of sacrifices and offerings. they are nauseous to yahweh unless accompanied by adoration in spirit and in truth. with what greater indignation and disgust will he not turn away from the cruel and unclean practice of human sacrifice and the prostitution of sacred things so common among the neighbouring nations. on being asked with what one should approach and kneel before the most high god, he replies by the mouth of micheas : " i will show thee, o man, what is good, and what the lord requireth of thee ; verily to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy god " ( vi, 8 ). so religion joins morality, and formulates and imposes its dictates. yahweh will call the nations to account for violating the natural law, and israel, in addition, for not observing the mosaic legislation ( cf. amos 1 - 2, etc. ). and he will do this, so as to conciliate in a divine manner the rights of justice with the realization of the promises made to israel and mankind. ( b ) prophetic predictions. the day of yahweh ; the saved ; messianism ; eschatology the constant subjects of the great prophetic predictions of israel, the punishment of the guilty nations, and the realization for all of the ancient promises. directly or indirectly all the prophecies are concerned with the obstacles to be removed before the coming of the new kingdom or with the preparation of the new and final covenant. from the days of amos, and clearly it was not even then a new expectation, israel was awaiting a great day of yahweh, a day, which it deemed one of extraordinary triumph for it and its god. the prophets do not deny, but rather declare with absolute certainty that the day must come. they dispel the illusions concerning its nature. for israel, faithless and burdened with crimes, the day of yahweh will be " darkness and not light " ( amos 5 : 18 sqq. ). the time is approaching when the house of jacob will be sifted among the nations as wheat is shaken in the sieve and not a good seed drops to the ground ( ix, 9 ) / alas! the good seed is rare here. the bulk will perish. a remnant alone will be saved, a holy germ from which the messianic kingdom will arise. the pagan nations will serve as sievers for israel


) / alas! the good seed is rare here. the bulk will perish. a remnant alone will be saved, a holy germ from which the messianic kingdom will arise. the pagan nations will serve as sievers for israel. but as they have wandered still further from the right path, the day of yahweh will come for them in turn ; finally the remnant of israel and the converts of the nations will unite to form a single people under the great king, the son of david. the remnant of ephraem or of juda remaining in palestine at the time of the exile, the remnant returning from the captivity to form the post - exilic community, the messianic kingdom in its militant state and its final consummation — all these stages of the history of salvation are mingled here and there in one prophetic view. the future life looms up but little, the oracles being addressed principally to the body of the nation, for which there is no future life. however, ezechiel ( xxxvii ) alludes to the resurrection of the dead ; the apocalypse of isaias ( 26 : 19 sqq. ) mentions it explicitly ; daniel speaks of a resurrection unto life everlasting and a resurrection unto eternal reproach ( 12 : 2 sqq. ). the broad daylight of the christian revelation is coming. when this dawn is about to break, prophecy then long silent finds voices anew to tell the good tidings. zachary and elizabeth, mary the virgin - mother, the old man simeon and anna the prophetess are enlightened by the holy ghost and unfold the future. soon the precursor appears, filled with the spirit and power of elias. he finds anew the accents of olden prophecy to preach penance and announce the coming of the kingdom. then it is the messias in person who, long foretold and awaited as a prophet ( deuteronomy 18 : 15, 18 ; isaiah 49 ; etc. ), does not disdain to accept this title and to fulfil its signification. his preaching and his predictions are much closer to the prophetic models than are the teachings of the rabbis. his great predecessors are as far below him as the servants are below the only son. unlike them he does not receive from without the truth which he preaches. its source is within him. he promulgates it with an authority thereunto unknown. his revelation is the definite message of the father. to understand


only son. unlike them he does not receive from without the truth which he preaches. its source is within him. he promulgates it with an authority thereunto unknown. his revelation is the definite message of the father. to understand its meaning more and more clearly the church which he is about to establish will have throughout all ages the infallible assistance of the holy ghost. however, during the apostolic times, god continues to select certain instruments like unto the prophets of the old law to make known his will in an extraordinary manner and to foretell coming events : such, for instance, are the prophets of antioch ( acts 13 : 1, 8 ), agabus, the daughters of the evangelist philip, etc. and among the charismata ( cf. prat, ' la theologie de saint paul ", 1 pt., note h, p. 180 - 4 ) conferred so abundantly to hasten and fortify the incipient progress of the faith, one of the principal, next after the apostolic, is the gift of prophecy. it is granted " unto edification, and exhortation, and comfort " ( 1 corinthians 14 : 3 ). the writer of the " didache " informs us that in his day it was fairly frequent and widespread, and he indicates the signs by which it may be recognized ( xi, 7 - 12 ). finally the canon of the scriptures closes with a prophetic book, the apocalypse of st. john, which describes the struggles and the victories of the new kingdom while awaiting the return of its chief at the consummation of all things. cornely, historica et crit. introd. in n. t. libros sacros, ii, 2 ( paris, 1897 ), diss. iii, i, 267 - 305 ; gigot, special introd. to the study of the old testament, ii ( new york, 1906 ) 189 - 202. apa citation. ( 1911 ). prophecy, prophet, and prophetess. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york : robert appleton company. http : / / www. newadvent. org / cathen / 12477a. htm mla citation. " prophecy, prophet, and prophetess. " the catholic encyclopedia. vol. 12. new york : robert appleton company, 1911. < http : / / www. newadvent. org / cathen / 12477a. htm >. transcription. this article was transcribed for


television coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in japan last week, pales in significance, after seeing photos of the destruction. a television wide shot can give an idea of the damage, but it really hits home, when seeing a photo like the one above. it is difficult for americans to actually comprehend what has happened in japan. the country of japan has been hit by an earthquake, a tsunami and the eruption of a volcano since the earthquake hit last friday. to make things worse, the adverse conditions have caused six nuclear reactors to experience serious problems, that could result in radioactivity being released into the atmosphere. so not only are the japanese people dealing with the aftermath of a horrific earthquake and tsunami, they now are having to worry about being exposed to radioactivity. in addition, many people are missing and either are dead, or have no way of contacting their families to tell them they are safe. the day before the 9. 0 earthquake ( recently upgraded from 8. 9 ), there were only five earthquakes 5. 0 or higher reported in the east coast in the honshu, japan vicinity. however, two days before the 9. 0 earthquake, 17 earthquakes over 5. 0 magnitude, were recorded. one of those earthquakes was recorded at 7. 2 magnitude. going two days back to march 7 and march there was no seismic activity recorded in japan on those days. the 8. 9 earthquake last friday was the first seismic activity recorded last friday. 13 aftershocks were felt in the first two hours following the earthquake with one registering a magnitude of 7. 1. nine aftershocks were recorded the next hour. yesterday the honshu, japan area experienced the only 5. 0 earthquakes in the world. there have been 22 earthquakes recorded so far today in japan. the complete list of earthquakes in the world measuring 5. 0 or higher in magnitude starting on march 7 through today :


ad ’ ihani pentathlon ( sometimes quadrathlon ) is a multi - discipline winter sport developed in ad ’ ihan that is widely practised in both ad ’ ihan and liventia. the sport was first created in ad ’ ihan in 2129 and quickly became popular in present - day liventia, which sees more winter weather and had more winter sports facilities than its then - island territory. it is sometimes referred to as a " winter pentathlon ", although there are different variations on the disciplines which make up a winter pentathlon. ad ’ ihani pentathlon consists of five disciplines, two of which are combined into a single discipline thus leading to the sport also being called a quadrathlon. the five disciplines are alpine skiing, ski jumping ( for men ) / skeleton ( for women ), speed skating, cross - country skiing and shooting, with the latter two being component disciplines of biathlon. the alpine skiing discipline has always been run as a downhill event and ski jumping has traditionally taken place on the normal hill. the distance of the speed skating race is always 1000 metres, regardless of gender, while the biathlon race is always held at sprint distance, meaning 7. 5 km for women and 10 km for men. records are not kept in the sport as the layouts of alpine skiing, skeleton and biathlon courses change from location to location, although the ad ’ ihani pentathlon sport union ( apsu ) recognises location records. where there is no biathlon shooting range available, the apsu allows for that discipline to be contested in its component parts as a 10 km ( for men ) or 7. 5 km ( for women ) cross - country skiing race with a separate shooting event held at an indoor range, with time penalties added to the cross - country timing for missed shots. the quadrathlon / pentathlon operates a points system as in heptathlon or decathlon, rather than a combined time system as in triathlon or a points system equalised prior to the final event as in modern pentathlon. similar to heptathlon or decathlon, the points system follows the formula pts = a × ( b - t ) c, where t is the timed performance in seconds ( for downhill, biathlon, speed skating and skeleton ) and pts = a × ( s − b ) c where s is the score the athlete has received for his ski jump. where an athlete fails to start, fails to finish or


in seconds ( for downhill, biathlon, speed skating and skeleton ) and pts = a × ( s − b ) c where s is the score the athlete has received for his ski jump. where an athlete fails to start, fails to finish or is disqualified from an event, he or she receives no points for it. however, for the inaugural ad ’ ihani pentathlon world series, the apsu trialled a new scoring system awarding points equal to exactly half ( rounded down to the nearest full point ) of the last finisher for any contestant failing to finish or disqualified from an event. | men ' s alpine skiing downhill | | 0. 144 | | 270 | | 1. 81 | | men ' s biathlon sprint | | 0. 007631 | | 3350 | | 1. 583 | | men ' s ski jumping normal hill | | 71. 85 | | 40 | | 0. 6 | | men ' s speed skating 1000 metres | | 0. 22 | | 180 | | 1. 827 | | women ' s alpine skiing downhill | | 0. 144 | | 260 | | 1. 81 | | women ' s biathlon sprint | | 0. 00812 | | 2900 | | 1. 595 | | women ' s skeleton single run | | 0. 493 | | 126 | | 1. 79 | | women ' s speed skating 1000 metres | | 0. 19 | | 200 | | 1. 82 | for comparison, the bronze medal - winning and last - placed performances at the component events in the fifth winter olympics would have earned : | event | | fifth winter olympics performance | | bronze medal | | last finisher | | difference | | men ' s alpine skiing downhill | | 1413 pts | | 1235 pts | | 12. 6 % | | men ' s biathlon sprint | | 1027 pts | | 700 pts | | 31. 8 % | | men ' s ski jumping normal hill | | 1055 pts | | 681 pts | | 35. 5 % | | men ' s speed skating 1000 metres | | 1199 pts | | 1134 pts | | 5. 4 % | | men ' s total | | 4694 pts | | 3750 pts | | 20. 1 % | | women ' s alpine skiing downhill | | 1151 pts | | 982 pts | | 14. 7 % | | women ' s biathlon sprint | | 984 pts | | 437 pts


##0 pts | | 20. 1 % | | women ' s alpine skiing downhill | | 1151 pts | | 982 pts | | 14. 7 % | | women ' s biathlon sprint | | 984 pts | | 437 pts | | 55. 6 % | | women ' s skeleton | | 895 pts | | 827 pts | | 7. 6 % | | women ' s speed skating 1000 metres | | 1223 pts | | 1131 pts | | 7. 5 % | | women ' s total | | 4253 pts | | 3377 pts | | 20. 6 % | competition in ad ’ ihan and liventia due to uncommon winter weather in ad ’ ihan, a national championship is only organised locally if a prolonged period of snow is expected. the ad ’ ihani national championship is usually run in conjunction with the liventian national championship in liventia, with entrants from both countries in the same event being eligible for their respective national titles. there are two major ad ’ ihani pentathlon competitions each year held in liventia ( where it was for a time known as " outer islands quadrathlon " during increased ad ’ ihani – liventian inflammatory rhetoric ) : the national championship every january and the apsu world open every november. a short professional season is also held from november through january, opened by the apsu world open and concluding with the two national championships. the comite national olympique pour les iles ad ’ ihanaises proposed that ad ’ ihani pentathlon be a demonstration sport at the sixth winter olympics in ashton, krytenia, with the backing of the liventia olympic association and five other olympic committees including the host committee. the sport was approved as a demonstration event as winter pentathlon, with events held for both men and women. kitomi hamazuki, a japanese liventian who also competes on the domestic liventian and ad ’ ihani circuit, won the women ' s event by a margin of 41 points with 4105 points. sorthern northland ' s arnaldur þorbjarnarson won the men ' s event by a far smaller margin of just five points, totalling 4082 points.


a new era of space travel is about to begin. spacex ’ s dragon capsule is set to make a historic flight just before dawn on may 19. dragon is expected to launch from cape canaveral, florida, to rendezvous and possibly dock with the international space station. the brain - child of paypal founder elon musk, spacex has mounted several successful space flights into low earth orbit with its falcon 9 rocket, including the maiden voyage of the dragon capsule in 2010. spacex seeks to eventually provide manned access to space as well. the launch was set for may 7th but it was pushed back so the engineers could reassess the flight software. that places the launch of a soyuz with the second half of expedition 31 in line for the next launch to the international space station ( iss ) from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan on may 15. this will once again bring the crew compliment of the iss up to its standard six. the iss has been continuously occupied since november 2001 and has provided an on - site orbiting laboratory for zero - g experiments and studies into the effects of long term space flight on human physiology. if all goes well, the launch of the falcon 9 should be a dramatic pre - dawn spectacle visible for hundreds of miles up the u. s. eastern seaboard. the chase will then be on as the dragon capsule is set to rendezvous with the iss on may 21, and approach and dock with the station on may 22 delivering 520 kilograms of food, fuel and cargo. as of this writing, may 22 is set as the backup launch date. the good news is that you can spot the iss and approaching dragon capsule, using nothing more sophisticated than your eyes. about the size of a football field, the iss can be as bright as venus as it drifts overhead in the dawn or dusk skies. with an orbital inclination of 51. 6 degrees, anyone from between latitude on 55 degrees north to 55 degrees south can see the iss. in fact, high latitudes around 50 degrees from the equator may see several illuminated passes in one night! this flight is vital to demonstrate that commercial space can “ bring home the goods ” and be a viable alternative for space access. several startup companies exist ready to jump into the business, at a time when the space shuttle has been decommissioned and the nasa budget is at low ebb for the foreseeable future. the failure of an unmanned progress vehicle in 2011 demonstrates the current tenuous link that nations have to the orbiting outpost, and suspension of soyuz flights would mean the abandonment


dairy farmers in the north country power up equipment every day to finish chores, but they rely on the brainpower of researchers to tell them the latest strategies for making their operations profitable. thats why about a dozen farmers took time tuesday at the ramada inn, 21000 route 3, to listen to researchers from cornell university, ithaca, report findings from multiyear research projects funded by the northern new york agricultural development program. highlighted were studies on how predatory worms called nematodes are being used to combat the invasion of the alfalfa snout beetle, the latest strategies for planting winter cover crops and a free online tool that helps farmers cut spring fertilizer costs. many farmers are applying the microscopic roundworms called nematodes to their alfalfa crops to battle the alfalfa snout beetle, said cornell entomology professor elson j. shields, who has conducted research on the beetle since the late 1980s. results have been especially promising in an ongoing study since 2007 on the effectiveness of the method. research has been conducted in 161 fields on 51 farms in six counties, mainly jefferson, lewis and st. lawrence. equipment for treating fields with nematodes is simple and inexpensive. once the nematodes are mixed with water in a large bucket or garbage can, they are applied to fields in rows with a golf cart or atv equipped with a spray rig, such as a pvc pipe with holes, that allows gravity to distribute the water. farmers can breed their own nematodes by purchasing cups of wax worms to inoculate. a $ 150 purchase of wax worms to breed nematodes will allow treatment of an estimated 5 acres. mr. shields said nematodes usually need to be applied only once. once the microorganisms are in the soil, they may be spread farther throughout fields by plows and harvesting equipment. the study suggested that if the presence of the snout beetle is left untreated, alfalfa losses can climb up to $ 381 per acre after four years. in contrast, the cost to apply nematodes is roughly $ 30 an acre. once you treat an infected area, you can restore the alfalfa when the beetles die out, mr. shields said. and two years worth of plowing can spread ( nematodes ) to an entire field. farmers have a good reason to be internet - savvy an online tool that helps them save money on nitrogen fertilizer was highlighted by cornell researcher bianca moebius - clune, who has worked on the project for the past


an entire field. farmers have a good reason to be internet - savvy an online tool that helps them save money on nitrogen fertilizer was highlighted by cornell researcher bianca moebius - clune, who has worked on the project for the past decade. the free service, adapt - n, helps farmers accurately predict how much fertilizer they need by using a computer model that factors in current farm and weather patterns. the tool is available at http : / / adapt - n. cals. cornell. edu. farmers normally use the same amount of nitrogen fertilizer every year. doing so is problematic, however, because rainy weather during the spring calls for more fertilizer than usual, while dry conditions call for less. thats where the online tool becomes useful : based on 60 trials on farms in iowa and new york since 2011, farmers saved anywhere from 25 to 60 pounds of fertilizer by using the tool, ms. moebius - clune said. eighty percent of farmers who participated in the study saved on fertilizer costs an average of $ 24 an acre. for example, dairy farmer robert donald of moravia in cayuga county saved about $ 70, 000 in fertilizer costs by using the online tool. he used 210 pounds of fertilizer to treat 1, 000 acres of corn in 2010, which he dropped to 80 pounds in 2011 based on calculations from the program. this is a very precise tool that farmers have never had before, ms. moebius - clune said.


these days, the use of database stored procedures is regarded by many as a bad practice. those that dislike stored procedures tend to regard them as incompatible with the three - tier architecture : by breaking up an application into tiers, developers only have to modify or add a specific layer, rather than have to rewrite the entire application over. there should be a presentation tier, a business or data access tier, and a data tier. this is illustrated as follows : note that the " tiers " in the figure should actually be labelled " layers ", for as the accompanying wikipedia article says : the concepts of layer and tier are often used interchangeably. however, one fairly common point of view is that there is indeed a difference, and that a layer is a logical structuring mechanism for the elements that make up the software solution, while a tier is a physical structuring mechanism for the system infrastructure. in fact, those that argue that stored procedures are bad tend to equate the three logical layers with three physical tiers : - data layer = data tier ( database ) - logic layer = middle tier ( application server ) - presentation layer = presentation tier but if we accept the above definition of " layers " and " tiers ", it is obvious that the following is a valid mapping as well : - data layer = data tier ( database ) - logic layer = data tier ( database ) - presentation layer = presentation tier in other words, the database becomes our " logic layer " through the use of database stored procedures, which, as the name implies, are physically stored ( and executed ) in the database. ( and although i use the term " stored procedure ", i ' m primarily talking about oracle and pl / sql, where the pl / sql code should be put in packages rather than stand - alone procedures. ) but why is this a bad idea? in fact, as it turns out, it might not be a bad idea at all. the usual reasons given against the use of stored procedures for " business logic " ( or for anything at all, really ) tend to be myths ( or outright lies ), repeated so many times that they are taken as the truth. so let ' s bust these myths, once and for all. and whenever someone argues against stored procedures using one of these myths, just give them a link to this blog post. ( and leave comments to prove me wrong, if you will. ) myth # 1 : stored procedures can ' t be version controlled stored procedure code lives in text files, which can


of these myths, just give them a link to this blog post. ( and leave comments to prove me wrong, if you will. ) myth # 1 : stored procedures can ' t be version controlled stored procedure code lives in text files, which can be version controlled like any other piece of code or document. storing / compiling the code in the database is just like ( re - ) deploying any other code. claiming that stored procedures cannot be version controlled ( because they are in the database ) is like saying your application source code ( java, c # or whatever ) cannot be version controlled because it is compiled and deployed to an application server. myth # 2 : managing the impact of changes in the database is hard databases such as oracle have built - in fine - grained dependency tracking. a wealth of information about your code is exposed via data dictionary views. myth # 3 : database tools lack modern ide features there are a number of free and commercial pl / sql code editors and ides, and all have various levels of syntax highlighting, code insight and refactoring support. myth # 4 : stored procedures always result in spaghetti code to this, i can only say that bad programmers can make pasta in any language ( the above is a visual representation of a java or. net enterprise framework " several dozen megabytes chock full of helper classes like ienterpriseauthenticationproviderfactorymanagementfactory " ). and a good programmer can create " beautiful " code in cobol, visual basic, php... and any stored procedure language, for that matter. myth # 5 : code in the database can ’ t be properly encapsulated and reused, you need an object - oriented language for that pl / sql packages, views, pipelined functions and ref cursors offer encapsulation and reuse. and pl / sql has object - oriented features, too. myth # 6 : stored procedure languages are primitive, they lack basic features such as exception handling and dynamic execution pl / sql has had proper exception handling from the start, over 20 years ago ( although exception handling was only introduced to sql server in 2005 ). dbms _ sql, execute immediate and " weak " ref cursors enable dynamic execution of code. parameter overloading and the anydata and anytype types allow for generic code to be written. myth # 7 : debugging stored procedures is hard / impossible both oracle and sql server have built - in debugging capabilities, exposed via graphical user interfaces


it is claimed that putting logic in the database " mixes concerns ", which must be a bad thing. the problem with " business logic " is that nobody has a clear definition of what it is ( but " you ' ll know it when you see it " ). for example, where do you draw the line between " data logic " and " business logic "? primary keys, foreign key constraints, unique key constraints, not null constraints, check constraints - - are these " data logic " or " business logic "? " discount must be between 0 % and 5 % ", is that a business rule or a data constraint, and / or is it a validation rule in the presentation layer? the fact is, if you move all your logic into stored procedures, you entirely avoid the " mixing of concerns " between the data tier and the logic tier. ( and if you think such an approach dooms your project to failure, consider the next myth, which features an example of a massive [ and wildly successful ] application written entirely in the database. ) oh, and by the way, if your business logic is somewhere else than in the database, you always run the risk of someone or something bypassing your middle tier ( for example by logging in with sql * plus ), directly updating the database and possibly corrupting the data. so let ' s turn this around and conclude instead that : " if your business logic is not in the database, it is only a recommendation. " myth # 11 : stored procedures can ' t scale a frequent argument against stored procedures is that by placing all the work in the database server, your solution won ' t be able to scale up, because you need " application servers " in the middle tier to do that. the scalability of the database is limited by the fact that you can only have a single database server ( or you need to rewrite your code to work with partitioned / sharded databases like facebook have done ). of course, a lot of the people who throw around this kind of argument have never worked on an application or website which needed to scale up to millions of users ( and to be clear, neither have i ). that ' s because the vast majority of us work on much smaller enterprise business systems or " normal " websites ( perhaps even the kind of website that can be well served with free database software on a server with less juice than your laptop ). but stored procedures can scale. it ' s only a matter of money. and if you have millions of users,


( perhaps even the kind of website that can be well served with free database software on a server with less juice than your laptop ). but stored procedures can scale. it ' s only a matter of money. and if you have millions of users, you should be able to afford decent hardware. let ' s use oracle application express ( apex ) as an example of a big and complex pl / sql application : " [ application express ] lives completely within your oracle database. it is comprised of nothing more than data in tables and large amounts of pl / sql code. the essence of oracle application express is approximately 425 tables and 230 pl / sql packages containing 425, 000 + lines of code. " this pl / sql application can be deployed anywhere from your laptop to any kind of server : the biggest and fastest server you can buy is currently oracle exadata. " an 8 rack configuration has a raw disk capacity of 3, 360 tb and 1, 680 cpu cores for sql processing. larger configurations can be built with additional infiniband switches. " oracle makes bold claims about this machine : " oracle claims that (.. ) two exadata database systems would be able to handle facebook ’ s entire computing load. " it ' s hard for me to verify that claim, not being associated with neither oracle nor facebook, but let ' s assume it has at least some truth to it. so what about running our " stored procedure " application on exadata? " does apex work on exadata? " yep, exadata is just oracle. let me say that again : it ’ s just oracle. exadata runs an 11. 2 database on linux x64. it ’ s the exact same binary install if you download those binaries for “ generic ” linux x64 11. 2 from otn. so, if your code / app runs on 11. 2, it runs on exadata. (.. ) the apex dev team ( my old friends and colleagues ) did absolutely nothing to port their code to exadata. i ' ve run a number of customer benchmarks with customer ' s data and queries and have yet to make a single change to their queries or structures to make them work on exadata. " so... without changing a single of those 425, 000 lines of code, this " stored procedure " application can run on my old laptop ( i ' ve even tried it on an asus eee netbook ), or it can run with 1, 680 cpu


is a plant in the geranium family that grows in south africa. it has heart - shaped leaves and narrow flowers of deep, saturated red. it has a long history of traditional use in southern africa for treatment of respiratory problems. the root is the part used medicinally. an alcohol extract made from has become popular in germany as a treatment for various respiratory problems, including pharyngitis ( sore throat ), and tonsillitis. fairly large studies have been performed to substantiate some of these uses. for example, in one, placebo - controlled study, 468 adults with recent onset of acute bronchitis were given either placebo or a standard alcohol extract of 3 times daily for a week. the results showed a significantly greater improvement in symptoms in the treatment group as compared to the placebo group. on average, participants who received the real treatment were able to return to work 2 days earlier than those given placebo. benefits were also seen in 2 other double - blind, placebo - controlled studies enrolling a total of almost 350 people with acute bronchitis. when researchers pooled the results of four well - designed, placebo - controlled trials, they found that a standardized extract of performed significantly better than placebo at reducing the symptoms of bronchitis by the seventh day of treatment. given this evidence, appears to be effective for acute bronchitis. another double - blind, placebo - controlled study enrolled 143 children aged 6 - 10 years with a nondangerous form of ( technically, non - group a beta hemolytic strep tonsillopharyngitis ). on average, the total duration of the illness was reduced by 2 days in the treatment group as compared to the placebo group. : only a medical test can distinguish between the relatively nondangerous form of strep throat studied in this trial ( non - group a strep ) and strep throat of the potentially very dangerous a form ( group a strep ). for this reason, physician supervision is essential. see the article for more information. finally, a double - blind study of 133 adults who had just come down with the found that use of a standardized pelargonium extract at a dose of 30 ml three times daily significantly reduced the severity and duration of symptoms as compared to placebo. it is not known how might work, but its action is hypothesized to involve both direct antibacterial effects and immune function modification. a typical adult dose of the


we have a choice 20120604102 – from the uto ni yalo progressing at an average speed of 9 knots in a south westerly direction. our nautical chart, which we are plotting every 2 - 3 hours, shows our path will take us past wailagilala atoll in northern lau [ right now we are seeing the island of niuafo ' ou ]. there are only two true atolls in fiji with wailagilala being one and qelelevu being the other. the “ true ” atoll is in a stage of geological development where there ’ s a ring of raised reefs surrounding a central and shallow lagoon with one or more breaks in this reef which can be used as passages inside. the healthy lagoon has many amazing coral heads and myriad reef fish including good sized sharks. in addition atolls possess one or more “ motus ’ – small islets, low lying sand areas overgrown with vegetation. the larger ones can support significant plant growth including trees that may be as tall as 50 feet! atolls in other archipelagos are often uninhabited as they do not have continual fresh water supplies and thus marine species and in particular sea birds abound. colonies of terns that number in the millions have been observed. pacific sea birds breed on motus either on the bare sandy ground, under overlying limestone rocks, in burrows easily excavated in the sand or in shrubs or trees. by sharing available nesting space many more species can utilise existing and precious territory. for instance sooty terns lay their eggs on sandy ground with their eggs [ shell pattern ] blending in with the variegated ground. fairy or white terns prefer laying their single egg in the elbow created between a tree trunk and an extended branch! why doesn ’ t the egg roll off? it ’ s in the egg shape – it ’ s not oval but almost conical thus the egg stays put more or less wedged into the elbow. red - tailed tropic birds, being unable to maneuver on land, nest under exposed limestone slabs which enable them to leave the shelter and fly directly into the wind over the reef. whereas the white - tailed tropic bird nests high up in the hollows in tree trunks. red - footed boobies nest in low lying shrubs in a platform nest that both parents help to build out of sticks. their neighbours in other shrub varieties are the frigate birds who can simply unfold their wings and from the platform nest simply ease into the wind – a marvel of avian aeronautical “ technology ”! not to be


both parents help to build out of sticks. their neighbours in other shrub varieties are the frigate birds who can simply unfold their wings and from the platform nest simply ease into the wind – a marvel of avian aeronautical “ technology ”! not to be outdone both brown and masked boobies, larger cousins of the red - footed ones, nest on bare ground often swept clean by their tails! this gives you an idea as to how so many sea birds can “ nest ” on one motu. many migratory shore birds land along the sandy beaches of these motus and forage for food there. curlews, godwits, whimbrels, plovers, turnstones, tattlers and sandpipers are but a few of the species that have been observed there. in the northern hawaiian chain it would not be uncommon to find green sea turtles and monk seals in the hundreds sharing sand quays. on french frigate shoals they share common areas with many sea bird species. hopefully one day in the not too distant future we in fiji can enjoy observing that many sea turtles in one area. observing animals in their natural habitat is a joy. it is more soothing and certainly more therapeutic than watching television! there is something that leaves a person in awe when, like today, a phoenix petrel flew by and shared a few moments with us. it almost seemed like it was relishing being able to fly. this is said knowing that we tend to anthropomorphise animal behaviour [ give them human intentions and feelings ]. i will risk the “ slings and arrows ” of those who claim science answers all questions and say that this medium sized sea bird was reveling in the wind. it would glide along the wave trough, dip one wing as if in a salute and then lift out and soar only to repeat itself over and over! sure it was searching for surface food. i know it ’ s “ only ” a bird, but better to possess the willingness to suspend disbelief and allow the bird to “ enjoy ” flight than to over - analyse and take the imagination out of it! this morning our paths crossed a pod of 5 small sperm whales, identified by their left and forward “ blow ”. it reminded us of our first magical encounter with these uncommon cetaceans when we crossed the equator with another pod. there is something almost metaphysical about watching these wonderfully adapted mammals cruise the oceans with virtually no fear of man. can something be both heartening and sad at the same time?


these uncommon cetaceans when we crossed the equator with another pod. there is something almost metaphysical about watching these wonderfully adapted mammals cruise the oceans with virtually no fear of man. can something be both heartening and sad at the same time? we have been so fortunate in being able to encounter all kinds of marine life [ a summary will be shared at a later date ] in our journey, but at the same time not seeing some species where we had anticipated seeing them. we shudder to think this may be a sign of things to come. an omen, perhaps a dirge to all those marine animals gone because of our human greed, lack of wisdom and stewardship and simply because we didn ’ t care until it was too late. we still have a choice. will it be the cacophony of sea bird colonies ; the hiss and spray of whales surfacing ; the thrill of watching an eight foot marlin perform a tail walk or simply the “ hold your breath ” feeling one gets as a 10 foot hammerhead shark swims underneath him or will it be a poem somewhere in some little read tome that laments the passing of these marine marvels???? tabu soro friends it ’ s still up to you. in sports – the ball is squarely in your court what ever happens, it ’ s on your shoulders! fiji here we come!


© 2009 pandora ’ s aquarium by : katy many of us, in response to being told that being abused as children was not our fault, respond with the line, “ … but i never told anybody? ”. we berate ourselves for not being able to tell, and somehow conclude that the fact that we “ didn ’ t tell anyone ” about the abuse, somehow makes us culpable for it. as an older teen or adult, it is very easy to look back and think of all the missed opportunities for when we could have broken the silence. but what ’ s very very important to remember, is that when we do this, we are looking back from the perspective of an adult, not from the perspective of a confused and / or frightened child. it ' s necessary to remind ourselves of why we didn ’ t tell as children, so that we can perhaps have more acceptance, compassion and understanding of our child selves. there are so many reasons that children feel they are unable to report sexual abuse, and many survivors have more than one reason for keeping it secret. this is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some of those reasons. maybe you can identify with one or two of them. - “ no one will believe me ” : abusers very often threaten that if you tell, no one is going to believe you. you then face the risk of looking like you are telling lies, and perhaps even that you will get punished for not telling the truth. after all, children believe that adults believe other adults over children. - threats of harm to others : abusers can openly threaten that if you tell, then they are going to punish you by hurting someone you love. it ’ s not unusual for an abuser to threaten that they will, for example, kill the family pet, or hurt a parent or sibling. this, especially to a young child, is incredibly scary – and can result in believeing you are responsible for keeping silent in order to protect others that you care about. - threats of further harm to yourself : abusers can also threaten even worse punishments for you is you do tell. they can think up punishments that literally freeze survivors into silence. - “ it ’ s my fault ” : many abusers “ groom ” their victims, and over time, they can make you feel that you have been doing something wrong, and that you are guilty of what ’ s been happening. if this is said often enough to you, then you start to believe it. you may be told that if anyone


time, they can make you feel that you have been doing something wrong, and that you are guilty of what ’ s been happening. if this is said often enough to you, then you start to believe it. you may be told that if anyone finds out then you will be sent to a children ’ s home or a jail for children, and that everyone will think you are x, y, and z. its understandable therefore, that many children don ’ t tell because they are frightened of being blamed for being complicit in the abuse. - not wanting the abuser to get into trouble : as many abusers are close to their child victims i. e. a parent, sibling, family friend, religious leader etc. then sometimes the child doesn ’ t want the abuser to get into trouble. they can fear the abuser being sent to prison, or being told they are not allowed to see this person again – and obviously if you feel love for that person, then silence often wins through. the idea of being responsible for the break up of their family, in particular, can be too much to bear. - “ i don ’ t know what to say ” : obviously a childs ’ vocabulary, especially when talking about sexual acts, is not as sophisticated as that of an adult. there are very real practical barriers to telling, like not knowing what words to use, or not knowing how to bring it up in conversation. even many adults struggle to talk about sex, especially when abusive in nature, and so how could you expect yourself as a child to be able to do this. also, if you are very confused about what exactly has been done to you, it is almost impossible to know how to describe it. - bribery : some children are bribed in order to keep a secret. for example, the abuser may promise to give you money, or may buy you nice things. these “ rewards ” can very much confuse your feelings towards the abuser and towards the abuse itself. - “ but i liked it ” : some survivors keep silent because of things about what ’ s happening that are deemed “ positive ”. for example, children who are very deprived of love and affection, may crave the love and affection they feel they are receiving from their abuser. some human contact is better than no human contact. understandably, sexual stimulation can also result in arousal, and this can be very confusing for a child to disentagle the nice feelings with the bad feelings. it can make a child feel


due process as separation of powers nathan s. chapman stanford constitutional law center michael w. mcconnell stanford law school february 14, 2012 yale law journal, forthcoming stanford public law working paper no. 2005406 from its conceptual origin in magna charta, due process of law has required that government can only deprive persons of rights pursuant to a coordinated effort of separate institutions that make, execute, and adjudicate claims under the law. originalist debates about whether the fifth or fourteenth amendments were understood to entail modern " substantive due process " have obscured the way that many american lawyers and courts understood due process to limit the legislature from the revolutionary era through the civil war. they understood due process to prohibit legislatures from directly depriving persons of rights, especially vested property rights, because it was the court ' s role to do so pursuant to established and general law. this principle was applied against insufficiently general and prospective legislative acts under a variety of state and federal constitutional provisions through the antebellum era. contrary to the claims of some scholars, however, there was virtually no precedent before the fourteenth amendment for invalidating laws that restricted liberty or the use of property. contemporary resorts to originalism to support modern due process doctrines are therefore misplaced. understanding due process as a particular instantiation of separation of powers does, however, shed new light on a number of key 20th century cases which have not been fully analyzed under the requirements of due process of law. number of pages in pdf file : 116 keywords : constitution, due process, due process of law, separation of powers, legislative power, constitutional history, originalismaccepted paper series date posted : february 19, 2012 © 2013 social science electronic publishing, inc. all rights reserved. this page was processed by apollo2 in 0. 437 seconds


cross - posted at grist. a recent post on grist attempted to dismantle the intellectual foundations of free market environmentalism — the application of markets and property rights to solve environmental problems. but far from toppling a burgeoning movement within modern environmentalism, it succeeded only in misrepresenting the subject. to recap : clark williams - derry claimed that while free market environmentalism may be effective in some areas of the environment ( e. g., fisheries management ), its reliance upon unrealistic assumptions about the real world largely relegates it to useless intellectual theorizing. in particular, the coase theorem — an important component of market - based environmentalism named for nobel prize - winning economist ronald coase — amounts to “ a quirky but not particularly relevant bit of theoretical math. ” while there is certainly much more to free market environmentalism than the work of coase ( see terry anderson and donald leal ’ s book free market environmentalism for more details ), i focus here mostly on the misinformed critique of coase that has been used to discredit free market environmentalism. so, who is coase, what is his theorem, and what does it have to do with free market environmentalism? ronald coase ’ s 1960 paper “ the problem of social cost ” challenged the way economists thought about competing uses of resources. in short, the coase theorem states that if property rights are fully specified and the costs of coordinating transactions between agents are zero, bargaining will lead to an efficient outcome, regardless of how rights are initially assigned. to illustrate : suppose a farmer and a refinery are both located along a river. according to the coase theorem, as long as property rights to the use of the river are clearly defined and the costs of transacting with one another are zero, the amount of effluent disposed in the river by the refinery will be the same regardless of who has the property right. if the farmer had the right to have the river ’ s water free of the refinery ’ s waste, the refinery could compensate him in exchange for a partial right to discharge effluent into the river. if the refinery had the right to use the river for effluent discharge, the farmer could compensate the refinery in exchange for less effluent released into the river. in this stylized example, voluntary negotiations between the farmer and the refinery will result in the optimal amount of effluent discharged in the river, as long as property rights are defined to


in exchange for less effluent released into the river. in this stylized example, voluntary negotiations between the farmer and the refinery will result in the optimal amount of effluent discharged in the river, as long as property rights are defined to one of them. this would occur without taxes imposed, water - use regulations devised, or subsidies doled out to try to control the use of the river. but as was correctly noted ( and astute readers have no doubt picked up on ), the real world is much more complex ; negotiation is costly, multiple agents are often affected, and information is diffuse. so, coase ’ s theorem — and free market environmentalism in general — is irrelevant in the real world, right? wrong. coase ’ s chief accomplishment was to encourage the economics profession to move away from the abstract mathematical tinkering that often bears no resemblance to the real world. he introduced the world to the reality of transaction costs, the costs of coordinating exchanges in the market. for decades, economists had devised policy prescriptions based on faulty assumptions of perfect competition, complete information, and, although it wasn ’ t framed in these terms, zero transaction costs. as coase later wrote, “ what my argument does suggest is the need to introduce positive transaction costs explicitly into economic analysis so that we can study the world that exists. ” despite the claim that his theory is “ mathematical, ” coase ’ s work lacks even a single equation. coase ’ s ideas are about reality, not theoretical math – a reason why he rejects what he calls “ blackboard economics ” because “ it does not study the real world. ” building upon coase ’ s essay on social cost, economists began focusing attention on property rights institutions and their ability to lower transaction costs. free market environmentalism recognizes that when property rights are well defined, disputes over resource use can often be resolved locally and cooperatively. this is in sharp contrast to the conventional command - and - control approach to environmentalism that is characterized by top - down management, special interests, and zero - sum “ i - win - you - lose ” outcomes. this is not to say free market environmentalists don ’ t believe in the presence of high transaction costs. to be sure, sufficiently high transaction costs can present significant hurdles for market - based solutions. but oftentimes, this presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to step in and define property rights that lower such costs. these environmental entrepreneurs, call them “ enviropreneurs, ” are the often - unreco


for market - based solutions. but oftentimes, this presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to step in and define property rights that lower such costs. these environmental entrepreneurs, call them “ enviropreneurs, ” are the often - unrecognized agents of change that contract with rights holders to keep water instream for fish and wildlife habitat, compensate livestock owners for their losses due to wolf depredation, and develop ecosystem services markets for water quality and endangered species habitat. of course, the transaction costs associated with some environmental problems can be too high for even entrepreneurs to handle. for property rights and markets, the atmosphere is in many ways the new frontier. however, in such instances, the common law legal system historically played an important role in resolving resource conflicts in a coasean manner. before being shoved aside in the 1970s by the more politically attractive federal statute law, common law made it clear that no polluter had the right to impose unwanted costs on the owners of private property. centuries of legal precedence affirmed that people had a legal right to have their property free from pollution. upon examining the history the common law, economists roger meiners and bruce yandle concluded that the common law “ can protect the environment more effectively and fairly than can congressional statutes and bureaucratic regulations. ” when property rights are well defined, the free market environmentalism approach is bottom - up, not top - down. this addresses the key knowledge problem that plagues much of environmental policy. how do distant policymakers possess the information necessary to design the “ socially optimal ” tax, regulation, or subsidy that will result in the optimal level of pollution? it is here that the ideas of another, perhaps more important, luminary of free market environmentalism, f. a. hayek, come to light. knowledge in society is dispersed and “ not given to anyone in its totality, ” he wrote in his seminal 1945 article. hayek suggested that the information required to effectively allocate resources depends on very specific circumstances of time and place. because of this fact, the spontaneous ordering among the many supersedes the special wisdom of the few. hayek ’ s emphasis on market institutions and decentralized decision making is the essence of free market environmentalism. curiously, many discussions of environmental policy ignore hayek ’ s knowledge problem, assuming instead that regulators and politicians will yield effective environmental results. but alas, much server space has been occupied by those frustrated with the sad result of political environmentalism. critics admonish free market environmentalism because “


hubris as the evil force in history june 14, 2012 by paul craig roberts i have always been intrigued by the battle of bull run, the opening battle of the u. s. civil war, known to southerners as the war of northern aggression. extreme hubris characterized both sides : the north before the battle and the south afterward. republican politicians and ladies in their finery rode in carriages to manassas, the virginia town through which the stream bull run flowed, to watch the union army end the “ southern rebellion ” in one fell swoop. what they witnessed instead was the union army fleeing back to washington with its tail between its legs. the flight of the northern troops prompted some southern wags to name the skirmish the “ battle of yankee run. ” the outcome of the battle left the south infected with the hubris that had so abruptly departed the north. the southerners concluded that they had nothing to fear from cowards who ran away from a fight. “ we have nothing to worry about from them, ” decided the south. it was precisely at this point that hubris defeated the south. historians report that the flight back to washington left the union army and the u. s. capital in a state of disorganization for three weeks, during which time even a small army could have taken the capital. historians who are inclined not to see the battle as a victory for the south claim that the southerners were exhausted by the effort it took to put the yankees to flight and that they simply didn ’ t have the energy to pursue them, take washington, hang the traitor abraham lincoln and all the republicans, and end the war. exhausted troops or not, had napoleon bonaparte been the southern general, the still organized southern army would have been in washington as fast as the disorganized union. possibly, the southerners would have engaged in ethnic cleansing by enslaving the yankees and selling them to africans, thus ejecting from the country the greed - driven northern imperialists who, in the southern view, did not know how to behave either in private or in public. it was not southern exhaustion that saved the day for the north. it was southern hubris. the battle of bull run convinced the south that the citified northerners simply could not fight and were not a military threat. perhaps the south was right about the north. however, the irish immigrants, who were met at the docks and sent straight to the front, could fight. the south was dramatically outnumbered and had no supply of immigrants to fill


were not a military threat. perhaps the south was right about the north. however, the irish immigrants, who were met at the docks and sent straight to the front, could fight. the south was dramatically outnumbered and had no supply of immigrants to fill the ranks vacated by casualties. moreover, the south had no industry and no navy. and, of course, the south was demonized because of slavery, although the slaves never revolted — even when all southern men were at the front. when the south failed to take advantage of its victory at bull run and occupy washington, the south lost the war. an examination of hubris casts a great deal of light on wars, their causes and outcomes. napoleon undid himself, as adolf hitler was to do later, by marching off into russia. british hubris caused both world wars. world war ii began when the british incomprehensibly gave a “ guarantee ” to the polish colonels who were on the verge of returning that part of germany that poland had acquired from the versailles treaty. the colonels, not understanding that the british had no way of making the guarantee good, gave hitler the finger, an act of defiance that was too much for hitler, who had declared germans to be the exceptional people. hitler smacked poland, and the british and french declared war. hitler made short work of the french and british armies. but the british in their hubris, hiding behind the english channel, wouldn ’ t surrender or even agree to a favorable peace settlement. hitler concluded that the british were counting on russia to enter the war on their side. hitler decided that if he knocked off russia, the british hope would evaporate and they would come to peace terms. so hitler turned on his russian partner with whom he had just dismembered poland. joseph stalin, in his own hubris, had recently purged almost every officer in the red army, thus making hitler ’ s decision easy. the outcome of all this hubris was the rise of the u. s. military / security complex, more than four decades of cold war and the threat of nuclear destruction, a period that lasted from the end of world war ii until ronald reagan and mikhail gorbachev, two leaders not consumed by hubris, agreed to end the cold war. alas, hubris returned to america with the neoconservative ascendency. americans have become “ the indispensable people. ” like the jacobins of the french revolution who intended to impose “ liberty, equality, fraternity ”


an international research team has discovered that a pervasive human rna modification provides the physiological underpinning of the genetic regulatory process that contributes to obesity and type ii diabetes. european researchers showed in 2007 that the fto gene was the major gene associated with obesity and type ii diabetes, but the details of its physiological and cellular functioning remained unknown. now, a team led by university of chicago chemistry professor chuan he has demonstrated experimentally the importance of a reversible rna modification process mediated by the fto protein upon biological regulation. he and 10 co - authors from chicago, china and england published the details of their finding in the oct. 16 advance online edition of nature chemical biology. he and his colleagues have shown, for the first time, the existence of the reversible rna modification process called methylation and that it potentially impacts protein expression and function through its action on a common rna base : adenosine. the process is reversible because it can involve the addition or removal of a methyl group from adenosine. the team found that the fto protein mediates cellular removal of the methyl group. " an improved understanding of the normal functions of fto, as exemplified by this work, could aid the development of novel anti - obesity therapies, " said stephen o ' rahilly, professor of clinical biochemistry and director of the metabolic research laboratories at the university of cambridge. o ' rahilly, a leading researcher in obesity and metabolic disease who also has studied fto, was not directly involved in he ' s project. " variants around the fto gene have consistently been associated with human obesity and artificial manipulation of the fto gene in mice clearly demonstrates that fto plays a crucial role in the regulation of body weight, " o ' rahilly explained. " however, the development of a deeper understanding of the normal biological role of fto has been challenging. " scientists already had demonstrated that fto removes methyl groups from nucleic acids, but only on one rare type of dna or rna methylation. the new research from he and his colleagues shows that fto also acts on the common messenger rna modification called n6 - methyladenosine, o ' rahilly said. the paper arose from he ' s investigations of the alkb family of proteins that act on nucleic acids. based on this work, he and his collaborators proved that human cells exhibit reversible methylation of rna bases, which significantly impact critical life processes. important but mysterious every human messenger rna carries on average three to six


that act on nucleic acids. based on this work, he and his collaborators proved that human cells exhibit reversible methylation of rna bases, which significantly impact critical life processes. important but mysterious every human messenger rna carries on average three to six methylations on adenosine. scientists knew these methylations were extremely important but their function remained a mystery, he said. " for the first time, we show that these methylations are reversible and play a key role in human energy homeostasis, " the process by which the body maintains a complex biochemical dynamic equilibrium. the modification of n6 - methyladenosine in messenger rna is pervasive throughout the mammal kingdom and many other organisms. despite its abundance, this modification ' s exact functional role remains unknown, he said. but his team ' s discovery strongly indicates that the modification has major roles in messenger rna metabolism. the finding may open a new research field rna epigenetics for delving into the realm of biological regulatory processes, he said. the epigenetics of dna and histones ( proteins that package dna in human cells ) have become well - explored topics on the frontiers of biological research over the last 10 to 20 years. " it is safe to say 50 percent of biologists work on subjects related to epigenetics one way or another, " he said. dna ( deoxyribonucleic acid ) for decades has reigned as king over biological research on epigenetics of nucleic acids, as he noted in the december 2010 issue of nature chemical biology. rna ( ribonucleic acid ) modification was regarded more as a vassal that merely fine - tunes gene expression and regulation, until this recent discovery, which confirms the speculation by he and others that rna modification has secretly wielded a far greater genetic influence than anyone had previously suspected. that ' s why, as he wrote last year, " reversible rna modification might represent another realm for biological regulation in the form of ' rna epigenetics. ' " explore further : scientists develop advanced biological computer more information : " n6 - methyladenosine in nuclear rna is a major substrate of the obesity - associated fto, " by guifang jia, ye fu, xu zhao, qing dai, guanqun zheng, ying yang, chengqi yi, tomas lindahl, tao pan, yun - gui yang and chuan he, nature chemical biology, advance online publication oct. 16, 2011. " rna epigenetics


by examining the frequency of extreme storm surges in the past, previous research has shown that there was an increasing tendency for storm hurricane surges when the climate was warmer. but how much worse will it get as temperatures rise in the future? how many extreme storm surges like that from hurricane katrina, which hit the u. s. coast in 2005, will there be as a result of global warming? new research from the niels bohr institute show that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency if the climate becomes two degrees celcius warmer. the results are published in the scientific journal proceedings of the national academy of science ( pnas ). tropical cyclones arise over warm ocean surfaces with strong evaporation and warming of the air. the typically form in the atlantic ocean and move towards the u. s. east coast and the gulf of mexico. if you want to try to calculate the frequency of tropical cyclones in a future with a warmer global climate, researchers have developed various models. one is based on the regional sea temperatures, while another is based on differences between the regional sea temperatures and the average temperatures in the tropical oceans. there is considerable disagreement among researchers about which is best. new model for predicting cyclones " instead of choosing between the two methods, i have chosen to use temperatures from all around the world and combine them into a single model, " explains climate scientist aslak grinsted, centre for ice and climate at the niels bohr institute at the university of copenhagen. he takes into account the individual statistical models and weights them according to how good they are at explaining past storm surges. in this way, he sees that the model reflects the known physical relationships, for example, how the el nino phenomenon affects the formation of cyclones. the research was performed in collaboration with colleagues from china and england. the statistical models are used to predict the number of hurricane surges 100 years into the future. how much worse will it be per degree of global warming? how many ' katrinas ' will there be per decade? since 1923, there has been a ' katrina ' magnitude storm surge every 20 years. 10 times as many ' katrinas ' " we find that 0. 4 degrees celcius warming of the climate corresponds to a doubling of the frequency of extreme storm surges like the one following hurricane katrina. with the global warming we have had during the 20th century, we have already crossed the threshold where more than half of all ' katrinas ' are due to global warming, " explains aslak grinsted. " if the


considerable attention has been paid to the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in aquatic environments, but rather less attention has been given to routes of contamination on land. a new study, published in plos one on february 27 by researchers at cardiff university, reveals that wild birds foraging on invertebrates contaminated with environmental pollutants, show marked changes in both brain and behaviour : male birds exposed to this pollution develop more complex songs, which are actually preferred by the females, even though these same males usually show reduced immune function compared to controls. katherine buchanan and her colleagues studied male european starlings ( sturnus vulgaris ) foraging at a sewage treatment works in the south - west uk and analysed the earthworms that constitute their prey. the researchers found that those birds exposed to environmentally - relevant levels of synthetic and natural estrogen mimics developed longer and more complex songs compared to males in a control group. specifically, birds dosed with the complete spectrum of endocrine disrupting chemicals found in the invertebrates spent longer singing, sang more often and produced more complex songs, a sexually selected trait important in attracting females for reproduction even though birds dosed at these ecologically relevant levels also showed reduced immune function. the study also addresses the mechanism for this effect, as the researchers found that the high vocal centre ( hvc ), the area of the brain that controls male song complexity, is significantly enlarged in the contaminated birds. estrogen causes masculinisation of the songbird brain and the hvc is enriched with estrogen receptors. neural development is thus susceptible to exposure to chemicals which mimic estrogen, or to enhanced estrogen levels. the results also confirm the plasticity of the adult songbird brain. finally, the scientists found that female starlings prefer the song of males exposed to the mixture of endocrine disrupting chemicals, suggesting the potential for population level effects on reproductive success. “ this is the first evidence that environmental pollutants not only affect, but paradoxically enhance a signal of male quality such as song, ” said katherine buchanan, the corresponding author of the paper. “ these results may have consequences of population dynamics of an already declining species. ” citation : markman s, leitner s, catchpole c, barnsley s, muller ct, et al ( 2008 ) pollutants increase song complexity and the volume of the brain area hvc in a songbird. plos one 3 ( 2 ) : e1674. doi : 10. 1371 / journal. pone. 0001674 (


( physorg. com ) - - technology developed at the university of nottingham will be giving james bond the edge over his enemies when the latest high octane 007 adventure hits cinema screens later this week. when daniel craig reprises the role of fleming ' s iconic superspy in the quantum of solace, he will continue the franchise ' s special relationship with aston martin by taking the wheel of their flagship model, the dbs. and a new lightweight but super strong material developed by researchers in the university ' s polymer composites group, in collaboration with aston martin engineers, will be helping to ensure that any high - speed chases leave him stirred, but not shaken. underneath the cool, sleek exterior of the dbs is a highly engineered body structure which contains components made using a unique process, directed carbon fibre preforming ( dcfp ). during the process, carbon fibres are placed by a robot into a carefully controlled form and epoxy resin is injected around the fibres to create a carbon fibre composite component. the dcfp process produces a material that is both light and incredibly strong and is able to withstand huge impacts in the event of a crash, making it ideal in the use of high performance cars like the dbs. in addition to this, the material is greener than many of its mainstream counterparts as it can be recycled in accordance with european vehicle end of life directives. professor nick warrior, in the university ' s faculty of engineering, said it was exciting to think that technology which originated in nottingham would be seen by cinema - goers around the world. he added : “ the high strength and low weight characteristics of the dcfp have enabled the aston martin designers to increase the performance of the dbs reduce its fuel consumption and ultimately minimise 007 ' s carbon footprint — we hope to be able to spin - out dcfp to more affordable vehicles in the near future. ” the dcfp process is part of a longstanding research collaboration between the university of nottingham and aston martin. a unique carbon fibre 3 - d braiding process, developed by the research group, was an integral component used in the windscreen pillar of the aston martin vanquish, seen in the 20th james bond film, die another day. the dcfp technology was also used in the aston martin dbsv12 car seen in daniel craig ' s first outing as bond, casino royale. the car was seen in a spectacular crash in which stunt driver adam kirley used an air cannon behind the driver ' s seat to propel the


a theoretical analysis of recent experiments suggests that a key feature of a topological quantum computer — the unusual statistics of quasiparticles in the quantum hall effect — may finally have been observed. by exploiting the concept of particle - hole duality, one can realize a point junction between integer and fractional quantum hall phases, which constitutes a crucial building block towards possible applications of the quantum hall effect. the fractional quantum hall effect, thought to be special to two dimensions, may also flourish in three, providing a possible explanation for anomalies observed in certain 3d materials in high magnetic fields. physics2, 24 ( 2009 ) – published march 30, 2009 the surprising prediction that currents can flow forever in small normal metal rings was confirmed almost twenty years ago. highly precise new experiments find good agreement with theory that was not seen till now. h. a. fertig, physics2, 15 ( 2009 ) – published february 23, 2009 measurements of the heat transport at the edges of two - dimensional electron systems appear to provide explanations about the quantum hall state that have not been forthcoming via charge transport experiments. crystalline structures have been observed in nanoislands of electrons floating above superfluid helium. the energy required to add or subtract an electron from these quantum - dot - like islands agrees well with theory. physics1, 36 ( 2008 ) – published november 24, 2008 the esoteric concept of “ axions ” was born thirty years ago to describe the strong interaction between quarks. it appears that the same physics — though in a much different context — applies to an unusual class of insulators. graphene has been idealized as a two - dimensional electron system in which the electrons behave like massless fermions, but how “ perfect ” is it? scientists now show they can prepare free - standing sheets of graphene that have some of the highest electron mobilities of any inorganic semiconductor. a decade ago, experimentalists showed that persistent currents can flow in nonsuperconducting mesoscopic metal rings, but there was no theory that correctly explained the magnitude or direction of the unexpectedly large currents. theorists are now proposing a simple idea that may at last explain these results. electrons in graphene can be described by the relativistic dirac equation for massless fermions and exhibit a host of unusual properties. the surfaces of certain band insulators — called topological insulators — can be described in a similar way, leading to an exotic metallic surface on an otherwise “ ordinary ” insulator.


greek hunters take dim view of solar energy scheme author : ingrid melander the chimney stack of the lignite plants looms over the city of megalopolis, about 120 km ( 75 miles ) of athens, may 15, 2009. the air in greece ' s southern city of megalopolis is heavy with dust and smoke spit by lignite plants. photo : john kolesidis megalopolis - lignite power plants belch dust and smoke into the air above the southern greek town of megalopolis, but residents resistant to environmental arguments have blocked a scheme to build the country ' s biggest solar energy project on a nearby hillside. local game hunters, angry that an earlier plan to grow a forest on the site was scrapped, have gone to court to try to stop the construction of a 50 - megawatt solar panel park. " under no conditions will we accept sacrificing even one tree... we are not bowing to these interests, " kostas markopoulos, president of the hunters ' association of the peloponnese, said on a visit to the site on a hill overlooking the small town. below lie the huge open - air mine where lignite, a cheap but highly polluting energy source also known as brown coal, is extracted and adjacent plants where it is burned to generate electricity for southern greece. the nearest houses stand only about 100 meters away. red tape, a lack of political will and local opposition have cramped the development of an otherwise promising renewable energy market in greece, whose climate is endowed with plenty of sunshine and wind. this puts greece far behind european union leaders in the field, such as much less sunny germany. despite one of the most generous government subsidies and long - term guaranteed electricity prices worldwide, it ranked 18th in percentage of renewables as a proportion of gross electricity consumption in the eu in 2007. the megalopolis project, using photovoltaic panels to convert sunlight into electricity, would be one of the biggest solar energy schemes in the world. it is expected to cost 200 million to 250 million euros ( $ 280 million to $ 349 million ). nearly two years after electricity operator ppc was granted production licenses, nothing has been built on the site. a court ruling on the hunters ' appeal is still awaited. investors, waiting for years to tap greece ' s huge potential, say that after decades of struggling with endless bureaucracy, they see some reason for hope as new legislation takes effect. " in the past 15 years, greece has been the sleeping giant


awaited. investors, waiting for years to tap greece ' s huge potential, say that after decades of struggling with endless bureaucracy, they see some reason for hope as new legislation takes effect. " in the past 15 years, greece has been the sleeping giant of european renewables, " said nikos vassilakos, who heads a greek and a european association of investors in renewables. " now something is moving, maybe at a slow pace but investors have learnt to be patient. " greece is notorious for its long licensing procedure, which vassilakos estimated at three to four years on average. the government has just passed a zoning law for renewables as well as approved new incentives for individuals to install solar panels on rooftops and sell the electricity, doing away with a licensing process that used to cost thousands of euros. within the next two months, it plans to submit a law to shorten procedures for wind farms and small hydroelectric plants. with installed capacity of about 1, 200 megawatts, mostly from wind, greece must move up a gear to comply with eu rules. it needs to produce more than a third of its electricity from renewables by 2020, from about 9 percent currently - - the figure drops to about 4 percent without large hydro plants, which experts say is a more realistic assessment. investors present in the greek renewables market include italy ' s enel, france ' s edf, and spain ' s iberdola as well as other, smaller companies. more than 4 billion euros ' worth of renewable applications are awaiting approval by greece ' s energy regulator. " it ' s an exciting moment, " vassilakos said. " look at how big the untapped potential is. " missing the big picture walking around the mine and the hamlets bordering the plant, where pollutants in the air burn the throat after just a few minutes, the hunters ' leader markopoulos is unconvinced. " a ( solar ) park here at such a large scale... would be one large mirror that will drive away wildlife, " he told reuters. " this should be done in other areas, and they exist, that do not destroy the natural environment. " environmentalists, investors and local authorities shake their heads in dismay and say the hunters and others lack information and are missing the big picture of environmental, health and economic benefits. " building photovoltaics there is going to be better for the environment than a few trees, " said ppc renewables chief executive tassos garis.


during regular check - ups, your doctor will examine your child to see if he or she has any developmental delays. these well - child check - ups are typically scheduled for : - 9 months - 18 months - 24 or 30 months to look for developmental delays, the doctor will focus on your child ’ s social skills, language skills, and behavior. your child ' s ' doctor may talk to and play with your child. you will be asked questions about your child ’ s development. this is a good time for you to talk openly to your child ' s doctor. you may have concerns about how your child is growing and behaving. tell the doctor if you think your child is not developing normally, or has regressed. it is very important to share these concerns. examples of tests that are used to screen for developmental delays include : - ages and stages questionnaire - parents evaluation of developmental status your doctor may also give a screening test to check specifically for autism. these screening tools focus on the criteria for diagnosing autism. the criteria are based on the american psychiatric association ’ s diagnostic and statistical manual. these tests are required for screening use in some states. one test that is used is called the checklist for autism in toddlers ( chat ). it is for children as young as 18 months. this is when autism is typically diagnosed. some samples of the types of questions in chat include : - does your child take interest in other children? - does your child ever bring objects over to you to show you something? - does your child sometimes stare at nothing or wander with no purpose? the screening may show that your child has signs of autism. if so, the next step would be to work with a professional who specializes in the condition. this may be a child psychologist. the specialist will do further testing. it is important to remember that if your child is in the high - risk category, your doctor will screen him or her sooner for developmental delays and autism. your child is considered high - risk if he or she : - had a low birth weight - was premature - has a sibling with a developmental delay or autism


the winter here on the monongahela in recent weeks has been uncommonly hard, with temperatures remaining in the teens and even the single digits day after day, and the snow accumulating without melting. compared with more northern regions, we have had it fairly easy, but around here it has been colder than what we have been accustomed to in recent years. looking at the fort covered in snow, i am led to wonder how severe the winters may have been here in the 1770s and 80s when the original fort was active. just how difficult was life in winter west of the alleghenies during the revolutionary era? for the next few posts i would like to explore this question, and in preparation i have been reading original sources — diaries and memoirs and early histories — and having some conversations with greg bray, whose knowledge of those times is extensive. according to greg, and my research, the winters on the virginia frontier during the forting period were considerably more severe than they are at present. joseph doddridge, for one, believed the winters on the trans - allegheny frontier during the eighteenth century were consistently more severe than they were even forty or fifty years later. doddridge was brought to the virginia frontier as an infant, just a year or two before the original pricketts fort was built, and he grew up about sixty miles north of here, just over the border in pennsylvania, during the years that pricketts fort was active. writing some decades afterwards, around 1820, doddridge had observed a permanent shift in the climate. winters on the frontier in his boyhood, he remembered, were more severe than they were at the time he was writing ( about 1820 ). one might attribute this difference to an older man ’ s natural tendency to exaggerate the hardships of a frontier childhood, but doddridge is speaking as an historian, and his memory is supported by specific details. even during the summer months, doddridge remembers, the nights were almost always cool, and the coolness would persist to midday. as for the winters, they began early, and it was not uncommon for frost to occur in september. one year doddridge witnessed saw an entire field of corn ruined by a hard freeze on september 22. “ hunting ” snows generally arrived by mid - october, and severe winter conditions tended to settle in during november, sometimes early in the month. doddridge writes that the snows were consistently deeper and longer - lasting in his boyhood than they would be later, being anywhere from a foot to three feet deep and


severe winter conditions tended to settle in during november, sometimes early in the month. doddridge writes that the snows were consistently deeper and longer - lasting in his boyhood than they would be later, being anywhere from a foot to three feet deep and persisting from november into march or april. the deep snows made every chore an ordeal, with trails needing to be opened and frequently re - shoveled from the cabin to outbuildings and to the spring. doddridge remembers watching a large dead tree felled for firewood in the forest. when it hit the ground the snow was so deep that it was immediately buried. when the settler reached down to yoke a chain around the base of its trunk so that it could be hauled by horse back to the cabin, his arms were buried in snow up to his shoulders. doddridge mentions one characteristic of the snow which would have greatly hindered anyone attempting to travel through it : namely that it frequently had a hard crust. this crust would not usually have been strong enough to support the weight of a man or large animal, but it would have been thick and hard enough that trying to plow through it, especially over distance, would have been extremely difficult and exhausting. doddridge noted that when the snow was heavily crusted, deer could scarcely move through it at all. if there was any benefit to deep crusted snow persisting throughout the winter in the wilderness, it was that the shawnee and other native tribes gave up attacking settlements until spring or early summer. it must have been a comfort to know that while you were slowly starving or freezing to death, you were at least spared the indignity of losing your hair into the bargain. the perils of frontier life may have been too terrible and numerous to be counted, but in many cases they were seasonal. if it can be established that winters on the virginia frontier were long and relatively severe ( and i will be attempting to collaborate this with further sources ), the next obvious question is, how well were the first european settlers equipped to survive their first winter in the wilderness? how well were they able to shelter, clothe and feed themselves? in my next post i will be looking especially at the question of shelter. we are accustomed to hollywood images of hardy pioneers passing winter nights in snug, sturdy log cabins, warming themselves before a blazing log in a stone fireplace. how true was this image in fact? i ’ ll dig into some of those old memoirs and journals and see what they have to say.


overcoming apathy in research on organophosphate poisoning 329 pp 1231 - 3 new antidotes for organophosphates are needed to prepare for chemical attacks in the west and to tackle pesticide poisoning in developing countries, argue researchers in this week ' s bmj. organophosphates are a group of organic compounds containing phosphorus, some of which are used as pesticides. organophosphates have also been used in chemical weapons and nerve gas attacks, such as the sarin attack in japan. organophosphate poisoning is a leading cause of premature death in the developing world, while western nations are concerned about terrorist use of chemicals. yet no new antidotes have been tested in clinical trials in the last 30 years. an international collaboration is needed to make a concerted effort to develop and test new treatments that would benefit both groups of patients, write the authors. atropine is currently the only clearly proved and moderately effective treatment for organophosphate poisoning. information on potential treatments has been available for years, but neither the military nor the pharmaceutical industry has attempted to test them or develop new drugs. the pharmaceutical industry has little incentive to develop new drugs for use primarily in developing countries, add the authors. however, on humanitarian grounds alone, research into organophosphate pesticide poisoning in developing countries should become an international priority. recent concerns by government about having the means to respond to victims of chemical warfare and terrorist attacks means that the time is ripe to break this drug development impasse, they conclude. source : eurekalert & otherslast reviewed : by john m. grohol, psy. d. on 21 feb 2009 published on psychcentral. com. all rights reserved. if you think you ' re too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito. - - bette reese


- the role of religious epistemology in inter - religious dialogue ( 2012 ) - from the dawn of civilization, a multitude of religious has developed each very complex. these great differences among religions make it difficult to find a least common denominator or to talk at length of religion in general. on the other hand, focusing on just one specific religion often causes us to ignore or underestimate some of the very broad traits that religions seem to share. the fact remains that we will make no headway into the question of what makes a specific religion a religion if we do not seek some characteristics common to all religions. religion is usually associated with the supernatural or the divine. 505 however, the notion of a supernatural realm does not occur in the non - theistic schools of buddhism and functions in very different ways, say, in taoism, hinduism, and islam. these shortcomings suggest that religion is notoriously difficult to define. to me, religion is any action taken through every aspect of our being to release us from our weakness or imperfection, and bring us closer to the divine reality. in other words, it is a human inner desire or activity to unite with an absolute being. the examination of the intellectual dimension of religion that is, its key beliefs is most beneficial when it is guided and informed. since epistemology is the theory of knowledge, one would therefore expect epistemological discussions of religion to concentrate on the question whether one could have knowledge of religious beliefs. religious epistemology is simple to say that it is the epistemology of distinctively religious beliefs, but that will not be helpful in the absence of a definition of religious beliefs. philosophers of religion might consider the epistemology of religious belief, pondering questions about the sources and justifications of religious knowledge. fundamental questions regarding the nature of knowledge are likely to arise in any culture. after all, everyone has some stake in distinguishing truth from error, wisdom from ignorance, and the path to knowledge from the path to ignorance. epistemologists have discussed, in addition to the defining conditions and the sources of knowledge, the extent of human knowledge. they have asked how far human knowledge can extend. many philosophers find it obvious that we know 505 see michael peterson, william hasker, bruce reichenbach david basinger, reason and religious belief : an introduction to the philosophy of religion, 4. 186 at least some things, if only things about personal experiences or household physical objects. others have claimed, however, that we really have no knowledge. such philosophers admit


reason. the kind of justification crucial to knowledge is called epistemic justification. even if knowledge requires justification, a justified belief can be false. in allowing for justified false beliefs, contemporary epistemologists endorse fallibilism about justification. reformed 506 see paul k. moser dwayne h. mulder j. d. trout, the theory of knowledge ; a thematic introduction ( oxford university press, 1998 ), 4. 507 ibid., 77 - 78. 187 epistemologists contend that belief in the existence of god can, in some circumstances, have an epistemic status high enough to render it worthy of acceptance even if it has no support from the arguments of natural theology or from any other beliefs. the views of alston and mavrodes are sometimes said to display an affinity with reformed epistemology, and nicholas wolterstorff has made significant contributions to its development. but plantinga has clearly been the leading contemporary advocate of this school of thought in religious epistemology. during the earlier phase of their development, plantinga concentrated on defending the view that theistic belief can be in certain conditions, is justified or rationally held even in the absence of any propositional evidence or supporting argument. 508 for the conviction that theistic belief is properly basic, foundationalists carry out a reconstructive project that would put our revised doxastic structures on foundations so firm that they could withstand rather than ignore skeptical challenges. that is, for the classical foundationlist theistic belief requires support from propositional evidence or argument if it is to be rationally or justifiably held. however, it is fairly clear that belief in god ’ s existence does not satisfy this criterion ; it is neither self - evident nor incorrigible nor evident to the sense for humans at any time in this life. the question of justification attracts philosophers especially in contemporary epistemology. and controversy of this question focuses on the meaning of ‘ justification ’ as well as on the substantive conditions of a belief ’ s being justified in a way appropriate to knowledge. william alston, for instance, has introduced a non - deontological normative concept of justification that relies mainly on the notion of what is epistemically good from the view - point of maximizing truth and minimizing falsity. alston link epistemic goodness to a belief ’ s being based on adequate grounds in the absence of overriding reason to the contrary. but for some epistemologists “ ep


point of maximizing truth and minimizing falsity. alston link epistemic goodness to a belief ’ s being based on adequate grounds in the absence of overriding reason to the contrary. but for some epistemologists “ epistemic justification ” means simply “ evidential support ” of certain sort. 509 to say that s is epistemically justifiable to some extent for you is, on this view, just to say that s is supportable to some extent by your overall evidential reason. according to epistemologist, knowledge entails beliefs, so that i cannot know that such and such is the case unless i believe that such and such is the case. robert audi mentioned that knowledge arises in experience. it is constituted by conclusively 508 see ibid., 525 - 26. 509 see robert audi, the cambridge dictionary of philosophy, 233 - 35. 188 justified true belief, meaning that : the believer may be justified by psychological certain of the true proposition in question and this proposition is so well - grounded as to be itself propositionally certain. and knowledge constitute by such belief may be called epistemic certainty. when we come to religious knowledge, audi says that religious propositions are simply beyond the scope of human knowledge. but the point is why would it be thought that no religious propositions are known? the most common ground for holding this view is namely, that religious propositions, such as that god exists, cannot be known either a priori or on the basis of experience. the concept of justification or evidence would occur with the concept of belief in a more complex analysis of the concept of knowledge. 510 in recent decades, questions of knowledge seem to have been marginalized by question of justification. as a matter of fact, however, epistemological discussion of religious belief, at least since the enlightenment has tended to focus, not on the question whether religious belief has warrant, but whether it is justified. more precisely, it has tended to focus on the question whether those properties are enjoyed by theistic belief - the belief that there exists a person like the god of traditional christianity, judaism, and islam : an almighty, all knowing, wholly benevolent and loving spiritual person who has created the world. the main epistemological question about religious belief, therefore, has been the question whether or not religious belief in general and theistic belief in particular is rational or rationally acceptable, or whether it is justified? in its primary sense, rationality is a normative concept


way or if it is based on the wrong sort of evidence. according to swinburne beliefs are rational in so far as they are based on investigation which was, in the believer ’ s view, adequate, and if the believer believes it to be rational. swinburne understand by religious beliefs as about transcendent reality, including his belief about whether or not there is a god, and his beliefs about what properties god has ( what god is like ) and what actions he has performed. 514 according to john hick, the issue is not whether it can be established as an item of indubitable public knowledge that god ( or the divine or the transcendent ) exists, or most probably exists, but whether it is rational for those who experience some of life ’ s moments theistically to believe that god exists, and to proceed to conduct their lives on that basis. hick looks at a rational belief in general way. for him “ belief ” can mean a proposition believed or it can be defined as an act or state of believing. the idea of evidence normally presupposes a gap between an observed fact, or body of facts, and an inferred conclusion. therefore, our ordinary moment - to moment perceptual beliefs contradict the principle that all rational believing must be based upon adequate evidence. it is not that they are based upon inadequate evidence, but rather that the model of evidence - inference - belief does not apply here. ordinary perceptual beliefs arise directly out of our experience, and it is entirely appropriate, proper, and rational to form these beliefs in this way. the relationship between experience and belief 513 see, an essay by william p. alston, epistemic desiderata, philosophy and phenomenological research l iii / 3 ( sep. 1993 ). and nicholas wolterstorff, divine discourse, ( cambridge : cambridge university press, 1995. 514 see richard swinburne, faith and reason, ( published in the united state by oxford university press, new york walton street, oxford : ox 2 6 dp. press, 1981 ), 55 & 72. 190 has been much debated in recent work in the philosophy of religion. this discussion has focused upon specifically theistic belief and hick discusses also in these terms and his argument is that it is rational to believe in the reality of god. alvin plantinga argues on these manifestation - experiences that they are properly basic. 515 that is to say, it is as rational for