of prejudice. Sixty local Catholic school teachers gathered inside the Claretian Renewal Center in Los Angeles, June 23-25, where they heard from rabbis, Holocaust survivors, Jewish historians, experts from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Catholic clergy. The program was presented by the ADL in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Department of Catholic Schools. In addition, the teachers participated in interactive workshops on teaching the Holocaust to their students and being mindful of prejudice. For many, the highlights were visiting Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. Sister Genevieve Vigil, a middle school teacher at St. Peter & Paul in Wilmington, said the conference challenged her understanding of the Jewish foundations of Christianity. "We read 'The Diary of Anne Frank' in our eighth-grade classes," Vigil said. "Now I have a much more solid understanding of the Holocaust and the skills to present it at an age-appropriate level." Another goal of the program is to improve communication between the two religious groups. "The hope is for an improved Catholic-Jewish relationship," said Marjan Keypour Greenblatt, associate director of the ADL's Pacific Southwest Region and director of the Bearing Witness Program. For more information about the Bearing Witness Institute, visit www.adl.org/bearing_witness . -- Sharon Schatz Rosenthal, Education Writer Special-Needs Camp Breaks Record Camp Avraham Moshe, a Southern California day camp for Jewish youth with special needs, reached its highest enrollment with a total of 27 campers this summer. The Etta Israel-run camp accommodated seven more campers than last year's program, which is significant growth for the area of special needs. During the month-long program's sixth summer, Avraham Moshe operated out of the Yeshiva University of Los Angeles girls' school campus on Pico Boulevard. The coed program allowed youngsters age 10-22 to participate in a number of camp activities, including field trips to Disneyland, the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Los Angeles Zoo. "The mission of Etta Israel is inclusion -- that everyone in the Jewish community is important," said Dr. Michael Held, executive director of Etta Israel. "Summer camp should not be any different. Jewish youth with special needs deserve a camp where they can have a great time, go on field trips, make new friends and grow as individuals." Etta Israel will continue to develop options so that families with special-needs children can have access to a range of programs. For more information about Camp Avraham Moshe, visit www.etta.org . -- SSR

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Common Core State Standard SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF AUG. 01, 2011 Bill Gates' charity project focuses on new types of toilets for Third World health Find coverage about any topic from a part of the world where waste disposal and sanitation are life-or-death needs. Look for contrasting news reports -- one about any basic necessity for health or survival, the other about an optional luxury. See if you can spot an item about another charity or nonprofit group doing good deeds like the Gates Foundation. Computer billionaire Bill Gates wants to inspire inventors to rethink a basic fixture we use daily and take for granted -- the toilet. A charitable foundation carrying his name and his wife's offers $42 million in grants to support toilet innovation and other developments in sanitation. While bathrooms and flushing away waste are ordinary in developed countries, an estimated 2.5 billion people lack that type of facility. That creates a huge risk of disease from polluted drinking water, insects and other drawbacks from using latrines (open ditches) or similar unsanitary disposal. "We need to reinvent the toilet," Sylvia Mathews Burwell of the foundation said recently at a conference in the African nation of Rwanda (pronounced ruh-wahnda. Installing customary toilets isn't possible in impoverished areas without water mains and residential plumbing. Limited global water resources also complicate a solution. New research incentives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, set up in 1994 by Microsoft's co-founder, are meant to find new ways to collect, store and dispose of waste, as well as process it into energy, fertilizer and maybe even fresh water -- weird as that sounds. One $3-million grant will start a worldwide university challenge to invent a toilet that costs less than 5 cents per day and operates without piped-in water, sewers or outside electricity. This research can be a tough sell because of the "yuck factor," but the need is urgent and eight universities will join the project. The World Health Organization says about 1.5 million children die each year from diarrhea-related disease, and improved sanitation could cut that toll sharply. "Though certainly less glamorous than most of Gates' contributions to innovation, an improved loo [toilet in British slang] could drastically better the lives of more people than any computer software or high-tech machinery," business blogger John Harrison says at an online magazine called Portfolio. Gates associate says: "No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet." -- Sylvia Mathews Burwell, head of global development for the Gates Foundation Blogger says: "We may not only discover a solution to the developing world's sanitation crisis -- we may also find the planet's next great inventor." -- John Harrison at Portfolio.com, a business site UN consultant says: "The Gates initiative . . . aims at coming up with a solution for sanitation while avoiding wasting precious water flushing toilets." -- Catarina de Albuquerque, adviser to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Front Page Talking Points is written by Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2015 We welcome comments or suggestions for future topics: Click here to Comment

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Explaining how the rotate tool works in Revit has always been an interesting experience in any training class I have ever run. Half the students get it, the other half are left scratching their heads. I suspect much has to do with the engrained AutoCAD mentality. So Revit doesn’t work like AutoCAD? That’s weird; don’t these two products come from the same company? Anyway, I remember struggling with the rotate tool the first time I encountered Revit. Not that I couldn’t understand it, I just didn’t have a clue how to alter the center point of rotation. It took some smart arse to tell me I have to drag the rotation icon! Revit 2012 has put pay to all that frustration and tweaked the way you interact with the tool.So when you choose the rotation tool now, you can move the blue dot by dragging it to a suitable location to define your center point of rotation. As you would expect, when you choose the “place” button, the rotate point can be snapped to other elements.

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The standard medical patch products relies upon the body’s own absorption to allow for drug delivery. The challenge with this approach is the variation of both the pH and the skin types of the patient. The process of the positive (+) and negative (-) battery terminals can be configured to drive the drug, which has been charged to travel through the skin at a more controlled and effective way. By incorporating a battery that is thin and also flexible the patch can be applied to conform to the body part to ensure an effective delivery. The ability to bring power to a medical patch devices goes beyond drug delivery, it empowers sensors for temperature to chemical monitoring to alert patients to levels of concern and need for action. Without onboard power these sorts of applications could not be deployed to provide better and more effective treatment to patients around the world.

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Popularity of baseball in Japan topic of WFU lecture By Cheryl Walker William W. Kelly, professor of anthropology and Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies at Yale University, will explain the history and reasons for the extreme popularity of baseball in Japan and its place within modern Japanese culture in a lecture at the Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology July 21. "Samurai with Bats? Baseball in Contemporary Japan" will begin at 7:30 p.m. The event is presented in conjunction with the exhibit "Asian Games: The Art of the Contest," which highlights the importance of Asia as a source of many games, including chess, polo, backgammon, Parcheesi and playing cards. Since 1996, Kelly has conducted field research on the history and present patterns of professional baseball in the cities of Osaka and Kobe. He is completing a book, "The Hanshin Tigers and the Practices of Professional Baseball in Modern Japan," on the history of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. He is also co-editing "This Sporting Life: Sports and Body Culture in Modern Japan." Admission to the lecture and to the exhibit is free. For information, contact the museum at 758-5282 or visit the museum Web site at http://www.wfu.edu/moa. The Museum of Anthropology is located on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. Hours are 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

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By this time, the Japanese had become fairly successful at detecting and destroying underground resistance groups. However, they were not successful in quelling the desire for freedom and self-government among the Korean people. The resistance groups moved further underground and guerilla raids from the independence groups in Manchuria and Siberia increased. The Japanese stepped up their assault on the Korean school system and other nationalistic movements. After the passage of an Education Act in 1911 the Japanese began to close all Korean schools. In 1913, the Tae- Song School was forced to close, and, by 1914, virtually all Korean schools had been shut down. This all but completed the Japanese campaign of cultural genocide. Chances of any part of the Korean culture surviving rested in the hands of the few dedicated patriots working in exile outside of Korea. When Japanese governor-general Hirobumi Itoho was assassinated by Ahn Choong-gun (1879 - 1910), an independence fighter, Japan tightened its grip on Korean leaders. Finally Ahn exiled himself to Manchuria, then traveled to Siberia, Russia, Europe, and finally to the United States, along with Rhee Syngman. Rhee organized the Tongjihoe (Comrade Society) in Honolulu. In 1912, Ahn was elected chairman of the Korean National People's Association, which emerged as the supreme organization for Koreans abroad and played an active role in negotiations with the U.S. government. During this time, he established Hungsadan, a secret voluntary group of ardent patriots.

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Purgatory is the Roman Catholic doctrine on the fate of souls that are in God's grace at the time of death but which require, as a matter of divine justice, punishment for unforgiven minor sins ("venial" sins) or for having committed major sins ("mortal" sins) that were forgiven prior to death. These souls are believed to undergo a final purging after death, and then will enter Heaven. The doctrine of purgatory was formulated at the Councils of Florence and Trent, based on Biblical exegesis (although Purgatory is not specifically mentioned in the Bible). Those whose transgressions are too great to ever warrant redemption don't go to Purgatory, but are instead sent straight to Hell after death. - Catechism of the Catholic Church. Accessed April 23, 2007.

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1. They protect your eyes from disease. Avocados have a high content (more than any other fruit) of the carotenoid lutein, which protects against cataracts and macular degeneration—a leading cause of blindness. 2. They will lower your cholesterol. Avocados are high in beta-sitosterol, a natural substance that has been shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. In one study, 45 people saw an average drop in cholesterol of 17% after eating avocados for just one week. 3. They help regulate and reduce blood pressure. Avocados are a great source of potassium, containing even more than bananas. Studies confirm that eating foods high in potassium (and low in sodium) can lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of stroke. 4. They are a great source of vitamin E. Avocados are the greatest fruit source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects against many diseases and helps maintain overall health. 5. They will moisturize your skin. Avocado butter and oil, two deep-conditioning emollients, will soften skin, eliminate dry patches, and restore your skin’s elasticity. Try some of our favorite beauty products, enriched with avocado butter and oil, at right.

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No matter if you are trying to lose weight, maintain your weight, or just eat healthier this year, the concept of diet will emerge at some point. New diets are coming out all the time and some are better than others, but too often we sabotage a new eating plan or healthy eating choice. This year, be aware of these seven common diet mistakes and steer clear of them. - Setting unrealistic goals. When you set goals for a diet, make sure those goals are achievable. Don't try to do everything at once and then expect to suddenly weigh what you did in high school. An example of an attainable goal might be to eat two snacks of fresh fruit every day and three servings of vegetables between lunch and dinner. - Eating only one time each day. I often hear that people, in order to "save" calories, are skipping breakfast and lunch and only eating dinner. Let me tell you: This plan will save you no calories and can squelch your metabolism in the bargain. Eating three meals a day is important to your general health. - Thinking short-term only. This is why people lose and then regain weight so quickly. A change in diet isn't meant to be just for a few months; it should become a lifelong habit. Think long-term changes. - Underestimating your food portions. We are all guilty of this. Research shows that, when recalling foods consumed, most people under-report the amounts they ate. You may think that you only are having one cup of cereal — but use a measuring cup just to be sure. - Making your diet plan too restrictive. When starting a diet, people usually err on the side of caution and eat too little — a practice they aren't able to maintain long-term. Also, a diet never means excluding major food groups like whole grains, fruits, or dairy. - Not having a support system. When working on eating healthier, the more support you have the better. Tell others around you about your goals and let them know how they can best help you. - Forgetting about exercise. People often ask me, "Which one is more important, diet or exercise?" I reply, "Do you want your airplane to have one wing or two?" Diet and exercise need to be done together — don't forget to exercise regularly.

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The emergence of E-Commerce is not a phenomenon of 20th Century but existed in form of electronic data interchange for the standardized computer to computer exchange of information either within the organization or between two organizations (Mckinsey,2016). However such transactions were limited to business and common people has a limited role to play. However with the arrival of the internet in 1993, and its rapid adoption by masses helped World Wide Web in establishing itself as popular medium for commercial transaction (Zwass, 1996). People realizes that doing transaction on internet is not only convenient but also cost-efficient and provide more options to buyers (Alka and Murlidhar,2013). Since E-Commerce operates in a networked environment, it also helps in diminishing the geographical and political boundaries. E-commerce brought whole range of products on the networked platform where people can buy and sell. Further, E-Commerce businesses also helped businesses to remove the traditional middle man such as wholesalers, distributors and retailers from the value chain. However, E-commerce business models give rise to different types of intermediaries such as network providers, authentication and certification services, data base provider, and electronic payment system (Mckinsey,2016). Therefore the value chain of an E-commerce system gives rise to an entire new value chain which reduces the cycle time in which goods travel from the manufacturer or original supplier to consumers. The value chain of both traditional and E-commerce model is shown below: Figure 1: E-commerce Value Chain (Mckinsey, 2016) The E-commerce business disrupted the traditional retail model and the entire retail industry observed a massive shift from brick and mortar model to E-commerce model. Consumers preferred to shop through E-commerce portal mainly because of following reasons: - About 78% of consumer thinks that using E-commerce portal because they perceive it convenient and saves a lot of time (Foong, 2013). - Roughly 51% of consumer thinks that they get better pricing at E-commerce portals than at conventional brick and mortar shop (Foong, 2013). - Around 43% of consumers thinks that E-Commerce portals provide diverse and more selection options (Foong, 2013). - Roughly 40% of consumers select E-Commerce because it provides better shipping options (Foong, 2013). Therefore it can be inferred from above findings that convenience is the key driver which motivates people to buy from E-commerce portals. The convenience may be measured in terms of saving time or better shipping options etc. The shift in consumer behaviour give way to many domestic and international E-commerce players to operate in Malaysia. Though E-Commerce business is based on disruptive and innovative value chain but at the same time it has its own challenges which is quite different than the challenges faced by traditional retail model. Some of these challenges are as follows: - Quality Issues: With increasing number of E-Commerce portals, there is also increasing Quality related complaints from the customers. These quality issues may be related to expiry date of products, counterfeiting etc (Amani et. al., 2016).. - Mismatch between actual and displayed product: At times E-commerce portals do not have the exact image of the product. In such cases E-commerce portals update the product catalogue with either indicative image or the image provided by seller. These lead to the possibility that there would be a mismatch between displayed and delivered product (Amani et. al., 2016). - Transit losses: The transit losses are primarily attributed to supply chain, logistics and warehousing. It may be because of mishandling of goods, or because of storing under inappropriate conditions (Ducret, 2014). - Missing deliveries: This is one of the major concern which most of the E- Commerce companies are facing. Deliveries are primarily missed because at the time of delivery the customer might not be at the address. This is mainly because delivery is attempted during working hours. It not only reduces the degree of convenience – the biggest motivation of selecting E-Commerce but also increases the cost of service for the E-Commerce portal (Ducret, 2014). - Longer resolution time in case of a return: Longer resolution time in case of return of the product is mainly attributed to delay in pickup, lack of appropriate reason of return, examination of the legitimacy of the cause of return etc. (Ducret, 2014). Analysis of brief challenges faced by E-commerce industry indicates that challenges such as quality issues, mismatch between actual and displayed product, transit losses and longer resolution time in case of return are controllable challenges. By strengthening its operation the above mentioned four issues get resolved. However, it should be noted that the issue of missing delivery cannot be minimized only by strengthening its operation. This is primarily because of the fact that extrinsic factors such as consumer behavior also affect the same. Let me know your views on the article

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Wailing children, crotchety parents, sand and sunscreen in uncomfortable places… you get the idea. If this sounds familiar, chances are you’ve been on what feels like an eons-long summer trip with your family. But the National Park Service’s new, sustainable outlook on life may forever change the face of summer vacations, retrofitting the National Parks we know and love with some seriously awesome green technology. With some of the vastest wilderness resources in the country, National Parks are feeling the brunt of climate change. Extreme flooding, serious drought, wildfires and glacial melt have meant that the severity of climate change is taken very seriously by the NPS. They are growing as a voice for climate change education and activism and are leading the way with green technology and infrastructure. On Earth Day of 2012 the NPS issued the Green Parks Plan (GPP), a comprehensive road map for change that emphasizes engaging visitors and communities in initiatives that mitigate climate change and educate about sustainability. In the year since the plan’s debut, the National Parks have made impressive progress. Ninety-two percent of construction waste is diverted from landfills and greenhouse gas emissions are down thirteen percent. Here are five clean, green examples of why you should visit and support their efforts: 1.) The Pinnacles National Park West Side Visitors Center received a Platinum LEED certification (the highest available) for energy and water saving features—the building was even constructed using photovoltaic powers sources. Captain Planet would approve. 2.) At Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, you can now take a sustainable ride through the forests—the surrounding communities have partnered with park services to implement hybrid and electric buses as transportation. Thirteen other parks have also received grants from the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program to make the switch from fuel hogging diesel vehicles to electric and hybrid technologies. Ah, smell that fresh, clean air! 3.) Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks also spearheaded an initiative to start illuminating park attractions with solar power—the famous Crystal Cave is now completely lit by solar powered lights, which seriously lower energy consumption. 4.) On the East Coast, Assateague Island National Seashore is using solar power to generate light for the bathrooms, convenience store, campground office, ranger station, and parking lot. 5.) In Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the Cottonwood Cove Marina Building on Lake Mohave is the first ever LEED certified floating building, and is highly energy efficient and sustainably constructed. Jeffrey Olson, an NPS Spokesman, said “There were over 273 million visitors to the parks last year alone, and we hope our sustainable initiative will engage visitors, neighbors and communities and to ask them to participate for the betterment of national parks and our world.” When asked why Sierra readers should make an effort to visit the parks, Olson responded “visitor participation can have big environmental benefits. We hope our commitment to sustainability spreads and that park visitors, Sierra readers included, find opportunities to take similar steps in their own lives”. - Photos and video courtesy of the National Parks Service MAREN HUNSBERGER is an editorial intern at Sierra. She is a rising senior studying biology and environmental science at the College of William and Mary. She loves hiking, running, animals of all shapes and sizes, and wants to be David Attenborough when she grows up.

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Lessons for Journey North can use the following standards-based lessons in preparation for or during any Journey North study. Change: Core Background Concepts - Introduction: Tracking Seasonal Change With Journey North Seasonal change is all around us. Children see it in the length of a day, in the appearance of a flower, in the flight of a butterfly. This Slideshow and Teaching Resources introduce Journey North, a free, Internet-based program in which students explore the interrelated aspects of seasonal change. for Seasons: Exploring the Astronomy of the Seasons To fully grasp what causes seasons, students need a variety of opportunities over time to explore light, shadows, and Earth-Sun models. The five activities in this mini-unit require few materials and offer some basic strategies for exploration. You can use them sequentially or individually to reinforce or lay the groundwork for your students' online investigations of seasonal change. The Light: Recognizing the Sun's Role in Living Systems Students create webs that illustrate their thinking about how sunlight affects living systems, such as food chains and webs. Climates and Seasons Several factors affect a region's climate and the number and types of seasons it experiences. Here students explore colorful animations of annual changes in temperature and precipitation. Mysteries of Migration for Tracking Migrations and the Seasons in the World? Understanding Latitude and Longitude In order to track migrations and other signs of spring, students should know how to use latitude and longitude with ease. This engaging game helps them do just that. With Latitude and Longitude: Find Your Lat/Long Using Google Maps In this lesson students find their own homes on Google maps and determine their precice latitude and longitude coordinates. They learn how to pinpoint the location visually and then move north, east, south, or west on the map by changing latitude and longitude values. North Map Basics This teacher's lesson explains how to access and use updated Journey North maps and related data. Sense of Journey North Maps: Core Questions Here you'll find guidance for helping students focus on what's happening and interpret why it's happening as the season progresses. North Journals: Helping Young Minds Grow This teachers' lesson offers tips on using Journey North journals to inspire learning and assessment. Keen Observers: Teaching With Journey North Photos Observation is at the heart of inquiry. This lesson explores strategies for using Journey North's rich collection of photos to build students’ observation and thinking skills. Migrations, and Plants As students make local observations and analyze Journey North News updates, maps, and data, they should think critically about the relationship between weather and seasonal events. This activity suggests how they might do that. Migration Routes (example from monarch study) explore these questions: What pathways do migrating animals take? How do our predictions change as we get new data? How could we explain what influences these routes? (Also see Predicting the Arrival of Spring with Red Emperor Tulips.) Does a Migration Move Forward? As students gather and review migration data, they calculate the speed and distance a migration travels and ponder what influences its progression. Sense of Unusual Findings of questions and links to resources will help you and your students try to "puzzle out" unusual reports and map events that contradict what we (and scientists) might otherwise expect. Random Samples: Mapping Data Made Manageable As Journey North reports flow in from observers each spring, teachers often feel awash in data. Here's some support for simplifying mapping and introducing the idea of selecting random samples without bias. the Scientist: Verifying Data Collected by Peers As part of Journey North's Internet Field Team, your students collect backyard observations and share them with classrooms across North America. This throng of student observers expand the eyes and ears of scientists in ways never before possible. In this lesson, students explore ways to assess the accuracy and reliability of data reported by other observers. categorize questions they generate in preparation for pursuing answers that expand their existing knowledge. is a Hotdog Like a Shoe? Thinking by Analogy One strategy that will help students better understand abstract concepts is the use of analogy. By making analogies, just like scientists do, students can relate things they don't understand to things they do! This activity can be used throughout the project to help students better understand unfamiliar concepts. through Controversy: Debating Values and Viewpoints Students practice taking different perspectives when debating environmental issues. Then they take these into account when posing solutions. the Expert: Connecting Students to Scientists Develop questions for scientists and other specialists that can't be answered anyplace else.

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A new large-scale building kit used for hands-on free play and playful STE(A)M learning. This collection of wooden planks, wheels, pulleys, nuts, bolts and rope allows children to follow their curiosity through play. Engaging the inquisitive mind and creative spirit, Rigamajig® empowers children to think in three dimensions, building things larger than themselves. Rigamajig® Basic Builder is ideal for classrooms, children's museums and groups of children learning and playing collaboratively. The solid wood 3/4" thick planks range from 12"-44", allowing children to build things larger than themselves. Children often say "this isn't a toy, this is real!" as they familiarize themselves with the scale and weight of working with wood. All the while they are cooperating and communicating to problem solve, pretend and play. Buy Rigamajig® today! Benefits of Rigamajig Promotes playful, cooperative learning Rigamajig® creates playful, cooperative learning communities, through means of collaborative building and child-directed play.The kit enables easily accessible, cognitively challenging play opportunities for children of any age in any environment. Enhances STEM and STEAM learning Rigamajig® fits with principles of STEM and STEAM education, which promote focus on science, technology, engineering, math, and art through hands-on, inquiry-based learning to provide children opportunities for creativity, innovation, collaboration, and critical thinking. Develops problem-solving skills Children simultaneously practice problem solving while designing and playing with their technological inventions. They create and work with simple machines (e.g. pulleys, ramps, and screws) as a means to create new, more complex machines. Encourages cognitive thinking and investigations Play, fantasy, and imagination are all part of children's everyday cognitive thinking and investigations. It is when these are all manifested in a single activity that children invest and fully engage in problem solving and amazing feats of creativity. Conceived and designed as a custom play feature for the High Line Park in New York City, Rigamajig® was developed by Cas Holman for Friends of the High Line in collaboration with early learning educators, woodworkers, and children. It was launched in 2011 as the High Line Children's Workyard Kit and reflects the High Line's industrial history, simple and honest materiality, and the organization's dedication to creating meaningful play opportunities for children and families. Since its debut, Rigamajig® has found its way into numerous schools, playgrounds, children's museums, and backyards. The award-winning design is evolving and expanding as we learn from our pilot schools and playful friends. Cas Holman continues to design and advocate for play, imaginative making, and art education. Her ongoing relationships with visionary schools, teachers, and children's museums give her opportunities to observe and learn from experts in childhood and play. She is a Professor of Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and is constantly discovering connections between design education, early childhood, and play. Heroes Will Rise was founded by Cas Holman in 2006 to support well designed, imagination-centric toys. In an effort to maintain a high standard of quality and design, (and because few things are more fun than a factory tour) the company manages the manufacturing of all of its products. Good toys make good people ®

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[Editor's note: Chart shows US populations since 1790. I especially enjoy the appendix table: Peak Years for Cities that have Declined in Rank.] Republished from Peakbagger.com The graph and tables on this page attempt to show how the urban hierarchy of the United States has developed over time. The statistic used here is the population of the metropolitan area (contiguous urbanized area surrounding a central city), not the population of an individual city. Metropolitan area population is much more useful than city population as an indicator of the size and importance of a city, since the official boundaries of a city are usually arbitrary and often do not include vast suburban areas. For example, in 2000 San Antonio was the 10th largest city in the U.S., larger than Boston or San Francisco, but its Metro Area was only ranked about 30th. The same thing was happening even back in 1790: New York was the biggest single city, but Philadelphia plus its suburbs of Northern Liberties and Southwark made it the biggest metro area.

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Chronic respiratory diseases Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are diseases of the airways and other structures of the lung. Some of the most common are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, occupational lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension. In addition to tobacco smoke, other risk factors include air pollution, occupational chemicals and dusts, and frequent lower respiratory infections during childhood. CRDs are not curable, however, various forms of treatment that help dilate major air passages and improve shortness of breath can help control symptoms and increase the quality of life for people with the disease. The WHO Global Alliance against CRDs (GARD) has a vision of a world in which all people breathe freely, and focuses in particular on the needs of people with CRDs in low-income and middle-income countries. World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Day 16 November 2011 -- World COPD Day is a global effort to expand understanding of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and advocate for better care for patients. Organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, the Day is marked by activities implemented by health care professionals and patient groups throughout the world. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases Noncommunicable diseases are the leading killer today and are on the increase, the WHO Global status report on noncommunicable diseases launched in April 2011 confirms. In 2008, 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes. Nearly 80% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. UN high-level meeting on NCDs 19-20 September 2011 -- The four main noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) - cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes - kill three in five people worldwide, and cause great socioeconomic harm within all countries, particularly developing nations. The decision by UN General Assembly to convene a high-level meeting on NCDs presents a unique opportunity for the intenational community to take action against the epidemic, save millions of lives and enhance development initiatives.

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Sound symbolism or phonosemantics is a branch of linguistics and refers to the idea that vocal sounds have meaning. In particular, sound symbolism is the idea that phonemes carry meaning in and of themselves. Like most other fields of modern research — chemistry, astronomy, mathematics — linguistics, and phonosemantics in particular, finds its beginnings in the mystical and religious literature of the various traditions. The first work that took a more modern, critical approach to the subject was Plato’s Cratylus dialogue. The subject was sporadically discussed in religious and mystical texts throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. - wr shows obliquity or twisting: wry, wrong, wreck, and wrist, “which twists itself and everything else in all directions.” - br points to a breach, violent and generally loud splitting apart: break, breach, brook. - cl reflects adherence or retention: cleave, clay, climb, close, “almost all of which come from claudo.” (1;32) He then went on to argue that in the case of several words at least, the bulk of their semantics could be analyzed down to a combination of their phonesthemes. For example in the word ‘sparkle’, the initial ‘sp-’ indicates dispersion (spit, splash, sprinkle); the medial ‘ar’ represents high-pitched crackling; the ‘k’ is a sudden interruption; and the final ‘l’, frequent repetition (wiggle, wobble, battle, twiddle, mottle, etc.) In the 18th century, Mikhail Lomonosov propagated an idiosyncratic theory that words containing the front vowel sounds E, I, Y,U should be used when depicting tender subjects, and those with back vowel sounds O, U, Y — to when describing things that may cause fear («like anger, envy, pain, and sorrow»). At the present stage of the language system there are many studies showing the fundamental and involuntary motivation of the sign in the language. With the expansion of research on sound symbolism for a long time, there is a need to develop a unified theory generalizes sound symbolism asserting semantic sound and consistent application of the main provisions of the general systems theory to study the connection between sound and its meaning in the word. After reviewing a number of scientific publications: D. K. Zelenin, J. R. Furse, L. S. Bloomfield, L. S. Voronina, T. B. Nazarova and the other authors, we note a definite difference of views on the nature of language phonosemantics. As a rule, scientists recognized the special derivational status phono-stem, which are treated as either a very special kind of phonemes (phonemic combinations), or as a specific kind of morphemes, either as a unit, “intermediate” between phonemes and morphemes, which have characteristics of both. We consider several aspects in order to prove the existence of a direct relationship between phonemes motivated and believe in the words of the name attribute of the object based — denotatum within phonosemantics. Phonosemantics exists at the junction of phonetics (scheduled maintenance) and lexicology (the aggregate of these plans). (3;99) In this context it is important to pay attention to the relationship with the Assembly of psycholinguistics. Since the object of phonosemantics is considered to be sound symbolism (onomatopoeic) of language system, it is important to emphasize that sound symbolisms are not only those words which are felt today by native speakers as having a phonetically motivated connection between sound and meaning, but all the words in which this relationship in the language evolution was weakened. Let us review one of the important components of phonosemantics is onomatopoeic subsystem. Onomatopoeia is a natural involuntary phonetically motivated by the connection between words and phonemes relies on sound basis for the nomination (acoustic) denotatum sign. (5;76) Onomatopoeic words are often motivated by extralinguistic reality and simulators are the usual natural sounds. Thus, onomatopoeia (sound imitation) is what an action-subject, it’s a sign of quality, sometimes the subject itself, reproducing sound, associated with it. For example, words for the sounds of water: babble, blab, flush, gurgle, gush, splash, etc. Among sound symbolising words in most cases, there are verbs, often passing into nouns and interjections: crash, thump, flash, tick, tootles, suck, etc. Semantically, the words are adjacent to certain groups, in accordance with the sound source. Many verbs convey the sounds of a man in the process of communication and the expression of their feelings and emotions: bubble, giggle, grunt, grumble, mummer, titter, whisper, and others. There are the sounds of animals, birds, insects: buzz, cackle, croak, hiss, honk, moo, purr, roar, etc. There are many words that imitate the sound of metal and wooden objects: clink, tinkle, whack, whip, etc. Many researchers have proposed to classify the values the values of onomatopoetic words with a particular combination of letters, causing some association with their pronunciation. Here are some special combinations of English letters and associations caused by their utterance. For example, Gr- the beginning of the word suggests something unpleasant, miserable, negative: groan (sigh); grumble; grunt; grizzle (snarl, growl), etc. Cl — in the beginning of a word associated with something sharp, metallic, ringing: click; clank (rattle); clap (hit, slamming); clash (ringing, clang), etc. Wh — in the beginning of a word often involves the movement of air or something to do with airspace: whistle; whirr (noise, rumble); whizz (whistle); wheeze (breathing heavily, groaning); whiff (blow, blow gently); whir (circle, spinning), etc. Ckle, ggle, zzle end of a word often associated with light or something, or continuous repeated from time to time: trickle (flowing, oozing, dripping); wriggle (bend, twist); sizzle (hiss); drizzle; draggle and etc. Modern Russian poet of the early 20th century Velemir Khlebnikov, frequently mentioned by Roman Jakobson. His verse consistent mostly of words of his own invention, something like Joyce’s Finnigan’s Wake. However, he also wrote purely linguistic works outlining the correlations he had observed between Russian phonemes and their meaning. He even produced a list of Russian phonemes followed by a brief semantic characterization of each. For example: v — the return of one point to another (a circular path) m — the breaking up of volume into infinitely small parts s — the departure of points from out of one immovable point z — the reflection of light from a mirror. (2;98) Sometimes not all the words correspond to a specific value associated with any sound combination. From the perspective of different levels of analysis of sound combinations can be found overlap among the different words, or, conversely, different. Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish examples of onomatopoeia from the sound symbolism. Some words fall under both categories. For example, words such as giggle, flash, crack require special consideration. Knowledge of laws of phonosemantics important to consider when teaching English especially at the initial stage, taking into account communivative-oriented gaming sessions. We know that teachers of different schools successfully use voice warm-up: warmers, breaking-the-ice-exercises, tongue-twisters. These exercises allow you to implement a huge range of language tasks: help to improve memorization of lexical material, using an associative basis, due to the use of situational lexical material on a particular subject, promote formation and improvement of phonetic and phonosemantic skills. The classes on phonetics of English are widely used speech exercises — patter while working on certain sounds or sound combinations. For instance: Don’t trouble troubles until troubles trouble you. (a proverb) Here it comes sparkling, And there it lies darkling, Spouting and friskling, and whizzing and whisking… Such an exercise workout, causes difficulties in pronunciation. It is not required to memorize them by heart, it is enough to learn saying correctly, quickly, clearly articulating every syllable. In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the theoretical and practical study of sound symbolizing system not only allows you to take a fresh look at the linguistic reality of the nature and origin of language and sign language as a whole, and creatively organize the process of learning a foreign language. There exist lots of researches, considerations and viewpoints in the sphere of phonosemantics. But the problem arises there that there is no an integrated rule and idea about the meaning of sounds i. e. phonosemantics that may clarify darkness in this branch and vanish all the doubts that may lead to misunderstanding and confusions. 1. Reference and symbol in Plato's “Cratylus” 2. The Sound Shape of Language by Roman Jakobson and Linda Waugh Euphonics: A Poet's Dictionary of Enchantments by John Mitchell (ISBN 904263 437) 3. Theory of Phonosemantics by Pramod Kumar Agrawal (www.soundmeanings.com) View page ratings 4. Зеленин, Д. К. Магическая функция слов и словесных произведений / Д. К. Зеленин. — М.:1935. 5. Блумфилд, Л. Язык / Л. Блумфилд. — М.: 1968. 6. Воронин, С. В. Основы фоносемантики / С. В. Воронин. — Спт.: 1982. 7. Назарова, Т. Б. Филология и семиотика / Т. Б. Назарова. — М.: 1994.__

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Social justice advocacy has entered a new era. Rising expectations brought about by the remarkable shift in the national political arena have heightened the need to rethink standard approaches to social justice advocacy. One of the most significant aspects of current social justice practice that warrants rethinking, is the dominance of a particular orientation that disaggregates social problems into discrete challenges facing specific groups. These groups are often defined in mutually exclusive ways, generating artificial distinctions and sometimes conflicting agendas. This approach—sometimes called the single-axis analysis—corresponds to the silo-oriented structure of social justice mobilization and grant making. Interventions based on such models can frequently be ineffective and sometimes even lead to unnecessary exclusion and conflict within social justice movements. In cases where race, gender, sexual identity and class work together to limit access to social goods such as employment, fair immigration, healthcare, child care, or education, it is essential that social justice interventions be grounded in an understanding of how these factors operate together. Intersectionality can provide that grounding.

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What are Dental Implants? Author: Jim Knight A dental implant is an artificial tooth root that a dentist places into the jaw to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. It takes the form of a small screw or cylinder which looks like a thin metal rod. This acts as a replacement "root� of a tooth and is able to support a single or several false teeth, known as "restorations". Currently made from titanium, a material that is well tolerated by bone and integrates easily with bone tissue, such an implant can fuse with the bone of the patient's jaw via a healing process called "osseointegration". There are two different types of dental implants available today: * Endosteal (in the bone): This is the most common implant type. The various types include screws, blades and cylinders surgically placed into the jawbone. Each implant holds one or more prosthetic teeth. An endosteal implant is generally used as an alternative for patients with bridges or removable dentures. * Subperiosteal (on the bone): This implant is positioned with the metal frameworks posts protruding through the gum to hold the prosthesis. Such implants are used for patients who are unable to wear conventional dentures and who have minimal bone height. Practically all current dental implants are of the root-form endosseous type. In other words, virtually all dental implants in the recent past appear similar to an actual tooth root (and thus possess a "root-form") and are placed within the bone. Before root-form endosseous implants, most implants were either blade endosseous implants, in that the shape of the metal piece placed within the bone resembled a flat blade, or subperiosteal implants, in which a framework was constructed to lie upon and was attached with screws to the exposed bone of the jaws. Traditionally, an implant placed into the bone has a single crown and is know as a "single tooth implant". However, if several teeth are missing, individual implants for individual teeth are not required; one implant can support several teeth via a bridge or denture. The number of implants required depends on the volume and density of bone tissue available at each implant site. Often, smaller-sized "mini implants" are used to keep dentures securitely in place. The dental implant surgical procedure is quite complex and doesn’t come cheap. At the same time, it has proved to be very popular compared to dentures or a bridge. Dental implant surgery also results in natural looking teeth that will last for years as well as improving individual self-confidence. Most patients express satisfaction with the surgery and treatment. Dental implant success is related to operator skill, quality and quantity of the bone available at the site, and the patient’s oral hygiene. It is generally believed that implants carry a success rate of around 95%. There are many different brands of dental implant such as Nobel Biocare, Intra-Lock and Straumann. As with any industry, marketing plays a big part and all these brands have their advantages and disadvantages. We will examine them in detail in another article. For more information, please visit: http://www.implantdentistryofdallas.com Published on May 31, 2010 A dental implant is an artificial tooth root that a dentist places into the jaw to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. It takes the form of...

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Aquatic Field Trip In this lab you will observe and collect insects found in aquatic habitats. The main objectives of this lab are to help you: - learn where to look for insects and how to collect them safely - distinguish the eight common orders of aquatic insects based on physical appearance You will need the following materials for this lab: - Wide-mouth collecting jars or plastic boxes - Insect pins - Paper “points” - Permanent ink pen – fine point - Date/locality labels - 4-dram glass vials - 70% ethyl alcohol - Flat bottom white pan - Kitchen sieve or dip net - Kick seine or window screen - Rubber boot or hip waders For your third field trip and insect collecting expedition, visit a small lake or farm pond as well as a creek or small stream with clean running water. If you live near a large city, it may be difficult to find unpolluted bodies of water that harbor good insect diversity. You may be able to contact biology teachers or environmental science teachers at local high schools or community colleges for recommendations on good sampling sites. Aquatic insects, especially those in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera, are often used as “biological indicators” of good water quality. Your aquatic field trip is a good opportunity to collect insects in the following ecological categories: - Aquatic nymph - Aquatic adult - Vertebrate parasite - Case maker - Watch the Aquatic Field Trip video to get a preview of what these insects look like and how to collect them. - Tour the Picture Gallery of Aquatic Insects to see examples of pond and stream insects. - There are only eight insect orders commonly collected from aquatic habitats. Most of these are easy to recognize based on the following characters: - Odonata – look for the labial mask used to catch prey - Ephemeroptera – look for a pair of leaf-like gills on the sides of each abdominal segment - Plecoptera – look for hair-like gills at the base of each leg. - Hemiptera – look for piercing-sucking mouthparts - Neuroptera – look for two claws on each abdominal proleg - Trichoptera – look for a single claw on each abdominal proleg - Coleoptera – look for a well-developed head capsule and no abdominal prolegs - Diptera – look for head capsule reduced or absent, single proleg behind the head, or fleshy gills at the back of the abdomen Remember, only hemimetabolous insects qualify as aquatic nymphs! Use a dip net or kitchen strainer to collect insects from the shallow margins of a lake or pond. Focus your effort around the base of emergent vegetation (reeds, cattails, etc.) and in the muddy detritus that accumulates on the bottom of the pond. Use your net or strainer as a scoop and transfer your catch into a white pan containing clear water. Sift through the sample slowly and you will see the insects as they swim out into the clear water. Preserve your specimens by putting them directly into 70% alcohol. Find a section of your stream where the water riffles through small rocks. Put your screen, kick seine, or dip net just downstream from these rocks as you jostle them with your hand or foot. Let the stream water wash the loosened sediments into your seine, transfer this sample to a shallow white pan containing clear water, and look for aquatic insects that were displaced by your disturbance. Look carefully on the undersides of the rocks for clinging insects like mayfly naiads, water pennies (beetle larvae), and caddisfly cases. Preserve your specimens by putting them directly into 70% alcohol. 3. Preserve and Pin Be sure to put a date/locality label on every specimen, using the format described in the collection instructions. Keep good notes to help you remember which insects fulfill ecological categories. You will add Ecology labels later after you have identified the specimen.

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Australian scientists from the Baker Institute found that frequent coffee consumption is not dangerous to the heart and can even reduce the frequency of arrhythmias. This is reported in a press release on the site EurekAlert! . Scientists have analyzed the results of studies on the search for a link between caffeine and atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. In one of the scientific works with the participation of 228 465 people it was shown that with the use of coffee, the risk of atrial fibrillation decreases. Another study, in which 115,993 patients participated, demonstrated a reduction in the incidence of fibrillation by 13 percent. According to experts, only a few cases indicate the harm of coffee. Caffeine acts as a stimulant of the nervous system and blocks the action of adenosine, which promotes atrial fibrillation. In addition, a dose of caffeine, equal to 500 milligrams per day, does not affect ventricular arrhythmia. In patients who underwent myocardial infarction and received an average of 353 milligrams of caffeine per day, the heart rate was normalized. The risk of gastric arrhythmias was increased only in those people who drank 9-10 cups of coffee a day. In general, the daily safe dose is 300 milligrams, but some people may be more susceptible to it. More important news in the Telegram channel «The ribbon of the day» . Subscribe!

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by Melanie Slaugh First off, what is sign language? For deaf or hard of hearing people, sign language is the way they communicate visually. Using their hands and certain gestures, fingerspelling, etc, the deaf community has created not only a language but a language style all their own. In the United States, there are two main types of sign language. American Sign Language and English Sign Language. ESL is based on written English. It has the same pattern as in "the green tractor." It also has signs for small English words like 'I' and 'the'. ASL, however, is strictly its own language. Yes, it is in English, but the grammar and structure of the sentences is different. For example, instead of saying "the green tractor" ASL users would say "tractor green". Some things are flipped, and some are missing. A lot of 'small' words are not used and there are a lot more gestures than finger spelling. One difficulty in learning sign language is that different areas have different signs. Where three fingers on the cheek can mean the color grey in Texas, it can mean black in Florida. There are standards, sure, but variations are abundant. The beauty of sign language, however, is that you don't have to be accurate. Your facial expressions and movements mean way more than the words you say. It's almost like being a mime. You have to tell a story without ever saying a word. That's another issue to watch out for. In sign language, like in spoken languages, there is no punctuation. When you speak English, you raise the tone of your voice in order to indicate a question. But how does that work when you're using your fingers? It's all in the expression. A cocked head, a raised eyebrow, even a shrug can indicate a question being asked. Whatever the case may be, learning sign langue is worth it. Not only does it allow you to learn to use your expressions and body to tell a story, it also makes you aware of what people mean, rather than what they say. You become much more observant. Sign language is also a great distance communicator. Don't want to shout to your friend across the store? Sign it. Want to say hi to someone out the window? Tell them all about your day without ever going outside. You are limited only by how well you can see and be seen. It also makes for a great secret, silent language during those boring classes. Melanie Slaugh is enthusiastic about the growing prospects and opportunities of various industries and writing articles on various consumer goods and services as a freelance writer. She writes extensively for internet service providers and also topics related to internet service providers in my area for presenting the consumers, the information they need to choose the right Internet package for them. She can be reached at slaugh.slaugh907 @ gmail.com.

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The Musicians (Caravaggio) |Italian: Concerto di giovani| |Type||Oil on canvas| |Dimensions||92 cm × 118.5 cm (36 in × 46.7 in)| |Location||Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City| The Musicians or Concert of Youths (c. 1595) is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610). It is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it has been since 1952. It underwent extensive restoration in 1983. Caravaggio entered the household of Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte sometime in 1595, and The Musicians is thought to have been his first painting done expressly for the cardinal. His biographer, the painter Baglione, says he "painted for the Cardinal youths playing music very well drawn from nature and also a youth playing a lute," the latter presumably being The Lute Player, which seems to form a companion-piece to The Musicians. The picture shows four boys in quasi-Classical costume, three playing various musical instruments or singing, the fourth dressed as Cupid and reaching towards a bunch of grapes. Caravaggio seems to have composed the painting from studies of two figures. The central figure with the lute has been identified with Caravaggio's companion Mario Minniti, and the individual next to him and facing the viewer is possibly a self-portrait of the artist. The cupid bears a strong resemblance to the boy in Boy Peeling Fruit, done a few years before, and also to the angel in Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy. The manuscripts show that the boys are practicing madrigals celebrating love, and the eyes of the lutenist, the principal figure, are moist with tears—the songs presumably describe the sorrow of love rather than its pleasures. The violin in the foreground suggests a fifth participant, implicitly including the viewer in the tableau. Scenes showing musicians were a popular theme at the time - the Church was supporting a revival of music and new styles and forms were being tried, especially by educated and progressive prelates such as Del Monte. This scene, however, is clearly secular rather than religious, and harks back to the long-established tradition of 'concert' pictures, a genre originating in Venice and exemplified, in its earlier form, by Titian's Le concert champêtre. This was Caravaggio's most ambitious and complex composition to date, and the artist has evidently had difficulties with painting the four figures separately - they don't relate to each other or to the picture-space, and the overall effect is somewhat clumsy. The painting is in poor condition, and the music in the manuscript has been badly damaged by past restorations, although a tenor and an alto part can be made out. Nevertheless, despite considerable paint loss, the work's originality remains undimmed. - A Caravaggio Rediscovered, The Lute Player, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this painting (see cat. no. 3)

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Explore the dynamic relationship between screen printing and encaustic painting, creating repeatable designs and printing onto wax. This class will explore the dynamic relationship between screen printing and encaustic painting. Taught by visiting artists Shawna Moore and Jeff Hirst, the class will start with basic screen-printing concepts, where students will create repeatable screens to print onto wax. The class will then progress to printing on wax surfaces and creating multiple transparent layers of color and image. Students should be prepared to experiment and play as they learn new techniques to use in their own studio practice. All materials are included except panels and paper. See the required materials list for suggested sizes and quantities, as well as optional supplies. Students may also wish to bring a lunch or snack. Don't miss Shawna Moore's and Jeff Hirst's free evening presentations at the Wilkinson Library, July 27 and 28, respectively. Both are scheduled for 6-8 pm.

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the right setting the flipped classroom model can work well for some teachers and students. One of my concerns has always been that in many instances of flipped classrooms students watch a video then answer questions after the video is complete. While I don't think that that is inherently bad, I do like giving students the option to answer questions while watching the video or asking questions while watching the video. Here are three tools that provide students with the option to answer questions or ask questions while watching flipped classroom videos. VideoNotes is a neat tool for taking notes while watching videos. VideoNotes allows you to load any YouTube video on the left side of your screen and on the right side of the screen VideoNotes gives you a notepad to type on. VideoNotes integrates with your Google Drive account. By integrating with Google Drive VideoNotes allows you to share your notes and collaborate on your notes just as you can do with a Google Document. Teachem is a service that uses the TED-Ed model of creating lessons based on video. On Teachem teachers can build courses that are composed of a series of videos hosted on YouTube. Teachers can write questions and comments in "flashcards" that are tied to specific parts of each video and display next to each video. Students can take notes while watching the videos using the Teachem SmartNote system. Blubbr is a neat quiz creation service that I have raved about since I tried it for the first time back in January. Through Blubbr you can create interactive quizzes that are based on YouTube clips. Your quizzes can be about anything of your choosing. The structure of the quizzes has a viewer watch a short clip then answer a multiple choice question about the clip. Viewers know right away if they chose the correct answer or not.

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Francis Bacon. (15611626). Essays, Civil and Moral. The Harvard Classics. 190914. MEN fear death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it,1 as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in religious meditations there is sometimes mixture of vanity and of superstition. You shall read in some of the friars books of mortification, that a man should think with himself what the pain is if he have but his fingers end pressed or tortured, and thereby imagine what the pains of death are, when the whole body is corrupted and dissolved; when many times death passeth with less pain than the torture of a limb; for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense. And by him that spake only as a philosopher and natural man, it was well said, Pompa mortis magis terret, quam mors ipsa [It is the accompaniments of death that are frightful rather than death itself]. Groans and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks,2 and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates3 and masters the fear of death; and therefore death is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about him that can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs over death; love slights it; honor aspireth to it; grief flieth to it; fear pre-occupateth4 it; nay, we read,5 after Otho the emperor had slain himself, pity (which is the tenderest of affections) provoked many to die, out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers. Nay, Seneca adds niceness6 and satiety: Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris; mori velle, non tantum fortis aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest [Think how long thou hast done the same thing; not only a valiant man or a miserable man, but also a fastidious man is able to wish for death]. A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make; for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. Augustus Cæsar died in a compliment; Livia, conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale [Farewell, Livia; and forget not the days of our marriage]. Tiberius in dissimulation; as Tacitus saith of him, Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant [His powers of body were gone, but his power of dissimulation still remained]. Vespasian in a jest, sitting upon the stool; Ut puto deus fio [As I think, I am becoming a god]. Galba with a sentence; Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani [Strike, if it be for the good of Rome]; holding forth his neck. Septimius Severus in despatch; Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum [Be at hand, if there is anything more for me to do]. And the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better saith he,7qui finem vitæ extremum inter munera ponat naturæ [who accounts the close of life as one of the benefits of nature]. It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit, is like one that is wounded in hot blood; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good doth avert the dolers of death. But, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is, Nunc dimittis [Now lettest thou depart]; when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also; that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy. Extinctus amabitur idem [The same man that was envied while he lived, shall be loved when he is gone].

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The World Ends in Two YearsGerard Counihan profesorSs [at] blabla.es Activity AGive pupils a sheet of paper and get them to write down a few ideas. Give them 5 minutes or so. Activity BCollect papers, mix them up and then read out some of the replies, mentioning nobody by name in order to avoid potential embarrassment. See how many have said the same things. Activity CGo through the interesting ones and ask everybody to comment on them, or simply to justify the choices made. My class of seven gave the following answers: - Get to know a different lifestyle - Do adventure sports + Travel - Try to find another place to live - Stop studying or working - Travel a lot - Try to spend all the time with family and friends - Rob a bank - I need two months to think up a plan - Total anarchy - Spend all my money - Do the Paris-Daker rally - Read Don Quijote - Build an underground house - Go to lots of parties - Spend all my money, and my friends' - I would tell my boss the things I could not tell him before Activity DYou are the last person left on the planet, what would you do? Activity ENow, what is your reaction to or comment on the following "ends": - End of school-year (What are you going to or What did you do?). - End of a normal year, eve of new year.. - End of a sports training session. - End of a difficult exam. - End of an interview. - End of a heated argument with your best friend. - End of a romance. - End of a long journey through India. - End of a gripping book. - End of a sad film at the cinema. - End of a boring class. - End of a fantastic English conversation class. - End of a superb dinner out. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. V, No. 2, February 1999

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Indonesia has the highest smoking rates in the world: while 56% of men smoked in 2000, 76% of men did in 2015. Far fewer women smoke (4% and falling). This trend has occurred both among adult men and very young boys, sparking such sensational coverage as the “smoking 2-year-old” in 2010 (who has since quit with counseling). How has this happened? In the Western world, the rise and fall of cigarette smoking seems a uniquely twentieth century phenomenon. As Allan Brant writes, the development of medical epidemiology proving that smoking causes cancer and the class action lawsuit allowing smokers to fight the power of big tobacco has helped dismantle our smoking culture. The number of active adult smokers in the United States has fallen from a peak of 45% in the 1950s to around 15% today. E-cigarettes and vaping seemed like a popular trend earlier in the decade, but new surveys show teen use is dropping in this category of smoking, too. Cigarette smoking in public is relatively rare today in big cities. It was almost surprising when the news broke recently that the U.S. Department of Justice finally settled a twenty-year legal battle on the wording of court-ordered anti-smoking ads cigarette companies must run for the coming year. It’s an important part of the effort to further reduce the illness and death they still wreak on hundreds of thousands of Americans. However, the tobacco industry has been able to stay afloat and even to sharply increase profits in recent years. An important part of its new strategy has been focusing on markets with far weaker anti-smoking regulations and with cultures that valorize smoking. As a result, even though the overall proportion of active adult smokers in the world has fallen between 2000 and 2015 from 27% to 20% and from 44% to 35% among men, male smoking has increased sharply in certain countries. Indonesia is the most extreme case. Richard Hunt et. al. argue this phenomenon is the direct result of the decision to open the Indonesian cigarette industry to foreign investors in the late 1990s economic liberalization following the Suharto regime. A unique aspect of smoking culture in Indonesia is the near-absolute popularity of “kreteks” or cigarettes that are about one-third minced cloves by weight. Among other chemicals, burning cloves produce eugenol, a local anesthetic that makes tobacco smoke less harsh and easier to consume in quantity—and is toxic in its own right. Having marketed plain “white” cigarettes in Indonesia with middling success, multinational tobacco companies Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) both purchased established kretek manufacturers Sampoerna and Bentoel in 2009. The authors demonstrate that BAT has been aware of the harmful effects of eugenol since at least the 1960s, in studies designed to set tolerable maximums for particular markets. With a foothold on the kretek mainstream, the companies have invested heavily in governmental lobbying, touting the cigarette industry as an important part of the Indonesian economy, and have updated and streamlined local marketing techniques. This includes launching kretek brands like Marlboro Mix 9 targeting youth, and promoting existing brands like A Mild, which makes spurious health claims. Effective lobbying has permitted PMI and BAT to use a full range of marketing media appealing to the tastes of the middle and upper classes, including the sponsorship of cultural and entertainment events. Despite the common knowledge of the health risks of smoking, a message tying masculinity to smoking has led to a massive increase in smoking among these classes. Where smoking was once identified more with the working class, it has now become a universally accepted habit for Indonesian men. Tobacco Control, Vol. 21, No. 3 (May 2012), pp. 306-312

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Here are some of the most common types of foods that should be avoided during the entire time that a person spends in braces: How Uncut, Fresh Fruit or Vegetables Can Damage Your Braces Biting into a crisp apple or juicy carrot stick is off limits. Of course, it’s important to keep a balanced diet that includes fresh produce. To make eating fruits and vegetables easier, be sure they’re cut into small pieces that are flimsier than if they were being eaten whole. How Sticky Candies or Bubble Gum Can Damage Your Braces Sticky caramels, gooey candies, and other tacky-textured treats are a sure-fire way to pull orthodontic appliances off of teeth. When cravings kick in, opt for something that’s safer for teeth, such as a soft chocolate that melts away and doesn’t stick around after you’ve eaten it. Sugar free gum is usually not as sticky as traditional chewing gum. Ask your orthodontist first, but a sugar free gum is usually ok to enjoy now and then, even if you’re undergoing orthodontic treatment. How Nuts and Seeds Can Damage Your Braces Chocolate covered almonds, sunflower seeds, and roasted peanuts may be a favorite snack, but it’s important for orthodontic patients to avoid them. Biting down wrong — just once — is all it takes to send someone to the orthodontist with a loose bracket. How Dense Breads Can Damage Your Braces Bagels, baguettes, and firm rolls are officially off the list. Stick to softer bread products, so that not as much biting pressure is needed when they’re part of a meal. How Ice (specifically, chewing it) Can Damage Your Braces Ice-chewing is a habit for many people, and a craving to crunch on ice may be a sign of anemia. But biting and chewing on ice can quickly pop off brace brackets, if the chills from frozen orthodontic wires doesn’t get to you first. How Acidic Foods and Drinks Can Damage Your Braces Orthodontic appliances are held in place using special types of tooth-friendly cements and bonding agents. Acids -such as citrus fruit juices – can cause the bond to give out, resulting in the braces falling off. Additionally, acid softens dental enamel, so its not just bad for braces, it’s bad for teeth in general. Limit your intake, and rinse your mouth with plain water after consuming – and you may need to pass on acidic foods and drinks entirely when you’re wearing braces. How Your Favorite Steak Can Damage Your Braces A mouthwatering steak, pork chop, or other firm cuts of meat can be too difficult to chew for people wearing fixed orthodontic appliances. But like other types of food that aren’t necessarily “friendly” to braces-wearers, it’s possible to cut the meat up into very small pieces to make it easier to chew. How Chips Can Damage Your Braces Firm chips used for dips, such as tortilla chips or corn chips, tend to be harder on your teeth than other types of chips do. Like nuts or seeds, chips can hurt your orthodontia or even your gums when you’re eating them. To get the flavor and satisfaction of an occasional bag, treat yourself to baked veggie “straw” alternatives (also in the chip isle) or a softer, baked potato chip. How Corn on the Cob Can Damage Your Braces Get the taste of roasted corn without the kernels lodging between your brackets as you bite into a whole cob. If you misjudge, you could bend an orthodontic wire out of place. Instead, cut the corn off and eat it with a fork. “When in Doubt, Throw it Out” Use your best judgement when it comes to choosing the right foods to eat with braces. If something looks like it could possibly break or pull off an appliance, then it probably ought to be avoided. What About Social Settings? If you’re invited to dinner as a guest, choose foods that are softer and easier to chew, or cut small portions from firmer foods to enjoy a few bites with the rest left on your plate. It’s ok to compliment the cook, but unless they question you about it, there’s no need to volunteer you can’t eat a particular type of food because of your braces. Talk to your dentist or orthodontist if you have any questions about what foods are restricted during treatment. Most importantly, keep your regular appointments to ensure everything is maintained well and capable of withstanding normal use. Orthodontia is expensive, but you can reduce the cost of your dental care with a Cigna dental savings plan. Enroll today!

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The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting. Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest. View the slideshow to see what this first "Turkey Day" might have looked like.

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NASA Creating The Coldest Place In Entire Universe, Here's Why NASA is set to create the coldest place on Earth and launch it into outer space. Astrophysicists will use a device to re-create temperatures millions of times colder than that of outer space. The Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) from NASA is the device in question, which will be launched into outer space by SpaceX in August. Scientists will then attempt to carry out experiments which would not have been possible to conduct on Earth. The box will chill down the atoms to a billionth of a degree above absolute zero. "Studying these hyper-cold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," says Robert Thompson, project scientist at CAL. NASA's CAL - The Coldest Place On Earth The coldest place on Earth right now is NASA's CAL. It is an ice-box sized chest packed with lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic knife which is used to slow atoms down to a state of negligible motion. In other words, it creates temperatures near the absolute zero mark, making it the coldest place on Earth. The CAL is in its final stages of assembly and NASA intends to fill up the CAL cavity with atomic gas particles, while the box is at the International Space Station. The microgravity will enable researchers to witness unique quantum events and occurrences, which would be impossible to see on Earth. One such phenomenon is the creation of the Bose-Einstein condensate. It is a super fluid state of matter where the atoms transform into mysterious waves and propagate themselves. This has never been witnessed in absolute zero temperatures. NASA further explains that since this super fluid state lacks any kind of viscosity, where the atoms are able to move without any sort of friction and behaves as a single substance. Physicists would love to study the Bose-Einstein condensate, purely because of its unique and rare nature. The condensate cannot be prepared on Earth because of the Earth's gravitational pull, which does not allow this alluring state of matter to remain in existence for more than a fraction of a second. Why Is NASA Creating CAL? In the micro-gravitational environment aboard the ISS, the scientists will be able to study the Bose-Einstein condensate much more comprehensively. NASA speculates that the condensate will be in existence in space for up to 10 seconds at a time. This is a huge breakthrough for physicists. A detailed study of the Bose-Einstein condensate will help scientists understand the links between classic and quantum physics and could very well lead to the construction of better sensors, atomic clocks and telescopes used in space. The prospect of the world's first quantum computer may also be quite near. The possibilities are therefore endless, as scientists gear up for the launch of the CAL. Science is set to prosper immensely from the Bose-Einstein condensate and one can only wait in anticipation of what new scientific discoveries are on the horizon.

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Three Forms of One God by Pranada dasi Krishna, God, exists in three principal forms (rupas)—svayam-rupa, tad-ekatma-rupa, and avesha-rupa. Svayam means “original.” In this category there is only one person: Krishna. Originally God is one; no one is greater than or equal to Him. Krishna has no origin. He is the source of everything and the sum of everything. He is the original creator of all living entities and of the material and spiritual worlds. He is the source of all expansions of God. He is the shelter of everything and master of everyone. He is the supreme controller, and His spiritual body is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. There is no difference between Krishna and His body, as there is for living entities in the material world. Krishna is distinguished from all others because He possesses sixty-four qualities in full. Other manifestations of Krishna possess varying degrees of these qualities. The Nectar of Devotion clarifies: “Krishna has four more [qualities], which are not manifest even in the Narayana form of Godhead, what to speak of the demigods or living entities. They are as follows: (61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes). (62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead. (63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute. (64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.” All Vedic literature directly or indirectly points to Lord Krishna. Krishna is the source of the Vedas, the knower of the Vedas, and the end of all veda (knowledge). This category consists of expansions and avataras (incarnations) of the Lord. They are extraordinary and unlimited. The chart lists only a few. An expansion is a form of the Lord residing in the spiritual realm; an avatara is a form of the Lord who comes to the material world. (See the side-bar “The Avataras.”) Vedic literature refers to both expansions and avataras as amsha (plenary portions) and kala (portions of plenary portions). Amshas expand directly from the Lord, and kalas expand from amshas. These expansions and avataras possess some of the qualities Lord Krishna possesses in full. They appear with bodily features and emotions different from Krishna’s, and They carry out specific activities. They are uniquely named according to these qualifying characteristics. Everything we experience in this world is created, sustained, or destroyed by one of these forms. The purpose of creation is to provide a learning field where we can awaken to our original relationship with Krishna and rejoin Him in His spiritual creation. The activities of the expansions and incarnations, like those of Krishna Himself, give us transcendental topics to hear and talk about, which clears our path out of the material entanglement. Also known as shaktyavesha-avatara, this category has three divisions: bhagavad-avesha (divine absorption), shaktyavesha (directly empowered), and vibhuti (indirectly empowered). Servants of the Lord empowered with knowledge and strength make up this category. They can act almost like God in carrying out specific functions. There are unlimited numbers of empowered devotees; the chart lists some of them. Most are jivas, or minute souls, and not God Himself (vishnu-tattva). Exceptions: Sesha Naga, Ananta, Kapila, and Rishabhadeva. Vibhutis, or opulent things of this world, are also categorized as avesha-rupas of the Lord. They are indirectly empowered by God. Krishna explains that everything beautiful, opulent, and glorious in this world comes from Him. He gives an extensive list of vibhutis in the tenth chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Srila Prabhupada comments: “Any glorious or beautiful existence should be understood to be but a fragmental manifestation of Krishna’s opulence, whether it be in the spiritual or material world. Anything extraordinarily opulent should be considered to represent Krishna’s opulence.” (Bg. 10.41, Purport) Purusha means “controller.” The purusha-avataras are the three supreme controllers of the material manifestations: Karanodakashayi Vishnu, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, and Kshirodakashayi Vishnu. Karanodakashayi Vishnu creates unlimited universes. From Him comes a Garbhodakashayi Vishnu for each universe. From Garbhodakashayi Vishnu comes Brahma, the secondary material creator, as well as Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, who enters every atom of each universe and is also known as the Supersoul, or Paramatma (below). Paramatma sits in the hearts of all living entities, giving direction to them in their material sojourn. Lila-avataras are also known as kalpa- avataras. Lila means “pastimes,” and a kalpa is a day of Brahma. These avataras appear in each day of Brahma (every 4.32 billion years). They respond to the desires of devotees and protect the universe. In Caitanya-caritamrita (Madhya 6.99), Srila Prabhupada elaborates: “A lila-avatara is an incarnation of the Lord who performs a variety of activities without making any special endeavor. He always has one pastime after another, all full of transcendental pleasure, and these pastimes are fully controlled by the Supreme Person. The Supreme Person is totally independent of all others in these pastimes.” Guna means “material qualities,” of which there are three categories: passion, which generates the creation of the material manifestation; goodness, which maintains the material manifestation; and ignorance, which destroys the creation. Brahma (right) is in charge of creation, Vishnu maintenance, and Siva destruction. Lord Vishnu is a direct expansion of Krishna and is therefore in the vishnu-tattva category. Brahma is a post for managing the secondary material creation. The post ismost often filled by a highly qualified devotee of Krishna (jiva- tattva), but if no one is available, then Vishnu will perform Brahma’s duties. Siva is also a devotee of Lord Krishna. He possesses more of Krishna’s qualities than ordinary souls, but less than Krishna or His expansions and incarnations. Siva is in a category of his own, called shiva-tattva. Manvantara means “the life span of Manu.” Manus are rulers in the higher planetary systems, and they give direction to human society through scriptures. They live for seventy-one divya-yugas. A divya- yuga is the four yugas taken together. These manvantara incarnations appear simultaneously with the Manus and change as the Manus change. In Srimad- Bhagavatam (2.7.20), Srila Prabhupada explains, “The manvantara incarnation chastises all the miscreant rulers of different planets with as much power as that of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who punishes the miscreants with His wheel weapon. The manvantara incarnations disseminate the transcendental glories of the Lord.” The current manvantara-avatara is Lord Vamana (below). (Laghu-bhagavatamrita 4.16). Yuga means “age,” and sometimes it is translated as “millennium.” The term is used to refer to the calculation of cyclical time of the material creation. Satya-yuga is 1,728,000 years and is characterized by virtue, religion, and wisdom. Treta-yuga is 1,296,000 years, and vice is introduced. Dvapara-yuga is 864,000 years, and virtue and religion further decline. Kali-yuga (the current age) lasts 432,000 years and is full of vice and irreligion. The yuga-avatara gives the yuga-dharma, or the religion for the specific age. (See the sidebar “The Incarnations for this Age.”) The Incarnations for this Age Although Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the yuga- avatara, or the incarnation for this age, He is in fact neither an incarnation nor an expansion of Krishna. Rather, He is identical with svayam-rupa Krishna. Giving special mercy to the people of this age, Krishna Himself has come in two forms: as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and as His holy name, as in the maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Chaitanya is known as the most magnanimous incarnation because He freely delivers love of Krishna, the highest goal of life. To understand Krishna is difficult, but it has been made easy by the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. He is also known as magnanimous because His mercy surpasses the bounds of mundane distinction of sex, race, caste, and so on. He made equally available to everyone the sublime process of attaining Krishna. That process, the religion of this age, is chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.As the yuga-avatara, Lord Chaitanya appeared in this world five hundred years ago to teach us how to develop love of Krishna by chanting His names. God as the Temple Deity Krishna is accessible to us at all times through His deity manifestation. The deity, also known as the arca- murti (“form for worship”), comes to the world to bestow mercy on the devotees by allowing them to see Him face to face and serve Him directly. By seeing and serving the deity, devotees fix their minds on the form of the Lord. Vedic literature describes in detail how to worship the Lord in this world in His deity form. Though the arca-murtis seem to be made of material elements such as clay, wood, metal, or stone, They are identical with the forms of the Lord in the spiritual world. These forms are in the vaibhava-vilasa category. In Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita (Madhya 20.217) Srila Prabhupada comments: “The deity in the temple, however, is visible to the material eyes of the devotee. It is not possible for one in material, conditioned life to see the spiritual form of the Lord. To bestow causeless mercy upon us, the Lord appears as the arca- murti so that we can see Him… . No one should consider the deity in the temple to be made of stone or wood… . Nor should anyone consider the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to be a material vibration. All these expansions of Krishna in the material world are simply demonstrations of the Lord’s mercy and willingness to give facility to His devotees who are engaged in His devotional service within the material world.” The Identity Of Narayana Although Lord Narayana does not appear in the chart, He’s there. Srila Prabhupada uses the name Narayana to refer to any four-handed Vishnu form, but he also uses the name to refer to a specific expansion of Krishna, with His own spiritual planet. Prabhupada calls Narayana the Lord of Vaikuntha. He says that Narayana is at the center of the catur-vyuha (They surround Him). He also explains that Narayana expands from Sankarshana of the catur-vyuha. Finally, Prabhupadarefers to the purusha-avataras (the three Vishnus involved in the creation) as theNarayana purusha-avataras. So the name Narayana can refer to many forms of the Lord. The first four expansions in the vilasa category (prabhava-vilasa) originate from Lord Balarama (vaibhava-prakasha). Prabhava manifestations are fully potent; vaibhava manifestations are partially potent. The four expansions Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are known as the catur- vyuha.Catur means “four,” and vyuha means “guard” or “arms.” These forms have four arms, and They guard the four directions of the material world. They reside in the spiritual world. Srila Prabhupada refers to Them as the aides-de-camp of Lord Krishna. - Vasudeva, the first expansion, is the presiding deity of consciousness and the cause of the brahmajyoti effulgence. - Sankarshana comes from Vasudeva and is the presiding deity of false ego. He is the source of Karanodakashayi Vishnu. Sankarshana is known as the integrating and disintegrating power of God. In other words, He maintains the law of gravity and oversees the destruction of the universe. - Pradyumna comes from Sankarshana and is the presiding deity of intelligence. He is responsible for universal growth and maintenance. From Pradyumna comes Garbhodakashayi Vishnu. - Aniruddha, who comes from Pradyumna, is the presiding deity of the mind and the source of Kshirodakashayi Vishnu. Srila Prabhupada explains: “The Lord in His different features (Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, and Sankarshana) maintains both the gross and subtle material elements of this world. As mentioned in Bhagavad-gita, the gross material elements are earth, water, fire, air, and ether, and the subtle material elements are mind, intelligence, and ego. All of them are controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha… . Lord Krishna, by His quadruple expansion (Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha), is the Lord of psychic action—namely thinking, feeling, willing, and acting.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.35-36, Purport) From these first four expansions come other catur- vyuhas, known as vaibhava-vilasa. The months of the year and the markings of tilaka are named for these vaibhava-vilasa manifestations.

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Drinking four or more sweetened beverages a day was associated with higher rates of depression and drinking beverages sweetened with artificial sweeteners, such as as aspartame, upped the rate even more, according to a study released by the National Institutes of Health. The U.S. medical research agency study looked at nearly 264,000 older adults (ages 50-71) and tracked their beverage consumption between 1995 and 1996. A decade later, researchers went back to those adults and found that patients who consumed four or more sugary sodas each day were 22 per cent more likely to develop depression than their non-soda-drinking peers. For those who drank four or more artificially sweetened beverages per day, those numbers were even higher, with a 31 per cent higher risk of depression. Diet fruit punch drinkers had the highest risk of depression, with a 51 per cent greater risk of depression than people who drank no sweetened beverages. (Maybe they were depressed because they were drinking fruit punch sweetened with aspartame, which can not be described as delicious by any stretch of the imagination.) Looking to cut back on soda, diet or otherwise? Black coffee could be an option. The study found that those who drank four cups of black coffee per day were 10 per cent less likely to be depressed. Though, a researcher told the National Institutes of Health that older adults who drink more coffee may be in better overall health anyway, since physicians often tell people with health issues to monitor and limit their caffeine intake.

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