Alcohol can cause problems with the way the fetus develops at any time during a pregnancy. This includes the earliest part of pregnancy, when the mother might not even know she is pregnant.
A fetus is most likely to develop fetal alcohol syndrome if its mother:
It does not matter whether the mother drinks beer, wine, hard liquor, or any other kind of alcohol. One kind is not safer than any other. They are all equally likely to cause FAS.
To be diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, a child must have problems in three different areas.
Having "abnormal facial features" means that parts of the child's face look different than a child without FAS. To be diagnosed with FAS, a child must have:
Children with FAS do not grow as well as children without FAS. These growth problems can start even before birth, so many babies with FAS are born weighing less than other babies.
To be diagnosed with FAS, a child must have a height, weight, or both that are lower than normal. Their height or weight must be in the 10th percentile or lower, meaning 90% of all other children are taller or heavier.
The central nervous system controls everything in the body. When it is damaged by alcohol during pregnancy, the damage can cause many different problems. To be diagnosed with FAS, a child must have three different kinds of central nervous system problems:
"Structural" problems are problems with the shape of the head or the brain. For example:
Neurological problems are problems with the way the brain and nerves control the body. For example:
"Functional" problems are problems doing everyday tasks. To be diagnosed with FAS, a child has to have a lot more trouble doing everyday things than other children his age. The child has to have a low IQ or developmental delay, or problems in three of these areas:
In the United States, alcohol is the most common cause of birth defects that can be prevented. Fetal alcohol syndrome can be prevented in every pregnancy if the mother drinks no alcohol while she is pregnant.
Doctors suggest that women who are trying to get pregnant should also drink no alcohol. This is because a woman may not know she is pregnant for the first 4–6 weeks of her pregnancy. Some women drink alcohol during this time, since they do not realize they are pregnant. But drinking during the earliest part of a pregnancy can cause severe FAS because the earliest part of the pregnancy is when the fetus's brain starts developing. This is why it is safest not to drink any alcohol if a woman thinks she might get pregnant.
Stein Eriksen
Stein Eriksen (11 December 1927 – 27 December 2015) is a Norwegian-American alpine skier. He won gold and two silvers at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. He retired in 1954.
Eriksen was born in Oslo. His parents were Marius Eriksen (1886–1950) and Birgit Heien (1900–1996). He lived in the United States for six decades.
Eriksen died on 27 December 2015 in Park City, Utah. He was 88.
Meridian arc
In geodesy, a meridian arc is the distance between two points with the same longitude. In geometry it is an arc: a segment of a curve. The length of an imaginary rope laid over the globe would be that distance.
Two or more such measurements at different places get the shape of the reference ellipsoid which is most like the shape of the geoid. This process is called "the determination of the figure of the Earth". The earliest determinations of the size of a spherical Earth used a single arc. The latest determinations use astro-geodetic measurements and the methods of satellite geodesy to get the reference ellipsoids.
The Alexandrian scientist Eratosthenes about 240 BC, first calculated a good value for circumference of the Earth. He knew that on the summer solstice at local noon the sun goes through the zenith in the ancient Egyptian city of Syene (Assuan). He also knew from his own measurements that, at the same moment in his hometown of Alexandria, the zenith distance was 1/50 of a full circle (7.2°). Assuming that Alexandria was due north of Syene, Eratosthenes concluded that the distance between Alexandria and Syene must be 1/50 of Earth's circumference.
In 1687 Newton published in the "Principia" a proof that the Earth was an oblate spheroid of flattening equal to 1/230.
Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt
Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt (July 20, 1671 in Darmstadt – August 11, 1736 in Vienna) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, Imperial Field Marshal and Governor of Mantua.
Philip was a younger son of Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1630–1678) and his second wife Elisabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg (1640–1709), daughter of Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha.
Philip fought for the Habsburgs in the Spanish War of Succession. In 1708 he became Field Marshal and Supreme Commander of the Imperial troops in newly conquered Naples. After the war in 1714, under influence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, he became governor of the former Duchy of Mantua until his death.
Philip was a great lover of music. When he was with his soldiers in Naples, he was patron of Nicola Porpora. When he was governor of Mantua, he made Antonio Vivaldi "Maestro di Cappella" of his court. Vivaldi wrote the opera Tito Manlio to celebrate Philip's wedding to Princess Eleanora of Guastalla, however the wedding never took place.
On March 24, 1693, Philip married Marie Therese of Croÿ (1673–1714), daughter of Ferdinand François Joseph, Duke of Croy-Havré. He had to beome a Catholic for the wedding, which made his mother very upset.
Philip and Marie had five children :
Sean Hayes (actor)
Sean Patrick Hayes (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is best known for his role as Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace". During the series he won an Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, and one American Comedy Award, and earned six Golden Globe nominations. After "Will & Grace" he guest starred in programs such as "30 Rock", "Portlandia" and "Parks and Recreation".
Robert Spitzer (psychiatrist)
Robert Leopold Spitzer (May 22, 1932 – December 25, 2015) was an American psychiatrist. He was a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. He was a major figure in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). He helped remove homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Spitzer was born in White Plains, New York. He studied at Cornell University and at New York University School of Medicine. He worked at Columbia University until his retirement in 2010. Spitzer died of heart disease at his home in Seattle, Washington at the age of 83.
Mujaddid
Mujaddid () in Islam is a reformer who is given the task of removing errors that have occurred among Muslims. Their job is to show people the great religious truths which the Muslim community will be asked to face. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revive Islam, cleansing it of extraneous elements and restoring it to its pristine purity. In contemporary times, a mujaddid is looked upon as the greatest Muslim of a century.
Ikhtilaf (disagreements) exist among vatious hadith specialists. Scholars and historians like Al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani have interpreted that the term mujaddid can also be understood as plural, thus referring to a group of people.
The Arabic word mujaddid means "reformer", "renovator", "reviver", "renewer" or "regenerator". It is someone who revives and renovates the religion. The concept of tajdid (renewal or revival) and the term mujaddid come rather from a hadith, a statement of the Prophet Muhammad. This hadith was written down by Abu Dawood in his Sunan, one of the six authoritative Sunni collections of the Prophet's statements. In this hadith, the Prophet says: