A touchpad or trackpad is a pointing device featuring a tactile sensor, a specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on the operating system that is made output to the screen. Touchpads are a common feature of laptop computers as opposed to using a mouse on a desktop, and are also used as a substitute for a mouse where desk space is scarce. Because they vary in size, they can also be found on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and some portable media players. Wireless touchpads are also available as detached accessories.
Operation and function
Touchpads operate in one of several ways, including capacitive sensing or resistive touchscreen. The most common technology used in the 2010s senses the change of capacitance where a finger touches the pad. Capacitance-based touchpads will not sense the tip of a pencil or other similar ungrounded or non-conducting implements. Fingers insulated by a glove may also be problematic, and capacitive touchpads are rarely used as pointing devices for medical hardware.
While touchpads, like touchscreens, are able to sense absolute position, resolution is limited by their size. For common use as a pointer device, the dragging motion of a finger is translated into a finer, relative motion of the cursor on the output to the display on the operating system, analogous to the handling of a mouse that is lifted and put back on a surface. Hardware buttons equivalent to a standard mouse's left and right buttons are sometimes positioned adjacent to the touchpad.
Some touchpads and associated device driver software may interpret tapping the pad as a mouse click, and a tap followed by a continuous pointing motion (a "click-and-a-half") can indicate dragging. Tactile touchpads allow for clicking and dragging by incorporating button functionality into the surface of the touchpad itself. To select, one presses down on the touchpad instead of a physical button. To drag, instead of performing the "click-and-a-half" technique, the user presses down while on the object, drags without releasing pressure, and lets go when done. Touchpad drivers can also allow the use of multiple fingers to emulate the other mouse buttons (commonly two-finger tapping for the center button).
Touchpads are called clickpads if it does not have physical buttons, but instead relies on "software buttons". Physically the whole clickpad formed a button, logically the driver interprets a click as a left or right button click depending on the placement of fingers.
Some touchpads have "hotspots", locations on the touchpad used for functionality beyond a mouse. For example, on certain touchpads, moving the finger along an edge of the touch pad will act as a scroll wheel, controlling the scrollbar and scrolling the window that has the focus, vertically or horizontally. Many touchpads use two-finger dragging for scrolling. Also, some touchpad drivers support tap zones, regions where a tap will execute a function, for example, pausing a media player or launching an application. All of these functions are implemented in the touchpad device driver software, and can be disabled.
By 1982, Apollo desktop computers were equipped with a touchpad on the right side of the keyboard. Introduced a year later, in 1983, the first battery powered clamshell laptop, the Gavilan SC included a touchpad, which was mounted above its keyboard, rather than below, which became the norm.
Psion's MC 200/400/600/WORD Series, introduced in 1989, came with a new mouse-replacing input device similar to a touchpad, although more closely resembling a graphics tablet, as the cursor was positioned by clicking on a specific point on the pad, instead of moving it in the direction of a stroke.
Laptops with touchpads were then launched by Olivetti and Triumph-Adler in 1992. Cirque introduced the first widely available touchpad, branded as GlidePoint, in 1994. Apple introduced touchpads with modern placing in the PowerBook 500 series in 1994, using Cirque's GlidePoint technology, which Apple refers to as a "trackpad"; it replaced the trackball of previous PowerBook models. Since 2008, Apple's revisions of the MacBook and MacBook Pro incorporated a "Tactile Touchpad" design with a button integrated into the tracking surface (the entire touchpad surface acts as a clickable button).
Another early adopter of the GlidePoint pointing device was Sharp. Later, Synaptics introduced their touchpad into the marketplace, branded the TouchPad, and Epson was an early adopter of this product with their ActionNote.
As touchpads began to be introduced in laptops in the 1990s, there was often confusion as to what the product should be called. No consistent term was used, and references varied, such as: glidepoint, touch sensitive input device, touchpad, trackpad, and pointing device.
Users were often presented with the option to purchase a pointing stick, touchpad, or trackball. Combinations of the devices were common, though touchpads and trackballs were rarely included together. Since the early 2000s, touchpads have become the dominant laptop pointing device as most consumer laptops produced during this period and beyond includes only touchpads, displacing the pointing stick.
Use in devices
Touchpads are primarily used in self-contained portable laptop computers and do not require a flat surface near the machine. The touchpad is close to the keyboard, and relatively short finger movements are required to move the cursor across the display screen; while advantageous, this also makes it possible for a user's palm or wrist to move the mouse cursor accidentally while typing. Laptops today feature multitouch touchpads that can sense in some cases up to five fingers simultaneously, providing more options for input, such as the ability to bring up the context menu by tapping two fingers, dragging two fingers for scrolling, or gestures for zoom in/out or rotate. The touchpads with physical buttons now are only hi-end business\professional laptops option.
One-dimensional touchpads are the primary control interface for menu navigation on iPod Classic portable music players and additional input method on some Wacom digitizer tablets, where they are referred to as "click wheels", since they only sense motion along one axis, which is wrapped around like a wheel. Creative Labs also uses a touchpad for their Zen line of MP3 players, beginning with the Zen Touch. The second-generation Microsoft Zune product line (the Zune 80/120 and Zune 4/8) uses touch for the Zune Pad.
Touchpads also exist for desktop computers as an external peripheral, albeit rarely seen. But touchpad layer can be integrated with graphics tablet as additional input option.
External computer keyboards can be equipped with integrated touchpads (particularly keyboards oriented for HTPC use), and some keyboards can have only touch input surface instead of hardware buttons (as typical solution for clean rooms).
Optical trackpads primary can be used as part of ultraportable electronics; some handheld laptops and early smartphones can be equipped with optical trackpads.
Theory of operation
There are two principal means by which touchpads work. In the matrix approach, a series of conductors are arranged in an array of parallel lines in two layers, separated by an insulator and crossing each other at right angles to form a grid. A high frequency signal is applied sequentially between pairs in this two-dimensional grid array. The current that passes between the nodes is proportional to the capacitance. When a virtual ground, such as a finger, is placed over one of the intersections between the conductive layer some of the electrical field is shunted to this ground point, resulting in a change in the apparent capacitance at that location. This method received U.S. Patent 5,305,017 awarded to George Gerpheide in April 1994.
The capacitive shunt method, described in an application note by manufacturer Analog Devices, senses the change in capacitance between a transmitter and receiver that are on opposite sides of the sensor. The transmitter creates an electric field which oscillates at 200–300 kHz. If a ground point, such as the finger, is placed between the transmitter and receiver, some of the field lines are shunted away, decreasing the apparent capacitance.
Major manufacturers include:
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Touchpads.|
|Look up touchpad, trackpad, or touchscreen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
- Capacitive sensing
- Graphics pad
- Kaoss pad
- List of touch-solution manufacturers
- Magic Trackpad 2
- Pointing stick
- "VersaPad Plus resistive touchpads target medical, rugged environments". www.microcontrollertips.com. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- "Tap and drag". Apple.com.
- "The Tactile Touchpad". sigchi.com.
- "A Comparison of Three Selection Techniques for Touchpads" (PDF). yorku.ca.
- "Libinput features: Clickpad software button behavior". wayland.freedesktop.org.
- Getting Started With Your DOMAIN System. Apollo Computer. 1983.
- "Briefcase computer". Design. November 1983. p. 20. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
The Gavilan portable computer uses a touch-sensitive panel between its text-entry keyboard and its liquid-crystal display. Moving your finger around on this shifts the cursor on the screen to select commands from a menu.
- "GUIdebook Psion MC Series brochure". guidebookgallery.org.
- "GUIdebook Psion MC Series brochure, page 4". guidebookgallery.org.
- Booth, Neil (2 December 1989). "Psions of the Times". New Computer Express. pp. 66–67. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
You put your finger on a small rectangular panel, and the cursor appears on screen. Move your finger around the panel, say from the bottom left of the panel to the centre, and the cursor moves from the bottom left to the centre of the screen in parallel.
- Olivetti S20, D33 and identically Triumph-Adler Walkstation 386, Walkstation 386SX
- Diehl, Stanford; Lennon, Anthony J.; McDonough, John (Oct 1995). "Touchpads to Navigate By" (PDF). Byte. No. October 1995. Green Publishing. p. 150. ISSN 0360-5280.
- "[Products | Our Technology | High-Sensitivity Capacitive Technology] Alps Alpine – Electronic Components and Automotive Infotainment". tech.alpsalpine.com. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- Thryft, Ann R. "More Than a Mouse," Computer Product Development, EBN Extra, November 14, 1994, pp. E16 – E20
- "Blackbird: The PowerBook 500 Series". Low End Mac. 1994-05-16. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
- "MacBook design". Apple.com.
- Ackerman, Dan (June 10, 2009). "Apple MacBook Pro Summer 2009 (Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Nvidia GeForce 9400M, 13-inch)". CNET. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
- "A WinBook for the Fussy". Windows Magazine. No. Dec 95. 1995. p. 105.
- "Sharp Unveils Line of Notebooks". Westchester County Business Journal. Westchester County Business Journal (November 20, 1995). 1995.
- Malloy, Rich; Crabb, Don (October 1995). "Power Packed Power Books". Mobile Office. New York, NY (October 1995): 44–52.
- Jerome, Marty (1995). "Lightweight, Low-Cost Challenger". PC Computing. PC Computing (December 1995): 96.
- Yu, Justin. "This Logitech keyboard and touch pad would like the full attention of your hands". CNET. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- GmbH, Systec & Solutions. "Medical keyboard and stainless steel tablet". www.systec-solutions.com. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- "Analog Devices' Capacitive Shunt Method" (PDF). analog.com.


Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour. It is one of the most interesting and challenging areas of scientific inquiry with the potential to benefit both individuals and society as a whole. Topics of study include learning, memory, cognition, perception, neuroscience, and developmental, forensic, social, and abnormal psychology. You will gain an integrated and comprehensive knowledge in the main discipline areas of psychology and develop strong research, analytical and communication skills. This degree allows you to study for an accredited three-year degree in Psychology at the same time as undertaking a complementary major in a number of related areas. Majors include marketing, human resource management, management, criminology, linguistics, philosophy, vision science and neuroscience.
Why choose this degree?
This degree offers great flexibility – students can focus just on psychology, loading up their program with a variety of free electives, or may choose to take a complementary major.
Who should choose this degree?
At the completion of this degree you can head into the workforce or continue along the path to becoming a registered psychologist by completing an additional fourth year Honours in Psychology.
- Human Resource Management
- Vision Science
Degree StructureDegree Handbook
The skills acquired during training in Psychology are extremely valuable to a wide variety of careers within the public and private sector. These include clinical and health settings such as clinics and hospitals and a diverse range of commercial and non-profit organisations.
Accreditation / Professional Recognition
Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited three-year undergraduate sequence in Psychology and the first step on the six-year pathway to becoming a registered professional psychologist.


I recently listened to a segment on the Current on CBC, about academic integrity and the effect of technology on cheating. The main guest was Dr Julia Christensen Hughes, Dean of the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph, who talked about the findings of some of the research that she has conducted on Canadian university students. A whopping 80% of Canadian university students admit to having cheated. They admit to at least one of over 30 behaviours that are considered cheating at university ranging from outright cheating on exams, to plagiarism, to working in groups when specifically asked to work individually on an assignment. Interestingly this isn’t a new problem. American studies in the ‘60s found that 75% of students admitted to cheating in college. And it’s not a new behavior for students when they get to the post-secondary environment. In one recent Canadian study 60% of high school students admitted to cheating on tests, and 75% to cheating on written work that is handed in. Although technology provides more ways for students to cheat (buying “internet” papers, using online paper mills and just good old cut and paste from internet sites) it hasn’t impacted the overall rate of cheating. Technology has however increased instructors’ ability to detect plagiarism thanks to online services such as Turnitin that use huge data bases of accumulated student work, web pages and online journals to compare submitted work to common sources.
What interested me most from the conversation with Dr Christensen Hughes was her finding that students were less likely to cheat if they respected the instructor, if they felt that the quality of the education that they were receiving was high and if the instructor was using assessments that were truly assessing the skills and knowledge that students were learning in the course. This last point dovetails nicely with a book that I have just been reading, “Cheating Lessons – Learning from Academic Dishonesty” by James M. Lang. Lang discusses how the ways that we teach and assess can impact student’s academic integrity and how instructors can design assessments that reduce academic dishonesty and also create better learning.
Lang proposes that students are more likely to cheat if:
- there is low intrinsic motivation to actually learn what they are being assessed on;
- there is an emphasis on one-time performance rather than continuous improvement towards mastery;
- the stakes are high on a single assessment;
- they have a low expectation of success.
So what can an instructor do to decrease cheating and increase learning?
When students are intrinsically motivated, find the subject matter meaningful and can connect it to their own lives, they will learn more and retain their learning. Students driven by extrinsic rewards, such as grades, use strategic or shallow approaches to learning and will have more motivation to cheat. Posing authentic, open-ended questions to students or challenging them with problems or areas of investigation of their own choice can give students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and reflect on what they have learned. Learning portfolios that include journal entries, short essays, and reflections can assess the student learning experience and understanding of concepts (and are darn hard to cheat on).
Learning for mastery (a deep approach to learning) rather than one time performance can be encouraged and assessed. Giving students multiple attempts on assessments or offering students choices on how they will be assessed can promote a mastery approach. These tests can also provide students with feedback so that they can learn from the assessment and then apply their learning again to show mastery. Scaffolded assignments or essays, where drafts and reworked versions are submitted for feedback, can provide evidence of learning and are not likely to be purchased in the internet.
There is evidence that repeated low stakes assessments have the largest impact on learning and retention of learning, particularly if the testing is in the format of short answer questions. Known as the “testing effect” it can be achieved through the use of short online quizzes or one-minute papers. Creating opportunities for students to retrieve knowledge and rehearse answering questions not only measures learning, but also produces learning (Miller, 2011). Lang discusses how taking the emphasis off a one big, high stakes assessment and introducing multiple low stakes assessments helps students rehearse for more substantial assessments and actually reduces cheating.
When students feel that they have no chance of success they are more likely to give up rather than attempting to master concepts, and they may look for alternative, dishonest ways to pass tests. Lang argues that helping students be aware of their level of understanding throughout a course will help them gauge how much work they need to do to be successful on major assessments. Activities like think-pair-share, clicker questions and other in-class activities or formative assessments help instil self-efficacy, and help students identify what they need to do to become capable rather than relying on cheating.
All sounds like more work for the instructor, yes, but with two great results – better learning and less cheating and presumably less time spent following up on academic integrity cases as well.
Lang, J.M. 2013. Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, USA.
Miller, M. 2011. What College Teachers Should Know About Memory: A Perspective from Cognitive Psychology. College Teaching, 59:117-122.


Just What Is A Business?
An organization is described as any organization or person that performs online business to make money. Businesses could be both individual to make money organizations or general population nonprofit agencies that actions business in order to match a certain community bring about or additional a accelerating societal plan. In today’s planet, enterprises are becoming an important part of how we live and play an integral position in shaping the financial framework of modern society. Moreover, companies are widely known as part of the casual construction of society. An enterprise therefore, gets the duty to offer products or services by the due date, maintain precise inventory, manage interior assets, and make the best usage of technology.
The thought of small business has expanded past the regular features which were generally linked to companies using a bodily position. While using quick increase of the online market place, internet businesses also have enter in to staying. These firms do not possess physiological places but rather deal through the use of the web. This enables them to make use of new markets, have a international achieve, and develop their small business using the web. So as to define its goal and achieve its online business aims, whilst there are actually circumstances just where real tree branches and retailers of enterprises still really exist, most of the people use online businesses anytime they need to get goods or services.
A business business is actually created when anyone, group of people, or organization produces a authored business plan or maybe a charter. This record is commonly known as a business plan. This works as a road map for helping the company to obtaining its targets. To get its goals and document individuals exercises that lead to achieving these desired goals, a small business organization must be able to outline the activities it plans to do. As a way to expedite the handling of the company.
Online business description entails all 5 things – solution, funds, place and workers and promoting, a business might also generate earnings and losses statements, financial forecasts, and other applicable paperwork. The funds provides the cash required to start-up and preserve the organization action. Product refers to the organic resources, apparatus and supplies found in conducting the business enterprise task, and site refers back to the genuine area from the business. promoting and People talk about all those associated with enterprise exercises like promoting, output and selling and buyer interaction.
Business meaning is often a challenging concept. Normally, an enterprise is present to create and sector services or goods for other people to generate a earnings. To be able to generate income, an enterprise should be beneficial ample to generate and deliver the essential services and goods. Additionally, an online business need to look at the expense of the goods or services it sells and figure out regardless of whether the price tag on the item is effectively sufficient to draw in buyers. A company can create losses and revenue records that include a description of the process as a way to verify in the event the exercise produces a nice gain or loss.
In order to achieve sales, organizations get involved in many approaches. Commonly, businesses use marketing and advertising endeavours as a way to attract customers. Goods are made and advertised in order to get customers to get them. The production approach is needed to create all the items along with the marketing method is employed to showcase those items.
All businesses technique has a target or possibly a end result. Commonly, the end result is the creation of new goods or services which make the business dollars. However, in an effort to get to that goal, the corporation must use and build a money-making enterprise plan.
There are lots of varieties of companies. Many of the most typical styles are retail shops, wholesale sellers, suppliers, and low-revenue companies. Each type provides a different cause of current. The overall intent behind all companies is the same, however: to profit by reselling expert services and products and solutions that exist or are produced by another person.


James Springer White: 1821 – 1881
CATHOLIC REASONS FOR KEEPING SUNDAY
1. Because “it is also called Sunday from the old Roman denomination of Dies Solis, the day of the sun, to which it was sacred.” “Sunday was a name given by the heathens to the first day of the week, because it was the day on which they worshiped the sun.”
2. Because it is “in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary.”
3. Because “it is a day dedicated by the apostles to the honor of the most Holy Trinity.”
4. “Because Christ was born upon a Sunday.”
5. Because he “rose from the dead upon a Sunday.”
6. Because he “sent down the Holy Ghost upon a Sunday.”
7. Because “the work of our redemption was a greater work than that of our creation.”
8. Because “we have for it the authority of the Catholic Church and apostolic tradition.”
9. Because “Sunday is sanctified by hearing Mass.”
10. Because of a letter reported to have “come from Heaven to Jerusalem, and found at St. Simeon’s tomb.”
1. Because Christ rose from the dead on Sunday.
2. Because Christ sanctioned the first day by meeting with his disciples on the evening of that day. John xx,19,26.
3. Because the apostles met on the first day to break bread. Acts xx,7.
4. Because the apostles told them to make their collections on that day for the poor saints. 1Cor.xvi,1,2.
5. Because John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. Rev.i,10.
6. Because Paul says, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” – whether he will keep one day above another, i.e., whether he will keep Sunday or not.
7. Because Constantine established it by law, A. D. 321.
8. Because it is the law of our own country.
9. Because Sunday is the Christian Sabbath.
10. Because the “old fathers” say that some kept Sunday.
11. Because learned men and ministers, say it was changed.
12. Because some say that the day we now keep, is the seventh-day Sabbath.
13. Because the Lord only requires us to keep a seventh part of time.
14. Because nobody knows whether we are keeping the right day or not, as time might have been lost.
15. Because it don’t make any difference what day we keep if we are only sincere and honest.
16. Because it is customary, that is, fashionable.
17. Because the Lord has blessed me so many times on that day, therefore I think I ought to keep it.
18. Because I don’t like to be changing about so much.
19. Because all my neighbors keep it.
20. Because I have always kept it, and my friends before me, and some of them died happy, and I will run the risk of it, rather than change now.
21. Because our church keeps it, therefore I will.
22. Because there are so many new things, and winds of doctrine, and so many “Lo heres,” and “Lo theres,” that we don’t know what to believe, therefore I am agoing to stick to my old church.
These and many more unfounded and frivolous excuses, are framed up in favor of Sunday-keeping which are called by some, good and conclusive reasons for not obeying God’s holy Sabbath law: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord: “thus making the law of God void by their traditions.
How will such stand in the judgment, with such excuses in their mouths, before that God whose law they have broken, after having the light. Will it not be said, “thou art weighed in the balances, an art found wanting.”
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald – April 4, 1854
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Synopses & Reviews
The new Fifth Edition of Complex Analysis for Mathematics and Engineering presents a comprehensive, student-friendly introduction to Complex Analysis concepts. Its clear, concise writing style and numerous applications make the foundations of the subject matter easily accessible to students. Believing that mathematicians, engineers, and scientists should be exposed to a careful presentation of mathematics, the authors devote attention to important topics, such as ensuring that required assumptions are met before using a theorem, confirming that algebraic operations are valid, and checking that formulas are not blindly applied. A new chapter on z-transforms and applications provides students with a current look at Digital Filter Design and Signal Processing.


To be a truly student-driven Preschool, children need to have ownership and responsibility for the classroom. How can we teach young children responsible civic engagement? In her 2015 article in the Atlantic, Amy Rothschild states, “early-childhood classrooms can serve as a natural cradle for democracy”. Link to Article
What does this look like in developmentally-appropriate practice? Students can work to decide upon shared-agreements for communal spaces. Students can all participate in discussion and debate over situations that may happen in social interactions, from teacher expectations, or a that may arise in literature. They can take shared responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of classroom materials. Students who show an interest, can be given special leadership responsibilities. All children should be expected to give special care to peers who may be hurt or having difficulties.
Beyond teaching responsible civic participation, children can have an authentic experience in the foundation of democracy- voting. In my class, the children often take responsibility for curricular decisions by voting. For example, children are introduced to two books which may possibly be read for enjoyment. Each child gets one vote to decide which of the two will be read-aloud and the book receiving the majority will be read that day. There are many ways to manage this activity- a ballot box, a show of hands, or tally marks on the black board. Voting thusly teaches children the practical aspect of how to vote. Also, they learn have a voice, but also their voice is balanced by the whole.
Preschools are the perfect arena for fostering democracy and even the youngest children can approach civic duties and the direction of their learning with responsibility and a sense of fun. When we teach democracy in the Preschool we foster a self-directed community of learners who will grow to have a sense of civic duty and social responsibility.
How do you foster democracy in your classroom? Leave a reply.


The American Academy of Pediatrics recently made headlines with the statistic that more than 400,000 babies each year are born to women who will suffer postpartum depression (PPD). Calling PPD the most “underdiagnosed obstetric complication” in the U.S., the report issued a new call for pediatricians to take an active role in screening their patients’ mothers for depression. But the wider community also can take part in helping mothers get the help they need – here’s why.
We are learning more and more about how healthy attachment and bonding helps children feel more secure at home, connected to their world, and positions them to become contributing members of society. According to the AAP study, PPD threatens mother-child attachment, dramatically increases the risk of parental neglect, and adversely affects early brain development. Treatment of the mother’s condition can improve associated depression and other disorders suffered by the child – including conduct disorder, anxiety, and other mood disorders. In short, just like nursing mothers need to watch what they eat, we all need to support new moms because their undiagnosed depression impacts their children’s long-term health, too.
In addition to a longer screening scale, AAP offers pediatricians the following brief, 2-question survey for depression: “Over the past 2 weeks (1) Have you ever felt down, depressed, or hopeless? (2) Have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things?”
One yes answer indicates a positive screening result, meaning there is a risk of depression and the person should be educated about the symptoms of depression and made aware of support options. Although this information is aimed at pediatricians, all of us who come into contact with young families can be aware of depression’s symptoms and treatment choices. Being a new mom is stressful, anxiety-producing, and doesn’t always look pretty. But sometimes there’s more going on than just sleep-deprivation, and there are many supportive options available as long as we make it safe and welcoming for women to get what they need during this important time.


Loksewa Aayog Computer Operator
What is a Computer Operator?
A computer operator is the person responsible for monitoring and controlling computer systems especially mainframe computer systems in a company or organization. Responsibilities include troubleshooting software and hardware problems, monitoring batch processing, maintaining and improving system performance and online availability, maintaining all system and application documentation, and assisting personnel with computer problems. Other responsibilities depend on the employer but might include system backups, maintaining computer room equipment including printers and tape storage devices, and providing customer support.
Computer Operator Job Description
For those that don’t know, Computer Operators are responsible for the running of all computer operations, making sure that both computer systems and hardware are in good working order at all times. They work in a variety of different industries and in some cases, work in-house for a sole company.
What does a Computer Operator do?
A computer operator usually works in either a server room or a data centre, but in some cases, they could be asked to work remotely so that they can operate computer systems across various different sites of work. Although a little experience is required, most duties are taught on the job, especially as each system is usually a little different or each business. This also means that in most cases, the job description for a Computer Operator can vary depending on the type of industry you’re working in. Depending on the business, they may also be able to work from home.
What are the Roles and Responsibilities of these Specialists?
he roles and responsibilities of a computer operator include, but are not limited to:
- Providing data by operating a computer.
- Determining a sequence of operations by studying production schedules.
- Performing defined tasks as per company processes.
- Monitoring and manipulating daily jobs that are determined by a system.
- Maintaining incident logs for any issues that arise.
- Preparing any equipment that is needed for day-to-day operations by accessing various different forms of software.


Critical White Theory
Updated: Mar 28
Just as critical race theory tries to explain the role of race in American history, critical white theory would look at the role of white. White, in other words, is a “role,” or social behavior, not a skin color. Critical white theory, from this perspective, provides answers to such questions as “Why did they do that?” by indicating the role that person assumed. “They were acting White.”
One of the chief characteristics of the white social role is to behave as though other peoples and cultures did not exist. That’s what it means to be monocultural in a multicultural context. The result, of course, is that others are invisible. They do not matter.
Given our beginning as a slave nation with ideals of liberty, this contradiction has a long legacy. Instead of seeing ourselves as one among others, we only saw ourselves. At the same time, this “non-social” image was and is unstable because it is not only based on a lie, but also on crimes against humanity. The white social world exists in a climate of injustice.
A good example of monocultural thinking in a multicultural context is the Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett’s interpretative theory of originalism, which assumes that the original meaning of the Constitution is its meaning today. This theory assumes that the Constitution exists apart from its context, and that any contemporary reader should read the text outside of any context.
Texts, from this perspective, are not “social documents” written in a particular time and place, but rather “isolated documents” without a history, so to speak. Originalism assumes that one’s particular social identity doesn’t exist, and neither does the social identity of others. Critical white theory would point out that the denial of the social is a characteristic of white social identity, and regardless of any person’s intention, maintains the lie that only white roles matter.
The fact is that the context of the Constitution was a climate of injustice, and that climate continues. Extracting the Constitution from this messy legacy will not help us to move toward a climate of justice.
I see a similar dilemma in President Biden’s responses to our moral failures, like the incident of border patrol officers using their horses to “corral” Haitian immigrants. Biden said the images were horrific, and “That’s not who we are.” Critical white theory would look at this behavior from the social and historical legacy of white supremacy and probably conclude “that’s exactly who we are.”
The issue is not merely historical consciousness, but even more the question of who is included in Biden’s “we.” If the “we” are only white Americans, then such behavior can be seen as a violation of American ideals. If the “we” also include black and brown Americans, then the images may show us once again that we have not yet made the change that’s been promised.
“We the People” was written in a climate of injustice. It included some white men, who made the necessary compromises to keep others out so they could enjoy American Prosperity. We have always been multiracial and multicultural, but not a multiracial and multicultural democracy. Why not? Because the prosperity of the few was based on the suffering of the many.
Once again, the agenda of creating a multiracial and multicultural democracy has been put aside and whites—liberal and conservative—focus on another compromise that will ensure American Prosperity, white privilege, and an American monoculture.


Because of the public scare over animal fats, sales of vegetable oils of all types increased. It was the established wisdom that those oils high in polyunsaturated fatty acids were especially beneficial (animal fats are high in saturated fatty acids). The obsession with polyunsaturated versus saturated fats led researchers and nutritionists to overlook some of the other features of vegetable oils that we now know are crucial to health, including:
· Susceptibility to rancidity; · Ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids and its relevance in inflammatory diseases and immune system function; · Possible presence of irritating or toxic compounds in particular plant oils.
Unlike the case of trans-fatty acids, for which there is massive amount of research data, there is much less documented scientific research on canola oil consumption in humans, specifically.Some sources (unverified) claim that the Canadian government and industry paid the U.S. FDA $50 million dollars to have canola oil placed on the GRAS (“Generally Recognized As Safe”) list, which allowed the canola industry to avoid the lengthy and expensive approval process, including medical research on humans. However, experimental rats that were fed canola oil “developed fatty degeneration of the heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid gland. On withdrawing the canola oil from their diets, the deposits dissolved but scar tissue remained on all vital organs.” [3a] In the absence of direct research studies of canola oil and human health, many concerned nutritionists and biochemists have attempted to analyze the canola oil situation on the basis of current knowledge of the biochemistry of fats and oils. While hard-nosed canola industry spokespersons may claim such commentary to be speculative, in the absence of proof of safety, anyone concerned about their family’s health should pay close attention to the various arguments and warnings. [3a– 3i; for canola industry position, see 3j,3k] The Canola Council of Canada has published a report [3k] that focuses heavily on the high polyunsaturated fatty acid content of canola oil and the presumed benefits of polyunsaturated oils on various blood parameters (platelet phospholipids, platelet aggregation, eicosanoid production, clotting time). In spite of the many scientific references listed at the end of the report, the author studiously avoids discussion of the toxic effects mentioned by many nutritionists and biochemists, and, instead, attempts to link many of the benefits of Mediterranean-type diets high in olive oil to diets high in canola oil, when in fact, no such evidence is presented, and canola oil has never been part of a traditional Mediterranean diet. Concerns about the risks of using canola (rapeseed) oil focus on several aspects:
· The presence of long-chain fatty acids, including erucic acid, which are thought by some to cause CNS degeneration, heart disease, and cancer; · The high temperatures needed in the refining process to make canola oil palatable,which lead to formation of trans-fatty acids; · Miscellaneous undesirable chemical constituents (thioglycosides and thiocyanates) whose effects are unclear, as their concentration in the refined product is probably very low.
Although Chinese and Indian peoples have long used rapeseed oil in cooking, it was not refined and processed to the extent of modern commercial methods, and it was never considered to be a high quality oil for human consumption.Ayurvedic physicians have for thousands of years classified olive, almond, and sesame as the best oils for human health, and have consideredsafflower, soybean and rapeseed oils to be undesirable for human consumption except perhaps when no other oil sources were available. Recent epidemiological studies of high lung cancer rates in Chinese women suggest that wok cooking with rapeseed oil is responsible, rather than tobacco smoking, which was only a weak factor. Chinese rapeseed oil tended to produce the highest emissions of the potentially carcinogenic or mutagenic compounds 1,3-butadiene, benzene, acrolein, and formaldehyde,when compared with soybean oil and peanut oil. [3n] Canola oil contains a long-chain fatty acid called erucic acid, which is especially irritating to mucous membranes; canola oil consumptionhas been correlated with development of fibrotic lesions of the heart, CNS degenerative disorders, lung cancer, and prostate cancer, anemia, and constipation. [3a,3b] Canola oil derives from the plants Brassica campestris and B. napus, which have been selectively bred to substantially reduce the erucic acid content. However, some health professionals feel that there is still too much present in current canola oil products for safe use. Some critics of canola oil focus on the fact that rapeseed oil was originally used as an industrial lubricant and known to be unfit for human consumption, although many vegetable oils have been used in industrial applications as well as in foods. The long-chain fatty acids found in canola have been found to destroy the sphingomyelin surrounding nerve cells in the brain, in some cases leading to a degenerative brain condition remarkably similar to mad-cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy);in advanced cases the brain tissue develops a Swiss-cheese-like appearance, full of holes. Illnesses and conditions that have been associated with canola oil consumption include loss of vision (retinal capillaries are very sensitive and easily damaged), and a wide range of neurological disorders. [3a]The high temperatures used in canola refining will damage many of the essential fatty acids, which are much more susceptible to damage by heat than saturated fats. (Heat may convert many of the unsaturated double bonds to the “trans” configuration.) While high-quality essential fatty acids are required for human health, in their damaged or rancid forms they become harmful. Additional problems with canola oil include the presence of minute, but potentially dangerous, amounts of thioglycosides, which have thyrotoxic effects. [3m] To reduce the concentration of these compounds requires processing with alkalinizing agents plus high temperatures; unfortunately, the high temperatures used in processing have other undesirable effects, the most serious of which is the conversion of unsaturated fats to the trans form.
Rapeseed has been selectively bred and genetically engineered [3a] in an attempt to reduce the toxic components and processing methods were developed to further reduce the concentration of undesirable compounds.Prior to its entry into the “health” food market, it was known as rapeseed oil, but savvy marketing professionals knew that the health food market, heavily dominated by young, college-educated women, would not purchase a repulsive-sounding product called rapeseed oil. The name of the selectively bred variety was changed to canola (as in “Canadian oil”; it has been heavily promoted by Canadian government and agricultural organizations)oil; the name rolls off the tongue with a mellifluous sound.
The biochemistry of plants and natural food products is often complex; the total effect of a given food on human health is dependent upon many chemical constituents and their interaction with biochemical pathways of the body. To radically alter our diets based on scientific evidence regarding only a few aspects of this biochemistry is like cooking in the dark. Common symptom reactions to unhealthy oils and fats, or to an unhealthy balance of the types of fats in one’s diet include joint pain and aggravation of arthritic conditions, a general tendency to have increased tissue irritability and inflammation, and, in the case of unhealthy fats such as hydrogenated oils and excessive amounts of fried foods, abdominal fullness and indigestion. While these conditions also may be due to other factors, quality of fats and oils is important. How one feels immediately to within several days after eating specific types of fat is often a useful indicator of whether one’s fat consumption is healthy or unhealthy.
ØAvoid canola oil;there is too much doubt about its safety. Recommended oils and fats, which are essential nutrients, include moderate amounts of meat in the form of clean sources (organically grown, etc.) of beef, lamb, and other red meats, poultry, fish (especially sardines and mackerel), plus olive, almond, or sesame oil; of all the vegetable oils, olive oil is probably the safest and best for health reasons. All of these have been in traditional use in various cultures for thousands of years. Individual differences in metabolism will dictate needs for more or less of these types of oils and fats.


When preparing concert music for an absolute beginner, there are a number of tricky points to take into consideration. Having created, what I hope will be, attractive melodies using a very restricted range of notes, I must remember that a flute beginner may be unable to make any appreciable variation in dynamics. Indeed, the teacher may not wish to introduce dynamics in the early stages of tone development. Teachers also introduce articulation at different points. If music is stripped of its expression, however, it loses much of its ability to engage both performer and audience. In the ‘Stars From the Start’ concert music for beginner flute downloads, I have included two versions of the solo part, one with and one without markings. I hope this will make them useful resources for teachers in several ways. The unmarked copy allows the teacher to add dynamics and/or articulation as appropriate for an individual pupil. The pdf files can be printed as required and can be used for aural training, with the teacher playing his/her version and the pupil identifying the dynamics. Unmarked scores also afford pupils the opportunity to improvise their own version.
Most pieces in tutor books, at this stage, are too short to make satisfying concert items, yet it is too challenging to both the skills of the pupil and the time available in a lesson to cover much material. With this in mind, I have made much use of repetition in these tunes to make them a more rewarding length, without adding to the burden.


About Colonic Polyps
Most polyps (90%) are called ADENOMAS by the medical profession. They are very common, occurring in 15 - 20% of the population, and most of these are NOT cancerous.
A polyp is a protrusion or bump on the lining of the bowel (the mucosa) caused by an abnormal production of cells. Maybe a tiny raised area; it may look like a small or later grape; or it may take the form of many tiny projections clustered together. Sometimes this last type is known as Carpet or SESSILE polyp.
Polyps are important as, if they are not removed, they may eventually become a cancer in the colon (large bowel) or rectum (back passage), although this takes many years to develop.
Symptoms of polyps
Most people are unaware of having polyps as they produce no symptoms and they are often an incidental finding. Some polyps can, however, produce a small amount of bleeding or an excess production of mucous (slim) with bowel motions. Also, an alteration in bowel habit may occur and very large polyps may lead to a blockage in the bowel, but this is extremely unusual.
Polyps are usually found as the result of bowel investigations - such as a sigmoidoscopy, barium enema or CT colonography. If they are found, colonoscopy is required to review the whole of the large bowel.
Do polyps need to be removed?
Since there is no foolproof way of predicting whether or not a polyp may become a cancer, total removal of all polyps is advised.
Treatment for polyps
There are several methods for doing this but the most common is by:
Snaring the polyp whilst you have a colonoscopy. Snaring is like cutting the polyp off with a cheese wire and is painless.
Hot Biopsying removes the polyp by touching it with an electric probe this is also painless.
An operation to remove part of the bowel if the polyp has some cell changes or is large, but this is unusual.
After removal of the polyp/s, they are sent for pathology which will reveal whether the polyp has been completely removed, if there is any risk of it regrowing, and if there is any cancerous change in the polyp. If there is a cancerous change in the polyp you may or may not require further treatment depending upon the degree and extent of change. Your specialist will be able to advise you on this matter.
Follow up after polyp removal varies but some people will require further colonoscopies because polyps can recur. Some bowel polyps run in families. This is uncommon, but if this condition is diagnosed, colonoscopy checks will be at regular intervals.


1797, denoting the language group that includes Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, etc.; 1826 as "of or pertaining to Semites," from Medieval Latin Semiticus (source of Spanish semitico, French semitique, German semitisch), from Semita (see Semite). As a noun, as the name of a linguistic family, from 1813. In non-linguistic use, perhaps directly from German semitisch. In recent use often with the specific sense "Jewish," but not historically so limited.


Second Grade Fundamentals will delight young learners with activities on long and short vowel sounds, compound words and contractions, addition and subtraction, time and money, word endings, reading comprehension, place value, and more. Filled with colorful pages, easy-to-follow directions, and grade-appropriate activities, the Fundamentals series introduces and reinforces introductory concepts in math and language arts.
The series covers all of the basics for success in PreK to Grade 2 and is perfect for year-round learning. The fun, challenging activities will supplement what children are learning in school, reinforcing their understanding of the subject matter and enhancing school performance. Each page features directions that teach and guide children through key areas of learning.


Click play to hear me read this to you!
Many of our friends at the Casper Planetarium in Casper, Wyoming, have been learning about the Moon. They asked some questions about this strange and interesting world, and that got me thinking about it. So let's spend a few minutes together visiting the Moon.
Most planets in the solar system have moons. Because our planet, Earth, has only one moon, we call it the Moon, so sometimes when people use the word "moon," it can be confusing whether they are talking about our Moon or any moon in the solar system. This month, when I'm thinking about the Moon, I mean the one and only that belongs to Earth. And I think we're lucky to have it, because it regularly gives us a beautiful view of a world out in space.
Although it's one of the largest moons in the solar system, the Moon is smaller than all the planets except Pluto*. Still, it's so large that if it orbited the Sun instead of Earth, we would call it a small planet and not a moon. [Go here to compare the sizes of the planets and moons in the solar system.]
But the Moon does orbit Earth, just as the space shuttle and thousands of other satellites do. However, at 239,000 miles—almost a quarter of a million miles—the Moon is much farther away than most satellites we launch.
The Moon's size and distance contribute to a wonderful coincidence for those of us who live here on Earth. The Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun, but it also just happens to be about 400 times closer. The result is that from Earth, they appear to be the same size. And when its orbit around Earth takes the Moon directly between Earth and the Sun, the Moon blocks our view of the Sun in what we call a solar eclipse. This is just the same as when you use your thumb to block your view of something that is both much larger and much farther away.
To imagine this, think of Earth as about the size of a basketball. Then the Moon would be 30 feet away and about the size of an apple. The Sun would be a ball as big as a 10-story building more than 2 miles away. And if you were with the basketball, the nearby apple and the distant building would look to be about the same size.
To cover the distance between Earth and the Moon took Apollo astronauts 3 days. Now that's much longer than the 8 minutes it takes to reach Earth orbit, but still not uncomfortably long. Unlike Earth, the Moon does not have air or water, and without them, living there would be impossible. So the astronauts had to bring along their own air and water for the trip to the Moon and back, as well as their stay of a few days there. I was a child during those Apollo missions, and even then I was fascinated by space, just as I hope you are. It was thrilling for me to watch each one of those journeys that carried not just 3 men, but my imagination and dreams, as well as those of millions and millions of others. In fact, the amazing success in sending people to the Moon was one of the reasons I grew up wanting to work for NASA.
Scientists have learned a great deal about the Moon from the experiments the astronauts left there and the samples of rocks and soil they brought back. Robotic missions that have orbited, landed on, and even returned samples from the Moon have also contributed greatly to the understanding of our neighbor in space.
By studying the darker and lighter regions that you can see on the Moon, scientists discovered that they are made of different materials on the Moon's surface, just as Earth is covered with different kinds of materials in different places.
Be sure to take the time to go outside on a warm evening this month to gaze at the Moon, which has inspired so many scientists, writers, artists, and people like you and me who love to wonder about the Universe.
While you think more about the Moon, you can enjoy delicious Moon cookies made from ingredients easily available wherever you are on Earth. The recipe was created by Space Place partner the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Missouri.
Now, I think I'm going to go have a Moon Cookie!
* On August 17, 2006, the International Astronomical Union redefined "planet," calling Pluto a "dwarf planet."


Anxiety in a nutshell…
Anxiety is a normal response to a stressful situation. It is an emotion that we all experience at some point. It keeps us alert and ready for action as a survival mechanism, allowing us to react quickly to life-threatening situations. In short, a marvellous medley of hormonal changes and physiological responses serve to help us to either fight off threats or run like the wind to escape from them. In ancient times fight or flight might happen after being chased by a lion or bear… however, as society has changed, traffic jams, constant fast-paced stimuli, family challenges, work deadlines and pressures of responsibilities have become the new trigger for fight or flight.
What actually happens in the body?
When your system feels that it is in danger, it immediately sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus then rapidly delivers a message to the adrenal glands. The adrenals then flood adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) into the body, activating a number of physiological effects. Physiological symptoms may include an increase in blood pressure, increased heart rate, rapid breathing and hyperstimulation of sight and sound.
If the body continues to see the situation as a threat, cortisol levels will then begin to elevate, keeping the body in a hyper state of alert. This may then lead to an inability to concentrate, irritability, insomnia, panic attacks, digestion problems, sweating and social anxiety. If it is persistent or prolonged then it can wreak havoc on the body. This is when we might benefit from using herbs and supplements to help us find a state of balance and equilibrium.
Fight or flight is a normal human response to scary stuff
A massive change in a life situation like the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or challenging news can cause anxiety. Aggressive behaviour towards us can also induce anxiety. Feeling anxious is a normal human emotion and usually, it is an understandable response to challenging situations, it shows that you are connected with your emotions. Anxiety might involve panic or sudden intense fear after activation of specific triggers (logical or not) – which may even induce shaking, confusion, dizziness, breathing difficulty or nausea. In these cases (whether mild or extreme), herbs and other calming techniques can be beneficial.
When fight or flight goes into overdrive
Some people are more sensitive to stimuli than others, which can lead to ongoing or recurring patterns of anxiety. This can become problematic when it disturbs a person’s daily life. Personally speaking, several years ago, I encountered some intensely challenging situations that accumulated, sending me into months of anxiety. This left me in a perpetual state of fight or flight mode. When I was fortunate to calm down enough to go to sleep at all during that period, I’d wake up only to find my cortisol levels shoot through the roof within 15 minutes of waking. This inspired me to write this article… I wanted to reach out to others who are experiencing various degrees of anxiety. I feel most fortunate that I do not suffer from anxiety anymore. I’ve learned that it is incredibly common for people to experience anxiety issues, yet less common for people to have found supportive methods for it.
Thankfully, however, there are most definitely things we can do to help ourselves during these times. If you are close to someone who is suffering from anxiety, then there are also many ways that I am sure they would appreciate your support. It’s helpful to empathise with their situation. Telling them to snap out of it, calm down or get a grip of themselves, is just going to make it worse. What helps more than anything is a kind loving presence.
This article is all about different herbs that can help balance the system for someone suffering from anxiety. Bear in mind that different herbs will work better for different people. Some herbs will create a state of balance throughout the whole system, to enable you to cope. Others will induce a rapid state of calm (and even drowsiness). There are different herbs for different occasions. I’ve found that a combination often works wonders.
Immediate non-herbal techniques that help induce calm
Even though this article will address herbs and supplements, it is important to know that there are immediate things that we can do to help induce a state of calm, whilst decreasing the fight or flight hormones. These things include deep belly breathing; thinking of soothing things; visualising relaxing scenes; gentle movement; taking a brisk walk; connecting with friends who care; spending time in nature; exercise; meditation; yoga and tai chi. Be sure to find something that helps you find calmness and use it in conjunction with herbs.
Seven Healing Herbs For Anxiety & Stress
Ashwagandha is one of the most supportive and gentle herb remedies for the nerves. It is an adaptogenic herb, meaning that it helps our body to find balance during mental, emotional and physical stress.
Ashwagandha is known to help alleviate depression as well as anxiety. Typically from India, this herb has recently become one of my all-time favourites. It acts as a core support to the entire nervous system helping with sleep, relaxation, nerve and body pain, stress, and mood. It’s a gentle, yet strong, nourishing tonic that acts as a foundational support to the entire nervous system. For best results, it should be used consistently.
During my challenging time, several years back I took it in the form of a tincture, to allow rapid infusion into my system. It’s also available in capsule, whole root or powdered root form.
One of the benefits of ashwagandha is that there are no or minimal unwanted side effects when taking it, unlike anti-anxiety medications.
Ashwaganda study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573577/
“Ashwagandha Root & Powder”
Many people find rhodiola to be an excellent anti-anxiety herb. It is also good for depression. One of the wonderful things about this herb is that like ashwagandha, it does not make you feel drowsy. It is an adaptogenic herb helping our system find equilibrium during whatever life should throw at us.
Rhodiola reduces the fight or flight hormone cortisol in the body, whilst stimulating dopamine and serotonin (the feel-good hormones). The dosage of rhodiola is important… because it can also induce stamina and help with energy levels (which may or may not be desired), so be sure to follow recommended instructions and don’t over-do. Powerful in the correct amount.
During my challenging times I tended to use rhodiola first thing in the mornings as a tincture in conjunction with ashwagandha (a fabulous, complimentary combination).
This awesome herb became one of my favourite herbs during the height of my challenges. It is well known amongst Native American tribes as a woman’s herb, although it is beneficial for us all. It can normalise the nervous system and help induce a state of peace and calm. Skullcap helps to balance our thoughts to help us create the inner-space so that we stop reacting to triggers and find more helpful ways to deal with challenging situations.
This is a gentle herb that has sedative properties (mild or strong depending on how much we take). It can help us sleep, rest and unwind and is especially beneficial if taken in the evening before bed.
I’ve read that (unlike pharmaceutical drugs) skullcap can help restore optimal function of the nerve cells – making it especially beneficial if your nerves are all over the place.
I sometimes enjoyed a little amount of this herb in the evenings if I needed a extra help to find peace and calm. I took just enough (half a teaspoon of the dried herb) to allow gentle relaxation rather full on sleep-induction. I made it up as a tea infusion, blending it with passionflower and lemon balm for complementary effects.
Kava Kava works by stimulating dopamine receptors and gently inducing euphoria. It’s somewhat like benefiting from that relaxed feeling you get with a glass of wine, yet staying alert at the same time (and with none of the side-effects of alcohol). Kava is typically used to deal with anxiety, improve mood, help with sleep and increase confidence in social situations.
Various studies show clear anti-anxiety benefits in many people who take kava kava. A study by the University of Melbourne for example showed a significant reduction in anxiety by participants who took kava compared to those who took a placebo.
Kava can be taken in the form of tea (ground kava or tea bags), tincture or capsules. Personally speaking, I’ve found kava to be very helpful to me over the years, during normal, stressful, human situations (like taking an exam, entering unknown situations, being confonted by angry/emotional people etc). It’s can be wonderful at helping find a place of peace when having to confront, unavoidable challenging situations, where you know you’ll potentially be in a state of fight or flight.
Valarian works well for most people if you need to seriously quieten the central nervous system and gently sedate yourself. It will induce a deep and restful sleep for 95% of people (5% of people, for some reason, will however, experience the opposite effect). Valarian was the plant which inspired the synthetic valium drug; although taking the whole plant allows for a natural ‘whole-plant’ experience without the side effects and dependency that you might find from valium.
I personally benefited from this in tea form, during the height of a challenging chapter of my life. It helped me to finally find a place of peace and calm in the evenings so that I could rest and rejuvenate and eventually begin the process of inner-healing. I made it up as a tea with other supportive herbs like liquorice, fennel and lemon balm.
Holy Basil (Tulsi)
Traditionally grown in Asia and sub-tropical regions, holy basil is an adaptogenic herb used for lowering stress levels. It helps to bring cortisol levels back down to neutral so that the body is better able to function and deal with whatever challenges are coming up.
An article in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine mentions the following (which I found quoted here ):
“Tulsi has been found to protect organs and tissues against chemical stress from industrial pollutants and heavy metals, and physical stress from prolonged physical exertion, ischemia, physical restraint and exposure to cold and excessive noise. Tulsi has also been shown to counter metabolic stress through normalization of blood glucose, blood pressure and lipid levels, and psychological stress through positive effects on memory and cognitive function and through its anxiolytic and anti-depressant properties.”
I started enjoying a cup of tulsi tea regularly and find it wonderful as a gentle, preventative tonic.
More research on holy basil here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4296439/
Theanine (of which L-theanine is a part of) is a compound found in green tea, matcha tea and black tea. It has been shown to relieve anxiety and help your body to function better.
L-thenanine is thought to boost GABA levels in your brain (GABA is an important neurotransmitter that helps send messages between the brain and the nervous system). This will help to reduce anxiety for many people.
Studies have shown an increase in alpha waves (alpha waves help with calm) in the brain with people who take L-theanine. This appears to induce calm, yet without causing drowsiness.
You can take L-theanine as a supplement, although I’ve often read that it is perhaps best to take it in the form of tea instead. In that way, you will be benefitting from a whole plant in ways that science can’t interfere with, rather than a synthesised form of L-theanine.
Other helpful herbs for anxiety…
There are also lots of other complementary herbs out there that help us find greater peace and calm during anxiety. Lavender, chamomile, lemon balm and passiflora are all excellent calming herbs that work well in herbal tea combinations.
I’ve shared a few ideas above. As with most herbs, something that works for one of us might not have the same effect on all of us. Explore and discover for yourself. If there is something you resonate with I do hope that you benefit from these.


Knitting is the method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile or fabric. Knitting creates multiple loops of yarn, called stitches, in a line or tube. Knitting has multiple active stitches on the needle at one time. Knitted fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of interlocking loops. As each row progresses, a newly created loop is pulled through one or more loops from the prior row, placed on the gaining needle, and the loops from the prior row are then pulled off the other needle. Knitting may be done by hand or by using a machine.
Different types of yarns (fiber type, texture, and twist), needle sizes, and stitch types may be used to achieve knitted fabrics with diverse properties (color, texture, weight, heat retention, water resistance, and/or integrity).
Fabrics need to be knit right to make them look good and feel perfect. This is why our knitting division is equipped with imported knitting machines. Mayer & Cie machines with Lycra attachments are used for circular knitting and Matsuya machines from Japan are used for Collar knitting to produce export quality products. Our Knitting machines enable a variety of designs that help us handle diverse orders in Knitting. Jersey, Rib, Interlock and auto stripes are facilitated with Spanish machines. Taiwanese machines are used for Rib, and wheel Jacquard with Lycra. Japanese collar knitting machines to Knit all types of flat knit collars and machines from Singapore for Jersey with 3 thread conversion complete the Knitting.
There are numerous types of knitting machines, ranging from simple spool or board templates with no moving parts to highly complex mechanisms controlled by electronics. All, however, produce various types of knitted fabrics, usually either flat or tubular, and of varying degrees of complexity. Pattern stitches can be selected by hand manipulation of the needles, or with push-buttons and dials, mechanical punch cards, or electronic pattern reading devices and computers.
To produce larger and more complex knitted items such as garments, domestic and industrial machines with either flat or circular beds, producing rectangular or tubular fabrics, respectively, are needed. Double bed machines have two flat beds facing each other, in order to produce purl and plain rib fabrics plus a variety of multi patterns. Ribbing attachments can be added to single bed machines to achieve a similar result.
Knitting machines imported from several leading manufacturers all over the world help us in the meet the requirements of customers and at the same time provide excellent quality fabric .
We are capable of producing 1000 kilograms of fabric per day.
Our knit fabrics include:
- 100% cotton - Single Jersey, Interlock, Rib, Fleece, Pique, Ottoman, Waffle, Popcorn, Yarn Dyed Auto Stripes, Feeder Stripes, Jacquard, etc.
- Blended fabrics – Viscose, Modal, Polyester, Bamboo, Lycra, etc.


The cold weather blanketing much of the United States in this first week of February is causing many incidents of fire as people try to keep warm. For instance, in suburban New York, five firefighters were hospitalized with smoke inhalation after battling a basement house fire. One of those firefighters was in critical but stable condition and undergoing hyperbaric chamber treatment before going into the intensive care unit.
A local fire marshal said the blaze was not suspicious; the fire broke out around lunchtime and took about an hour to get under control. The firefighters were injured while in the basement, where there was a sudden eruption of flames, said one police detective. A fire chief added that “the fire at one point flared up on them,” probably from a rush of oxygen that came into the basement from a door or an area of wall being opened to the outside. See a video of the fire here.
The lesson here: If you have a fire in your home, it is best to simply close the door to the room where the fire is burning and immediately go outside your home to call the fire department — do not try to put out the fire yourself! In fact, closing a door or window as you leave will actually help to starve the fire of the fuel it needs to burn — oxygen.
A second recent fire holds another lesson for all of us. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a warehouse of costumes that were to be worn during the upcoming Carnival holiday went up in flames. The most notable aspect of this fire, though, was how quickly the warehouse burned. The reason: Costume clothing is generally much more flammable than everyday clothing. Parents should keep this fact in mind, because just one moment of carelessness around the house–such as laying down a child’s costume near a source of heat, or holding a birthday candle too close to a child wearing a costume — can cause third-degree burns to someone wearing or holding a costume.
Happily, I end today’s blog with good news for burn victims. Dr. Jorg Gerlach of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh has developed a technique whereby a spray gun can “shoot” a patient’s own stem cells onto burn-damaged skin to treat and heal burns more quickly. So a second-degree burn — a burn that penetrates the entire outer layer of the skin into the inner skin layer — can disappear within days. The spray nozzle, using a patient’s own cells, helps to cover the wounded area just like a paint gun would cover a wall. “The most critical cells are present, and we are using those cells right away from the patient. We just need to take care that we are distributing the cells nicely over the wound.”
Normally, sheets of skin are grown over the course of a month, and patients sometimes die of infection during the wait. In contrast, the new approach takes just 90 minutes and burns can heal in as little as four days, Gerlach said. The skin gun was featured on the National Geographic Channel this week. See the video here Or read more about the process here.


Acacia leucophloea Willd.
A kawa (Vietnam); A bu (Vietnam); Phayamai (Thailand); Chalaep daeng (Thailand); Ta noung (Myanmar); Pilang (Indonesia); Forest siris (Australia)
Delapontea microphylla Gagnep; Delapontea ferox Gagnep; Acacia melanochaetes Zoll
It is a medium-sized to fairly large deciduous tree up to 35 m tall. The bole is up to 100 cm in diameter.
Acacia leucophloea is found in savanna or scrub vegetation, dry forests and teak forests, on well drained soils, between 50 to 750 m of altitude.
Wood diffuse porous. Tangential diameter of vessel lumina 200 micras or more (large). Colored deposits in heartwood vessels. Vestured pits. Vessels per mm2 less than 6 (rare). Simple perforation plates. Vessel-ray pits similar to intervessel pits in size and sh Axial parenchyma in marginal or in seemingly marginal bands. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse and/or diffuse in aggregates. Axial parenchyma aliform. Axial parenchyma confluent. Prismatic crystals in chambered axial parenchyma cells and/or in fibers. 4 to 10 rays per mm (medium). Larger rays more than 4 seriate. Homogeneous rays and/or sub-homogeneous rays (all ray cells procumbent). Body ray cells procumbent with over 4 rows of upright and/or square marginal cells (Kribs-I). Fibers with simple to minutely bordered pits.
The heartwood is pale olive brown to pink darkening to reddish-brown or dark red with darker streaks, sharply differentiated from the pale yellowish sapwood.
The grain varies from straight to slightly interlocked.
The texture is fine to medium and even.
This species is moderate in luster.
It is durable when exposed to weather, but not in contact with ground. It is resistant to dry wood termites.
Growth stresses are reported in this species.
The heartwood is moderately resistant to preservative treatment.
Ease of Drying: The wood dries rapidly without much degrade. Boards of 15 mm thick take about 2.5 months to air dry. Drying Defects: It is prone to staining during seasoning. Kiln Schedules: The wood can be dried moderately fast, just like other durian timber, using schedule D (Malaysia), with only slight twisting. It is recommended to air dry sawn timber for at least 2 weeks before kiln drying.
Sawing of this wood is reported to be fair to difficult.
It is easy to machine.
The wood planes easily to a smooth, lustrous surface using cutting angles of 15 to 25 degrees.
Boring is reported to be easy.
It is easy to nail.
Wood of this species is easy to finish.
It is easy to polish.
It is easy to work with hand tools.
HOUSING GENERAL, flooring, FURNITURE AND CABINETS, TURNING, TOOLS, tool handles, agricultural tools


X-rays and CT scans are typically used to confirm suspicions and diagnosis of mesothelioma. Biopsies, tissue samples and even diagnostic surgery are also used to verify the condition, diagnosis and severity, spread, treatment and overall prognosis.
It is normally formal medical procedures, done in hospital and requires anesthesia. The diagnosis itself is done using accepted medical science and microscopic analysis of specialized stains.
Ingestion and inhalation are seen as the most common way that asbestos gets into the human internal system. Mucus of the trachea and bronchi end up being swallowed. Some of them lodge in the intestinal tract and from there they can move through the intestinal wall into deeper into the body. Fibers lodged in the lungs can be taken into the lymph system and spread throughout the body.
Asbestos is a cancer-causing element that become malignant or cancerous and can lead to discomfort and even death. We are however extremely uncertain about what exactly causes it, how and why it develops.
There is not a cure. The size and stage of the thickening, fluid, fibers, their extent, spread, type and if and how it responds to any treatment all influence the diagnosis and final outcome.
Combination therapies have become popular in response to dealing effectively with mesothelioma. It is referred to as multimodal therapy. These could include any, some or all of the following, chemotherapy and other drug-based therapies, radiation regimens, surgery, gene therapy, immunotherapy, and anti-angiogenesis drugs.
Treatment tries to counter the disease moving inward and spreading outward. It is comprehensive, in-depth and holistic in its approach. Treatments are mostly focused on reducing pain and alleviating discomfort. Improving overall health, lung function and quality of life is the focus. It cannot be cured. Debulking and X-ray therapies have also been used in experimental studies. The battle, studies and research is ongoing and continues.


The Thracians, best known for their mythical hero Orpheus, were the enigmatic culture of cattle herders, farmers, and warriors that inhabited the Balkan Peninsula for over 2,000 years.
Most of what we know about the Thracians today comes from the writings of their southern neighbors, the ancient Greeks.
The Thracians neatly fit the Greek stereotype of barbarians, and the Greek writers took a certain pleasure in describing the strange and uncivilized habits of the Thracians. Those included drinking undiluted wine, a propensity to celebrate almost anything, and an apparent love for gold jewelry and extravagant garments.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus called the Thracian race “the most numerous” after the Indians. It is true that the famous historian made similar claims about the Celts and the Scythians, but the Thracians nevertheless must have been significant in numbers. Some modern day historians put their numbers around one million.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE THRACIANS
The Thracians lived in highly centralized tribal states ruled by warrior aristocracy. The king was the owner of all the land and its plentiful metal and gold deposits. The king also had a total control over his subjects, mainly craftsmen and farmers.
With the exception of the relatively short-lived Odrysian Kingdom (5th – 3rd century BCE), the Thracians never achieved full political unity, despite shared culture, language, and religion.
(5th – 3rd century BCE)
King Teres founded the most successful political unification of Thracian tribes in the 5th century. It quickly grew in power and received significant tax revenue from the conquered Thracian and Hellenic cities.
The kingdom split in three just 100 years later, never to unite again. The three successor states were soon conquered by Philip of Macedon and later by his son, Alexander the Great.
A brief Odrysian revival followed after the death of Alexander. The Odrysian king Seuthes III (ca. 330 BCE) overthrew the Macedon hegemony and moved his court to the newly built capital city of Seuthopolis.
In the 1940s, work on a new dam uncovered the ancient city, but the dam construction pressed on, leaving Seuthopolis at its bottom.
In 2004, archeologists discovered the supposed tomb of King Seuthes III near the city of Kazanlak. The tomb was still intact.
THRACIANS AT WAR
The Thracians were first mentioned in Book II of Homer’s Iliad.
They fought on the losing side (that of Troy), but both sides admired The Thracians’ brave soldiers and horses.
The Thracians’ military reputation only grew from there. Their infamous battle cries and heavy cavalry spread fear among the enemy. It is no coincidence that later Thrace became a major recruiting ground for the Roman army.
THRACIAN BURIAL MOUNDS
Thracian aristocracy buried their dead in lavish tombs with the deceased’s personal belongings, horse, cutlery, and riches that were to serve after death.
Hundreds of burial mounds can still be seen scattered around the Bulgarian landscape. Most have been plundered long ago, but many remain to be excavated and studied.


Ma Rainey Symbolism, Imagery, & Allegory
There’s more to a poem than meets the eye.
The lucky listeners of the audience get a taste of the blues when Ma starts signing somewhere around the end of section 2. But the blues are more than just music here: they're solace, connection, a...
Okay, okay. We know she's a person. And how can a person be a symbol? Well it's pretty clear here that the speaker and the people in Ma Rainey's audience aren't all that interested in who this woma...
Sure, they're average Joes. But no less symbolic for it. From the details we get from the speaker, we can see that these Ma Rainey fans are symbolic of the black southern community as a whole.Secti...
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Noodle's College Search


When you first begin your family genealogy you might find it extremely helpful along the way if you first do a quick research for the origin of your surname. In your search you will be starting with yourself and working backwards and in doing so you will gain surnames for each generation as you go back, so having a little knowledge of surname origins can and will be a big help in your research.
Your last name is commonly referred to as your SURNAME. Your first name is referenced as your GIVEN name, and of course you have your MIDDLE name. You will gain a surname for your mother’s maiden name, your grandmother’s maiden name and so on. A quick research of the origin of that name can tell you where you evolved from in a sense.
Family tree research is one giant step backwards and one giant step forward—usually at the same time.
My maiden name is PIERCE. Pierce is an English surname from the established name Peter, which in medieval England was found as PIERS. Peter come from the Greek word “PETRO” which means “rock”. PIERS is the French version brought by the Normans in 1066 at the time of the Conquest.
From this bit of information I know that the name originated in England. Are all PIERCE’s English. NO! But it is a good assumption, and as to how far back one might have to go to get there is unknown to me at this point. I merely had to go back to the 1600’s to find my George PIERCE that was born in England. I haven’t gone farther back than that to find if they had been somewhere else first. Family says there was some Irish in there somewhere.
There are as many as 16 versions of the PIERCE name,
PIERCE PEARCE PIERS PEERS PERES PERSE PEERZ
just to name a few. Being able to recognize the variances you will more likely be able to spot a record that you might bypass otherwise, as in many census and military records you will find have variations in spellings. There are several reasons for this.
- your ancestor may not have been able to read or write.
- the census taker spelled it to their interpretation.
- the transcriber may not have been able to make out the name and took a wild guess.
- generations back people weren’t as particular about a spelling as we are today. (probably because of the reasons mentioned above.)
- Immigrants often times changed the spelling or shortened their names in order to become more “American”.
- Many times immigrants did not know the English version and the immigration officer would record it incorrectly.
- It could be that the person giving the information didn’t know the correct spelling.
- Many of the records are sent over seas to India and such to be transcribed and it could just be a failure on their part to get it correct.
We are human. We make mistakes.
“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” —Mark Twain
Only four generations back in the PIERCE family tree we find that one half of the family changed their name to the spelling PEIRCE. We believe because the father, MOSES had two families and the second family wanted to associate separately from the first, but that is just and assumption.
While searching for my fourth great grandfather, Adam SHAVER I found several instances where variant spellings came to play. SHAFFER and SHAVEN just to name a couple. So in searching records don’t overlook the possibility of finding lots of differences.
Surnames became necessary in the 13th century when governments introduced personal taxation. They originated to help identify people. Centuries ago when the world was less populated people would be referred to has John, or Fredrick. Everyone knew their neighbors and friends, and where they lived, what their occupations were, etc., people did not so readily move, and families lived in close proximity to each other. Therefore, for example, if John had a son down the lane, he might be referred to as Johnson. This would be considered a patronymic name. In most regions and time periods, surnames were assumed based on descent from your male ancestor (generally the father). A matronymic surname would be that deriving from the mother. Use of the mother’s surname is usually due to some circumstance such as illegitimacy, inheritance etc., though in some regions culture dictated the use of the mother’s surname. Or perhaps, Joe made pottery. He could have earned the name Joe Potter. They call this an occupational name. I have lot’s of Miller’s in my family. A Miller was someone who ground grain, this is Mueller in German, therefore we also have Mueller’s in the family. Get the picture?
- “Genealogy: An account of one’s descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own.” —Ambrose Bierce
In many countries, the use of hereditary surnames began with the nobility who often called themselves after their ancestral seats. It wasn’t until the 1500s that surnames became widely inherited and no longer referred to a person’s appearance, job, or place of residence. Perhaps the caveman method would have made it easier for us as genealogist had we had something to go by. When searching for William Robert GREEN, it would sure be nice to have an occupation or dwelling to go off of if you have no other information. Believe me, I KNOW!
In conclusion, I highly recommend with each new surname you start with a little research. A few moments to do a little study on the name and it’s origin and the different derivatives of the names and variations of spelling could save you a lot of time and headache down the road as you search. You will come across records that will make you shake your head in wonder. A little more research and you might just also learn a good little bit about that special ancestor before you even start your search. Knowing the origin of your name puts you just a little bit closer to who you are and where you came from and what has gone before you.
It’s a feeling only another family historian could explain.


Materials: no material needed;
- Different parts of a body are associated with specific terms: river watershed = the whole body, spring = head, river = belly, sea = knee;
- The children should listen to the words of the teacher and touch their body that is related to the word. The teacher, in the meantime, does something different with his hands, but the children should only listen to his/her words.
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