Split (1)

train · 43.5k rows

text stringlengths 240 525k
A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is an ischemic stroke in which the blood flow is restored quickly and the symptoms disappear within 24 hours. In other words, it's a mini-stroke that you recover from quickly. For most patients with a TIA, the symptoms last less than one hour. The longer the symptoms last, the more likely that there will be permanent brain tissue injury. TIAs affect 1 in 15 persons over age 65 years, but often go undiagnosed if the symptoms are not recognized. Approximately 15% of strokes are preceded by a warning TIA. Therefore, recognition of TIA symptoms is important because preventative treatment may help to reduce the chance of an impending stroke. The risk of stroke is highest within the first 3 months following a TIA, especially within the first few days. Within the first month, the average risk of stroke after a TIA ranges from 1 in 20 to 1 in 10. TIAs and strokes generally occur in people with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) or coronary artery disease. In fact, people who have suffered TIAs are even more likely to die of heart attack than of stroke. A TIA is caused by the same factors that cause ischemic stroke. Ischemia is the medical term for a reduction of blood and oxygen to the cells. Ischemic stroke occurs when the arteries feeding the brain become blocked. This may result from narrowing (stenosis) of the arteries, which disturbs blood flow, creating areas of turbulence that can lead to blood clot (thrombus) formation. Such a clot may occur in a brain-feeding artery, or it may occur elsewhere in the body, travel up to the brain, and lodge in a narrowed section of a brain artery. A free-floating particle in the blood is called an embolus, and a free-drifting clot is called a thromboembolism. Local and travelling blood clots are the leading causes of stroke and TIA. The most common sources of brain emboli that cause stroke are the carotid arteries in the neck and the heart. The risk factors for TIA are exactly the same as those for stroke: There are other risk factors that aren't preventable: The symptoms of a TIA vary depending on which arteries are obstructed. The most common location of blockage is in the carotid artery system. The two carotid arteries supply blood to the two sides of the brain. If one of them is blocked, there may be symptoms in the eye on the side of the blocked arteries, or symptoms affecting the opposite side of the body. A blockage in the left carotid artery, for example, could cause temporary blindness in the left eye or paralysis of the right side of the face and the right arm and leg, or a loss of speech (inability to speak normally or understand speech). Instead of complete blindness, many people suffer blurring or dimming of vision like a shade or veil slowly descending across their field of vision (the medical term for this is amaurosis fugax). Another common location of blockages is the vertebrobasilar system. These strokes and TIAs can sometimes cause symptoms on both sides of the body or in both eyes. The balance control centre of the brain may be affected, causing symptoms of vertigo, dizziness, imbalance, and poor coordination, as well as double vision and slurred speech. TIAs may come alone or in a series. Some people get several in a year, and a few get them daily. The more TIAs you get, the more likely you are to suffer a full-scale stroke. The symptoms of TIA are identical to the symptoms of stroke, for the very good reason that a TIA is a stroke. When it happens, there's no way of knowing if the blockage will dissolve quickly (meaning a TIA) or stay in place long enough to cause cell death (meaning a stroke). According to statistics, it's far more likely to be a real stroke. Rush to the hospital (not the doctor's office) immediately - every minute of delay is risky. Even if you are having a TIA, you need immediate treatment, for a large stroke may follow within hours. Never attempt to drive yourself, because there's a major risk of sudden blindness, paralysis, or blackout. Did you find what you were looking for on our website? Please let us know.
MC: Why were so many British soldiers attracted to the prospect of adventures in Latin America? MB: The first thing to remember is that only about a third of the adventurers had actually been soldiers or sailors before they travelled to Colombia. The vast majority were artisans, labourers, aristocrats – a real cross-section of society, seduced by dreams of the gold and land and freedom that they expected to find in South America. Of those who did have some military experience (around 2,000 of the 7,000 foreign adventurers in total) there were a lot of Irish Catholics who thought they had a better chance of promotion in the Colombian service than in the British Army, and lots who saw that military opportunities had dried up at home after the demobilisation that came after the end of the Napoleonic Wars from 1815. It is a combination of push factors and pull factors, giving people a reason to leave Britain and Ireland, as well as giving them a reason to go to South America. MC: What sort of background were these soldiers from? MB: 319 adventurers recorded their previous profession, trade or occupation in a document preserved in the Archivo Histórico de Guayas in Guayaquil, Ecuador. 148 described themselves as labourers. The next most popular occupation was ‘Weaver’ (twenty-six). In descending order, eleven volunteers said that they were shoemakers, and another eleven were tailors. Seven were bakers, seven were mariners and six were musicians. There were five carpenters, and four each of book-binders, breeches-makers, and painters. There were three respondents each for bricklayer, butcher, hatter, miner, servant and watch-maker. There were two respondents each for accountant, chandler, clerk, cloth-cutter, cordwainer, craftsman, farrier, gardener, glass blower/stainer, glazier, hairdresser, potter, printer, silk-maker and water-man. There was one apothecary, a basket-maker, a blacksmith, a boat-maker, a cabinet-maker, a cooper, a cotton spinner, a courier, a draper, a founder, a gunsmith, a ham-beater, a horseman, a lawyer, a lightman, a machinist, a mason, a merchant, a miller, a papermaker, a poulterer, a roller, a rope-maker, a saddler, a sawyer, a shearer, a slater, a soapmaker, a stocking-maker, a stone-cutter, a tanner, a tin-man, a varnish-maker, a wood-cutter, a wood Merchant and a woollen draper. All this material is included in my online database of the soldiers. Some of the officers, of course, came from rather grander backgrounds. There were a couple of lords in there, the sons of aristocratic families. Many of the officers, however, exagerated their social standing back home in order to gain a higher rank in the Colombian army – this was a source of much tension, conflict and amusement once the campaigns got going. It also meant that there were quite a few high-ranking officers who didn’t have the faintest idea how to command soldiers or win battles. MC: How were relations between Britain and Spain at the time? MB: Britain was neutral in the conflict between Spain and its American colonies. This was because it had needed the Spanish alliance against Napoleon’s France but also because it didn’t want to support the idea of other powers piling into colonial conflicts on the side of rebels – this had happened in the United States’ War of Independence in the late eighteenth century, and Britain had enough of its own problems in the rest of its empire without worrying if any rebels would get support from Spain, France, Prussia or Russia, for example. So Britain had a public policy of neutrality. Nevertheless, lots of the British public were in favour of Spanish American independence because it chimed with their ideas about liberty, freedom, down with tyranny, and so on. Also, many British merchants and their friends in parliament and government were keen to have access to these new markets in Spanish America, which had hitherto been very difficult to get into because of the trade barriers erected by the Spanish colonial regime. The enlistment of adventurers, in London, to fight in Colombia, kicked a great hole in the middle of this delicate balancing act. Spanish officials in London were incandescent that ships moored on the River Thames could be so bare-faced about recruiting men. That’s why the ‘Foreign Enlistment Act’ was brought in in 1819, and after that the recruitment of adventurers did rather dry up. The British policy of neutrality survived, independence was eventually achieved, and the merchants did indeed get access to the new markets. So, everyone won (except for the Spanish, who had lost all their American colonies by 1826, apart from Cuba and Puerto Rico). MC: What were the differences in armoury between the British and the Royalist fighters? MB: That is a good question. Military historians have rooted round in archives trying to answer this question, and archaeologists have unearthed surviving weapons from the period. Broadly speaking the weapons being used on either side were quite similar. Bayonets, rifles and lances were the principal weapons. Obviously each new expedition, either from Britain or Spain, brought new weapons with it. Many of the British officers spent a lot of time teaching recruits how to use them, for example the rifles, but the vast majority of battles were fought using weapons like swords, daggers, knives and lances. The battle of Junín, in Peru in 1824, was famously silent, with no gunfire at all, given the topographical difficulties in dragging cannons up and down the Andean mountain ranges, and without getting the gunpowder wet. MC: Did the British soldiers respect the leadership of Bolivar and Sucre? MB: I think on the whole the answer here was yes, but not always. Bolívar had a certain charisma which appealed to his British soldiers, and they played a crucial part in transmitting his revolutionary image across the Atlantic. Sucre got on well with most of the British and Irish officers. Francisco Burdett O’Connor, an Irish adventurer, has a lovely anecdote in his memoirs, published in Spanish as Independencia americana, about he and Sucre tossing a coin in order to decide which should of them should be allowed to court a particular woman. Clearly there was a lot of mutual respect there. Of course not all leadership was respected: British and Irish soldiers deserted all the time (rates of 10% per year were not unknown) and the Irish Legions staged a famous rebellion at the Caribbean port of Riohacha in 1820. (I have an article on the Rebellion at Riohacha in 1820 and its consequences). They made a real mess of the town, caused a load of havoc and got themselves a really bad reputation. MC: And I was wondering if it was possible for you to give a couple of other reasons, non-military, how the British influenced the independence of the nations which temporarily became Colombia. MB: Crikey: that’s a big question. I suggest you read The Role of Great Britain in the Independence of Colombia, the volume edited by Malcolm Deas, published by the Colombian Embassy in London. All in all, you have the military assistance, the diplomatic neutrality, the arms sales, the public support and solidarity as well as the provision of a cultural and political model (as argued by the historian Karen Racine in her article ‘This England, This Now’: British Cultural Independence in the Spanish American Independence-Era’, Hispanic American Historical Review (2010). That’s quite a lot of British influence, but independence was still, clearly, primarily the work of Colombians, Venezuelans and Ecuadorians, who fought, wrote, died, thought, argued, saved and battled for their independence – with a little help from their friends. This paragraph is taken from my book, Matthew Brown, Adventuring through Spanish Colonies: Simón Bolívar, Foreign Mercenaries and the Birth of New Nations (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2006), 28.
When many of us think about losing weight, we think about what foods we shouldn’t eat -- high calorie, high fat, sugary foods that can quickly add inches to our waistlines. But learning what foods to eat is just as important. Let’s look at the foods we should be eating when we want to lose weight. Eating a variety of foods from different food groups will help you get all the nutrients your body needs. “You know, there are some foods that are super foods, very nutrient rich and ideal foods. And then there are foods that are really just about calories, and are kind of empty calories. “ The best choices are foods low in calories but high in nutrients -- the ingredients our body needs to stay healthy. A good place to start is to eat more fruits and vegetables. Most people don’t eat as much of these as they should. Eat more lean protein foods, such as fish, chicken, turkey, low fat dairy products, and beans. Choose more whole grain products. These unrefined foods give your body needed nutrients and fiber. Eat less sugar, white flour, soda and sweets because these processed, or refined foods, tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients. Eating less fat can help you lose weight. Everyone needs some fat, but fats are high in calories. In fact, they have over twice the calories than foods without fat. Choose healthier fats found in olive oil, canola oil, nuts, and fish. One way to start eating healthier foods is to plan meals ahead of time. Try working in something new and healthy each week, and then make it part of your regular eating habits. Eat a variety of nutritious foods that are low in calories. Choose your meats and fats wisely, and add whole-grain foods when you can. Pretty soon you’ll be eating in a way that leads to permanent, weight loss success. Animation Copyright © Milner-Fenwick
Monday, Jan. 21 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For some, the national holiday honoring the prominent civil rights activist is a time to give back and serve the community, be it through removing graffiti or picking up litter in a local park. For others, it’s an opportunity to educate themselves about King and his life's work. And for others, it’s a time to just kick back and enjoy the prolonged weekend. Silicon Valley's American Red Cross is hosting a MLK Day Disaster Preparedness Doorhanger Challenge and Scavenger Hunt on Jan. 21 from 1-4:00 p.m. and meeting up at the Sonoma Chicken Coop in downtown Campbell. The Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department is holding a MLK Service Trail Day on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Santa Teresa County Park in San Jose. The Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department is also holding a MLK Trail Service Day - Lexington Reservoir on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos. So, tell us—What does Martin Luther King Jr. Day mean to you? What are you doing to commemorate King’s legacy? The Holiday's History Martin Luther King Jr. Day, now a U.S. holiday, took 15 years to create. Legislation was first proposed by Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan) four days after King was assassinated in 1968. The bill was stalled, but Conyers, along with Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-New York), pushed for the holiday every legislative session until it was finally passed in 1983, following civil rights marches in Washington. Then-president Ronald Reagan signed it into law. Yet it was not until 2000 that every U.S. state celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by its name. Before then, states like Utah referred to the holiday more broadly as Human Rights Day. Now, the Corporation for National and Community Service has declared it an official U.S. Day of Service. TELL US: What does MLK Day mean to you? Tell us in the comments. Don’t be left out of the conversation in Campbell—Get our daily newsletter delivered \| Post an event to our Calendar \| Like us on Facebook \| Follow us on Twitter \| Follow us on Instagram \| Start a blog
Wear good athletic shoes, such as shoes with cushioned soles (especially heels) and good arch support. Physical therapists, orthopedists, podiatrists, and sports medicine health professionals can advise Buy new shoes every few months, because padding wears out. Also buy new shoes if the tread or heels wear down. The expense is worth preventing ongoing (chronic) foot or ankle problems. in your training: Stretch your foot, ankle, and leg muscles before and after exercise. Avoid rapidly increasing the number of miles you run, running or training uphill, and running on hard surfaces, such Avoid excessive sprinting (short, rapid bursts of Avoid sudden changes in your training program. Gradually increase the amount of exercise you are doing until you reach your training How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
I was listening toEd Talk (01_14) recently and they (John, Jennifer, Dave, and Jeff) spoke about a new resource called Twiddeo, which is just Twitter with video. It was an interesting discussion about whether Twiddeo should replace Twitter, but it got me thinking about educational learning uses of this new resource. So I decided to try it out. And the result....so easy! And fun! You can post videos from your computer, but you can also post immediately from your cell phone to your personal account. This allows for many "out-of-school" learning assignments with cell phones and video. And since I was playing with Twiddeo, I though I better get more involved with Twitter so I put up my twitter information and have vowed to Tweet from time to time! The first idea that came to my head was conducting an "I search" video paper. I know when I taught high school writing "I search" papers was very popular. Why not take it to a new level and have students conduct an "I search" Twiddeo, where they would document their "search" or research on a topic. This could be done for a language arts, social studies, or science class. In language arts the students could search for local authors and the places that inspired their work. In social studies, students could search for local history projects (such as local landmarks that played a role in the Civil War). Another example would be in a physical science class, students could do a video "I search" on citizens who are going "green" and how they are helping to prevent global warming. The great thing about using Twiddeo for conducting research or "I search" is that the focus becomes the process and not the product. The focus is how to conduct the research and students learn to use their cell phone as a way to collect data and document research. Of course students would need to get verbal permissions to post any person in their video. Another project idea that came to mind was that since Twiddeo is social networking where you can view multiple videos and responses on your feed, students in foreign language classrooms could have video exchanges with students in other countries very easily. Each student could document different aspects of their culture (such as clothing, holidays...etc) and compare them instantly on Twiddeo. Since Twiddeo is more personal (as mentioned in the Ed Talk podcast), this would allow people in difficult cultures to make more personal connections. Disclaimers and Other Information about this blog. The information on the blog may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up to date. The opinions expressed on the blog are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of anyone or any institution associated with the author. Links to external sources in the blog posts are provided solely as a courtesy to our blog visitors. All of the links on the sidebar under "recommended links" are links that the author believes to possibly have benefit in K-12 teaching and learning. All other sidebar links are related to cell phones and/or education but not necessary recommended as a K-12 learning resource by the author, some may be sponsor links and/or paid for image/banner ads. The author does not do paid reviews for her blog posts about web resources.Please contact Liz at [email protected] for any inquires regarding this blog. Cell Phones in Learning by Liz Kolb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at cellphoneseinlearning.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://cellphonesinlearning.com.
Bioluminescence is a special form of chemiluminescence found in living organisms. This class of chemiluminescence is an enzyme-catalyzed process, where the high efficiency of photon emission is derived through natural evolution. The enzymes are called luciferases, and the photon-emitting substrates are luciferins. Bioluminescent chemistries have evolved from multiple independent origins and comprise many distinct molecular structures. Of the many natural forms, two have been used widely for genetic reporter assays: firefly luciferase and Renilla luciferase(1) Genetic reporters are used widely as indicators to study gene expression and cellular events coupled to gene expression for pharmaceutical and biomedical research and in molecular biology and biochemistry. Typically, a reporter gene is cloned with a DNA sequence of interest into an expression vector that is then transferred into cells. Following transfer, the cells are assayed for the presence of the reporter by directly measuring the reporter protein itself or the enzymatic activity of the reporter protein. A good reporter gene can be identified easily and measured quantitatively when it is expressed in the organism or cells of interest. Although a number of reporter technologies have been developed for use in the laboratory, the luciferase reporter assays give the researcher unparalleled sensitivity, dynamic range, versatility and ease of use. In this article, we focus on two luciferase reporters, firefly and Renilla, the development of recombinant proteins and their use in dual-reporter assays, since much of the luciferase reporter gene technology was developed by Promega. We discuss factors in choosing a reporter vector, the advantages of bioluminescence and other uses of luciferase reporters. The Bioluminescence Advantage Bioluminescent reporter gene assays have a distinct advantage over fluorescent assays, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), in that they can deliver 10- to 1,000-fold higher assay sensitivity. This greatly increased sensitivity can substantially improve assay performance when applied to complex biological samples(2) . The reason for this becomes clear when examining the mechanisms of light production by fluorescence and luminescence. Both processes yield photons as a consequence of energy transitions from excited-state molecular orbitals to lower-energy orbitals. However, they differ in how the excited-state orbitals are created. In luminescence, the excited states are the product of exothermic chemical reactions, whereas in fluorescence the excited states are created by absorption of light. In reporter assays, bioluminescence has the advantage because photons are not required to create the excited states. Therefore, they do not constitute an inherent background when measuring photon efflux from a sample. The resulting low background permits precise measurement of small changes in light across four to eight orders of magnitude in the linear range of the assay. The luciferase reporter technology is based on the interaction of the enzyme luciferase with a luminescent substrate luciferin, which releases light by the process of bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is found in a number of different organisms; however, it is firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase that is by far the most commonly used bioluminescent reporter due to both the sensitivity and convenience of the enzyme assay and to the tight coupling of protein synthesis with enzyme activity. This monomeric enzyme of 61kDa catalyzes a two-step oxidation reaction to yield light, usually in the green to yellow region, typically 550–570nm (Figure 1). Upon mixing with substrates, firefly luciferase produces an initial burst of light that decays over about 15 seconds to a low level of sustained luminescence. The gene encoding firefly luciferase (luc) is a cDNA and does not require any post-translational modifications. This means it is available as a mature enzyme directly upon translation from its mRNA, an important consideration when using a reporter gene outside its native environment. The other commonly used luciferase is Renilla luciferase from Renilla reniformis, a coelenterate that creates bright green flashes upon tactile stimulation. Renilla luciferase is a 36kDa monomeric enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of coelenterazine to yield coelenteramide and blue light of 480nm (Figure 1). Like firefly luciferase, the reporter gene for Renilla is a cDNA called Rluc that needs no post-translational modifications. By coupling the operative regulatory elements to expression of a luciferase gene, typically by placing the regulatory element just upstream of a gene encoding luciferase, the cellular event can be detected readily by a luminescent signal. Thus, a cellular process or signal is available for study without directly assaying the cellular gene product. Typically, reporter genes are downstream of cloned response elements. When transfected into a cell, stronger promoters direct more luc mRNA synthesis and consequently, more protein is produced. The light intensity produced in the presence of luciferin allows the researcher to determine how strong a promoter is in the experimental system or how the promoter responds to a chemical treatment. View an animated introduction to reporter assays. Figure 1. Firefly and Renilla luciferase reactions with their respective substrates, beetle luciferin and coelenterazine, to yield light. Native luciferases, such as firefly and Renilla, are not necessarily optimal as genetic reporters. We have enhanced the native proteins by improving their expression in mammalian systems, reducing the risk of anomalous expression, and in some cases, destabilizing them. To enhance mammalian expression, we have optimized codon usage for translation of the firefly and Renilla luciferase proteins. Additionally, inappropriate or unintended transcription regulatory sequences that may be used in mammalian cells have been minimized. The resulting recombinant luciferase reporters show much higher specific expression in mammalian systems. The speed by which a genetic reporter can respond to changes in the transcriptional rate is correlated to the stability of the reporter within cells. Highly stable reporters accumulate to greater levels in cells, but their concentrations change slowly with changes in transcription. Conversely, lower stability yields less accumulation but a much faster rate of response. To provide reporters designed to meet different experimental needs, families of luciferase genes have been developed yielding different intracellular stabilities. Promega has developed destabilized luciferase reporters by genetically fusing a protein degradation sequence to the luciferase genes(3) . Due to their increased rate of degradation, these destabilized reporters respond faster and often display a greater magnitude of response to rapid transcriptional events. See our Rapid Response™ Reporters (Renilla and Firefly) for examples of these destabilized reporter vectors. Dual-Reporter Gene Assays Traditional reporter gene assays use a single reporter to monitor the transcriptional activity under investigation. A limitation of a single reporter assay is that under some experimental conditions, changes in luminescence can be because of factors other than the transcriptional control that is being studied. For example, when performing transient reporter expression, experimental discrepancies can occur due to well-to-well variability in transfection efficiency. Another issue arises when the experimental treatment reduces cell viability, resulting in nontranscriptional reduction in the luciferase signal. The term “dual reporter” refers to the simultaneous expression and measurement of two individual reporter enzymes within a single system. Typically, the experimental reporter is correlated with the effect of specific experimental conditions, while the activity of the cotransfected control reporter provides an internal control that serves as the baseline response. Normalizing the activity of the experimental reporter to the activity of the internal control minimizes experimental variability caused by differences in cell viability or transfection efficiency. Other sources of variability, such as differences in pipetting volumes, cell lysis efficiency and assay efficiency, can be eliminated effectively as well. Thus, dual-reporter assays often allow more reliable interpretation of the experimental data. Firefly and Renilla luciferases, because of their distinct evolutionary origins, have dissimilar enzyme structures and substrate requirements. These differences make it possible to selectively discriminate between their respective bioluminescent reactions in a single tube without splitting the lysate. Dual-reporter assays generally consist of: a firefly luciferase gene placed downstream from the response element of interest; a second reporter, Renilla luciferase, that is controlled by a housekeeping or viral promoter designed to be active under all conditions; and detection reagents that can sequentially measure luciferase activity. Two examples of such reagents that introduce the firefly substrate (luciferin), quench its signal and add the second substrate (coelentrazine) are the Dual-Luciferase® Reporter (DLR™) Assay and Dual-Glo® Assay (Figure 2). Cellular toxicity and variability in transfection efficiency can be controlled (normalized) by plotting the firefly induction as a ratio relative to the Renilla readout. Figure 2. Flow chart of the DLR™ protocol. Choosing a Reporter Vector The starting point for any reporter assay is selecting the appropriate reporter vector, which is critical for the overall performance of the reporter assay. An array of luciferase reporter vectors exist because different biological systems work better with different vectors. Selecting a vector is based on your experimental conditions. Are you studying a response element like CRE, an enhancer you have just discovered, a newly defined promoter or a signaling pathway? Will your study require stable or transient transfection? Will you be measuring an endpoint or continuously monitoring the signal? Will a single luciferase assay give enough information depth, or is a dual-reporter assay more appropriate? Do you want a more responsive gene to study rapid transcriptional events, or do you want to generate the strongest luminescent signal possible? Understanding what you want to study and how you want to measure the results will help determine which vectors are most useful to you. We provide a vast selection of firefly and Renilla luciferase vectors for all these reasons. In fact, the pGL4 Luciferase Reporter Vectors incorporate several advances in genetic reporter technology including codon optimization of the reporter gene to enhance expression in mammalian cells, inclusion of reporter genes that respond rapidly to transcriptional dynamics and incorporation of mammalian selection markers that facilitate stable cell line generation(4) . By selecting the right pGL4 Vector for your system and using any of our Luciferase Assay Systems, you can create an ultrasensitive assay that enables the accurate probing of the regulation and activity of a protein or a pathway inside the cell or in a cell lysate. Applications of Bioluminescent Reporters A common reporter gene setup will involve inserting a reporter gene downstream of a promoter/response element within a mammalian expression vector, which is then transfected into cultured cells. After treatment of the transfected cells, the effect of the biological stimulus can be measured by quantifying the amount of active luciferase that is expressed (Figure 3). Nevertheless, the broader aspect of gene expression entails much more than transcription alone, and reporter genes can be used to study these other cellular events(7) . Figure 4 illustrates many of the applications to which our simple add-mix-measure genetic reporter assays can be applied including: - Understanding promoter structure - Activating/binding of surface receptors (e.g., GPCRs) - Monitoring stem cell differentiation - Analyzing transcription factor structure - Observing viral infection - Activating nuclear receptors Figure 3. Reporter assays are simple to design and easy to run. Figure 4. Promega has developed reporter gene assays for many key applications including gene transcription and regulation, receptor function and intracellular signaling, protein folding and metabolism, pathogen interactions with host cells, and RNAi suppression of gene function.
Violent Tornado Causes Catastrophic Damage in Moore, Oklahoma Posted: 12:00 PM EDT on May 21, 2013 A massive and violent tornado at least a mile wide smashed through Moore, Oklahoma near 3 pm CDT Monday, causing catastrophic damage along a 22-mile long path. The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma has rated the tornado at least an EF-4 (166 - 200 mph winds), and detailed damage surveys may upgrade this rating to the top-end EF-5 level in the coming days. Damage was extreme and covered a huge area, and many buildings swept away down to their foundations. Read This Blog Entry Other Featured Blogs: Did you know that... Even though everything on Earth experiences the effects of Coriolis, it is still very hard to explain. Basically, the force is an effect of motion on a rotating body (such as Earth) and it is one factor that determines wind direction. On this date in 1792, Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis, the first to describe the Coriolis force, was born. More Weather Education Resources
Bycatch a problem for the sharks and rays in the Mediterranean and Black sea 19 February 2013 \| News story A new study has been recently published by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, Elasmobranchs of the Mediterranean and Black Sea: status, ecology and biology. The information compiled by the authors shows that cartilaginous species, including sharks, rays and chimaeras, are by far the most endangered group of marine fish in the Mediterranean Sea. This is in line with the results of the IUCN Red List (2007 regional assessment) that clearly remarks the vulnerability of elasmobranchs and the lack of data on these species. The report also makes recommendations to fill gaps in order to protect and manage elasmobranchs stocks and suggest conservation measures. In fact, better understanding of the composition of incidental and targeted catches of sharks by commercial fisheries and biological and ecological parameters are fundamentally important for the conservation of these species. In the Mediterranean, almost no elasmobranchs are directly targeted by fisheries, but they constitute part of the bycatch in most local artisanal fisheries. Catches of elasmobranchs primarily derive from two different fisheries: the pelagic artisanal fishery with longlines and gillnets and the demersal trawl fishery. The document compiled information through the study of 661 papers dealing on taxonomy, distribution, status, statistics, fisheries, bycatch, biologic and ecologic parameters on age and growth, food and feeding habits, reproductive biology and stock assessment of elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Friday, March 23, 2012 (Narrowsburg, NY - 12:15 PM) - Sullivan County Manager David Fanslau extends an open invitation to area elementary schools to come enjoy the annual “Blast from the Past” at Student Days at Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History. “We know that every year the highlight of the Student Days class trips through our living history museum is the firing of the authentic 2-lb. British naval cannon,” says Fanslau. “This cannon would have been used by the pre-Revolutionary War settlers to signal danger and call everyone to safety inside the stockade walls. When fired, it could be heard for miles up and down the Delaware River valley.” The cannon represents just one aspect of the lives and lifestyles of the first European settlers in the Upper Delaware River valley that is depicted by costumed interpreters at Fort Delaware Museum. Students’ understanding of local history can also get fired up by a working blacksmith, candle makers, fur trapper, spinners and weavers, colonial musicians and gardeners as well as three replica cabins depicting the different eras (1754-1784) in which the Delaware Company inhabited the Cushetunk Settlement along the New York and Pennsylvania river banks of the Delaware. Fort Delaware was originally built in 1957, under the leadership and direction of James W. Burbank, the first Sullivan County Historian. It has been owned and operated under the supervision of the Sullivan County Division of Public Works since 1970. “We’ve been working very hard for the last year, continuing the research begun by Burbank to upgrade the accuracy, authenticity and professionalism of our interpretation,” says Debra Conway, who took over last spring as Director of Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History. “So we are encouraging all teachers or anyone who hasn’t visited for awhile to come back for a fresh, new experience.” "I can think of no better way to learn about the early history of the area," Sullivan County Historian John Conway says of the Fort. "Fort Delaware provides a unique opportunity for students to witness firsthand how families lived in the mid-18th century and their contribution to America." “This was great for my students,’’ says Debi Levine, long-time teacher at Monticello’s Cooke School. “We had been studying local history all year. But it is one thing to read about things in a book and another to actually see people dressed the way the 18th century settlers would have been dressed, doing the things they would have actually done to survive. It’s better than a picture saying a thousand words.” Student Days this year will be held on May 22, 23, 24; May 30, 31; June 5, 6, 7; and June 12, 13, 14. Tours typically take about three hours. Amenities include modern rest rooms, a picnic pavilion, bus parking and a gift shop. For reservations or further information, call Kristin Porter, Director of Sullivan County Parks, Recreation and Beautification, at (845) 807-0261.
Creating a Web Cookbook - Grade Level: Upper Elementary - Subject Area: Math Students report briefly on their experiences shopping for and cooking dinner for their families. Students use HTML editing software to write their menus, including suggestions based on their own experiences cooking them, cultural and social context for the recipes, if known, and pictures or graphics if they choose. - Give a brief discussion of their experiences shopping and cooking for their families. - Compile their recipes into a Web-based cookbook of dinner menus. Materials and Resources In developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as a World Wide Web browser. In the section below, we specify any "special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity. - Special hardware requirements: Space on a server for storage of the recipes in "cookbook" format. - Special software requirements: An HTML editing application. - Internet access: A medium-speed or higher connection. - Have each student give a brief discussion of their reactions to grocery shopping and cooking dinner. - Have students use an HTML editing software application such as BBEdit or HTML Editor to format their menus, reactions to their experiences, and pictures, graphics, or cultural context if they so desire. Students can be as creative as they wish. Back to What's for Dinner? Unit Lesson Plans
Agriculture constitutes a key livelihood source for over 75 percent of the rural households in Zambia. A total of 1,305, 783 households in Zambia are totally dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and are classified as agricultural households (CSO, 2000). Most (81.8 percent) of the population in agricultural households is based in rural areas of the country. Of the 1,305,783 agricultural households, 99.2 percent is engaged in crop production as a major agricultural activity. At national level, the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaged over 18% in the past decade. The real growth rate in the sector has fluctuated significantly mainly due to heavy dependence on seasonal rain-fed crops, poor communication network and low farmer access to improved technologies that are resilient to some of the natural shocks such as drought, pests and diseases. Despite the evidence of the important contribution the sector makes to household food and nutrition security and the national economy, the sector faces a number of challenges to increased productivity. Other than the natural calamities and socio-economic factors such as access to agricultural inputs, credit facilities and markets, poor access to agricultural information remains a decisive challenge to increased agricultural productivity at household level. The prevailing low crop and livestock productivity among small-scale farmers could greatly be attributed to low farmer access to and utilization of agricultural technologies that are meant to enhance productivity. Utilization of such technologies has been poor among the illiterate farming community because such information is not available to such target groups in the right formats as some of the publications are either presented in a highly technical format which makes them too difficult to be understood by illiterate farmers. This situation is further worsened by the poor, inadequate and weak communication links between research, extension and farmers. All these factors consequently lead to low adoption of improved agricultural technologies among small-scale farmers. Therefore, in order to improve agricultural production and productivity, the farming community needs up to date and farmer driven agricultural information products that suits different target groups at farm level. To respond to these agricultural production constraints, the National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) and the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) in collaboration with the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), initiated two projects namely “Strengthening the Agricultural Information Flow and Dissemination System of the National Agricultural Information Services in Zambia” (SAIFDS) and the “Development of an Effective Information Flow Network for the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute” (INFORNET); which would address the information needs of the farming community. Key words: Impact of ICT in Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, Zambia. SAIFADIS and INFORNET are two sister projects in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives funded by IICD. National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) is a specialized information department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO). Its main role is that of supporting the extension service of the Ministry. National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) has the mandate to promote the adoption of proven agricultural technologies and provide information services to small scale farmers in order to enhance their productivity. Information is gathered from various sources, packaged and disseminated to farmers using radio, television and various publications. NAIS has the responsibility to gather this information from various information producers, package it, store and disseminate it to the end-users and obtain feedback from the farmers. The main activity of the Department is to disseminate proven agricultural technologies to the farming community and other stakeholders through the use of mass media. The department reaches out to the audiences through three (2) sections: 1) Broadcasting – Radio and Television (TV) programmes. 2) Publications and Press – News paper articles and features, booklets, magazines, pamphlets, etc. Through this Livelihoods project aimed at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in its information collection, processing, packaging, storing and dissemination system, NAIS has built capacity of selected project staff and other members of staff in usage of ICTs, established a LAN at HQ, create an ICT based link (internet/email) between HQ and the satellite station of Kasama, and built formal linkages with information sources and strategic stakeholders. The Project started in 2005, following the Siavonga roundtable meeting that was held in 2002. The overall objective of this project is to improve information flow within NAIS and the flow of agricultural information between sources and end users by increasing the efficiency of NAIS to gather, process, package, and store and disseminate information in order to increase small-scale farmers’ productivity. The specific objectives are Improve information flow within NAIS. Strengthen linkages between agricultural research, extension, farmers and other stakeholders. Increase the capacity of NAIS to collect, process, package, store and disseminate agricultural information. Increase the capacity of NAIS to publish in more accurate and appropriate formats. NAIS has over the years been gathering agric. Information from different sources for on-ward delivery to the farming community. The department has also over the years been packaging the information in form of Radio and TV programmes and Print materials. These information products have been made available to farmers and extension officers in the remote parts of the country. NAIS has continued to receive feed-back from farmers on the programmes aired. Despite its mandate, NAIS was faced with difficulties in efficiently collecting and delivering agricultural information from sources to the end users – gathering of information is done by travelling to the sources by the responsible officers or passed on via third party in hard copy. NAIS officers have had difficulties in accessing information from agricultural researchers – either responsible researchers are too busy or the new technology research is still on-going. Information products such as audio cassettes, question and answer feedback forms, publications etc, have been delivered from districts to HQ through ordinary postal services and staffs travelling between the two points – these methods have proved costly and longer delivery periods. There has been no systemic storage and retrieval of the information NAIS has gathered over these years. There has been no centralised information access point for farmers and other stakeholders such as extension offices in form of information resource centres. These short comings in NAIS have led to farmers not receiving the information they require at the right time and in the right format. Through the use of ICTs NAIS will be able to gather, process, package, store and disseminate information between research, extension, farmers and other stakeholders – strengthening linkages. Information products will be collected and delivered online from sources to the end users – in or on time and appropriate formats. Through this project, NAIS will ensure that information products are processed and stored using appropriate ICTs (for example, CD-ROM, Database, etc). Using ICTs, NAIS members of staff are now be able to research for agricultural information technologies that are or may not be locally available. Achieved results so far Improved information sharing through an operational and easily usable Local Area Network at HQ. Improved NAIS efficiency in gathering of information products from ZARI, MACO subject matter specialists and other stakeholders Strengthened linkages between NAIS, ZARI and Extension. NAIS staff trained in ITCs use Project incorporated in GRZ budget. Expected results of the project are Production of information products and services based on a common media plan Number of national and international organisations with which partnerships are established and information materials sourced and shared Established formal linkages between NAIS, ZARI, Extension and farmers Efficient ICTs use by staff Sustainability of the project Most challenges were encountered during the initial implementation stages of the project, where the project documents had to move to and from IICD and NAIS because of government procedures. Making subject matter specialists appreciate the existence of the project is another challenge. Bringing all NAIS staff on-board and make them contribute to achievement of the project goals and the sustainable Internet use among NAIS staff. The other project that was reviewed during this focus group meeting is the Information Flow Network for the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (IFORNET), under ZARI. The project “Development of an effective information flow network for the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute” is a collaborative project between the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). ZARI is one of the eleven departments in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO). There are three core functions of ZARI namely development of agricultural technologies, crop germplasm resource base management, and provision of regulatory and advisory services. While ZARI has generated a lot of technologies through soils and crops research over the years, the agricultural sector continues to experience low levels of productivity at small scale farmer level. One of the recurring reasons for this has been attributed to the agricultural technologies developed by ZARI not being easily accessible to farmers. This project was introduced mainly to increase farmers' uptake of agricultural technologies generated by ZARI through use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Through this greater uptake of agricultural technologies farmers would increase their food production resulting in improved livelihoods. In the second place the project was developed to improve communication among agricultural research scientists and with external stakeholders. The specific objectives are Improving the accessibility of agricultural technologies developed by ZARI to farmers directly and also through extension agents such as the National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS), Agricultural Support Project (ASP) and Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), collaborating institutions such Agriculture Consultative Forum (ACF), Organic Producers Association of Zambia (OPAZ) and Food Security Research Project (FSRP) and NGO’s including PLAN and World Vision International. Enhancing the relevance of ZARI's research results and information products to the needs of extension agents such as the National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS), Agricultural Support Project (ASP) and Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), collaborating institutions such Agriculture Consultative Forum (ACF), Organic Producers Association of Zambia (OPAZ) and Food Security Research Project (FSRP) and NGO’s including PLAN and World Vision International. Catalyzing internal knowledge creation and management through the networking and sharing of specialist information among ZARI researchers. Upgrading appropriate skills of researchers required for ICT-based information management. Services offered by the project through ZARI The major service being offered by the project is the provision of internet facility to the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) thereby, making communication between ZARI and its collaborators and stakeholders easy. The provision of information products is another service anticipated to have a lot of impact on the extension service providers, farmers and other stakeholders. The project has provided valuable training to ZARI staff to enable them manage information and knowledge for development of information products. Although, the project has made good progress towards the achievement of project objectives, there are constraints that have slowed down the implementation of the project to achieve all the desired objectives. The constraints include the following: The project experienced delays in procuring project equipment through the government system Malfunction and subsequent replacement of some project equipment delayed implementation The training programme for the project implementation team (PIT) took a lot of time to implement, thereby constraining implementation of other equally important project activities Omission of a budget line for needs assessment during formulation brought about variation in the budget and caused delay in the implementation of this and other related activities Time limitations of staff at the peak of experimental work during the rainy season also made it difficult to devote sufficient time to developing information products; the period following the harvest from experimental fields is also focused on data entry, analysis and interpretation of results Difficulties faced by ZARI in recruitment and retention of the Content Manager who is the main player in development of information products adversely affected implementation of the project Lack of experience within ZARI in development of information products for end-users slowed down production of information products by researchers The vision of ZARI is to be a centre of excellence providing scientific leadership in generation and transfer of improved and appropriate agriculture technologies through Partnership involving stakeholders and beneficiaries. ZARI’s mission statement is to contribute to the improvement of the welfare of the Zambian people through the provision of technologies and services that enhance household food security and equitable income generating opportunities for the farming community and agricultural enterprises. The overall objective of the ZARI is to generate and adapt crop and soil technologies in order to increase agricultural productivity and diversify production. This includes the development of low cost sustainable farming systems for all major agro-ecological zones and farm sizes through participation of both the public and private sectors in research activities. This would ensure the provision of a high quality, appropriate and cost effective service to farmers. The following are the specific objectives of the Institute: To breed for stable and high yielding varieties of both food and cash crops. To breed food crops for high nutritional value, storability and acceptability. To breed for resistance and/or tolerance to pests, diseases and adverse soil conditions such as soil acidity and salinity. To develop appropriate agronomic packages and technologies for sustained agricultural production. To develop and maintain an inventory of soil and agricultural land that can be used for planning purposes. To develop and adapt disease and pest control technologies and provide specialist advisory services. To develop post harvest technologies that minimizes crop losses in storage and enhance utilization. To develop strategies and provide services that prevents the introduction of pests and diseases into the country and facilitates trade. To strengthen research/extension/farmer linkages in order to have more Farmer participation in research. To ensure that the specific constraints of small scale and resource poor farmers are addressed by agricultural research. The implementation strategy of the ZARI follows the agro-ecological approach, which divides the country into three regions mainly based on rainfall. The broad implementation strategies, in order to achieve the above objectives, are as follows: Devise mechanisms for cost sharing of research by, for example, contracting project financing and management to relevant commercial agricultural and international institutions. Improve the management of the national research programme through appropriate planning, priority setting, programming and budgeting. Encourage farmer participation in research planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Enhance the use of a computer based Management Information System which leads to more efficient utilization of available resources and facilitates greater responsiveness to the needs of farmers. Strengthen and integrate economic and other sociological and nutritional input into agricultural research both at national and regional levels. Improve the quality of research through the provision of adequate facilities and training. Strengthen linkages with extension providers to effectively transfer research results to farmers, particularly smallholders. Adapt technologies from regional and international research institutions. Improve linkages with regional research institutions and data banks. Since the establishment of the two sister projects, members of staff who are the end-users have not fully embraced the projects into their day to operations to improve their performance as expected. It was therefore, necessary that a rigorous monitoring and evaluation (M & E) exercise be carried out to develop frameworks or guidelines for measuring impact of the two projects at institutional level. It is important to stress that the impact of ICTs will not be understood through peoples’ access to technology alone but on the impact of ICTs on the social, political and economic structures of communities – on peoples’ livelihoods and on their perceptions of the role that technology can play in their lives. Objectives of the survey The objective of this undertaking was to assess whether NAIS and ZARI have moved significantly towards institutional appreciation of ICTs and find grey areas that need to be worked on to improve the flow of agricultural information to the farming community. This Focus Group Meeting for the two projects was undertaken to: Monitor and Evaluate the projects and develop frameworks for measuring impact; To make the end-users understand that the M & E process is vital when developing interventions; To make the two institutions see the need to focus on the benefits of the new technologies rather than the quantity of the technologies available; Find out problems faced by the two projects and find solutions; The need for strategic content development to ensure that ICTs can be locally appropriated and affect development. Before the focus group meeting for the two projects was held, IICD M & E end-user questionnaires were filled online by the members of staff in the two institutions at Headquarters and Kasama offices. Thereafter, the M & E contact persons in the two projects with the help of Travaillant Vers Une Economie Liberale Limited (TEL), the M & E partner in Zambia analyzed the data. The online questionnaires were used to come up with quantitative data. The FGM was then held to add qualitative data to the study. A total 100 end-user questionnaires were expected to have been filled in. 50 from NAIS and the other 50 from ZARI. Unfortunately, out of the total expected questionnaires, only 41 questionnaires were filled in. 22 questionnaires were filled in online by NAIS while 19 were filled in online by ZARI. This number of questionnaires was found to be too little to give us good statistical data. However, despite the poor response by members of staff in filling in the questionnaires online, the 41 questionnaires were analyzed and the following were the results. From the 41 questionnaires collected, very few women participated in filling in of the questionnaires. This showed that few women are participating in the two projects. Table 1. Gender distribution in NAIS and ZARI projects. This low women participation in the two projects is a concern. What people do not know is whether women are deliberately left out of the projects or it is negative attitude of women towards ICTs or it is caused by the organizational structures in the two institutions. Positions in the Institution This study showed that most participants in both projects were actually technical members of staff. 64% of respondents in NAIS were technical members of staff, while ZARI had 58 of its respondents as technical staff. No director from ZARI participated in this survey. Table 2. Participation by Position. Participation by Age The survey revealed that most members of staff in both NAIS and ZARI are between 31 and 50 years of age. 21% of respondents in ZARI indicated that they were in other positions. This could be attributed to the fact most of the officers in ZARI are agricultural research officers a position which was not indicated in the questionnaire. Table 3. Participation in the project by age. Frequency of use The study also wanted to find out how often members of staff in the two institutions use the project facilities. All members of staff indicated that they use the facilities on daily basis. Usage was even very high in ZARI as all of the respondents indicated that they use the facilities daily. However there was a great variation in the frequency of usage for NAIS where 5% of the respondents indicated that they use the facility monthly. May be this could be attributed to poor access to computers or lack of interest in ICTs. Table 4. Frequency of facility usage. Overall the satisfaction rate for both projects was high but higher for ZARI. 84% of the respondents in ZARI indicated that they were satisfied with the project while 73% of the respondents were satisfied with the project in NAIS. May be this slightly lower satisfaction rate among members of staff in NAIS could be attributed to less frequent use of the project facilities by members of staff. Table 5. Staff satisfaction rate. Satisfaction with various factors The survey also wanted to measure the levels of satisfaction among members of staff in NAIS and ZARI towards various factors in the projects. Among other factors, the study measured satisfaction in training and seminars, quality of the service, cost of information and services, quality of information, technical support, and access to information by women and suitability of the facilities for women. Results showed that more respondents were least satisfied with indicators attributed to women. More so for ZARI where 36% of the respondents were satisfied with access to information by women with 42% being dissatisfied with suitability of the facility for women. There was also a big disparity between NAIS and ZARI on the cost of the information and services (63% and 91%). However, all the members of staff at ZARI are satisfied with the quality of information, 100% satisfaction was recorded compared to 77% satisfaction at NAIS. All directors, managers and administrative staff were generally satisfied at both NAIS and ZARI. However, technical members of staff were dissatisfied (2 officers from Kasama and 4 officers at NAIS HQ; 2 officers at Kasama and 1 officer at ZARI HQ). Table 6. Satisfaction for various factors. Reasons for joining the project – NAIS There were several reasons that were given by members of staff for joining the projects. Most of the respondents in NAIS indicated that they joined the project to improve the extension system of the ministry of agriculture (36%). The same number of respondents joined the project for the sake of improving their personal lives. There were fewer members of staff who joined the project to abreast themselves with new technical information to help farmers use improved methods of production to improve their livelihoods (5%). The same percentage of respondents say they joined the project because of their positions in the institution. Some of the respondents in NAIS say they joined the project to built capacity to perform their daily duties through the use of ICTs and exchange information (27% and 5%). Table 7. Reasons for joining NAIS project. Reasons for joining the project – ZARI Results of this study showed that most researchers at ZARI did not join the project with the farmers’ interests at heart as most respondents had less focus at farmer level. Only 16% of the researchers joined the project to research for activities that would help generate information for farmers. Most of them joined for the purpose of communicating with their colleagues and access information for research purposes (47% and 42%). Others say they joined the project in order to get opportunities to learn more important global issues and be exposed to the outside world in terms of training (5%), while the same number said they wanted to benefit from the IICD supported project. 26% of the respondents say they joined the project to improve their IT skills. Table 8. Reasons for joining ZARI project. The study revealed that the project had low economic impact on NAIS (5%), although, there was no negative impact in the same institution. There was very high sector and gender impact in ZARI (83% and 60% respectively). Awareness was very high in the two projects (81% and 83%). Generally, there was lower development impact in NAIS as compared to ZARI. Table 9. Development impact. Before undertaking any development intervention, good practice would suggest that the two projects access what has already worked, or not worked, and why. This is of course difficult to do when undertaking pilot projects in an emerging area such as ICTs, however it is precisely for this reason that pilot projects in NAIS and ZARI had to monitor and evaluate the changes brought about by the pilot interventions. One of the key observations made during the FGM was that the study paid attention to monitoring and evaluation of ICT outcomes, with the result that there was little data to assess the actual impact of these technologies on the rural poor and that there was need to undertake more rigorous monitoring and evaluation of the projects and develop frameworks and guidelines for measuring impact. Since applications of ICTs in community-based development projects are still relatively new and experimental, future initiatives should build on “what works and what does not work” and “why.” There is also need for the two projects to engage in ongoing dialogue with members of staff within NAIS and ZARI and the local people in Kasama district, where the pilot projects are located, about the role and impact of ICTs and the context in which ICTs should be introduced, especially in terms of their information needs, attitudes towards the technologies themselves, applications and products, and possible impacts, both positive and negative. For the NAIS project, the FGM also identified the need to have farmers and extension camp officers fill in the end-user questionnaires so that we engage local people in the validation of the various communication tools and let them identify the most useful medium to meet their needs. This requires acknowledging that people should be active creators and not just passive users of the new ICTs. Generally, there was low women participation in the two projects. Was this a reflection of the establishment of the two institutions? To tackle this problem, there is need to hold a workshop for women in all IICD supported projects to in Zambia to establish why there is low women participation in the projects as this would help reshape the gender imbalances in the projects. The two projects should provide needs-sensitive ICTs skills training at all levels, especially to youths, women and marginalized groups. Individual, group and organizational ICT capacities need to be strengthened to ensure effective use of ICTs for exchange of information, in particular knowledge building for productive activities that lead to wealth generation and improved livelihoods. 1. IICD, project proposal (2006) Strengthening the agricultural information flow and dissemination system of the national Agricultural Information Services in Zambia: The Hague. 2. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (April 2004) Agriculture and Cooperatives final draft policy, Lusaka: Zambia. 3. Rural information services, (1986) Annual report, Ministry of and Water Development, Lusaka, Zambia. 4. Infornet, (February 2006) Information Needs Assessment Survey for Kasama and Kafue districts, Lusaka, Zambia. 5. Welcome to Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Researching Soils, Crops and Water in Zambia. 6. Millennium Development Goals 7. Clare O’Farrell, Pat Norrish and Nigel Scott, (1999) ICTs for Sustainable Livelihoods, 8. Simon Batchelor and Clare O’Farrell, (March 2009) Revisiting the “Magic Box” – Guiding principles for ICT interventions.
By: Hiranthi Jayaweera, Senior Researcher In a now well-publicised and notorious case, in August 2010, 13 nails and 5 needles were surgically removed from the body of a Sri Lankan migrant domestic worker on her return to Sri Lanka from working as a housemaid in a private household in Saudi Arabia. She said that her employers had hammered 24 nails and needles into her body when she complained of overwork. While shocking, this is by no means an isolated incident. The local Sri Lankan newspapers and international human rights organisations regularly report cases of physical, psychological and sexual abuse of female migrant domestic workers employed in countries in the Middle East. These workers originate not only in Sri Lanka, but also in a variety of sending countries with high proportions of workers migrating for low skilled work, such as Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia. Any understanding of the root causes of the vulnerability of these women migrant workers has reference to both sending and receiving contexts, the nature of domestic work, and socio-demographic characteristics of the workers. Domestic work as ‘invisible’ work performed within private households is not covered by labour and social protection regulations in most Middle Eastern countries, and, indeed, in many other countries, including Sri Lanka itself. What international protection is there? The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates there are more than 53 million domestic workers, including migrant workers, globally, but this is almost certainly an under-estimate given that most labour market statistics do not capture this hidden category of workers. More than four fifths are women. On 16 June 2011 the ILO adopted the Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189), stipulating conditions of decent work for domestic workers globally, including those migrating to work beyond the borders of their countries. As an international treaty it enshrines basic rights such as protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence, elimination of forced and child labour, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, elimination of discrimination in employment, fair conditions of work such as normal hours, overtime compensation, periods of rest, annual paid leave, a minimum wage where this exists for other workers, ensuring of safe and healthy working environments, social security protection not less favourable than that applied to workers in general, written contracts that are enforceable in countries of employment for migrant workers and the right to keep in their possession their identity and travel documents. It also places responsibility on governments to regulate practices of private employment agencies to prevent fraudulent and abusive recruitment processes, and to strengthen co-operation between sending and receiving countries in applying and monitoring the provisions of the Convention. Significantly, the Gulf States (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) eventually voted for a legally binding convention, whereas support was weaker among European States, and disappointingly the UK abstained from voting. (How) does Sri Lanka protect its domestic workers? The Sri Lankan government has stated that it is looking into amending national laws to take into account domestic work and to ratifying the Convention, although an official policy announcement has not yet been made. Changing or clarifying the rights and entitlements of domestic workers within Sri Lanka has a long way to go. At present, domestic work may be covered by some provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, including considering verbal agreements between employer and domestic worker as binding and the possibility of domestic workers seeking redress for unfair treatment through a labour tribunal. However, these provisions are little known and in any case do not provide sufficient provision against under-payment and lack of social protection. There is no official minimum wage for domestic workers in Sri Lanka, and they are not covered by any national social security regulations, so that, even after a lifetime of work, they are not legally entitled to a State or employer contributed pension and have to depend on the good will and charity of individual former employers to survive in their old age. The prevalence of child domestic workers – under age 18 but some falling within compulsory school age (5-14) and totally invisible in official statistics because of the illegality of their employment – is a particular cause for concern. Female domestic workers continue to form a large proportion of Sri Lanka’s migrant workers. While the share of ‘housemaids’ has dropped over the past two decades alongside an increase in the share of male migrant workers in general, female domestic workers were 42% of all migrant workers departing for foreign employment in 2010, and the largest category in the 49% female share of total migrant workers. The major receiving countries for female domestic workers over the past five years at least have been Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. What is also most significant is the enormous economic contribution these women make both to their families left behind, and to the country as a whole. Private remittances, at around 50% in 2010, now form the largest net foreign exchange earner for Sri Lanka, surpassing traditional exports of tea, rubber and coconut. Around 60% of private remittances are from Middle Eastern countries. The Sri Lankan government currently appears to be focusing some effort into implementing the National Labour Migration Policy for Sri Lanka, launched in 2009. This policy document is structured into three main sections - governance of the migration process - protection of workers and their families - linking migration and development It covers the challenges as well as proposals for action relating to these three themes. It does appear to provide a positive way forward in recognising the importance of more organised regulation of migration processes and protection of vulnerable workers such as women migrating to the Middle East as domestic workers – including tighter control of recruitment agencies to prevent practices ranging from mis-information given to clients to outright trafficking , and setting up and monitoring systematic arrangements with receiving countries to protect fundamental labour and social security rights of workers and to address employer contractual violations. However, there is also much emphasis on defining the vulnerability and susceptibility to exploitation and abuse of women who migrate as domestic workers predominantly according to their individual characteristics – i.e. their relative youth, low educational levels, limited language proficiency beyond mother tongue – and on ‘strategic’ proposals to reduce low skilled migration and increase more skilled migration to a broader range of destinations abroad to increase foreign exchange earnings as well as to tackle human rights violations. Such approaches ultimately fail to recognise and address some of the core issues surrounding the under-valuing and exploitation of female domestic workers, whether at home or abroad; issues such as patriarchal family and societal ideologies and practices both in the sending and receiving contexts. Visibility across borders Why is it that in a country like Sri Lanka, where there is free and equitable access to primary, secondary and tertiary education for both sexes, large numbers of women end up in this situation? And most importantly, amidst local outcries about the exploitation and abuse of female domestic workers who travel abroad to work, why is there not enough recognition of the similarities and connection between the existence, and lack of rights and protection, of large numbers of (invisible) female domestic workers within Sri Lanka and those who migrate internationally for domestic work?
Talk:World History Homework Nine Kirstin homework 9 1. I probably could've prepared myself better. 2. There was so much religious criticism and prosecution in England, that war broke out and most of England fled to America 3. The French revolution was the most famous war in World history, and it became famous in both good and bad ways. The French revolution bought a declaration to France which is good but bad as well. For example, the declaration had some that didn"t make much sense. So i think the revolution was both good and bad. H4. Congress of Vienna- The main reasons for the congress of Vienna was to prevent war and aggression in France in the future, Peace in europe and Ligitimacy. Austria, Prussia, Great Britian, Russia, and France all convened in Vienna to hold the congress of Vienna. H2. What i think in Interesting about Napoleans empire is that he did so much good, but also bad. He signed treaties with his enemies, helped better France with creating public school systems, creating successful laws,helped better financing with the national banks and reforming taxation. But he also ban slavery from the french carribean (which is bad and good depending on your beliefs) not treating women equally with men, and no freedom if speech and the press. I just think its interesting how a man, like himself, could do both good and bad and not get critisized from it.
\|Title\|\|Tulalip women carding & spinning wool on porch, Tulalip Indian Reservation, Washington, 1898 \| \|Photographer\|\|Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952 \| \|Studio Location\|\|United States--Washington (State)--Seattle \| \|Notes\|\|Two women with scarves on their heads, and shawls pinned over their shoulders sit on small porch. Woman on right sits at spinning wheel, spinning the wool; woman on left is carding wool with two carders. Basket holds uncarded wool and several half-finished socks, on floor are bundled knitted socks.\| Caption on image: Curtis. 895. Copyrighted 1898. Note from unidentified source: Two women carding & spinning wool at Tulalip, with knitted socks and coiled basket in foreground; woman on right may be William Shelton's mother. \|Subjects\|\|Portraits--Washington (State); Tulalip Indians--Arts & crafts; Tulalip Indians--Women; Knitting--Washington (State); Tulalip Indian Reservation (Wash.) \| \|Location Depicted\|\|United States--Washington (State)--Tulalip Indian Reservation \| \|Object Type\|\|Photographs \| \|Negative Number\|\|NA1539 \| \|Digital Collection\|\|American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Images\| \|Collection\|\|Edward S. Curtis Collection No. 484 \| \|Repository\|\|University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division\| \|Ordering Information\|\|To order a reproduction, inquire about permissions, or for information about prices see: \|Transmission Data\|\|Image/JPEG \|
The site of many clashes for supremacy between the French and British Empires, the park is the scene of the 1759 Conquest, which changed the fate of North America. Apart from its historical past, the park is to Quebec what Central Park and Hyde Park are to New York and London: a city park of outstanding value, the lungs of the city. One hundred and eight hectares of meadow and grassy knolls, decked with flowers or covered with snow, are there for residents and visitors to enjoy. On March 17, 1908 (the 300th anniversary of Quebec's foundation), the law creating the National Battlefields Commission (NBC) was sanctioned to highlight and preserve this site, unique in the world by its sheer size, its geographic location, its historical role and its beauty. The Battlefields Park, which groups together the Plains of Abraham and the Des Braves Park, was developed to honour the memory of both French and British combatants.'
Lots of entrepreneurs struggle with pricing. How much to charge? It’s clear that the right price can make all the difference – too low and you miss out on profit; too high and you miss out on sales. Don’t ask, can’t tell Asking people what they’d pay for and how much rarely works. For one thing people will tell you what they WANT to pay—which is obviously much less than what your product or service is actually WORTH. Second, what people say and what people do are very different things. When it comes to money, people are unable to predict accurately whether they’d pay or not. It’s much easier to spend hypothetical dollars than real ones. Also it’s worth remembering that people really don’t know how much things are worth, what’s a fair price (which is the reason TV-shows like “The Price is Right” can actually exist). William Poundstone, the author Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value says this: “People tend to be clueless about prices. Contrary to economic theory, we don’t really decide between A and B by consulting our invisible price tags and purchasing the one that yields the higher utility, he says. We make do with guesstimates and a vague recollection of what things are “supposed to cost.”” People are weird and irrational, and there’s much we don’t understand. Like why do shoppers moving in a counterclockwise direction spend on average $2.00 more at the supermarket? Why does removing dollar signs from prices (24 instead of $24) increase sales? What will work for you depends on your industry, product and customer. When you try to replicate what Valve did to increase their revenue 40x, it might not work for you, but then again, why not give it a try? Here’s a list of pricing experiments and studies you can get ideas from and test on your own business. The Economist and decoy pricing Dan Ariely describes this famous example in his amazing book Predictably Irrational. He came across the following subscription offer from The Economist, the magazine (he’s also explaining this in his TED talk here): Both, the print subscription and Print & web subscription cost the same, $125 dollars. Ariely conducted a study with his 100 bright MIT students. 16 chose option A and 84 option C. Nobody chose the middle option. So if nobody chose the middle option, why have it? He removed it, and gave the subscription offer to another 100 MIT students. This is what they chose now: Most people now chose the first option! So the middle option wasn’t useless, but rather helped people make a choice. People have trouble comparing different options, but if 2 of the options given are similar (e.g. same price), it becomes much easier. The same principle was used with travel packages. When people were offered to choose a trip to Paris (option A) vs a trip to Rome (option B), they had a hard time choosing. Both places were great, it was hard to compare them. Now they were offered 3 choices instead of 2: trip to Paris with free breakfast (option A), trip to Paris without breakfast (option A-), trip to Rome with free breakfast (option B). Now overwhelming majority chose option A, trip to Paris with free breakfast. The rationale is that it is easier to compare the two options for Paris than it is to compare Paris and Rome. A graph to describe this: So if you add a slightly worse option that is similar to A (call it A-), then it’s easy to see that A is better than A-, hence many people choose that. How you can use it: Add a decoy package or plan to your offer page, next to the offer you really want them to take. The magic of number 9 Go to Wal-Mart and you see prices ending with 9 everywhere. Does it really work? Surely all intelligent people understand that $39 and $40 are basically the same. Well, in eight studies published from 1987 to 2004 charm prices ($49, $79, $1.49 and so on) were reported to boost sales by an average of 24 percent relative to nearby prices (as per Priceless). In one of the experiments done by University of Chicago and MIT, a mail order catalog was printed in 3 different versions. One women’s clothing items tested was sold for $39. In experimental versions of the catalog, the company offered the same item for $34 and $44. Each catalog was sent to an identically sized sample. There were more sales at the charm price of $39 than at either of the other prices, including the cheaper $34. $39 had both greater sales volume and greater profit per sale. People used to download music for free, then Steve Jobs convinced them to pay. How? By charging 99 cents. The explanation of why numbers ending with 9 work better has been much debated over the years. Mental rounding alone can’t explain it. Seems that 9 truly is a magic number. Is there anything that can outsell 9? Researches found that sale price markers (with the old price mentioned) were more powerful than mere prices ending with the number nine. In the following split test, the left one won: Then they they split tested the winner above with a similar tag, but which had $39 instead of $40: This had the strongest effect of all. I’m wondering whether the effect of this price tag could be increased by reducing the font size of $39. Say what? Marketing professors at Clark University and The University of Connecticut found that consumers perceive sale prices to be a better value when the price is written in a small font rather than a large, bold typeface. In our minds, physical magnitude is related to numerical magnitude. Oh yeah, when you go to Nordstrom, you don’t see any prices ending with a 9. The subliminal message here is “expect to pay”. Anchoring and the contrast principle Do this test at home. Pour water in 3 bowls. Fill one bowl with cold water, the second with hot water and third one with lukewarm water. Now stick one hand in the cold water and the other one in the (not too) hot water. Keep them there for 30 seconds or so. Now put both of your hands into the lukewarm bowl. One hand will feel the water is warm, the other one that it’s cold. It’s about the contrast. The same principle applies to price. Nothing is cheap or expensive by itself, but compared to something. Once you’ve seen a $150 burger on the menu, $50 sounds reasonable for a steak. At Ralph Lauren, that $16,995 bag makes a $98 T-shirt look cheap. What’s the best way to sell a $2000 wristwatch? Right next to a $12 000 watch. This mental process has a name. It’s called anchoring and adjustment. In the 1970s by two psychologists by the names of Tversky and Kahneman theorized that suggesting an initial figure to a test subject caused that subject to use that number as a starting point for estimating unknown quantities. In their study test subjects were told the number 65 and then asked to estimate what percentage of African nations were members of the UN. The average response was 45%. They then tested a second group but salted them with the number 10 and their average response was 25%. Amazingly the group that was primed with the number 65 estimated nearly twice the true answer (23%) while the group primed with the lower number estimated a lower percentage (much more accurately). Anchoring influences prices Poundstone describes an experiment done with real estate prices. The researchers invited real estate experts and undergrad students to appraise a home for sale. All the test subjects were given the information a buyers would normally have, including a list of houses that recently sold, nearby houses currently for sale and so on + what the seller had listed the house for. The subjects were divided into 4 groups, each given a different listing price, and were then asked to estimate what the home was worth. These were the results: \|Listing Price\|\|Avg Estimated Worth \|Avg Estimated Worth Anchoring worked even on real estate pros that had been selling properties in the area for 10+ years. Next time somebody asks you for a rough estimate or a ballpark figure, make sure it’s high! How you can use it: Start throwing out high numbers. Add some very expensive products to the selection (that you don’t even intend to sell). If the final price of your service / product is a result of negotiations, start high. If you’re competing on price, state how much others are charging before revealing your price. He tested a single, straightforward $49/yr offer vs 2 plans ($49/yr and $24/yr) vs 3 plans (added a freemium plan). The result? Surprisingly the single price offer won. Why? His own guess: “It does pay to align pricing with your overall positioning. Our unique value proposition is built around being “hassle-free and simple” and people seemed to expect that in the pricing model as well.” It might also be that in these complex and fast times we live in, people yearn for simplicity. Note: His freemium plan actually converted 12% more, but had the lowest retention. Be careful when offering free plans. You might just end up with a ton of free users to support and pay for. How you can use it: Consider your positioning and see if you can align your pricing to it. If you’re offering different plans right now, experiment with a single plan. Pay what you wish Pay what you want is a pricing system where buyers pay any desired amount for a given product, or nothing at all. In some cases, a minimum is set, and/or a suggested price may be indicated as guidance for the buyer. The buyer can also select an amount higher than the standard price. Suggested price can be a good idea – remember anchoring? Setting a fair suggested price gives the customer a true sense of value. It won’t prevent low offers, but it will keep more buyers in your ballpark. What about counter-offering lowballs? The danger here would be to appear that you’re just toying with them and it’s not really “pay what you wish”. GetElastic brings this example: “Coming back with counter-offers is merely e-bargaining. It reveals you have a reserve price, and instead of offering a sale, customers must “guess” how low you’ll go. At worst, customers may feel they are being gamed into pay more than a sale price. Ashampoo Software (that’s not a typo) gets downright insulting when you sink too low below “regular price.” The snarky dialog box reads a condescending “This offer is much too low. Please enter a reasonable price.” Users don’t have time to play guessing games about what is a reasonable offer only to be ridiculed by a script.” Gap tried a variation of this too. They offered customers a one-day opportunity to name their price for certain styles of khaki pants on the www.gapmyprice.com microsite. Lowball offers were returned with slightly higher prices by the Gap, which the customer had one chance to accept or decline. Since they’re not doing anymore, it probably did not go too well. Well-known PWYW examples In October 2007, the British band Radiohead launched their latest album – In Rainbows – on the Internet. The band allowed fans to download the album freely and offer, in retribution, any amount of money they would like. Later they disclosed that the download of their new album generated more profit than the accumulated downloads from all previous albums. Panera Bread Co. used this same idea when it opened its first pay-what-you-want restaurant in Clayton, Mo. The company ended up making over $100,000 in revenue in the first month alone. It opened it’s 4th restaurant of this kind in Portland, and said at the time that about 20 percent of the visitors to the cafes leave more than the suggested amount, 20 percent leave less and 60 percent pay what is suggested. But 9 months later it’s not doing so well. The Portland café is only making about 60 percent of the revenue of a regular, full-paying location, compared to an 80 percent take in the politer climes of St. Louis and Detroit. Also, the homeless tend to camp out there and stay all day if they aren’t shooed away, so Panera had to hire a bouncer. It’s important to have fair minded customers for this model to work (homeless and hungry people probably care more about being fed, than being fair). Combine “pay what you wish” with charity There’s some research that pay what you wish pricing works best when combined with charity. Ayelet Gneezy, a marketing professor at the University of California-San Diego, conducted a field experiment at a theme park (sample size: over 113,000). Customers were presented four different pricing schemes for souvenir photos: a flat fee of $12.95; a flat fee of $12.95 with half going to charity; pay-what-you-wish; and pay-what-you-wish with half going to charity. At a flat fee of $12.95 per picture, only 0.5% of people purchased a photograph; when customers were told that half the $12.95 purchase price would go to charity, a meager 0.59% purchased a photo. Under the simple pay-what-you-wish variation, 8.39% of people purchased a photo (almost 17 times more than before), but customers paid only $.92 on average. The final option — pay what you wish, with half the purchase price going to charity — generated big results: purchase rates of 4.49% and an average purchase price of $5.33, resulting in significant profits for the theme park. This is a substantial result, especially since it came from a real setting. Of course, the anonymity of the Internet removes the social pressure one feels after being served personally by a human being. It’s one thing to have the amount you choose observed and another thing to download stuff without being seen. The book Smart Pricing suggested that successful pay what you want programs are characterized by: - A product with low marginal cost - A fair-minded customer - A product that can be sold credibly at a wide range of prices - A strong relationship between buyer and seller - A very competitive marketplace. Offering 3 options The old truth about offering 3 pricing options holds water. Here’s a pricing experiment in selling beer – again from W. Poundstone’s amazing book Priceless. People were offered 2 kinds of beer: premium beer for $2.50 and bargain beer for $1.80. Around 80% chose the more expensive beer. Now a third beer was introduced, a super bargain beer for $1.60 in addition to the previous two. Now 80% bought the $1.80 beer and the rest $2.50 beer. Nobody bought the cheapest option. Third time around, they removed the $1.60 beer and replaced with a super premium $3.40 beer. Most people chose the $2.50 beer, a small number $1.80 beer and arounf 10% opted for the most expensive $3.40 beer. Some people will always buy the most expensive option, no matter the price. You can influence people’s choice by offering different options. Old school sales people also say that offering different price point options will make people choose between your plans, instead of choosing whether to buy your product or not. How to test it: Try offering 3 packages, and if there is something you really want to sell, make it the middle option. I’m sure you know the classic “pennies-a-day” effect: “it costs less than $1 a day!”. NPR stations ask people to donate by joining their dollar-a-day club. Framed in that manner, the donation seems quite reasonable—about the cost of a cup of coffee. Contrast that with what would happen if they asked people to join their “$365 a year” club. Neil Davidson writes this about price perceptions (in his book on software pricing called Don’t Just Roll the Dice): “People base their perceived values on reference points. If you’re selling a to-do list application, then people will look around and find another to-do list application. If they search the internet and discover that your competitors sell to-do list applications at $100 then this will set their perception of the right price for all to-do list applications.” If your product is more expensive than the common reference points, you need to change the perception of the category you’re in. How did Starbucks get away with starting to charge $3 and more for coffee, when most other cafes were charging $1 or so? They changed the experience of buying coffee, so the perception of what people were getting, changed. It was like a different category product. They also changed the name. Not just coffee, but Pike’s Place brew or Caramel Macchiato. If you’re creating a new category, there’s no price reference and people are much more likely to accept any price you name. How you can use it: If you want to charge more than the market average, look at the competition: how they package their offering; what’s the user experience like, and change that. If you look like a new category, people are more likely to pay up. On the other hand, if you can profitably sell something much cheaper than the other guys, great. Use their pricing as the reference point and you’ll win. Context sets perception You are stranded on a beach on a sweltering day. Your friend offers to go for your favorite brand of beer, but asks what’s the most you’re ready to pay for the beer? This was the scenario for a pricing experiment conducted by Richard Thaler. They tested two scenarios. In the first one the friend was going to get beer from the only place nearby, a local run-down grocery store. In the second version, he was going to get beer from the bar of a fancy resort hotel. The ambiance of the hotel was irrelevant, as the beer was to be consumed on the beach. Invariably, Thaler found, subjects agreed to pay more if they are told that the beer is being purchased from an exclusive hotel rather than from a rundown grocery. It strikes them as unfair to pay the same. This violates the bedrock principle that one Budweiser is worth the same as another, and it suggests that people care as much about being treated fairly as they do about the actual value of what they’re paying for. Thaler considered what his imaginary grocer could do to boost beer sales. He advised “investing in seemingly superflous luxury or installing a bar”. This would raise expectations about what the proper price of beer would be, resulting in more purchases. How you can use it: Invest in seemingly superflous luxury. Use web design or packaging that says “expensive”. Can I split test the price? Technically you can, but A/B testing your price is a dangerous territory. A number of companies (Dell, Amazon and others) in the past have been caught and got in trouble for doing just that, showing different price for the same product to different visitors. A better and safer approach is to test the price across objects. Don’t test the same product for $19 vs $39. Rather you should test two different products that essentially do the same thing, but just have a different price tag. Before deciding on your pricing strategy, it’s worthwhile to read Cindy Alvarez’s article where she makes the point that price is not the only cost to consider. When customers consider “what something costs”, they’re actually measuring three main drivers: money (cost), time (how long will it take to learn?) and mental energy(how much do I have to think about this?). Take into account the profile of your buyer. Combine research from this article It seems to me that you could combine a lot of the research covered here into a single pricing experiment. How about this: - You create 3 different plans/packages, and intend to sell mainly the middle one. If your product is expensive, make your website look expensive. - The first plan is a decoy. It’s similar to the middle plan, but offers visibly less value while costing almost as much. Think of it as A- (as per The Economist example). - Second plan, the one you want to sell, offers good value for money. The price ends with 9. Maybe it even shows that it has been reduced from a previously higher price or it’s a sale (either way, it has to be true / ethical). - Third plan is to serve as a contrast to the middle one, it’s role is to anchor in a high figure. Make it much, much more expensive than the middle plan. You don’t actually intend to sell it, but there always the type that wants the most expensive plan – so make sure you can actually deliver on it. If you decide to give this a try, let me know the results :) Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to updates Get actionable conversion advice in your inbox. Email once a week. Unsubscribe at any time with a single click.
Science is far from a perfect instrument of knowledge. It's just the best we have. In this respect, as in many others, it's like democracy. Science by itself cannot advocate courses of human action, but it can certainly illuminate the possible consequences of alternative courses of action. Carl Sagan, 1996, The Demon-Haunted World Since 1945 with the publication of "The Endless Frontier" by Vannevar Bush, the United States has pursued a highly successful national policy of investing in and promoting science and technology for our nation's well-being and security. Indeed, estimates are that as much as 85% of the nation's per capita economic growth is attributable to scientific and technologic advances (COSEPUP, 2005). However, recent disturbing trends indicate that the United States is falling behind in both science and technology and that our leadership in these fields is at risk. Growing concerns about the state of science in the United States have garnered national attention of key sectors of society business, research, and education. As noted within a recent report published by fifteen prominent business organizations, "virtually every major respected organization representing business, research and education, as well as government science and statistics agencies and commissions, has extensively documented the critical situation in U.S. science, technology, engineering and mathematics" (Business Roundtable 2005). At the same time, there appears to be broad consensus that the entire scientific ethos is under assault by uninformed or intentional forces. Science is poorly understood and often misrepresented to the public, the news media, and to political decision-makers. Informed understanding of the nature and value of science is necessary in order to regain public endorsement of the scientific enterprise and public support for efforts to preserve America's scientific leadership. In recognition of this need, a small but diverse group of people came together to discuss strategies for addressing these concerns and for re-engaging the public in science. This report summarizes the discussions and outcomes of this workshop, focusing on a recommended national campaign to increase the public understanding and appreciation of science. There continues to be concern among a broad spectrum of the scientific, education, and business communities that science and our leadership in science are at risk. To examine the level of this decline, Representative Frank Wolf asked a group of scientists how well the United States was doing in science and innovation. None of the scientists, he reported, said that the nation was doing "okay". About 40% said that we were "in a stall", and the remaining 60% said that we were "in decline". He asked a similar question of the executive board of a prominent high-technology association, which reported that in its view; the United States was "in decline" (COSEPUP, 2005). The seriousness of these concerns moved to center stage across the country in 2005 with the publication of three major reports: Tapping America's Potential, produced by the Business Roundtable, Rising Above the Gathering Storm from the National Academy of Sciences, and the report from the National Summit on Competitiveness convened at the U.S. Department of Commerce in December 2005. The United States is in a fierce contest with other nations to remain the world's scientific leader. But other countries are demonstrating a greater commitment to building their brain power. This excerpt from the 2005 Business Roundtable report indicates the seriousness with which the business community views the steady decline in America's pre-eminence in science and technology. Within its recommendations, the report called for "a campaign to help parents, students, employees and community leaders understand why math and science are so important to individual success and national prosperity." Having reviewed the trends in the United States and abroad, the NAS report by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy included the statement that the committee is deeply concerned that the scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength. At the same time that Congress and the business and research communities were recognizing the decline in the scientific leadership, science education was on the defense in many states across the U.S. with attempts to include intelligent design as a theory in the science classroom and the redefinition of science by the Kansas State Board of Education in May 2005, such that supernatural phenomena can be included. Besides the teaching of evolution in public schools, debates rage over the existence, impacts, and remedies of global climate change, stem cell research, cloning, and a host of other scientific topics. Concerns have been rising over the seeming politicization of scientific results and the misrepresentation of scientific research and the scientific process across all scientific disciplines. Of equal concern is that these assaults on science and scientists are turning away student interest in the field and that public appreciation and support of science is diminishing. In response to these concerns, a workshop, or "meeting of the minds," was held in Berkeley, CA, January 25-27, 2006, that brought together a small, but diverse group of people to initiate discussions on the creation of a cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural effort that would focus on improving the public understanding of and engagement in science. Participants included representation from government, professional societies, research, universities, museums, business, and the media. A concept paper entitled, A Coalition for the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) was distributed among the participants to initiate discussion. The workshop participants concurred that science is under assault and that there are widespread concerns about U.S. investment in science, and that economic competitiveness is at risk. They also agreed that many business, government, science, and education groups are addressing aspects of these concerns in different ways, and from different perspectives. Discussions focused on the need to re-engage the public in science, how the public currently interacts with and learns about science, formulating and delivering the right message, creating and sustaining a networked campaign for science, and recommendations and next steps. Conclusions of workshop Participants felt that this workshop was a critical first step in a much larger effort. The next step will be to (1) develop a COPUS website to provide documentation of progress and access to informative resources and (2) convene a second workshop to (1) build further consensus, (2) articulate the characteristics, strategies, organization, and activities of such a network, and (3) develop plans for implementation. Furthermore the participants agreed to continue to work together as a Steering Committee toward this effort and developed an outline for the proposed second workshop. A proposal for this second workshop was submitted to NSF for consideration. There is a need for continued dialogue to move the COPUS initiative forward and thus the recommendation for the second workshop to expand discussions, incorporate additional perspectives and expertise and then to articulate a strategic plan that will have both a short term and long term impact on the public support of and interest in science. The Business Roundtable report called for "a campaign to help parents, students, employees and community leaders understand why math and science are so important to individual success and national prosperity." They designated this campaign as the responsibility of the business community. We would argue that no single community can work alone on this effort, but that it will require a collaborative effort of all stakeholders: those who practice science, those who teach and communicate about science, those who implement the scientific enterprise, and those who benefit from it. This has to be a long-term effort that keeps science in the forefront and enables all sectors of the American public to re-engage in science. Business Roundtable. July 2005. Tapping America's Potential: The Education for Innovation Initiative. Washington DC. Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. 2005. Rising above the gathering storm: Energizing and employing America for a brighter economic future. National Academy Press, Washington D.C. On-line prepublication Leshner, A. Science, February 10, 2006, v311, p741
A Scottish Clan is a tribal concept, generally meaning an extended family all related by birth. A Clan is usually named for one person -- for example, Clan Mackenzie derives its name from Kenneth, its Progenitor. In theory, all Clan members are descended from him. In reality, some may not be, as over time a Clan may have been joined by other people. The seniormost branch of the family is the direct line of descent from the Progenitor to the current Chief [this is where the concept of tanistry meets the concept of primogeniture]. The senior branches of the family, or cadets, generally signify a subgroup, or family, that each descend from one of the Chief's sons. The affiliated branches, the septs, are often said to be unrelated by those who assume that a sept's allegiance to the Chief was a matter of safety during dangerous times. In fact, members of the septs are often the descendants of the Chief's daughters. Only DNA tests can show these relationships, but descendants of the septs would then show up as having the Y DNA of the men the daughters married, not the DNA of their father. It would take a very detailed DNA analysis to prove all the links. Finding the above confusing...? Many Clans today welcome new members based on a mutual desire to respect and preserve Scottish heritage. A good place to find your Clan is in the Highlander Magazine, where they list their mailing addresses. Many Clans have a presence at the Highland Games. See also Electric Scotland. To follow my blog, sign up at http://corneliabush.blogspot.com/
For the student wishing to explore more disciplines than would normally be provided by selecting a major and a minor field, the interdisciplinary major gives the option of broader coverage. Interdisciplinary studies employs a holistic approach that consciously applies a methodology from more than one discipline (integration) to examine a person’s work, central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience. This may give the student a better basis for such careers as advertising, business, law, or the ministry. At the same time, the interdisciplinary major should not be viewed as an escape from choosing a major in a single academic discipline. The student should realize that, though the interdisciplinary major seeks to provide some depth in each of two academic disciplines, it will not give the same in depth grasp of a discipline that choice of a major in a single field would. Acceptance into the Major Each student seeking a major in interdisciplinary studies must complete the application form, which can be obtained from the chairperson of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. The application form will include a clear statement of the student’s goals and explanation of how those goals will best be fulfilled by an interdisciplinary major. The student should understand both what an academic discipline is and what the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing an interdisciplinary major are. An academic discipline is a theoretical study that seeks to analyze a specific aspect of God’s creation or of humankind’s cultural response. It goes beyond merely introductory studies and is separate from those studies that are solely vocational in emphasis and from those that are simply tools to be used for analytical study. Interdisciplinary Studies Resources
- Learn More: Read all about polygraph exams The term "polygraph" literally means "many writings." It refers to the science of the test, in which several physiological responses are measured at the same time to detect signs of deception. This process is called forensic psychophysiology, which denotes the relationship to the mind and the body as it pertains to physical responses to thoughts and emotions. The true professional title of a polygraph examiner, then, is forensic psychophysiologist. Invented in 1921 by Berkley medical student John Larson, the polygraph has been used in interviews and interrogations for nearly a century. It operates on the notion that telling a lie causes stress for most individuals, and that stress in turn produces measurable physiological responses. The polygraph is still the subject of much skepticism and misunderstanding, though. In many cases, polygraph results are not admissible in court, and they have been prohibited from being used in preemployment screening for all but the most sensitive jobs, such as special agents and police officers. Nonetheless, it has proven to be a useful tool for internal and criminal investigations and intelligence gathering, both in the public and private sectors. In truth, polygraph results are often only as good as the examiner conducting the test. For this reason, the American Polygraph Association has established rigorous standards to certify examiners and ensure that the integrity of the polygraph is maintained and upheld. Job Functions and Work Environment of Polygraph Examiners Polygraph examiners work for public law enforcement agencies, criminal investigative entities, intelligence services and private consulting and investigative firms. The bulk of their work is performed in an office setting. Examiners prepare subjects for testing, conduct the test, and analyze the results. Depending on the scope of questioning, the entire process can take several hours. A very large part of the job of a polygraph examiner involves effective communications and dealing closely with individuals, many of whom are nervous about their test. Polygraphers prepare reports about the results of their exams and submit them to their superiors or clients. Generally speaking, they do not make recommendations with regards to how to deal with the test subject but instead report their opinion regarding the veracity of the subject or the presence of deception. At times, they may be called to testify in court proceedings about the conduct or results of their examinations. The job of a polygraph examiner often includes: - Prepping subjects for testing - Conducting polygraph exams - Preparing written reports - Working closely with investigators - Providing courtroom testimony - Obtaining continuing education Certified examiners must maintain their skills by participating in annual continuing education and training programs. Polygraph examiners also submit reports about the accuracy of their tests in order to build upon the data set and further verify the efficacy of the testing process. Education And Skill Requirements for Polygraph Examiners Individuals looking to work as polygraph examiners will often need to hold an associate's or bachelor's degree. Degrees in criminal justice, criminology, psychology or forensic science will be most beneficial. Many times, agencies will appoint current officers to the position of polygraph examiner and arrange for the officer to be trained. In these instances, a degree may not be required, but relevant work experience, particularly in law enforcement and investigations, will still be necessary. Interpersonal communications skills and writing skills are musts for potential examiners. Polygraph examiners can attend one of several polygraph academies throughout the United States, where they receive more than 200 hours of industry-specific training. They must also conduct 200 verified exams before they can be certified by the APA. Job Growth and Salary Outlook for Polygraph Examiners Jobs for all forensic examiners are expected to grow at a rate of 19 percent through 2020. This is slightly higher then the national average for all occupations in the United States. Law enforcement and federal criminal investigative agencies continue to make use of polygraph exams as part of their background investigations. Polygraph examiners receive highly specialized training, meaning they will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future. Polygraph examiners can expect to earn around $56,000 annually. Actual salary will vary depending on location, education and experience. Is a Career as a Polygraph Examiner Right for You? Polygraph examiners are highly analytical people with excellent interpersonal communications skills. They combine a knowledge of psychology and physiology to evaluate individuals for deceptive tendencies. The work can be fascinating and intellectually stimulating. If this sounds like the kind of work you're interested in performing, then a career as a polygraph examiner may be the perfect criminology career for you.
Even before outcome studies became an established research genre with the publication of How Foster Children Turn Out, some agencies involved in placing-out tried to follow up on their own cases. What had become of the children formerly in their care? Finding out served two important and related purposes. It would improve the practices that shaped child and family life by establishing the need for minimum standards and it would define social work as a job worthy of being designated a profession. In this early study, the Boston Children’s Aid Society tracked its own work. Dismayed by the haphazard techniques used to place children and appalled by family-making failures, the agency added a researcher, Ruth Lawton, to its staff in 1913 in hopes that empirical inquiry “might be able to establish certain standards by which we could measure our own work.” She found the agency’s own records distressingly thin, containing too few details to be of value. “Many of the children were taken on meagre information, often engaging us in the task of fitting round pegs into square holes, and in some cases exposing communities to great dangers from the acts of exceedingly difficult children.” The first step toward minimum standards was invariably to standardize record-keeping. The point was to obtain more information and keep it more meticulously. The agency itself was not new, having been founded in the mid-nineteenth century, but its dedication to placing children in families was only a decade old. The agency hoped that solid research would vindicate its recent commitment to family rather than orphanage care. Lawton found that by October 1913, the agency had placed a total of 129 children in a total of 498 homes, an average of almost four placements per child. A substantial number of the placements (37 percent) were supposed to be temporary, but there was a high rate of replacement for children in need of permanent homes. (“Disruption” was not a term that denoted failed adoptions until the 1970s.) After placement, supervisory visits occurred on average four or five times per year, with girls visited more frequently than boys. Supervision was inconsistent as well as infrequent. Staff turnover was high because the work was hard and salaries were low. The Boston Children’s Aid Society endorsed thorough physical examinations and mental tests for every child in need of placement. But in actual practice, only 37 physical and 4 mental exams had been administered to all 129 children prior to placement. The agency, which prided itself on being in the professional vanguard, was surprised and embarrassed by this evidence of shoddy and disappointing work. It never doubted, however, that more and better research was the key to realizing its rhetoric about child welfare in practice as well as in theory.
I found a really good article on Yahoo yesterday that makes a good argument for Dental Plans! Not directly, of course, but if one considers that dentistry is among the most expensive in terms of healthcare, and that there is no regulatory agency that holds dental prices in check, and the insurance companies pay little to nothing and put a cap on your benefits, then a Dental Plan can be beneficial. I don"t mean the recent "in-house" type of plan that some dentists are trying to promote; those will save you very little and if a problem arises...well, where are you going to go? The plan would not be accepted by another facility! No, I'm suggesting a bonafide, BBB accredited discount plan. Do your homework, but at least check it out. You'll find that the savings and a small investment for a membership are worth the effort . I found that every word of this article rang true based on my own experiences and those of the people I've worked with in the business for 19 years. You can click here for the link, and enjoy! Tuesday, April 26, 2011 Here are some interesting facts that people don't know. - The commonly used practice of putting a cap on toothbrush is actually more detrimental. The moisture entrapped in the cap favors bacterial growth. - You are not supposed to brush within 6 feet of a toilet. The airborne particles from the flush can travel up to a distance of 6 feet. - 75% of the United States population suffers from some stage of periodontal gum disease. - People who tend to drink 3 or more glasses of soda/pop daily have 62% more tooth decay, fillings and tooth loss than others. - The first toothbrush with bristles was manufactured in China in 1498. Bristles from hogs, horses and badgers were used. The first commercial toothbrush was made in 1938. - Fluoridated toothpastes when ingested habitually by kids can lead to fluoride toxicity. - You are supposed to replace your toothbrush after you have an episode of flu, cold or other viral infections. Notorious microbes can implant themselves on the toothbrush bristles leading to re-infection. - New born babies do not have tooth decay bacteria. Often, the bacteria are transmitted from mother to baby when she kisses the child or blows in hot food/drink before feeding the baby. Thursday, April 21, 2011 There was an episode on Dr. Oz recently that seems to have thrust the issue of radiation exposure and thyroid cancer into the spotlight. Having been in the dental profession for 20 years or so, I've heard many arguments about the effects of x-rays on the body, and not just dental x-rays....mammograms and chest x-rays surround the controversy as well. Many of our members have questioned whether dental x-rays are really necessary. The answer, absolutely, is yes! Now, at such a small dosage ,whether they pose a danger or not is questionable as there have been many studies done over the years and all of them provide a different outcome. An intelligent way to approach this issue is to weigh the evidence; consider that there is a minimal risk, but also consider the very small percentage of people who have contracted thyroid cancer that may be related to radiation from x-rays, then, if you feel you would prefer to minimize your risk, by all means ask for a thyroid shield prior to having your dental x-ray! The bottom line is that your safety and piece of mind should matter. When it comes down to choice, it is never unreasonable to err on the side of caution. Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Plaque is a complex biological soil that can lead to dental problems like tartar, gum trouble and tooth decay. It's a soft, sticky bacterial coating that is constantly forming on your teeth-every day. When plaque comes into contact with the sugars and starches in the foods you eat, it produces acids that can cause cavities.The best way to avoid problems often associated with plaque is by making regular visits to your dentist. See your dentist at least once every 6 months for a complete checkup and a thorough cleaning.Toothbrushing is the most effective way to remove plaque at home. It is recommended that you brush your teeth after every meal, and especially before you go to bed at night. Also try and replace your toothbrush every 3 or 4 months -using an old or worn toothbrush is less effective. It is also recommended that you use dental floss to remove additional plaque below the gum line and between teeth areas where a brush cannot reach. A pre-brushing rinse might help to loosen and detach plaque for easier removal during brushing. Tuesday, April 12, 2011 It's the newest thing in the body art revolution, and it's catching on! You can now purchase small jewels and have them bonded to your teeth to give your smile an extra sparkle! It doesn't come cheap, however! The procedure is simple, the jewels are bonded with the same type of glue that is used to secure braces to your teeth. More and more people are trying it. Here is a link to a website where you can view some pictures and learn a little bit about this fast growing fad. Keep Smiling! Thursday, April 7, 2011 I've had many people ask me this question and it was always a difficult one for me to try to explain, probably because I didn't have a clear understanding of it myself! While surfing the web this morning, I found a site that explains this procedure perfectly! A Mini Dental Implant is a process by which small posts are installed in the jawbone in order to stabilize dentures or other dental prosthetics. People who have problems wearing their dentures or whose bone structure has deteriorated over a long period of time due to the wearing of dentures are generally good candidates for mini implants.The procedure is less time consuming and less expensive than traditional implants. Many times it can be done in one day! If you wear dentures and are having difficulty securing them or if eating has become difficult and it is affecting your health, check with your dentist to see if mini implants would benefit you! Here is a link to an exceptional article (with illustrations) that explains the mini implant procedure. Keep Smiling!
Date of this Version Wolbachia pipientis is a bacterial endosymbiont associated with arthropods and filarial nematodes. In filarial nematodes, W. pipientis has been shown to play an important role in the biology of the host and in the immuno-pathology of filariasis. Several species of filariae, including the most important parasites of humans and animals (e.g. Onchocerca volvulus, Wuchereria bancrofti and Dirofilaria immitis) have been shown to harbor these bacteria. Other filarial species, including an important rodent species (Acanthocheilonema viteae), which has been used as a model for the study of filariasis, do not appear to harbor these symbionts. There are still several open questions about the distribution of W. pipientis in filarial nematodes. Firstly the number of species examined is still limited. Secondly, it is not clear whether the absence of W. pipientis in negative species could represent an ancestral characteristic or the result of a secondary loss. Thirdly, several aspects of the phylogeny of filarial nematodes are still unclear and it is thus difficult to overlay the presence/absence of W. pipientis on a tree representing filarial evolution. Here we present the results of a PCR screening for W. pipientis in 16 species of filariae and related nematodes, representing different families/subfamilies. Evidence for the presence of W. pipientis is reported for five species examined for the first time (representing the genera Litomosoides, Litomosa and Dipetalonema); original results on the absence of this bacterium are reported for nine species; for the remaining two species, we have confirmed the absence of W. pipientis recently reported by other authors. In the positive species, the infecting W. pipientis bacteria have been identified through 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. In addition to the screening for W. pipientis in 16 species, we have generated phylogenetic reconstructions based on mitochondrial gene sequences (12S rDNA; COI), including a total of 28 filarial species and related spirurid nematodes. The mapping of the presence/absence of W. pipientis on the trees generated indicates that these bacteria have possibly been lost during evolution along some lineages of filarial nematodes.
Sarracenia oreophila; green pitcher Plants; Endangered species Plants; Blue Ridge Physiographic Province; Georgia; North Carolina; bog; habitat; fire-dependent species; population monitoring; The Nature Conservancy Endangered species; Birds; Birds of prey; Captive breeding; Reintroduction; Raptors; 1976, (41 FR 187). Long recognized as a vanishing species (Cooper 1890, Koford 1953, Wilbur 1978), the California condor remains one ofthe world’s rarest and most imperiled vertebrate species. Despite intensive conservation... This booklet provides information for citizen stewards and landowners, who embody President Bush’s vision of cooperative conservation— a vision built upon innovation, local ideas, inspiration and incentives, and on- the- ground... Karner Blue – A Butterfly Captivates Wisconsin “ Instead of hearing, ‘ I don’t have that butterfly on my property,’ I hear, ‘ How can I get some of that wild lupine seed?’ ‘ You should see the lupine patch I have going!’ or... Abstract: The Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus, hereafter manatee), inhabiting Puerto Rico’s coastal waters, is a subspecies of the endangered West Indian manatee (Federal Register, July 22, 1985. Vol. 50(140):29900-29909). Habitat... Albert Novara oral history interview as conducted by Mark Madison. Albert Novara joined the federal government as a flyways biologist conducting aerial surveys. He flew in Canada, Mexico, North Dakota and the Arctic.
Gaming the System Before the presidential election took place this week, many teachers used attention to the political drama unfolding across the nation as a way to draw students into classroom discussions and assignments. Lesson plans that focus on elections have been around for decades to promote civic education and other learning goals. However, the idea that video games are a way to promote civic engagement and an understanding of democratic systems is a newer idea, although role-playing activities and strategic games around mock elections have long been used in K-12 classes about government. And, as Joseph Kahne pointed out in this DML interview, the correlation between online politicking and offline activism or voter participation can be difficult to prove. It may be easier to argue that the election often emphasized competing rhetorical performances, and therefore may be more useful as a model for education in public speaking and strategic communication than for less self-interested forms of civic virtue. Sixth College writing instructor Alexandra Sartor has been using Ian Bogost’s book How to Do Things with Videogames as a way to help her students think about how to do things with words. Sartor had heard a recent interview with Bogost called “Snagging the Youth Vote Via Videogames” and found discussing the efficacy of rule-based interactive systems to also be a useful way for students to think about how students negotiate conventions in a complex world of language games. VOTE!!! stages the debate between the two candidates as a martial arts style fighting game, in which the linguistic exchanges are not very sophisticated, but the sound effects are certainly dramatic. In fact, many players noted that the game uses the same type of engine as the popular Infinity Blade. Players can buy a microphone to use as a weapon when fighting the person from the other party. They can also protect themselves with armor like flag pins or magical powers that can include added health from Obamacare. In contrast, Fantasy Election uses the group dynamics and fictional scenario building of fantasy sports by exploiting the conceit that we can construct teams with successful players rather than stick with the political parties that give us relatively little agency in how useful coalitions might be built. Real-life candidates rack up statistics based on their actual behavior on the campaign trail. Much as a player can have an injury or a winning streak, politicians may have ups and downs when it comes to categories like “honesty,” “transparency,” “engagement,” and “civility.” Bogost also mentions a few more games with a political difference, such as Truth Invaders, which has appeared in another election cycle this year, and games that allow players to perform the role of a cunning political operative sizing up swing states such as Political Machine. Banner image credit: Darwin Bell http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/5215738292/
Solve the riddle and give this word scramble a try. Did you know that it requires 15 trees with a diameter of 10 inches at chest height to produce a cord of wood. A cord is a stack of cut fuel wood measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. One cord of wood yields 7,500,000 (seven million five hundred thousand) what? Here's how to play:
Step : 1 Dhritarashtra : ( Asks) “ O Sanjaya! Tell me, whatever my sons and the sons of Pandu, who were eager to fight, did on the sacred battlefield of Kurukshetra?” B. Geeta, 1 / 1 It’s Hastinapur, a small town to the north – west, half an hour for a car journey from Delhi, the present capital of India. Hastinapur, too, was the capital of Kauravas and Pandavas. Dhritarashtra was the King at Hastinapur. He was a blind, inborn, unable to see the war between his sons, the Kauravas and his nephews, the Pandavas. But he was too eager to perceive the incidence, as he was the root cause of the battle; therefore, the writer of the epic ‘Mahabharat’ vrishi Vyas blessed Sanjaya, a man from the Royal Court of Dhritarashtra, with the power of remote television and telecast, so as to narrate the live commentary of the battle to the King, sitting in the palace. As the war was scheduled on the barren land at Kurukshetra, a small village at the outskirts of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya stayed in the palace of the capital to review the forthcoming incidences. It is a single opening question asked by King Dhritarashtra to Sanjaya, that starts the discourse of ‘Shrimadbhagawadgeeta,’ which is shortly referred as ‘B. Geeta’ by the present writer in this book. Sanjaya : ( Replies ) “ Your son, Prince Duryodhan, with Dronacharya, the teacher of Kaurava’s, viewed the army of Pandavas. ……….. …………. …….” B. Geeta, 1/2 to 1 / 20 Unlike many other common battles, this battle was not fought among apposing armies of different religions, different casts or cultures, nor was it to extend the existing boundaries of the kingdom; but it was only outbreak of the expanded manifestation of the dispute among the Royal Family. King Dhritarashtra and King Pandu were the sons of Vichitravirya. They were kin brothers, Pandu being the younger. After Vichitrvirya, Pandu, though younger that Dhritarashtra, was crowned on the throne of Hastinapur, because Dhritarashtra being inborn blind by both eyes, was deemed unfit to be a king. Because of some consequences, when Pandu decided to leave Hatinapur for ever and proceed to jungle, he crowned his elder brother Dritarashtra as the King of Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra, further, denied the inborn right of the five sons of Pandu over the kingdom. Dispute began and worsened with advancing time. When all the attempts of mediation failed, battle was the only way out. Naturally, some relatives and friends who were the kings of different territories of Bharat, gathered with their armies, on the side of Pandavas and, similarly, others on the side of Kauravas. Obviously, the armies on the opposing sides were composed of a mix of mutual relatives, teachers and friends. The strength of the soldiers on the side of Kauravas was considerably vast than that, on the side of Pandavas. The Commander- in- Chief, on the side of Kauravas was Bhishma, the great; and on the side of Pandavas was Dhrishtadyumna. As the formal beginning of the cataclysmic war, renowned warriors blew their conches, tabors, drums and horns. The echoes, so sounded from the Pandava’s side, fluttered the hearts of everyone on Kaurava’s side. As the soldiers adjusted their arrows on the arches, Arjuna requested Krishna to drive his chariot between the two armies. Krishna, as an intimate friend and as a charioteer of Arjuna, immediately drove the chariot in the open space between the two armies. Arjuna paused a while, turned around to see the endless list of his relatives, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, companions, teachers and friends in the opposing armies. Everyone was astonished at Arjuna’s abrupt move and watched standstill, curiously, for his strange strategy. Step : Two Arjuna: “ O! Achut ( Krishna ), hold my chariot steady until I see and recognize those warriors who are enthusiastic to fight with me in this war. B. Geeta, 1 / 22 Krishna : “ O Arjuna, See carefully the Kauravas and the warriors assembled on their side.” B. Geeta, 1 / 25 Apparently, it is in disguise, why Arjuna desired to drive and hold his chariot amidst the two armies. Probably, Arjuna was overcome by great compassion. He watched his teacher, Drona; his grandfather, the Bhisma; all sons of paternal uncle ( the Kauravas ), fathers in law, maternal uncles, their sons, grandsons, kings from different kingdoms, all over the sub continents of Bharata and their armies which joined either the side of Kaurava’s or Pandava’s. Arjuna observed carefully. After he surveyed them all, he was distressful, To him it appeared that the war meant a slaughter of one’s own people, which can result into unidentified and unanticipated outcome. He was surprised as to why nobody out of those gathered here, can’t look vividly the ultimate result of this devastating war. Apart from the attitude of all others, Arjuna turned distraught and distressed, and said : Arjuna : “ O Krishna! I did see all those, my relatives who are gathered here to fight. ……………….. …………….. … ……………………….” B. Geeta, 1 / 28 to 1 /31 “ Krishna! Well, I have seen, but my body is trembling. There are tremors along my legs, feet and arms. My mouth and the tongue in it, is becoming dry .My hair stand stiff. I can‘t hold the the arch ( the Gandiva ) in my hands, it is slipping down. My skin is burning with hot flushes all around. I can’t stand, even. My mind is puzzled. Can’t say why I realize these adverse symptoms. I do not think it creditable for me to kill all these relatives. Hay Krishna! I do not long for any victory and the kingdom of Hastinapur.” Arjuna : “ Hay Govinda! Why should we become the king of a kingdom? Why should we be the proud owners of pleasure and luxury? What for we desire to live (after killing the relatives )? ” B. Geeta, 1 / 32 “ O Janardan! What would be manner that we will be blessed after killing the B. Geeta, 1 / 36 “ O Madhava ! How can we be happy after killing our relatives? ” B. Geeta, 1 / 37 “ O Janardan! Why are we unaware, to refrain from the sin of destruction of our family and our clan? ” B. Geeta, 1 / 39 Arjuna was so confused that he, at a short time, asked a bunch of questions to Krishna, without permitting hardly any time to Krishna to reply. He was unsteady, physically and mentally. He had lost the power of self reasoning. He felt like a storm over the usual calm and quite state of his mind, to rouse the abundant waves over it, big and small, blurring the view at the bottom of his mind, churning the confusion and grief further. And it happens, with all of us at sometimes in our life, too. A tightly knit social structure of highly evolved culture, is invariably based on family oriented ethics. Even now, with the advent of polluted modernization, nobody is practically free to decide and implement one’s own ideas, as long as they are approved by the majority of relatives, kin and in laws. Whatever Arjuna realized, was ideologically, a truth, but a misplaced one, on the grounds of battle, where the arrows were just to shot up from the arches of the soldiers on both the sides. Arjuna rolled on his own chain of thoughts. As he estimated the destruction of all the families of Kauravas and Pandvas; he feared ending the worship to their forefathers, which is a grave guilt according to Sanatan ( Vedic ) Religion. He could fairly depict the consequences of the war. Despite the destruction of his loving ones, his teacher Drona and his grandfather Bhisma, there will be anarchy, women of the Royal family will be dishonored, there will be a downgraded mixture of cast and culture, not any ancestor will be worshiped, and his country, the Bharat, will not be any more than a hell. As to his question, why nobody was inclined to exhibit the ability to anticipate the dark and dust of a terrible war, was true. As a social worker and religious thinkers, salute to Arjuna’s cognizance, some thousands of years ago. Despite the debate on the historical landmarks of ‘Mahabharat’, one has to concentrate on the facts of a blurring history, which is prone to turn into a mythology. There is another such incidence in the ancient history of India. The Emperor Ashoka Maurya (304 BCE – 232 BCE) the Maurya dynasty, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent, set up the Kalinga war, which he waged himself out of a desire for conquest. He rose up as the victories, but cried up, afterwards, in despair at the sight of the annihilation during the war, supposedly turned to Buddhism to guard and propagate the nonviolence in the countries all along the south-east Asia. Arjuna’s questions were most practical, and properly in time, as compared to Ashoka’s grief, which pondered as an aftermath of the battle. Arjuna’s questions remained as unanswered by Krishna, for the time. Krishna might have assumed the changed mind set of Arjuna, as an inevitable affair; if He was to conciliate him and plant some different ideology to come out victorious in the present battle. The Divine Dialogues With the evolution of human race, the linguistic aptitude constantly improved in dimensions of tune, quality and temperament. Any kind of human dialog, then, became the source of personal, social and global attainment of pleasure. And, now, a dialogue has proved an essential medium for personal satisfaction, familial co existence, fulfillment of social needs, political moves and global integration. The dialogues are the modes and modules of interactions. The basic learning of a baby begins with the warm and assuring dialogues, initially, with the parents; to be continued lifelong with the kids of same age group, brothers and sisters, relatives with all age groups, friends, teachers, neighbors, mentors, seers, philosophers and spiritualists. Dialogues are the ideal method of learning for any sort of knowledge. When it comes to imparting a divine knowledge, dialogues with a mentor matter the most. It’s the practice that sustained for thousands of years, as a reliable means of discourses; either ethical or mythological. Apart from a chit- chat, any substantial knowledge needs an intellectual play at a higher level of understanding and genius courage to implement it in it’s worth ideological values. It is surprising enough that such a method of learning evolved to be practiced widely, when the world was lacking in any supplementary material, like paper, pen, books, curriculum, black board or a chock to visualize the theme of the subject in the context. In the ancient history of India, the Guru kul, ( Teacher’s Family) pattern of schools was invariably adopted. The pupils were a part of the mentor’s family and they stayed with him till the end of their education. The relationship between the teacher and the students, so developed, was bound hard and everlasting, building faith and respect towards the teacher. The teacher had an opportunity to inspect closely the career inclination and the character building of every student around him. But the dialogues that I refer to, the dialogues among archer Arjuna as a follower and Lord Shrikrishna as his mentor, as narrated in Shrimadbhagawadgeeta, are the pillars on peculiarly a different background and unique circumstances of a battlefield. The supremacy of the dialogues is beyond any doubt. The incarnation of Lord Krishna on the earth, as regarded unanimously by all saints, sages and scholars, is almost complete in its virtues. He, being the supreme mentor, Arjun is the supreme follower, as he is the only direct recipient of the knowledge which, then, is obviously supreme. The dialogues imparting spiritual knowledge are invariably abundant in most of the religious literature around the world; so are they in many religious scriptures of Hindu literature too, but the dialogues in Shrimadbhagawadgeeta are outstanding and utmost divine. They are perceived as being more fundamental principles in any human being, are briefed in appropriate words, being the sweet and delicious cream of all schools of Hindu religious sciences. The dialogues are bilateral and reveal the spiritual principles in user friendly atmosphere. Otherwise, spiritualism is a mysterious knowledge, too difficult to attain and understand. It is all about ‘yourself.’ Can somebody try to know oneself? None can understand you better than you ‘yourself.’ Once we get ourselves acquainted, the universe remains like a pear on the palm, to be viewed instantly from all angles to get it recognized beyond doubts. Despite the height we attain by climbing the steps of a ladder, what is the purpose of fostering a ladder of uneven steps, that make it impossible to climb to the top of it in any single attempt? Similarly, the steps of the divine dialogues must be suitable to pull one up towards the fulfillment of knowledge and success in various aspects of human life. The dialogues from the Bhagawadgeeta stand confidently upright in this context and nurture the follower to ride upon the success and satisfaction of his life. As the dialogues are self evident in transforming a pessimist to an outright optimist, every individual, may be a devotee or else, is likely to share the benefits of perusing the verses, which, again, are divine. I personally agree to coin the themes of these verses on the ground of individual needs and fulfillment, of anybody dwelling in the universe. These themes are so invading the universe, that nobody can refuse the results, out coming as an exercise of their meditation and contemplation. The mind, though invisible to physical eyes, controls all other organs of functions, flows, as if, with the wind, dipping for a moment down in the valleys, and touching the high of the sky in another. Arjuna, the formidable and unparalleled warrior of his time, who had defeated all the renowned fighters of the Kaurava’s side, during the year of concealment of Pandavas, was surprisingly reluctant under distress and abandoned the fight, even before the crusade with the Kauravas was yet to begin, depicting the question mark for his friend, relative and honorable mentor, Krishna, who was posed to explain the Geeta in subsequent moments. The vulnerable and volatile mind needs to be a mould of stiff and sturdy nature, without any prejudice, to be a successful crusader. The divine dialogues play exactly the same roll in everybody who concentrate on them. We, as a common men, are anxious to wave our worries away, determine our duties and goals and toile towards the top of our success, to realize ourselves fully gratified in the life. Let us begin to step up the ladder steps, the divine dialogues, to meet again at the top of it, to discuss our journey of ‘Toiling Towards The Top.’ Though the nature of my father was bit a reticent, whatever he uttered, used to be highly meaningful. It was always a surprise to me to listen to his learned thoughts, despite his illiteracy and inability to hold a word out of any religious book. I do not remember any particular incidence in conjunction to my life, if any, when he asked me, “ Let there be no pride.” As usual, I could not either gather any indication from his speech of only of a single sentence, or pay much attention towards it. But, in the due course of time, when I was plunged into the pool of religious books, I frequently used to come across the sentence, “ The pride erodes the pack of your fortune.” Decades passed since I was warned about the enemy, but I could not realize the foggy fumes of pride around me; never did I mind the boulders blocking the natural flow for smooth passage of my life. I tried most of the means of devotion; various pilgrimages, fasts, rituals, sermons, perusals, religious narrations to praise Him; all in an urge to get acquainted with the omnipotent God, my Vitthal, to pray him, sometimes, to fulfill my long listing lusts and surrender to him whenever the burden of sorrows on my neck, compels me to bow at His feet. ‘What is the resultant outcome?’ I unduly tried to review. I whorled around, watched eagerly for any glimpses of my devoted Vitthal, concentrated to hear any of His word of assurance and worship, awaited still to help Him pat on my back to encourage,” Stand up and proceed!” None the less, to smell the fragrance of the leaves of Tulasi, that He loves the most. Or, at least to listen the gentle broadcast from the sky,” O! My Gyana!” Or, a drop of the nectar ,from the lotus He bears in His hand, that it’s heavenly taste puts the eternal end for me to the chain of my births and deaths. Oh! No! Nothing of its kind I was worthy enough! And, today, while chanting the verse, ‘’ People with abundant pride added with destructive power and arrogance , lust and anger are demonic minded, who are jealous to me, extra vagrant , overwhelmed with demonic joy, do not understand me either alone or living in as a soul in all the bodies. B. Geeta, 16 / 18 simultaneously remembered me of my father’s advice, ’not to be proud.’ Still I am hopeful and faithful to the seers, saints and scholars, saying,’ the God certainly is yours at any moment you desire to meet Him. He will be all for you, instantly; provided you fulfill the conditions that apply for His acceptance: There is an event in the epic Mahabharata, wherein Draupadi, the devotee of Lord Krishna was being tried to be undressed to make her nude by Dushashana, in the assembly of Pandawas and Kaurawas. Nobody was in a position to help her and protect her dignity from this evil manoeuvre . She helplessly cried and called for Lord Krishna, as ‘Govinda !’ to help her immediately. During this occasion, Lord Krishna was at His capital Dwaraka, some 2000 miles away from Hastinapur, the site of this incidence. Lord Krishna rushed immediately, with the word ‘Go….’ and reached to Hastinapur, before she completed the call ‘ ….. vinda !’ But He did not make His existence apparent and begin to help her, as He sow her saree in her tight grip of her hand to resist Dushashana in making her nude . It was only then, when she lost the grip on her saree and thereby the pride, to resist Dushashana and protect herself of her own, that Lord Krishna provided her with a saree of unaccountable length, enough to exhaust Dushashana in pulling it and he was fallen on the floor, comatose and fatigued. Your pride is the biggest obstacle in getting the help from your devoted God. It would certainly be a divine knowledge that trains us to overcome the pride and help us to enjoy the presence of God around us. Self satisfaction and peace of mind can tame the pride, otherwise sins and sorrows are inevitable as the outcome of the pride. The seers and saints hate and outcast the pride, as it creates the ignorance profoundly, to blur our vision to discover the real identity of one’s own, to announce the reason and resolution of everything in the world: ‘I am the only One.’ The pride is a big burglar to push the ball of pains in the throat of its victim and robe his treasure of pleasure away. A proud man is ashamed of any healthy surrender for a worthy cause. He is lured to be sinful, that boycotts its salvation and continuously extends the chain of his births and deaths. Is not it a time now for us to escape from our long loving pride? Oh! My Sisters and …..……. ! The magic verbal duo from Swami Vivekanand, ‘brothers and sisters’, that once thrilled and shook the world’ s intellect and passion to perpetuate the notion of the noble Hindu religion, would have been paused, in grief and shame, at the present circumstances; and then to utter only, “Oh! My Sisters …!” Even though an age old thorn, the sexual perversion, erupts and pricks in multi folds, the society can do nothing but mourn on those victims, to whom we call, ‘ My Sisters ….!’ Rape and rapist! Nothing strange! Stranger is all our weak memory , which conveniently forgot the curse for our life, in our bunch of pleasure and faith in free and fast moving modernization, that the rift between genders, is so universal and natural, impossible to be drifted into a smooth plateau . And , now, when the socialist, the politicians, the lawyers , the revolutionists, the ministers, the reforming NGO’s , all fail to proceed down along the streets of capital Delhi, to the protesters to calm them down, are crowding at the back doors of the parliament, to argue for the requirement of a formidable law to minimize the incidences of brutal crime of rape. But, oh! my sisters! Please do not forget this drama during an interval of a movie, that hopelessly indulges in decreasing the appetite of rapist civilization. Similar were the attempts exercised by our ancestors, worldwide, that can be traced along the pages of written history. Still we find ourselves standing on the same verge of social collapse that our fore mothers realized thousands of years ago. Though I am not pointing towards any particular incidence of rape in any specific country, I cannot resist myself crying out for my sisters: and all other in laws are no exception. Even a husband can’t be overlooked. Surveys reveal that 30% rape incidences are reportedly within the inmates of a family. Be alert and learn to analyze the actions , reactions, body language and the intensions focusing out from the pupils of a dormant rapist residing in your family. An otherwise silent shadow around you can turn violent at any moment. Suspicion and detection earlier is most important. Try to avoid to be lonely with such an individual. Unveil the circumstances to your dearest girl friend. Be sure; ’prevention is better than cure’. to dominate, even to a so called cultured human. It’s firebrand. Be cautious that, knowingly or innocently, any inflammable fluid is not being poured on such a firebrand. A nude can’t be a too mod. Dress to cover yourself fully. Mind well that the saliva is bound to dribble from the tongue of a dog at the sight of a piece of a bare bone. Please don’t be exhibitionist. A rapist insists only on his instantaneous muscle power, which, naturally, the victim lacks appropriately, yielding a resultant success to the rapist. The rapist has a proud tendency to call himself the singer of the song, ‘Let there be a shower of deaths, after a momentary enjoyment of love ( sexual)’.Therefore, do not be insecure and alone, either at home or on the roads. Some girls may revert the physical blow on the rapist, but it would be an exception, not to be assumed as a rule. Some kinds of protective and defensive exercises may help, but their utility is uncertain at any crucial juncture. for the competitions of ‘beauty queen’ or ‘miss universe’. Don’t try to walk like a cat and, unnecessarily, attract the dogs to bite and bleed your honor. Do not respond repeatedly to the ill motivated glimpses of any male and invite the ugly events. Women are unduly proud of their beauty and men of their muscle strength. The result is doubtlessly clear, if they colloid and combat. Medias like T.V., radio, wireless means like mobiles, movies, lustful magazines and unhealthy habits, to understand the necessity to cultivate a cultural mind. The responsibility of restricting the media that decays the cultural heritage, at any personal end , but it recalls the wide spread outrage against the attitude of the media that only spoils the brain under cover of entertainment. The issue of banning the media on some provocative themes, is out of the reach of this topic, but worth recognizing its role in initiating cruel and coward tendencies among its millions and millions of spectators. The above list of precautions is only indicative on the line. You may identify many more if you think seriously. But, none the less, these five points may help you uprooting the five fingers of the hand raising towards you. Do not wait for encompassing and widening the definitions of the sexual assaults. That’s all obligatory on the part of any government. The show will go on. Self help is the only help for you and for those generations to follow. We hope, any Swami Vivekanand, any time in the future, will be proud to utter the words; “ My brothers and sisters!” HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today the calendar on the wall highlights 1st January. Whatever was anticipated until yesterday, vividly stud around me since early in the morning, bombarding me with the heavy, long and wide, dramatic and poetic greeting messages, obviously on telephones, for the twelve months of the new year commencing hence forth. The greetings poured on me so streamingly that I hardly enjoyed any time to answer them all. No sooner than I uttered briefly and silently on the calls, my family members reminded me: “ Oh! It’s a tradition! Follow some etiquettes, these are the manners! “ The chair I was leaning on, offered me some assurance to sit calm and quiet for some measurable moments to recall the bunches of greetings I was wished with during all forty odd years in the past. The wishes, during all those years, for a happy and prosperous year for me, were unaccountable. Only the number was waxing during some years and waning during some others; but the years of my life, as I see, crawled slowly, tumbling and jumbling as usual, with all pains but a streak of pleasure, only to count the years gone by! As I could glimpse around me, I could see in the crowd surrounding me, all my affectionate friends and loving relatives, surprisingly sailing in the same boat that I was boarded on, and, who are greeted for prosperous and happy future, thousands of times and , still, are aching due to throbbing pains and recurrent bleeding scars in the past, incurred by the blows of their day to day struggle to thrive. Do the greetings really influence anybody’s prospects and carry on the prosperity? Let the answer be ‘yes’ or ‘no’; in either circumstances, a question lingers in the mind, ‘why?’ I personally agree with the answer, ‘no’. These greetings can change nothing of our fate. Those who are introvert, can realize the fact that there is almost nothing potential in the Greetings to transform the future and fate of the concern individual; because when we try to greet for a new year, we actually greet the ‘time’ which is never an ‘old, or a ‘new.’ It is only in a language grammar, to cultivate our spoken ability to utilize tenses described as present, past and future. A day of 1st January does not carry any significant difference than the 31st December or 2nd of January. There aren’t, necessarily, any celestial or natural changes. The difference, if any, is only the figure of the preceding number ( 31 ) and succeeding( 2 ), printed on the calender. Our most dependable measure of a year is the number of sun rise and sun sets, where we conveniently overlook the fact that the sun too, is in the tight grip of ‘time’, which can create thousands and thousands of suns in the universe and disperse them into fumes and dust. Therefore, there is no any old or new year for our world to greet among ourselves. Still we greet many more calendar occasions, at least some 10 days in a year, forward average 100 greetings per occasion, wasting of our valuable time of several hours and money in hundreds, just to award the honor to ourselves , I say, ‘ social gentleman.’ I doubt, most of us fear to be reluctant in greeting and join the euphoriant chaos to avoid the ‘asocial’ brand over our personality. And, we never forget to taunt the names of those ‘mannerless creatures’ around us who do not indulge themselves in such fruitless traditions. Again, it is a well known trend in any treading, to paralyze the customer first and then loot his pocket as much as possible, such greeting trends seem to be emerged from the economic brain of the telecommunication companies , who earn millions and millions through the back doors while the world population is jubilant at the front end over the occasion which does not harbor any special impact on personal , social or global life and is meaningless on the screen of ‘TIME.’
The value of digital 3-D object representation as an aid to exploit remotely sensed images has been demonstrated. Experience has shown that knowledge about what is being viewed is required to accomplish non-trivial object recognition tasks when such an aid is used. Previous approaches representing knowledge as constraints in a relaxation scheme or as templates for pattern matching, lack flexibility and realism. This paper presents recent research results on a shaded surface computer graphics approach that uses a knowledge base consisting of a library of three-dimensional objects represented as surfaces and skeletons. Objects include pieces of terrain, vehicles and buildings. The surfaces for these objects are generated by mapping surfaces onto topological contours or onto a series of cross sectional object outlines. For branching contours (n contours in section i connecting to m contours in section i+i), the surfaces are mapped by first concatenating the section i contours into a single large contour, similarly concatenating the section i+i contours, then performing the one to one mapping. Capping off single arbitrarily shaped contours is done by computing the medial axis transform of the contours, constructing the medial axis contour and then mapping a surface from the contour to the medial axis contour. The skeleton of a general three-dimensional closed polygonal surface may be obtained through use of a three-dimensional extension of the medial axis transform. This research has resulted in a mapping algorithm that provides a more general method for obtaining surface descriptions of non-analytic contour defined objects suitable for placement in a scene and for shaded surface rendition. Furthermore, depth profiles of the scene may be generated, which are useful for comparisons with actual depth information. Date of this Version
If you experience any of these symptoms do not assume it is due to cancer. Most of these symptoms may be caused by other, less serious health conditions. If you experience any one of them, see your physician. Symptoms of esophageal cancer include the following: Dysphagia —This involves trouble swallowing; usually you have the sensation that food is sticking in your chest or throat. There may also be pain with swallowing. Cough —Any irritation of the breathing tubes may cause a cough. Aspiration —Food that gets stuck in the esophagus is very likely to come back up and find its way into the lungs, which is called aspiration. Aspiration causes violent coughing and possibly pneumonia . Weight loss —In addition to the usual weight loss that accompanies cancer (known as cancer cachexia), your reduced ability to eat magnifies this symptom in esophageal cancer. At least half of esophageal cancer patients have lost significant weight by the time they are diagnosed. Pain —In addition to pain from obstructed swallowing, the cancer may cause pain by creating a lesion in the lining of the esophagus or by invading sensitive nearby structures. Vomiting blood —You may vomit blood that has oozed from the cancer into your esophagus or stomach. Tarry, black bowel movements —These are the result of bleeding in the upper digestive tract. The blood turns black as it passes through the intestines. Anemia —Chronic loss of blood due to the cancer may first appear as anemia. If you have anemia, you'll feel exhausted and be pale in color. Laryngeal nerve palsy —A nerve in the chest that controls your vocal cords may stop working when the cancer invades it, resulting in a hoarse voice. Fistula —The cancer may erode an opening between the esophagus and the airway, causing food to enter the lungs (aspiration) and leading to pneumonia. - Reviewer: Mohei Abouzied, MD - Review Date: 09/2012 - - Update Date: 00/92/2012 -
The new primary maths series, full of enjoyable examples and exercises that your pupils will love! Written by local teachers and teacher trainers, New Primary Mathematics contains: Numerous easy-to-follow examples that help pupils to understand new mathematical concepts Frequent real-life questions provide sufficient practice to help pupils to develop their skills and understand how to apply their mathematical knowledge in various contexts A simple, easy-to-follow layout helps guide the pupils through the course step-by-step. Each Pupils’ Book has an accompanying FREE Teacher’s Guide* which includes full support for the teacher including objectives, suggestions for lesson plans and advice on classroom management. *Free Teacher’s Guide with each class set ordered
Today, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to place additional limitations on the use of three organophosphate pesticides — chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion — to protect endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The announcement comes in response to a series of lawsuits brought by Earthjustice aimed at removing toxic pesticides from salmon spawning streams throughout the northwest. In response to Earthjustice litigation, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in November of 2008 released a "biological opinion" that set forth a plan for protecting Pacific salmon and steelhead from three toxic organophosphate pesticides. That decision came after almost a decade of legal wrangling between salmon advocates led by Earthjustice and the federal government. The biological opinion prescribed measures necessary to keep these pesticides out of water and to protect salmon populations in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. The announcement from EPA today moves this work forward. Although the experts at NMFS recommended prohibiting aerial applications of the three pesticides within 1,000 feet of salmon waters and ground applications within 500 feet of salmon waters, EPA has taken a different course. EPA believes it can achieve the same protections for salmon with buffers ranging from 100 to 1,000 feet depending on pesticide application rate and stream size. In their announcement today, EPA says it will require industry to fund and carry out monitoring of salmon streams in order to assure the pesticide restrictions work as intended. "EPA's decision is a major step toward protecting our salmon stocks and revitalizing the fishing industry, which can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in the region," said Joshua Osborne-Klein, an attorney for Earthjustice, the environmental law firm that represented the salmon advocates. "But we're concerned that EPA's alternative won't be enough to keep these poisons out of salmon waters, and we urge the wildlife experts at NMFS to closely review EPA's plan." The three pesticides at issue in the biological opinion are known to contaminate rivers and streams throughout California and the Pacific Northwest and poison salmon and steelhead (see background below). "Our goal is to rebuild the healthy salmon stocks native to the Pacific Northwest," said Osborne-Klein, of Earthjustice. "Getting agricultural poisons out of salmon spawning streams is one of many needed actions to see the salmon stocks rebuilt." In addition to jeopardizing salmon, these pesticides pose serious risks to public health – especially the health of young children. A number of recent studies have linked prenatal exposure to organophosphate insecticides with behavioral problems including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A 2006 study published in Pediatrics, compared the risks of chlorpyrifos to prenatal cocaine exposure. In 2002, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, and other salmon advocates, with legal representation from Earthjustice, obtained a federal court order declaring that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to consult with NMFS on the impacts that certain pesticides have on salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest and California. As a result of that lawsuit, EPA began consultations, but NMFS never issued biological opinions or identified the measures needed to protect salmon and steelhead from the pesticides. In 2007, the salmon advocates filed a second lawsuit and entered into a settlement agreement with NMFS that establishes a schedule for issuing the required biological opinions. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determined that accepted uses of chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of 27 species of endangered or threatened salmon and steelhead. NMFS found that current uses were likely reducing the number of salmon returning to spawn. These three pesticides are all organophosphates (a class of neurotoxic chemicals). They are used in both agricultural and/or urban insect control. Recent research has found that in combination the effect of organophosphate mixtures is greater than the effect of each of the chemicals' effects when added together. These chemicals are often found together. • Contaminates rivers throughout the west at levels harmful to fish or their food sources according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The basins where chlorpyrifos was detected at harmful levels include the Willamette, San Joaquin, Tulare, and the Central Columbia Basin. • Is "very highly toxic" to fish according to U.S. EPA's toxicity classification system. • Impairs fish reproduction by reducing egg production in fish. • Inhibits juvenile coho salmon feeding behavior and swimming speed. • Harms the survival and reproduction of salmon food sources. • Contaminates rivers throughout the west at levels harmful to fish or their food sources according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The basins where diazinon was detected at harmful levels include the Willamette, San Joaquin, Tulare, the Central Columbia Basin and Puget Sound. It was also detected in King County, Washington streams. • Impairs feeding, predator avoidance, spawning, homing and migration capabilities by impeding salmon sense of smell. • Leads to weakened swimming activity in juvenile trout. • Is acutely toxic to salmon food sources. • Contaminates rivers throughout the west at levels harmful to fish or their food sources according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The basins where malathion was detected at harmful levels include the Willamette, San Joaquin, Tulare, and the Central Columbia Basin. It was also detected in King County, Washington streams. • Leads to weakened swimming activity in juvenile trout.
\|Its early summer 1994, 12:34 p.m. local time, and the Canadian Twin Otter research aircraft is flying 20 meters (about 65 feet) above the boreal forest canopy near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Scientists are busy measuring the exchanges of gas and heat between the forest and the lower atmosphere when the plane flies into an unseen vortex of intense, heat-induced windsa "dust devil," as these phenomena are called in desert regions of the southwestern United States. Instruments aboard the aircraft clock the wind shift across the wall of the vortex at nearly 20 meters per second (45 miles per hour) and the updraft at the center of the vortex at 11 meters per second (25 miles per hour). Without warning, the strong winds catapult the Twin Otter upward and sideways in a few seconds. Fortunately, the pilot is able to stabilize the aircraft and return the plane and crewmembers safely to the ground, albeit a little shaken up. That summer the Twin Otter flew into eight such vortices in four months (MacPherson and Betts, 1997). by David Herring \|As an integral part of NASAs Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) measurement strategy, a team of researchers, including Alan K. Betts from Vermont, used instruments aboard the Twin Otter and on forest towers to measure interactions between the forest and the lower atmosphere. During each season from 199497, data were collected on the exchanges of heat, momentum, carbon dioxide, ozone and water vapor to gain insights into the ongoing "dialogue" that occurs between the boreal ecosystem and the atmosphere. Their goal is to understand how changes in air temperature, moisture and carbon dioxide levels may impact the boreal ecosystem and what role the boreal forest plays in global-scale One of Betts primary research objectives was to quantify the amount of heat emitted and light reflected by the boreal forest. The vortices of hot air that occasionally sent his colleagues on the Twin Otter "thrill rides" reinforced what other measurements were showingthe boreal forest stores and releases significantly more heat to the atmosphere in the spring and early summer than scientists previously thought.
I was in the gym sweating up a storm. As the salty droplets fell from the tip of my nose, from my armpits and even from my knees I wondered, “Why do we sweat when we exercise?” Why do we sweat more in the heat of summer or when we have fevers? Why do we sweat more if we become nervous, angry or embarrassed? The quick answer, of course, is that it is the body’s way of cooling itself. I knew that, and you probably do, too. But why and how does the body know it needs to sweat to cool itself down? We are born with 2 to 4 million sweat glands that are mostly located under the arms, on the soles of the feet, and on the palms of the hands. The function of these glands is controlled by a part of the nervous system that is not under conscious control: the Autonomic Nervous System. The purpose of sweating is to maintain the core body temperature normal at about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. When the food you eat goes through the digestive process, the metabolic “burning” of the calories ingested results in heat production. Another source of heat production is simply being outside in the heat of the day, (think of a chicken or turkey sitting inside a hot oven; it gets hot and cooked, right?). Heat is also produced when you are sick and the immune system kicks into high gear to fight the infection or illness: a fever results. Even though these are normal processes, a prolonged elevation of the internal core temperature is not conducive to healthy functioning of other body systems. So Mother Nature developed sweating as the body’s own evaporative cooling system. The Autonomic Nervous System (the hypothalamus gland within the brain specifically) can detect when the internal core temperature is elevated. It then causes the blood vessels nearest the surface of the skin to dilate (thus, we get flushed). The dilated blood vessels then loose some fluid, which is then released through the pores of the skin and via sweat glands Salt is released along with this fluid, which is why sweat tastes salty and why we need to replenish salt along with water when we sweat excessively. The sweat produced may be acted upon by bacteria, causing a noticeable odor. Nervousness and anxiety also signals the hypothalamus to initiate sweat production. Even in normal or cool ambient temperatures, the body maintains its core temperature with this evaporative cooling system. This is why it is so important to replenish this fluid loss with drinking water. Without sweating we would cook ourselves from the inside out. Heat stroke or heat exhaustion is very real and either is a dangerous situation, especially here in Phoenix. In extreme heat or with vigorous physical activity under the sun, the body may not be able to dissipate the heat fast enough and the core temperature may exceed 104 degrees. A dehydrated person may not be able to sweat fast enough to dissipate the internal heat. So drink that water. Heat exhaustion can progress to heat stroke, a life threatening medical emergency, quickly. Know these symptoms: fatigue, weakness, muscle cramping, nausea with or without vomiting, headache, dizziness, strange behavior or even hallucinations, the absence of sweating, severe flushing and a rapid pulse. First aid for heat exhaustion or heat stroke involves calling 911 and proceeding to rapid cooling of the body: by getting out of the heat into a shaded area or air-conditioning, applying cold wet sheets or towels or just dousing the body with cold water, getting the cold and wet evaporated by a fan or manually fanning with anything handy, and of course drinking water, water, water. • Agnes Oblas is an adult nurse practitioner with a private practice and residence in Ahwatukee Foothills. For questions, or if there is a topic you would like her to address, call (602) 405-6320, email [email protected] or visit www.newpathshealth.com.
More women are obtaining Ph.D.’s in science than ever before, but those women — largely because of pressures from having a family — are far more likely than their male counterparts to “leak” out of the research science pipeline before obtaining tenure at a college or university. That’s the conclusion of a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, who warned that the loss of these scientists — together with the increased research capabilities of Asian and European countries — may threaten America’s pre-eminence in science. The study, “Keeping Women in the Science Pipeline,” found that women who are married with young children are 35 percent less likely to enter a tenure-track position after receiving a Ph.D. in science than are married men with young children and Ph.D.’s in science. Not only that, the married women with young children are 28 percent less likely than women without children to achieve tenure in the sciences. Moreover, women Ph.D.’s with young children are 27 percent less likely than men with children to receive tenure after entering a tenure-track job in the sciences. The report notes that single women without young children are roughly as successful as married men with children in attaining tenure-track jobs. According to the report, plans to have children affect women postdoctoral scholars more than their male counterparts. Women who had children after becoming postdoctoral scholars in the University of California system were twice as likely as their male counterparts to shift their career goals away from being professors with a research emphasis — a 41 percent shift for women versus 20 percent for men. “Of course, not all women want children or marriage,” noted the report, written by three researchers at the University of California, Berkeley: Mary Ann Mason, Marc Goulden and Karie Frasch. “As one faculty colleague put it, ‘Motherhood would only keep me from my passion: science.’” Tenured male scientists are considerably more likely to be married with children than tenured female scientists — 73 percent for men versus 53 percent for women. The report noted that among tenured science professors, women are nearly three times more likely to be single without children than men — 25 percent to 9 percent. The report said that one reason many women Ph.D.’s leave the research science pipeline is that only a small fraction of research universities offer paid maternity leave to graduate students or postdoctoral scholars. According to the report, 13 percent of universities provide at least six weeks’ paid maternity leave to graduate students, while 58 percent of universities provide it to faculty. The report found huge time demands on faculty, especially women. “The time pressures of academia are unrelenting for most faculty in the sciences, who work on average about 50 hours a week up through age 62,” the report states. “When combined with care-giving hours and house work, U.C. women faculty with children, ages 30 to 50, report a weekly average of over 100 hours of combined activities (compared to 86 hours for men with children). And women faculty with children provide an average of more than 30 hours a week of care giving up through age 50.” The report urges universities to adopt more family-friendly policies to help prevent women Ph.D.’s in the sciences from dropping out of research careers. It recommends giving paid maternity leave to graduate students and “stopping the clock” on tenure for women scientists who give birth, perhaps by giving an extra year before making tenure decisions, in effect giving them extra time to do research and publish. The report also criticized policies that require postdoctoral scholars to begin their work within a certain number of years after receiving their Ph.D. “The lock-step timing of academia needs to be more flexible,” the report says. “America’s researchers do not receive enough family-responsive benefits, particularly the more junior researchers,” the report concludes. “All major research universities should look to build a family-friendly package of policies and resources.” Ms. Mason, the report’s principal author and a director of the Center for Economics and Family Security at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, noted that since 2003, the University of California system had adopted more family-friendly policies, like giving new mothers leave of two semesters without teaching in addition to their child-birth leave and giving six weeks’ paid maternity leave to graduate students. Thanks in large part to such policies, Professor Mason said, 64 percent of assistant professors in the University of California system have children, up from 27 percent in 2003. “It shows that you can change the workplace culture,” she said.
BASIC GEOMETRIC SHAPES Architecture is the science of building. Architects understand the natural laws of gravity and their affects upon mass. There are four basic geometric shapes used by architects in designing buildings. They are the circle, square, triangle, and rectangle. A building may use one or a combination of the shapes in its design. When we study a building's design, we see the shapes as three-dimensional. As you look at each image in the kit see if you can spot them.
THE SLOW PROGRESS OF THE BOY WHO STARTS IN A BREAKER, AND ENDS, AN OLD MAN IN THE BREAKER —AS TOLD BY A MAN WHO WAS ONCE A MINER BY REV. JOHN McDOWELL "I’m twelve years old, goin' on thirteen," said the boy to the boss of the breaker. He didn't look more than ten, and he was only nine, but the law said he must be twelve to get a job. He was one of a multitude of the 16,000 youngsters of the mines, who, because miners' families are large and their pay comparatively small, start in the breaker before many boys have passed their primary schooling. From the time he enters the breaker there is a rule of progress that is almost always followed. Once a miner and twice a breaker boy, the upward growth of boy to man, breaker boy to miner, the descent from manhood to old age, from miner to breaker boy: that is the rule. So the nine-year old boy who is "twelve, goin' on thirteen," starts in the breaker. He gets from fifty to seventy cents for ten hours' work. He rises at 5:30 o'clock in the morning, puts on his working clothes, always soaked with dust, eats his breakfast, and by seven o'clock he has climbed the dark and dusty stairway to the screen room where he works. He sits on a hard bench built across a long chute through which passes a steady stream of broken coal. From the coal he must pick the pieces of slate or rock. It is not a hard life but it is confining and irksome. Sitting on his uncomfortable seat, bending constantly over the passing stream of coal, his hands soon become cut and scarred by the sharp pieces of slate and coal, while his finger nails are soon worn to the quick from contact with the iron chute. The air he breathes is saturated with the coal dust, and as a rule the breaker is fiercely hot in summer and intensely cold in winter. In many of the modern breakers, to be sure, steam heating pipes have been introduced into the screen rooms, and fans have been placed in some breakers to carry away the dust. But however favorable the conditions, the boy's life is a hard one. Yet it is a consistent introduction to what is to follow. The ambition of every breaker boy is to enter the mines, and at the first opportunity he begins there as a door boy,—never over fourteen years of age and often under. The work of the door boy is not so laborious as that in the breaker, but is more monotonous. He must be on hand when the first trip of cars enter in the morning and remain until the last comes out at night. His duty is to open and shut the door as men and cars pass through the door, which controls and regulates the ventilation of the mine. He is alone in the darkness and silence all day, save when other men and boys pass through his door. Not many of these boys care to read, and if they did it would be impossible in the dim light of their small lamp. Whittling and whistling are the boy's chief recreations. The door boy's wages vary from sixty five to seventy five cents a day, and from this he provides his own lamp, cotton and oil. Just as the breaker boy wants to be a door-boy, the door boy wants to be a driver. When the mules are kept in the mines, as they usually are, the driver boy must go down the shaft in time to clean and harness his mule, bring him to the foot of the shaft and hitch him to a trip of empty cars before seven o'clock. This trip of cars varies from four to seven according to the number of miners. The driver takes the empty cars to the working places and returns them loaded to the foot of the shaft. They are then hoisted to the surface and conveyed to the breaker where the coal is cracked, sorted and cleaned and made ready for the market. There are today ten thousand drivers in the anthracite coal mines. These boys. are in constant danger, not only of falling roof and exploding gas, but of being crushed by the cars. Their pay varies from $1.10 to $1.25, from which sum they supply their own lamps, cotton and oil. When the driver reaches the age of twenty he becomes either a runner or a laborer in the mines, more frequently the latter. The runner is a conductor who collects the loaded cars and directs the driver. The laborer is employed by the miner, subject to the approval of the superintendent, to load the cars with the coal which has been blasted by the miner. As a rule he is paid so much per car, and a definite number of cars constitute a day's work—the number varying in different mines—averaging from five to seven, equaling from twelve to fifteen tons of coal. The laborer's work is often made difficult by the water and rock which are found' in large quantities in coal veins. There are 24,000 laborers in the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania, each one of whom is looking forward to becoming a miner in the technical sense of the word—that is, the employer of a laborer. To do this a laborer must have had two years’ experience in practical mining and be able to pass an examination before the district board. If he passes he becomes a contractor as well as a 1abor. He enters into a contract with the company to do a certain work at so much per car or; yard. He blasts all the coal, and this involves judgment in locating the hole, skill in boring it, and care in preparing and determining the size of the shot. The number of blasts per day ranges from four to twelve, according to the size and character of the vein. He is responsible for the propping necessary to sustain the roof. According to the law of the State of Pennsylvania, the company operating the mine is obliged to furnish the miner the needed props, but the miner must place them at such places as the mine boss designates Most of the boring is now done with hand machines. The miner furnishes his own tools. and supplies. His powder, squibs, paper, soap and oil he is compelled to buy from the company which employs him. His equipment includes the following tools—a hand machine for drilling, drill, scraper, needle, blasting barrel, crowbar, pick, shovel, hammer, sledge; cartridge pin, oil can, toolbox and lamp. As a rule he rises at five A.M.; he enters the mine shortly after six. In some cases he is obliged to walk a mile or more underground to reach his place of work. He spends from eight to ten hours in the mine. Taking three hundred days as the possible working time in a year, the anthracite miner's daily pay for the past twenty years will not average over $1.60 a day, and that of the laborer not over $1.35. His dangers are many. He may be crushed to death at any time by the falling roof. burned to death by the exploding of gas, or blown to pieces by a premature blast. So dangerous is his work that he is debarred from all ordinary life insurance. In no part of the country will you find so many crippled boys and broken down men. During the last thirty years over 10,000 men and boys have been killed and 25,000 have been injured in this industry. Not many old men are found in the mines. The average age of those killed is 32.13. It is an endless routine of dull plodding world from nine years until death—a sort of voluntary life imprisonment. Few escape. Once they begin, they continue to live out their commonplace, low leveled existence, ignoring their daily danger, knowing nothing better. Scanned from The World's Work 4(October 1902): 2659-60
This text explores the laws governing the use of land. Sometimes narrowly focused, often intensely local, land use regulation may give the impression of a highly specialized field with small stakes. The text is divided into three parts: (1) First, we will survey the ordinary, local administrative scheme of land use regulation. The cases in this section are intended to establish what that system is and what it’s standards are. (2) In the second part of the course, we will turn our attention to cases illustrating litigation attacks on the ordinary administrative scheme. The purpose here is not, as it was in the first part, to understand better the standards the administrators should apply, but to understand the constraints imposed on the contents of local laws, the procedures of enactment and permitting, and the composition of local lawmaking bodies. (3) In the third part, we focus on the distributive concerns raised by land use regulation. The regulatory takings doctrine has gone from, literally, nothing, to wrestling to disentangle distributive concerns from substantive ones, to trying to craft either rules or standards to identify regulations that go “too far” and should be considered “takings” within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment. We will consider what the doctrine’s purposes are, how it should be governed, and how it should be invoked as a procedural matter.
Israeli medical researchers say they have developed a new technique for blasting cancer tumours from the inside out which reduces the risk of the disease returning after treatment.Something new to put on the list of items for BDSers to boycott. Tel Aviv University professors Yona Keisari and Itzhak Kelson are about to start clinical trials of a pin-sized radioactive implant that beams short-range alpha radiation from within the tumour. Unlike conventional radiation therapy, which bombards the body with gamma rays from outside, the alpha particles "diffuse inside the tumour, spreading further and further before disintegrating," a university statement quoted Keisari as saying. "It's like a cluster bomb -- instead of detonating at one point, the atoms continuously disperse and emit alpha particles at increasing distances." The university said that the process takes about 10 days and leaves behind only non-radioactive and non-toxic amounts of lead. "Not only are cancerous cells more reliably destroyed, but in the majority of cases the body develops immunity against the return of the tumour," the statement said. The wire implant, inserted into the tumour by hypodermic needle, "decays harmlessly in the body," it added. It went on to say that in pre-clinical trials on mice, one group had tumours removed surgically while another was treated with the radioactive wire. "When cells from the tumour were reinjected into the subject, 100 percent of those treated surgically redeveloped their tumour, compared to only 50 percent of those treated with the radioactive wire," it said. "The researchers have had excellent results with many types of cancer models, including lung, pancreatic, colon, breast, and brain tumours." It added that the procedure would begin clinical trials at Beilinson hospital, near Tel Aviv, "soon."
There have been numerous incidents of explosions in mobile systems recently. Batteries seem to be the focus whenever one of these unfortunate events happens. The world seems happy and satisfied that the offending battery has been recalled. That may work for CNN, but it's not good enough for the engineering community. Mobile systems have complex power-management schemes that have two conflicting requirements. One is saving battery life by quickly switching to "standby" states that are inoperational; the other is the need to apply various degrees of heat control as temperature rises, ranging from clock gating to fan activation to full shutdown. This is the cause of trouble, for you need the hardware (and software) to be working to activate these heat control measures, irrespective of what state the system is in. Unfortunately, the system is often dysfunctional enough for deadlock/runaway conditions to occur. The truth is that mobile systems have always been volatile with a mass of explosive material (the battery) sitting quite close to significant heat sources (the very ICs the batteries power). Consider this: A typical 1-W chip on a 1-cm x 1-cm die represents roughly 25 GW per square mile. That is a lot of nuclear reactors to carry around with you! Coupled with such high current density is a tremendous increase in leakage currents, as we move to 90 nm to 65-nm process geometries. In many cases, even if the chip is idle and clock-gated, the leakage current is sufficient to cause a steady rise in temperature. Temperature in turn causes an increase in leakage. Thus, these two phenomena feed each other's frenzy. In fact, leakage has caused many designers to re-architect their thermal-protection schemes. In days past, it was sufficient to gate the clock for some time period if the chip was overheating (thermal throttling). This technique is no longer effective because of the increase in leakage. The only way to control leakage is to exercise some kind of voltage control on the chip, especially when the chip is idle. With CMOS technology being a voltage-controlled current source, the most effective handle we have on the current consumption is in the voltage domain. There are various techniques to control voltage-to-CMOS techniques, including multi-VDD, power gating, and back biasing (among others). In general, this aspect of voltage control can be used to make sure the chip operates at the most efficient point possible from a power perspective in both the operational state as well as in standby/sleep states. In many cases, it is a functional failure of the power-management system that leads to runaway situations. This is a complex hardware and software problem that needs to be well thought through and debugged before systems are shipped. Voltage-control techniques are very difficult to specify and verify. Often, the biggest battle is getting them right! Nevertheless, to be viable and competitive in the market, designers are incorporating multiple voltage islands into their SoCs, involving both hardware- and software-based power-management techniques. Why is it so difficult to verify voltage control? For some 20 years, the EDA industry has been missing the fundamental components of power management. These include a system-level perspective, modeling of system electronics, and multi-voltage power management of the ICs. Any RTL/ESL methodologies used to describe the functionality of logic live in a primitive world where voltages don't change between blocks; nor do they change over time. This has been a tremendous obstruction to any system verification effort. Hence, there have been no verification systems capable of avoiding dangerous situations like the ones we are facing now. As we march towards ESL adoption, we, as an engineering community, must think hard. Do the emerging languages describe the system hardware in its entirety and still have the ability to work with software? Can they capture the complex, yet fundamental, link between the functional, electrical, thermal, and mechanical aspects of power management? Perhaps we need a real hardware description language! In fact, it may be more of a "hardware description system." Design managers also must factor in software before they tape out. More than ever, power management is being implemented in software with hooks provided to the hardware. This makes software development an inherent part of the tape-out process, at least for power management. This is an even more compelling issue if the main competitive advantage of a chip lies in its power-management scheme, which is an increasingly likely case for system designers in the mobile, consumer, and enterprise segments. Power is the differentiator, and software plays a key part in this differentiation. To make matters worse, software often needs a model of the entire system to effectively verify power-management schemes. As it is, SoC design teams are constrained in their resources, but this could be one costly corner to cut. Unfortunately, this is one area in which software emulation with FPGAs or other emulators does not help?they simply cannot model thermal or electrical effects realistically. Engineers will have to do a lot more system validation before they ship parts, especially if they are designing complex SoCs. This validation needs to be as electrically savvy and thermally aware as it is functionally accurate. It's an issue that presents an enormous challenge indeed. But for starters, we must stop blaming bad batteries for every over-heating problem in handheld devices.
History and Production From Greek word beryllos, meaning "beryl". Beryllium was discovered as the oxide by L.-N. Vauquelinin in beryl and in emaralds in 1798. The metal was isolated in 1828 by F. Woehler and independantly by A.A.B. Bussy by the reaction of potassium on beryllium chloride. Beryllium can be extracted by roasting beryl with Na2SiF6 at 700°C. It is, however, more commonly produced by reduction of beryllium fluoride with magnesium at 1300°C. The metal is used as an alloying agent and as a structural material for aircraft, spacecraft and satellites. For example, about 2% of Be will increase the strength of copper by sixfold. The alloy is used for springs and electrical connections. Beryllium is also used in nuclear reactors as a moderator due to its low thermal neutron adsorption cross section. It is nonmagnetic and steel grey in color and has one of the highest melting points of the light metals. Its elasticity modulus is about a third greater than that of steel and with good thermal conductivity. Beryllium and its salts are toxic although they are sweetish in nature. Attempt must NOT be made to taste Be or its compounds! Interatomic distance: 222.6 pm Melting point: 1287°C Boiling point: 2471°C Thermal conductivity/Wm-1K-1: 200 (27°C) Density/kgm-3: 1847.7 (20°C), 1690 (m.p.) Standard Thermodynamic Data (atomic gas) Enthalpy of formation: 324 kJ/mol Gibbs free energy of formation: 286.6 kJ/mol Entropy: 136.3 J/mol K Heat capacity: 20.8 J/mol K Electronic configuration: [He] 2s2 Term symbol: 1S0 Electron affinity: (not stable) Electronegativity (Pauline): 1.57 Ionization energy (first, second, third): 899.4, 1757.1, 14848 kJ/mol The metal is relatively unreactive compared with the other alkaline earth metals, due to its small size and the valence electrons are more tightly bound to the atom. Beryllium does not react with water and does not oxidized in air below 600°C. However, finely divided metal burns brilliantly in the atmosphere to give BeO and Be3N2.
Software name : Audacity Software version : 1.2 The Tool Bars are where you choose tools to directly work on the tracks. There are three main Tool Bars in Audacity : - Main Tool Bar - Mixer Tool Bar - Edit Tool Bar Main Tool Bar Lets look at each button: \|this is the main tool you use to select audio. \|the envelope tool gives you detailed control over how tracks fade in and out.\| \|this tool allows you to change the relative positioning of tracks relative to one another in time.\| \|this tool allows you to zoom in or out of a specific part of the audio.\| \|enables the user to draw in to the actual waveforms.\| \|places the cursor at the start of the project.\| \|press the play button to listen to the audio in your project.\| \|press the record button to record a new track from your computer's sound input device.\| \|will pause during playback, or during recording. Press again to unpause.\| \|press the stop button or hit the spacebar to stop playback immediately.\| \|places the cursor at the end of the project.\| Mixer Tool Bar These sliders control the mixer settings of the soundcard in your system. The selector on the right controls what audio input you wish to use. Pick the input source you wish to record from. All these items are exposed by the soundcard driver, so the this of options will vary with different soundcards. This is the left hand slider that lets you control the output level of your soundcard. It actually controls the output setting of the soundcard driver. This is the right hand slider that lets you control the level of the input selected in the Input Selector. It actually controls the recording level setting of the soundcard driver. Edit Tool Bar All these tools perform the exact same function, as those accessible through the "Edit" menu, "View" menu. Lets look at each button individually : \|removes the selected audio data and places it on the clipboard.\| \|copies the selected audio data to the clipboard without removing it from the project.\| \|inserts whatever is on the clipboard at the position of the selection cursor in the project.\| \|deletes everything but the selection.\| \|erases the audio data currently selected, replacing it with silence instead of removing it completely.\| \|this will undo the last editing operation you performed to your project.\| \|this will redo any editing operations that were just undone.\| \|zooms in on the horizontal axis of the audio displaying less time.\| \|zooms out displaying more time.\| \|zooms in until the selected audio fills the width of the screen to show the selection in more detail.\| \|shows entire project
The NX Project, also known as the NX Program or NX test program, was Starfleet's effort to develop a starship using the engine designed by the Warp Five program. Prior to the NX Project, Human ships were incapable of exceeding warp two. During the 22nd century, the Earth Cargo Service was Earth's only real presence in outer space; the crew of these ships would spend years traveling from one planet to another and the Humans with the most space experience were boomers: the first generation of Humans who were born in outer space. The NX Project was an effort to allow humanity's knowledge to expand and continue space exploration; it was overseen by Commodore Maxwell Forrest from its initial stages in the early 2140s. During this time, the program fielded several test vehicles with prototype versions of the warp five engine. These prototypes were piloted by Commanders Jonathan Archer, A.G. Robinson, Gardner, and Duvall. Captain Jefferies was an engineer on the NX Program, and Lieutenant Charles Tucker III worked on his team. After some initial progress at speeds below warp 2, the project quickly stalled sometime prior to 2144. Robinson's test flight of the NX-Alpha ended in an explosion after the engines were pushed slightly beyond warp 2. On the recommendation of the Vulcan Advisory Council, the project was indefinitely suspended. However, Lieutenant Tucker and Commander Archer believed the design to be fundamentally sound. Tucker's analysis showed the intermix ratio of the fuel flowing through the antimatter injectors proved to be the root of the problem. Tucker's corrections allowed the NX-Beta – illegally piloted by Archer and Robinson – to enjoy a more successful test flight. Though their efforts were a contravention of direct orders, Tucker, Archer and Robinson had effectively confirmed the utility of the warp five engine. Nevertheless, the Vulcans required about a year of additional ground-based simulations following the NX-Beta flight. A final test flight, made by Duvall in the NX-Delta, would break the warp 3 barrier eight months after the Vulcan program of simulations concluded. Construction began five years thereafter on the Enterprise NX-01, and it was launched in April of 2151. At that time, another three vessels of the NX-class were on the drawing board. Forrest was promoted to admiral, and he selected Archer as the ship's commanding officer, over the objections of Vulcan Ambassador Soval, who felt that Gardner would have been a better choice. (ENT: "First Flight", "Broken Bow") Ships of the NX Program Edit - The NX-class of starships - Mirror universe NX class ships: - If the NX Project continued to follow the order of the United States of America's space shuttle program, the NX-03 and NX-04 would be named Challenger and Discovery respectively. - It is somewhat unclear just how long the NX Project remained a unique subdivision of Earth Starfleet. It is possible that the project proper ended after Enterprise was launched. This is perhaps suggested by the disappearance of the NX Project logo after 2151. It is notable the Enterprise crew wore only an Enterprise patch, whereas NX test pilots wore both the project logo and what appeared to be the emblem of their particular vessel on their flight suits. Following that logic, Enterprise crewmembers should have been wearing an NX Project logo, had the project still been regarded as an active subdivision of Starfleet. - The Pocket ENT novels Kobayashi Maru and Beneath the Raptor's Wing depict the manufacture of four additional NX-class ships, Challenger (NX-03), Discovery (NX-04), Atlantis (NX-05), and Endeavour (NX-06), before the program was shut down in favor of the Daedalus class of starship, which could be built faster and cheaper. The Pocket TNG novel Indistinguishable from Magic introduced the Intrepid (NX-07) and indicated that appropimately 15 or 16 ships of the class were made before the line was discontinued.
Classical electromagnetism and special relativity The theory of special relativity plays an important role in the modern theory of classical electromagnetism. First of all, it gives formulas for how electromagnetic objects, in particular the electric and magnetic fields, are altered under a Lorentz transformation from one inertial frame of reference to another. Secondly, it sheds light on the relationship between electricity and magnetism, showing that frame of reference determines if an observation follows electrostatic or magnetic laws. Third, it motivates a compact and convenient notation for the laws of electromagnetism, namely the "manifestly covariant" tensor form. Maxwell's equations, when they were first stated in their complete form in 1865, would turn out to be compatible with special relativity. Moreover, the apparent coincidences in which the same effect was observed due to different physical phenomena by two different observers would be shown to be not coincidental in the least by special relativity. In fact, half of Einstein's 1905 first paper on special relativity, "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies," explains how to transform Maxwell's equations. Transformation of the fields between inertial frames The E and B fields This equation, also called the Joules-Bernoulli equation, considers two inertial frames. As notation, the field variables in one frame are unprimed, and in a frame moving relative to the unprimed frame at velocity v, the fields are denoted with primes. In addition, the fields parallel to the velocity v are denoted by while the fields perpendicular to v are denoted as . In these two frames moving at relative velocity v, the E-fields and B-fields are related by: An equivalent, alternative expression is: where v̂ is the velocity unit vector. If one of the fields is zero in one frame of reference, that doesn't necessarily mean it is zero in all other frames of reference. This can be seen by, for instance, making the unprimed electric field zero in the transformation to the primed electric field. In this case, depending on the orientation of the magnetic field, the primed system could see an electric field, even though there is none in the unprimed system. This does not mean two completely different sets of events are seen in the two frames, but that the same sequence of events is described in two different ways (see Moving magnet and conductor problem below). If a particle of charge q moves with velocity u with respect to frame S, then the Lorentz force in frame S is: In frame S', the Lorentz force is: If S and S' have aligned axes then: Component by component, for relative motion along the x-axis, this works out to be the following: The D and H fields Analogously for E and B, the D and H form the electromagnetic displacement tensor. The φ and A fields where is the parallel component of A to the direction of relative velocity between frames v, and is the perpendicular component. These transparently resemble the characteristic form of other Lorentz transformations (like time-position and energy-momentum), while the transformations of E and B above are slightly more complicated. The components can be collected together as: The ρ and J fields Collecting components together: Non-relativistic approximations For speeds v ≪ c, the relativistic factor γ ≈ 1, which yields: so that there is no need to distinguish between the spatial and temporal coordinates in Maxwell's equations. Relationship between electricity and magnetism \|“\|\|One part of the force between moving charges we call the magnetic force. It is really one aspect of an electrical effect.\|\|”\| Deriving magnetism from electrostatics The chosen reference frame determines if an electromagnetic phenomenon is viewed as an effect of electrostatics or magnetism. Authors usually derive magnetism from electrostatics when special relativity and charge invariance are taken into account. The Feynman Lectures on Physics (vol. 2, ch. 13-6) uses this method to derive the "magnetic" force on a moving charge next to a current-carrying wire. See also Haskell, Landau, and Field. Fields intermix in different frames The above transformation rules show that the electric field in one frame contributes to the magnetic field in another frame, and vice versa. This is often described by saying that the electric field and magnetic field are two interrelated aspects of a single object, called the electromagnetic field. Indeed, the entire electromagnetic field can be encoded in a single rank-2 tensor called the electromagnetic tensor; see below. Moving magnet and conductor problem A famous example of the intermixing of electric and magnetic phenomena in different frames of reference is called the "moving magnet and conductor problem", cited by Einstein in his 1905 paper on Special Relativity. If a conductor moves with a constant velocity through the field of a stationary magnet, eddy currents will be produced due to a magnetic force on the electrons in the conductor. In the rest frame of the conductor, on the other hand, the magnet will be moving and the conductor stationary. Classical electromagnetic theory predicts that precisely the same microscopic eddy currents will be produced, but they will be due to an electric force. Covariant formulation in vacuum The laws and mathematical objects in classical electromagnetism can be written in a form which is manifestly covariant. Here, this is only done so for vacuum (or for the microscopic Maxwell equations, not using macroscopic descriptions of materials such as electric permittivity), and uses SI units. This section uses Einstein notation, including Einstein summation convention. See also Ricci calculus for a summary of tensor index notations, and raising and lowering indices for definition of superscript and subscript indices, and how to switch between them. The Minkowski metric tensor η here has metric signature (+−−−). Field tensor and 4-current The above relativistic transformations suggest the electric and magnetic fields are coupled together, in a mathematical object with 6 components: an antisymmetric second-rank tensor, or a bivector. This is called the electromagnetic field tensor, usually written as Fμν. In matrix form: There is another way of merging the electric and magnetic fields into an antisymmetric tensor, by replacing E/c → B and B → − E/c, to get the dual tensor Gμν. where Λαν is the Lorentz transformation tensor for a change from one reference frame to another. The same tensor is used twice in the summation. The charge and current density, the sources of the fields, also combine into the four-vector called the four-current. Maxwell's equations in tensor form Maxwell's equations (Covariant formulation) where the partial derivatives may be written in various ways, see 4-gradient. The first equation listed above corresponds to both Gauss's Law (for β = 0) and the Ampère-Maxwell Law (for β = 1, 2, 3). The second equation corresponds to the two remaining equations, Gauss's law for magnetism (for β = 0) and Faraday's Law ( for β = 1, 2, 3). These tensor equations are manifestly-covariant, meaning the equations can be seen to be covariant by the index positions. This short form of writing Maxwell's equations illustrates an idea shared amongst some physicists, namely that the laws of physics take on a simpler form when written using tensors. By lowering the indices on Fαβ to obtain Fαβ (see raising and lowering indices): the second equation can be written in terms of Fαβ as: Another covariant electromagnetic object is the electromagnetic stress-energy tensor, a covariant rank-2 tensor which includes the Poynting vector, Maxwell stress tensor, and electromagnetic energy density. The EM field tensor can also be written is the four-potential and is the four-position. Using the 4-potential in the Lorenz gauge, an alternative manifestly-covariant formulation can be found in a single equation (a generalization of an equation due to Bernhard Riemann by Arnold Sommerfeld, known as the Riemann–Sommerfeld equation, or the covariant form of the Maxwell equations): Maxwell's equations (Covariant Lorenz gauge formulation) where is the d'Alembertian operator, or four-Laplacian. For a more comprehensive presentation of these topics, see Covariant formulation of classical electromagnetism. See also - Questions remain about the treatment of accelerating charges: Haskell, "Special relativity and Maxwell's equations." - Tai L. Chow (2006). Electromagnetic theory. Sudbury MA: Jones and Bartlett. p. Chapter 10.21; p. 402–403 ff. ISBN 0-7637-3827-1. - Daniel, Herbert (1997), "4.5.1", Physik: Elektrodynamik, relativistische Physik, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 360–361, ISBN 3-11-015777-2, Extract of pages 360-361 - R.C.Tolman "Relativity Thermodynamics and Cosmology" pp25 - Force Laws and Maxwell's Equations http://www.mathpages.com/rr/s2-02/2-02.htm at MathPages - The Cambridge Handbook of Physics Formulas, G. Woan, Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-57507-2. - Feynman Lectures vol. 2, ch. 1-1 - E M Lifshitz, L D Landau (1980). The classical theory of fields. Course of Theoretical Physics. Vol. 2 (Fourth Edition ed.). Oxford UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-2768-9. - J H Field (2006) "Classical electromagnetism as a consequence of Coulomb's law, special relativity and Hamilton's principle and its relationship to quantum electrodynamics". Phys. Scr. 74 702-717 - Tai L. Chow (2006). Electromagnetic theory. Sudbury MA: Jones and Bartlett. p. 395. ISBN 0-7637-3827-1. - David J Griffiths (1999). Introduction to electrodynamics (Third Edition ed.). Prentice Hall. pp. 478–9. ISBN 0-13-805326-X. - Griffiths, David J. (1998). Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. p. 557. ISBN 0-13-805326-X. - DJ Griffiths (1999). Introduction to electrodynamics. Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Addison-Wesley. p. 541. ISBN 0-13-805326-X. - Carver A. Mead (2002-08-07). Collective Electrodynamics: Quantum Foundations of Electromagnetism. MIT Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0-262-63260-7. - Frederic V. Hartemann (2002). High-field electrodynamics. CRC Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-8493-2378-2.
\|State of Oklahoma\| \|Nickname(s): Sooner State\| \|Motto(s): Labor omnia vincit (Latin)\| \|Demonym\|\|Oklahoman; Okie (colloq.)\| (and largest city) \|Area\|\|Ranked 20th in the U.S.\| \|- Total\|\|69,898 sq mi \|- Width\|\|230 miles (370 km)\| \|- Length\|\|298 miles (480 km)\| \|- % water\|\|1.8\| \|- Latitude\|\|33°37' N to 37° N\| \|- Longitude\|\|94° 26' W to 103° W\| \|Population\|\|Ranked 28th in the U.S.\| \|- Total\|\|3,814,820 (2012 est)\| \|- Density\|\|55.2/sq mi (21.3/km2) Ranked 35th in the U.S. \|- Highest point\|\|Black Mesa 4,975 ft (1516 m) \|- Mean\|\|1,300 ft (400 m)\| \|- Lowest point\|\|Little River at Arkansas border 289 ft (88 m) \|Admission to Union\|\|November 16, 1907 (46th)\| \|Governor\|\|Mary Fallin (R)\| \|Lieutenant Governor\|\|Todd Lamb (R)\| \|- Upper house\|\|Senate\| \|- Lower house\|\|House of Representatives\| \|U.S. Senators\|\|Jim Inhofe (R) Thomas A. Coburn (R) \|U.S. House delegation\|\|5 Republicans (list)\| \|- all of the state (legally)\|\|Central: UTC-6/-5\| \|- Kenton (informally)\|\|Mountain: UTC-7/-6\| \|Abbreviations\|\|OK Okla. US-OK\| Oklahoma (i//) (Pawnee: Uukuhuúwa, Cayuga: Gahnawiyoˀgeh) is a state located in West South Central United States. Oklahoma is the 20th most extensive and the 28th most populous of the 50 United States. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people", and it is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. Formed by the combination of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans or, informally "Okies", and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly two thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. With small mountain ranges, prairie, mesas, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains and the U.S. Interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather. In addition to having a prevalence of English, German, Scottish, Irish and Native American ancestry, more than 25 Native American languages are spoken in Oklahoma, second only to California. Oklahoma is located on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and historically served as a route for cattle drives, a destination for southern settlers, and a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans. The name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase okla humma, literally meaning red people. Choctaw Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government regarding the use of Indian Territory, in which he envisioned an all-Indian state controlled by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Equivalent to the English word Indian, okla humma was a phrase in the Choctaw language used to describe the Native American race as a whole. Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory, and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after the area was opened to white settlers. Oklahoma is the 20th-largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,898 square miles (181,035 km2), with 68,667 square miles (177847 km2) of land and 1,281 square miles (3,188 km2) of water. It is one of six states on the Frontier Strip, and lies partly in the Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states. Arkansas and Missouri bound it on the east, on the north by Kansas, on the northwest by Colorado, on the far west by New Mexico, and on the south and near-west by Texas. The western edge of the Oklahoma panhandle is out of alignment with its Texas border. The Oklahoma/New Mexico border is actually 2.1 to 2.2 miles east of the Texas line. The border between Texas and New Mexico was set first as a result of a survey by Spain in 1819. It was then set along the 103rd Meridian. In the 1890s, when Oklahoma was formally surveyed using more accurate surveying equipment and techniques, it was discovered that the Texas line was not set along the 103rd Meridian. Surveying techniques weren't as accurate in 1819, and the actual 103rd Meridian was approximately 2.2 miles to the east. It was much easier to leave the mistake as it was than for Texas to cede land to New Mexico to correct the original surveying error. The placement of the Oklahoma/New Mexico border represents the true 103rd Meridian. Cimarron County in Oklahoma's panhandle is the only county in the United States which touches four other states: New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Kansas (about two miles worth). Oklahoma is between the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau in the Gulf of Mexico watershed, generally sloping from the high plains of its western boundary to the low wetlands of its southeastern boundary. Its highest and lowest points follow this trend, with its highest peak, Black Mesa, at 4,973 feet (1,516 m) above sea level, situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The state's lowest point is on the Little River near its far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel, OK, which dips to 289 feet (88 m) above sea level. Among the most geographically diverse states, Oklahoma is one of four to harbor more than 10 distinct ecological regions, with 11 in its borders – more per square mile than in any other state. Its western and eastern halves, however, are marked by extreme differences in geographical diversity: Eastern Oklahoma touches eight ecological regions and its western half contains three. Oklahoma has four primary mountain ranges: the Ouachita Mountains, the Arbuckle Mountains, the Wichita Mountains, and the Ozark Mountains. Contained within the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains mark the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians. A portion of the Flint Hills stretches into north-central Oklahoma, and near the state's eastern border, Cavanal Hill is regarded by the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department as the world's tallest hill; at 1,999 feet (609 m), it fails their definition of a mountain by one foot. The semi-arid high plains in the state’s northwestern corner harbor few natural forests; the region has a rolling to flat landscape with intermittent canyons and mesa ranges like the Glass Mountains. Partial plains interrupted by small mountain ranges like the Antelope Hills and the Wichita Mountains dot southwestern Oklahoma, and transitional prairie and woodlands cover the central portion of the state. The Ozark and Ouachita Mountains rise from west to east over the state's eastern third, gradually increasing in elevation in an eastward direction. More than 500 named creeks and rivers make up Oklahoma's waterways, and with 200 lakes created by dams, it holds the highest number of artificial reservoirs in the nation. Most of the state lies in two primary drainage basins belonging to the Red and Arkansas rivers, though the Lee and Little rivers also contain significant drainage basins. Flora and fauna Forests cover 24 percent of Oklahoma and prairie grasslands composed of shortgrass, mixed-grass, and tallgrass prairie, harbor expansive ecosystems in the state's central and western portions, although cropland has largely replaced native grasses. Where rainfall is sparse in the western regions of the state, shortgrass prairie and shrublands are the most prominent ecosystems, though pinyon pines, red cedar (junipers), and ponderosa pines grow near rivers and creek beds in the far western reaches of the panhandle. Marshlands, cypress forests and mixtures of shortleaf pine, loblolly pine and deciduous forests dominate the state's southeastern quarter, while mixtures of largely post oak, elm, red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and pine forests cover northeastern Oklahoma. The state holds populations of white-tailed deer, mule deer, antelope, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, elk, and birds such as quail, doves, cardinals, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and pheasants. In prairie ecosystems, American bison, greater prairie chickens, badgers, and armadillo are common, and some of the nation's largest prairie dog towns inhabit shortgrass prairie in the state's panhandle. The Cross Timbers, a region transitioning from prairie to woodlands in Central Oklahoma, harbors 351 vertebrate species. The Ouachita Mountains are home to black bear, red fox, grey fox, and river otter populations, which coexist with a total of 328 vertebrate species in southeastern Oklahoma. Also, in southeastern Oklahoma lives the American Alligator. Protected lands Oklahoma has 50 state parks, six national parks or protected regions, two national protected forests or grasslands, and a network of wildlife preserves and conservation areas. Six percent of the state's 10 million acres (40,000 km2) of forest is public land, including the western portions of the Ouachita National Forest, the largest and oldest national forest in the Southern United States. With 39,000 acres (158 km2), the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in north-central Oklahoma is the largest protected area of tallgrass prairie in the world and is part of an ecosystem that encompasses only 10 percent of its former land area, once covering 14 states. In addition, the Black Kettle National Grassland covers 31,300 acres (127 km2) of prairie in southwestern Oklahoma. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is the oldest and largest of nine national wildlife refuges in the state and was founded in 1901, encompassing 59,020 acres (238.8 km2). Of Oklahoma's federally protected park or recreational sites; the Chickasaw National Recreation Area is the largest, with 9,898.63 acres (18 km2). Other sites include the Santa Fe and Trail of Tears national historic trails, the Fort Smith and Washita Battlefield national historic sites, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Oklahoma is located in a temperate region and experiences occasional extremes of temperature and precipitation typical of a continental climate. Most of the state lies in an area known as Tornado Alley characterized by frequent interaction between cold and warm air masses producing severe weather. An average 54 tornadoes strike the state per year—one of the highest rates in the world. Because of Oklahoma's position between zones of differing prevailing temperature and winds, weather patterns within the state can vary widely between relatively short distances and can change drastically in a short time. As an example, on November 11, 1911, the temperature at Oklahoma City reached 83 °F (28 °C) in the afternoon (the record high for that date), then an incoming squall line resulted in a drop to 17 °F (−8 °C) at midnight (the record low for that date); thus, both the record high and record low for November 11 were set on the same day. The humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa) of the eastern part of Oklahoma is influenced heavily by southerly winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, but transitions progressively to a semi-arid zone (Koppen BSk) in the high plains of the Panhandle and other western areas from about Lawton westward less frequently touched by southern moisture. Precipitation and temperatures fall from east to west accordingly, with areas in the southeast averaging an annual temperature of 62 °F (17 °C) and an annual rainfall of 56 inches (1,420 mm), while areas of the panhandle average 58 °F (14 °C), with an annual rainfall under 17 inches (430 mm). All of the state frequently experiences temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C) or below 0 °F (−18 °C), and snowfall ranges from an average of less than 4 inches (10 cm) in the south to just over 20 inches (51 cm) on the border of Colorado in the panhandle. The state is home to the Storm Prediction Center, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, and the Warning Decision Training Branch, all part of the National Weather Service and located in Norman. Oklahoma's highest recorded temperature of 120 °F (49 °C) was recorded at Tipton on June 27, 1994 and the lowest recorded temperature of −31 °F (−35 °C) was recorded at Nowata on February 10, 2011. \|Monthly temperatures for Oklahoma's largest cities\| \|Average high/low temperatures in °F\| Evidence exists that native peoples traveled through Oklahoma as early as the last ice age, but the state's first permanent inhabitants settled in communities accentuated with mound-like structures near the Arkansas border between 850 and 1450 AD. Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado traveled through the state in 1541, but French explorers claimed the area in the 1700s and it remained under French rule until 1803, when all the French territory west of the Mississippi River was purchased by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. During the 19th century, thousands of Native Americans were expelled from their ancestral homelands from across North America and transported to the area including and surrounding present-day Oklahoma. The Choctaw was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to be removed from the southeastern United States. The phrase "Trail of Tears" originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831, although the term is usually used for the Cherokee removal. About 17,000 Cherokees – along with approximately 2,000 black slaves owned by Cherokees – were removed from their homes. The area, already occupied by Osage and Quapaw tribes, was called for the Choctaw Nation until revised Native American and then later American policy redefined the boundaries to include other Native Americans. By 1890, more than 30 Native American nations and tribes had been concentrated on land within Indian Territory or "Indian Country." Many Native Americans served in the Union and Confederate military during the American Civil War. The Cherokee Nation had an internal civil war. Slavery in Oklahoma was not abolished until 1866. In the period between 1866 and 1899, cattle ranches in Texas strove to meet the demands for food in eastern cities and railroads in Kansas promised to deliver in a timely manner. Cattle trails and cattle ranches developed as cowboys either drove their product north or settled illegally in Indian Territory. In 1881, four of five major cattle trails on the western frontier traveled through Indian Territory. Increased presence of white settlers in Indian Territory prompted the United States Government to establish the Dawes Act in 1887, which divided the lands of individual tribes into allotments for individual families, encouraging farming and private land ownership among Native Americans but expropriating land to the federal government. In the process, railroad companies took nearly half of Indian-held land within the territory for outside settlers and for purchase. Major land runs, including the Land Run of 1889, were held for settlers where certain territories were opened to settlement starting at a precise time. Usually land was open to settlers on a first come first served basis. Those who broke the rules by crossing the border into the territory before the official opening time were said to have been crossing the border sooner, leading to the term sooners, which eventually became the state's official nickname. Deliberations to make the territory into a state began near the end of the 19th century, when the Curtis Act continued the allotment of Indian tribal land. 20th century Attempts to create an all-Indian state named Oklahoma and a later attempt to create an all-Indian state named Sequoyah failed but the Sequoyah Statehood Convention of 1905 eventually laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention, which took place two years later. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was established as the 46th state in the Union. The new state became a focal point for the emerging oil industry, as discoveries of oil pools prompted towns to grow rapidly in population and wealth. Tulsa eventually became known as the "Oil Capital of the World" for most of the 20th century and oil investments fueled much of the state's early economy. In 1927, an Oklahoman businessman Cyrus Avery, known as the "Father of Route 66", began the campaign to create U.S. Route 66. Using a stretch of highway from Amarillo, Texas to Tulsa, Oklahoma to form the original portion of Highway 66, Avery spearheaded the creation of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to oversee the planning of Route 66, based in his hometown of Tulsa. Oklahoma also has a rich African American history. There were many black towns that thrived in the early 20th century because of black settlers moving from neighboring states, especially Kansas. The politician Edward P. McCabe encouraged black settlers to come to what was then Indian Territory. He discussed with President Theodore Roosevelt the possibility of making Oklahoma a majority-black state. By the early 20th century, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States. Jim Crow laws had established racial segregation since before the start of the 20th century, but the blacks had created a thriving area. Social tensions were exacerbated by the revival of the Ku Klux Klan after 1915. The Tulsa Race Riot broke out in 1921, with whites attacking blacks. In one of the costliest episodes of racial violence in American history, sixteen hours of rioting resulted in 35 city blocks destroyed, $1.8 million in property damage, and a death toll estimated to be as high as 300 people. By the late 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had declined to negligible influence within the state. During the 1930s, parts of the state began suffering the consequences of poor farming practices, extended drought and high winds. Known as the Dust Bowl, areas of Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma were hampered by long periods of little rainfall and abnormally high temperatures, sending thousands of farmers into poverty and forcing them to relocate to more fertile areas of the western United States. Over a twenty-year period ending in 1950, the state saw its only historical decline in population, dropping 6.9 percent as impoverished families migrated out of the state after the Dust Bowl. Soil and water conservation projects markedly changed practices in the state and led to the construction of massive flood control systems and dams; they built hundreds of reservoirs and man-made lakes to supply water for domestic needs and agricultural irrigation. By the 1960s, Oklahoma had created more than 200 lakes, the most in the nation. In 1995, Oklahoma City was the site of the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, in which Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated an explosive outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killed 168 people, including 19 children. The two men were convicted of the bombing: McVeigh was sentenced to death and executed by the federal government on June 11, 2001; his partner Nichols is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. McVeigh's army buddy, Michael Fortier, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $75,000 fine for his role in the bombing plot (i.e. assisting in the sale of guns to raise funds for the bombing, and examining the Murrah Federal building as a possible target prior to the terrorist attack). His wife, Lori Fortier, who has since died, was granted immunity from prosecution in return for her testimony in the case. With sectors based in aviation, energy, transportation equipment, food processing, electronics, and telecommunications, Oklahoma is an important producer of natural gas, aircraft, and food. The state ranks second in the nation for production of natural gas, is the 27th-most agriculturally productive state, and also ranks 5th in production of wheat. Four Fortune 500 companies and six Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in Oklahoma, and it has been rated one of the most business-friendly states in the nation, with the 7th-lowest tax burden in 2007. In 2010, Oklahoma City-based Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores ranked 18th on the Forbe's list of largest private companies, Tulsa-based QuikTrip ranked 37th, and Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby ranked 198th in 2010 report. Oklahoma's gross domestic product grew from $131.9 billion in 2006 to $147.5 billion in 2010, a jump of 10.6 percent. Oklahoma's gross domestic product per capita was $35,480 in 2010, which was ranked 40th among the states. Though oil has historically dominated the state's economy, a collapse in the energy industry during the 1980s led to the loss of nearly 90,000 energy-related jobs between 1980 and 2000, severely damaging the local economy. Oil accounted for 35 billion dollars in Oklahoma's economy in 2007, and employment in the state's oil industry was outpaced by five other industries in 2007. As of August 2011, the state's unemployment rate is 5.6%. In mid-2011, Oklahoma had a civilian labor force of 1.7 million and total non-farm employment fluctuated around 1.5 million. The government sector provides the most jobs, with 339,300 in 2011, followed by the transportation and utilities sector, providing 279,500 jobs, and the sectors of education, business, and manufacturing, providing 207,800, 177,400, and 132,700 jobs, respectively. Among the state's largest industries, the aerospace sector generates $11 billion annually. Tulsa is home to the largest airline maintenance base in the world, which serves as the global maintenance and engineering headquarters for American Airlines. In total, aerospace accounts for more than 10 percent of Oklahoma's industrial output, and it is one of the top 10 states in aerospace engine manufacturing. Because of its position in the center of the United States, Oklahoma is also among the top states for logistic centers, and a major contributor to weather-related research. The state is the top manufacturer of tires in North America and contains one of the fastest-growing biotechnology industries in the nation. In 2005, international exports from Oklahoma's manufacturing industry totaled $4.3 billion, accounting for 3.6 percent of its economic impact. Tire manufacturing, meat processing, oil and gas equipment manufacturing, and air conditioner manufacturing are the state's largest manufacturing industries. Oklahoma is the nation's third-largest producer of natural gas, fifth-largest producer of crude oil, and has the second-greatest number of active drilling rigs, and ranks fifth in crude oil reserves. While the state ranked eighth for installed wind energy capacity in 2011, it is at the bottom of states in usage of renewable energy, with 94 percent of its electricity being generated by non-renewable sources in 2009, including 25 percent from coal and 46 percent from natural gas. Ranking 13th for total energy consumption per capita in 2009, Oklahoma's energy costs were 8th lowest in the nation. As a whole, the oil energy industry contributes $35 billion to Oklahoma's gross domestic product, and employees of Oklahoma oil-related companies earn an average of twice the state's typical yearly income. In 2009, the state had 83,700 commercial oil wells churning 65.374 million barrels (10,393,600 m3) of crude oil. Eight and a half percent of the nation's natural gas supply is held in Oklahoma, with 1.673 trillion cubic feet (47.4 km3) being produced in 2009. According to Forbes Magazine, Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corporation, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, and SandRidge Energy Corporation are the largest private oil-related companies in the nation, and all of Oklahoma's Fortune 500 companies are energy-related. Tulsa's ONEOK and Williams Companies are the state's largest and second-largest companies respectively, also ranking as the nation's second and third-largest companies in the field of energy, according to Fortune Magazine. The magazine also placed Devon Energy as the second-largest company in the mining and crude oil-producing industry in the nation, while Chesapeake Energy ranks seventh respectively in that sector and Oklahoma Gas & Electric ranks as the 25th-largest gas and electric utility company. Wind generation \|Oklahoma Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)\| The 27th-most agriculturally productive state, Oklahoma is fifth in cattle production and fifth in production of wheat. Approximately 5.5 percent of American beef comes from Oklahoma, while the state produces 6.1 percent of American wheat, 4.2 percent of American pig products, and 2.2 percent of dairy products. The state had 83,500 farms in 2005, collectively producing $4.3 billion in animal products and fewer than one billion dollars in crop output with more than $6.1 billion added to the state's gross domestic product. Poultry and swine are its second and third-largest agricultural industries. Oklahoma is placed in the South by the United States Census Bureau, but lies fully or partially in the Southwest, and southern cultural regions by varying definitions, and partially in the Upland South and Great Plains by definitions of abstract geographical-cultural regions. Oklahomans have a high rate of English, Scotch-Irish, German, and Native American ancestry, with 25 different native languages spoken. Because many Native Americans were forced to move to Oklahoma when White settlement in North America increased, Oklahoma has a lot of linguistic diversity. Mary Linn, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and the associate curator of Native American languages at the Sam Noble Museum, said that Oklahoma also has high levels of language endangerment. Six governments have claimed the area now known as Oklahoma at different times, and 67 Native American tribes are represented in Oklahoma, including 39 federally recognized tribes, who are headquartered and have tribal jurisdictional areas in the state. Western ranchers, Native American tribes, southern settlers, and eastern oil barons have shaped the state's cultural predisposition, and its largest cities have been named among the most underrated cultural destinations in the United States. While residents of Oklahoma are associated with stereotypical traits of southern hospitality – the Catalogue for Philanthropy ranks Oklahomans 4th in the nation for overall generosity – the state has also been associated with a negative cultural stereotype first popularized by John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath", which described the plight of uneducated, poverty-stricken Dust Bowl-era farmers deemed "Okies". However, the term is often used in a positive manner by Oklahomans. Arts and theater In the state's largest urban areas, pockets of jazz culture flourish, and Native American, Mexican American, and Asian American communities produce music and art of their respective cultures. The Oklahoma Mozart Festival in Bartlesville is one of the largest classical music festivals in the southern United States, and Oklahoma City's Festival of the Arts has been named one of the top fine arts festivals in the nation. The state has a rich history in ballet with five Native American ballerinas attaining worldwide fame. These were Yvonne Chouteau, sisters Marjorie and Maria Tallchief, Rosella Hightower and Moscelyne Larkin, known collectively as the Five Moons. The New York Times rates the Tulsa Ballet as one of the top ballet companies in the United States. The Oklahoma City Ballet and University of Oklahoma's dance program were formed by ballerina Yvonne Chouteau and husband Miguel Terekhov. The University program was founded in 1962 and was the first fully accredited program of its kind in the United States. In Sand Springs, an outdoor amphitheater called "Discoveryland!" is the official performance headquarters for the musical Oklahoma! Historically, the state has produced musical styles such as The Tulsa Sound and Western Swing, which was popularized at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. The building, known as the "Carnegie Hall of Western Swing", served as the performance headquarters of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys during the 1930s. Stillwater is known as the epicenter of Red Dirt music, the best-known proponent of which is the late Bob Childers. Prominent theatre companies in Oklahoma include, in the capital city, Oklahoma City Theatre Company, Carpenter Square Theatre, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, and CityRep. CityRep is a professional company affording equity points to those performers and technical theatre professionals. In Tulsa, Oklahoma's oldest resident professional company is American Theatre Company, and Theatre Tulsa is the oldest community theatre company west of the Mississippi. Other companies in Tulsa include Heller Theatre and Tulsa Spotlight Theater. The cities of Norman, Lawton, and Stillwater, among others, also host well-reviewed community theatre companies. Oklahoma is in the nation's middle percentile in per capita spending on the arts, ranking 17th, and contains more than 300 museums. The Philbrook Museum of Tulsa is considered one of the top 50 fine art museums in the United States, and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman, one of the largest university-based art and history museums in the country, documents the natural history of the region. The collections of Thomas Gilcrease are housed in the Gilcrease Museum of Tulsa, which also holds the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art and artifacts of the American West. The Egyptian art collection at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art in Shawnee is considered to be the finest Egyptian collection between Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art contains the most comprehensive collection of glass sculptures by artist Dale Chihuly in the world, and Oklahoma City's National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum documents the heritage of the American Western frontier. With remnants of the Holocaust and artifacts relevant to Judaism, the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art of Tulsa preserves the largest collection of Jewish art in the Southwest United States. Festivals and events Oklahoma's centennial celebration was named the top event in the United States for 2007 by the American Bus Association, and consisted of multiple celebrations saving with the 100th anniversary of statehood on November 16, 2007. Annual ethnic festivals and events take place throughout the state such as Native American powwows and ceremonial events, and include festivals (as examples) in Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Czech, Jewish, Arab, Mexican and African-American communities depicting cultural heritage or traditions. During a 10-day run in Oklahoma City, the State Fair of Oklahoma attracts roughly one million people along with the annual Festival of the Arts. Large national pow-wows, various Latin and Asian heritage festivals, and cultural festivals such as the Juneteenth celebrations are held in Oklahoma City each year. The Tulsa State Fair attracts over one million people during its 10-day run, and the city's Mayfest festival entertained more than 375,000 people in four days during 2007. In 2006, Tulsa's Oktoberfest was named one of the top 10 in the world by USA Today and one of the top German food festivals in the nation by Bon Appetit magazine. Norman plays host to the Norman Music Festival, a festival that highlights native Oklahoma bands and musicians. Norman is also host to the Medieval Fair of Norman, which has been held annually since 1976 and was Oklahoma’s first medieval fair. The Fair was held first on the south oval of the University of Oklahoma campus and in the third year moved to the Duck Pond in Norman until the Fair became too big and moved to Reaves Park in 2003. The Medieval Fair of Norman is Oklahoma’s "largest weekend event and the third largest event in Oklahoma, and was selected by Events Media Network as one of the top 100 events in the nation." With an educational system made up of public school districts and independent private institutions, Oklahoma had 638,817 students enrolled in 1,845 public primary, secondary, and vocational schools in 533 school districts as of 2008. Oklahoma has the highest enrollment of Native American students in the nation with 126,078 students in the 2009-10 school year. Ranked near the bottom of states in expenditures per student, Oklahoma spent $7,755 for each student in 2008, 47th in the nation, though its growth of total education expenditures between 1992 and 2002 ranked 22nd. The state is among the best in pre-kindergarten education, and the National Institute for Early Education Research rated it first in the United States with regard to standards, quality, and access to pre-kindergarten education in 2004, calling it a model for early childhood schooling. High school dropout rate decreased from 3.1 to 2.5 percent between 2007 and 2008 with Oklahoma ranked among 18 other states with 3 percent or less dropout rate. In 2004, the state ranked 36th in the nation for the relative number of adults with high school diplomas, though at 85.2 percent, it had the highest rate among southern states. Oklahoma State University, The University of Oklahoma, and The University of Central Oklahoma are the largest public institutions of higher education in Oklahoma, operating through one primary campus and satellite campuses throughout the state. The two state universities, along with Oklahoma City University and the University of Tulsa, rank among the country's best in undergraduate business programs, The University of Tulsa College of Law, Oklahoma City University's School of Law, and the University of Oklahoma College of Law are the state's only ABA accredited institutions. The University of Oklahoma and University of Tulsa are in the top percentage of universities nationally for academic ratings, with the University of Tulsa the only university ranked in the top 100. Oklahoma holds eleven public regional universities, including Northeastern State University, the second-oldest institution of higher education west of the Mississippi River, also containing the only College of Optometry in Oklahoma and the largest enrollment of Native American students in the nation by percentage and amount. Langston University is Oklahoma's only historically black college. Six of the state's universities were placed in the Princeton Review's list of best 122 regional colleges in 2007, and three made the list of top colleges for best value. The state has 55 post-secondary technical institutions operated by Oklahoma's CareerTech program for training in specific fields of industry or trade. In the 2007–2008 school year, there were 181,973 undergraduate students, 20,014 graduate students, and 4,395 first-professional degree students enrolled in Oklahoma colleges. Of these students, 18,892 received a bachelor's degree, 5,386 received a masters degree, and 462 received a first professional degree. This means the state of Oklahoma produces an average of 38,278 degree-holders per completions component (i.e. July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008). The national average is 68,322 total degrees awarded per completions component. Oklahoma supports popular sports, with teams in basketball, football, arena football, baseball, soccer, hockey, and wrestling located in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Enid, Norman, and Lawton. The Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association and the Tulsa Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association are the state's only major league sports franchises, but minor league sports, including minor league baseball at the AAA and AA levels Oklahoma City RedHawks and Tulsa Drillers, respectively, hockey with the Oklahoma City Barons in the AHL and Tulsa Oilers in the CHL, and arena football in the Arena Football League was hosted by the Tulsa Talons until 2012, when the team was moved to San Antonio. The Oklahoma Defenders replaced the Talons as Tulsa only professional arena football team, playing the CPIFL. Tulsa is the base for the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League and the Tulsa Revolution, which plays in the American Indoor Soccer League. Enid and Lawton host professional basketball teams in the USBL and the CBA. The NBA's New Orleans Hornets became the first major league sports franchise based in Oklahoma when the team was forced to relocate to Oklahoma City's Ford Center for two seasons following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In July 2008, the Seattle SuperSonics, owned by a group of Oklahoma City businessmen led by Clayton Bennett, relocated to Oklahoma City and announced that play would begin at Ford Center as the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, becoming the state's first permanent major league franchise. Collegiate athletics are a popular draw in the state. The University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys average well over 50,000 fans attending their football games, and the University of Oklahoma's football program ranked 12th in attendance among American colleges in 2010, with an average of 84,738 people attending its home games. The two universities meet several times each year in rivalry matches known as the Bedlam Series, which are some of the greatest sporting draws to the state. Sports Illustrated magazine rates the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University among the top colleges for athletics in the nation. In addition, 12 of the state's smaller colleges or universities participate in the NAIA, mostly within the Sooner Athletic Conference. Regular LPGA tournaments are held at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, and major championships for the PGA or LPGA have been played at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oak Tree Country Club in Oklahoma City, and Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa. Rated one of the top golf courses in the nation, Southern Hills has hosted four PGA Championships, including one in 2007, and three U.S. Opens, the most recent in 2001. Rodeos are popular throughout the state, and Guymon, in the state's panhandle, hosts one of the largest in the nation. The state was the 21st-largest recipient of medical funding from the federal government in 2005, with health-related federal expenditures in the state totaling $75,801,364; immunizations, bioterrorism preparedness, and health education were the top three most funded medical items. Instances of major diseases are near the national average in Oklahoma, and the state ranks at or slightly above the rest of the country in percentage of people with asthma, diabetes, cancer, and hypertension. In 2000, Oklahoma ranked 45th in physicians per capita and slightly below the national average in nurses per capita, but was slightly over the national average in hospital beds per 100,000 people and above the national average in net growth of health services over a 12-year period. One of the worst states for percentage of insured people, nearly 25 percent of Oklahomans between the age of 18 and 64 did not have health insurance in 2005, the fifth-highest rate in the nation. Oklahomans are in the upper half of Americans in terms of obesity prevalence, and the state is the 5th most obese in the nation, with 30.3 percent of its population at or near obesity. Oklahoma ranked last among the 50 states in a 2007 study by the Commonwealth Fund on health care performance. INTEGRIS Cancer Institute of Oklahoma, along with Proton Therapy Center, is the 6th comprehensive cancer treatment centers in the country currently providing both conventional radiation therapy and proton therapy. The OU Medical Center, Oklahoma's largest collection of hospitals is the only hospital in the state designated a Level I trauma center by the American College of Surgeons. OU Medical Center is located on the grounds of the Oklahoma Health Center in Oklahoma City, the state's largest concentration of medical research facilities. The Regional Medical Center of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa is one of four such regional facilities nationwide, offering cancer treatment to the entire southwestern United States, and is one of the largest cancer treatment hospitals in the country. The largest osteopathic teaching facility in the nation, Oklahoma State University Medical Center at Tulsa, also rates as one of the largest facilities in the field of neuroscience. Oklahoma City and Tulsa are the 45th and 61st-largest media markets in the United States as ranked by Nielsen Media Research. The state's third-largest media market, Lawton-Wichita Falls, Texas, is ranked 149th nationally by the agency. Broadcast television in Oklahoma began in 1949 when KFOR-TV (then WKY-TV) in Oklahoma City and KOTV-TV in Tulsa began broadcasting a few months apart. Currently, all major American broadcast networks have affiliated television stations in the state. The state has two primary newspapers. The Oklahoman, based in Oklahoma City, is the largest newspaper in the state and 54th-largest in the nation by circulation, with a weekday readership of 138,493 and a Sunday readership of 202,690. The Tulsa World, the second most widely circulated newspaper in Oklahoma and 79th in the nation, holds a Sunday circulation of 132,969 and a weekday readership of 93,558. Oklahoma's first newspaper was established in 1844, called the Cherokee Advocate, and was written in both Cherokee and English. In 2006, there were more than 220 newspapers located in the state, including 177 with weekly publications and 48 with daily publications. The state's first radio station, WKY in Oklahoma City, signed on in 1920, followed by KRFU in Bristow, which later on moved to Tulsa and became KVOO in 1927. In 2006, there were more than 500 radio stations in Oklahoma broadcasting with various local or nationally owned networks. Five universities in Oklahoma operate non-commercial, public radio stations/networks. Oklahoma has a few ethnic-oriented TV stations broadcasting in Spanish, Asian languages and sometimes have Native American programming. TBN, a Christian religious television network has a studio in Tulsa, and built their first entirely TBN-owned affiliate in Oklahoma City in 1980. Transportation in Oklahoma is generated by an anchor system of Interstate Highways, intercity rail lines, airports, inland ports, and mass transit networks. Situated along an integral point in the United States Interstate network, Oklahoma contains three interstate highways and four auxiliary Interstate Highways. In Oklahoma City, Interstate 35 intersects with Interstate 44 and Interstate 40, forming one of the most important intersections along the United States highway system. More than 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of roads make up the state's major highway skeleton, including state-operated highways, ten turnpikes or major toll roads, and the longest drivable stretch of Route 66 in the nation. In 2008, Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City was Oklahoma's busiest highway, with a daily traffic volume of 123,300 cars. In 2010, the state had the nation's third highest number of bridges classified as structurally deficient, with nearly 5,212 bridges in disrepair, including 235 National Highway System Bridges. In March 2011, Oklahoma ranked as a bottom-seven "Worst" state (tied with Georgia and Illinois) in the American State Litter Scorecard. The Sooner State suffers from overall poor effectiveness and quality of its statewide public space cleanliness (primarily from roadway and adjacent litter/debris abatement)--due to state and related eradication standards and performance indicators. Oklahoma's largest commercial airport is Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, averaging a yearly passenger count of more than 3.5 million (1.7 million boardings) in 2010. Tulsa International Airport, the state's second largest commercial airport, served more than 1.3 million boardings in 2010. Between the two, thirteen major airlines operate in Oklahoma. In terms of traffic, R.L. Jones Jr. (Riverside) Airport in Tulsa is the state's busiest airport, with 335,826 takeoffs and landings in 2008. In total, Oklahoma has over 150 public-use airports. Oklahoma is connected to the nation's rail network via Amtrak's Heartland Flyer, its only regional passenger rail line. It currently stretches from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas, though lawmakers began seeking funding in early 2007 to connect the Heartland Flyer to Tulsa. Two inland ports on rivers serve Oklahoma: the Port of Muskogee and the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. The only port handling international cargo in the state, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa is the most inland ocean-going port in the nation and ships over two million tons of cargo each year. Both ports are located on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which connects barge traffic from Tulsa and Muskogee to the Mississippi River via the Verdigris and Arkansas rivers, contributing to one of the busiest waterways in the world. Law and government Oklahoma is a constitutional republic with a government modeled after the Federal Government of the United States, with executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The state has 77 counties with jurisdiction over most local government functions within each respective domain, five congressional districts, and a voting base with a plurality in the Democratic Party.State officials are elected by plurality voting in the state of Oklahoma. State government The Legislature of Oklahoma consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. As the lawmaking branch of the state government, it is responsible for raising and distributing the money necessary to run the government. The Senate has 48 members serving four-year terms, while the House has 101 members with two-year terms. The state has a term limit for its legislature that restricts any one person to a total of twelve cumulative years service between both legislative branches. Oklahoma's judicial branch consists of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, and 77 District Courts that each serves one county. The Oklahoma judiciary also contains two independent courts: a Court of Impeachment and the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary. Oklahoma has two courts of last resort: the state Supreme Court hears civil cases, and the state Court of Criminal Appeals hears criminal cases (this split system exists only in Oklahoma and neighboring Texas). Judges of those two courts, as well as the Court of Civil Appeals are appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the state Judicial Nominating Commission, and are subject to a non-partisan retention vote on a six-year rotating schedule. The executive branch consists of the Governor, their staff, and other elected officials. The principal head of government, the Governor is the chief executive of the Oklahoma executive branch, serving as the ex officio Commander-in-Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into Federal use and reserving the power to veto bills passed through the Legislature. The responsibilities of the Executive branch include submitting the budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and ensuring peace within the state is preserved. Local government The state is divided into 77 counties that govern locally, each headed by a three-member council of elected commissioners, a tax assessor, clerk, court clerk, treasurer, and sheriff. While each municipality operates as a separate and independent local government with executive, legislative and judicial power, county governments maintain jurisdiction over both incorporated cities and non-incorporated areas within their boundaries, but have executive power but no legislative or judicial power. Both county and municipal governments collect taxes, employ a separate police force, hold elections, and operate emergency response services within their jurisdiction. Other local government units include school districts, technology center districts, community college districts, rural fire departments, rural water districts, and other special use districts. Thirty-nine Native American tribal governments are based in Oklahoma, each holding limited powers within designated areas. While Indian reservations typical in most of the United States are not present in Oklahoma, tribal governments hold land granted during the Indian Territory era, but with limited jurisdiction and no control over state governing bodies such as municipalities and counties. Tribal governments are recognized by the United States as quasi-sovereign entities with executive, judicial, and legislative powers over tribal members and functions, but are subject to the authority of the United States Congress to revoke or withhold certain powers. The tribal governments are required to submit a constitution and any subsequent amendments to the United States Congress for approval. National politics \|2012\|\|66.77% 891,325\|\|33.23% 443,547\| \|2008\|\|65.65% 960,165\|\|34.35% 502,496\| \|2004\|\|65.57% 959,792\|\|34.43% 503,966\| \|2000\|\|60.31% 744,337\|\|38.43% 474,276\| \|1996\|\|48.26% 582,315\|\|40.45% 488,105\| \|1992\|\|42.65% 592,929\|\|34.02% 473,066\| \|1988\|\|57.93% 678,367\|\|41.28% 483,423\| \|1984\|\|68.61% 861,530\|\|30.67% 385,080\| \|1980\|\|60.50% 695,570\|\|34.97% 402,026\| \|1976\|\|49.96% 545,708\|\|48.75% 532,442\| \|1972\|\|73.70% 759,025\|\|24.00% 247,147\| \|1968\|\|47.68% 449,697\|\|31.99% 301,658\| \|1964\|\|44.25% 412,665\|\|55.75% 519,834\| \|1960\|\|59.02% 533,039\|\|40.98% 370,111\| Oklahoma has been politically conservative for much of its history, especially recently. During the first half century of statehood, it was considered a Democratic stronghold, being carried by the Republican Party in only two presidential elections (1920 and 1928). During this time, it was also carried by every winning Democratic candidate up to Harry Truman. However, Oklahoma Democrats were generally considered to be more conservative than Democrats in other states. After the 1948 election, the state turned firmly Republican. Although registered Republicans are a minority in the state, starting in 1952, Oklahoma has been carried by Republican presidential candidates in all but one election (1964). This is not to say that every election has been a landslide for Republicans: Jimmy Carter lost the state by less than 1.5% in 1976, while Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton both won 40% or more of the state’s popular vote in 1988 and 1996 respectively. Al Gore in 2000, though, was the last Democrat to even win any counties in the state. Oklahoma was the only state where Barack Obama failed to carry any of its counties in either 2008 or 2012. Generally, Republicans are strongest in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and their close-in suburbs, as well as the Panhandle. Democrats are strongest in the eastern part of the state and Little Dixie. Following the 2000 census, the Oklahoma delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives was reduced from six to five representatives, each serving one congressional district. For the 112th Congress (2011–2013), there are no changes in party strength, and the delegation has four Republicans and one Democrat. Oklahoma's U.S. senators are Republicans Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, and its U.S. Representatives are John Sullivan (R-OK-1), Dan Boren (D-OK-2), Frank D. Lucas (R-OK-3), Tom Cole (R-OK-4), and James Lankford (R-OK-5). In 2012, Dan Boren (D-OK-2) retired from Congress, therefore making the seat vacant. This district, which covers most of the 'Little Dixie', is the Democrats best region of the state, and has been represented by a Democrat for almost 15 years. Republican Markwayne Mullin won the election making the states' congressional delegation all Republican. Cities and towns Major cities \|City\|\|Population (2011 state estimate)\| \|1. Oklahoma City\|\|591,967\| \|4. Broken Arrow\|\|100,073\| \|8. Midwest City\|\|55,427\| Oklahoma had 598 incorporated places in 2010, including four cities over 100,000 in population and 40 over 10,000. Two of the fifty largest cities in the United States are located in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and 58 percent of Oklahomans live within their metropolitan areas, or spheres of economic and social influence defined by the United States Census Bureau as a metropolitan statistical area. Oklahoma City, the state's capital and largest city, had the largest metropolitan area in the state in 2010, with 1,252,987 people, and the metropolitan area of Tulsa had 937,478 residents. Between 2000 and 2010, the cities that led the state in population growth were Blanchard 172.4%, Elgin 78.2%, Jenks 77.0%, Piedmont 56.7%, Bixby 56.6%, and Owasso 56.3%. In descending order of population, Oklahoma's largest cities in 2010 were: Oklahoma City (579,999, +14.6%), Tulsa (391,906, −0.3%), Norman (110,925, +15.9%), Broken Arrow (98,850, +32.0%), Lawton (96,867, +4.4%), Edmond (81,405, +19.2%), Moore (55,081, +33.9%), Midwest City (54,371, +0.5%), Enid (49,379, +5.0%), and Stillwater (45,688, +17.0%). Of the state's ten largest cities, three are outside the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and only Lawton has a metropolitan statistical area of its own as designated by the United States Census Bureau, though the metropolitan statistical area of Fort Smith, Arkansas extends into the state. Under Oklahoma law, municipalities are divided into two categories: cities, defined as having more than 1,000 residents, and towns, with under 1,000 residents. Both have legislative, judicial, and public power within their boundaries, but cities can choose between a mayor-council, council-manager, or strong mayor form of government, while towns operate through an elected officer system. At the 2010 Census, 68.7% of the population was non-Hispanic White, down from 88% in 1970, 7.3% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 8.2% non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.1% non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 0.1% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 5.1% of two or more races (non-Hispanic). 8.9% of Oklahoma's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race). As of 2011, 47.3% of Oklahoma's population younger than age 1 were minorities. As of 2008[update] Oklahoma had a population of 3,642,361 with an estimated 2005 ancestral makeup of 14.5% German, 13.1% American, 11.8% Irish, 9.6% English, 8.1% African American, and 11.4% Native American (including 7.9% Cherokee) though the percentage of people claiming American Indian as their only race was 8.1%. Most people from Oklahoma who self-identify as having American ancestry are of overwhelmingly English ancestry with significant amounts of Scottish and Welsh inflection as well. The state had the second-highest number of Native Americans in 2002, estimated at 395,219, as well as the second highest percentage among all states. As of 2006, 4.7% of Oklahoma's residents were foreign born, compared to 12.4% for the nation. The center of population of Oklahoma is located in Lincoln County near the town of Sparks. The state's 2006 per capita personal income ranked 37th at $32,210, though it has the third-fastest growing per capita income in the nation and ranks consistently among the lowest states in cost of living index. The Oklahoma City suburb Nichols Hills is first on Oklahoma locations by per capita income at $73,661, though Tulsa County holds the highest average. In 2011, 7.0% of Oklahomans were under the age of 5, 24.7% under 18, and 13.7% were 65 or older. Females made up 50.5% of the population. \|Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of January 15, 2012\| \|Party\|\|Number of Voters\|\|Percentage\| \|2000 (total population)\|\|82.59%\|\|8.31%\|\|11.39%\|\|1.71%\|\|0.15%\| \|2000 (Hispanic only)\|\|4.73%\|\|0.19%\|\|0.37%\|\|0.05%\|\|0.02%\| \|2005 (total population)\|\|82.20%\|\|8.55%\|\|11.31%\|\|1.92%\|\|0.16%\| \|2005 (Hispanic only)\|\|6.10%\|\|0.24%\|\|0.35%\|\|0.06%\|\|0.03%\| \|Growth 2000–05 (total population)\|\|2.33%\|\|5.76%\|\|2.04%\|\|15.49%\|\|9.51%\| \|Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)\|\|0.50%\|\|5.17%\|\|2.22%\|\|15.19%\|\|9.47%\| \|Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)\|\|32.58%\|\|31.44%\|\|-3.27%\|\|25.17%\|\|9.69%\| \|* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander\| Oklahoma is part of a geographical region characterized by conservative and Evangelical Christianity known as the "Bible Belt". Spanning the southeastern United States, the area is known for politically and socially conservative views, even though Oklahoma has more voters registered with the Democratic Party than with any other party. Tulsa, the state's second largest city, home to Oral Roberts University, is sometimes called the "buckles of the Bible Belt". According to the Pew Research Center, the majority of Oklahoma's religious adherents – 85 percent – are Christian, accounting for about 80 percent of the population. The percentage of Oklahomans affiliated with Catholicism is half of the national average, while the percentage affiliated with Evangelical Protestantism is more than twice the national average – tied with Arkansas for the largest percentage of any state. Adherents participate in 73 major affiliations spread between 5,854 congregations, ranging from the Southern Baptist Convention, with 1578 churches and 967,223 members, to the Holy Orthodox Church in North America, with 1 church and 6 members. The state's largest church memberships are in the Southern Baptist Convention with 967,223 members, the United Methodist Church, with 322,794 members, the Roman Catholic Church, with 168,625, the Assemblies of God, with 88,301, Churches of Christ with 83,047, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 24,564 (43,905 year-end 2011). - Evangelical Protestant – 53% - Mainline Protestant – 16% - Roman Catholic – 13% - Other – 6%[B] - Unaffiliated – 12% State symbols State law codifies Oklahoma’s state emblems and honorary positions; the Oklahoma Senate or House of Representatives may adopt resolutions designating others for special events and to benefit organizations. Currently the State Senate is waiting to vote on a change to the state's motto. The House passed HCR 1024 which will change the State motto from "Labor Omnia Vincit" to "Oklahoma-In God We Trust!". The author of the resolution stated that a constituent researched the Oklahoma Constitution and found no "official" vote regarding "Labor Omnia Vincit", therefore opening the door for an entirely new motto. - State cartoon: GUSTY® Created by Don Woods, Oklahoma's first professional meteorologist, used on KTUL-TV from 1954-1989. - State bird: Scissor-tailed flycatcher - State tree: Eastern Redbud - State mammal: American Bison - State vegetable: Watermelon - State beverage: Milk - State fruit: Strawberry - State game bird: Wild Turkey - State fish: Sand bass - State floral emblem: Mistletoe - State flower: Oklahoma Rose - State wildflower: Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchellum) - State grass: Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) - State fossil: Saurophaganax maximus - State rock: Rose rock - State insect: Honeybee - State soil: Port Silt Loam - State reptile: Collared Lizard - State amphibian: Bullfrog - State meal: fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas. - State folk dance: Square Dance - State percussive instrument: drum - State waltz: Oklahoma Wind - State butterfly: Black Swallowtail - State song: "Oklahoma!" - State language: English - State Gospel Song: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" - State rock song: "Do You Realize??" by The Flaming Lips See also - A. ^ Determined by a survey by the Pew Research Center in 2008. Percentages represent claimed religious beliefs, not necessarily membership in any particular congregation. Figures have a ±5 percent margin of error. - B. ^ Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, other faiths each account for less than 1 percent. Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Orthodox Christianity, and other Christian traditions each compose less than .5% percent. 1% refused to answer the Pew Research Center's survey. - "Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012" (CSV). 2012 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. December 2012. Retrieved December 24, 2012. - "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Retrieved October 24, 2011. - Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988. - "Oklahoma - Definitions from Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2007-08-10. - "AISRI Dictionary Database Search--prototype version. "River", Southband Pawnee". American Indian Studies Research Institute. Retrieved 2012-05-26. - "Cayuga: Our Oral Legacy - Home. Cayuga Digital Dictionary". Retrieved 2012-05-27. - Wright, Muriel (June 1936). "Chronicles of Oklahoma". Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - "Oklahoma at a Glance" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "State Personal Income 2006". United States Department of Commerce. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Gross Domestic Product by State (2005–2006)" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006" (csv). United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 10, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007. - "Oklahoma, All Terrain Vacation". TravelOK. TravelOK.com. 2006-01-12. Retrieved 2006-07-15. - Greymorning, Stephen. "Profiles of Native American Education Programs". Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Oklahoma State History and Information". A Look at Oklahoma. Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation. 2007. Archived from the original on July 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-07. - Merserve, John (1941). "Chief Allen Wright". Chronicles of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2006-06-07. - "Land and Water Area of States, 2000". Information Please. 2000. Retrieved 2006-11-22. - "A Tapestry of Time and Terrain". USGS. 2003-04-17. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - "The Geography of Oklahoma". Netstate. 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - "Oklahoma State Map Collection". geology.com. 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - Arndt, Derek (2003-01-01). "The Climate of Oklahoma". Oklahoma Climatological Survey. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - "Managing Upland Forests of the Midsouth". USD Forest Service. 2007-03-07. Retrieved 2007-07-31.[dead link] - "About Oklahoma". TravelOK.com. 2007. Retrieved 2006-07-10. - "Oklahoma in Brief" (PDF). State of Oklahoma. 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "A Look at Oklahoma: A Student's Guide" (PDF). State of Oklahoma. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-14. - "Oklahoma Ecoregional Maps". Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Oklahoma State Parks". Oklahoma Parks Department. 2004. Archived from the original on July 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Oklahoma National Park Guide". National Park Service. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "National Forests". United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. 2005-05-01. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Ouachita National Forest". United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. 2005-05-10. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Tallgrass Prairie Preserve". The Nature Conservatory. 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - "Black Kettle National Grassland". USDA Forest Service. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Refuge Locator Map – Oklahoma". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2007-08-17. - "Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2007-08-17. - "Chickasaw National Recreation Area – Park Statistics". National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-01-16. - "Oklahoma's Climate: an Overview" (PDF). University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Tornado Climatology". NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved 2006-10-24. - "News \| November 11, 1911: A Palindrome to Remember". Mesonet. Retrieved 2013-02-06. - Novy, Chris. "SPC and its Products". NOAA. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Oklahoma Weather And Climate". UStravelweather.com. 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Weather Averages: Lawton, Oklahoma". MSN Weather. Retrieved 2007-08-13. - Palino, Valerie. "Early Man in North America: The Known to the Unknown". Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "The Historic Spiro Mounds". Spiro Area Chamber of Commerce. 2007. Archived from the original on August 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Prehistory of Oklahoma". rootsweb. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Oklahoma's History". Government of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "French and Spanish Explorations". rootsweb. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - Len Green. "Choctaw Removal was really a "Trail of Tears"". Bishinik, mboucher, University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-04-28. - Carter (III), Samuel (1976). Cherokee sunset: A nation betrayed: a narrative of travail and triumph, persecution and exile. New York: Doubleday, p. 232. - "1890 Indian Territory Map". RootsWeb. Retrieved 2009-05-06. - Rodman, Leslie. The Five Civilized Tribes and the American Civil War. p. 2. - Hornsby, A Companion to African-American History, p.127 - "Map of Cattle Drives in 1881". Genealogy Trails History Group. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - Hamilton, Robert. "United States and Native American Relations". Florida Gulf Coast University. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Factors Influencing Enrollment in Agricultural Education Classes of Native American Students in Oklahoma" (DOC). Oklahoma State University. 1999. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Rushes to Statehood". National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Archived from the original on August 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Clem Rogers". Will Rogers Museum Association. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Tulsa Area History". Tulsa County Library. Archived from the original on January 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-25. - "The Father of Route 66". University of Virginia. Retrieved 2007-04-20. - Oxman, Steven (2000-05-30). "The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story". Variety Magazine. Retrieved 2008-06-26. - "Tulsa Race Riot, A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, February 28, 2001" (PDF). Oklahoma Historical Society. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-10. - O'Dell, Larry. "Ku klux klan". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-06-26. - "1930s Dust Bowl". Cimarron County Chamber of Commerce. 2005-08-05. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "History of the States: Oklahoma, The Sooner State". The History Channel. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-09. - "Oklahoma City Tragedy". CNN. 1996. Archived from the original on August 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Oklahoma Rising" (PDF). Chesapeake Energy. 2007. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "State Fact Sheets: Oklahoma". United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - globalEDGE Michigan State University. "Oklahoma:Corporations". Retrieved 2011-09-27. - "An Overview Of Oklahoma's Target Industries". Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - Ellis, David (2007). "Tax Friendly Places 2007". CNN Money. Retrieved 2007-08-08. - Forbes Magazine. "America's Largest Private Companies: Complete List". Retrieved 2011-09-30. - "GDP by state current dollars". US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved 2011-09-27. - "Per capita real GDP by state". US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved 2011-09-27. - Snead, Mark (2006). "Outlook Update – OKC GM Plant Closing" (PDF). Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 2007-08-12. - "The Economic Impact of Oklahoma's Oil & Natural Gas Industry". Oklahoma Energy Resource Board. 2008. Retrieved 2011-10-22. - "Oklahoma Economy at a Glance". United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2011-09-28. - Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics - "American's TUL Maintenance & Engineering Base Sets Goal to Achieve $500 Million in Revenue, Cost Savings By End of 2006". American Airlines. Retrieved 2007-07-14. - "Impact of Trade in Oklahoma" (PDF). United States Chamber of Commerce. 2005. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Manufacturing Cluster Analysis" (PDF). Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Baker Hughes Rotary Rigs by State". Baker Hughes. Retrieved 2011-10-22. - Oklahoma Geological Survey. "Oklahoma Oil and Natural Gas: Components and Long-Term Outlook" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-10-22. - United States Department of Energy. "Installed Wind Capacity by State" (xls). Retrieved 2011-10-22. - "Oklahoma Energy Statistics". US Energy Information Administration. 2009. Retrieved 2011-10-22. - "Energy Consumption by Source and Total Consumption per Capita, Ranked by State, 2009". US Energy Information Administration. 2009. Retrieved 2011-10-22. - Institute for Energy Research. "Oklahoma Energy Facts" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-10-22. - "2009 Report on Oil and Natural Gas Activity within the State of Oklahoma" (PDF). Oklahoma Corporation Commission. 2009. Retrieved 2011-10-22. - "Three Of America’s Largest Private Companies Call Oklahoma Home". Oklahoma Department of Commerce. 2005-12-02. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Three Fortune's Snapshot: Devon energy". CNN. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - EIA (July 27, 2012). "Electric Power Monthly Table 1.17.A.". United States Department of Energy. Retrieved 2012-08-15. - EIA (July 27, 2012). "Electric Power Monthly Table 1.17.B.". United States Department of Energy. Retrieved 2012-08-15. - "A Welcome From The Commissioner". Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Retrieved 2007-08-07. - "Census Regions and Divisions of the United States" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - Lew, Allen. "What is geography?". Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - Greene, Wayne. "Largest Ancestry". Valparaiso University. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - Smith, Diane. "Universities partner to save dying languages." Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle. June 12, 2011. Retrieved on June 16, 2011. - "Flags over Oklahoma". Oklahoma History Center. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Oklahoma Quick Facts". Oklahoma Department of Tourism. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Fodor's Choice: Top Overlooked Destinations". Fodor's Magazine. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Oklahoma Travel Industry Association Information". Oklahoma Travel Industry Association. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Generosity Index 2003 (2001 data)". Catalogue for Philanthropy. 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-16. - "The Essence of the Midwest". Clarke College. 1999-05-10. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Filmmaker to share documentary chronicling local poet’s life". Sacramento State University. 2003-02-25. Retrieved 2008-04-04. - Greene, Wayne. "Oklahoma centennial quiz". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Museums of Oklahoma". Tufts University. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Oklahoma – A Great Place to Play". Oklahoma Department of Commerce. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Oklahoma's Diversity". Oklahoma Department of Commerce. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Oklahoma Mozart Festival". OK Mozart Festival. 2007. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - Gilmore, Joan (2007-12-13). "OKC Events". The Oklahoma City Journal Record. Retrieved 2008-06-17. - "Ballet Russes". Geller/Goldfine Productions. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-17. - "Capri Films" (PDF). Geller/Goldfine Productions. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-17. - "Honors and Awards". Discoveryland!. Archived from the original on 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2007-04-26. - Elliott, Matt (2007-03-25). "Cain’s Ballroom – A Music Icon: Venue is a landmark for Western swing, punk fans". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - Stancavage, John (2006-07-15). "Selling Tulsa: Branded". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "The All-Terrain Vacation". Travelok.com. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Travel OK". Travelok.com. Retrieved 2011-11-22. - "About the Museum". Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Sherwin Miller Museum of Judaism". Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Retrieved 2006-04-20. - Barber, Brian (2006-09-07). "100 and 1: State's centennial is named top-ranked bus-tour destination". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Oklahoma State Fair Opens September 14" (PDF). Oklahoma State Fair. 2006-09-11. Retrieved 2007-08-04. - "Tulsa State Fair – General Information". Tulsa State Fair. 2007. Archived from the original on August 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-25. - Bell, Leigh (2007-05-21). "Mayfest: Celebrating Downtown: Festival closes after big year". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-05-21. - Harrison, Daniel. "Top 10: American Oktoberfest Destinations". Ask Men. Retrieved 2007-05-05. - "Medieval Fair of Norman". Medieval Fair of Norman. 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-14. - "2008-09 Facts: Oklahoma Public Schools". Oklahoma State Department of Education. 2010. Retrieved 2012-01-22. - "Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions and Staff from the Common Core of Data, School Year 2009–10" (PDF). IES, National Center for Education Statistics. p. 11. Retrieved 2012-01-22. - "Growth in Oklahoma's State Governments 1992–2002" (PDF). University of Central Oklahoma. 2006-02-01. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-03. - "Superintendent Garrett announces Oklahoma No. 1 in Pre-Kindergarten". Oklahoma State Department of Education. 2004-11-19. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-03. - "Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2009" (PDF). IES, National Center for Education Statistics. pp. 7–8, 37. Retrieved 2012-01-22. - "High school diploma or higher, by percentage by state". Statemaster.com. 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-20. - "Missouri and the Nation". University of Missouri. 2007-02-09. Retrieved 2007-08-03. - "America's Best Colleges – 2007". Oklahoma Education Information System. 2007. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-03. - "Princeton review raves TU" (PDF). The Collegian. 2002-09-24. Retrieved 2007-08-03. - "Student Center Financial Aid". Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. 2008. Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-06. - "NSU Demographics" (PDF). Northeastern State University. 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-10. - "Rare Eye Condition Takes Center Stage At NSUOCO". Northeastern State University. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-06. - "INBRE Participants". Oklahoma Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence. Retrieved 2008-04-06. - "OBU Named to The Princeton Review "Best in the West" list". Oklahoma Baptist University. 2005-08-26. Retrieved 2007-08-03. - "Oklahoma Colleges: A Profile of College Degree Programs & Post-Secondary Education in Oklahoma". - Hibdon, Glenn (2007-07-29). "Pro soccer: Soccer comes to Tulsa". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "BA Team Valuations – No. 29 New Orleans Hornets". PGA. 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Sonics, city reach settlement". The Seattle Times. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-02. - "Attendance Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-20. - "America's Best Sports Colleges: 1–10". Sports Illustrated. 2002-10-07. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "America's Best Sports Colleges: 11–100". Sports Illustrated. 2002-10-07. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Member Institutions". NAIA. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Oklahoma's Top 10 Private Golf Courses". Tulsaweb. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Southern Hills Country Club is rich in History". PGA. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Rodeo History". Guymon Rodeo Foundation. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02. - "Health Report: Oklahoma". Trust for America's Health. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "State health workforce profiles:Oklahoma" (PDF). United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Health insurance, lack of coverage among adults: State, 2002–2005". United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved 2007-09-08. - "U.S. Obesity Trends". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 12, 2009. - Hitti, Miranda (June 13, 2007). "How States Rank on Health Care". WebMD Health News. Retrieved January 26, 2012. - [dead link] - "OU Medical Center Employment Opportunities". University of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Trauma One Center". University of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Southwestern Regional Medical Center". Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Retrieved 2007-05-07. - "Tulsa Regional Medical Center Changes its name to OSU Medical Center". Oklahoma State University. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Basic Biomedical Research in the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine". Oklahoma State University. Archived from the original on September 1, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "2011 Top Media Outlets: Newspapers, Blogs, Consumer Magazines & Social Network" (PDF). BurrellesLuce. 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-17. - "Local Television Market Universe Estimates Comparisons of 2008–09 and 2009–10 Market Ranks" (PDF). Nielsen Media. Retrieved 2011-10-17. - "Historical Highlights of Television in Tulsa, Oklahoma". Tulsa TV History. Retrieved 2007-08-06. - "U.S. Television Stations in Oklahoma". Global Computing. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-06. - "History of Newspapers in Oklahoma". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved 2007-08-06. - "Oklahoma Fun Facts". Legends of America. 2007. Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-06. - "Complete List of Radio Stations in the State of OK". On the Radio.net. 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-06. - Federal Communications Commission. "Call Sign History". Retrieved 2010-05-16. - "Transportation in Oklahoma City". Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Route 66 – Facts and Trivia". Legends of America. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "2008 Annual Average Daily Traffic" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. 2008. Retrieved 2011-09-28. - "Deficient Bridges by State and Highway System". United States Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration. 2010. Retrieved 2011-09-28. - S. Spacek, 2011 American State Litter Scorecard: New Rankings for an Increasingly Environmentally Concerned Populace. - "Aviation Activity Report December 2010". Oklahoma City Airport Authority. 2010. Retrieved 2011-09-30. - "Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 2010. Retrieved 2011-09-30. - "Tulsa International Airport – Airline Information". Tulsa Airport Authority. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Will Rogers World Airports – Airline Information". Oklahoma City Airport Authority. 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-02.[dead link] - "Riverside Jones Airport". Tulsa Airport Authority. 2007. Retrieved 2011-09-30. - "Airports of Oklahoma". Oklahoma Airport Operators Association. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - Barber, Brian. "Federal matching funds may help bring Amtrak to Tulsa". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-02. - "Live in Tulsa". Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. 2005. Archived from the original on May 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-14. - "What's new at the port?". Tulsa Port Authority. Retrieved 2007-07-30. - "State Government – Oklahoma". GoveEngine.com. 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - "Current Registration Statistics by County". State of Oklahoma. January 15, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013. - "Oklahoma State Government". Netstate. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Legislative Longevity Limits". U.S. Term Limits. Retrieved 2007-08-09. - "Report of the Governor's Commission on Government Performance". Governor's Commission. 1995-12-01. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-06. - "List of County Officers". Government of Oklahoma. 2006-01-06. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - "Oklahoma Municipal Government" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Libraries. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-07. - Diehl, Don (2007-07-24). "Metro About Jenks population figures ... doubled in size since 2000 census". Neighbor Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-08-01. - Henry, Robert (1989-03-22). "Oklahoma Attorney General's Opinions: Question Submitted by: The Honorable Enoch Kelly Haney, Oklahoma State Senate". The Oklahoma State Courts Network. Retrieved 2007-08-21. - Robertson, Lindsay (2001). "Native Americans and the Law: Native Americans Under Current United States Law". University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2007-08-21. - Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Oklahoma". US Election Atlas. Retrieved December 29, 2009. - "Registration by Party as of January 15, 2011" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved 2011-02-17. - "Oklahoma QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". Quickfacts.census.gov. 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2013-02-06. - Oklahoma Department of Commerce. "2000–2010 Oklahoma Incorporated Place Populations" (xls). Retrieved 2011-10-09. - "P1 Total Population All Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas (or parts) within Oklahoma". US Census Bureau. 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-09. - "Oklahoma Census Data Center News" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Commerce. July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-31. - Resident Population Data. "Resident Population Data – 2010 Census". 2010.census.gov. Retrieved December 24, 2012. - "Oklahoma - Race and Hispanic Origin: 1890 to 1990". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-04-15. - Exner, Rich (June 3, 2012). "Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot". The Plain Dealer. - "State Fact Sheets: Oklahoma". Economic Research Service. United States Department of Agriculture. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-03-28. - "Oklahoma – Selected Social Characteristics". United States Census Bureau. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-19. - "The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2002. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Oklahoma QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. 2006-01-12. Retrieved 2008-07-10. - David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, pp.602–645 - Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America By Dominic J. Pulera. - "Immigration Impact:Oklahoma". Federation for American Immigration Reform. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-17. - "National Selected Social Characteristics". U.S. Census Bureau. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "2010 Census Centers of Population by State". U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2011. - "More or Less". Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce. Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "Per capita income in Tulsa County highest in state". Tulsa World. 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2013-02-06. - Bram, Thursday. "Jewish Life in the Bible Belt". New Voices Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-01-21. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - Sherman, Bill (2007-04-29). "Minister’s book plunges into cultural issues". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "U.S. Religious Landscapes Survey". The Pew Forum on Religion and Life. Retrieved 2008-04-22. - "State Membership Report – Oklahoma". Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved 2007-08-05. - "USA-Oklahoma - LDS Statistics and Church Facts \| Total Church Membership". Mormonnewsroom.org. 2011-12-31. Retrieved 2013-02-06. - "New Oklahoma Quarter Launches into History". United States Mint. Retrieved 2008-02-09. - "OCIS Document Index". The Oklahoma Supreme Court Network. Retrieved 2007-05-11. - "Oklahoma State Icons". Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Retrieved 2007-05-11. - Oklahoma Statutes, §25-98.8 - Okla. Stat. tit. 25, § 3–98.15 - "Oklahoma State Fossil". State fossils. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-20. - John Benson, (April 28, 2009). "Flaming Lips prepare for Oklahoma honor". Reuters. Further reading - Baird, W. David; and Danney Goble (1994). The Story of Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2650-7. - Dale, Edward Everett; and Morris L. Wardell (1948). History of Oklahoma. New York: Prentice-Hall. - Gibson, Arrell Morgan (1981). Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries (2nd ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1758-3. - Goble, Danney (1980). Progressive Oklahoma: The Making of a New Kind of State. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1510-6. - Jones, Stephen (1974). Oklahoma Politics in State and Nation (vol. 1 (1907–62) ed.). Enid, Okla.: Haymaker Press. - Joyce, Davis D. (ed.) (1994). An Oklahoma I Had Never Seen Before: Alternative Views of Oklahoma History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2599-3. - Morgan, Anne Hodges; and H. Wayne Morgan (eds.) (1982). Oklahoma: New Views of the Forty-sixth State. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1651-X. - Morgan, David R.; Robert E. England, and George G. Humphreys (1991). Oklahoma Politics and Policies: Governing the Sooner State. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3106-7. - Morris, John W.; Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C. McReynolds (1986). Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (3rd ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1991-8. - Wishart, David J. (ed.) (2004). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-4787-7. complete text online; 900 pages of scholarly articles \|Find more about Oklahoma at Wikipedia's sister projects\| \|Definitions and translations from Wiktionary\| \|Media from Commons\| \|Learning resources from Wikiversity\| \|News stories from Wikinews\| \|Quotations from Wikiquote\| \|Source texts from Wikisource\| \|Textbooks from Wikibooks\| \|Travel guide from Wikivoyage\| - Festival and Fairs - Oklahoma's official web site - Oklahoma Legislative Branch - Oklahoma Judicial Branch - Oklahoma State Constitution - Oklahoma Department of Commerce - Oklahoma Department of Human Services - Oklahoma Department of Transportation - Tourism and recreation - Oklahoma Tourism Board - Official Oklahoma Tourism Info - Oklahoma State Parks - Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau - Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau - Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau - Culture and history - Oklahoma Historical Society - Oklahoma History Center - Oklahoma State Guide from the Library of Congress - Oklahoma Arts Council - Oklahoma Theatre Association - Oklahoma City History - Tulsa Historical Society - Maps and demographics - Oklahoma QuickFacts Geographic and Demographic information - 2000 Census Oklahoma Demographics Information - State highway maps - Oklahoma Genealogical Society - Realtime USGS geographic, weather, and geologic information - Geographic data related to Oklahoma at OpenStreetMap - Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory \|List of U.S. states by date of statehood Admitted on November 16, 1907 (46th)
A store-bought Karelian pasty \|Place of origin\|\|Finland\| \|Region or state\|\|Karelia\| \|Main ingredient(s)\|\|rye flour or wheat flour, rice, butter\| \|\|This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (May 2010)\| Karelian pasties or Karelian pies (South Karelian dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiirakat, singular karjalanpiirakka; North Karelian dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiiraat, singular karjalanpiiras; Karelian: kalitt, singular kalittoa; Olonets Karelian: šipainiekku) are traditional pasties from the region of Karelia. Today they are eaten throughout Finland as well as in the neighbouring Estonia. The oldest traditional pasties usually had a rye crust, but the North Karelian and Ladoga Karelian variants also had wheat alongside of rye to improve the baking characteristics of the available rye breads. The common fillings of this era were barley and talkkuna. The 19th century first introduced potato and buckwheat as new fillings, and later due to trade, also rice and millet. Nowadays in the most familiar and common recipe the pasties are made from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (egg butter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pasties before eating. See also - EU Profile-Karjalanpiirakka (accessed 07/06/2009) \|Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on\| Wikimedia Commons have a Category:Karjalanpiirakka \|This pie or tart-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.\|
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750–2000 mm (68–78 inches). The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earth's tropical rainforests. Around 40% to 75% of all biotic species are indigenous to the rainforests. It has been estimated that there may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests are also responsible for 28% of the world's oxygen turnover, sometimes misnamed oxygen production, processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and consuming it through respiration. The undergrowth in some areas of a rainforest can be restricted by poor penetration of sunlight to ground level. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs and small trees, called a jungle. There are two types of rainforest, tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest. Tropical rainforests are characterized in two words: warm and wet. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year. Average annual rainfall is no less than 168 cm (66 in) and can exceed 1,000 cm (390 in) although it typically lies between 175 cm (69 in) and 200 cm (79 in). Many of the world's rainforests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough, also known as the intertropical convergence zone. Tropical rainforests are rainforests in the tropics, found in the equatorial zone (between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn). Tropical rainforest is present in Southeast Asia (from Myanmar (Burma) to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and northeastern Australia), Sri Lanka, sub-Saharan Africa from Cameroon to the Congo (Congo Rainforest), South America (e.g. the Amazon Rainforest), Central America (e.g. Bosawás, southern Yucatán Peninsula-El Peten-Belize-Calakmul), and on many of the Pacific Islands (such as Hawaiʻi). Tropical rainforests have been called the "Earth's lungs", although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to the atmosphere through photosynthesis. \|This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2013)\| Temperate forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in few regions around the world. Temperate rainforests are rainforests in temperate regions. They occur in North America (in the Pacific Northwest, the British Columbia Coast and in the inland rainforest of the Rocky Mountain Trench east of Prince George), in Europe (parts of the British Isles such as the coastal areas of Ireland and Scotland, southern Norway, parts of the western Balkans along the Adriatic coast, as well as in the North West of Spain and coastal areas of the eastern Black Sea, including Georgia and coastal Turkey), in East Asia (in southern China, Taiwan, much of Japan and Korea, and on Sakhalin Island and the adjacent Russian Far East coast), in South America (southern Chile) and also in Australia and New Zealand. A tropical rainforest is typically divided into four main layers, each with different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular area: the emergent, canopy, understorey/understory and forest floor layers. The emergent layer contains a small number of very large trees called emergents, which grow above the general canopy, reaching heights of 45–55 m, although on occasion a few species will grow to 70–80 m tall. They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas. Eagles, butterflies, bats and certain monkeys inhabit this layer. The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees, typically 30 metres (98 ft) to 45 metres (148 ft) tall. The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops. The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species, suggesting that perhaps half of all life on Earth could be found there. Epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches, and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on the supporting plants. The fauna is similar to that found in the emergent layer, but more diverse. A quarter of all insect species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy. Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat, but have only recently developed practical methods of exploring it. As long ago as 1917, naturalist William Beebe declared that "another continent of life remains to be discovered, not upon the Earth, but one to two hundred feet above it, extending over thousands of square miles." True exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s, when scientists developed methods to reach the canopy, such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows. Exploration of the canopy is still in its infancy, but other methods include the use of balloons and airships to float above the highest branches and the building of cranes and walkways planted on the forest floor. The science of accessing tropical forest canopy using airships or similar aerial platforms is called dendronautics. The understorey/understory layer lies between the canopy and the forest floor. The understorey/understory is home to a number of birds, snakes and lizards, as well as predators such as jaguars, boa constrictors and leopards. The leaves are much larger at this level. Insect life is also abundant. Many seedlings that will grow to the canopy level are present in the understorey/understory. Only about 5% of the sunlight shining on the rainforest canopy reaches the understorey/understory. This layer can be called a shrub layer, although the shrub layer may also be considered a separate layer. Main article: Forest floor The forest floor, the bottom-most layer, receives only 2% of the sunlight. Only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region. Away from riverbanks, swamps and clearings, where dense undergrowth is found, the forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation because of the low sunlight penetration. It also contains decaying plant and animal matter, which disappears quickly, because the warm, humid conditions promote rapid decay. Many forms of fungi growing here help decay the animal and plant waste. Flora and fauna More than half of the world's species of plants and animals are found in the rainforest. Rainforests support a very broad array of fauna, including mammals, reptiles, birds and invertebrates. Mammals may include primates, felids and other families. Reptiles include snakes, turtles, chameleons and other families; while birds include such families as vangidae and Cuculidae. Dozens of families of invertebrates are found in rainforests. Fungi are also very common in rainforest areas as they can feed on the decomposing remains of plants and animals. Many rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation, habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere. \|This section requires expansion. (December 2008)\| Despite the growth of vegetation in a tropical rainforest, soil quality is often quite poor. Rapid bacterial decay prevents the accumulation of humus. The concentration of iron and aluminium oxides by the laterization process gives the oxisols a bright red colour and sometimes produces mineral deposits such as bauxite. Most trees have roots near the surface, because there are insufficient nutrients below the surface; most of the trees' minerals come from the top layer of decomposing leaves and animals. On younger substrates, especially of volcanic origin, tropical soils may be quite fertile. If rainforest trees are cleared, rain can accumulate on the exposed soil surfaces, creating run-off and beginning a process of soil erosion. Eventually streams and rivers form and flooding becomes possible. Effect on global climate A natural rainforest emits and absorbs vast quantities of carbon dioxide. On a global scale, long-term fluxes are approximately in balance, so that an undisturbed rainforest would have a small net impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, though they may have other climatic effects (on cloud formation, for example, by recycling water vapour). No rainforest today can be considered to be undisturbed. Human induced deforestation plays a significant role in causing rainforests to release carbon dioxide, as do other factors, whether human-induced or natural, which result in tree death, such as burning and drought. Some climate models operating with interactive vegetation predict a large loss of Amazonian rainforest around 2050 due to drought, forest dieback and the subsequent release more carbon dioxide. Five million years from now, the Amazon rainforest may long since have dried and transformed itself into savannah, killing itself in the progress (changes such as this may happen even if all human deforestation activity ceases overnight). The descendants of our known animals may adapt to the dry savannah of the former Amazonian rainforest and thrive in the new, warmer temperatures. Tropical rainforests provide timber as well as animal products such as meat and hides. Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations and for the ecosystem services provided. Many foods originally came from tropical forests, and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest. Also, plant derived medicines are commonly used for fever, fungal infections, burns, gastrointestinal problems, pain, respiratory problems, and wound treatment. \|This section requires expansion. (December 2008)\| On January 18, 2007, FUNAI reported also that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition, Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes. The province of Irian Jaya or West Papua in the island of New Guinea is home to an estimated 44 uncontacted tribal groups. The tribes are in danger because of the deforestation, especially in Brazil. Central African rainforest is home of the Mbuti pygmies, one of the hunter-gatherer peoples living in equatorial rainforests characterised by their short height (below one and a half metres, or 59 inches, on average). They were the subject of a study by Colin Turnbull, The Forest People, in 1962. Pygmies who live in Southeast Asia are, amongst others, referred to as “Negrito”. Tropical and temperate rainforests have been subjected to heavy logging and agricultural clearance throughout the 20th century and the area covered by rainforests around the world is shrinking. Biologists have estimated that large numbers of species are being driven to extinction (possibly more than 50,000 a year; at that rate, says E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, a quarter or more of all species on Earth could be exterminated within 50 years) due to the removal of habitat with destruction of the rainforests. Another factor causing the loss of rainforest is expanding urban areas. Littoral rainforest growing along coastal areas of eastern Australia is now rare due to ribbon development to accommodate the demand for seachange lifestyles. The forests are being destroyed at a rapid pace. Almost 90% of West Africa's rainforest has been destroyed. Since the arrival of humans 2000 years ago, Madagascar has lost two thirds of its original rainforest. At present rates, tropical rainforests in Indonesia would be logged out in 10 years and Papua New Guinea in 13 to 16 years. According to Rainforest Rescue, a main reason for the increasing deforestation rate especially in Indonesia is the expansion of oil palm plantations to meet the growing demand for cheap vegetable fats and biofuels. In Indonesia, palm oil is already cultivated on nine million hectares and, together with Malaysia, the island nation produces about 85 percent of the world’s palm oil.[unreliable source?] Several countries, notably Brazil, have declared their deforestation a national emergency. Amazon deforestation jumped by 69% in 2008 compared to 2007's twelve months, according to official government data. Deforestation could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60% of the Amazon Rainforest by 2030, says a new report from WWF. However, a January 30, 2009 New York Times article stated, "By one estimate, for every acre of rain forest cut down each year, more than 50 acres of new forest are growing in the tropics..." The new forest includes secondary forest on former farmland and so-called degraded forest. - "Rainforests.net – Variables and Math". Retrieved 2009-01-04. - "Rainforests at Animal Center". Animalcorner.co.uk. 2004-01-01. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - Killer Inhabitants of the Rainforests. "Killer Inhabitants of the Rainforests". Trendsupdates.com. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - Susan Woodward. Tropical broadleaf Evergreen Forest: The rainforest. Retrieved on 2008-03-14. - Newman, Arnold. The Tropical Rainforest : A World Survey of Our Most Valuable Endangered Habitat : With a Blueprint for Its Survival. New York: Checkmark, 2002. Print. - Hobgood (2008). Global Pattern of Surface Pressure and Wind. Ohio State University. Retrieved on 2009-03-08. - Broeker, Wallace S. (2006). "Breathing easy: Et tu, O2." Columbia University Columbia.edu - Moran, E.F., "Deforestation and Land Use in the Brazilian Amazon," Human Ecology, Vol 21, No. 1, 1993" - Bourgeron, Patrick S. (1983). "Spatial Aspects of Vegetation Structure". In Frank B. Golley. Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystems. Structure and Function. Ecosystems of the World (14A ed.). Elsevier Scientific. pp. 29–47. ISBN 0-444-41986-1. - "Sabah". Eastern Native Tree Society. Retrieved 2007-11-14. - Dendronautics – Introduction[dead link] - "Rainforest Facts". Rain-tree.com. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - "Impact of Deforestation – Extinction". Rainforests.mongabay.com. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - "Grida.no" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-26. - Lewis, S.L. , Phillips, O.L., Baker, T.R., Lloyd, J. et al. 2004 “Concerted changes in tropical forest structure and dynamics: evidence from 50 South American long-term plots” Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 359 - Malhi, Y and Grace, J. 2000 " Tropical forests and atmospheric carbon dioxide”, Tree 15 - "Drought may turn forests into carbon producers". The Age (Melbourne). 2004-03-06. - Cox, P. M.; Betts, R. A.; Collins, M.; Harris, P. P.; Huntingford, C.; Jones, C. D. (2004). "Amazonian forest dieback under climate-carbon cycle projections for the 21st century". Theoretical and Applied Climatology 78. Bibcode:2004ThApC..78..137C. doi:10.1007/s00704-004-0049-4. - The Future is Wild television program - Myers, N. (1985). The primary source. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, pp. 189–193. - "Final Paper: The Medicinal Value of the Rainforest May 15, 2003. Amanda Haidet May 2003". Jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - "Brazil sees traces of more isolated Amazon tribes". Reuters.com. 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - BBC: First contact with isolated tribes? - The Tribal Peoples, ThinkQuest - Entire rainforests set to disappear in next decade, The Independent - Talks Seek to Prevent Huge Loss of Species, New York Times - "Littoral Rainforest-Why is it threatened?". Pittwater.nsw.gov.au. 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - Thomas Marent: Out of the woods, The Independent - Brazil: Amazon Forest Destruction Rate Has Tripled, FoxNews.com, September 29, 2008 - "Papua New Guinea's rainforests disappearing faster than thought". News.mongabay.com. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - "Rainforests & Agriculture". Csupomona.edu. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - "Science: Satellite monitors Madagascar's shrinking rainforest, 19 May 1990, New Scientist". Newscientist.com. 1990-05-19. Retrieved 2012-08-26. - China is black hole of Asia's deforestation, AsiaNews.it, 24 March 2008 - Rainforest Rescue: Facts about palm oil - Amazon deforestation rises sharply in 2007, Usatoday.com, January 24, 2008 - Vidal, John (20 May 2005). "Rainforest loss shocks Brazil". guardian.co.uk (London). Retrieved 7 July 2010. - Brazil: Amazon deforestation worsens, Msnbc.com, August 30, 2008 - Benjamin, Alison (6 December 2007). "More than half of Amazon will be lost by 2030, report warns". guardian.co.uk (London). Retrieved 7 July 2010. - New Jungles Prompt a Debate on Rain Forests, The New York Times, January 30, 2009 - Butler, R. A. (2005) A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face. Published online: Rainforests.mongabay.com - Richards, P. W. (1996). The tropical rain forest. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-42194-2 - Whitmore, T. C. (1998) An introduction to tropical rain forests. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850147-1 \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rainforest\| \|Look up rainforest in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.\| - Animals in a rainforest - Rainforest Action Network - The Sabah Biodiversity Experiment on rainforest restoration - Rainforest Portal - EIA forest reports: Investigations into illegal logging. - EIA in the USA Reports and info. - The Coalition for Rainforest Nations - The Prince's Rainforests Project - United Nations Forum on Forests - Dave Kimble's Rainforest Photo Catalog (Wet Tropics, Australia) - Rainforest Plants
In music, the sarabande (Sp., zarabanda; It., sarabanda) is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation.[vague] The quarter notes are said to correspond with the dragging steps in the dance. The sarabande is first mentioned in Central America: in 1539, a dance called a zarabanda is mentioned in a poem written in Panama by Fernando Guzmán Mexía. Apparently the dance became popular in the Spanish colonies before moving back across the Atlantic to Spain. While it was banned in Spain in 1583 for its obscenity, it was frequently cited in literature of the period (for instance in works by Cervantes and Lope de Vega). In the Baroque era the suite typically included a sarabande, as the third of four movements in the standard 18th-century form: allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue. Johann Sebastian Bach sometimes gave the sarabande a privileged place in his music even outside the context of dance suites; in particular, the aria theme and climactic 25th variation from Bach's Goldberg Variations are both sarabandes. The sarabande form was revived in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (in his Holberg Suite of 1884), French composers such as Debussy and Satie, and in England, in different styles, Vaughan Williams (in Job: A Masque for Dancing), Benjamin Britten (in the Simple Symphony) and Herbert Howells (in Six Pieces for Organ: Saraband for the Morning of Easter). One of the best-known constant-harmony variation types is the anonymous La Folia whose harmonic sequence appears in pieces of various types (mainly dances) by dozens of composers from the time of Mudarra (1546) and Corelli through the present day. The theme of the fourth-movement Sarabande of Handel's Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437) for harpsichord is a variation of this piece, and is featured prominently in the film Barry Lyndon. Other sarabandes The sarabande inspired the title of Ingmar Bergman's last film Saraband (2003). The film uses the sarabande from Johann Sebastian Bach's Fifth Cello Suite, which Bergman also used in Cries and Whispers (1971). - "Richard Hudson: "Sarabande", New Grove Online (subscription access)". Retrieved 2006-11-13. - Richard Hudson and Meredith Ellis Little, "Sarabande: 1. Early Development to c1640", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001). - Giuseppe Gerbino and Alexander Silbiger, "Folia", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001); Elaine Sisman, "Variations, §3: Variation Types", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001). - Ingmar Bergman Saraband - Sources of inspiration Further reading - Carvajal, Mara Lioba Juan. 2007. La zarabanda: pluralidad y controversia de un género musical. Arte y expresión. [Zacatecas, Mexico]: Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Programa Integral de Fortalecimiento Institucional; México, D.F.: Plaza y Valdés. ISBN 9789707225626. \|Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Saraband.\| - Example of a reconstructed Sarabande by Kaspar Mainz, with Il Giardino Armonico - Streetswing.com Dance History Archives - Example of a Sarabande dance choreography "La Sarabande à deux", Feuillet (1704)
United Nations Operation in Somalia I \|\|This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2008)\| United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I) was the first part of a United Nations (UN) sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali Civil War conflict in the early 1990s. The operation was established in April 1992 and ran until its duties were assumed by the UNITAF mission in December 1992. Following the dissolution of UNITAF in May 1993, the subsequent UN mission in Somalia was known as UNOSOM II. Following the eruption and escalation of the civil war in Somalia in 1991, the UN and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) strived to abate the suffering that was caused as a result of the high-intensity conflict. Of the Somali population of 4.5 million people, over half were in severe danger of starvation and malnutrition-related disease, mostly in the drought-stricken rural areas. Another 1.5 million were judged at moderate risk of malnutrition. Three hundred thousand people died outright in the early months of 1992 and another million fled the country as refugees. The UN was engaged in Somalia from early in 1991 when the civil strife began. UN personnel were withdrawn on several occasions during sporadic flare-ups of violence. A series of Security Council resolutions (733, 746) and diplomatic visits eventually helped impose a ceasefire between the two key factions, signed at the end of March 1992. These efforts were aided by other international bodies, such as the Organisation for African Unity, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Creation of UNOSOM I The UN, with the active support of all rebel faction leaders, felt that some sort of peackeeping force would be required to uphold the ceasefire and assist the humanitarian relief effort, in conjunction with other relief agencies and NGOs. By the end of April 1992, the Security Council adopted Resolution 751. This provided for the establishment of a security force of 50 UN troops in Somalia to monitor the ceasefire. This detachment would be known as the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) and it existed at the consent of those parties who had been represented in the ceasefire. The resolution also allowed for an expansion of the security force, with a number of around 500 troops initially discussed. The first group of ceasefire observers arrived in Mogadishu in early July 1992. Ineffectiveness of UNOSOM I Despite the UN's efforts, all over Somalia the ceasefire was ignored, fighting continued, and continued to increase, putting the relief operations at great risk. The main parties to the ceasefire, General Mohamed Farrah Aidid and "President" Ali Mahdi Muhammad, once again showing the difficult and troubled relations between the warlords, proved to be difficult negotiating partners and continually frustrated attempts to move the peacekeepers and supplies. In August 1992 the Security Council endorsed sending of another 3,000 troops to the region to protect relief efforts. However, most of these troops were never sent. Over the final quarter of 1992, the situation in Somalia continued to get worse. Factions in Somalia were splintering into smaller factions and splintering again. Agreements for food distribution with one party were worthless when the stores had to be shipped through the territory of another. Some elements were actively opposing the UNOSOM intervention. Troops were shot at, aid ships attacked and prevented from docking, cargo aircraft were fired upon and aid agencies, public and private, were subject to threats, robbery and extortion. Meanwhile, hundreds, if not thousands of poverty stricken refugees were starving to death every day. By November 1992, General Mohamed Farrah Aidid had grown confident enough to formally defy the Security Council and demand the withdrawal of peace keepers, as well as declaring hostile intent against any further UN deployments. . Transition to UNITAF and UNOSOM II In November 1992, the United States of America offered to establish a multinational force under its own leadership to secure the humanitarian operation. This offer was accepted by the Security Council, and what became known as the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was authorized to utilize "all necessary means" to ensure the protection of the relief efforts. Accordingly, the Security Council suspended any further significant strengthening of UNOSOM as UN affairs in Somalia were subsumed by UNITAF (also known to Americans as Operation Restore Hope). With only a handful of the 3,000 plus troops envisaged for UNOSOM ever put in place, the Security Council left it to “the discretion of the Secretary General” as to what should be done with the abortive mission. UNITAF was composed of forces from 24 different countries, with the vast bulk contributed by the United States. UNITAF soon secured the relief operations which were being coordinated and carried out by UNOSOM, which was also attempting to negotiate a political end to the conflict. Indeed, although UNOSOM had been replaced by UNITAF, it was technically still in operation and would remain ready to resume its function when UNITAF had met its goals of creating a secure environment for humanitarian relief. The Secretary-General convened a meeting in early 1993 in which 14 important Somalia political and rebel factions agreed to hand over all of their weapons to UNITAF and UNOSOM, and over $130 million was pledged by donors at an aid conference that year to assist in reconstruction. However, Somalia continued the stumble, and in March the UN decided to transform the UNITAF mission into what came to be known as UNOSOM II. The mandate of UNOSOM II stipulated that the operation was to secure continued relief efforts and, more significantly, to restore peace and rebuild the Somali state and economy. In the few months of its operation, 54 military observers and 893 military personnel served with UNOSOM I, supported by international civilian and local staff. The mission suffered six fatalities. Contributing nations were: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. See also - United Nations, 2003, United Nations Operations in Somalia (UNSOM 1) Background (Full Text) - United Nations, 1992, Letter dated 92/11/24 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council. - United Nations, Security Council resolution 794 (1992), 24/4/92, para. 3. - United Nations Operation in Somalia I: facts and figures Further reading - Allard, Colonel Kenneth, Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned, National Defense University Press (1995).
Popular Science Monthly/Volume 18/January 1881/The Development of Political Institutions III \|←Notes\|\|Popular Science Monthly Volume 18 January 1881 (1881) The Development of Political Institutions III By Herbert Spencer \|Physical Education I→\| By HERBERT SPENCER. POLITICAL integration is in some cases furthered, and in other cases hindered, by conditions, external and internal. There are the characters of the environment, and there are the characters of the men composing the society. We will glance at them in this order. How political integration is prevented by an inclemency of climate, or an infertility of soil, which keeps down population, has been already shown. To the instances before named may be added that of the Seminoles, of whom Schoolcraft says, "Being so thinly scattered over a barren desert, they seldom assemble to take black drink, or deliberate on public matters"; and, again, that of certain Snake Indians, of whom he says, "The paucity of game in this region is, I have little doubt, the cause of the almost entire absence of social organization." We saw, too, that great uniformity of surface, of mineral products, of flora, of fauna, are impediments; and that on the special characters of the flora and fauna, as containing species favorable or unfavorable to human welfare, in part depends the individual prosperity required for social growth. It was also pointed out that structure of the habitat, as facilitating or impeding communication, and as rendering escape easy or hard, has much to do with the size of the social aggregate formed. To the illustrations before given, showing that mountain-haunting peoples, and peoples living in deserts and marshes, are difficult to consolidate, while peoples penned in by barriers are consolidated with facility, I may here add two significant ones not yet noticed. One occurs in the Polynesian Islands—Tahiti, Hawaii, 290 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. ga, Samoa, and the rest where, restrained within limits by surround- ing seas, the inhabitants have become united more or less closely into aggregates of considerable sizes. The other is furnished by ancient Peru, where, before the time of the Incas, semi-civilized communities had been formed in valleys separated from each other " on the coast, by hot and almost impassable deserts, and in the interior by lofty mountains, or cold and trackless ^w/ias." And to the implied inability of these peoples to escape governmental coercion, thus indicated by Squier as a factor in their civilization, is ascribed, by the ancient Spanish writer Cieza, the difference between them and the neighbor- ing Indians of Popayan, who could retreat, "whenever attacked, to other fertile regions." How, conversely, within the area occupied, the massing of men together is furthered by ease of internal communica- tion, is sufficiently manifest. The importance of it is implied by the remark of Grant concerning equatorial Africa, that " no jui'isdiction extends over a district which can not be crossed in three or four days." And such facts, implying that political integration may increase as the means of going from place to place become better, remind us how, from Roman times downward, the formation of roads has made larger social aggregates possible. Evidence that a certain type of physique is requisite has been else- where given. * We saw that the races which have proved capable of evolving large societies have been races previously subject, for long periods, to conditions fostering vigor of constitution. I will here add only that the constitutional energy needed for continuous labor, with- out which there can not be civilized life and the massing of men that accompanies it, is an energy not to be quickly acquired under any con- ditions or through any discipline, but to be acquired only by inher- ited modifications slowly accumulated. Good evidence that in lower types of men there is a physical incapacity for continuous labor, is supplied by the results of the Jesuit government over the Paraguay Indians. These Indians were reduced to industrial habits, and to an orderly life which was thought by many writers admirable ; but there eventually resulted the fatal evil that they became infertile. Not im- probably, the infertility habitually observed in savage races that have been led into civilized habits, is consequent on taxing the physique to a degree greater than it is constituted to bear. Certain moral traits which favor, and others which hinder, the union of men into large groups, were pointed out when treating of "The Primitive Man Emotional. "f Here I will reillustrate such of these as concern the fitness or unfitness of the type for subordination, " The Abors, as they themselves say, are like tigers, two can not dwell in one den," writes Mr. Dalton ; and " their houses are scattered sin- gly, or in groups of two and three." Conversely, some of the African races not only yield when coerced, but admire one who coerces them ; - " Principles of Sociology," 16. f Ibid., Part I, chapter vi. �� POLITICAL INTEGRATION. 291 instance the Damaras, who, as Galton says, "court slavery" and "fol- low a master as spaniels would." The like is alleged of other South Africans. One of them said to a gentleman known to me : "You're a pretty fellow to be a master ; I've been with you two years and you've never beaten me once." Obviously the dispositions thus strong- ly contrasted are dispositions on which the impossibility or possibility of political integration largely depends. There must be added, as also influential, the presence or the absence of the nomadic instinct. Vari- eties of men, in whom wandering habits have been unchecked during countless generations of hunting life and pastoral life, show us that, even when forced into agricultural life, their tendency to move about greatly hinders aggregation. It is thus among the hill-tribes of India. " The Kookies are naturally a migratory race, never occupying the same place for more than two or, at the utmost, three years " ; and the like holds of the Mishmees, who " never name their villages " the existence of them being too transitory. In some races this migratory instinct survives and shows its effects, even after the formation of populous towns. "Writing of the Bachassins in 1812, Burchell says that Litakun, containing 15,000 inhabitants, had been twice removed during a period of ten years. Clearly, people so little attached to the localities they were born in are not so easily united into large societies as people who love their early homes. Concerning the intellectual traits which aid or impede the cohesion of men into masses, I may supplement what was said when delineating f The Primitive Man Intellectual," * by two corollaries of much sig- nificance. Social life, being cooperative life, presupposes not only an emotional nature fitted for cooperation, but also such . intelligence as perceives the benefits of cooperation, and can so regulate actions as to effect it. The unreflectiveness, the deficient consciousness of causa- tion, and the utter lack of constructive imagination, shown by the un- civilized, hinder cooperation to a degree diflicult to believe until proof is seen. Even the semi-civilized exhibit in quite simple matters an absence of concert which is astonishing. f Implying, as this inaptitude - " Principles of Sociology," Part I, chapter vii. f The behavior of Arab boatmen on the Nile displays this inability to cooperate in simple matters in a striking way. When jointly hauling at a rope, and beginning, as they do, to chant, the inference one draws is that they pull in time with their words. On observing, however, it turns out that their efforts are not combined at given intervals, but are put forth without any unity of rhythm. Similarly, when using their poles to push the dahabeiah off a sand-bank, the succession of grunts they severally make is so rapid that it is manifestly impossible for them to give those effectual combined pushes which imply appreciable intervals of preparation. Still more striking is the want of concert shown by the hundred or more Nubians and Arabs employed to drag the vessel up the rapids. There are shoutings, gesticulations, divided actions, utter confusion ; so that only by accident does it at length happen that a sufficient number of efforts are put forth at the same moment. As was said to me by our Arab dragoman, a traveled man, " Ten Enslishraen or Frenchmen would do the thing at once." �� 292 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. does, that cooperation can at first be effective only where there is obedi- ence to peremptory command, it follows that there must be not only an emotional nature which produces subordination, but also an intel- lectual nature which i^roduces faith in a commander. That credulity which leads to awe of the capable man, as a possessor of supernatural power, and which afterward, causing dread of his ghost, prompts ful- fillment of his remembered injunctions that credulity which initiates the religious control of a deified chief, reenforcing the control of his divine descendant is a credulity which can not be dispensed with dur- ing early stages of integration. Skepticism is fatal while the character, moral and intellectual, is such as to necessitate compulsory coopera- tion. Political integration, then, hindered in many regions by environ- ing conditions, has, in many races of mankind, been prevented from advancing far by unfitnesses of nature physical, moral, and intel- lectual. Besides certain fitnesses of nature in the united individuals, social union requires a considerable likeness of kind in their natures. At the outset the likeness of kind is insured by greater or less kinship in blood. Evidence of this meets us everywhere among the uncivilized. Of the Bushmen, Lichtenstein says : " Families alone form associations in single small hordes ; sexual feelings, the instinctive love to children, or the customary attachment among relations, are the only ties that keep them in any sort of union." Again, " The Rock Veddahs are di- vided into small clans or families associated for relationship, who agree in partitioning the forest among themselves for hunting-gi'ounds," etc. And this rise of the society out of the family, seen in these least or- ganized groups, reappears in the considerably organized groups of more advanced savages. Instance the New-Zealanders, of whom we read that " eighteen historical nations occupy the country, each being subdivided into many tribes, originally families, as the prefix Ngati, signifying offspring (equivalent to O or Mac), obviously indicates." This connection between blood-relationship and social union is well shown by Humboldt's remarks concerning South American Indians. " Savages," he says, " know only their own family, and a tribe appears to them but a more numerous assemblage of relations." When Indians who inhabit the missions see those of the forest, who are unknown to them, they say : " They are, no doubt, my relations ; I understand them when they speak to me." But these very savages detest all who are not of their family or their tribe ; " they know the duties of family ties and of relationship, but not those of humanity." When treating of the domestic relations, reasons were given for concluding that social stability increases as kinships become more defi- nite and extended ; since development of kinships, while insuring the likeness of nature which furthers cooperation, involves the strengthen- �� POLITICAL INTEGRATION. 293 ing and multiplication of those family bonds which check disruption. Where promiscuity is prevalent, or where marriages are temporary, the known relationships are relatively few and not close ; and there is little more social cohesion than results from belonging to the same type of man. Polyandry, especially of the higher kind, produces relation- ships of some definiteness, which admit of being traced further ; so serving better to tie the social group together. And a greater advance in the nearness and the number of family connections results from po- lygyny. But, as was shoAvn, it is from monogamy that there arise fam- ily connections which are at once the most definite and the most wide- spreading in their ramifications ; and out of monogamic families are developed the largest and most coherent societies. In two allied yet distinguishable ways does monogamy favor social solidarity. Unlike the children of the polyandrous family, who are something less than half brothers and sisters, and unlike the children of the polyg- amous family, most of whom are only half brothers and sisters, the children of the monogamous family are, in the great majority of cases, all of the same blood on both sides. Being thus themselves more closely related, it follows that their clusters of children are more closely related ; and where, as happens in early stages, these clusters of chil- dren when grown up continue to form a community, and labor to- gether, they are united alike by their kinships arid by their industrial interests. Though with the growth of a family group into a gens which spreads, the industrial interests divide, yet these kinships pre- vent the divisions from becoming as marked as they would otherwise become. And, similarly, when the gens, in course of time, develops into the tribe. Nor is this all. If local circumstances bring together several such tribes, which are still allied in blood, though more re- motely, it results that when, seated side by side, they are gradually fused, partly by interspersion and partly by intermarriage, the com- pound society formed, united by numerous and complicated links of kinship as well as by political interests, is more strongly bound to- gether than it would otherwise be. Dominant ancient societies illus- trate this truth. Says Grote : " All that we hear of the most ancient Athenian laws is based upon the gentile and phratric divisions, which are treated throughout as extensions of the family." Similarly, accord- ins: to Mommsen, on the "Roman household was based the Roman state, both as respected its constituent elements and its form. The community of the Roman people arose out of the junction (in whatever way brought about) of such ancient clanships as the Romilii, Voltinii, Fabii, etc." And Sir Henry Maine has shown in detail the ways in which the simple family passes into the house community, and eventu- ally the village community. Though, in presence of the evidence fur- nished by races having irregular sexual relations, we can not allege that sameness of blood is the primary reason for political cofjperation though in numerous tribes which have not risen into the pastoral state. �� 294 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. there is combination for offense and defense among those whose names are recognized marks of different bloods yet where there has been established descent through males, and especially where monogamy prevails, sameness of blood becomes largely, if not mainly, influential in determining political cooperation. And this truth, under one of its aspects, is the truth above enunciated, that combined action, requiring a certain likeness of nature among those who carry it on, is, in early stages, most successful among those who, being descendants of the same ancestors, have the greatest likeness. An all-important though less direct effect of blood-relation shij), and especially that more definite blood-relationship which arises from mon- ogamic marriage, has to be added. I mean community of religion a likeness of ideas and sentiments embodied in the worshij* of a com- man deity. Beginning, as this does, with the propitiation of the de- ceased founder of the family, and shared in, as it is, by the multiply- ing groups of descendants, as the family spreads, it becomes a further means of holding together the compound cluster gradually formed, and checking the antagonisms that arise between the component clus- ters : so favoring integration. The influence of the bond supplied by a common cult everywhere meets us in ancient history. Each of the cities in primitive Egypt was a center for the worship of a special divinity ; and no one who, unbiased by foregone conclusions, observes the extraordinary development of ancestor-worship, under all its forms, in Egypt, can doubt the origin of this divinity. Of the Greeks we read that "each family had its own sacred rites and funereal com- memoration of ancestors, celebrated by the master of the house, to which none but members of the family were admissible : the extinction of a family, carrying with it the suspension of these religious rites, was held by the Greeks to be a misfortune, not merely from the loss of the citizens composing it, but also because the family gods and the manes of deceased citizens were thus deprived of their honors and might visit the country with displeasure. The larger associations, called Gens, Phratry, Tribe, were formed by an extension of the same principle of the family considered as a religious brotherhood, wor- shiping some common god or hero with an appropriate surname, and recognizing him as their joint ancestor." A like bond was generated in a like manner in the Roman commu- nity. Each curia, which was the homologue of the phratry, had a head, "whose chief function was to preside over the sacrifices." And, on a larger scale, the same thing held with the entire society. The primitive Roman king was a priest of the deities common to all ; " he held intercourse with the gods of the community, whom he consulted and whom he appeased." The beginnings of this religious bond, here exhibited in a developed form, are still traceable in India. Sir Henry Maine, says, "The joint family of the Hindoos is that assemblage of persons who would have joined in the sacrifices at the funeral of �� POLITICAL INTEGRATION. 295 some common ancestor if he had died in their lifetime." So that po- litical integration, while furthered by that likeness of nature which identity of descent involves, is again furthered by that likeness of re- ligion simultaneously arising from this identity of descent. Thus is it, too, at a later stage, with that less pronounced likeness of nature characterizing men of the same race who have multiplied and spread in such ways as to form adjacent small societies. Coopera- tion among them continues to be furthered, though less effectually, by the community of their natures, by the community of their traditions, ideas, and sentiments, as well as by their community of language. Among men of diverse types, cooperation is necessarily hindered not only by that absence of mutual comprehension caused by ignorance of one another's words, but also by unlikenesses in their ways of thinking and feeling. It needs but to remember how often, even among those who speak the same language, quarrels arise from misinterpretations of things said, to see what fertile sources of confusion and antagonism must be the partial or complete differences of speech which habitually accompany differences of race. Similarly, those who are widely unlike in their emotional natures, or in their intellectual natures, perplex one another by unexpected conduct a fact on which travelers habitually remark. Hence a further obstacle to combined action. Diversities of custom, too, become causes of dissension. Where a food eaten by one people is regarded by another with disgust, where an animal held sacred by the one is by the other treated with contempt, where a salute which the one expects is never made by the other, there must be continually generated alienations which hinder joint efforts. Other things equal, facility of cooperation will be proportionate to the amount of fellow-feeling ; the fellow-feeling is prevented by whatever pre- vents men from behaving in the same ways under the same conditions. The working together of the original and derived factors above enu- merated is well exhibited in the following passage from Grote : " The Hellens were all of common blood and parentage were all descendants of the common patriarch Hellen. In treating of the historical Greeks, we have to accept this as a datum : it represents the sentiment under the influence of which they moved and acted. It is placed by Herod- otus in the front rank, as the chief of those four ties which bound together the Hellenic aggregate : 1. Fellowship of blood ; 2. Fellow- ship of language ; 3. Fixed domiciles of gods, and sacrifices common to all ; 4. Like manners and dispositions." Influential as we thus find to be the likeness of nature which is insured by common descent, the implication is that, in the absence of considerable likeness, the larger political aggregates formed are unsta- ble, and can be maintained only by a coercion which, some time or other, is sure to fail. Though other causes have conspired, yet this has doubtless been a part cause of the dissolution of great empires in past ages. At the present time the decay of the Turkish Empire is �� 296 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. largely if not chiefly ascribable to it. Our own Indian Empire, too, held together by force in a state of artificial equilibrium, threatens some day to illustrate, by its fall, the incohesion arising from lack of congruity in its components. One of the laws of evolution at large is, that integration results when like units are subject to the same force or to like forces (" First Principles," 169); and, from the first stages of political integration up to the last, we find this law illustrated. Joint exposure to uni- form external actions and joint reactions against them have from the beginning been the leading causes of union among members of societies. Already there has been indirectly implied the truth that cohe- rence is first given to small hordes of primitive men during com- bined opposition to enemies. Subject to the same danger, and uniting to meet this danger, they become, in the course of their cooperation against it, more bound together. In the first stages, this relation of cause and effect is clearly seen in the fact that such union as arises during a war disappears when the war is over : there is dispersion and loss of all such slight political subordination as was beginning to show itself. But it is by the integration of simple groups into compound groups, in the course of common resistance to foes and attacks upon them, that this process is best exemplified. The cases before given may be reenforced by others. Of the Karens, Mason says : " Each village, being an independent community, had always an old feud to settle with nearly every other village among their own people. But the common danger from more powerful enemies, or having common injuries to requite, often led to several villages uniting together for defense or attack." According to Kolben, " smaller nations of Hot- tentots, which may be near some powerful nation, frequently enter into an alliance, offensive and defensive, against the stronger nation." Among the New Caledonians, in Tanna, " six, or eight, or more of their villages unite, and form what may be called a district, or county, and all league together for mutual protection. ... In war, two or more of these districts unite." In Samoa, " villages, in numbers of eight or ten, unite by common consent, and form a district or state for mutual protection " ; and, in time of war, these districts themselves sometimes unite in twos and threes. The like has happened with historic peoples. It was during the wars of the Israelites, in David's time, that they passed from the state of separate tribes into the state of a consolidated ruling nation. The scattered Greek communities, previously aggregated into minor confederacies by minor wars, were prompted to the Panhellenic congress and to the subsequent coopera- tion, when the invasion of Xerxes was impending ; and, of the Spartan and Athenian confederacies afterward formed, that of Athens acquired the hegemony, and finally the empire, during continued operations �� POLITICAL INTEGRATION. zgj against the Persians. So, too, was it with the Teutonic races. The German tribes, originally without federal bond, formed occasional alli- ances for war. Between the first and fifth centuries these tribes grad- ually massed into great groups for resistance against or attack upon Rome. During the subsequent century the prolonged military confed- erations of peoples " of the same blood " had become states. And afterward these became aggregated into still larger states. And, to take a comparatively modern instance, it was during the wars between France and England that each passed from that condition, in which its component feudal groups were in considerable degrees independent, to the condition of a consolidated nation. As further showing how inte- gration of smaller societies into larger ones is thus initiated, it may be added that at first the unions exist only for military purposes : each component society retains for a long time its independent internal administration, and it is only when joint action in war has become habitual that the cohesion is made permanent by a common political organization. This compounding of smaller communities into larger by military cooperation is insured by the disappeai-ance of such smaller communi- ties as do not cooperate. Barth remarks that " the Fulbe [Fulahs] are continually advancing, as they have not to do with one strong enemy, but with a number of small tribes without any bond of union." Of the Damaras, Galton says : " If one werft is plundered, the adjacent ones rarely rise to defend it, and thus the Namaquas have destroyed or enslaved piecemeal about one half of the whole Damara popula- tion." Similarly, according to Ondegardo, with the Inca conquests in Peru : " There was no general opposition to their advance, for each province merely defended its land without aid from any other." This process, so obvious and familiar, I name because it has a meaning which needs emphasizing. For we here see that, in the struggle for existence among societies, the survival of the fittest is the survival of those in which the power of military cooperation is the greatest ; and military cooperation is that primary kind of cooperation which pre- pares the way for other kinds of cooperation. So that this formation of larger societies by the union of smaller ones in war, and this de- struction or absorption of the smaller ununited societies by the united larger ones, is an inevitable process through which the varieties of men most adapted for social life supplant the less adapted varieties. Respecting the integration thus effected, it remains only to remark that it necessarily follows this course necessarily begins with the for- mation of simple groups and advances by the compounding and the recompounding of these. Impulsive in conduct and with feeble pow- ers of cooperation, savages cohere so slightly that only small bodies of them can maintain their integrity. Not until such small bodies have severally had their members bound to one another by some slight po- litical organization does it become possible to unite them into larger �� 298 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. bodies ; since the coliesion of these implies greater fitness for con- certed action, and more developed organization for achieving it. And, similarly, these composite clusters must be to some extent consolidated before the composition can be carried a stage further. Passing over the multitudinous illustrations occurring among the uncivilized, it will suffice if I refer to those given before,* and reenforce them by- some which historic peoples have supplied. There is the fact that in primitive Egypt the numerous small societies (which eventually be- came the " nomes ") first united into the two aggregates. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, which were afterward joined into one ; and the fact that, in ancient Greece, villages became united to adjacent towns before the towns became united into states, while this change preceded the change which united the states with one another ; and the fact that, in the old English period, small principalities were massed into the divisions constituting the Heptarchy before these passed into some- thing like a united whole. It is a principle in physics that, since the force with which a body resists strains increases only as the squares of its dimensions, while the strains which its own weight subject it to increase as the cubes of its dimensions, its power of maintaining its in- tegrity becomes relatively less as its mass becomes greater. Some- thing analogous may be said of societies. Small aggregates only can hold together while the cohesion is feeble, and successively larger ag- gregates become possible only as the greater strains implied are met by that greater cohesion which results from an adapted human nature, and a resulting development of social organization. As social integration advances, the increasing aggregates exercise increasing restraints over their units a truth which is the obverse of the one just set forth, that the maintenance of its integrity by a larger aggregate implies greater cohesion. The coercive forces by which aggregates keep their units together are at first very slight, and, be- coming extreme at a certain stage of social evolution, afterward relax or, rather, change their forms. At the outset the individual savage giavitates to one group or other, prompted by sundry motives, but mainly by the desire for pro- tection. Concerning the Patagonians, we read that no one can live apart : " If any of them attempted to do it, they would undoubtedly be killed, or carried away as slaves, as soon as they were discovered." In North America, among the Chinooks, " on the coast a custom pre- vails which authorizes the seizure and enslavement, unless ransomed by his friends, of every Indian met with at a distance from his tribe, although they may not be at war with each other." At first, however, though it is necessary to join some group, it is not necessary to con- tinue in the same group. In early stages migrations from group to group are common. "When much oppressed by their chief, Calmucks - "Principles of Sociology," 226. �� POLITICAL INTEGRATION. 299 and Mongols desert him and go over to other chiefs. Of the Abipones, Dobrizhoffer says : " Without leave asked on their part, or displeasure evinced on his, they remove with their families whithersoever it suits them, and join some other cacique ; and, when tired of the second, re- turn with impunity to the horde of the first." Similarly, in South Africa, "the frequent instances which occur [among the Balonda] of people changing from one part of the country to another show that the great chiefs possess only a limited power." And how, through this process, some tribes grow while others dwindle, we are shown by McCulloch's remark respecting the Kukis, that "a village, having around it plenty of land suited for cultivation and a popular chief, is sure soon, by accessions from less favored ones, to become large." With the need which the individual has for protection is joined the desire of the tribe to strengthen itself ; and the practice of adop- tion, hence resulting, constitutes another mode of integration. Where, as among tribes of North American Indians, " adoption or the torture were the alternative chances of a captive " (adoption being the fate of one admired for his bravery), we see reillustrated the tendency which each society has to grow at the expense of other societies. That de- sire for many actual children whereby the family may be strengthened, which Hebrew traditions show us, readily passes into the desii-e for factitious children here made one with the brotherhood by exchange of blood, and there by mock birth. As was implied in another place, it is probable that the practice of adoption into families so prevalent in Rome arose during those early times when the wandering patri- archal group constituted the tribe, and when the desire of the tribe to strengthen itself was dominant. And, indeed, on remembering that, long after larger societies were formed by the compounding of patri- archal groups, there continued to be feuds between the component families and clans, we may see that there had never ceased to operate, on such families and clans, the primitive motive for strengthening themselves by increasing their numbers. It may be added that kindred motives produced kindred results within more modern societies, during times when their component parts were so imperfectly integrated that there remained antagonisms among them. Thus we have the fact that in mediaeval England, while local rule was incompletely subordinated to general rule, every free man had to attach himself to a lord, a burgh, or a guild : being other- wise "a friendless man," and in adanger like that which the savage is in when not belonging to a tribe. And. then, on the other hand, in the law that, " if a bondsman continued a year and a day within a free burgh or municipality, no lord could reclaim him," we may recog- nize an effect of the desire on the part of industrial groups to strength- en themselves against the feudal groups around an effect analogous to the adoption, here into the savage tribe and there into the family - "Principles of Sociology," 319. �� 300 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. as it existed in the ancient societies. Naturally, as a whole nation be- comes more completely integi-ated, these local integrations become weaker, and finally disappear ; though they long leave their traces, as among ourselves even still in the law of settlement, and as, up to so late a period as 1824, in the laws affecting the freedom of traveling of artisans. These last illustrations introduce us to the truth that, while at first there are little cohesion and great mobility of the units forming a group, advance in integration is habitually accompanied not only by a decreasing ability to go from group to group, but also by a decreasing ability to go from place to place with the group : the members of the society become less free to move about within the society as well as less free to leave it. Of course, the transition from the nomadic to the settled state partially implies this ; since each person becomes in a considerable degree tied by his material interests. Slavery, too, effects in another way this binding of individuals to locally-placed members of the society, and therefore to particular parts to it ; and, where serfdom exists, the same thing is shown with a difference. But in so- cieties that have become highly integrated, not simply those in bond- age, but others also, ai-e tied to their localities. Of the ancient Mexi- cans, Zurita says : " The Indians never changed their village nor even their quarter. This custom was observed as a law." In ancient Peru, " it was not lawful for any one to remove from one province, or vil- lage, to another " ; and " any who traveled without just cause were punished as vagabonds." Elsewhere, along with that development of the militant type accompanying aggregation, there have been imposed restraints on movement under other forms. In ancient Egypt there existed a system of registration, and all citizens had periodically to report themseves to local officers. " Every Japanese is registered, and, whenever he removes his residence, the Nanushi, or head-man of the temple, gives a certificate." And then, in despotically governed Eu- ropean countries, we have more or less rigorous passport-systems, hin- dering the movements of citizens from place to place, and in some cases preventing them from leaving the country. In these, as in other respects, however, the restraints which the social aggregate exercises over its units decrease as the industrial type begins greatly to qualify the militant type ; partly because the soci- eties characterized by industrialism are amply populous, and have su- perfluous members to fill the places of those who leave them, and partly because, in the absence of the oppressions accompanying a mil- itant regime, a sufficient cohesion results from pecuniary interests, family bonds, and love of country. Thus, saying nothing for the present of that political evolu- tion manifested by increase of structure, and restricting ourselves to that political evolution manifested by increase of mass, here dis- �� POLITICAL INTEGRATION. 301 tinguislied as political integration, we find that this has the following traits : While the aggregates are small, the incorporation of materials for growth is carried on at one another's expense in feeble ways by tak- ing one another's game, by robbing one another of women, and, occa- sionally, by adopting one another's men. As larger aggregates are formed, incorporations proceed in more wholesale ways : first, by enslaving the separate members of conquered tribes, and presently by the bodily annexation of such tribes. And, as compound aggregates pass into doubly and trebly compound ones, there arise increasing desires to absorb adjacent smaller societies, and so to form still larger aggregates. Conditions of several kinds further or hinder social growth and consolidation. The habitat may be fitted or unfitted for supporting a large population ; or it may, by great or small facilities for inter- course within its area, favor or impede cooperation ; or it may, by presence or absence of natural barriers, make easy or difiicult the keeping together of the individuals under that coercion which is at first needful. And, as the antecedents of the race determine, the individiials may have in greater or less degrees the physical, the emotional, and the intellectual natures fitting them for combined action. While the extent to which social integration can in each case be carried depends in part on these conditions, it also depends in part upon the degree of likeness among the units. At first, while the nature is so little molded to social life that cohesion is small, aggre- gation is largely dependent on ties of blood, implying great degrees of likeness. Groups in which such ties, and the resulting congruity, are most marked, and which, having family traditions in common, a common male ancestor, and a joint worship of him, are in these fur- ther ways made alike in ideas and sentiments, are groups in which the greatest social cohesion and poAver of cooperation arise. For a long time the clans and tribes descending from such primitive patriarchal groups have their political concert facilitated by this bond of relation- ship and the likeness it involves. Only after adaptation to social life has made considerable progress does harmonious cooperation among those who are not of the same stock become practicable ; and even then their unlikenesses of nature must fall within moderate limits. Where the unlikenesses of nature are great, the society, held together only by force, tends to disintegrate when the force fails. Likeness in the unirts forming a social group being one condition of their integration, a further condition is their joint reaction against external action ; cooperation in war is the active cause of social inte- gration. The temporary unions of savages for oifense and defense show us the initiatory step. When many tribes unite against a com- mon enemy, long continuance of their combined action makes them �� 302 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. coherent under some common control. And so it is subsequently with still larger aggregates. Progress in social integration is both a cause and a consequence of a decreasing separableness among the units. Primitive wandering hordes exercise no such restraints over their members as prevent them individually from leaving one horde and joining another at will. Where tribes are more developed, desertion of one and admission into another are less easy the assemblages are not so loose in composition. And, throughout those long stages during which societies are being enlarged and consolidated by militancy, the mobility of the units is more and more restrained. Only with that substitution of voluntary cooperation for compulsory cooperation which characterizes develop- ing industrialism do these restraints disappear : enforced union being in such societies adequately replaced by spontaneous union. A remaining truth to be named is that political integration, as it advances, tends to obliterate the original divisions among the united parts. In the first place, there is the slow disappearance of those non- topographical divisions arising from relationship, and resulting in sep- arate gentes and tribes, gentile and tribal divisions, which are for a long time maintained after larger societies have been formed : gradual intermingling destroys them. In the second place, the smaller local societies united into a larger one, which at first retain their separate organizations, lose them by long co5peration : a common organization begins to ramify through them, and their individualities become indis- tinct. And, in the third place, there simultaneously results a more or less decided obliteration of their topographical bounds, and a replacing of these by the new administrative bound of the common organiza- tion. Hence naturally results the converse truth that, in the course of social dissolution, the great groups separate first, and afterward, if dissolution continues, these separate into their component smaller groups. Instance the ancient empires successively formed in the East, the united kingdoms of which severally resumed their autonomies when the coercion keeping them together ceased. Instance, again, the Carlovingian empire, which, first parting into its large divisions, became in course of time further disintegrated by subdivision of these. And where, as in this last case, the process of dissolution goes very far, there is a return to something like the primitive condition, under which small predatory societies are engaged in continuous warfare with like small societies around them. - "Principles of Sociology," §§ 14-21. - Ibid., 17.
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary - (transitive, physics) To limit the number of possible values of a quantity, or states of a system, by applying the rules of quantum mechanics - (transitive, telecommunications) To approximate a continuously varying signal by one whose amplitude can only have a set of discrete values - (transitive, music) To shift each beat in a rhythmic pattern to the nearest beat of a given resolution (eighth note, sixteenth note, etc.), or to adjust the frequency or pitch of a note to the nearest perfect tone in a given musical scale to limit the number of possible values to approximate a continuously varying signal - The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations. Translations to be checked
IX. GREEK SCIENCE OF THE ALEXANDRIAN OR HELLENISTIC PERIOD The precise genesis and development of this idea cannot now be followed, but that it was prevalent about the fifth century B.C. as a Pythagorean doctrine cannot be questioned. Anaxagoras also is said to have taken account of the hypothetical counter-earth in his explanation of eclipses; though, as we have seen, he probably did not accept that part of the doctrine which held the earth to be a sphere. The names of Philolaus and Heraclides have been linked with certain of these Pythagorean doctrines. Eudoxus, too, who, like the others, lived in Asia Minor in the fourth century B.C., was held to have made special studies of the heavenly spheres and perhaps to have taught that the earth moves. So, too, Nicetas must be named among those whom rumor credited with having taught that the world is in motion. In a word, the evidence, so far as we can garner it from the remaining fragments, tends to show that all along, from the time of the early Pythagoreans, there had been an undercurrent of opinion in the philosophical world which questioned the fixity of the earth; and it would seem that the school of thinkers who tended to accept the revolutionary view centred in Asia Minor, not far from the early home of the founder of the Pythagorean doctrines. It was not strange, then, that the man who was finally to carry these new opinions to their logical conclusion should hail from Samos. But what was the support which observation could give to this new, strange conception that the heavenly bodies do not in reality move as they seem to move, but that their apparent motion is due to the actual revolution of the earth? It is extremely difficult for any one nowadays to put himself in a mental position to answer this question. We are so accustomed to conceive the solar system as we know it to be, that we are wont to forget how very different it is from what it seems. Yet one needs but to glance up at the sky, and then to glance about one at the solid earth, to grant, on a moment's reflection, that the geocentric idea is of all others the most natural; and that to conceive the sun as the actual Centre of the solar system is an idea which must look for support to some other evidence than that which ordinary observation can give. Such was the view of most of the ancient philosophers, and such continued to be the opinion of the majority of mankind long after the time of Copernicus. We must not forget that even so great an observing astronomer as Tycho Brahe, so late as the seventeenth century, declined to accept the heliocentric theory, though admitting that all the planets except the earth revolve about the sun. We shall see that before the Alexandrian school lost its influence a geocentric scheme had been evolved which fully explained all the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies. All this, then, makes us but wonder the more that the genius of an Aristarchus could give precedence to scientific induction as against the seemingly clear evidence of the senses.
John S. Hallam THE SIX digital collages linked from the timeline above are samples taken from a larger project entitled Paris Salon Exhibitions: 1667–1831. This collection comprises sixty original digital collages initially designed and intended for courses in French art of the long eighteenth century. They could also be used in general art history surveys, French culture classes, or a course on the history / theory of art exhibitions and display. The project came about as a result of both realizing the significance of these government-sponsored exhibitions of contemporary French art for students and confronting the paucity of general visual and textual sources beyond very focused studies (i.e. the Salons of the Revolution). I was also noticing more and more that students today seemed increasingly comfortable in visually oriented learning environments. My solution was to create a history of the Salons with the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, etc.). In this series, representative works or highlights from every exhibition, along with related texts (either in the original French or translations) map the development of the exhibitions, the range of participating artists, and the reactions of an emerging audience. Each collage includes a key that identifies artists, subjects, and dimensions (in centimeters) when known. Titles of works are reproduced from the original published catalogs (livrets) in early modern French. Brief commentaries for each Salon often incorporate additional visual information, the function of which is to provide some basic historical and cultural facts, as well as to stimulate discussion and further research. The Salon collages can be used in many ways, from following the exhibition career of individual artists to tracing the changes in categories such as portraiture, historical painting, and sculpture. I have found the collages very useful in providing a context for major artists such as François Boucher, Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Jacques-Louis David, and Eugène Delacroix. Students can observe and analyze the similarities and innovations among a diversity of artists in the same exhibition. I have also used the Salons to talk about audiences and the resultant emergence and development of art criticism. Many Salons incorporate the comments / perspectives of critics such as La Font de Sainte-Yenne, Diderot, Stendhal, as well as lesser known scholars. Such comments, when paired with images, launch discussions ranging from aesthetic criteria and critical biases to attacks on the Royal Academy, social classes, and indirectly/by inference the monarchy/government. Other Salons focus more on institutional practices such as the constant support of grand historical painting at the expense of other genres or the establishment and effects of juries that decide who may exhibit and what may be put on view. An unintended and surprising consequence was that students were inspired to make their own art historical collages. To that end, I now often assign research projects resulting in presentations of student-created collages, either in a digital medium or on large cardboard panels, to the class. Finally, a very practical pedagogical result of incorporating these Salon collages in the classroom is that students simply better remember the issues, the artists, the works, and their significance if they have access to the collages before examinations. I fully expect to discover more uses in the future. The medium of digital collage involves a distinct epistemological process; that is, the way in which knowledge is produced through this cultural artifact is unique. Each Salon can be approached as a puzzle to be solved or resolved in many ways. The fundamental task is to make sense of the collage(s) by (re)constructing the art historical and/or social context of the exhibition(s), including the participating artists, themes, visual modalities, etc. Digital collage is an especially polysemic medium/experience in which the juxtaposition or co-mixture of pictures and texts generate a triangulation of meaning(s) in the movement among images, words, and the viewer-reader. Digital collage is also a form of qualitative research in which aesthetic and design elements shape and represent historical information / data. The flexibility and richness of the medium lead to multiple pedagogical possibilities. The collages may be placed on a website, projected on a large screen or printed in any format. Individual works in the collages can be enlarged and isolated by creating a PDF document, a PowerPoint presentation, or links in HTML. The sample collages included here engage issues surrounding the origins of the Salons (1673), the advent of art criticism (1763), the status / significance of female members of the Academy (1783), Romanticism (1824), and the impact of the revolutions of 1789 and 1830. Pacific Lutheran University
Meander is a noun that refers to a bend in a sinuous or winding river. Wikipedia notes, ...in Classical Greece the name of the river had become a common noun meaning anything convoluted and winding, such as decorative patterns or speech and ideas [...] Strabo said: "... its course is so exceedingly winding that everything winding is called meandering." Thus, one might refer to a route as a meander, although the adjectival form meandering is more frequently heard. Some related adjectives include circuitous, roundabout, tortuous, winding, serpentine, crooked, sinuous, snaky. Some of these are also used as nouns; for example, serpentine meanings include "coiled distillation tube". One might plausibly call a winding route a serpent. One could also say, "It's rather an excursion" to indicate that a route is unnecessarily roundabout.
Novo, E.M., Hansom, J.D. and Curran, P., 1989. The effect of sediment type on the relationship between reflectance and suspended sediment concentration. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 10 (7), pp. 1283-1289. Full text not available from this repository. Official URL: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a... The use of remotely-sensed optical data to estimate the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) of water is dependent upon the correlation between SSC and reflectance. The strength of this relationship was hypothesized to vary with sediment type, as it is known that sediments, when dry, differ in their particle size distributions, colour and therefore reflectance properties. To test this, the reflectance of pure water with four concentrations of white clay and red silt were measured in the laboratory using a spectroradiometer. The correlation between SSC and reflectance varied with wavelength and sediment type. For white clay the correlations were very high (r0·98) in visible and near-infrared wavelengths but for the red silt it was lower (r0·8) in blue wavelengths increasing to much higher levels (r0·98) in blue/green and longer wavelengths. It was concluded that sediment type can affect the strength of the correlation between SSC and reflectance and that this will be most noticeable at shorter wavelengths. \|Subjects:\|\|Geography and Environmental Studies\| \|Group:\|\|University Executive Team\| \|Deposited By:\|\|Ms MJ Bowden\| \|Deposited On:\|\|14 Dec 2007\| \|Last Modified:\|\|07 Mar 2013 14:45\| \|Repository Staff Only -\| \|BU Staff Only -\| \|Help Guide -\|\|Editing Your Items in BURO\|
MARTIN, JONY (2009) VARIABILITAS JENIS IKAN KARANG DI PERAIRAN WATU LAWANG DAN KARANG PON-PON PASIR PUTIH KECAMATAN BUNGATAN KABUPATEN SITUBONDO. Other thesis, University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Download (93Kb) \| Preview Rock fish is a specific fish which lived in around rock ridge area. The increasing of rock ridge area exploitation and the catch of ridge rok fish which didn’t pay attention to the environment, cause a wide-spread damage, especially in region where rock fish lived, the rock ridge area. In this area, rock fish has large amount and a large organism. With its large quantity fulfilling rock ridge area, there could be seen that rock fish was a supporter of relation in rock ridge ecosystem. White Sand beach was known as a beach which rich of fish and rock ridge. But as time goes by, the fish variant and the beauty of rock ridge was decreasing. It caused by continuous exploitation by people around which caused the higher damage of rock ridge area. Opening white sand as tourism object and lack of sea protection area could decrease the rock fish population. Based on the fact, there needed a population record about the amount and the kind of rock fish, especially in Watu Lawang and Pon-pon rock, white sand, Bungatan sub-district, Situbondo residence. The research aimed to find out about the various kind and amount of rock fish, to find out physical, chemical, and biological condition to the rock fish habitat and also find out factors damaging rock fish ecosystem in Watu Lawang and Pon-Pon rock water area White sand beach, Bungatan Sub-district, Situbondo Residence. The benefit of this research was: to increase knowledge in rock ridge monitoring using Reef Check method. It could be an information used as consideration for related policy to protect the species of rock fish, it also could be used as further research to use, develop, and keep the sea source in continuous and unity way. The research was done in November – December 2008, while primary data was taken in 15-16 November 2008 in Watu Lawang water area and Pon-Pon rock, White Sand beach, Bungatan sub-district Situbondo residence. In this research, the investigated object was kind and amount of rock fish, using Reef Check method. This method was done in 2 depth, 3 m and 10 m according to the lowest lessened data. From the research, the kind and amount of rock fish, that was Watu lawang in Site 1 (Watu Lawang) in 3 meters depth, there found Butterfly fish species, Haemulidae, Snapper and Parrotfish. In 10 meters depth, there found more rock fish. They were Butterflyfish, Haemulidae, Snapper, Barramundi cod, Grouper, Humphead wrasse and Parrotfish. In Site 2 (Pon-pon rock) at 10 meters depth, there found several species fishes, they were: Butterflyfish, Haemulidae, Snapper and Parrotfish. In 3 meters depth there found rock fishes: Butterflyfish, Haemulidae, Snapper and Parrotfish and Grouper. Water quality which was measured at location (Watu Lawang and Pon-Pon rock) showed temperature 26 - 280C, salinity 31 - 32‰, flow around 7 – 9,2 m/detik, DO in average 4,56 – 6,601mg/l and pH around 8 – 9. From the water quality measurement at location, it was still in normal rate for rock fish life. Ecosystem around Watu Lawang and Pon-Pon rock water area was not worth for rock fish life, since in the location could not found padang lamun ecosystem and mangrove ecosystem. In this location, rock ridge placed behind local villagers and there was not much shrimp pond which dominated the sea-shore, where the household waste was thrown to the sea and influenced the rock ridge life as the ecosystem of rock fish. Fishermen’s boat was also influenced the life of rock ridge, since the anchor brought down by the fishermen could damage the rock ridge which lived in the area. The researcher suggest to do illuminatio to the society around and tourists about the importance of rock ridge life for rock fish and there was needed a monitoring of rock fish population each year, to find out the development of rock fish ecosystem so that the population and amount was not decreasing. \|Item Type:\|\|Thesis (Other)\| \|Subjects:\|\|S Agriculture > SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling\| \|Divisions:\|\|Faculty of Agriculture & Animal Husbandry > Department of Animal Scince\| \|Depositing User:\|\|Anggit Aldila\| \|Date Deposited:\|\|18 Jun 2012 03:06\| \|Last Modified:\|\|18 Jun 2012 03:06\| Actions (login required)
\| \|\|page 1/1\| (entries 1 - 6 of 6) \|Kavkazskaya Ovcharka : Earliest Domesticated Dog ?\| \|The skulls of two Stone Age dogs believed to be the earliest known canines on record have been found, according to a team of Russian scientists. The dog duo, which lived approximately 14,000 years ago, appear to represent the first step of domestication from their wild wolf ancestors.\| Mikhail Sablin, a scientist at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, along with his colleague Gennady Khlopachev, analyzed the dog remains, which were found at the Eliseevichi I site in the Bryansk region of Russia's central plain, according to an Informnauka press agency release. "We suggest that the dogs looked like present-day Tibetan mastiffs or Caucasian sheep dogs," Sablin told Discovery News. "The dogs had a much wider palate and shorter rostrum than Siberian huskies and Great Danes. The reconstructed withers height is about 70 cm (27.56 inches), therefore the dogs belonged to a very strange and dangerous heavy hunting/guarding breed." Stone Age Dog Skull This is a side view of one of the Stone Age domesticated dogs. The researchers point out the dog's relatively short snout, which distinguished them from their wild wolf ancestors. Susan Crockford, an archaeozoologist at Pacific Identifications, Inc., a firm that specializes in identification of birds and animals from archaeological remains, agreed that the Russian dogs "are certainly the oldest complete skulls from this early period," and said, "…the evidence is good that these are truly domestic dogs." She added that other, slightly later, dog remains have been found in Israel, Germany and the Czech Republic but, "I think (the Eliseevichi dogs) remind us that there must be many more than one center of domestication, and not just the Middle East as was once thought." Links for More Information : The Pleistocene : Dog Domestication Neanderthals and Dogs DNA Study Traces Canine Family Tree Dogs evolved from handful of wolves \|Baby BARHAN Arrives at Esquire !\| \|Just as the year 2004 drew to a close, we imported the fabulous male puppy BARHAN Medvezhyi Ugol ! BARHAN is a descendant of the very famous and rare BOSMAN bloodline from Russia. \| Here he is just prior to leaving for the airport : A video of BARHAN is at : After watching the baby BARHAN video, check out the other new Esquire videos, too ! \|Still working on site!\| \|Still working on site. The Program and Health portions are done, and Awards and Temperament are next! Thank you for viewing. Please stop back again soon.\| \|Esquire Caucasians website renovation!\| \|Breed information, articles, planned litter announcements coming soon!\| \|Welcome to Esquire News\| \|Straight News coming straight at you ! \|
The Global Climate during El Niño and La NiñaTopics: Composite (average) climate \| Seasonal extremes \| How events differ \|El Niño and La Niña can cause the "seasonal climate" -- the cumulative effects of the weather over a season -- to deviate from normal at many places around the globe. These pages analyze what happened during past El Niños and La Niñas and provide a guide to what may happen in the future.\| - Average seasonal El Niño and La Niña climate means and anomalies - Allows single or comparison plots of seasonal averaged variables in relation to El Niño and La Niña over the globe and the US. - Month by Month El Niño and La Niña composites - What does the seasonal cycle of different variables during an average (composite) El Niño and La Niña look like? - Global seasonal temperature and precipitation composites - Plot composite signals based on historical data of global surface temperature and precipitation. Includes animations. - Composite wintertime US temperature and precipitation means and anomalies - Posters show the El Niño/La Niña temperature and precipitation anomalies on one page. Postscript versions are available (2.8M) for the - Plot climate anomalies and compare to El Niño's linear signal. - How do the precipitation and geopotential heights for a particular year/month compare to those one would expect from ENSO (assuming a linear ENSO effect)? - Plot effects on seasonal climate extremes of temperature and precipitation over the United States ("Risk Plots") - Given an El Niño or La Niña condition, what are the odds of getting a warm versus a cold season? A wet versus a dry season? - Regional seasonal temperature and precipitation extremes with preceding and concurrent ENSO conditions. - Historical risk of seasonal temperature and precipitation extremes for specific regions of the United States. Risk is shown with the ENSO conditions preceding the seasonal value from 3 seasons to 0 seasons. - These "posters" show the comparison of actual climate throughout the year during a El Niño and La Niña event to those expected from a risk analysis of the historical climate record for the last 100 years. Surface temperature and precipitation are plotted. Note that these posters are large. How events differ - Plots showing differences between the atmospheric response of El Niño and La Niña events. - Both differences in the tropical SST pattern and "random" variability of the the atmosphere mean that the climate of El Niño and La Niña events will not necessarily be the same from event to event.
Metering refers to the measurement of resource consumption, particularly for electricity, gas and water. Most residential dwellings have individual electricity and water meters, and where town-gas is available, a gas meter. The popularity of metering data stems from its ability to provide a quantitative measure, which conforms to the adage “that you can’t manage what you can’t measure”. Metering provides consumption data that can be collected at various points in time, such as before a project commences, and after the implementation phase, thereby providing a before-after comparison which can be analysed statistically. The idea behind the collection of metering data is to monitor changes in resource use, and evaluate the behaviour change project’s impact. Before and after data comparisons should only be only be made for comparable seasons in order to avoid seasonal variations. Even when comparing between the same seasons, it may be worth noting the average climactic indices (eg. temperature, rainfall) in order to factor in environmental factors that may affect household resource consumption, such as prolonged cold or hot weather, and rainfall (which may impact on outdoor water use, or water collected in tanks etc). Metering data can be obtained from various sources. These are described below, along with their pros and cons. Collecting Billing Data In Australia, behaviour change projects frequently seek to obtain billing data from participants to provide metering measurements. Energy (electricity and gas) and water utilities generally provide quarterly metering bills. This means that data collection intervals for your project may not match the billing period. All participants in an intervention do not necessarily receive bills at the same time, so data input and analysis can be difficult. Collecting billing data can also be difficult, and experience from projects in Australia reveals a certain level of unwillingness by participants to disclose billing data to an external party. Ways to overcome this include the option for participants to sign a consent form for the utility to release billing data, or the use of an incentive (such as the chance to win a solar panel system) to get people to provide data. LINK: City of Knox case study on using incentives to obtain billing data and the use of Utility Tracker As the Australian energy retail market is deregulated, the collection of data can be hindered by households changing energy retailers. Energy bills are generally issued by the retailer, but the actual meter reading and data collection is done by the distributor. There is generally one energy distributor for an area, so they will also have historical data for the households. Therefore, one option is to look into the possibility of obtaining release forms/consent forms from target households so that the distributor can provide meter data. Where projects have used consent forms for utilities, it has been found that utilities may not be cooperative, or timely in the release of accurate data. As such, it is recommended that you enter into discussions with the distributor at an early stage in order to develop the required consent framework. Example Consent Forms used in the City of Port Phillip's Sustainable Living at Home program (courtesy of the City of Port Phillip) Billing data can also be inaccurate, in that bills can have an “estimated” reading as opposed to an “actual” or correct reading. This type of inaccuracy can occur whether the data is provided by the retailer or the distributor. Energy meters are only required to be physically read once a year. Example of a gas bill- note the 'E' for Estimation under Previous and Current Reading Example of an electricity bill, with peak and off-peak meters- note the “A” for Actual Pros and cons of collecting billing data \|Provides a numerical value of resource consumption\|\|Can be difficult to obtain (participant privacy, or release from utility)\| \|Most households receive individually-metered bills\|\|Provides a gross value over the quarter, and daily average, but no indication of daily variation\| \|Provides before and after data for statistics\|\|Time lag between data and intervention, and intervention period may not coincide with billing data collection\| \|Easily replicated\|\|Can be inaccurate, especially if reading is “estimated”\| \|Does not provide information as to where in the home electricity is being used\| \|Deregulated energy retail market in Australia means that households often switch utility retailers, leading to incomplete or incompatible data sets\| \|May need to be seasonally adjusted to reflect changes in use associated with weather extremes\| You could get participants, or another party, to collect metering data as a complement or an alternative to collecting bills. For more information on how to read meters, click here. Smart Meters are being rolled out across Victoria in an initiative that will provide two-way remote communication between electricity meters and distributors. This should provide for more accurate and timely consumption data, as electricity use will be read every 30 minutes. Smart meters will also assist in providing more accurate electricity use profiles which can be used for evaluation purposes- for example, seeing if there are changes in use at particular times of day, from particular behaviours (such as turning off standby power). Another benefit of smart meters is that they provide the opportunity or households to monitor their electricity use through in-house displays or websites. Accessing smart meter data may face similar constraints as billing data in terms of obtaining consent forms from householders, as well as the cooperation of the distributor. It is recommended that project staff consult with electricity distributors at the early stages of any project. Several large scale electricity reduction and load-shifting projects are using smart metering. For example, the Magnetic Island Solar Suburb (part of Townsville Solar City) project is using smart meters to evaluate participating households electricity consumption profiles. The Zero Carbon Moreland are using smart meters in a small sample of households to complement the collection of billing data. A particular constraint about metering data, whether it is gross, quarterly billing, or even half-hourly measures from smart meters, is that it fails to provide information as to where electricity is being used. This is of particular concern where behaviour change interventions target a number of varied behaviours across a household (such as switching off lights, reducing standby power, reducing the hot-water temperature, installing insulation etc). In such cases, if a measurable change is recorded through metering, it is not possible to know whether the change is brought about by the desired behaviours, or other actions. Also, it is not possible to know whether a change is a result of a single behaviour, or numerous ones. The converse can also occur, where metering data shows no change, but participants indicate through other evaluation methods (namely qualitative) that they feel they have changed behaviour. Pros and cons of smart meters \|Accurate and instantaneous data collection\|\|Cost (if equipment is not already installed)\| \|Allows monitoring of daily variation\|\|Does not provide information as to where in the home electricity is being used\| In-line metering refers to the monitoring of specific circuits (electricity) or pipes (water) that allows for accurate consumption data for particular appliances of fittings. This overcomes many of the constraints outlined previously about guessing or assuming where savings are made. The main constraint from in-line metering is the cost associated with installing the data logging equipment. As such, in-line metering may be more suited to larger projects where a small sample may have in-line metering to complement other methods such as smart metering. A small sample of in-line metering may provide a snapshot as to where savings are being made, and this can be extrapolated to the larger sample. There is a guidebook available, produced by the Institute of Sustainable Futures (University of Technology Sydney) and the CSIRO on how to conduct in-line metering for residential water. There is continuing research and development in smart meter technology but in-line metering is not likely to be commonly available in the near future, without extensive rewiring of households. Pros and cons of in-line metering \|Point-of-use metering provides more accurate indicator of behaviour\|\|Cost may limit to small sample\| \|Sample may not reflect wider population\| ANALYSING YOUR METERING DATA Analysing Before and After Data If you have a monitoring and evaluation plan in place, you will be able to collect baseline data and then collect further measurements during and/or after you have implemented your behaviour change intervention. In such cases, you can use a paired T-test to analyse the data. Analysing Before & After – Control-Impact Data For those with a background in the natural sciences, this fits the BACI (Before-After-Control-Impact) design. The BACI is considered to also work well for behaviour change projects, as it provides an evaluation design to identify broader resource consumption trends that may be occurring in the wider community. For example, with a simple Before-After design, you may notice a change in resource use that you attribute to your intervention. With A BACI design, the Before-After in the control group (where there is no intervention) may also change in the same direction as your intervention. In this case, the change between the intervention and that of the control would need to be statistically significant if you wanted to have any confidence in attributing it to the intervention. You can use an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) . Further Links & Resources The following are sites that provide some useful information on statistical analyses:
It's possible to look at a wiki based on the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica online, here. Interestingly, an article that was included for reference in one of our course books is omitted from the online version. It's on "Negro" - and its absence can be spotted if you scroll to the end of the article on "Ethnology". Look at where it says: For a detailed discussion of the branches of these three main divisions of Man the reader must refer to articles under race headings, and to Negro; Negritos; Mongols; Malays; North American Indians; Australia; Africa; &C., &C."Negro" could have hyperlinked to the relevant article, were it present in the wiki. But it doesn't. This is understandable. Here are some quotes from the article on "Negro": In certain of the characteristics mentioned ... the negro would appear to stand on a lower evolutionary plane than the white man ... Mentally the negro is inferior to the white ... it is not fair to judge of his mental capacity by tests in mental arithmetic; skill in reckoning is necessary to the white man, and it has cultivated this faculty; but it is not necessary to the negro.Offensive nonsense. There are parts of the article which aren't quite so offensive, but plenty that is. It's understandable that this should not be given any disk space. However, in some ways, it's not a good thing that these shameful ideas should be omitted from the text. Not because they are or ever were true, but because it reveals something about the intellectual mindset of the time. How on earth could the Encyclopaedia Britannica, of all publications regarded as the ultimate repository of knowledge at the time, have included this sort of stuff? The answer is - can only be - that such attitudes genuinely represented an uncontroversial consensus opinion. It was derived from the naturalistic presupposition that humanity represented the end point of the evolutionary process, and "white men" represented a point closer to the end than "black men". It is (or should be!) unnecessary to say that such an understanding of Darwinistic processes has been completely discredited and is no longer given the time of day. In the course, this ethnological perspective is contrasted to an anthropological one - but it is interesting to note that the basis on which the British Museum was established was ethnological, and assumed the cultural superiority of Britain and Western Europe, and that "more primitive" cultures were ones which were either stalled, or should be moving towards them - and the intellectual understanding was that this view was bolstered by Darwinism. The course talks about how the bronzes from Benin (here be pictures) unsettled this idea. It also talks about how "primitivism" in art, a reaction to modernism, still reinforced the idea that other non-European cultures were actually more primitive. I've talked in other contexts about how other naturalistic assumptions turned out to be false - the idea that the universe was infinitely old ("Big Bang" was originally a dismissive term for the idea that the universe may have had a starting point); the idea that life in its lowest form was simple; the idea that there was nothing remarkable about the earth as an environment in which life could appear; and so on. To this we can add another - the idea that "white" people are superior to "black" people. Of course, naturalism has moved on, and accommodated the fact that reality didn't turn out as expected. But it's interesting the way in which beliefs based on presuppositions can so seriously misdirect people. Who knows what we might have learnt anthropologically about cultures we squashed in the imperial/colonial era had we regarded them all along as our equivalent rather than our inferior? Now, let's reflect for a moment on our own culture. Just like the Victorians/Edwardians, we are thoroughly convinced of our own absolute rightness. Is it possible that any of our presuppositions are leading us to beliefs about the world that in thirty years time will cause people to gasp as much as that 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article makes us gasp?
What is a WHOIS lookup? A WHOIS lookup allows you to find out information about a domain name that is already registered. WHOIS is a protocol used to find information about networks, domains and hosts. All domain names have a WHOIS record, which will usually provide the following details: - The domainís registrar of record. - Contact details for the domainís owner, as well as administrative, billing and technical contacts. - The expiry date of the domain. - The status of the domain. This information can be useful if you wish to contact the owner of the domain you are interested in with an offer to purchase.
How can I convert an integer into its verbal representation? I am looking for some solution to return a number as text. By that I mean that 100 should be returned as 'one hundred' It is more or less just a tidious task to make such a function myself, but I rather not re-invent the wheel, and this can't be the first time someones has requested this. Unfortunatly my search so far has not turned up anything, so here I try stackowerflow. Basically the numbers comes from a database, so if there is some smart methods you could use here it would be pretty nice. As mentioned, a small function that returns eg. 100 as 'one hundred' is not a complicated task, but what if you need to take language considarations into the solution? Has anybody come accross something that actually can do this, and perhaps in multiple languages?
How can I prevent Lyme disease? The best way to prevent Lyme disease is to avoid being bitten by ticks. When you are outdoors, follow these guidelines: - Use tick repellents according to their instructions to help prevent bites. Use an insect repellent containing 20% to 30% DEET. Tick repellents that contain DEET can be put directly on your skin or on your clothing before going into tick-infested areas. Apply DEET sparingly to skin according to directions on the label. Don't apply it to the face and hands of children and don't use it on infants younger than 2 months of age. Repellents containing permethrin should be put only on clothing. Make sure to talk to your doctor before you use any tick repellent on your child. Your doctor can give you more information on what type and strength of repellent is safe to use. - Wear light-colored clothing that covers most of your skin when you go into the woods or an area overgrown with grass and bushes. This makes it easier to see and remove ticks from your clothing. Wear a long-sleeved shirt and wear pants instead of shorts. Tuck your pant legs into your socks or boots for added protection. Remember that ticks are usually found close to the ground, especially in moist, shaded areas. Check your entire body for ticks after you have been in tick-infested areas, and check your children and pets for ticks. Common tick bite locations include the back of the knees, groin area, underarms, ears, scalp and the back of the neck. - Remove any attached ticks as soon as possible. To remove an attached tick, use fine tweezers to grab the tick firmly by the head (or as close to the head as possible) and pull. Do not use heat (such as a lit match), petroleum jelly or other methods to try to make the tick "back out" on its own. These are not effective ways to remove a tick. - Wash the area where the tick was attached thoroughly with soap and water. Keep an eye on the area for a few weeks and note any changes. You should call your doctor if you develop a rash around the area where the tick was attached. Be sure to tell your doctor that you were bitten by a tick and when it happened. Only people who get sick and/or get a rash after being bitten by a tick need antibiotics. If you are bitten by a tick and don't get sick or get a rash, you don't need antibiotics. Written by familydoctor.org editorial staff
On this date in 1812, novelist Charles Dickens was born in England. As a child, he chafed at the two-hour religious services he and his family attended. His brief experience working as a 12 year old in a factory when his father was sent to debtor's prison had a life-changing effect on him. Although he returned to school, he began work as a clerk at age 15 when his family was evicted. Moving to freelance reporting he soon turned to story writing. Dickens launched on celebritydom with the serialization of his first book, The Pickwick Papers (1836-37). He married Catherine Hogarth in 1836. The death of her younger sister Mary virtually in Dickens' arms was said to inspire Little Nell. The Dickenses had 10 children, nine of whom survived. Long incompatible, they separated, to Catherine's grief, in 1858, when Dickens fell in love with actress Ellen Ternan. Dickens' hugely successful novel-writing career included Oliver Twist (serialized 1837-39), A Christmas Carol (1844), David Copperfield (1849-50), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). Dickens' books called public attention to the scandalous conditions of child labor under the Industrial Revolution. His social conscience brought him to North America in 1842 to speak against slavery (and for international copyright). Dickens was orthodox in many respects, praying daily and writing a "Life of Our Lord" (which took out much of the superstition) for his children. But at one time he joined the Unitarians (a creedless church). Although he returned to the Church of England, he quit it once again, saying: "I cannot sit under a clergyman who addresses his congregation as though he had taken a return ticket to heaven and back." Biographer Edgar Johnson wrote of Dickens: "Inclining toward Unitarianism, he had little respect for mystical religious dogma. He hated the Roman Catholic Church, 'that curse upon the world,' as the tool and coadjutor of oppression throughout Europe. . . . He thought the influence of the Roman Church almost altogether evil. . . . He had rejected the Church of England and detested the influence of its bishops in English politics. . . ." (Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph, 1952). Dickens actively opposed a bill to ban public activity and recreational outlets on Sundays, writing a pamphlet, "Sunday under Three Heads," which gibed at "the saintly venom," the "intolerant zeal and ignorant enthusiasm" of the pious, who would have denied the poor and working class their only respite after a 6-day work week. Biographer Hesketh Pearson noted the contradictions in Dickens' beliefs: "He accepted the teachings of Christ, not the doctrines of the Christian churches. . ." (Dickens: His Character, Comedy, and Career, 1949). D. 1870.
Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language often compared to Tcl, Perl, Scheme or Java. It features modules, classes, exceptions, very high level dynamic data types, and dynamic typing. There are interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems (X11, Motif, Tk, Mac, MFC). New built-in modules are easily written in C or C++. Python is also usable as an extension language for applications that need a programmable interface. The Python implementation is portable: it runs on many brands of UNIX, on Windows, OS/2, Mac, Amiga, and many other platforms. This version works on both Unix and OS X. No reviews yet No comments yet
Today, the most common way of getting hit by malware is by browsing the Internet. It hasn't always been this way. Years ago, floppy disks were the main malware vector. Then sharing of executable files. Then e-mail attachments. But for the past five years, the Internet has been the main source of malware, according to a new report by F-Secure, an anti-virus, cloud content and computer security company based in Helsinki, Finland. There is no exploit without a vulnerability. Ultimately, vulnerabilities are just bugs, that is, programming errors. We have bugs because programmes are written by human beings, and human beings make mistakes. Software bugs have been a problem for as longs as we have had programmable computers - and they are not going to disappear, it says. Let's take a look at top domains hosting malware, a software used or created by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems.
A macro replaces the original text in the code before the compiler start to process the file. I.e. every single place where you use the macro will get a duplicate of the code. A function is a complete section of code i.e. no duplication occur. Consider macros to be evil and stick to using functions instead, at least until you have a LOT of programming experience. There is no end in how many hard to solve issues you can create for yourself with the use of macros... Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it. - Brian W. Kernighan No: From the call alone, it is not possible to know if you are using a macro, a function, or an object's operator(). However, there is a very widespread coding practice that says that macros should be in ALL_CAPS: DO_SOMETHING(); //Probably a macro do_something(); //Probably a function Is your question related to IO? Read this C++ FAQ LITE article at parashift by Marshall Cline. In particular points 1-6. It will explain how to correctly deal with IO, how to validate input, and why you shouldn't count on "while(!in.eof())". And it always makes for excellent reading. Another downside to macros is that they don't obey the C++ scoping rules. ANYTHING that matches the macro name is replaced by the pre-processor. Anybody who has named a member function GetMessage when using Windows and MFC will know what I mean. (The preprocessor will replace ANY GetMessage with GetMessageA or GetMessageW, depending on whether the setup is ASCII or Unicode. The compiler will then complain that your class doesn't contain a definition of one of these! ) "It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." Richard P. Feynman
THE GREAT HANSHIN & AWAJI EARTHQUAKE On January 17, 1995 a huge earthquake struck Kobe, Japan, where our school is located and where many of our staff and students live. Many thousands of people died and about a quarter of a million people lost their homes. No one had expected that such a big quake would hit Kobe, so people were not well prepared. Most people whose houses were damaged or destroyed did not know what to do, but they gathered at local elementary schools. There were too many evacuees so they many then moved on to public junior high schools. Fukiai High School also became a Evacuation Shelter for hundreds of people from the local community. The main gymnasium and the judo room became the home for these victims. The last left in August of 1995. After the earthquake, utilities, such as electricity and water were cut, so people had to overcome many hardships. Water from our school's swimming pool was used to flush toilets. The electricity supply was turned back on after a few days, which was very important because it was the middle of winter and very cold. After a week, when the water supply was restored, students living as far away as Uozaki (90 minutes away on foot) walked to Fukiai High to fill water bottles with clean, drinking water. IA CLASS & NDYS This website and the safety maps were created by members of the International Course's International Affairs Class at Fukiai High School. Tragically three students from our school were killed in the Great Hanshin & Awaji Earthquake. We would like to dedicate this part of the Fukiai website to the memory of those three students. We also made this to help members of the foreign community in the area so they can have easy to understand information in English. We will present what we have studied about natural disasters at the Natural Disasters Youth Summit (NDYS)at HAT Kobe in March of 2009. \|INTERNATIONAL COURSE STUDENTS BUSY WORKING ON THE PROJECT\| \|Making Poster Version Safety Maps\|\|Creating Online Safety Maps\|\|Making PowerPoint presentations\| If you find any errors on these webpages or have any comments or would like to contribute something to this project please contact us at Fukiai High School.
The following two claims are true: - The universe is 13.7 billion years old. - The universe has always existed. It might seem that these two claims contradict one other, but they don’t if you recognize that time is finite. The universe has existed for all time, and therefore the universe has always existed. The only reason to think that these claims contradict one another is if you assume that time is infinite. But all the evidence says otherwise. Time is finite.
Jews all over the world are celebrating the festival of Sukkot (Feast of the Tabernacles) since last night and for the next week. According to Jewish custom, this commemorates the time during the sojourn of the Israelites in the desert, when they lives in temporary housing (Tabernacles). Among the other customs kept during the holiday is the ritual use of the “4 species” (Arba’at Haminim) – lulav, hadas, arava and etrog – which in modern Judaism is interpreted as the palm frond, myrtle branch, willow branch, and the citron. While the identity of the first three is more or less accepted by all, questions have been raised as to the identity of the 4th, since in the biblical text it is written as “pri etz hadar”. The citron, which is the fruit identified as the etrog is a very interesting fruit. Its origins have been disputed, and many have claimed that since the citron is not a fruit tree local to the Levant but rather to the area of Persia, it was not used as the etrog until the Persian or even Hellenistic period. Others though have claimed that it was already known in the Iron Age. An interesting additional factor has recently been added to this discussion with the relatively recent report of evidence of pollen of a citron found embedded in plaster in the Iron Age palace at Ramat Rachel, near Jerusalem. This, along with other evidence, indicated the existence of a royal orchard of special plants and trees in this palace. While this find does not prove beyond a doubt that the biblical “pri etz hadar” – it does provide conclusive evidence that this fruit tree was definitely known during the Iron Age, prior to Persian and Hellenistic periods. Chag Sameach (happy holiday)!
In order to investigate how Antarctic fish deal with ice in their blood circulatory system, Trematomus bernacchii and Pagothenia borchgrevinki Antarctic fish were captured for experimental investigation. A variety of biochemical techniques were used to isolate Anti-Freeze Glyco-Proteins (AFGPs) from Antarctic fish blood, which was then conjugated directly to a fluorescent marker. We synthesised ... silicon dioxide nanobeads incorporating a fluorescent probe and coupled these to AFGP via a multimeric linking protein or dendrimer based on G4.5 poly(amidoamine). These modified nanobeads, consisting of a fluorescent particle surrounded by AFGPs, were designed to serve as a proxy for ice crystals that have bound AFGPs. When introduced into the circulation of the fish, we were able to follow the fate of free fluorescent AFGP and particle-bound fluorescent AFGP (the latter serving as a proxy for ice in the circulation). Frozen and alcohol-fixed tissues were returned to New Zealand for further laboratory analysis. Previous evidence from our group has suggested that the spleen is the only location where trapping of ice crystals takes place, and thus we targeted this organ in our studies. We are also interested in determining how high levels of AFGPs are maintained in the blood, since most of it seems to be secreted into the gut where it would be expected to be lost with the faeces. We also sampled a variety of Antarctic fishes to determine where AFGPs are synthesised and the nature of their ultimate fate using fluorescent microscopy with specific antibodies we had prepared earlier. Finally, we synthesised 15N-labelled AFGP8 and fed it to fish to determine how AFGPs are taken up from the gut and into the blood.
Three important geoengineering research projects supported by EU funds have recently been gaining ground. The first is known as Implications and Risks of Novel Options to Limit Climate Change, or IMPLICC. IMPLICC is an SRM modeling collaboration involving five research centers in France, Germany, and Norway, led by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. The project is funded by the EU Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) Seventh Framework Program (FP7). At a May meeting in Mainz, project participants reported on modeling results, notably the apparent nonuniformity of global temperature reductions resulting from stratospheric aerosol injections. The second project, the European Trans-disciplinary Assessment of Climate Engineering or EuTRACE, is also supported by FP7 funds. EuTRACE is intended to provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessment of geoengineering, focusing in particular on "the long-absent European perspective, examining how CE [climate engineering] relates to the ambitious climate targets of the EU and its member states." The project, coordinated by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, will bring together natural and social scientists from fourteen institutions spanning five European countries, who will conclude their work in 2014. Lastly, the "Biochar as Option for Sustainable Resource Management" project is supported by the EU Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program. This project aims to strengthen coordination among disparate European biochar research efforts through enhanced training, increased engagement, and improved network capabilities. The project will entail participation by researchers and other stakeholders from several non-EU countries, including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Israel.
How We Present Dental x-rays linked to common brain tumor by Andrew M. Seaman Reuters Translate This Article 10 April 2012 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests people who had certain kinds of dental X-rays in the past may be at an increased risk for meningioma, the most commonly diagnosed brain tumor in the U.S. The findings cannot prove that radiation from the imaging caused the tumors, and the results are based on people who were likely exposed to higher levels of radiation during dental X-rays than most are today. 'It's likely that the exposure association we're seeing here is past exposure, and past exposure levels were much higher,' said Dr. Elizabeth Claus, the study's lead author and a professor at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Claus and her colleagues write in the journal Cancer that dental X-rays are the most common source of exposure to ionizing radiation—which has been linked to meningiomas in the past—but most research on the connection is based on people who were exposed to atomic bombs or received radiation therapy. There have been some studies that looked at dental X-rays, but they were from years ago and included fewer people than the current study, Claus noted. Still, they were generally in agreement with the new findings. For her study, Claus' team recruited 1,433 people diagnosed with intracranial meningioma—a tumor that forms in the tissues lining the brain—between May 2006 and April 2011. All of the participants were diagnosed when they were between 20 and 79 years old and they were all from Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina or the Houston or San Francisco Bay areas. For comparison, the researchers also followed 1,350 people who were similar in age, sex and state of residence as the study group, but who had not been diagnosed with a tumor. The study looked at how often people had three different types of dental X-rays. They included a focused image of one area, a number of images of the full mouth and a single panoramic view of the entire mouth. These are known in dentistry parlance as bitewing, full-mouth and panorex films, respectively. Each person was interviewed by someone trained to administer a questionnaire that asked about demographic details, family history of cancer, pregnancy and medical history. The interviewers also asked—among other things—about the person's history of dental work and the number of times they had the three types of dental x-rays taken throughout their life. The researchers found that those diagnosed with meningiomas were more than twice as likely as the comparison group to report ever having had bitewing images taken. And regardless of the age when the bitewings were taken, those who had them yearly or more frequently were at between 40 percent and 90 percent higher risk at all ages to be diagnosed with a brain tumor. To put that in perspective, Dr. Paul Pharoah, a cancer researcher at the University of Cambridge said in a statement the results would mean an increase in lifetime risk of intracranial meningioma in the U.K. from 15 out of every 10,000 people to 22 in 10,000 people. Panoramic X-rays taken at a young age, especially if done yearly or more often before age 10, also raised the risk of meningiomas by up to five times. There was no association between full-mouth X-rays and the tumors, although the authors note they saw a trend similar to that seen for the bitewing X-rays. The lack of association with full-mouth X-rays led one expert to question the connection. 'They found a small risk (from) a pair of bitewings, but not a full mouth series, which is multiple bitewings. That inconsistency is impossible to understand to me,' said Dr. Alan Lurie, president of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. Lurie also echoed Claus' caution that radiation levels from dental X-rays when some of the participants were younger was much greater than is used now. He does warn, however, patients shouldn't assume it's fine for the dentist to take X-rays. 'They should ask why are (dentists) taking this image and what is the benefit to me,' he said. The American Dental Association put out a statement in response to the study noting that the interviews relied on participants' memories of how often they had different types of X-rays years earlier. The statement added, 'The ADA's long-standing position is that dentists should order dental X-rays for patients only when necessary for diagnosis and treatment. Since 1989, the ADA has published recommendations to help dentists ensure that radiation exposure is as low as reasonably achievable.' Dr. Sanjay Mallya, an assistant professor the UCLA School of Dentistry in Los Angeles, said that patients should be concerned whenever they are exposed to radiation, but 'it's important to emphasize that this concern should not mean that we shouldn't get X-rays at all.' According to the researchers, 'while dental X-rays are an important tool in well selected patients, efforts to moderate exposure to (ionizing radiation) to the head is likely to be of benefit to patients and health care providers alike.' SOURCE: http://bit.ly/HwspDv Cancer, online April 10, 2012. Copyright © 2012 Reuters Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. 'Reuters' and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. For additional information on other Reuters media services please visit reuters.com/newsagency. Global Good News comment: For Maharishi's Vedic Approach to solving the problems of today's news, please visit: For the good news about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:
Why is it that people in civilized countries have such horrific health problems? Because we eat so many refined and processed foods, which are far removed from their more natural ancestors. We eat refined flour, refined sugar, white rice and many other foods from which all the good stuff has been removed. It’s not only these unhealthy foods that we eat, but the healthy foods that we don’t eat, which causes many of our health concerns today. We need to include in our daily diet a good portion of natural foods, including fruits and vegetable grown from our own gardens, in order to promote longevity of life and prevent many health problems. Another way to add a natural source of vitamins and minerals to our diet is to include apple cider vinegar and honey. Apple cider vinegar and honey are two of the most beneficial and natural foods we can eat and when consumed together they pack a lot of vitamins and minerals that we often don’t get enough of in our ordinary daily diets. There are many valuable elements in apples that are also included in cider vinegar, including phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulphur, iron, chlorine, sodium, etc. Cider vinegar, which is made from apples, contains some very important mineral salts, as well, which are very important for maintaining a healthy balance in our bodies. It does a number of things that modern day drugs cannot do in an effective and safe way. Apple cider vinegar can be added to the diet in a number of ways. It can be used in salad dressings, for pickling, or substituted for white vinegar in any number of recipes. Honey also contains many valuable elements including thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). It also contains pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, and nicotinic acid (B2 complex). Honey has many of the mineral elements needed for physical well being. The minerals in honey include potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, sulphur, silicia, sodium, and chloride. Honey is a good way to replace the minerals important to maintaining good bodily health. Apple cider vinegar mixed with honey is a near perfect food. Author Kimberly Hartfield’s Living on the Wild Side Two teaspoons of honey mixed with two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a full glass of water daily can add numerous health benefits to our daily diets. This can be taken in the morning when you get up, with meals during the day, and/or at bedtime. This cider vinegar honey drink is quite palatable and is said to help with numerous health issues. For children and adults it can also be mixed with apple or grape juice for an even better tasting beverage. This beverage has been used to cure bladder infections, promote dental health and hygiene, as a blood clotting agent, to stem profuse menstruation, to stem nose bleeds, to retard sight loss and hearing impairment, as a sore throat and cough remedy, as an asthma treatment, to improve memory, as a digestive aid and detox treatment, to promote nail and hair growth, and to help control obesity. It has been used as a means for obese persons to loose weight with an average weight loss of 1 to 1 ½ lbs per week. It decreases hunger pangs and sustains you when missing a meal. It has also been used successfully as a joint pain and movement treatment, a dizziness and vertigo treatment, in nervous disorders, for eczema and dandruff, fatigue, and a number of other health complaints. Apple cider vinegar and honey is not a cure in and of itself for any particular ailment, but promotes general good health by influencing the metabolism and eliminating processes of the body. It can be used safely with children as young as three years old (Note that honey in children younger than three can cause botulism), and also with pets. Used with herbal remedies, cider and honey enhances their benefits greatly. Remember, never use white vinegar instead of cider vinegar because it doesn’t have the same health benefits and may be harmful when used in this way.
September 2012. The first evidence of lions in montane rain and cloud forest has been documented by NABU – The German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union. Up to now, the African lion, which is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN had only been documented and photographed outside of rainforests. The discovery in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve in Southwest Ethiopia took place as part of NABU’s wider conservation work in Ethiopia. NABU’s images show a lioness in an area of dense montane rain and cloud forests. “We are delighted with this news and look forward to studying these exceptional animals in their unusual habitat,” says NABU’s Vice-President Thomas Tennhardt. “To manage potential conflict with local communities, NABU will set up a dedicated conservation fund.” Lions prefer open woodlands, and thick bush, scrub and grass land areas, which offer sufficient cover for hunting. Until now, scientists have never recorded the species in rain forest habitats. However, local people have long known about the lions in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve. Wildlife photographer Bruno D’Amicis travelled to Ethiopia on NABU’s behalf in early 2012 in an attempt to document their presence. NABU believes that this is the first time lions have ever been photographed in montane rain and cloud forest habitat. \|Lions prefer open woodlands, and thick bush, scrub and grass land areas, which offer sufficient cover for hunting. Until now, scientists have never recorded the species in rain forest habitats. However, local people have long known about the lions in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve. Photo credit Bruno D’Amicis/NABU Ethiopia’s Kafa Biosphere Reserve is characterised by its impressive afromontane moist rain and cloud forests, which are considered to be the place of origin of Arabica coffee. Apart from wild coffee, it is also home to many rare animal and plant species. Southern Ethiopia is regarded as an important migratory route for lions; it is therefore assumed that the animals are passing through the area during the dry season. 85% Africa’s lions have disappeared African lions have lost more than 85 percent of their historic range. Recent surveys indicate that across the continent there are now just 39,000 lions left, of which up to 1,500 live in Ethiopia. Both their numbers and range have declined significantly in recent decades in Africa. Habitat loss and fragmentation due to human population growth and the reduction of prey animals, direct persecution and hunting are the primary reasons for their demise. In line with the Regional Conservation Strategy for the Lion in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Authority recently adopted a National Action Plan for lions in Ethiopia to secure and restore lion populations in the country. NABU has worked towards the preservation of the wild coffee forests in Kafa since 2006 and supported the Ethiopian government in setting up the Kafa Biosphere Reserve. NABU has been supporting the reserve in terms of developing an effective management regime and through public awareness work since 2009. NABU is also implementing a large scale forest and climate protection project in the area within the framework of the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Environment Ministry. NABU is Germany´s oldest and largest conservation organization. Website : www.NABU-International.de
By the nineteenth century these optical devices became widely known as “Lorrain mirrors” or “Claude glasses.” Their darkened reflections suggested the work of landscape painter Claude Lorrain (1604?-1682). Lorrain himself, though, probably never used them. The name appeared long after his death, and for a time the devices were associated with the English poet, Thomas Gray (1716-1771). Antique Lorrain mirrors were usually elliptical and slightly convex to allow the viewer to see the entire scene in miniature. Here’s a simple homemade Lorrain mirror fashioned out of an ordinary piece of glass painted black on one side. The backside and edges were then protected with tape. In a pinch you could get the same effect by looking at the reflection in a lens of your sunglasses cupped in your hand. For artists nowadays, the benefit of studying a darkened reflection is that it desaturates the colors, reduces the detail, and organizes the tones. By grouping the darks together into large masses, the vista takes on a romantic or picturesque aura. You can immediately see how to proceed with your tonal design. It’s easier to compare the relative brightness of light values—such as clouds compared to white buildings. Here’s a photo manipulated with Photoshop to simulate the effect. I occasionally use Lorrain mirrors to help me choose a motif, or study it before commencing to paint. They’re also helpful for a mid-course check during the painting. They guard against the tendency we all have to lighten the values of the shadows, which results from our eyes adjusting to the dark areas and seeing too much detail in them. If you prefer looking through a transparent viewer rather than seeing a reflection in a mirror, you can improvise your own Lorrain glass using a dark gray filter, a welding goggle, or an unexposed piece of film. In an era before photography, both artists and tourists enjoyed the novelty of looking at real landscapes through gold- or blue-tinted Lorrain glasses. A heroine from an English play dating from 1798 said, as she peered through her warm-tinted glass: “How gorgeously glowing.” Then switching to a dark glass, she said, “How gloomily glaring.” Finally, looking through a cobalt-tinted glass, she exclaimed, “How frigidly frozen.” Tintern Abbey Viewing Station with live Lorrain mirror webcam. Link. Archived webcam shots show changes of light through the day. Link. Final quote from Spectacles and Other Vision Aids: A History and Guide to Collecting, by J. William Rosenthal. p. 276, Tomorrow: Color Wheel Masking
This extreme photography project by National Geographic isn’t our typical hack, but we’ve posted it to inspire your DIY photography projects. At an average height of 300 feet, Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and even the best wide-angle lens won’t be able to capture its entire length in one shot. Thus, they built a sophisticated camera rig to take 84 individual shots of a tree to be stitched together (see below). - Don’t Miss: Incredible DIY Aerial Kite Photography National Geographic photographer Michael Nichols solved the unique problem with one-of-a-kind custom built rig. The idea is the same as for a panorama photo – take multiple shots and stitch them together into one. Three cameras were focused to capture the girth of the tree. A robotic dolly moved the three cameras from the top to the bottom using a gyroscope to keep the cameras stable and focused. Three weeks of camera rigging and 83 shots later, photographing the super trees was finally complete. Check out all of our photography projects including our most popular ones:
Why Organic? Because It’s Nature’s Way! We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” ~Thomas Fuller, Many reasons Why organic is better... "Pesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water and soil. The World Health Organization and the UN Environment Programme estimate that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of whom die. According to one study, as many as 25 million workers in developing countries may suffer mild pesticide poisoning yearly." Source: Wikipedia Why organic? An example to follow! When Charles, The Prince of Wales, took over the Highgrove farm early in the 1986, he said he was appalled by the loss of Great Britain’s wildflower meadows, the hedgerows and chalk grasslands to "agriculture-industry." The Prince decided to convert the old farm to a completely organic system to demonstrate the environmental and commercial benefits. He started the work to make the farm and gardens into organic showplaces with a hope to inspire others to preserve England's rural landscape. Highgrove is today, not only a successful working farm, but it’s a flagship for the benefits of an organic, sustainable form of agriculture in England. We can see almost all over the world that the agriculture-industry is creating "monocultures” that lack diversity and robustness. The results are a poisoned ecosystem, contaminated food chains, empty aquifers, contaminated water sources and destroyed biodiversity. Let’s hope the Royal Wedding in England this spring will make living organically “in”. We need more farmers that want to go green! Overall, certified organic cropland and pasture accounted for about 0.6 percent of U.S. total farmland in 2008 according to United State Department of Agriculture. I could not find numbers for 2009 or 2010 Why organic is better for you and for Mother Nature! - Organically produced food is free of toxic chemicals like additives, artificial preservatives and colors. - Organically food is produced without the use of insecticides, herbicides or pesticides - Organically food is produced without the use of chemically synthesized inorganic fertilizers - Organically produced food is free from synthetic growth or breeding hormones. - Organic produced food has higher nutritional value and better taste. - Farmers that grow organically are not exposed to insecticides, herbicides or pesticides or other chemical substances. - Organic philosophy means raising animals in harmony with nature. Don’t blow it – good planets are hard to find”. ~Quoted in Time Why organic? Why buy organic? The main arguments against buying organic products are: - More expensive. - Bad quality. - Hard to find. - How can we trust they are organic? - Reports tell us organic products are no better than non-organic. Most organic food do cost more, but not much. Higher prices are due to more expensive farming practices. Ask yourself, what is more important than your own health, your family’s health, the nature and your children’s future? Make a calculation - find out how much money you spend on your house, car/petrol, sport equipment, fun, clothing, shoes, accessories, cosmetics , electronics, holidays, pleasure and more... Maybe you could do without some of it and use the money to invest in your health and the environment? 2. Bad quality! Why organic? - The apple test! This is a true story. I bought a green big and polished beautiful and "perfect" looking non-organic apple. I was not going to eat it; I was going to make a test. I placed it in my window sill to see how long it took before it was poor and rotted. One week passed, two weeks, several weeks and months. I can’t remember exactly how many months, but it was more than half a year. Need I say more? Buy organic food online! Is the look of the apple more important to you than the health effects? It is a natural process that all “live” food gets poor and bad. One major reason that it often is bad already in the shop is not because it is organic but because it often sits longer on the shelf before it's sold. I would much rather buy an organic apple with some spots on than a perfect polished apple “prepared” to be stored for months. An apple a day? - An Apple a day - keeps the doctor away! - An apple a day In the chemically grown environment will bring the doctor into play! “Apples are the second most commonly eaten fresh fruit, after bananas, and they are also used in the second most popular juice, after oranges, according to Dr. Greene. But apples are also one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables.” 3. Why organic products are hard to find. I agree that it can be hard to find organic products in your local groceries. I have to call the shop a day or two in beforehand to order my organic fruit and vegetables as they don’t have it normally. And even then I have problems to get what I want. In some shops they don’t even take orders for organic products unless you buy a whole case. But why is it hard to find? If you look for something organic and don’t find it - do you ask the store personnel if they can get it for you? If we all start asking for organic products each time we go to our grocery store it will not take long before they start to take in organic products. Today we can shop organic products online. I have spent much time searching to find the best organic food companies - Live Superfoods is one of the best. Buy organic food online! If you look for the seal that says it is certified organic you can feel safe in most cases. Of course we will find fraud and deception in this business as in all others. If you buy non-organic you can trust they are non organic. What do you have to lose? Go here to find more organic seals: Certified Organic Seals 5. Reports/studies tell us that organic products are no better than non-organic. Don't trust them. How can it be better to eat food produced using pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, breeding hormones, artificial colors, additives and and other toxic substances? See videos with David Wolfe, Sunfoods grounder in the sidebar. Sunfood is one of the top organic food companies . Buy organic food online! And don’t forget the soil. I have been growing vegetables organically for 15 years. Fill your hands with organic soil, it's alive!. Then fill your hand with soil from a conventionally monoculture and you will understand. How can it be better to eat food that lack essential vitamins and minerals because the soil is depleted or dead? Read this article about why we need green supplements: Green superfood supplements. The answer should be obvious. Do we need reports and studies to understand that organically grown foods are better for us and for Mother Nature? I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?" ~ Robert Redford, Yosemite National Park dedication, 1985 Buy organic food online from top quality organic food companies: Why organic? Because it’s nature’s way! If you liked this article please make a comment below and/or share it with your friends! Thanks a lot! Kristin Article: Why organic? Because it’s nature’s way!
Berlin, the Cold War Years – Part 4. At the end of World War 2, what remained of pre-war Germany was divided into four zones of occupation. Each of the Allied powers; the United Kingdom, United States, France and Russia, controlled one of them. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into four Sectors. The consequence being, that the three Western Allied powers now controlled territory deep within the Soviet Union Zone of Germany. Over time, the tensions between the four Allied powers increased, eventually resulting in the Berlin blockade in 1948, when the Soviets attempted to starve West Berlin into submission and force the other three Allied powers out. This failed and the Soviets eventually relented, but an ever-increasing number of East Germans fled to the West; between 150,000 and 300,000 a year during 1951-1953. As a consequence restrictions were placed on movement between the divided country. From 1961, the border was closed and Berlin completely encircled, first by barbed wire, then bricks and finally a concrete wall, along with the infamous ‘death strip’. Access was now restricted between Berlin and the West. A wall, 124 mile miles in length, was placed around the three sectors of West Berlin, cutting off the city from the rest of the world. Remnants of the infamous Berlin Wall – February 2012 Remnants of the infamous Berlin Wall – February 2012 Having free, unhindered access to East Berlin and Museum Island was a real treat for me. Below is the Der Deutschen Kunst Museum, the House of Art Museum. Deutschen Kunst Museum – Berlin – February 2012 Deutschen Kunst Museum, Berlin. Joseph Goebbels visiting – 1937 Also on the Island, the Berliner Dom, or Berlin Cathedral. In the 1940′s, it suffered considerable damage from bomb blast waves and incendiaries. Over the years it has been slowly restored. Berliner Dom – February 2012 With my passion for military history, I naturally wanted to see this building below, Wilhelmstrasse 81-85. Luftwaffe Historians would know that in 1933, the newly formed Reich Aviation Ministry, headed by Hermann Goering, occupied it. The complex was demolished in 1935 and was re-built. The building you see today, with over 2,000 rooms. Wilhelmstrasse 81-85, Berlin - February 2012 The Bebelplatz is known as the site of the infamous Nazi book burning ceremony held on the evening of the 10th May, 1933. Today, a memorial by Micha Ullman, consisting of a glass plate set into the cobblestones, shows empty book cases below. Bebelplatz, Berlin – February 2012 At the end of the day the GDR, and East Berlin, were occupied by the Soviet Union and their military were ever present. Russian T-62 driving passed a Kindergarten - East Berlin 1983 There were ‘Restricted Areas’ where the Soviets preferred us not to go. We naturally ignored them. I got this one to take home as a souvenir. Russian helicopter taking an interest in us. Hip (Mi-8) – East Berlin 1983 This one is a deadly Hind-D (Mi-24). The worlds first Attack Helicopter. East Berlin – 1983 Below are some photographs of the Treptow Soviet Memorial. Although the GDR was part of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviets were still very much an occupying power. The memorial below, to the Soviet soldiers killed in WW2, is of a significant size. Main entrance. The people give you an indication of its size. East Berlin – February 2012 View from the main entrance. Note the vertical slabs either side – East Berlin, February 2012 Each slab was carved with a scene depicting elements of WW2 – February 2012 Treptow Park Memorial – East Berlin, February 2012 The view looking back towards the entrance. East Berlin, February 2012. For an interlude, I will share a few shots of my very first parachute jump. I did my jumps between my first tour in Northern Ireland and coming to Berlin. I completed my jumps with the Dutch Commandos, my first one landing on my feet, arse and head. Not quite the perfect roll I had anticipated. Gulp, I’m ready. 1981 Yes that is me. My chute did open. Yes you do have to carry your own chute back! One key event that occurred every year, was the military parade to celebrate the formation of the GDR. This was naturally a key concern for the western allies. A country we didn’t officially recognise, holding a military parade on our doorstep. It was also an opportunity to disguise the movement of troops for a potential attack. Troops start to flood in on the outskirts of East Berlin – 1984 First one is a FROG (Free Rocket Over Ground) 7 resupply, the second a FROG 7 TEL (Transporter, Erector, Launcher). FROG 7′s played a key part in the missile attacks on Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Ural 375 – East Berlin 1984 Troops also arrived by rail – East Berlin – 1984 BRDM at the front and two ACRV’s, Armoured Command and Reconnaissance Vehicle. East Berlin 1984 Many of the troops were camped out at various parks and car parks on the outskirts. East Berlin 1984 Night time operations were a regular part of our life, often staying out for days at a time. East Berlin 1984 Posing shot… - East Berlin 1984 Then the fun and games begin…. Can you spot him? East Berlin 1983 See him now? The VOPO were never far away. East Berlin 1984 The more troops and equipment that arrived, the more reinforcements to make life difficult for us. East Berlin 1984 Underside photographs were a key goal. This one showing a mine plough attachment. Weld thickness would also help in determining the thickness of a tanks armour. East Berlin 1984. This is of a BMP-2, moving at the time. East Berlin 1984. The tensions steadily got worse. Don’t forget, we didn’t recognise the GDR government, let a alone the Police. West Berlin police had no authority over us either, as we were also an occupying power in West Berlin. East Berlin 1984. The glasses were fashionable at the time! BMP-2, the latest MICV, Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicle, in the GDR and Soviet arsenal. An AT-5, Spandrel anti-tank missile sits on top of the turret. East Berlin 1984. BMP 1. A close up of the AT-3, Sagger, anti-tank missile. The wire guided missile devastated the Israeli tanks during the Yom Kippur War - East Berlin 1984 SA-13 Gopher, Surface to Air Missil carrier. – East Berlin 1984 SA 8 Gecko, Surface to Air Missile carrier – East Berlin 1984 T-72 tank, the latest in the GDR Army, the NVA, National Volksarmee. East Berlin 1984. During the parade preparations they didn’t like us being around. A bit difficult when one of your team is six foot eight and built like a brick wall. – East Berlin 1984 SA 9 Gaskin, Surface to Air Missile, mounted on a BRDM 2. East Berlin 1984 SA 4 Ganef. Surface to Air Missile, resupply vehicle. Big! Flew at Mach 4 and could reach a height of 20 miles. Now I know why I didn’t join the RAF (Best air force in the world). East Berlin 1984 FROG 7 TEL, East Berlin 1984. The German Navy was always in attendance. East Berlin 1984. Tatra 813 towing and M1974 artillery piece. East Berlin 1984. T-72 East Berlin 1984 BMP -1, MICV with troops. One draw back was thin armour and fuel tanks in the back doors. East Berlin 1984 Silkworm TEL, Surface to Ship Missile. East Berlin 1984. Silkworm missile resupply. East Berlin 1984. T-72. East Berlin 1984. T-72. East Berlin 1984 The military were pretty high tech, not so the cars. The famous Trabant. One Trabant hit us and didn’t leave a mark, but the cars front end fell off. Berlin 2012. The VOPO, Volkspolitzei’s main mode of transport in the 80′s. Berlin February 2012. I shall finish off with an old photo of the ICC, the International Congress Centre. West Berlin 1982. My intention is not to portray a particular message, but just share some of my photographs and experiences with you. Photographs are copyrighted to Harvey Black
Recently the top executives of a major manufacturing plant in the Chicago area were asked to survey the role that listening plays in their work. Later, an executive seminar on listening was held. Here are three typical comments made by participants: - “Frankly, I had never thought of listening as an important subject by itself. But now that I am aware of it, I think that perhaps 80% of my work depends on my listening to someone, or on someone else listening to me.” - “I’ve been thinking back about things that have gone wrong over the past couple of years, and I suddenly realized that many of the troubles have resulted from someone not hearing something, or getting it in a distorted way.” - “It’s interesting to me that we have considered so many facets of communication in the company, but have inadvertently overlooked listening. I’ve about decided that it’s the most important link in the company’s communications, and it’s obviously also the weakest one.” These comments reflect part of an awakening that is taking place in a number of management circles. Business is tied together by its systems of communication. This communication, businessmen are discovering, depends more on the spoken word than it does on the written word; and the effectiveness of the spoken word hinges not so much on how people talk as on how they listen. The Unused Potential It can be stated, with practically no qualification, that people in general do not know how to listen. They have ears that hear very well, but seldom have they acquired the necessary aural skills which would allow those ears to be used effectively for what is called listening. For several years we have been testing the ability of people to understand and remember what they hear. At the University of Minnesota we examined the listening ability of several thousand students and of hundreds of business and professional people. In each case the person tested listened to short talks by faculty members and was examined for his grasp of the content. These extensive tests led us to this general conclusion: immediately after the average person has listened to someone talk, he remembers only about half of what he has heard—no matter how carefully he thought he was listening.
Make sure kids get 2 to 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk each day. Milk is rich in nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, adequate amounts of which are tied to healthy bones and lower rates of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If your kids don't like milk, try flavored varieties. Beauvais isn't an enemy of flavored milk. "Flavored milk is a trade-off to no milk at all," she says. "The nutrition that milk provides is more important than those few extra calories and sugar that add flavor."
Of the myriad things that can go awry with pregnancy, Down syndrome is perhaps the best known. In the past year, several new tests have become available to detect the condition prenatally, as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy. Whether these tests are cause for celebration or alarm, however, depends upon what decision you’d make if your unborn baby was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Now, Massachusetts has become the most recent state to pass legislation requiring doctors to give parents who have the prenatal diagnosis “up-to-date, evidence-based, written information” about the physical, intellectual and developmental outcomes of the chromosomal disorder, and treatment options. Both Virginia and Missouri have similar laws; national legislation was passed in 2008 but remains largely unfunded. “This wasn’t a pro-life bill, and it wasn’t a pro-choice bill,” says Brian Skotko, co-director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Down syndrome program. “It was a pro-information bill.” Yet there’s little doubt that the new approach is intended to make a woman think twice before automatically deciding to end her pregnancy. Previous studies have found that as many as 9 of 10 women choose to abort after they learn prenatally that their baby has Down syndrome. More recent scrutiny of data in three states — Maine, Hawaii and California — adjusted the percentage of women who terminate to 74%, according to an analysis published this year in Prenatal Diagnostics. In other words, it is the majority of women who opt to end their pregnancies. “We knew with these new prenatal tests, there would be an even greater need for parents to have accurate information,” says Maureen Gallagher, executive director of the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress (MDSC). The new law specifies that the reading material given to women after a prenatal diagnosis be compiled from professional medical groups including the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, along with local and national Down syndrome organizations. Studies have found that women often report that the information they currently receive is incomplete, inaccurate or offensive. The latest research suggests that quality of life has improved greatly for many people affected with Down syndrome. In a February TIME magazine story that looked at the implications of new DNA-based tests for the chromosomal abnormality — which is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 — I noted: While half of all babies born with Down syndrome have congenital heart defects, new surgical techniques have made repair relatively routine, extending their average life span from just 25 in 1983 to 60. Thanks to early educational intervention, more and more affected kids are attending mainstream schools. Teens with Down syndrome go to college; 20-somethings get married. “Now is the time to have kids with Down syndrome,” says Amy Julia Becker, author of A Good and Perfect Gift, about life with her daughter Penny, 6, who has Down syndrome. “It is ironic that [earlier screening] is happening at a time when it’s easier to have Down syndrome than ever before.” On Tuesday, blogger Lauren Warner — mom to Kate, a toddler with Down syndrome — explained why she doesn’t put much faith in what doctors say about the ramifications of prenatal Down diagnoses: …Truthfully, most doctors don’t even know where to begin — even with the best of intentions. And so they shift their feet, they stick to the text book, they “share the options.” It’s not their fault. They, too, are operating from the same place we were on the day Kate was born — and we focused on the facts. But the “facts” are not where the magic lies. …What a prenatal diagnosis cannot tell you is what it will feel like to look into those eyes and know: you’re one of the lucky ones. For many families, though, that’s not the kind of luck they’re looking for. In March, the parents of a 4-year-old Oregon girl with Down syndrome won a $2.9 million lawsuit after doctors failed to diagnose her condition prenatally. Ariel and Deborah Levy — who say they would have ended the pregnancy had they known about the diagnosis — won a “wrongful birth” lawsuit against Portland-based Legacy Health System. “These are parents who love this little girl very, very much,” their attorney, David K. Miller, told an ABC News affiliate. “Their mission since the beginning was to provide for her, and that’s what this is all about.” Massachusetts’ new law also requires that families receiving a diagnosis be given contact information for First Call, a program of MDSC that links expectant and new parents of children with Down syndrome with families who have affected kids. “We were connected right away with another mom, and that is something I will never forget,” says Rosalie Forster, who learned that her daughter, Hope, had Down syndrome after her birth six years ago. On Friday, Hope was one of two kids with Down syndrome who sat next to Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick as he signed the bill into law. Hope’s mother had told her she was going to the State House to help people with Down syndrome and to see the “boss of Massachusetts.” The boss gave Hope an official state pen; she gave him a smile.
Credit: NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al. Fifty score years ago, or thereabouts, the thermonuclear furnace at the heart of a very massive star tested whether that star, or any star, so conceived and so created, could long endure. It could not. The ensuing explosion ripped through the Milky Way in a titanic fireball, leaving behind a strange, barrel-shaped remnant known as W49b, and not much else. Astronomers have searched in vain to see if a neutron star or pulsar was left behind as the cinder of the stellar core, as has been seen in other supernova remnants (most notably the Crab Nebula). In an X-ray image (shown above, obtained by the Chandra X-ray observatory) astronomers were able to measure the distribution of the nuclear material thrown out by the blast. Oddly enough, this material was spread out in a noticeably asymmetric way, with iron atoms (shown in purple in the above image) found in only half of the remnant, while lighter silicon atoms (shown in blue) were spread throughout. This strange distribution, and the barrel-shaped nature of the nebula, suggests that the exploding star was extremely massive, with a very strong stellar wind, enhanced along the rotational axis of the star. The explosion of such an object should have produced a bright burst of gamma-rays, and should have left behind a wrinkle in spacetime called a black hole. Astronomers have here dedicated themselves to the great task of unraveling the formation and eventual death of such stars, how they explode and pollute their environments in the unfinished work of cosmic chemical enrichment. With new observations, we highly resolve the remains of these honored dead stars, and help astronomers understand how the complex chemicals so created and so distributed give rise to new stellar generations, ensuring that systems of the stars, by the stars and for the stars shall not totally perish from the Galaxy. Published: February 18, 2013 HEA Dictionary * Archive * Search HEAPOW * Other Languages * HEAPOW on Facebook * Download all Images Each week the HEASARC brings you new, exciting and beautiful images from X-ray and Gamma ray astronomy. Check back each week and be sure to check out the HEAPOW archive! Page Author: Dr. Michael F. Corcoran Last modified Monday, 25-Feb-2013 07:10:25 EST
Welcome to the HPRC Blog. We've got lots of information here, from quick tips to in-depth posts about detailed human performance optimization topics. HPRC Fitness Arena: Nutrition According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, solid fats and added sugars (SoFAS) contribute nearly one-third of the average person’s daily calories! Solid fats, as the name implies, are solid at room temperature; they include both saturated and trans fats. They tend to raise “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, increasing your risk for heart disease. Sources of solid fats include butter, cheese, meats, and foods made with these products, such as cookies, pizza, burgers, and fried foods. For more information, read how to tell the difference between solid fats and oils. Added sugars can contribute to weight gain and tooth decay. Although some foods such as fruit and milk contain naturally occurring sugars, added sugars are usually found in processed foods such as sodas, sports or energy drinks, candy, and most dessert items. It can be hard to identify added sugars on food labels, but you can learn how to recognize hidden sources of sugar. Foods containing SoFAS are often high in calories but don’t provide many important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, or fiber. Fortunately, it’s easy to cut back on SoFAS by eating a diet rich in whole foods such fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and lean sources of protein, and following the MyPlate guidelines. Being overweight puts you at risk for a whole host of health issues, but most people don’t think about the risk posed to their knees. The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of the major ligaments of the knee and one of the most susceptible to injury. Injury information on more than 1,600 men and women at the U.S. Naval Academy showed that those with a higher body mass index (BMI) had a greater incidence of ACL tears. A difference in BMI of only 1.2 (25.6 versus 24.4) made the difference between having and not having this kind of injury. (To learn more about BMI, read HPRC's explanation.) Like the adage “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” knees are something we generally take for granted. To stay on top of your game, you need your knees. An easy way to protect them is to drop the extra weight you’re asking them to carry around. The annual Army “Strong B.A.N.D.S.” campaign is set to launch for another year beginning in May. Strong B.A.N.D.S. promotes physical fitness, nutrition, optimal health, and resilience by focusing on Balance, Activity, Nutrition, Determination, and Strength—forming the acronym B.A.N.D.S. The campaign has activities at numerous garrisons to help educate soldiers, their families, and civilians. Strong B.A.N.D.S. is a campaign of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation directorate and is “designed to energize and inspire community members to live a healthy lifestyle.” Check out the website for detailed information and to see if there is a Strong B.A.N.D.S. activity near you. Carnitine is a naturally occurring substance in the human body that helps cells use fat for energy. The liver and kidneys can produce carnitine from amino acids provided by the diet, but carnitine also comes from many foods, especially red meat, and is an ingredient in many dietary supplements and energy drinks. Sometimes doctors use carnitine to treat certain heart conditions. Recent clinical trials suggest that carnitine supplements may help reduce many of the complications associated with heart attacks, such as chest pain and irregular heart rhythms. But new research suggests that long-term consumption of dietary carnitine also may play a role in the development of atherosclerosis—“hardening of the arteries”—especially in people who eat red meat regularly. So what’s the bottom line? More research is needed to determine the risks and benefits associated with carnitine. You can learn more about carnitine in HPRC’s Dietary Supplement Classification System. DMAA, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced illegal in dietary supplements on 11 April 2013, has been used in many weight-loss, bodybuilding, and performance-enhancement products. HPRC has received many questions about it use by military personnel. To help answer questions about DMAA in general, we put together an Operation Supplement Safety (OPSS) FAQ. OPSS also has FAQs about Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, two popular dietary supplement products. Be sure to check back often as we add answers to other questions about ingredients in performance-enhancing and weight-loss supplements and how to choose supplements safely. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Consumer Update warning of the potential dangers of DMAA, which was announced illegal in dietary supplements on 11 April 2013. DMAA is also referred to as dimethylamylamine and other names. This dietary supplement product ingredient has been used in many weight-loss, bodybuilding, and performance-enhancement products. FDA received numerous reports of illnesses and death from the use of products containing DMAA; commonly reported reactions include heart and nervous system problems as well as psychiatric disorders. DMAA has been the focus of conflicting information regarding whether or not it is a natural extract from geranium. FDA has now found “the information insufficient to defend the use of DMAA as an ingredient in dietary supplements.” Online, FDA also stated, "Dietary supplements containing DMAA are illegal and FDA is doing everything within its authority to remove these products from the market." For more information, read the FDA Q&A on DMAA here. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Consumer Update warning of the potential dangers of DMAA, which was announced illegal on 12 April 2013. DMAA is also referred to as dimethylamylamine and other names. This dietary supplement product ingredient has been used in many weight-loss, bodybuilding, and performance-enhancement products. FDA received numerous reports of illnesses and death from the use of products containing DMAA; commonly reported reactions include heart and nervous system problems as well as psychiatric disorders. DMAA has been the focus of conflicting information regarding whether or not it is a natural extract from geranium. FDA has now found “the information insufficient to defend the use of DMAA as an ingredient in dietary supplements.” Online, FDA also stated, "Dietary supplements containing DMAA are illegal and FDA is doing everything within its authority to remove these products from the market." For more information, read the FDA Q&A on DMAA here. Warfighters and family members looking to track their food choices now can use the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (called The Standard Reference or SR). This nutrient data is widely used and has been incorporated into many smart phone “apps” and interactive websites. Of particular interest is the USDA’s SuperTracker, where users can customize their dietary plan and physical activity. For more information, read how to access this nutritional data. Do you see physical education classes decreasing in your children’s schools compared to the PE you had when you were younger? Do you want to help your children be active and eat healthier, but you don’t know where to start? Tell your children’s school about the American Council on Exercise (ACE) program called Operation Fit Kids, which consists of two curricula for educators (free to download after completing a survey): one for 3rd to 5th graders and another for 6th to 8th graders. They provide seven lessons with lesson plans, worksheets, and activities a group can do to learn and practice being healthy. After all, practice makes perfect! If you are interested in additional tips for promoting family fitness, check out HPRC’s Family domain for more ideas. And for even more exercises to try with your family, visit ACE’s online Exercise Library. Army researchers have developed a special method of meal delivery for U-2 pilots on long flight missions, which can sometimes last up to 12 hours. Pressurized suits and bulky equipment limit pilot movement and prevent them from opening their helmet visors—so feeding themselves until now has been impossible. Chefs and nutritionists in Natick, MA, teamed up to create meals that meet a pilot’s calorie and nutrition needs. The meals are turned into a consistency similar to baby food and delivered to the pilot by way of a metallic tube about the size of a tube of toothpaste. The containers fit into a port on the pilot’s helmet in a way that doesn’t interfere with the suit’s pressure. Watch this video to see these tube meals in action! What are the favorites among pilots? Caffeinated chocolate pudding and chicken-à-la-king are the most popular. Other meals include beef stroganoff, key lime pie, applesauce, and sloppy joe.
James Boyle is professor of law and co-founder of the Centre for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University and author of The Public Domain: enclosing the commons of the mind. In his new book The Public Domain, Professor James Boyle describes how our culture, science and economic welfare all depend on the delicate balance between those ideas that are controlled and those that are free, between intellectual property and the public domain —the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee Intellectual property laws have a significant impact on many important areas of human endeavour, including scientific innovation, digital creativity, cultural access and free speech. And so Boyle argues that, just as every informed citizen needs to know at least something about the environment or civil rights, every citizen in the information age should also have an understanding of intellectual property law. Is the public domain as vital to knowledge, innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights? James Boyle thinks so and visits the RSA to call for a new movement to preserve it. If we continue to enclose the “commons of the mind”, Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer.
\|Images courtesy of Slavery Still Exists.\| High school Language Arts teacher, Shelley Wright, uses project-based learning in her classroom in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. After reading a fiction book about child slavery, her students were inspired to teach others about the issue of modern-day trafficking. As part of their work, they created images and videos -- as well as a social media campaign -- to inform and inspire others. You can see some of the images and photos here. Students at Tualatin High School in Oregon were so shocked and motivated by a recent documentary about bullying in schools, that they launched an anti-bullying poster contest. The contest was part of an effort to reduce bullying in their own school community. You can see some of the posters here. These two examples not only demonstrate the importance of integrating real-life learning into schooling, but highlight how powerful art and media can be as tools for positive change. Like our blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to our RSS feed.
The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. It was in common use in the Western world until the year 1582, when countries started changing to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian calendar, the tropical year is approximated as 365 1/4 days = 365.25 days. This gives an error of about 1 day in 128 years. The accumulating calendar error prompted Pope Gregory XIII to reform the calendar in accordance with instructions from the Council of Trent. In the Gregorian calendar, the tropical year is approximated as 365 + 97 / 400 days = 365.2425 days. Thus it takes approximately 3300 years for the tropical year to shift one day with respect to the Gregorian calendar. The approximation 365+97/400 is achieved by having 97 leap years every 400 years, using the following rules: \|Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year.\| \|However, every year divisible by 100 is not a leap year.\| \|However, every year divisible by 400 is a leap year after all.\| The papal bull of February 1582 decreed that 10 days should be dropped from October 1582 so that 15 October should follow immediately after 4 October. This was observed in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Other Catholic countries followed shortly after, but Protestant countries were reluctant to change, and the Greek Orthodox countries didn't change until the start of the 20th century. The reform was observed by Great Britain and Dominions (including what is now the USA) in 1752. Thus 2 September 1752 was followed by 14 September 1752. This is why Unix systems have the cal program produce the following: $ cal 9 1752 September 1752 S M Tu W Th F S 1 2 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 The SQL standard states that "Within the definition of a 'datetime literal', the 'datetime value's are constrained by the natural rules for dates and times according to the Gregorian calendar". Dates between 1582-10-05 and 1582-10-14, although eliminated in some countries by Papal fiat, conform to "natural rules" and are hence valid dates. PostgreSQL follows the SQL standard's lead by counting dates exclusively in the Gregorian calendar, even for years before that calendar was in use. Different calendars have been developed in various parts of the world, many predating the Gregorian system. For example, the beginnings of the Chinese calendar can be traced back to the 14th century BC. Legend has it that the Emperor Huangdi invented that calendar in 2637 BC. The People's Republic of China uses the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes. The Chinese calendar is used for determining festivals. The "Julian Date" is unrelated to the "Julian calendar". The Julian Date system was invented by the French scholar Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609) and probably takes its name from Scaliger's father, the Italian scholar Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484-1558). In the Julian Date system, each day has a sequential number, starting from JD 0 (which is sometimes called the Julian Date). JD 0 corresponds to 1 January 4713 BC in the Julian calendar, or 24 November 4714 BC in the Gregorian calendar. Julian Date counting is most often used by astronomers for labeling their nightly observations, and therefore a date runs from noon UTC to the next noon UTC, rather than from midnight to midnight: JD 0 designates the 24 hours from noon UTC on 1 January 4713 BC to noon UTC on 2 January 4713 BC. Although PostgreSQL supports Julian Date notation for input and output of dates (and also uses them for some internal datetime calculations), it does not observe the nicety of having dates run from noon to noon. PostgreSQL treats a Julian Date as running from midnight to midnight.
Facial recognition seems to be everywhere these days. And now, the same technology is going to be used to identify places, not people, and hopefully help combat terrorism. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity(IARPA), a research division of the U.S. military, is working on new software that will identify the location of photographs, much like facial recognition recognizes your friends' faces on Facebook. The project, called Finder, seeks to help in hunting down terrorism suspects in photographs, even when no GPS metadata is available. If the military wants to get an idea of where a photograph was taken, a rather arduous process ensues: over a long period of time, highly trained professionals try and match backgrounds to known areas. You can imagine how time-consuming that must be. This is why the Finder project seeks to automate that process as much as possible, making it faster and easier. In the end, military officials could use the program to cross-reference a whole series of images off of an extremist website or message board, and then figure out where they were taken.
Lymphoma is cancer that begins in the lymph system in white blood cells called lymphocytes. When these cells become abnormal, they don't protect the body from infection or disease. They also grow without control and may form lumps of tissue called tumors. Lymphomas are either Hodgkin's lymphomas or non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Hodgkin's lymphomas have a type of cell called Reed-Sternberg cells. Lymphomas without these cells are non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. This topic is about non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). NHL can start almost anywhere in the body. It may start in a single lymph node, a group of lymph nodes, or an organ such spleen. Or it can spread to almost any part of the body, including the liver and There are many types of NHL. Sometimes they are grouped as: Treatment can cure some people and may allow others to live for years. How long you live depends on the type of NHL you have and the stage of your disease (how far it has progressed). The cause of NHL is not known. The abnormal cell changes may be triggered by an infection or exposure to something in the environment. Or it may be linked to gene changes (mutations). NHL is not contagious. Symptoms of NHL doctor will do a physical exam and ask you questions about your health. The exam includes checking the size of your lymph nodes in your neck, underarm, and Your doctor will take a piece of body tissue (biopsy) to diagnose NHL. The tissue usually is taken from a lymph node. You may have other tests to find out what kind of NHL you have. Your treatment depends on the type of lymphoma you have, the stage of the disease, your age, and your general health. You may not need treatment until you have symptoms. NHL is usually treated with chemotherapy. Sometimes radiation or radiation with chemotherapy may be used. Or you may have targeted therapy with monoclonal antibodies. If treatment doesn't work, or if NHL comes back after initial treatment, you may have chemotherapy along with a stem cell transplant. Learning about non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Living with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Experts don't know what causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). When a person has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, abnormal rapid cell growth occurs. This abnormal growth may need a "trigger" to start, such as an infection or exposure to something in your environment. There is also a link between NHL and problems with the immune system. NHL is not contagious and is not caused by injury. non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) include: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), white blood cells called lymphocytes divide and grow without order or control. The abnormal lymphocytes usually are either B-cell or T-cell lymphocytes. But most cases of NHL involve B-cell lymphocytes. Lymph tissue is present in many areas of the body, so NHL can start almost anywhere in the body. It may occur in a single lymph node, a group of lymph nodes, or an organ. And it can spread to almost any part of the body, including the bone marrow, and NHL may be classified as: Over time, lymphoma cells may replace the normal cells in the bone marrow. Bone marrow failure results in the inability to produce red blood cells that carry oxygen, white blood cells that fight infection, and platelets that stop bleeding. Long-term survival depends on the type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the stage of the disease when it is diagnosed. About 80 out of 100 people diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are alive 1 year after the disease is diagnosed. That number drops to about 67 out of 100 at 5 years, and 57 out of 100 at 10 years.1 Some things can increase your chances of getting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). These things are called risk factors. But many people who get non-Hodgkin's lymphoma don't have any of these risk factors. And some people who have risk factors don't get the disease. Risk factors include:2 Call your doctor to schedule an appointment if you have had any symptoms for longer than 2 weeks, such Health professionals who can evaluate your symptoms of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) include: When NHL is suspected, a tissue sample (biopsy) is needed to make a diagnosis. A biopsy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is usually taken from a lymph node. But other tissues may be sampled as well. A surgeon will remove a sample of tissue so that a pathologist can examine it under a microscope to check for cancer cells. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is usually treated by a medical oncologist or a hematologist. If you need radiation therapy, you will also see a To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment. non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is suspected, your doctor will ask about your medical history and perform a physical exam. This exam includes checking for enlarged lymph nodes in your neck, underarm, and groin. A tissue sample (biopsy) is needed to make a diagnosis. A biopsy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is usually taken from a lymph node, but other tissues may be sampled as bone marrow aspiration and biopsy is usually done to find out if lymphoma cells are present in the bone marrow. may also order other tests, including: Treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) depends Your doctor will work with you and your medical team (which may include an oncologist, a hematologist, and an oncology nurse) to come up with your treatment plan. A common concern of cancer patients are the side effects of treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. Your medical team will let you know ahead of time what side effects you can expect and help you manage them. And there are things you can do at home. To learn more, see Home Treatment. Sometimes NHL comes back after treatment. This is called recurrence or relapse. Treatments for recurrent NHL include chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of the two. This treatment may be followed by a stem cell transplant. You will need regular exams after you have been treated for NHL. Let your doctor know if you have any problems as soon as Finding out that you have cancer can change your life. You may feel like your world has turned upside down and you have lost all control. Talking with family, friends, or a counselor can really help. Ask your doctor about support groups. Or call the American Cancer Society (1-800-227-2345) or visit its website at www.cancer.org. For support in managing the many changes that having cancer can bring, see the topic Getting Support When You Have Cancer. Your doctor may use the term "remission" instead of "cure" when talking about the effectiveness of your treatment. Although many people with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are successfully treated, the term remission is used because cancer can return. It is important to discuss with your doctor the possibility of recurrence. Even after effective treatment for NHL, you may be at slightly higher risk for other types of cancer, especially melanoma, lung, brain, kidney, and bladder cancers. Be watchful for any symptoms of cancer. Additional information about NHL is provided by the National Cancer Institute at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/non-hodgkin. Cancer treatment has two main goals: curing cancer and making your quality of life as good as possible. Palliative care can improve your quality of life by helping you manage your symptoms. It can also help you with other concerns that you may have when you are living with a serious illness. For some people who have advanced cancer, a time comes when treatment to cure cancer no longer seems like a good choice. This can be because the side effects, time, and costs of treatment are greater than the promise of cure or relief. But this isn't the end of treatment. You and your doctor can decide when you may be ready for hospice care. It can be hard to decide when to stop treatment aimed at prolonging your life and shift the focus to end-of-life care. To learn about the different types of supportive care, see: There is no known way to prevent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). You can do things at home to help manage your side effects. If your doctor has given you instructions or medicines to treat these symptoms, be sure to follow them. In general, healthy habits such as eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep and exercise may help control your symptoms. Other problems that can be treated at home include: Having cancer can be very stressful, and it may feel overwhelming to face the challenges in front of you. Finding new ways of coping with the symptoms of stress may improve your overall quality of life. These ideas may help: Your doctor may prescribe medicines that will affect the growth of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and relieve your symptoms. Chemotherapy may be used alone or with radiation therapy. Sometimes a combination of chemotherapy medicines is more effective than a single The most commonly used combination is called CHOP. It combines four medicines: cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone. Your doctor will work with you to find the best medicine for the type of lymphoma you have. Chemotherapy causes many side effects. For help with how to deal with these, see Home Treatment. Your doctor may medicines to control nausea and vomiting from Targeted therapy uses monoclonal antibodies in medicine that is injected into the body so these antibodies can attach to cancer cells and destroy them. The monoclonal antibodies used to treat NHL include: Some treatments use interferon or antibiotic medicines. Your doctor will suggest the treatment that works best for your kind of lymphoma. You may not be able to become pregnant or father a child after chemotherapy treatment. Discuss fertility issues with your doctor before starting treatment. Chemotherapy medicines can also cause birth defects. If you are pregnant or wish to father a child, discuss the risk of birth defects with your doctor before using any Surgery is often used to obtain a biopsy sample when non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is being diagnosed or classified. But surgery is rarely used for treatment. for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) may be given in different ways. A stem cell transplant may be used to treat NHL that is in remission or that has come back. Stem cells may be obtained from blood, through a peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT). Or stem cells can be obtained from bone, in a bone marrow transplant (SBMT). PBSCT is the most common method for treating NHL. A stem cell transplant may be done right after you have very high-dose chemotherapy. (You may also have radiation to your entire body.) The stem cell transplant is done to replace your damaged bone marrow cells with healthy stem cells. A stem cell transplant may be offered as part of standard treatment or in a clinical trial. Clinical trials are research studies that try to find better NHL treatments. Your doctor may suggest that you join a clinical trial. Some treatments being used in clinical trials include lymphoma vaccines and stem cell transplants with high-dose chemotherapy. If you are interested in taking part in a clinical trial, check with your doctor to see if any are available in your area. People sometimes use complementary therapies along with medical treatment to help relieve symptoms and side effects of cancer treatments. Some of the complementary therapies that may be helpful These mind-body treatments may help you feel better. They can make it easier to cope with treatment. They also may reduce chronic low back pain, joint pain, headaches, and pain from treatments. Before you try a complementary therapy, talk to your doctor about the possible value and potential side effects. Let your doctor know if you are already using any such therapies. They are not meant to take the place of standard medical treatment. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education, and patient services. The Society's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and myeloma and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. The American Cancer Society (ACS) conducts educational programs and offers many services to people with cancer and to their families. Staff at the toll-free number have information about services and activities in local areas and can provide referrals to local ACS divisions. Cancer.Net is the information website of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for people living with cancer and for those who care for them. ASCO is the world's leading professional organization representing physicians of all oncology subspecialties. Cancer.Net provides current oncologist-approved information on living with cancer. The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) is devoted to funding lymphoma research and providing patients and health professionals with information about lymphoma. Some states have local chapters of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Services for patients and their loved ones include in-person programs, a patient aid grant program, and publications and newsletters. There are also teleconferences, webcasts, and podcasts. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a U.S. government agency that provides up-to-date information about the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. NCI also offers supportive care to people who have cancer and to their families. NCI information is also available to doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. NCI provides the latest information about clinical trials. The Cancer Information Service, a service of NCI, has trained staff members available to answer questions and send free publications. Spanish-speaking staff members are also available. CitationsAmerican Cancer Society (2011). Cancer Facts and Figures 2011. Atlanta: American Cancer Society. Available online: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-029771.pdf.Friedberg JW, et al. (2011). Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In VT DeVita Jr et al., eds., DeVita, Hellman and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, 9th ed., pp. 1855–1893. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.Other Works Consulted National Cancer Institute (2011). Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (PDQ): Patient Version. Available online: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/child-non-hodgkins/Patient.American Joint Committee on Cancer (2010). Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas section in Lymphoid neoplasms. AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, 7th ed., pp. 607–611. New York: Springer.Bierman PJ, Armitage JO (2012). Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. In L Goldman, A Shafer, eds., Goldman's Cecil Medicine, 24th ed., pp. 1218–1228. Philadelphia: Saunders.Hillman R, et al. (2011). Non-Hodgkin lymphomas. In Hematology in Clinical Practice, 5th ed., pp. 279–300. New York: McGraw-Hill.Kyle F, Hill M (2010). NHL (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma), search date January 2010. Online version of BMJ Clinical Evidence: http://www.clinicalevidence.com.National Cancer Institute (2011). Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (PDQ): Health Professional Version. Available online: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/adult-non-hodgkins/HealthProfessional.National Cancer Institute (2011). Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (PDQ): Patient Version. Available online: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/adult-non-hodgkins/Patient.National Cancer Institute (2011). Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (PDQ): Health Professional Version. Available online: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/child-non-hodgkins/HealthProfessional.National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2011). Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology, Version 4. Available online: http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp. October 22, 2012 Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine & Douglas A. Stewart, MD - Medical Oncology How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions. To learn more visit Healthwise.org © 1995-2013 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
Jamaica Family Planning Association (FAMPLAN) FAMPLAN pioneered family planning in Jamaica in 1957. It responds to the demand for sexual and reproductive health services, particularly among vulnerable communities, by providing a full range of services that include contraceptives, gynecological care, Pap tests, pregnancy tests, HIV and STI prevention and screening, breast exams, gender-based violence screening and referrals, vasectomy, post-abortion counseling, and pre- and post-natal care. FAMPLAN is a major advocate of school-based comprehensive sexuality education and the need for health professionals to understand and support youth-friendly services. It also works to increase gender equality and teaches women safer sex negotiation skills to help them assert their right to refuse unsafe sex.
- It relays important information and moves the story forward - It shows what a character is thinking, feeling, doing - It can be funny, scary, sad, dramatic - It breaks up the visual monotony of large, clunky paragraphs - It reads quickly - It can be the most memorable part of a narrative But what makes good dialog? What are the things to do and to avoid when writing dialog? Here are the rules that I personally use. 1. Make it sound natural. People talk differently than they write. Writing is slower, more deliberate, and more thought goes into it. Speaking is looser, freer, less constricting, and less precise. Record some dialog in natural settings--at the mall, on the phone, on the radio. Then transcribe what you heard. You'll notice a big difference between the spoken word and the written word. 2. It shouldn't be too natural. In real life, people use speach hesitators (um, uh) and repeat themseves a lot. They also can talk for mintues at a time without a break. In your narrative, you need to cut to the chase, and trim all of this extraneous stuff. Briefer is better. 3. It has to have a point. Stories are built around conflict. It should be in your dialog as well. Two people discussing the weather happens all the time in real life, but there's no place for it in a novel (unless the book is about an evil weatherman.) Dialog needs to propel the story forward. Keep it moving, and use it to reveal things about the plto and the characters. 4. Speaker attribution only when needed. Dialog tags are distracting. They interrupt the flow and cadance of the words. Use 'he said', and only use it sparingly. Tags like yelled, shouted, screamed, sobbed, laughed, usually aren't needed. Neither are adverbs. Said loudly, softly, cruelly, jokingly, stupidly---that gets old really quick. Using action instead of tags to denote who is speaking is a better way to do the scene. 5. Remember the scene. Where are these characters talking? The environment, the situation, the position of their bodies, the action; all of this is important, but not as important as you think. Less is more. Give the reader just enough information to imagine the scene, and then get on with the story. Over-describing every detail is annoying, and bad writing. 6. Avoid dialect. Some authors are great at dialect. You aren't one of them. Avoid creative spelling, which makes words unrecognizable, just so the reader knows your character is Italian, or Southern, or from Bahston, because the reader has to look at a word three times to realize you mean Boston. 7. Avoid funky punctuation. A few exclamation points is fine. More than a few a chapter is overkill. Ditto italics, apostrophes, and double punctuation. Know wha' I'm sayin'??!!??!? 8. Different characters speak in different ways. A cop wouldn't speak a line the same was a criminal would. While you should avoid dialect, it's okay to use improper grammar or vocabulary if it sounds authentic. Write like people speak, even if it ain't right. 9. Read it aloud. When you've finished a scene, read it out loud to see if it works. If you're tripping over the words, the character would be too. If it doesn't sound natural, it won't read natural. After reading it aloud, you'll find that you can take words away pretty easily. Bringing it all together. Here's a brief snippet from Bloody Mary which hits all of the points mentioned above. Read it in your head once, then read it aloud. Look for what's on the page, as well as what is deliberately left off the page. The apartment was air-conditioned, neat, nicely furnished. An entertainment center, crammed full of state-of-the-art equipment, sat next to a wide-screen TV. Colin stood about Benedict’s height, but rail thin. He wore an oversized Steelers jersey and a thick gold chain around his neck that seemed to weigh him down. “Business must be good.” I eyed his place, annoyed that the crooks always had better stuff than I did. “Colin?” A woman’s voice came from one of the back rooms. “Who’s there?” “No one, Mama. Stay in your room.” “Mama know you deal?” I asked. “I don’t deal. That’s all a big misunderstanding.” I fished through the pockets of my blazer and took out a folded head-shot of Davi McCormick. “Do you recognize this woman?” I watched Colin’s face. He glanced at the photo without changing his expression. “Never saw her.” “She called your cell phone a few days ago.” “Don’t got no cell phone.” I read the phone number to him. “Don’t got that phone no more. Lost it.” “When did you lose it?” “Couple weeks ago.” Herb bent down, reaching for Colin’s foot. “I think you dropped something, Colin. Well–-lookee here.” Herb held up the bag of powdered sugar. “Dog, that ain’t mine!” Herb made an innocent face. “I saw it fall out of your pocket. Didn’t you, Jack?” “I don’t even deal that shit, man. I just distribute the herb.” “Where’s your phone, Colin?” “I told you, I lost the phone.” Benedict dipped a finger into the baggie, then touched his tongue. “How much you think is here? Eight, ten grams? That’s what–-thirty years?” I moved closer to Colin. “We found the arms. We know she called you.” “What arms? I don’t carry, man. I’m low-key.” “Where’s the phone?” “I don’t know.” Colin looked frightened. Though I couldn’t arrest him for possession of a known confectionary, I decided to push my luck. “You know the drill, Colin. On your knees, hands behind your head.” “I don’t have the phone! I swear! You need to ask your people!” “Cops. When I got arrested last month, they took my phone. I never got it back.” Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Herb was dipping back into the baggie for another taste. I stepped between him and Colin. “You’re saying we have your phone?” “I had it with me when I got booked, and when I got sprung no one knew anything about my phone.” I had a pretty good internal BS detector, and Colin was either a much better liar than I was used to, or he was telling the truth. Will I win a Pulitzer for that dialog? No--the comittee sadly passed. But it did do all of the things I mentioned dialog should do. I wrote this over two years ago, and looking at it now I'd tweak a bit here and there. But it still works as a scene. It sounds right. The reader can picture what's happening, and who is talking, even though it is under-described and there are four different characters. The story is being moved forward, and at a quick pace. Plus, I threw in a bit of humor to make it go down a little easier. Dialog can be the most fun, and the easiest, part of a story to write.
Alice C. Linsley Part 3: The Serpent (Part 1: Answers to Questions about God; Part 2: Answers to Questions about Adam and Eve) Q: Why was the devil in the form of a serpent? A: Genesis does not say that the devil took the form of a serpent. It asserts that a serpent spoke and the woman heard. There are allegorical as well as historical explanations for this. Many Christians believe that the story of the serpent in Genesis has both levels of meaning; that is, it speaks to us symbolically and it speaks about something that actually happened in the past. In the allegorical approach, the serpent embodies the devilish work that opposes God’s purposes. In other words, the serpent represents a rebellion inside the order of creation. Later, people came to imagine this creature as the Devil or Satan (the Accuser). However, in the time of Abraham and Moses the serpent was a symbol of divine healing wisdom. Moses lifted up a staff with a serpent in the wilderness and told the people to look upon it and be saved. Numbers 21:8 tells us that God insturcted Moses to do this: The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." In ancient times the serpent or snake was associated with trees of poles. In Genesis, the serpent is associated with the tree in the midst of the garden. In Numbers, the serpent is wrapped around a pole. Referring to His death, Jesus alluded to the story in Numbers, saying, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32) Jesus is Divine Healing Wisdom on the Cross which is called both a "tree" and a "pole" in Scripture. In the natural-historical approach, the serpent actually existed and spoke to the woman. One explanation for how this may have happened involves the eating of plants that grow in the part of the world where Eden was located. Before the Fall, humans ate only plants. It is conceivable that the woman ate a combination of plants that caused her to see and hear a talking serpent (hallucination). Such plants which are high in tryptamine alkaloids exist in the tropics of South America and Africa. In Africa, the Iboga plant produces such effects and is said by the shamans to take one back to the "beginning of time." The isolated active component ibogaine has been used in the treatment of heroin and opium addiction. In South America, shamans use a plant called Ayahuasca or Soga de Vida. Ayahuasca is an hallucinogen containing tetrahydroharmine (DMT), which when ingested is neutralized by the oxidizing action of peripheral monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A), an enzyme in the lining of the stomach. Shamans circumvent the MAO inhibitor by inhaling or smoking the plant or by mixing the DMT with an MAO inhibitor that prevents the breakdown of DMT in the digestive tract. \|Ayahuasca vine resembles a coiled serpent\| According to the South American shamans, the cosmic serpent taught their ancestors which plants to mix to overcome the body’s natural protection. Combining ingredients allows the DMT in the Ayahuasca to have an hallucinogenic effect when orally ingested. The vine also contains harmaline which can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but it does not affect the shamans who develop a tolerance to its emetic and purgative effects. In his study of ayahuasca among the Amazon natives, Jeremy Narby found that shamans of the Amazon see and communicate with serpents under the influence of ayahuasca. Narby maintains that nature is speaking to humans through hallucinogenic plants. The illogic of his view never occurs to him. If this is nature speaking, then why must the shaman neutralize the natural enzyme MAO-A in order to gain knowledge? This is cheating nature. People of God do not steal knowledge by drug-induced trances and hallucinations. Instead, they grow in wisdom through constant prayer, communion with God in Christ, the fellowship of the Church, and the study of Scripture. They become, not the mouthpieces of serpents, but of Christ our God. Q: The serpent in Genesis is never directly referred to as Satan. Why is this? A: It is true that the serpent in the garden is not identified as the Devil or Satan in Genesis. However, in Revelation the serpent is identified as "that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray" (Rev. 12:9, 20:2). Recalling that there are two trees in that story, we see that the serpent led Eve from the right choice - to eat of the Tree of Life - to the wrong choice - to eat of the Tree by which she hoped to become like God. This has been the Devil's primary approach throughout history. He attempts to lead us away from life by promising what he cannot give - divinity and immortality. The serpent is one of the oldest religious motifs. Serpent veneration was rather widespread in the early Neolithic and before. The serpent was venerated among archaic peoples around the world. It was regarded as having powers to communicate, to deceive, to hide, to reveal and to heal and protect. The oldest serpent veneration is evidenced by the 70,000 year old python stone carved in a mountainside in Botswana. The serpent motif is found in Africa, Arabia, Pakistan, India, Central Asia and the Americas. It is a significant symbol among traditional Africans and Native Americans, and in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. It is often found with symbols of the Sun and the Tree of Life. The great antiquity of these symbols is attested by their wide diffusion, yet their meaning has remained fairly stable in each religion. Only in Judaism and Christianity is the serpent associated with Satan and evil. In the Bible, the serpent is both good and evil; a kind of trickster whose words and advice always must be tested. Surveying literature and ancient monuments, it becomes evident that the serpent is not believed to have the power to create something new. The serpent or serpent deity's "innovations" are imitations of what God has created, sometimes helpful imitations (See Doctrine of Signatures; herbalism), but often distorted imitations. Likely this is why the Apostle John warns us "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God." (1 John 4:1) Related reading: The Dragon and Beast of Revelation; Serpent Most Subtle; Serpent Symbolism; The Cosmic Serpent Exposed
Want to hear something depressing? According to teachers' estimates, two-thirds of students in some public schools rely on school lunch as their primary source of caloric intake. Want to hear something else depressing (YES!) According to government data, between 16 and 33% of American children and teens are obese. What's a school lunch program to do? If you're New York City's public school system, the answer is to cut calories so that the fat kids become less fat, to levels below federal caloric guidelines. But what about the kids whose only caloric intake comes from mystery meat and the mysterious creamy gravy of the chicken a la king? Are they supposed to subsist on the happiness that comes from knowing that Mayor Bloomberg is bravely battling child obesity? What's the vitamin D content of, uh, knowing you took one for Team No Fat Kids? The Times found that NYC has been skirting federal school lunch requirements for Lord knows how long and without the approval of the federal government, all under the banner of banishing child obesity. It's not the quantity of calories that matter, argue school officials, it's the quality. And even though public school kids weren't technically getting what the government says they needed, nutrition-wise, officials say that the new lower caloric standards set by the federal government vindicate their judgment call. Nutritional requirements for public school lunches are dizzyingly complicated, turns out. Schools are encouraged to offer salad bars, but salad bars don't count toward meal calorie totals. The maximum number of calories allowed per meal is only 100 calories more than the minimum number of calories required per meal, and the number of calories to be served to students varies by the student's grade level. New federal requirements demand schools serve students more whole grains and fruits and vegetables and less Cheetos Flambe, and chefs have been working in test kitchens to make sure that Our Children's trays are loaded with only the most nutrient-dense of foodstuffs. All of these things are good — school lunches should be healthier for kids. Public school lunch should be made of something besides triangular fish patties and day old buns. Rectangular pizza covered with vegetable oil cheese served with a pile o' salty fries isn't doing anyone any favors. But ignoring federal requirements and cutting calories on a meal that, for many children is their primary source of nutrients isn't doing any children any favors. Making fat kids un-fat isn't more important than making sure starving kids don't starve. Why can't school officials meet calorie minimums by serving kids a shitload of uber healthy food? Unlimited cauliflower. No one gets fat by sitting there gorging themselves on cauliflower.
Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs. This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt depicts a row of switchboard operators at work. A scene like this was quite familiar to my aunt Beverly Ann Slade “Betty” Anderson. Why? Because she was part of the legend of women who said “NY-un” (9) and “FY-vuh” (5) when speaking to telephone customers. From the very first day on the job in 1952, Aunt Betty loved working at the “toll board” or “cord board,” as it was called, as an employee of Southern Bell in Burlington, North Carolina, and then later at C & P Telephone Company in Portsmouth, Virginia. \|C & P Telephone Company\| High Street Portsmouth, VA The telephone operators were on the third floor. from Google Maps \|The woman in the back is operating the\| switchboard from which she connected calls to the desks in the business office of C & P Telephone Company. photo courtesy of Beverly Anderson The basis of the job was quite simple: just insert one or both cords to make the connection. But the challenge came when there was no direct connection. The operators had to use a map to figure out a route and then call another phone center to serve as a link in a chain of connections. \|An article in the company newspaper 1968\| shows male operators at the toll board courtesy Betty Anderson The job at the cord board took on a competitive edge when several calls came in at the same time requiring the same connections. Operators would shout out the time their call came in. It was a system of “first come - first served.” Aunt Betty was not intimidated by supervisors (like the one in the prompt) who carefully watched and monitored every operator’s performance. If the light came on, the operator had better answer in 30 seconds. If a customer was on hold 60 seconds, the operator had better get back to the customer to say she is still trying to connect. Lord help the operator if she was caught listening in on someone’s conversation. Operators’ pay was directly tied to their good customer service. And the pay was good: $20 a week. An operator who worked a full day got two 15-minute breaks plus lunch. Those who worked a split shift had a 15-minute break during each shift. When Aunt Betty worked the split shift, typically 8:00-12:00 and 4:00-8:00, rather than go home, she opted to take advantage of the employees’ craft room where various workers took turns running craft classes. Betty’s favorite was ceramics. \| In costume as part of some historical celebration,\| Beverly Anderson is pictured here with an antique switchboard that was most likely used in an office. photo courtesy of Beverly Anderson With her record for good service and many awards for perfect attendance, it is no wonder that Aunt Betty advanced through the company. (Yes, the phone company gave awards for perfect attendance.) At various times she was an operator, a supervisor, a teller in the business office, and service manager handling either business customers or retail customers. \|This photo of Aunt Betty\| appeared in the company newspaper in 1968 when she was featured for conducting a training session on how women can protect themselves against crank callers. When she retired, she had 50 people reporting to her. Ever modest about her success at the phone company, Aunt Betty always insisted she was at the right place at the right time. Sometimes she felt inadequate or even unworthy supervising people with far more education than she had. But a strong work ethic and good common sense carried her far beyond her little stool at the cord board. \|Aunt Betty and me Christmas 2009\| If you want to connect with other smooth operators at Sepia Saturday, it's TOLL FREE.
While the use and size of land connected with U.S. lighthouses varies, observers say the Point Retreat lighthouse reserve near Juneau is larger than most. Years ago, lighthouses established by the federal government were assigned a reservation. In some cases an entire island was set aside as a lighthouse reserve. In other cases, part of the island became the reserve, said Dave Snyder, a historian with the U.S. Lighthouse Society, a nonprofit historical and educational organization based in San Francisco. U.S. Lighthouse Society President Wayne Wheeler was a navigator on the Coast Guard cutter Sweetbrier in Alaska in the 1960s. Among other duties, the crew dropped off food, mail and movies at Southeast lighthouses, including Point Retreat, every two weeks. At 1,500 acres, Point Retreat's land base is unusual, he said. "There's no reason for them to have that kind of acreage. If you look at other light stations around the country, there's just not that kind of acreage," Wheeler said. The society's Washington chapter runs a lighthouse at New Dungeness on the Olympic Peninsula that includes about 20 acres. The light station at Point Bonita, Calif., was about 180 acres, he said. Lighthouses closer to railroads or more populated areas might have included less land, while those further away, such as those in Alaska, might have included more land so the keeper would be self-sufficient, Snyder said. As an example, a lighthouse keeper might fell trees for firewood or to build a fence. Some keepers were involved in minor commercial activities such as fishing or crabbing, Snyder said. "In lighthouse days, there would have been minimal management," he said. Light stations in the early 19th century also used the land to plant crops, grow vegetables and keep cows, chickens and pigs, Wheeler added. In Alaska, the Coast Guard leased the 216-acre Cape Decision lighthouse reserve to Cape Decision Lighthouse Society in 1997, according to society President Karen Johnson of Sitka. Along with the lighthouse and other buildings, the reserve includes a 0.7-mile spur trail that provides access to the site, she said. Part of a 4.5-mile Port McArthur historic trail also is on the reserve. The lighthouse group has collaborated with the Forest Service on trail construction, Johnson said. As with the land around the Point Retreat lighthouse reserve, the land adjacent to Cape Decision on southern Kuiu Island is managed for semi-remote recreation by the Forest Service. The designation provides a predominantly natural setting for semi-primitive recreation with some rustic recreation and tourism facilities allowed, according to the agency. The Cape St. Elias lighthouse is on Kayak Island between Cordova and Yakutat. The island is 22 miles long by 2 miles wide, and the Cape St. Elias Lightkeepers' Association lease with the Coast Guard includes about 500 acres, President Toni Bocci said. "It's sheer rock that goes up 1,500 feet that you can't do anything with. The lighthouse is on the tip," she said. The association's main focus is restoring the lighthouse building, a task made more difficult because of the site's location, Bocci said. "Ours is more remote than some of the other ones," she said. "You have to charter a plane, land on the beach and hike two miles, carrying everything on your back." Closer to Juneau, the Sentinel Island Lighthouse, which can be seen from Amalga Harbor, is on six forested acres. The Five Finger Light sits on a "three-acre rock" 64 miles south of Juneau, according to Valerie O'Hare of the Juneau Lighthouse Association. What a land transfer at Point Retreat could mean to other Alaska lighthouses will depend on what happens next, she said. "What's going to affect us is what they do after," she said. "With that being said, we hope that whatever they do is not only done in the best interest of Point Retreat, but done within the best interest of the entire lighthouse program in Alaska." Juneau Empire ©2013. All Rights Reserved.
Cagebreak! Rats Will Work To Free A Trapped Pal Calling someone a "rat" is no compliment, but a new study shows that rats actually are empathetic and will altruistically lend a helping paw to a cage-mate who is stuck in a trap. Not only will rats frantically work to free their trapped cage-mate, they will do so even when there's a tempting little pile of chocolate chips nearby, the study reveals. Instead of leaving their pal in the trap and selfishly gobbling the candy all by themselves, rats will free their cage-mate and share the chocolate. "To me that's absolutely stunning," says neurobiologist Peggy Mason of the University of Chicago. "The fact that the rat does that is really amazing." Mason and her colleagues designed a series of experiments, described in the journal Science, to explore the evolutionary roots of empathy. They wanted to look at rats because they already knew, from previous work, that rodents can be emotionally affected by the emotions of their cage-mates. For example, during lab procedures, mice seem to experience more pain when they see another mouse in pain. This is called "emotional contagion," and humans have it too — just think of how one crying baby can make other babies cry. "But in the end, emotional contagion doesn't take you very far," says Mason. "It's an internal experience. It doesn't actually do anything for another individual." Helping A Fellow Rat So Mason and her colleagues devised a test to see if rats would take the next step and actually try to help out a fellow rat in distress. They took two cage-mates, who knew each other, and trapped one of them in a narrow Plexiglas tube. That's a mild stress and one the trapped rat doesn't like — it would sometimes make an alarm call. The free rat outside of this tube seemed to immediately "get" the problem and would work to liberate its pal, says Mason. The free rat would focus its activity on this plastic tube, crawling all over it and biting it, and interact with the trapped rat through little holes in the tube. "And if the trapped rat has a tail poking out, the free rat will actually grab that tail and kind of pull on it," says Mason. Eventually, all this activity would lead to the free rat accidentally triggering a door that opened, releasing the trapped animal. The rats quickly learned to purposefully open the door, and during repeated experiments they would do so faster and faster — but only for a trapped rat. They didn't act this way when the plastic trap was empty or contained a toy rat. Rats would free their pals even if the experiment was set up so that the other rat was released into a different cage, so that the two rats did not get to interact after the door was opened. This suggests that the door-opener was really trying to aid its fellow rat, and not just working to get a playmate. A Helping Behavior The researchers had a question for the rats: What is it worth to you, to free your fellow rat? "Obviously we can't ask that question verbally, so we wanted to ask it in terms that a rat can communicate to us," says Mason. So the scientists used chocolate. They put rats into a cage that held two different clear plastic traps. One contained chocolate chips. The other contained the trapped cage-mate. What they found is that the free rats quickly opened both cages, in no particular order. And they did not eat all the chocolate — instead, they shared it with their fellow rat. While the rats clearly engage in pro-social helping behavior, Mason says it's impossible to know the rats' internal experience of all this. "I think it's extremely unlikely that the rat has the same conscious experience that we do," says Mason. Still, this study shows that the roots of empathy extend all the way back to rodents and aren't something that's unique to primates, she says. A minority of rats never opened the trap's door, says Mason. They tended to freeze, suggesting that they felt their partner's distress but could not shake it off and calm down enough to take action. A 'Pro-Social' Behavior Jeffrey Mogil of McGill University in Montreal, who has studied empathetic behavior in mice, says this is a surprising study. "You know, it's one thing to free the trapped rat that might be making alarm calls. It's quite another thing to share the chocolate chips," Mogil says. Previous work in Mogil's lab has shown that when mice are given a temporary stomach pain, their female cage-mates will go spend more time near them. And the more time their cage-mates spend with them, the less pain behavior the mice will show — suggesting that the extra companionship is in response to the pain and that it actually helps in alleviating it. Mogil says the new experiment on cage opening rats is "a lot more robust, a lot less subtle" than that earlier mouse study. "What's impressive about the current study is that it's an active response," says Mogil. "We can argue about why they're doing it, but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that they're doing something that can really only be called pro-social behavior." What's more, he says, the experimental set-up in this study is so simple that he expects lots of labs, including his own, to repeat the rat study and start expanding on it. He says it could be used to explore the neurobiology of helping behavior and allow scientists to find genes that are involved in empathy. He also wonders if rats would be as quick to help strange rats that weren't known to them, as opposed to their familiar cage-mates. Even though, in the past, many scientists have assumed that altruistic behavior is something uniquely human, Mogil says we really should not be so surprised to see it in the lowly rat. "Behaviors have to come from somewhere," he notes. "And so it would be almost absurd to expect not to see some sort of simpler form of human sociabilities in other animals."
It can be frightening whenever kids are in the hospital — maybe even more so when they're admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). But a basic understanding of the people and equipment in the PICU can help you feel less scared and better prepared to help your child recover. What's the PICU? The PICU is the section of the hospital that provides sick children with the highest level of medical care. It differs from other parts of the hospital, like the general medical floors, in that the PICU allows intensive nursing care and monitoring things like heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure continuously. The PICU also allows medical staff to provide therapies that might not be available in other parts of the hospital. Some of these more intensive therapies include ventilators (breathing machines) and certain medications that can be given only under close medical supervision. Who's Sent to the PICU? Any child who's seriously ill and needs intensive care and whose medical needs can't be met on the hospital's main medical floors goes to the PICU. Kids in the PICU might include those with severe breathing problems from asthma, serious infections, certain heart conditions, some complications of diabetes, or those involved in a serious automobile accident or near-drowning. Some kids may have been stable enough to initially be cared for on the hospital's medical-surgical floors, but may be transferred to the PICU if they become more acutely ill. Following major surgery, many children may be cared for in the PICU for several days. How long kids will be in the PICU depends on their condition — some might stay a single day; others might need to stay for weeks or even months. As always, ask the doctor or nurse caring for your child if you have questions. The PICU has many highly skilled people who care for kids. But not knowing who everyone is and what they do can be confusing and a little overwhelming at first. Most people will introduce themselves and indicate how they're involved in your child's care, but if they don't, feel free to ask. At all times, you should feel comfortable asking the doctors and nurses questions about your child and the care being given. The nurses who work in the PICU are experienced in caring for the sickest children in the hospital. They're the people most intimately involved with the minute-to-minute care of the kids. The PICU also tends to have a higher nurse-to-patient ratio than other parts of the hospital (in other words, each nurse cares for fewer patients, which gives them more time with your child). Numerous physicians may care for your child, but the attending physicians are in charge. Your child may be cared for by a pediatric intensivist, who is a doctor who did a 3-year residency in pediatrics after medical school, followed by three additional years of subspecialty fellowship training in intensive care. The PICU team may include residents (doctors who've completed medical school and are training to be pediatricians) and PICU fellows (pediatricians training to be attending intensivists). Many other subspecialists, such as cardiologists (heart doctors) or neurosurgeons (brain surgeons), may be involved, depending on your child's needs. Respiratory therapists are experienced with ventilators and other breathing equipment, and are often involved in the care of PICU patients with breathing problems. In addition, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, and pharmacists may play a role in your child's care. You also might meet social workers who help families cope with the emotional burdens of having a critically ill child. They can help to arrange temporary housing for families (through organizations like Ronald McDonald House), assist with insurance issues, or coordinate discharge planning when your child is ready to go home. You may want to ask whether the hospital has child life specialists. Trained in fields like development, education, psychology, and counseling, they help kids understand and manage being in the hospital by, for example, listening if a child needs to talk, calming fears about what's happening, or providing distractions like books and games. The medical team meets every day, usually in the morning, to discuss each patient's case in detail; these discussions are known as rounds. You may see a group of doctors, nurses, and others walking from patient to patient, planning the medical care for each patient. Family-centered patient care might be practiced in the PICU. If this is the case, you'll be asked to participate in your child's daily rounds. If you're not present for rounds or don't want to participate, the attending physician will inform you of the daily goals for your child by phone or in person. Your input into your child's therapy is sought in a PICU practicing family-centered patient care. By understanding everyone's role and how each contributes, you may find the group of people caring for your child less intimidating. Possibly the most alarming aspect of the PICU environment is the medical equipment that may be attached to your child. The machines have alarms and display panels, and the noise and lights can be overwhelming. Your child's stay in the PICU might include: IVs. Almost all kids in the PICU have an intravenous catheter (or IV) for fluids and medications — usually in the hands or arms, but sometimes in the feet, legs, or even scalp. An IV is a thin, flexible tube inserted into the vein with a small needle. Once in the vein, the needle is removed, leaving just the soft plastic tubing. Some situations require larger IVs that can be used to deliver greater volumes of fluids and medications. These are known as central lines because they're inserted into the larger, more central veins of the chest, neck, or groin, as opposed to the hands and feet. Arterial lines are very similar to IVs, but they're placed in arteries, not veins, and are not generally used to administer medication but to monitor blood pressure and oxygen levels in the blood. Medications. Most medicines can be administered anywhere in the hospital, but certain ones that can have dangerous side effects are only administered to children who are closely monitored in the PICU. Instead of being given every few hours, some are given continuously, several IV drops at a time, and are known as drips. Doctors may use these medications — like epinephrine, dopamine, and morphine, for example — to help with heart function, blood pressure, or pain relief. Monitors. Kids in the PICU are attached to monitors. The monitors are secured to the body with chest leads, which are small painless stickers connected to wires. These leads can count a child's heart rate and breathing rate. Many kids are also connected to a pulse oximetry (pulse-ox) machine to check blood oxygen levels. Also painless, this machine is attached to the fingers or toes like a small bandage and emits a soft red light. Unless blood pressure is being directly monitored through an arterial catheter, kids usually will also have a blood pressure cuff applied to their arm or leg. Tests. Doctors may order a variety of tests to get more information, including tests on a child's blood and urine, and sometimes on the cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Additionally, images or pictures of different parts of the body might be taken through X-rays, ultrasound, computed tomography (also called a CT or CAT scan), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ventilators. Kids in the PICU sometimes need extra help to breathe. This may mean getting some extra oxygen from a mask on the face or tubing in the nose. But sometimes, a child needs to be connected to the ventilator (or breathing machine). This is done via an endotracheal tube (a plastic tube placed into the windpipe through the mouth or nose) or a tracheostomy (a plastic tube inserted directly through the skin into the windpipe) connected to the ventilator on the other end. There are different kinds of ventilators — different situations call for different machines — but they all serve the same basic purpose: to help a child breathe. Your child will receive sedative and pain relief medications while the breathing tube is in the windpipe. In the PICU, all of your child's physical needs will be met by the staff. You, as a parent, are there to provide emotional support, love, and a familiar voice or touch. However, you shouldn't feel as if you have to stay at your child's bedside every minute of the day. Getting away from the commotion of the PICU briefly or even leaving the hospital grounds can help you gather your thoughts. Staying around the clock with a child who's in the PICU for more than a few days can be both physically and emotionally draining. Although some hospitals allow parents to spend the night with their child, some do not. Often, hospital staff will encourage parents to go home, get a good night's rest, and return to the PICU refreshed in the morning, which can help them be even more of a comfort to their child. Although the hospital may allow you to spend the night, the decision whether to stay in your child's room is a personal one. Either way, the PICU staff will support you and reassure you that your child will be well cared for. Whatever you do, make sure you get enough rest to be able to support your child throughout the PICU stay. When Kids Leave the PICU While some patients are sent home directly from the PICU, many are transferred to a regular floor of the hospital for further, less-intense monitoring and follow-up care. Still, discharge from the PICU is a significant milestone on the road to recovery. It means that a child no longer needs such an intensive level of monitoring, therapy, and/or nursing care. But leaving the PICU might also cause some anxiety. It's not unusual for parents of kids who were in the PICU to think, "He was so sick and now he's better. But shouldn't he stay here until he's completely back to normal?" But the doctors and nurses in the PICU won't transfer kids before they think they're ready and stable, and the team on the hospital's regular floor will have the resources necessary to continue guiding your child's recovery. Caring for a critically ill child is always stressful and difficult. But with a basic understanding of the people and things in the PICU, the stress on the family can be minimized — leaving you better able to support your child and plan for when the entire family is home together again.
All kids have worries and doubts. But kids with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often can't stop worrying, no matter how much they want to. And those worries frequently compel them to behave in certain ways over and over again. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder. Kids with OCD become preoccupied with whether something could be harmful, dangerous, wrong, or dirty — or with thoughts that bad stuff could happen. With OCD, upsetting or scary thoughts or images, called obsessions, pop into a person's mind and are hard to shake. Kids with OCD also might worry about things not being "in order" or "just right." They may worry about losing things, sometimes feeling the need to collect these items, even though they may seem useless to other people. Someone with OCD feels strong urges to do certain things repeatedly — called rituals or compulsions — in order to banish the scary thoughts, ward off something dreaded, or make extra sure that things are safe, clean, or right in some way. Children may have a difficult time explaining a reason for their rituals and say they do them "just because." But in general, by doing a ritual, someone with OCD is trying to relieve anxiety. They may want to feel absolutely certain that something bad won't happen or to feel "just right." Think of OCD as an "overactive alarm system." The rise in anxiety or worry is so strong that a child feels like he or she must perform the task or dwell on the thought, over and over again, to the point where it interferes with everyday life. Most kids with OCD realize that they really don't have to repeat the behaviors over and over again, but the anxiety can be so great that they feel that repetition is "required" to neutralize the uncomfortable feeling. And often the behavior does decrease the anxiety — but only temporarily. In the long run, the rituals may worsen OCD severity and prompt the obsessions to return. Doctors and scientists don't know exactly what causes OCD, although recent research has led to a better understanding of it and its potential causes. Experts believe OCD is related to levels of a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry signals in the brain. When the flow of serotonin is blocked, the brain's "alarm system" overreacts and misinterprets information. These "false alarms" mistakenly trigger danger messages. Instead of the brain filtering out these messages, the mind dwells on them — and the person experiences unrealistic fear and doubt. Evidence is strong that OCD tends to run in families. Many people with OCD have one or more family members who also have it or other anxiety disorders influenced by the brain's serotonin levels. Because of this, scientists have come to believe that the tendency (or predisposition) for someone to develop a serotonin imbalance that causes OCD can be inherited. Having the genetic tendency for OCD doesn't mean that someone will develop OCD, but it does mean there's a stronger chance that he or she might. Sometimes an illness or some other stress-causing event may trigger the symptoms of OCD in a person who is genetically prone to develop it. It's important to understand that the obsessive-compulsive behavior is not something that a child can stop by trying harder. OCD is a disorder, just like any physical disorder such as diabetes or asthma, and is not something kids can control or have caused themselves. OCD is also not something that parents have caused, although life events (such as starting school or the death of a loved one) might worsen or trigger the onset of OCD in kids who are prone to develop it. Common OCD Behaviors in Kids OCD can make daily life difficult for the kids that it affects and their families. The behaviors often take up a great deal of time and energy, making it more difficult to complete tasks, such as homework or chores, or to enjoy life. In addition to feeling frustrated or guilty for not being able to control their own thoughts or actions, kids with OCD also may suffer from low self-esteem or from shame or embarrassment about what they're thinking or feeling (since they often realize that their fears are unrealistic, or that their rituals are not realistically going to prevent their feared events). They also may feel pressured because they don't have enough time to do everything. A child might become irritable because he or she feels compelled to stay awake late into the night or miss an activity or outing to complete the compulsive rituals. Kids might have difficulties with attention or concentration because of the intrusive thoughts. Among kids and teens with OCD, the most common obsessions include: fear of dirt or germs fear of contamination a need for symmetry, order, and precision preoccupation with body wastes lucky and unlucky numbers sexual or aggressive thoughts fear of illness or harm coming to oneself or relatives preoccupation with household items intrusive sounds or words These compulsions are the most common among kids and teens: grooming rituals, including hand washing, showering, and teeth brushing repeating rituals, including going in and out of doorways, needing to move through spaces in a special way, or rereading, erasing, and rewriting checking rituals to make sure that an appliance is off or a door is locked, and repeatedly checking homework rituals to undo contact with a "contaminated" person or object rituals to prevent harming self or others ordering or arranging objects hoarding and collecting things of no apparent value cleaning rituals related to the house or other items Recognizing OCD is often difficult because kids can become adept at hiding the behaviors. It's not uncommon for a child to engage in ritualistic behavior for months, or even years, before parents know about it. Also, a child may not engage in the ritual at school, so parents might think it's just a phase. When a child with OCD tries to contain these thoughts or behaviors, this creates anxiety. Kids who feel embarrassed or as if they're "going crazy" may try to blend the OCD into the normal daily routine until they can't control it anymore. It's common for kids to ask a parent to join in the ritualistic behavior: First the child has to do something and then the parent has to do something else. If a child says, "I didn't touch something with germs, did I?" the parent might have to respond, "No, you're OK," and the ritual will begin again for a certain number of times. Initially, the parent might not notice what is happening. Tantrums, overt signs of worry, and difficult behaviors are common when parents fail to participate in their child's rituals. It is often this behavior, as much as the OCD itself, which brings families into treatment. Parents can look for the following possible signs of OCD: raw, chapped hands from constant washing unusually high rate of soap or paper towel usage high, unexplained utility bills a sudden drop in test grades unproductive hours spent doing homework holes erased through test papers and homework requests for family members to repeat strange phrases or keep answering the same question a persistent fear of illness a dramatic increase in laundry an exceptionally long amount of time spent getting ready for bed a continual fear that something terrible will happen to someone constant checks of the health of family members reluctance to leave the house at the same time as other family members OCD is more common than many other childhood disorders or illnesses, but it often remains undiagnosed. Kids might keep the symptoms hidden from their families, friends, and teachers because they're embarrassed. Even when symptoms are present, a parent or health care provider might not recognize that they are part of a mental health disorder and may attribute them to a child's quirkiness or even bad behavior. Doctors consider OCD to be a pattern of obsessive thinking and rituals that does one or more of the following: takes up more than an hour each day interferes with daily activities OCD in kids is usually diagnosed between the ages of 7 and 12. Since these are the years when kids naturally feel concerned about fitting in with their friends, the discomfort and stress brought on by OCD can make them feel scared, out of control, and alone. If your child shows signs of OCD, talk to your doctor. In screening for OCD, the doctor or a mental health professional will ask your child about obsessions and compulsions in language that kids will understand, such as: Do you have worries, thoughts, images, feelings, or ideas that bother you? Do you have to check things over and over again? Do you have to wash your hands a lot, more than most kids? Do you count to a certain number or do things a certain number of times? Do you collect things that others might throw away (like hair or fingernail clippings)? Do things have to be "just so"? Are there things you have to do before you go to bed? Because it might be normal for a child who doesn't have OCD to answer yes to any of these questions, the doctor also will ask about how often and how severe the behaviors are, about your family's history of OCD, Tourette syndrome and other motor or vocal tic disorders, or other problems that sometimes occur with OCD. OCD is common in people with Tourette syndrome. Other disorders that often occur with OCD include other anxiety disorders, depression, disruptive behavior disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disorders, and trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling). PANS, a rare condition that stands for Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, also has been associated with having OCD. The most successful treatments for kids with OCD are behavioral therapy and medication. Behavioral therapy, also known as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT), helps kids learn to change thoughts and feelings by first changing behavior. Behavioral therapy involves gradually exposing kids to their fears, with the agreement that they will not perform rituals, to help them recognize that their anxiety will eventually decrease and that no disastrous outcome will occur. For example, kids who are afraid of dirt might be exposed to something dirty, starting with something mildly bothersome and ending with something that might be really dirty. For exposure to be successful, it must be combined with response prevention, in which the child's rituals or avoidance behaviors are blocked. For example, a child who fears dirt must not only stay in contact with the dirty object, but also must not be allowed to wash repeatedly. Some treatment plans involve having the child "bossing back" the OCD, giving it a nasty nickname, and visualizing it as something he or she can control. Over time, the anxiety provoked by dirt and the urge to perform washing rituals gradually disappear. The child also gains confidence that he or she can "fight" OCD. OCD can sometimes worsen if it's not treated in a consistent, logical, and supportive manner. So it's important to find a therapist who has training and experience in treating OCD. Just talking about the rituals and fears have not been shown to help OCD, and may actually make it worse by reinforcing the fears and prompting extra rituals. Family support and cooperation also go a long way toward helping a child cope with OCD. Many kids can do well with behavioral therapy alone while others will need a combination of behavioral therapy and medication. Therapy can help your child and family learn strategies to manage the ebb and flow of OCD symptoms, while medication, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), often can reduce the impulse to perform rituals. Helping Kids With OCD It's important to understand that OCD is never a child's fault. Once a child is in treatment, it's important for parents to participate, to learn more about OCD, and to modify expectations and be supportive. Kids with OCD get better at different rates, so try to avoid any day-to-day comparisons and recognize and praise any small improvements. Keep in mind that it's the OCD that is causing the problem, not the child. The more that personal criticism can be avoided, the better. It can be helpful to keep family routines as normal as possible, and for all family members to learn strategies to help the child with OCD. It's also important to not let OCD be the "boss" of the house and regular family activities. Giving in to OCD worries does not make them go away.
What Other Kids Are Reading You're sitting in class and your stomach is starting to rumble. Finally, the bell rings and it's time for lunch — woo-hoo! After all that time in class, you deserve a chance to head to the cafeteria and sit down, relax, and enjoy the company of your friends over a lunchtime meal. But wait a minute — what exactly are you eating? More than at other meals, kids have a lot of control over what they eat for lunch at school. A kid can choose to eat the green beans or throw them out. A kid also can choose to eat an apple instead of an ice cream sandwich. When choosing what to eat for lunch, making a healthy choice is really important. Here's why: Eating a variety of healthy foods gives you energy to do stuff, helps you grow the way you should, and can even keep you from getting sick. Think of your school lunch as the fuel you put in your tank. If you choose the wrong kind of fuel, you might run out of energy before the day is over. So what is the right kind of fuel? What does a healthy lunch look like? Unlike that killer question on your math test, there are many right answers to these questions. To Buy or Not to Buy Most kids have the choice of packing lunch or buying one at school. The good news is that a kid can get a healthy lunch by doing either one. But it's not a slam-dunk. Chances are, some meals and foods served in the school cafeteria are healthier than others. That doesn't mean you shouldn't buy your lunch, it just means you might want to give the cafeteria menu a closer look. Read the cafeteria menu the night before. Knowing what's for lunch beforehand will let you know if you want to eat it! Bring home a copy of the menu or figure out how to find it on the school website. A packed lunch isn't automatically healthier than one you buy at school. If you pack chocolate cake and potato chips, that's not a nutritious meal! But a packed lunch, if you do it right, does have a clear advantage. When you pack your lunch, you can be sure it includes your favorite healthy foods — stuff you know you like. It's not a one-size-fits-all lunch. It's a lunch just for you. If your favorite sandwich is peanut butter and banana, just make it and pack it — then you can eat it for lunch. Or maybe you love olives. Go ahead and pack them! If you want to pack your lunch, you'll need some help from your parents. Talk to them about what you like to eat in your lunch so they can stock up on those foods. Parents might offer to pack your lunch for you. This is nice of them, but you may want to watch how they do it and ask if you can start making your lunches yourself. It's a way to show that you're growing up. 10 Steps to a Great Lunch Whether you pack or buy your lunch, follow these guidelines: - Choose fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are like hitting the jackpot when it comes to nutrition. They make your plate more colorful and they're packed with vitamins and fiber. It's a good idea to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, so try to fit in one or two at lunch. A serving isn't a lot. A serving of carrots is ½ cup or about 6 baby carrots. A fruit serving could be one medium orange. - Know the facts about fat. Kids need some fat in their diets to stay healthy — it also helps keep you feeling full — but you don't want to eat too much of it. Fat is found in butter, oils, cheese, nuts, and meats. Some higher-fat lunch foods include french fries, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, and chicken nuggets. Don't worry if you like these foods! No food is bad, but you may want to eat them less often and in smaller portions. Foods that are lower in fat are usually baked or grilled. Some of the best low-fat foods are fruits, vegetables, and skim and low-fat milk. - Let whole grains reign. "Grains" include breads, cereals, rice, and pasta. But as we learn more about good nutrition, it's clear that whole grains are better than refined grains. What's the difference? Brown rice is a whole grain, but white rice is not. Likewise, whole-wheat bread contains whole grains, whereas regular white bread does not. - Slurp sensibly. It's not just about what you eat — drinks count, too! Milk has been a favorite lunchtime drink for a long time. If you don't like milk, choose water. Avoid juice drinks and sodas. - Balance your lunch. When people talk about balanced meals, they mean meals that include a mix of food groups: some grains, some fruits, some vegetables, some meat or protein foods, and some dairy foods such as milk and cheese. Try to do this with your lunch. If you don't have a variety of foods on your plate, it's probably not balanced. A double order of french fries, for example, would not make for a balanced lunch. - Steer clear of packaged snacks. Many schools make salty snacks, candy, and soda available in the cafeteria or in vending machines. It's OK to have these foods once in a while, but they shouldn't be on your lunch menu. - Mix it up. Do you eat the same lunch every day? If that lunch is a hot dog, it's time to change your routine. Keep your taste buds from getting bored and try something new. Eating lots of different kinds of food gives your body a variety of nutrients. - Quit the clean plate club. Because lunch can be a busy time, you might not stop to think whether you're getting full. Try to listen to what your body is telling you. If you feel full, it's OK to stop eating. - Use your manners. Cafeterias sometimes look like feeding time at the zoo. Don't be an animal! Follow those simple rules your parents are always reminding you about: Chew with your mouth closed. Don't talk and eat at the same time. Use your utensils. Put your napkin on your lap. Be polite. And don't make fun of what someone else is eating. - Don't drink milk and laugh at the same time! Whatever you do at lunch, don't tell your friends a funny joke when they're drinking milk. Before you know it, they'll be laughing and that milk will be coming out their noses! Gross! Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD Date reviewed: February 2012 Note: All information on KidsHealth® is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor. © 1995- The Nemours Foundation. All rights reserved.
Sour cherries (Prunus cerasus), is a species of Prunus in the subgenus Cerasus (cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia. It is closely related to the wild cherry (P. avium), but has a fruit that is more acidic and so is useful primarily for cooking. Wild cherries have been documented by the Greeks as early as 300 BC. There are two varieties of the sour cherry: the dark-red morello cherry and the lighter-red amarelle cherry. In Greece we make jam, glyko tou koutaliou, which is a fruit preserve also called spoon sweet, as well as a drink called vyssinada and vyssino liqueur. To make vyssinada, wash and remove the stems and pits of the fruit and boil it with a small amount of water until soft. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When they can be handled, put them in a strainer and squeeze to extract their juice. For every cup of juice you will add 1 cup of sugar and let them rest for 2 hours removing any froth that may form on top. Then bring to a boil again removing the froth. Lower heat and simmer until the syrup is ready. Before the end add 1 tsp lemon juice for every cup of juice you have added and mix. Store in sterilized bottles. To serve, add about 2 cm vyssinada (depending on how sweet you want it add less or more) in a glass and fill with iced water. The spoon sweet is made almost the same way as making Cherry spoon sweet. Glyko Vyssino (Sour Cherries) Preparation time: 1 hour Cooking time: about 45 minutes - 1 kilo fresh sour cherries - 1 kilo granulated sugar - 2 tablespoons lemon juice - 1/2 cup water - 3 – 4 fragrant geranium leaves or 1/2 tsp vanilla essence - 1 tablepoon lemon juice - Wash the cherries well. Remove stems and pits (use pit remover, my mother used to do it with the back of a hair pin) carefully, keeping cherries intact. Be careful when removing because they stain the clothes and do not clean easily. Remove pit in a bowl with the half cup of water and collect juices which may drop. - Place sour cherries in a sauce pan, covering each layer with sugar. - Drain the pits with any juices collected in the saucepan. - Leave them in the saucepan until the following day. - Bring the cherries and sugar to a boil over high heat. Lower heat and skim off foam as it rises to the top with a slotted ladle. When it cleans from the froth add the fragrant geranium leaves and simmer until the syrup thickens. - After half an hour, test to see if the syrup is ready. (See link below) - Finally, add the lemon juice and allow to boil for another few seconds. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down. - When thoroughly cooled, place in airtight sterilized glass jars to store. To serve, place 2-3 teaspoonfuls of the cherries and syrup on a small plate. Sour Cherry Spoon Sweet is always served with a glass of cold water. Serve alone, with Greek coffee, or as a topping on yogurt, vanilla ice cream, on pana cotta, mahalebi, cheesecake, tarts, crepes, or use them to make icecreams or other desserts. If you liked this see other relevant posts: Glyko Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Karydaki (green immature walnuts) Glyko Kydoni me amygdala (Quince with almonds) Glyko Kydoni me kastana (Quince with chestnuts) Glyko Milo (Apples) Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.