Different reason why people communicate Personal life: •Express felling •Building and maintaining relationship •Exchange info •Offer support •Feedback Settings children and young people: •Building and maintaining relationship •Offer support (transitions) •Building confidentiality •Meet child or young person need •Gain knowledge •Giving instruction children dunning activities •Inform parents and staff •Talk to children to encourage positive behaviour Adults and other professional: •Exchange info, sharing ideas •Feedback for other professional Learning / gaining knowledge •Request •Building and maintaining relationship •Work as a team •Negotiate and liaise SHC 31 1. 2 Communication is very important in the work place, it is major aspect of my work. When we are working with children or young all members of staff have to work as a team. Effective communication help to build and maintain positive communication with a lot of different people like other member of staff, other professional, parents or, and carrier and children. If there is lack of communication with any aspect of my work it may affect other filed of my work.
During settling period parent are passing a lot of information to the key person who help to understand and meet all children need. In this time we start building a relationship between parents and staff. In the same way that relationship turns in to friendship with a child. Because parent pass to us information what child like, dislike and strategies to support their behaviour it is easier for us to make child feel comfortable in the settings. If the child is happy, parents are feeling comfortable to leave child in the settings.
Good communication should be maintained all the time to support the child and the parents during transitions and support holistic child development. All members of staff should pass each other necessary information about the children to provide best possible services. Lack of communication may affect children and young people needs. E. g. all staff should be familiarise themselves with code of practice to treat all children in the same way, to build relationship between children and the member of staff. It is also important to all staff know any health issues about the children to avoid any incident e. . child allergies, medication. In case when the staff can’t prevent incident because of the lack of information, parents can loose they trust to the person or even to the whole settings. Communication is a fundamental relationship-building skill in the workplace. If people don’t communicate well they limit their ability to connect on any meaningful level and, at the extreme, can create conflict. Positive communication skills like listening, open-ended questions, and calm tone of voice help bring people together because they are behaviours that lead to creating relationships.
Workplace relationships also become a lot stronger when people can clearly and effectively communicate what they need and allow others to do the same. Positive relationship between members of staff also depends of the communication. Passing information helps to work as a team, and avoid conflict on the work field. Colleagues may also share experience and knowledge. It may also interesting to show other collages satisfaction in the work place SHC 31 2. 2 To promote effective communication we have to look for the all aspect and consider of individual needs. We have to be aware to avoid any barriers.
We have to treat everybody very individual and try to meet all person need. Some people may have a problem with hearing so we have to make sure they are hear as, so is good to speak to them a bit lauder. For children it is good to use Makaton. For people how don’t have English as a first language, sometimes they need interpreter or someone who speak they home language to help them understand. For people who have visually impairment we have to make sure we speak directly to the person, remember that the person cannot see our expression or gestures. Some people use glasses, if it is a child; we have to make sure they are clean.
Provide a large print is also helpful. If necessary let a child sit closer. We allow children to touch the things to give them idea how they look. For blind people we provide material in Brile language. Environment is also very important factor. It is good to thing about location. When we talk to someone we have to make sure the place where we staying it quiet, noisy environment can affect good communication. It is good to provide neutral space where both sides will feel comfortable. Things like wall decoration, colour, lighting can affect people feeling, what can affect communication.
Place should be also free from any strong smell which may affect on the people. Children, young people should feel relaxed in the environment. They are also other factor, which are very important in face to face communication they are proximity, orientation and posture. Proximity is all about distance between me and the person I am about to communicate. Everyone needs personal body space. That personal space it s change varies with age. Babies and young children like to be very close, but we have to remember everybody is different and some children who are shy or they don’t know us may not like if we stay to close.
This is because anyone like being to close to people who don’t know. Some people may feel discomfort when we approach them to close, so it is good to keep distance when someone tries to move back. We also have to be aware of cultural differences. In different cultural personal body space may vary. Also eye contact may be different. Latin cultures tend to rely more on eye contact in communication than do non-Latin cultures. In the U. S. and in Arabic cultures, direct eye contact is often seen as a sign of honesty, whereas in some Asian, Middle-Eastern and Native-American cultures, it’s considered rude.
Body position, orientation may also affect communication. Our body sending different signal when we staying directly opposite when we saying on the side. When we working with children we have to make sure we talk to them directly to create cosier atmosphere. But during adult conversation we are stay slightly angle, this allow the communication style to be less direct and we don’t have to keep eye contact all the time. During conversation we have to look closely for the posture. Whatever we siting or standing it good to have positive body language.
Observing individual reaction can affect effective communication. By observing how people response by facial expression, body language and sometimes what they do not say. Sometimes people don’t feel so confident to express themselves but non-verbal communication help us to understand reaction. Face expression match with talk e. g. knit their eyebrows, then they puzzled. Body language can often indicate attitudes and emotions e. g. arms crossed tightly over their chest, may indicate anger or tension, but lean forward with separated arms and legs this can communicate warmth and friendliness.
SHC 31 3. 1 We all coming from the different background, different counties, cultures and families sometimes that can cause the problem in effective communication. Cultures provide people with ways of thinking–ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world. Thus the same words can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the “same” language. People from the same country but from the different region may use different meaning of the words, or they may use dialect. In some counties people use more formal language, but some of them it more informal e. g. n Italia people use a lot body language and gestures. When the languages are different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for misunderstandings increases Each culture has its own rules about proper behaviour, which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether one looks the other person in the eye-or not; whether one says what one means overtly or talks around the issue; how close the people stand to each other when they are talking–all of these and many more are rules of politeness which differ from culture to culture. Different cultures regulate the display of emotion differently.
Some cultures get very emotional when they are debating an issue. They yell, they cry, they exhibit their anger, fear, frustration, and other feelings openly. Other cultures try to keep their emotions hidden, exhibiting or sharing only the “rational” or factual aspects of the situation. Some people may have lack of knowledge, poor education, so we have to use language appropriate for them. They may have problem to uncode the massage when we use jargon or professional language. Level of literacy may also affect, especially with formal communication like a letter.
Even the people reacive the letter and understand a massage, they may have problem to respond for this. This is also connected with ITC knowledge. Some people may have problem to sending and receiving email, and may feel uncomfortable with that media. Family background may also affect commutation. Each family have they on way how they communicate. Every home environment are different some of them are quiet, some more vibrant and noisy. In some families children are not allowed to speak when they want, in some parents pay full attention when the child want say something.
All of that aspect can affect how children will be communicate in the future. Some people are just better at communicating than others. They have a greater ability to encode and decode messages than others. This is because they have developed their communication skills based on their knowledge and experience of what works well. SHC 31 3. 2 Barrier to effective communication •English is not first language •Language in not appropriate for the group age •Health aspect like: hearing difficulty, learning difficulty, disability, autism •Stereotyped thinking •Distraction in conversation •Dominating the conversation, judging Lack of concentration, or attention •Environmental aspect, background (noise around, poor light) •Different in cultural background, beliefs •Family background •Confidence and self-esteem, some people have a problem to express themselves •Poor language and literacy skill •The use of jargon, over-complicated or unfamiliar terms •Blocking the other’s contribution •Overloud, to much information can cause problem •Joking at the someone expense SHC 31 3. 5 Some people have individual need. Some have problem with speak, sign or hearing difficulties or even learning difficulties to respond or/and receiving information.
It is good to provide extra support to that people to help them with communication. Some people need just a little help, like we need speak to them lauder and/or slower, or even repeat massage. Sometimes we can help using more non-verbal language and gestures. But for some of them we need to involve Language Services Professional. For children and young people who have English as a second language, setting very often can provide specialist teacher, who will help them with communication. They are providing special recourses like dual language languages. Many settings have translation and interpreting services on the side.
It very helpful to translate some document in English for people who don’t understand English at all or they language is too poor to understand everything. It is work in the other way, people may provide some documentation in they own language and translator have to translate this to English. Sometimes settings need additional support from the interpreter or professional signer in the spoken language. They have been trained to translate the massage, but not embellish or distort it. In the Early Years Settings very often child need additional help from the Speech and Language services.
Speech therapist help to diagnostic and assess what the problem is and find the solution how to communicate with the person who have difficulties with speech and language. They support the staff; they may provide suggestion and guidance how to use resources. Very often they use PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) where children or young people need to point or give the picture with thing what they want. That system can be use for people who have speech difficulties; they have English as a second language and also for people who have an autistic spectrum disorder. The other way to promote communication is Makaton.
It is designed to support spoken language and the signs and symbols are used with speech, in spoken word order. Signs are used, with speech, in spoken word order. This helps provide extra clues about what someone is saying. Using signs can help people who have no speech or whose speech is unclear. Using symbols can help people who have limited speech and those who cannot, or prefer not to sign. Many people then drop the signs or symbols naturally at their own pace, as they develop speech. Makaton is extremely flexible as it can be personalised to an individual’s needs and used at a level suitable for them.
Advocacy services are special services to help people say what say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interest and obtain services they need. We have a duty under the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child to ensure that children can consult about matters that are important to them. The use of advocates is essential for children or young people who are in local authority care or for people who have communication difficulties. Some local council have their own advocacy services. To find out if there are any in my area, I can contact my local council or check its website.
SHC 31 4. 1 Confidentiality is setup principles to respect people privacy, not sharing information about people without their knowledge and agreement in spoken ad written language. When we are working with children we have access to lots of information. Some of them have to be confidential, and we not allow passing them to anyone who is not involved in the case. We have to respect child and the child’s family privacy. Confidentiality is also about storage information, and the way that we share this information if it is necessary.
Some information must be share with the whole staff to secure child wellbeing, good sample can be allergies, medical condition or who will pick up the child. But a lot of personal information about the child, young person or they families need to stay confidential. Under the law Data Protection Act 1998 they are eight principles, which we have to follow. They saying that data must be: •Secure •Fairly and lawfully processed •Accurate •Adequate, relevant and not excessive •Not keep longer than necessary •Processed in accordance with the data subject’s •Not transferred to the other countries without adequate protection
They are some cases when we need share information. Usually these things happened if we think child can be in danger, neglected or abuse. So in that case we need to share this information to the line manager, or special services. Similar things happed when the child o young person need to have support form the specialist. SHC 32 4. 3 As a practitioner I have duty to keep information confidential. But sometimes are some cases I may need to break confidentiality. Breaching confidentiality is a very serious matter and we do that in case if the child or young person may be abuse, neglect or is a crime has been comminited.
All settings should have a designated person to deal with child protection issues. If I have concerns that a child is being abused it is my job to disclose this information to the designated/manager of the setting unless you think by disclosing the information will put the child or young person in further danger. Information should be passed quickly and correctly directly to the person or organization, which will deal with the case. But it is important to remember not pass information unnecessary to people who not really need to know about this, e. g.
I can inform class teacher, but not necessary other member of staff or other parents. When a child or young person discloses information to me. I don’t need to promise to keep a secret. If the child or young person confides in us we cannot promise to keep it a secret because we will have to disclose the information given and this will make the child think that they cannot trust that person anymore, they trusted you in the first place to disclose the information. Also a main feature of sexual abuse is that the abuser asks the child to keep this a secret between them.


Also known as Sabal palmetto. The branch of a palmetto palm tree.
The state banner of South Carolina, the palmetto state.
A palmetto tree in Charleston, South Carolina.
Also known as Sabal mexicana. The branch of a Mexican Palmetto tree.
The palm is indigenous to the Southern states.
A type of new worl palm trees. Native to the tropics.
A species of palm indigenous to the United States. It is found abundantly in the Carolinas, Florida,…
This illustration shows the Chamaerops Palmetto, in various stages, and the Yucca Draconis.
Ornaments made of blue silk ribbon with a button in the center bearing the image of a palmetto tree.…
In honor of the forty percent of South Carolina's palmetto regiment an iron palmetto was erected. This…


Ken Shirriff, a specialist in reverse engineering, has reportedly worked out a code that enabled him to mine Bitcoin on one of the first integrated circuit-based computers that were used to navigate the first moon landings by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s.
As Shirriff wrote on his personal website, the machine on which he managed to integrate Bitcoin mining code is the world’s only remaining working AGC.
With performance comparable to the first generation of home computers from the late 1970s like the Apple II, the 15-bit AGC is apparently not the best hardware to mine crypto. The computer turned out to have a hash power of 10.3 seconds per hash, the engineer reported, explaining that it would take a “billion times the age of the universe to mine a block.”
In comparison, the Antminer S9, a popular ASIC bitcoin miner developed by Chinese mining giant Bitmain exclusively for mining crypto, advertises a hash rate of around 13 terahash, or 13 trillion hashes per second (TH/s).
On his website, Shirriff noted that he has also attempted bitcoin mining on a 55-year-old IBM 1401 punch-card mainframe.
On July 7, Cointelegraph reported that the Bitcoin hash rate reached a new all-time high of 65.19 TH/s. Since then, the growth has continued, breaking 74 TH/s on the same day. As a major metrics for miners, hash rate is the number of calculations that a given hardware or network can perform every second.
A higher hash rate indicates miners’ chances of finding the next block and receiving their reward, also making the network safer by increasing the necessary resources for deploying a 51% attack.


🎩 Imagine you’re facing a challenging problem, whether it’s at work, in your personal life, or during a brainstorming session.
How do you approach it? How do you generate new ideas and perspectives?
Often, our minds get stuck in a particular thinking pattern, limiting our ability to see beyond what is familiar. But what if there was a method that could help us break free from these constraints and unlock our creativity?
Enter the concept of the Six Thinking Hats, developed by the renowned author and creativity expert, Edward de Bono.
In this blog post, we will embark on a journey to explore the six different hats and learn how they can revolutionize the way we think and make decisions. 🚀
The Six Thinking Hats – An Overview
The Six Thinking Hats is a powerful framework that encourages parallel thinking, allowing individuals to wear different hats symbolically, each representing a different perspective or mode of thinking.
By consciously adopting these different thinking roles, we can explore a problem or situation from multiple angles, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Let’s dive deeper into each of the six hats and discover their unique characteristics.
The Blue Hat: The Director 🧢
The Blue Hat serves as the director or organizer of the thinking process.
Like a conductor leading an orchestra, this hat manages the overall thinking session, sets the agenda, and keeps everyone on track.
It is responsible for defining the focus and objectives of the discussion, ensuring everyone has a clear understanding of the problem at hand.
The White Hat: The Observer 👒
Putting on the White Hat, we adopt an analytical and objective perspective.
This hat represents data and facts.
When wearing the White Hat, we focus on gathering information, examining the available data, and seeking evidence to support our arguments.
By adopting a logical and rational approach, we can make informed decisions based on concrete evidence.
The Red Hat: The Emotional 💃
Emotions play a significant role in decision-making and problem-solving.
Wearing the Red Hat, we embrace our intuition, gut feelings, and emotions.
This hat encourages us to express our desires, fears, and concerns openly.
By acknowledging and considering the emotional aspect of a situation, we can gain insights that may otherwise remain hidden.
The Black Hat: The Devil’s Advocate 😈
Wearing the Black Hat, we assume the role of the skeptic, the critical thinker.
This hat is all about cautious and careful thinking. It encourages us to identify potential risks, problems, and flaws in our ideas or solutions.
By examining the downsides and challenges, we can strengthen our arguments and develop more robust strategies.
The Yellow Hat: The Optimist 😄
The Yellow Hat brings optimism and positivity into the thinking process. Wearing this hat, we focus on exploring the benefits, opportunities, and advantages of a particular idea or solution.
It allows us to tap into our creativity and discover possibilities we might have overlooked.
By embracing the optimistic perspective, we can generate innovative and forward-thinking ideas.
The Green Hat: The Creative Thinker 🌱
Creativity flourishes under the Green Hat. Wearing this hat, we unleash our imagination and divergent thinking skills.
The Green Hat encourages us to generate wild ideas, explore alternatives, and challenge assumptions.
It invites us to think outside the box and consider unconventional approaches.
By adopting a playful and open-minded mindset, we can discover groundbreaking solutions.
The Six Thinking Hats in Practice
🧩 Now that we have a solid understanding of each hat’s unique role let us explore how we can apply the Six Thinking Hats in practice.
By incorporating this framework into our decision-making and problem-solving processes, we can enhance our creativity, improve collaboration, and arrive at more well-rounded solutions.
- Identify the Problem: Start by clearly defining the problem or situation you want to address. This provides the necessary context for the thinking session.
- Set the Ground Rules: Assign someone to be the Blue Hat and guide the session. Establish the order in which the hats will be used and define the time limits for each thinking role.
- Wear Each Hat: Progress through the six hats one by one, ensuring that everyone in the group takes on each perspective. It is crucial to allocate sufficient time for each hat to fully explore its perspective.
- Capture Ideas: As ideas and insights emerge during each hat’s discussion, document them. This can be done through note-taking, flip charts, or digital collaboration tools. It is important to record all ideas without judgment or evaluation at this stage.
- Analyze and Synthesize: Once you have gone through all the hats, review the ideas and insights generated. Look for connections, patterns, and areas of overlap. Identify the most promising ideas that have emerged.
- Evaluate and Refine: Now, wearing the Black Hat, critically analyze the ideas and solutions. Identify potential challenges, risks, or weaknesses associated with each option. This evaluation will help refine and strengthen the selected ideas.
- Iterate and Brainstorm: Return to the Green Hat and engage in a creative brainstorming session. Generate additional ideas and explore alternative approaches. This step encourages thinking beyond the initial solutions and fosters innovation.
- Make Decisions: After thoroughly exploring and refining the ideas, it’s time to make decisions. Use the insights gained from the different thinking hats to inform your choices. Consider the pros and cons, the emotional aspects, and the practicality of each option.
- Implement and Reflect: Once decisions have been made, put the chosen solutions into action. Monitor their effectiveness and make adjustments as necessary. Reflect on the process and outcomes, identifying lessons learned for future applications.
Benefits of the Six Thinking Hats
🌟 The Six Thinking Hats approach offers several benefits that can revolutionize the way we think and work:
- Enhanced Creativity: By adopting different thinking perspectives, the framework stimulates creativity and encourages the generation of innovative ideas.
- Improved Decision-Making: Considering multiple viewpoints and incorporating diverse thinking styles leads to more comprehensive and well-informed decisions.
- Balanced Discussions: The Six Thinking Hats ensure that everyone’s perspectives are heard and considered, promoting collaboration and inclusivity within a group.
- Reduced Bias: By consciously switching between thinking roles, individuals can overcome cognitive biases and preconceived notions, leading to more objective and open-minded thinking.
- Efficient Meetings: The structured approach of the Six Thinking Hats keeps discussions focused and prevents time wasted on unproductive debates.
- Increased Engagement: The interactive nature of the framework encourages active participation from all individuals involved, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement.
🌈 The Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono offer a powerful methodology to unlock creativity, enhance decision-making, and foster collaborative thinking.
By wearing different hats symbolically, we can explore problems and situations from multiple angles, tapping into our analytical, emotional, critical, optimistic, and creative capacities.
The structured approach of the Six Thinking Hats ensures that discussions are well-organized, balanced, and inclusive, leading to more robust solutions and innovative ideas.
So, next time you face a challenge, remember to don your thinking hat and embrace the power of parallel thinking! 🎩


- What is a coastal vegetation?
- Where is the coastal vegetation found?
- What type of vegetation is commonly found at sea level?
- Which type of vegetation is found near the sea coast?
- Which forests are found along the coastal regions?
- How is healthy dune vegetation beneficial?
- What is being done to protect sand dunes?
- How does vegetation Stabilise a coastline?
- What are the three types of natural vegetation?
- Which oil crops are found in coastal areas?
- How is healthy dune vegetation beneficial to a beach?
- Why is vegetation important for sand dunes and the management of coastal areas?
- Why is beach vegetation important?
- Why shouldnt you walk on sand dunes?
- How does vegetation affect the coastline?
- What does loss of vegetation mean?
- What is the coastal vegetation in India called?
- What is a natural vegetation?
- Why can you only find plants in the coastal zone?
- What’s the meaning of vegetation?
- How do you stabilize sand dunes?
What is a coastal vegetation?
Coastal Strand is a plant community of flowering plants that form along the shore in loose sand just above the high tide line, on the West Coast of the United States.
Plants that grow along the coast are very tolerant of the winds and salt and sand loaded ocean spray..
Where is the coastal vegetation found?
Beach vegetation usually forms a very narrow strip on the upper beach of many coasts. However, in areas of low rainfall or where mobile dunes lie in a wide band next to the beach, the species found on the upper beach may penetrate as far as two kilometers inland.
What type of vegetation is commonly found at sea level?
Eucalypt savannaEucalypt savanna is the most common type, occurring from sea level to about 1 700 m on a variety of land forms that are never flooded. In hilly terrain, eucalypt savanna is commonly confined to crests and upper slopes while the lower slopes and valley bottoms remain in forest.
Which type of vegetation is found near the sea coast?
On the one hand, a wide range of productive and diverse ecosystems is found in coastal zones: coral reefs, lagoons, sea grass beds, wetlands, sand dunes, temperate and tropical forests, mangrove forests, and other coastal vegetation.
Which forests are found along the coastal regions?
Coastal forest ecosystemsMangroves. Mangroves are the most typical forest formations of sheltered coastlines in the tropics and subtropics. … Beach forests. … Peat swamp forests. … Periodic swamps. … Freshwater swamp forests. … Riparian forests. … Other coastal forest ecosystems.
How is healthy dune vegetation beneficial?
Healthy dune systems can serve as a repository for sand to naturally replenish beaches that have experienced significant erosion from coastal storms. Coastal development is a major cause of concern for beaches and dunes.
What is being done to protect sand dunes?
Stabilizing dunes involves multiple actions. Planting vegetation reduces the impact of wind and water. Wooden sand fences can help retain sand and other material needed for a healthy sand dune ecosystem. … They can also protect beaches from erosion and recruit sand to eroded beaches and to many other places too .
How does vegetation Stabilise a coastline?
Vegetation can be important to stabilizing coasts because they allow flocculation which is the binding sediment together in bigger clusters making them stay put where they are as they become heavier and harder to be transported by wind or water- plants and vegetation also stabilize sediment in water because the plants …
What are the three types of natural vegetation?
Vegetation regions can be divided into five major types: forest, grassland, tundra, desert, and ice sheet. Climate, soil, the ability of soil to hold water, and the slope, or angle, of the land all determine what types of plants will grow in a particular region.
Which oil crops are found in coastal areas?
Halophytes can be used to produce edible oils, medicines, vegetables, and cattle and fish feed. Halophytes can be found throughout the coastal areas of India.
How is healthy dune vegetation beneficial to a beach?
They also keep beaches healthy by accreting sand and minimizing beach erosion rates. The dunes protect coastal infrastructure and upland properties from storm damage by blocking storm surge and absorbing wave energy. A healthy dune system is an invaluable asset to coastal communities like Miami Beach.
Why is vegetation important for sand dunes and the management of coastal areas?
Coastal vegetation play an important role in maintaining the integrity of our dune systems – they act as a windbreak, trapping deposited sand particles and stabilising the dune system. Without vegetation, this natural protective barrier would be lost to the effects of wind and wave erosion.
Why is beach vegetation important?
Plant stems and leaves covering the ground surface protect sediment from wave erosion and erosion form tidal or longshore currents when exposed at high tide. They also prevent sediment from wind erosion at low tide.
Why shouldnt you walk on sand dunes?
Storms and strong winds can damage storm dunes and push them inland. Other that storms, the other major cause of damage to dunes is people. By walking or playing on sand dunes, we damage the beach grass and other plants that hold the dune together. … Over time, the dune and all its benefits will be lost.
How does vegetation affect the coastline?
The native vegetation in coastal areas plays an important role in stabilising the surface against wind erosion and provides habitat for wildlife. Coastal dunes provide a buffer against coastal hazards such as wind erosion, wave overtopping and tidal inundation during storm events.
What does loss of vegetation mean?
Land use classifies the types of vegetation on the land. … The more recent increase in developed land, especially around urban areas, causes a “heat island” effect, and large cities with no exposed ground or vegetation become very hot during the day. The lack of vegetation means there is no transpiration to cool the air.
What is the coastal vegetation in India called?
Answer: Mangrove Forests. You can find the mangrove tidal forests in the areas of coasts influenced by tides. Mud and silt get accumulated on such coasts. Dense mangroves are the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged under water.
What is a natural vegetation?
Natural vegetation means the plants that have not been grown by humans. … The growth of vegetation depends on temperature and moisture. It also depends on factors like slope and thickness of soil. It is categorized into three broad categories: Forest, grassland and shrubs.
Why can you only find plants in the coastal zone?
Plants specially adapted to grow in salty, shifting sand thrive at the very top of the beach in a zone referred to as the coastal strand. … The loose sediment, scarce freshwater, and highly saline conditions are inhospitable to most plants, but the few species that live here cannot survive anywhere else.
What’s the meaning of vegetation?
1 : plant life or total plant cover (as of an area) 2 : the act or process of vegetating. 3 : inert existence. 4 : an abnormal growth upon a body part fibrin vegetations on the mitral valve.
How do you stabilize sand dunes?
Beach grasses are pioneer plants in stabilization of coastal sand dunes. They create an environment more attractive to other species of plants and thus encourages colonization by animals. Slowly the dune changes character. As the plants become established, the dune becomes more stable.


Earlier this year, I wrote a short blog about how I envisioned the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) Program, The What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC), and the Comprehensive Center Program could work together to take discovery to scale. In it, I promised I would follow-up with more thoughts on a specific—and critically important—example: making WWC Practice Guides actionable for educators. I do so below. At the end of this blog, I pose a few questions on which I welcome comments.
The challenge. The single most important resources the WWC produces are its Practice Guides. Practice Guides evaluate the research on a given topic—say, teaching fractions in elementary and middle school—and boil study findings down to a handful of evidence-based practices for educators. Each practice is given a rating to indicate the WWC’s confidence in the underlying evidence, along with tips for how practices can be implemented in the classroom. In many ways, Practice Guides are IES’s most specific and definitive statements about what works to improve education practice and promote student achievement.
Despite their importance, the amount of effort IES has intentionally dedicated to producing high-quality resources that support educators in implementing Practice Guide recommendations has been uneven. (By most measures, it has been on the decline.) Why? Although we have confidence that the materials we have already produced are high-quality, we cannot prove it. Rigor is part of our DNA, and the absence of systematic efficacy tests demonstrating tools’ contribution to improved teacher practice has made us hesitant to dramatically expand IES-branded resources.
To their credit, several organizations have stepped in to address the “last mile problem” between Practice Guides and classroom practice. Some, like RELs, are IES partners. As a result, we have seen a small number of Practice Guides turned in to professional learning community guides, massively on-line open courses, and other teacher-facing resources. Despite these efforts, similar resources have not been developed for the overwhelming majority of Practice Guides. This means many of our Guides and the dozens of recommendations for evidence-based practice they contain are languishing underused on IES’s virtual bookshelf.
An idea. IES should “back” the systematic transformation of Practice Guide recommendations from words on a page to high-quality materials that support teachers’ use of evidence-based practices in their classrooms. And because we should demonstrate our own practice works, those materials should be tested for efficacy.
From my perspective, RELs are well-suited to this task. This work unambiguously aligns with RELs’ purpose, which is to improve student achievement using scientifically-valid research. It also leverages RELs’ unique value proposition among federal technical assistance providers: the capacity to conduct rigorous research and development activities in partnership with state and local educators. If RELs took on a greater role in supporting Practice Guides in the next REL cycle—which runs from 2022 until 2027—what might it look like in practice?
One model involves RELs collaborating with state and/or district partners to design, pilot, and test a coherent set of resources (a “toolkit”) that help educators bring Practice Guide recommendations to life in the classroom. Potential products might include rubrics to audit current policy or practice, videos of high-quality instructional practice, sample classroom materials, or professional learning community facilitation guides, each linked to one or more Practice Guide recommendations.
Long-time followers of the WWC may recognize the design aspect of this work as similar to the defunct Doing What Works Program. The difference? New resources would not only be developed in collaboration with educators, they must be piloted and tested with them as well. It’s simple, really: if we expect educators to use evidence-based practices in the classroom, we need evidence-based tools to help teachers succeed when implementing them.
Once vetted, materials must get into the hands of educators who need them. It’s here where the value of the REL-Comprehensive Center partnership becomes clear. With a mission of supporting each state education agency in its school improvement efforts, Regional Comprehensive Centers are in the ideal position to bring resources and implementation supports to state and local education leaders that meet their unique needs. Tools that are developed, piloted, and refined by a REL and educators in a single state can then be disseminated by the national network of Comprehensive Centers to meet other states’ needs.
Extensions. It isn’t hard to imagine other activities that the WWC, RELs, and Comprehensive Centers might take on to maximize this model’s potential effectiveness. Most hinge on building effective feedback loops.
Promoting continuous improvement of Practice Guide resources is an obvious example. RELs could and should be in the business of following Comprehensive Centers as they work with states and districts to implement REL-developed Practice Guide supports, looking for ways to maximize their effectiveness. Similarly, Comprehensive Centers and RELs should be regularly communicating with one another about needs-sensing, identifying areas where support for evidence-based practice is lacking and determining which partners to involve in the solution. When there is a growing body of evidence to support educator best practice, the WWC is in the best position to take the lead and develop a new Practice Guide. When that body of evidence does not exist yet—or when even the practices themselves are underdeveloped—the RELs and other parts of IES, such as the National Centers for Education and Special Education Research, should step in.
Questions. When the WWC releases a new Practice Guide, its work may be done—at least temporarily. The work of its partners to support take-up of a Guide’s recommendations will, however, have just begun. I’d appreciate your thoughts on how to best accomplish that transition, and offer up the following additional questions for your consideration:
- Are we thinking about the problem correctly, and in a helpful way? Are there elements of the problem that should be redefined, and would that lead us to different solutions?
- What parts of the problem does this proposed solution address well, and where are its shortcomings? Are there other solutions—even solutions that don’t seem to fit squarely within today’s model of the REL Program—that might be more effective?
- If we proceed under a model like that which is described above:
- What sort of REL partnership models would be most effective in supporting the conceptualization, design, piloting, and testing of teacher-facing “toolkits” aligned to WWC Practice Guides?
- What research and evaluation activities—and which outcome measures—should be incorporated into this activity to give IES confidence that the resulting “toolkits” are likely to be associated with changed teacher practice and improved student outcomes?
- How does the 5-year limit on REL contracts affect the feasibility of this idea, including its scope and cost? What could be accomplished in 5 years, and what might take longer to see to completion?
- How could RELs leverage existing ED-sponsored content, such as that created by Doing What Works, in service of this new effort?
If you have thoughts on these questions or other feedback you would like to share, please e-mail me. I can be reached directly at email@example.com. Thanks in advance for the consideration!
by Matthew Soldner, NCEE Commissioner


Material culture in the early modern world
This course engages with the vigorous historiographical debates on consumption from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment in a global perspective. Key questions are to what extent this period witnessed a “consumer revolution” and birth of “Western materialism”, or whether early modern Europe was just one of several global centres in which the production and consumption of goods proliferated during this period. Lectures focus not just on Europe, but the Ottoman Empire, Asia and North America. How can historians find out about the meanings a greater number of things held for people in different milieus and how contemporaries approached question of value? Did an engagement with things and appearances constitute identities, so that personhood must therefore be thought of as emerging in relation to objects and exchange, rather than as pre-existing entity? In what ways did the importance of domestic interiors and cuisine change? Should we regard slaves and concubines as part of a contemporary material culture, where you could own people? Students will gain a fresh and stimulating grounding of the central themes in early modern history as well as of methodological and theoretical frameworks of recent historical writing, which understands the importance of looking at early modern Europe as part of a globalising world. The course allows students to become familiar with the language and approaches of art history and anthropology as well as with changes within economic and cultural history. Key issues interlink particularly closely with HAP teaching on images, artefacts, cultural history, trans-national history, and gender history. In addition to lectures and seminars there are handling sessions and museum visits in Cambridge, guided by experts in the field. These visits provide a rare opportunity to closely look at objects to reflect on what evidence they provide for historians
For further information please follow the link below.
Image: A sorbet seller balancing a tray with bowls and pitchers on top of his turban and holding a glass bowl in his right hand; a wooden stand in his left hand. From a series of 127 woodcuts by Melchior Lorck.


As the debate gets underway on a new set of sustainable development goals, targets and indicators to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, an initiative led by CESR board chair Alicia Yamin and CESR board member, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr offers some timely and important guidance on the implications of target-setting and measurement of progress from a human rights perspective.
'The Power of Numbers: A Critical Review of MDG Targets for Human Development and Human Rights' explores how global goal-setting under the MDGs has shaped international development priorities and thinking. It analysis both the empirical effects of the MDG targets on policy priorities and their normative effects on policy discourses around the means to achieve important human development objectives.
An overview document sets out the findings of the initiative, coordinated by Alicia Yamin (Lecturer on Global Health and Director of the Program on the Health Rights of Women and Children at the Fran??ois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University) and Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (Professor of International Affairs at The New School). Eleven MDG-related targets were studied in depth by 17 scholars from around the world. The project finds that, as well as mobilizing attention and effort around important poverty-related objectives, quantitative goal-setting under the MDGs has had unintended consequences, such as distorting priorities by displacing attention from other objectives, disrupting on-going programs as well as advocacy alliances, creating perverse incentives and undermining alternative analyses and policy strategies.
The authors recommend that both positive and negative lessons from experience be kept in mind in the design of new goals and targets under the post-2015 agenda. These lessons are set out in more detail in a complementary paper, 'Lessons for Setting Targets and Agreeing Indicators'. It finds that the criteria which guided the selection of MDG goals, targets and indicators were insufficient and often in direct conflict with human rights principles and priorities. It analyses the criteria proposed in the Rio+20 Outcome Document as well as by the Un Secretary General??s High Level Panel, and outlines the desirable characteristics of any future goals, targets and indicators from the perspective of the different functions they are intended to serve, whether political mobilization, programming, progress monitoring or strengthening human rights accountability. It recommends the adoption of metrics more capable of monitoring the human rights dimensions of development progress, including equality of outcomes as well as opportunities; vulnerability, insecurity and exclusion; and meaningful participation, voice and accountability.
The initiative is a particularly valuable contribution to the debate on measurement in relation to sustainable development and human rights objectives. It is also very timely, as the UN??s Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals meets to discuss these issues.
For more on the outcomes of the recent Open Working Group session on human rights, and CESR??s advocacy around it, see here. CESR??s proposals regarding the criteria that should inform the selection of goals, targets and indicators are discussed in the publication, 'Who Will Be Accountable? Human Rights and the Post-2015 Development Agenda', published with OHCHR in May 2013.


Dysphagia is the medical term used to describe difficulty swallowing. Dysphagia includes difficulty starting a swallow (called oropharyngeal dysphagia) and the sensation of food being stuck in the neck or chest (called esophageal dysphagia). Oropharyngeal dysphagia can result from abnormal functioning of the nerves and muscles of the mouth, pharynx (back of the throat) and upper esophageal sphincter (muscle at the top end of the swallowing tube). Diseases that involve the swallowing tube (esophagus) can cause esophageal dysphagia. When a patient is being evaluated for dysphagia, it is important for the doctor to determine which type of dysphagia is more likely, oropharyngeal or esophageal, as different tests are ordered for each type.
Dysphagia needs to be distinguished from odynophagia, which is defined as pain during swallowing. This can arise from infection or inflammation in the esophagus. Dysphagia also needs to be distinguished from globus sensation. This is a constant sensation of something being stuck at the back of the throat, which does not typically make swallowing difficult. In contrast, dysphagia is a symptom that only occurs when attempting to swallow. Globus can sometimes be seen in acid reflux disease, but more often, it is due to increased sensitivity in the throat or esophagus.
Just as there are two types of dysphagia – oropharyngeal and esophageal dysphagia – there are similarly two broad groups of causes for dysphagia. Within each broad group, there are two subgroups of causes: neuromuscular (involving the nerve or muscle), and structural, where the esophagus is narrowed or compromised.
Neuromuscular causes are more frequent than structural causes for this type of dysphagia. This is because the nerves controlling the muscles of the mouth, back of throat (pharynx) and top end of the esophagus (upper esophageal sphincter) have direct connections with the brain through cranial nerves, and can therefore be damaged in diseases involving the brain or cranial nerves.
Less common than neuromuscular causes are structural causes, including strictures (narrowed areas), or rarely tumors growing in the back of the throat.
In this type of dysphagia, structural causes are far more frequent than disorders involving nerves or muscles. Therefore, narrowing in the esophagus from scarring due to acid reflux disease, inflammation of the lining of the esophagus (usually from acid reflux disease but occasionally from infections), tumors within the esophagus, and compression of the esophagus from growths in the chest or sometimes even an enlarged heart can all cause dysphagia. In addition, a unique type of inflammation caused by a type of blood cell called eosinophils can cause dysphagia; this condition is called eosinophilic esophagitis.
Less common are disorders involving the nerves and muscle of the esophagus. The esophageal muscle can be weak and sometimes unable to generate adequate pressure during contraction. In extreme situations, the muscle generates no force and is unable to squeeze – this is sometimes called scleroderma esophagus (even though scleroderma is not frequently the cause), and can be associated with dysphagia. Another disorder of the nerves and muscles is achalasia; a condition in which the muscle at the bottom end of the esophagus cannot relax during swallowing because of abnormal nerve control. The muscle in the body of the esophagus also does not squeeze normally in achalasia, and becomes weak and stretched. When the nerves are abnormal to a lesser degree, spasm of the esophagus may result, which can also cause dysphagia.
By definition, dysphagia is the sensation that food or liquids do not pass normally from the mouth to the stomach. Symptoms can vary depending on the location of the abnormality causing dysphagia. When the patient has oropharyngeal dysphagia from a neuromuscular cause, muscles involved in chewing and in pushing food to the back of the throat may also be involved. In general, dysphagia occurring within one second of trying to swallow is due to oropharyngeal dysphagia. The muscles that protect the nose and the voice box (larynx) during swallowing may be defective in their function, causing the patient to have food and drink come out through the nose or enter the airway through the larynx (voice box) while trying to swallow (called ‘aspiration’). Food entering the larynx can cause choking, coughing, or even lead to a type of pneumonia called aspiration pneumonia. There may be a change in the patient’s voice (husky voice or hoarse voice) because of involvement of nerves that control the vocal cords. The trouble swallowing is typically felt in the region of the back of the throat.
With esophageal dysphagia, food may be swallowed normally, but may get stuck in the neck or chest. Sometimes, swallowed food comes back up (regurgitation), when it may taste like the food just eaten. Difficulty swallowing is usually worse with solids than with liquids. Symptoms of acid reflux disease such as heartburn may also be present, since reflux is the most common cause of narrowing in the esophagus causing dysphagia. Even though the abnormality may be at the bottom end of the esophagus, the sensation of food being stuck may be felt higher up in the chest or even in the neck region. Rarely, food may actually block the esophagus (food impaction) – this will result in a total inability to swallow, including liquids, and usually requires urgent endoscopy to remove the food bolus. Achalasia, a condition where the esophagus fails to relax and allow food to pass, may be difficult to diagnose because symptoms progress slowly. In achalasia, difficulty may occur with both solids and liquids, and symptoms may be severe enough to cause weight loss. Patients with esophageal spasm can have chest pain as well.
The first step is to distinguish between oropharyngeal dysphagia and esophageal dysphagia from the patient’s symptoms. The evaluation begins with a careful history from the patient, which can provide direction towards the cause of dysphagia in the majority of patients. Tests performed on patients with dysphagia depend on whether the doctor thinks that the patient has oropharyngeal or esophageal dysphagia.
Investigation of oropharyngeal dysphagia starts with a careful neurologic examination to identify which nerves and muscles might be abnormal. Swallowing function testing of the mouth and throat can be performed with videofluoroscopy or modified barium swallow. This test involves giving the patient food items of different consistency (e.g. cookie, marshmallow) containing barium and observing the swallow on an x-ray screen (fluoroscopy). This test can show if the barium enters the larynx (opening to the breathing tube) while attempting to swallow, or if it passes normally through the upper esophageal sphincter, and can help determine how the patient can position his or her head or neck to make each swallow effective.
A tiny endoscope can be introduced through the nose to the back of the throat to see the act of swallowing – this test is called nasal endoscopy. This test can also be used to stimulate the back of the throat with a jet of air to see if the muscle responds or if it is paralyzed. When tumors of the back of the throat or back of the brain are suspected, a CT scan or a MRI scan of the head and neck may be useful. Measurement of pressures within the back of the throat during swallowing (manometry) is less useful, but the newer high resolution manometry techniques can be considered if other tests fail to find an abnormality. Finally, blood tests can be useful to diagnose myasthenia gravis, polymyositis and other muscle disorders.
Endoscopy (examination of the esophagus using a tube with a light and a video camera at the end) is one of the tests used in the evaluation of esophageal dysphagia. This test not only allows the doctor to inspect the lumen and lining of the esophagus, but samples of abnormal tissue can be taken for examination and if appropriate, treatment can be performed by stretching out narrowed areas. Another test that can be used is to take x-rays while the patient swallows barium (barium swallow or esophagram). This is most useful when the esophagus is expected to have very tight narrowing. If a narrowing is not seen on either endoscopy or barium swallow, measurement of pressures within the esophagus while swallowing sips of water (manometry) can help find out if the muscle of the esophagus squeezes or relaxes abnormally while swallowing, and can diagnose conditions like achalasia or esophageal spasm.
For the most part, the treatment of dysphagia depends on the cause. Treatment often involves making a change in the foods eaten or the consistency of food. The modified barium swallow may identify foods of certain consistencies that can be swallowed better than others. The test can also identify head and neck positions that facilitate swallowing.
Patients with narrowing of the esophagus benefit from stretching (dilating) the esophagus. Several techniques are available for dilation. Balloons can be passed through the endoscope and distended to stretch the narrowing, or dilators (long rubber or plastic cylinders of various sizes) can be passed through the mouth, sometimes over a guide wire. Since narrowing is usually related to acid reflux disease, treatment with an acid lowering agent is usually recommended. Patients with eosinophilic esophagitis are treated with acid lowering agents or steroid preparations sprayed to the back of the throat and swallowed. Dilation is also affective but should be performed with caution to avoid tears; dilation is usually done if steroid preparations do not improve dysphagia in eosinophilic esophagitis. When the narrowing is from inoperable cancer, wire or metal stents (thin expandable tubes) can be placed during endoscopy to keep the lumen of the esophagus open allowing food and liquid to pass through. Patients with achalasia improve when the muscle at the bottom end of the esophagus is disrupted, either with a large balloon (pneumatic dilation) or during surgery where the muscle is cut (myotomy). Sometimes, botulinum toxin (BOTOX®) can be injected into the muscle at the bottom end of the esophagus to make it relax, but this treatment only results in short term improvement in achalasia.
Can I expect my dysphagia to improve?
This depends on the cause of dysphagia. Dysphagia from strictures (narrowings) in the esophagus may improve very well with stretching of the esophagus, but repeat endoscopic sessions for stretching may be necessary from time to time. Dysphagia from acid reflux disease, esophageal infections and eosinophilic esophagitis may resolve completely with medicines. Dysphagia from achalasia improves with either surgery or forceful dilation of the lower end of the esophagus, but the esophagus remains dilated. When the cause of dysphagia cannot be treated, alternative options include placing a metal or wire stent to keep the esophagus open, especially when the narrowing is due to a cancer.
With both types of dysphagia, if symptoms are present over a long period of time, patients may lose weight and become malnourished. Weight loss can be worse when the cause is cancer of the esophagus, or if there is a very tight narrowing or obstruction in the esophagus. Dehydration can occur if there is difficulty swallowing liquids. Sometimes, if esophageal blockage is nearly complete, it can be bypassed to avoid some of these problems, by placing a tube into the stomach for feeding (percutaneous gastrostomy tube). This is also sometimes performed in oropharyngeal dysphagia when the risk of food and liquids entering the lungs and causing pneumonia is high.
Author(s) and Publication Date(s)
©American College of Gastroenterology
C. Prakash Gyawali, MD, MRCP, FACG, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO – Published November 2010.


The term “free electron laser” (FEL) refers to a source of coherent electromagnetic radiation generated by an electron beam, through an amplification, or self-amplification mechanism. Their modern development (and indeed the name “free electron laser”) goes back to the work of Madey and colleagues at Stanford in the early 1970s, although they also have roots in earlier electron beam devices such as the klystron, the travelling wave tube, the undulator and the ubitron, developed between the 1930s and 60s. In a FEL, amplification by stimulated emission occurs when the radiation and a relativistic electron beam propagate together through an undulator magnet. Although the first description was quantum mechanical, it was subsequently shown that FELs can be understood classically as a result of bunching of the electrons on the scale of the radiation wavelength, resulting in coherent emission of radiation (essentially coherent synchrotron radiation). The electrons are ‘free’ in the sense that they are not bound to atoms as in conventional lasers, however they are not completely free since they are under the influence of electromagnetic forces which cause them to radiate.
It has been recognised since the very beginning of the field that the lack of a conventional “lasing medium” gives the FEL enormous advantages: the wavelength of the radiation depends on the electron beam energy and undulator magnetic field strength and hence is continuously tuneable and can reach very short wavelengths. The configuration of the magnetic field also allows variable polarization to be obtained. There are no gain medium breakdown problems and hence there is the possibility of obtaining high peak and average power levels. Finally, the time structure is largely determined by that of the electron beam which therefore permits a flexible pulse length and repetition frequency.
The earliest FELs were oscillators, in which the radiation emitted in the undulator is trapped in an optical cavity whose round-trip time is synchronised to the spacing between successive electron bunches. In this way the intensity builds up after many passes and eventually results in coherent radiation. Oscillator FELs are very successful in the IR region and there are several user facilities in operation. Oscillator FELs have also reached into the VUV, but their extension to shorter wavelengths is currently limited by the availability of suitable mirrors. Most recent developments have therefore concentrated on achievement of much more powerful amplifiers that remove the need for mirrors completely. In its most basic form, the so-called Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) mode, the initial incoherent radiation from the electron beam causes the electrons to be bunched, resulting in enhanced emission, which causes more bunching and so on. The radiation intensity grows exponentially until a saturation point is reached. The resulting output intensity is very high, in particular many orders of magnitude higher in peak intensity compared to alternative incoherent synchrotron radiation sources.
The main scientific driver for the development of FELs has been to achieve short wavelengths, going well beyond the realm of conventional laser, and laser-based, sources. Reaching the 1 Å level however requires ~10 GeV electron beams of very high quality and it has taken many years of painstaking development until the required high quality electron beams could be generated, and there was sufficient confidence in other technology, and the underlying physics, that funding agencies could be convinced to embark on such large-scale projects. The era of the Angstrom FEL was finally entered in April 2009 with the first lasing at 1.5 Å of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at Stanford, USA. Today, regular experiments are underway using the LCLS in the 25-1.2 Å range, the first lasing at 1.2 Å of the SACLA X-ray facility in Japan was announced in June 2011 and several other facilities are under construction around the world: truly we are standing on the threshold of a new era of amazing discoveries in X-ray science.
New Science with X-ray FELS
The arrival of the first hard X-ray free electron laser facilities promises new advances in structural dynamics and nanoscale imaging that will have impact across the sciences. Free electron lasers operating in the X-ray range offer a unique combination of light source properties of extreme brightness, coherence and ultra-short pulse duration. These properties are anticipated to open important new scientific opportunities for time resolved structural studies and to enable a new class of coherent diffraction X-ray imaging. The potential importance of this new imaging method in the study of nanostructures and biological systems at the sub-cellular and molecular level is evidenced by recent prominent research results such as M.M.Siebert et al Single mimivirus particles intercepted and imaged with an X-ray laser Nature, 470 (2011) 78-81 and H.N. Chapman et al Femtosecond X-ray protein nanocrystallography Nature, 470 (2011) 73-77.
The properties of the light from free electron lasers, are dramatically different from both those of storage rings and conventional lasers. Storage ring synchrotron radiation has enormous spectral coverage and can deliver a high photon fluence (i.e. the average number of photons delivered per second) up to hard X-rays (10’s keV). This has allowed these sources to be the dominant tool for crystallography, X-ray imaging, X-ray spectroscopy and many other areas of X-ray science for the last four decades. Nevertheless these sources have low peak brightness (i.e. peak number of photons delivered per second), especially if a narrow spectral bandwidth or a short pulse is selected. With advanced pulse slicing techniques, synchrotron sources can provide sub-picosecond temporal resolution but only with tiny flux which severely limits the utility for measuring rapid changes. Conventional lasers have advanced hugely in recent years and can produce extremely short pulses (~5 fs) at very high brightness but these capabilities are limited only to the UV/visible/near IR range.
Free electron lasers on the other hand combine the benefits of both types of source, and can deliver high intensity laser-like radiation with variable polarization and flexible time structure across a wide spectral range (1010 times greater than in conventional synchrotrons.
The photon energy range that is covered by LCLS for instance is from 500eV to 10 keV (2.5nm to 0.1nm) so the radiation spans the soft to hard X-ray range. In this photon energy (wavelength) range X-ray scattering/diffraction can be used to extract material structure to the atomic level. This has been widely demonstrated using conventional X-ray sources, especially synchrotrons, where one of the major activities is X-ray structure determination e.g. of proteins through crystallographic methods. As well as elastic scattering of X-ray photons the absorption of X-rays may occur which leads to photoionisation predominately from the atomic inner shells. The atomic specificity of the X-ray spectrum, that carries information on the local chemical environment, is also widely used in research with synchrotrons, e.g. via XANES (X-ray absorption near edge structure) and EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure). The combination of short pulses (~5 -200 fs duration) which are highly energetic (mJ level, 1013-1012 photons per pulse) is now opening the door to time resolved structural and chemical research.
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Chandra Observes Titanic Merger
The Chandra observations of the peculiar galaxy Arp 220 gives new insight into what happens when two galaxies the size of the Milky Way collide. The image shows a bright central region at the waist of a glowing hour-glass-shaped cloud of multimillion degree gas that is rushing out of the galaxy at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. This "superwind" is thought to be due to explosive activity generated by the formation of hundreds of millions of new stars.
Further out, spanning a distance of 75,000 light years, are giant lobes of hot gas. These could be galactic remnants that have been flung into intergalactic space by the early impact of the collision. Whether the lobes will continue to expand into space or fall back into Arp 220 is unknown.
In the central region of Arp 220, the Chandra observations allowed astronomers to pinpoint an X-ray source at the exact location of the nucleus of one of the pre-merger galaxies. Another fainter X-ray source nearby may coincide with the nucleus of the other galaxy remnant. These sources could be due to supermassive black holes at the centers of the merging galaxies. In a few hundred million years the two supermassive black holes could merge to produce a larger, supermassive black hole in the center of the conglomerate galaxy.
Arp 220, at a relatively nearby distance of about 250 million light years from Earth, is a prototype for understanding what conditions were like in the early universe when massive galaxies and supermassive black holes may have been formed by numerous galaxy collisions.


- by New Deal democrat
This is a follow-up on yesterday’s post regarding the history of the Judiciary under republics. In that post I pointed out that the concept of an independent judiciary is a modern one that started in the era of Britain’s Glorious Revolution of 1688, and was radically expanded by the US Constitution.
How the framers envisioned the US Supreme Court fit into the scheme of three independent branches of government was set forth in The Federalist Papers numbers 78 through 83. Of those, 3 are not relevant to this discussion: Number 80, which deals with types of court jurisdiction, Number 82 on relations between the State vs. Federal judiciaries, and Number 83, explaining that the Constitution does not abolish trial by jury.
Below I quote extensively from Federalists numbers 78, 79, and 81, all written by Alexander Hamilton, grouping those quotes by subject matter, with cites at the end of each quote. I discuss the historical problems with Hamilton’s arguments thereafter.
Placing the Constitution’s plan in historical context:
“That there ought to be one court of supreme and final jurisdiction, is a proposition which is not likely to be contested.... The only question that seems to have been raised concerning it, is, whether it ought to be a distinct body or a branch of the legislature.” (No. 81)
“According to the plan of the convention, all judges who may be appointed by the United States are to hold their offices DURING GOOD BEHAVIOR .... The standard of good behavior for the continuance in office of the judicial magistracy, is certainly one of the most valuable of the modern improvements in the practice of government. In a monarchy it is an excellent barrier to the despotism of the prince; in a republic it is a no less excellent barrier to the encroachments and oppressions of the representative body. And it is the best expedient which can be devised in any government, to secure a steady, upright, and impartial administration of the laws.: (No. 78)
Comparing the US Supreme Court vs. the UK’s House of Lords as court of final appeal:
“In Britain, the judicial power, in the last resort, resides in the House of Lords, which is a branch of the legislature; and this part of the British government has been imitated in the State constitutions in general.” (No. 81)
“the particular organization of the Supreme Court [is] being composed of a distinct body of magistrates, instead of being one of the branches of the legislature, as in the government of Great Britain and that of the State. ....” (No. 81)
“Considerations [of legal specialization and acumen of judges vs. legislators should] cause us to applaud the wisdom of those States who have committed the judicial power, in the last resort, not to a part of the legislature, but to distinct and independent bodies of men. Contrary to the supposition of those who have represented the plan of the convention, in this respect, as novel and unprecedented, it is but a copy of the constitutions of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; and the preference which has been given to those models is highly to be commended.....” (No. 81)
The Judiciary would have to rely on the Executive to enforce its judgments:
“In the first place, there is not a syllable in the plan under consideration which DIRECTLY empowers the national courts to construe the laws according to the spirit of the Constitution, or which gives them any greater latitude in this respect than may be claimed by the courts of every State. I admit, however, that the Constitution ought to be the standard of construction for the laws, and that wherever there is an evident opposition, the laws ought to give place to the Constitution.... (No. 81)(My emphasis)
“The precautions for their responsibility are comprised in the article respecting impeachments. They are liable to be impeached for malconduct by the House of Representatives, and tried by the Senate; and, if convicted, may be dismissed from office, and disqualified for holding any other. This is the only provision on the point which is consistent with the necessary independence of the judicial character, and is the only one which we find in our own Constitution [of New York] in respect to our own judges.” (No. 79)
“It may in the last place be observed that the supposed danger of judiciary encroachments on the legislative authority, which has been upon many occasions reiterated, is in reality a phantom. Particular misconstructions and contraventions of the will of the legislature may now and then happen; but they can never be so extensive as to amount to an inconvenience, or in any sensible degree to affect the order of the political system. This may be inferred with certainty, from the general nature of the judicial power, from the objects to which it relates, from the manner in which it is exercised, from its comparative weakness, and from its total incapacity to support its usurpations by force. And the inference is greatly fortified by the consideration of the important constitutional check which the power of instituting impeachments in one part of the legislative body, and of determining upon them in the other, would give to that body upon the members of the judicial department. This is alone a complete security. There never can be danger that the judges, by a series of deliberate usurpations on the authority of the legislature, would hazard the united resentment of the body entrusted with it, while this body was possessed of the means of punishing their presumption, by degrading them from their stations. While this ought to remove all apprehensions on the subject, it affords, at the same time, a cogent argument for constituting the Senate a court for the trial of impeachments.” (No. 81)(My emphasis)
In summary, lawyers selected for their lifetime of skill and acumen in understanding past precedents would essentially engage in statutory interpretation according to the long-established rules for such interpretation. Any errors they made would be no more than an “inconvenience” that would never “affect the order of the political system.” In any event, they would be powerless to enforce their decisions, and would have to rely on the Executive. Further, their errors they made could be remedied by Constitutional Amendments. Finally, if they did attempt to act like superlegislators, they would suffer impeachment and removal from office.
At the time Hamilton made these arguments, there was no historical record against which to compare his conclusions. Over 200 years later, the record is extensive, and it shows that the objection that the court would act like a tyrannical superlegislature was well-founded.
Note in particular that although Hamilton *says* that the argument that the court would act like a superlegislature is unfounded, he never actually *engages* with the argument, but simply states that the Constitution does not “directly” authorize such a result, and that if the argument is correct, it militates against an independent Court altogether; and concludes that the processes of Constitutional Amendment and Impeachment are sufficient bulwarks in any event.
To the contrary, the Court’s decisions about voting rights and more broadly civil rights, for good or ill, have had major impacts on everyday life. Its radical Dred Scot decision was a major precipitating factor leading to the Civil War, leaving 700,000 dead in its wake. Only thereafter, and only with the Confederate States being excluded from the Constitutional process were the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments able to be passed. For the vast majority of its subsequent history, the Court has manifested hostility to the 15th Amendment in particular. And so long as a Justice’s views are aligned with those of at least 1/3+1 of the Senate, impeachment is a dead letter.
In short, it turns out that the objection to the US Constitution’s treatment of the Supreme Court quoted above by Hamilton in Federalist Number 81 turns out to have been well-founded.


Sea Buckthorn Leaves May Hold Benefit for the Liver
FRIDAY May 23, 2008 -- Sea buckthorn leaves are rich in antioxidants and may help protect against liver damage, according to a study by researchers in India.
The berries of the plant -- indigenous to the mountainous regions of China and Russia -- are already well known for their high levels of antioxidants and cholesterol-lowering properties, according to background information in the study.
In this study, the researchers examined whether sea buckthorn leaf extract could protect rats against liver damage.
The rats were divided into six groups: Group one was given a daily dose of saline for five days; group two received saline for four days and on the fifth day received a liver-damaging agent called carbon tetrachloride (CCI4); group three received a daily dose of silymarin for five days followed by a single dose of CCI4; groups four, five and six received 50, 100 and 200 milligrams of sea buckthorn leaf extract, respectively, for five days followed by a single dose of CCI4.
Rats that received CCI4 but no leaf extract suffered significant liver damage compared to the rats that didn't receive CCI4. But liver damage was greatly reduced in the rats that received the 100- and 200-milligram doses of leaf extract and CCI4.
The study was published in the current issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on liver diseases.
Posted: May 2008
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Visual Speech Alters the Discrimination and Identification of Non-Intact Auditory Speech in Children with Hearing Loss
Hervé Abdi et al., "Visual Speech Alters the Discrimination and Identification of Non-Intact Auditory Speech in Children with Hearing Loss", in International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, Volume 94, March 2017.
Understanding spoken language is an audiovisual event that depends critically on the ability to discriminate and identify phonemes yet we have little evidence about the role of early auditory experience and visual speech on the development of these fundamental perceptual skills. Objectives of this research were to determine 1) how visual speech influences phoneme discrimination and identification; 2) whether visual speech influences these two processes in a like manner, such that discrimination predicts identification; and 3) how the degree of hearing loss affects this relationship. Such evidence is crucial for developing effective intervention strategies to mitigate the effects of hearing loss on language development.
Participants were 58 children with early-onset sensorineural hearing loss (CHL, 53% girls, M = 9;4 yrs) and 58 children with normal hearing (CNH, 53% girls, M = 9;4 yrs). Test items were consonant-vowel (CV) syllables and nonwords with intact visual speech coupled to non-intact auditory speech (excised onsets) as, for example, an intact consonant/rhyme in the visual track (Baa or Baz) coupled to non-intact onset/rhyme in the auditory track (/–B/aa or /–B/az). The items started with an easy-to-speechread /B/ or difficult-to-speechread /G/ onset and were presented in the auditory (static face) vs. audiovisual (dynamic face) modes. We assessed discrimination for intact vs. non-intact different pairs (e.g., Baa:/–B/aa). We predicted that visual speech would cause the non-intact onset to be perceived as intact and would therefore generate more same—as opposed to different—responses in the audiovisual than auditory mode. We assessed identification by repetition of nonwords with non-intact onsets (e.g., /–B/az). We predicted that visual speech would cause the non-intact onset to be perceived as intact and would therefore generate more Baz—as opposed to az— responses in the audiovisual than auditory mode.
Performance in the audiovisual mode showed more same responses for the intact vs. non-intact different pairs (e.g., Baa:/–B/aa) and more intact onset responses for nonword repetition (Baz for /–B/az). Thus visual speech altered both discrimination and identification in the CHL—to a large extent for the /B/ onsets but only minimally for the /G/ onsets. The CHL identified the stimuli similarly to the CNH but did not discriminate the stimuli similarly. A bias-free measure of the children’s discrimination skills (i.e., d́ analysis) revealed that the CHL had greater difficulty discriminating intact from non-intact speech in both modes. As the degree of HL worsened, the ability to discriminate the intact vs. non-intact onsets in the auditory mode worsened. Discrimination ability in CHL significantly predicted their identification of the onsets—even after variation due to the other variables was controlled.
These results clearly established that visual speech can fill in non-intact auditory speech, and this effect, in turn, made the non-intact onsets more difficult to discriminate from intact speech and more likely to be perceived as intact. Such results 1) demonstrate the value of visual speech at multiple levels of linguistic processing and 2) support intervention programs that view visual speech as a powerful asset for developing spoken language in CHL.


"This is a really exciting project to improve how we view and present our forensic findings to detectives in real time."
BSc(Hons) Forensic Science graduate Kayleigh Sheppard.
Forensics experts at Staffordshire University and Staffordshire Police have joined forces to investigate the potential of digital imaging technology in solving crimes.
The Spheron-VR Sceneworks technology consists of 360 degree camera and associated software which allows a visual file of a crime-scene to be uploaded and stored on a remote server where it can be accessed by authorised personnel working on the case.
It also allows for the addition of ‘hotspots’ which can point investigating officers to detailed physical evidence such as laboratory analysis of fingerprints and blood spatters; detailed photographs and even witness statements which can all be stored on the system.
Professor John Cassella said: “This technology has been described as a game-changer and I’m inclined to agree. It can be accessed by people with a role in an investigation from any computer and functions as a one-stop shop for all evidence.”
Although the technology is already used extensively in Germany, other countries have been slower to catch on to its potential.
Professor Casella said: “We are one of the first Universities to be looking at this technology and we’re delighted to be doing so in partnership with Staffordshire Police Forensics Department which is working with one of our graduates to assess its operational use.”
“It will also be used in our undergraduate teaching as part of our activity in the University’s crime scene house and in the classroom.”
BSc(Hons) Forensic Science graduate Kayleigh Sheppard, 21, said she felt privileged to have been selected for placement with Staffordshire Police Forensics Department.
“The nature of the project I undertook gave me the opportunity to gain real world experience working with Forensic Investigators, where I could put my knowledge from University into practice. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement and cannot thank Staffordshire Police enough for giving me this brilliant opportunity - one that won’t come around very often. “
Following on from the pilot study, Kayleigh will now be supported by the University to continue the project by undertaking a PhD.
She added: “This PhD research will allow me to further test the efficiency of this type of technology within Police forces with the hope of implementation to aid in crime scene management and presentation.”
John Beckwith, Head of Forensics, Staffordshire Police, said: "This is a really exciting project to improve how we view and present our forensic findings to detectives in real time. Right through to court, viewing evidence in this way will help everybody to understand more clearly what’s important in cases. Simplifying sometimes complex findings will assist in bringing criminals to justice more quickly and help protect our communities."
"Again we are seeing great opportunities from our partnership work with Staffordshire University to deliver service improvements in serious and complex investigations.
”We are now looking to extend this even further, building on the successes of these projects to deliver an outstanding service for Staffordshire. Kayleigh and the other students bring new ideas, tremendous enthusiasm and skills help us to introduce these improvements today rather than many months or years down the line. This gives front line Forensics teams the very best tools to do their job.”
Peter Taylor, UK Technical Business Manager, SpheronVR, added: “We’re very pleased to see the next generation of scientists and forensic science professionals utilise our equipment to both benefit their education process and also help set new methods for future crime forensic recordings.”
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WWF is supporting the research of the Catlin Arctic Survey. This year’s research includes an expedition across the ice, as well as an ice base, both in the far north of Canada. The main purpose of the mission is to gather data on the changing Arctic Ocean currents.
Read an article on the WWF Global Arctic Programme website announcing the launch of the 2011 Catlin Arctic Survey here.
By Dr Helen Findlay
If you want to understand how ocean acidification might impact some marine creatures you need to do two things. First go to the seaside and find a seashell. Then go to a shop and buy a fizzy drink, any brand will do. Put the seashell in the fizzy drink and leave it for a few days. You will see that it is starts to dissolve away.
A similar process is happening in the oceans today. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is being absorbed into the ocean. When carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid. Fizzy drinks are carbonated – they have carbon dioxide bubbled into them and this makes them acidic. Carbon dioxide is taken up into cold waters more rapidly and so the process of ocean acidification affects the coldest seas, such as the Arctic Ocean, the most.
On the pH scale the oceans are actually basic – the current average pH level of the oceans is about 8.2 (compared to freshwater which is pH 7). By continually adding more carbon dioxide, and increasing the amount of hydrogen ions, the ocean is becoming more acidic – the pH level is dropping. The pH level will continue to decrease into the future as long as carbon dioxide keeps being absorbed by the oceans.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, there has been already been a 0.1 drop in pH level. Models predict that the pH level will continue to lower (become more acid) to 7.8 in the next 100 years and to 7.4 in 300 years.
This may seem like a small amount but the impact can be quite large. All organisms need to regulate their internal pH and marine creatures are no exception. The difference is that many marine organisms are more dependent on the ocean to act as a pH regulator. It is also important for those organisms that have shells made of calcium carbonate – they find it difficult to maintain their shells, which start to dissolve as the pH decreases (just like in a fizzy drink, only much slower).
The Arctic acts as a bellwether for acid levels in our seas and their impact on the marine ecosystem. Acidification is thought to happen here faster than anywhere else but there is still a lot we don’t understand about how the sea ice and associated processes affect how carbon dioxide is taken up into the Arctic Ocean. The research being carried out here at the Catlin Arctic Survey Ice Base is trying to find out more about the transfer of carbon dioxide through sea ice, what this means in terms of ocean acidification and how acidification, or changes in these processes, might affect the organisms that live in and under the sea ice.


People experience a number of rashes throughout their lifetime, mostly as children. While it may seem scary to some, most rashes are easily treated and leave no lasting evidence of their presence. Here is a complete guide with all the essential information for dealing with one of those rashes - impetigo.
Impetigo is a very common, but highly contagious, skin infection. It is caused by streptococcus or staphylococcus bacteria. It can also be caused my methicillin-resistant staph aureus, or MRSA for short, and is becoming more and more common.
The skin itself is usually an effective barrier against infection, but the tiniest break in the skin can allow bacteria to enter and grow, causing infection. Often, impetigo results after certain aflictions, such as:
- Animal bites
- Human bites
- Insect bites
It is also possible for impetigo to occur on healthy, unbroken skin. Impetigo is most common in infants and children living with poor living conditions or those with a lack of sanitation, but can also affect adults.
Impetigo is characterized by a blistered rash. The rash may have pus-filled blisters that are easy to pop and leave a reddish-colored, raw-looking base.
- The fluid in the blisters may be yellow or amber colored, and the blisters may ooze and crust over.
- The rash is typically itchy and scratching it can spread the blisters if someone touches another area of the body after scratching.
- The lesions are usually found on the face, lips, arms or legs.
- Swollen lymph nodes may be felt in the area near the rash.
Typically, just seeing the rash is enough for diagnosis, but with MRSA becoming more common, doctors may culture the fluid in the blisters to see what bacteria is causing the impetigo. If caused by MRSA, there are different medications used than if it were caused by another type of bacteria.
Treatment for impetigo is very simple. A mild case of impetigo can be treated by applying a prescription antibiotic cream to the lesions. More severe cases will require oral antibiotics in addition to the antibacterial cream.
Impetigo caused by MRSA may be harder to treat, but treatment is still possible. There are some medications that can treat MRSA, although these are usually administered by intravenous (IV) line in a hospital. Often times, simply lancing the blisters in a doctor's office is enough to treat impetigo caused by MRSA, but only a doctor can make that determination, so it's important to see a doctor as soon as possible if any blisters appear.
No matter what bacteria are causing the impetigo, the skin should always be washed gently several times a day with antibacterial soap and water to remove crusts and drainage. Skin should never be scrubbed vigorously because it can cause the blisters to spread and damage the surrounding healthy skin. Sores heal very slowly but they do not often scar.
If left untreated scarring can result due to the deepening infection. Kidney failure as a result of the spreading of a streptococcus infection is also possible if impetigo is left untreated. The most common complication associated with impetigo is spreading the rash to other parts of the body or other people by scratching the rash and then touching other skin or other people.
Prevention of impetigo is fairly simple. By following these tips, people can prevent most infections, including impetigo.
- Good hygiene goes a long way toward preventing infections of all kinds. Frequent hand washing or the use of hand sanitizer will prevent the spread of infections.
- Any cuts or scrapes should be thoroughly cleaned and treated with over-the-counter, antibiotic cream.
- Never share towels, wash clothes, razors or other personal items with anyone, even family members.
- If someone already has impetigo they need to use a clean wash cloths and towels each time they clean or touch lesions.
- Hands should be washed with antibacterial soap and warm water after touching lesions and before touching anything else.
Impetigo in Children
Impetigo is most common in children, particularly those who live in areas with poor sanitation. Impetigo most often affects pre-school and school age children, but it can affect infants and teenagers as well.
In children, impetigo can occur after a rash, like poison ivy, when a child scratches too hard or too often. This can result in a break in the skin, allowing bacteria to enter the skin causing an infection.
Treatment for impetigo in children is the same as adults. The challenge with impetigo in children is keeping the lesions clean and preventing the children from scratching the rash as it can be quite itchy. Rashes on the body can be easily covered with gauze pads to prevent the child from scratching and to keep sores from oozing onto surrounding skin, but it is a bit difficult to cover the blisters on the face, which is where they commonly occur. Parents will have to be very diligent to prevent the rash from spreading.
Impetigo can be irritating, but it is very treatable. With good hygiene and proper care, impetigo can be prevented or treated easily and quickly, and leave no lasting effects.


The folklore and legends of Wales are among the oldest and the most exciting. Many survive in ancient manuscripts, such as the ‘Red Book of Hergest’ and the ‘White Book of Rhydderch’, both dating from the 14th century but almost certainly referencing much earlier sources. In the middle of the 19th century many of these surviving stories were compiled and translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest as The Mabinogion. Some of the oldest stories featuring King Arthur appear in The Mabinogion and are therefore of worldwide importance.
In addition to such epics, there is a wealth of local legends, yarns and strange superstitions recorded from throughout the Principality. These are, in their way, arguably all the more interesting to the average reader in that they reveal the very real beliefs of our recent ancestors. Most people living in the Welsh countryside in the 18th and 19th centuries firmly believed in the existence of fairies, ghosts, witchcraft and even – in one or two communities – dragons.
For the purposes of this necessarily brief introduction to the folk tales of Wales, I have focused in on these less well-known stories and accounts. In them you will meet a wide variety of strange beings and fascinating characters, such as the elegant, aristocratic but dangerously amoral Fair Tribe; the crafty old lady who fooled the Devil; wicked witches and helpful healers; the saint who lost her head and got it back again; the woman who had to fend off a fiendish version of her husband in the bedroom; and the man who had to lean against a cow for comfort after being spooked by a scary ghost.
The folklore of Wales paints it as a wonderfully magical place. Many would say this is still true today.
Released: April 2015
Size: 180 x 110mm


The influent to an industrial wastewater treatment system (IWTS) varies in flow and concentration of pollutants because the discharges from the manufacturing and utility processes are not constant. This variation affects the operation of the IWTS and could adversely affect the effluent quality from the plant. The objective of equalization is to minimize or control fluctuations in wastewater characteristics in order to provide optimum conditions for subsequent treatment processes. There are two common methods of flow equalization: in-line and side-line equalization as shown if Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Methods of equalization (I.W.T, 1999)
In-line and side-line equalization systems are both effective ways to equalize flow volumes, but in-line equalization is more effective for leveling out the variations in influent concentration because the entire flow is blended with the entire contents of the holding tank. The size and type of equalization basin provided varies with the quantity of waste and the variability of the wastewater stream. The basin should be of a sufficient size to adequately absorb waste fluctuations caused by variations in plant-production scheduling and to dampen the concentrated batches periodically dumped or spilled to the sewer. The purpose of equalization for industrial treatment facilities are:
1. To provide adequate dampening of organic fluctuations in order to prevent shock loading of biological systems.
2. To provide adequate pH control or to minimize the chemical requirements necessary for neutralization.
3. To minimize flow surges to physical-chemical treatment systems and permit chemical feed rates compatible with feeding equipment.
4. To provide continuous feed to biological systems over periods when the manufacturing plant is not operating.
5. To provide capacity for controlled discharge of wastes to municipal systems in order to distribute waste loads more evenly.
6. To prevent high concentrations of toxic materials from entering the biological treatment plant.
Mixing is usually provided to ensure adequate equalization and to prevent settleable solids from depositing in the basin. In addition, the oxidation of reduced compounds present in the wastestream or the reduction of BOD by air stripping may be achieved through mixing and aeration. Methods that have been used for mixing include distribution of inlet flow and baffling, turbine mixing, diffused air aeration and mechanical aeration. The most common method is to provide submerged mixers or, in the case of a readily degradable wastewater such as a brewery, to use surface aerators employing a power level of approximately (0.003 to 0.004 KW/m3 ). Air requirements for diffused air aeration are approximately 3.74 m3 air / m waste (Eckenfelder, 1989). Equalization basin types are shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Equalization basin types (Eckenfelder, 1989)
The equalization basin may be designed with a variable volume to provide, a constant effluent flow or with a constant volume and an effluent flow which varies with the influent. The variable-volume basin is particularly applicable to the chemical treatment of wastes having a low daily volume. This type of basin may also be used for discharge of wastes to municipal sewers. It may be desirable to program the effluent pumping rate to discharge the maximum quantity of waste during periods of normally low flow to the municipal treatment facility.
Equalization basins may be designed to equalize flow, concentration, or both. For flow equalization, the cumulative flow is plotted versus time over the equalization period (that is, 24 h). The maximum volume with respect to the constant discharge line is the equalization volume required.
Equalization Tank Volume Calculation Example (Click to download)