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Modern toilets are oval shaped and longer front to back than side-to-side. They use less water in the basin and are taller. That means modern toilets give you two advantages over old toilets in order to reduce splattering: - The toilet being taller means your pee has less energy as it strikes the surface of the water since you are closer to the water since the toilet is tall (physics reminder: potential energy due to gravity, as your pee exits your body, = m*g*h(mass x gravity x height)), and - having less water in the basin and a differently-shaped basin means you can aim your pee at the inner sidewall of the basin to keep it from splattering. i.e.: your pee strikes the angled porcelain instead of the water, leaving very little if any splatter on and around the toilet. But, I live in an apt. with an old toilet that is super short to the ground with deep water and no place in the bowl where I can pee onto the porcelain instead of into the water. I'm a clean guy, so after each pee there is water splattered all over the place, from the rim to the seat to the inner part of the seat lid to the floor, and so I clean it up with about 10 squares of toilet paper... each and every time I pee. In summary, the problems with my toilet which increase splattering from the old-toilet shape include: - deep water--more splatters - no side-wall porcelain I can pee on--so I pee into the water where it splatters - low toilet (high kinetic energy for my pee as it strikes the water) --> more splatters How can I reduce this splattering? I thought about sitting and have done it a couple times, but that's just a pain-in-the-butt. It takes so much longer than standing. This is a serious question. I'm going through a lot of clean-up toilet paper just from peeing. I'd like to save more trees.

As the year comes to a close, December marks a time of celebration and holidays around the world. From Christmas and Hanukkah to Kwanzaa and Festivus, cultures and traditions from various corners of the globe come together to spread festive cheer. In this article, we’ll explore the different December holidays celebrated around the world in 2024, shedding light on the unique customs, rituals, and festivities that make this month a truly special time of year. Table of Contents - Exploring the Cultural Significance of December Holidays Worldwide - Unique Traditions and Celebrations in Different Countries - Recommendations for Traveling During December Holidays - Discovering Festive Foods and Drinks from Around the World - The Best Events and Festivals to Attend in December - To Wrap It Up Exploring the Cultural Significance of December Holidays Worldwide December is a month filled with cultural significance and diverse celebrations around the world. From religious holidays to ancient traditions, people from various backgrounds come together to mark the end of the year and usher in the new one. Let’s take a closer look at the December holidays celebrated across different countries, and learn about their unique customs and rituals. 1. **Christmas**: One of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world, Christmas marks the birth of Jesus Christ and is observed by Christians and non-Christians alike. Different countries have their own customs and traditions, with some notable examples including: - Germany: Christmas markets and the advent wreath - Mexico: Posadas and Las Posadas processions - Japan: Illuminations and Christmas cake |Christmas markets and the advent wreath |Posadas and Las Posadas processions |Illuminations and Christmas cake Unique Traditions and Celebrations in Different Countries In December, countries around the world come alive with unique traditions and celebrations that showcase their culture and heritage. From Christmas markets in Europe to colorful festivals in Asia, there’s a diverse array of holiday customs to explore. In Mexico, the tradition of Las Posadas involves a reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. The celebration takes place over nine nights, with processions, music, and food. In Japan, the festival of Oshogatsu marks the New Year with special foods like mochi and ozoni soup, as well as visits to shrines and temples for good luck. In Italy, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Christmas Eve tradition that involves a lavish seafood dinner with dishes like baccalà and calamari. These unique traditions and celebrations offer a window into the diverse ways in which different cultures come together to mark the holiday season. Whether it’s through food, music, or rituals, December holidays around the world are a time for joy and togetherness. By learning about these customs, we can gain a greater appreciation for the rich tapestry of traditions that make our world so vibrant. Recommendations for Traveling During December Holidays The December holidays are a great time to travel and experience different cultures and traditions around the world. Whether you’re looking for a winter wonderland or a sunny beach escape, there are plenty of destinations to choose from during this festive season. Here are some recommendations for traveling during the December holidays in 2024: **European Christmas Markets:** Experience the magic of the holiday season in Europe by visiting some of the famous Christmas markets in countries like Germany, Austria, and France. Explore the festive stalls selling handmade ornaments, taste traditional holiday treats, and enjoy the charming decorations. **Tropical Getaways:** If you’re looking to escape the winter chill, head to tropical destinations like the Caribbean, Hawaii, or Southeast Asia. Relax on the beach, go snorkeling or diving, and experience a different kind of holiday vibe. **New Year’s Eve Celebrations:** Ring in the New Year in style by attending iconic celebrations in cities like Sydney, New York City, or Paris. Watch spectacular fireworks displays, join in on street parties, and make unforgettable memories. As you plan your December holiday travels, be sure to check travel advisories and restrictions for your chosen destinations, as well as any COVID-19 guidelines. And no matter where you go, remember to embrace the holiday spirit and make the most of this special time of year. Discovering Festive Foods and Drinks from Around the World When December rolls around, it’s a festive time for many cultures around the world, and one of the best ways to experience the holiday spirit is through the unique and delicious foods and drinks that each region has to offer. From traditional treats to seasonal beverages, exploring the culinary traditions of different countries during the holidays is a fun and eye-opening experience. Here are some of the most delightful and mouth-watering festive foods and drinks from around the world. – **Italy**: Panettone – a sweet bread filled with candied fruits and raisins, enjoyed during Christmas. – **Mexico**: Tamales – filled with a variety of savory fillings and wrapped in corn husks, a staple during Las Posadas celebrations. – **Japan**: Osechi – a collection of traditional foods, each with symbolic meanings for the New Year. – **Germany**: Glühwein – a warm and spiced mulled wine, popular at Christmas markets. – **Jamaica**: Sorrel – a festive beverage made from hibiscus flowers, enjoyed during the holiday season. – **Greece**: Rakomelo – a hot and strong drink made from raki, honey, and spices, perfect for winter gatherings. Exploring the diversity of festive foods and drinks from around the world can add a whole new dimension to your holiday celebrations. Whether you’re indulging in a slice of panettone from Italy or sipping on a cup of hot rakomelo from Greece, these culinary delights are sure to bring joy and warmth to your December festivities. The Best Events and Festivals to Attend in December December is a festive month filled with joy, celebration, and holiday spirit all around the world. From Christmas markets to winter carnivals and New Year’s Eve parties, there is something for everyone to enjoy in December. Whether you’re a fan of snow sports, traditional holiday foods, or cultural performances, this month has something in store for you. Here are some of : - Christmas Markets: Experience the enchanting atmosphere of traditional Christmas markets in Europe, featuring festive decorations, handmade crafts, and delicious holiday treats. - Winter Carnivals: Embrace the winter wonderland at winter carnivals in Canada and northern Europe, with ice sculptures, sleigh rides, and outdoor activities for the whole family. - New Year’s Eve Celebrations: Join the countdown to the new year at iconic destinations like Times Square in New York City, or witness dazzling fireworks displays in cities around the world. Whether you’re traveling or looking for local events, December offers a variety of holiday experiences that are sure to create lasting memories. Q: What are some of the major December holidays celebrated around the world in 2024? A: In December 2024, you can expect to see celebrations for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve, among others. Q: How is Christmas traditionally celebrated in different countries? A: Christmas traditions can vary widely from country to country, but common customs include decorating a Christmas tree, exchanging gifts, attending religious services, and enjoying festive meals with family and friends. Q: What is Hanukkah and how is it celebrated? A: Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It is celebrated by lighting the menorah, eating foods cooked in oil, playing games, and giving and receiving gifts. Q: What is Kwanzaa and who celebrates it? A: Kwanzaa is a week-long African American cultural holiday that celebrates family, community, and African heritage. It is observed by millions of people of African descent around the world. Q: How do different cultures ring in the New Year? A: New Year’s Eve traditions can vary widely, but common customs include fireworks, countdown parties, making resolutions, and singing “Auld Lang Syne.” Q: Are there any lesser-known holidays celebrated in December? A: Yes, there are many holidays celebrated in December that may be less well-known outside of specific cultural or religious communities, such as Saint Nicholas Day, Bodhi Day, and Las Posadas. To Wrap It Up Well, there you have it – a glimpse at the various December holidays celebrated around the world in 2024. From Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa and beyond, this festive season is a time for joy, togetherness, and traditions. Whether you’re celebrating one of these holidays or simply enjoying the festive spirit, we hope you have a wonderful and happy December!

CCLAS program is focused on the overall development of children with the developmental age zero to five years through CCLAS approach by implementing the principles of Cognitive, Communicative, Emergent Literacy, Adaptive and Sensorimotor functions. In CCLAS approach the Cognitive domain, children with GDD will be undergoing intervention to improve different skills such as planning, categorization, judgment, memory, problem-solving and higher order thinking skills to build up their overall cognitive level. In the Communication domain, intervention is focused to improve speech and language skills. In this area, strategies to improve different components of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics) and oral-motor exercises to improve speech intelligibility will be done. In Literacy domain, emergent literacy skills such as phonological awareness, letter knowledge, emergent reading and writing skills will be focused. In Adaptive domain, training will be provided to improve activities of daily living and thus improving the quality of life of children with developmental delay. In the Sensorimotor domain, the specific goal will be taken to develop sensory and motor skills including eye-hand coordination, hand functioning, leg functioning and sensory integration skills. CCLAS program will be executed in three levels based on the developmental age of the child. BASIC CCLAS program (B-CCLAS): This program includes children with the developmental age between birth to two years. INTERMEDIATE CCLAS program (I- CCLAS): This program enrols children with the developmental age range of two to three years ADVANCED CCLAS program (A- CCLAS): This program includes children with a developmental age range between three to five years will be incorporated.

Noticing that your cheeks are swollen can be upsetting. Not only can the swelling be uncomfortable, but it might be noticeable to others. If your cheeks are swollen, you may wonder what prompted it and what you can do about it. What Causes Cheek Swelling? Medically Reviewed By Colgate Global Scientific Communications There are many possible causes of swollen cheeks. In some cases, the swelling may result from an injury or trauma, such as a fall or burn. It may also occur after surgery to the jaw or other nearby areas. Sometimes, the swelling is unilateral, which means it occurs on just one side of the face, while other times, it's bilateral, meaning both sides of the face are affected. Your doctor or dentist will assess your symptoms against the following possible causes to determine the source of the swelling. - Salivary Gland Infection: A large pair of salivary glands known as the parotid glands are located in the cheeks, reports the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If these glands become infected, they can swell, causing the appearance of swollen cheeks. Sometimes, the infection affects just one of the glands, but if both glands are involved, the infection is called parotitis or parotiditis. - Tooth Abscess: A tooth abscess may lead to cheek swelling. This infection occurs when bacteria enters the pulp of a tooth, which may happen if you have a cracked tooth or a large cavity that hasn't been treated. In addition to cheek swelling, people with tooth abscesses may have pain, fever, tooth sensitivity or a bad taste in the mouth, reports the Mayo Clinic. - Angioedema: Angioedema, a skin reaction, may be associated with swollen cheeks, too. This reaction can be triggered by foods, medications and common allergens, such as pollen, explains the Mayo Clinic. People with angioedema may experience swelling around their eyes, lips or cheeks. The affected areas can also be red, painful or warm. - Sinus Infection: Sinusitis, also known as a sinus infection, is a common condition that can make your cheeks swollen, explains the U.K.'s National Health Service. This infection may develop after a cold or flu and will usually go away on its own within a few weeks. In addition to swollen cheeks, people with sinusitis may have pain, headache, fever, a blocked nose or even a toothache. If you have swollen cheeks, you may wonder if there's anything you can do at home to make yourself more comfortable. The NIH explains that raising the head of your bed or elevating your head with extra pillows can help reduce facial swelling. If the swelling began after an injury, the NIH suggests applying a cold compress. However, home remedies aren't always enough. If the swelling doesn't go away, or if it gets worse, the NIH recommends seeing a medical professional. Swelling that's sudden, painful or accompanied by a fever should always be evaluated by a doctor or dentist. If your facial swelling is making it hard for you to breathe, seek emergency treatment. There are many possible causes of swollen cheeks, and a doctor or dentist can evaluate your cheeks, face and oral cavity to determine the source of the swelling. This evaluation will include asking questions about your medical history, such as when the swelling began, as well as evaluating your other symptoms. They may also ask questions about your allergies and current medications. After determining the cause of the swelling, your doctor or dentist can recommend an appropriate treatment, if necessary. Treatment will vary based on the cause of the swelling. For example, if it's determined that the swelling is a symptom of an abscessed tooth, treatments may include antibiotics or a root canal, explains the Mayo Clinic. Swollen cheeks can be uncomfortable, and they can be caused by many different conditions. If you're concerned about swelling in your cheeks or elsewhere on your body, talk to your doctor or dentist. Oral Care Center articles are reviewed by an oral health medical professional. This information is for educational purposes only. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your dentist, physician or other qualified healthcare provider.

To boost efficiency in typical households – where people forget to take wet clothes out of washing machines, retrieve hot food from microwaves and turn off dripping faucets – Cornell researchers have developed a single device that can track 17 types of appliances using vibrations. The device, called VibroSense, uses lasers to capture subtle vibrations in walls, ceilings and floors, as well as a deep learning network that models the vibrometer’s data to create different signatures for each appliance – bringing researchers closer to a more efficient and integrated smart home. “Recognizing home activities can help computers better understand human behaviors and needs, with the hope of developing a better human-machine interface,” said Cheng Zhang, assistant professor of information science and senior author of “VibroSense: Recognizing Home Activities by Deep Learning Subtle Vibrations on an Interior Surface of a House from a Single Point Using Laser Doppler Vibrometry.” The paper was published in Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies and will be presented at the ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, which will be held virtually Sept. 12-17. “In order to have a smart home at this point, you’d need each device to be smart, which is not realistic; or you’d need to install separate sensors on each device or in each area,” said Zhang, who directs Cornell’s SciFi Lab. “Our system is the first that can monitor devices across different floors, in different rooms, using one single device.” In order to detect usage across an entire house, the researchers’ task was twofold: detect tiny vibrations using a laser Doppler vibrometer; and differentiate similar vibrations created by multiple devices by identifying the paths traveled by the vibrations from room to room. The deep learning network was trained to distinguish different activities, partly by learning path signatures – the distinctive path vibrations followed through the house – as well as their distinct noises. The device showed nearly 96% accuracy in identifying 17 different activities across five houses – including dripping faucets, an exhaust fan, an electric kettle, a refrigerator and a range hood – in five houses over two days, according to the paper. VibroSense could also distinguish five different stages of appliance usage with an average accuracy more than 97%. In single-story houses, the laser was pointed at an interior wall at the center of the home. It was pointed at the ceiling in two-story homes. The device is primarily useful in single-family houses, Zhang said, because in buildings it could pick up activities in neighboring apartments, presenting a potential privacy risk. “It would definitely require collaboration between researches, industry practitioners and government to make sure this was used for the right purposes,” Zhang said. Among other uses, the system could help homes monitor energy usage and potentially help reduce consumption. “Since our system can detect both the occurrence of an indoor event, as well as the time of an event, it could be used to estimate electricity and water-usage rates, and provide energy-saving advice for homeowners,” Zhang said. “It could also prevent water and electrical waste, as well as electrical failures such as short circuits in home appliances.” Co-first authors are visiting students Wei Sun, Tuochao Chen and Jiayi Zheng; Lucy Wang ’22; Matthew Dressa ’21; master’s student Benjamin Steeper ’19; Feng Tian of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and visiting students Zhenyu Lei and Peng He also contributed.

Regional energy planning focuses on the supply of heat and cooling to municipalities. It is an important first step towards increasing the use of local and environmentally friendly energy sources. For example, a municipality can coordinate the recovery of local energy sources such as waste heat. Regional energy planning aims to optimise and secure the supply of heat and cooling in the long-term. The crucial criteria are: - Security of supply. - Environmental sustainability, including CO2 emissions. The goal is to draw up municipal and cantonal energy master plans (similar to land-use or transport plans) and thereby provide concrete guidelines for development. At Planeto we have the expertise, tools and data to realise your energy plan, defining your own goals and integrating all your needs.

Precision Metal Working Types of Degrees Precision Metal Working Majors Are Getting The following table lists how many precision metal working graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level. |Number of Grads What Precision Metal Working Majors Need to Know In an O*NET survey, precision metal working majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important. Knowledge Areas for Precision Metal Working Majors According to O*NET survey takers, a major in precision metal working should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas: - Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. - Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. - Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. - English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. - Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models. Skills for Precision Metal Working Majors When studying precision metal working, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major: - Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. - Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems. - Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. - Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. - Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. Abilities for Precision Metal Working Majors A major in precision metal working will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important: - Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). - Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position. - Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions. - Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. - Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. What Can You Do With a Precision Metal Working Major? Below is a list of occupations associated with precision metal working: |Job Growth Rate |Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic |Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic |Sheet Metal Workers |Solderers and Brazers |Welders, Cutters, and Welder Fitters Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Precision Metal Working? At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of precision metal working majors is as follows: |Number of Grads |Black or African American |Hispanic or Latino Precision Metal Working appeals to people across the globe. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are: - Saudi Arabia How Much Do Precision Metal Working Majors Make? Salaries According to BLS Precision Metal Working majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $38,140 to $45,250 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less. To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400. Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Precision Metal Working Some degrees associated with precision metal working may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you. How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to precision metal working have obtained the following education levels. |Percentage of Workers |Less than a High School Diploma |High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) |Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) |Some College Courses |Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) |Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. |Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. |First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. Online Precision Metal Working Programs In the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,002 schools offered some type of precision metal working program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field. |Colleges Offering Programs |Colleges Offering Online Classes |Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) |Certificate (1-2 years) |Certificate (2-4 Years) |Doctor’s Degree (Research) |Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) |Doctor’s Degree (Other) Is a Degree in Precision Metal Working Worth It? The median salary for a precision metal working grad is $41,090 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major. This is 3% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $23,800 after 20 years! Top Ranking Lists for Precision Metal Working Explore Major by State District of Columbia Trades Related to Precision Metal Working You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to precision metal working. |Number of Grads |Other Precision Production |Leatherworking & Upholstery |Precision Production Trades *The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage. - College Factual - College Scorecard - National Center for Education Statistics - O*NET Online - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020 More about our data sources and methodologies. |Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs. Learn More >

British Telecom, once a monopolistic powerhouse in the UK’s telecommunications sector, has experienced a significant decline in its influence and market position. Understanding BT’s fall from grace requires a look into its history and the factors that contributed to its current state. British Telecommunications, commonly known as BT, has a storied history that lays the foundation for modern communication in the UK. Established as the Electric Telegraph Company in 1846, it pioneered the world’s first public telegraph service, revolutionizing how information was shared over long distances. The landscape of UK telecommunications was further shaped in 1912 when the General Post Office (GPO) integrated the National Telephone Company, effectively monopolizing the sector under government control. The 1980s marked a transformative era for UK telecoms; the British Telecom identity was born out of the GPO’s telecommunication divisions in 1980, and it swiftly gained independence as a separate entity the following year. This transition paved the way for the historic privatization of British Telecom in 1984, signaling a major shift from public to private sector. The government’s divestiture was completed with the selling of its final shares in the company in two stages, in 1991 and 1993, fully integrating BT into the private market. This move was emblematic of the broader economic changes occurring in the UK at the time and has since positioned BT as a key player in the evolution of global telecommunications. - Monopoly Dissolution: BT’s monopoly was first challenged in 1982 when Mercury Communications received a license, breaking BT’s hold on the telecom sector. - Global Ventures and Failures: BT’s attempt to globalize, notably through its joint venture and planned merger with MCI Communications, ultimately failed, leading to critical reactions and executive changes. - Financial Troubles: By 2001, BT had accumulated a debt of £30 billion, partly due to its investment in 3G licenses and failed global mergers. - Corporate Restructuring: To manage this debt, BT undertook Europe’s largest-ever rights issue in 2001, raising £5.9 billion and selling stakes in several international telecom operations. - Demerger of Mobile Telecommunications: In 2001, BT demerged its mobile telecommunications business, which included BT Cellnet in the UK and other international networks, forming mmO2 (later O2). - Investment in New Technology: BT confirmed a £10 billion investment over five years in its Internet Protocol (IP) based 21st-century network (21CN) in 2006. - Costly Fiber Rollout: The Costly Fiber Rollout at British Telecom (BT) represents a significant financial challenge for the company. With a projected Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) burden of around £15 billion for the rollout of fiber optics, BT is under immense pressure to manage its financial resources efficiently. This massive investment is aimed at upgrading and expanding its broadband network infrastructure to meet the growing demand for high-speed internet services. However, this expenditure significantly impacts BT’s free cash flows, which are crucial for operational expenses, dividend payments, and other investment opportunities. The heavy investment in fiber rollout restricts BT’s ability to allocate funds to other areas, potentially affecting its overall growth and competitive position in the market. Moreover, this substantial CAPEX requirement influences investor perception, limiting BT’s valuation. In a competitive and fast-evolving telecommunications industry, such large-scale investments, while necessary for long-term growth and sustainability, can create short-term financial strains. BT’s ability to effectively manage this rollout and balance its financial commitments will be critical in determining its future market position and financial health. - Growing Net Debt and Pension Liabilities: BT’s financial challenges are underscored by its increasing net debt, which has reached 19.8 billion GBP. Additionally, the company faces substantial pension liabilities, with its pension plan reporting a deficit of approximately 3.7 billion GBP. These economic pressures reflect significant fiscal hurdles for the telecom giant, impacting its balance sheet and potentially its strategic flexibility in the competitive market. - Regulatory Pressures and Competition: BT’s subsidiary, Openreach, which operates the bulk of the UK’s broadband infrastructure, confronts regulatory pressures including mandated price reductions, while also being tasked with extensive investment requirements to upgrade the nation’s broadband to ultra-fast speeds. This juxtaposition of regulatory demands for lower prices and the call for hefty capital expenditures to enhance infrastructure presents a significant strategic challenge for the company amidst a landscape of intensifying competition. - Limited Financial Performance: BT’s financial performance is constrained by the heavy capital expenditures (CAPEX) necessary for updating its telecommunications infrastructure, which limits the funds available for dividends and contributes to the company’s escalating net debt. Additionally, fierce competition within the telecom industry, along with a stringent regulatory climate, continues to exert pressure on BT’s profitability and overall financial health. British Telecom’s journey from a monopolistic giant to a struggling telecom player in the UK is marked by a series of strategic missteps, financial burdens, regulatory changes, and intense market competition. While BT is showing signs of stability and adapting to the evolving telecommunications landscape, it continues to grapple with substantial challenges that constrain its financial and operational capabilities. The future of BT hinges on its ability to navigate these complexities while innovating and investing in new technologies to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry. - Lucy Walker is a journalist that covers finance, health and beauty since 2014. She has been writing for various online publications. - February 27, 2024NewsWireBitcoin Surges to $57K as a Sign of ETF Market Optimism - February 27, 2024SatoshiThe Reality Behind the Numbers of Craig Wright’s Patent Inventions - February 25, 2024SatoshiForgery Fiasco: The Collapse of Wright’s Claims at Week 3 - February 23, 2024SatoshiThe Time of Reckoning: Day 15 COPA vs Wright Trial

Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with, among other things, the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders (autoimmune diseases, hypersensitivities, immune deficiency, allograft rejection); the physical, chemical and physiological characteristics of the components of the immune system in vitro, in situ, and in vivo. Immunology has various applications in several disciplines of science, and as such is further divided. The human immune system has two functional branches that work together. Humoral immunity, principally mediated by B-lymphocytes produces antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins, some of which are receptors triggered by antigens in the body. Antibodies contribute to immunity by preventing pathogens from entering or damaging cells by binding to them; by tagging foreign substances to be recognized by the cell-mediated cell; and by triggering pathogen destruction by stimulating other immune responses such as the complement pathway. Vaccination works by introducing an antigen into the body in sufficient amounts to trigger specific immunoglobulin production; the antigen is introduced in a form that has been rendered relatively harmless. There is extensive chemical communications betwee the branches, and to other parts of the body Histological examination of the immune system Even before the concept of immunity (from immunis, Latin for "exempt") was developed, numerous early physicians characterised organs that would later prove to be part of the immune system. The key organs of the immune system are thymus, spleen, bone marrow, lymph vessels, lymph nodes and secondary lymphatic tissues such as tonsils, adenoids, and skin. Two major organs, the thymus and spleen, are examined histologically only post-mortem during autopsy. However some lymph nodes and secondary lymphatic tissues can be surgically excised for examination while patients are still alive. Classical immunology ties in with the fields of epidemiology, infectious disease and medicine. It studies the relationship between the body systems, pathogens, and immunity. The earliest written mention of immunity can be traced back to the plague of Athens in 430 BCE. Thucydides noted that people who had recovered from a previous bout of the disease could nurse the sick without contracting the illness a second time. Many other ancient societies have references to this phenomenon, but it was not until the 19th and 20th centuries before the concept developed into scientific theory. The study of the molecular and cellular components that comprise the immune system, including their function and interaction, is the central science of immunology. The immune system has been divided into a more primitive innate immune system, and acquired or adaptive immune system of vertebrates, the latter of which is further divided into humoral and cellular components. The humoral (antibody) response is defined as the interaction between antibodies and antigens. Antibodies are specific proteins released from a certain class of immune cells (B lymphocytes). Antigens are defined as anything that elicits generation of antibodies, hence they are Antibody Generators. Immunology itself rests on an understanding of the properties of these two biological entities. However, equally important is the cellular response, which can not only kill infected cells in its own right, but is also crucial in controlling the antibody response. Put simply, both systems are highly interdependent. In the 21st century, immunology has broadened its horizons with much research being performed in the more specialized niches of immunology. This includes the immunological function of cells, organs and systems not normally associated with the immune system, as well as the function of the immune system outside classical models of immunity. Many diseases caused by the immune system fall into two broad categories: immunodeficiency, in which parts of the immune system fail to provide an adequate response (examples include chronic granulomatous disease), and autoimmunity, in which the immune system attacks its own host's body (examples include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's disease and myasthenia gravis). Other immune system disorders include different hypersensitivities, in which the system responds inappropriately to harmless compounds (asthma and allergies) or responds too intensely. The most well-known disease that affects the immune system itself is AIDS, caused by HIV. AIDS is an immunodeficiency characterized by the lack of CD4+ ("helper") T cells and macrophages, which are destroyed by HIV. See main article Immunotherapy The use of immune system components to treat a disease or disorder is known as immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is most commonly used in the context of the treatment of cancers together with chemotherapy (drugs) and radiotherapy (radiation). However, immunotherapy is also often used in the immunosuppressed (such as HIV patients) and people suffering from other immune deficiencies or autoimmune diseases. The specificity of the bond between antibody and antigen has made it an excellent tool in the detection of substances in a variety of diagnostic techniques. Antibodies specific for a desired antigen can be conjugated with a radiolabel, fluorescent label, or color-forming enzyme and are used as a "probe" to detect it. Well known applications of this include immunoblotting, ELISA and immunohistochemical staining of microscope slides. The speed, accuracy and simplicity of such tests has led to the development of rapid techniques for the diagnosis of disease, microbes and even illegal drugs in vivo (of course tests conducted in a closed environment have a higher degree of accuracy). Such testing is also used to distinguish compatible blood types. A development of complexity of the immune system can be seen from simple phagocytotic protection of single celled organisms, to circulating antimicrobial peptides in insects to lymphoid organs in vertebrates. Of course, like much of evolutionary observation, these physical properties are often seen from the anthropocentric aspect. It should be recognised, that every organism living today has an immune system absolutely capable of protecting it from most forms of harm; those organisms that did not adapt their immune systems to external threats are no longer around to be observed. Insects and other arthropods, while not possessing true adaptive immunity, show highly evolved systems of innate immunity, and are additionally protected from external injury (and exposure to pathogens) by their chitinous shells. - Wikibooks Immunology Textbook - Goldsby RA, Kindt TK, Osborne BA and Kuby J (2003) Immunology, 5th Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, New York, ISBN 0-7167-4947-5

Progress Learning Navigating Your Educational Journey with Success Accepting progress in your educational pursuits is a crucial first step towards personal development and success. The Learning experience is a lifetime journey. Progress Learning is about more than simply getting high marks; it’s also a center for lifelong learning, developing one’s skills, and being a well-rounded person. This blog article will discuss the idea of progress learning, its advantages, and how you may use it to your advantage to succeed in your educational journey. Understanding Progress Learning: A Holistic Approach: Progress Learning goes above and beyond scholastic success. It covers things like critical thinking, communication, personal growth counseling, and adaptability qualities that are crucial in both academic and practical contexts. Setting Realistic Goals and concrete stepping stones: Setting reasonable objectives that push you just beyond your comfort zone is encouraged by Progress Learning. These objectives serve as concrete stepping stones that advance you and encourage steady progress. Opportunities might be found hiding amid challenges. Progress Learning urges you to approach difficulties with a positive outlook and see them as opportunities to grow rather than as obstacles. Opportunities can be found in obstacles. You are urged by Progress Learning to approach difficulties with a positive attitude and see them as opportunities to grow and learn rather than as hurdles. Benefits of the learning experience tuition: Boosts Confidence and adaptability synonym resume: Your self confidence grows when you see your development and successes. Making progress serves as a strong drive for embarking on new tasks. Adaptability is a highly valued trait in a world that is changing quickly. You can more easily adapt to novel circumstances, technologies, and locations with the aid of Progress Learning. Being resilient means having the capacity to recover from setbacks. You learn from Progress Learning how to use setbacks as concrete stepping stones, which increases your fortitude in the face of difficulty. Fosters Critical Thinking: Analyzing your strengths, limitations, and potential improvement areas is a step in the progress learning process. This self evaluation promotes self awareness and critical thinking. Prepares for Lifelong Learning: After graduation, education continues as a lifetime pursuit. You are given the mentality and abilities by Progress Learning to tackle new information and problems with excitement. Practical Steps for Progress Learning: Set Clear Goals: Set both short- and long-term objectives for your academic and personal lives. To keep track of your progress, divide them into achievable chunks. For progress, constructive criticism is vital. To learn where you can grow, pay attention to what your classmates, mentors, and professors have to say. Set aside time to think back on your successes, failures, and lessons learned. You may change your tactics and keep on track by using this reflection. Adopt a growth mindset quotes: Accept obstacles and setbacks as chances to improve. A growth mentality stimulates your desire to study and get better. Diversify Learning Methods: Investigate various educational approaches, such as conventional classrooms, online programs, workshops, and practical training. Develop an interest in the world around you. You become more aware that there is always more to learn as you gain knowledge. The dynamic approach of Progress Learning encourages you to constantly work on your academic and personal development. You go on a path of self-discovery and enrichment by establishing objectives, accepting difficulties, and encouraging a development attitude. Keep in mind that growth often entails ups and downs; it is not necessarily linear. Accept setbacks as a necessary part of learning from them and utilize them as concrete stepping stones on the path to reaching your objectives. You’ll not only succeed academically as you traverse your educational path with the spirit of Progress Learning, but you’ll also develop into a lifelong learner and a more resilient, adaptive person equipped to meet any obstacle that comes your way. In general, “progress learning” refers to the process of improving one’s education, abilities, or knowledge. The goal of Progress Learning is to improve and broaden one’s knowledge and skills in a variety of fields. It’s possible that “Progress Learning” went by another name. Although “Progress Learning Liftoff” seems to be a distinct resource or program, more information is required for a full description.

1. Deacons have been in the Church since its very early days The first follower of Jesus to be martyred was a deacon, St. Stephen. He was an eloquent speaker and drew many people to Jesus. He was stoned to death, and right to the very end, proclaimed the good news of Jesus’ salvation. His dying words were, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and then he prayed that the Lord would forgive those who stoned him. This all happened before the conversion of St. Paul and scriptures say that St. Paul, then Saul, was a part of his stoning. St. Stephen’s feast day is December 26th. 2. Deacons are ordained clergy in the Church The hierarchy of orders is: Bishop, Priest and Deacon. Like priests, deacons also attend seminary training and continuing education. 3. Married men are allowed to become deacons They usually remain a deacon as their life vocation. Seminarians, on their way to becoming a priest, are first ordained a deacon. They usually remain in this vocation for a short period of time (called transitional deacons) in preparation for their ordination to the priesthood. Whether or not the diaconate is permanent or transitional, the order of deacon is the same. In all actuality, all deacons are permanent in that the mark of diaconate ordination is permanent. 3. A deacon is ordained to serve His primary mission is to serve the Church and the world. The word deacon comes from the Greek word for servant. The scriptural reference for the beginning of deacons is usually seen in Acts 6: 1-6 where servants are needed to take care of the needs of widows and others. All deacons are required to have ministries where they serve. What the ordinary Catholic sees at mass is a deacon serving at altar, but the majority of his ministry happens in the various needs of the church and society. 5. The deacon is called to be the “Herald of the Gospel” At my ordination, the bishop handed me the Book of the Gospels and said, “RECEIVE the Gospel of Christ who’s HERALD you are. BELIEVE what you read, TEACH what you believe and PRACTICE what you TEACH.” I personally take that very seriously. 6. Celibacy affects every deacon Married deacons may not remarry and must be celibate if their wives die. The church follows ancient tradition and the scriptures in requiring this. 7. Deacons, as ordained ministers, wear clerical garb Some deacons, in some dioceses, wear the Roman collar for “street garb”, especially in working within their ministries. Some local bishops prefer that the deacon not wear the Roman collar. All deacons wear liturgical vestments during liturgies they serve or preside at. Like a priest, the deacon wears an alb and a stole. The deacon’s stole is worn over the left shoulder and attached on the lower right side visible in both the front and the back. The priest wears a stole that goes around his neck and straight down both sides in the front. When at a Eucharistic celebration, the priest wears a chasuble and a deacon wears a dalmatic. They may both look similar but if you look closely, the deacon’s dalmatic has sleeves and the chasuble does not. 8. The deacon has prescribed parts of the Eucharistic liturgy He may lead the penitential rite. The deacon reads the Gospel. He may preach. He does the intercessions in the prayer of the faithful. He prepares the chalice and helps the priest at the altar. He is an ordinary minister of the Eucharist. He calls people to the sign of peace and he dismisses the people at the end of mass. 9. Like a priest… The deacon can preside at baptisms, weddings, wake services, exposition and benediction and various prayer services. Unlike a priest, he cannot celebrate Mass (only assist), cannot hear confessions and cannot anoint the sick. 10. The majority of permanent deacons are married with children and grandchildren Since deacons usually volunteer their services and are not paid by the church, they must maintain a job. A deacon is told that his priorities are (in order): family, job, the diaconate. Most people do not realize the sacrifices that a deacon’s wife and children make to allow the deacon to serve. Most wives and children are most cooperative in the ministry of the deacon. 11. All deacons are required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours like bishops, priests, and religious Deacons are also required to have a spiritual director and make annual retreats and continue their education. 12. Being a deacon is absolutely AWESOME It is humbling, as well as uplifting, to serve the Lord and His Church. Deacon Marty McIndoe serves as a deacon in the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, NY. He was in the first class of deacons for the diocese and has served for 35 years. Deacon Marty, and his wife Martha, live in Patchogue, NY and are members of St. Francis de Sales parish. Deacon Marty has been involved in many ministries and has been a teacher and speaker at numerous events on Long Island. He converted to the Catholic faith in 1973 from the Methodist faith. He loves being a deacon and serving the Lord and His church.

Otázka: The United Kingdom… The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The UK is situated to the north-west part of European continent, between the Atlantic ocean and the North see. It is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The total land area is 243,600km2 It lies in the northeast of the island of Ireland. The capital and the largest city is Belfast. In Northern Ireland, sport is popular and important in the lives of many people. It is a country on the western side of Great Britain. It is a principality, ruled by a prince. Traditionally, the title of the Prince of Wales is given to the oldest son of the reigning English monarch. The capital of Wales is Cardiff. The national game of Wales is rugby Scotland is a country in the north of Great Britain, famous for its freshwater lochs (lakes). The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, which known for the Edinburgh Festival, a collection of festivals held over about four weeks from early August. England makes up the southern part of Great Britain. Nearly 84% of the population of the UK lives in England. There is the oldest university in the English-speaking world in Oxford. The capital city of the United Kingdom is London. UK has a mild climate due to the warm Gulf Stream. Rain is common throughout the year The landscape of England is mostly rolling hillsides. The main mountain regions are the Cornish Heights and the Pennines. The highest mountains are Ben Nevis in Scotland (1343 m high), Snowdon in North Wales (1085 m high ) and Scafell Pike in England (978 m high). The longest rivers are the Severn and the Thames. The best – known lakes are those in the Lake District and in Scotland and there are famous lake Loch Ness. The population of the UK is more than 60 million, taking into account emigration and immigration. In Britain, we can find the following ethnic groups: English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh. The official language is English . It has many dialects throughout the country. British English differs from American English in some ways, such as pronunciation, spelling or vocabulary. The political system Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The head of the state is the Queen Elizabeth II. Formally she’s a head of the executive and judiciary, commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, and temporal governor of the Church of England. The Parliament includes sovereign, the House of Lords (Upper House)-aristocrats and House of Commons (Lower House)- members are elected for five-year terms. is in hands of the prime ministr-David Cameron and his Cabinet (group of ministers) The United Kingdom has three legal systems : English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law Great Britain was first settled by the Celts about 3000 years ago. Than there were Romans – they started building Hadrian’s Wall. In 1485, a dynasty, the Tudors, gained the throne. In 1536, Wales was joined to England by the Act of Union. Under Queen Elizabeth I (second half of 16. century) Britain became a major sea power. Large parts of Africa and Asia were added to the empire during the reign of Queen Victoria. Scotland was joined to England in 1707, Northern Ireland in 1801. The UK is a founding member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation). Since 1973 the UK has been a member of the European Union. The main industries are steel, metals, vehicles, shipbuilding, shipping, banking, insurance, textiles, chemicals, electronics, aircraft, machinery, and distilling. The main agricultural products are corn, sugar beet, fruit, and vegetables. Britain is rich in coal, tin, oil, gas, chalk and lead.

Wednesday July 15, 2020 Discover what's important and present it early and concisely to refine your ideas and engage with your audience. Don't bury the lede. Get to the point. Put the Bottom Line Up Front. Communicate as if you may be interrupted. - Identify your message - Give a one-line version - Give a one-paragraph version - Add detail until complete - Use the best of text and other media Identify your message What your audience needs most is your unique contribution: a result or recommendation, a summary or synthesis. Help them to understand. Prepare them to take action. If you don't know what your message is, you have little chance of communicating it. Think beyond listing what you've done, what you've read, what you've seen. Find a deeper conclusion. Even without an audience, you should be doing this for yourself. According to Shannon, information is related to surprise. One heuristic is to identify the most central "surprise" you have to communicate. What does your audience not know? Can you anticipate questions they would ask, and answer them? Don't force your audience to come to their own conclusions. Your message won't prevent them from doing that anyway, if you are honest and complete. Your message isn't the final word. It should be a generous starting point. Regardless of audience, the practice of articulating a message into short concrete forms can help you to clarify and improve your ideas, possibly through several iterations. Give a one-line version Start with a title, or subject line, or initial answer to a question. A one-line version should be complete enough that the audience can choose whether to continue. Good newspaper headlines, like "Truman wins presidency," are tiny versions of their articles. Clickbait titles illustrate what not to do, as in "You won't believe what Truman did." Emulate good headlines. Good one-line versions are usually complete sentences, not just noun phrases. Don't convey just the subject you're talking about, include what you're saying about it. Feel free to use the specialized language of your field. Big Self-Supervised Models are Strong Semi-Supervised Learners is a great title for a Machine Learning paper, though it may seem opaque to botanists. Though the need for summarizing is real, there's value in retaining important detail. For example, "Technique X Improves Results" is likely not a better one-line version than "Technique X Improves Metric Y by 3%." Include specifics as much as you can. It may be challenging to distill your message into a faithful one-line representation, but it can be done. In some cases, a one-line version is all you need. Give a one-paragraph version Whether it's labeled as an abstract or a summary or not, a first paragraph should always be a complete version of your message, not an introduction. The one-line version of your message may be just a sketch, but a well-crafted paragraph lets you convey, Pareto-style, a complete core message, missing only detail. The practice of skipping quickly to an article's conclusion is not a natural part of reading, it is a defensive work-around for bad writing. Present the conclusion at the beginning. You shouldn't require your audience go all the way to the end. For example, if the purpose of an email is to make a request, make the request clear at the beginning. The focus here is effective, purposeful, reality-oriented communication. This is distinct from small talk, poetry, or fiction, where it may make sense to approach a topic obliquely over time, to carefully build an effect. With a useful one-paragraph version at the beginning, the audience can determine what information is being communicated and what further detail they're interested in. This is kind to your audience—and your audience may be you. Add detail until complete Including condensed versions at the beginning doesn't mean omitting supporting detail, clarification, data, and other supplementary material. Be very inclusive. The expectation is not that the audience must review everything, but that they may. Organize for the benefit of the audience. Make it easy to find things. This should follow from the nature of what you're communicating, and could also be responsive to the expectations of your audience. The overall structure should often be fractal, in that further sections are organized following the overall guidelines, starting with short versions. Generally, information density and polish should decrease gradually. Content at the beginning is likely still elaborating the core message. More related detail is added gradually, until toward the end one might include a list of references, notes, logs of activities over time, source data, audio or transcriptions from interviews, and the like. Enough should be provided that the audience can replicate your conclusions or form their own. Nothing should be hidden. Use the best of text and other media Text is a mighty tool, but it is not the only tool. Always use the best available tool for communicating. Outside of conversation, text and its variants together with two-dimensional graphics (especially data visualizations) are most useful, with time-distributed media and interactive artifacts only sometimes worthwhile. Text can be used in many ways. Headings add structure. Numbered and bulleted lists and tables can help organize and summarize. Fonts, weights, sizes, and styles can assist in communication when used well. Hypertext allows linking easily to related resources. Numbers are data visualizations, as are quantitative tables. Carefully presented numbers can be very communicative. Graphics can help communicate ideas diagrammatically. Graphical data visualizations (plots, graphs, charts) can convey quantitative information exceptionally well; their effective use is an extended topic. Images can also sometimes be useful. Time-distributed media refers principally to audio and video. To date, these are difficult to search or skim. They tend to require the audience to sit through them. Similarly, interactive artifacts are relatively oblique rather than communicating directly. There are places for all of these, but they are not often the best choice for direct communication. Update 2021-08-15: Added "Get to the point" in first paragraph, inspired by Mckay Wrigley.

I'm reading the book SEX AT DAWN: the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality, the book suggests that in prehistoric times, when homo sapiens were just foraging on the earth, the relation between men and women was like the relation between male and female bonobos and the society was more like a matriarchy in which women had the most respectable position. But when people learned agriculture and began to settle down and the concept of individual property formed, women's position converted to man's property and men restricted women more and more in order to be sure that their possessions will be inherited by their actual heirs. On page 17 we read: when people began living in settled agricultural communities, social reality shifted deeply and irrevocably. Suddenly it became crucially important to know where your field ended and your neighbor’s began. Remember the Tenth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour’s.” Clearly, the biggest loser (aside from slaves, perhaps) in the agricultural revolution was the human female, who went from occupying a central, respected role in foraging societies to becoming another possession for a man to earn and defend, along with his house, slaves, and livestock. - My question is that why does it say clearly? Why didn't women earn possessions like men in the agricultural revolution? What intrinsic feature in women makes it clear that they shall lose their position in the agricultural revolution? By high rank of female bonobos, I don't mean only sexual relationship but also the higher position in the society in which A male derives his status from the status of his mother

Electrocardiogram (ECG) / Holter monitor This is a recording of the heart’s electrical activity. It is a useful investigation in all forms of heart disease but is particularly useful when an arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm is suspected.Abnormal patterns of electrical activity are also seen in coronary disease, hypertension and cardiomyopathies. In the investigation of palpitations or dizzy spells, a small portable ECG recorder (Holter monitor) may be worn for 24 hours or longer to help identify intermittent symptoms. Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring As blood pressure varies widely throughout the day, it is recognised that a 24-hour recording of blood pressure using a portable monitor is a more accurate measure of identifying true hypertension and defining long-term risk. A coronary angiogram is an x-ray investigation of the heart and coronary arteries and remains the gold-standard for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease.This is an invasive procedure during which a long, thin tube (catheter) is passed, under local anaesthetic, from an artery in the groin or wrist to the heart and dye is injected to show the heart arteries on x-ray. Although the investigation itself is brief the site at which the catheter is inserted at the groin or wrist is monitored for several hours after the procedure and therefore usually requires a day case inpatient stay. For more details please click here » This is also known as a stress test and is very useful for assessing patients with chest pain or breathlessness during exercise.Patients undergoing this test have their pulse rate, blood pressure and ECG continuously recorded whilst they are walking on a treadmill. Changes in these parameters can help identify the cause of the symptoms particularly if coronary artery disease is suspected. An echocardiogram is an ultrasound scan of the heart. The structure and function of the heart can be visualised with the flow of blood through the heart chambers. In patients who are breathless or who have heart murmurs the echocardiogram is used to diagnose disease of the heart valves or a weak or enlarged heart. Occasionally a very detailed echocardiogram of the internal heart structures is required, performed from a miniature probe passed to the back of the heart, down the oesophagus, under sedation and local anaesthesia (transoesophageal echocardiogram). CT and MRI Scanning These scans are useful in a number of heart conditions or when other investigations are not appropriate or possible. The cardiac MR scans are particularly good at looking at the heart muscle in detail and the heart in relation to it’s major arteries, the pulmonary artery and aorta. Cardiac CT scans can be helpful in identifying very early coronary disease.

Ther 8.2 ky event, or 6200 to 6000BC – another way of saying the same thing. If you want to find out about it, and read lots of articles, then all you have to do is put the event into your search engine. At https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_event … we have another slant on what is basically the same thing. They are discernible as North Atlantic ice raft events and these are tentatively linked to climate fluctuations, including during the Holocene [the last ten thousand years]. Some 8 of them are currently recognised in that period. They were originally paced at 1500 year intervals. Fred Singer and Dennis Avery even wrote a book, ‘Unstoppable Global Warming: every 1500 years‘ Roman and Littlefield:2007. Fred Singer was in fact a strident critic of global warming, as it then was, and I suppose he saw modern warming as a manifestation of one of the Bond events and nothing to do with co2. Nowadays, the 1500 year cycle has been put to bed and advocates now talk in terms of 1000 year intervals. Actually, if you go back and look at the cold blips featured in tree rings and ice cores, especially in the second half of the Holocene, there are a lot more events than the Bond hypothesis would allow. Cycles, in any case, can be an artifact of computer modeling. Gerard Bond was the lead author, in 1997, of a research paper that postulated a cycle of 1470 years in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. It was mainly based on petrologic tracers of drift ice in the North Atlantic, a novel piece of research that appears to have impressed a lot of people. Bond and his team drew attention to these cold blips and looked around for an explanation. As catastrophism was out of the question as it would have designated the research as fringe or plain barmy, they decided on a more terrestrial based solution to the puzzle. Hence, we have this idea of the Atlantic overturning cycle – as if it can just overturn without a vector causing that to happen. Bond specifically saw a connection with the Sun – a solar cycle of some kind. If they had looked at the Clube and Napier theory of the break-up of a large comet, or Centaur object, they could have explained the 1500 year cycle during the Late Holocene and the more frequent cycle later on, including what is a much more frequent ambivalance of cold blips after 6200BC. Unfortunately for Bond and his pals, recent work has set out to bomb their argument. The new argument is that it was in all probability a statistical artifact. Following the publication of the North GRIP Greenland ice core chronology in 2005, it became clear Dansgaard-Oeschger events also show no such pattern. However, in spite of that the North Atlantic ice rafting events do seem to coincide with low lake levels in some parts of the US, and weak monsoons. Something was clearly going on. These cool periods also appear to correspond with aridification in the Levant and Middle East. This confirms the link to weak monsoons – or a switch in the monsoon track. I’ve never been able to re-create the 1500 year cycle – even using Fred Singer’s data. There are just too many cooling events in tree rings and ice cores. No wonder it was decided it was a statistical nightmare. The wiki provides a list of such events, but why they chose these ones over others is difficult to understand. At the outset it should be said the 6200BC event is proably the most statistically likely of them all. It resembles a short version of a dryas event, for exmple, and roughly 5000 years separates it from the outset of the Younger Dryas, at one end, and the Piorra cooling event around 3000BC, at the other end. 3 x 1500 years = 1450, rather than 5000 years. No doubt their arithmetic involved other key points – the end of the Younger Dryas perhaps, rather than the beginning of it. We also have to rely on mainstream dating methodology. This is the one factor that probably makes it most unworkable. Presumably, if the Younger Dryas event represents an encounter with a newly formed meteor flux from a comet that was in the process of breaking up, one could work through the cold blips that lasted for a significant period of time, much longer than what we would expect if a big volcano had gone off, then we might explain the cycle in a different way. There are also a lot of double whammys, as one might describe them. For example, in the Roman period we have cooling events and problems in the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, which are repeated in the Late Bronze upheavals by about the same interval, and in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC as well. The earth therefore passed through the Taurid stream in question twice, on its orbit through space, and then not again for around a thousand years or so.

Guidelines aim to combat inadequate concussion knowledge and treatments Declan Schroeder, CONTRIBUTOR Doctors and coaches may soon be better equipped to help athletes with concussions. The Canadian government is teaming up with Parachute, an injury prevention charity, to develop evidence-backed national guidelines for dealing with concussions. The new guidelines are aimed at preventing, managing, and raising awareness among Canadians about concussions. Increasing awareness and educating Canadians on the impact of concussions are things that Caleigh Dobie, a University of Manitoba student and co-captain of the Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team, finds very important. Dobie suffered seven concussions from 2010 to December 2015. “Concussions used to feel like something that people didn’t really understand, and so it didn’t seem that serious,” she wrote in an email. People are starting to take concussions more seriously, according to Dobie. “Society has been subjected to the fear that concussion patients feel,” she wrote. “What happens later on in life? Can I continue to play the sport and take on the role that I live for? These are the questions I often ask myself. In recent years, these questions have become more publicly supported.” Dobie’s short-term memory has been slightly affected by her concussions, she said. While Dobie has never felt pressure to return to action before she was symptom-free, she believes professional sports have treated concussions too lightly in the past. However, she feels athletes are starting to speak more openly about concussions, and people are starting to understand their gravity and long-term effects. Dr. Glenn Bailey, the chiropractor for the Winnipeg Goldeyes who has worked with concussion patients, agrees with Dobie. He believes agreeing on new guidelines is worthwhile and that education is key. “[Concussions] are not taken seriously enough, overall, at all levels,” he said. “You get pockets of knowledgeable trainers and coaches, but not consistent. More training on this topic is needed and should be included at all coach training levels repeatedly.” Bailey also points to athlete awareness as a key part of the solution. “Athletes think they are fine, yet fine motor skills are affected as are subtle cognitive abilities…but the athletes just want to compete, so they say nothing,” he said. Parachute has just started to craft the guidelines after attending the Fifth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport in Berlin on Oct. 27-28.

During the last decade architect Petter Bergerud has carried out experimental and artistic workshops together with colleagues, craftsmen and a vast number of students. The outcome is a book presenting the structural and geometric challenges, the work processes and the final artistic results from a total of nine workshops. If used correctly, wood can be one of the most sustainable materials. It comes from a renewable resource, it is a clean material and it can be very durable. Timber materials act as a carbon store, and this makes them more sustainable; the longer they are kept in use the more times they are reused. Related: Exporting Norwegian Architecture Timescale of an oak tree “An oak tree grows for 300 years, lives for 300 years and takes 300 years to die. This is a timescale that is alien to today’s production and consumption society,” says professor Petter Bergerud at Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Norway. The book opens with an introduction, Renewing Tradition, describing the material wood, its material properties and its use in a historical context. This is followed by a philosophical commentary on the meaning and value of Nothing. Experimental Wooden Structures in Norway Sustainable use of timber materials can consist of specifying the dimensions based on what the timber is to be used for, using timber from non-traditional tree species, building durable structures, designing with a view to subsequent dismantling, using recycled wood and specifying certified timber. Related: Norwegian Stave Churches As the call for sustainable material solutions grown ever louder and the environmental impact of manufacturing is a more urgent concern than ever, renewable materials such as wood are back in the spotlight. As an organic substance, with roots (literally) in the natural world, wood has a richer narrative history than the synthetic materials that have come to dominate the current age of consumption. It is an anchor to nature; every wooden object carries with it the suggestion of the tree and thence the forest from which it came. The last chapter in “Experimental Wooden Structures” is a postscript entitled Beauty Matters and Learning by Doing. Bergerud’s projects are built on his philosophical, intuitive and artistic way of thinking. The synthesis of the artistic will and energy and the understanding of structural mechanics and craftsmanship have together created some impressive large-scale projects in the city of Bergen, which are beautifully described in this book. The project Expermental Wood Structure run over a period of seven years. About Bergen Academy of Art and Design Based in Norway’s unofficial capital of design, the Bergen Academy (KhiB), is one of the country’s most respected higher-education institutions, admired internationally for producing generation after generation of the nation’s most accomplished designers and artists. The Academy is known for its interdisciplinary approach, design-as-solution methodology and pronounced emphasis on the importance of research and collaboration. Experimental Wooden Structures in Norway, written by Tor Kjolberg

The Land Use module imports USGS National Land Cover Database (NLCD) files and MODIS global land cover files and uses them in the radio coverage predictions and link analyses. The USGS NLCD files categorize land use attributes, such as Urban, Agricultural, Forest, etc. When the files are imported into the TAP™ format, TAP™ can determine the classification at a given set of coordinates. The land cover data may be used to enhance propagation analyses to two primary ways: - Loss values may be defined for any frequency ranges for each specified type of land use to permit the inclusion of localized environmental conditions in predicted system performance. Recommended loss values are readily available. - Land Cover Clutter can be used to raise the terrain along an RF path based on the land cover category. Click here to see a tutorial video of how to include Land Cover Clutter in Propagation Studies. As shown below, the land cover category can be shown graphically along a path study. This can aid in the consideration of where trees or buildings may impact link performance and inform the placement of appropriate surface features. It can also help identify where possible reflection points along the path may be especially problematic due to the presence of water. In addition, TAP™ includes a Land Use Loss Database that correlates the land classification with a loss value as a function of frequency. When TAP™ is used for an area coverage study or single-point field calculation, the environment of the receiver location can be determined from the Land Use data, and a user-specified loss value can be applied. For example, if an additional loss of 3dB within a certain frequency band is to be included whenever a receiver location is in a forest area, and 6db when in an urban area, the Land Use Loss Database stores that condition. At the same time, a loss of 7dB for forest and 12dB for urban may be stored for use in a different frequency band. This approach allows great flexibility in applying the effects of the land use information to TAP™ studies. TAP™ also provides the user with the option to effectively raise the terrain based on land cover categories in order to more accurately predict signal blockage due to buildings, trees, and other vegetation. Users can specify a height associated with each land cover category based on knowledge of the local environment. For example, Forest Deciduous height of 15 meters, Forest Evergreen 25 meters, etc. TAP™ will raise the terrain accordingly in propagation calculations for Path, Coverage, AutoPath, and AutoCoverage studies. This functionality is shown graphically below with Land Cover Clutter selected as the Surface Feature type and the dark red showing the height added to the bare ground terrain. Download a fully-functional demo version of our Terrain Analysis Package software.Download

Harnessing Stone Crushing Technology for Improved Efficiency in South Africa's Quarries Stone has been used as a construction material for centuries. It is durable, versatile, and readily available, making it an essential resource for construction projects. In South Africa, the demand for stones for construction purposes has increased significantly over the years, leading to the booming quarry industry. However, the extraction and crushing of stones in quarries require significant energy and resources, which can have negative environmental implications. To address this challenge, the quarry industry in South Africa must embrace advanced stone crushing technology to improve efficiency and minimize environmental impact. One innovative technology that holds great promise is the use of mobile crushing plants. These plants are compact and can be transported to the quarry site, allowing for on-site crushing of stones. This eliminates the need for trucks to transport stones to off-site crushing facilities, reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Furthermore, mobile crushing plants are equipped with advanced crushing units that can efficiently process different types of stones. They are designed to maximize productivity while minimizing the energy required for the crushing process. This results in a significant reduction in energy consumption and operational costs for quarry owners. Another efficient stone crushing technology is the use of vertical shaft impact (VSI) crushers. These crushers use the principle of rock-on-rock collision, which minimizes the wear and tear on the crushing surfaces. This technology is highly efficient and produces a consistent-grade product with less waste. In addition to adopting advanced technologies, South Africa's quarries should also consider implementing a comprehensive energy management strategy. This includes optimizing energy use in the crushing process, such as reducing idle times, optimizing equipment settings, and using energy-efficient motors. Furthermore, quarry owners should invest in renewable energy sources to power their operations. Installing solar panels or wind turbines can provide a clean and sustainable source of energy, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. Additionally, quarry owners should prioritize the recycling of stone waste. By investing in stone crushing equipment that can convert waste stones into reusable aggregates, they can minimize the need for new extraction and reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. To promote the adoption of these technologies, the South African government should provide incentives and grants to quarry owners who invest in energy-efficient and environmentally friendly equipment. They should also collaborate with industry stakeholders to conduct research and development to improve stone crushing technology further. In conclusion, harnessing stone crushing technology for improved efficiency is crucial for South Africa's quarry industry. By adopting advanced crushing technologies and implementing energy management strategies, quarry owners can reduce their operational costs, minimize environmental impact, and contribute to a sustainable future. It is time for South Africa's quarries to embrace innovation and pave the way towards a greener and more efficient industry. - Analyzing the Price Fluctuations of Quarry Crusher Equipment in China - Comparing the Different Types of Stone Crusher Machines: Which One is Right for You? - Enhancing Fuel Flexibility with Advanced Coal Pulverizer Types - From Bulky to Compact: 10 Mechanical Components Suitable for Crushing Machines - Improving Dispersion and Homogeneity of Calcium Carbonate in Ball Mills - Maximizing Efficiency: How a Small Used Jaw Crusher from eBay Can Transform Your Operations - Quality Control in Gypsum Powder Production Plants: Essential Practices for Consistency - Sustainable Grinding: Reducing Carbon Footprint with Cemtec Ball Mills - The Key Components of a Closed Circuit Stone Cone Crusher Plant - Understanding the Economics of Establishing a Limestone Mine: Costs and Returns - Unveiling the Secrets to Designing Effective Continuous Ball Mill Drawings - Boosting Productivity: The Latest Technological Advancements in Granite Crusher Processing Machines in South Africa - Crushing Machine Innovations: Shaping the Future of Material Processing - Environmental Considerations in Calcined Kaolin Processing - From Farm to Feed: How the Hammer Mill 50 HR is Revolutionizing Animal Feed Production - India's White Gold: Understanding the Applications and Demand for Kaolin - Maximizing Output and Quality: The Benefits of Acquiring a Coal Wash Plant for Sale in Mpumalanga - Quartz Stone Powder Machine Manufacturing: Achieving Efficiency and Quality Standards in India - Sustainable Solutions: How Jaw Crushers are Promoting Environmental Responsibility in Uzbekistan's Aggregate Industry - The Rise of Eco-Tourism: Discovering Nature's Best Unspoiled Destinations

PVC is a construction material that is both sturdy and lightweight simultaneously, which is why it is popularly used in windows and doors. Because of plasticizers, it now has a greater range of motion and is less rigid. If no plasticizers are added, it is referred to as “rigid PVC,” which is short for “Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride,” or uPVC. PVC, which stands for polyvinyl chloride, and uPVC, which stands for unplasticized polyvinyl chloride, are the two categories that vinyl falls into. Vinyl is a chemical substance that may seep into your paint. Both PVC and uPVC are categories of the same material. Because of their versatility, both materials find employment in the building industry for windows and doors. PVC, on the other hand, is only acceptable for use in siding and fences. uPVC, on the other hand, is an excellent material for use in window and door frames. Because of their adaptability and versatility, they are often used in the construction industry. This is because they can be formed into any shape. Nevertheless, they each do something unique. What is PVC? PVC includes compounds that are hazardous to human health and should be avoided. As a result of phthalates and BPA, PVC has a greater propensity to get discolored and therefore requires specialized maintenance over time to eliminate surface stains. Because it is difficult to get PVC, it is not a material that is regularly used in window construction in either Europe or the United States. When heated, PVC gives out fumes that are harmful to humans. These things may cause harm to your health. PVC releases gas when subjected to high temperatures. The most notable drawback of PVC is the potential for this gas to ill our bodies. What is uPVC? PVC does not include any phthalates or BPA in its production. In addition to being an excellent option, it has fewer negative effects on the natural world. uPVC is a very long-lasting and robust material, making it well-suited for the installation of windows owing to its high thermal efficiency and resistance to fading. uPVC has several benefits, including that it is less porous than other materials, which lowers the required amount of upkeep. Additionally, its lifetime is quite lengthy and may last several years. In addition, uPVC is a stiff material; it does not bend in any way, it is an exceptionally resistant substance, and finally, it is a material that can be recycled. What is the Difference Between PVC & uPVC? The fact that some of them are coated with plasticizers differentiates them from one another: Plasticizers are present in PVC. However, they are not present in uPVC. PVC has become pliable and flexible with the addition of plasticizers, making it an excellent material for toys, wiring, and even clothes. Because uPVC is a rigid and inflexible material, it is most often used for making window frames and water pipes. On the other hand, PVC has been shown to contain chemicals, namely BPA and phthalates, while uPVC does not. PVC is a porous flexible material that is less durable than uPVC, which is a material that does not need any maintenance. However, a restricted range of colour options is available for both PVC and uPVC. PVC in windows Some businesses call their windows “PVC,” an abbreviation for polyvinyl chloride. In most instances, metal and wooden window frames are being phased out in favor of uPVC window frames due to uPVC’s superior performance in terms of energy efficiency. In addition, uPVC may be fashioned into a door frame or included in conservatory construction. Benefits of Having PVC Windows In recent years, there has been a discernible rise in the number of window sales that include PVC. This is because they come with various benefits, like offering energy efficiency. We have highlighted a few more below: #1. Poly vinyl windows have a low impact on the environment Despite the widespread perception to the contrary, the manufacturing of PVC windows does not harm the surrounding ecosystem. Since the manufacture of PVC does not result in the emission of any poisonous compounds, this material is far less harmful to the environment than other materials, such as aluminum. The quantity of plastic used to produce these windows is little compared to the number of years of service you will receive because they are so long-lasting. In addition to that, they readily conform to the regulations for energy efficiency. #2. Windows made of PVC are very effective insulators Our houses benefit greatly from the increased acoustic, and thermal insulation PVC windows provide. Because of this, you won’t be troubled by loud sounds outside your house, and shifts will less influence the ambiance of your home in the temperature that occurs outside. If you effectively insulate your house, you won’t need to spend money or use resources to heat or cool it. The advantages of your new windows will become apparent month after month in the decreased cost of your gas and electric bills. #3. Robust compared to wood windows All the windows made from PVC are far more durable than wood windows. When it comes to protecting your house, this is a significant benefit since it means that your windows will be better able to deter prospective intruders and lessen the possibility of accidents. The impact of weather on regular PVC is lesser compared to wood windows. PVC windows are guaranteed to survive for at least half a century. Because they have such a long lifetime, you won’t need to paint them or do regular maintenance. PVC windows, however, need nothing more than an occasional dusting and wipe down, just like any other piece of furniture. #5. Easy to clean Cleaning wooden windows require the use of solutions that have been specifically formulated to avoid causing harm to the material. Aluminum follows the same pattern. On the other hand, PVC windows need a moist cloth, water, and some kind of detergent or soap to be cleaned properly. You do not need to purchase any specialized goods. #6. They are adaptable replacement windows Even though white is the most common color for these windows, you can buy them in many other colors. You may also get PVC windows with a wood or brick finish, allowing you to blend them with a wide variety of design aesthetics. You can select from various opening kinds (casement, tilt, sliding, etc.), which means that they are flexible enough to accommodate all of your requirements and let in an abundance of natural light. There are, without a doubt, a few drawbacks to this. They often come at a large premium compared to wooden windows, particularly if you choose double or triple glazing in your structure. Myths About PVC People often need clarification about which windows to choose these days, not just because there is a shortage of information but also because this is even more problematic because there is occasionally inaccurate or unclear information. The choice between aluminum windows, wooden windows, and PVC windows often confuses people. We concluded that the best way to put an end to all of the misunderstandings and provide an explanation of the most widespread fallacies around PVC windows was to do it ourselves. #1. Cellular PVC windows are too costly to purchase The cost of cellular PVC windows is determined by a variety of different elements, including the number of chambers, the profiles that are selected, and the accessories that are selected. Every year, cutting-edge technologies make it possible for manufacturing to become more efficient and cost-effective. In addition, PVC is the substance that is derived from making doors and windows, and the production procedure for this product is less laborious or pricey than that of its competitors. Additionally, cellular PVC windows offer energy efficiency and retain warm air inside a building. You might see a decrease in your monthly energy costs of up to fifty percent when winter arrives. #2. PVC windows have a lower lifespan than other window materials The British Research Establishment (BRE) has determined that PVC windows have a minimum reference service life (RSL) of 35 years and need minor maintenance. Windows made of PVC’s first generation, which is now 50 years old, continue to work admirably well after this time has passed. #3. Every PVC window has a conventional rectangular shape and comes in a standard white color Although this is the most typical shape and color of contemporary PVC windows, it is by no means the only option available. There is a wide variety of other options available. You are no longer limited to white PVC doors and windows due to technological advances. Instead, you may have doors and windows in colors that complement the color palette of your newly designed house and any shade with an imitation woodgrain appearance. Both the sides It may be necessary to modify your window to make it fit. There are moments when you have a choice. Due to the extreme flexibility of the materials used in PVC, you can experiment with the shape you want, whether round, arch, or something else entirely, when you place an order. #4. PVC windows are environmentally harmful and should be avoided Although uPVC is a synthetic plastic polymer, it is nevertheless a much more secure and environmentally friendly material for making doors and windows than its alternatives. During the production process, chemical compositions are included to thwart the release of any potentially harmful chemicals. In addition to having a long lifespan, several fire and safety studies have proved that when uPVC is set ablaze, it produces less toxic smoke than other materials, such as wood. Additionally, PVC windows can be recycled up to one hundred times, reducing the heat you use and making them one of the most environmentally friendly options you can bring into your house. #5. Over time, PVC profiles will become a yellowish color PVC has a lengthy and eventful history that may be broken down into various phases. For example, the first profile was made in the 1960s, and a few flows occurred during the initial production stage. One of these flows was the development of yellow on the profiles. To our good fortune, and of course, in recognition of the efforts of the engineers and technicians, a unique microelement is now being included in every one of the PVC profiles, which will ensure that they remain unaltered for the duration of their useful lives. #6. Aluminum windows are superior to other materials The majority of individuals throughout the globe choose PVC windows (48 percent), followed by aluminum profiles (25 percent) and hardwood profiles (27 percent). To manufacture uPVC, there must be zero pores or spaces for air to pass through between the window and the wall. Aluminum, being a metal, is an excellent heat conductor; as a result, it offers a low thermal insulation level and a high thermal conductivity. Corrosion, which appears as a white powdery covering on the metal, may be readily caused by aluminum profiles, which rust rapidly. Over time, these profiles will get damaged and broken, necessitating more regular repairs. #7. Windows made of PVC need to be regularly maintained PVC windows do not require any maintenance, but they need to be cleaned, and the accessories and hardware need to be checked and maintained. Despite this, PVC windows are incredibly low maintenance, and the cost to replace or relook at PVC profiles is significantly less than the cost of replacing or relooking profiles made of other materials. A helpful hint for cleaning PVC windows is to use plain soapy water. They need to be swept twice a month to remove any dust and potential filth, and they will look as good as new. In the early 1980s, the market for windows and doors was swiftly dominated by PVC products due to the material’s stiffness and longevity. Customers were aware of the benefits of this dependable and minimal maintenance PVC window. PVC window frames will not discolor, decay, or distort like wooden ones. In addition to this, old windows do not need to be repainted every few years. Insulation against heat loss and outside noise is provided very well by PVCu windows, which also help to reduce outside noise to a minimum. The passage of time has increased the level of sophistication of PVC windows. A vast selection of designs is available, which give the impression of traditional wooden or metal windows yet come equipped with all of the benefits of this contemporary material.

What is the meaning pullet? a young hen Definition of pullet : a young hen specifically : a hen of the domestic chicken less than a year old. What are pullets in chickens? Pullet is the term for a female teenage chicken, while a male teenage chicken is called a cockerel. Between 5-7 weeks, you should be able to begin visually distinguishing males from females. Compared to pullets, the combs and wattles of cockerels often develop earlier and are usually larger. What is a pullet vs hen? Hen: A female chicken. Nest Egg: Literally, a china or wooden egg placed into the nest to encourage laying; figuratively, something set aside as security. Learn more about egg production in your chicken coop. Point-of-lay Pullet: A young female, just about to lay, near 5 months old. Why is a chicken called a pullet? If you’re not confused enough, yet, we should add that sometimes female chickens are called “pullets” for more or less their entire first year, even after they begin laying! This is because when they first begin laying, their eggs are not full size. (They start small–lucky for them!) Can pullets lay eggs? First-year chickens (called pullets) can lay eggs as early as 15 weeks old. The earliest, smallest eggs laid are called pullet eggs. Pullet eggs will be inconsistently laid and stay petite until the chicken’s body has fully matured, which can be anywhere between 16-24 weeks of age. How old are pullets? Hens over the age of 12 weeks are in this phase, and are known as pullets. This period of their lives usually lasts until 20 weeks old, though it can be longer. The name ‘pullet’, though, is generally used for any hen under one year. What age do chickens become pullets? between 15 to 22 weeks old So basically, if you’ve got a chicken that’s no longer looking like a chick but is not yet at the stage when it’s laying eggs, it’s considered a pullet. In terms of the age range, pullet chickens are identified between 15 to 22 weeks old. How do hens get pregnant? A rooster often employs a type of foreplay by prancing around the hen and clucking before mounting her. The transfer of sperm happens quickly without the penetration normal in mammal mating. The cloaca, or vent, of the male and female touch and sperm are exchanged. What is a chickens first egg called? Unless you are warned beforehand, you probably had no idea that they would lay such a small egg. These first eggs that your hens are laying are called pullet eggs. A pullet is a female chicken who is under one year of age. Can a chicken get pregnant by a dog? A dog and a chicken are very different kinds of animals, so different that many would say the production of a genuine dog-chicken hybrid would be impossible. However, similar hybrids have been reported, such as the dog-turkey hybrid pictured at right). Do chickens get periods? Here are the deets: Female chickens have a menstrual cycle that can be daily during certain times of the year. Like women, hens have ovaries. During a hen’s cycle, an ovary sends a yolk on its path. The yolk forms what we know of as an “egg white” as it moves through the reproductive tract into the shell gland. What are fart eggs? A fart egg is a small egg laid by a hen. They are smaller than regular eggs and typically do not have a yolk. They often arise in the early stages of a hens reproductive cycle. However, it has also been known for them to be produced towards the end of their reproductive life. It is totally safe to eat a fart egg. How long is a chicken a pullet? A pullet is a young, adolescent hen. The term is only used for female chickens, young males are called cockerels. Pullets are normally somewhere between 16 weeks and 52 weeks old. They have passed through chick-hood, have adult feathers and are in their first year of laying. Can one chicken lay 2 eggs a day? Two Or More Eggs A Day? Chickens will sometimes release two yolks at the same time. This is most common with young hens who are maturing, or a sign that a bird is being overfed. Therefore, a chicken could potentially lay two eggs a day, but no more.

Home health aides play a vital role in providing care and assistance to individuals who require support in the comfort of their own homes. These compassionate professionals offer a wide range of services, ensuring the well-being and comfort of their clients. In this blog post, we will explore the basic duties of home health aides, shedding light on the valuable contributions they make to the healthcare industry and the lives of those they serve. - Personal Care Assistance: One of the primary responsibilities of a home health aide is to provide personal care assistance to clients. This includes helping with activities such as bathing, grooming, dressing, and maintaining personal hygiene. Home health aides are trained to respectfully and sensitively assist individuals with their personal care needs, ensuring their comfort and dignity. - Medication Reminders and Administration: Ensuring clients take their medications as prescribed is crucial for their well-being. Home health aides are responsible for reminding clients to take their medications at the appropriate times and in the correct dosages. In some cases, home health aides may also be trained to administer medications, following proper protocols and guidelines. - Vital Signs Monitoring: Monitoring and recording vital signs is another essential duty of home health aides. They regularly check and document vital signs such as blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate. By tracking these vital signs, home health aides can alert healthcare professionals to any significant changes or concerns, ensuring prompt medical attention when necessary. - Assistance with Mobility and Exercise: Many individuals receiving home health care may have limited mobility or require assistance with exercises recommended by healthcare professionals. Home health aides help clients with mobility aids, transfers, and positioning to maintain their physical comfort and prevent complications associated with immobility. They may also guide clients through prescribed exercises to promote strength, flexibility, and overall well-being. - Light Housekeeping and Meal Preparation: Creating a safe and comfortable environment for clients is an important aspect of a home health aide’s role. They may perform light housekeeping tasks such as cleaning, organizing, and maintaining a tidy living space. Additionally, home health aides often assist with meal preparation, ensuring that clients receive nutritious and balanced meals according to their dietary requirements. - Companionship and Emotional Support: Beyond their practical duties, home health aides provide companionship and emotional support to their clients. They engage in meaningful conversations, actively listen to their clients’ concerns, and provide a comforting presence. Home health aides often develop trusting relationships with clients, offering companionship that helps alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation. Home health aides play a vital role in providing essential care and support to individuals in need. From assisting with personal care and medication management to monitoring vital signs and providing companionship, their duties encompass a wide range of responsibilities. These dedicated professionals contribute significantly to improving the quality of life for their clients, enabling them to live with dignity and comfort within the familiarity of their own homes. Granny NANNIES ensures that seniors receive the support they need to maintain their independence and enjoy a fulfilling life. If you’re seeking reliable and compassionate care for your loved one, consider Granny NANNIES as your trusted partner in providing exceptional ADL assistance and senior care. Call Granny NANNIES (800) 316-2669 for a free home care consultation or Visit www.GrannyNANNIES.com to complete our home care request.

Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves a therapist leading a therapeutic process within a group setting. It offers a unique therapeutic experience where individuals with similar concerns come together to share their experiences, provide support, and learn from one another. Group therapy has its own set of benefits and downsides that should be considered. This page will explore the advantages and limitations of group therapy. Benefits of Group Therapy One of the key benefits of group therapy is the sense of connection and support it provides. Being part of a group with individuals who share similar struggles can alleviate feelings of isolation and promote a sense of belonging. Group members can relate to one another’s experiences, offer empathy, and provide emotional support. This shared understanding can be immensely validating and comforting, fostering a sense of community and reducing feelings of loneliness. Group therapy also offers a unique opportunity for interpersonal learning. Within the group setting, individuals can observe and learn from others’ experiences, perspectives, and coping strategies. They can gain new insights into their own patterns of behavior and interaction. Through feedback and reflections from group members, individuals can develop greater self-awareness and improve their social and communication skills. Group therapy serves as a microcosm of real-life relationships, providing a safe space to explore and experiment with different ways of relating to others. Moreover, group therapy is cost-effective and accessible. Compared to individual therapy, group therapy typically requires fewer resources and can reach a larger number of individuals simultaneously. It offers an affordable alternative for individuals who may not have the financial means to access individual therapy. Additionally, the availability of different group therapy formats, such as process groups, psychoeducational groups, or support groups, allows for a wide range of topics and concerns to be addressed. Group therapy also provides a sense of universality, as individuals realize they are not alone in their struggles. This normalization of experiences and emotions can reduce shame and self-blame, encouraging individuals to open up and share their challenges more openly. It creates a safe space where individuals can learn from one another’s successes and failures, gain hope, and develop a sense of optimism about their own growth and recovery. Disadvantages of Group Therapy Despite its many benefits, group therapy also has some limitations that should be acknowledged. One potential downside is that not all individuals may feel comfortable or benefit from sharing their personal experiences in a group setting. Some individuals may prefer a more private and confidential therapeutic environment. Additionally, certain concerns, such as highly sensitive or stigmatized issues, may require a more specialized or individualized approach. Moreover, group therapy relies on the dynamics and interactions among group members, which can be both a benefit and a limitation. While the group process can be therapeutic and provide support, it can also present challenges. Conflicts, power dynamics, and the diverse personalities within the group may impact the therapeutic experience. The therapist’s role in managing and navigating these dynamics is crucial to ensuring a safe and productive therapeutic environment. Lastly, group therapy may not address individualized needs or concerns as comprehensively as individual therapy. While it provides a platform for shared experiences and general support, some individuals may require more focused and tailored interventions to address their unique circumstances and challenges. In such cases, a combination of individual and group therapy or a phased approach may be necessary. Group therapy offers several benefits, including connection, support, interpersonal learning, affordability, and the normalization of experiences. However, it is important to recognize its limitations, such as the need for individual comfort and privacy, the potential challenges of group dynamics, and the requirement for individualized interventions in certain cases. Group therapy should be considered as part of a comprehensive treatment plan that takes into account the individual’s specific needs and therapeutic goals.

Watershed warning delivered OSU scientists find that changes may be needed to save the main source of drinking water for Eugene-Springfield By Samuel Stites July 27, 2013 The average temperature on Earth could increase by 3.6 degrees by the middle of this century, according to data from climate change researchers in nearly 20 countries. And that increase is enough to potentially affect the main source of Eugene-Springfield’s drinking water, according to a study by Oregon State University scientists. The McKenzie River is the major source of drinking water in the Eugene-Springfeld area. The single-digit increase in temperatures predicted worldwide means the snowpacks that feed the river could drop by 56 percent between 2040 and 2060, according to the OSU study. The study simulated snowpacks of the McKenzie watershed using 20 years of data, factoring in the 3.6-degree average temperature increase. It concluded that areas such as the Willamette Valley, that rely on low elevation snowpacks for much of their water, face special risks that need to be planned for. In low elevation mountain ranges, snow often falls near the freezing point so it takes only a small rise in temperature for snow to change to rain. “As more precipitation falls as rain, there will be more chance of winter flooding as well as summer drought in the same season,” the OSU study said. And Oregonians need to be thinking and planning for these future changes, said Eric Sproles, a researcher for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy Institute. “The timing and delivery of water is projected to change in the future. What that means is because the supply side is changing, we need to rethink the demand side and re-evaluate our use,” said Sproles, who led the study as a doctoral student at OSU. “Some of the decisions are going to be ones we don’t want to make.” “We have irrigation, we have municipal use, we have endangered species, hydropower and recreation that we’re all using this water for,” he said. “This isn’t a doomsday tale, it’s more of a cautionary advice note.” Sproles said the watershed’s future could have implications on the entire Willamette Valley, home to more than 70 percent of Oregon’s population, not just the McKenzie River basin. This is because almost 25 percent of the Willamette River’s flow comes from the McKenzie, he said. Officials at the Eugene Water and Electric Board said they’re not too worried about the OSU report’s findings, and that they plan to continue to seek new ways to promote responsible and sustainable use of water from the McKenzie watershed. EWEB recently sponsored its own study, which found the geomorphology of the McKenzie River basin provides for a much slower water flow system that is less affected by climate change and snowpack melt due to the sponge like qualities of the volcanic rocks in the upper cascades, according to Jill Hoyenga, EWEB water resource and system planner. “Snow and rain soak into that spongy rock formation,” she said. “The snowpack is important but the rain will also soak into the ground water. We don’t anticipate that climate change will have a huge effect on our water supply in the next few decades.” One group that is worried about the impact of a melting snowpack is the McKenzie Watershed Council. “The staff here would be concerned about any models that predict water temperature to rise or snow levels to change over time and we would expect those changes to threaten an endangered species here in the McKenzie watershed such as spring chinook or bull trout,” said Projects Manager Jared Weybright. Although the council is proactive in its attempts to rectify the problem, Weybright said, the issue of climate change is something that needs to be taken on at a national and international level to prevent future temperature increases and the loss of more snowpack. “The council is struggling to come up with effective policy or operational change that would address this problem in a significant way,” he said. “It’s a tough problem and thinking globally is the only way you’re going to affect anything.” John DeVoe, executive director of lobbyist group WaterWatch Oregon, said the fight will need to continue on the local level through utility boards and environmental groups as well as having sweeping policy changes at the legislative level. “I’ve heard it described as a train wreck in slow motion,” DeVoe said of climate change policy. “Oregon water is managed under a system of rules that was largely designed to fit a different era. To meet the challenge of climate change we’re going to have to change the system.”

Garlic has a wide variety of beneficial health effects, including the ability to treat thrush, yeast infections, and sore throats. It has even been shown to be beneficial in the fight against cancer! The issue that must be answered is why physicians won’t prescribe it. Allinase is a potent component that is found in garlic, which is why garlic is so beneficial. It is a potent antibacterial fluid that has a rancid and greasy consistency. Aside from the benefits, it provides to one’s health, allinace offers a variety of other advantages. For instance, you might slice up a few cloves of garlic and scatter them on the surface of your outdoor entertainment space. Garlic can shield you and your colleagues from any insects that may be present. Over one hundred different health diseases, including diabetes, plaque buildup in the arteries, mercury poisoning, liver difficulties, and DNA damage, may be prevented and treated with garlic. The following is a list of some of the diseases that garlic may effectively treat: - Excessive development of fungi in the oral cavity, often known as thrush - Infection caused by yeast or Candida - Infection caused by Helicobacter Pylori - Infection caused by Klebsiella - Infection caused by Vibrio - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, often known as MRSA. - Infection with HIV-1 - Aflatoxicosis caused by mycotoxin exposure - infection caused by streptococcus type B - Infection caused by the cytomegalovirus - Pseudomonas Aerigonosima (drug-resistant strains too) - Infections caused by viruses, such as the herpes simplex virus, vaccinia virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, human rhinovirus type 2, and parainfluenza virus type 3. (both 1 and 2) - Infections caused by viruses, such as the vaccinia virus, herpes simplex virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, human rhinovirus type 2, and parainfluenza virus type 3. (both 1 and 2) This list includes a few of the health issues that garlic’s powerful antibacterial qualities may cure because of its high concentration of naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds. It has been known for quite some time to be effective in warding against and treating cancer. Ancient doctors told people that the best way to treat cancer was to eat a lot of garlic that had been ground up every day. For garlic to be effective in treating cancer, a substantial quantity of it must be consumed. Every day, you must eat at least six cloves of garlic. A single pod of garlic will typically include twelve individual garlic cloves.

Governing Seed for Food Production: The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture By Nina Isabella Moeller Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) are part of the foundation of agriculture and of central importance to food sovereignty. These gain an increasingly pivotal role in the context of climate crises, which are threatening predictable crop production, and the erosion of agricultural biodiversity. The main instrument for the governance of PGRFA is the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Strengthening the Treaty is crucial. The Treaty establishes a binding international framework for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their use. Since 2013, negotiations have been underway to enhance the functioning of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing. Current informal consultations may pave the way for constructive negotiations at the next Governing Body meeting in May 2022.

Demystifier: ED Original where the content is written in such a way that it is knowledgeable and easy to comprehend at the same time. The rare genetic disease that took away the life of 15-year-old Nihal Bitla seems to have developed a foothold in the country. After the death of India’s first ever reported case of Progeria, two other cases of the disease have been reported. The two children have been diagnosed with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) as per the Progeria Research Foundation. According to medical experts, India now has a total of seven reported and allegedly 66 unreported cases of Progeria. As a part of a fully-funded medical trial, five-and-half-year-old Aditya Sahu of Chhattisgarh will be sent to Boston for medical assistance in the disease. So let’s get in the depth of what actually this disease is. What is Progeria? According to Wikipedia, Progeria is an extremely rare genetic disorder in which symptoms resembling aspects of aging are manifested at a very early age. As much as the disease is rare, it is fatal. The carriers usually do not live past the age of teenage. The longest living survivor was a South Africa based DJ/Artist Leon Botha, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 26. People suffering from this disease can suffer from a number of complications. Symptoms such as slow growth, short stature, underdeveloped jaw, hair loss, wrinkles, dwarfism, enlarged head and physical deformities are seen commonly in Progeria patients. Why Does It Happen? In biological terms, Progeria is the result of a mutation in the LMNA gene that helps to encode a protein. That single mistake in a certain gene causes it to make an abnormal protein called Progerin. Progerin causes the cells in our body to break down rather easily. Progerin is what builds up in the cells of children suffering from Progeria, which makes them age quickly. How many people in the world are suffering from this disease right now? Progeria affects 1 out of every 4 million children. According to Progeria Research Foundation, currently, there are 250 such cases in the world right now out of which nearly 60 are from India. Makes it all the more reason why awareness about this disease needs to be spread in the country sooner. How Can It Be Cured? There is no known cure for the disease. All kinds of treatments that are employed are only to reduce the complications such as arthritis, respiratory, and cardiovascular-related problems. Physical and occupational therapy can also be useful to increase bone strength. The aging of a Progeria patient is comparable to aging at a rate eight times faster than the aging of a normal person. FTIs (farnesyltransferase inhibitors) are a type of anticancer drugs that have been proposed for fixing the damaged cells of a Progeria stricken person but their use has been limited to animal models for now. Although the occurrence of Progeria is extremely rare, awareness about the disease still needs to be spread. It is not inherited or passed down in families. This genetic disorder can occur to anybody irrespective of their gender or race. Nihal Bitla’s journey and intensive campaigning surely paved some way for the others, which is why new cases of the disease are being reported. Faster identification of the disease will help in early diagnosis and thus, a better treatment can be provided to the patient. It might not be possible to completely cure the disease but the quality of life could definitely be improved for the little munchkins who are oblivious to the wrath of this dreadful and fatal disease. Image Credits: Google Images Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.

During the First World War Britain lost its supply of chemicals from Germany. In order to bridge the gap, Jesse brought together a team of experts to begin the research and manufacture of key synthetic chemicals such as aspirin. Boots created a new manufacturing process which involved seventeen different analytical tests, and claimed that their aspirin was the “purest on the market”. The company was soon supplying the British Government with medicines for field hospitals and manufacturing products such as water sterilizing tablets which, at a concentration of 1 in 300,000, claimed to destroy the organisms of cholera, typhoid, coli and dysentery in about thirty minutes. The first employee magazine was produced to raise money for colleagues who were serving in the armed forces. In total twelve editions of the magazine Comrades in Khaki were printed between1915 and 1916. Each one carried a letter from Jesse and Florence and contained news, letters and photographs from employees both at home and overseas. After the war, the company launched two new magazines, The Bee and The Beacon, which further developed the “bond of union” between the company and its employees.

Animals die annually for their fur Average life span of an animal intensively farmed for fur 1m x 70cm Size of the cage housing a young fox for his entire life Despite industry greenwashing claims, confining wild animals in small cages, or catching them in metal traps, can never be done humanely. Animals are intensively farmed to maximize profit, and so-called “monster” foxes are super-sized, often leading to terrible health problems, in order to produce larger pelts that fetch better prices. We’re working to end the terrible, and totally unnecessary, multi-million dollar fur trade by exposing the harsh reality of these cruel, industrial-scale farms and the brutal methods used to trap and kill animals in the wild. Facts about fur: - Wild carnivores such as mink, foxes and raccoon dogs are incarcerated in small, wire floored cages on intensive fur factory farms for their entire short, miserable lives. Killing methods include gassing and anal electrocution. - These terrible conditions can create psychological disorders, causing the animals to constantly pace and circle the boundaries of their cramped space. - Housing in unnatural social groupings can lead to fighting between cage mates and even cannibalism. - Wild-roaming coyotes, wolves and foxes caught in brutal traps that clamp their leg or foot tight suffer terribly, too. - In their desperate struggle to break free, the animals can break their teeth or even gnaw off their own limbs. - Left for many hours or even days, they are unable to seek food, water or shelter, or protect themselves from predators, until the trapper’s bullet or boot puts them out of their misery. - The indiscriminate nature of the traps means they can also inflict pain and anguish on unintended victims such as pets and endangered mammals and birds.

Analog Editing Methods Before the digital age, photographers relied on analog editing techniques to enhance their images. This included processes such as dodging and burning, where the photographer would selectively lighten or darken areas of the print to improve the overall quality. Another common method was using filters and color gels to add different tones to the photograph. These analog techniques required a lot of skill and precision to achieve the desired results. The Shift to Digital Editing With the advent of digital photography, editing techniques underwent a significant transformation. Suddenly, photographers had access to powerful software such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, which allowed for unprecedented control over the editing process. Digital editing opened up a whole new world of possibilities, enabling photographers to manipulate colors, remove imperfections, and even composite multiple images together seamlessly. Introduction of Non-Destructive Editing One of the most significant advancements in photography editing techniques was the introduction of non-destructive editing. Unlike traditional editing methods that permanently altered the original image, non-destructive editing preserves the original file and allows photographers to make changes without losing any image data. This revolutionized the editing process, giving photographers the freedom to experiment and make adjustments without fear of ruining the original image. Artificial Intelligence in Editing In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has started to play a significant role in photography editing. AI-powered tools have made complex editing techniques more accessible to photographers of all skill levels. These tools can automatically enhance images, remove unwanted objects, and even suggest creative editing options based on the content of the photo. AI has streamlined the editing process and opened up new possibilities for photographers to explore. The Future of Photography Editing Looking ahead, it’s clear that photography editing techniques will continue to evolve with advancements in technology. As AI continues to improve, we can expect even more intelligent editing tools that can understand and interpret images in ways that were previously unimaginable. Additionally, the rise of computational photography is blurring the lines between traditional photography and digital image processing, creating new opportunities for creative expression. In conclusion, the evolution of photography editing techniques has been truly remarkable. From the days of analog darkroom editing to the modern era of AI-powered tools, photographers have been able to push the boundaries of what is possible with image editing. As technology continues to advance, we can only imagine the incredible innovations that lie ahead for photography editing. Want to dive deeper into the topic? https://www.suroestestudios.com/investment, external content we’ve prepared for you. Explore other viewpoints on this topic through the related posts we’ve compiled. Enjoy:

Discuss what you learned about media watching a film. Think of creating a five paragraph, 500 or so word journal entry. Good Night and Good Luck One way to get at how media unwittingly became complicit in fulfilling the ambitions of terrorists is to look more closely at how journalists do their jobs and how media outlets operate when they are not dealing with a crisis such as a terrorist attack. The following films or HBO series are excellent dramatic depictions of issues relevant to journalism and the press in America. You will watch any of one of the features listed and identify an issue illustrated in the film. Sample topics might include: media as “infotainment” and/or “big business” media as watchdog issues regarding access to sources and classified information the tension between a free press and national security”objectivity” in journalism unintended consequences of media coverage of events adversarial stance of journalists.Discuss what you learned about media watching a film. Think of creating a five paragraph, 500 or so word journal entry. Because this is not an academic essay but a journal, you are encouraged to reflect on your previous thoughts about the media and what you learned watching the film and to connect that to course content. However, only focusing on your emotions and detailing the plot of the movie will bring down your score on this assignment. Strive to introduce the film and what it is about but then move on to discussing a complex issue or issues that the feature depicts about media in the U.S.

Throughout this two-course sequence we have explored evidence and its relationship to strong social work practice. You have learned about how to locate, analyze, compare, and generate evidence to inform and evaluate practice using a host of critical thinking skills. These processes are important aspects of thoughtful, reflective practice. This point is emphasized in the observation that in arenas where social workers often practice, a large, severe gulf exists between evidence and practice: “with the majority of services delivered in usual care settings having little or no relation to practice supported by research” (Chorpita, Bernstein, & Daleiden, 2012, p. 470). Our clients deserve better than this; they deserve access to the best possible practices and services. Helping clients select from among options is informed by evidence, as well as the social worker’s experience and the client’s values and preferences. These three pillars of evidence-based practice place responsibility on social work professionals to present evidence in a manner that facilitates client understanding. In this chapter you: - Learn a format for coordinating evidence from the literature about intervention options; - Review a format for presenting evidence from practice or program evaluation; - Recall what it means to identifyas an evidence-informed social worker; - Review major topics learned throughout this and the previous course; - Consider the future in terms of professional development. Coordinating Intervention Evidence from Literature Presented here is a 7-part format for coordinating intervention evidence located in the literature. This format is not necessarily appropriate for presenting complex information to clients, program leaders, policy decision makers, and potential funders. The actual presentation needs to be tailored to the audience (as learned in Module 5 of our first course). - Specify the intervention question: Using COPES or a similar approach, clearly identify the practice question about which intervention evidence is sought. - Locate, review, and summarize available evidence: Applying skills learned throughout these two courses, identify literature/evidence sources relevant to the specified intervention question. For each source, collect and record the following information. - Type of evidence: Identify the intervention(s) the evidence concerns, the intervention questions the evidence addresses, and the approach(es) used to develop the evidence. - Generalizability: Specify the population to which the evidence applies (i.e., the “sample,” “subjects,” or “participants” involved, and where limits to generalizability might exist. - Intervention elements: Identify the theory or logic model underlying the intervention, critical elements of the intervention, and requirements for implementing the intervention with fidelity (the who, how, when, where, what aspects). - Strength of evidence: Specify whether the evidence is represented in single studies, studies with comparable or competing outcomes, systematic review, meta-analysis, and/or scoping review. Make a determination about strength of the evidence based on the design and analysis methods used to develop the evidence. - Conclusions: Identify conclusions that are appropriately drawn from the evidence (and which conclusions are not supported by evidence). This information can be organized in a table like this, adding rows as needed for additional sources evidence and for additional intervention options. |Intervention Option 1: (specify) |Intervention Option 2: (specify) |Intervention Option 3: (specify) Analysis Report for Audiences The evidence table generated through the previously described activities may or may not be appropriate for presenting to the intended audiences. The following 5-part outline describes what might be included in a report tailored to specific audiences (clients, colleagues, program administrators, policy decision makers, or funders). This type of five-step summary helps the social worker organize a complex body of information. In this way, social workers support informed choices. - Part 1. Clearly state the intervention question being addressed. - Part 2. Summarize the evidence reviewed (as in the previous section). - Part 3. Present a relevance analysis. This analysis is about assessing the available evidence in terms of how well it applies to the specific client, client system, or population identified in the first step. This goes back to the generalizability issue and comparability of the research participants or samples to the clients for whom intervention questions are being asked. This might include assessing demographic and situational characteristics, such as: “presenting problem(s), age, gender, ethnicity, or clinical service setting” (Chorpita, Bernstein, & Daleiden, 2012, p. 472). - Part 4. Summarize implementation details/elements, costs, benefits, and feasibility of each analyzed option. Remember that cost/benefit analysis is not simply about financial costs and savings; important aspects concerning quality of life, time and effort expended/saved, goodness-of-fit dimensions (including “cultural” relevance with culture broadly defined) are also important aspects. Feasibility involves professional competencies and training for providing the intervention with sufficient fidelity, as well as other required resources (time, space, tools). Feasibility also addresses fit with professional ethics, regulations, policies, and billing/funding criteria that might be involved. - Part 5. Identify outstanding, remaining, uncertain, or unanswerable questions about the intervention evidence gathered. The format for such a report should be clearly structured, following a logical outline. The 5-part list above could serve the purpose of structuring the outline. Stop and Think Take a moment to complete the following activity. Visit the website for Practicewise.com, an interactive site synthesizing a vast amount of evidence concerning mental health treatment options for children, adolescents, and their families. Many millions of dollars in funding supported the development of the PracticeWise contents and tools—the result far exceeds what any one practitioner could be expected to generate. Practicewise is a fee-for-use service for practitioners in different disciplines who provide mental health services to children, adolescents, and their families. Since we are not PracticeWise members, we cannot use the services but there are important lessons to be learned from reviewing the PracticeWise service offerings. - View the overview video in the PWEBS Database when you choose the “Our Services” menu. This 4-minute recording talks about how the literature is summarized for practitioner use in treatment planning and decision-making with clients. What does this recording tell you about the kinds of information you want to elicit from the literature and present to your audiences? - Select the PracticeWise Practitioner Guidelines next for the demonstration of practice guides and process guides. Try entering a search command like “Anxiety” and see what comes up as Practice Guide options. In the Process Guide menu, try entering the search command for “Diversity” and see what comes up. (You will not be able to actually open the .pdf files, unfortunately, since you are not a PracticeWise member. They include detailed, step-by-step guidelines for practitioners to follow.) - Returning to the main menu, select MATCH to see what it is about. What does the decision-tree/flowchart approach suggest to you about organizing treatment options? Presenting Evidence from Practice Evaluation In addition to learning how to identify and critically review existing evidence to inform social work practice, you also developed a set of skills related to evaluating practice. In this section we look at different ideas for presenting the evidence that you have generated through your evaluation efforts. The format of your feedback to clients depends, to a great extent, on the clients themselves—what they already believe and understand about the practice question, their expressed preferences, aspects of their specific circumstances, and the circumstances of the feedback situation. The information needs to be tailored to clients’ cognitive abilities for processing the information (e.g., age, cognitive impairment, emotional state, and more). A generic framework for presenting/discussing evaluation results with clients might include the following: - Specification about the variable(s) measured in the evaluation effort. - Specification about the strengths and limitations of the measurement tool(s) used in the evaluation effort (reliability and validity, as well as sensitivity to change measurement). - Presentation of the evidence/data and how the results might be interpreted. - Specification about the strengths and limitations of the evaluation design—how this might influence the conclusions drawn from the evaluation effort. - Conclusions/recommendations developed together with the client(s) based on the evaluation results, your practice expertise, and their preferences. In your evaluation work, you may be called on to present results to professional audiences—colleagues, agency or program administrators, community leaders, policy decision makers, or funders. In our first course you learned about the structure of written and presented research reports: - Abstract or Initial Summary - Results or Findings - Discussion or Recommendations In presenting evidence from your own intervention or evaluation research efforts for understanding intervention, these elements remain an excellent outline. What you have learned throughout this and the prior course have provided you with the necessary knowledge and skills to create such a report or presentation. Review the topics presented in Module 5 of our first course related to making strong presentations, including how to create graphs, charts, figures, tables, and infographics. As a reminder, the Social Work Code of Ethics emphasizes that it you need to ensure that individual clients/participants are not identifiable in any data files or summary reports that you share with others. 5.02.n Social workers who report evaluation and research results should protect participants’ confidentiality by omitting identifying information unless proper consent has been obtained authorizing disclosure. Not only are we concerned about the obvious identifiers (name, address, phone numbers), we are concerned about the ways that individuals’ demographic data could be assembled to make an individual identifiable. For example, the combination of information about ethnicity, age, and gender might make an individual stand out and become identifiable to an audience, particularly in a small population or sample.

The FDA recommends that pregnant and nursing women consume between 8 and 12 ounces of fish per week to provide proper nutrition for a baby’s brain development and overall health. But some fish are very high in mercury, a neurotoxin that can lead to serious cognitive problems and birth defects in children and babies. And the mercury levels in oceans are rising—humans have tripled the mercury content in oceans since the Industrial Revolution—leading to further mercury absorption by predators like tuna. A team at the Consumer Reports National Research Center analyzed data from the Food and Drug Administration’s chart on mercury levels in seafood and determined that consuming 6 ounces of albacore tuna in a week—the level recommended as safe by the FDA for pregnant women—would put a 125-pound woman over the Environmental Protection Agency’s “safe” mercury threshold by more than two ounces. Canned light tuna is thought to offer a lower mercury tuna option, but 20 percent of the FDA’s samples of it contained almost double the average level of mercury that it’s supposed to. Some samples had more mercury than the king mackerel—one of the FDA’s top four high-in-mercury fish—which the agency advises pregnant women and children to avoid. Canned tuna constitutes the second most frequently consumed seafood product in the United States. Some experts like Deborah Rice, a former senior risk assessor for the EPA, think that research since 2001 suggests that there is “no question” that the FDA and EPA’s current limit for mercury consumption is “too high,” she told Consumer Reports. The magazine is urging the FDA and EPA to recommend that pregnant women avoid eating any tuna—and to provide more safety information concerning tuna for pregnant women, children and people who eat a lot of fish (24 ounces of fish, around seven servings, or more per week).

Fluency Boosters are on-screen interventions that teachers can assign to pupils. They are designed to help train specific maths skills that a pupil may be struggling with, as identified in the pupil's Core Profile. There are four Fluency Boosters available in SNAP Maths. They cover four skills that directly underpin number skills: - Comparing numbers - Number relations Pupils can be assigned one or more Fluency Boosters depending on need. They are intended for short, regular bursts of intensive practice, three to four times a week. Each Fluency Booster session automatically ends after five minutes. Assigning Fluency Boosters To assign a Fluency Booster to a pupil, click on either the Counting, Comparing numbers, Subitising, or Number relations bar of the Core Profile graph to open the menu, then click Assign Fluency Booster: Once assigned the button will change: Administering Fluency Boosters On the Plan, Do and Review page, underneath the Questionnaire Profile, you will see a Taking the Fluency Boosters box. This is where you will find your centre’s unique URL and the centre code pupils will need to access their Fluency Boosters once they have been assigned to them: Please note: this information can also be found in the Resource Bank, which does not require you to select a pupil first. To take their assigned Fluency Boosters pupils will need access to a computer, laptop or tablet. Please ensure that pupils have access to headphones. For specific browser requirements, click here. Either you or the pupil will need to enter your centre’s specific URL into their web browser to access the assigned Fluency Boosters. This will need to be done on every computer, laptop, or tablet. Pupils will also need to know their centre code and birthday (day and month only). The centre URL and code will be the same for every pupil who has been assigned a Fluency Booster and remain the same each time they access them. To ensure your pupil data remains secure, you can change your school’s unique centre code at any time by clicking Change code, either on the Assess page or in the Resource Bank. Please note: if you generate a new centre code, make sure that anyone who may be planning a Fluency Booster session with a pupil is told. This is to ensure that pupils can access their Fluency Boosters, as the old code will no longer work. To access their Fluency Boosters, pupils should follow these steps: 1. Pupils enter the five-letter code which is unique to your centre. 2. Pupils then enter their birthday. If a pupil enters their birthday incorrectly, they will see an error message. Check their details. 3. Once they have entered their birthday, pupils must choose their name from the options presented on-screen. 4. Once they have selected their name the pupil dashboard will open, and they will be able to see their assigned Fluency Boosters and access them on-screen. If a Fluency Booster has not been assigned it will be greyed out. Once a pupil has completed all the levels in a Fluency Booster, a green tick will appear and the pupil will no longer be able to access it. If required, a pupil can log out by clicking the arrow next to their name in the top-right hand corner: This can be useful if a pupil has accidentally logged in using someone else’s birthday. They will be taken to the first log in screen and asked to enter the code. Please note: Once a pupil has completed a session they will not be able to access their Fluency Booster again for five hours. This is because the Fluency Boosters are meant be done a few days a week as part of regular practice sessions and should not be completed all at once. When they click on their Fluency Booster it will open in a new window: If a Fluency Booster does not immediately launch in a new window, please check that your browser allows pop-ups or enable it for this site. Some browsers may prompt you to manually allow pop-ups. For every Fluency Booster, there are instruction screens and practice questions to help the pupil to understand what they need to do. They can click the audio icon if they want to hear the text read to them. Pupils have the option to view the instructions and practice question again every time they log in to access their Fluency Boosters. Once a Fluency Booster is started, pupils just need to select their answer and they will be taken straight to the next question. When they get an answer correct, they will see a star appear on-screen and hear a positive ‘ping’ sound. Pupils cannot go back and change their answer. The Fluency Boosters are adaptive, meaning that pupil’s progress is dependent on their performance. Both their accuracy (how many questions they are getting right) and their fluency (which is dependent on how quickly and accurately they are answering the questions) are taken into consideration. Depending on these two factors the questions will get harder as the pupil progresses. For more information about how the Fluency Boosters work, there is a Fluency Booster guide that can be downloaded on the Plan, Do and Review page. Each Fluency Booster automatically ends after five minutes. A progress bar is visible on-screen so that the pupil can see how much time they have left. The Fluency Boosters continually auto-save whilst the pupil is answering to ensure that results data is stored. If a pupil accidentally exits the test player or the internet connection is interrupted, they can open the Fluency Booster again to resume from where they left off. Please note: the questions are randomised in every Fluency Booster. Clicking End session at the end of each Fluency Booster will end the session for that day. A green tick will appear on the pupil’s Fluency Booster menu once they have worked through all the levels. Fluency Booster Progress Graphs On the ‘Plan, Do and Review’ page, you can track a pupil’s progress in their assigned Fluency Booster(s) via individual graphs that will update after every session is complete. In each graph the y axis shows the Fluency Booster level and the x axis lists every session and the date. The point plotted on the graphs show you the last level the pupil achieved: When you hover over each of the plotted points you can view a level description to see what the pupil was working on, and the average accuracy and fluency score achieved. A pupil may work through multiple levels in a session, and if this happens all the levels and results will be displayed in the tool tip. If a pupil stays within the same level for a session the average accuracy and fluency score for every attempt is shown. There are arrows at the bottom of the graph to help you track a pupil’s progress over time.

Kale is a type of green leafy vegetable that is touted as a superfood . This nickname arises because of the many vitamins and minerals that you can get just by eating kale. For example, one glass of raw kale contains 3 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fiber, vitamins A, C, K, and B, alpha-linolenic acid and omega-3 fats, as well as lutein, zeaxanthin, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and zinc. All vitamins and minerals are needed by the body and have their respective roles. Just imagine, just by buying, processing, and consuming one type of vegetable, you can get all of these nutritional intakes. To better understand the reason for the increasing popularity of kale, let's find out more about the benefits of kale. First, this vegetable is known to be rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants function to fight free radicals that trigger premature aging and cause cancer. Second, kale also helps lower cholesterol. One study found that consuming kale juice for 12 consecutive days increased good cholesterol by 27 percent and lowered bad cholesterol by 10 percent. Furthermore, the lutein and zeaxanthin content in kale leaves is useful for reducing your risk of developing myopia and cataracts. Another benefit of kale that is no less important is its ability to help you lose weight. The high water and fiber content and low calories found in kale leaves make you feel full longer. Therefore, kale is good for consumption by those of you who intend to lose weight. Even though it has a myriad of benefits, excessive consumption of kale can have a negative impact on health, especially if you like to eat raw kale. Compared to cooked kale leaves, raw kale has more potential to cause health problems. The following are health problems that can be triggered by consuming raw kale. Indigestion and flatulence The fiber contained in kale is a type of stiff fiber that doesn't dissolve easily. It is this fiber that makes it a little difficult for you to chew raw kale. When you finish chewing and swallowing raw kale, the vegetable will pass through the digestive tract intact because it doesn't dissolve quickly. This type of fiber is indeed useful for smooth bowel movements and overcome constipation. However, excessive consumption of rigid fiber can cause digestive problems. Fiber from kale leaves can get stuck in the intestines. As a result, you will feel bloated and pass gas more often. Not only that, kale leaves also contain a sugar called raffinose. This type of sugar is difficult to digest by the stomach. The stomach and small intestine don't have enough enzymes to break down raffinose so this sugar content will enter the large intestine intact. Raffinose will then ferment with intestinal bacteria and produce methane and carbon dioxide. As a result, your stomach will feel swollen due to bloating. Raw kale contains thiocyanate compounds which in large quantities can interfere with the absorption of iodine by the body. If the body does not have sufficient amounts of iodine, you can experience a condition of hypothyroidism, which is when the thyroid gland fails to produce the amount of thyroid hormone it should. Thyroid hormone plays an important role in regulating the body's metabolism. Inadequate amounts of this hormone cause blood sugar instability, weight gain, and metabolic health. In more severe cases, your body can experience swelling of the thyroid gland which causes a goiter. Triggers the emergence of kidney stones If you are at high risk of developing kidney stones, then raw kale is a food that you need to avoid. The reason is, kale leaves contain a fairly high amount of oxalate. In the body, oxalate with the mineral calcium will produce a compound with a shape resembling sharp needles which cannot be absorbed by the body. The combination of calcium and oxalate stones is the main cause of kidney stone disease. If you are at risk of developing kidney stones, then you should reduce your consumption of kale, especially in its raw state. Choose other types of vegetables according to your nutritional needs and body condition. Even though there is a risk of causing health problems, it doesn't mean you can't eat kale at all. Keep in mind again, kale leaves are a superfood with a variety of vitamins and other nutrients. So that you can get the maximum benefit from kale leaves while avoiding the negative effects, make sure you consume enough kale leaves or don't overdo it. Also, try to avoid consuming raw kale leaves. Come on, consume kale in sufficient quantities and enjoy its myriad health benefits! #LiveExcellently

How Can a Food Sensitivity Test Help You? The life-threatening risk that can be associated with allergies makes finding an effective food allergy treatment all the more important. But what about food sensitivity that brings discomfort without the severe risk? While the issue is not life-threatening, many Atlanta residents do suffer from food sensitivity that causes headaches, bloating and diarrhea. Discovering the cause of the problem is the first stage in getting people on the road towards full health. What Is Food Sensitivity? Food sensitivity can be hard to define, as the term is sometimes used interchangeably with “food allergies” or “food intolerance.” A food allergy is a serious immune system condition involving immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. In contrast, food intolerance does not involve the immune system, but means difficulty digesting certain foods. As mentioned above, food sensitivity is regarded as a condition that involves the immune system. And, symptoms usually take longer to appear – making it more difficult to diagnose. However, the dangers of severe illness from the condition are minimal. What Type of Food Sensitivity Tests Are Available? Understanding the precise food causing health issues enables individuals to follow an avoidance diet or food desensitization process. Here are some tests used in a diagnosis. Blood tests are used to monitor antibodies, with the presence of an excessive number of IgE antibodies potentially indicating sensitivity to specific foods. Blood tests can check a wide variety of foods, aiding an allergist with diagnosing a condition. Mediator Release Test A mediator release test is an alternative type of blood test. A blood sample is taken and exposed to a food antigen to see if white blood cells shrink. The test aims to monitor whether exposure to an antigen leads to a reaction. If chemicals are released during the exposure, it suggests an individual would experience symptoms of food sensitivity. Hydrogen Breath Test A hydrogen breath test monitors for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and intolerance to sugars. The test requires a patient to fast overnight before consuming a sugar solution the next morning. The test then measures the amount of hydrogen in your breath, indicating your ability to break down various sugars and carbohydrates. A food elimination diet takes place over approximately 3–6 weeks. Foods suspected of causing health issues are eliminated from your diet. You then reintroduce each food individually, monitoring for symptoms of sensitivity. Best Options for Food Sensitivity and Allergies Due to the delayed reaction caused by food sensitivity, it may not be obvious where the problem lies. Therefore, in order to assess the best testing option for you or your child, make an appointment with an allergist. After a discussion about your symptoms, you may need to undergo food allergy testing and an additional sensitivity test to discover the precise issue. Your allergist will be able to determine the appropriate test for your symptoms. Specialist Treatment for Food Allergies and Food Sensitivity If you have concerns about food allergies, sensitivity or intolerance, it’s important to get treatment. Chacko Food Allergy Treatment Center will find the cause of your food-based ailment and then develop an effective treatment plan. Call 678-668-4688 for an appointment in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Canton, Cumming, Druid Hills, Duluth or Johns Creek, or request an appointment online. Image Credit – Jarun Ontakrai/Shutterstock.com

In yesterday’s Boston Globe Magazine, I read an article proposing a new solution for Christopher Columbus Park in the North End after a despicable excuse for a human being decapitated the statue of the park’s namesake. Megan Montgomery suggested that a statue of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti be created to replace the statue of Christopher Columbus. Sacco and Vanzetti were the two Italian-American immigrants convicted in 1921 of killing a paymaster and a guard and stealing $15,000 from the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, MA. They were executed in 1927. Many people believed at the time and still believe today that Sacco and Vanzetti were wrongfully convicted. Protests and riots took place, not unlike what has happened in response to the death of George Floyd. Montgomery argues that building a Sacco and Vanzetti statue would raise awareness of wrongful convictions and that their story is relevant to the issues of prejudice and classism facing America today. She also points out that Sacco, a shoemaker, and Vanzetti, a fish peddler, became friends after getting involved with workers’ rights and anti-World War I activism. She calls them heroes who fought for the rights of everyday people. This is all true, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with putting up a Sacco and Vanzetti statue. But this should be in addition to the Columbus statue, not instead of it. “Columbus symbolizes violence and unchecked power, and doesn’t deserve a statue any more than he deserves a federal holiday,” Montgomery writes. She claims that the Columbus statue symbolizes “historical oppression” and calls on Boston’s Italian-American community to “memorialize new heroes.” She points out the usual anti-Columbus arguments, which go essentially as follows: - Columbus wasn’t really Italian-American, as Italy didn’t exist in 1492 (he was from Genoa, which is part of modern-day Italy). - Columbus didn’t exactly discover the Americas, because they were already inhabited. - Columbus and his supporters colonized the lands that they found, enslaved the native people, and caused many deaths. Obviously, Christopher Columbus was not perfect. His story and deeds involved violence, and he and his supporters were not exactly respectful towards the native people that they encountered. But that does not mean that he symbolizes violence, unchecked power, or oppression. Nor does it mean that he deserves to have his statue decapitated and his holiday canceled. Every person is a mix of various qualities, some good and some bad. To some people, violent colonization is the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the name Columbus. To others, Columbus is fondly memorialized as a skilled navigator, charismatic leader, brave explorer, and the first Italian-American (as a native of Genoa, he comes close enough). After all, even though the so-called New World wasn’t new to all the people who had been living there for millennia, it is hard to deny that Columbus’s achievements required intelligence, determination, courage, and independence of thought. If I had to choose who is more worthy of a statue, Columbus or Sacco and Vanzetti, I would choose Columbus. But we shouldn’t have to choose. There’s nothing wrong with having both. People are always going to have different opinions on the relative merits of various historical figures. The same individual can symbolize different things depending on who you ask. People have different ideas of right and wrong, weigh personal qualities differently, and simply are partial to different historical figures. An existing statue cannot be removed just because some people decide that the historical figure is not worthy of being honored. This demonstrates a complete disregard for the people who admire the historical figure and love the statue. Adding more statues to increase diversity and to include under-represented groups enriches our world. Taking down statues – let alone viciously beheading them – only impoverishes it.

This content mentions suicide or suicidal thoughts. Please read with care. There are details of where to find help at the bottom of this page. We all go through tough times, and people help us through them. Other times we have been worried about other people’s mental health. Whether they are a friend, family member or colleague, there are many ways to support somebody you care about. How do I know if someone has a mental health problem? Sometimes it will seem obvious when someone is going through a hard time, but there is no simple way of knowing if they have a mental health problem. Sometimes you don’t need to know. It’s more important to respond sensitively to someone who seems troubled than to find out whether or not they have a diagnosis. Although certain symptoms are common with specific mental health problems, no two people behave the same way when unwell. You may notice changes in their behaviour or mood if you know the person well. Our A-Z of mental health provides information on various mental health problems. How can I help? There are many ways you can help a friend, relative or colleague who has a mental health problem: Talking about mental health It can be challenging to know what to do if you are worried about someone. When you know there is an issue, it is essential not to wait. Waiting and hoping they will come to you for help might lose valuable time getting them support. Talking to someone is often the first step when you know they are having a hard time. This way, you can find out what is troubling them and what you can do to help. Eight tips for talking about mental health 1. Set time aside with no distractions It is important to provide an open and non-judgemental space with no distractions. 2. Let them share as much or as little as they want to Let them lead the discussion at their own pace. Don’t pressure them to tell you anything they aren’t ready to talk about. Talking can take a lot of trust and courage. You might be the first person they have been able to talk to about this. 3. Don't try to diagnose or second guess their feelings You probably aren’t a medical expert, and while you may be happy to talk and offer support, you aren’t a trained counsellor. Try not to make assumptions about what is wrong or jump in too quickly with your own diagnosis or solutions. 4. Keep questions open ended Say, "Why don’t you tell me how you are feeling?" rather than "I can see you are feeling very low". Try to keep your language neutral. Give the person time to answer and try not to grill them with too many questions. 5. Talk about self-care Discuss ways of de-stressing or practising self-care and ask if they find anything helpful. Exercising, having a healthy diet and getting a good night's sleep can help protect mental health and sustain wellbeing. 6. Listen carefully to what they tell you Repeat what they have said back to them to ensure you have understood it. You don’t have to agree with what they are saying, but by showing you understand how they feel, you are letting them know you respect their feelings. 7. Offer them help in seeking professional support and provide information on ways to do this You might want to offer to go to the GP with them or help them talk to a friend or family member. Try not to take control and allow them to make decisions. 8. Know your limits You will have your own limits on the support that you can provide. And it's important to take care of yourself too. Give yourself time to rest and process what they have told you or what’s happened. Try to help them create a support network of other friends, relatives and mental health professionals who can help them too. Remember that If you believe they are in immediate danger or have injuries that need medical attention, you must take urgent action to ensure they are safe. More details on dealing in a crisis can be found below. If it is a family member or close friend you are concerned about, they might not want to talk to you. Try not to take this personally: talking to someone you love can be difficult as they might be worried they are hurting you. It is important to keep being open and honest and telling them that you care. It may also be helpful to give them information about organisations or people they can reach out to. A list can be found below. How do I respond in a crisis? People with mental health problems sometimes experience a crisis, such as feeling suicidal or experiencing their own or a different reality. You may also feel a sense of crisis, but staying calm is important. There are some general strategies that you can use to help: - Listen without making judgements and concentrate on their needs at that moment - Ask them what would help them - Reassure and signpost to practical information or resources. - Avoid confrontation - Ask if there is someone they would like you to contact - Encourage them to seek appropriate professional help - If they have hurt themselves, make sure they get the first aid they need Seeing, hearing or believing things that no one else does can be the symptom of a mental health problem. It can be frightening and upsetting. Gently remind the person who you are and why you are there. Don’t reinforce or dismiss their experiences; acknowledge how the symptoms make them feel. How do I respond if someone is suicidal? If someone tells you they are feeling suicidal or can’t go on, it is very important to encourage them to get help. You or they should contact a GP or NHS 111. They can also contact the Samaritans immediately by calling 116 123 (UK) for free anytime. They could also get help from their friends, family, or mental health services. You can ask how they feel and let them know you are available to listen. Talking can be a great help to someone who is feeling suicidal, but it may be distressing for you. You need to talk to someone about your feelings; the Samaritans can help you. If they are planning to take their own life, please encourage them to call 999 (UK) or go to A&E and ask for the contact of the nearest crisis resolution team. These are teams of mental health care professionals who work with people in severe distress. Useful organisations and resources The first person to approach is your family doctor. they should be able to advise about treatment and may refer you to another local professional. See our guide on How to talk to your GP about your mental health. Specialist mental health services Several specialist services provide various treatments, including counselling and other talking treatments. Often these different services are coordinated by a community mental health team (CMHT), which is usually based either at a hospital or a local community mental health centre. Some teams provide 24-hour services so that you can contact them in a crisis. You should be able to contact your local CMHT through your local social services or social work team. Rethink Advice and Information Service Anxiety UK runs a helpline staffed by volunteers with personal experience of anxiety from 9:30-5:30, Monday to Friday. Call 08444 775 774. Citizens Advice provides free, independent, confidential advice for various problems and information on your rights and responsibilities. StepChange provides help and information for people dealing with various debt problems. Freephone (including from mobiles) 0800 138 1111 or visit the website on www.stepchange.org. MindEd is a free educational resource on children and young people’s mental health for all adults. If you are feeling like ending your life or feel unable to keep yourself safe, please call 999 or go to A&E and ask for the contact of the nearest crisis resolution team. These are teams of mental health care professionals who work with people in severe distress. If you feel affected by the content you have read, please see our get help page for support. Talking to your GP about your mental health Many of us find it hard to find the words to talk about how we’re feeling. But you don’t have to put off making an appointment until you’re at a crisis point. Being prepared can make your appointment feeling a little easier. The sooner you go, the sooner you can start to feel better. A-Z on mental health Head to our A-Z page and search for a related topic of interest to you.

Prepare for Flu Season: What You Need to know As winter approaches, preparing for the flu before the flu season starts is essential. Each year, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes the flu season annual report, which details statistics from the previous flu season and how it affected the population. When the flu season struck in 2022, the population was more susceptible to catching it, and therefore, excess deaths hit a 5-year high since before the pandemic. Dr Connall Watson (2023) stated that due to the imposed COVID-19 measures, the population had lower immunity following the flu’s absence due to social distancing. Now that the coronavirus measures are gone, the population has begun to mix again, and germs are therefore recirculating. This guide will discuss how you can prepare for the incoming flu season in the UK. - What is Flu? - When is Flu Season in the UK? - Preparing for Flu Season - Surviving Flu Season UK FAQs - Flu Season 2023-2024 What is Flu? Flu (influenza) is a common respiratory illness affecting your nose, throat, and lungs. It is very infectious, meaning it can quickly spread between people. Flu symptoms often resolve independently, but it can make some people severely ill. What are Flu Symptoms? The below symptoms are associated with the flu and can come on very suddenly: - Sore throat - Loss of appetite - High temperature - Feeling exhausted - Aching all over your body - Nausea and vomiting Always seek medical attention if your symptoms increase in severity or do not improve within a week. Who is Most Susceptible to Catching the Flu? Flu is very contagious for people of all ages. However, it can be more severe for older people, pregnant women, or young children as their immune systems are compromised or not fully developed yet. The flu will also seriously affect those with pre-existing health conditions. How Many People Die During the Flu Season Each Year? Last year, England suffered its worst flu season in a decade. The 2022 to 2023 report highlighted that there were 14,500 excess deaths from the flu in the UK. In December 2022, flu and pneumonia were the leading causes of excess death. England experienced 574 extra flu deaths, 26% above average. It is, therefore, vital to be prepared for flu season before it starts. When is Flu Season in the UK? Flu season tends to occur between October and March. Still, most of the population will likely be struck down by the flu in January and February when the temperature has significantly dropped. The cold air during winter months aids the preservation of viruses. As people gather in the warmth indoors, the flu begins to spread. Preparing for Flu Season Prepare for flu season by stocking essential items such as hand soap, hand sanitiser, and paper towels. Drying your hands with paper towels is the most hygienic way to dry hands, as the friction can remove excess germs. Wash your Hands Flu is spread through direct contact with others or touching a contaminated surface. To avoid the flu, individuals should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with high-quality hand soap and use hand sanitiser when on the go. Clean and Disinfect Surfaces should be disinfected regularly, as germs can live on particular surfaces for up to 24 hours. Flu germs typically live longer on stainless steel and plastic than on tissue and fabric surfaces, so individuals should disinfect hard surfaces daily. Make Healthy Choices Your risk of falling seriously ill with flu increases when you have a weak immune system. By eating nutritious meals, getting plenty of rest, and staying hydrated with water, your immune system will be ready to combat any germs it comes into contact with. Air purification systems in commercial spaces such as offices are essential in improving air quality by removing bacteria. The spread of influenza occurs in shared areas such as offices; removing airborne particles from the air mitigates the risk. Get your Vaccination The best way to protect yourself from the flu is by getting the flu vaccine. By getting vaccinated, if you catch the flu, your body will be better equipped to fight off the flu, and you can protect more vulnerable individuals. Surviving Flu Season UK FAQs How long will I be contagious with the flu? Most adults can start infecting others 1 day before they develop their flu symptoms until around 7 days after their symptoms have disappeared. Those with a weakened immune system may remain contagious for several weeks. How can I cure the flu fast? Getting plenty of rest, drinking plenty of water, taking over-the-counter medication, and eating nutritious meals will form the perfect recipe to cure your flu. How often should I wash my hands? Handwashing is a very effective way of reducing the spread of viruses. Experts claim that individuals should wash their hands 6 to 10 times a day, specifically after using the toilet, before eating or handling foods, and after sneezing or coughing. Flu Season 2023-2024 Seasonal flu is predicted to continue throughout 2023 and 2024 due to the resurgence of the virus in 2022. Although it is difficult to predict the severity of the expected flu season, it helps to prepare yourself. Make sure to invest in supplies, whether for your home or your office, to help prevent the spread of the virus. Most importantly, look after yourself and make healthy decisions anticipating flu season.

Bestanimalart.com – Are you passionate about working with animals and helping young people learn about them? If so, becoming a Merit Badge Counselor for Animal Trainer might be the perfect fit for you. The Boy Scouts of America offers this opportunity to qualified individuals who want to share their knowledge and skills with young scouts. Merit Badge Counselor Training Merit badge counselor training is an important part of the Boy Scouts of America program. It is designed to help volunteers understand their role and responsibilities in guiding Scouts through the merit badge process. There are several basic principles that every merit badge counselor should understand: - Scout Spirit: The merit badge program is designed to help Scouts develop skills and build character. As a merit badge counselor, it is important to encourage Scout Spirit and provide a positive learning environment. - Requirements: Merit badges have specific requirements that Scouts must complete in order to earn the badge. As a counselor, it is important to understand these requirements and help Scouts complete them. - Counselor Role: As a merit badge counselor, your role is to guide Scouts through the badge requirements. You are not there to do the work for them, but to provide support and guidance as needed. - Safety: Safety is always a top priority. As a counselor, it is important to ensure that Scouts are completing requirements in a safe and appropriate manner. - Record Keeping: Keeping accurate records is important for both the Scout and the counselor. As a counselor, it is important to keep track of which requirements have been completed and to sign off on completed requirements in the Scout’s handbook. Tips for Merit Badge Counselor Training for Animal Trainers 1. Understand the Requirements Before you begin training merit badge counselors, make sure you fully understand the requirements of the merit badge. This will help you prepare your training materials and ensure that you cover all of the necessary topics. 2. Be Prepared Make sure you have all of the necessary materials and equipment for your training session. This may include handouts, visual aids, and props. Being prepared will help you stay organized and present a professional training session. 3. Use Real-Life Examples When teaching animal trainers, it’s important to use real-life examples to help illustrate your points. This may include videos, case studies, or personal anecdotes. Using real-life examples will help your audience better understand the concepts you are presenting. 4. Encourage Participation Encourage your audience to participate in the training session by asking questions and engaging in discussions. This will help keep them engaged and interested in the material. You may also want to include hands-on activities or demonstrations to help reinforce the concepts you are teaching. 5. Provide Feedback After your training session, provide feedback to your audience. This may include a written evaluation or individual feedback sessions. Providing feedback will help your audience improve their skills and become better animal trainers. |Professional Animal Trainer: The Complete Guide to Training Pets |This book provides a comprehensive guide to training all types of pets, including dogs, cats, birds, and small animals. It covers everything from basic obedience training to advanced tricks and behaviors. |The Art of Animal Training: Creative Approaches for Working With Dogs, Cats, and Other Pets |This book provides a creative approach to animal training, emphasizing the importance of building a strong bond between trainer and pet. It covers a wide range of training techniques and includes step-by-step instructions for teaching a variety of behaviors. |Train Your Dog Like a Pro: Step-by-Step Guide to Training Your Dog |This book provides a step-by-step guide to training your dog, covering everything from basic obedience to advanced tricks and behaviors. It includes practical tips and advice for dealing with common behavior problems. Positive Reinforcement Training for Animal Trainer What is Positive Reinforcement Training? Positive reinforcement training is a training technique that focuses on rewarding desired behaviors instead of punishing undesirable behaviors. It involves the use of treats, praise, and other rewards to encourage animals to exhibit the desired behavior. Why is Positive Reinforcement Training Important? Positive reinforcement training is important because it is a humane and effective way to train animals. It helps to build trust between the animal and the trainer and can result in a stronger bond between the two. It also leads to more consistent and reliable behavior from the animal. How to Use Positive Reinforcement Training as an Animal Trainer As an animal trainer, it is important to understand the principles of positive reinforcement training. This involves identifying the desired behavior, providing the appropriate reward, and timing the reward correctly. It is also important to be consistent in the use of rewards and to gradually increase the level of difficulty of the desired behavior. Examples of Positive Reinforcement Training Some examples of positive reinforcement training include clicker training, treat training, and praise training. Clicker training involves the use of a clicker to signal to the animal that it has exhibited the desired behavior, followed by a reward. Treat training involves giving the animal a treat as a reward for exhibiting the desired behavior. Praise training involves praising the animal as a reward for exhibiting the desired behavior. The Benefits of Positive Reinforcement Training There are many benefits to using positive reinforcement training as an animal trainer. These include a stronger bond between the animal and the trainer, more reliable behavior from the animal, and a more enjoyable training experience for both the animal and the trainer. Positive reinforcement training is also a humane and ethical way to train animals. Positive reinforcement training is an important technique for animal trainers to use. It is a humane and effective way to train animals and can result in a stronger bond between the animal and the trainer. By understanding the principles of positive reinforcement training and using it consistently, animal trainers can achieve great results in their training programs. Dog Training With Positive Reinforcement | Teacher’s Pet With Victoria Stilwell | Video Merit Badge Counselor Training: A Guide to Helping Future Scouts Becoming a merit badge counselor is a great opportunity to help young Scouts learn valuable skills and earn badges that will serve them for a lifetime. However, it’s not a role that should be taken lightly. As a counselor, you are responsible for ensuring that Scouts are completing the requirements correctly and safely. That’s why it’s essential to undergo proper merit badge counselor training to prepare you for the role. What is Merit Badge Counselor Training? Merit Badge Counselor Training is a course designed to help individuals who are interested in becoming a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts of America. The training covers various topics, including the role of a counselor, how to work with Scouts, and how to properly assess their progress. The course also teaches best practices for conducting merit badge sessions, including safety guidelines and how to handle any issues that may arise. Why is Merit Badge Counselor Training Important? Merit badge counselor training is crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, it helps ensure that Scouts are receiving accurate and safe instruction from qualified individuals. It also helps counselors understand their responsibilities and the importance of their role in shaping the future of the Scouts they work with. Additionally, the training provides ongoing support and resources for counselors so that they can continue to improve and grow in their role. How to Get Merit Badge Counselor Training To become a merit badge counselor, you must first register with the Boy Scouts of America and complete the necessary paperwork. Once you have done that, you can attend a merit badge counselor training course. These courses are typically offered at the local council level and are taught by experienced counselors who have been trained to teach the course. You can also find online resources and training modules to supplement your learning. Conclusion and Closing Becoming a merit badge counselor is a great way to give back to your community and help shape the future of young Scouts. However, it’s important to undergo proper training to ensure that you are prepared for the role and can provide accurate and safe instruction. By completing merit badge counselor training, you can feel confident in your ability to positively impact the lives of Scouts. We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below and to share this article with others who may be interested in becoming a merit badge counselor.

With every surge in Covid cases, we seem to face various levels of restrictions and even quarantines. So, you may be needing to stay home with your children. This is a perfect time to help them remain of good courage and actively develop and learn with an uplifting attitude in challenging times. A child’s innocence is a gift. In Matthew 18:1-3, the Bible has this to say: “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” With their innocence, it is up to parents and caregivers to love them and protect them the way they deserve. With this in mind, let us share how you can keep your children encouraged and interested in useful activities. Try the Creation Illustrated Unit Studies To keep your children busy, there are some offers from Creation Illustrated Unit Studies that you can look at. For example, there is the Alpaca Unit Study. According to the product description children may be able to “explore the many amazing features God has given to Alpacas! From their amazingly soft and warm fleece to the history of how they have been utilized as domesticated animals in the Andes Mountains, there is much to learn about these unique creatures. Now they are a very popular hobby farm animal that can teach youth and families about animal husbandry. This wonderful Unit Study on the life and usefulness of alpacas will help students better understand these fascinating creatures.” There are also many other animal Unit Studies that you can choose from. We recommend that you start with your child’s favorite animal. The animal that he or she wants to play with the most is at the zoo. See to it that you can provide the best experience for your child while you both explore other animals such as bears, manatees, and even chickens. Some of the Unit Studies also include subjects such as plants that you will want to explore with your kids as well as other elements present on our planet. You can check out the studies on minerals, orchids, and all of the other subjects that are available from Creation Illustrated. Talk About What Is Happening In A Positive Way Eventually, your children will ask questions about what is happening, and you can use this opportunity to keep them encouraged during the quarantine by talking about it positively. The best way to be positive about the situation is to talk about the Bible and the experiences of the characters that can teach them valuable lessons that they can carry throughout their lives. Children will likely ask questions because of the changes that are happening all the time. At the beginning of the pandemic, the abrupt changes disrupted their everyday lives and this should be discussed in a way that promotes flexibility and a positive attitude that helps avoid depression and anxiety. Let them know that things will be alright and that we are all experiencing change which can be kind of an adventure together. Play In The Backyard If you live in a neighborhood with a big space between or behind the houses, then the best thing that you can do for your children is to play with them outside in the backyard. If there is a common area or a park, try to avoid getting too close to others. If the weather is good enough, going for a picnic or having a barbecue will help get everyone out of the house. The pandemic is a time for you to bond with your children, but it is also a time for you to see to it that they learn about life’s responsibilities. You can teach your children about this when you give them chores that they can carry out for their age. For example, if you have children that are already almost teenagers they can probably help with cleaning the house and taking out the trash. For smaller children, you can instruct them to clean up their play areas and make sure that take care of any of the toys that they played with during the day. Puzzles Are Also Good If you also want your children to be active and avoid too much Social Media, puzzles are also a good way to keep them entertained and keep them learning. Helping your children learn art skills builds creativity. They can even make greeting cards to give to someone who needs encouragement. Drawing, painting, and crafts provide nearly endless opportunities to keep your children busy and away from computers and cell phones. Even cutting out beautiful pictures from magazines like Creation Illustrated will help them focus on uplifting images that bring calmness to their minds. Your Children Are Your Gift A lot of parents and parenting styles are being tested during this pandemic. When we all had to put our children in homeschool last year along with all of the other trials, our faith was being tested as well as our parenting styles. As we all adjust, let us remember that one of the greatest gifts that we have received from our Creator is our children. When the pandemic first started, a lot of parents became dependent on technology, which was not good for the children. Many studies show how the overuse of technology affects their development. This is why magazines such as Creation Illustrated have become an important part of many people’s lives. There are many ways that we can help our families explore new subjects, get outdoors, and be creative. So seize this opportunity to explore new things at home.

Farmscape for July 27, 2018 A Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says, by moving to precision feeding, pork producers will have the opportunity to identify the most efficient animals. Scientists working on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc have demonstrated that, by formulating rations to meet the specific needs of each pig, pork producers can reduce the overall nutritional requirements of the herd by about 25 percent. Dr. Candido Pomar, a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says in addition to reducing feed costs precision feeding will provide the opportunity to identify those pigs that convert feed more efficiently. Clip-Dr. Candido Pomar-Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Now we are feeding individual animals and animals are like humans. We are not all the same. So we can now identify the peculiarities of each animal that makes one animal more efficient than another one. That's what we are targeting now. In the future we are going to be very precise in terms of defining the needs of the animal because we know which is the more efficient animal so we are going to provide him with the right level of nutrients according to his own efficiency, how he is transforming feeds and other animals we are going to feed them differently, not because he is performing more or less, but because he is more or less efficient. This is a point where we are very excited here in the lab because we are looking to the individual animals, identifying their nutritional personalities. In tying to get these answers we are discovering very nice things in terms of the animal's metabolism and the animal's behavior which also has an important effect on nutrient efficiency. Dr. Pomar says where scientists are now able to reduce the nutritional needs of the herd by about 25 percent, that reduction could go even higher by identifying more efficient animals. For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane. *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork

The city of Dublin is no stranger to bombs, from the British assault in 1916 to the removal of Lord Nelson’s statue in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Yet one that has largely been forgotten occurred 78 years ago in 1941 during WWII, referred to as ‘the Emergency’ in Ireland. The story began in April when German air raids bombed Belfast. The Belfast Blitz consisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfast causing high casualties. The first was on the night of 7–8 April 1941, a small attack which probably took place only to test Belfast’s defenses which were woefully inadequate despite the fact that Harland and Wolff were building aircraft carriers and cruisers, Short Brothers built the Stirling long-range heavy bomber, James Mackie & Sons supplied anti-aircraft shells, Harland’s Engineering built tanks and a number of flax spinning mills made Aero linen for covering aircraft like the Hawker Hurricane and military gliders. Other Belfast factories manufactured gun mountings, ordnance pieces, aircraft parts and ammunition. These war materials and food were sent on ships from Belfast to Britain, some illegally flying the tricolor of neutral Ireland as a cover. Having determined the city’s defenses were sparse, the next raid took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April as 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets. More than 900 lives were lost, 1,500 people were injured, 400 of them seriously. Fifty-thousand houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Eleven churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Apart from the raids on London, this was the greatest loss of life in any night raids during the Blitz. The third raid took place on the night of 4–5 May; 150 were killed. Incendiary bombs predominated in this raid. The fourth and final Belfast raid took place on the following night, 5–6 May. In total over 1,300 houses were demolished, some 5,000 badly damaged, nearly 30,000 slightly damaged while 20,000 required repair. Taoiseach Eamon deValera, head of the Irish government had declared his country’s neutrality during the war, but ordered all Dublin fire brigades, but one, to assist Belfast in putting out the resulting fires. According to David Lawlor on thewildgeese.com (May 28, 2016) Noel Brady on Dublin’s North Strand area heard the drone of a Luftwaffe bomber flying overhead on May 31, 1941 followed by a huge explosion. Noel was 21 at the time and a member of the St John Ambulance Brigade. He grabbed his bicycle and raced to the scene and treated the injured in rubble-strewn streets for the next 12 hours. At least 28 were killed, 90 injured and 300 homes damaged. It was the worst of seven bombings that took place in neutral Ireland during The Emergency. In total, four bombs had been dropped. The first one fell on the suburb of Ballybough, destroying two houses. The second dropped near the President’s residence in the Phoenix Park, shattering some windows, while the third fell on the North Circular Road. Miraculously, nobody was hurt. Reports later described how the German aircraft that dropped the deadly cargo had circled the city for some time, making low passes across what is now Connolly railway station ‘as if awaiting instructions of some sort.’ Historian Liam Murphy noted in thewildgese.com that, ‘In 1971, while in grad school in Dublin, I was told that this bombing of Dublin was intended to send a message to deValera to not send the Dublin Fire Brigade to the North when the Germans were bombing ‘British’ targets.’ Malicious rumors were immediately circulated that the Irish had illuminated their homes in order to guide the Luftwaffe to Britain and some had simply overflown their targets. That was a lie for the Germans had navigation instruments and guidance systems. Later, investigating those rumors with international aircraft pilots, we learned that distance and the curvature of the horizon made such assistance impossible. We further learned that when raids took place on moonlit nights, the Thames River became a ribbon of silver that led German pilots right into London! In addition to slanderous rumors, Churchill, enraged by deValera’s refusal to join the war effort, had imposed restrictions on trade with Ireland to deal a death-blow to the Irish economy. As the Irish introduced rationing of foodstuffs and essential raw materials, Britain even cut the vital supply of agricultural fertilizer! Petrol was cut stopping cars and buses and trains stopped running as the supply of British coal ended. As wheat production waned, an effort to preserve wheat supplies for bread caused the Irish government to restrict the malting of barley and banned the export of beer. Quite unexpectedly, the British attitude shifted dramatically. It seems that the British army complained to Whitehall of unrest caused by a sudden beer shortage in Belfast. A hasty agreement was drawn up by which Britain would exchange badly needed wheat in exchange for Guinness! Guinness complained that they did not have enough coal to produce beer for an export market. To satisfy the demands of Allied troops north of the border, Britain agreed to release more coal. Slowly but surely, this pattern of barter repeated itself. In January 1942, the first of 300,000 American troops arrived to be stationed in Belfast and Derry during the course of the war. Britain finally agreed to release wheat, coal, fertilizers and agricultural machinery as long as the supply of Guinness was maintained. Thus was Ireland kept afloat (no pun intended) during The Emergency, enabling her to stay neutral. More than 2,000 claims for compensation resulting from bomb damage were processed by the Irish government, eventually costing £344,000. After the war, West Germany accepted responsibility for the raids and by 1958 paid compensation of £327,000. to the Republic of Ireland using money from America’s Marshal Plan Aid.

Introduction to government writing Like other types of writing, such as academic or business writing, composing a government document entails a series of steps. If you need to create a well-written, highly communicative government document, follow the steps below. Determine your audience Before you begin writing, consider your audience. Are you writing for people working within a government with high-level knowledge of your topic and any technical information related to it, or are you writing for the public to inform them about your topic? If you’re writing for people with advanced knowledge of your topic, you can use terms and phrases that are specific to that field without having to define or explain them. If you are writing for the public, you should make sure you explain any terms or ideas that aren’t well known to a lay audience. Gather your information Make sure you have all the background information, data, and other details you need to create a complete document. If you’re citing information from other sources, make sure you have the bibliographic information (e.g., author name, title, date of publication, etc.) handy so you can provide a proper citation. As you review the information you collect, consider whether you need to gather any additional information to help explain technical terms or advanced knowledge. At this stage, you should determine whether you need to follow any specific guidelines or format your document in a certain way. Depending on what kind of document you’re writing, you may need to follow a specific format or include specific sections. A government memo will be organized very differently than a response to a policy document. If you don’t have any specific guidelines to follow, remember that most documents begin with an introduction, in which you provide an overview of your document. Next comes the body of the document, where you provide background information, data, and other relevant details to your topic. Finally, you should end with a conclusion in which you sum up the content of your document and note any recommendations. Check your work Before you submit your work for publication or distribution, go over it again to make sure all of your information is accurate and complete. Proofread the document for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors and to determine if you can make the text clearer or more concise. It often helps to have someone else go over the document since you may not catch small errors.

Here are the facts One in three adults over the age of 65 fall every year. 2/3 will fall again within 6 months. 95% of hip fractures are causes by falls. Falls are the leading cause of death in the 65+ age group and the most common cause of hospital admission. Over 70% of emergency room visits of people 65+ years old, were related to falls. Falls often and quickly lead to the loss of independence. Who’s at risk of falling? - women more than men - people who are older - people who live alone - people who lack physical activity - people who have fallen before - people with disabilities, gait and/or balance problems, ambulatory or walking device or wheelchairs - people who take multiple medications - those with urinary incontinence - reduced vision is a hazard and prescription drugs can cause vision problems. - hearing loss, even mild hearing loss is a factor. There’s no debate. HSPers fall more than average so it’s important that we do what we can to minimize our falls – not just because of the embarrassment of falling, but because we can get very seriously hurt (hospital emergency room visits!) and that can very negatively impact our lives (loss of independence!) and the lives of our loved ones. Another factor to consider is that those who understand their increased risk of falling often experience fear of falling. Unfortunately this can further reduce physical activity, making falls more likely and leading to increased isolation. Understanding the negative impact of this might help motivate people to set realistic goals for increasing activity. Research shows that educational materials alone are not enough. More needs to be done! What you can do? - Get moving – exercise and increase your activity. There is proof! Exercise programs containing balance and strength training, and specifically Tai Chi are helpful. While we’ve always recommended sessions with a trained physiotherapist, there are simple exercises below (under Evidence Based Programs) designed to reduce falls in elderly. A very serious issue HSPers should think about is the risk of falling backwards. Physiotherapists have recommended HSPers spend time safely and slowly walking backwards (along a wall with one hand on the wall or on a treadmill) and elderly are being encouraged to do the same. (see Otago website below.) - Wear the right shoes. - Talk with your physiotherapist or occupational therapist about falls, how to fall and how to get up again. - Discuss your medications with your pharmacist and falling issues with your doctor. - Get your vision and hearing checked - Check your home for risks – and eliminate rugs, power cords and other obstacles. Add grab bars in the bathroom and lighting on stairs. You’ll get more ideas of ways to make your home safer in this Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults. For Wheelchair and Scooter Users: - Consider the way you transfer, and share that info with others - Lock when you transfer - Turn off power when not in use - Don’t remove features (like anti-tip gear) - Don’t add things that throw the weight off (like backpacks) - Don’t take risks. Evidence Based Programs Matter of Balance One of those programs is called Matter of Balance and there is interesting and motivating information in two short videos here: http://www.mainehealth.org/mh_body.cfm?id=432 Otago is a muscle strengthening and balance retraining program that can reduce falls. It is delivered at home by a physiotherapist through seven home visits over one year. The New Zealand Falls Prevention Research Group developed and tested the program. The rationale behind Otago is that while muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and reaction time are risk factors for falls, they can easily be modified. Always check with your primary care provider and physiotherapist prior to beginning any of the Otago strength, balance, and walking exercises. Here you can find videos of or printed illustrations for the exercise program. http://www.med.unc.edu/aging/cgec/exercise-program/patient-resources The US’s National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) is positioned to effect change in health promotion/obesity management among people with disabilities through its existing 13-year history of providing advocacy, services and programs to numerous organizations and people. For free, web-based personalized fitness programs for all sorts of debility levels, they have a ton of good information on their website, including 14 week fitness programs here: And an intro to strengthening exercises here: http://ncpad.org/374/2096/Strengthening~Exercises Falls Prevention Programs Various fall prevention programs are offered throughout Australia. A few are listed below. Please verify qualification first, as some programs have age and physical restrictions. You can also inquire with your local hospitals and community centers for courses. Stepping-On was developed in NSW and is considered to be one of the most effective falls prevention programs available, giving people the confidence to undertake their everyday activities safely. http://www.activeandhealthy.nsw.gov.au/program_types A Stepping-On program for North Coast communities http://healthynorthcoast.org.au/activities/stepping-on/ A free program from Hawkesbury District Health Service in NSW http://www.hdhs.com.au/uploads/PDF/stepping-on.pdf Exercise Medicine Australia (EMA) offers Tai Chi courses for health and falls prevention including standing and chair based modules. http://www.exercisemedicine.com.au/fallPrevent.asp Otago options for Queenslanders http://www.health.qld.gov.au/stayonyourfeet/for-professionals/otago.asp North Eastern Rehabilitation Centre (in Ivanhoe near Melbourne) http://www.northeasternrehabilitationcentre.com.au/index.php/our-services/falls-prevention-and-balance-program/ Data for this article comes from the Webinar Preventing Falls in Adults with Disabilities and Chronic Health Conditions 09/17/13 http://www.spinalcord.org/webinar-archive/

Even the most rudimentary plumbing was unknown before Captain Cook’s arrival. The ancient Hawaiians depended on streams and springs for their water supply, sometimes carrying calabashes of water great distances over rugged terrain. They bathed in streams, mountain pools, ʻauwai (irrigation ditches,) shore pools and the sea. (Schmitt) In the late-19th Century, Waikīkī’s shoreline was mostly a day-use beach; overnight accommodations were scarce. Visitors, usually residents of Honolulu, would arrive via horse-drawn carriage, on horseback or in a canoe. (White) “The most popular resort of the people of Oʻahu is the famous Waikīkī … Waikīkī is the seaside and pleasure-resort of the island. … There are a number of private residences, picturesque-looking bungalows and cottages, but all airy, comfortable, and close to the murmuring sea. A beautiful grove of towering coconut-trees adds to the tropical charm of the place.” (Musick, 1898) “The sea bathing is simply perfection. The water is never chilly; and yet it is most healthful and invigorating. The bottom is of nice smooth sand, always warm and pleasant to the feet. There is no fear of undertow or of any finny monsters. Not only is it pleasant to bathe here during the day, but moonlight bathing is indulged in. … It is a novelty, worth seeing, if not worth trying. (Whitney, 1895) Just as “sea bathing” were gaining popularity on the American and European continents, private bathhouses, like the Long Branch Baths, Ilaniwai Baths and Wright’s Villa, began to appear in Waikīkī. (White) “Bath-houses that equal those in Long Branch (New Jersey) are found here, and sea-bathing in January is as pleasant as in July. There is no clearer water, no finer beach, no smoother bottom in any of the many famous watering-places than are found at Waikīkī.” (Musick, 1898) Bathhouses served customers with bathing suits and towel rentals, dressing rooms and each access to the beach. Initially, bathhouses served only day-use recreation of visitors, but eventually some of them began to offer overnight rooms. One of the first of these bathhouses was the “Long Branch Baths,” named after a popular New Jersey resort. This long wooden shed was built near the edge of ‘Āpuakēhau Stream by James Dodd in 1881 at the former residence of Kākuhihewa. (CulturalSurveys) “There are now forty two dressing rooms for gentlemen and eighteen boudoirs for ladies. To these accommodations will be added a bathing platform 100-feet along the beach by 80-feet wide and a trapeze and spring board attached. There will also be a restaurant and when the whole is finished we may expect to have occasionally to report aquatic feats of considerable magnitude.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1889) At that time, the Waikīkī beach area in Ulukou and Kahaloa was dotted with small cottages and some bathing houses. These “bathing houses,” placed strategically near the beach, were places where people could change into their bathing suits, rent towels, and walk directly into the ocean. (CulturalSurveys) “At “Long Branch Baths” the bather may find deep water and at a temperature which will surprise him, permitting a two or more, hours enjoyment in plunging and bathing in the pure waters. Here sun and sand baths may be indulged in.” (Godfrey, 1898) Dodd, who also ran a livery station, also offered round trip ‘omnibus’ mule-drawn bus service from Honolulu to Waikīkī, which included the use of the Long Branch. Another attraction was a 200-foot long marine toboggan, where “for a nickel, riders could climb a ladder to the top of the run, mount a ‘star oval board’, zip down the chute and ricochet across the water …, skipping along like a flat pebble.” This toboggan was built on the west side of the bathhouse in 1889 by Jim Sherwood, a later owner of the Long Branch Bathhouse. “The toboggan itself is a wooden frame with a turn up end upon which the bather reclines and the pleasure is in the swiftness of motion over the chute. When the bather reaches the water his toboggan skips on the surface for some distance from fifty to one hundred feet in proportion to the momentum acquired in the descent and then he has to swim ashore and propel his toboggan to a landing.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1889) During the 1870s and 1880s, Honolulu residents in growing numbers went out to enjoy the sea bathing at Waikīkī. Local writers spoke of it as the Long Branch, Newport, Brighton or Trouville of Hawaiʻi. (Kuykendall) In 1875 or earlier, Allen Herbert proprietor of the Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, “provided a cottage at the sea-shore at Waikīkī … where guests can go and spend the day, or merely enjoy a morning or evening bath in the ocean.” Apparently this was only a beach house and not a hotel for overnight accommodation of guests; it is uncertain how long the arrangement continued. (Kuykendall) The first hotels in Waikīkī were bathhouses, such as the Long Branch Baths, began to offer rooms for overnight stays in the 1880s. The first beachside hotel, the Park Beach, was a converted home which offered 10 rooms, each equipped with a bath and telephone. As time passed, more found their way into the district, at first as visitors to enjoy the beach and the sea bathing, and then as residents, especially when access was made easier by the construction of a road (sometime in the 1860s.) Toward the end of that decade an omnibus began running to Waikīkī, providing the only public transportation to that resort until the tramcar line reached there at the beginning of 1889. (Kuykendall)

How many times a day is the aarti performed at Salangpur Hanumanji Temple? Aarti is a Hindu ritual of worship that involves offering light to deities as a sign of devotion and gratitude. It is performed at various Hindu temples across the world, including the Salangpur Hanumanji Temple in Gujarat, India. The temple is known for its swayambhu idol of Lord Hanuman, and aarti is performed here several times a day to honor the deity. The Salangpur Hanumanji Temple is open for worship from early morning until late in the evening, and aarti is performed at specific times during the day. The first aarti of the day, known as the Mangala Aarti, is performed early in the morning before sunrise. It is believed that performing aarti at this time is especially auspicious and can bring blessings and good fortune. The second aarti of the day is performed at around 11:00 am and is known as the Shringar Aarti. During this aarti, the deity is adorned with various ornaments and decorations, and devotees offer flowers and other offerings to the deity. The Shringar Aarti is a significant ritual as it is believed to symbolize the adornment of Lord Hanuman with the love and devotion of his followers. The third aarti of the day is performed in the late afternoon or early evening and is known as the Sandhya Aarti. This aarti is performed at sunset and is considered to be one of the most significant aartis of the day. Devotees believe that performing aarti at this time can help purify the mind and bring inner peace and tranquility. The fourth and final aarti of the day is performed at night and is known as the Shayan Aarti. This aarti is performed just before the deity is put to rest.

NASA Reveals First-Ever Image From Inside Sun’s Atmosphere Snapped with Israeli Tech NASA has released the first image from inside the sun’s atmosphere and it is ground-breaking. The photo was taken by the Parker Solar Probe, which is fitted with Israeli-engineered sensors that are helping capture these first-ever high-resolution images. The Parker Solar Probe spacecraft is the first human-made object to make it into the sun’s corona – the aura of plasma that surrounds the sun and which includes coronal mass ejects (CMEs) and solar winds. It completed its first encounter over the course of 12 days in late October and November, collecting unprecedented data with four suites of cutting-edge instruments. The first set of data began downlinking to Earth on December 7, and a more complete set will be available after the spacecraft undergoes a second flyby in April 2019. The Parker Solar Probe came within 16.9 million miles from the sun’s surface when the first image was taken on November 8. The image shows at least two rays of coronal streamers, structures of solar material within the Sun’s atmosphere, seen over the east limb of the sun The bright object near the center of the image is the planet Mercury, and the dark spots are a result of background correction. The rare image came from the Parker Solar Probe’s WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument, the only imaging instrument aboard the spacecraft, equipped with two coronagraph telescopes incorporating space-qualified CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) sensors built by Israel’s integrated circuit manufacturer TowerJazz, based in Migdal Ha’emek, in collaboration with SRI International, an independent nonprofit research center. “TowerJazz has been working with SRI for several years to develop custom technology to support US government imaging applications,” Mike Scott, Director of TowerJazz USA Aerospace & Defense, said in a press statement in October. TowerJazz’s CMOS image sensors and pixel technology are used in photography, industrial, medical, automotive and consumer applications, including high-end camera phones and 3D cameras. “We are very pleased to see our teamwork take flight in this exciting endeavor by NASA.” Read more here https://bit.ly/2EF9PjT

Imaging method reveals new cells and structures in human brain tissue Using a novel microscopy technique, MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School researchers have imaged human brain tissue in greater detail than ever before, revealing cells and structures that were not previously visible. Among their findings, the researchers discovered that some “low-grade” brain tumors contain more putative aggressive tumor cells than expected, suggesting that some of these tumors may be more aggressive than previously thought. The researchers hope that this technique can eventually be deployed to diagnose tumors, generate more accurate prognoses, and help doctors choose treatments. “We’re starting to see how important the interactions of neurons and synapses with the surrounding brain are to the growth and progression of tumors. A lot of those things we really cann’t see with conventional tools, but now we have a tool to look at those tissues at the nanoscale and try to understand these interactions,” says Pablo Valdes, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the lead author of the study. Edward Boyden, the Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology at MIT; a professor of biological engineering, media arts and sciences, and brain and cognitive sciences; a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator; and a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; and E. Antonio Chiocca, a professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and chair of neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are the senior authors of the study, which appears today in Science Translational Medicine. Making molecules visible The new imaging method is based on expansion microscopy, a technique developed in Boyden’s lab in 2015 based on a simple premise: Instead of using powerful, expensive microscopes to obtain high-resolution images, the researchers devised a way to expand the tissue itself, allowing it to be imaged at very high resolution with a regular light microscope. The technique works by embedding the tissue into a polymer that swells when water is added, and then softening up and breaking apart the proteins that normally hold tissue together. Then, adding water swells the polymer, pulling all the proteins apart from each other. This tissue enlargement allows researchers to obtain images with a resolution of around 70 nanometers, which was previously possible only with very specialized and expensive microscopes such as scanning electron microscopes. In 2017, the Boyden lab developed a way to expand preserved human tissue specimens, but the chemical reagents that they used also destroyed the proteins that the researchers were interested in labeling. By labeling the proteins with fluorescent antibodies before expansion, the proteins’ location and identity can be visualized after the expansion process was complete. However, the antibodies typically used for this kind of labeling can’t easily squeeze through densely packed tissue before it’s expanded. So, for this study, the authors devised a different tissue-softening protocol that breaks up the tissue but preserves proteins in the sample. After the tissue is expanded, proteins can be labelled with commercially available fluorescent antibodies. The researchers then can perform several rounds of imaging, with three or four different proteins labeled in each round. This labelling of proteins enables several more structures to be imaged, because once the tissue is expanded, antibodies can squeeze through and label proteins they cann’t previously reach. “We open up the space between the proteins so that we can get antibodies into crowded spaces that we cann’t otherwise,” Valdes says. “We saw that we can expand the tissue, we can decrowd the proteins, and we can image several, several proteins in the same tissue by doing multiple rounds of staining.” Working with MIT Assistant Professor Deblina Sarkar, the researchers demonstrated a form of this “decrowding” in 2022 using mouse tissue. The new study resulted in a decrowding technique for use with human brain tissue samples that are used in clinical settings for pathological diagnosis and to guide treatment decisions. These samples can be more difficult to work with because they are usually embedded in paraffin and treated with other chemicals that need to be broken down before the tissue can be expanded. In this study, the researchers labeled up to 16 different molecules per tissue sample. The molecules they targeted include markers for a variety of structures, including axons and synapses, as well as markers that identify cell types such as astrocytes and cells that form blood vessels. They also labeled molecules linked to tumor aggressiveness and neurodegeneration. Using this approach, the researchers analyzed healthy brain tissue, along with samples from patients with two types of glioma — high-grade glioblastoma, which is the most aggressive primary brain tumor, with a poor prognosis, and low-grade gliomas, which are considered less aggressive. “We wanted to look at brain tumors so that we can understand them better at the nanoscale level, and by doing that, to be able to develop better treatments and diagnoses in the future. At this point, it was more developing a tool to be able to understand them better, because currently in neuro-oncology, people haven’t done much in terms of super-resolution imaging,” Valdes says. A diagnostic tool To identify aggressive tumor cells in gliomas they studied, the researchers labeled vimentin, a protein that is found in highly aggressive glioblastomas. To their surprise, they found several more vimentin-expressing tumor cells in low-grade gliomas than had been seen using any other method. “This tells us something about the biology of these tumors, specifically, how some of them probably have a more aggressive nature than you might suspect by doing standard staining techniques,” Valdes says. When glioma patients undergo surgery, tumor samples are preserved and analyzed using immunohistochemistry staining, which can reveal certain markers of aggressiveness, including some of the markers analyzed in this study. “These are incurable brain cancers, and this type of discovery will allow us to figure out which cancer molecules to target so we can design better treatments. It also proves the profound impact of having clinicians like us at the Brigham and Women’s interacting with basic scientists such as Ed Boyden at MIT to discover new technologies that can improve patient lives,” Chiocca says. The researchers hope their expansion microscopy technique can allow doctors to learn much more about patients’ tumors, helping them to determine how aggressive the tumor is and guiding treatment choices. Valdes now plans to do a larger study of tumor types to try to establish diagnostic guidelines based on the tumor traits that can be revealed using this technique. “Our hope is that this is going to be a diagnostic tool to pick up marker cells, interactions, and so on, that we cann’t before,” he says. “It’s a practical tool that will help the clinical world of neuro-oncology and neuropathology look at neurological diseases at the nanoscale like never before, because fundamentally it’s a very simple tool to use.” Boyden’s lab also plans to use this technique to study other aspects of brain function, in healthy and diseased tissue. “Being able to do nanoimaging is important because biology is about nanoscale things — genes, gene products, biomolecules — and they interact over nanoscale distances,” Boyden says. “We can study all sorts of nanoscale interactions, including synaptic changes, immune interactions, and changes that occur during cancer and aging.” The research was funded by K. Lisa Yang, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, John Doerr, Open Philanthropy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program, the National Institutes of Health, and the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation. Disasters Expo USA, is proud to be supported by Inergency for their next upcoming edition on March 6th & 7th 2024! The leading event mitigating the world’s most costly disasters is returning to the Miami Beach And in case you missed it, here is our ultimate road trip playlist is the perfect mix of podcasts, and hidden gems that will keep you energized for the entire journey-

by Guy Shahar Published: 2nd April, 2020 It’s something that’s often experienced and talked about by autistic people but rarely discussed publicly. It’s the phenomenon that at some point in life, you just run out of steam and find yourself unable to keep up with the way of life you’ve been living. It may happen gradually through a lifetime of increasing demands and micro-traumas, or suddenly after a period of more intense stress than usual. It may be a continuous low-level physical and emotional exhaustion for many years, or a sudden acute collapse. Dr Dora Raymaker, autistic herself, is one of the very few researchers studying autistic burnout and is currently completing a study into it. In a recent interview, she offered a working definition of it that her team is using: “A state of pervasive exhaustion, loss of function, increase in autistic traits, and withdrawal from life that results from continuously expending more resources than one has coping with activities and environments ill-suited to one’s abilities and needs.” The smallest tasks can suddenly feel unattainable and the motivation to work towards them can disappear. Keeping going in life can demand vastly increased efforts, which adds to the exhaustion. The motivation and mental clarity required to complete even small tasks can be lacking. Social relationships can start to be dreaded, not for what they are in themselves, but for the energy that they will require, which can no longer be afforded. The possibility of lightness and joy in life can give way to a heaviness and sense of the impossibility of meeting basic requirements. Why Does This Happen? I have written in The Lived Experience of Autism about what happens when someone sees an autistic person who appears to be “not very autistic” (i.e. who appears to live up to societal expectations). They do not see that this “living up to expectations” does not come anywhere near as easily for the autistic person as it might appear, and can have no idea of how much it takes to arrive at that appearance. Putting in so much more effort than others appreciate over an extended period of time simply to meet basic expectations can take its toll over the decades. An accumulation of stress over many years, or a sudden burst of it can lead to the sort of exhaustion that Raymaker describes. It can happen in adulthood, or even at key stages of childhood where there are changes in physiology, psychology and social expectations that expose certain incompatibilities between the person and the environment. Examples might include becoming a toddler (when “regression” often occurs) or an adolescent. But Autistic People Often Seem Fine. Are they just “Masking”? “Masking” or “Camouflaging” is a concept often applied to autistic people – especially female – who put a lot of effort into fitting in with the expectations placed upon them such that their difficulties in doing so are not easily visible. The language is not flattering. The words imply a level of sinister deceptive intent that is actually far more common in mainstream society than in the autistic community (for example, treating someone in a friendly way when you hold only disdain for them, or going out and laughing like you’re really enjoying yourself when you’re actually feeling miserable and can’t wait to go home, or smiling when passing someone in the street only for the smile to instantly disappear as soon as they’re no longer looking, etc) In autism – at least in my own experience – “masking” (so called) is more about simply trying to do what you think you’re supposed to do. There isn’t even always the consciousness that it’s so much easier for other people to do this as the expectations were designed with the convenience of their neurological type in mind. Nevertheless, the efforts required to attempt this (even though we might not realise that we’re attempting anything out of the ordinary) can be tremendous, and over time or at stressful times, can lead to a progressive exhaustion that can prime us for autistic burnout. What Constitutes Autistic Burnout? I understand Autistic Burnout to be a compound burnout resulting from a culmination of various other burnouts, fatigues and overloads. Some non-autistic people will experience one or possibly more of these during their lifetimes, but autistic people have the privilege of a much higher likelihood of experiencing most or all of these factors at the same time: – Emotional Burnout This is the most obvious contributory factor. A lifetime of being misunderstood and rejected (sometimes in a very unkind way) on account of a few superficial differences from the norm takes its toll. Like anybody else, an autistic person starts off fundamentally open to the world, and full of enthusiasm to participate in it with trust, goodwill, kindness and a natural instinct to put others’ needs before their own. When this is met with repeated rejection and harshness, the autistic person is not able to “adapt” like others and close down parts of their heart to numb the pain and be able to continue with daily life. The autistic person’s heart cannot be segmented and selectively shut down – it remains open to the effects of life’s ordeals. That’s why, often from the earliest ages, autistic people seem to “withdraw” or “regress”, when what’s actually happening is they are experiencing such hurt that they no longer have the inclination, energy or confidence to remain in active interaction, even though this may be what they would love in other circumstances. This is explored more in the article on Sensitivity and Idealism. It’s an early instance of Emotional trauma that, when continually repeated, leads to burnout. The cycle perpetuates itself, and the person becomes so alert to the triggers of such pain that they react with panic to any situation that arises that looks as if it might lead to a repeat of what they’ve experienced before. It’s happened so many times and they’ve done all they can to prevent it that it no longer feels avoidable, and so they can easily enter some sort of meltdown state in anticipation of what they expect to happen next. Then the meltdown itself becomes an additional reason to be anxious of the same triggers next time, and the cycle deepens. Essentially, it’s a post-traumatic stress reaction, and can occur on such a fundamental level that, once triggered, it can’t be soothed by reason or by a realisation that things may not be as bad as they seem. It then needs to work itself through in whatever way that person processes it. Many people might feel better after releasing it in a meltdown. Others may need to wait for hours or days or longer for it to process itself out of the system, with no way of avoiding it through understanding or even making genuine peace with the situation. The accumulated emotional exhaustion from a continual repetition of such events can be massive and constitute a profound burnout in itself. – Sensory Overload Sensitivity, in all senses, characterises an autistic person and can be the source of many great strengths and assets that are not common in society and are rarely acknowledged (discussed in our Ted talk). Sensory as well as emotional sensitivity and heightened perceptiveness in other areas can bring huge gifts to the individual and to society if recognised, respected and not overloaded. Unfortunately, as we saw with the emotional aspect, this is rarely the case. Whether it’s the background noise that others absorb as a part of daily life, or an extreme irritation at certain touches or textures, or a burning sensation from lighting that others find fine, or various other sensitivities, or a lower-level combination of many of them, most autistic people have some difficulty with the level of sense-stimulations that is common in the prevailing culture. While others’ level of sensory sensitivity is low enough not to be too adversely affected by this, or even to seek and gain excitement from it, this is not the case for the autistic person. The only things that can truly ease sensory overload (though not eliminate it, of course) are either to create a less stimulating sensory environment or for the rest of the person’s environment to be so nourishing and full of love and fulfilment that the sensory overload becomes easier to absorb. All of the person’s coping energy can then go towards managing the discomfort caused by the sensory issue and to some extent being able to transcend it. This is one way we can work with young children, where we have some control over their environment and have the time to establish that safe space, confidence, resilience and sense of needs being met from a very early age before any real adversity hits. Sadly, for anyone older than a young child, neither of those things is possible. Without a total withdrawal from society, it is not possible to escape the abundant use of sensory stimulants. Additionally, it is likely that the emotional depletion discussed above, as well as the other burnout factors introduced below, will be in full swing, meaning that the sensory difficulties cannot be easily managed and can only compound an already extremely challenging environment. It becomes another contribution to autistic burnout. – Cognitive Fatigue While autistic people can have tremendous cognitive capabilities, the ways they are commonly expected to use them are not necessarily intuitive to them. They have their own preferred ways of using their intellect and processing power, but these ways are not the norm and are not as widely valued as they might be. The result is that their capabilities are not recognised, and their abilities to express them in conventional ways are judged to be inadequate. So, the autistic person, in order to try and fit in, is forced to work in highly counter-intuitive ways, and to focus on things they might consider trivial at the expense of things they find fascinating. There’s also a sensitivity element to this, in that the autistic mind may be more prone to disturbance as a result of stimuli, and it may be much more difficult than for other people to compartmentalise things that might need attention. It’s not a natural thing, for example, to park a pressing issue and think about it later, or to switch off from something once it is complete. The chances are that it will be circulating around the mind for a very long time, along with various other things that are already there. A simple uneventful conversation can be vividly internally replayed many times until it is processed, and if there is any hint of conflict in it, this can go on for much longer. The mind rarely gets a chance to rest, even if great efforts are made for the purpose. A balanced world in which things were dealt with in a measured, unemotional way and kept in their optimal proportion would be ideal (for everyone), but that world is still elusive, giving autistic people another contributory factor to fatigue, and to low morale that can assist the fatigue. – Empathic Burnout An empath is someone who can not just notice and understand and “empathise”, but who experiences and actually feels the feelings of others as if they are their own. I cannot say with any certainty that all autistic people are empaths, and there are definitely empaths who are not autistic, but there seems to be a great correlation here, which contributes significantly to autistic burnout and can make social interaction (if it’s not the right type of social interaction) additionally difficult. Many will not have heard of it, but empathic burnout actually is a thing. Empaths often have no idea that they are empathic. I didn’t for very many years. This is because when a change of condition or mood happens, it’s easy to find some other explanation for it, to assume it comes from within us for some reason, or to just accept it; when actually it’s coming from the feelings of someone around us. Crowds and social interaction are often overwhelming for empaths (as they are for autistic people), without their really understanding exactly why, and they can need significant alone time to recover, ideally in nature. An unfortunate encounter – even an unnoticed one – can lead to unexplained feelings within the empath, which they may mistakenly assume comes from them, else they may feel deeply violated by the experience of someone else’s emotions entering and affecting them. Many autistic people talk of some sort of additional sense by which they can understand the motivations of others and can intuit for example whether someone is trustworthy or not. This is the start of becoming conscious of their empathic nature, but many others remain unconscious of this. It’s ironic that autistic people are commonly thought to lack empathy, when many of them have such an overwhelming amount of it. What is actually the case is that they don’t express empathy in the way that is conventional in mainstream society. That’s very different from not having it. Professor Tony Attwood in a recent interview emphasised how in autism, “anxiety is contagious” and how sensitive autistic children are to the emotional environment around them. While it has many great advantages and would be a great aid to life in a peaceful society where being happy, balanced and open was the norm, it can be extremely difficult to live with in a society dominated by a fear that leads to routine competitiveness, intimidation and power-seeking. It’s especially difficult on top of all the factors mentioned above. A rare opportunity for respite can be instantly removed simply by coming into contact with someone who, for no fault of their own, is feeling below par. Somebody else’s intensive reaction to something small does not only provide information about their condition, as it would to others, but also changes the empath’s own condition. Walking onto a busy train is not only uncomfortable and constraining, as it would be to others, but provides dozens or hundreds of opportunities for the empath’s condition to be involuntarily changed too. I remember a period when I needed to regularly commute into and then across London, and I complained to colleagues that the journey was so manic that I felt like I’d already done a day’s work before arriving at the office, and was totally exhausted before the day had even started. They readily joined me in recognition of this observation. It was only years later that I realised that I was the only one speaking literally when I said that. So, this difficulty in perceiving and experiencing boundaries means that there is a constant and uncontrollable rush of other people’s feelings into us, which can leave us vulnerable, especially in situations of overt conflict. Over many years, this in itself can lead to burnout. In conjunction with the other elements of Autistic Burnout, it can be devastating. – Cultural Malalignment In view of all of the above factors, one thing that would be invaluable for an autistic person would be to be able to slow down and take some time out to be alone and recover their energies before subjecting themselves once more to the onslaught. But this recovery time is not allowed for. Constant availability and ultra-responsiveness are increasingly the norm and fundamental to societal and professional expectations. Many non-autistic people thrive on this, others struggle with it; but for someone going through autistic burnout, it can be devastating and remove the last possibility of being able to manage. Once you’ve signed up for a career or a family life, it would be a major life decision to change that, and may not be one that is desirable for all. But that doesn’t leave any space for recovery. When this happens, it can result in a person being effectively “out of action” for many days at a time or performing the duties they have to in a suboptimal way, that can lead to another self-perpetuating cycle of letting people down, incurring their anger and provoking conflict situations that set the process off again and deepen the challenges. The Result of All This This potent combination of factors can easily lead to the autistic person releasing huge amounts of stress hormones and therefore being in a constant state of arousal and high-alert, leading to a pervasive anxiety and in turn to nervous exhaustion, along with the feelings of inadequacy and guilt which are likely to accompany this. There is no chance of recovery time after any one stressful experience before the next one comes along. Over time, this can severely compromise the ability of the body to function, so all remaining available resources are diverted to critical functions and just to keep going for the present moment, leaving nothing to spare for supporting any recovery. The long-term health implications of this are obvious, and could well be the key reason why life-expectancy for autistic people is so much lower than for the population as a whole. As Dora Raymaker points out in her working definition, this can lead to a withdrawal from life. Our article on Trauma gives a couple of examples of how this can occur. In short, the exhaustion and overwhelm is so great that the person does not have the resources to participate in activities that would otherwise give them fulfilment. The widespread assumption that autism is responsible for a lack of social interest is not correct; it’s just that the autistic person has been so depleted of energy that they are no longer able to act on that interest, in the same way that someone who had just lost their home and job and was undergoing enormous stress and uncertainty would be unlikely to feel to going out and socialising, even though they might have loved that in calmer times. Autistic people in the midst of burnout don’t have many calmer times. What Can We Do About It? There are few truly effective solutions to really turn this around, especially when it occurs later in life. General advice seems to be to take a step back from daily life to take the time and space to recover, stop trying to live up to expectations that weren’t created with you in mind, and so on (Raymaker suggests this article that goes into some similar strategies). These make sense, but may not lead to great improvements in all cases and may necessitate a radical change of lifestyle that may feel unachievable or come with a level of stress that is counter-productive. Really speaking, each person is on their own in terms of finding a solution or partial solution. In my own case, Heartfulness meditation has given me a greatly increased sense of balance, groundedness and inner strength, without which I’m pretty certain I would not be alive today. My own autistic burnout – severe though it still often feels – is only a fraction of what it would have been without this, and I have been given an underlying sense of inner-joy and even gratitude, which could never otherwise have been possible. How Can We Protect Autistic Children From Developing This? The younger a child is, the more that can be done to help them avoid developing this later in life. Prevention is always better than cure, which is why Transforming Autism is so focused on Early Intervention. Providing children from a very early age with an environment based on Containment and thus helping them develop confidence, self-acceptance and real resilience can lay a really great foundation for a more successful future. Similarly recognising, understanding and valuing the Sensitivity of an autistic child not only affirms them and enables them to better accept and understand themselves, but also enables them to learn from an early age (when learning is very often much more effective) how to optimally manage and make the best of their sensitivity. Burnout is not inherent in the autistic condition. I would say that it isn’t even associated with it. Anybody would burn out if the levels of adversity that they were subjected to were high enough. That is the only thing that’s behind autistic burnout – the adversity autistic people are subjected to by the prevailing culture in society. In many ways that’s a good thing to realise, because it holds open the possibility that this situation can be changed through real awareness, acceptance and mutual respect. Let us use this Autism Awareness Day as the moment we all start to work toward that. Watch our interview with Dora Raymaker on the findings of her research into Autistic Burnout: Transforming Autism is a new UK Registered Charity (1173134) dedicated to the very best and most effective early intervention to relieve anxiety, provide affirmation and understanding and create a very strong foundation for the future for autistic children. We’re raising money to launch our first face-to-face services. You can find out more about them here, or click here to make a donation to help make them possible.

Weighing scales on farms are used for a number of reasons - and depending on the application, can have a massive effect on efficiency and profitability. Accurate scales can be used for tracking yields, managing feed and trading produce. But what are the benefits of using durable and accurate scales on for weighing farm produce? This blog post explains. 1. Comply with new regulations The Department for Transport has updated vehicle testing requirements which includes weight limits and cames into force in May 2018. The weight limit for agricultural tractor and trailer combinations is 31 tonnes. The trailer itself is limited to 18.29 tonnes (including any load imposed on the tractor through the hitch). Agricultural vehicles can be weighed using axle weigh pads. The AP-200 has a capacity of 20,000kg per axle but larger capacities are available on request; the pads are wireless, the indicator is touchscreen and the in-built printer means weight readings can be printed and stored. The farm can also benefit from high capacity scales for weighing the produce before loading onto the vehicles - or outgoing loads. Platform scales feature capacities up to 5000kg and have large base sizes for weighing goods of any size. 2. Track yields Climate Corporation CEO Mike Stern has said, “The goal today is to optimize every part of farming and remove as many variables as possible,” and weighing can help in achieving this. According to CNN money, “It’s theoretically possible to harvest 530 bushels of corn per acre, but the national average is only 168 bushels.” Weighing to track yields can ensure you are maximising output. The scales used for this can be waterproof and portable, and data transfer-capable (see below) scales mean you can compare to previous results more efficiently. 3. Monitor wastage Weighing scales can also be used to reduce waste. Less waste can result in reduced costs, greater revenue and more profit. Agricultural waste includes discarded pesticide containers, plastics, bags and sheets, tyres, batteries, clinical waste, old machinery, oil and packaging waste. Plastic packaging waste from agriculture represents approximately 1.5% of the overall volume of plastic packaging in the waste stream in England. Since 2006 Agricultural waste has been subject to the regulations that control the management of household, commercial and industrial waste. Many of these regulations, such as maximum deposit sizes of plant tissue waste, feature set weights in tonnes that need to be adhered to. By tracking how much is being wasted using weighing scales, a strategic plan can be put in place in order to reduce wastage amounts. 4. Comply with Trading Standards when pricing based on weight When the farm goods are ready to be sold, legally a Trade Approved scale must be used if the price is based on weight. This standard is to ensure consistency of weight readings across Trade Approved scales and assures the customer of the scale’s accuracy and reliability. These are therefore perfect for areas such as farmers’ markets. 5. Ensure customers are getting the correct quantities An inaccurate weight can have financial implications (if the customer receives more than what they ordered) or bad customer service (if they received less than expected) so hitting weight targets is pivotal. Use a scale with a hi/lo alarm - and add a hi/lo light tower to the scale for even greater convenience - and you’ll know whether or not a product weighs an amount which is in accordance with a preset target. There can also be legal implications, and if you are buying a weighing scale and need a light tower, the optional extras can be found in the right hand menu of each product page. 6. Keep your records up to date with data transfer Many scales have optional extras available that mean you can record weight data wirelessly. The Scale to USB Lead allows you to connect the scale directly to a PC,, weigh your produce on the scale, and transfer the data directly to an Excel spreadsheet on a computer - perfect for internal record keeping. Alternatively, choose a scale that is compatible with one of Marsden’s desktop printers and you’ll have a record of the weight that you can add to records or attach to the consignment. For more information on data transfer click here. Recommended scales for weighing farm produce AP-200: Axle weigh pads are ideal for weighing farm vehicles. The AP-200 is a 20,000kg-capacity axle weigher which can be used to weigh up to eight axles at a time, with the individual axle and total weight readings appearing on the remote indicator. The indicator is touchscreen for easy use and an inbuilt printer means readings can be stored for internal record keeping. B-100: If you need a portable solution for weighing farm produce, a small bench scale like the waterproof B-100 may be perfect for you. This is our best-selling bench scale. It’s powered by an internal rechargeable battery and is IP68 rated which means it can withstand getting wet. HSS with the JIK indicator: An alternative small bench scale is the HSS-JIK-NA. This scale is IP67 rated stainless steel, and the JIK indicator is suitable for data transfer - either connect directly to an Excel spreadsheet or add the optional printer to keep a record of your weights. There's also a Trade Approved version of the JIK indicator. Stainless Steel Platform Scale with the JIK indicator: Wastage can be tracked with larger scales, which are perfect if waste is palletised or in large bins that might be moved around on pallets or with pallet trucks. This scale features a stainless steel IP68 base and the JIK indicator is suitable for recording weights - it can be connected to a PC via the Scale to USB Lead or attached to a printer. Our Hi/lo light tower is also compatible with this scale. Stainless Steel Drive Thru Scale with the I-400SS: A drive thru will mean you can easily weigh palletised goods by rolling the pallet truck onto the scale. It has two ramps with shallow incline to make loading easier. Stainless steel scales may be the best option for you if the scales are likely to get wet, and this IP68 rated.

In an era defined by growing environmental concerns and increasing energy costs, homeowners are seeking innovative ways to reduce their carbon footprint while also saving on utility bills. One such solution that has gained prominence in recent years is the concept of a “home energy retrofit.” This approach involves making comprehensive improvements to an existing home’s energy efficiency, thereby transforming it into a more sustainable and cost-effective living space. Understanding Home Energy Retrofits A home energy retrofit is essentially the process of upgrading a house to improve its energy performance. This typically involves enhancing insulation, sealing air leaks, upgrading heating and cooling systems, and incorporating renewable energy sources. The goal is to reduce energy consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately cut down on energy expenses. Key Components of a Home Energy Retrofit Insulation: Proper insulation is crucial for maintaining a consistent indoor temperature and reducing energy consumption. Homeowners can opt for insulation upgrades in attics, walls, and basements to ensure maximum heat retention in the winter and coolness in the summer. Air Sealing: Identifying and sealing air leaks is essential for preventing drafts and heat loss. Common problem areas include windows, doors, and gaps in the building envelope. By eliminating these leaks, homeowners can optimize their heating and cooling systems. HVAC Upgrades: Older heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are often less efficient. Replacing these systems with newer, more energy-efficient models can significantly reduce energy usage and utility bills. Energy-Efficient Lighting: Switching to LED or other energy-efficient lighting options not only reduces electricity consumption but also extends the lifespan of bulbs. Renewable Energy Sources: Installing solar panels or wind turbines can generate clean, renewable energy, further lowering energy costs and environmental impacts. Benefits of Home Energy Retrofits Cost Savings: Home energy retrofits can result in substantial long-term savings on energy bills. Although the initial investment can be significant, the returns in the form of lower utility costs can outweigh the upfront expenses. Increased Home Value: An energy-efficient home is more appealing to potential buyers and can command a higher resale value in the real estate market. Environmental Impact: Reducing energy consumption and adopting cleaner energy sources significantly lowers a home’s carbon footprint, contributing to a more sustainable planet. Enhanced Comfort: Improved insulation and HVAC systems ensure a more comfortable living environment year-round, with consistent temperatures and fewer drafts. Government Incentives: Many governments offer financial incentives, tax credits, and rebates to encourage homeowners to invest in energy-efficient upgrades. Challenges and Considerations While home energy efficiency offers numerous advantages, it also presents challenges. The initial cost of upgrades can be a deterrent for some homeowners, and the complexity of the process may require professional assistance. Careful planning, financing options, and an understanding of available incentives can help mitigate these challenges. A home energy retrofit is a compelling and impactful solution for homeowners looking to reduce energy consumption, lower utility bills, and contribute to a more sustainable future. With a combination of insulation, air sealing, efficient lighting, HVAC upgrades, and renewable energy sources, homeowners can transform their houses into more comfortable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective homes. Moreover, the incentives and benefits of these retrofits make them a worthwhile investment for homeowners who are committed to reducing their energy footprint while saving money in the long run. For more info :-

RECENT POSTS - November 2023 Go Back Older Newer PNEUMONIA AND BIGHORN SHEEP: TEST AND REMOVE Fact Sheet Fatal respiratory disease (pneumonia) and its effects on populations is a primary management concern in most jurisdictions with bighorn sheep. Decades of research have identified Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi), a bacterium that damages the cells lining the respiratory tract, as a “trigger” that allows other bacteria to invade the lungs, causing pneumonia. To understand M. ovi infection dynamics, researchers repeatedly tested free-ranging and captive bighorn ewes from infected herds and found that some always, or almost always, tested positive for M. ovi. These long-term carriers can infect newborn lambs that have little immunity. Infected lambs spread M. ovi to other lambs in nursery groups, usually resulting in pneumonia-related deaths before 8 weeks of age. Poor to no lamb survival is common in M. ovi infected herds and is a pattern that can last for decades. WSF Policy: Films and Video Standards One of the many things the Wild Sheep Foundation prides itself on, especially at our annual Sheep Show® Convention, is celebrating the treasured animals we hunt, our freedom to do so, and the outdoor lifestyle, memories, and contributions to conservation this freedom provides.

What is greenwashing? You’ve heard the term before, but do you really know what it means? More importantly, how do you avoid being greenwashed? Table of Contents What is Greenwashing? So … what is greenwashing? In simple terms, the act of greenwashing is a manufacturer’s attempt to create the impression, through deceptive marketing efforts, that a product is natural or has environmental benefits, even when it doesn’t. The goal is to divert the customer’s attention away from a company’s environmentally egregious record by amplifying a trivial green accomplishment. Not only does greenwashing deflect attention away from shoddy environmental practices, but it also prioritizes superficial green initiatives over substantive practices that place sustainability in every step of the supply chain. The term, “greenwashing,” was first used by Jay Westerveld, an environmental activist who, while on vacation, noted the hypocrisy of a hotel’s entreaties to guests to reuse their towels as a way to “save the planet,” even though the hotel chain was engaging in environmentally destructive activities. Westerveld expanded upon his observations in a 1986 essay, calling the hotel industry to task for its flimsy environmental claims that were designed to mislead the public. Greenwashing tactics can be found in all industries and sectors. A 2010 study of green-marketed products found that 95% of the nearly 5,000 products surveyed used some form of greenwashing. And although the term was coined in 1986, greenwashing schemes have been employed by businesses and organizations for decades. Avoid Being Greenwashed! Here’s How Now that you have an idea of what is greenwashing, how do you tell whether a product or company is truly green? Do Your Homework: Independent Certifications and Guides In the U.S., the burden in assessing the reputability of a product rests primarily with the consumer. So before you purchase something new, do a bit of digging about the product, ingredients, and manufacturer. There are several government agencies and reputable certification organizations to help you make informed purchases. Seeing one or more of these labels on a product gives it a stamp of environmental legitimacy. - B Corporation Certification designates businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance. - Climate Neutral Certification label is a globally-recognized standard for carbon accountability. Certification signifies that a company is working to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from making and delivering its products and services – and compensates for all of them, every year. Searchable lists of Certified and Committed brands are included on the site. - The Carbon Trust Standard recognizes organizations that demonstrate leadership in measuring, managing, and reducing their environmental impact. It includes a full list of certified organizations (“Standard Bearers”). - EPA’s ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers can rely on to make well-informed decisions. ENERGY STAR page lists numerous approved products, including electronics, office equipment, lighting, and heating and cooling equipment. - EPA Safer Choice Label. Companies with the Safer Choice label have invested heavily in research and reformulation to ensure that their products meet the Safer Choice Standard. These companies are leaders in safer products and sustainability. - Fair Trade Certified Mark is the certification method most commonly used in the U.S. and Canada. The Fair Trade Certified website includes a searchable database for certified products. - Forest Steward Council certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits. - Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is a non-profit association of leading ecolabelling organizations worldwide. Environmentally friendly products and services proven to have a lower environmental impact may carry a GEN member ecolabel. - Wherefrom is a sustainability review platform that scores companies and products based on their sustainability practices. Consumers can search for products and brands and are encouraged to provide their own reviews of purchased products. Cleaning and Home Products For resources and guides to help you shop for environmentally safe and friendly cleaning and home products, see Green That Life posts on: safe cleaning products; biodegradable and compostable products; and PFAS (“Forever Chemicals”), a class of chemicals that is found in nearly every product and material. Fashion and Personal Care Certifications - The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) promotes better environmental and labor standards in cotton farming and practices. The BCI logo, or “On-Product Mark,” on packaging means that you’re buying a majority cotton product from a retailer or brand that is committed to sourcing Better Cotton and investing in BCI Farmers. - The COSMOS-standard covers certifications of both organic and natural ingredients in cosmetic brands. A full list of their certified products can be found here. - Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was developed by leading standard setters to define world-wide recognized requirements for organic textiles. The GOTS site includes a searchable database of retail shops selling certified products and a terrific video that explains the GOTS certification process and the importance of considering the entire supply chain in making sustainable fashion choices. - Non-GMO Project Verified is North America’s most trusted third-party verification for non-GMO food and products. You can search their database for verified products or retailers. - USDA Certified Organic is a government-backed certification system for produce and food products that have been produced without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, irradiation, or genetic engineering techniques. - The Rainforest Alliance certification seal means that the product (or a specified ingredient) was produced by farmers, foresters, and/or companies working together to create a world where people and nature thrive in harmony. Check out their full list of certified products here. - Regenerative Organic Certified™ (ROC) is a certification label for food, fiber, and personal care ingredients. You can shop their site for ROC-certified products. Look at the Big Picture: Green vs Greenwashed Advertising Don’t be fooled by product advertising with nature-based themes and slogans. Simply because an ad displays fluffy animals or a beautiful landscape doesn’t mean it’s green. Also, consider the entire product. How green, for example, are bamboo utensils that are packaged in multiple layers of plastic packaging? Or snack bags made with “25% less plastic” but they’re still single-use plastic items designed to perpetuate our convenience culture? Learn the Greenwash Lingo Your greenwash antennae should be up when you see products with ambiguous descriptive labels such as “eco-friendly,” “biodegradable,” “all-natural,” “ethical,” or “healthy.” A product that implies it’s natural with vague wording (“earth essentials”) yet includes toxic chemicals is probably not earth-friendly! Unsubstantiated and vague claims are misleading at best, deliberately false, at worst. Check products for third-party certifications and take a look at ingredients, when necessary. Here’s a perfect solution to avoid being duped into buying a greenwashed product: buy less stuff! (You’ll also save some money.) Reuse what you already own or make what you need yourself. Pick up a book on environmental and sustainability issues. You’ll have a greater appreciation for the need to shop sustainably after reading about the destruction of our planet and the escalating climate crisis. For a complete list of suggested books related to climate change, waste reduction, conservation, and more, visit Green That Life’s Best Environmental Books page. Why do Companies Greenwash? Now that you know what is greenwashing, the next question that might come to mind is, why do companies greenwash? What’s in it for them? The main reason is that you, the consumer, demand a sustainable product that’s made sustainably. In fact, most of us want to do the right thing for our planet. A recent Nielsen poll reveals that among the 66% of global respondents willing to pay more for a green product, over 50% of them are influenced by key sustainability factors, including environmentally friendly business practices, natural and/or organic ingredients, and a commitment to social values. Businesses are responding accordingly to this growing consumer demand for sustainable products and practices. To be sure, companies must adjust to new regulatory requirements, but the main reason for their strategy to at least appear sustainable is that it’s good for their bottom line. And if businesses recognize the need to prioritize sustainability it means that they’re on notice to adapt or risk losing business. We’ve made progress since Westerveld first coined the term. Some will continue their attempts to obfuscate, but the general trend is in the right direction — toward more environmentally friendly business practices. What can you do to keep the momentum going and the pressure on? First, be an informed consumer, and second, show your commitment to sustainability by purchasing only sustainable products.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) is a rare liver disease that damages the bile ducts inside and outside the liver. With PSC, bile ducts become inflamed, and the inflammation leads to scarring and narrowing of the affected ducts. Eventually, blockages may occur. As the scarring blocks more and more ducts, bile becomes trapped in the liver. This damages the liver and can result in fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver and liver failure. Patients may eventually require a liver transplant. Your Liver and Why It's Important The liver is the largest internal organ in the body and has more than 500 vital functions to help keep your body healthy, including: - Making bile to help break down fats in the small intestine for digesting food, and for removing waste products or toxic substances - Producing proteins for blood plasma - Removing bilirubin and cholesterol, and metabolizing drugs - Storing carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals BASIC FACTS of PSC Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) does not discriminate based on age, race, or gender. - Many PSC patients are asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. - It is estimated that there are more than 30,000 PSC patients in the United States. - One in every 10,000 people worldwide is diagnosed with PSC. - PSC often is found in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), most often ulcerative colitis (UC) and sometimes Crohn’s disease. - More than 75 percent of PSC patients have UC. PSC also is associated with other autoimmune diseases. PSC is a rare disease. It can take time to receive a PSC diagnosis, but, thanks to an increase in knowledge about this rare disease, that is changing. As you likely know, in the beginning, PSC symptoms can be minor or completely absent. Oftentimes, a blood test indicating a liver enzyme issue is the first sign that something is wrong. Liver chemistry tests include: • alkaline phosphatase (ALP) • alanine aminotransferase (ALT) • aspartate aminotransferase (AST) • gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) Elevated ALP and GGT usually indicate an injury to the bile ducts and are almost always elevated in PSC. The ALT and AST may also be elevated in PSC. The diagnosis of PSC requires an image of the bile ducts called a cholangiogram. This is usually done by a special MRI called an MRCP (magnetic cholangiopancreatography). Sometimes, a procedure called ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) is performed instead. Rarely, a liver biopsy is also needed for diagnosis. Additional blood tests may be performed to exclude other diseases, which can look like, or mimic, PSC. Although no one knows the causes of PSC, research is underway to better understand the disease, develop more effective treatments, and, eventually, find a cure. - PSC may have genetic, autoimmune, and environmental origins - PSC progression is different for each person - PSC isn’t contagious, and is not caused by alcohol consumption - PSC cannot be transmitted through kissing, sexual activity, touching, or blood transfusions - Although there may be a genetic predisposition to PSC, most children of PSCers are healthy and unaffected COMMON SYMPTOMS OF PSC Although many PSC patients report few, if any, symptoms, some experience the following: - Pruritus or intense itching: Particularly on soles of feet or palms of hands, though it can occur anywhere, including in eyes and mouth. - Fatigue: Feeling run down, unable to get enough sleep, flu-like exhaustion that does not go away with sleep. - Depression: Feelings of despair or hopelessness. - Pain: Felt in the right side or in the middle of the abdomen towards the rib cage. This is often termed right upper-quadrant (RUQ) pain. The pain may extend to the shoulder blade area, may be of any intensity, and may last for an indefinite period of time. - Jaundice: Yellowing of eyes and skin caused by excess bilirubin that the liver cannot process. May be accompanied by dark urine. - Chills and Fever: These may be signs of a bacterial infection in the bile ducts, a condition called cholangitis. A cholangitis attack requires immediate medical attention and antibiotics. Signs that PSC has progressed to cirrhosis, evidence that liver transplantation may be indicated, include: - Ascites: Buildup of fluids in the abdomen - Encephalopathy: Personality changes, confusion, and sleep disturbances caused by a buildup of toxins, such as ammonia, in the blood - Varices: Swollen veins prone to bleeding, usually in the esophagus. When bleeding occurs, it can cause vomiting of blood or passage of black, tarry stool. Medical attention should be sought immediately when this happens. - Splenomegaly: An enlarged spleen - Abnormal Blood Tests: Several blood tests, including bilirubin, creatinine, and International Normalized Ratio (INR), may become abnormal and may indicate whether a liver transplant is needed Although the average time from diagnosis to liver transplantation is 15-20 years, some patients need transplants sooner, and some never need a transplant. At this time, there are no FDA-approved medications for the treatment and cure of PSC, but there are medications and procedures that help relieve some PSC symptoms. - An inserted stent can widen a blocked bile duct. - Some medications help with the itching that commonly occurs in PSC patients. (See more about medications at the end of this section.) - At this time, the only definitive treatment is a liver transplant. Some PSCers live long and productive lives with the disease and never need a transplant. Other PSCers end up needing a transplant, and they return to health. In some cases, the PSC returns post-transplant. This is called recurrent PSC. There are some PSCers who have undergone multiple liver transplants. There are an increasing number of ongoing PSC clinical trials. PSC Partners encourages everyone to research and discuss all potential medications and treatments, including participation in clinical trials, with their healthcare professionals. To learn more about PSC clinical trials, visit PSCPartnersRegistry.org. PSC Partners supports research to discover causes, treatments, and a cure for PSC. Click here to learn more about current and past research studies. Complications of PSC can include: - Bacterial Cholangitis - Biliary Stone Disease - Dominant Stricture (especially in the common bile duct) - Cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts) - Colon cancer, for those who also have IBD (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease) - night sweats, nausea - vitamin deficiency of fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E, or K - stool changes - weight loss In the later stages of PSC, symptoms can include: - clotting problems - nail clubbing - variceal bleeding (spontaneous bleeding in the veins around the esophagus) - ascites (fluid in the belly) - hepatic encephalopathy (HE or mental fog), and other problems. To better understand PSC and related diseases, visit the Medical Terms page on this website. COMMON PSC MEDICATIONS Cholestyramine is used to treat high cholesterol and also has been proven effective in combating pruritus (itching) due to bile blockages. Cholestyramine is not absorbed in the bloodstream; it remains inside the gut until excretion. Cholestyramine and urso should not be taken at the same time. The general recommendation is to stagger doses of the two medications at least four hours apart. Rifampin is an antibiotic mostly used for the treatment of tuberculosis. However, because it activates receptors in the gut and liver, it has also been shown to help relieve pruritus (itching). Rifampin may cause changes in other medications you are taking and alter the way the medicines react in your system. Make sure your doctor is aware of all other medications you are taking, along with Rifampin, in order to avoid any possible conflicts. Ursodeoxycholic acid (Ursodiol, Urso Forte, UDCA, URSO, Actigall, Ursofalk) Urso is a popular medication used for patients diagnosed with PSC. In addition, some anti-inflammatory properties have been noticed. Urso helps to fight toxic bile acids that build up in the liver cells. In the United States, Urso is available under different trade names such as Actigall (typically 300 mg. capsules) and URSO (typically 250 mg tablets). Urso Forte is available in a 500 mg tablet and, along with Urso 250, is the only FDA approved treatment for patients with PBC (Primary Biliary Cholangitis), a disease similar to PSC. Another variation of Urso is available in Australia under the name Ursofalk (250 mg capsules). Ursofalk is also available in a liquid formulation for pediatric patients. Ursodiol is typically prescribed in typical dosages of 15-30 mg/kg a day. The benefit of high-dose ursodiol is questionable, and a recent study suggests that high doses may actually be detrimental. For this reason, most hepatologists prescribing ursodiol today will uses doses in the range of 15 to 20 mg/kg a day. Another unproven, but suggested benefit of ursodiol may be reduction in risk of colon cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. Oral Vancomycin is an antibiotic used for gram-positive bacteria. Some doctors have been prescribing oral vancomycin for PSC. Other than small case studies and small clinical trials, there is not enough evidence about the efficacy and safety of Vancomycin in treating PSC. The Mayo Clinic is currently conducting a clinical trial with oral vancomycin. For information on Vancomycin and PSC, check out: - The PSC Partners podcast on Oral Vancomycin - A PSC Partners-supported grant for a study on oral vancomycin and PSC - A PSC Partners Conference Presentation on Oral Vancomycin PSC Partners Seeking a Cure believes that medical professionals should be the primary source of information for treating your PSC. Check with your doctor before making changes to your health routine or taking any alternative or herbal products. - Natural Products: It is important to remember that a product labeled as “natural” does not necessarily mean it is safe for the PSC patient. Supplements and herbs, despite being “natural,” can be toxic to the liver. The production and distribution of these supplements are not regulated as carefully as the production of prescription medications. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration does not test or regulate these products. “Natural” products can be sold with little testing and with no proof of efficacy. Sometimes the herb or supplement itself can cause liver damage. In other cases, impurities or toxins introduced during the preparation of the product may be toxic to the liver. QUALITY OF LIFE Thousands of people with PSC live active and full lives. There are proactive steps you can take to prepare for your future, receive the support you need, and ensure you stay up to date on the progress toward treatments and a cure: - Participate in our Mentor Program - Attend the PSC Partners Annual Conference - Follow PSC Partners on Social Media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube/LinkedIn) Get Educated: We know it can be overwhelming, but education is power, and we're here to help. Check out these resources to get your started: - PSC Partners Brochures - Living with PSC Podcast - PSC Partners Monthly Newsletter The Duct Join Registry: Join the PSC Partners Patient Registry. The registry stores information about those affected by PSC. This information helps researchers and clinicians unlock the mystery of PSC as they search for treatments and a cure. Complete your profile and join PSC Partners Seeking a Cure in advancing PSC research towards a cure. Find information about clinical trials.

In recent years, the fashion industry has been making significant strides towards sustainability, with an increased focus on incorporating recycled materials into clothing manufacturing processes. While this shift is undeniably positive, there are still several misconceptions surrounding the use of recycled materials in fashion. In this blog post, we'll address these misconceptions and shed light on how they can be corrected to promote a more accurate understanding of the benefits and challenges of using recycled materials in clothing production. Misconception 1: Recycled Materials Lack Quality** One of the most prevalent misconceptions is that clothing made from recycled materials is of inferior quality compared to garments made from new, virgin materials. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, advancements in recycling technologies have enabled manufacturers to produce high-quality fibers and fabrics that are on par with, and sometimes even superior to, their virgin counterparts. For instance, recycled polyester can be just as durable and versatile as new polyester, while also reducing the demand for new petroleum-based resources. Correction: Educating consumers about the advancements in recycling technologies and the rigorous quality control processes implemented by manufacturers can help dispel the notion that recycled materials are of lower quality. Highlighting real-life examples of successful clothing brands utilizing recycled materials effectively can showcase the potential for creating stylish, long-lasting garments without compromising quality. Misconception 2: Recycled Materials Are Always More Expensive** Another common misconception is that clothing made from recycled materials comes with a hefty price tag. While it's true that some sustainably-focused brands may price their products higher due to the ethical and environmental considerations involved, recycled materials themselves do not inherently lead to elevated costs. In fact, using recycled materials can sometimes be more cost-effective, as it reduces the need for sourcing and extracting new raw materials. Correction: Providing transparency in pricing breakdowns can help consumers understand that the cost difference isn't solely due to the use of recycled materials. Brands can also emphasize the long-term value of investing in higher-quality, sustainable pieces that may last longer and contribute to a reduced environmental impact over time. Misconception 3: All Recycled Materials Are Equally Sustainable** Not all recycled materials are created equal. Some recycled fibers, like polyester, still pose environmental challenges due to microplastic shedding during washing. Additionally, the overall sustainability of a product goes beyond its material composition and includes factors such as the manufacturing process, transportation, and end-of-life considerations. Correction: Brands can prioritize transparency by providing information about the specific recycled materials they use and their environmental impact. Furthermore, adopting certifications such as Global Recycle Standard (GRS) or OEKO-TEX can offer consumers assurance that a product meets certain environmental and social standards. Misconception 4: Recycled Materials Solve All Sustainability Issues** While using recycled materials is a crucial step towards a more sustainable fashion industry, it's not a silver bullet that can solve all the environmental challenges associated with clothing production. Other aspects, such as energy consumption during manufacturing, water usage, and labor conditions, still need to be addressed. Correction: Brands should be transparent about their sustainability efforts and communicate a holistic approach to reducing their environmental footprint. This can involve initiatives like adopting renewable energy sources, minimizing water usage, and ensuring fair labor practices throughout the supply chain. In conclusion, embracing recycled materials in clothing manufacturing is undoubtedly a positive shift towards sustainability. By addressing and correcting these common misconceptions, the fashion industry can foster a more informed and conscious consumer base. Education, transparency, and a commitment to continuous improvement will collectively contribute to a greener and more ethical future for fashion.

Use Water to maximise growth rates, health and Production Water is the single most essential nutrient needed by animals. Improving the quality and palatability of the water you offer can have far-reaching health benefits and is key to maximising growth potential in young stock. Let’s face it, cleaning out water troughs can be a smelly and tedious job and often gets pushed to the bottom of the ‘to do’ list. But I promise you the effort will pay off. In the days when I used to rear calves, as well as milk-calves having clean water daily I was meticulous about keeping older animals’ troughs cleaned at least fortnightly. (And I mean properly clean – without the luxury of tipping troughs a jumbo car sponge did the job of soaking up any dirt and residue from the bottom of the troughs). When weaned calves were past the ad-lib stage and scoffing their concentrate ration as soon as it was offered, I would know immediately if there was cake left uneaten that I would find that one of the little treasures had carefully deposited some dung in the water trough, putting them all off drinking it. That was always a stark demonstration to me of the link between truly uninhibited water consumption and optimum dry matter intake. Put simply, because of the need for water in the rumen to aid digestion of fibre, more water intake equals more dry matter intake! Most people are aware of the benefits of free water intake to maximise milk yields – hardly surprising when you consider that milk is 90% water. But it is equally important in almost every other body function, and especially crucial if the animal is suffering from a condition which causes dehydration – eg scours, pneumonia (water lost through increased respiration) or any toxic infection. Immediate pre- and post- calving intakes are also critical to metabolic recovery. Extra clean, preferably warmed, water should be offered at all these times. Cattle are put off drinking by: - Bad odour and taste caused by bacteria and their metabolic by-products - High nitrate content, often from faecal contamination – this has also been shown to have negative effects on fertility through nitrite toxicity in blood - Total Dissolvable Solids (depend on mineral content of water supply) - Sulphates leading to toxic hydrogen sulphide gases, evident by ‘rotten egg’ smell. Many of these increase if water is left stale or contaminated. Water supply costs still apply whether the water is clean or dirty, so providing clean water could reap large benefits for only a small increase in input!

Set in the clear blue Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa, Malta is at the southern tip of the European continent. The archipelago is about halfway between the coasts of Sicily and North Africa and consists of five islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino, together with two other uninhabited islands Cominetto and Filfla. The total area is approximately 316 sq km (Malta 246 sq km, Gozo 67 sq km, Comino 2.7 sq km). The longest distance in Malta from North West to South East is about 27 km, with a width of 14.5 km.The Islands are only 90 km south of Sicily and 290 km from the northern coast of Africa. Malta's topography is characterised by a series of low hills and slopes towards the Northeast and low lying land to the Southeast. The Islands have a typically temperate climate offering warm, dry summers and mild winters. They enjoy some 300 days of sunshine and the average rainfall is about 590mm. Temperatures range between 14°C in winter and 32°C in summer. Malta is one of the oldest civilisations in the Mediterranean, dating back to circa 5000 years B.C. The population is around 366,000 and is homogeneous with its own identity and language. The Island boosts a rich legacy from its centuries-old history, from megalithic temples - unique in the world - to its capital Valletta, a jewel of baroque architecture, and its massive fortifications which witnessed the bravery of the Maltese people over the centuries. Malta has also a long tradition of hospitality. One of the most famous "guests" of the archipelago was the apostle Paul - the future St. Paul - who was shipwrecked on Malta in AD 60 and who sowed the first seeds of the Christian Religion to which Maltese people overwhelmingly now belong. The strategic position of Malta, Gozo and Comino has made these Mediterranean islands a crossroad of history and a bone of contention. The powers of Europe's past recognized it as a stepping-stone between Europe and North Africa. All part of Malta's history were the Stone-Age and Bronze-Age people, the Romans and Phoenicians, the Arabs, the Normans and Carthaginians, the Castilians, the French (Napoleon Bonaparte did unutterable damage in an only six-day occupation) and lastly the British from whom Malta became independent in 1964. Malta stood firm against Hitler despite massive bombing during World War II and the courage and endurance of the Maltese people was recognised when the United Kingdom awarded to Malta the George Cross in 1942, which is now an integral part of the national flag. The Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, a religious and multinational order of soldiers and hospitallers, had a significant influence on the history of Malta. Well known is the Maltese Cross, which is the insignia of the Knights of Malta and the Maltese falcon — the Mediterranean peregrine falcon — which was the annual rent required by Roman Emperor Charles V when he donated the Island to the Knights in 1530. The Knights of St John of Jerusalem also left the most physical mark on Malta, after successfully defended it from the power-hungry Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1565. The Knights were in charge of the island for 270 years, building magnificent churches and lavish monuments — each nationality had its own palace (AUBERGES)— before losing power to the Napoleon Bonaparte and the French empire in 1889. The two official languages are Maltese and English. The English language is a leftover of about 160 years of British colonization of Malta. Maltese, whose closest languages are Lebanese, Hebrew and classic Arabic, is the only Semitic language which is written in Roman alphabet. Italian, too, is widely spoken among the younger generation, particularly due to the television programs which are transmitted from nearby Italy. Malta is one of the world's most densely populated countries in the world (1,234 per km˛). It takes approximately an hour to drive between any two points on the main island and this is achieved without ever breaking out into wide-open spaces; the island is virtually solid with a jungle of buildings built of native white limestone. Valletta is the capital city and houses the seat of Government. Malta has a parliamentary democracy with executive power resting with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Parliament is composed of 65 representatives elected every 5 years. The President represents the unity of the nation. Since May 2004, Malta is a member of the European Union. Tourism is the most lucrative industry. The export base of the economy is concentrated in a few sectors, mainly in electronics, machinery and transport equipment (which generated about 75% of total exports in the first half of 2001). Malta is well integrated in terms of trade with the European Union. The latter accounted for around 33% of Malta's exports and 60% of its imports in 2000. Natural resources are nearly non-existent, except for its famous golden stone (globigerina), and rivers are absent. Nevertheless farmers succeed to produce a wide variety of products in their small terraced fields. They even export part of their crop. Bee-keeping industry, already renowned in ancient times, is still flourishing. Still, Malta is not only an island in the sun and an open-air museum in the Mediterranean, it is also an island looking towards the future. Apart the tourism and manufacturing industries by now firmly established, Malta is currently developing its service economy and it also aims to become a hub for communications in the Mediterranean. For this purpose, Malta has a winning card - its human resources - a flexible labour force easily adaptable to new circumstances and having the great advantage to being multi-lingual.

Who Was Jacob Leisler? Best known as a leader of a 1689 New York rebellion bears his name, Jacob Leisler was a prominent merchant, land developer, and exponent of Reformed religious fundamentalism and Orangist political ideology. He was intimately bound to the social, economic, and political development of New Netherland and New York for three decades, from his arrival in 1660 as a soldier for the Dutch West India Company until his execution for treason in 1691. Jacob Leisler was born in Frankfurt-am-Main to a prominent Calvinist family that included grandfather Dr. Jacob Leisler (chief councilor to the Counts of Oettingen), father Reverend Jacob Victorian Leisler (pastor of the Frankfurt-am-Main French Reformed church), and noted Huguenot theologian Simon Goulart. His brothers Johann Adam and Frantz were bankers who financed the Duchy of Württemberg and other Protestant states. As a member of the Calvinist elite, Leisler liaised with several political and intellectual figures of his day, including Dutch artist Henri Couturier, New England divines Cotton and Increase Mather, and Orangist English exiles in Rotterdam such as Gilbert Burnet, Earl of Shrewsbury Charles Talbot, and Earl of Monmouth Charles Mordaunt. Leisler catapulted to fame in 1689 when he assumed the role of King William III’s governor of New York in the wake of England’s Glorious Revolution. He thereupon implemented a government based on direct popular representation that had wide impact from the Chesapeake to New England. The following year he initiated and hosted English America’s first intercolonial congress and organized the first intercolonial military action independent of British authority. Leisler’s administration of New York split the province into two distinct camps aligned with the Regent and Orangist factions in the United Provinces and the Whig and Tory factions in England. According to some historians, the legacy of this split is America’s unique two-party system. Other historians view Leisler’s Rebellion as a forerunner of the American Revolution. Remembering Jacob Leisler For a number of reasons, modern-day American scholars have neglected Jacob Leisler. Much of his correspondence is in Dutch, French, or German. The anti-German hysteria of World War I also discouraged study of the German-born Leisler. Furthermore, his papers are strewn throughout New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Virginia, as well as Germany, Holland, France, England, and the West Indies. The modern neglect of Leisler can also partially be attributed to the political designs and struggles of eighteenth-century New Yorkers. For decades following his execution in 1691, Leisler’s government and reforms remained a major source of factionalism within New York politics. Leislerians struggled to preserve Leisler’s legacy while anti-Leislerians attempted to eradicate his memory and strike his name from the public record. In addition, the broad notoriety Leisler enjoyed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries resulted in a strong collector’s market that further scattered his manuscripts. For each of these reasons, the Jacob Leisler Papers Project is required to search well beyond the government offices and local archives that would logically hold the papers of an important New York figure. The only major published collections of Leisler’s papers appeared in 1849, when approximately 400 Leisler documents for the years 1689-1691 in the possession of the New York State Archives were printed in Volume II of the Documentary History of New-York. Compiled prior to the imposition of scholarly standards, the Documentary History of New York collection, lacking annotation, chronologically out of order, and poorly transcribed, nonetheless served as the basis for subsequent studies of both Jacob Leisler and late seventeenth-century New York. Peter R. Christoph published an excellent revised scholarly edition of this collection, The Leisler Papers 1689-1691: Files of the Provincial Secretary of New York Relating to the Administration of Lieutenant-Governor Jacob Leisler, in 2001. Another collection of Leisler material, consisting largely of documents for the months February-March 1691, were published in Volume I of the New-York Historical Society Collections in 1868. Other than the Documentary History of New York and New-York Historical Society Collections, English-speaking students of late-seventeenth-century Dutch-speaking America have previously had available only the published papers of such English imperial officials as William Blathwayt, Edward Randolph, and Sir Edmund Andros, and the letters of such New Englanders as Samuel Sewall, and the Increase and Cotton Mather collections, which make only passing reference to events in the former Dutch colony of New Netherland. As a result, there is a large gap in the knowledge of events in New York between the 1664 conquest of New Netherland by the English and the early eighteenth century. Calendars of documents are descriptive lists documents arranged in chronological order. The Jacob Leisler…

Race is important. It has huge ramifications for the ways that we live our lives. As University of Pennsylvania law professor Dorothy Roberts observes, Race determines which church most Americans attend, where they buy a house, what persons they choose to marry, whom they vote for, and the music that they listen to. Race is evident in the color of inner city and suburban schools, prison populations, the US Senate, and Fortune 500 boardrooms. Most philosophers are skeptical of the claim that races represent genuine divisions of the human family. Of course, this view flies in the face of popular opinion. It is indisputable most people believe that race is real. But then again, there was a time when nearly everybody believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Merely believing that something is real doesn’t make it real. Before we can draw any conclusion about the reality or unreality of race, we need to figure out what races are supposed to be. What do we purport to talk about when we talk about race? Races are supposed to be kinds of people, but not just any kind of kind of people. Some kinds of things are dependent on social practices. Consider the category “husband.” For husbands to exist, the institution of marriage has to exist. It’s obvious that there wouldn’t be any husbands in a world where marriage didn’t exist. So, we can say that husbands are a socially constructed kind. In contrast, those kinds of things that philosophers call natural kinds don’t depend for their existence on social institutions. They would exist even if human society didn’t. Natural kinds exist “out there” in the world, independently of our social institutions and classificatory practices. They include things like oxygen, stars, bosons, and porcupines. Here’s the question: Are races natural kinds, or are they socially constructed kinds? Is being a member of a certain race more like being a boson than it is like being a husband, or vice versa? Most present-day philosophers think that races are social constructions. In other words, they think that racial categories—categories like ‘black,’ ‘white,’ ‘Asian,’ and so on— are rather like the category ‘pet’. Pets are animals adopted for companionship or care—that’s pretty much all there is to being a pet. Very importantly, there aren’t any biological characteristics that all pets share (there are no biological characteristics that are unique to dogs, cats, goldfish, and boa constrictors). A person could know everything there is to know about biology and still not know whether or not a certain animal is a pet, because distinguishing pets from non-pets requires knowledge about social practices rather than knowledge of biological facts. Philosophers tend to think of races as social constructions because there aren’t any biological facts about the members of a given race that demarcates them from members of other races. Strange as it may sound, a person could know all there is to know about human biology and still not know whether two people are members of the same or different races. Having taught classes on the philosophy of race for years, I’m well aware that you are likely to regard this claim as ludicrous. “Surely,” you might argue, “members of a certain race look alike. They resemble one another more closely than they resemble members of other races.” If this is your view, I’m afraid that you are in the grip of a powerful and pervasive illusion. Let me try to change your mind. There are a couple of reasons why similarity of appearance can’t underwrite race. For starters, consider the notion of similarity. The fact is that any two things are similar in some respects and dissimilar in other respects. Thimbles, cupcakes, and hamsters are all similar in certain ways (for instance, they are all larger than hydrogen atoms and smaller than planets). Likewise, any two people are similar in some ways and dissimilar in others. Now, bearing this in mind, consider three people: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Hillary Clinton. Question: Does the First Lady resemble Ms. Winfrey more closely than she resembles Mrs. Clinton? If you think that it’s just plain obvious that she does, it’s because you are privileging only a few characteristics—skin color, hair texture, and certain features of facial morphology. But two people might be similar in these few ways while being dissimilar in most other ways. Nobody has carried out an exhaustive comparison of the physical features of these three women. Consequently, neither you nor I nor anyone else knows whether Mrs. Obama is more similar to Ms. Winfrey than she is to Mrs. Clinton. And if these reflections haven’t dislodged the feeling that people of the same race are especially similar, try entertaining a different question. This time, ask yourself whether Mrs. Obama resembles Mike Tyson more closely than she resembles Secretary of State Clinton. Do you still think that members of a given race are especially similar? The second, deeper reason why notions of race can’t be cashed out in terms of appearance is that it’s possible for a person to be a member of a certain race without having the sort of appearance that’s stereotypically associated with that race. This is beautifully illuminated by an account in Killers of Dream, Lillian Smith’s memoir about growing up in the segregated south at the dawn of the 20th century. Smith recounts how a young, ostensibly white child—a little girl—was spotted living with an African-American couple in what was then called “colored town.” Members of the all-white Ladies Club were convinced that she had been kidnapped. They alerted the sheriff, who removed the child and fostered her with the Smiths, a white family. Her name was Janie. Janie and Lillian formed a very close relationship, living like sisters, until a phone call from an African-American orphanage put an end to it. The Smith’s were informed that Janie was black, and that the couple from whom she had been forcibly taken were her adoptive parents. Casting her mind back to the moment that her mother informed her that Janie must go, Lillian recalled: In a little while my mother called my sister and me into her bedroom and told us that in the morning Janie would return to Colored Town…And then I found it possible to say, “Why is she leaving?.... “Because,” mother said gently, “Janie is a little colored girl.” “But she’s white!” “We were mistaken. She is colored.” “But she looks—“ “She is colored. Please don’t argue!” What, if anything made Janie black? This story teaches us that race is not primarily a matter of how a person looks. If that were the case, it would be possible to change one’s race cosmetically (an idea lampooned in Harlem Renaissance writer George Schuyler’s 1934 deeply insightful novel Black No More). What made Janie black had nothing to do with her physical attributes. Her supposed blackness (in common with Lillian’s putative whiteness) was a matter of social convention rather than biological reality. You might be persuaded by my arguments that race isn’t based on superficial physical attributes but hold on to the idea that race is based on something biologically deeper. Perhaps you believe that race is somehow inscribed in our genes, and racial membership is based on genetic similarity rather than similarity of surface traits. This is an increasingly popular view, but it’s a wrong-headed one. In my next blog posting I’ll put it under the philosophical microscope to show how and why it fails.

It was August 1938 when the US Navy first commissioned Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company to build for them a brand new flying boat that could act as a slow-moving patrol bomber. The Martin JRM Mars. The JRM Mars was the largest military flying boat ever produced and served the US military, but it spent the majority of its life in the Canadian fire services battling blazes across the forests of British Columbia. Here is the story of perhaps the most versatile flying boat to ever operate. Development and Testing The JRM Mars was heavily inspired by the PBM Mariner, released in 1939, and was viewed as its evolutionary successor by the team at Glenn L. Martin. In November 1941 the first edition of the JRM Mars, the BuNo1520 prototype, was completed at the Martins factory located at Dark Head Creek in Baltimore. This rudimentary version was a little different from the final product in that it possessed twin vertical tails that would later be removed. On December 5th, 1941 during taxi testing, the prototype suffered a major outage when one of the propellers malfunctioned, tearing through the fuselage and setting engine number three alight. Repairs would be delayed and further analysis would be put on hold when two days later the USA entered World War Two after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. It would take until July 2nd, 1942 for the long-awaited maiden voyage of the JRM. As the war raged on, however, advances in military technology developed at such an astonishing rate that by the time the JRM Mars was ready, slow-moving bombers were a thing of the past, having been replaced by other warplanes boasting greater speed and range. Consequently, instead of being a craft designed to unleash explosive projectiles on the Axis powers, it was decided that it could be more usefully employed as a military transport. As a result, the JRM Mars, given the new moniker XPB2M-1R, was overhauled, and its gun turrets, wing bomb bays, and armoured plating were swapped for the extensive cargo hatchings and cargo loading equipment it would need to fulfill its new obligations. US Navy Service Freshly renovated, the XPB2M-1R JRM officially entered the service of the US Navy in November 1943, being operated by members of the newly-formed VR-8 unit before being re-assigned to the VR-2 unit based in San Francisco. It was here that this first model, affectionately nicknamed Old Lady, performed admirably transferring soldiers between California and Hawaii, convincing Navy officers impressed by its safety record to order a further 20 models, although this was eventually reduced to 6 by the end of the war. When the first shipment of JRMs was dispatched in July 1945, they arrived having undergone some considerable tweaks. Now possessing a single vertical tail, a longer hull with fewer bulkheads, a larger maximum take-off weight, and a newly installed array of Wright R‑3350‑24WA Cyclone engines driving four blades, they differed from their predecessor considerably. The aircraft produced were named after islands in the Pacific and were called the Mariana Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars, Caroline Mars, and the Hawaii Mars II, which replaced the original Mark I version following an accident in 1942. A couple of the newly delivered flying boats were JRM2s, which had been constructed with superior Pratt & Whitney R‑4360 Wasp Major engines, making it possible to carry even heavier loads on the California-Hawaii route. Read More: VZ-9AV Avrocar – Mach 4 Flying Saucer It persuaded policymakers to later swap the Wright engines of the four JRM1s to the Wasp, turning them into JRM3s additionally equipped with reversible-pitch units for greater control. The JRM2 and JRM3s faithfully served the US military until their last flight in August 1956, before all 6 were withdrawn from service and beached at NAS Alameda. During its stint with the US Navy, the Carolina Mars set the passenger-hauling world record in March 1949, shipping 269 people from San Diego to Alameda. But there were also some low points, with one Marshall Mars crashing off the coast of Honolulu in April 1950. During the mid to late 1950s, western Canada was struggling to put out the forest fires ravaging its provinces. These natural disasters were seriously affecting the profit margins of several major lumber corporations including MacMillan-Bloedel, the TimberWest Forest Corporation, and Pacific Forest Product, who formed the Forest Industries Flying Tankers (FIFT) to address the issue. Recognizing that there were very few airfields but an enormous amount of lakes in the affected region, Dan McIvor, chief pilot at Macmillian-Bloedel, suggested that a flying boat with fire-fighting capabilities might be the solution to their woes. Following their auction to the Mars Metal Company for a miniscule 23,650 dollars, 4 of the JRM Mars flying boats were saved from the scrap heap by McIvor, who bought each one for 25,000 dollars each in 1959. They were then transported to their new home on the western coast of Canada to Port Alberni/Sproat Lake Tanker Base on Vancouver Island. In a move that enabled the JRM Mars to operate well into the 21st century, McIvor intuitively bought a wealth of replacement parts relatively cheaply, paying just 135 dollars each for 6 spare engines and 3200 dollars for numerous crates crammed full of factory-new components. He was even able to get his hands on a complete JRM nose, which came from the aborted 7th JRM 3 abandoned after the US reduced the order size. The JRMs were completely refurbished in the early 1960s at Victoria Airport by Fairey Aviation, engineers removing all of the unnecessary features originally installed to maximize its effectiveness as a military transport. As well as updating the Cyclone engines, the JRMS were furnished with voluminous water tanks supplied by a retractable scoop system that would transform it into an efficient aerial fire-fighter. The program suffered an early spell of misfortune, with the Mariana Mars being destroyed and killing all 4 of her crew while fending off a fire in June 1961, and the Carolina Mars being lost to Typhoon Freda in October 1962. Thankfully, the Hawaii Mars and the Philippine Mars never had a major accident, enjoying a career that would last over 50 years. The Martin JRM Mars was 35.74 metres long, 15 metres high, and had an empty weight of 34,279 kilograms. It had an enormous wingspan of 61 metres, even bigger than that of a Boeing 747-300, and a wing area of 342 metres squared. It was fitted with four 18-cylinder, 2,200‑hp Wright R‑3350 Duplex-Cyclone engines which gave it a top speed of 221 mph, a cruising speed of 190 mph, and a range of 4948 miles as well as a maximum altitude of 14,600 feet. Like other conventional flying boats it had a large rounded hull and its flight deck was highly mounted, offering excellent visibility. Its wings were straight with curved tips and were each installed with a two-strutted pontoon to prevent it from tipping into the water. Read More: Bristol Beaufighter – Night Stalker In its role as a military transport, it could carry up to 133 soldiers or 7 light combat vehicles and had the capability of evacuating 84 injured men and 25 medical staff. In its fire-fighting capacity, it could carry up to 27,276 litres of water which could be turned into foam by combining it with a chemical concentrate that resided in a separate tank. The two surviving craft that held this function had a few notable differences, with the Philippine Mars dropping its load from two inlets on either side of the fuselage and the Hawaii Mars jettisoning its water reserves from its belly. The Philippine Mars had a large fuel capacity at 49,692 litres, in comparison to Hawaii’s 24,550 litres, because the water tanks of the latter were located where its old fuel containers had been situated originally. Both fire-extinguishing air vehicles were manned by a crew of 4 comprising of a pilot, a first officer, and two flight engineers. To refill the water tanks, the plane landed on the water and was set to a speed of 80 miles per hour. Next, one of the engineers would activate the water scoops, two forward-facing pipes with an 18-centimetre diameter, and it would take 25 seconds at a rate of 1000 litres per second to fill up to capacity. The other engineer would ensure that as the plane got heavier with the intake of water that the craft maintained a speed of 75 mph by ramping up the power of the engines gradually. The modified JRMs couldn’t be matched, on average being able to drop a load of water every 15 minutes and up to 20 times before the foam concentrate ran out. The Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars worked so well that they continued to be called upon even after the turn of the millennium, but the development of cheaper alternatives and the decreasing reliability of the aged flying boats would soon seal their fate. In November 2006, they were sold to the Coulson Group also based in Vancouver, who made ambitious plans to upgrade the avionics and communications systems. However, their program was obstructed by the provincial government of British Columbia, which pointed to the existence of modern options that were less pricey and more efficient. They were also reluctant to continue funding an aircraft that was nearly 50 years old, struggled in mountainous terrain, and only had at its disposal 113 bodies of water large enough for it to refill its water supply. The Philippine Mars would extinguish its last fire in the summer of 2006 before settling into its new home at the US Naval Aviation Museum in Florida. The Hawaii Mars continued to work for the authorities of British Columbia until its retirement was announced in May 2013. It made a brief comeback in July 2015 following a particularly bad bout of forest fires that summer. Thanks to high public demand, it was awarded a one-month contract that cost 15,000 dollars a day and 11,000 dollars per flying hour. Its final flight occurred in July 2016 at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Air Show before it was stored at Sprout Lake. As of 2022, Hawaii Mars is currently looking for a new owner, having been put up for auction by Platinum Fighter Sales. Simon Brown, overseeing the deal, has commented: “It would be the crown jewel of any collection—but the buyer would need to have a big lake.” After 77 years, Hawaii Mars remains the last flight-worthy Martin JRM Mars in existence. Hopefully, its next keeper, whoever that may be, can treat this piece of aeronautical history with the reverence and respect it deserves. - Crew: four (with accommodations for a second relief crew) - Capacity: JRM Mars – 133 troops, or 84 litter patients and 25 attendants or 32,000 lb (15,000 kg) payload - Length: 117 ft 3 in (35.74 m) - Wingspan: 200 ft 0 in (60.96 m) - Width: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) Hull beam - Height: 38 ft 5 in (11.71 m) afloat, 48 ft (15 m) beached - Empty weight: 75,573 lb (34,279 kg) - Max takeoff weight: 165,000 lb (74,843 kg) - Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3359 Duplex-Cyclone 18-cylinder radial engines, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) each - Maximum speed: 221 mph (356 km/h, 192 kn) - Range: 4,900 mi (8,000 km, 4,300 nmi) - Service ceiling: 14,600 ft (4,500 m) - Full water tank load: 7,200 US gal (27,000 l; 6,000 imp gal)

Optimism and Pessimism in Thomas Writings of Hardy`S | Original Article Analyzing the factors that shaped an author's thoughts and work is a fascinating and difficult endeavor. The same holds true for Thomas Hardy. One of his books is a particularly fascinating example of what may be considered a substantial element of idea. This study explains how Hardy's pessimism influenced his writing. This darkness, albeit permeating his works, cannot be attributed to him as an individual quality. The study also deduces the genuine foundation which inspires its appearance in all of his works. The tragic potential of his pessimistic worldview is further explored via the lens of his philosophy. - In general, Thomas Hardy is held in high regard as a worrier novelist whose works are full of tear-jerking tragedies. The antagonistic situations in all of his books stem from the uncertain states of the part of the opportunity that arise depending on the characters' psycho-logical states and erratic motivations, monetary varieties and hindrances, abnormalities of economic wellbeing and standards, communal, social, and ethnic misconception, a lack of trust in the conjugal relationship, the drive and desire for sexual pleasure, the recorded mentalities and foundations, the height of illustrious families, and an abundance of recorded mentalities and foundations.

It might seem like cryptocurrencies just appeared out of nowhere one day and became something major in the tech world. The truth is that this basic idea for money that would someday, somehow, exist in the digital area lived quite some time ago. More than 10 years before any known cryptocurrency lived, a computer engineer Wei Dai published a paper where he talked about “B-money” - a digital currency that could be sent with a group of untraceable digital pseudonyms. At the same time blockchain pioneer Nick Szabo composed another attempt by the name of Bit Gold that also held the idea of creating a decentralized digital currency. The idea was driven by inefficiencies he saw in the traditional financial system. Even though the ideas were never launched, they were still a part of the inspiration behind Bitcoin. So, cryptocurrency was always meant to be used as an anonymous payment system, verified over the public network through the cryptographic process. However, the first one to catch on with the public was issued in 2008. 2008 is the year in which Satoshi Nakamoto published the white paper called Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, where we can find the description of the functionality of the Bitcoin Blockchain network. Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity was never revealed, however, he or they, as the name might also represent a group of people, effectively conducted the blockchain technology by mining the first block of the Bitcoin network, also known as Genesis Block. The first digital currency was “officially” born when Nakamoto made a Bitcoin transaction in 2009. And so it began - Bitcoin software became available to the public and mining became a thing. New Bitcoins were made and transactions were recorded and verified on the blockchain. Next, the programmer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC on the 22nd of May 2010 and that is the first recorded purchase of goods bought with Bitcoin. At the time, the transaction was worth $41. Today, it would be worth approximately $90 million. This day is still memorialized as the Bitcoin Pizza Day. Until that event, Bitcoin had only been mined, never traded and so it was impossible to assign a monetary value to the units of the emerging cryptocurrencies, which means that with this specific event, Bitcoin received a valuation for the first time. 2011 was the year when cryptocurrency emerged. Bitcoin had gained popularity and the idea of encrypted currencies and decentralization caught on. That was also the time when alternative cryptocurrencies appeared, trying to improve on the original Bitcoin design, with speed, anonymity, and other advantages. Namecoin and Litecoin were one of the first to emerge. As of today, there are over 1,000 cryptocurrencies circulating and new ones are constantly appearing. In 2013 the Bitcoin price crashed shortly after it reached $1,000 for the first time. The price plummeted to about $300 and it took more than two years for the price to go back up to $1,000. In February of 2014 Tokyo based exchange Mt. Gox collapsed. Mt. Gox was one of the first prominent bitcoin exchanges that handled 70% of all Bitcoin transactions at the time. It filed for bankruptcy after hundreds of thousands of bitcoins, worth millions of dollars went missing, apparently in a hack. Bitcoin advocates, the Winklevoss twins, were among the notable investors who lost assets in this incident. At the end of the July of 2015 the Ethereum network was launched - that brought smart contracts to the cryptocurrency world. A “smart contract” is a piece of code that runs on Ethereum. It’s called a “contract” because that piece of code can control valuable things like ETH or other digital assets. Another turning point for crypto was 2017, more specifically November, because that is the month when the value of Bitcoin went above $10,000. In previous years, bitcoin slowly gained traction and then in 2017, it began to attract business leaders from all over the globe. Bitcoin hit $19,873 in December. That year we were also witness to the Bitcoin cash hard fork, which split bitcoin into two derivative cryptocurrencies - BTC and bitcoin cash. Another big event that year occurred in April, when Japan legalized Bitcoin as a legal payment method. In 2018, exchanges in South Korea and Japan were hacked. Scrutiny of the unregulated, decentralized currency came from China and other nations; giants like Google and Facebook banned ads that involved cryptocurrency. The price of Bitcoin fell below $4,000 in December 2018. In 2019 Bitcoin spiked in value again when Facebook and other organizations showed signs of launching their cryptocurrency. Facebook announced plans to debut “Libra” in 2020, a cryptocurrency supported by an independent organization composed of member companies from various industries, the Libra Association. Tune in next time when we will examine the rise of the crypto market and get a history lesson on the XRP Ledger. Check part 2 here!

Some semesters can seem like the perfect storm—reading unfamiliar material, advanced writing, and seemingly not enough time to do it all. Before you start feeling like you’re drowning, learn how to take charge of your essay and be the captain of your own ship. Although it might feel like you’re trying to pilot a boat with no knowledge of how it works or where you’re going, I’m here to help navigate you through the treacherous waters of writing about literature. You’ll not only get a rundown about the different parts of your vessel (different types of essays and literary devices), but you’ll also get helpful tips on how to pick a course and guide your ship to your destination. 1. How Are You Writing About Literature? The first thing you have to know is what kind of ship you’re in charge of—or what kind of essay you’re writing. If you know how to canoe, but not how to sail, your sailboat probably isn’t going to get very far. Likewise, you can write the best literary analysis in the world, but if you’re supposed to write an argumentative essay, you’re not going to get a very good grade. Here’s a breakdown of some of the different types of essays: An analytical essay is one in which you analyze and interpret the literature. Most of the time, this will include a brief summary of the story, followed by an analysis of the themes, literary devices, characters, or any other components. Sometimes, your instructor will let you know what to write about. A prompt could be, “Analyze symbolism in The Scarlet Letter.” Or it could ask you a question—for example, “Why is Nick the narrator (and not Gatsby) in The Great Gatsby?” However, you might also have less direct instructions. Prompts can be more vague, such as, “Write a literary analysis about ‘Mother Tongue.’” If your prompt is broad like this, don’t write about every single literary device. Pick one or two, and give strong support. An argumentative essay is one in which you’re trying to prove your thesis is correct among other options. This could mean arguing what an author is trying to prove in his or her story, or which parts of the plot were most critical to the outcome of the story. In an argumentative essay, you’ll want to state what you’re arguing, but also be aware of and address other arguments. As the name suggests, in a persuasive essay, you’re trying to persuade your readers to adopt your viewpoint. It’s very similar to the argumentative essay, except there aren’t a finite number of arguments involved. Therefore, you don’t really have to address other arguments. Many of these essays involve questions about the actions of certain characters, such as whether a character was right to do whatever he or she did. It also might involve explaining why a certain theme is the most important of the story. An expository essay is one where you explain an idea. This could mean explaining what the author’s main idea is, or even explaining your reaction to the literature. 2. Know How to Recognize and Use Literary Devices No matter what type of essay you write, a large part of your body paragraphs will include literary devices—such as symbolism, metaphors, personification, foreshadowing, and others—as support. When you’re reading a novel, play, or poem, read with these devices in mind and make notes when you find them. This will help when you start putting ideas together for your essay because you can see how often each literary device is used, by which characters, and relating to which themes. It’s easier when you have a prompt or topic assigned to you, so you aren’t writing every detail down and can focus more closely on just one theme or issue. 3. Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Good Outline Before you set sail and start going full speed into writing your essay, you need a map. When writing about literature, your outline serves as that map. You can make it as minimal or full as you want, but it’s always helpful to get your ideas organized so that you’re not scrambling. It also makes it easy to stick to your charted course—your thesis statement. Make sure you add supporting details in the body paragraph section, so you know in what order you want to present your support. Once you’re done, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how to complete your essay. If you’re still feeling like you’re treading water on your essay or outline, check out some example literary analysis essays for inspiration. 4. When Writing About Literature, Do It Academically Okay—so you’ve drawn out your map and you’re ready to get started. Remember first that you’re the captain of your ship—so speak like one! There is no “I think” in academic writing. Instead, you simply state what you have to say. Writing about literature requires you to write in the third person. This means you never refer to yourself or your audience directly. This not only makes your writing more concise, but it also makes you sound more sure of what you’re writing about. I think Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games series as a critique of modern society’s obsession with violence. Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games series as a critique of modern society’s obsession with violence. 5. Don’t Forget to Be Interesting When sailors are on a boat, it’s not all work and no play. They have to sing songs and make things fun. So when you’re writing about literature, you don’t have to be so academic that you make it boring. This will make the journey seem much longer to your readers. Write with some personality, and you’ll not only find that your readers like reading your essays more, but also that you enjoy writing them more. 6. Writing About Literature Always Involves a Thesis Statement Ah, the mighty thesis statement. Why is it so important? Think about it this way—if you’re steering your ship, you want your crew to know where to go, so you state your charted course. This intended course is your thesis statement, and your readers are your crew members. To put it bluntly, a thesis statement tells your readers what you intend to accomplish in your essay. For a persuasive essay, for example, the thesis statement would let readers know what you’re trying to convince them of. An argumentative essay would state your side of the argument and why you think you’re right. You don’t have to explain all the details up-front—your crew will know what to do with new information as they get it. Just include the basic details for right now so that you can get your readers on board. A thesis statement for an essay on Lord of the Flies might go as follows: In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the symbolism of the conch shell, Piggy’s glasses, and fire to depict the rise and fall of civilization. In this example, you would stick to your course by ensuring each body paragraph talks about either the conch, Piggy’s glasses, or fire. 7. Support, Don’t Summarize Just like a sailboat needs strong winds to move it forward to its destination, you need strong support for your essay. This means you cannot summarize. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference between support and summary, especially when you’re writing about literature. After all, all of your support comes from the novel, play, or poem you’re reading. There is, however, a difference between summary and support. Summary means simply regurgitating what’s in the text. For example, you give a quote from a character or write about a certain plot point. Support, on the other hand, takes summary one step further—it links the quote or the plot point back to your thesis statement and explains why it’s important. Don’t assume your readers are going to make the same connections you did—spell it out for them. Need some more help with the different between summary and support? Read How to Write a Good Essay: Stop Summarizing, Start Commentating. For good measure, here’s a few sources on analyzing and writing about literature to make sailing through your essay a little smoother: - How to Write a Literary Analysis That Works - Literary Analysis Essay Tips from a Kibin Editor - How to Analyze a Poem and Sound Smart Doing It - How to Compare and Contrast Poems Like a Lit Major 8. Know How to Write a Great Conclusion So you’ve almost made it to your final destination—the end of your essay. However, you still have to bring the ship to port. You don’t want to have sailed this far just to have your vessel crash at the dock, do you? In terms of writing your essay, a great conclusion adds the final touches. Briefly restate your thesis and your main supporting ideas. Don’t use the same words, of course. You’ve made a long journey—you want to add some insights you’ve gained along the way. Before you put the final word on your paper, make sure you tie up any loose ends. Your conclusion needs to give your essay a sense of wholeness or completeness. 9. Know You Have Support No captain gets anywhere by his or herself. That’s why the Kibin editors are here for you. They’re happy to make sure you have all the technical details in order—the rigging and booms, the grammar, punctuation, and flow. With our support, writing about literature is nothing but smooth sailing.

Ever have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night? Or do you wake up feeling exhausted and feel sleepy even before half the day has gone by? You may have a sleep disorder if you find yourself facing these problems frequently. Here’s all you need to know about the types of sleep disorders, symptoms as well as treatments that are available. What are sleep disorders? Sleep disorders refer to conditions that impact one’s ability to get good quality, restorative sleep. While many people experience difficulty sleeping once in a while, those who suffer from sleep disorders have regular issues that leave them feeling exhausted when they wake up. Trouble sleeping at night can result in daytime lethargy. It can be a debilitating experience that takes a serious toll on mental and physical health. It can lead to weight gain, memory problems, relationship issues, and even car and workplace accidents. According to the American Sleep Association (AMA), as many as 50 to 70 million adults in the U.S experience sleep disorders. As such, it is important to identify the causes of sleep disorders to ensure your good health and quality of life. Sleep disorder symptoms Although symptoms differ according to the type and severity of the sleeping disorder, general symptoms include: - Difficulty falling and/or staying asleep - Feeling fatigued or exhausted in the daytime - Wanting to sleep or take naps in the daytime - Unusual breathing patterns - Unusual movement when sleeping - Feeling irritable and anxious - Unable to focus or concentrate - Impaired work performance - Weight gain While sleep disorders need to be diagnosed by your doctors, here are some questions that you can ask yourself. The more you answer yes, to them, the more likely it is that you are dealing with a sleep disorder: - Do you have difficulty staying awake when sitting still, reading or when watching TV? - Do you feel irritable and/or anxious? - Do you often feel sleepy during the day? - Do you have trouble concentrating? - Do you feel tired or fall asleep when driving? - Do you have trouble regulating your emotions? - Do you feel like taking a nap almost every day? - Are your reactions slow? - Do others tell you that you look tired? - Do you need caffeine to get and keep yourself going? Types of sleep disorders There are many types of sleep disorders. While each has specific symptoms, the inability to get a good night’s rest often results in fatigue and tiredness during the day. Here are some of the most common sleep disorders. Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night. There are two types of insomnia - transient insomnia and chronic insomnia. Transient or short-term insomnia is usually due to a stressful life event such as the loss of a loved one. It can also be caused by jet lag or shift work. People who have transient insomnia often find themselves experiencing disturbed sleep and are unable to relax. People who experience chronic insomnia experience difficulties falling and staying asleep at least 3 days per week for at least one month. Sleep is not restorative and they often feel exhausted during the daytime. Chronic intermittent insomnia is characterized by a few nights of good sleep followed by many nights of sleeping issues. People who have sleep apnea experience pauses in breathing when they are asleep. Sleep apnea is a medical condition that causes the body to take in less oxygen, resulting in the individual waking up frequently at night. There are two types of sleep apnea - obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when airflow stops because the airway is obstructed or too narrow. Central sleep apnea occurs when there is an issue with the connection between the brain and muscles that control breathing. People with sleep apnea may not remember waking up at night. However, they wake up feeling exhausted and may feel irritable and depressed. It is important to see a doctor as soon as possible if you suspect that you or your loved one is suffering from sleep apnea as this serious sleep disorder is potentially life-threatening. Restless leg syndrome Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a disorder in which there is an overwhelming urge to move your legs (and sometimes arms) at night, although they can occur during the day as well. The need to move is often accompanied by tingling, aching, creeping, or uncomfortable sensations. The exact cause of RLS is unknown. Circadian rhythm sleep disorders Circadian rhythm sleep disorders are caused by interruptions to our internal biological clock based on the light that regulates our sleep-wake cycle. Our brain releases melatonin, a hormone that makes us sleepy when there is less light. In contrast, our brain tells us that it is time to wake up when the sun rises. Circadian rhythm sleep disorders include: Jet lag is caused by temporary disruptions to the circadian rhythm when you travel across time zones. People with jet lag experience daytime sleepiness, insomnia, headaches, and sometimes stomach issues as well. Jet lag symptoms are usually more pronounced after long flights. However, it is usually gone once your body adjusts to the new time zone. Shift work sleep disorder Shift work can mess up your biological clock. Many people who work at night, early morning, or on rotating shifts find themselves having a hard time adjusting to changes in their sleep schedule. Shift workers often have a negative impact on sleep quality, resulting in sleep deprivation and sleepiness. This can reduce productivity and safety at the workplace. The negative impact of shift work can be reduced by: - Regulating the sleep-wake cycles by increasing light exposure during work (even though it is nighttime) and minimizing light exposure when it’s sleeping time. Blackout shades or curtains can be used to block daylight from entering the bedroom. - Request a shift that is later, rather than earlier when changing shifts. It is usually easier to adjust forward in time rather than going backwards. - Minimize the frequency of shift changes, although this can be difficult if you’re not in charge of work schedules. - Taking melatonin or natural sleep supplements. Rilax is a natural sleep supplement that contains Lactium, a bioactive peptide extracted from the milk of Holstein cows in France, and L-Theanine, an amino acid extracted from green tea leaves. It helps promote relaxation, re-establish the circadian rhythm, and results in one waking up refreshed. Delayed sleep phase disorder Delayed sleep phase disorder occurs when there is a significant delay in a person’s biological clock. People who struggle with this disorder are not able to sleep earlier than 2 to 6 am, even when they try to do so. This causes them to go to sleep and wake up later than other people, making it difficult for them to keep to normal hours. For example, they find it extremely difficult to keep a 9 to 5 job or get to morning classes. Interestingly, people who have delayed sleep phase disorder do fall into a regular sleep schedule when they are allowed to keep their own hours. People who suffer from narcolepsy experience excessive, uncontrollable sleepiness in the daytime and may fall asleep without warning. ‘Sleep attacks’ can occur anytime. For example, it is possible for narcoleptics to fall asleep in the middle of talking or driving. Narcolepsy is caused by brain dysfunction and can also cause sleep paralysis, where an individual finds that they are unable to physically move right after waking up. Paramonias are a group of sleep disorders that are characterized by abnormal behaviors or movement during or just before falling asleep. They are more common in children, although adults do experience them as well. Common parasomnias include: - Teeth grinding - Jaw clenching - Sleep talking - Nightmares / night terrors What causes sleep disorders? There are many causes of sleep disorders, including stress, anxiety, circadian rhythm changes, and underlying health issues. Stress and anxiety Stress and anxiety can make it difficult for one to fall and stay asleep. The negative impact on sleep quality can in turn cause even more stress and anxiety because you’re tired, having trouble concentrating, and worried about not getting enough rest. Allergies and respiratory issues Colds, allergies, and respiratory infections can cause difficulty in breathing, especially at night. The inability to breathe properly can make it very difficult to fall and stay asleep. Circadian rhythm disruptions Disruptions to the circadian rhythm can make it hard to regulate the sleep-wake cycle, resulting in insomnia. This leads to excessive daytime sleepiness, exhaustion, irritability, and lowers work performance. Chronic pain can be an underlying cause of sleep disorders such as insomnia. People who suffer from chronic pain may find it difficult to fall asleep. Pain may also cause people to wake up multiple times at night. Common causes of chronic pain include arthritis, fibromyalgia, back pain, inflammatory bowel disease, and migraines. Underlying medical issues Sometimes, an underlying medical issue can be the cause of sleep disorders. As such, it is important to have a medical practitioner properly diagnose sleep issues to rule out any underlying medical issues. If it is indeed so, dealing with the issue will resolve the sleep disorder. Sleep disorder treatments While treatments for sleep issues vary according to the type of disorder, it usually includes medical and lifestyle changes. Medical treatments for sleep disorders include: - Natural sleep supplements - Sleeping pills - Medication for underlying health issues - Cold or allergy medications - Breathing devices - Dental guard for teeth grinding In addition to medical treatments, lifestyle changes can also work to improve sleep quality. Adjustments that you can consider include: - Having a regular sleep schedule in which you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day including weekends. - Limit caffeine intake especially from the afternoon onwards as caffeine can stay in your system for up to six hours. - Exercising to reduce stress and anxiety. - Have a balanced diet. - Decreasing the use of alcohol and tobacco. - Eating smaller meals before bedtime. - Maintaining a healthy weight. - Avoid watching TV and using devices that emit blue light before bedtime. Sleep is important to your health and well-being. The inability to get good quality sleep can hinder you from living a full, good quality life. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder, contact your doctor as soon as you can. Follow our blog on “How to improve deep, restorative sleep?” for more information.

This book describes how one can use The Scientific Method to solve everyday problems including medical ailments, health issues, money management, traveling, shopping, cooking, household chores, etc. It illustrates how to exploit the information collected from our five senses, how to solve problems when no information is available for the present problem situation, how to increase our chances of success by redefining a problem, and how to extrapolate our capabilities by seeing a relationship among heretofore unrelated concepts. In Tectonic Faults, scientists from a variety of disciplines explore the connections between faulting and the processes of the Earth's atmosphere, surface, and interior. Using an Earth Systems approach, Tectonic Faults provides a new understanding of feedback between faulting and Earth's atmospheric, surface, and interior processes, and recommends new approaches for advancing knowledge of tectonic faults as an integral part of our dynamic planet. This book describes the impact of space flight on geology and geophysics, beginning with a foreword by Neil Armstrong, which illustrates how the exploration of space has lead us to a far deeper understanding of our own planet. Direct results from Earth-orbital missions include studies of Earth's gravity and magnetic fields. In contrast, the recognition of the economic and biological significance of impact craters on Earth is an indirect consequence of the study of the geology of other planets. The final chapter presents a new theory for the tectonic evolution of the Earth based on comparative planetology and the Gaia concept. Written by a team of expert scientists, the Handbook of Atmospheric Science provides a broad and up-to-date account of our understanding of the natural processes that occur within the atmosphere. The Handbook of Atmospheric Science offers an excellent overview of this multi-disciplinary subject and will prove invaluable to both students and researchers of atmospheric science, air pollution and global change. This book presents a comprehensive introduction to weather processes and climatic conditions around the world, their observed variability and changes, and projected future trends. Extensively revised and updated, this ninth edition retains its tried and tested structure while incorporating recent advances in the field. From clear explanations of the basic physical and chemical principles of the atmosphere, to descriptions of regional climates and their changes, the book presents a comprehensive coverage of global meteorology and climatology. Wondering about weather? Learn Mother Nature's secrets Meteorology Demystifiedpresents a complete explanation of essential physical and scientific concepts before delving into a more detailed look at various weather phenomena. This revised and updated comprehensive introduction to astronomical objects and phenomena applies basic physical principles to a variety of situations. Students learn how to relate everyday physics to the astronomical world with the help of useful equations, chapter summaries, worked examples and end-of-chapter problem sets. It will be suitable for undergraduate students taking a first course in astronomy, and assumes a basic knowledge of physics with calculus.

The HLSL shader language is used in DirectX family APIs and GLSL for the OpenGL family APIs. This means that the choice of graphics API will limit the shader language as well, so if cross platform is a concern then GLSL will be the choice. However, this comes with some caveats as well. One difference is that in OpenGL the shading language is compiled on driver level, this means that the binary representation is not stable and can change with driver updates. In HLSL it is compiled to a hardware independent representation that can be used on multiple GPUs. This should really be a problem for writing shaders, but it sometimes means that certain things work different with other drivers and especially operating systems. Another thing to take note is that OpenGL features extensions, these can be enabled inside GLSL to utilize extra functionality. With newer OpenGL versions some of these extensions might be added to the core profile. Vendors then have to implement these extensions to be compliant, which sometimes results in things working different. The HLSL shading language syntax only changes with new introduction of DirectX APIs. Some syntactic differences are that HLSL can use #include, in GLSL this is not default. When searching for GLSL tutorials you might find different syntax, because it has changed quite a lot as of OpenGL 3 and 4. GLSL shaders have a void main() as shader entry point. In HLSL this entry point can be named and have input (vertex data) and output (pixel shader input). Learning either of these will introduce you to some common ground which will make it easy to learn to other one. HLSL is more standardized, but it also only works on a single operating system. There are also other attempts of shader languages that compile to both OpenGL and DirectX, one example is Cg which is deprecated by now. Many game engines (Unity, Unreal Engine) also have their own flavors, but their syntax is like HLSL or GLSL. As already mentioned Vulkan will introduce an open intermediate language representation called Spir-V. This means that if a language can be compiled to this representation it can be used to write shaders.

The dynamics and processes of nutrient cycling and release were examined for a lowland wetland-pond system, draining woodland in southern England. Hydrochemical and meteorological data were analyzed from 1997 to 2017, along with high-resolution in situ sensor measurements from 2016 to 2017. The results showed that even a relatively pristine wetland can become a source of highly bioavailable phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and silicon (Si) during low-flow periods of high ecological sensitivity. The drivers of nutrient release were primary production and accumulation of biomass, which provided a carbon (C) source for microbial respiration and, via mineralization, a source of bioavailable nutrients for P and N co-limited microorganisms. During high-intensity nutrient release events, the dominant N-cycling process switched from denitrification to nitrate ammonification, and a positive feedback cycle of P and N release was sustained over several months during summer and fall. Temperature controls on microbial activity were the primary drivers of short-term (day-to-day) variability in P release, with subdaily (diurnal) fluctuations in P concentrations driven by water body metabolism. Interannual relationships between nutrient release and climate variables indicated “memory” effects of antecedent climate drivers through accumulated legacy organic matter from the previous year's biomass production. Natural flood management initiatives promote the use of wetlands as “nature-based solutions” in climate change adaptation, flood management, and soil and water conservation. This study highlights potential water quality trade-offs and shows how the convergence of climate and biogeochemical drivers of wetland nutrient release can amplify background nutrient signals by mobilizing legacy nutrients, causing water quality impairment and accelerating eutrophication risk.

How to Write a Review (Overview) Article / Book Review Look at the title, the table of contents, the abstract and the introduction to get some idea of the central focus and the coverage of the article and the author's reasons for writing the article. Skim quickly through the whole article paying attention to tables, illustrations or other graphic materials. Read more closely the first section to understand the main issues to be discussed and indicate the theoretical or conceptual framework within which the author proposes to work. Read closely the final section covering the author's conclusions and main reasons why these conclusions have been reached. Then read the whole text thoroughly to develop a basis on which to critically review it. Decide which aspects of the article you wish to discuss in detail in your review: the theoretical approach? the content or case studies? the selection and interpretation of evidence? the range of coverage? the style of presentation? the main issues which the author has specifically examined? a particular issue (because it has importance for you, even if it is not the main issue for the author)? Having read in closer detail the sections which are relevant to discussed issues make notes of the main points and key quotations. The structure of a review should include: A Critical Review and Assessment of the Article:

It seems that just like us humans, cats have their weight issues. Following on from our recent survey into pet weight management, researchers at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College have discovered that even after cats mature from the kitten phase their weight continues to creep up until they are, on average, eight years old. What’s more, this can significantly impact on their health and wellbeing. This study is significant because the Ontario Veterinary College’s researchers have become the first to access data on more than 19 million cats, allowing them to get a picture of typical weight gain and loss over their lifetimes. Commenting on the findings, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Prof Theresa Bernardo says: “As humans, we know we need to strive to maintain a healthy weight, but for cats, there has not been a clear definition of what that is. We simply didn’t have the data. Establishing the pattern of cat weights over their lifetimes provides us with important clues about their health.” DID YOU KNOW? According to feline charity International Cat Care, it’s estimated that between 39% and 52% of cats in the UK are overweight or obese. Burgess in-house vet Dr Suzanne Moyes advises: “Too many calories and too little exercise causes obesity. This can lead to all manner of health and wellbeing issues including osteoarthritis, diabetes, cardiac disease and cancer – along with the inability to exhibit natural behaviours. Without regular monitoring, a cat’s weight can gradually creep up – and it can be hard for them to lose it. For very overweight cats, it will require a vet-devised weight loss programme, which may take up to a year before the cat reaches their ideal body condition.” The survey findings included: - Male cats tended to reach higher weight peaks than females - Spayed or neutered cats tended to be heavier than unaltered cats - Among the four most common purebred breeds (Siamese, Persian, Himalayan and Maine Coon), the mean weight peaked between six and 10 years of age - Among common domestic cats, it peaked at eight years Prof Bernardo adds that, just as humans need to be aware of maintaining a healthy weight as they age, it’s important to monitor weight changes in cats: “Cats tend to be overlooked because they hide their health problems and they don’t see a vet as often as dogs do. So, one of our goals is to understand this so that we can see if there are interventions that can provide more years of healthy life to cats.” For owners concerned about their cat’s health or weight gain, lead author, Dr Adam Campigotto, advises buying a weighing scale and getting into the habit of regularly weighing your pet: “If your cat is gaining or losing weight, it may be an indicator of an underlying problem.” HOW DOES YOUR CAT MEASURE UP? International Cat Care has a Body and Muscle Condition Chart that you can use to help identify if your cat is very thin, thin, normal, overweight or obese. Get in the know about nutrition after neutering Neutering is recommended by feline experts for both female and male cats. Find out more about the benefits of neutering here. However, neutering does mean a cat’s needs can change. As his or her body has less work to do, your feline friend will require fewer calories or they will put on weight. That’s why it’s a good idea to switch to a diet specially created for neutered cats to prevent them from becoming overweight and to help with other changes. - 48 hours after neutering cats need an estimated 20% fewer calories - Neutered cats are more prone to weight gain - They’re more likely to have urinary tract infections - It increases the likelihood of hairballs To help address the issues associated with neutering, Burgess has undertaken detailed nutrition research and has recently launched Burgess Neutered Cat food – which has recently won GOLD at the PetQuip awards 2019 for the best Pet Product of the Year in Foods/Treats/Health cat category. This advanced, high protein recipe is suitable to feed from the age when a cat is neutered and contains: - L-carnitine, a naturally occurring amino acid derivative involved in metabolism, for maintaining a healthy weight - Controlled levels of minerals and cranberry to help support urinary tract health - Yucca extract for stool formation and reduced odour in the litter tray - Fibres to help prevent hairballs Dr Burgess adds: “At Burgess, we believe this new recipe containing a whole host of beneficial ingredients – including L-carnitine to promote the use of fat stores for energy and to help preserve muscle mass – will help support the health and wellbeing of neutered cats of all ages and help owners ensure their pets maintain the correct weight.” If you found this interesting, you may also like: HOW TO GET YOUR PET IN SHAPE Over 60% of vets say obesity is the biggest health and welfare concern for UK pets. So, how can you tell if your pet is too portly and what can you do to help them get back in trim? Our in-house vet Dr Suzanne Moyes is on hand with some brilliant fat-busting tips, astonishing facts and useful on-line tools CAT FOOD IN THE HEADLINES Recent newspaper reports have revealed some shocking news about the food that some owners dish out to their pet cats, with some not even realising that felines are carnivores. Our in-house vet Dr Suzanne Moyes explains the specific nutritional needs of felines WHY YOU SHOULD LET YOUR CAT PUZZLE IT OUT Feeding time should be more than just dishing out a bowlful of food. It’s time to let our felines work for their dinner. Here’s why…

With more and more people shifting towards a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, researchers are also shifting their focus on studying the potential health benefits and risks of such a diet. A recent cohort study, published in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), suggests that vegetarians and vegans are at a higher risk of heart diseases and stroke as compared to their meat-eating counterparts. In this study, 48,188 individuals, without a history of ischaemic heart disease, stroke, or cardiovascular disease, were put into three different diet groups – meat eaters, fish eaters, and vegetarians. The study was followed up over a period of 18 years and recorded 2,820 ischaemic heart disease cases and 1072 stroke cases. It showed that vegetarians had a 20 percent higher rate of hemorrhagic strokes, which is equivalent to three more cases of stroke per 1,000 individuals over a course of 10 years. At the same time, those following a fish-based diet didn’t have any significant increase in stroke rates. The lead researcher of the study, Tammy Tong, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said, “It does seem that the lower risk of coronary heart diseases exceeds the higher risk of stroke if we look at the absolute numbers.” She also added that this risk might be associated with a lower cholesterol and nutrition content (such as a B12 deficiency) in a vegetarian diet, while still not being very clear about the exact reasons. On the other hand, the results showed that fish eaters and vegetarians had 13 percent and 22 percent lower rates of ischaemic heart diseases compared to meat eaters. This accounts for ten fewer cases of ischaemic heart disease in vegetarians, per 1000 individuals over a period of ten years.

Elijah Muhammad Biography, Life, Interesting Facts Died On : Also Known For : Birth Place : Elijah Muhammad was born on October 7th, in 1897. He is a notable black religious figure. He is remembered for having acted as the Nation of Islam (NOI) leader. Similarly, he was a religious mentor to the likes of Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X. Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Robert Poole on October 7th, in 1897. His place of birth was in Sandersville in Georgia. He was the seventh born child to William Poole Sr. His father was a religious leader. Elijah’s mother was called Mariah Hall. Growing up, Elijah did not get an adequate education for it ended when he was only in his third grade. After that, he went on to work in brickyards and sawmills. He was from a low-income family and therefore he was obliged to join his family in sharecropping. Elijah later left his home place to go and work in factories. Nation of Islam (NOI) In 1931, Elijah Muhammad crossed paths with Wallace D. Fard while he listened to his Islamic preaching and the empowerment speeches that he has to the black community. Seeing that Fard’s teachings were of great inspiration to him, Elijah became an avid follower. It did not take time before he fully converted and became a Muslim. Fard, bestowed him with the name Muhammad. Following the disappearance of Fard in 1934, NOI became segregated forming different groups with different leaders. Muhammad was one of the leaders of his group. He successfully guided his group to move to Chicago. It is from this location that he became a massive influence to NOI that he was leading. Elijah Muhammad avoided the World War II draft which led to his arrest in 1942. Later, he was released on bail. However, he was quickly arrested again this time he was imprisoned for four years at the Federal Correctional Institution situated in Michigan. While in prison, Muhammad’s wife alongside his trusted followers guided the NOI. Often, he would send messages to the group using letters. Upon his release from prison in 1946, Elijah Muhammad took over again as the leader of the Nation of Islam. The group gained more followers due to his renewed efforts in getting more members to join. By 1955, the group had about fifteen temples and by 1959 NOI had about 50 temples across 22 states. Elijah Muhammad wedded Clara Evans in 1917. Together, the two welcomed eight children in their marriage. Elijah Muhammad breathed last on February 25th, in 1975 following congestive heart failure. He left behind a considerable trail of followers with about 250, 000 people being members of NOI. One of his sons named Warith Deen Mohammed succeeded him as the leader of the group. Liaquat Ali Khan Sun Yat Sen Raymond Octave Joseph Barre

National Flag Of Mongolia The Current National Flag Of Mongolia was officially adopted On February 12, 1992, With the Current official color standards being set on July 8, 2011. Prior to 1992, the Flag Of Mongolia had a communist star above the Soyombo, during the final 47 years of the Mongolian People’s Republic. The Mongolia National Flag consists of 3 vertical colored stripes: red, blue, red. Within the left-hand stripe is the Buddhist Soyombo symbol, which has become the national symbol of Mongolia. The Soyombo symbol and the colors of the National Flag Of Mongolia manifest Mongolia’s Buddhist heritage. Meaning Of The Flag The blue color on the flag symbolizes the color of the land of the blue sky. It has Buddhist associations with the sky, purity, and healing. The red stripes on the Flag Of Mongolia initially represented Mongolia’s socialist beliefs, but a modern interpretation means liberty and progress. The Soyombo Symbol The Soyombo symbol on the National Flag Of Mongolia is the national emblem of Mongolia. It appears in the country’s coat of arms. The symbol was created by a Buddhist lama over 300 years ago. Starting from the Top: The fire at the top of it represents prosperity, contentment, and regeneration. The three flames on the symbol represent the past, present, and future. The sun and moon represent the universe and is believed by Mongolians to be the mother (sun) and father (moon) of their nation. Under this is are symbols taken to be arrows. Their meaning is a willingness to defend their values or to vanquish their enemies. Between the arrows on the Mongolia National Flag is a ying-yang symbol (ancient Chinese symbol depicting the complementary dualities of light and dark, man and woman, old and young, etc.). Some say it is a symbol of two fish (the fish meaning vigilance as they never close their eyes) but given the Soyombo was created by a Buddhist with strong links to China. Surrounding this are two vertical rectangles, which are typically taken to represent stone walls of a fortress, symbolizing strength and unity. Some Information About Flag: In Which Year, The National Flag Is Adopted? Ans: On February 12, 1992 What Are The Colours of The Flag? Ans: Red, Blue, Yellow What Do The Colours of The Flag Means? Ans: The blue color on the flag symbolizes the color of the land of the blue sky. The red stripes on the Flag Of Mongolia initially represented Mongolia’s socialist beliefs, but a modern interpretation means liberty and progress.

We recently read a few studies exploring the effects of roach colony population density on growth. One of them challenged a widely-held belief about Dubia roach housing and made us rethink the way we remove newly hatched nymphs from breeding colonies. Providing nymphs with their own enclosure makes intuitive sense. However, it may lead to sub-optimum growth. As you might imagine, we think about Dubia roach production quite a bit. But you don’t have to be us or an efficiency hound to care about it. Almost everyone who breeds or feeds Dubia roaches at some point ends up dealing with reproduction issues. Expanding roach populations usually require attention sooner than most people anticipate. With bugs that give birth to a few dozen young nymphs five times a year, production issues have a way of coming up whether you’re ready for them or not. While roach production issues commonly lead to hard, unsurpassable endpoints involving physical limitations and competition for scarce resources, one assumption has always been certain: Nymphs do best when given their own enclosure. Separating nymphs from adults is common practice among Dubia breeders. The idea is that removing nymphs from breeding colonies reduces resource competition and leads to happier, healthier, and importantly – more productive roaches. This seems like it should be a win all the way around. Adults get more room to do their thing and nymphs don’t have to fight roaches 50 times their size for food and space. But is this correct? Studies suggest it might not be…sort of. An interesting study from the US Army Solder Research, Development, and Engineering Center (of all places?) conducted by A. Wharton et. al. explores the relationship between cockroach colony population density and growth. Why the US Army investigated cockroach growth we have no clue, but here we are. Such are the mysteries of life. Investigators essentially look at two things in this study: (1) The size of roaches when they reach adulthood, and (2) how fast they get there. The independent variable acting on these two things is population density. Researchers wanted to see how density affects the growth of roaches from birth to adulthood, and what they found peaked our interest. Nymphs reared in isolation grow significantly slower than those surrounded by other nymphs. And to a point, the more crowded the faster the growth. This finding is consistent with other studies that look at roach growth and population density so it’s not all that unique or interesting. But…and this is a big “but”…the isolated, slower-growing roach nymphs ended up larger as adults than the roaches that grew faster in the presence of other nymphs their own age. The authors went out of their way to try to explain why this occurs. They tested a lot of different theories and eventually settle on a combination of physical contact and a hormone called ecdysone. They theorize that physical contact between roaches growing up together stimulates this growth hormone, which builds muscle and increases metabolism. As a result these roaches then eat more, which explains the faster growth. So we have two results: Slower growth and larger size in isolation, and faster growth and smaller size in non-isolation. Applying the ideas here to our own projects appears to be yet another simple and unsurpassable trade-off. In this case, the trade is size for speed. Slower growth results in bigger adults while fast growth leads to a smaller overall size. Fair enough. But then the researchers found a third thing, and it changes everything. Nymphs raised in the presence of adults grew fast like the nymphs raised in non-isolation, and they attained the same larger size as the nymphs raised in isolation. Based on this data, it appears there may actually be no trade-off at all. Maybe Dubia roach breeders can have the best of both worlds: fast growing nymphs and large adult feeders. But why? What is it about adult roaches that leads to faster growing nymphs that reach a larger adult size? The researchers aren’t sure about the mechanisms at play here so they go back to their theory about contact stimulation and hormones. It’s worth noting that upon observing the same results, authors of another study concluded that physical contact has a psychological benefit for roach endocrine development. We didn’t know roaches had a psychology. Guess you learn something new every day. So what’s the bottom line? Raising nymph-only colonies has always seemed unnatural in a way. Yes, they’re just roaches, but after noticing that large groups of young roach nymphs seem somewhat listless and less active than they were prior to being separated from their breeding colony, and after learning “roach psychology” is a thing, we decided to do a few tests. While the jury is out on the relevance of these data, there is little if any downside to checking it out. With that in mind, we began experimenting. We added a few adult females to the new juvenile colonies we create when we separate nymphs from breeders. We don’t know exactly what to expect, but the study finds about a 10% difference in the size of roaches raised in isolation versus those raised with other nymphs. All things equal, that means a 10% increase in adult size among the roaches reared with adults versus those reared only in proximity to other nymphs. Of course all things are never equal so we’ll have to see what happens. 10% may not sound like a lot, but the more roaches you produce, the bigger the real effect. Then we considered the cost of this experiment, which is nearly zero. We will update this post with our findings as we learn more. It’ll take some time and the results will no doubt include confounding factors, but we’re curious to see what happens in time…or more accurately, if anything happens in time. About two months in and we aren’t seeing any size or growth differences between nymph-only and nymph w/adult enclosures. We’ll post more later. After much effort separating nymphs from adults and looking for growth differences, we finally have a result! More than a year later and we looked at this again and basically maintained our result. Our conclusion is…drum roll… There’s no difference between nymphs raised alone and those raised with adult females. At least none that we could find. Sigh. Oh well. It’s possible that differences exist, but we weren’t able to see them. It’s also possible that the proximity of control and test colonies conferred benefits from one to another. The researchers hypothesized that the growth increase they observed is due to hormones. If so, hormones from one colony could affect another one close by. We simply don’t know. That’s the bottom line. So did we learn anything? Nothing useful, unfortunately. So, we continue to raise our nymphs in their own bins, without adults. If there is a hormonal benefit to living with adult females, our juveniles are close enough to adults to get it. Or, the benefit is too small to make a difference. Or, maybe what the researchers observed among juveniles and adults of another roach species is true, but it doesn’t apply to Dubia roaches. Whatever the case, we may never know. Have a question? If you have a question, please feel free to ask! You can use the comment form below.

By Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada April 20 (Bloomberg) — As Japan’s rice fields turn fallow and its farming communities decline, a new army of workers is preparing to make the countryside fertile again. This time the crop is motor fuel and the laborers are microscopic algae. At least 75 developers globally are studying algae, which has the potential to generate more energy per hectare than any other crop used for making fuel, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The technology has attracted the U.S. Department of Energy and big oil including Exxon Mobil Corp., which plans to spend as much as $600 million on research over five years. Japan abandoned a $132 million algae project in the 1990s, when oil prices dropped below $10 a barrel and climate change took a back seat to reviving the economy in what became known as “the Lost Decade.” Now companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co. may join a study into the microorganisms that can turn waste water into oil, scrub carbon dioxide out of the air and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. “It could be a kind of alchemy,” said Makoto Watanabe, an environmental science professor at Tsukuba University, which has invited the companies to join the study. “It has enormous potential to become one of our major energy sources.” Microalgae use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and biofuel through photosynthesis. The plants, which look like a green film on the surface of water, can be cultivated on marginal land in open ponds or in “photobioreactors,” incubators that protect them from contamination and maintain a steady temperature for more intensive production. Emissions from factories and power plants can be pumped into the reactors. That makes algae an alternative to carbon- capture and storage projects, which inject carbon dioxide into underground rock formations, according to a New Energy Finance report. Carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, makes algae grow faster. Algae are more productive than crops because they keep making fuel regardless of the weather, according to the research group. All the transport fuel needs of the U.S. could in theory be met by algae cultivated in an area the size of Belgium, it said. Algae is among “second-generation” biofuels, designed to overcome the disadvantages of fuels from food grains. Riots broke out in cities from Cairo to Jakarta in 2008 after food prices soared, fueling widespread perceptions that U.S. subsidies were encouraging farmers to plant crops to make ethanol for American cars while the world’s poor starved. Researchers are now pursuing agricultural waste, fungus and other fuel sources that don’t compete with food crops. The Botryococcus algae being studied by Tsukuba University produces fuel that’s almost identical to diesel, said Watanabe, who is leading the project. Watanabe said he met a production target of 1,000 metric tons per hectare a year in a laboratory experiment. He will attempt to reproduce that outcome at a 1.5 billion-yen ($16 million) open-air pilot project at Tsukuba’s campus in Ibaraki prefecture near Tokyo starting in September. Costs are about 800 yen a liter, compared with gasoline, which retails for about 130 yen in Tokyo, Watanabe said. He estimates he can reduce costs sufficiently by 2022 to compete with ordinary oil products. “The challenge is to create an environment for the algae to grow fast and produce a significant amount of oil,” he said. Academics have projected algae fuel could fall to as low as $2 to $4 a liter, according to the New Energy Finance report. That compares with surgarcane ethanol, usually the cheapest biofuel, which costs between 20 cents and 45 cents. Algae fuels are still a long way from replacing fossil fuels, said Robert Rapier, chief technology officer for Merica International, a bioenergy holding company. Decades of research has produced only “incremental” advances so far. While recent developments in genetic engineering have come up with species that yield more fuel, they aren’t hardy enough to survive in the wild, and photobioreactors remain too expensive for large-scale production. “There’s a lot of good things about the algae story, but I would say it’s 10-to-1 hype-to-reality,” Rapier, who writes the R-Squared energy blog, said by phone from Kamuela, Hawaii. “It was a capital issue in the 90s. It’s a capital-cost issue today.” The U.S. stopped funding an 18-year algae study in 1996 after it found algae fuel was too expensive to be commercially viable. A 10-year government-funded project in Japan involving 14 companies, including Idemitsu, was abandoned in 2000 after reaching the same conclusion, according to a government report. State-run Tsukuba, which has had two Nobel Prize-winning physicists and a chemist on its faculty, wants to pilot a new nationwide study, acting both as a major research center and as a clearinghouse for information about other projects around the country, Watanabe said. Toyota and Idemitsu are now considering Tsukuba’s invitation to join the study, said Shinichi Horie, a spokesman for Toyota Central R&D Labs Inc., and Ryuichi Sato, a spokesman for the refiner. Based on his current research, Watanabe said, Japan could supply enough algae biofuel to replace all the oil products currently used to supply the country’s transport, power plants and heating if photobioreactors were installed on the country’s unused farmland. In 2005, 9.7 percent of the country’s cropland had been abandoned as the population declined because of ageing and people quit farming to move to the cities for better jobs, according to the agriculture ministry. Watanabe explained his ideas to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Dec. 30 as part of a presentation to Cabinet of new technologies seeking government support. The Cabinet approved a climate bill last month that calls for the expansion of renewable energy more than three-fold to supply 10 percent of Japan’s energy needs by 2020 as part of efforts to combat climate change. Algae may hold secrets that can help mankind’s survival, Watanabe said. “Algae have lived for tens of thousands of years. They may have come up with ideas that we will be able to tap.” –With additional reporting by Stuart Biggs in Tokyo. Editors: Alex Devine, Reed Landberg. To contact the reporters on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at firstname.lastname@example.org; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at email@example.com. To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Viljoen at firstname.lastname@example.org. Clyde Russell at email@example.com.

- Critical Lens Essay: Main Rules for Writing a Good Work - How to Write a Critical Lens Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide - How to Find a Successful Critical Lens Essay Example? - How to Select a Right Critical Lens Essay Format? - Why Is It Important to Make a Critical Lens Essay Outline? - How to Write a Critical Essay Introduction - Writing a Proper Body Part for Your Essay - Creating a Successful Critical Lens Essay Conclusion - What Is a Critical Lens Essay and How to Create It? - Great Advice from Our Experienced Writers - I Need Professional Help with My Critical Lens Essay Students may be asked to make a critical lens essay. It is very important to create this type of paper properly. Some peэople have no idea how to create this kind of work, and they may end up with a low grade. We understand how difficult it may be for you. In our article, our readers will find useful tips on how to write a critical lens essay properly. Remember, this piece of writing requires meticulous attention and knowledge of the essay structure. Follow our simple, effective guide to creating a perfect paper without wasting your time and nerves. It is important to choose a good topic for your future paper. Needless to say, you have to check the written text thoroughly to remove mistakes after the work is done. In our article, we will provide students with a detailed instruction. You will be surprised because it is easy to complete an interesting critical lens essay with our little help. How to Write a Critical Lens Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide If you are asking yourself "How to write a critical lens essay?", follow our detailed guide to make a strong paper. We guarantee you will get a high grade! All you have to do is follow the next steps: - Choose relevant sources - Select a quote for your future analysis - Create a bright introduction - Write several paragraphs of the body part - Finish your work with a logical conclusion - Proofread your paper carefully to correct errors How to Find a Successful Critical Lens Essay Example? Needless to say, a good critical lens essay example may be helpful in creating your paper. You may search a lot of samples on the Internet. We want to share our example here. The right good book is always a book of travel; it is about life’s journey”. This quote explains that thanks to books, people can learn many lessons about life. Books tell us about our life’s ups and downs. Life is not always happy and easy, it is important to overcome difficulties and move forward. Two books, The Old Man and the Sea by E. Hemingway and The Great Gatsby by F. S. Fitzgerald support this quote and illustrate to readers the subject of a life journey. The first book, The Great Gatsby, shows us Jay Gatsby who is a wealthy and handsome man. He wants to live a luxury life with his former love, Daisy. The woman is married to another man, suddenly she falls in love with Gatsby. And finally, she chooses her husband to be with. This shows to us that love can be cruel and a relationship is a complicated thing that not always makes people happy. You cannot buy love for money and wealth. As the book shows, a luxury life, full of money, corruption, and lies just led Gatsby to death. Another story, The Old Man and the Sea, tells us about the old fisherman from Cuba. Santiago had bad luck for several months catching no fish. He says that he will catch fish that will make him famous, and it really happens. Santiago comes back with just a fish skeleton due to the tragedy. The old man continues to live in poverty but he has a feeling of pride in himself because he did what he wanted. This is a story that shows to people life can be tough but you shouldn't give up on your way. Good books always demonstrate our life is a great journey full of ups and downs. It is important to set clear goals and not give up on your way, and then it is possible to reach success. Life is impossible without loss and failures. It is quite important to look forward and hope for better. Both books demonstrate this idea and illustrate to readers lives of other people full of happiness and sadness, wealth and poverty, success and defeat. How to Select a Right Critical Lens Essay Format? When you are making this type of work, please remember that you have to follow a standard format pattern. Your essay should have five paragraphs: an introduction, a body part, and a conclusion. You have to choose two literature texts for writing to discuss them in two separate parts of the main body of your paper. Here are the main rules for a critical lens essay format: - Capitalize and underline the book titles - Use an objective language without your own thoughts or expectations - Support your thesis with reliable sources - Avoid using any personal pronouns: "I", "we", "your", etc. It is better to use words "readers", "people", "students" Keep reading our guide to find detailed instructions about writing every part of your paper in the next paragraph! Also you might want to visit Verfacto for customer journey analytics. Why Is It Important to Make a Critical Lens Essay Outline? As we already said before, your finished paper should be well-structured. Without a good outline, you risk to end up with a mess. Some students think this is not an important step, they prefer to skip it. Eventually, they spend much more time making their paper compared to those people who made an outline. It is a detailed plan for your future work, we suggest spending enough time for its writing. A good outline is a roadmap that helps to figure out what to write next. How to Write a Critical Essay Introduction The introduction is the beginning of your paper that should inform the readers what your entire document is about. Plus, this paragraph must contain a thesis statement - it is a sentence that explains the relevance of the chosen quote. At the end of the introduction, you need to put the quote you have selected. In general, the introductory paragraph should be around 5-6 sentences. Writing a Proper Body Part for Your Essay In the body part, you need to include two paragraphs that contain information about two pieces of literature you have mentioned in the introduction. You shouldn't make any summary here. Just analyze the main points of both books to explain how they are relevant to the thesis statement. Keep in mind, there is no need to retell to your readers the plot of texts you have chosen. Just use the references to support your thesis. Please try to make your writing clear and laconic. Creating a Successful Critical Lens Essay Conclusion When you are making a critical lens essay conclusion, make it short and clear. In the last paragraph of your document, you need to restate a thesis. Here you should also put a meaning of the chosen quote. Don't make this part too long, you need to lead your readers to the end smoothly. Usually, 5 or 6 sentences are enough to finish your work properly. Make sure you didn't put any new information in this paragraph because the conclusion's main function is to wrap up your document. What Is a Critical Lens Essay and How to Create It? Any critical lens essay should be focused on a quote taken from a literary piece. A person must analyze the quotation to understand why the author used it in a book or a novel. We must agree it is a challenging task for students: it requires great writing skills, an ability to create a detailed analysis of literary elements and words interpretation, create their own arguments and supports them with evidence, etc. Apart from this, a student must have great knowledge of grammar to make a work without errors. If you want to make a proper critical document, you should follow the main rules for writing this paper. Like any other essay, this work must have a good structure to put all information correctly and logically. You need to make a detailed critical lens essay outline that will help you to create good work easily. Keep reading our article to find great hints on writing the essay without wasting your time! Great Advice from Our Experienced Writers It is not so easy to create a successful critical lens essay. In the beginning, try to pay your attention to the quote. Choose a good one and make sure you will be able to find two books that are related to the quotation. Try to make your writing clear and concise, without showing your own emotions. It is an analysis, so it should be done properly. Do not forget to proofread the finished essay to correct mistakes and make your work professional. I Need Professional Help with My Critical Lens Essay Do you still have questions even after reading the article? Writing a critical essay is a difficult thing for many students. If it is hard for you even to start, you should ask for professional help. Our team of experienced writers is ready to solve your problem without wasting your money and time!

How to prune your Annabelle Hydrangea for optimal growth. Checkout this video: Why prune Annabelle hydrangea? Pruning Annabelle Hydrangea is a process that should be done every year to ensure optimal growth. There are a few reasons for this; first, it helps to shape the plant so that it can grow properly. Second, it removes any dead or dying branches that could potentially harm the plant. Finally, it helps to encourage new growth, which is essential for the plant’s health. To encourage growth Pruning Annabelle hydrangea is important for two reasons: to encourage growth and to shape the plant. Hydrangeas are vigorous growers, so they need to be pruned every year to keep them from becoming overgrown. The best time to prune is in late winter or early spring, before new growth begins. Annabelle hydrangeas bloom on new wood, so pruning in late winter or early spring will not affect the number of flowers you’ll see in summer. In fact, pruning actually encourages new growth, which means more flowers. To encourage even more growth (and more flowers), cut the stems back by one-third their length. To shape the plant Pruning is often done to shape the plant, promote density, or remove spent flowers. The best time to prune is in late winter or early spring, before new growth begins. Annabelle hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens “Annabelle”) are a type of hydrangea that produce large, round clusters of white flowers. They are a popular choice for gardens and landscaping because of their size and ease of care. Annabelle hydrangeas should be pruned every year to ensure healthy growth and maximum blooming. Pruning also helps to keep the plant tidy and prevents it from becoming overgrown. How to prune Annabelle hydrangea Pruning is an important horticultural practice that helps maintain plant health and improve yields. There are many different ways to prune a plant, and the best method depends on the plant species, the time of year, and the desired outcome. When pruning Annabelle hydrangea, be sure to remove any dead or dying branches, as well as any branches that are rubbing against each other. Time of year Hydrangeas are one of the showiest of shrubs, bearing large, round clusters of flowers in a variety of colors. They are relatively low-maintenance, but to ensure optimal growth and flower production, pruning is necessary. The best time to prune Annabelle hydrangea is in late winter or early spring, before new growth begins. Annabelle hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens “Annabelle”) bloom on new wood, so you can cut them back as much as you like in late winter or early spring and still get a full display of flowers in summer. In fact, if you don’t cut them back, they can become unmanageably large. But don’t be too hasty with the shears — wait until just after the plant blooms to prune. Start by removing any dead, diseased, or spindly stems. Then, cut stems that flowered last year back to about 6 inches (15 cm) from the ground. Finally, thin out dense growth by pruning a few of the oldest stems all the way back to the ground. What to do with pruned branches Pruning your annabelle hydrangea ensures that it will grow to be strong and healthy. It also allows you to shape the plant to your desired aesthetic. But what do you do with all of the cut branches? Here are some ideas. Dispose of them After you have pruned your Annabelle hydrangea, you will need to dispose of the branches. The best way to do this is to put them in the trash. You can also compost them, but they will take longer to break down. Use them as mulch Pruned branches can be used as mulch around the base of the plant. This will help to hold in moisture and keep the roots cool. The mulch will also help to reduce weeds.

Feeding and grooming farm animals In a wheelbarrow, the weight needs to be positioned over the front wheel, otherwise it’s hard to move it. The farmer knows precisely which food his animals like best. He gives the hay to the cows. After spreading it evenly in the rack, he gets another few bags of pellets and empties them into the trough. Now it’s the pigs’ turn. They also eat hay and grain, but they need fresh vegetables too to keep them happy and healthy. The farmer puts lettuce, potatoes and beets into the big feed box that he brings over to them. After his work is done, he contentedly watches the animals eating.

Unfortunately, it seems that the number of people killed in traffic has increased in 2019, an estimate is 205 lost their lives in traffic. The figure will only be finally calculated in May 2020. The biggest killer in traffic is speeding. Half of all fatal accidents are due to speed. In addition, there are also several seriously injured. Remember that your braking distance quadruples when you double your speed. Speed is one of the most decisive factors in traffic accidents, leading to many deaths on the road every year. When drivers exceed the speed limits or drive too fast for the given road and traffic conditions, they significantly increase the risk of serious accidents. High speed reduces the reaction time of the driver, making it more difficult to avoid dangerous situations. At the same time, it extends the braking distance, which can result in collisions with fatal consequences. When accidents happen at high speed, the severity of injuries is often much worse. In order to prevent deaths in traffic, it is crucial to observe the speed limits and adapt the speed to the current road and traffic conditions. This is a responsible action that can save many lives and contribute to making the roads safer for all road users. Remember you will not get there quickly if you have an accident on the road, it is better to drive safely and responsibly.

When There Is A Climate Of Mistrust Employees The workplace is a complex environment and one of the most important aspects of a successful workplace is trust. When there is a climate of mistrust among employees, it can have a negative impact on productivity, communication, and morale. This article will explore the effects of mistrust in the workplace and how managers can help to create a trusting environment. The Impact of Mistrust in the Workplace When there is a lack of trust in the workplace, it can lead to a decrease in productivity. Employees may be less likely to collaborate and share ideas, and may even be less likely to take risks. This can lead to a decrease in innovation and creativity. Communication can also suffer when there is a lack of trust. Employees may be less likely to communicate openly and honestly, and may be less likely to share information. This can lead to misunderstandings and misunderstandings can lead to conflict. Finally, morale can suffer when there is a climate of mistrust. Employees may become disengaged, unmotivated, and unproductive. This can lead to lower productivity, higher turnover, and increased absenteeism. Strategies to Create a Trusting Environment Fortunately, there are strategies that managers can use to help create a trusting environment in the workplace. The first strategy is to foster open and honest communication. Encourage employees to share ideas and provide feedback. Let employees know that their opinions are valued and that their ideas will be taken seriously. The second strategy is to create an environment of respect. Treat employees with respect and provide them with the resources they need to do their jobs. This will help to foster trust and create a positive working environment. The third strategy is to provide employees with opportunities to grow and develop. Encourage employees to take on new challenges and give them the support they need to succeed. This will show employees that the organization values their contributions and is willing to invest in their development. Finally, be open and honest in your communication with employees. Let employees know what is expected of them and provide them with feedback on their performance. This will help to build trust and create a positive working environment. When there is a climate of mistrust in the workplace, it can have a negative impact on productivity, communication, and morale. Fortunately, there are strategies that managers can use to help create a trusting environment in the workplace. This includes fostering open and honest communication, creating an environment of respect, providing employees with opportunities to grow and develop, and being open and honest in your communication with employees. By implementing these strategies, managers can help to create a trusting environment and reduce the negative effects of mistrust in the workplace. Kyle Whyte is a notable scholar and professor at the University of Michigan, holding positions such as the George Willis Pack Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability and Professor of Philosophy. Specializing in environmental justice, his work critically examines climate policy and Indigenous peoples’ ethics, emphasizing the nexus between cooperative scientific endeavors and Indigenous justice. As an enrolled Citizen Potawatomi Nation member, he brings a vital perspective to his roles as a U.S. Science Envoy and member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. His influential research is supported by various prestigious organizations including the National Science Foundation, and disseminated through publications in high-impact journals. Kyle actively contributes to global Indigenous research methodologies and education, with affiliations to numerous institutes and societies dedicated to traditional knowledge and sustainability. Recognized for his academic and community engagement, Kyle has earned multiple awards and served in various visiting professorships. His efforts extend to leadership positions on boards and committees focused on environmental justice nationwide.

Andy Warhol’s First One-Man Show Introduces Campbell’s Soup Cans On July 9, 1962, visitors to the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, California, were a part of history, but were uneasy about what they were seeing. Thirty-two canvases sat on narrow shelves, appearing much like a grocery store, picturing 32 varieties of Campbell’s Soup. It was Andy Warhol’s first one-man show, and often considered the introduction of pop art to the West Coast. Warhol, a successful commercial illustrator at the time, was drawn to pop art, which challenged traditional art by utilizing imagery from mass culture. Word of Warhol’s exhibition spread quickly, with critics questioning why an artist would essentially paint a scene from a grocery store. Others were thrilled by his work, which he believed was a reflection of modern society. Warhol went on to become one of the more recognizable figures of the pop art movement, producing additional Campbell’s Soup prints as well as his famed celebrity silkscreens of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor. Click here to add this stamp – and its history – to your collection.

My dad’s career as an Air Force officer included working with NASA as an astrobiologist during the early days of the space program. I’m an improviser, interested in science, and specific to this post, astroscience and the search for exoplanets. Exoplanets are planets that orbit around stars other than our sun. The first exoplanet was discovered in 1992. Now nearly 5500 have been identified! The closest star to our own solar system, Proxima Centauri, about 4.25 light years away, has at least two exoplanets. Astronomers don’t “see” exoplanets – they’re too far away. The presence of an exoplanet is measured by dimming and “wobbling” of the light of the star that the exoplanet is passing in front of. Measuring “light curves and data points” provide astronomers “abstract representations” to deduce the existence of an exoplanet. A crucial element in the scientific process of exoplanet research is to then take these abstract representations and create images of “places.” “Place suggests an intimacy that can scale down the cosmos to the level of human experiences.” For this, visual artists are brought in. The illustrators employ skills and a mindset in their work that sound a lot like skills and mindsets of improvisation! 1) Show, don’t tell! Scientists at the NASA Exoplanet Archive understand that to engage the public, they need images to accompany the press releases announcing the discovery of new exoplanets. The artists take the data and make images of places the public can “imagine its way onto.” 2) Tell the story! Make the work specific, create a real environment to, as one of the artists put it “show (the viewer) a picture that’s at least starting to be as cool as what you saw on the ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’ trailer.” And the way they do that, in improviser terms, is to: 3) Over accept! The artists’ process is based on “educated likelihoods.” They are given some vague data about the exoplanet – “it’s this big, it weighs this much, and the star is this temperature.” Their job is to take big leaps. “We know that whenever we do an artist’s concept, it will be wrong” and yet they get the image in part because they “overcommit to what they know.” In short – “to boldly go where no man (sic) has gone before”, you got to improvise!

Prebound books are paperbacks that were originally manufactured for sale on the mass market, then bought or otherwise acquired by a library for use in circulation. Library binding is the name of the process by which prebound books are reinforced and preserved for circulation within a library system. Both are terms specific to libraries and book circulation in general. Prebound books are paperback books that require reinforcement for use in a library. Contemporary paperback books are bound with a cardboard or paper cover, and their pages are bound with glue instead of staples or stitches. Paperback books are cheaper to manufacture than hardcovers, but they are not as durable. Hardcover books require less reinforcement for use in libraries. Usually, a new dust cover can be added to the hardcover book to preserve it for frequent use by library patrons. Library binding is the process by which prebound books are reinforced for use by patrons of a library or book-lending system. The pages of paperback prebound volumes are sewn in place where only glue held them together before. The spines of paperback books are also strengthened to prevent breakage and splitting. The primary purpose of library binding is to prolong the life of the paperback book as an intact volume. It also makes the book easy to open for reading and photocopying purposes. Library binding is a process outsourced by libraries to binding companies. The most common method used to library-bind books is called oversewing. In oversewing, the cover of the paperback's spine is removed, leaving a bundle of loose pages. The pages are then separated into smaller bundles that can be sewn together easily, after which all of the bundled pages are sewn together using an overlock stitch. A durable cloth coated with acrylic is used as the book's new cover. Library Binding Alternatives A cheaper way to preserve paperback books for library use in-house is known as stiffening. To stiffen a paperback book, a strip of cloth or durable material such as Tyvek is glued to the book's inside joints to reinforce the cover's attachment to the pages. Then, a thin strip or board is adhered to the front and back cover of the book, enabling it to stand upright on library shelves and preventing bending and cracking. Goody Clairenstein has been a writer since 2004. She has sat on the editorial board of several non-academic journals and writes about creative writing, editing and languages. She has worked in professional publishing and news reporting in print and broadcast journalism. Her poems have appeared in "Small Craft Warnings." Clairenstein earned her Bachelor of Arts in European languages from Skidmore College.

Kickboxing vs. Boxing: What's the Difference? Kickboxing combines punching and kicking techniques, while boxing is a sport focusing solely on punching and defense with the upper body. Kickboxing is a martial art that blends punching and kicking maneuvers. In contrast, boxing strictly involves the use of hands for punching and defense. Kickboxing allows strikes with feet, knees, and sometimes elbows, offering a wider range of attacks. Boxing, however, is confined to punches, jabs, hooks, and uppercuts. In kickboxing, athletes must defend against both punches and kicks, requiring versatile movement and agility. Boxers focus on footwork and upper body movement for defense. Kickboxing includes various styles like Muay Thai and American kickboxing, each with unique rules. Boxing is more uniform globally, with well-established rules and techniques. Training in kickboxing involves mastering both hand and leg techniques. Boxing training concentrates on hand speed, punch power, and endurance. Punches and kicks Hands, feet, knees, elbows (varies) Upper and lower body Primarily upper body Multiple styles with different rules Mostly uniform rules globally Hand and leg techniques Hand speed, punch power, endurance Kickboxing and Boxing Definitions Kickboxing involves stand-up fighting and clinch fighting techniques. In her kickboxing match, she used a mix of jabs and high kicks. It's a sport where two people wear gloves and throw punches at each other. Boxing requires not only strength but also strategy and endurance. It's a martial art that emphasizes strikes using both hands and feet. Kickboxing classes are popular for their full-body workout benefits. Boxing focuses on punch technique, defense, and footwork. His boxing style is admired for its swift footwork and agility. Kickboxing is a combat sport combining punching and kicking. He trains in kickboxing to improve his overall fighting skills. Boxing is a combat sport involving fighting with fists. The boxing match was won by a knockout in the third round. Kickboxing includes elements of various martial arts like karate and Muay Thai. He incorporates Muay Thai kicks into his kickboxing routine. It's a regulated sport with rounds, governed by strict rules. Professional boxing matches often attract large audiences. It's a sport where athletes use kicks and punches in a ring. Kickboxing tournaments often showcase diverse fighting styles. Boxing is known for its training in punch power and speed. She took up boxing to develop her upper body strength. A martial art in which competitors wear boxing gloves and throw punches as in boxing and kick with their bare feet as in karate. A container typically constructed with four sides perpendicular to the base and often having a lid or cover. (martial arts) A hybrid martial art derived from Muay Thai, karate and especially boxing during the 1960s to 1970s; more generally, any stand-up combat sport that combines kicks and punches. The Japanese kickboxing gym, recently opened in the Thai capital, had been a great success (Black Belt Magazine, March 1973, p. 13) The amount or quantity that such a container can hold. What is boxing? A combat sport focused on fighting with fists, under specific rules. Are kicks allowed in boxing? No, boxing only allows punches. Is kickboxing good for self-defense? Yes, it teaches effective striking and defensive techniques. How do I start training in boxing? Find a local boxing gym and start with basic classes. Is boxing effective for fitness? Absolutely, it improves cardiovascular health and muscle strength. What is kickboxing? A stand-up combat sport involving both punching and kicking. Can kickboxers punch? Yes, punches are a fundamental part of kickboxing. What equipment is essential for boxing? Gloves, hand wraps, and a mouthguard are essential for boxing. What gear is needed for kickboxing? Similar to boxing, but often includes shin guards. How do I start learning kickboxing? Join a gym or a martial arts academy that offers kickboxing classes. Do kickboxing and boxing require different training routines? Yes, kickboxing focuses more on leg strength and flexibility, while boxing concentrates on upper body and punching techniques. Are there weight classes in both sports? Yes, both sports have weight classes to ensure fair competition. Is kickboxing part of the Olympic Games? As of my last update, kickboxing is not an Olympic sport, unlike boxing. Can kickboxing help in losing weight? Yes, it's an intense workout that can aid in weight loss. What's the primary objective in a boxing match? To score points or achieve a knockout through punching. Can I practice both kickboxing and boxing? Certainly, practicing both can enhance overall fighting skills. What's the main goal in a kickboxing match? To outstrike the opponent using both kicks and punches. What are the major boxing organizations? WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO are among the major boxing organizations. Is boxing safe for all ages? With proper training and precautions, it can be safe for various ages. Are there different styles within kickboxing? Yes, including American, Japanese, and Muay Thai styles. Written bySumera Saeed Sumera is an experienced content writer and editor with a niche in comparative analysis. At Diffeence Wiki, she crafts clear and unbiased comparisons to guide readers in making informed decisions. With a dedication to thorough research and quality, Sumera's work stands out in the digital realm. Off the clock, she enjoys reading and exploring diverse cultures. Edited byHuma Saeed Huma is a renowned researcher acclaimed for her innovative work in Difference Wiki. Her dedication has led to key breakthroughs, establishing her prominence in academia. Her contributions continually inspire and guide her field.

India is the third most polluted country and Delhi is a most polluted capital in the world out of 106 countries in 2020. The World Air quality report by swiss technology company IQ Air, released on Tuesday, mention that 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities globally are in India. The study measured the concentration of poisonous PM2.5, particles that are less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can be carried deep into the lungs, as higher PM2.5 levels could cause deadly diseases, including cancer and cardiac problems. Despite wide speed air quality improvements during 2019 - 20 , air pollution in India is still dangerously high. Delhi was followed by Dhakka and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. With in South Asia India cities of Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, bisrakh Jalalpur, Bhiwadi and Noida were cited as a top five most polluted regional cities all of which are part of the national capital region. The main sources of air pollution in Delhi include vehicle exhaust, heavy industry such as power generation, small-scale industries like brick kilns, suspended dust on the roads due to vehicle movement and construction activities, open waste burning, combustion of fuels for cooking, lighting, and heating, and in-situ power generation via diesel generator sets. Compounding the problem are seasonal emissions from dust storms, forest fires, and open field fires during harvest season. Extreme air pollution from these sources affects millions of people in densely populated regions who are exposed to thick, toxic smog for long periods of time. Earlier in February, a Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis of IQAir data said that air pollution caused by hazardous PM2.5 fine particulate matter led to the death of 54,000 people in Delhi in 2020 where pollution levels remained almost six times above the prescribed WHO limits. It said that 1800 deaths per million were estimated due to PM2.5 air pollution in Delhi.

A newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) system that analyzes specialized MRIs of the brain accurately diagnosed children between the ages of 24 and 48 months with autism at a 98.5% accuracy rate, according to research being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Mohamed Khudri, B.Sc., a visiting research scholar at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, was part of a multi-disciplinary team that developed the three-stage system to analyze and classify diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) of the brain. DT-MRI is a special technique that detects how water travels along white matter tracts in the brain. Our algorithm is trained to identify areas of deviation to diagnose whether someone is autistic or neurotypical." Mohamed Khudri, B.Sc., a visiting research scholar at the University of Louisville The AI system involves isolating brain tissue images from the DT-MRI scans and extracting imaging markers that indicate the level of connectivity between brain regions. A machine learning algorithm compares the marker patterns in the brains of children with autism to those of the normally developed brains. "Autism is primarily a disease of improper connections within the brain," said co-author Gregory N. Barnes, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and director of the Norton Children's Autism Center in Louisville. "DT-MRI captures these abnormal connections that lead to the symptoms that children with autism often have, such as impaired social communication and repetitive behaviors." The researchers applied their methodology to the DT-MRI brain scans of 226 children between the ages of 24 and 48 months from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange-II. The dataset included scans of 126 children affected by autism and 100 normally developing children. The technology demonstrated 97% sensitivity, 98% specificity, and an overall accuracy of 98.5% in identifying the children with autism. "Our approach is a novel advancement that enables the early detection of autism in infants under two years of age," Khudri said. "We believe that therapeutic intervention before the age of three can lead to better outcomes, including the potential for individuals with autism to achieve greater independence and higher IQs." According to the CDC's 2023 Community Report on Autism, fewer than half of children with autism spectrum disorder received a developmental evaluation by three years of age, and 30% of children who met the criteria for autism spectrum disorder did not receive a formal diagnosis by 8 years of age. "The idea behind early intervention is to take advantage of brain plasticity, or the ability of the brain to normalize function with therapy," Dr. Barnes said. The researchers said infants and young children with autism receive a delayed diagnosis for several reasons, including a lack of bandwidth at testing centers. Khudri said their AI system could facilitate precise autism management while reducing the time and costs associated with assessment and treatment. "Imaging offers the promise of quickly detecting autism in an objective fashion," Dr. Barnes said. "We envision an autism assessment that begins with DT-MRI followed by an abbreviated session with a psychologist to confirm the results and guide parents on next steps. This approach could reduce the psychologists' workload by up to 30%." The AI system produces a report detailing which neural pathways are affected, the anticipated impact on brain functionality, and a severity grade that can be used to guide early therapeutic intervention. The researchers are working toward commercializing and obtaining FDA clearance for their AI software. Additional co-authors are Mostafa Abdelrahim, B.Sc., Yaser El-Nakieb, Ph.D., Mohamed Ali, Ph.D., Ahmed S. Shalaby, Ph.D., A. Gebreil, M.D., Ali Mahmoud, Ph.D., Ahmed Elnakib, Ph.D., Andrew Switala, Sohail Contractor, M.D., and Ayman S. El-Baz, Ph.D.

Nickel felt is a porous material made from pure nickel metal. It has a three-dimensional network structure with interconnected pores that provide high surface area and excellent fluid transport characteristics. Nickel felt possesses several unique properties such as high thermal conductivity, high electrical conductivity, good corrosion resistance, and high mechanical strength. Due to its unique properties, nickel felt finds applications in various industries such as energy, electronics, aerospace, and biomedical. In the energy sector, nickel felt used as an electrode in batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors due to its high electrical conductivity and large specific surface area. For the electronics industry, it employed as a heat sink for electronic devices due to its high thermal conductivity. In aerospace, nickel felt used in rocket engines and as a lightweight structural material. In biomedical applications, nickel felt is utilized for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biosensing. The production methods of nickel felt include electroplating, chemical vapor deposition, and powder metallurgy. Electroplating involves the electrodeposition of nickel onto a substrate followed by the removal of the substrate to obtain pure nickel felt. Chemical vapor deposition involves the reaction of a nickel-containing precursor with a reducing agent to form nickel felt. Powder metallurgy involves the compaction and sintering of nickel powder to obtain nickel foam. In conclusion, nickel felt is a versatile material with unique properties that make it ideal for various industrial applications. Its production methods have also evolved over time, making it easier to obtain in large quantities.

Maria Martinez — 1880-1980 The most famous potter of the 20th century, Maria Antonia Montoya Martinez was born in the San Ildefonso Pueblo, about 20 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She lived in the Pueblo all of her long life, eager to greet visitors and share her craft with those who came to watch and listen. She was seven years old when her aunt taught her to make pottery. She was fortunate to have a chance to learn this traditional art since by this time pottery was being replaced by inexpensive tin ware and enamelware. By the time she was 13, Maria was a skillful potter. With her marriage to her good friend Julian Martinez, a life-long partnership began that has produced some of the most famous pottery of the Southwest. When Julian helped with the excavation of an ancient Pueblo ruin in 1907-1908, one of the archeologists asked Maria to duplicate the ancient pots. By mixing clay with fine sand, Maria found she could make pots that were equally thin as the ancient ones Maria molded the pots while Julian painted them. From 1909 to 1912 the couple demonstrated pottery-making at the Museum of New Mexico. They tried to duplicate the black pots seen in the museum and found they could blacken them with smoke. For many years, Maria and Julian worked together creating their pottery while raising a family and carrying out the traditional duties of the pueblo. In 1943 Julian died and Maria’s daughter-in-law took over painting the pots. She later worked with her grandson, Popovi Da. One of the family’s most innovative potters is another of Maria’s grandsons, Tony Da. The first Pueblo potter to sign her work, she often gave away her profits to those in need and generously taught other potters to make the black on black pots. She received many national and international awards for her work and continued to make pots until her death in 1980.

The article focuses on the history of the Christian family (and of the Jewish family to a lesser extent) and of the household on Polish soil since 1880s till 1939. It aims at presenting the demographic characteristics of rural families (of peasants, of petty nobility and of landowners) and urban families (of craftsmen, bourgeoisie and intelligentsia) as well as the circumstances of rising and lasting of these families. The Author of the article presents in detail such important features as: the age of the newlyweds, the length of the marriage, fertility rate and the death rate in the families. Furthermore, the Author indicates the influ- ence of the intense economic and social transformations on Polish soil from the second half of XIX century on the role and position of each individual member of the family: the spouses, the children and the grandparents. You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article. Cited by / Share

Everyone knows that China is all about temples. There are Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, Confucian temples. To the untrained eye, most of these look the same, but not all are created equal. Shanghai’s largest Buddhist temple, Longhua, has a remarkable history. We explore the story of human remains and executions, popular cinema and peach blossoms. The story begins in AD242 during the Three Kingdoms Period. Sun Quan, King of the Kingdom of Wu, had allegedly obtained Sharira relics (cremated remains of the Buddha) and he ordered the construction of 13 pagodas across the region to house them. Legend has it that Longhua pagoda, part of the Longhua temple complex, is one of the 13. The temple was a grand site, but it was destroyed by war and had to be rebuilt in AD977 during the Northern Song dynasty. Some claim that this is the date the temple was originally built, but no one knows for sure. Subsequent renovations occurred under the Tongzhi and Guangxu emperors in China’s last dynasty, the Qing. Finally, a complex-wide restoration was undertaken in 1954. Throughout all such renovations, the temple has maintained its Song dynasty architectural design. Aside from the pagoda, the temple contains four main halls, all dedicated to the Maitreya Buddha. Near the entrance of the temple is a bell tower, whose 3.3-ton bronze bell is struck 108 times every New Year’s Eve to bring good fortune to the world. Surrounding the temple is an extensive garden, which contains beautiful peach blossoms that bloom every March. The garden is now a part of neighboring Longhua Martyrs Cemetery. In the 19th century, Longhua temple was the site of numerous public executions. Then, during the brief republican period, Kuomintang nationalists used the temple grounds as the backdrop of mass executions of suspected communists in Shanghai. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese operated their largest civilian internment camp in the area of Longhua temple. J.G. Ballard’s novel Empire of the Sun details this time in history, also claiming that the pagoda was used by the Japanese as a flak cannon tower. In Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation, the pagoda is clearly visible above the prison camp. Fans of the movie will be disappointed to learn that the pagoda is no longer open to the public, due to structural issues. However, the rest of the active temple complex is available for daily tours from 7am-4:30pm. KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD? Connect with like-minded people on our premium trips curated by local insiders and with care for the world Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in. Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special. Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together. Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family. We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.

You know (or at least, you hope) that hitting the gym on a regular basis can help deliver the physical appearance you want. After all, exercising is associated with improved muscle strength and tone, weight loss and maintenance, and better all-around physicality. Additionally, it's no secret regular exercise is associated with better heart health and lower risks of diseases, such as diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and some cancers, too. However, what should be shouted from the rooftops is how incredible exercising can be for brain health. Engaging in exercise on a regular basis can improve mental health, reduce age-related declines in cognition and stave off symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. If you've been waiting around for a magic pill to boost your brain function, it may be time to free your sneakers from their hidey-hole and put them to good use. How it works One way that exercise and brain function are linked is also the reason exercise is good for your cardiovascular system: It causes your heart to pump harder and your lungs to intake more oxygen. This increased blood flow and oxygen delivery to your brain can help "wake you up" and stimulate the release of health-supporting hormones and chemicals in your brain. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. "Exercise can improve brain health in myriad ways," said Ryan Glatt, a fellow of Applied Functional Science and a personal trainer. Glatt is also a brain health coach for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. "It can improve brain health at the micro-level by improving neurotransmitter health, facilitating new connections between brain cells and increasing the number of blood vessels," he added. "At a macro-level, exercise can improve brain blood flow, improve the efficiency of brain activity, and increase or maintain the volume of the brain and certain subregions on the brain, such as the hippocampus, or the memory centers of the brain." HERE to read full article.

It was the office of St. John to prepare the way for Christ, and before he was born into the world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in the womb he knew the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and he leaped with joy at the glad coming of the son of man. In his youth he remained hidden, because He for Whom he waited was hidden also. But before Christ's public life began, a divine impulse led St. John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food and haircloth on his skin, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his own soul. Then, as crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee from the wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of penance, while they confessed their sins. At last there stood in the crowd One Whom St. John did not know, till a voice within told him that it was his Lord. With the baptism of St. John, Christ began His penance for the sins of His people, and St. John saw the Holy Ghost descend in bodily form upon Him. Then the Saint's work was done. He had but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had but to decrease as Christ increased. He saw all men leave him and go after Christ. "I told you," he said, "that I am not the Christ. The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled." St. John had been cast into the fortress of Machaerus by a worthless tyrant whose crimes be had rebuked, and he was to remain there till he was beheaded, at the will of a girl who danced before this wretched king. In this time of despair, if St. John could have known despair, some of his old disciples visited him. St. John did not speak to them of himself, but he sent them to Christ, that they might see the proofs of His mission. Then the Eternal Truth pronounced the panegyric of the Saint who had lived and breathed for Him alone: "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist". Click the link for more Facts and Information about the Patron Saint John the Baptist Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist The Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist is June 24. The origin of Feast Days: most saints have specially designated feast days and are associated with a specific day of the year and these are referred to as the saint's feast day. The feast days first arose from the very early Christian custom of the annual commemoration of martyrs on the dates of their deaths at the same time celebrating their birth into heaven.

Healthcare professionals rely on the DSM-5 to determine mental health diagnoses. The manual has updated its classifications of depressive disorders with critical new guidelines. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), is a reference guide used by healthcare and mental health professionals to more accurately identify and diagnose mental health conditions. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) created the tool to be the go-to guide for mental health conditions in the United States. Important updates and changes have been made to depressive disorders, including major depression — aka depression, major depression, or clinical depression. These changes allow healthcare and mental health professionals to determine the most accurate diagnosis and treatment plan for these conditions. In 1952, the APA published the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to classify mental health conditions and outline their associated diagnosing criteria. Healthcare and mental health professionals often use the DSM as a reference guide for diagnosing mental health conditions. With its latest revision released in 2013, the DSM is now in its 5th edition (DMS-5). Many experts in the mental health field used evidence-based research, literature reviews, and other credible diverse sources of information to revise the DSM. You can find symptoms, criteria, contributing factors, and much more for more than 20 mental health classifications, and even some new conditions were identified and added. Specifiers for each condition listed are added extensions that provide medical professionals with clarifying information to ensure a more accurate diagnosis. When making a diagnosis, all the answers may not be found in this manual, but it’s a great place to start. The DSM-4 was published in 1994. Due to advancements in neuroscience since that time, clinical and public health experts found problems with the previous DSM-4 classification system and its criteria, according to a While the overall impact on the manual was small, the depressive disorders classifications saw significant changes. Mental health and science constantly evolve as new modalities, treatments, and technologies are updated, discovered, or refuted by research and scientific breakthroughs. The DSM changes with each new edition as the medical community learns more about mental health, and it will continue to do so. The updated DSM-5 added two new disorders to depressive disorders: It also updated previous conditions with new criteria, exclusions, and specifiers. What’s new for depressive disorders in the DSM-5? |Bereavement excluded as criteria for major depressive disorder |Bereavement no longer excluded and is discussed as possibly contributing to major depressive disorder |Major depressive disorder |No changes (see added specifiers) |Substance and medication induced depressive disorder |Depressive disorder due to another medical condition |Other specified depressive disorder |Chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder |Merged and renamed to persistent depressive disorder |Added premenstrual dysphoric disorder |Added disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) |Added “mixed features” specifier for bipolar and depressive disorders |Added “anxious distress” specifier Let’s dive into these changes further to better understand their impact. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) is a new condition introduced in the DSM-5 to address symptoms once diagnosed and treated as childhood bipolar disorder. It can be diagnosed in children ages 6 to 18 years of age who exhibit persistent irritability and frequent episodes of extreme out-of-control behavior. Children living with DMDD show symptoms usually before the age of 10, according to the Some of these symptoms can include the following: - aggressive behavior - severe tantrums several times a week for at least one year - chronic irritability - difficulty functioning due to their heightened irritability - reacting out of proportion to the situation DMDD may be a newly classified disorder, but treatment is available. A combination of medication and psychotherapy treatments, such as parent training, is often recommended. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is now an official diagnosis in the DSM-5. It differs from other depressive disorders because of its connection to menstruation. In most menstrual cycles during a year: - at least 5 (or more) of the following symptoms must be present in the week before menstruation - symptoms must start to improve within a few days after the onset of menstruation - symptoms must resolve or become minimal in the week following menstruation To be diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, at least one more of these symptoms must also be present: - affective lability: shifts in mood, sudden sadness or crying, increased sensitivity to rejection - irritability: anger or increased interpersonal conflicts - depression: depressed mood, feelings of hopelessness, or self-deprecating thoughts - anxiety: feelings of anxiousness, tension, or being “keyed up” or “on edge” In addition, at least five of the symptoms below must be present: - lack of or decreased interest in usual activities - difficulty concentrating - fatigue or lack of energy - change in appetite, overeating, or specific food cravings - hypersomnia or insomnia - sense of being overwhelmed or out of control - other physical symptoms such as: - breast tenderness or swelling - joint or muscle pain - weight gain For a diagnosis of PMDD, these symptoms must cause significant distress or interfere with your ability to function in daily life. Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) The DSM-5 also updated persistent depressive disorder, also known as dysthymia. The condition is classified as having a lower level of depression that’s less severe than major depressive disorder but with chronic (long-term) symptoms. This new condition is a combination of chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder. For this diagnosis, a person must experience the symptoms for at least 2 years. Overall, the diagnosis of this condition is rare. Of the Major depressive disorder (MDD) Clinical depression, formerly known as major depressive disorder in the DSM, is commonly diagnosed. Changes to its diagnostic criteria were limited. The core criteria of symptoms for MDD weren’t changed, nor was the requisite 2-week time period needed before it can be diagnosed. Some of the criteria for this diagnosis include: - persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness most of the day, nearly every day - decreased pleasure and interest in most of your regular activities - a sense of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt - energy loss and fatigue - noticeable physical restlessness or slowed movements - difficulty concentrating or making decisions - changes in appetite and weight - sleeping more or less than usual - regular thoughts of death or suicide, with or without a plan for suicide In addition to either the first or second criteria being present for at least 2 weeks, at least 4 more symptoms must also be present for a diagnosis of MDD. Most symptoms should be present nearly every day. There’s been much discussion about removing the “bereavement exclusion” from the diagnosis of major depression, but not much will change for most clinicians. This exclusion is applied only if a person presents with major depressive symptoms within the first 2 months after the death of a loved one. This exclusion was omitted in the DSM-5 for several reasons, including: - removing the idea that bereavement lasts only 2 months - acknowledging that bereavement can lead to a major depressive episode and generally begin soon after a loss - bereavement-related major depression may more likely occur in people with a history of major depressive episodes - the depressive symptoms associated with bereavement can be treated with the same therapy and medication options as depression that’s not related to bereavement When MDD occurs in the context of bereavement, in addition to depressive symptoms, a person might also experience: - feelings of worthlessness - poor physical (somatic) health - inability to function in daily life, including at home, work, or with friends - increased chance for persistent complex bereavement disorder - suicidal ideation A detailed footnote is included in the criteria for MDD to help mental health professionals determine whether a person is experiencing bereavement-related major depressive disorder. Specifiers for depressive disorders There are a few new specifiers added: - mixed symptoms: this new specifier has been added across the bipolar and depressive disorders to allow for the possibility of manic features in people with unipolar depression - anxious distress: this specifier allows for the ability to rate the severity of anxious distress in people with bipolar or depressive disorders Major depressive disorder impacts the lives of many people in the United States. The Mental health professionals rely on the DSM-5 to provide an accurate and consistent diagnosis. With the implementation of the DSM-5, depressive disorders saw some new classifications added with current conditions updated to reflect new research and scientific breakthroughs in mental health.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, it’s important to understand the condition and what treatment options are available. In this article, we’ll cover the basics of Hashimoto’s disease, including its causes, symptoms, and treatment options. We’ll also provide some tips on how to manage the condition and live a healthy life. If you’re looking for help for Hashimoto’s, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go over what Hashimoto’s is, what causes it, and how it can be treated. What is Hashimoto’s Disease? Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is responsible for producing hormones that regulate the body’s metabolism. In people with Hashimoto’s, the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, causing it to become inflamed and unable to produce enough hormones. This can lead to a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, weight gain, anxiety, and depression. Hashimoto’s is the most common form of autoimmune thyroiditis, and it is estimated to affect up to 5% of the population. What Causes Hashimoto’s Disease? The exact cause of Hashimoto’s disease is unknown, but it is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. People with a family history of autoimmune diseases are more likely to develop Hashimoto’s, and women are more likely to be affected than men. Other risk factors for Hashimoto’s include being overweight, having high levels of stress, exposure to certain toxins or viruses, and being over the age of 60. What are the Symptoms of Hashimoto’s Disease? Hashimoto’s can also cause hypothyroidism, which is when the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough hormones. Hypothyroidism can lead to a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, weight gain, and depression, anxiety, hair loss, dry skin, and muscle aches. In some cases, people with Hashimoto’s may also experience goiter, which is an enlargement of the thyroid gland. How is Hashimoto’s Disease Diagnosed? Hashimoto’s disease is diagnosed based on symptoms and a physical examination. Blood tests can also be used to check for levels of thyroid hormones and antibodies. Imaging tests, such as ultrasound or MRI, may also be ordered to evaluate the thyroid gland. Hashimoto’s disease is typically diagnosed with a blood test. The most common blood test used to diagnose Hashimoto’s is the thyroperoxidase antibody (TPOAb) test. This test looks for antibodies that attack the thyroid gland. Other blood tests that may be used to diagnose Hashimoto’s include the thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) test and the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) test. If you think you may have Hashimoto’s disease, it’s important to see your doctor for a diagnosis. Early diagnosis and treatment is important to help minimize the damage to the thyroid gland and reduce the risk of complications. What are the Treatment Options for Hashimoto’s Disease? There is no cure for Hashimoto’s disease, but there are treatments that can help manage the symptoms and minimize the damage to the thyroid gland. The most common treatment for Hashimoto’s is levothyroxine, which is a synthetic form of the hormone thyroxine. Levothyroxine replaces the hormones that are not being produced by the thyroid gland. It is important to take levothyroxine as prescribed by your doctor, as the dosage may need to be adjusted over time. Other treatment options for Hashimoto’s include thyroid hormone replacement therapy and surgery. In other cases, treatment involves taking synthetic thyroid hormone replacement therapy. This can help restore normal hormone levels and improve symptoms. Other treatment options include surgery to remove the thyroid gland, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. Hashimoto’s disease is a chronic condition, which means it will require lifelong management. There are a few things you can do to help manage the condition and live a healthy life. These include following a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and avoiding stress. It’s also important to see your doctor for regular checkups and to monitor your thyroid hormone levels. How Can I Manage Hashimoto’s Disease? There is no cure for Hashimoto’s disease, but there are treatments that can help manage the condition. It is important to work with your doctor to develop a treatment plan that is right for you. Some lifestyle changes that may help include eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and reducing stress. You should also avoid exposure to toxins or viruses, and make sure to get enough rest. Hashimoto’s disease is a common autoimmune disorder that can cause a variety of symptoms. Although there is no cure for Hashimoto’s, there are treatments that can help manage the condition. If you think you may have Hashimoto’s, be sure to talk to your doctor.

Watch a film from The Festival of the Mind bringing the heritage of Sheffield Castle to life. Sheffield's Castlegate area is so named because of a thriving cultural and political centre that established the city in the 12th century, with a historically significant castle at its centre. It is only now that we are starting to uncover more about this incredible site, and discover that Sheffield's making heritage dates back much further than we thought. Professor John Moreland of the University of Sheffield has been at the forefront of the team of people piecing together our city's historical narrative. He has pulled together archaeological finds from excavations in the 1920s, 1950s and 1990s as well as those from Manor Lodge in the 1960s and 1980s - and most recently a project with Wessex Archaeology in 2018. Marrying together all of this knowledge provides the world with the only complete history of Sheffield Castle, and he has published it all in one book which you can download for free here. The Wessex Archaeology project uncovered many significant findings. Firstly, it provided evidence to show that the castle was most likely a product of Norman settlement (as opposed to the assumed Anglo-Saxon roots) - principally because of carbon dating of findings of original building materials and work. Other findings showed that metal work was taking place in or around the castle as far back as the 12th and 13th centuries, meaning the heritage of steel and making goes back way further than the industrial periods of the 20th century. The Castle site is situated at the confluence of the River Don and Sheaf, and is but a short distance from Manor Lodge - which was a vast green space and prime deer hunting area for many centuries. The incarceration of Mary Queen of Scots in the 1500s for many years meant that Sheffield had significant political connections, whilst the leather, pottery, metal and remains of other artefacts demonstrate that production of materials and cultural influence all featured. This is significant because large scale regeneration of Castlegate is underway - and in order to create a vision for the city's future we must understand our heritage in the past. And to know that this is not just a place with a recent history of manufacturing, but a place of layered significance, gives greater meaning to the new forms of making that will tell Castlegate's new story. Perhaps one day we may even be able to visit and see findings and reconstructions right in the heart of Sheffield.

Table of Contents What are the classification of a rat? What are the 7 classification of rat? Data Quality Indicators: |Muroidea Illiger, 1811 |Muridae Illiger, 1811 – campagnols, rats, souris, mice, rats, voles |Murinae Illiger, 1811 – Old World rats, Old World mice |Rattus Fischer, 1803 – Old World Rats |Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) – rat surmulot, Brown Rat, Norway Rat Is a fancy rat a brown rat? Domesticated rats, also called “Fancy Rats”, are a subspecies of wild brown rats, essentially. They were first bred into being by rat-catchers and others in the 18th and 19th century. And, yes, fancy rat is the scientific term for these popular pets. What are 3 types of rats? - NORWAY RAT (BROWN RAT) - SHIP RAT (BLACK RAT or ROOF RAT) - WOODRAT (PACKRAT) - MARSH RICE RAT. What is the classification of a black rat? The black rat (Rattus rattus), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus Rattus, in the subfamily Murinae…. What is full form of rat? Rapid antigen tests (RATs) were recommended in India for COVID-19 testing in June 2020. However, the use of these tests is currently limited to containment zones and health care settings. Why rats are bad pets? Rats can catch ringworm and staph infections from humans. They can also contract Bordetella (kennel cough) from dogs, which is almost always lethal to rats. Humans can get rat-bite fever and hantavirus from pet rats, both of which rarely arise as a problem within the rat fancy. How can you tell a rats age? There are four main ways to tell how old a rat is. The color of their teeth, their size, the condition of their coat, and their energy levels, when looked at in conjunction, can give you a good estimate of your pet rat’s age. Have you ever looked at your rats’ teeth and thought, “Someone needs to see a dentist”? How do you identify a rat? Rats are generally larger than mice. While young rats can sometimes be mistaken for mice, they can be distinguished by their disproportionately long feet and oversized head. Both rodents are capable of chewing through hard, wooden surfaces, but rat teeth marks are much larger than those of mice. What is a swamp rat? Nutria, also known as coypu or swamp rats, are large rodents that live in areas with lots of freshwater. These mammals are native to South America and were introduced into the United States between 1899 and 1930 through the fur industry, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). What is a black rat called? Rattus rattushouse rat(Also: black rat; roof rat; ship rat) What is the scientific name for a black rat? Black rat/Scientific names How did the fancy rat get its name? Over generations, the wild species of the brown rat have been bred through the years and now have become docile enough to become our house pets. Interestingly they get the name “fancy rat” as a promotional means to sell a domesticated brown rat. The Fancy rat scientific name is Rattus norvegicus domestica. What’s the difference between a fancy rat and a brown rat? A fancy rat isn’t actually any different to a regular brown rat. Although many people think it’s all to do with their colors, a fancy rat is just a way of describing a pet or show rat! This means that fancy rat care just needs to provide what a wild rat would naturally need to stay happy and healthy. What makes a fancy rat a good pet? Fancy rats are sociable, playful, intelligent, and affectionate. They make wonderful pets, so if you’ve been considering adding a pet rat (or two!) to your family, then you’re in the right place. Fancy rats are gentle and make great small pets for kids, as they’re easier to handle and more playful than the more popular hamster! What’s the difference between a Dumbo and fancy rat? The American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFRMA) has classified these small pets based on their fur texture—Standard, Rex, Tailless, Hairless, Dumbo, Satin, and Bristle Coat. If you are considering having a pet rat, you need to know the difference between Fancy Rats and Dumbo Rats.

Brake fluid is very important in the vehicle. A vehicle that has no brake fluid is capable of causing accident that would claim lives, money and property. So, keeping your brake fluid topped up is incredibly vital. Without it, your braking system will cease to function, putting you and your passengers’ lives in jeopardy, and potentially damaging your vehicle. We will like to explain what a brake fluid is and how it functions in a car. Brake fluid is a hydraulic fluid that helps with the movement of the brake pedal. Another important thing it does is that it lubricates the brake system. It also helps to prevent corrosion. For most vehicles, the brake fluid is glycol-ether based. In some other types of vehicles, the brake fluid could be silicone-based (DOT-5) or mineral oil-based (LHM). Before you add brake fluid, be sure to take a look at your owner’s manual to see what is necessary for your particular make and model. Your car’s brake system is one of several automotive hydraulic systems. When you push down on the brake pedal, fluid is delivered through the brake lines from the master cylinder to the brake drums or discs, slowing the car through friction. To make the system work properly, you need to have enough brake fluid in the system, and it needs to be in good condition to do its job properly in the vehicle. Therefore, brakes are one of the most critical components of your vehicle, and it’s not hard to see why! Because of this, proper brake maintenance is absolutely essential. One of the most important maintenance tasks is checking your brake fluid. You may be wondering how to check brake fluid. It’s pretty simple checking your brake fluid level and topping it up is a simple task! Locating the Brake Fluid Reservoir For you to check your brake fluid level, first pack the car on a flat surface. You then let your car cool down if it’s been running which will make it hot. Then access the engine underneath your hood. How you open the hood varies with different cars and trucks, too (again, your owner’s manual can help with this). There’s usually a lever or button inside the cabin located at side of driver’s side directly opposite his knee while sitting down on the driver’s seat which is most accessible to the driver, often along the left side. Once you find and activate it, you will hear the sound hood “pop” open. As a safety measure, popping the hood is only the first step. Step around to the front of the vehicle and feel under the center of the hood. You’ll find a lever that you need to move or pull until you can lift the hood up the rest of the way. Be sure to secure the hood so it doesn’t fall back down. Newer vehicles sometimes have a built-in system, but others will require you to lift a brace to hold up the hood. It’s easy to check the condition of your brake fluid on modern cars. There is a clear plastic reservoir in the engine compartment back on the firewall. It has marks for minimum and maximum levels. As long as the fluid is in between these two marks, there is enough. If you indeed have to add brake fluid, make sure you use the type specified in your owner’s manual. There are three specifications for brake fluid: DOT 3, DOT 4, and DOT 5. Make sure you only use the type your car calls for, as the different types should not be mixed. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means it can attract and hold water, which in turn can cause corrosion to the brake system components. So how do you know when it is time to change your brake fluid? Most manufacturers have a recommended time interval to change your brake fluid, usually every two years. This is a fine way to make sure your brake fluid is changed regularly, but there are better ways to gauge if your brake fluid is still good after two years. Check the color of the brake fluid: Fresh brake fluid is clear to slightly yellow in color. If your brake fluid is brown or black, it’s a solid indication that it might need changing. Further testing will confirm that. Use a brake fluid test strip: This determines if there is copper in the brake fluid and indicates the on-going ability to inhibit corrosion. These strips will quickly tell you if your brake fluid is still serviceable or if it needs to be changed. It is important you check the moisture of your brake fluid. Since brake fluid absorbs water over time, gets diluted and its effectiveness is reduced. This can lead to corrosion of brake components like brake calipers, which can stick brake lines that can corrode; and seals that can degrade Because water has a lower boiling point than brake fluid, this can have an impact on braking capability. A spongy brake pedal is an indication of water in a brake system that has boiled and become a gas in the system. Over the course of two years of normal braking, a car’s brake system can absorb 5 percent of its volume in water. Cleaning off the cap before you open it helps keep the brake fluid clean and free of contaminants (including moisture), which can make your brakes work less efficiently and even corrode the interior of your brake system . It could even lead to a failure of your anti-lock braking system. So be safe: Take a clean rag and wipe off any loose particles from the cap. The simple method of what we have said on how best to check brake fluid is by the following: Open the car’s hood. It’s best to do this when the car is stopped on a level surface, with the engine cold. Look for the master cylinder. On most cars, the master cylinder is located at the back of the engine bay, on the driver’s side. There’s a reservoir above the cylinder itself. Check the fluid level in the reservoir. On most new cars, the reservoir is transparent, with lines marked Min and Max the brake fluid level should fall between these lines. Cars older than the 1980s may have metal reservoirs, requiring you to remove the reservoir cap. Newer caps screw on and off, while some older caps need to be pried off with a screwdriver. Add brake fluid to the reservoir if required. Pour the fluid carefully into the reservoir, wiping up any spills, as brake fluid is toxic and corrosive. - Use only the brake fluid with the DOT specification recommended in your owner’s manual. There are three main specifications: DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5, each having its own properties. It is possible to use DOT 4 brake fluid in some cars that call for DOT 3 fluid, but never the reverse and DOT 5 brake fluid can be used only in cars that call for that specification. Note that most cars indicate the required brake fluid DOT at the reservoir cap. This is also a good time to check how well the reservoir cap seals. Replace the reservoir cap and close the hood. If the brake fluid level is significantly below the “Min” or “Add” line, you should have your brakes inspected for excessive wear. As brake pads wear down, brake fluid can channel itself out of the brake lines into the callipers. Read More: Symptoms of Blown Piston Ring It is also possible to have the brake fluid reservoir full and not have the brake fluid reaching the master cylinder. If your brakes feel spongy even with the reservoir full, take your car to a mechanic for repairs. This is the best way to check brake fluid to avoid jeopardizing you and your passengers, even your car in accident. In the next article, we are going to publish what it will cost you to flush brake fluid.

Over the last 13 years, First Nations communities in Canada have experienced over 1,300 emergencies, leading to over 580 evacuations, and affecting over 130,000 people. Furthermore, Indigenous Services Canada spends up to 3.5 times more on response and recovery from emergences than on preparedness and mitigation activities. A better approach is needed. Calian is committed to pursuing meaningful engagement with First Nations communities in preparing for and responding to emergencies. Read on to learn about our research efforts toward this goal in partnership with the University of Manitoba. University of Manitoba Research Project—Integrating Local Knowledge and Emergency Preparedness Calian funded a research project through the University of Manitoba addressing Indigenous engagement in the field of emergency management—focused on how Indigenous communities are consulted before, during and after emergencies to assist in preventative, mitigative and reactive measures. The project completed a comprehensive literature review of existing research in this field. It was important to Calian for the project to be led by an Indigenous research team. The project—conducted by University of Manitoba student Tia Wilson and supervised by Assistant Professor Daniel Henhawk—identified areas where the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and emergency preparedness best practices has been effective or faced challenges. This groundwork will play a central role toward building effective relationships that support emergency management practices meeting the unique needs of Indigenous communities. The eventual goal of the project is to support a framework for Indigenous community engagement centered around both Indigenous knowledges and emergency preparedness best practices. The framework will enable pathways for communication and mutual understanding from all sides, acknowledging that existing emergency preparedness protocols were often designed without consideration for Indigenous ways of knowing. For example, Indigenous communities have intimate understandings of local roads, watercourses, weather patterns and other relevant factors. “Indigenous knowledge does not need to work alone,” says Tia Wilson (Graduate Student, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management (University of Manitoba). “It can work in tandem with Western knowledges to help communities best equip themselves and respond to emergencies”. The infographic provides an overview of information that is important to consider when engaging Indigenous communities. In the context of emergency preparedness, this information can provide a basic framework to help guide the development of processes that engage communities and build ethical relationships while recognizing the complexity of issues when working with Indigenous communities. Calian is proud to support initiatives aiming to bridge gaps and carve new ways forward, but we recognize there is more work to do. We look forward to expanding this research in keeping with our Indigenous Engagement Policy and better meet the needs of partners, suppliers, companies and communities in this space. For more information on the development of Indigenous engagement in relation to emergency preparedness and emergency management, view the infographic here. Calian’s commitment to pursuing meaningful engagement with First Nations communities in the emergency management space demonstrates our commitment to the Calian ESG vision: Collaboration to Advance Resilience Excellence and Sustainability—Calian CARES™ February 26, 2024 | By Dr. Nina Fusco and Dr. Jennifer Short Self-stigma and the deeper story we tell ourselves about seeking support for mental health Beyond external stigma based on long-standing societal misconceptions around mental health, there’s an internal story we tell ourselves. It’s a story where we minimize the feelings we’re having, or even shame ourselves for feeling them in the first place. February 15, 2024 #FacesOfCalian: Dr. Nina Fusco Learn more about Dr. Fusco in our latest Faces of Calian! February 6, 2024 2024 Future Look: Calian, Advanced Technologies Calian’s Advanced Technologies space division’s focus on delivery performance in the past year included innovation and finding new ways to enhance product solutions to meet customer needs. With highly integrated engineering and manufacturing capabilities, Calian’s Advanced Technologies continues to offer a full...

Chiropractic is a branch of alternative medicine, which helps in diagnosing, treating and preventing conditions or medical problems of the neuromusculoskeletal system. D.D. Palmer founded this branch of alternative medicine in the 1890s and it was further developed in the early 20th century by his son, B.J. Palmer. There are two primary divisions of chiropractic: “Straights,” which are currently a minority. This division believes that vertebral subluxation is the root cause of all diseases and they consider vitalism, innate intelligence and adjustments of the spine important. The second division comprises of the “mixers.” This division is more amenable to conventional beliefs and medical techniques such as massage, ice therapy and exercise. Chiropractic care is often used to treat problems of the neuromusculoskeletal system, which includes, but is not limited to back pain, neck pain, joint pain and headaches. Doctors of Chiropractic are usually referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians. Chiropractors use a hands-on and a drug-free approach known as spinal manipulation/ adjustment which helps in examining the patients, their diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractors have a wide range of diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend rehabilitative and therapeutic exercises along with providing counseling on nutrition, diet and lifestyle. A chiropractor does not prescribe medicines or do surgery. Rather, a chiropractor treats through manual therapies like spinal manipulation and mobilization. This is the common therapeutic procedure done by the chiropractors, i.e. “spinal manipulation” or “chiropractic adjustment.” The aim of this adjustment is to restore the joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force to the joints which have restricted movements due to tissue injury. Injury to the tissue causes pain, inflammation, and reduced functioning in an individual. Chiropractic manipulation or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues helps in restoring mobility, relieving pain and muscle stiffness along with speeding up the healing process in the tissues. Patients rarely experience discomfort during a chiropractic adjustment; however, some patients may feel slight soreness or aching after the treatment. This usually resolves within 12 to 48 hours.[3,4] Other than spinal manipulations, Chiropractors also employ other methods such heat/cold application, exercise, ultrasound, dietary advice, massage, diathermy, hydrotherapy, electrical muscle stimulation, traction, cold laser therapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators (TENS) and infrared radiation for treatment. In conditions like lower back pain, chiropractic care may be the chief method of treatment. In other medical conditions, chiropractic care helps by complementing or supporting the medical treatment by solving the musculoskeletal problems associated with the condition. The technique of Chiropractic manipulation comprises of applying pressure on the vertebrae which are not functioning properly. The primary goal of chiropractic treatment is to reduce the dislocation or subluxation and thus, improve the patient’s range of motion and function and reduce the nerve irritability. Chiropractic manipulation is safe and should be applied by a professional chiropractor. Some contraindications to chiropractic adjustments/manipulation are osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, or any medical condition which can cause instability of the joints. Chiropractors assess their patients through clinical examination, laboratory testing, imaging tests etc. to help determine the feasibility of the chiropractic treatment. If chiropractic treatment is not feasible, then the chiropractor refers the patient to the appropriate health care provider. Chiropractic Medicine and Its Fundamental Beliefs: - The human body has a very strong ability to heal itself. - The body’s structure, particularly, the spine and its function are connected. - The goal of chiropractic medicine is stabilizing this connection or link. Technique of Chiropractic Adjustment Chiropractic manipulation consists of: - A short lever arm thrust with high velocity pressure is applied on the vertebra. - Following this, due to the release of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, an audible cracking of the joints or joint cavitation occurs, which releases the pressure or cavitation in the joint. - Patients often feel an easing or relaxing sensation; but sometimes, they may experience slight discomfort which subsides after a short period of time. The reason for this discomfort is, if the patient becomes tense or stiff during the manipulation/adjustment, this causes spasm in the adjacent muscles and some discomfort. - If the patient is tensed and not sufficiently relaxed during the manipulation, this prevents the joint cavitation or cracking from occurring. In situations like this, the chiropractor may apply ice and allow the patient to relax or do electrical stimulation and massage before trying the chiropractic adjustment again. Benefits of Chiropractic Manipulation - Improved joint movement. - Pain reduction. - Increased ability to tolerate pain and pressure to the paraspinal muscles. - Tension and muscle electrical activity is reduced. - It improves the blood circulation and temperature of the skin distally. - Stabilizes blood pressure. - Increases melatonin production. - The levels of plasma beta endorphin are increased. - The neutrophil respiratory burst and substance P are increased. - What is a Chiropractic Adjustment: Indications, Risks, Procedure, What to Expect after Chiropractic Adjustment - Should I Consider Chiropractic Treatment? Facts, Diseases Treated By Chiropractors - Diversified Technique-Chiropractic Treatment For Joint Dysfunction - Extremity Adjustment in Chiropractic Treatment: Symptoms of Extremity Fixation, Subluxation - Graston Technique (GT) in Chiropractic Treatment: Precautions, Contraindications - Sacro-Occipital Technique or SOT Adjustment in Chiropractic Treatment