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Parasite: Any organism which in its natural habitat feeds and lives on or in a different organism. Plasma: The clear fluid of blood and lymph in which cells are suspended; it also contains dissolved proteins. Plasma Membrane: a delicate structure which encloses the cell, separating the contents of the cell from the surrounding environment. Plasmids: Any extrachromosomal replicating unit or hereditary determinant, also called paragene. Polio: A highly contagious infectious disease caused by a filterable virus and occurring most commonly in children ; in its acute form it involves the spinal cord causing paralysis. Protease: Any enzyme which acts upon the peptide bonds of proteins and peptides; a protein-splitting or hydrolyzing enzyme. Prevalence: The number of people with a specific condition in a given population. Protein: Proteins are nitrogen-rich compounds that are formed from complex series of amino acids. They are fundamental to many of the processes of life, and are the fundamental building blocks for much of the substance of cellular and non-cellular life. Provirus: A virus that has become and integral part of the host cell chromosome and is transmitted from one cell generation to another. Rate of infection: The degree of speed or progression of an epidemic. Receptor site: A structure of protein on the outside of the cell membrane - receptor sites allow cells to identify each other and serve as attachment points for biological substances that produce a alterations in cell function. Viruses use receptor sites to identify a host cell and attach to it. Retrovirus: A large group of RNA viruses. Rhinovirus: The virus that causes the common cold. Ribosome: One of the minute granules free in the cytoplasm or attached to the endoplasmic reticulum of a cell, containing a high concentration of RNA. Ribosomes are the cell's "factories" - they are the place where all protein synthesis occurs. Messenger RNA (mRNA) messages from the nucleus are translated by the ribosomes, which build the encoded proteins. RNA: The abbreviation for ribonucleic acid, a form of genetic material. RNA is much less stable than DNA, and mutates frequently during its reproduction. For this reason, all life forms (with the exception some viruses) use it only as a temporary messenger molecule to carry information that is permanently stored in DNA. RNA virus: A specialized set of viruses that use RNA, rather than DNA, for the storage of their genetic information. "Sense" strand: Most genetic material, both DNA and RNA, appears as two chains or strands of nucleotides wound together into a double helix - the common picture of DNA. Each nucleotide - A, T, C and G - has an attractive opposite (A attracts T, C attracts G). As a result, one strand, the "sense" strand, contains the information (for example, ATG-AAA) and the other strand, the "antisense" strand contains the opposite of this information (TAC-TTT - according to the pairing rules). Antisense RNA is the "antisense" half of a complete double RNA strand. RNA viruses consist of two types - "sense" RNA viruses, whose genetic material consists of the "sense" half of a complete strand, and "antisense" RNA viruses, which have the "antisense" half. Sense RNA viruses can have their genetic material read out directly by the ribosomes of their host cells - antisense RNA viruses must first copy themselves into a "sense" strand of RNA. Serum hepatitis: A form of viral hepatitis transmitted by injection or exposure to human blood or blood products contaminated with hepatitis viruses. Shingles: Infection of the ganglia of the posterior roots of the spinal nerves or the fifth cranial nerve by the varcella-zoster virus (shingles), which also causes chicken pox; it is marked by a painful eruption of vesicles usually on one side of the body along the course of one or more cutaneous nerves. Subcelluar: Below the level of a complete cell. The various organelles and structures that make up a complete cell exist at the "subcellular" level. Strain: A group or stock of microorganisms made up of descendents of a single isolation in a pure culture. Synthesis: The formation of a new compound by putting together simpler compounds or elements.

'Oddball' moon Hyperion This NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens image reveals the odd shape of Saturn's moon Hyperion and an intriguing variation in brightness across its surface. Hyperion is one of the smaller moons of Saturn, with a diameter of 266 kilometres, but larger than Phoebe. It has a pock-marked body and is one of the largest irregularly shaped satellites ever observed. Hyperion might have had a major collision which blew part of the moon away. Its eccentric orbit makes it subject to gravitational forces from Saturn which have set it tumbling out of control. The largest crater on its surface is approximately 120 kilometres in diameter and 10 kilometres deep. With evidence of bombardment by meteors, and its irregular shape, Hyperion appears to be the oldest surface in the Saturnian system. This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft narrow-angle camera on 20 October 2004, at a distance of about 2.2 million kilometres from Hyperion. The image scale is 13 kilometres per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a co-operative project of NASA, ESA and ASI, the Italian space agency. Credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Creating a wheelchair accessible classroom takes planning and flexibility. One of the best ways to determine what needs a wheelchair-bound student might encounter is put yourself in his or her shoes. Most schools should already have sufficiently wide classroom doors. In order for a wheelchair to safely pass through, the door should at least be thirty-six inches wide. This is also true of the aisles in the classroom. Make sure that any desk arrangements leave at least thirty-six inches of space for a wheelchair to pass between. As more and more schools become overcrowded, this can be a tricky feat for classrooms with over thirty students. Check with other teachers to see if they have a creative solution to their desk arrangements. If your school does not provide wheelchair accessible tables, bring up the issue at the next Parent-Teacher Association or Organization meeting. Being in a wheelchair brings with it certain physical challenges and it can be difficult to study or work without a proper table. Many of them come in styles similar to the look of classroom desks, so students do not have to feel different from their peers. You may want to consider arranging the desks so the wheelchair accessible one is near the classroom door or in an outer area from the other desks, however, setting up a wheelchair-bound student completely apart from his or her peers is not advised. Incorporate the accessible desk naturally into the arrangement among other students. Observe the classroom from a seated level. Take a chair around all areas of the classroom or roll around in a wheeled teacher’s chair. Consider how high book and supply shelves are. In elementary schools, this isn’t so much of a problem because all units are built for shorter students, but higher shelves are quite common in upper grades. Think about any posters and other visual learning material on display around the classroom. Are these easily seen from a seated position?

The latest find from an international planet-hunting team of amateur and professional astronomers is one of the oddest extrasolar planets ever cataloged -- a mammoth orb more than 13 times the mass of Jupiter that orbits its star in less than four days. Researchers from the U.S.-based XO Project unveiled the planet, XO-3b, at today's American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu. Christopher Johns-Krull, a Rice University astronomer and presenter of the team's results, said, "This planet is really quite bizarre. It is also particularly appropriate to be announcing this find here, since the core of the XO project is two small telescopes operating here in Hawaii." "Of the 200-plus exoplanets found so far, XO-3b is an oddity in several respects," said XO Project director Peter McCullough, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "It's the largest and most massive planet yet found in such a close orbit, and given the proximity of the orbit to the star, we were surprised to find that the orbit is not circular but significantly elliptical." Given all its eccentricities, XO-3b is likely to pique the interest of astronomers who study planet formation, McCullough said. "We are intrigued that its mass is on the boundary between planets and 'brown dwarfs,'" Johns-Krull said, "There's still a lively debate among astronomers about how to classify brown dwarfs." Any stellar mass that's large enough to fuse hydrogen -- anything more than about 80 Jupiter masses -- is a star. Brown dwarfs are massive objects that fall short of being stars. "The controversy lies at the lower end of the scale," said Johns-Krull, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Rice. "Some people believe anything capable of fusing deuterium, which in theory happens around 13 Jupiter masses, is a brown dwarf. Others say it's not the mass that matters, but whether the body forms on its own or as part of a planetary system." By virtue of their mass, any planet big enough to contend for brown dwarf status should be easy for most planet hunters to spot. That's because astronomers don't actually look for planets when they scan the sky; they generally look for stars that wobble due to the gravitational pull of planets orbiting around them. The larger the planet, the more wobble it creates, so planet hunters using this "radial velocity" method expected to find a lot of brown dwarfs when they started scanning the sky for wobbling stars a decade ago. That hasn't happened, and the dearth of supersized objects has become known in the field as the "brown dwarf desert." What also makes XO-3b intriguing is the fact that it's a "transiting planet," meaning it passes in front of its star during each orbit. Fewer than two dozen transiting planets have been identified, and XO-3b is the third found by the XO Project, which was designed specifically to look for them. The XO Project benefits from its partnership between professional and amateur astronomers. The XO Project begins its search with a telescope located on Haleakala summit operated by the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii. The telescope is created from two commercially available 200-millimeter telephoto camera lenses. Using the Haleakala telescope, XO's professional team first identifies candidate stars that dim ever so slightly from time to time. XO's amateur astronomers observe these candidates over time and look for further evidence that the dimming is due to a transiting planet. Once enough evidence is in place, the professional team uses large telescopes -- the 2.7-meter Harlan J. Smith Telescope and the 11-meter Hobby-Ebberly Telescope, both at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory in West Texas -- to confirm the presence of a transiting planet. "There are many astrophysical systems out there that mimic transiting planets," McCullough said. "The only way to sort out the real planets from the rest is to observe the stars more carefully. Observation time on big telescopes is scarce, and that's where our amateur partners come in, culling our long lists of candidates down to more manageable size to observe with the big telescopes. The XO Project benefits enormously from the clear skies of Haleakala and the availability of telescopes such as the Hobby-Ebberly, Spitzer, and Hubble and their capable staffs that operate them. The global reach and dedication of our amateur collaborators is especially noteworthy. "I like to point out that Olympic athletes are amateurs too," McCullough said. The XO Project is funded primarily by NASA and the Director's Discretionary Fund of STScI. AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

England’s King Edward IV died leaving his sons in the care of his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Richard placed the boys in the Tower of London in preparation of the eldest son, Edward’s, coronation. The boys disappeared in 1483 and Richard assumed the throne himself. In the end, Richard probably murdered them, but the evidence is circumstantial. Edward IV died in 1483. He named his brother, Richard, Lord Protector of the Kingdom for his son, 12-year-old Edward V. Richard moved his nephews, Edward and Richard of Shrewsbury, to the Tower of London. The boys would remain there until the June 22 coronation. With the new king safely under lock and key, Richard annulled Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville making the boys illegitimate and therefore invalidating their claims to the throne. Next, parliament rubber stamped Richard’s action and he assumed the throne. Richard, Duke of Gloucester became Richard III. Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York remained threats to Richard III. They were last seen alive in August. They simply disappeared. Rumors immediately swirled. Many believed Richard III murdered the two princes. Two months after the last sighting of the princes, Richard faced a revolt led by Henry Stafford, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Richard defeated and executed Stafford. Then, Henry Tudor landed in England and finally defeated Richard III. Richard died in battle in 1485. Whether the princes were alive or dead at the time of Richard’s demise is unknown. Richard III is the most likely suspect in the princes’ disappearance. He nullified their royal clams and assumed power. However, some have argued Henry Tudor murdered the children after defeating Richard. The boys would have posed a threat to Tudor’s tenuous claim to the throne. As Henry VII, Tudor executed potential rivals. However, the boys had disappeared before Richard’s death. On top of this, Richard most likely would have produced the children for his critics to quell the accusations against him. Additionally, Richard did not investigate the disappearances and allegedly mentioned their “murder.” Nearly 200 years after their disappearance, workers discovered the skeletons of two children while working on renovations in the tower. Most assumed it was the princes. In 1933, forensic scientists examined the bones, but shed little new information on the identity of the remains. To date, the current royal family has declined to allow more rigorous scientific testing. Queen Elizabeth II wants to let the boys rest. Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury disappeared in 1483. Although the evidence is circumstantial, Richard III remains the most likely suspect. He legally eliminated their inheritance rights and stole the throne. He did not investigate their murder nor did he produce the boys to exonerate himself or stop the rumors about their murder. They represented a threat to his power, so he eliminated them.

Three of the members of the Smithereens met in Carteret High School. - The city of Rahway was originally known as Spanktown. According to legend, the name was derived from one of the prominent settlers being known for publicly chastising his wife. - The Battle of Spanktown took place on February 23, 1777, when American forces under General Maxwell fought and defeated a British brigade. The American casualties were reported as 3 dead and 12 wounded, compared to 500 British dead. - A mint in Rahway was the first in the country to print coins bearing the inscription E. Pluribus Unum. LATEST SUGGESTIONS FOR EXIT 12 IMAGE GALLERY PHOTOS FOR EXIT 12 No images have been added at this time.

Quicksilver is set in the late 17th and early 18th century, mostly in England, France, and the United Provinces, with sections further east and in Massachusetts. It deals with the science, economy and politics of that era, revolving around characters such as Isaac Newton. Ancestors of the characters of Stephenson's Cryptonomicon feature strongly. As in other Stephenson works, there is a theme of how money works. The novel covers such historical events as the Great Plague, the Great Fire of London, the Edict of Fontainebleau, the Monmouth Rebellion, the Bloody Assizes, the Battle of Vienna and the Glorious Revolution, though many details, such as the identity of members of the CABAL, have been changed. |Table of contents| 3 External links The The Age of Unreason cycle by Keyes shares many of the historical characters of Quicksilver such as Benjamin Franklin, Newton, Louis XIV of France and Nicolas Fatio de Duillier.

If any parts cannot be centred on the lathe for various reasons (hole through spindle too small, part too heavy, etc.), the centre square, centre bell or height gauge may be used depending on the specific application. The part is machined on the end face which should be as plane and as flat as possible to avoid canting of the tools. - Centring with the centre square Fig. 20 shows how this is done: The centre square is to be located at the workpiece diameter and a scribed marking of crossing lines to be applied by means of the scriber. Figure 20 Centring with centre square The point of intersection of the crossing lines defines the centre of the workpiece and of its diameter and is to be punch-marked as per Fig. 21 with the centre punch to be applied in the centre point. Figure 21 Punch-marking of the central position - Centring with the centre bell When using the centre bell, scribing is not necessary. The centre of the workpiece is defined by the central position of the centre punch. The centre bell is to be attached and applied as per Fig. 18 in section 3. It is held by one hand while punching is done with the other hand. The diameter of the workpiece must be smaller than the diameter of the bell; otherwise the central position cannot be clearly defined. The centre bell must not be canted; otherwise the centre will be misplaced. - Centring with the height gauge The workpiece is to be inserted into a Vee. The point of the scriber (section 3, Fig. 19) is to be lined up with the highest point of the workpiece and to be lowered by d/2. Figure 22 Workpiece in Vee The scribe-marking is applied in each 180° position. The workpiece is to be punch-marked. Which methods can be applied if centring on the lathe is not

programs from prekindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students The ability to read, write, listen, think, and communicate about problems will develop and deepen students' understanding of mathematics. In grades 35, students should use communication as a tool for understanding and generating solution strategies. Their writing should be more coherent than in earlier grades, and their increasing mathematical vocabulary can be used along with everyday language to explain concepts. Depending on the purpose for writing, such as taking notes or writing to explain an answer, students' descriptions of problem-solving strategies and reasoning should become more detailed and coherent. In grades 35, students should become more adept at learning from, and working with, others. Their communication can consist not only of conversations between student and teacher or one student and another student but also of students listening to a number of peers and joining group discussions in order to clarify, question, and extend conjectures. In classroom discussions, students should become the audience for one another's comments. This involves speaking to one another in order to convince or question peers. The discourse should not be a goal in itself but rather should be focused on making sense of mathematical ideas and using them effectively in modeling and solving problems. The value of mathematical discussions is determined by whether students are learning as they participate in them (Lampert and Cobb forthcoming). In a grades 35 classroom, communication should include sharing thinking, asking questions, and explaining and justifying ideas. It should be well integrated in the classroom environment. Students should be encouraged to express and write about their mathematical conjectures, questions, and solutions. For example, after preparatory work in decimals, a fifth-grade teacher engaged her students in the following problem in order to help them think about and develop methods for adding decimals (episode adapted from Schifter, Bastable, and Russell [1999, pp. 11420]). In this activity, the teacher presented the students with a problem-solving situation. Although they had worked with representing decimals, they had not discussed adding them. As was customary in the class, the students were expected to talk with their peers to solve the problem and to share their results and thinking with the class. The students used communication as a natural and essential part of the problem-solving process. As the groups worked, the teacher circulated among the students: The teacher moved to another group where the students had represented their problem as shown in figure 5.32. Listening carefully to the discussions, the teacher rephrased Ned's suggestion in order to make sure she had accurately captured his thinking, to help him focus on the important mathematical concepts, and to guide him in considering how this problem is related to those more » familiar to him. Ned's response gave her important assessment information about whether he understood his method for adding whole numbers. Although he was able to use an algorithm to add whole numbers, he lacked an understanding of the concepts behind the procedure and therefore was unsure if or how it could be used or adapted for this new purpose. In talking with Jaron's group, the teacher asked a question that led students to think about the reasonableness of their response by considering it in relation to its real-world context. The realization that their response didn't make sense caused the students to revisit the problem. In this particular instance, the teacher chose to let students work through their confusion. The teacher's decisions about what to say or not say, what to ask or not ask, were based on her observations of the students and their conversations. For example, What strategies were they using? Were misconceptions being challenged? Her goal was to nudge the students to reflect on their answer and to do further mathematical reasoning. After the groups finished their work, the class as a whole had a discussion. Rob reported that the students in his group represented the problem as shown in figure 5.33 (p. 116). |Malik paid close attention during Ben's explanation, nodding that he understood. Teresa was also interested in the explanation, noting the significance of how zero was represented. After this presentation, the » students wrote in their journals, explaining what they thought was a correct procedure for adding the numbers. Many mentioned that the demonstration had made it clear that tenths had to be added to tenths and hundredths to hundredths for the right answer. Some made up new problems and made drawings of the base-ten model.| Because discussion of thinking was a regular occurrence in this classroom, students were comfortable describing their thinking, even if their ideas were different from the ideas of their peers. Besides focusing on their own thinking, students also attempted to understand the thinking of others and in some cases to relate it to their own. Ned, who earlier had been unable to articulate why he lined up whole numbers in a particular way when he added, questioned Rob about why his group had lined up the numbers the way they did. Ned was taking responsibility for his learning by asking questions about a concept that wasn't quite clear to him. Ben thought about Malik's dilemma and came up with a solution that became clear to Malik. The use of models and pictures provides a further opportunity for understanding and conversation. Having a concrete referent helps students develop understandings that are clearer and more easily shared (Hiebert et al. 1997). The talk that preceded, accompanied, and followed Ben's presentation gave meaning to the base-ten model. Malik had been "stuck" by viewing the model in one way until Ben showed him another way to look at it. Throughout the lesson, the interactions among students were necessary in helping them make sense of what they were doing. Because there was time to talk, write, model, and draw pictures, as well as occasions for work in small groups, large groups, and as individuals, students who worked best in different ways all had opportunities to learn. With appropriate support and a classroom environment where communication about mathematics is expected, teachers can work to build the capacity of students to think, reason, solve complex problems, and communicate mathematically. This involves creating classroom environments in which intellectual risks and sense making are expected. Teachers must also routinely provide students with rich problems centered on the important mathematical ideas in the curriculum so that students are working with situations worthy of their conversation and thought. In daily lessons, teachers must make on-the-spot decisions about which points of the mathematical conversation to pick up on and which to let go, and when to let students struggle with an issue and when to give direction. For example, the teacher in the episode above chose to let one group of students struggle with the fact that their answer was unreasonable. Teachers must refine their listening, questioning, and paraphrasing techniques, both to direct the flow of mathematical learning and to provide models for student dialogue. Well-posed questions can simultaneously elicit, extend, and challenge students' thinking and at the same time give the teacher an opportunity to assess the students' understanding. » Periodically, teachers may need to explicitly discuss students' effective and ineffective communication strategies. Teachers can model questioning and explaining, for example, and then point out and explain those techniques to their students. They can also highlight examples of good communication among students. ("I noticed that Karen and Malia disagreed on an answer. They not only explained their reasoning to each other very carefully, but they listened to one another. Each understood the other's reasoning. It was hard, but eventually, they realized that one way made more sense than the other.") Teachers need to help students learn to ask questions when they disagree or do not understand a classmate's reasoning. It is important that students understand that the focus is not on who is right or wrong but rather on whether an answer makes sense and can be justified. Students need to learn that mathematical arguments are logical and connected to mathematical relationships. When making a concept or strategy clear to a peer, the student-explainer is forced to reexamine and thus deepen his or her mathematical understanding. In settings where communication strategies are taught, modeled, and expected, students will eventually begin to adopt listening, paraphrasing, and questioning techniques in their own mathematical conversations. Teachers must help students acquire mathematical language to describe objects and relationships. For example, as students use informal language such as "the corner-to-corner lines" to describe the diagonals of a rectangle, the teacher should point out the mathematical term given to these lines. Specialized vocabulary is much more meaningful if it is introduced in an appropriate context. Teachers in grades 35 should look for, and take advantage of, such opportunities to introduce mathematical terms. In this way, words such as equation, variable, perpendicular, product, and factor should become part of students' normal vocabulary. Teachers also need to provide students with assistance in writing about mathematical concepts. They should expect students' writing to be correct, complete, coherent, and clear. Especially in the beginning, » teachers need to send writing back for revision. Students will also need opportunities to check the clarity of their work with peers. Initially, when they have difficulty knowing what to write about in mathematics class, the teacher might ask them to use words, drawings, and symbols to explain a particular mathematical idea. For example, students could write about how they know that 1/2 is greater than 2/5 and show at least three different ways to justify this conclusion. To help students write about their reasoning processes, the teacher can pose a problem-solving activity and later ask, "What have you done so far to solve this problem, what decisions did you make, and why did you make those decisions?" As students respond, the teacher can explain, "This is exactly what I'd like you to tell me in your writing." Having students compare and analyze different pieces of their work is another way to convey expectations and help them understand what complete and incomplete responses look like. For example, students were asked to use pictures and words to explain their thinking for the following question (Kouba, Zawojewski, and Strutchens 1997, p. 119): José ate 1/2 of a pizza. Ella ate 1/2 of another pizza. José said that he ate more pizza than Ella, but Ella said they both ate the same amount. Use words and pictures to show that José could be right. Students' responses reflected different levels of understanding (see the examples in fig. 5.35). The first student assumed that each pizza was the same size. Although the student used words and drawings in the response, the answer was correct only if the units were the same, an assumption that cannot be made from the statement of the problem. The second student suggested by the drawing that the size of 1/2 depends on the size of the unit. The teacher might ask this student to explain his or her thinking. The third solution, including written words and drawings, was correct and complete in that it communicated why José could be correct. Discussion of various student responses, especially as mathematical concepts and problems become more complex, is an effective way to help students continue to improve their ability to communicate.

Behavioral Science Research Talbot Research Library Learn about the Talbot Library and our web resources. Read more » Discover the Office of Corporate Alliances and its mission. Read more » Fox Chase Cancer Center and Lincoln University partner for cancer research and training. Read more » Behavioral Science Research at Fox Chase Cancer Center Psychosocial and behavioral factors play a critical role in cancer prevention and care. For example, promoting appropriate lifestyle choices can reduce cancer risk. And increasing adherence to early detection guidelines, treatment regimens, and follow-up care recommendations can reduce morbidity and mortality. Our investigators conduct cross-cutting research to further our understanding of the role that psychosocial and behavioral factors play across the cancer continuum, which will facilitate the development of psychosocial and behavioral interventions that optimize cancer prevention and treatment outcomes. Our research focuses on five major areas: Lifestyle factors account for a substantial proportion of the population's cancer burden. Promoting and facilitating the adoption of behaviors that lower cancer risk is the key strategy for reducing the incidence of cancer. Our disease prevention research initiatives include smoking cessation, exercise and diet management, and HPV vaccination uptake. Screening for Early Detection Screening serves to identify asymptomatic individuals who are likely to have either precancerous lesions or early stage cancer. Those who screen positive are triaged for diagnostic workup. Treatment is then instituted as appropriate to either forestall the development of cancer or treat it at an early stage. Screening regimens have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing mortality and morbidity from breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. Our research addresses the development and evaluation of interventions to promote the uptake and maintenance of such regimens. Providing appropriate and understandable information to patients about their cancer risk is a mainstay of efforts to motivate health-protective behavior, enhance adherence to cancer screening and surveillance recommendations, and support informed decision making. As such, we are interested in understanding the impact of cancer risk on patients and their family members. Further, the role of risk communication in cancer prevention and care has become increasingly more important with the advent of recent advances in genetics. Genetic discoveries have ushered in an era of unprecedented biomedical capabilities in estimating risks for a spectrum of diseases, including some of the most prevalent forms of cancer. However, the application of genetic information based on risk assessment often requires decisions for which there is limited precedent and preparation. In many cases, genetic discoveries have preceded by many years the basic evidence-based knowledge needed for clinical applications. This time lag creates an important void in which detection of genetic abnormalities is increasingly possible, understanding is limited, and the efficacy of risk reduction or prevention options is unclear. Our research addresses a range of these risk-related issues. Treatment and Disease Management A cancer patient is often confronted with several treatment options, any of which could be viewed as medically appropriate depending on how their respective advantages and disadvantages are weighed. A prime goal of psychosocial interventions for such patients is to support informed decision making about treatment choice. The role of the patient in such decisions has changed dramatically, and thus there is much to learn regarding patient preferences in treatment decision making and how to provide complex treatment information in understandable ways. Cancer patients must also deal with the challenges of the physical and psychological distress created by cancer symptomatology and treatment side effects. In particular, we are interested in social-environmental influences that affect how individuals and their family members cope with cancer. Psychosocial interventions are designed to assist such patients in adaptively meeting such challenges in order to enhance their quality of life. Our research addresses a cross-section of these issues. Ten million Americans currently live with a personal history of cancer. As recommended in the recently published Institute of Medicine report, Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs, "cancer survivors" are now recognized as requiring focused and coordinated psychosocial services to meet their specialized needs. Needed services include facilitating the adoption of behavioral strategies to lower risk for recurrent and new cancers; supporting the survivor in dealing psychologically with the need for ongoing medical and personal surveillance for the spread of cancer, its recurrence, and second cancers; providing psychosocial support to the survivor in dealing with the adverse medical and psychosocial late effects of cancer and its treatment; and assisting survivors in meeting the challenges of navigating the complex treatment and disease-management information needed to facilitate informed decision-making across the survivorship trajectory. Cancer survivors represent a constituency whose needs and concerns are not being adequately met by traditional cancer care and service programs. Our research aims to contribute to filling the many gaps in the psychosocial and behavioral research literature on survivorship, thereby providing a better evidence base for improving systems of care for this expanding segment of the population of cancer patients.

Photo by Todd McNaught The white, windowless proteomics laboratories located in the bowels of the Weintraub building hum with activity 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as protein-sorting machines known as mass spectrometers do their work. Churning through hundreds of samples each week, the instruments spit out crucial data for studies that range from the development of blood tests for early diagnosis of cancer to understanding how yeast cells age. The problem, said Dr. Phil Gafken, staff scientist and manager of the Proteomics Shared Resource, is that there is a lot of data — so much, in fact, that the computers can't keep up or extract all the information that's needed for proteomics research, the field of study that involves analysis of large mixtures of proteins. "In my facility, we have two mass specs, and if you do the numbers on how quickly the samples are processed and how long it takes for the computers to analyze the data, we can be in situations where we can collect data faster than we can get it analyzed," he said. "For example, things slow down even more for the proteomics group working on the early-detection project, because human samples take longer to be analyzed than yeast samples. It's been a real problem." A solution arrived last year in the form of a team of software engineers — most of whom are ex-Microsoft employees — that has been aptly described by many of the researchers who now depend on them as "computational wizards." Under the direction of Dr. Martin McIntosh, the six-member group has eased the proteomics-data bottleneck and made new advances that are moving the center's research forward. What's more, the computational methods they are developing could serve as the method of choice for proteomics investigators around the world. "The volumes and complexity of data we are dealing with — particularly for the work we are doing to develop diagnostic blood tests for cancer — are enormous," said McIntosh, an investigator in the Public Health Sciences Division and principal investigator of a National Cancer Institute-sponsored consortium dedicated to discovering proteins that will make these tests possible. "Every experiment generates enough data to fill up an iPod, but until we have approaches to access the information contained in that data, we cannot make progress." McIntosh's team has a professional pedigree that would be the envy of any software company; some team members were even profiled in Fortune magazine when they left Microsoft to form their own company, which garnered awards from PC Magazine and other trade journals. The team members are: - Jimmy Eng, staff scientist and team leader, is a world renowned leader in proteomics and former senior software engineer at the Institute for Systems Biology. He has developed the analytic approach that makes much of proteomics possible, including the algorithms at the core of the COMET and SEQUEST programs. Eng continues to receive 20 percent of his support from the Institute for Systems Biology, where he serves as an affiliate member of their computational group. - Mark Igra, staff scientist, is one of two original developers of Endnote and program manager for development of Microsoft Excel and is now leading a national protein-database development effort. - Matthew Bellew, staff scientist, was a lead developer of Microsoft Access and SQL server and is now an emerging national leader in mass spectrometry-signal processing. - Adam Rauch, scientific software engineer, was a lead developer of Microsoft's Visual Basic and is leading development of a data-mining platform that is already being adopted by several proteomics laboratories internationally. - Brendan MacLean, scientific software engineer, created several of Microsoft's Web-backed database platforms and is now part of an international group of quantitative scientists and software engineers developing open-source protein sequence algorithms. - Ted Holzman, systems analyst/programmer, has years of experience developing applications for genomics analysis and is now leading the integration of many genomics approaches into proteomics. How do creators of commercially successful office software become experts on proteomics? "Much of proteomics is a complex data-management problem, and that is something that we have a lot of experience with," Bellew said. "Although the scale of the problem is new to science, the scale of the data problems happens every day in business, and so it does not intimidate us." That's not to say that the team members, other than Eng and Holzman, who previously developed bioinformatics-software methods, haven't had to learn some biology on the fly. They've worked closely with Gafken, Dr. Heidi Zhang, proteomics staff scientist for the early detection project, and other individual investigators in order to understand the key scientific goals of the mass-spectrometry experiments. "Their ability to manage projects is phenomenal," Gafken said. "They can take a huge problem, slice it into understandable bits, and solve it, often giving us new ideas about what types of questions we can ask of our data; it is a huge resource for proteomics at the center." Mass spectrometry is used to analyze complex mixtures of proteins, such as blood serum. A tube of serum contains perhaps hundreds of thousands of different kinds of proteins, which may vary in their relative abundance up to a billion-fold or more. Once a sample enters a mass spectrometer, the proteins are separated according to their size and electric charge. In order to identify proteins of interest, this sorted mixture must use complex algorithms and search against massive databases that store information about all known proteins from a particular organism. It's this step, Gafken said, where the process slows down, and new ideas are needed. Gafken said. "With the analysis 'pipeline' that the team is creating, data analysis is much faster. New analysis tools that extract more and more information are being integrated into the system all the time." The other significant inventions the team has made are data-viewing tools, which allow individual investigators to use the new algorithms and to manipulate their data through a Web-based interface. This step helps a scientist determine whether a sample contains a protein that might be a good candidate for developing a diagnostic test, and allows researchers from around the globe to share data and work together. Igra and Bellew were the first of the group recruited by McIntosh, who knew Igra socially. "I sent them a job description and asked them to recommend candidates, but I really intended to attract their interest," he said. "They took the bait." Igra and Bellew identified their former colleagues Rauch and MacLean, as other excellent candidates. "The initial plan was for the group to translate into usable software the quantitative approaches developed by other leading proteomics-research laboratories," McIntosh said, "Instead we found they have such talent for applying complex analysis methods that those groups are now adopting our problem-solving tools (algorithms)." For example, Bellew has in six months developed a set of algorithms for evaluating mass-spectrometry data that appears to outperform methods developed over several years at other leading research institutes. In addition, they are working to create tools to access and compare information that is stored in databases around the world, an achievement that could save investigators hours or days searching through individual databases at each step of an experiment. Eng followed this initial group as a key member to lead the team, bringing with him substantial experience with mass spectrometry. "Jimmy is a world leader in proteomics. With him joining the team, the group really took off," McIntosh said. All of these resources, McIntosh said, are being developed into open-source resource that will be shared freely with other institutions. "The idea is to develop a base platform that can be used by collaborators around the world, who could then also add their own improvements," he said. That means making sure the analysis algorithms work well, but are also as polished enough so that the laboratory researchers — not just the quantitative scientists or programmers — can use them, said Igra. "In research science, typically when something gets to the point at which you can publish it, it's considered done," he said. "We want to create resources that are useful to many more people than just the investigators who work here, which means taking things to a higher level of completion." Although a software engineer might use the same skills to manage data points that originate at a cancer-research institute or, say, a department store, the team members clearly appreciate the potential payoff of their work at the center — and the chance to immerse themselves in a new field. "We spent many years building software for other programmers," Igra said. "We wanted to build something that scientists will use for a good purpose. Plus, we've got the opportunity to learn a ton."

The Bell Gothic™ font family was originally commissioned by the AT&T corporation for use in telephone books and other applications. It was created by typographer Chauncey H. Griffith in 1938 and was not available for general use until after 1978, when AT&T adopted the Bell Centennial™ font family instead. Bell Gothic History When the AT&T corporation commissioned Chauncey H. Griffith to create the Bell font, they were looking for a number of useful features for inclusion in the finished typeface. Attractiveness was an important factor: so too the ability to print the font at fairly high speed on thin paper without loss of clarity. The font also had to be legible at very small sizes, as it would be used in their telephone books. For the same reason, Bell Gothic also had to be spatially economical, given the constraints of the medium it was to be published on. At the time of the font’s creation, Griffith was heading the typographic development program at the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. Earlier in his career with Linotype, Griffith had been responsible for the production of a typeface known as the Excelsior™ font family, which had taken the newspaper industry by storm because of its impressive readability at tiny point sizes as well as its attractiveness. When Bell Gothic was replaced by Bell Centennial in 1978, the original font was licensed for widespread use and released by Linotype. It later became very popular with the design community in publishing, logotype and informal use. Currently, the font is available in six variants including italic, bold and black. Bell Gothic Usage Aside from its commissioned usage in AT&T telephone books - a function it performed for four decades – Bell Gothic has found success in other arenas. After its release to the general populous in the late seventies, Bell Gothic became the subject of extensive experimentation in type at modern creative locations like the Cranbrook Academy of Art, RISD and the Design Academy Eindhoven. The usage of Bell Gothic in design has continued to be widely debated and slightly controversial, as creative artists utilize the face in increasingly unusual ways, straying from its “intended use.” Nevertheless, the versatility of the font continues to inspire in the creation of corporate identities and published materials all over the world.

In official statements, the United States claims to be a neutral observer in disputes over islands in the South and East China Seas. In fact, major U.S. energy firms have already partnered with Malaysian, Vietnamese, and Philippine state-owned oil companies to develop promising reserves in maritime territories claimed by those countries as well as China -- and the United States appears intent on protecting those projects and other interests in the region with military might. Until recently, Asian countries' competing claims in the seas around China did not cause outright conflict. But now that drilling technology can tap gas and oil beds there, Asia capitals are stepping up their games. As last year's global shortage of petroleum and natural gas showed, the world can no longer keep up with the demands of continued population growth and economic expansion. Indeed, the competition for natural resources is intensifying. And with four-fifths of the world's oil reserves lying in politically unstable areas, with diamond and timber wars already raging in Central Africa, and with many regions suffering persistent drought, resource competition could easily turn into open conflict. Governments now see the acquisition and protection of natural resources as a national security requirement -- and one they are prepared to fight for. Fueled by dramatic economic growth, the nations of East and Southeast Asia are engaged in an arms race that shows every sign of accelerating. These countries are importing not only complex weapon systems but, more important, the technology with which to manufacture them. Since longstanding territorial and border disputes remain (most notably in the South China Sea) and the twin threats of China and Japan loom large, the potential for conflict is great. Without arms control and regional security measures, the Pacific Rim could one day be the site of a major conflagration.

Federica Agostini | 9 November 2012 Crude oil, or Petroleum (from latin Petroleum, meaning rock oil) is a natural flamable liquid consisting of the mixture of some hydrocarbons. Being part of everyday human life, crude oil market tends to impact on worldwide economy. In markets, crude oil is sold at BARREL and exchanged in futures. Due to particular political interest in oil market, it is very difficult to close describe market’s dynamics for bid and ask. Anyway, we can say most traded oil are the so called BRENT and WTI that are benchmarks in oil pricing worldwide. Major exchange in oil market comes from New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and London International Petroleum Exchange. Both BRENT and WTI are classified as "sweet light crude oil" due to their chemical characteristics. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also know as "Texas light sweet" is considered NYMEX benchmark. While BRENT crude oil is exchanged at London-based market, in turn being benchmark for crude oil market worldwide. Brent is a mixture of different of crude (comprising Oseberg, Forties Blend, Ekofisk and Brent Blend). Excepting from different prices due to different market, there are three major facts influencing prices: 1. WTI is generally considered more valuable due to high API gravity (measuring how crude oil is liquid compared to water) and lower sulfur. 2. Brent price is thus influenced from costs of carry, while WTI is transfered by oil pipeline. 3. Finally, what contributes to "make price" is ASK, from refinery and Asiatic countries. Even if WTI is more chemically "precious", it’s BRENT making much gains. Starting from 2010, BRENT grew from $71 to $100 per barrel and still sometimes it reaches high above the 100 line. Why BRENT should cost more than WTI? The answer is: because of Asiatic markets. Emerging economies, even if pressured by some slowdown, are more lively-like than Western ones. So, what finally makes price differences between BRENT and WTI is the ask from new, growing, Asiatic economies.

NEW CASTLE — The continued degradation of the Great Bay Estuary has prompted the creation of a new 10-year plan aimed at serving as a "blueprint" for preserving a marine habitat closely tied to the health of the entire Seacoast region. Lawmakers, scientists and advocates supporting the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) gathered at Great Island Commons on Monday to officially launch an aggressive conservation plan that calls on all residents and municipalities to take action. The "2010 Piscataqua Region Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan" was officially signed during a ceremony that supporters hope signifies the beginning of a new era for a troubled estuary system. PREP — a federally funded conservation partnership — has been working for years to draft and implement initiatives aimed at cleaning up Great Bay with the past 18-months having been used to draft a plan focused on addressing the latest pressing problems. PREP Coastal Scientist Phil Trowbridge said among the major concerns are how increased development and nitrogen pollution is impacting a Great Bay Estuary that has been show to be in peril. Trowbridge — a NH Department of Environmental Services employee — said nonpoint pollution sources like septic systems and fertilizers have introduced increasing amounts of nitrogen into the bay resulting in a threatening decline in eelgrass coverage on the bottom of the water body. Studies showing a 37 percent decrease in eelgrass cover in Great Bay between 1990 and 2008 is threatening fish species and creating an environment were sediments can lift off the floor of the bay thus compromising water clarity. A 2009 estuaries report showed bacteria concentrations, toxic contaminants in shellfish, nitrogen levels, dissolved oxygen levels, shellfish populations, fish populations, and habitat restoration are all trending in a negative direction. "In general the estuary is in decline. We are at a juncture where we need to turn it around if we want these habitats to exist," Trowbridge said. PREP has responded to the continued and emerging problems by putting together a new plan that will see individuals, state agencies, volunteers and municipalities from New Hampshire and Maine all working together to stem the tide of Great Bay's demise. The strategy will look to initiate 86 different "action plans" that range from working with municipalities to eliminate the illegal discharges of sewers into surface waters to supporting continuing to monitor shellfish tissue samples to advocating for the removal of non-essential dams. Officials said the plan directly impacts 52 New Hampshire and Maine towns on the estuary and will draw on 200 organizations in solving the problems. PREP Management Committee Chair Theresa Walker called the 10-year-plan "a blueprint for repairing habitats." PREP Director Rachel Rouillard made it clear that the plan is about brining together Seacoast residents of all walks of life so they might take part to address problems that were identified by "sound science." U.S. Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter praised the PREP a plan she called "ambitious." "The degradation of our water resources is so serious we cannot waste any time," Shea-Porter said. Representatives from numerous other NH and Maine congressional delegates also read letters supporting the plan. Numerous individuals lauded the plan for what will be an unprecedented partnership that involved both New Hampshire and Maine working together on a major environmental project. Assistant DES Commissioner Michael Walls pledged his agencies continued support on a preservation effort that he said is correctly looking at the estuary's threats from a holistic standpoint. NH Fish and Game Executive Director Glenn Normandeau — a Portsmouth resident — said he didn't need to be convinced that the plan was important having grown up on the shores of what he called one of the state's most important "gems." Normandeau said the plan will be worth nothing if individuals and organizations let it gather dust on the shelf so he urged action be taken to protect an estuary he noted "is easy to lose and impossible to replace." He noted the habitats are caught between the "hammer and anvil" of climate change and population growth. Major supporters of the new plan used Monday to sign a document showing their support with many noting the hardest work is yet to be done. Individuals wanting to learn more about the 128-page plan can go to www.prep.unh.edu.

Bubbling sea signals severe coral damage this century Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News Carbon dioxide bubbles into the water from the slopes of a dormant volcano here, making it slightly more acidic. Coral is badly affected, not growing at all in the most CO2-rich zone. Writing in journal Nature Climate Change, the scientists say this "lab" mimics conditions that will be widespread if CO2 emissions continue. The oceans absorb some of the carbon dioxide that human activities are putting into the atmosphere. This is turning seawater around the world slightly more acidic - or slightly less alkaline. This reduces the capacity of corals and other marine animals to form hard structures such as shells. Projections of rising greenhouse gas emissions suggest the process will go further, and accelerate. "This is the most realistic experiment done to date on this issue," said Chris Langdon, a coral specialist from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, US. "So I don't have any qualms about believing that what we found will apply in other parts of the world." The water becomes progressively more acidic closer to the vents that are bubbling CO2. End Quote Alex Rogers Oxford University We will see the collapse of many reefs long before the end of the century” This allows the researchers to study the impacts on coral at different levels of acidity. Seawater has an average pH of about 8.1; this is already about 0.1 lower than before the industrial age and the large-scale human emissions of greenhouse gases associated with it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that by the end of the century, emissions may have risen so much that pH may fall to 7.8. In the Papua New Guinea site, few types of coral grew at pH7.8. Reefs still formed, but were dominated by one particular type, the Porites, which form massive shapes largely devoid of the branches and fronds that characterise reefs rich in species. "We saw only a few speces of coral, and none of the structually complex ones that provide a lot of cover for fish," Professor Langdon told BBC News.. - The oceans are thought to have absorbed about half of the extra CO2 put into the atmosphere in the industrial age - This has lowered its pH by 0.1 - pH is the measure of acidity and alkalinity - The vast majority of liquids lie between pH 0 (very acidic) and pH 14 (very alkaline); 7 is neutral - Seawater is mildly alkaline with a "natural" pH of about 8.2 - The IPCC forecasts that ocean pH will fall by "between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st Century, adding to the present decrease of 0.1 units since pre-industrial times" "The much simpler forms support many fewer species, and theory suggests they create an environment that would be very vulnerable to other stresses." In an even more acid part of the study site, with a pH of 7.7, the scientists report that "reef development ceased". Here, seagrasses dominate the floor - but they lack the hard-shelled snails that normally live on their fronds. This is the second published study of a "natural lab" for ocean acidification. The first, from a site in Mediterranean, found snails with their shells disintegrating; but the PNG site offers a snapshot of the future that might be more applicable to the world's tropical coral hotspots. "The results are complex, but their implications chilling," commented Alex Rogers from the University of Oxford, who was not part of the study team. "Some may see this as a comforting study in that coral cover is maintained, but this is a false perception; the levels of seawater pH associated with a 4C warming completely change the face of reefs. "We will see the collapse of many reefs long before the end of the century." The scientific team behind the new research, drawn from Australia, Germany and the US, suggests that the picture from PNG may underplay the threat. Reefs in the acidic zones of the study site receive regular doses of larvae floating in from nearby healthy corals, replenishing damaged stocks. This would not be the case if low pH levels pertained throughout the oceans. In addition, corals at the site are only minimally affected by other threats; there is little fishing, local pollution, or disease. By contrast, a major survey published earlier this year found that three-quarters of the world's reefs were at risk - 95% in southeast Asia - with exploitative and destructive fishing being the biggest immediate threat.

Information contained on this page is provided by NewsUSA, an independent third-party content provider. WorldNow and this Station make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. /Centers for Disease Control & Prevention - CDC) - Leaving their phone at a friend's house, suddenly needing a ride somewhere ? you knew there would be days like this. But did you know that you'd also need to take your preteens and teens to get shots? As they get older, kids are at increased risk for some infections. Plus, the protection provided by some of the childhood vaccines begins to wear off, so kids need a booster dose. You may have heard about pertussis (whooping cough) outbreaks recently. Vaccine-preventable diseases are still real. The vaccines for preteens and teens can help protect your kids, as well as their friends, community and other family members. There are four recommended vaccines that preteens should get when they are 11 or 12 years old. If you have an older kid like a teen, they'll need a booster dose of one of the shots. It's also not too late to get any shots they may have missed. You can use any healthcare visit, including sports physicals or some sick visits, to get the shots your kids need. The vaccines for preteens and teens are: * HPV vaccine for both boys and girls, which protects against the types of HPV that most commonly cause cancer. HPV can cause cancers of the cervix, vulva and vagina in women and cancers of the penis in men. In both women and men, HPV also causes mouth/throat cancer, anal cancer and genital warts. * Tdap vaccine, which is a booster against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Pertussis, or whooping cough, can keep kids out of school and activities for weeks. It can also be spread to babies, which can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly. * Meningococcal vaccine, which protects against meningococcal disease. Meningococcal disease is caused by bacteria and is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis -- a serious infection around the brain and spinal cord. * Influenza (flu) vaccine, because even healthy kids can get the flu, and it can be serious. All kids, including your preteens and teens, should get the flu vaccine every year. Talk with a doctor, nurse or clinic about the vaccines for preteens and teens. Even though they may not realize it, your kids still need you for more than a ride somewhere. They need you to continue protecting their health by getting them these important and life-saving vaccines. Want to learn more about the vaccines for preteens and teens? Check out www.cdc.gov/vaccines/teens or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

Torpedoing Conventional Thinking on the Cheonan The narrative around the Mar. 26 sinking of the South Korean Navy Corvette Cheonan, and the death of 46 sailors, seems pretty straightforward: the ship was sunk by a North Korean (DPRK) torpedo. That was the conclusion by a South Korean (ROK) panel of 47 military and military-research experts and three international representatives. The only question left unanswered was the DPRK’s motive, with fallout from an internal power struggle holding the inside track. But two researchers from the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University are suggesting there may have been a rush to judgment, and that the evidence presented by the panel is deeply flawed. Seunghun Lee, a professor of physics at Virginia, and J.J. Suh, an associate professor of Korean Studies at Johns Hopkins, have analyzed the findings of the Joint Civil-Military Investigation Group (JIG) and found them wanting. The JIG concluded that the Cheonan was ripped in two by an external explosion from a North Korean torpedo, which ROK naval units recovered. But according to Lee and Suh, those conclusions are “riddled with such serious flaws as to render the JIG’s conclusion unsustainable.” They even suggest that some of the X-ray data used to tie the torpedo to the explosion “may have been fabricated.” Americans who watch television saw a sobering re-creation of the event in which an exploding torpedo’s powerful bubble destroyed a similar sized ship. But according to the two authors, the South Korean Navy has not been able to “produce a bubble simulation consistent with the information presented in the JIG report.” The simulations run by the JIG instead show a bubble forming, striking the ship, deforming the hull, and making a small rupture, not tearing the ship in half. According to the authors, “If the bottom of the ship was hit by a bubble, it should show a spherical concave deformation resembling the shape of a bubble, as the JIG’s own simulation suggests, but it does not.” Instead, the damage seems more consistent with a “collision with a hard object.” What is also missing is any sign of what is called the “pre-bubble shock wave,” nor does internal damage and crew casualties appear to be consistent with those inflicted by a shock wave. Lee and Suh also take issue with the chemical and X-ray analysis of the residue on the hull that the JIG found to be consistent with the chemical signature of an explosion caused by the recovered torpedo. According to the authors, the “critical evidence” used by the JIG “to link the Cheonan sinking to the alleged explosion of the torpedo is scientifically groundless and perhaps fabricated.” The two researchers also question the torpedo itself, and particularly a blue ink marking on the weapon spelling out “Hangul “in Korean. The torpedo’s deeply corroded surface is consistent with an explosion that would burn off the weapon’s protective paint. The only problem is that ink boils at a much lower point than paint, 150 degrees Celsius and 350 degrees Celsius respectively. “This inconsistency—the high heat tolerant paint was burnt but the low heat tolerant ink was not—cannot be explained and casts serious doubt on the integrity of the torpedo as ‘critical evidence,’” write the two authors. “While we emphatically note that our findings do not prove that North Korea did not do it, we conclude that the JIG has failed to prove that it did,” the authors argue. “The seriousness of the inconsistencies in fact casts doubt not only on the validity of the JIG conclusions but also on the integrity of its investigation.” If North Korea didn’t sink the ship, who did? Maybe it was not a “who but a “what.” Some of the damage is consistent with a collision. Is there damage that might indicate an internal explosion? The DPRK certainly has a history of doing provocative things, but part of that reputation comes from the relentless demonization of Pyongyang. The North Koreans have always shown an affection for bombast, but they have been generally careful not to do something that would provoke a war. It may turn out that the North Koreans did sink the Cheonan, but the evidence is hardly the slam-dunk it has been represented as in the media. And doubts about the DPRK’s guilt may well explain China’s reluctance to join in the pile-on condemnations of Pyongyang, as well as for the careful wording of the recent United Nations resolution that condemned the incident but avoided assigning blame. What is clear is that in-house investigations are always open to suspicion. No matter what the Israeli’s handpicked panel to investigate the attack on a Turkish ship comes up with, it will have no credibility outside of Israel. Lee and Suh conclude that “given the inconsistencies” of the JIG investigation, the South Korean government should “re-open the investigation and form a new, and more objective” investigation. “The dead sailors deserve such a report. So does the international community.” Visit Conn's blog, Dispatches from the Edge.

Mobile Phone Privacy The mobile phones we use every day have a lot of information about us. They know where we are, who our friends are and how to reach them, and they have all the information we enter into applications, such as our age, gender, interests, and shopping habits. Our phones and apps may need this information to provide us useful services like driving directions or health trackers, but it can easily be misused. Senator Franken wants to make sure that consumers know what information is being collected from their phone, how it is being used, and who it is being shared with. In April and May 2011, media and research reports revealed that Apple iPhones were inadvertently storing users' location data and uploading it to any computer where they synced their device. It was also sending the location data to Apple even when users had elected to turn location data off. In December of last year, a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that 47 out of 101 top apps for iPhones and Google Android devices transmitted their users' location to third parties without their consent. In his first hearing of the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, Senator Franken brought representatives from these two companies to Capitol Hill to answer for their companies' conduct. He also called witnesses from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to explain the real-life consequences of breaches in smartphone privacy. According to the Department of Justice, at least 26,000 persons are victims of GPS tracking, including by cellphone. To see Senator Franken's opening statement from the hearing, click here.

What is pneumonia? Pneumonia is an infection of one or both of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or chemical irritants. It is a serious infection or inflammation in which the air sacs fill with pus and other liquid. Lobar pneumonia affects one or more sections (lobes) of the lungs. Bronchial pneumonia (also known as bronchopneumonia) affects patches throughout both lungs. What are the different types of pneumonia? The main types of pneumonia are: Bacterial pneumonia. This type is caused by various bacteria, the most common of which is streptococcus pneumoniae. It usually occurs when the body is weakened in some way, such as by illness, malnutrition, old age, or impaired immunity, and the bacteria are able to work their way into the lungs. Bacterial pneumonia can affect all ages, but those at greater risk include the following: People who abuse alcohol People who smoke cigarettes People who are debilitated People with respiratory diseases or viral infections People who have weakened immune systems The symptoms of bacterial pneumonia include: Low energy, fatigue, and loss of appetite Sharp or stabbing chest pain that worsens with deep breathing or cough Bluish color to lips and nailbeds Confused mental state or delirium Cough that produces greenish, yellow, or bloody mucus Viral pneumonia. This type is caused by various viruses, including influenza, and is responsible for one-third of all pneumonia cases. Early symptoms of viral pneumonia are the same as those of bacterial pneumonia, which may be followed by increasing breathlessness, headache, muscle pain, weakness, and a worsening of the cough. Viral pneumonias may make a person susceptible to bacterial pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia. This type has somewhat different symptoms and physical signs and is referred to as atypical pneumonia. It is caused by the mycoplasma pneumoniae, the smallest known disease-causing agents, and which have characteristics of both bacteria and viruses. They generally cause a mild, widespread pneumonia that affects all age groups. Symptoms include a severe cough that may produce some mucus. Other pneumonias. These are less common and may be caused by the inhaling of food, liquid, gases, dust, or fungi. How is pneumonia diagnosed? Diagnosis is usually made based on the season and the extent of the illness. Based on these factors, your health care provider may diagnose simply on a thorough history and physical examination, but may include the following tests to confirm the diagnosis: Chest X-ray. A diagnostic test which uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film. Blood tests. To analyze whether infection is present and if infection has spread to the bloodstream (blood cultures). Arterial blood gas testing determines if enough oxygen is in your bloodstream. Sputum culture. A diagnostic test performed on the material that is coughed up from the lungs and into the mouth. A sputum culture is often performed to determine if an infection is present. Pulse oximetry. An oximeter is a small machine that measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. To obtain this measurement, a small sensor (like a bandage) is taped onto a finger. When the machine is on, a small red light can be seen in the sensor. The sensor is painless and the red light does not get hot. Chest CT scan. A test that takes images of the structures in the chest to see how the lungs are functioning. Bronchoscopy. A procedure used to look inside the airways of the lungs. Pleural fluid culture. A culture of a fluid sample taken from the pleural space (space between the lungs and chest wall) to identify the bacteria that cause pneumonia. What is the treatment for pneumonia? Specific treatment will be determined by your health care provider based on: Your age, overall health, and medical history Extent of the disease Your tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies Expectations for the course of the disease Your opinion or preference Treatment may include antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia. Antibiotics may also speed recovery from mycoplasma pneumonia and some special cases. There is no clearly effective treatment for viral pneumonia, which usually heals on its own. Other treatment may include appropriate diet, increased fluids, oxygen therapy, pain medication, and medication for cough.

Lewisville Leader > News Students take part in mock voting From staff reports On Election Day 2012, while citizens across the country head to the polls to a cast their votes, thousands of Lewisville ISD students headed to the polls too. District officials said a presidential election year is a good opportunity for elementary through high school students to learn about the election process and many campuses have capped off the learning opportunity with mock presidential elections. At the elementary level, students learned the basics: what voting is, who the candidates are, the primary political parties and more. After learning the basics, students began to learn the voting process they will take part in as adults through participation in a mock election. "This is a great opportunity to start not only telling, but also showing our students what it means to have the right to vote," Hedrick Elementary Principal Trish Cuckler said. Lewisville High School (LHS) Main, Harmon and Killough campuses learned more about the details of the election. In preparation for the triad's (LHS Main, Harmon, Killough) mock presidential election, sponsored by the LHS Junior State of America and Student Council, students produced a mock presidential debate video to help inform their target voters, students. "For our students, especially those at main campus who are 18 or close to 18, it's important to study the candidates and issues," LHS Main Principal Jeffrey Kajs said. "If they aren't already eligible to vote, they will be in the next four years and we want to be sure they are prepared to do their research and make informed decisions. Our mock debate and election allows students to have a real-world experience with the process." Though students at LHS are taking the presidential election seriously, eighth-graders in Amanda Vara's Pre-AP U.S. history class at Durham Middle School (DMS) have been learning about the election process and working on a complex mock presidential election campaign they dubbed "Dragon Elections" since early October. With Vara's support, students took initiative to target voters at DMS and beyond. "Our election started out as ... a fun way for students to solve a real-world problem," student Justin Pilgreen said. "The problem posed is this: Only 49 percent of 18- to 24-year-old adults voted in the 2008 presidential election. Our job has been to get more people in that age group to vote in this election. We're doing this by simulating the election and voting process at our own school." The students divided in to Rock the Vote, electoral college, mock election, mock debate, video and documentation and community and communications committees. Each committee did in-depth work to find ways to encourage students to vote, inform them about past elections, learn about the electoral college, research the candidates' plans, create a comprehensive website and reach out to the community to spread their message. "My class is working hard to conduct the election as close to the real thing as possible," Vara said. "They even developed an electoral college system for our campus and, in order to vote, DMS students must use their student ID card number to access an electronic ballot hosted on our school's website." The electoral college system developed by Vara's students apportioned votes based on enrollment in social studies classes by teacher. The candidate who won the popular vote in each class received all of the electoral votes allowed for that particular class. Dragon Elections allowed early voting before and after school and, like in the real world, students had to find time during their day to vote. The school's mock election was held on Election Day, a day where some LISD campuses serve as polling places for the actual election. "Look. The grownups get to do a mock election too," one Creekside Elementary first-grader said.

Deadheading is the process of removing spent flowers from plants. When you pinch or cut off fading flowers, the plant puts its energy back into making more flowers, prolonging their color in the garden. With some plants, you can also get a second bloom. Here are some favorite perennials and annuals that benefit from deadheading, and some tips on how to do it. Astilbe (Astilbe spp., Zones 4-8). Leave seedheads standing until unattractive, then cut to ground; doesn’t rebloom. Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus, Zones 4-9). Remove individual spent flowers; sap is sticky, clean pruner with alcohol; can rebloom. Bee balm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4-9). Cut back to side buds; when finished flowering, cut back to 4 or 5 inches to promote healthy foliage; doesn’t rebloom. Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis, Zones 3-9). Cut flower spikes to 3 inches for a small rebloom. Coral bells (Heuchera spp., Zones 4-8). Cut stems below the foliage mound; will sometimes have a small rebloom. Cosmos (Cosmos spp., annual). Cut individual flower stalks to first leaves to promote branching and reblooming. Dahlia (Dahlia spp., annual in most climates). Cut individual flower stalks to first leaves to promote branching and reblooming. Daylily (Hemerocallis spp., Zones 3-10). Snap off spent flowers to promote larger later flowers; cut finished stems to the ground; some cultivars rebloom, others don’t. Dianthus (Dianthus gratianopolitanus, Zones 3-8). Deadhead as soon as flowers fade to prevent reseeding; remove stems but allow foliage clump to remain; doesn’t rebloom. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea, Zones 4-8). Pinch individual flowers along stem; when stem is finished, cut to the ground; may rebloom with smaller flowers. Geranium (Pelargonium spp., annual). Pinch spent flower stalks below the foliage; will bloom continuously through fall. Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium caeruleum, Zones 4-8). Cut entire plant to the ground to encourage fresh, new growth; often reblooms. Lavender (Lavandula angustifoli, Zones 5-8). Cut flower stems back to healthy foliage; second blooms are shorter than the first; cut late flowers, leaving foliage. Monkshood (Aconitum napellus, Zones 5-8). Cut off spent florets; cut to side branches to promote bloom; cut to ground to promote second bloom; wear gloves to keep hands safe from poisonous sap. New England aster (Aster nova-angliae, Zones 4-8). Shear stems back to the foliage; cut back by half in early summer to control height and promote bushiness and reblooming. Penstemon (Penstemon barbatus, Zones 4-9). Cut side branches to prolong bloom; cut stems to ground when finished; doesn’t rebloom. Petunia (Petunia spp., annual). Pinch back to the first set of leaves to promote bushiness and reblooming. Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, Zones 3-9). Reblooms without deadheading; cut early blooms to side shoots to promote larger late flowers. Siberian iris (Iris sibirica, Zones 4-9). Pinch spent flowers from stem; cut stem to ground when finished blooming; doesn’t rebloom. Snapdragon (Antirrhinum spp., annual). Cut flower spikes back to foliage when they fade for a fall rebloom. Tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata, Zones 4-8). Shear off spent flower clusters; cut to ground when finished blooming; seeds will revert to less desirable colors; doesn’t rebloom. Threadleaf coreposis (Coreopsis verticillata, Zones 4-9). Shear plants to ground in late summer for early fall rebloom. Zinnia (Zinnia spp., annual). Cut individual flower stalks to first leaves to promote branching and reblooming.

February 28, 2007 GCRIO Program Overview Our extensive collection of documents. Archives of the Global Climate Change Digest A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion Published July 1988 through June 1999 FROM VOLUME 7, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1994 - OF GENERAL INTEREST: OZONE DEPLETION Protection of the Ozone Layer," M.K.W. Ko (Atmos. & Environ. Res. Inc., 840 Memorial Dr., Cambridge MA 02139), N.-D. Sze, M.J. Prather, Nature, 367(6463), 505-508, Feb. Because more and more chemicals, such as rocket fuel and pharmaceuticals, are turning out to be ozone-depleting, a more refined approach is needed for effective and equitable control. Makes specific recommendations for ways to extend international agreements to include chemicals whose applications and life-cycles are very different from the synthetic halocarbons already controlled by the Montreal Protocol. The goal is long-term protection of the ozone layer, based on scientific understanding of stratospheric ozone and the chemicals in question, avoiding capricious impacts on technological related items in Science, 263(5151), Mar. 4, 1994: "Fires, Atmospheric Chemistry and the Ozone Layer," R.J. Cicerone (Earth System Sci., Univ. California, Irvine CA 92717), 1243-1244. Provides a scientific perspective on the results published in the following article. "Emission of Methyl Bromide from Biomass Burning," S. Manö, M.O. Andreae (M. Planck Inst. Chem., POB 3060, D-55020 Mainz, Ger.), 1255-1257. Because bromine is far more effective than chlorine at destroying stratospheric ozone, control of the pesticide methyl bromide is scheduled under the Montreal Protocol. Estimates based on laboratory measurements show that biomass burning is a major source of methyl bromide emissions, comparable to pesticide use and natural oceanic emissions. Guide to Publishers Index of Abbreviations

|Beyond Awareness Raising: Community Lessons about Improving Responses to HIV/AIDS| AUTHOR: International HIV/AIDS Alliance "Community Lessons, Global Learning" is a partnership between the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Glaxo Wellcome's Positive Action programme. This first report shares lessons about responding to HIV/AIDS between communities, countries and continents. Although the primary focus of the document is on community responses to HIV/AIDS, Section 5 of the report discusses gender, sexuality and sexual health. The "Community Lessons, Global Learning" programme - and, therefore, this report - draws lessons from the Alliance's experience in supporting HIV/AIDS prevention and care strategies which deals with the provision of information and raising awareness about the epidemic. Article can be accessed on-line here in PDF format. To view PDF documents you will need to download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader. The program is available for free through the Adobe website, download here. More help is available on PDF documents and Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

This handbook has been replaced by a newer version and is not maintained anymore. [ << ] [ < ] [ Home ] [ > ] [ >> ] Gentoo Linux 2006.1 PPC Handbook In this part you learn how to install Gentoo on your system. About the Gentoo Linux Installation Users not familiar with Gentoo do not always know that choice is what Gentoo is all about. Booting the Universal Installation CD Using our Universal Installation CD you can boot up your system into a running environment that allows you to install Gentoo. Configuring your Network If you need networking, this is the place where the network (and Internet connection) is configured. Preparing the Disks To be able to install Gentoo, you must create the necessary partitions. This chapter describes how to partition a disk for future usage. Installing the Gentoo Installation Files In this chapter we describe how you extract a stage3 file and how to configure Chrooting into the Gentoo Base System Now that the stage3 file is extracted, we chroot into the new system and modify the USE variable. Configuring the Kernel The Linux kernel is the core of every distribution. This chapter explains how to configure your kernel. Configuring your System You need to edit some important configuration files. In this chapter you receive an overview of these files and an explanation on how to Installing Necessary System Tools As mentioned before, Gentoo is about customization. In this chapter we help you choose and install some important tools. Configuring the Bootloader Several bootloaders exist. Each one of them has its own way of configuration. In this chapter we'll describe all possibilities for you and step you through the process of configuring a bootloader to your Finalizing your Gentoo Installation You're almost done. We'll just create one (or more) users for your system and (optionally) install prebuilt packages. Where to go from here? Now you have your Gentoo system, but what's next? Working with Gentoo Learn how to work with Gentoo: installing software, altering variables, changing Portage behaviour etc. A Portage Introduction This chapter explains the "simple" steps a user definitely needs to know to maintain the software on his system. USE-flags are a very important aspect of Gentoo. In this chapter, you learn to work with USE-flags and understand how USE-flags interact with your system. Discover the features Portage has, such as support for distributed compiling, ccache and more. Gentoo uses a special initscript format which, amongst other features, allows dependency-driven decisions and virtual initscripts. This chapter explains all these aspects and explains how to deal with these scripts. With Gentoo you can easily manage the environment variables for your system. This chapter explains how you do that, and also describes frequently used Working with Portage "Working with Portage" provides an in-depth coverage of Portage, Gentoo's Software Management Tool. Files and Directories Once you want to know Portage in-depth you need to know where it stores its files and data. Configuring through Variables Portage is completely configurable through various variables you can set in the configuration file or as environment variable. Mixing Software Branches Gentoo provides software separated in several branches, depending on stability and architectural support. "Mixing Software Branches" inform you how these branches can be configured and how you can override this separation Additional Portage Tools Portage comes with a few extra tools that might make your Gentoo experience even better. Read on to discover how to use dispatch-conf and other tools. Diverting from the Official Tree "Diverting from the Official Tree" gives you some tips and tricks on how to use your own Portage tree, how to synchronise only the categories you want, inject packages and more. Gentoo Network Configuration A comprehensive guide to Networking in Gentoo. A guide to quickly get your network interface up and running in most common Here we learn about how the configuration works - you need to know this before we learn about modular networking. Gentoo provides you flexible networking - here you are told about choosing different DHCP clients, setting up bonding, bridging, VLANs and more. Wireless isn't straight-forward. Hopefully we'll get you working! If you're feeling adventurous, you can add your own functions to networking. For laptop users or people who move their computer around different networks. [ << ] [ < ] [ Home ] [ > ] [ >> ] The contents of this document, unless otherwise expressly stated, are licensed under the CC-BY-SA-2.5 license. The Gentoo Name and Logo Usage Guidelines apply.

The civil war in Liberia that lasted from 1989 to 2003 (with a brief break), forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. In 1992 the Centre for Liberian Assistance was formed to support female refugees. In Ghana's Buduburam camp, more than 40,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, struggle to survive. Until the 2005 election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf violence kept Liberians from returning home. Today, the high costs of travel prevent most refugees from returning. "The women have a feeling of hopelessness. Most of them either lack the employment skills or financial support necessary to provide economic stability for their families," explains Hawa Bropleh, head of the Centre for Liberian Assistance. In 2000, all U.N. organizations pulled out of Buduburam, and the remainig aid organizations ignored women's needs. The women in the camp told the Centre that their first priorities were education for their children and health care for all. Secondly, they wanted to learn skills to become economically independent, in order to reduce their vulnerability. In addition to distributing food and resources to over 300 single mothers in refugee camps inside and outside Liberia, the group provides training in human rights and campaigning. As Hawa explains, "We want Liberian women to take part in running the country." With a $10,000 grant from the Global Fund, CLA is training 100 refugees in the skills they need to run businesses in sewing, computer science and baking.

Pakistan Nuclear Weapons Pakistan's Atomic Energy commission was founded some 15 years after the Indian program. In 1965, President Ayub Khan took some initial steps in response to the emerging of Indian nuclear threat. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the founder of Pakistan's Nuclear Program, initially as Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources, and later as President and Prime Minister. Pakistan's nuclear program was launched in earnest shortly after the loss of East Pakistan in the 1971 war with India, when Bhutto initiated a program to develop nuclear weapons with a meeting of physicists and engineers at Multan in January 1972. In 1974 India successfully tested a nuclear "device." Bhutto reacted strongly to this test and said Pakistan must develop its own "Islamic bomb." Pakistan lacks an extensive civil nuclear power infrastructure, and its weapons program is not as broad as India's. Much of its nuclear program is focused on weapons applications. Initially, Pakistan focused on the plutonium path for building a nuclear weapon. Plutonium can be obtained from fuel that has been reprocessed from nuclear power plants, and in October 1974 Pakistan signed a contract with France for the design of a reprocessing facility for the fuel from its power plant at Karachi and other planned facilities. However, over the next two years Pakistan's international nuclear collaborators withdrew as Pakistan's nuclear ambitions became more apparent. The French were among the last to withdraw at the end of 1976, following sustained pressure from the United States. A major advance jump to Pakistan's nuclear program was the arrival of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan in 1975, who brought with him the plans for uranium enrichment centrifuges, and lists of sources of the necessary technology. On this basis, Pakistan initially focused its development efforts on highly enriched uranium (HEU), and exploited an extensive clandestine procurement network to support these efforts. A.Q. Khan evidently persuaded Pakistan to work with Uranium (as compared to Plutonium) because Plutonium involves more arduous and hazardous procedures and cumbersome and expensive processes. Pakistan's activities were initially centered in a few facilities. A.Q. Khan founded the Engineering Research Laboratories at Kahuta in 1976, which later to became the Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). In March 2005 Benazir Bhutto said Pakistan may have had a nuclear weapon long before that. She said her father, former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had told her from his prison cell that preparations for a nuclear test had been made in 1977. "... he expected Pakistan to have its first nuclear test in ... in August 1977. I was in his conduit to the person who was actually running the nuclear program who is no longer alive now. His name was Mr. Munir and he was chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. He told us that the nuclear test had been delayed to December 1977, and then he told us the nuclear test had been indefinitely delayed." It is unlikely that this would have been a test with appreciable nuclear yield, since at that time Pakistan would not have had an appreciable inventory of fissile material. Dr. Samar Mubarik Mand, member Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, has said that the team of Atomic Energy Commission developed the design of atomic bomb in 1978 and had successfully conducted a cold test after developing the first atomic bomb in 1983. A number of United States laws, amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, applied to Pakistan and its program of nuclear weapons development. The 1976 Symington Amendment stipulated that economic assistance be terminated to any country that imported uranium enrichment technology. The Glenn Amendment of 1977 similarly called for an end to aid to countries that imported reprocessing technology--Pakistan had from France. United States economic assistance, except for food aid, was terminated under the Symington Amendment in April 1979. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan made Pakistan a country of paramount geostrategic importance. In a matter of days, the United States declared Pakistan a "frontline state" against Soviet aggression and offered to reopen aid and military assistance deliveries. When the Reagan administration took office in January 1981, the level of assistance increased substantially. Presidential waivers for several of the amendments were required. The initial package from the United States was for US$3.2 billion over six years, equally divided between economic and military assistance. A separate arrangement was made for the purchase of forty F-16 fighter aircraft. Aside from Afghanistan, the most problematic element in Pakistan's security policy was the nuclear question. President Zia had inherited a pledge that for domestic reasons he could not discard, and he continued the nuclear development program. Zia inherited an ambitious program from Bhutto and continued to develop it out of the realization that, despite Pakistan's newly acquired weaponry, it could never match India's conventional power and that India either had, or shortly could develop, its own nuclear weapons. In 1985 the Solarz Amendment was added to prohibit aid to countries that attempt to import nuclear commodities from the United States. In the same year, the Pressler Amendment was passed; referring specifically to Pakistan, it said that if that nation possessed a nuclear device, aid would be suspended. Many of these amendments could be waived if the president declared that it was in the national interests of the United States to continue assistance. Even after the invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan almost exhausted United States tolerance, including bungled attempts to illegally acquire United States nuclear- relevant technology and a virtual public admission in 1987 by the head of Pakistan's nuclear program that the country had developed a weapon. As long as Pakistan remained vital to United States interests in Afghanistan, however, no action was taken to cut off United States support. For the remainder of Zia's tenure, the United States generally ignored Pakistan's developing nuclear program. But the issue that after Zia's death led to another cutoff of aid was Pakistan's persistent drive toward nuclear development. Initial Pakistani attempts to handle the bilateral nuclear relationship with India led nowhere, but a significant step was a nonformalized 1985 agreement that neither India nor Pakistan would attack the other's nuclear facilities. Zia asked India to agree to several steps to end the potential nuclear arms race on the subcontinent. One of these measures was the simultaneous signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The second step was a joint agreement for inspection of all nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Pakistan also proposed a pact between the two countries to allow for mutual inspection of sites. And, finally, Pakistan proposed a South Asian nuclear-free zone. It appeared that Zia was looking for a way to terminate the costly Pakistani program. But in order to sell this idea in Pakistan, he required some concessions from India. Termination would also get him out of difficulties the program was causing with the United States, including the curtailment of aid in 1979. Though Pakistan was unnsuccessful in getting India to agree to those terms during the 1980s, these proposals were still on the table in the early 1990s. They were supplemented during that period by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's call for a roundtable discussion among Pakistan, India, the United States, Russia, and China on nuclear weapons in South Asia. Pakistan's dependence on China grew as Western export controls and enforcement mechanisms have grown more stringent. China's nuclear assistance predates the 1986 Sino-Pakistani atomic cooperation agreement, with some of the most critical transfers occurring from 1980 through 1985. China is reported to have provided Pakistan with the design of one of its warheads, as well as sufficient HEU for a few weapons. The 25-kiloton design was the one used in China's fourth nuclear test, which was an atmospheric test using a ballistic missile launch. This configuration is said to be a fairly sophisticated design, with each warhead weighing considerably less than the unwieldy, first-generation US and Soviet weapons which weighed several thousand kilograms. As of 1989 it was suggested that Pakistan had a workable bomb weighing only 400 pounds. Pakistan Foreign Minister Yakub Khan was present at the Chinese Lop Nor test site to witness the test of a small nuclear device in May 1983, giving rise to speculation that a Pakistani-assembled device was detonated in this test. Evidently the jump-start provided by A.Q. Khan's trove of documents was an insufficient basis for a dependable Uranium program. Chinese assistance in the development of gas centrifuges at Kahuta was indicated by the presence of Chinese technicians at the facility in the early 1980s. The uranium enrichment facility began operating in the early 1980s, but suffered serious start up problems. In early 1996 it was reported that the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratory had received 5,000 ring magnets, which can be used in gas centrifuges, from a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation. Perhaps in response to the persistent problems with the Uranium program, around the time of the signing of the 1986 Sino-Pakistani atomic cooperation agreement, Pakistan evidently embarked on a parallel Plutonium program. Built with Chinese assistance, the heavy water reactor at Khushab is the central element of Pakistan's program for production of plutonium and tritium for advanced compact warheads. The Khushab facility, like that at Kahuta, is not subject to IAEA inspections. Khushab, with a capacity variously reported at between 40 and 70 MWT, was completed in the mid-1990s, with the start of construction dating to the mid-1980s. In March 2005 Benazir Bhutto said her government had a nuclear capability when she came into office the first time in 1988, ten years before Pakistan's first nuclear test. Ms. Bhutto said Pakistan had all the components for nuclear weapons, but never assembled them until India set off several tests in 1998. "When I became Prime Minister I was told we had not put together the bomb. We had the components of the bomb. So, when is a chicken a chicken? Is it a chicken when you have it in separate parts but you don't put it together? Or is it a chicken when you actually put it together? And although we had the components of a nuclear weapon, we took the conscious decision not to put together a nuclear weapon, which is why when India detonated it took us some time to put together the weapon and actually have our own tests." The Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP] government evolved the Benazir Nuclear Doctrine in April 1989. This was done to protect Pakistan's nuclear assets and to give confidence to the world community which was deeply concerned about the nuclear program. Under this doctrine, Islamabad undertook not to put together the components of a nuclear device unless its security was threatened and also not to export nuclear technology to any third country. This doctrine followed discussions between Islamabad and Washington in 1988 and 1989. It was announced during the Benazir Bhutto state visit to Washington at the invitation of the first President Bush in April 1989. Later Washington had certain issues in this regard which it wished to discuss with Prime Minister Bhutto in the summer of 1990. This discussion with the special envoy of the Bush administration could not take place because the Foreign Office was unable to coordinate the meeting. At the time, the Prime Minister was travelling to different countries mustering support for the Kashmir dispute for a scheduled Foreign Ministers meeting of the Organisation of Islamic countries. Once the PPP government was sacked on August 6, 1990, Washington cancelled the four and a half billion dollar assistance package as well as the sale of sixty F-16s which the Benazir government had negotiated. In 1993, when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto formed the second PPP government, she consulted the armed forces officials with regard to what had happened in the summer of 1990 to raise concerns in Washington. The PPP government wanted to ensure that there would be no slippages which could pose a threat to the nuclear policy or the nuclear assets. Following this concern, the armed forces came up with a plan to protect the command and control system and prevent any individualistic action. An officer of the armed forces was made in charge of the command and control system and reported to the army chief who in turn reported to the Prime Minister. On 28 May and 30 May 1998 Pakistan conducted at least two nuclear weapons tests. These tests came slightly more than 2 weeks after India carried out 5 nuclear tests of its own, and after many warnings by Pakistani officials that they would respond to India (the two countries have fought 3 wars). In addition, Pakistan's President Rafiq Tarar declared a state of emergency, citing "threat by external aggression to the security of Pakistan." The United States had been attempting to persuade Pakistan not to test (and to head off a potential nuclear arms race in South Asia) by offering potential economic and military benefits, but this effort did not succeed. Pakistan already had been subject to limited U.S. sanctions since 1990 under the Pressler Amendment, when $650 million in military and humanitarian aid had been cut off as a result of an inability by the President to certify that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear device. As was the case following India's nuclear tests, President Clinton, as required by law (including the Glenn Amendment, part of the Arms Export Control Act) announced that the United States would impose sanctions on Pakistan. These sanctions, among other things, could stem the flow of financial assistance into Pakistan, potentially causing severe harm to the Pakistani economy. With $37 billion in foreign debt (more than half of the country's total Gross Domestic Product, or GDP), a monthly trade deficit of $150 million, foreign exchange reserves of only $1.3 billion, and interest payments of $200-$500 million due each month, Pakistan can ill afford any suspension or cutoff in international assistance. Overall, Pakistan is considered far more vulnerable to economic sanctions than India. In October 1997, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had agreed to lend Pakistan $1.52 billion -- including $935 million under an enhanced, low-interest-rate, enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) -- over three years as part of an economic reform program. (The first $208 million tranche was released in October 1997.) The IMF money was considered important not only on its own account but also because it facilitates Pakistan's ability to borrow from commercial sources by increasing the country's financial credibility. Without the IMF, some economists believed foreign lenders could call in their loans, leading to a crisis of confidence in Pakistan's economy and a run on the country's freely-convertible currency, the rupee. Pakistan also receives money from other international lending organizations, including the World Bank. President Bush formally lifted sanctions against India and Pakistan 22 September 2001 in a special memorandum to Secretary of State Colin Powell. The sanctions were imposed in response to the Indian and Pakistani nuclear weapons programs and testing. Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press" September 23 that lifting these sanctions, which had been under consideration for some time, sends an important signal that "we will stand by our friends who stand by us." In March 2003 President Bush lifted sanctions against Pakistan that were imposed following the 1999 bloodless coup that brought President Pervez Musharraf to power. A White House statement said President Bush decided to lift the sanctions because it will "facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan" and help in efforts to fight international terrorism. Pakistani cooperation was key to US military action against the Taleban government in neighboring Afghanistan and al-Qaida terrorists thought responsible for the September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. By December 2003 Pakistani government had launched an investigation into whether figures in Pakistan's nuclear program may have provided nuclear-weapons technology to Iran or other countries. The US State Department said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf assured the United States more than a year earlier that any such activity had ceased. Officials were reluctant to speak about what nuclear-export activity the United States believes Pakistan was engaged in before the Bush administration took office. But officials at both the State Department and White House said the United States continued to accept at face value an assurance made in 2003 by President Musharraf that Pakistan was no longer involved in such proliferation. The assurance was conveyed during what he said was a "very specific" conversation between Mr. Musharraf and Secretary of State Colin Powell on the proliferation issue in October 2002. That telephone talk had followed a flurry of press reports, denied at the time by Pakistan, that that country had been secretly aiding North Korea's nuclear program. In December 2003 The United States welcomed the Pakistani government's investigation and debriefing of prominent nuclear scientists about alleged technology exports. Those questioned are said to include aides to Abdul Qadeer Khan, who's considered the "father" of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. I information Iran has provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, in recent weeks has strengthened suspicions that Pakistan sold Iran key nuclear secrets, including how to build uranium-enrichment centrifuges. A 10 November 2003 report by IAEA Director-General Mohammed El-Baradei on Iran's nuclear program stated that Tehran had received nuclear assistance from "several external sources." |Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list|

The celebration and study of black history originated with Virginia native Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), a writer, teacher and historian. Woodson launched Negro History Week in 1926 to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout U.S. history. He chose the second week of February because it has the birthdays of two men who influenced blacks, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In the 1960s, the surge of interest in black studies led to calls for more than a week to study black history. In 1976, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in Washington, D.C., called for a month-long celebration. And here we have it, all thanks to Carter G. Woodson. Woodson, who spent most of his professional life living in Washington, D.C., was listed as a mulatto in at least one census record.1

US 4128751 A Frozen food in packs, generally of rectilinear configuration, are heated for consumption by being passed through a microwave energy field which generates heat which is substantially uniform across the pack width and which traverses the pack length due to movement relatively between the pack and microwave energy source. The relative movement overcomes thermal runaway since the energy is continuously being dragged away from the zones which have just been heated and where thermal runaway could otherwise occur. 1. An apparatus for heating frozen food packs for consumption, said apparatus comprising a microwave energy source, a microwave energy outlet, energy feed means for feeding microwave energy from said source to said outlet, and conveying means for conveying a pack containing frozen food past said outlet, the movement of said conveying means being in a direction at right angles to the direction of propagation from said microwave energy outlet and also at right angles to the plane of polarisation of the Electric Field propagation. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the energy feed means is adapted to feed the energy to said outlet in a single mode of propagation. 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 including switching means for switching said microwave energy on and off, and triggering means for operating said switching means, said triggering means being actuated in response to movement of a pack by said conveying means across said energy outlet. 4. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which said energy feed means is a rectangular waveguide, and including an outlet section connecting said rectangular waveguide to said energy outlet, said outlet being flared in the direction of the plane of polarisation of the Electric Field propagation to provide an outlet width greater than the width of a standard waveguide. 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 comprising at least one longitudinal baffle located within said flared waveguide outlet section to preserve single mode propagation conditions. 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which said outlet section is a Y type power divider. 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 comprising a baffle located parallel to the plane of said energy outlet and defining at its edges a pair of slots spaced half a wavelength apart so that energy emerging from said slots is subject to cancellation in the region of said slots and to re-enforcement halfway therebetween. 8. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising an oscillatory conveying means arranged to oscillate a pack across said microwave energy outlet. 9. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a dielectric insert having a relative permittivity greater than air and a low loss factor disposed within the outlet section. 10. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said energy feed means comprises a metal tunnel which is less than half a wavelength high and is parallel to the plane of the microwave energy outlet. 11. A method of heating a pack of frozen food for consumption, which pack is of substantially uniform length and uniform width, comprising effecting relative movement of the pack in its length direction past an outlet fed by a source of microwave energy, and causing said outlet to supply microwave energy to the pack under conditions such that substantially uniform heating occurs across the pack width while in the pack length direction heating is concentrated in a band which is shorter than the pack length, and which through the relative movement between the pack and said microwave outlet, sequentially traverses the pack length. 12. A method according to claim 11 in which the microwave energy is propagated in single mode with the Electric Field polarised transversely to the direction of movement of the pack. 13. A method according to claim 11 in which microwave energy transmission and pack movement are corelated to ensure even generation of heat at the beginning, intermediate zones and end of the pack length. 14. A method according to claim 13 in which the pack is caused to perform an oscillatory movement back and forth across the microwave outlet, and said movement has an amplitude which ensures even generation of heat at the beginning, intermediate zones and end of the pack length. 15. A method according to claim 13 in which the pack is caused to perform a continuous movement past the microwave outlet, and the microwave source is switched on and off in timed relationship with said continuous movement to ensure even generation of heat at the beginning, intermediate zones and end of the pack length. 16. A method according to claim 11 in which the pack is caused to move within a metal tunnel less than half a wavelength high and parallel to the plane of the microwave outlet. The present invention relates to the microwave heating of foods, particularly for the preparation for consumption of frozen pre-packed meals. Institutionalised catering, for example factory canteens or hospital meal services, desirably require the minimum of preparation time, combined with a reasonable quality of product, a fair choice of alternatives and economy. With these aims in mind, the use of pre-prepared frozen packs of food in conjunction with micro-wave heating has been considered; however re-heating is generally of the order of ten minutes or so and this usually constitutes an unacceptable delay, and also a wide ranging free choice is impractical. Consequently in factory canteens it is still the practice to have pre-heated quantities of food available from which to serve meals of restricted choice range and quality. Considering the factory canteen situation, a queue of people should desirably be able to sequentially select a meal, pay for it and take it away on a tray; and in a smooth running system this should be possible in two to three minutes. If therefore the re-heating time in a microwave oven can be reduced from ten minutes to less than three minutes, the meal becomes capable of being re-heated as the individual goes through the process of selecting and paying for it -- and then there is no longer the requirement for pre-heated quantities of food being available and an improved quality and greater selection become possible. To achieve this rapid heating would be difficult in a conventional multi-mode microwave oven because merely increasing the power accentuates the so-called thermal runaway problem. Thermal runaway is the effect which occurs when microwave energy is applied to a frozen food where, as soon as part of the frozen food thaws and changes from ice to liquid, this part assumes a greater dielectric loss factor than the remaining ice and selectively takes more of the power from the system, so distorting the energy field and resulting in uneven heating. The present invention aims to provide a rapid heating method where the problem of thermal runaway is minimised or reduced and accordingly provides a method of heating a pack of frozen food for consumption, which pack is of substantially uniform length and uniform width, comprising effecting relative movement of the pack in its length direction past an outlet fed by a source of microwave energy, and causing said outlet to supply microwave energy to the pack under conditions such that substantially uniform heating occurs across the pack width while in the pack length direction heating is concentrated in a band which is shorter than the pack length, and which through the relative movement between the pack and said microwave outlet sequentially traverses the pack length. The invention also provides an apparatus for heating frozen food packs for consumption comprising a microwave energy source, energy feed means for feeding energy from said source to an outlet, and conveying means for conveying a pack containing frozen food past said outlet, said outlet, said conveying means and said energy feed means being so positioned in relation to one another that substantially uniform heating occurs across the pack width while in the pack length direction heating is concentrated in a band which is shorter than the pack length. Concentration of the length direction heating into a restricted band coupled with relative movement between pack and energy source enables a high heat input into the pack to be achieved without encountering significant thermal runaway problems. This is because the energy source (the microwave outlet) is continuously being moved away from zones where thermal runaway would otherwise occur. Thus any distortion of the field consequent on frozen material thawing is kept at a minimum, and the only such effect is a slight dragging of the heating zone in the direction of pack movement (i.e. heating will be at a zone slightly in advance of the centre of the microwave outlet); and this dragging effect will be evened out as the heating zone sequentially traverses the whole of the pack length and each integral zone of the food pack will have received in total substantially the same amount of heating. It will be recognised that the dragging effect will tend to cause uneven heating at the front and rear ends of the food pack. This can be overcome conveniently by either having dummy loads preceding and succeeding the pack as it progresses past the microwave outlet; or an infinite number of packs juxtaposed without any gap between the front of the first and the rear of the next (effectively an infinitely long pack) would also solve the end effect problem. However we have found that the simplest way of avoiding overheating of the ends is by switching the microwave energy on and off in timed relationship with the pack movement. In particular the energy should be switched on as the leading edge of the pack has moved about halfway across the microwave outlet and should be switched off as the trailing edge is halfway across the microwave outlet. In practice owing to slight field distortion switch on should be just after the halfway point and switch off just before the relevant edge reaches halfway. As an alternative to choosing the correct time of switching on and off, which will be effected when a unidirectional single pass takes place, if the pack is to be moved back and forth across the microwave outlet overheating of the ends can be avoided by moving the pack back and forth over a restricted pathway, i.e. by reversing the movement just before a complete pass has taken place. In order to ensure that the total quantity of heat received at different points along the length of the pack is uniform, as well as taking into account the end effect problems referred to above, two other requirements have to be substantially met. The first of these is that the movement past the microwave outlet should be at a predetermined rate, and the second is that the food to be heated should be suitably distributed within the pack in relation to its energy absorbing properties. Speed of movement and distribution of food within the pack are, of course, related functions, and while in practice constant speed and even distribution are the most convenient ways of achieving even heating, other corelated values of these two functions are theoretically also possible (for example if a portion of food near the centre of the pack needs more heat, the speed of movement could be slowed down at that stage). The manner in which the food is arranged within the pack to ensure even heating is generally based on trial and error and experience. For example dense high water content foods, e.g. spinach puree, absorb more energy than lower water content particulate foods, e.g. peas; and non-uniform geometric shapes such as lamb cutlets create similar problems. It then becomes a matter of arranging such materials within the pack in such a way that the effective absorption properties are as uniform as possible. As previously stated heating in the pack length direction is concentrated in a band which is shorter than the pack length. Generally the intensity of heating in this direction will increase to and then recede from a peak of intensity sinusoidally within a distance which may be a third to a half of the pack length, when a pack of usually encountered dimensions is used (see example to be described later). However in the pack width direction heating should be substantially uniform. This is preferably achieved by radiation of microwave energy in single mode with the Electric Field polarised in the direction of the pack width from an outlet of substantially the same width as that of the pack. While this is the preferred method, other methods of achieving equal heating across the pack width are also possible such as by use of the equipment described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,794. With the single mode arrangement where the Electric Field is polarised in the direction of the pack width the intensity of the effective Electric Field will theoretically be substantially constant across the transverse width of the pack; while intensity will increase sinusoidally to a peak and then similarly subside in the direction of movement. In regard to the width direction, a single rectangular waveguide outlet using the most commonly used frequency, i.e. 2450 MHz, would only encompass a particularly narrow pack width i.e. about 5 cm. Therefore to achieve a pack width which is commercially more acceptable, we have found it desirable to substantially double the waveguide outlet width by using an applicator in the form of a Y type power divider supplied from a single power source. The same effect could be achieved by using two waveguide outlets next to each other, combined with other known power dividers, and greater multiples are also possible. As a further measure to improve the uniformity of heating across the width of the food pack we have found that when heating certain particularly dense, high water content, foods steps need to be taken to prevent overheating at the side edges of such a pack. By guiding the microwave energy via a pair of slots one at each side of the applicator and corresponding to the edges of the pack, greater uniformity can be achieved provided these slots are spaced half a wavelength apart. This provides, in effect, two in phase sources spaced half a wavelength apart. The effect then is that in the region of each slot there will be a degree of cancellation due to out of phase power from the opposite slot reducing the power intensity, while midway between the two slots, the powers from the two slots are in phase and will re-inforce one another. These slots can for example be achieved by use of a thin conductive baffle plate parallel to and spaced from the pack base and closing the central zone of the outlet of the Y-type power divider. Alternatively it is possible to use a dielectric insert disposed in the waveguide outlet adjacent and generally parallel to the food pack path, and of low loss factor and of a greater relative permittivity than air, which can vary the matching to the food pack and thereby be utilised to improve the uniformity of heating across the pack width. The shape and disposition of such a low-loss baffle can then be chosen to tailor the intensity of heating as desired. From the foregoing, it will be apparent that in the preferred arrangements a substantially rectangular parallelopiped shaped pack will be used of which the width dimension is selected in relation to the waveguide outlet width, while pack length -- though not critical -- should be taken into acoount in arranging for a switching sequence or reciprocal movement to overcome leading and lagging edge end effects. The third dimension of the pack, i.e. height, needs to be restricted to take into account the energy transmission capability of the microwave source. If height is too great the top of the pack would not receive adequate energy, but there is no minimum requirement. An additional factor limiting pack height comes in when considering the method of conveying the pack and of screening the system to prevent radiation outwards from the equipment to provide adequate safety. Conveniently the radiating outlet for the microwave source opens into a screened rectangular cross-section tunnel along which the pack is caused to move. This arrangement will generally be T-shaped. In order to inhibit propagation of radiation, when this is polarised with its field horizontal, from travelling along the upper horizontal limbs of the T (the pack pathway), these limbs should be less than half a wavelength in height. This then puts a similar limitation on the height of the pack -- i.e. since the pack has to pass along within these upper limbs it must also be less than half a wavelength high. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view part cut away of a pack heating device; FIG. 2 is a side view showing the form of the Electric Field; FIG. 3 shown the field disposition pictorially; FIG. 4 shows the sequential heating effect on a pack; FIG. 5 shows an end view of the waveguide outlet with one form of field compensating device; FIGS. 6 and 7 show similar views to FIG. 5 with different forms of field compensating device; and FIG. 8 shows an overall view of the microwave system layout. Referring to FIG. 1, a conveyor system (shown only schematically) includes a horizontal metal screening guide channel 1 for conveying a food pack 2 past a microwave applicator and vertically disposed waveguide 3. Other dispositions than horizontal and vertical are of course also feasible, but are less convenient. The microwave applicator and waveguide is located so that the Electric Field (E) is at right angles to the longitudinal conveying direction L and is as uniform as possible across a horizontal plane in the E direction shown. In the conveyor direction however the intensity rises to a peak and then falls again as shown by graph G (FIG. 2). The height of the guide channel 1 is less than half a wavelength long so as to inhibit transmission of horizontally polarised radiation along this channel. The microwave applicator and waveguide 3 consists essentially of a rectangular waveguide 4 of standard internal dimensions (86 mm mm) feeding into a flared outlet section 4 and fed from a magnetron supply. Within the outlet section 5 is a conductive divider plate 6 (shown dotted) attached at each end to the side walls within the section 5. The dimensions and arrangement within the flared outlet thus form a Y type divider, giving rise to a widened zone of constant Electric Field in the direction transverse to the conveyor direction (in fact two outputs in phase which consequently behave as one), which corresponds to the pack width (see FIG. 3). Conveniently the outlet width may be about 115 mm, instead of 43 mm of the standard waveguide, and a pack of 110 mm width may be accommodated; and the equipment is fabricated from thin conductive sheeting, for example aluminium sheeting about 1 mm thick. The depth of the channel 1 and the height of the food pack should be less than half a wavelength, e.g. about 55 mm and 35 mm respectively. While theoretically a Y type power divider, per se, gives a constant intensity field in the transverse direction, in use some edge over-heating would tend to occur with certain dense, high water content foods, e.g. spinach puree, at edge zones 7 (see FIG. 5). Referring to FIG. 5, one method of overcoming this problem is by provision of a baffle plate 8 attached to the top of the divider plate and to the opposing parallel walls of the flare 5 and spaced from the path of the pack base, so as to leave a slot 9 at each end, corresponding to the edge zones 7 of the food pack which would otherwise be overheated. The centres of the two slots 9 are spaced apart by a distance equal to approximately a half wavelength of the generated energy. Then, in use, there will be a degree of cancellation at each of the edges, which thus reduces the heating at zones 7, while the two slot sources will augment one another in a central zone. FIG. 6 shows an alternative version where the divider plate 6 and transverse plate 8 are replaced by a wedge 22, performing a basically similar function in the same manner. FIG. 7 shows another version where the plate 8 is replaced by a block 23 of polypropylene 2 cm deep which equalised the transverse field in a different manner. This provided the most uniform and efficient transfer of power in the width direction. Since the polypropylene is a low loss material having low loss factor and a higher relative permittivity than the equivalent volume of air (about 2.2 times), it affects the matching of power into the pack. Thus by selecting its depth, shape and location the power into the pack can be tailored to provide the required uniformity. Moreover power can be transferred to the pack more effectively with less reflection back down the waveguide. This method of matching is also to be preferred over the previously discussed horizontal baffle system since it can also be used with higher multiples of flared outlet than the double outlet previously described. In practice food packs containing 176 gm of frozen food and measuring 110 mm heated from the deep frozen state (about -20 for consumption in less than three minutes. A substantially uniform heating with the absence or minimum of thermal runaway was observed. The system was coupled to a magnetron giving a nominal 2 Kilowatts output power via a conventional matching device which produces an effective power transfer of about 11/2 kW into the foodpack. The overall set up of the microwave system is shown schematically in FIG. 8. The applicator is connected to a wave guide section containing an adjustable stub 14 for matching. The next section is a circulator 15 (with three ports); one port is connected to the magnetron; the second port goes to the flared outlet applicator and the third port is connected to a water load 17, incorporating a probe 18 connected to a crystal detector 19 and a microammeter 20. The circulator directs all the power from the magnetron forward to the applicator, and also diverts any power reflected from the applicator into the dummy load 17, thereby protecting the magnetron. The crystal detector monitors the reflected power which is minimised by adjustment of the matching stub. An oscillatory feeding mechanism 21 is provided. Setting up the matching is a compromise. There is a big difference between the impedance of the food material in the frozen and thawed conditions, but the fully frozen condition lasts such a short time that it is preferred to set up the matching for the unfrozen condition. In the unfrozen condition the match varies somewhat with the type of food and, to a small extent, with its temperature. We have found by experience that a satisfactory compromise is to adjust the matching stub to give minimum reflected power (crystal current) when 200 ml of water in a carton of the size referred to above is stationary and centrally over the flare. Under this condition the effective microwave power was measured by recording the temperature rise of the water in 20 seconds. (At perfect match -- zero crystal current -- 1.6 to 1.7 kW was obtained from the microwave power pack in use.) Overheating of the end edges of the pack can occur due to the field lagging as the pack enters the heating zone. This was taken account of by restricting the length of oscillating travel across the waveguide outlet. The length of the oscillating travel was investigated by observing the heating pattern as the length was altered. When the travel was too short the leading and trailing edges were too cold, and when too long the edges were overheated. The optimum travel was 31/2 cm either side of the central position, i.e. a total travel of 7 cm of the pack of which the base is 11 cm long. The points to which the ends of the pack move and then change direction to move back are indicated by the lines 12 and 13 of FIG. 1. Thus, viewing FIG. 1, an oscillating pack moves to the left until its right hand edge is at line 13 and then moves back to the right until its left hand edge is at line 12 and subsequently oscillates between these positions. A number of different methods of operating the flare was possible. Using a single flare the best method was to move the foodpack back and forth across the flare mouth about twelve times at a speed of 150 cm per minute, the travel across the waveguide having been restricted to avoid end edge overheating, as previously discussed. Satisfactory heated packs were achieved by this method in about one minute. For a continuous flow system it was preferable to use several spaced flares arranged sequentially in the path of the foodpack and with corresponding switching arrangements to ensure against end edge overheating. Using two flares, a food pack speed of 10 cm per minute gave a heating time of one minute from each flare, and this achieved the desired temperature. With this continuous flow operation the points for switching the pack on were similarly located to the lines 12 and 13 of FIG. 1, switch-on occurring when the leading edge reaches the line 12 and switch-off occurring when the trailing edge of the pack reaches the line 13. Triggering of the switches can be effected in any convenient manner such as by micro-switches or light beams. Using a single flare with a slower speed (5 cm per minute approximately) was often satisfactory to reach the desired temperature in two minutes, but with some packed products this mode of operation introduced a degree of unevenness to the heating effect. The description is written in terms of a transmission frequency of 2450 MHz which at the present time is the normal microwave heating frequency. However it will be understood that other microwave heating frequencies are equally permissible provided the waveguide and pack geometry are adjusted in accordance with the principles previously discussed. Citas de patentes

Greek audiences would have known the story of the ill-fated marriage between Jason, hero of the Golden Fleece, and Medea, barbarian witch and princess of Colchis. The modern reader, to fully understand the events of Medea, needs to be familiar with the legends and myths on which the play is based. Medea was of a people at the far edge of the Black Sea; for the Greeks of Euripides' time, this was the edge of the known world. She was a powerful sorceress, princess of Colchis, and a granddaughter of the sun god Helias. Jason, a great Greek hero and captain of the Argonauts, led his crew to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. King Aeetes, lord of Colchis and Medea's father, kept the Fleece under guard. A sorcerer himself, he was a formidable opponent. This legend takes place quite early in the chronology of Greek myth. The story is set after the ascent of Zeus, King of the gods, but is still near the beginning of his reign; Helias, the ancient sun god before Apollo's coming, is Medea's grandfather. Jason's voyage with the Argonauts predates the Trojan War, and represents the first naval assault by the Greeks against an Eastern people. The traps set by Aeetes made the Golden Fleece all but impossible to obtain. By Medea's aid, Jason overcame these obstacles, and Medea herself killed the giant serpent that guarded the Fleece. Then, to buy time during their escape, Medea killed her own brother and tossed the pieces of his corpse behind the Argo as they sailed for Greece. Her father, grief-stricken by his son's death and his daughter's treachery, had to slow his pursuit of the Argo so he could collect the pieces of his son's body for burial. Medea and Jason returned to his hereditary kingdom of Iolcus. Jason's father had died, and his uncle Pelias sat, without right, on the throne. Medea, to help Jason, convinced Pelias' daughters that she knew a way to restore the old king's youth. He would have to be killed, cut into pieces, and then put together and restored to youth by Medea's magic. The unwitting daughters did as Medea asked, but the sorceress then explained that she couldn't really bring Pelias back to life. Rather than win Jason his throne, this move forced Jason, Medea, and their children into exile. Finally, they settled in Corinth, where Jason eventually took a new bride. The action of the play begins here, soon after Medea learns of Jason's treachery. A Nurse enters, speaking of the sorrows facing Medea's family. She is joined by the Tutor and the children; they discuss Jason's betrayal of Medea. The Nurse fears for everyone's safety: she knows the violence of Medea's heart. The Tutor brings the children back into the house. The Chorus of Corinthian women enters, full of sympathy for Medea. They ask the Nurse to bring Medea out so that they might comfort her; the unfortunate woman's cries can be heard even outside the house. The Nurse complies. Medea emerges from her home, bewailing the harshness with which Fate handles women. She announces her intention to seek revenge. She asks the Chorus, as follow women, to aid her by keeping silent. The Chorus vows. Creon (not to be confused with the Creon of Sophocles' Theban cycle), king of Corinth and Jason's new father-in-law, enters and tells Medea that she is banished. She and her children must leave Corinth immediately. Medea begs for mercy, and she is granted a reprieve of one day. The old king leaves, and Medea tells the Chorus that one day is all she needs to get her revenge. Jason enters, condescending and smug. He scolds Medea for her loose tongue, telling her that her exile is her own fault. Husband and wife bicker bitterly, Medea accusing Jason of cowardice, reminding him of all that she has done for him, and condemning him for his faithlessness. Jason rationalizes all of his actions, with neatly enumerated arguments. Although he seems to have convinced himself, to most audience members Jason comes off as smug and spineless. He offers Medea money and aid in her exile, but she proudly refuses. Jason exits. Aegeus, king of Athens and old friend of Medea's, enters. Aegeus is childless. Medea tells him of her problems, and asks for safe haven in Athens. She offers to help him to have a child; she has thorough knowledge of drugs and medicines. Aegeus eagerly agrees. If Medea can reach Athens, he will protect her. Medea makes the old king vow by all the gods. With her security certain, Medea tells the Chorus of her plans. She will kill Jason's new bride and father-in-law by the aid of poisoned gifts. To make her revenge complete, she will kill her children to wound Jason and to protect them from counter-revenge by Creon's allies and friends. Many scholars now believe that the murder of Medea's children was Euripides' addition to the myth; in older versions, the children were killed by Creon's friends in revenge for the death of the king and princess. The Chorus begs Medea to reconsider these plans, but Medea insists that her revenge must be complete. Jason enters again, and Medea adapts a conciliatory tone. She begs him to allow the children to stay in Corinth. She also has the children bring gifts to the Corinthian princess. Jason is pleased by this change of heart. The Tutor soon returns with the children, telling Medea that the gifts have been received. Medea then waits anxiously for news from the palace. She speaks lovingly to her children, in a scene that is both moving and chilling, even as she steels herself so that she can kill them. She has a moment of hesitation, but she overcomes it. There is no room for compromise. A messenger comes bringing the awaited news. The poisoned dress and diadem have worked: the princess is dead. When Creon saw his daughter's corpse, he embraced her body. The poison then worked against him. The deaths were brutal and terrifying. Both daughter and father died in excruciating pain, and the bodies were barely recognizable. Medea now prepares to kill her children. She rushes into the house with a shriek. We hear the children's screams from inside the house; the Chorus considers interfering, but in the end does nothing. Jason re-enters with soldiers. He fears for the children's safety, because he knows Creon's friends will seek revenge; he has come to take the children under guard. The Chorus sorrowfully informs Jason that his children are dead. Jason now orders his guards to break the doors down, so that he can take his revenge against his wife for these atrocities. Medea appears above the palace, in a chariot drawn by dragons. She has the children's corpses with her. She mocks Jason pitilessly, foretelling an embarrassing death for him; she also refuses to give him the bodies. Jason bickers with his wife one last time, each blaming the other for what has happened. There is nothing Jason can do; with the aid of her chariot, Medea will escape to Athens. The Chorus closes the play, musing on the terrible unpredictability of fate. Medea Essays and Related Content - Medea: Major Themes - Medea: Essays - Medea: Questions - Medea: Purchase the Novel and Related Material - Euripides: Biography - Medea Summary - About Medea - Character List - Major Themes - Summary and Analysis of Lines 1-356 - Summary and Analysis of Lines 357-662 - Summary and Analysis of Lines 663-975 - Summary and Analysis of Lines 976-1250 - Summary and Analysis of Lines 1251-1419 - Related Links on Medea - Test Yourself! - Quiz 1 - Test Yourself! - Quiz 2 - Author of ClassicNote and Sources

Comma After Introductory Clauses Introductory clauses are dependent clauses which are found at the beginning of the sentence (although they can be moved to the end of the sentence, too, without confusing the meaning of the sentence). After a dependent introductory clause, we use a comma to separate the introductory clause from the independent clause. The dependent introductory clause may start with an adverb or conjunction like although, if, or when. As the man was walking into the store, he came face-to-face with his childhood sweetheart. Because the rain was torrential, the day’s Little League games were postponed. Grabbing her umbrella, Kate raced out of the house. Now then, we should head back home because the baby needs a nap.

The forests of the mountain ranges of northern Greece are home to Europe's largest population of the protected brown bear. But the bears who have been given sanctuary by Arcturos are far from wild. Most are the infamous "dancing bears" abandoned or confiscated from gypsies when the practice was banned in 1969. They "danced" because they had their front feet burnt on hot coals as youngsters while their masters played the tambourine. Traumatized by the experience, they would instinctively dance whenever the familiar tune was heard. Even if saved from this fate, however, they could never survive back in the wild. Many had their teeth broken to stop them biting their owners and were psychologically scarred by their experience in captivity. Having heard about their dilemma by chance from an English contact involved in the LiBEARrty campaign to preserve the brown bear in the Balkans, leading winemaker Yianni Boutari decided to help set up a sanctuary near his ancestral village of Nympheon. "There was a law which outlawed dancing bears but no system for taking the bears off the gypsies and nowhere for them to go," he recalls. Boutari had been looking for a project to breath life back into the virtually abandoned stone village (he has since been instrumental in its revival as a charming historic town). In 1992, Arcturos was formed as a non-profit organization and the following year began programs to protect the brown bear, eventually attracting EU and private sector support, as well as funds from WWF. Today, Arcturos has a team of 16 staff, 40 associates and another 40 volunteers whose work entails protecting and managing the area's natural environment and wildlife. They are also leading Balkan initiatives to monitor and protect the region's bear population. Thirteen bears have found a home in the five-acre sanctuary, including an American black bear from a circus and three refugees from the Belgrade zoo brought in after the Yugoslavia wars. In the nearby town of Aetos, there is a veterinary station and an innovative visitor center with excellent interactive displays and programs. Arcturos' "sponsor a bear" program and educational programs have helped raise awareness of the problem and of environmental issues throughout Greece. Along with the sanctuary, the center attracts about 30-35,000 visitors per year. Arcturos also works with farming organizations to offer local farmers and bee-keepers support and compensation for damage to their livelihoods by wild bears. Whereas in the past many of these bears were shot, now farmers contact the center, which helps provide electrified fencing, shepherd dogs or other means of protection. In 1998, Arcturos began a similar program aimed at protecting the region's wolves and has established a separate wolf sanctuary nearby. VK

August 3rd, 2009 By Harriet Blake Green Right Now “Don’t let the vacation ruin the destination.” These words of wisdom hail from environmentalists who have legitimate concerns about ocean pollution due to cruise ship dumping. Cruise ship vacations have gained in popularity in the last decade, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which states that the industry has grown nearly twice as fast as any other means of travel during that time frame. And, at the same time, the average ship size has been growing at about 90 feet every five years. Ships used to average about 3,000 passengers, but today some carry as many as 8,000. So with larger ships carrying more passengers, there is mounting concern about how this growth will affect the ocean’s marine life and water quality. Recently the World Wildlife Federation’s Baltic Sea chapter recommended that area ports upgrade their facilities to cope with contamination from cruise ship sewage. The WWF said that Baltic-area ports are not keeping their facilities up-to-date in terms of disposing of cruise ship waste and suggested that the money being made by cruise ship tourism be spent upgrading the facilities, according to a report in the Environmental News Service.

Lent begins with a man in a desert. This man has extraordinary powers and knows himself to be of special importance to his God. In the desert, he is facing choices about what that means for the rest of his life. He is alone, and in a semi-starved, almost hallucinatory condition, but the choices he makes here will not be dismissed when he returns to "normal" life. He chooses not to use his power for his own gratification. Instead, he chooses to put himself and his power at the disposal of God, for the use of others. He faces three temptations, like in all the best stories. The first is to turn stones into bread, to satisfy his gnawing hunger. The second is to get power over people, and the third is to make himself invulnerable. All of these things, he rejects. Later on in life, we see the consequences of these choices. Jesus can produce miraculous food – but for others, not himself. He can influence people, but only if they choose to believe in him; and he accepts the death on the cross that brings the presence of God into all those situations of unavoidable human vulnerability. This is how the New Testament tells it, and that's why Jesus's followers "do" Lent. For a few weeks, we try to see that the world doesn't crumble if we don't have everything we want; we try to make ourselves and our resources that little bit more available for ends other than our own. Whether you're a Christian or not, this choice that Jesus makes in the desert has to be made. Are we going to live our lives simply trying to get as much of what we want as we possibly can, whatever the cost to others, or are we going to imagine a different way? It's a particularly apposite question at the moment, when we hear daily about people who are "giving things up" because they have no choice: parents giving up meals so that their children can eat, for example. These hard times are going to last much longer than Lent, but this is a chance to take stock and imagine a changed world, in which, perhaps, the rich can actually manage with far less than they thought they needed; in which, perhaps, poverty is not treated as a misdemeanour on the part of the poor, but as a failure of society, to be remedied by all of us. Jesus's decision in the desert led him into several years of working with and speaking out for the people his society – and ours – thought unimportant: sick people, foreigners, poor people, women, children. The people in power didn't like to be challenged in Jesus's day, any more than they do now, and so Jesus faced scorn, derision and, ultimately, death, for his choice to live by different rules. That's a far cry from giving up chocolate or coffee for Lent, but there is really no point at all in a Lenten discipline that isn't about reimagining the world so that it revolves less about our own desires and more about the good of all. When Lent ends, that vision of the world doesn't. It's a world that is less about what I want, and more about what we all need, in which the good life for me is unimaginable unless it is also the good life for you. • Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfree

The HS2 high-speed route that was given the green light on Tuesday will cut a 200 yard-wide swath through nearly 100 miles of open countryside, adding to noise, air and visual pollution in some of Britain's finest landscapes. But while it could provide a viable alternative to flying for millions of people and may stimulate local economies by as much as £47bn over 60 years, studies suggest it may only marginally cut carbon emissions. Some extra tunnelling has been promised through the Chilterns area of outstanding beauty, but over 40 ancient woodlands are expected to be destroyed or impacted, along with protected sites of special scientific interest, many local beauty and heritage spots, parks, gardens, footpaths and monuments. Local authorities along the route argue that the impact surveys done on landscape, townscape, cultural heritage, wildlife, biodiversity, water, flooding, health and well-being are insufficient. The government has responded by saying it is not possible to fully assess the damage that might be done, as not all the relevant information, surveys or supporting data has been undertaken. However, most government agencies acknowledge that the damage, from the line, its new terminals and the access roads will be massive. The Environment Agency has said there are "potentially significant risks to water resources", Natural England has warned of "severe and significant effects", English Heritage has said it has not investigated enough and the now-abolished Sustainable Development Commission said: "HS2 is completely unsustainable and it will mean putting in a massive ongoing subsidy into something which only benefits the richest in society." Buckinghamshire, one of the six counties the route will pass through, says it will be badly affected. The route will run through 25km of its green belt land, as well as ancient woodland, several sites of special scientific interest . Within a buffer zone of 1km next to the line, 59 different protected species could be impacted, it says. The scheme was first touted as being a good environmental alternative to air travel, with Eurostar claiming that a full high-speed electric train emits between a tenth and a quarter of the carbon dioxide of a plane. But other studies suggest that it will be broadly neutral in carbon terms. While the new line will take some passengers away from more carbon intensive domestic flights, it will generate many new journeys and will take passengers away from existing – less carbon-intensive – conventional rail services. But with no passengers expected for 14 years, it's possible that the expected decarbonisation of the UK's electricity supply could alter the equation.

The first of my two news features about the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting is now online. It's about a mini-symposium called Low Cost Neuroscience for the Amateur, High School Student, Undergraduate, and Public, held on Saturday, November 12th. The symposium was chaired by Tim Marzullo, the co-founder of Backyard Brains, a young company that makes and distributes affordable neuroscience kits for students of all ages. Their latest product, which they demonstrated at the conference, enables students to use optogenetics, a state-of-the-art technique in which neural activity and animal behaviour can be manipulated with laser light. My article, Do-It-Yourself Neuroscience, is online at the Dana Foundation website. I interviewed Tim for the piece and the transcript is below. Ewen Callaway also covered the optogenetics kit for Nature. Why did you and Greg set up Backyard Brains? I had to go to grad school and get a Ph.D. to study neuroscience. I'm crazy enough to want to be a professional neuroscientist, but for every researcher there are thousands of others who are naturally curious about the brain. If astronomy were like neuroscience, you'd need a Ph.D. to look through a telescope. It's completely ridiculous. The technology for recording action potentials is 90 years old and there's no technological barrier for why you can't bring it into schools. We just had to go about building a little amplifier and actually distributing it. I come from a family of teachers and I'm a bit of a gearhead, so Backyard Brains came out of combining my love of neuroscience, education and building things. Can you tell me about your optogenetics kit? We took optogenetics technology and reduced the cost so that high school students can learn about and use it. We set ourselves the challenge over the past year of developing a portable optogenetics and electrophysiology rig. This is a little bit more complicated than our previous gear, the SpikerBox amplifier which allows us to measure action potentials in the cockroach or cricket leg. Optogenetics needs transgenic organisms so we're limited to our models. We have a collaborator [Stefan Pulver] from the University of Cambridge and Cornell who's made these transgenic fruit flies with Channelrhodopsin expressed in all cholinergic neurons. Using 3D printing technology we designed, printed and assembled a manipulator to position our electrodes. Then we took an off-the-shelf microscope and [Backyard Brains co-founder] Greg invented the final component we needed – the LED control circuitry. Using an iPad we can precisely deliver blue light pulses at any interval we want to stimulate the preparation. In fruit fly larvae, ChR2 is expressed in cholinergic neurons that make the muscles contract when you stimulate them. Look through the microscope and you'll see the larvae crawling along on the substrate; you shine a blue light on them and they contract. How does Backyard Brains fit in to the wider DIY bio scene? Most DIY bio folks do molecular stuff. They come from computer science backgrounds, mostly, and are intrigued by the DNA code and want to start investigating it themselves. But loading and running a gel doesn't really lend itself to educational demos. Our advantage is that the electrical activity of neurons provides teaching in real time, because you can actually see it before your very eyes. We see ourselves as part of a broader movement of DIY hackers who are trying to build just-good-enough versions of gear to reduce the barrier to entry. A lot of us are inspired by the computer science revolution – when the PC became affordable enough for the consumer, massive changes occurred in society, and are still occurring today. The life sciences don't really have that innovation – the reason is you need a lot of training so you have to go to grad school and the gear is so expensive. We're trying to solve both of those problems by developing low cost gear and educational materials. Plus building things is a lot of fun. It seems like a perfect way to get underprivileged kids interested in neuroscience. Exactly – we're actually from southeastern Michigan, so we've gone to Detroit and surrounding areas many times to do workshops and demos. Our first high school demonstration of optogenetics in fruit flies was in an urban school in Detroit. Those were the first high school students in the world to see this technology, so we're pretty proud of that.

BIOL368: Ecology and Evolution Learn how ecological interactions drive evolution, how species can be understood as products of ongoing evolution, and explore some big questions about the processes that shape community structure and dynamics; ecosystem function; and the global distribution of biodiversity. Students also learn some essential skills for a science career. These include designing and carrying out simple experiments; communicating results to others; critiquing ideas and methods; applying existing ideas and methods to novel problems. There is a two hour lecture and a two hour practical most weeks, as well as a one day field trip. Each student also designs and carries out a simple experiment, with guidance from us. |Contact Hours:||see below| D2 - Day; Offered in the second half-year Xc2 - External study (composite mode); Offered in the second half-year X2 - External study; Offered in the second half-year (Session Dates: 15-16 October) |Staff Contact(s):||Dr Christopher Lusk, Dr Ian Wright| Department of Biological Sciences For unit timetable information please visit the Timetables@Macquarie Website .

From email@example.com Fri Dec 7 08:00:15 2001 Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 14:51:36 -0600 (CST) Subject: Ancient lost city found deep under the sea off Cuba lost cityruins under the sea off Cuba HAVANA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Explorers using a miniature submarine to probe the sea floor off the coast of Cuba said on Thursday they had confirmed the discovery of stone structures deep below the ocean surface that may have been built by an unknown human civilization thousands of years ago. Researchers with a Canadian exploration company said they filmed over the summer ruins of a possible submerged lost city off the Guanahacabibes Peninsula on the Caribbean island's western tip. The researchers cautioned that they did not fully understand the nature of their find and planned to return in January for further analysis, the expedition leader said on Thursday. The explorers said they believed the mysterious structures, discovered at the astounding depth of around 2,100 feet (650 meters) and laid out like an urban area, could have been built at least 6,000 years ago. That would be about 1,500 years earlier than the great Giza pyramids of Egypt. It's a really wonderful structure which looks like it could have been a large urban center, said Soviet-born Canadian ocean engineer Paulina Zelitsky, from British Columbia-based Advanced Digital Communications (ADC). However, it would be totally irresponsible to say what it was before we have evidence, Zelitsky told Reuters. Zelitsky said the structures may have been built by unknown people when the current sea-floor actually was above the surface. She said volcanic activity may explain how the site ended up at great depths below the Caribbean Sea. In July 2000, ADC researchers using sophisticated side-scan sonar equipment identified a large underwater plateau with clear images of symmetrically organized stone structures that looked like an urban development partly covered by sand. From above, the shapes resembled pyramids, roads and buildings, they said. ULISESASSISTS UNDERWATER ODYSSEY This past July, ADC researchers, along with the firm's Cuban partner and experts from the Cuban Academy of Sciences, returned to the site in their ship Ulises. They said they sent a miniature, unmanned submarine called a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) down to film parts of the 7.7-square-mile (20 square km) area. Those images confirmed the presence of huge, smooth, cut granite-like blocks in perpendicular and circular formations, some in pyramid shapes, the researchers said. Most of the blocks, measuring between about 6.5 and 16 feet (two and five meters) in length, were exposed, some stacked one on another, the researchers said. Others were covered in sediment and the fine, white sand that characterizes the area, the researchers said. The intriguing discovery provided evidence that Cuba at one time was joined to mainland Latin America via a strip of land from the Yucatan Peninsula, the researchers said. There are many new hypotheses about land movement and colonialization, and what we are seeing here should provide very interesting new information, Zelitsky said. ADC's deep-water equipment includes a satellite-integrated ocean bottom positioning system, high-precision side-scan double-frequency sonar, and the ROV. The company currently is commissioning what it calls the world's first custom-designed ocean excavator for marine archeology to begin work both at the Guanahacabibes site and at ship wrecks. ADC is the deepest operator among four foreign firms working in joint venture with President Fidel Castro's government to explore Cuban waters containing hundreds of treasure-laden ships from the colonial era. The Canadian company already has discovered several historic sunken Spanish ships. In an earlier high-profile find, ADC was testing equipment in late 2000 off Havana Bay when it spotted the century-old wreck of the American battleship USS Maine. The ship had not been located since it blew up mysteriously in 1898, killing 260 American sailors and igniting the Spanish-American War. The rush of interest in Cuba's seas in recent years is due in part to the Castro government's recognition that it does not have the money or technology to carry out systematic exploration by itself, although it does have excellent divers. American companies are prohibited from operating in Cuba by the long-running U.S. [blockade against the island nation].

Entrance Into the Country of Midian and His Settlement There The Prophet Moses (pbuh) left behind Pharaoh and his people, and set off to Midian. (Midian is a region beyond the Sinai desert to the east of Egypt, corresponding to the southern end of Jordan today.) At the water of Midian, the Prophet Moses (pbuh) encountered two women who could not water their flocks out of wanting to avoid other shepherds. But, as the verses of the Qur'an relate, outwardly, the Prophet Moses (pbuh) appeared as a highly decent and trustworthy person. Thus, the women did not hesitate to approach him. They explained that they had to graze their father's flocks for him since he was an old man, but that they couldn't because of the shepherds. Then, the Prophet Moses (pbuh) helped the women by leading their flock to the water: When he arrived at the water of Midian, he found a crowd of people drawing water there. Standing apart from them, he found two women, holding back their sheep. He said, "What are you two doing here?" They said, "We cannot draw water until the shepherds have driven off their sheep. You see our father is a very old man." So he drew water for them... (Surat al-Qasas: 23-24) The verses provide an example of the courteous and benevolent character of the Prophet Moses (pbuh); he approaches two strangers, helped them, and earned their respect. On the other hand, it is to be understood that the men, mentioned as "shepherds," effected an attitude entirely opposite to the manners of the Prophet Moses (pbuh). This is evident from the fact that the women apparently avoided them though they chose to talk to the Prophet Moses (pbuh). These men might have been untrustworthy in appearance. (Allah knows the truth.) We may continue to conclude that a Muslim must carefully avoid the manners peculiar to the people mentioned here as "shepherds." Muslims should look to role models like the Prophet Moses (pbuh), who conducted himself kindly, decently and forthrightly. As the example of the Prophet Moses (pbuh) suggests, a Muslim must develop highly cultivated manners, and be trustworthy, qualities that should be immediately discernible in him. We need also make note of the fact that the Prophet Moses (pbuh) is always of a temperament that exemplifies that wholehearted submission to Allah. Leaving everything dear to him in the land of Egypt where he had grown up, he had no idea whatsoever of what the future would hold for him. Though it was not known to him, Allah already predestined certain events for him. The Prophet Moses (pbuh) prayed the following: …and then withdrew into the shade and said, "My Lord, I am truly in need of any good You have in store for me." (Surat al-Qasas: 24) One's sincerity in one's prayer is evidence in one's grasp of the fact that Allah has the power to do anything, that all blessings and adversities come only from Him, and that one has no other helper or protector other than Allah. The Prophet Moses' (pbuh) prayer quoted in the above verse is the kind made in complete submission to Allah, by someone who has a full comprehension of this truth. Indeed, Allah answered the Prophet Moses' (pbuh) sincere prayer and opened His mercy to him. The kindness the Prophet Moses (pbuh) had shown to the two women resulted in the start of a completely new life for him. While the Prophet Moses (pbuh) was resting, one of the women approached him to convey her father's invitation in appreciation for his help. Allah relates in the Qur'an as follows: Then there came unto him one of the two women, walking shyly and said, "My father invites you so that he can reward you with a payment for drawing water for us." When he came to him and told him the whole story he said, "Have no fear, you have escaped from wrongdoing people." (Surat al-Qasas: 25) The Prophet Moses (pbuh) prayed to our Lord sincerely, pleading for any good He would bestow on him. Allah answered his prayer and, following a threat against his life, guided him to the people who would help him and offer him security. The Prophet Moses (pbuh) was of a strong character, and person who was trusted because of his manners. Indeed, the women, despite being cautious against the shepherds, trusted the Prophet Moses (pbuh) and spoke to him. Furthermore one of the women asked her father to hire the Prophet Moses (pbuh) seeing as he was strong and trustworthy. This offer is related in the verses as follows One of them said, "Hire him, father. The best person to hire is someone strong and trustworthy." (Surat al-Qasas: 26) With these words, the woman explicitly expressed to her father that she found the Prophet Moses (pbuh) to be a reliable person. Convinced of his trustworthiness, the old man decided to wed his daughter to the Prophet Moses (pbuh). The recognizable decency of the Prophet Moses (pbuh) was instrumental in his decision. Allah relates in the verses the proposal of the father of the women to the Prophet Moses (pbuh) as follows: He said, "I would like to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on condition that you work for me for eight full years. If you complete ten, that is up to you. I do not want to be hard on you. You will find me, Allah willing, to be one of the righteous." He (Moses) said, "That is agreed between me and you. Whichever of the two terms I fulfil, there will be no injustice done to me. Allah is Guardian over what we say." (Surat al-Qasas: 27-28) The Prophet Moses (pbuh) accepted this proposal and began leading the rest of his life in Midian. Hence, Allah first delivered the Prophet Moses (pbuh) to safety, making the waters of the Nile carry him to the Palace of Pharaoh without drowning. Then, while his life was in danger in Egypt, He saved him a second time and led him to a peaceful life in Midian.

Vitamins and Minerals Your child needs a variety of vitamins and minerals. Brightly coloured foods such as spinach, carrots, squash, and peppers tend to be packed with them. Calcium and Iron It's especially important your child gets plenty of calcium and iron. Calcium helps your child build healthy bones which are important, especially if your child breaks a bone or gets a stress fracture. Calcium-rich foods include: dairy products like milk, yoghurt, and cheese, as well as leafy green vegetables, such as broccoli. Iron helps carry oxygen to the different body parts that need it. Iron-rich foods include: red meat, chicken, tuna, salmon, eggs, dried fruits, leafy green vegetables, and whole grains. Protein can help build your child's muscles (along with regular training and exercise). But there's no need to overload on protein because too much of it can lead to dehydration and calcium loss. Protein-rich foods include: fish, lean red meat and poultry, dairy products, nuts (beware allergies), soy products, and peanut butter (allergies again) Carbohydrates provide energy for the body. Some diet plans have urged weight-conscious adults to steer clear of carbohydrates or carbs as they're often called. But for a young athlete, carbohydrates are an important source of fuel. There's no need for your child to do any carb loading or eat a lot of carbs in advance of a big game, but without some of these foods in your child's diet, he or she will be running on empty. When you're choosing carbohydrates, look for whole-grain foods that are less processed and high in fibre. Things like pasta, brown rice, whole-grain bread, and cereal are ideal. (Fibre helps lower cholesterol and may help prevent diabetes and heart disease). It's a good idea to pack your child's meals with natural foods as much as possible. Natural foods such as whole-wheat breads and baked potatoes are more wholesome choices than heavily processed foods, like white breads and crisps. Usually the less processed the food, the more nutritious it is. Choose products with ingredients such as whole wheat or oats rather than white flour. Encourage your child to pick up a piece of fruit, rather than a fruit drink, which may have added sugar. Remember, if your child is eating healthy, well-balanced meals and snacks, they are probably getting the nutrients that he or she needs to perform well in sports. It's important for young athletes to drink plenty of fluid to avoid heat illness and dehydration, which can zap a child's strength, energy, and coordination and lead to other health problems. It's a good idea for your child to drink water or other fluids throughout the day, but especially before, during, and after periods of extended physical activity. It is recommend that kids drink approximately 1 cup (240 millilitres) of water or fluid every 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity. Shorter games may not require drinking during the activity, but it's important to drink water after the game or event to restore whatever fluid your child lost through sweat during the event. Children often don't recognize or respond to feelings of thirst, so it's a good idea to encourage your child to drink before thirst sets in. Although many sports drinks are available, usually plain water is sufficient to keep these young athletes hydrated. If your child wants juice, it's a good idea to mix it with water to reduce the concentration of sugar. A good old fashioned glass of Robinsons barley water should fulfil all their needs...Well, its my favourite, anyway. Sports drinks are designed to provide energy (sugar) and replace electrolytes such as sodium and potassium that athletes lose in sweat. But your child's body typically has enough carbohydrates to serve as energy for up to 90 minutes of exercise. And in most cases, any lost electrolytes can be replenished by a good meal after the activity. Endurance sports such as long-distance running and biking or high-intensity exercise such as football, basketball, or hockey, require your child to replenish his or her body throughout the event. This is because the body can use the sugar immediately as energy to make up for the depleted energy stores in the body. However, too much sugar can upset the stomach. So.. lets get into the habit of allowing our children to quench their thirst with water, or watered down juice. Also, a homemade litre of juice/water costs maybe 10p. Whilst a typical Sports drink can cost 10-15 times that. Hey, its cost effective to be healthy.. Wonderful Day of the game/event It's important for your child to eat well on game days, but make sure your young athlete eats at least 2 hours before the game/event itself. (early enough to digest the food before kick-off/start time). The meal itself should not be very different from what your child has been eating throughout training. It should have plenty of carbohydrates and protein and be low in fat. (because fat is harder to digest and can cause an upset stomach). After the game/event, it's a good idea to make sure your child gets a well-balanced meal. Your child's body will be rebuilding muscle tissue, and restoring carbohydrates and fluids, for up to 24 hours afterwards, so it's important that your child get plenty of protein, fat, and carbohydrates in the post game hours. Thanks for reading this. Article date: 25 July 2010

Adult Nonfiction 907.44436 J Summary: The story of the world-famous monument and the extraordinary world's fair that introduced it Since it opened in May 1889, the Eiffel Tower has been an iconic image of modern times-as much a beacon of technological progress as an enduring symbol of Paris and French culture. But as engineer Gustave Eiffel built the now-famous landmark to be the spectacular centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair, he stirred up a storm of vitriol from Parisian tastemakers, lawsuits, and predictions of certain structural calamity. In Eiffel's Tower , Jill Jonnes, critically acclaimed author of Conquering Gotham , presents a compelling account of the tower's creation and a superb portrait of Belle Epoque France. As Eiffel held court that summer atop his one-thousand-foot tower, a remarkable host of artists and personalities-Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Gauguin, Whistler, and Edison-traveled to Paris and the Exposition Universelle to mingle and make their mark. Like The Devil in the White City, Brunelleschi's Dome , and David McCullough's accounts of the building of the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge, Eiffel's Tower combines technological and social history and biography to create a richly textured portrayal of an age of aspiration, dreams, and progress. Be the first to add a comment! Share your thoughts about this title. Would you recommend it? Why or why not? Question about returns, requests or other account details? Add a Comment

Position and secure steel bars or mesh in concrete forms in order to reinforce concrete. Use a variety of fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, and hand tools. Includes rod busters. - Field Ironworker - Iron Worker - Operating Engineer - Post Tensioning Ironworker - Reinforced Ironworker - Reinforcing Metal Worker - Reinforcing Rod Layer - Reinforcing Steel Worker - Position and secure steel bars, rods, cables, or mesh in concrete forms, using fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, or hand tools. - Space and fasten together rods in forms according to blueprints, using wire and pliers. - Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions. - Place blocks under rebar to hold the bars off the deck when reinforcing floors. - Cut rods to required lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches. - Cut and fit wire mesh or fabric, using hooked rods, and position fabric or mesh in concrete to reinforce concrete. - Bend steel rods with hand tools or rodbending machines and weld them with arc-welding equipment. People who work in this occupation generally have the interest code: RCI. This means people who work in this occupation generally have Realistic interests, but also prefer Conventional and Investigative environments. People who work in this occupation generally prize Support, but also value Relationships and Working Conditions in their jobs. - Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads. - Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. - Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions. - Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. - Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. - Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. - Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. - Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others. - Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems. - Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. - Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. - Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. These occupations usually require a high school diploma. In 2012, the average annual wage in Washington was $68,130.00 with most people making between $30,630.00 and $91,190.00 During 2008, this occupation employed approximately 890 people in Washington. It is projected that there will be 850 employed in 2018. This occupation will have about 0 openings due to growth and about 20 replacement openings for approximately 20 total annual openings. - Pile-Driver Operators - Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters - Highway Maintenance Workers - Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators - Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas - Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators - Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders - Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders - Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators collegeBevill State Community College onetElectric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers onetCounter and Rental Clerks majorIndustrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology collegeGeorge C Wallace State Community College-Hanceville majorConstruction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation collegeGeorge C Wallace State Community College-Selma collegeJohn C Calhoun State Community College onetFirst-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

Remember those itchy red spots of childhood commonly known as chickenpox. Well, that virus remains dormant in your nerve cells, with a potential to strike again later on in your life. This second eruption of the chickenpox virus is called shingles. Virtually all adults in the United States have had chickenpox, in some cases so mild that it passed unnoticed. Around 25% of all adults, typically healthy otherwise, will have their shingles flare up. Usually after age 40. The pain and/or itch from shingles can be anywhere from mild to intense. Some have mostly itching, while other feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The most common location for shingles to appear is a band around one side of your waist. Another common place is on one side of your face around the eye and on the forehead. But an outbreak may appear anywhere on your body. Your number of lesions varies, some rashes merge and produce an area that looks like a severe burn, while others may have just a few scattered lesions that don’t really cause much symptoms. People with compromised immune systems are at special risk of developing shingles. CDC recommends Zostavax shingles vaccination be given to the 60 and older crowd. This vaccine prevents shingles in those who have never had it or heads off future occurrences in those that have. There is no cure for shingles, but the severity and duration of an attack can be significantly reduced if you are treated immediately with antiviral medications.

Article updated and reviewed by Scott J. Luhmann, MD, Instructor in Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine on June 6, 2005. Degenerative disc disease refers to wear changes in the individual discs of the spine in any part of the spine. Spondylosis is another term for degenerative disc disease. DDD can affect any part of the spine, although common sites are the lumbar (lower back) and cervical (neck) spine; thoracic DDD is very uncommon. I received several comments in response to my recent article about the limited number of people with rheumatoid arthritis who exercise.... Read more » Because we've been inundated lately with bitter winds and lots of ice and snow, I've been mega homebound and trying to be constructive... Read more » Q: I have been diagnosed with degenerative joint disease. I understand this is the same as osteoarthritis. It is primarily in my hips and... Read more » Yoga is an excellent form of exercise. Excellent for stretching muscles and joints. Excellent for physical and mental relaxation. ... Read more »

Pick’s disease is a rare, progressive and irreversible form of dementia. Dementia means that the brain does not function normally and patients can have difficulty with language, behavior, cognition (thinking), judgment, and memory. Memory changes are seen in other forms of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike Alzheimer’s which can affect many different parts of the brain, Pick’s disease only affects certain areas of the brain. Pick’s disease is also known as frontotemporal dementia, meaning that it only affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The brain’s frontal lobe controls important facets of everyday life, including planning, judgment, emotions, speaking, understanding speech, and some forms of movement. Pick’s disease and other forms of frontotemporal dementia are believed to account for up to 15 percent of all dementia cases. (Alzheimer’s Association). Like patients with other types of dementia, a person with Pick’s disease may suffer from drastic personality changes. Pick’s disease is caused by abnormal amounts or types of a nerve cell protein (tau) that is found in all nerve cells. This abnormal protein is call Pick bodies or Pick cells. Abnormal amounts or different types of this protein in the brain’s frontal and temporal lobe nerve cells causes degeneration of nerve cells which results in shrinkage =of the brain tissue. This shrinkage causes the dementia symptoms of Pick’s disease. Scientists cannot explain what causes of the abnormal protein. However, geneticists have found abnormal genes that can cause Pick’s disease and they have documented the occurrence of the disease in family members. Further research into the cause of Pick’s disease is being done through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and other branches of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Symptoms of Pick’s disease get progressively worse as brain tissue continues to shrink. Many of the symptoms can make social interaction difficult, as behavioral changes make conducting oneself in a socially acceptable manner challenging. Behavioral and emotional changes caused by Pick’s disease include: - abrupt mood changes - compulsive or inappropriate behavior - depression-like symptoms, such as disinterest in daily activities - difficulty keeping a job - poor personal and social skills - poor personal hygiene - repetitive behavior - withdrawal from social interaction Language and neurological changes caused by Pick’s disease include: - decrease in writing or reading skills - “echoing,” or repeating what was just said - inability to speak, difficulty speaking, or trouble understanding speech - increased memory loss - physical weakness - shrinking vocabulary - trouble finding the right word The early onset of personality changes helps your doctor differentiate between Pick’s disease and Alzheimer’s. Pick’s disease can also occur at any earlier age than Alzheimer’s. Cases have been reported as early as 20 years of age and symptoms can begin between the age of 40 and 60 years. The average age at onset is 54. (PubMed) There is no single test to determine if a person has Pick’s disease. A doctor will use history, physical findings and special imaging tests to diagnose Pick’s disease. These include: - a complete medical history - interviews with family members about the person’s behavior - a physical examination and detailed neurologic examination - speech and writing tests - magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan using magnetic and radio waves to show details of the brain - computed tomography (CT) a specialized type of x-ray used to look at tissue and bone structure - positron emission tomography (PET) scan that uses a radioactive chemical to look at the function of the brain tissue Imaging tests can help your doctor see the shape of the brain and any changes that may be present. They can also help your doctor rule out other conditions that could be causing dementia symptoms, such as brain tumors or stroke. Blood tests may also be taken to rule out dementia caused by too-little thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) or a vitamin B12 deficiency, both common causes of dementia in the elderly. Currently, there are no treatments that effectively slow the progression of Pick’s disease. There are, however, several treatments that can help diminish the behavioral symptoms associated with the condition. Antidepressants and antipsychotics are two of the most common types of medications used to treat the symptoms of Pick’s disease. Doctors will also test for and treat other problems that could worsen confusion. These may include: - anemia, a reduced amount of red blood cells (cells that carry oxygen to the body’s tissues), which can cause fatigue, headaches, moodiness, and difficulty concentrating - decreased oxygen levels - depression and other mood disorders - heart failure - kidney or liver failure - nutritional disorders - thyroid disorders Unfortunately, the outlook for people with Pick’s disease and other types of frontotemporal dementia is poor. Pick’s disease is a rapidly progressive disease without a cure. Those with advanced cases of Pick’s disease typically need to live in an assisted living facility where 24-hour care is available. In the worst cases of Pick’s disease, the patient becomes mute and bedbound. The survival rate for people with Pick’s disease averages about six to eight years. Rapidly progressing cases can shorten a person’s life to as little as two years, but some patients have lived for up to 20 years.

Once a week we will be featuring a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. This week the writers on the Heifer Blog have been taking a look at coffee-growing communities all over the world, where hunger and poverty is a common problem. Heifer is helping these farmers by diversifying their income and teaching them about our model for sustainable community development. You can improve your own sustainability and lessen the negative impact of throwing away garbage that can be recycled. Try this experiment to see the benefits for yourself, with coffee grounds and growing plants. Do you (or anyone in your house) drink coffee? Many people who do, throw the coffee grounds in the trash when they are done. However, there are many ways you can recycle the grounds, like as fertilizer to help your plants grow healthier and faster. Besides the obvious benefits of recycling instead of throwing away, you can use the natural fertilizer and cut down on the costs of buying fertilizer from the store and/or using chemical fertilizers. What you need: - Two pots (the smaller the better) - Potting soil - Small stones - Measuring tape - Coffee grounds Coffee grounds make a great natural fertilizer because they are rich in nitrogen, which provides energy to help the bacteria turn organic matter into compost. For the best results, mix the coffee grounds into the soil and sprinkle some around the plants, before you water them. Put the pebbles at the bottom of both pots. Fill one of the pots with a soil/coffee ground mixture. Fill the other with just soil. Make a trench with your finger in the soil of both pots, and sprinkle seeds in the trench. Cover the seeds with soil, and fully soak the soil with water. Label each pot so you can keep track of your results. The pots should be placed in a well-lit area, and watered every day. Before watering the pot with the coffee ground/soil misture, sprinkle coffee grounds on top of the soil. Measure the size of the plant with the measuring tape daily, and write the measurements down on a chart with three columns. Column 1 for the date, Column 2 for Pot #1, and Column 3 for Pot #2. For more information on this experiment and other fun science experiments, go to: http://www.ehow.com/info_12127039_science-project-growing-plants-coffee-grinds-soil.html. For more ideas, read 12 Ways to Recycle Used Coffee Grounds. You can also check out Heifer’s lesson plans and classroom activities related to sustainability, recycling, etc., in the Classroom Resources section of our website.

Shortly after taking office President Obama announced his intention to develop federal policies to induce states and local communities to embrace "smart growth" land use strategies that would deter growth, crowd development, and discourage automobile Dubbed the "Livable Communities Program," several of the President's cabinet departments have proposed a series of early initiatives to implement the plan and establish long-term strategies. As part of this effort, the Administration provided funding support to the transit industry's Moving Cooler study, which argued that their greenhouse gas reduction proposals "may result in higher housing prices, and some people might need to live in smaller homes or smaller lots than they would prefer." As the evidence from other countries reveal, the creation of a federal land use policy will likely lead to a decline in housing quality, including house size. To prevent this outcome, Congress should ensure that land use policy remains exclusively the responsibility of state and local government. Similar Policies Imposed in the United Residents of the United Kingdom have indeed experienced a dramatic shrinkage in the size of their homes as a result of restrictive land use and housing regulations enacted in 1947 to discourage suburbanization and preserve the rustic countryside. Recent studies reveal that these regulations have led to shortages of land available for housing, and this in turn has caused the U.K. to have the smallest and most expensive housing in the developed world. London Mayor Boris Johnson refers to these tiny units as "hobbit homes," and he promises to change the As earlier reports by The Heritage Foundation have pointed out, the smart growth strategies President Obama proposes for the U.S. have led to high home prices in states and communities where elements of such programs have been imposed. And the ensuing affordability problems there have contributed to the mortgage default and foreclosure epidemic that has battered the nation's financial markets for the past two years. The Experience in the United Whereas some communities in the U.S. did not impose smart growth regulations until the early 1970s, the U.K.'s experience with strict land regulation dates to the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947, which confined residential development within existing urban areas. By freezing the supply of land for new housing, a growing population was forced to compete for what little was available, and house prices soared as a consequence. According to the 2009 Demographia housing cost study, which covers the United States, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia, not a single British urban area managed to make it into the "affordable" or "moderately unaffordable" categories. Of the 16 U.K. urban areas covered in the report, six were rated "seriously unaffordable" in 2007, and 10 were rated "severely unaffordable," meaning that all homes in these areas cost more than four times a household's annual income. Those rated "affordable" sell at or below two times average annual income. On top of these high costs, the British are also forced to get by with less housing, and a series of new reports show just how severe the decline has been. According to one report compiled and published by The Times and the BBC, new housing built in Britain is now among the smallest in the developed world. This reflects a notable retrenchment from past international comparisons, when the Japanese were at the bottom of the list. As the chart reveals, new British homes are a little more than a third as big as new U.S. homes. Another report found that the U.K. also has the smallest average room size compared with other member states of the European Union. For example, the average-size room for a newly built dwelling in France is 289 square feet, compared to 170 square feet in the These calculations and their recent publication in the British media were in part spurred by a 2009 report published by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), an official advisor to the British government on housing issues. The CABE surveyed 2,249 new homebuyers about their new homes and Many residents do not believe that the space provided in their homes is sufficient for basic everyday activities. This has implications for storage of personal possessions, the arrangement of furniture, food preparation, recycling, socializing in the home, privacy, social equity and adaptability. ... And the findings show the pressures of space impact disproportionately on those who are more economically disadvantaged. Preventing America from Adopting this Although the Obama Administration has yet to produce many details of its forthcoming housing and land development strategies, the Secretaries of HUD, EPA, and Transportation have generally described their goals as encouraging denser housing arrangements to deter automobile use, accommodate the transit industry, save land and energy, and clean up the environment. And under Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the government has also provided financial and political support to organizations that favor using the federal government to force Americans to change the way they live and travel, most notably the Moving Cooler report funded by the transit industry and environmental Congress, too, has joined the effort, and the recent House version of the highway reauthorization bill includes livability provisions to encourage communities to adopt smart growth Keep the Federal Government Out of Land Use Regulations Both the President and the bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee have committed themselves to an unprecedented expansion of the federal government into new areas of responsibility to limit how American's travel and how they live. Currently, these are responsibilities of states and local governments. Some states and many communities have used their land use authority to impose counterproductive and exclusionary housing policy, but most have not. This gives all Americans the opportunity to escape oppressive regulation by voting with their feet. Members of Congress should reject any effort by the President or the congressional leadership to force all Americans into these Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., is Herbert and Joyce Morgan Senior Research Fellow in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Ronald D. Utt, "President Obama's New Plan to Decide Where Americans Live and How They Travel," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2260, April 13, 2009, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/bg2260.cfm; see also Ronald D. Utt, "Obama Administration's Plan to Coerce People out of their Cars," Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 2536, July 10, 2009, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/wm2536.cfm; Ronald D. Utt, "Slouching Toward a Huddled Masses Housing Program," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2281, June 1, 2009. Among the report's many provisions is one that would require at least 90 percent of new development to be in compact, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly neighborhoods with high quality transit. The report notes that the land use measures "may require strong regional land use planning and oversight agencies ... [and] may result in higher Housing prices" and that "some people might need to live in smaller homes or on smaller lots than they would prefer." See Ken Orski, "A Tendentious Report Has the Transportation Community Up in Arms," Innovation NewsBriefs, August 18, 2009, at http://www.innobriefs.com/ (August 31, Rebecca O'Connor, "New-Build Dwellers Get That Shrinking Feeling," The Times (London), August 11, 2009, p. 37. See also BBC Magazine, "Room to Swing a Cat? Hardly," August 15, 2009, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8201900.stm (August 31, 2009). Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, "Summary: Space in New Homes: What Residents Think," 2009, p. 8, at http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/space-in-new-homes (August 31, 2009). It is important to note that 90 percent of the households surveyed by CABE had a spare bedroom, so overcrowding was not the source of space constraints.

The economic success of the Virginia colony convinced English aristocrats that there was money to be made in owning colonies in the New World. King Charles II, gave a group of eight noblemen a large tract of land to the south of Virginia colony in 1663. They called the new colony "Carolina", the Latin form of Charles. The new proprietors advertised the land as a fair and spacious province in the land of America. They first tried to get settlers already in the new world to settler in the colony, but that was not successful. In August 1669 three ship left with the first settlers. Each family had paid 500 Pounds for their part of the settlement. They founded the settlement of Charlestown. Within two years there were 271 men and 69 women in the settlement The proprietors of the settlement set up a system of government that was called "the Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas". One of the authors of the Constitution was John Locke. It provided for an independent parliament in the colony, which gave greater power to the owners of large lands.text of act The growth of the Carolina colony was slow. The coastal land was swampy and many of the early inhabitants came down with malaria. The proprietors of the colony wanted to offer large land holdings to a small number of settlers. This limited the number of settlers and slowed down the growth of the colony. The settlement of northern and southern Carolina, were very different. Settlers from Virginia seeking more land, while settlers in the Southern part of the colony were coming from the West Indies and Europe mostly settled Northern Carolinas. Settlers in the northern part grew tobacco, while the settler in Southern part of the colony grew rice. The parts of the colony grew apart and finally in 1712 they separated and became North and South Carolina.

Networking: Vision and Packet Switching 1959 - 1968 Intergalactic Vision to Arpanet 2.7 Planning the ARPANET: 1967-1968 In 1966, Robert (Bob) W. Taylor succeeded Sutherland as Director of the IPTO. Taylor completely subscribed to Licklider’s vision of an Intergalactic Network. Furthermore, he faced the essence of the problem every day in his office: he had three different computer terminals because he needed access to three different computers. Taylor remembers: "By late '65, early '66, there were a number of ARPA sponsored research groups that had built for themselves, and were using in their own work, some of the first time-sharing systems. So, it occurred to me, sort of taking off from this tongue and cheek 'Intergalactic Network' phrase of Licklider's, that the next thing to do was obvious, and that is -- if we had singular communities who could interactively communicate through a time-sharing system that they were all members of, why couldn't we have clusters of communities interact, members of one community could interact with members of another community, as though they might be sharing a single time-sharing system.” In February 1966, influenced by the experiments conducted by Roberts and Marill at Lincoln Labs, Taylor decided the time had come for ARPA to focus on interconnecting existing, and planned, time-sharing systems into an ARPA scientific community. Not having the money to launch a new project, he approached Charles Hertzfeld, Director of ARPA. He remembers explaining to Hertzfeld: “There are certain experts in certain fields who sit in California, and there are other experts in that same field who sit in Massachusetts or someplace else, and if we can make this work, we can have a medium through which they can work cooperatively, and so we get amplification of ideas. Another advantage of tackling this problem is that we might be able to achieve some fail-soft characteristics in any collection of computing that the Defense Department would especially be interested in.' So, that discussion probably lasted 15 minutes, and he immediately was excited about it, and he said: 'You've got the money. How much do you need to get started?' I gave him a number, and he pulled it out of another one of his ARPA projects, and said: 'Go.'" Taylor next needed a program manager. His first choice was Roberts. Roberts, however, wanted nothing to do with becoming a program manager or of moving to Washington. Unable to think of anyone as qualified as Roberts, Taylor kept asking and Roberts kept declining. Taylor remembers the ruse that won the day: "In September or October of '66, it dawned on me that ARPA supported 51%, or thereabouts, of all of Lincoln Lab's work. So I went to see Hertzfeld and I said: 'Charley, is it still true that ARPA supports 51% or more of Lincoln Lab,' and he said: 'Yeah.' I said: 'Well, you know this network project that I'm trying to get off the ground?' He said: 'Yeah.' I said: 'Well, there's a guy at Lincoln Lab that I want to be the program manager for it and I can't get him to come down here. His name is Larry Roberts. I'd like for you to call the Director of Lincoln Lab and tell him that it would be in Lincoln Lab's best interest and Larry Roberts' best interest if the Director of Lincoln Lab encouraged Larry Roberts to come down to Washington and be the program manger for this project.' Charley said: 'Sure,' and he picked up the phone with me in his office, and he called the Director of Lincoln Lab and had a short conversation and he hung up the phone, and about a month later Larry accepted the job. In Christmas of that year, he came down with his family and they stayed at my house over the holidays because they didn't have a place to live yet. I blackmailed him into fame." With Roberts aboard as program manager, Taylor began visiting various ARPA contractors, explaining the purpose of the network in an effort to generate support. Not wanting to give others access to their computers, most of the contractors resisted the concept. It became very clear that the challenge of bringing into being the world’s first computer communication system would involve more than just technology. With his legendary intensity, Roberts tackled the challenges of bringing into being a network to interconnect the ARPA community. To him, the concept of communications by exchanging messages or packets seemed neither strange nor novel. It was simply a logical extension of how computers communicated internally -- exchanging blocks of data. Roberts remembers the beginnings of building a computer network: "All of us in computing were clearly not going to go after it on a circuit switched basis. We were all thinking in blocks. That's the way computers worked. So we approached it very differently than the communications people. We thought in terms of: "How can we do this such that it will be a functionally useful service for the computers?" I got together groups and committees of the ARPA people and started working on it." He first focused on how to build a packet network; fully realizing that there also existed the challenge of how computers would communicate across the intended peer-like network, and that the two were dependent, locked in some unseen co-evolution. After numerous conversations, Roberts concluded his first major decision had to be the network topology: how to link the computers together. A topology of interconnecting every computer to every other computer didn’t make sense, based on the results of his experiment at Lincoln Labs and the absurdity of projecting hundreds of computers all interconnected to each other. The number of connections would explode as the square of the number of computers. A shared network, however, entailed solving the problem of switching when using a packet, or message block, architecture. To explore the questions of packet size and contents, Roberts requested Frank Westervelt of the University of Michigan write a position paper on the intercomputer communication protocol including “conventions for character and block transmission, error checking and re transmission, and computer and user identification." Two alternative architectures for a shared network emerged: a star topology or a distributed message switched system. A star topology, or centralized network, would have one large central switch to which every computer was connected. It represented the least development risk because it was well understood. However, it was also known to perform poorly given lots of small messages -- the precise condition of packet messaging. On the other hand, a distributed message switching system as proposed by Baran and Davies, had never been built, but held the theoretical advantage of performing best given lots of small messages. With a choice needing to be made, the upcoming annual meeting of ARPA contractors seemed an ideal time to air the issues and reach a decision. Wesley Clark remembers the discussion: "Towards the end of the meeting it became clear to me what the problem was. So I slipped a note to Taylor stating 'I know what to do.' Taylor probably didn't look at my message until after the meeting. It was fairly obvious to me to put the communication functions in a separate, smaller computer outside the computer 'network.' " After the meeting, Taylor, Roberts, Clark and Dave Evans shared a taxi to the airport and discussed the network topology decision. Taylor remembers: "Larry, prior to this taxi ride, was thinking of a network controller in a centralized sense; something in the center of the country, a large machine, that would control the network, and I was nervous about that. I talked to Licklider and to Wes about it, separately, and Larry wasn't irrevocably wedded to the idea, but that was his model at the time. In the cab to the airport after this meeting, I got Wes talking about it. Whether he had sorted it all out prior to that cab ride or whether he sorted it out based spontaneously in the conversation in that cab, I don't know. But he said: "Why have a central control. Why not have small machines?" "I think it was fairly obvious. I think somebody else would have come to it with a little more time. Let those little computers talk to one another and serve as terminals to which the big machines would talk. In a sense, that took the big machines outside the network. The concept up to that point was that the network was the big machines plus all the interconnections, and my sudden realization at the meeting was that you wanted the machines outside the network, not inside it. Larry or Bob asked me how to get these little small computers built and I said I thought there was only one person who could do that job in the country, namely Frank Heart." Back in Washington, Roberts and his staff studied Clark's suggestion and concluded that the idea of a separate computer located at each site handling the network functions was an ingenious solution. In addition to its technical merits, it allowed the network to be designed and built independently of host computer hardware and software, greatly simplifying project management. The small computers, to be called interface message processors (IMP's), together with the telephone lines and the modems would constitute the message-switching, communications network, or "Subnet” (or subnet.) (See Diagram 2.2 The Subnet and Hosts.) Diagram 2.2 The Subnet and Hosts Roberts understood a deep and important dilemma of the emerging network. Computers wanted to communicate in message sizes very much larger than ideal for a packet network. This meant an IMP would receive a message from its Host computer that it would have to parse into packets that in turn would traverse the subnet. The packets would then have to be reassembled into the message before being usable by the Host and, most likely, even before being delivered to the Host. Realistically, that implied that the IMPs would have to store packets before forwarding them. Such a network had never been designed, much less built. “All of us thought, clearly, in those days, about computer switching rather than circuit switching; some sort of computerized switching. You got the traffic in and you put it out. It could have been that we put it out block for block as fast as it came in; it could have been that we stored the whole message and forwarded it. What we concluded was that you wanted to not store the whole message and forward it, and you couldn't have a perfect virtual cut-through where you sent every block immediately synchronously because it might interfere with the next message. So you had to do it in some smaller breakdown, which is like a packet, or whatever, which, of course, is the size lump you're in anyway, because you've got to put sum checks on it every interval. So, there wasn't any question about packets -- and clearly Donald gave it the name -- that we had to be in that sort of size. Now and then, each one of us in the world would derive what length that ought to be ultimately for sum check, because of errors, and that was around the thousand-bit area then, with error rates that were in existence then.” Roberts sought help from Leonard Kleinrock his former officemate from MIT, now on the faculty of UCLA. Even though Kleinrock was not working on network queuing theory at the time, in his Ph.D. thesis, he had shown that a large store-and-forward could work, despite the delays introduced by store-and forward. In 1964, Dover Publications had published his thesis as a book; the same year RAND had published Baran's work. Kleinrock reflects, saying the ideas in “Communication Nets: Stochastic Message Flow and Delay” “lay fallow in the scientific literature because it was, in some sense, before it's time. Nobody believed these networks could be built. It drew upon ideas from classical military communications networks." During this period, Roberts was also coming to the opinion that a limited experiment would not be very meaningful: a network of many nodes had to be created if the network was going to be useful for serious purposes. But that introduced the problem of how to convince that many more potential computer sites to devote the resources to the network, as opposed to their existing priorities. Licklider comments: "I have the strong impression that Larry thought there was no little experiment that would be very helpful; that he had to have a network with many nodes -- a dozen anyway and probably 100 -- and that it had to be used for serious purposes, and that his problem was -- what he had to excel at as a manager was actually getting this whole ARPA community to make ten or fifteen percent of everybody's effort to get the network to go. He though he was in a good position, that he had not only the people who could build it, but enough people to use it, if he could only get them really focused and interested. I believe I was director of Project MAC at that time, and I loved the network. I had trouble with my people about it. They didn't like it, but I said: "I estimate as a minimum, ten percent of our effort is going to be the network. It'll just happen that way," and partly that was promotion on my part and partly it was true belief, but most of the others were much more interested in what they were doing than Larry's network." In 1967, Taylor began giving more responsibilities to Roberts, hoping that Roberts would succeed him as director of IPTO. It meant Roberts had less and less time for the network project. To compensate, Roberts recruited Barry Wessler from the University of Utah to be his assistant. (Wessler would not actually join IPTO until early 1968.) Then, in another important community event that caused historical course-corrections, came the ACM Symposium on Operating System Principles in Gatlinburg, TN, October 1-4, 1967. Roberts presented a paper: “Multiple Computer Networks and Intercomputer Communications.” In it he lamented the deficiencies of dial-up telephone circuits, yet nevertheless concluded that the communication links between IMPs would be 2400 bit/second dial-up circuits. That constraint would not last very long, however, for another speaker, Roger Scantlebury, presented a paper authored by Davies, Bartlett, Scantlebury and Wilkinson, describing a local network being developed at NPL based on Davies’ ideas and employing much higher speed circuits. (On returning to the U. K. after the Gatlinburg conference, Scantlebury reported: "It would appear then that the ideas in the NPL paper at the moment are more advanced than any proposed in the USA" Roberts took the findings of the NPL team seriously, later describing how they influenced his thinking: "The NPL paper clearly impacted the ARPANET in several ways. The name "packet" was adopted, a much higher speed was selected (50 Kilobit/second vs 2.4 Kilobit/second) for internode lines to reduce delay and generally the NPL analysis helped confirm the concept of packet switching." Also at Gatlinburg, Roberts and Baran finally found time to talk. Roberts remembers: "The RAND work was very detailed, since it covered the whole network including microwave and one valuable analysis on routing. The hot potato routing algorithm was a useful starting point for the ARPANET routing design."

The second battle of Gaza, 17-19 April 1917, was the second British attempt to capture Gaza in under a week. The first attempt, on 26-2 March, had come close to success before a lack of information forced the British commander, General Dobell, to cancel the attack. The British failure encouraged the Turks to make a stand at Gaza. The German command of the Turkish forces at Gaza, Kress von Kressenstein, had a force of 18,000 infantry, with 96 machine guns and 101 guns. The Turks constructed a series of strong fortifications. A continuous line of defences ran from the coast to a ridge two miles south west of the town, then onto the Ali Muntar ridge and long that ridge until it was east of Gaza. East of Gaza five strong redoubts, supported by trenches and barbed wire, stretched out along the road to Beersheba. Each of these positions was able to support their neighbours. The British outnumbered the Turks by at least 50% in infantry alone. Dobell had three infantry divisions (close to 30,000 men) and two mounted divisions, supported by 170 artillery guns (although only 16 were medium or heavy), the French battleship Requin and two British monitors. For the first time the British deployed tanks in the desert, although only eight rather worn out tanks could be spared. The force was completed by 25 aircraft. Earlier in 1917 the British War Cabinet had decided not to launch an invasion of Palestine until late in the year. Events in March changed their minds. On 11 March General Maude finally captured Baghdad. The same month saw the first Russian Revolution. Initially it was hoped that the new Russian government would be more efficient that the Tsar, and a new offensive was planned that would combine a Russian advance in the Caucasus with a British advance from Baghdad. The British commander in Egypt, Sir Archibald Murray, was ordered to immediately invade Palestine, and capture Jerusalem. This order forced him to launch a frontal assault on the Turkish positions at Gaza. The British supply line ran along a coastal railway that ran across the Sinai. In April the eastern end of the railway was only eight miles from Gaza, making it relatively easy to supply the army at Gaza, but the desert to the south was waterless. Dobell decided on a two stage attack. On 17 April, in the first stage of the battle, the British captured a line from the sea to Shah Abbas ridge. This was to be used as a base for the next stage of the attack. The second stage of the attack came on 19 April. The 53rd Division attacked along the coast. To its right the 52nd Division attacked along the Es Sire ridge toward the Ali Muntar ridge. On the right the 54th Division attacked the redoubts south east of Gaza. Once the 54th Division had cleared the redoubts, it was to wheel to the left and attack the Ali Muntar Ridge. The bombardment began at 7.15 am. The first infantry attack, along the coast, began at 7.15am, and at 7.30am the 52nd and 54th divisions joined in. The attack was a total failure. At no point were the Turkish lines seriously threatened. The 54th division made the most progress. One tank reached the second redoubt out from Gaza and held part of the line for a short period, but there was no opportunity to expand the area held, and the British were soon forced back. Elsewhere part of the same division reached the Turkish front line, but could not capture it. The attack was broken off in the early evening. Both commanders planned further attacks on 20 April. Dobell cancelled his planned attacks as more information came in about the days fighting, while Kress was overruled by Djemal Pasha, the Turkish minister of marine and governor of Palestine and Syria. The British had suffered 6,444 casualties during the attack, half of them in the 54th division. Turkish losses were much lower, at only 2,000. By the time the fighting was renewed around Gaza both sides had new commanders. Sir Archibald Murray was replaced by General Sir Edmund Allenby. Kress von Kressenstein remained an army commander, but Field Marshal von Falkenhayn had arrived from German to take overall command. The third battle of Gaza (27 October-7 November 1917) would see Allenby finally capture Gaza, and push the Turks back beyond Jerusalem. ||Save this on Delicious| Help - F.A.Q. - Contact Us - Search - Recent - About Us - Subscribe in a reader |Subscribe to History of War| |Browse Archives at groups.google.co.uk|

How to Calculate Square Footage So you desire to improve the appearance of your room by painting the walls or installing new flooring. No matter what kind of paint or flooring you choose, you need to ascertain the square footage of the floor or the walls. Even though a little bit of mathematics is involved, calculating square footage is not going to be that tough. It is very easy to measure the square footage of a room. All you will require is a measuring tape, paper, pencil and a calculator. Follow these step by step instructions and it will be you who will be telling people how to measure square footage from now onwards – - You will need to have two measurements of the floor or the wall you wish to ascertain the square footage. Let us use the floor as an example. With the help of a measuring tape, measure the length of the floor in inches and note down the figure on a piece of paper. Even though we are working on square footage, it is better to measure in inches as it is very uncommon for a floor to have exact even number foot measurement. For instance, a length of a floor is more likely to have measurements such as 12 feet 4 inches instead of a whole number. - Measure the width of the floor and note it down again on the same piece of paper. - Once you have the length and width, multiply the two measurements to calculate the figure. You may take the help of a calculator if required. The answer you get is square inches. - Now you need to divide the answer by 144 to express it as square footage. The above steps apply for a rectangular or square area. If you wish to measure a triangle area then follow the below mentioned steps – - Firstly, measure the base of the triangle. - Secondly, you need to measure the height of the triangle. - Now you need to multiply the base measurement with the height measurement. You may use a calculator to determine the figure. Once you get the figure, divide the amount by two. The figure you get now is the square footage of a triangle area. For calculating the square footage of the circular area, you need to measure the radius of the circle, square it up and lastly multiply it by pie (3.1416) to determine the figure.

Sleep deficiency suppresses the immune system and libido, decreases productivity, and may lead to disorders such as depression, chronic fatigue, headaches and heart disease. Insomnia has also shown to decrease productivity rates, cause mood swings, and possible weight-gain. There are many attributing causes why many adults do not get a proper amount of sleep. - Weight - Studies have found a link between obesity and insomnia. - Age - Sleep hours are reduced as we age, which is partly due to the decreased secretion of hormones such as Melatonin Growth Hormone, the excessive secretion of Cortisol (adrenal gland during stress), from decreased or increased secretion of Thyroid hormones, and from an imbalance of the sex hormones. - Stress/Anxiety - If a patient is severely depressed, most likely they are also suffering from insomnia (some statistics estimate around 90%). Anxiety also plays a big role with estimates as high as 44% of those with an anxiety disorder are unable to get the recommended amount of sleep. Numerous other causes may exist which result in poor sleep, such as; vitamin and Copper deficiencies, a normal blood sugar balance, and various nutritional deficiencies. Presence of a poor exercise regimen, underlying breathing problems such as Sleep Apnea and COPD, an existing heavy metal burden, or the excessive intake of stimulants such as caffeine or decongestants also affect sleeping patterns. Back to Top - Trouble falling asleep - Waking up too early - Feeling tired after waking - Feeling grouchy, sleepy, or anxious - Trouble falling back asleep This is not a complete list and if you are experiencing these symptoms it is not guaranteed you have insomnia. Back to Top Solving the insomnia-problem is undertaken by eliminating any causative factors that may be contributing, advising about an appropriate diet, and taking vitamins and herbals that assist in sleeping. Nerve and muscle relaxers are added to the treatment, and advice is rendered concerning an appropriate exercise regimen that also helps treat insomnia. The doctor is dedicated to finding the source of the problem not just treating the symptoms so that each patient can achieve optimal health. Back to Top Learn more about how the Houston Wellness Clinic treats Insomnia.Request Consultation If we fill our hours with regrets of yesterday and with worries of tomorrow, we have no today in which to enjoy our existence. Seize the day, and take control of your health and life. How you are going to live those tomorrows will depend on how you act and choose today. - George Allibone M.D.

Mammograms save lives, research confirms Jun 29, 2011 Swedish researchers have confirmed that mammograms can save lives, according to a new report from ABC. The Swedish study looked at more than 100,000 women, starting in 1977. "I think this study indicates the absolute benefit of screening in terms of breast cancer deaths prevented," Stephen Duffy, who was the lead author of the study, and a professor at Queen Mary, University of London, told the news source. The American Cancer Society currently recommends that all women over the age of 40 have yearly mammograms. However, there was a U.S. Preventive Services Task Force report in 2009 that countered this recommendation. Now, the Swedish study provides a clear recommendation for mammograms for every woman. More than 200,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed each year with breast cancer, the second most common cancer for women after skin cancer.

Z94.15 - Organization Planning and Theory | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | BEHAVIOR. Those minimum sequences of actions or movements by an individual to which meaning can be assigned. The mode of conduct that a person exhibits. BEHAVIORAL ETHIC. The set of central cultural values that constitutes a society's expectations about human purposes and its driving force for (or against) social change. BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION. A technique developed from the work of B.F. Skinner that provides for a systematic coupling of desired behavior and desired rewards to achieve desired outcomes through scheduling reinforcements. BEHAVIORAL THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP. Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from non-leaders. BIOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOB DESIGN. Job design efforts that focus on improving the comfort and physical well-being of the employee. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE. The currently popular phrase for the various disciplines which study human behavior. As such, all of the traditional social sciences are included. Some argue that in the singular the phrase implies a spurious unity among these various disciplines. BOUNDED RATIONALITY. Individuals make decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity. BRAINSTORMING. A idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. A group of people that oversees the governance and management of an organization or corporation. Among its functions are those of trusteeship for constituent groups and clients, determination of policies, overall objectives, selection and/or approval of major executives, review of performance, trusteeship of assets, and distribution of earnings. Syn: Board of Trustees in non-profit making organizations. BUREAUCRACY. A large, formal organization characterized by emphasis on form, hierarchy of levels, specialization of labor, established rules and standards of conduct, records and data keeping, and professionalization of administration. < Previous | Next >

Operating systems can't tell the difference between a virtual machine and a physical machine, but manufacturers are seeing -- and celebrating -- the notable difference virtualization is having on their bottom line. With aging plant infrastructures, tighter regulations, data security issues and numerous other challenges to address, process engineers want to get the most from their IT-based plant assets. To do this, many have included virtualization in their automation migration plans. Virtualization is rapidly transforming the IT landscape, and fundamentally changing the way you use hardware resources. And the return on investment (ROI) is nearly immediate because virtualization helps you build an infrastructure that better leverages manufacturing resources and delivers high availability. What is Virtualization? Virtualization is a software technology that decouples the physical hardware of a computer from its operating system (OS) and software applications, creating a pure software instance of the former physical computer -- commonly referred to as a Virtual Machine (VM). A VM behaves exactly like a physical computer, contains it own "virtual" CPU, RAM hard disk and network interface card, and runs as an isolated guest OS installation within your host OS. The terms "host" and "guest" are used to help distinguish the software that runs on the actual machine (host) from the software that runs on the virtual machine (guest). Virtualization works by inserting a layer of software called a "hypervisor" directly on the computer hardware or on a host OS. A hypervisor allows multiple OSs, "guests," to run concurrently on a host computer (the actual machine on which the virtualization takes place). Conceptually, a hypervisor is one level higher than a supervisory program. It presents to the guest OS a virtual operating platform and manages the execution of the guest OSs. |Virtual machines can be run on any virtualization-enabled physical server, creating a pool of computer resources that helps ensure your highest-priority applications will always have the resources you need without wasting money on excess hardware only needed for peak times.| Virtualization in Action But the benefits of virtualization go far beyond the consolidation of computers. Many manufacturers use virtualization to extend their software's longevity. Consider the case of Genentech, a biotech company based in South San Francisco, California. Genentech specializes in using human genetic information to develop and manufacture medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. The company estimated that the costs to upgrade one of its Windows 95 PC-based HMIs to a Windows Server 2003-based system would be approximately $40,000. Final figures topped $100,000 because of costs associated with validating the system for use in a regulated industry. Assuming that OSs are updated about every five years, costs quickly become a limiting factor in keeping an installed base of manufacturing computers up-to-date. Additional factors also contribute to the cost of upgrades. "Computer hardware changes even more frequently than operating systems," says Anthony Baker, system engineer at Rockwell Automation. "Each change incurs engineering expenses and possibly production downtime." So instead of investing in the upgrades, Genentech implemented virtualization. According to Dallas West, [insert title], at Genentech, one of the most lasting effects of virtualization is that it allows legacy operating systems, such as Windows 95, Windows NT, etc., to be run successfully on computers manufactured today. This extends HMI product lifecycles from 5-7 years to 10-15 years and possibly longer. "Having the ability to extend the useful life of a computer system allows a manufacturer to create a planned, predictable upgrade cycle commensurate with its business objectives," West says. "No longer is a business forced to upgrade its systems because a software vendor has come out with a new version. Upgrading systems can once again be driven by adding top-line business value by choosing to upgrade when new features become available that will provide an acceptable return on investment," he explains. Why Virtualization is a Big Deal Virtualized assets also help increase productivity. By not having to maintain physical hardware, administrators are able to carry a heavier workload. A recent study by analyst IDC found that administrators manage an average of about 30 servers. After virtualization, they can manage 60-90 servers -- a significant increase in capacity. They're also able to spend more time architecting their infrastructure for higher levels of productivity. "Gone are the days of "server sprawl," where a new server is needed for each new application or tool and each ends up running at only 8-10% utilization," Baker says. Virtualization allows companies to create a scalable infrastructure, where new VMs can be added without the need to continuously buy new hardware and other physical devices. When manufacturers start to consolidate, they find they can buy and allocate the appropriate amount of resources for each VM, which reduces system maintenance and energy consumption costs. Another feature of virtualization is that the system doesn't know it's "virtualized." This allows administrators to take hardware offline while the system is up and running. "Since the VMs are not attached to a physical computer, the VMs can be migrated between servers while the system is still running," notes Baker. During a planned outage, administrators can shift their workloads so the server can be taken down with no impact to the system. When the planned outage is complete, the server can be placed back into service. Advantages of a Virtual Machine: - Hardware independence - Fault tolerance - Application-load balancing - Rapid disaster recovery - Recovery to non-identical hardware - Ability to pre-test OS patches or vendor updates - Ability to roll-back incompatible OS patches or vendor updates - Reduced TCO resulting from consistent datacenter environment - Reduced power usage Baker adds, "Rockwell Automation recognizes our customers' desire to make use of the opportunities that virtualization brings to mission critical applications. That's why we've worked closely with VMware, the leader in virtualization technologies, to establish a technical partnership." Rockwell Automation supports its software suite in virtualized environments, and has developed a list of software products that are recognized by VMware as "VMware Ready." Today, most Rockwell Automation configuration, human interface and information products are certified as VMware ready, and Rockwell Automation is committed to testing all new software products in a virtual environment. Applying Virtual Assets Using specially designed host hardware available on the market today, a virtual server can be sized with extensive memory and CPU resources. This allows a large number of VMs to be consolidated onto a single machine without impacting performance. You can create a data center by running a group of servers with hypervisors managed via a virtualization infrastructure management interface. The bare-metal environment frees up a large portion of resources, which can then be dedicated to running the VMs. Tips for Getting Started If you're thinking about virtualization for your manufacturing facility, consider the following advice: - Being able to run legacy software indefinitely doesn't mean you should. If you find a software bug in an old system, don't count on it being fixed. You'll also want to consider the security implications of running legacy software. Virtualization should be used as a tool to moderately extend the life cycle of a computer system to allow an upgrade to take place in a planned and predictable manner when a suitable business driver emerges. - Not all network protocols are easily virtualized. The use of standard Ethernet is most widely supported by the various virtualization vendors. - Non x86-based systems (ie. SPARC, DEC-Alpha, etc.) cannot be virtualized to run on a x86-based machine, such as Intel, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), etc. - Third-party vendor support for virtualized systems has been limited. There is an added risk of running virtualized software in a production environment that has not been thoroughly tested and endorsed by a respective third-party vendor. More information about Rockwell Automation Process Solutions can be found at www.rockwellautomation.com/go/process

Thomas Joseph Pendergast Pendergast, Thomas Joseph, 1872–1945, American political boss, b. St. Joseph, Mo. After holding minor political offices (1899–1910) in Kansas City, Mo., he became the acknowledged Democratic leader in city and state. Harry S. Truman entered politics under his aegis. In 1939, Pendergast was convicted of income-tax evasions, and his political machine was broken. Paroled (1940) from Leavenworth on condition that he abstain from political activity for five years, he later faced sentence for criminal contempt of court, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed (1943) the decision against him under the statute of limitations. See study by L. W. Dorsett (1968). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies

The area now constituting Transylvania became part of the Roman Empire in A.D. 107. After the withdrawal (A.D. 271) of the Romans from the region it was overrun, between the 3d and 10th cent., by the Visigoths, the Huns, the Gepidae, the Avars, and the Slavs. The Magyar tribes first entered the region in the 5th cent., but they did not fully control it until 1003, when King Stephen I placed it under the Hungarian crown. The valleys in the east and southeast were settled by the Székely, a people akin to the Magyars. It is not known, however, whether they came into Transylvania with or before the Magyars. In the 12th and 13th cent. the areas in the south and northeast were settled by German colonists called (then and now) Saxons. Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded there by the Saxons. The German influence became more marked when, early in the 13th cent., King Andrew II of Hungary called on the Teutonic Knights to protect Transylvania from the Cumans, who were followed (1241) by the Mongol invaders. Large numbers of Romanians, called Vlachs or Walachians, were in the region by 1222, although the exact date that their penetration began is disputed. Originally seminomadic shepherds, the Vlachs soon settled down to agriculture. The administration of Transylvania was in the hands of a royal governor, or voivode, who by the mid-13th cent. controlled the whole region. Society was divided into three privileged "nations," the Magyars, the Székely, and the Saxons. These "nations," however, corresponded to social rather than strictly ethnic divisions. Although the nonprivileged class of serfs consisted mostly of Vlachs, it also included some people of Saxon, Székely, and Magyar origin. A few Vlachs, notably John Hunyadi, hero of the Turkish wars, joined the ranks of the nobility. After the suppression (1437) of a peasant revolt the three "nations" solemnly renewed their union; the rebels were cruelly repressed, and serfdom became more firmly entrenched than ever. When the main Hungarian army and King Louis II were slain (1526) in the battle of Mohács, John Zapolya, voivode of Transylvania, took advantage of his military strength and put himself at the head of the nationalist Hungarian party, which opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I) to the Hungarian throne. As John I he was elected king of Hungary, while another party recognized Ferdinand. In the ensuing struggle Zapolya received the support of Sultan Sulayman I, who after Zapolya's death (1540) overran central Hungary on the pretext of protecting Zapolya's son, John II. Hungary was now divided into three sections: W Hungary, under Austrian rule; central Hungary, under Turkish rule; and semi-independent Transylvania, where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries. The Hungarian magnates of Transylvania resorted to a policy of duplicity in order to preserve independence. The Báthory family, which came to power on the death (1571) of John II, ruled Transylvania as princes under Ottoman, and briefly under Hapsburg, suzerainty until 1602, but their rule was interrupted by the incursion of Michael the Brave of Walachia and by Austrian military intervention. In 1604, Stephen Bocskay led a rebellion against Austrian rule, and in 1606 he was recognized by the emperor as prince of Transylvania. Under Bocskay's successors—especially Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczy—Transylvania had its golden age. The principality was the chief center of Hungarian culture and humanism, the main bulwark of Protestantism in E Europe, and the only European country where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Unitarians lived in mutual tolerance. Orthodox Romanians, however, were denied equal rights. After the Turkish defeat near Vienna (1683), Transylvania vainly battled the growing Austrian influence, and its alliance with Turkey under Emeric Thököly and with France under Francis II Rákóczy proved fatal to its independence. In 1711, Austrian control was definitely established over all Hungary and Transylvania, and the princes of Transylvania were replaced by Austrian governors. The proclamation (1765) of Transylvania as a grand principality was a mere formality. The pressure of Austrian bureaucratic rule gradually eroded the traditional independence of Transylvania. In 1791 the Romanians petitioned Leopold II of Austria for recognition as the fourth "nation" of Transylvania and for religious equality. The Transylvanian diet rejected their demands, restoring the Romanians to their old status. In 1848 the Magyars proclaimed the union of Transylvania with Hungary, promising the Romanians abolition of serfdom in return for their support against Austria. The Romanians rejected the offer and instead rose against the Magyar national state. In the fighting that followed (1849) between the Hungarians and the Austro-Russian forces (supported by the Romanians and most of the Saxons), the Hungarian republic of Louis Kossuth was suppressed. The ensuing period of Austrian military government (1849–60) was disastrous for the Magyars but greatly benefited the Romanian peasants, who were given land and otherwise favored by the Austrian authorities. However, in the compromise ( Ausgleich ) of 1867, which established the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Transylvania became an integral part of Hungary, and the Romanians, having tasted equality, were once more subjected to Magyar domination. After World War I the Romanians of Transylvania proclaimed at a convention at Alba Iulia (1918) their union with Romania. Transylvania was then seized by Romania and was formally ceded by Hungary in the Treaty of Trianon (1920). The expropriation of the estates of Magyar magnates, the distribution of the lands to the Romanian peasants, and the policy of cultural Romanianization that followed were major causes of friction between Hungary and Romania. It was now the turn of the Magyar and German nationalists to complain of Romanian oppression. During World War II, Hungary annexed (1940) N Transylvania, which was, however, returned to Romania after the war. Many of the Saxons of Transylvania fled to Germany before the arrival of the Soviet army, and most of the remaining Saxons followed after the fall of the Communist government in 1989. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on Transylvania History from Infoplease: See more Encyclopedia articles on: Romanian Political Geography

Solaris 11 Supports Two Forms Of VirtualizationOracle's first update of Sun's Unix includes support for Oracle VM hypervisor and Solaris Zones. Support for the Oracle VM hypervisor, derived originally by Sun Microsystems from the Xen open source code, has been added to Solaris. That means Solaris can host virtual machines on either a Sparc server or on a standard Intel or AMD x86 server under Solaris 11 for x86. Unix RISC servers are typically more powerful than x86 servers and are still used for large databases or other demanding applications that have high transaction throughput. Support for Oracle VM gives Solaris users both options. - The Critical Importance of High Performance Data Integration for Big Data Analytics - Come Together, Right Now, Part 1: The Why, When and How of IT Convergence - Top 10 Considerations for Getting Started with Virtualization - Beyond Cost Savings: Four Compelling Reasons to Expand Virtualization of Your IT Environment In addition, Solaris includes a second virtualization option, first added to Solaris 10 when it was released in 2005. That's Solaris Zones, a method of dividing up a host server's resources among many applications each in its own software partition, known as a container or zone. For example, a zone would assign an application a share of memory, CPU, network bandwidth, and access to the operating system. A single Solaris host can run "hundreds" of zones, said Markus Flierl, VP of Oracle software development, in an interview. It's difficult to directly compare how many zones versus full bore virtual machines might run on a same-sized server, but most virtual machine hosts run fewer than 100. More zones can be run on a single host than VMs because, while each zone contains an application, all the applications make use of a single, shared Solaris operating system kernel. In many cases, they share Solaris root directories, such as /usr and /lib, according to a blogger's FAQ as well. Such sharing does not go on in typical x86 virtualized environments. In VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines, each application is paired up with its own operating system. That leaves many operating systems making demands on the host, instead of just one. A zone has one-fifteenth the overhead of a VMware ESX Server virtual machine, claimed Markus Flierl, Oracle VP of software development, in an interview. Zones also run "without artificial limits on memory," he added, perhaps a swipe at the new 96-GB limit for a virtual machine running under a VMware enterprise license. "With Solaris 11, the options for virtualization have dramatically expanded," he said. [ Want to see a case where a business adopted "containers" instead of VMs? See 'Containers' Outperform Virtualization For KV Pharmaceuticals ] Oracle has added virtual environment management features to Solaris 11 as well. A system administrator may virtualize both network and storage resources to go with the zones or virtual machines generated under a single instance of Solaris. The ability to define network and storage resources to work with other virtualized assets makes it easier to set up complete, virtualized environments, said Charlie Boyle, senior director of product marketing. Because Solaris 11 includes the added virtualization features, it was dubbed "the first cloud operating system" upon release Nov. 11. In this use of the term "cloud," a single Solaris system can operate with more flexible and elastic characteristics and manage more virtualized resources than before; nothing in the announcement indicated that it was it was intended to manage thousands of servers with automated provisioning of end users in a cloud data center. The ZFS file system is part of Solaris 11, and its data deduplication capabilities mean storage requirements for a virtualized system under Solaris 11 may be reduced to one-tenth their previous level, said Boyle. Solaris 11 has been engineered to work better with Oracle applications, the Oracle 11g database system and Oracle Fusion Middleware, he added. Unix has been the sick-old-man of operating systems for so long that some have prematurely written its obituary. Headlines declaring the death of Unix have appeared regularly, but their writers overlook the fact that revenues from Unix servers and software experienced a small uptick this year, according to IDG. It's a market that exceeds $18 billion a year. Solaris' main commercial competitors are IBM's AIX and HP's HP-UX and they also offer partitioning of servers into containers. Linux competes with Solaris as open source code. Oracle discontinued the community open source version of Solaris in August last year and replaced it with a free version, Solaris Express. Unix is still the operating system of choice for the largest enterprise databases and other large systems doing a specialized, mission critical workload, as opposed to clusters of x86 servers. For more analysis, see a report on Gabriel Consulting, Survey: The Demise Of Unix Is Greatly Exaggerated . "There has been a lot of ill-considered press coverage about the 'death' of Unix and coverage of the wholesale migration of Unix workloads to Linux, some of which (the latter, not the former) I have contributed to. But to set the record straight, the extinction of Unix is not going to happen in our lifetime," wrote Richard Fischera, analyst at Forrester Research, on Oct. 26 in "Unix--Dead or Alive?"

China and India are expanding their influence in the higher education arena -- according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, about 40 percent of young postsecondary degree-holders in leading countries will come from China and India by 2020. The United States and some European Union countries will produce about 25 percent. The report, which is part of the organization’s series Education Indicators in Focus, looked at higher education graduates between the ages of 25 and 34 in OECD and Group of Twenty member countries -- 42 countries total. The gap between China and the United States -- the two leading producers of graduates in 2010, with 18 and 14 percent, respectively -- will grow even larger by 2020. China is expected to produce 29 percent of all higher education graduates studied in the report, and the United States is expected to produce 11 percent of all those graduates. India, which produced 11 percent of graduates in 2010, is expected to overtake the United States and produce 12 percent of the share of graduates by the end of this decade. In 2000, 51 million higher education graduates hailed from OECD countries, and 39 million came from G20 countries that are not in the OECD, including China and India. But according to the report, this gap is narrowing: “It’s likely that the global talent pool will continue to grow across most OECD and G20 countries, and that the fast-growing G20 economies will continue to account for an increasingly large share.” The report shows dramatic changes in the percentage of adults between 25 and 34 who have a college degree, with sharp gains by China and India and a drop by the United States. Setting Education Goals In 2009, the United States established a goal to become the nation with the highest proportion of 25-34 year-old graduates by 2020. According to the report, about 60 percent of the target group must attain a postsecondary degree in order to reach this goal. China is also looking to educate more people by 2020. It is aiming for 20 percent of its citizens, or 195 million people, to have higher education degrees by the end of the decade. According to the report, this would mean that China’s population of higher education graduates would be about the same as the entire projected population of 25-64 year-olds in the United States in 2020. But Ben Wildavsky, senior scholar at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, said the United States should not feel threatened by the increasing number of Chinese postsecondary degree-holders. He wrote The Great Brain Race, published by Princeton University Press in 2010, in which he argues that the expansion of international higher education in rising countries benefits all countries both educationally and economically, and it should not be seen as threatening. International higher education is not a zero-sum game, Wildavsky said in an interview: “Sometimes international comparisons can lead to a misplaced alarmism,” he said. “People mistakenly assume that if another country’s doing better, we must be doing worse.” He said countries should look to improve internally without comparing themselves to others. “It’s absolutely true that the push to increase college completion rates and attainment rates in the U.S. makes a lot of sense,” he said. “Yes, we should be trying to boost our attainment rate, but I don’t think we should be worried by the findings of this kind of report.” According to the percentages listed in the report, the United States produced about 15.5 million postsecondary degree-holders in 2000 and 18 million in 2010. So, Wildavsky said, even though the United States’ relative percentage of graduates has decreased, its total number of graduates has increased by about 2.5 million. “We have a slightly smaller slice of the pie, but the pie is getting much, much bigger, and that’s a good thing.” He said the United States needs to focus on meeting the needs of its own economy. “We don’t have to do that by rooting for others to get behind.” Art Hauptman, an independent higher education consultant, wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed that U.S. higher education is not in decline, despite some reports that make it look that way. “The reports of U.S. decline have been way overblown,” he wrote. “U.S. attainment rates have not stagnated as some have reported but have increased briskly over the past decade.” Growing the ‘Knowledge Economy’ The report says that higher levels of education correlate with higher employment rates and larger earnings premiums, so individuals have strong incentives to pursue more education, and developing countries also have strong incentives to promote higher education to build their populations’ skills to fit more specialized jobs. Employment in science and technology grew from 1998 to 2008 in all OECD and G20 countries with available data, according to the report. Although this sector employs a smaller percentage of the population in non-OECD countries such as China -- less than 10 percent -- than in OECD countries such as Switzerland -- more than 40 percent -- this trend shows that the demand for employees in what the report calls the “knowledge economy” is still rising. Wildavsky said the global spread of higher education and the more specialized job opportunities that accompany it should be welcomed, not feared: “It’s good if there are people in other countries who are better-educated, and that leads to economic growth elsewhere.”

This is the cheapest and easiest way to make a two-dimensional laser show projector. It uses just one pivoting mirror, powered by the focusing mechanism from a CD or other optical drive. They said it couldn't be done, but Ljudmila's skunkworks GRL research facility delivers anyway! ;) This design was first discovered in 2006 and sucessfuly made by several beginners at the Laser Tags workshop in 2007. I hope this Instructable, my first, will help to spread it around and let all of you make, test and improve it! Here shown using an Arduino for control, but you could hook some other signal into it easily, from a music player, a soundcard or some other electronic circuit. Step 1: Gather materials and tools - a broken CD-ROM, DVD or other optical drive (you only need the lens focusing mechanism, so you get lots of other cool parts left over) - a LASER pointer of your choice (those small chinese ones will do fine too) - the smallest and thinnest mirror you can find. we used small round mirrors meant for making mosaics. (bill buxton recommended trying mylar.) you can also use the very small mirror found inside the optical assembly of a CD drive (under the lens, sitting on an angle) - a short piece of stiff wire (cut off leg of LEDs work for this) - some soft wire for signals - a stable housing - some kind of plastic box. bonus if it's transparent - signal source - I recommend an Arduino as it's easy to use and program - cross head screwdrivers, small and very small - soldering iron for electronics - wire cutters - glue gun (or other glue) - sharp pin for making a hole - pliers can come in handy

Strawberry plants can be obtained from local nurseries. Replace your plantings with new plants from a nursery every 2 to 3 years. You can start new plants from your existing strawberries by letting runners set daughter plants into clean soil in late summer. Be sure to start daughter plants only from healthy mother plants and remove all parts of the mother plants after the daughters are started. Dig up these new plants in October, shake the soil from their roots, remove all but two healthy leaves, and place them in thin plastic sandwich bags. Hold them in a refrigerator for 10 to 15 days, then plant them into clean, prepared When planting, make sure to spread the roots out before firming the soil around the plant. Keep the growing point above the soil line. Space plants about 12 inches apart in each row with rows about 12 inches apart in two-row beds, and stagger the plants in the two rows to give them maximum room. In single-row beds, space plants about 10 inches apart. new plants by letting runners set daughter plants

- ISHN GLOBAL - EHS RESEARCH 1. Just the word "behavior" alone carries negative connotations. How often do we talk about behaviors in a positive light? 2. Most behavioral safety approaches include references to studies from the DuPont Company or the National Safety Council that indicate the causes of most industrial accidents (up to 96 percent in some studies) are the unsafe acts of workers. Very few industrial accidents are caused by unsafe conditions, according to these studies. But a closer look at these studies reveals that they were aimed at finding methods of prevention-not the root cause of accidents. If accidents could be prevented or lessened in severity by the action of any employee, the accidents were classified as "caused by unsafe acts." The fact that accidents can be behaviorally prevented doesn't necessarily mean that behavior is the root cause. Unfortunately, these studies have fueled perceptions that worker behavior is to blame for accidents. 3. Behavioral safety can suffer from what I call the "plane-crash mentality." For years, investigators always classified these accidents as either due to a mechanical failure or pilot error. Many employers only consider these two alternatives when investigating accidents. So workers look for unsafe conditions to avoid blame, and investigators scrutinize individual behaviors. Given this mind set, when management announces the start of a behavioral safety process many workers instantly conclude that unsafe conditions will no longer be corrected and workers will now be automatically blamed for all accidents. 4. Statistical Process Control (SPC) tells us when systems are in statistical control (the variation is within control limits), defects (undesired results) do not have a special cause; they are common to the system. The same holds true for safety. If accidents (undesired results) are in statistical control, their causes are not special, one-time behaviors or conditions but are rather common to the system. When we investigate to find special cause, we insinuate that workers have done something unusually dangerous and are to blame. 5. Observing employees while they work-an integral part of behavioral safety-can be sometimes viewed as "spying." The tradition of sending "safety cops" through the workplace to find rule-breakers and punish them has left its mark. Workers might suspect that the only reason anyone would watch them is to find fault and place blame. 6. Finally, the perception that behavioral safety is a blame game is occasionally the truth. The impetus to implement a behavioral initiative sometimes does come from the assumption that workers are to blame for accidents. These barriers-old traditions, suspicions, assumptions, misinterpretations-must be confronted if you're going to have motivated employees participating in a behavioral approach. One way of doing this involves performance management. Behavior doesn't occur in a vacuum, according to performance management principles, it's most often triggered by powerful organizational forces. W. Edwards Deming said behavior is determined by the system in which it takes place. But too often the mistake is made to try to change behaviors without addressing the forces that influence them. Isolated training programs are a common example, and any behavior change that occurs as a result is almost always temporary. Here is a performance management blueprint that can prevent behavioral safety from becoming a blaming process: Before you beginIf you haven't started a behavioral safety process, you can take these steps to keep it from falling into the blaming trap. 1. Thoroughly assess your site before doing anything. Is your accident frequency in statistical control? Call on a statistician or use a computer program on statistics if you need help here. If the frequency is in statistical control, reducing it further will likely mean changing one or more of the systems that influence workers' behaviors. 2. Gauge employees' state of mind through perception surveys and discussion groups. You'll find out what employees think of current safety practices, and how open they are to new methods. Any workplace cultural tendencies toward the blaming mind set will usually come to light. You can't move ahead without tackling any of these issues. (A complete guide and forms for an organizational safety assessment can be found in the book, "Developing A Safety Culture," J.J. Keller, 1996.) 3. Make sure observation data will be kept confidential and not used for any punitive purpose. 4. Alert members of behavioral safety teams that the blame game is a potential problem and that it should be anticipated and managed. Don't let them be ambushed by suspicious or resistant employees. A management liaison should be assigned to teams so concerns and problems can be taken straight to the top-the only place where they can be resolved. Starting upDuring implementation, your whole organization needs to be part of the process. 1. Every level of management, area of responsibility, and department can define and fulfill a role that either supports or directly implements the behavioral effort. This kind of involvement requires a thorough understanding of the process and training in the basics of the behavioral approach. 2. During initial training, hold management briefings to address the problem of blaming and explain how damaging it can be. Focus attention on prevention and away from punishment. Once you've begunAfter a behavioral safety effort is underway, support is the name of the game. 1. Enhance and enrich programs and practices that recognize and reinforce safe behavior. 2. Any rules, job descriptions, or organizational structures that encourage blaming and punitive actions should be redirected away from the average worker who is trying to be safe and focused on habitual and repeat offenders. 3. Use observation data to determine why workers take risks. Some of these reasons will be organizational influences. Identify and work to remove forces that discourage safe behaviors. 4. Publicize your successes in this area so workers see progress and are aware of new organizational guidelines and structures. If blame is a problem ...If your behavioral safety process is under way and you find that it's becoming a finger-pointing exercise, here are some steps to get you back on track: - Acknowledge that a problem exists and assure workers that it will be solved. Be clear that blaming is for serious offenses of neglect or willful violation and not to be used as a tool for day-to-day improvement of safety performance. · - Give supervisors alternative tools for handling safety issues that focus on prevention rather than blame, and give them feedback to help monitor their progress. Schedule regular reinforcement meetings and/or training sessions. · - List the actions your organization needs to take to replace blaming with prevention. Recognize and celebrate the accomplishment of these steps. Set realistic time lines for accomplishing the change. · - Continually ask workers and supervisors how the effort is going and what is getting in the way of progress. Review this data often and attempt to remove obstacles and add reinforcers. · - Involve as many employees as possible in working toward a solution. Involvement creates buy-in and will help to solve the problem faster and give the process added support once the problem is solved. There is a natural tendency to place blame for accidents. It is not difficult for this tendency to find its way into your behavioral safety efforts. Once there, it acts like a cancer attacking the vital employee motivation and involvement needed for success. Examine your future plans or your existing program and determine whether or not you need to take the prescribed treatment.

How To Increase Your Photography Skills Strive to create some perspective of depth whenever you are shooting landscapes. Place an object or person in your image’s foreground to provide an understanding of the scale of your photo. Aperture sizes like f/8 on a consumer camera, or f/16 on a professional DSLR, make it so you need not sacrifice foreground sharpness for background sharpness or vice-versa. When photographing active children, you may get the best results by simply capturing shots of them in motion. Children are full of energy, and it’s often difficult to co-operate and take a good photograph. Try to let them enjoy the scenery and take an action shot. Simplify your camera settings for the best results. Take it one step at a time by mastering one function, such as shutter speed or sport setting, before moving on to the next. Doing this focuses your attention on the image itself, rather than playing with dials while you lose your subject. At this point, you should notice that you have more knowledge about photography. Whether you were ready prior or not, you most certainly are now. Your can start improving your skills in photography by following the advice that was provided in this article. When taking pictures in low light level, it is important that you know just how effective your flash is. If you don’t have a good idea of how far your flash goes, you might try photographing a subject that is too far away. It’s a good idea to take some practice pictures with your flash so that you can learn its range.

by Dr. N. M. Gelber Translated by Hanna Tuchman Edited by Jean-Pierre Stroweis The Formation of the Town Staszów is one of the oldest towns in Poland and, like most Polish towns, it developed from a rural into an urban settlement. The village was owned by Stasz Komyotko, who, according to documentation of the year 1245 donated a plot and fields to serve as a site for the building of a church. The name of the village Staszówna is probably connected with the private name of the donator: Stasz, who was its founder. Afterwards, the village passed to the ownership of Piotr Bogorja Trotnicky. [The list of the successive owners of Staszów is given in Appendix I]. In the 15th century Staszów was acquired together with a few neighboring villages (Rytwiany and Jastrzębiec) by Marcyn Melównica. His wife, Dorothea nee Tarnowsky, contributed much towards the development of Staszów. During the years 1436-1537 the village was owned by Jan Rytwianski, then by his daughter, Eva, who was married to Mikolay of Kurozwęki, and then by their sons. Hyronimus Łaski, who was married to a great-granddaughter of Jan Rytwianski, Anna of Kurozwęki, turned Staszów from a village into a town, after having granted it the privilege of holding markets there , as of the year 1526. This was a symbol of being a town. This privilege he received from King Zygmund I, in a special decree in the Latin language, saying that the village of Staszów was accorded the rights of a town. Łaski invited artisans from abroad, especially weavers, with the intention to develop the weaving trade on the spot. Moreover, he brought other trades as well. After a short time trade unions were established: in 1553 the weavers, in 1621 the tailors, hatters and furriers, in 1635 metal and woodworkers, in 1655 shoemakers and in 1670 clay workers. The town also passed through difficult times, especially during the Tatar invasion, when it was completely destroyed. In the 16th century, during the Reformation which reached Poland, the Italian, Austin Suchin, spread the Arian religion. The owner of Staszów, Jan Semiansky, joined the Arians with great enthusiasm, and in 1569 established another town in the area, called Raków, where he settled the said Suchin. Suchin founded one of the first communities of the new religion in Raków and made it the stronghold in his war against the Catholics. In the year 1580, Ulbricht Jaski built in Staszów a church and a school for the Arian faith. In 1596, after the defeat of the Arians, Andrzej Ciołek turned the church over to the Catholic faith, and it existed such until 1914. The town suffered greatly during the wars with the Cossacks, who invaded the town several times, looted it and murdered many people. The town's population was not spared by the great cholera epidemic of 1705, when the greater part of its population perished. During the 16th and 17th centuries there were fierce struggles within the Polish nobility concerning the foreign policy of the country. This added little peace to the town. During the Revolution of 1794, Tadeusz Kośzciuzko and his army passed through Staszów heading for Połaniec, after his victory over the Russians at Raclawice, with the intention of barring their passage on the river Wisła (Vistula). Three heavy battles took place against the Russian armies under the generals Denisów and Khruchtchew, in which Kośzciuzko brilliantly defeated the Russians. The owner of Staszów at that time, Prince Adam Czartorisky, contributed money to Kośzciuzko's army and ammunition to the value of 54,083 zlotys. In the beginning of the 19th century, Russian and Austrian armies likewise passed through Staszów. Thus, in 1809, when the Austrian army under General Geringer was defeated near Sandomierz he withdrew via Staszów to Kielce. Needless to say, all these military movements passing through the town, caused great suffering and economic damage. Moreover, great suffering, distress and loss of lives were caused to Staszów's population during the cholera epidemics (1821, 1893), and the fires (specially in 1854, 1874), which destroyed many houses and any economic life or development was paralyzed for a considerable time. Due to its geographical location - being situated on the main commercial road between Kraków and Lublin - and its proximity to Warsaw and the Wisła (Vistula) river, Staszów played an important role in the economy of Poland, since early days. The town was part of the Sandomierz district, within the Sandomierz voivodeship (province) until 1795. A turning point in the town's economic development occurred during the ownership of the Sieniawski family. who acquired the town in the beginning of the 18th century, through the marriage of Elizabeth Helena Lubomirska (daughter of Marshal Stanislaw Herakliusz Lubomirsky, known also as a writer and philosopher) to Adam Mikolai Sienawski, who was a follower of the Polish King August II. This family contributed greatly towards the development of Staszów, in particular during the time of his heir, his daughter, Maria Zofia, who was widowed in 1709 and remarried in 1731, to Prince August Alexander Czartoryski, uncle of the last Polish king, Stanislaw Poniatowski. In the year 1795, Staszów and the Sandomierz voivodeship became part of Austria and the authorities attached it to the Radom Kreiss (district). This district was then put under the command of the Commissioner of Galicia, whose headquarters was in Lwów. In 1809, a part of Western Galicia was occupied by Prince Joseph Poniatowski, and the Radom district, including the town of Staszów, was returned to the Warsaw principality. In the new administrative partition, Staszów was declared as seat of the Staszów district. During the Kingdom of Poland (1815), Staszów had two representatives in the Departmental Council of Radom, in the District Council 10, and in the Sejm (Parliament) in Warsaw, where it had one seat (Josef Chomantowski). During the Principality of Warsaw, and later under the Kingdom of Poland (1815), Staszów was part of the Sandomierz voivodeship (province), and from 1837, part of the Sandomierz guberniya (government). In 1844, the guberniya of Sandomierz was replaced by the guberniya of Radom, and Sandomierz joined again the district of Sandomierz. The town owners of the Czartoryski family were interested in developing Staszów into an important industrial point and to this end had established in 1780 a weaving mill with an annual output of 600 bales. Their daughter, Izabella, who was married to Prince Stanislaw Lubomirsky, continued to encourage industry. Her daughter, Julia, was married to Leon Potocki, and during this time, Staszów passed to the ownership of the Potocki family, remaining so until the year 1887. This family made an important contribution towards the industrial development of Staszów: Leon Potocki established the Agricultural Bank to promote agriculture. His son, Arthur, established a dyeing and finishing plant for woven fabrics in 1820. In 1823 he established a modern weaving mill and in 1827 a textile finishing plant for wool fabrics. He also established a wool bank (bank welniany) in order to give financial security, based on an investment of 18,000 zlotys, among them 14,000 zlotys was available for the purchase of wool and 4,000 for granting credit to weavers. The bank was headed by a representative of Potocki and by three weavers. The factory was very successful and considered one of the three best in Poland. Stress was put on the quality of the manufactured goods and on the coloring. Weavers not up to standard were severely punished. During the Potocki era, the town enjoyed a prosperous period of economic and social gains, such as the erection of a hospital in 1837. In the year 1887, the ownership of the town passed into the hands of the Radziwill family through the marriage of Rosa Potocki to Prince Maciej Radziwill, who continued developing the town. He established schools, economic and social institutions, such as, an urban credit bank, financed by 95 members, 41 of whom were Jewish, with a capital of 4,540 rubles, in 1899. The bank reached a capital of 139,508 rubles in 1913. 52,508 rubles of this capital belonged to 339 members who were Jewish out of a total membership of 1,157 at that time. In the year 1886 the urban bank was established on the riverbank of the Czarna River. At that time there were two Catholic churches, two primary schools, a court of justice, and the urban hospital with 28 beds. There was also a Home for Aged People, established in 1817. Towards the end of the 19th century, four doctors, five medical orderlies, one pharmacy and one veterinarian were active in Staszów. The town was headed by two mayors and voting rights were accorded to guild members and merchants, subject to endorsement of the town owners. Elections were held until 1863 and the last elected mayor was Jan Malewsky. As of 1804, the mayor was appointed by the ruling governor. The following industrial enterprises were established towards the end of the 19th century: a brewery, two soda factories, two water mills and one paper mill. At the same time there were 192 artisans, of these, 51 were cobblers, 24 tailors, 20 barrel-makers, 16 bakers, 14 carpenters, 12 masons, 10 milliners, 10 potters, 17 tanners and 18 butchers. Most of the 120 shops were in Jewish hands. The population in 1886 amounted to 7,971 permanent inhabitants and 820 temporary soldiers (infantry regiment) as compared to 3,107 in 1827 and 5,104 in 1857. It consisted of 2,668 Poles, 15 Pravoslavs, 8 Protestants and 5,280 Jews. The number of houses in Staszów throughout the years 1788-1913 is very interesting: in 1788, 348 houses; in 1827, 354 houses; in 1841, 362 houses; in 1857, 367 houses (of which 107 houses were of concrete), in 1913 there were 424 houses, 282 of concrete and 142 of wooden construction. The Jewish Population The first Jewish settlement in Staszów took place when the village turned into a township, in 1526. Right from the start there was an organized community belonging within the framework of Jewish autonomy in the District of Kraków-Sandomierz.. This unit also included the districts of Opatów, Szydlów, Chęciny, Pinczów and Wodzisław. The community of Staszów was included in the district of Szydlów, together with the following communities: Szydlów, Tarnów, Rimanów, Zmigrod, Dukla, Nowo Miesto, Chmielnik, Pacanów, Oleśnica, Żabno, Dabrowa, Stopnica, Połaniec, Bogoria, Raków, Wiślica, Kurozwęki. Many years after having settled down, the community encountered a heavy crisis. In the year 1610 the Jewish community fell victim to a blood libel. As a result of the trial all the Jews were expelled from the town. In the trial, the Jew Samuel of Staszów was accused of kidnapping a Christian boy, son of Jan Kówal, while he was playing in the sands, and passing him over to the Jews of Szydlów, where he was supposedly tortured for the purpose of getting blood for matzot. The Jews of Staszów and Szydlów, arrested under Tenzinski's orders, were slaughtered, and their bodies thrown to the winds. Samuel's daughter was ordered by Tenzinski to convert to Christianity and Jewish property was confiscated to be used for the construction of the church gable. The Christian boy's body was buried in the church of Jacek. On his grave the following epitaph was engraved: Joannis Kowal i Suzannae Nierychłowska civium Staszoviensium filius; cujus vox sanguinis vindictam clamat, ut judaei nominis christiani hostes pellantur Staszovia. (The blood of the son of Staszów's citizens, Joannis Kówal and Susanna Nierychłowska, calls for revenge, that Staszów's Jewry, foes of the Christian name, should be expelled from Staszów.) However, in spite of the expulsion, it seems that Jews remained in Staszów, which we deduce from trials that took place in 1668 in the region, known as Little Poland. Jew were accused of theft of ritual objects from churches, and of infanticide. This type of trial took place not only against Jews, in Raków, Iwaniska and Apt (Opatów), as well as in Staszów. Formally, however, the Jews were repatriated to Staszów only 80 years later in 1690, following an appeal of the Staroste (Prefect) of Nowo Miesto, Oplinski, to the Jews to return to Staszów. The legend says that he was punished for this deed of infidelity and all his children died. Oplinski himself died in 1704. After the return of the Jews to Staszów, the Jewish community grew so in numbers that they were again able to establish an organized community. In the 17th century, the family Landau occupied the rabbinical chair of Staszów. Rabbi Yehuda Lev Landau, from Szydlów, was chosen as Rabbi of Kraków, and Samuel, one of his five sons, was chosen head of the Staszów community, serving also as its rabbi. In the year 1714, when the Gaon Zvi Hirsch Ashkenazi - the Chachem Zvi - (1660-1718) was obliged to leave his rabbinical chair in Amsterdam, because of the dispute with the rabbi of the Sephardic community, Rabbi Shlomo Ilan, and to return to Poland, he came to Apt (Opatów) to live in the home of his father-in-law. Shortly afterward there was a great fire and he had to leave the house. On this occasion he became acquainted with the court agent of the nobleman Sienawski, with the landowners of Staszów, and with Rabbi Israel of Rytwiany, who invited him to make his home either in Staszów or in Rytwiany. Thus the Chachem Zvi settled in Rytwiany, near Staszów ,and stayed there until he was offered the Rabbinate of Lwów. In 1718 the Jews received permission from Staszów owner, Elizabeta Sienawski, to settle in Staszów. They were granted the right to build a synagogue and establish a cemetery, the two basics of every community. After the scroll of privileges was burnt by a fire in the city, the community requested from Prince Alexander Czartoryski, husband of Elizabeta, that he issues a renewed confirmation of rights. And so, in 1772, a new paper, called the Letter of Existence, was issued by the Prince. [See complete transcription in Appendix II ]. This document stated the following rights of Jews: In the first half of the 18th century the Jews of Staszów had commercial contacts with the Breslau Fair. It is known that the merchant, Leibl Gerstel, visited there in the year 1725. During the 18th century the Jewish population flourished and expanded. Jews settled in the buildings and shops in the town center. This fact was stated by the Director of Mining in Poland, Johann Philipp von Carossi, in his book on travels in Poland. A census done in 1764, counted 607 Jews aged over one year. Supposing that each family counts 4 to 5 members, there were about 104 family heads. Twenty thereof were listed as artisans and other professionals, as follows: 2 tailors, 3 hat makers, 3 jewelers, 1 butcher, 1 hairdresser, 1 glazier, 1 shopkeeper, 1 rabbi, 1 trustee of the community, 2 teachers, 2 musicians and one street beggar.In the middle of the 18th century, there was a great improvement in Jewish life. The main centers of the weaving industry were in Staszów, Węgrów and Grodno, in Lithuania. In Staszów there were strong guilds of the Polish and German weavers, who were excellent professionals, brought into town by its owners in 1755. According to the law, the guilds were entitled to employ hired labor (women) in their workshops as well as in home industries. Czartoryski encouraged the training of additional artisans and increasing the number of workshops, as he realized that the expansion of the weaving industry would contribute to the development of Staszów and its economic stability. Even before the industry was established, about 200 persons made a living out of preparing work for the weavers. While the number of weavers was 15, some 450- 600 persons made a living on wool combing for the weavers. Each artisan employed 30 to 40 workers for combing and spinning. Although these were seasonal occupations, they provided a basis for the existence of many families. When, however, towards the second half of the 18th century, the establishment of factories was considered one of the most effective means to restore the Polish economy, Czartoryski decided to establish a factory. After initial difficulties were overcome, the industry became more efficient, especially upon arrival in Staszów of an administrative manager of the manufacturer named Seydewitz. When the factory was put into operation, disputes with local weavers erupted, as they considered the factory a competitive undermining of their livelihood. The factory's workers were considered Lumpengesindel. However, in the course of time, the weavers realized that the factory did not affect their livelihood and they got used to the situation. In the year 1773, there were 89 employees in the factory, of whom 12 were laborers (8 from Staszów, 3 from Sandomierz, and 1 from Miroslaw).The rest of the employees were Germans from Bielsko. The factory expanded and needed more manpower. At the time people were kidnapped from the streets or poorhouses in the cities and brought to work in factories. Prisoners, unemployed persons and beggars were made to work in factories. In the villages the landowners made their vassal farmers (pañszczyzna) work in factories. The latter, however, were not dependable workers, as they often absented themselves to work in their fields. Seydewitz, who needed a strong labor force for the factory, turned to the Jewish community of Staszów, considering the poverty in which they lived, he hoped that he might find enough good men among them. He suggested that the Jews, in particular the women whom he considered good workers, would be trained first. He feared that Jewish women would not work for him of their own free will, thus he issued a decree (einen scharfen Befehl) compelling them to work at home for his factory. The same compulsory system was imposed on the village women -giving them the choice to work at home or in the factory. Jewish women worked in weaving mills in other towns as well -- Niemerów and Horodinca. In a kitchen utensil manufacturing factory in Grodno, 400 Jewish women were employed. Employment in such plants provided the means not only for a decent living, but also made the Jews more productive and furthered their advance into new professions. In the second half of the 18th century, the Jewish population increased considerably, reaching the figure of 776 persons in Staszów and surrounding towns, by 1764. The community was forced to contribute to the payment of debts of the State Committee of Kraków - Sandomierz a sum of 322,834 zlotys. The debts imposed on the communities of this state were a heavy burden. Only after the whole area was annexed to Austria, did changes in the organization of the Jewish community and its living conditions took place. The community was under Austrian laws, whereby restrictions were placed on Jewish commerce, as well as on Jewish marriages. Following what they did with the Galician Jews, the Austrian authorities issued a series of edicts, in a process of secularization, that would make the Jews eligible to receive the civil rights. Thus, they were compelled to add Polish surnames to their Jewish family names, but were allowed to choose their own names, unlike Galicia where the bureaucracy decided the names. From the period on, these names remained, up until today, such as: Tchaikowski, Lubelski, Rabinowicz, Dawidowicz, etc. The burden of taxes during Austrian rule was heavy. Duties on meat imposed on Jewish commerce were: each litra of meat was 3 kreuzer, 2 kreuzer for pigeon, 14 kreuzer for geese, 6 kreuzer for chicken or duckling and 20 kreuzer for swan. Duties were placed on candles per piece. And each Jewish family lit two candles every Saturday and holiday. These taxes remained in force even after the area was annexed to the Principality of Warsaw, in spite of the efforts made by the communities to annul them. These rules helped to impoverish the Jewish population. On top of these taxes, a considerable tax was put on the Jews for the Polish Army, decided upon by the military authorities. In the Department of Radom, to which Staszów belonged, the communities accumulated a debt of 247,217 zlotys. They were unable to pay this tax which was for the maintenance of the military authority of the Warsaw principality. The annexation of the area to the Warsaw principality and the subsequent regime imposed caused great hardship to Staszów's Jews. Several plans were submitted to the State Council referring to the evolution of the Jewish question in Poland. The trend of these proposals was the following: to fix the situation of the Jews in the spirit of secularization, and to create conditions for the assimilation of the Jews to the Polish people, according to the requests of the speaker of the State Council, Kaitan Kozmian. The fix resulted in a number of legal restrictions, starting with the prohibition for Jews to sell liquors and other alcoholic beverages. After Novosilchow was given bribes by the Jews, this decree was cancelled, but other civil decrees were issued, such as the re-establishment of the authority, de non tolerandis Judaeis, which could expel Jews from certain towns. In Staszów, the authorities determined only that Jews could not settle in the main streets of the town. In 1809, the Prefect Kusinsky imposed a number of additional decrees which were hard to bear. They were forbidden to live in Christian quarters and a special area was designated for them; only in special cases was a Jew permitted to live in the town, for examples, if he had at least 10,000 zlotys in cash, or if he was an artisan or manufacturer. Jewish males were ordered to shave and dress as the rest of the population, to learn to read and write Polish and to teach their children the Polish language. Rabbis were not permitted to enact a boycott (cherem) without a permit of the Polish authorities. In accordance with these orders, the landowner of Staszów, Izabella Lubomirski, assigned the living area to the Jewish population to be between the River Czarna and Dluga Street. Living conditions worsened daily. Censuses were held from time to time to determine the number of Jews living in the villages, who by now, were supposed to gradually decrease. Also, Jews were not allowed to employ Gentile servants and assistants. Between the years 1814-1825, a Registry of Jews was kept, which included births, marriages and deaths. In compliance with the Codex Napoleonis , the registry was kept by the Catholic Church and not the Jewish constituency or rabbis. In the year 1819, the Jewish community was ordered to transfer its cemetery out of the town's boundaries. In the same year a plot was acquired for 517 zlotys and a new cemetery was opened in 1825. Within the framework of arranging Jewish affairs in the Kingdom of Poland, between 1818-1825, the community was liquidated in 1822 and all the documents and accounting records were taken away. As a result of these limitations, the economic life of the Jewish population of Staszów was devastated. The prohibition to deal in certain branches, including the alcohol industry; their expulsion from the town, and the seclusion in which they found themselves, unable to trade within the town's boundaries, all these and more economic restrictions impoverished the community, whose situation became very grave. Because of the evictions of Jewish populations from the surrounding villages, more Jews came to settle in Staszów, crowding the Staszów area accorded to them. As in other communities, here too a decree was issued determining the number of people permitted in one apartment or house. Conditions were set as to which types of work or business was allowed for the Jews. The Jews became poorer and poorer and more degraded. They had little chances or hopes for improving their situation. It is interesting to note that compared to the Jews' situation, the same period was one of prosperity for the rest of the Polish population. In the years 1811-1825, Polish agricultural output reached a peak, commerce waxed great, and new marketing outlets were found in Russia, after customs duties between the two countries were cancelled. In Staszów too, the new prosperity was felt, there was wealth and economic improvement among the artisans. The Jews, however, managed to enjoy the economic growth to a limited degree, only, and paid very dearly for it. Further taxes were imposed: viz. bartending tax, Kosher meat tax, a tax on a permit to enter Warsaw. These taxes were severely enforced. In view of the grave economic situation, the Jewish population tried to settle in agricultural areas. On February 4, 1823, the commissioner issued a decree whereby Jews who wanted to do agricultural work could settle on governmental or landowners territories. Promises were given for tax exemption of between 3 to 12 years. Wood was allocated for their buildings without payment and other facilities were granted. On the basis of this decree, a group of Jews from voivoideship Kalisz submitted an application on April 8, 1923 for agricultural settlement, but encountered difficulties on the part of the authorities. The wealthy Jew, Shlomo Zalman Pozner, who was very enthusiastic about the idea of Jews returning to work the earth, tried, together with other Jewish activists, to intervene with the authorities in this matter. Several noblemen were willing to put villages at the disposal of the Jews, but there were few candidates. In the years 1840-1843, the question of encouraging Jews to work the land arose again. The government exhorted the Jews to work in agriculture and promised to grant the same privileges to the settlers as were offered in 1823. Esteemed rabbis of Warsaw, among them such tzaddikim as Reb Isaac from Warki and Reb Isaac Meir Alter, published an appeal to all the Jews of Poland, calling on them to become engaged in agriculture. All over Poland important Jews and rabbis urged that the Jewish population settle on agricultural land. Rabbi Zalman Pozner was the most active in this appeal. A meeting of rabbis and heads of Jewish communities was held in Warsaw where the subject was discussed. In implementing this idea, these representatives of Polish Jewry saw the only prospect of improving their situation. The aim of this movement was to acquire estates with all the rights attached, without any limitations, and to settle Jews on the land, establishing entirely Jewish villages. At this meeting, eight persons, representing all the various groups of the Jewish population, were elected. These elected ones appealed to Commissioner Paskiewicz with the request to appoint a committee from the Jewish representatives to deal in the acquisition of land and its settlement. However, the commissioner did not respond to this request in spite of the fact that the heads of the community submitted in the same year (1842), several applications on the matter. On the 2nd of February, 1843, the Commissioner issued a decree on the appointment of a committee for Jewish settlement, but consisting of no Jewish members as the Jews had suggested. The committee was ordered to compile all the laws published in Poland concerning the settlement of Jews and to adapt them to the laws in force in Russia. Thus, a permit for settlement would be given only to Jews in possession of 1,500 rubles. Settlements were to be made only in special locations set aside for this purpose, and no less than five families were to settle on one site. Wealthy Jews would be permitted to acquire land from individuals. The committee would decide under what conditions the Jews could hire Gentiles to instruct them in agriculture. An ordinance would be published whereby the Jews would be permitted to establish a foundation for the collection of contributions. Meanwhile, Jews endeavored individually, to obtain permits for the acquisition of land for settlement purposes. In the Department of Radom, the Jew Joseph Worm, submitted in 1842 an application to the commissioner to receive land under a lease for him and his heirs in perpetuity. This land belonged to the city of Radom. The authorities of Sandomierz informed him on May 29, 1843 that they had available land, but as it was situated in an area where Jews were forbidden to settle, they had to apply to the heads of districts involved and were unable to make any commitments until they received a reply. However, on June 30th of the same year, the Sandomierz authorities replied that under no circumstances were available lands belonging to towns to be given to Jews, as this would only bring harm to the towns and their populations, on the one hand, and would not help the Jews to get used to agricultural work. This, because they love idleness and hate work. Meanwhile, Jews in many places acted on their own and applied to the noblemen in the estate towns to receive land on lifetime leases, or other type of leases. Others purchased land with a view of settling Jews on it. The landowners were not sure that the government would permit the Jews to settle on the land and applied to the authorities for instructions. Influenced by this movement, which also reached Staszów, a group organized an appeal to the landowner of Staszów, Count Potocki, to obtain land for settlement from him. Adam Potocki was a man who had for a long time tried to arouse Jewish interest in agriculture and a love for the land. Thus, Potocki agreed to settle ten Jewish families on his estate, Adamówka. When the Jews established the settlement, they called it, Palestinka. Potocki gave the settlers land to work, living quarters for each family, and tools. Thus they came to the place ready to start. For the living quarters and tools they had to pay 817 zlotys, in installments for 6 years. Lease payments were determined by the kind of land and the number of animals on pasture land. The following families settled there: (1) Izrael Dizenhaus, (2) Pinchas Weinrib, (3) Zatma (?) Strauss, (4) Leizar Sternberg, (5) Bezalel Wizentier, (6) Izrael Goldstein, (7) Yechezkiel Orkan, (8) Szmuel Goldberg, (9) Leizar Ehrlich, and (10) Josef Frankel. The lease was signed for the period of 25 years. On May 15, 1846 the contract was endorsed by the Commissioner of Poland. The settlement, however, existed only six years, and in 1852 it was closed down because the land was not cultivated. The equipment was sold. This was one of the first Jewish settlements in Poland. This initiative of Potocki and the Jews was supported by the governor. In 1848 there were 14 Jewish settlements in the Radom guberniya. They contained 562 families. In 1849, there were 15 settlements with 1180 Jews (596 males and 584 females). Another 200 families were engaged in agricultural work. Seven of these settlements out of the fifteen were exempted from military service. In the second half of the 19th century the economic situation of the Jewish population improved. Retail commerce was almost entirely in Jewish hands, and wholesale commerce almost entirely as well. The same applies to businesses such as grain, timber (from the big forests in the area), beer (and other beverages), as well as the gypsum industry of the area. The number of Jews engaged in artisanship increased. In 1840, 12 Jews leased the lighting service of the town for payment of 12 zlotys each to the town owners. However, in 1863, during the Polish uprising, the quiet life attained after so many efforts, received a serious setback. Upon the eruption of the uprising, the Russians gathered infantry and artillery in the area, on the basis of rumors that the headquarters of Commander Langiewicz was there. The headquarters of the Russian armies was stationed in Staszów proper. Already in the years 1861-1863, during demonstrations, Polish relations towards the Jews were hostile. In 1861, the demonstrations in Opatów bore a clerical-nationalistic character. The local Jewish population abstained from taking part. The demonstrators attacked Jewish homes and broke windows. The incident had a strong effect on the Jews. Yet, Jewish students participated in the demonstrations of 1862. Jews were also accused of spying on the Poles in favor of the Russians and suffered from these accusations. The relationship between Jews and Poles became worse in Staszów, particularly in 1863, when some Jews allegedly passed information to the Russians. On February 12, 1863, Langiewitz departed with his unit of 600 men from Sw. Krzyz in the direction of Raków, as he was unable to stand against the Russians. On his way he was able to escape the Russians, and on February 14th he entered Staszów. Three days later, on February 17th, the revolutionaries were attacked by the Russian armies, under the command of Colonel Zagriashko. On the 18th, the revolutionaries had to withdraw and the Russians entered Staszów. After the town was occupied by the Russians, they plundered the houses of the Poles in revenge for the revolt, but did not touch Jewish homes, as the latter did not participate in the revolt, nor did they help the revolutionaries. After the incident, the Jews bought the looted goods from the Russians for 500 rubles. When the Russians left the town, the Jews returned the robbed goods to their Polish owners, without demanding any payment. In October 1863, General Czachówski, with 1000 soldiers, entered the District of Sandomierz from Galicia. A Jewish captain named August Rosner commanded one of the companies. Rosner was an Austrian officer and he joined the uprising under the name Róza. He was a brilliant fighter but in an encounter with a Russian company that came from Staszów, he and his 80 men were killed. The years of the uprising paralyzed economic life, and only in 1864 conditions returned to normal. In 1820, there were 1,399 Jews in Staszów and 1,562 Gentiles. Within seven years the Jewish population grew to 2,062 compared to 1,871 Gentiles in 1827 (52.4% Jews). In 1841 there were 2,903 Jews compared to 2,080 Gentiles. In 1856, there were 3,206 Jews and 1,803 Gentiles. In 1857, 3,246 Jews and 1,823 Gentiles (64% Jews). In 1897 the Jewish population reached 4,885 and Gentiles 3,000 (61.9% Jews). In the year 1913, the Jewish population counted 7,634 persons, including 4,054 males and 3,580 females. In 1921, in the new restaured Poland, there were 4,704 Jews and 3,653 Gentiles. The Jewish population now represented 57.5%. During the first World War, Staszów's Jewish community suffered considerably, especially during the summer of 1914 after the Austrians occupied the town. (withdrawing on September 6th of that year). The Russians returned to Staszów on September 15th and thereafter the Cossacks raided Jewish shops and homes, robbing and mugging brutally. On Yom Kippur, one Jew was hanged on a lamp pole and eight were shot by order of General Nówików. In October of the same year, the Austrians returned to Staszów, remaining for a few days only. The frontline moved from day to day until the town was liberated finally from the Russian Army in May, 1915 by the Austrians, who remained there until the establishment of the New Poland. The Owners of the Town of Staszów, from the 15th Century Letter of Existence, accorded to the Jewish Community of Staszów in the Year 1772 The community of the town, Staszów, requesting the rights accorded to them by the town owners preceding me, which, so far, were implemented only by custom, I therefore recommend by this confirmation, to keep these rights and command my administration to implement them. Issued in Warszawa, on June 20, 1772. Signed by A. Czartoryski. This document was endorsed by: Izabella Czartoryski Lubomirska, Alfred Potocki, Adam Potocki, in the year 1797, and registered in the Land registration, in the Book: Liber transactionum, No. 95, Page 82, which is in the archives of Sichów, in the documents of 1858, No. 196. by Herszel Pomerancblum Translated from Polish to Yiddish by the late Herszel Pomerancblum Translated from Yiddish by Hannah Bar-Ziv Edited by Jean-Pierre Stroweis Staszów, a town in the province of Sandomierz, is located on the banks of the river Czarna which flows into the Wisła [Vistula] at a distance of 17 kilometers [10 miles] by the town of Połaniec [in Yiddish Plontz]. The soil in the Staszów area consists of three layers: gypsum, lime and sand. Staszów is located 210 kilometers [131 miles] for Warsaw, 114 kilometers [71 miles] from Radom, 48 kilometers [27 miles] from Sandomierz and 52 kilometers [28 miles] from Ostrowiec. Its area was 1743 morgas [i.e. 10.4 km2 or 2607 acres], on 120 morgas [i.e. 0.7 km2 or 180 acres] of which houses and streets were built. The town had 13 streets, 3 squares and 420 houses out of which 305 were stone houses and 115 wooden houses. The streets are paved and neatly maintained. The market square is planted with trees. The town park by the river was constructed in 1886. The town had two Catholic churches, a synagogue, two elementary schools, five Jewish "Cheders", a court of law, and investigating judge, a post office, a hospital with 25 beds, a shelter for 25 needy people with an income of 1,321 rubles in the year 1881, a military hospital, 4 doctors, a veterinarian doctor, 5 paramedics and a pharmacy. The factories that operated in the town: A brewery with 3,000-ruble worth production and 5 employees; a honey maker with 2 employees and 600-ruble production, 2 soda-water producers, two modern water-operated flour mills with 21 employees and an income of up to 18,000 rubles. Their breakdown by professions: shoe-makers 51, tailors 24, barrel makers 20, butchers 18, bakers 16, carpenters 14, millers 12, hat-makers 10, floggers 7 and 120 shop keepers. In 1886 the town had 7971 permanent residents and 820 temporary residents. Their religion distribution was as follows: Catholics 2,668, Eastern Orthodox Christians [a.k.a. Pravoslavs] 15, Protestants 8 and Jews 5,280. In 1827 there were in town 350 houses and 3,107 residents. In 1857 there were 367 houses out of which 107 were of stone, and 5,104 residents out of which 3,303 were Jewish. The average income was around 4,500 rubles and the capital deposited in the Polish Bank 10,000 rubles. JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions. Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited. Staszow, Poland Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Copyright © 1999-2013 by JewishGen, Inc. Updated 8 Nov 2011 by MGH

The Central Committee of the Liberated Jews The Central Committee of the Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone of Germany was the official representative body of displaced Jews in the American zone of Germany from 1945 to 1950. The Central Committee was founded on July 1, 1945, at the first meeting of representatives of Jewish DP camps held in Feldafing. It came into being through the joint effort of Dr. Zalman Grinberg, the head of the St. Ottilien hospital DP camp and former director of the Kovno ghetto hospital, and Rabbi Abraham Klausner, an American reform rabbi serving as a chaplain in the U.S. Army. The newly created body established its headquarters in Munich (located first at the Deutsches Museum and later at 3 Sieberstrasse) and set up seven sub-committees to formulate policy and coordinate activity in the areas of education, culture, religious affairs, clothing, nutrition, emigration and information. The Feldafing meeting was quickly followed by a conference in St. Ottilien on July 24. Its purpose was to expand the representative base of the Central Committee and to draw public attention to the plight of Jewish survivors in DP camps, so as to put pressure on Britain to open Palestine to DP immigration. The 94 delegates from German and Austrian camps issued a resolution demanding the abrogation of the British White Paper, which prevented them from leaving the camps and starting their lives afresh in their own homeland. In addition, they called for the recognition of the Jewish DPs as a distinct group meriting their own camps, in which they would govern themselves. The Central Committee failed in its bid to incorporate the Jewish DPs of Austria and the British zone of Germany into their organizational structure. However, it continued to represent the largest group of Jewish DPs and eventually won recognition by the American Army of Occupation (September 7, 1946) as "the legal and democratic representation of the liberated Jews in the American zone." In the five years of its existence, the Central Committee convened three formal congresses: Munich, January 27-29, 1946; Bad Reichenhall, February 25-28, 1947; and Bad Reichenhall, March 30-April 2, 1948. Dr. Zalman Grinberg served as the Chairman of the Central Committee from its inception until his immigration to Palestine in 1946. He was succeeded by his deputy, David Treger (another Kovno ghetto survivor), who was elected Chairman at both the second and third congresses. The Central Committee was involved in every aspect of Jewish DP life, either independently or in conjunction with one or more of the Jewish welfare agencies operating in the area. Through its constituent departments the Central Committee played a central role in education, culture, religious affairs, historical documentation, employment and training, supply and distribution, politics and public relations, family tracing and immigration, legal affairs and restitution. [Sources: Bauer, Yehuda. "The Organization of Holocaust Survivors," Yad Vashem Studies, vol. 8 (1970); Hyman, Abraham S. The Undefeated, Jerusalem, 1993; Mankowitz, Zev. "The Formation of She'erit Hapleita," Yad Vashem Studies, vol. 20 (1990); Schwarz, Leo.The Redeemers, New York, 1953]

City Conditions: What real estate investors know and don’t know about climate change The power of cities: understanding their significance Cities hold a pivotal role in achieving a sustainable future. You don’t agree? Let’s start with a few facts: cities consume approximately 60–80% of the world’s primary energy production1 . They occupy only 2% of the world’s land surfaces, but are home to more than 50% of the world’s population2 . And if you are not convinced yet, estimates show that urban areas could be responsible for up to 80% of total greenhouse gas emissions3 According to ‘The Case for City Disclosure ’, a report jointly authored by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Accenture, this is a challenge cities are willing to take, as they are “well placed to act quickly and effectively to combat climate change and its effect.” But does the right information exist for investors to make informed decisions at the city-level? Do city leaders truly understand the impacts and sources of their highest emitting activities? We think cities and the investment community are still trying to come to terms with the necessary information, which is why Jones Lang LaSalle and CDP Cities are publishing a series of research snapshots on the implications of city climate change data for investors and businesses, focusing on the real estate sector. This article is our first research snapshot, revealing our findings to date and the future direction of our collaborative research. It also features quotes from interviews of our own local expert panel around the world. “New York is concerned about the quality of the building and its impact on the environment. In Sao Paulo, there is not the same level of concern yet. So one needs to ask ‘what’s the difference?’ The difference is the city.” - Fabio Maceira (Sao Paulo) Cities are significant: New York City’s 2010 GDP is roughly equivalent to Korea’s, Mexico’s or Australia’s GDP. The economic scale and impact of cities is great and growing relative to national GDPs in many cases. This is evident in the eleven cities around the world seen in the chart below, taken from data held by Jones Lang LaSalle as part of its World Winning Cities database of 660 cities. Click here to enlarge But there’s still progress to be made around cities’ abilities to enable attractive investment conditions through meaningful information. Shedding light on the ideal conditions: what we’ve found so far Due to this current state of play – the fact that cities hold a lot of significance, but do not provide investors with robust and detailed information – we have endeavoured to better understand the levers required for cities to increase economic competiveness, including how climate change data impacts investment in real estate. We are addressing the following through our research: firstly, what creates attractive urban investment conditions; secondly, what is the role of a city government in creating these attractive urban investment conditions; thirdly, how climate change will impact the value of real estate investments; and finally, what is the role of climate change data in enabling decisions at the city level. To shape our initial findings, we conducted thirteen interviews across the eleven cities listed in the chart above with Jones Lang LaSalle experts who were asked to reflect on their view of the market and externalities. We also carried out a series of brainstorming workshops to facilitate conclusions and to conduct a global review of our experts’ insights. Outcomes to date reveal five main themes: - Short-term vs. long-term investment outlooks: Unsurprisingly, climate change is not currently front-of-mind for real estate investors, as most investment horizons are 3-5 years, whereas climate risk is perceived to be on a 25+ year horizon. Investors consider anything that is cost-related in the short-term; and outside of energy costs, climate change is perceived to pose little to no known short-term costs. Platforms such as CDP Cities, which provide annual self-reported risk assessments, have the potential to reduce this investor myopia. In particular, CDP Cities can provide current snapshots of city risk and can help accelerate the time lapse as we move towards an undefined tipping point in investor perception. “I think most people know climate change is a real risk, but I also think it is human nature to not respond practically to long-term risk. It’s the same reason people ignore the long-term consequences of smoking.” - Dana Schneider (New York City) - Challenges of key city ‘actors’: There is a gap between the data investors have access to versus the data investors need to make informed, long-term decisions and to understand climate change risks. Equally, city incentives, such as tax deductions or incentives based on a location decision, are rare in relation to low carbon real estate investment. Thus, city representatives and policies seldom influence investor behavior by rewarding them for considering climate change as a primary criterion. Additionally, we found that cities could appeal directly to investors through better marketing of their sustainability initiatives. “In terms of attractiveness, governance is absolutely critical. Having a ‘go to person’ in a strong position of power is vital to encourage the flow of real estate investment.” - Lee Elliott (London) - Established cities vs. growth cities: Different factors should be considered depending on the maturity of the market, which is one of the key aspects an investor considers, given varying drivers and priorities related to economic progression. For example, growth cities offer significantly higher margins than established cities. Therefore, investment in growth cities is less likely to be driven by criteria such as environmental regulation, governance and labor markets. “That’s the challenge: basic information that is readily available in other global cities is still not readily available in India.” - Deepak Bhavsar (New Delhi) - Transparency: Investors look for good economic growth prospects; robust governance; sufficient labor; regulatory incentives; and solid infrastructure, as a few examples of criteria that create attractive urban investment conditions. We found that roughly half the cities in our study do not effectively and openly communicate the status of these conditions. Thus, markets lack the transparency necessary for investors to make informed decisions. City governments must enable more comprehensive and more readily available information, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the urban landscape. “There is a general lack of transparency in Shanghai’s market – it is improving and has been improving for years – but if you look at Jones Lang LaSalle’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (the 2012 Index will be released in June), it is one of the most important aspects for investors. Transparency applies to sustainability just like any other metric you are trying to measure.” - Parker White (Shanghai) - City level indicators: The ‘Financial Times’ recently concluded: “Global investors usually think in terms of countries. They should be paying more attention to cities .” For years, investors have paid careful attention to the actions of national governments to determine if their investments will remain safe and remunerative. As the world urbanizes, however, city governments are also playing an increasing role in creating low-carbon, climate-safe communities that are attractive places to invest. The investment community must better understand the role of the local government in minimizing risk and maximizing investment opportunity in cities. This is true of all data, not just sustainability data. “Defining a new indicator for investors won’t make them change their behaviour in a fundamental way. I think if we want behaviour to change, the legal approach has to be more constrictive by saying, for example, 'buildings have to enhance performance on item x by y %’.This, in conjunction with a shift in occupiers’ demands for green buildings that cause investors to adapt accordingly, will lead to progressive changes.” - Virginie Houzé (Paris) Collectively, these five themes set the stage for defining the ideal scenario to enable sustainable investment in cities. Next steps: how we will shift the debate and enable action Now that we have an understanding of the challenges for investors and businesses, what’s our plan? We will take a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to more precisely express the barriers and the potential solutions. Our aim is to define the ideal scenario for enabling sustainable investment in cities, which will be brought to life through ten conditions. Our resulting recommendations are intended to shift the debate and to move from the current state to the necessary threshold for low-carbon, sustainable cities. We are aiming to publish the results of this endeavour jointly with CDP Cities later in 2012. For further information please contact: Sarah Nicholls, Jones Lang LaSalle or Conor Riffle, CDP Cities Project Progress by cities to date: a special preview of 2012 CDP Cities report findings CDP Cities hosts disclosure from 73 cities and local governments this year — up from 48 last year —from all corners of the globe. Participants range in size from the city of Tokyo, with a population of 13 million, to the village of Kadiovacik in Turkey, with a population of 216. The CDP Cities’ report findings will show: - Reducing city-wide emissions through actions related to energy demand in buildings is a key area for private sector involvement. Although cities are for the most part relying on their own budgets to finance emissions reduction projects, actions related to reducing emissions from energy demand in buildings show high utilization rates of outside or private funding sources. - Planning and construction of the built environment is a key area for cities’ adaptation and resilience strategies. A large number of the adaptation actions reported by cities fall under this important category. The full report will be released 7 June 2012 on the CDP Cities’ website.

Most Downloaded Studies in Educational Evaluation Articles Abstract: The idea that assessment is intrinsic to effective instruction is traced from early experiments in the individualization of learning through the work of Benjamin Bloom to reviews of the impact of feedback on learners in classrooms. While many of these reviews detailed the adverse impact of assessment on learning, they also indicated that under certain conditions assessment had considerable potential to enhance learning. It is shown that understanding the impact that assessment has on learning requires a broader focus than the feedback intervention itself, particularly the learner's responses to the feedback, and the learning milieu in which the feedback operates. Different definitions of the terms “formative assessment” and “assessment for learning” are discussed, and subsumed within a broad definition that focuses on the extent to which instructional decisions are supported by evidence. The paper concludes by exploring some of the consequences of this definition for classroom practice. Anton Havnes | Kari Smith | Olga Dysthe | Kristine Ludvigsen Abstract: The study explores how assessment information is received and attended to. The research is linked to a 2-year intervention project involving six Norwegian upper secondary schools, and with a particular focus on vocational training and the three core subjects: English, Norwegian and Mathematics. Survey data was collected from five schools, including both vocationally and academically oriented education. Other sources of data are focus-group interviews in three of the five schools, involving students, teachers and school leaders. Findings show that there are significant differences in how students and teachers perceive feedback practices. There are also significant differences between boys and girls, as well as within the various school subjects. Students experience more feedback in vocational training than in the more traditional academic subjects. 3. Student-centred teaching methods: Can they optimise students’ approaches to learning in professional higher education? Marlies Baeten | Katrien Struyven | Filip Dochy Abstract: This paper investigates dynamics in approaches to learning within different learning environments. Two quasi-experimental studies were conducted with first-year student teachers (NStudy 1=496, NStudy 2=1098) studying a child development course. Data collection was carried out using a pre-test/post-test design by means of the Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory. Study 1 compared a lecture-based learning environment with a student-centred learning environment. Results were opposite to the premise that student-centred instruction deepened student learning. Instead, the latter pushed students towards a surface approach. Study 2 investigated whether mixed learning environments consisting of lectures and case-based learning could enhance students’ approaches to learning, compared to learning environments in which either lectures or case-based learning were used. Results showed that the deep and strategic approach decreased in the lecture-based, the case-based and the alternated learning environment, in which lectures and case-based learning were used by turns, while they remained the same in the gradually implemented case-based learning environment. With respect to the surface approach, the strongest decrease was found in the latter learning environment. In conclusion, this paper shows the added value of gradually implementing case-based learning. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to enhance the deep approach, monitoring studying, organised studying and effort management. 4. Informal formative assessment: The role of instructional dialogues in assessing students’ learning Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo Abstract: This paper focuses on an unceremonious type of formative assessment – informal formative assessment – in which much of what teachers and students do in the classroom can be described as potential assessments that can provide evidence about the students’ level of understanding. More specifically, the paper focuses on assessment conversations, or dialogic interactions or exchanges, which continuously happen in the classroom and that are at the center of informal formative assessment. It is argued that assessment conversations make students’ thinking explicit in an unobtrusive manner, and when students’ thinking is explicit, it can be examined, questioned, and shaped as an active object of constructive learning. The paper conceptualizes informal formative assessment at the center of effective instructional activities with the use of instructional dialogues as assessment conversations, a typical informal formative assessment practice. The paper then presents a discussion about the evidence on the effect of assessment conversations on student learning. 5. Students’ approaches to learning in problem-based learning: Taking into account professional behavior in the tutorial groups, self-study time, and different assessment aspects Sofie M.M. Loyens | David Gijbels | Liesje Coertjens | Daniel J. Côté Abstract: Problem-based learning (PBL) represents a major development in higher educational practice and is believed to promote deep learning in students. However, empirical findings on the promotion of deep learning in PBL remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationships between students’ approaches to learning (SAL) and academic achievement in a PBL environment, taking into account the role of self-study time and students’ professional behavior in the PBL tutorial groups. In addition, different knowledge categories that determine achievement (i.e., understanding of concepts, understanding of the principles that link concepts, and the linking of concepts and principles to conditions and procedures for application) were taken into account. A hypothesized structural equation model including these variables was tested. Results showed that the PBL students in this study reported more use of a surface compared to a deep approach to learning. The hypothesized model demonstrated an excellent fit of the model with the data. The relationship between SAL and academic achievement was mediated by self-study time and professional behavior. These findings imply that self-study time and professional behavior are crucial variables to take into account when studying SAL. Servaas van der Berg Abstract: Given South Africa's divided past, it is imperative to improve educational outcomes to overcome labour market inequalities. Historically white and Indian schools still outperform black and coloured schools in examinations, and intraclass correlation coefficients (rho) reflect far greater between-school variance than for other countries.SACMEQ's rich data sets provide new possibilities for investigating relationships between educational outcomes, socio-economic status (SES), pupil and teacher characteristics, and school resources and processes. As a different data generating process applied in affluent historically white schools (test scores showed bimodal distributions), part of the analysis excluded such schools, sharply reducing rho. Test scores were regressed on various SES measures and school inputs for the full and reduced sample, using survey regression and hierarchical (multilevel or HLM) models. This shows that poor schools were least able to systematically overcome inherited socio-economic disadvantage. Schools diverged in their ability to convert inputs into outcomes, with large random effects in the HLM models. Outside of the richest schools, SES had only a mild impact on test scores, which were quite low in SACMEQ context. Machteld Vandecandelaere | Sara Speybroeck | Gudrun Vanlaar | Bieke De Fraine | Jan Van Damme Abstract: This study investigated the association between students’ perception of the learning environment and three aspects of their mathematics attitude: ‘mathematics academic self-concept’, ‘enjoyment of mathematics’ and ‘perceived value of mathematics’. The focus was on the association of students’ mathematics attitude with four dimensions in the learning environment: the extent to which the teacher ‘motivates to exert learning effort’, ‘activates towards self-regulated learning’, ‘gives feedback and coaches’, and ‘structures and steers’. Data were obtained from an extended version of the international Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) of 2003. Multilevel analysis on a sample of 4354 eighth grade students in 228 classes in 119 schools in Flanders (Belgium) indicated that the learning environment plays a significant role in the enjoyment of mathematics. This while the mathematics academic self-concept and the perceived value of mathematics are insensitive for aspects in the learning environment. 8. Assessing assessment quality: Criteria for quality assurance in design of (peer) assessment for learning – A review of research studies Harm Tillema | Martijn Leenknecht | Mien Segers Abstract: The interest in assessment for learning (AfL) has resulted in a search for new modes of assessment that are better aligned to students’ learning how to learn. However, with the introduction of new assessment tools, also questions arose with respect to the quality of its measurement. On the one hand, the appropriateness of traditional, psychometric criteria is being questioned in the context of assessment for learning. On the other hand, it has been argued that new criteria need to be formulated to acknowledge the unique features of assessment for learning. The issue dealt with in this review is what quality criteria are specifically relevant to AfL. Studies using (peer) assessment for learning were evaluated with regard to use of quality criteria under two perspectives: their recognition of educational measurement criteria, as well as their consideration of student involvement in the assessment of learning. The selected studies were analyzed to determine what specific criteria were utilized in (successive parts of) the assessment cycle (i.e., the process of construction, administration and follow up of an assessment). Our results indicate that quality criteria are dissimilarly connected to the distinct steps of an assessment cycle, which holds as well for the attention given to student involvement in assessment for learning. Abstract: This sequential mixed methods study analyzed how program evaluation was used to assess educational administration and examined thematic trends in educational evaluation published over 10 years (2001–2010). First, qualitative content analysis examined the articles in eight peer-reviewed evaluation journals. This analysis revealed that numerous studies have examined educational topics; however, very few of these studies (5 in total) solely focused on evaluating educational administration. Second, quantitative comparison of articles in three select journals (N=671) showed that in these educational journals, major foci of the published studies were on teaching and learning (20%) and assessment and achievement (13.9%). In comparison, educational administration and leadership was among the least examined (2.3%), being second only to homeschooling (1.6%). 10. Assessing students’ development in learning approaches according to initial learning profiles: A person-oriented perspective Gert Vanthournout | Liesje Coertjens | David Gijbels | Vincent Donche | Peter Van Petegem Abstract: Research regarding the development of students’ learning approaches have at times reported unexpected or lack of expected changes. The current study explores the idea of differential developments in learning approaches according to students’ initial learning profiles as a possible explanation for these outcomes. A learning profile is conceived as the degree to which students use aspects of deep and surface approaches in their learning process and taking into account the dynamic interrelations between these aspects. Two cohorts of students in a teacher-training course-module completed questionnaires measuring their learning approaches, in a pre-test post-test design. Analyses on the whole sample indicated few significant changes in students’ learning approaches during the course-module. Only a significant decrease in the deep motive subscale was found. Hierarchical cluster-analysis revealed four groups of students with specific initial learning profiles: a deep approach profile, a surface approach profile, an all-low profile and an all-high profile. Using a regressor variable approach, significant differences in growth were found for the initial learning profiles on the surface approach to learning and the deep strategy scale, even after controlling for other significant background variables such as students’ academic discipline and gender. These results suggest that unexpected developments in students’ learning approaches, or lack of significant changes at a whole-group level, may be partially due to dynamic (contradictory) tendencies at the sub-group level. Findings point towards the need of looking at approaches to learning at a more fine-grained level. Kathleen P. Allen Abstract: This study is an evaluation of a systemic, two-year, whole-school bullying intervention initiative that was implemented in a US public high school. Students and staff members were anonymously surveyed before and after the intervention. The goals of the initiative were to reduce bullying and victimization, increase disclosure, increase intervention efforts, and reduce student aggression. Except for a reduction in victimization, all goals were achieved in some measure. Self-reported bullying decreased 50% or more. Students’ reporting that peers intervened in bullying increased. Staff-reported reductions in student aggression, and staff's belief that the school's efforts to address bullying were adequate increased. This evaluation points to the possible success of a whole-school, systemic approach to managing bullying at the high school level. 12. Understanding learning pattern development in higher education: A matter of time, context and measurement Vincent Donche | David Gijbels John T.E. Richardson Abstract: This article concludes the special issue of Studies in Educational Evaluation concerned with “Evaluating learning pattern development in higher education” by discussing research issues that have emerged from the previous contributions. The article considers in turn: stability versus variability in learning patterns; old versus new analytic techniques; handling missing observations; measures of effect size; predispositions versus processes; and why it should be so hard to improve the quality of student learning in higher education. Maaike D. Endedijk | Jan D. Vermunt Abstract: This study aims to unravel the relationships between student teachers’ learning patterns and how they actually learn in practice as measured during multiple concrete learning experiences. In previous research aptitude and event measures often pointed in different directions. 90 student teachers’ learning patterns were measured with an aptitude instrument, designed for the specific context of learning to teach. Multiple concrete learning activities were measured with a structured digital log. Results showed meaningful relations between students’ learning patterns and their learning activities, taking multiple learning experiences into account. Survival oriented student teachers show more inactiveness in their learning, reproduction oriented student teachers learn by doing to improve their teaching behavior, dependent meaning oriented student teachers are more influenced by previous negative experiences and independent meaning oriented student teachers show the most deep and most active way of learning. But interestingly, the results also show that some relations as described in literature did not show up. The choice for a particular processing strategy and also the intentionality of the learning experiences was not related to student teachers’ learning patterns. This study demonstrates the added value of combining both types of instruments in research and practice. Liesje Coertjens | Tine van Daal | Vincent Donche | Sven De Maeyer | Gert Vanthournout | Peter Van Petegem Abstract: Change in learning strategies during higher education is an important topic of research when considering students’ approaches to learning. Regarding the statistical techniques used to analyse this change, repeated measures ANOVA is mostly relied upon. Recently, multilevel and multi-indicator latent growth (MILG) analyses have been used as well. The present study provides details concerning the differences between these three techniques. By applying them to the same dataset, we aim to answer two research questions. Firstly, how are findings on the average trend complementary, convergent or divergent? Secondly, how are results on the differential growth over time complementary, convergent or divergent? Data originates from a longitudinal study on the change in learning strategies during the transition from secondary to higher education in Flanders (Belgium). 425 students provided complete data at each of the three waves of data collection. Results on the significance of average trends are convergent while the strength of the growth over time diverges across analysis techniques. Regarding the differential change, the MILG seems more able to detect variance in growth over time. Recommendations for future research on the changeability of learning strategies over time are provided. Liisa Postareff | Viivi Virtanen | Nina Katajavuori | Sari Lindblom-Ylänne Abstract: The present study focuses; firstly, on analysing academics’ conceptions of the purpose of assessment; secondly, on their assessment practices; and thirdly, on the relationship between their conceptions and practices. The data consisted of interviews with 28 pharmacy teachers. The analysis resulted in a continuum of categories of conceptions, from reproductive conceptions with an emphasis on measuring the reproduction of correct information, to more transformational conceptions with an emphasis on the development of students’ thinking and understanding. Although broad variation in assessment practices was recognised, teachers mostly described the use of traditional forms of assessment. Analysis of the relationship between conceptions and practices revealed high consistency between conceptions and practices. Mien Segers | Harm Tillema Abstract: How teachers and students deal with assessment practices is largely influenced by the conceptions they hold about the purpose of assessment. This means that, given the current plea for a paradigm shift from Assessment of Learning to Assessment for Leaning with a balance between the formative and summative purposes of assessment, the study of teachers’ and students’ conceptions of the purpose of assessment is of the utmost relevance. In this study Dutch secondary school teachers’ (n=351) and students’ (n=712) conceptions of the purpose of assessment were measured using a translation of the teachers’ conceptions of assessment questionnaire and a translated and shortened version of the students’ conceptions of assessment questionnaire. Maximum Likelihood factor analyses resulted in four teacher and five student conceptions of the purpose of assessment. The results indicate that the teachers in our sample did not distinguish between formative and summative purposes of assessment. They did discern classroom assessment (formative as well as summative) from school accountability. In addition, they conceive assessment as being of bad (in terms of measurement errors) or good quality. In contrast with the teachers, students do make a distinction between the formative and summative purpose of assessment. They also refer to school accountability and the affects that assessment triggers in them as further purposes of assessment. Christina A. Christie | Marvin C. Alkin Abstract: When examining various evaluation prescriptive theories comparatively, we find it helpful to have a framework showing how they are related that highlights features that distinguish theoretical perspectives, thus a “theory” about theories. The evaluation theory tree that we presented in Alkin's recent book, Evaluation Roots [Eisner, E. (2004). The roots of connoisseurship and criticism: A personal journey. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists’ views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y., (2004). The roots of fourth generation evaluation: Theoretical and methodological origins. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists’ views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Stake, R. (2004). Stake and responsive evaluation. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists’ views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Wholey, J. S. (2004). Using evaluation to improve performance and support policy decision making. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists’ views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage], is such a framework. Just as theorists modify their views over time, in this paper we suggest modifications to the theory tree presented in the Roots book, including a repositioning of a few theorists, the addition of theorists, and a reconceptualization of the valuing branch. 19. Chicken or the egg: Longitudinal analysis of the causal dilemma between goal orientation, self-regulation and cognitive processing strategies in higher education Mikaël De Clercq | Benoit Galand | Mariane Frenay Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the direction of the effect between goal orientation, self-regulation and deep processing strategies in order to understand the impact of these three constructs on students’ achievement. The participants were 110 freshmen from the engineering faculty at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, who were followed during the first three years of their university studies. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The main finding was that mastery goal orientation increased students’ subsequent deep processing which in turn enhanced subsequent self-regulation. Deep processing and self-regulation also appeared to be mutually influential from year 2 to year 3. The implications of our results for the understanding of the interplay between cognitive and motivational processes in higher education are discussed. Inês Bruno | Leonor Santos Abstract: The characteristics of written comments on assignments as well as the process of writing them were studied. Interviews to three case-study middle school students, observation of lessons and content analysis of their assignments show that features that promote learning are: comments located next to what needs revision must be reviewed; use of topics to discriminate tasks; vocabulary familiar to students; short and direct comments when involving simple competencies, but supplying strategies when complex competencies are involved. Teachers felt difficulties related to: lack of space to write, selection of what to comment on and, occasionally, avoiding to give part of the answer. Being aware of students’ competencies, giving timely feedback, using feedback systematically and student motivation are other factors that determine comments’ efficacy. Barbara Meissner | Franz X. Bogner Abstract: To improve science learning under demanding conditions, we designed an out-of-school lesson in compliance with cognitive load theory (CLT). We extracted student clusters based on individual effectiveness, and compared instructional efficiency, mental effort, and persistence of learning. The present study analyses students’ engagement. 50.0% of our sample (n=250, 5th–8th graders) showed satisfying results, 11.2% were not motivated; 38.8% had difficulties to cope with the learning situation. Presumably, most of them had problems in identifying relevant contents, some were precarious about their capabilities. We suppose that those students may have improved performance with extended active support. We may advance future research on guidance in CLT, and its integration in the field of science education. 22. Professional development of teachers—A prerequisite for AfL to be successfully implemented in the classroom Abstract: A prerequisite for AfL to be successfully implemented in the classroom is the teachers’ assessment practice. In many contexts, including the Norwegian, AfL has not been successfully dealt with during initial teacher education, and there is a need for qualified teachers to engage in professional development in AfL.This article first discusses different perspectives of professional development, not all of which lead to change of attitudes and beliefs resulting in changed practice. Difficulties in implementing AfL beyond the individual teacher and reach the full teaching staff is presented through experiences from a Norwegian research and development project. The next project to be briefly discussed focuses on engaging teachers in developing their own criteria for good classroom assessment.Finally the paper proposes that a major obstacle to teachers’ professional development in AfL is the competence of teacher educators in AfL. Do those who are to guide and support professional development in schools hold the essential knowledge and competence themselves?The conclusive argument is that for AfL to be common assessment practice in schools there is a need for development processes at various levels of the education system. 23. Putting student evaluations into perspective: The Course Experience Quality and Satisfaction Model (CEQS) Debra Grace | Scott Weaven | Kelli Bodey | Mitchell Ross | Keith Weaven Abstract: Although not specifically designed for this purpose, the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) continues to be used as a proxy for student satisfaction. This may be due to a lack of appropriate alternative measures, or a clear understanding of the relationship between quality and satisfaction. This study, therefore, examines the CEQ dimensions (good teaching, clear goal setting, appropriate workload, appropriate assessment and generic skills development) in conjunction with a global student satisfaction measure (developed for this study). In addition, the constructs of interest are conceptualised into a pattern of relationships that delineates antecedent and outcome variables in order to examine relationships. Data were collected via survey instrument from a sample of 164 Australian students attending one third-year capstone course of a Bachelor degree in business. The results indicate that good teaching and clear goal setting have a direct influence on outcome variables (i.e., generic skills efficacy and overall satisfaction), whereas appropriate assessment and appropriate workload do not have a direct effect on the either of the outcome variables. However, the strongest influence in the hypothesised model was that exerted by generic skills efficacy on overall satisfaction. The structural model was further examined across male and female responses. While the male model replicated the findings of the overall model, the female model was quite different i.e., the antecedent variables directly influenced generic skills development but there was no direct influence on overall satisfaction. Abstract: Developments in school education in Australia over the past decade have witnessed the rise of national efforts to reform curriculum, assessment and reporting. Constitutionally the power to decide on curriculum matters still resides with the States. Higher stakes in assessment, brought about by national testing and international comparative analyses of student achievement data, have challenged State efforts to maintain the emphasis on assessment to promote learning while fulfilling accountability demands. In this article lessons from the Queensland experience indicate that it is important to build teachers’ assessment capacity and their assessment literacy for the promotion of student learning. It is argued that teacher assessment can be a source of dependable results through moderation practice. The Queensland Studies Authority has recognised and supported the development of teacher assessment and moderation practice in the context of standards-driven, national reform. Recent research findings explain how the focus on learning can be maintained by avoiding an over-interpretation of test results in terms of innate ability and limitations and by encouraging teachers to adopt more tailored diagnosis of assessment data to address equity through a focus on achievement for all. Such efforts are challenged as political pressures related to the Australian government's implementation of national testing and national partnership funding arrangements tied to the performance of students at or below minimum standards become increasingly apparent. Abstract: Assessment-led reform is now one of the most widely favored strategies to promote higher standards of teaching, more powerful learning and more credible forms of public accountability. Within this context of change, higher education in many countries is increasingly subjected to demands to implement alternative assessment strategies that provide outcome measures of both student and program effectiveness. This article examines a process of integrating real-life data investigation in a course on descriptive statistics at a teachers college. The article describes this process and considers implications of this experience in terms of its potential to improve the quality of learning and assessment of knowledge in descriptive statistics in higher education.

July 01, 2008 NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander enlarged the "Snow White" trench and scraped up little piles of icy soil on Saturday, June 28, the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists say that the scrapings are ideal for the lander's analytical instruments. The robotic arm on Phoenix used the blade on its scoop to make 50 scrapes in the icy layer buried under subsurface soil. The robotic arm then heaped the scrapings into a few 10- to 20-cubic centimeter piles, or piles each containing between two and four teaspoonfuls. Scraping created a grid about two millimeters deep. The scientists saw the scrapings in Surface Stereo Imager images on Sunday, June 29, agreed they had "almost perfect samples of the interface of ice and soil," and commanded the robotic arm to pick up some scrapings for instrument analysis. The scoop will sprinkle the fairly fine-grained material first onto the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA). The instrument has tiny ovens to bake and sniff the soil to assess its volatile ingredients, such as water. It can determine the melting point of ice. Phoenix's overall goals are to: dig to water frozen under subsurface soil, touch, examine, vaporize and sniff the soil and ice to discover the history of water on Mars, determine if the Martian arctic soil could support life, and study Martian weather from a polar perspective. The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith of the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, located in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. More about the Phoenix Mars Lander is online at http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix and http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu. Guy Webster 818-354-6278 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726 NASA Headquarters, Washington Sara Hammond 520-626-1974 University of Arizona, Tucson

On Thursday, doctors warn the heat wave this week will likely send more people to the emergency room. Temperatures are expected to climb to 107 degrees by the weekend. Kaiser Roseville emergency room doctor Joseph Morris told KCRA 3 it's important for everyone to stay hydrated with water and not sugary drinks. People are encouraged to take plenty of breaks in the shade. Children and the elderly are most at risk for heat exhaustion. Dr. Morris said if a person stops sweating, it's a sign they are in serious trouble, and their kidneys can fail. Every year a handful of people die of heat exhaustion or heat stroke in the Sacramento area. Doctors said even people in swimming pools need to stay hydrated by drinking water because water doesn't penetrate into the skin. People experiencing heat exhaustion symptoms like cramping, nausea,and vomiting should call 911 immediately.

With a half-century of U.S. antagonism to Cuba’s revolution as the back story, a freelancer visits the island nation to report on both its history and current situation. Craig (Liberal Arts/River Valley Community Coll.) accompanied a touring chorus to gain access to the beleaguered communist outpost. Abandoned by the group’s guide, he made his own way, curious to see where his great-grandfather may have fought. Starting with Santiago de Cuba, where Theodore Roosevelt famously charged up San Juan Hill, Craig recalls the bellicose Roosevelt, cautious McKinley and the American takeover of the Cuban rebellion against Spanish rule. The author’s lively history follows locale, not chronology, and he analyzes sugar politics, empire building and the blood-spattered history of slaves, Indians and Spaniards in the New World. The author doesn’t cover the story of the sinking of the USS Maine, the ostensible casus belli for the Spanish-American War, until more than halfway through the text. We also learn about Cuban culture, including music, spirits, the real Ché Guevara, pickpockets, drinking habits and much more. Craig’s sprightly account ends back east with a surreal encounter with the local authorities in the town of Guantánamo as he tries to gain a view of the ominous American base. The Spanish-American War was the quintessential journalists’ adventure. Craig beats his professional predecessors with his skilled and accessible personal journal and blunt history.

By Linda Harris, Center City District Philadelphia Janet Echelman determined to create moving columns of atomized water for her public sculpture Pulse after delving into the history of Philadelphia’s Centre Square, one of William Penn’s original five squares. Echelman’s unique work, to be showcased in the $50 million transformation of Dilworth Plaza adjacent to City Hall, is a direct reference to the site’s long-standing association with water, especially the history-making pump house of the Centre Square Water Works, which began operating in 1801on the site where City Hall now stands. Echelman’s atomized water, illuminated by colorful LED light, mimics steam mist, a tribute to the steam engines used to pump the water and, later, the steam-driven trains arriving at and departing from the Pennsylvania Railroad station located directly across the street. In the late 18th century, Philadelphians were struggling with recurring bouts of Yellow Fever, especially the epidemic of 1793, which killed about 10% of the city’s population. The disease and filth of the city caused the citizens to demand a solution, and leaders formed a “watering committee.” Clean water for drinking and for cleaning had become a top priority. British-born architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe was commissioned to create a way to distribute water to the city. Latrobe designed a handsome neoclassical pump house, to be built in Centre Square. The water pumps used steam engine technology, cutting-edge science at the time. The first pump moved water out of the Schuylkill River via a tunnel and the second helped distribute it throughout the city. Latrobe also created a network of wooden pipes that followed the street patterns so that residents could connect to the pipes to access the water. Philadelphia thus became the first city in the country to establish a comprehensive water-delivery system. The steam engines proved expensive, temperamental and unreliable, often breaking down and disrupting the water supply. The Centre Square Water Works lasted only about a decade, but it was an important first step in the wholesale distribution of fresh water to the citizenry and was the forerunner of the more enduring Fairmount Water Works, still in existence, now as a museum, on the Schuylkill River. Latrobe went on to help engineer the building of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Janet Echelman’s sculpture, with its reference to this historic turning point in the management of water to improve people’s daily lives, will establish Dilworth Plaza among the great public places in the country. Well known for reshaping urban space with large suspended woven structures that respond to environmental forces, Echelman was inspired by Centre Square’s historic narrative and charted a new path of expression. Commissioned by the Center City District, Echelman’s first work using moving curtains of illuminated atomized water will be integrated into Dilworth Plaza’s new, 11,600-square-foot fountain. The moving five-foot-tall curtains of mist will trace above ground the real-time movement of the three transit lines that run beneath City Hall (more on this in the next blog), will create both a playful and animated embellishment on the fountain and highlight the existence of a transit system that brings 300,000 passengers into Center City each day. The installation of Pulse will ensure that the $50 million transformation of Dilworth Plaza will become a uniquely memorable public space, thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The $400,000 grant to the Center City District, which will enable the installation of Echelman’s sculpture, is part of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge, a $9 million initiative funding innovative projects that engage and enrich Philadelphia’s communities. Construction on Dilworth Plaza began in January 2012, and will be completed in spring 2014. The plaza will be transformed from an inaccessible, multi-level, unattractive, hard-surface plaza into a sustainable, well-maintained, green public space with no stairs or barriers from the street. The new plaza will have a large lawn, tree groves, a programmable fountain showcasing Echelman’s artwork, and a café with outdoor seating. The Center City District, a private-sector organization dedicated to making Center City Philadelphia clean, safe and attractive, is committed to maintaining Center City’s competitive edge as a regional employment center, a quality place to live, and a premier regional destination for dining, shopping and cultural attractions. Find us at www.centercityphila.org, Facebook, and Twitter @ccdphila. For photos, videos, and more information about Dilworth Plaza and Janet Echelman’s artwork, please click here.

Monday, August 20, 2007 A conservation group says the Pacific and Atlantic oceans are absorbing too much carbon from excessive greenhouse gas emissions. The organization wants California and other west coast states to use the federal Clean Water Act to protect the waters off their coasts. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details. The Center for Biological Diversity says acidification is changing the chemistry of the world's oceans. The group says the oceans are absorbing excess carbon dioxide produced by humans, which makes sea water more acidic. Brendan Cummings is the center's oceans program director. He says the acidity hurts the growth of plankton -- a key player in the ocean food chain. Cummings : Without phytoplankton in the abundant numbers we have now, marine life which relies upon it, which is the building block of the oceanic food webs, starts to decline. He says higher acidity could affect the growth of shellfish and remove food sources for several salmon species. Cummings says ocean waters should be listed as impaired under the federal Clean Water Act. He says if that happens, California and other states would be required to limit carbon dioxide pollution from entering ocean waters under their jurisdiction. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Endangered cultural treasures around the world Image 2 of 25 Historic Center of Craco( World Monuments Fund ) The Historic Center of Craco was first developed between the 10th and 9th centuries B.C., and the tall watchtower that hovers above this rocky village was built in 1000 A.D. The town has been abandoned since 1991, when a landslide forced out its remaining residents. Because this hilltop town was built on an unstable slope, it will be hard to protect this ancient piece of Italian history.

When Mormon was 15 years old, he “was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus” (Mormon 1:15). Joseph Smith was 14 years old when he received the First Vision. He was tutored and taught during his youth in preparation for the Restoration of the gospel. Today the Lord calls young people to serve in quorum and class presidencies, to perform sacred priesthood ordinances, and to preach the gospel as full-time missionaries. As you teach the youth of the Church, remember that the Lord knows their capacity. He has placed great trust in young people in the past, and He continues to place great trust in them today. Understanding Young People Young people have enthusiasm and energy that can make teaching them a delight. But to teach them the gospel, you must know how to help them channel their energy in the right direction. It is important to understand them and their concerns and challenges. To help you understand the young people you teach, think back to your days as a youth. What experiences were most challenging or painful for you? What did you worry about? How did you feel about yourself? What were your goals and ideals? What were your social and emotional needs? Who were the people most helpful to you, and how did they help? Thinking about these questions can help you teach and guide youth more effectively. Understanding the Challenges Young People Face Young people face important challenges as they prepare for adulthood. If you are aware of these challenges, you can offer wise, sensitive support and encouragement. The following information can help you understand some of the challenges they face. Adjusting to Changes in Their Bodies Physical development during adolescence is rapid. Generally, these changes begin a year or two earlier for young women than for young men. The new feelings young men and young women experience may both excite and confuse them. They may feel awkward or inferior because they do not like their physical appearance. The physical changes they are experiencing require them to make many emotional and social adjustments. Making Social Transitions Because young people are in transition between childhood and adulthood, they may feel that they do not fit in with the larger society. This is especially true in societies in which their primary role is to get an education. Because of the changes they are experiencing, they recognize that they are no longer children, but they also know they are not yet able to fulfill the responsibilities of adults. Often they do not realize that the changes they are going through are normal, so they may feel self-conscious. They may think that their feelings are unique and that no one understands what they are experiencing. Learning to Use Their Increasing Mental Abilities Between the ages of 12 and 15, most youth increase in their ability to learn. They are better able to make good judgments, think logically, and plan for the future. You will be more likely to influence youth if you respect their mental abilities and learn from them as you would like them to learn from you. Maintaining Emotional Connections to Their Parents and Other Adults Youth have a strong desire to learn from their parents and other adults. They also want adults to respect, understand, and pay attention to them. Adults, however, may misjudge them because of their sometimes immature or unusual conduct. We should follow the counsel the Lord gave to Samuel: “Look not on his countenance, … for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). An accepting and understanding adult who shows respect can make a positive difference in the life of an insecure and self-conscious youth. You may be tempted to think that you can get closer to young people by joining them in criticizing their parents or other adults. However, this may cause them to lose respect for their parents and for you. Remember that an important part of your responsibility is to help strengthen relationships between parents and their children. Communicate regularly with the parents of the young people you teach. Let them know about the talents, growth, and positive contributions you observe in their sons and daughters. Keep parents aware of what you are studying in class. Ask what you can do to help them as they teach their children. Direct young people to their parents, and seek to strengthen family bonds. Establishing Their Own Identity Some youth may try to establish an identity by wearing odd clothes or hairstyles or by expressing unusual ideas. They may do this to draw attention to themselves or to fit in with a group of peers and distinguish themselves from other groups. Generally this kind of behavior does not last long. In fact, if young people sense genuine affection from adults and are given the opportunity to express their ideas freely without being criticized, they will often feel more secure and cease acting in unusual ways. It would be unwise to try to dress and talk like the young people you teach. Remember that you should be one with them, not one of them. Learning from Masculine or Feminine Role Models It is important for young people to have masculine or feminine role models as they prepare for the future. Be aware that you and other adults serve as these role models. Preparing to Serve in the Church and in the World Young people spend much of their time gaining an education and preparing for a career. Encourage them to take their education seriously and to prepare well for the future. Encourage them also to think about how their schooling, their study of the gospel, and their choices between right and wrong are preparing them for future service in the Church. Help young men prepare to serve as full-time missionaries. Preparing for Marriage and Family Life Young people can best prepare for marriage and family life by preparing to make and keep temple covenants. Everything you do and teach should point young people to the temple. Help them understand what is required to be worthy of attending the temple, and encourage them to establish a personal goal to do so. Internalizing the Values by Which They Will Live The restored gospel provides the principles and standards that guide us to happiness and exaltation. Take every opportunity to help young people adopt these for themselves. Encourage them to take initiative in their own spiritual growth (see Developing Friendships with Other People Their Age Youth desire to find a place among people their own age and draw strength from them. Friends play important roles in a young person’s preparation for adulthood. They help fill his or her need for acceptance. They enable him or her to practice social skills. They provide reassurance that others have similar needs and struggles, lessening feelings of isolation that he or she may feel. They allow him or her to learn about the feelings and ideas of others. They give support to emerging values. When young people with righteous values group together, they help insulate one another from pressures of those with differing values. The Church plays an important role in providing associations with friends and caring adults who reinforce wholesome lifestyles and values. What Youth Need from Adults When young people feel warmth, affection, and support from a parent, teacher, or other adult, they feel encouraged to face the challenges of life optimistically. Make sure the young people you teach feel that you are available and interested in them. As you think about them and the things they must learn, ask yourself if you are doing all you can to help them progress. Expectations of Good Conduct When young people are expected to meet gospel standards and obey rules, they are much less likely to act in risky or deviant ways. It is wise to establish early in your teaching the expectations you have for them. Remember that being a friend to youth is not enough. You must be a good example. You must also teach true doctrine and expect good behavior so they will know how to live a faithful life. (See Respect for Individuality When youth feel that adults respect and listen to them, they tend to feel secure and free of the need to attract attention to themselves. Work and pray to understand the young people you teach. Reach out to them individually (see A Vision of Their Future As you teach the youth of the Church, you are helping to prepare future leaders—parents, priesthood and auxiliary leaders, missionaries, and perhaps prophets. Because young people lack experience, they sometimes have difficulty seeing beyond the present moment. As a teacher, you can give them a vision of their future and guidance in preparing for it. Encourage them to imagine themselves in the future. Teach them today the things they will need to know tomorrow. Encouragement to Identify with the Kingdom of God Even though youth are often concerned about themselves, they also have a great capacity to be concerned about others. They worry about the conditions of society and are naturally idealistic. They want to belong to a worthy cause. When they know they belong to a group that has a real and meaningful purpose, they are more likely to be creative, cooperative, and self-sacrificing. The cause of building the kingdom of God is more worthy of their loyalty than any other. You can encourage their unselfish desires by inspiring them to help build the kingdom of God.

Even if you recorded your Excel macros perfectly and they have been very helpful with your work, you may still have to modify them. Imagine having more data to add to the reports. Imagine your company expanding. There are a million ways that would want you to edit the wonderful macros you had created. And of course expanding and excelling is a good thing, so bear with it! The good part is that you do not have to create the entire record again. You can modify the existing one. The bad part is, in order to make the modifications and additions; you need Visual Basic Applications which is another program. Luckily, the program is no rocket science. You just need to understand some basic stuff and can get it installed. Once you do that, life will be much, much easier. Here is how you edit a macro created already in your computer. - First go to the “start” menu and find Microsoft Excel. Open and through “file” open a new spreadsheet. - On the toolbar at the top of the new spreadsheet, find “window”. Click here and go to “unhide”. This would bring your personal macro workbook forward. You need to unhide the workbook to make the intended changes to the data. - To open the workbook you will have to click on “personal. XLS”. Click OK. - To access the created records, go to “tools” and select “macro”; go to “macros” and the records in the personal workbook will be listed. From here you can choose the one you want to modify and it would open when you chose to edit it. - Here is when the Visual Basic program comes in. The language for visual basic program is not very different from the English syntax, as we have nouns and adjectives. In Visual Basic Application, the nouns are termed as “objects” and their qualities which would be the adjectives in common English or any other language are called the “properties” of that object. So, if you need that an object should have a desired property. You type the name of the object, followed by the property with a period between the two: object.property. Likewise, when you want one of the objects to follow a “method”, type in the name of the object, period, and then the method. It is simple but you need to understand these basics so that it does not hinder the editing rather than aiding it. Also note that when the Visual Basic Application is run, the names that you entered when you first created the macro will have additional codes assigned by the program. This is what you have to do. Copy the code, no matter whether or not you understand the code itself, and paste it five times in the column. To save the changes, go to file and click on Save Personal.XLS. Now go to “file” again and click “Close”. Now you can have the files and the Visual Basic Application closed down and the changed data will be saved in the same storage directory/ personal macro workbook. This is all there is to editing the macro record. Once you are done with the above series of steps, you have successfully edited the macro. Now you should go back and double check if the method is working or not. Launch Microsoft excel again, and go to “file” and “new”. From here, if you remember the shortcut key you had specified earlier, press ctrl key followed by the shortcut code which is usually a letter or a symbol. The macro record will open and you can see if whether or not it is the edited version. The new names will also show in addition to the old ones. In case you do not remember the shortcut key, go to “tools” and select “macro”, from here, click “macros” and from the list chose the one you want to double check. Click “run” and the corrected or edited version will be presented in case the editing was successful. Skills like these require you to master them through sufficient practice. Once you do that, editing would not be difficult at all. So move ahead with the ease your computer has provided you! - How to Use the MS Excel Keyboard Shortcuts - How to Locate Duplicate Records Quickly By Using Conditional Formatting in MS Excel - How to Use PasteSpecial – Procedures for Microsoft Excel 2003 and Microsoft Excel 2007 - How to Sort using an AutoFilter – Understanding and Learning the Feature - How to Base a Chart Off of Auto Filtered Records - How to Use IF IsError Together? - How to Use Custom Views - How to Create Pivt Table - How to Manipulate PivotTable after It has Been Created - How to Update the Data in a Pivot Table - How to Create Dynamic Named Ranges - How to Use an Array - How to Embed 8 If Statements into 1 - How to Edit a Recorded Macro? - How to Record a Macro

Accelerated Shallow Lake Restorations and Enhancements This program will accelerate the improvement and protection of shallow lakes and large wetland habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife in Minnesota by improving water quality and rejuvenating aquatic ecology in turbid shallow lake basins. DU will enhance eight (8) or more strategically-selected shallow lakes that have been legally designated by for wildlife management purposes by Minnesota DNR that total 6,000 wetland acres by engineering and implementing construction of water control structures, pumps, and fish barriers on their outlets. These structures will provide the Minnesota DNR and US Fish & Wildlife Service with water level control capability to conduct temporary, periodic draw-downs that will improve wetland habitat quality. DU will also engineer two or more additional shallow lake improvement projects for future implementation 2010 and 2011. As approved by the Council, DU will also use up to $400,000 in grant funding to secure permanent conservation easement(s) on 180 acres on one or more shallow lake to protect shoreland and help buffer basins important to waterfowl.

William P. MacConnell Aerial Photograph Collection, ca.1950-2000ca.24,000 items In the 1950s, William P. MacConnell (Class of 1943), and his photogrammetry students in the Dept. of Forestry began using aerial photography to map forests, agricultural fields, wetlands, and other land cover in Massachusetts. Their work was eventually expanded to include the mapping of all land use for Massachusetts, making this state the first in the nation to be completely mapped in this fashion, and laying the foundation for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory. The MacConnell Collection includes a comprehensive set of stereopair photographs derived from multiple transects of the state taken between 1950 and 2000. In addition to some original field notes, a stereoscope, and other project materials, the collection includes the following series: - 1951: Massachusetts, black and white prints (1:20,000 scale) - 1971: Massachusetts, black and white prints (1:20,000) - 1985: Massachusetts and Rhode Island, infrared transparencies (1:25,000) - 1990: Boston, Cape Cod, Buzzard’s Bay, infrared transparencies (1:12,000) - 1991-1992: Massachusetts, infrared transparencies (1:40,000) - 1991-1992: Merrimack River Valley, North Shore, MDC-1, infrared transparencies (1:12,000) - 1993: Massachusetts, Cape Cod, MDC-2, Nantucket, Dukes and Plymouth Counties, Naushon, West Metro, infrared transparencies (1:12,000) - 1999: Massachusetts. infrared transparencies and prints (1:25,000) The collection is housed in the Map Collection on the 2nd Floor of the library. - Land use--Massachusetts - MacConnell, William Preston, 1918- - Aerial photography

To compile the file associated with the current buffer, choose File > Compile . To compile multiple files associated with buffers, select them in the buffers view and choose File > Compile . If there is not a current buffer, the menu command File > Compile... is available, which prompts for a file to compile. Note: this command calls the Common Lisp function ; it creates the fasl file but does not load it. You can use File > Load to later load the fasl. To compile a file (or files) and load the resulting fasl file(s) with a single command, choose File > Compile and Load . If there is not a current buffer, the menu command File > Compile and Load... is available. LispWorks IDE User Guide (Unix version) - 25 Nov 2011

How the Battle of Actium Changed the World Each Monday, this column turns a page in history to explore the discoveries, events and people that continue to affect the history being made today. It was the pivotal moment in an ancient soap opera, one marked by intrigue, romance, betrayal and widespread consequence. The Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. was an epic showdown that pitted Mark Antony and Cleopatra against spurned former ally Octavian. When Octavian eventually reigned supreme in battle, it meant the end of the Roman Republic for good and the beginning of the Roman Empire, whose influences were ultimately felt throughout the world. Antony's colossal defeat also led to his and Cleopatra's Shakespearean double-suicide, providing plenty of movie fodder 2,000 years later. Roman soap opera Rome had been a republic for more than 450 years when things started to dissolve. De facto leader Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 B.C., escalating a messy civil war and creating a power vacuum that would be filled by two equally power-hungry politicians and militarists – Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's adopted son. Power sharing between the two was tenuous, but a truce was formed when Antony was betrothed to Octavian's sister. It wouldn't last long, however, because – in true soap opera form – there would soon be another woman to contend with. Cleopatra, a beautiful and shrewd queen who already had a son by Julius Caesar, was the Pharaoh of Egypt when Rome started to implode. When Mark Antony passed through Egypt after a battle in the Near East, she seduced him too, angering Octavian over the disregard of his sister. The resulting tension between Antony and Octavian in 31 B.C. had less to do with Octavian's hurt pride than the worry over Antony and Cleopatra's growing influence in the region, historians say, but it certainly makes for an interesting story. It's hard to imagine a more movie-worthy showdown than the one between Antony and Cleopatra on one side with a fleet totaling 500 warships, and Octavian on the other with almost 1,000, for control of the entire vast territory of the Roman Republic. The Battle of Actium was fought in the waters off Greece – a Roman territory, at the time – and ended in the complete obliteration of Antony and Cleopatra's forces. When it was over, the waters were choked with the naval wreckage, historians at the time noted, as well as the bodies of 5,000 sailors. Antony and Cleopatra did not go down with their navy. Recognizing their impeding defeat, the lovers fled in their separate ships and were chased down by Octavian. They both committed suicide instead of being captured. To seal his victory and eliminate competition, Octavian went to Egypt and executed Cleopatra's children by Antony as well as Julius Caesar's one and only son. Shakespeare turned the story of Antony and Cleopatra into a famous play, but historically, the Battle of Actium had even more important consequences. Octavian, for his part, remained standing as the sole ruler of Rome in a time when the Republic was hanging on by a thread. Just a few years later, he was renamed Augustus and declared divine head of the new Roman Empire, a system that would last a further 400 years and engulf much of Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East and Africa under its rule. Rome's influence over the language, religion and architecture of the 2.2 million square miles it once controlled lasts until this day. By killing Julius Caesar and Cleopatra's son Caesarion, Octavian also effectively ended a 4,000-year tradition in Egypt. There would not be another true pharaoh in that country, which was absorbed under the banner of the empire. - Last Week: How the Greek Agora Changed the World - Next Week: How the Council of Nicea Changed the World - Archaeologists Find Remains of Emperor Augustus' Birthplace - Top 10 Ancient Capitals MORE FROM LiveScience.com

On 3 July 2007 the Austrian National Fund launched the English version of its art database containing many hundreds of looted objects in Austrian public collections. Click here to visit it. On 1 August 2007 the German Finance Ministry published an online catalogue in German of 100 art objects looted by the Nazis and in the Ministry's possession. Click here to visit it. On 23 August 2007 the Israel Museum Jerusalem published an online catalogue of c 1,300 looted paintings, drawings and Judaica. Click here to visit it. On 7 February 2008 Rosokhran-Kultura, the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, announced the publication online in Russian only of over 46,000 missing artworks, 3,500 rare books and 1.1 missing archive files believed taken by the Nazis and thought to be in Europe and the USA. Thirteen printed volumes provide the details in English. Click here to visit the publication. GERMAN HISTORICAL MUSEUM In 2008, the German Historical Museum in Berlin published an online catalogue of Hitler's famous Linz Collection. Hitler bought and stole the artworks between the mid 1930s and 1945 with the aim of exhibiting the collection in a museum in Linz, Austria. After the war, the Alies photographed and catalogued each of the 4,731 pieces, including paintings and sculptures as well as furniture and works in porcelain. In the six decades since, the works have been scattered, distributed to museums in Germany and across Europe or returned to their original owners. The collection appears online, in German only, with information about the original owner and current location of each work of art, when available, and is fully searchable. Click here to visit the catalogue.

The Métis Nation defines themselves as a distinct group of peoples that emerged in relation to the mixing of Europeans and Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the United States during the fur trade. Métis communities often established their own communities apart from both Indigenous communities and European communities. Because of this, the Métis peoples have their own established culture and their own language, Michif, and their own rights to a traditional land base or homeland. This land base includes much of the Prairie Provinces and other areas in other provinces in Canada in the United States. 1 Because the term 'Métis' has such a broad definition in relation to its concept of mixed identities, many peoples in Canada and the US may or may not define themselves as such. Some of the artists in the University of Victoria's art Collections may or may not define themselves as Métis individuals. In our identification of this term we seek to include individuals of mixed ancestry or others who identify themselves as so. Métis art reflects individual and unique styles, reflecting the artists' contemporary position in the world of material culture.

Science 2006: The Year in Medicine, Space and the Environment Download MP3 (Right-click or option-click the link.) This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Mario Ritter. And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we talk about last year. We tell about some important science stories of two thousand six -- discoveries in medicine, space and the environment. Some of the biggest science stories last year were in health and medicine. And two of them came late in two thousand six. First is a major finding about the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In December, AIDS researchers announced findings about adult male circumcision. Two studies in Africa found that circumcised men had about half the risk of getting HIV from sex with women as uncircumcised men had. The studies took place in Kenya and Uganda. HIV rates are generally lower in areas of the world where the removal of the foreskin from the penis is common in babies or young boys. The findings of the African studies were so clear that the United States National Institutes of Health decided to end both studies early. All the men involved now are being offered circumcision. The researchers said male circumcision could also lead to fewer infections in women where HIV is spread through heterosexual sex. Health experts say they hope circumcision will become one of the basic tools to fight HIV and AIDS. But they expect some cultural and economic barriers. Some people have also expressed another concern about circumcision. They say it might make men think they do not need to do anything else to prevent HIV infection. Another major health story last month concerned breast cancer. The news came from cancer researchers at the University of Texas in Houston. They had found a sharp decrease in newly found breast cancer rates between two thousand two and two thousand three. It was the first such drop in seventy years. And it followed a huge decrease in the number of older women treated with female hormones to ease conditions caused by a natural decrease in such hormones. For years doctors treated these conditions of menopause with the hormones estrogen and progesterone. But in two thousand two a large study showed hormone replacement therapy seemed to increase the risk of breast cancer. The use of hormone replacement therapy then dropped by fifty percent. The researchers at the University of Texas say overall rates of new breast cancers dropped seven percent the next year. And they said breast cancer that is linked to estrogen decreased by at least twelve percent. However, health experts say the findings do not prove that hormone replacement therapy causes breast cancer. There was also news about a new vaccine to prevent another cancer in women -- cervical cancer. United Nations health officials called for the wide use of the vaccine against the human papilloma virus, or H.P.V. H.P.V. causes seventy percent of all cervical cancers. It is a leading cause of cancer deaths in women in developing countries. The vaccine could prevent more than two-thirds of deaths from cervical cancer around the world. Officials say the vaccine is safe and effective for females between the ages of nine and twenty-six. Not all the science news last year was medical. In August, more than two thousand members of the International Astronomical Union met in the Czech capital, Prague. They agreed to a new definition of planet. They also agreed that Pluto did not meet the terms of the new definition. So, now the solar system has eight planets instead of nine. But do not cry for the former ninth planet. The astronomical union says we should not think we have lost a planet but that we have gained a new kind of space object: the dwarf planet, Pluto. Astronomers and physicists were also interested in some information provided by the Hubble Space Telescope last year. It provided some light on the mysterious force known as dark energy. The Hubble examined stars that exploded billions of years ago. The findings: dark energy has been present for most of the history of the universe. Dark energy is a mysterious force that causes the universe to expand at an increasing rate. Scientists do not know much about dark energy. But they say it makes up about seventy percent of the energy in the universe. It appears to balance the force of gravity. Most physicists consider dark energy to be the force that Albert Einstein called the cosmological constant. It prevents gravity from pulling all matter together in a cosmic crush. This latest study shows dark energy was present in the universe as long as nine billion years ago. Over the next four billion years the power of dark energy grew. The expansion rate of the universe began speeding up about five billion years ago. That is when scientists believe that dark energy's force overtook gravity. Adam Reiss of the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Maryland led this research. Hubble also got some good news of its own last year. NASA announced it would fly a shuttle crew to the space telescope to make repairs and add new equipment. The telescope orbits six hundred kilometers above the Earth. The shuttle crew is expected to make the trip in May of next year. They hope to fix Hubble so it can continue operating until two thousand thirteen. In other news from last year, the American space agency, NASA, returned to space. Three successful launches of the space shuttle visited the International Space Station. NASA's two Mars vehicles, Spirit and Opportunity, continued their exploration of the red planet. They found signs of recently flowing water on the planet. An orbiting spacecraft gave the world extraordinary images of the planet Saturn and its rings. NASA also announced important plans for the future. It will update the design of the space shuttles. And it is planning an international permanent base on the moon by the year twenty twenty. Global warming remained a hot subject of earth science last year. Scientists declared that the ice at both the North and South Poles was melting. A long-term study showed that Greenland lost one hundred billion metric tons of ice between two thousand three and two thousand five. Antarctica at the South Pole contains almost seventy percent of the world's fresh water. The continent is almost all ice. In some areas that ice is close to two thousand meters thick. Scientists said the Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as one hundred fifty-two cubic kilometers of ice every year. One study suggests that melting ice from both poles could cause sea levels in the world to rise by several meters by the end of this century. As a result, low-lying areas of land could be under water. Some international ecology scientists and economists gave a serious warning about the future for fish. They reported that seafood supplies from the world's oceans could be almost gone within fifty years because of overfishing. The researchers reported their findings in Science magazine in November. They said there had already been a collapse in wild populations of almost one-third of currently fished seafoods. The study says that means the catch has fallen by ninety percent from the highest levels. The scientists said that species have recently been disappearing from oceans at increasing speed. The scientists said it is not too late to repair the damage done to the oceans from overfishing, climate change and other forces. They said governments and industries must work together to establish shared fishing, pollution and species protection controls. SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Mario Ritter. For more science news, MP3 files and transcripts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. And join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

Access to health coverage Having insurance matters for women and children According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in 2009, 13.7 million women of childbearing age and more than 8 million children are uninsured. Having insurance coverage affects how and whether women and children can obtain needed health care services. In 2007, the Institute of Medicine reported that uninsured women receive fewer prenatal services and experience greater difficulty in obtaining needed care than women with insurance. And in the case of uninsured children, IOM found that they are the most likely to have no usual source of medical care: 30.9 percent compared with only 2.6 percent of children with private insurance and 4.3 percent of children in public insurance programs. Federal advocacy efforts The March of Dimes was instrumental in developing and securing enactment of numerous health reform provisions important to women and children. And, in 2008-2009, the Foundation co-led a coalition of more than 70 organizations central to reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This month, the March of Dimes, AAP, ACOG and other organizations urged members of the U.S. Senate to oppose an amendment by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Senate Amendment 1520, to the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (S.1813). State advocacy efforts March of Dimes Chapters are advocating for implementation of each of these measures as well as for public health programs designed to improve maternal and child health.

DefinitionBy Mayo Clinic staff Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and the food they eat. People with anorexia nervosa attempt to maintain a weight that's far below normal for their age and height. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia nervosa may starve themselves or exercise excessively. Anorexia (an-oh-REK-see-uh) nervosa isn't really about food. It's an unhealthy way to try to cope with emotional problems. When you have anorexia nervosa, you often equate thinness with self-worth. Anorexia nervosa can be difficult to overcome. But with treatment, you can gain a better sense of who you are, return to healthier eating habits and reverse some of anorexia's serious complications. - Eating disorders. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM IV-TR. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=3617. Accessed Oct. 19, 2011. - Forman SF. Eating disorders: Epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical features. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 19, 2011. - Walsh BT, et al. Eating disorders. In: Longo DL, et al. Harrison's Online. 18th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2012. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=9100636. Accessed Oct. 20, 2011. - Anorexia nervosa. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/print/psychiatric_disorders/eating_disorders/anorexia_nervosa.html. Accessed Oct. 19, 2011. - Breuner CC. Complementary, holistic, and integrative medicine: Eating disorders. Pediatrics in Review. 2010;31;e75. - Grave RD. Eating disorders: Progress and challenges. European Journal of Internal Medicine. 2011;22:153. - Ranzenhofer LM, et al. Eating disorders. In: South-Paul JE, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Family Medicine. 3rd ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2011. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=8150394. Accessed Oct. 20, 2011. - Murphy R, et al. Cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders. Psychiatry Clinics of North America. 2010;33:611. - Sim LA, et al. Family-based therapy for adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2004;79:1305. - Forman, SF. Eating disorders: Treatment and outcome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 19, 2011.

WASHINGTON — As Congress gets to work this week on an economic stimulus plan, environmentalists are arguing that installing more wind and solar energy, making homes and government buildings less dependent on fossil fuels and expanding mass transit would be the best way to add jobs quickly and jolt the economy. Environmental groups cheered last week when President-elect Barack Obama said the U.S. should use the stimulus package to double its production of renewable energy in three years and cut its use of fossil fuels by modernizing more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of 2 million homes. The questions now, however, are whether Obama's plan will sail through Congress or clash with other interests, and whether environmentalists will be able to use the recovery package to press other of their ideas, including installing solar panels on school roofs and spending money on mass transit instead of new highways. Indeed, shifting money away from highway construction to other transportation uses will be one of the most difficult aspects of pressing home a green agenda as part of the stimulus package, said Anna Aurilio of the state-based organization Environment America. Companies that benefit from federal dollars for highway construction are a powerful lobbying opponent. "Right now the funding is completely backwards. Eighty cents of every federal transportation dollar is for highways, and only 20 cents for transit," Aurilio said. Studies show mass transit would add more jobs than building new highways, and that there are $30 billion in transit projects around the country that would be ready to start in four to 18 months, she said. Her group also calls for a "fix it first" plan that would spend highway dollars on repairs rather than adding roads. "As this plan moves to Congress, it is vitally important that the government focuses on investing in newer, cleaner, more efficient technology and not wasting money on costly, business-as-usual approaches like new coal plants, dams, or 'highways to nowhere,'" Sierra Club director Carl Pope said in a statement last week in response to Obama's plan. Pope added that the Sierra Club would try to keep the stimulus plan "focused on the priorities that will provide short-term economic recovery and long term economic stability and a cleaner, safer world." On Sunday during a rare weekend session of the Senate, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the stimulus plan should include $1 billion in grants to spur the production of batteries for electric vehicles in the United States. Most of the technology for lithium ion batteries was invented in the United States, but Pacific Rim countries now are producing nearly all these batteries "as a result of years of financial support from their governments," Levin said. The wind and solar industry also are arguing for government support in order to create American jobs. They want Congress to get capital flowing to them again by changing the way tax incentives work. Companies hurt by the economic downturn aren't able to benefit from tax credits as they did when they made profits and paid more taxes in better times. The industry wants a refund instead of a writeoff. Tax incentives would get capital flowing to renewable energy — mainly wind, solar and geothermal energy — and expand manufacturing capacity in the United States. Both solar and wind companies have been forced to close factories and lay off workers in the recent downturn. Studies show that energy efficiency and renewable energy are the cheapest way to make the sharp greenhouse gas emissions reductions scientists warn will be necessary to avoid serious climate disruption, said Joe Mendelson, director of climate policy at the National Wildlife Federation. Existing solar and wind technology works and can be competitive he said. There will be improvements in the next 50 years, but for now, Mendelson said, "wind and solar are ready to go, and we think there's endless potential to do it." Seventeen environmental groups sent a detailed list of more than 80 stimulus proposals to Obama in early December. They argued their plans could create 3.6 million jobs. Mendelson said the National Wildlife Federation would like to see a government boost for solar begin on the rooftops of the nation's schools. Not only would schools save on heating and cooling bills but high school students could get job training as part of the plan and solar schools would symbolize a national drive for a cleaner future, he said. MORE FROM MCCLATCHY

User Tools (skip): December in Montreal, and people are talking about "hockey stick graphs" — which have nothing to do with the Montreal Canadiens but instead map climate, population and CO2 emissions over the past millennium. Each shows a long steady line and, in the last century, a rapid increase, just like a hockey stick lying flat, with the blade pointing up. Many of the people discussing the hockey stick graphs are participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference, hosted in Montreal from November 28 to December 9 — but the issues around climate change had an early airing on November 24 at the inaugural Lorne Trottier Public Science Symposium: Climate Change and Energy. The symposium, which drew over 400 people to the ballroom of the New Residence Hall at 3625 Parc, was sponsored by the Faculty of Science and the Global Environmental and Climate Change Centre (GEC3), with the support of the Trottier Family Foundation. The event featured short presentations and a discussion by four internationally renowned scientists, followed by audience questions. And while the four agreed that global warming was real and that "business as usual" would lead to catastrophe, there was vast disagreement over what steps to take in response. "Can we continue with our current level of economic growth — which is necessary for poorer countries as well — while stabilizing and phasing out greenhouse gas emissions?" asked Martin Hoffert, Professor Emeritus in Physics from New York University, who used the hockey stick graphs to illustrate the problem. British leader Tony Blair has proposed holding climate change to within 2 degrees Celsius, which seems a modest goal until we realize that the average global climate during the ice age was a mere 3-5 degrees colder than today. "We are facing a Herculean problem," says Hoffert. Identifying himself as a "technological optimist" who believes that we can invent ways to solve the climate problems, he argued that current technologies must be supplanted by creative and sustainable approaches to generating energy, including wind, solar, geothermal and tidal power. But if these energy sources are to grow from their current one percent market share to the 30 percent or more necessary to keep warming within Blair's target, new ways of collecting, storing and distributing energy are needed. But what to do in the meantime? Neobojsa Nakicenovic, Professor of Energy Economics at the University of Vienna, laid out a pragmatic, graduated plan. Over the next decade, change must be behavioral, addressing waste and efficiency issues. The following 20 to 30 years, however, must witness the development and application of new, emissions-free technologies and energy sources. In the longer term, the inevitable post-fossil-fuel era will require an entirely new paradigm of energy creation, distribution and consumption. It will also demand a more egalitarian distribution of energy resources. "Many impoverished areas have very little energy consumption," he noted. "We cannot ask them to cut back." According to Romney Duffey, Chief Scientist at Atomic Energy Canada, the new energy paradigm should feature nuclear energy front and centre. Recent developments of technology in nuclear energy have created safer and more efficient reactors, he stressed. "Efficiency and conservation will slow climate change but not stop it," he said, arguing that nuclear power represents an emissions-free source and noting that China has developed plans to build 15 to 20 new reactors. Canada currently has fifteen reactors. The final speaker, Amory Lovins, founder and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), participated via a video connection from his Colorado office, noting that he had saved energy by sending only electrons to the symposium, rather than his entire body. And indeed, energy efficiency — and cost savings — formed the basis of Lovins's argument. "I too am a technological optimist," he claimed, "but I believe we have already invented the technologies we need to address climate change." The RMI works with corporations, including BP, DuPont and Wal-Mart, to help them save money by using energy wisely. In one example, Lovins cites a production plant that saved 92 percent of the energy costs of a heat circulation loop by switching from long crooked pipes to short straight ones. "It's Victorian engineering rediscovered," he said of his approach. Since climate change is a social and political as well as a scientific problem, the final word went to Quebec's Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and Parks, Thomas Mulcair, who noted that Quebec, stretching from the Arctic to the American border, is a living lab for climate change. One recent discovery in the lab we call home involves the disturbing weakening of permafrost, an issue with important ecological and economic consequences. Mulcair has since announced that Quebec will strive to reduce its current emissions by 20 percent by 2015. How Quebec will do this remains in question. As the symposium demonstrated, the problem has no easy solution. The event, expected to be the first of an annual series, was organized by Charles Lin, director of the GEC3 and a professor in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. It was moderated by Nigel Roulet, Director of the McGill School of the Environment.*article edited for accuracy

From Our 2012 Archives Mammograms Spot Cancers That May Not Be Dangerous Latest Cancer News As Many as 25% of Cancers Detected by Mammograms May Be Overdiagnosed, Study Finds By Brenda Goodman, MA Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD April 2, 2012 -- A new study suggests that routine mammograms, long pitched to women as lifesaving tests, may also be causing substantial harm. The study estimates that as many as 1 in 4 cancers detected over a decade by routine mammograms are cancers that won't grow or spread, cause symptoms, or lead to death. Instead, these "overdiagnosed" cancers are treated with surgery, powerful drugs, and radiation, all when the cancer wouldn't have made a woman sick in the first place. "We are curing people who don't need to be cured," says Otis W. Brawley, MD, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. Brawley reviewed the study for WebMD but was not involved in the research. He says doctors have known for some time that not all breast cancers are dangerous. But he says it's been difficult to figure out how many breast cancers are being treated when they probably don't need to be. In part, that's because there aren't any tests that can distinguish between cancers that are harmful and those that may not otherwise affect a person's health. And when doctors find cancer, they treat it, of course. Not doing so would be unethical. So there's never been a population of women who were diagnosed with cancer but then left untreated so doctors could see what would naturally happen to those cancers over time. "This is one of the best studies ever designed to try to figure that out," Brawley says. Estimating Overdiagnosis in Breast Cancer The study included nearly 40,000 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancers in Norway before and after 1996, when the country began offering regular mammograms to residents in some regions. By comparing the cancers diagnosed in women who were screened vs. those who were not, researchers estimated that 15% to 25% of breast cancers found by routine mammograms were overdiagnosed. Put another way, researchers say that for every 2,500 women aged 50 to 69 offered mammograms for 10 years, just one additional life would be saved, 20 women would be diagnosed with cancers that needed treatment, and six to 10 women would be overdiagnosed. "What women have been told before is, 'You look for cancer and we'll save you,'" says researcher Mette Kalager, MD, a breast cancer surgeon and an epidemiologist with the Harvard School of Public Health. "That's not the whole story. You will be saved without screening as well." "I think we have to inform women about the downside or harm of mammography screening," she says. The study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The number of women who are overdiagnosed in the U.S. is likely to be higher, experts say, because women in this country often start getting mammograms in their 40s, rather than in their 50s as women in Norway do, and Americans are generally screened more often, every year instead of every two years. "If you're starting in the U.S. at a younger age, and you're doing screening more frequently, that means you have more chances to be screened, and every time you're screened you're at risk of overdiagnosis," says Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. Elmore wrote an editorial on the study, but she was not involved in the research. She says previous studies have shown that radiologists in the U.S. have about a 10% recall rate; that is, they call about 10% of women back for more testing because they're worried about something they see on the X-ray. In other countries, radiologists have about a 2% recall rate. That higher index of suspicion also raises the likelihood of overdiagnosis. Weighing the Benefits and Harms of Mammograms Overdiagnosis, it should be noted, is not the same thing as another risk of cancer screening tests: false-positive results. A false-positive is a result that looks suspicious and may lead to more testing, but the patient is ultimately cleared of cancer. "That test is eventually shown not to be cancer, but in the time it takes to figure that out, women are made anxious, many are never totally relieved," says H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, a professor of family and community medicine at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H. Arguably, Welch says, overdiagnosis is even more insidious. "You're treated for a breast cancer that was never going to bother you. Now you're talking about real intervention. Mastectomy, lumpectomy, surgery, radiation," he says. Not to mention the mental toll of a cancer diagnosis. Welch points to the fact that for every 2,500 women screened for a decade with regular mammograms, one life will be saved thanks to early detection. But, he says, "It's very relevant what happens to the other 2,499 women. In this country, somewhere around 1,000 will have at least one false-positive result and about half will have a biopsy, so that's a lot of angst there." Based on this study and several others, Welch says it looks like "somewhere between five and 15 will be overdiagnosed to receive unnecessary treatment for cancer." "We need to work to make the deal better for patients," Welch says. "There might be reasons to screen less often, look less hard, stop screening earlier." To Screen or Not to Screen? To try to reduce some of the harms associated with screening, in 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force changed its recommendations for routine mammograms, saying women should get one every two years starting at age 50, rather than every year beginning at age 40. Those recommendations, however, are at odds with guidelines from other groups, including the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology, who say screening should start at age 40 or even younger for high-risk women. For women who are weighing the risks and benefits of getting regular mammograms, Welch says he advises patients to remember that cancer screening is a choice made after consultation with your doctor regarding risks and benefits of screening. SOURCES: Kalager, M. Annals of Internal Medicine, published April 2, 2012. Elmore, J. Annals of Internal Medicine, published April 2, 2012. Mette Kalager, MD, breast cancer surgeon and epidemiologist, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Mass. Otis W. Brawley, MD, chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta. Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, University of Washington, Seattle. H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, professor of family and community medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, N.H. 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RONNIE L. WILLIAMS Despite increased awareness of cybercrime, cyber-attacks continue to plague companies from Memphis to Brussels to Subic Bay. Cyber attacks are typically defined as criminal activities that are conducted by means of the Internet. With more and more companies relying on the Internet to do business, the frequency of cybercrime is certain to increase. These technology-based attacks can include stealing an organization’s intellectual property, gaining access to online bank accounts, creating and distributing viruses, and posting confidential business information on the Internet. A recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 38 percent of the financial service firms surveyed have been hit by cybercrime of one sort or another. Although the financial service industry may experience a higher rate of cybercrime due to the nature of their business, cybercrime is a real threat to other industries as well. The financial impact of cybercrimes can be devastating and the reputational damage may be ruinous for a company. The most costly cybercrimes are those caused by malicious code, denial of service, stolen devices and Web-based attacks. Malicious code and denial of service are typically the most common of the reported cyber attacks and include viruses, worms and Trojan horses. Cyber crooks are utilizing more and more elaborate schemes in order to swindle businesses out of money, time and resources. Last year, the Department of Justice and the FBI announced the indictment of two individuals from Latvia and the seizure of more than 40 computers, servers and bank accounts as part of Operation Trident Tribunal, an ongoing, coordinated enforcement action targeting international cybercrime. This particular operation took down a cybercrime ring that caused more than $74 million in total losses to 1 million computer users. The size and extent of this cybercrime ring demonstrates the reach of the criminals and the financial impact their activities can generate. Mitigation of cyber attacks can be a harrowing task. The cyber crooks are always thinking of new schemes that provide unauthorized access to valuable information. The Nigerian prince that only needs your checking account number to make you rich may not be sending you emails anymore, but you may receive an email from a logistics company referencing a package that is waiting for you. Once you open the email, a Trojan horse is placed on your machine that monitors the online transactions performed via the infected computer as well as the passwords and usernames for different services and credit card accounts. This attack can lead to empty bank accounts as well as a huge headache. Protection against cyber attacks can include anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a properly configured firewall. Policies and procedures that deal with access to sensitive data as well as access to certain hardware can make everyone at an organization part of the safeguarding process. As the cyber attacks increase in frequency and sophistication, the efforts to stop the attacks will have to evolve and adapt to meet the challenge. Having a cyber risk-aware culture at your company could be the difference between being a rich prince or being a ruined pauper. Ronnie L. Williams is the director of finance for HealthChoice LLC.

The 4 general types of thyroid cancer are papillary, follicular, medullary, and anaplastic. Papillary and follicular carcinoma together are called differentiated thyroid cancer because of their histologic resemblance to normal thyroid tissue and because differentiated function (eg, thyroglobulin secretion) is preserved. Most thyroid cancers manifest as asymptomatic nodules. Rarely, lymph node, lung, or bone metastases cause the presenting symptoms of small thyroid cancers. Diagnosis is often by fine-needle aspiration biopsy but may involve other tests. Except for anaplastic and metastatic medullary carcinoma, most thyroid cancers are not highly malignant and are seldom fatal. Treatment is surgical removal, usually followed by ablation of residual tissue with radioactive iodine. Papillary carcinoma accounts for 70 to 80% of all thyroid cancers. The female:male ratio is 3:1. It may be familial in up to 5% of patients. Most patients present between ages 30 and 60. The tumor is often more aggressive in elderly patients. Many papillary carcinomas contain follicular elements. The tumor spreads via lymphatics to regional lymph nodes in one third of patients and may metastasize to the lungs. Patients < 45 yr with small tumors confined to the thyroid have an excellent prognosis. Treatment for encapsulated tumors < 1.5 cm localized to one lobe is usually near-total thyroidectomy, although some experts recommend only lobectomy and isthmectomy; surgery is almost always curative. Thyroid hormone in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)–suppressive doses is given to minimize chances of regrowth and cause regression of any microscopic remnants of papillary carcinoma. Tumors > 4 cm or that are diffusely spreading require total or near-total thyroidectomy with postoperative radioiodine ablation of residual thyroid tissue with appropriately large doses of 131I administered when the patient is hypothyroid or after recombinant TSH injections. Treatment may be repeated every 6 to 12 mo to ablate any remaining thyroid tissue. TSH-suppressive doses of l-thyroxine are given after treatment, and serum thyroglobulin levels help detect recurrent or persistent disease. About 20 to 30% of patients, mainly older patients, have recurrent or persistent disease. Follicular carcinoma, including the Hürthle cell variant, accounts for about 15% of thyroid cancers. It is more common among older patients and in regions of iodine deficiency. It is more malignant than papillary carcinoma, spreading hematogenously with distant metastases. Treatment requires near-total thyroidectomy with postoperative radioiodine ablation of residual thyroid tissue as in treatment for papillary carcinoma. Metastases are more responsive to radioiodine therapy than are those of papillary carcinoma. TSH-suppressive doses of l-thyroxine are given after treatment. Serum thyroglobulin should be monitored to detect recurrent or persistent disease. Medullary (solid) carcinoma constitutes about 3% of thyroid cancers and is composed of parafollicular cells (C cells) that produce calcitonin. It may be sporadic (usually unilateral); however, it is often familial, caused by a mutation of the ret proto-oncogene. The familial form may occur in isolation or as a component of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndromes types 2A and 2B (see Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) Syndromes: Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia, Type 2A (MEN 2A) and see Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) Syndromes: Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia, Type 2B (MEN 2B)). Although calcitonin can lower serum Ca and phosphate, serum Ca is normal because the high level of calcitonin ultimately down-regulates its receptors. Characteristic amyloid deposits that stain with Congo red are also present. Metastases spread via the lymphatic system to cervical and mediastinal nodes and sometimes to liver, lungs, and bone. Symptoms and Signs Patients typically present with an asymptomatic thyroid nodule, although many cases are now diagnosed during routine screening of affected kindreds with MEN 2A or MEN 2B before a palpable tumor develops. Medullary carcinoma may have a dramatic biochemical presentation when associated with ectopic production of other hormones or peptides (eg, ACTH, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, prostaglandins, kallikreins, serotonin). The best test is measurement of serum calcitonin, which is greatly elevated. A challenge with Ca (15 mg/kg IV over 4 h) provokes excessive secretion of calcitonin. X-rays may show a dense, homogenous, conglomerate calcification. All patients with medullary carcinoma should have genetic testing; relatives of those with mutations should have genetic testing and measurement of basal and stimulated calcitonin levels. Total thyroidectomy is indicated even if bilateral involvement is not obvious. Lymph nodes are also dissected. If hyperparathyroidism is present, removal of hyperplastic or adenomatous parathyroids is required. Pheochromocytoma, if present, is usually bilateral. Pheochromocytomas should be identified and removed before thyroidectomy because of the danger of provoking hypertensive crisis during the operation. Long-term survival is common in patients with medullary carcinoma and MEN 2A; more than two thirds of affected patients are alive at 10 yr. Medullary carcinoma of the sporadic type has a worse prognosis. Relatives with an elevated calcitonin level without a palpable thyroid abnormality should undergo thyroidectomy because there is a greater chance of cure at this stage. Some experts recommend surgery in relatives who have normal basal and stimulated serum calcitonin levels but who have the ret proto-oncogene mutation. Anaplastic carcinoma is an undifferentiated cancer that accounts for about 2% of thyroid cancers. It occurs mostly in elderly patients and slightly more often in women. The tumor is characterized by rapid, painful enlargement. Rapid enlargement of the thyroid may also suggest thyroid lymphoma, particularly if found in association with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. No effective therapy exists, and the disease is generally fatal. About 80% of patients die within 1 yr of diagnosis. In a few patients with smaller tumors, thyroidectomy followed by external radiation has been curative. Chemotherapy is mainly experimental. Radiation-Induced Thyroid Cancer Thyroid tumors develop in people exposed to large amounts of environmental thyroid radiation, as occurs from atomic bomb blasts, nuclear reactor accidents, or incidental thyroid irradiation due to radiation therapy. Tumors may be detected 10 yr after exposure, but risk remains increased for 30 to 40 yr. Such tumors are usually benign; however, about 10% are papillary thyroid carcinoma. The tumors are frequently multicentric or diffuse. Patients who had thyroid irradiation should undergo yearly thyroid palpation, ultrasonography, and measurement of thyroid autoantibodies (to exclude Hashimoto's thyroiditis). A thyroid scan does not always reflect areas of involvement. If ultrasonography reveals a nodule, fine-needle aspiration biopsy should be done. In the absence of suspicious or malignant lesions, many physicians recommend lifelong TSH-lowering doses of thyroid hormone to suppress thyroid function and thyrotropin secretion and possibly decrease the chance of developing a thyroid tumor. Surgery is required if fine-needle aspiration biopsy suggests cancer. Near-total or total thyroidectomy is the treatment of choice, to be followed by radioiodine ablation of any residual thyroid tissue if a cancer is found (depending on the size, histology, and invasiveness). Last full review/revision May 2012 by Jerome M. Hershman, MD Content last modified May 2012

Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) occurs in most racehorses and is observed in many other horses used in equine sports (eg, polo, barrel racing, 3-day events) that require strenuous exercise for short periods of time. Epistaxis is observed in a small proportion (~5%) of horses with EIPH. Blood in the tracheobronchial tree is identified in 45–75% of racehorses via endoscopic examination, and hemorrhage is detected by cytologic examination of bronchoalveolar lavage in >90% of racehorses. Proposed pathophysiologic mechanisms for pulmonary hemorrhage include high pulmonary vascular pressures during maximal exercise, neovascularization secondary to pulmonary inflammation, and intrathoracic shear forces generated during exercise. Some research suggests EIPH results from thickening of pulmonary vein walls, resulting in decreased luminal diameter and increased intravascular pressure at the level of the pulmonary capillaries. Endoscopic observation of blood in the airways 30–90 min after exercise provides definitive evidence of EIPH. Other sources of hemorrhage in the upper airway, particularly guttural pouch mycosis (see Respiratory Diseases of Horses: Guttural Pouch Mycosis) and ethmoid hematoma (see Respiratory Diseases of Horses: Ethmoid Hematoma), must be excluded during endoscopic examination. If EIPH is suspected and the horse cannot be examined after exercise, cytologic examination of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for semiquantitative assessment of hemosiderophages is diagnostic. Stains that highlight iron-containing pigments (Prussian blue) facilitate recognition of these cells. Thoracic radiography demonstrates alveolar or mixed alveolar-interstitial opacities in the caudodorsal lung fields; however, radiographic examination of the thorax has little impact on the diagnosis or management of EIPH. Treatment and Control Furosemide reduces the incidence and severity of EIPH in Thoroughbred racehorses. Horses with and without EIPH demonstrate equal improvements in race performance after administration, indicating that furosemide may enhance performance via mechanisms unrelated to EIPH. Application of nasal dilator bands reduces RBC counts in bronchoalveolar fluid from affected horses running on a treadmill by 33%. Alternative treatments, including procoagulant agents (eg, vitamin K, conjugated estrogens, aminocaproic acid), antihypertensive drugs, rheologic agents (pentoxyphylline), bronchodilators, prolonged rest, dietary supplements (hepseridin-citrus bioflavinoids), and anti-inflammatory drugs, have not demonstrated therapeutic benefit. Last full review/revision March 2012 by Bonnie R. Rush, DVM, MS, DACVIM

On Nov. 6, Californians will have an opportunity to vote on a hugely significant initiative that will have wide-ranging implications for the people of the state. This initiative is called the California Right to Know if Your Food has Been Genetically Engineered Act -- Proposition 37 on the ballot. If passed, it would make it mandatory for food manufactures and retailers to label genetically engineered foods (also call GE or GM foods, or GMOs, for genetically modified organisms) on their packaging or on signage in stores. Today, we have labels on packaging that tell us how much sugar, salt, cholesterol and fat are in our food, but the FDA says labeling is not necessary for genetically engineered foods, even though the majority of Americans would like to see them labeled. According to polls, when people learn about GMOs, they overwhelmingly want them labeled. In recent surveys by Mellman, Reuters and MSNBC, more than 90 percent of U.S. respondents from across the political spectrum said they would like to see them labeled. Today, most of the world, including all of Europe, Japan, Australia and even China, has GMO labeling laws because citizens have demanded them. With such high numbers of people wanting them labeled in this country, why hasn't our government acted in our interests? It's hard to believe, but some people don't want you to know that you are eating GMOs (they were introduced in Americans' diets in These same people have hundreds of full-time lobbyists working to promote their interests and defeat national and state GMO labeling campaigns. So who are these people who don't like choice? The opposition to GMO labeling is composed of the big agro-biotech and pesticide companies, including Monsanto, BASF and DuPont, as well as big food manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Kelloggs -- some of the biggest users of high-fructose corn syrup and sugar beets, two commonly used GMO ingredients. What is the opposition afraid of? If GMOs are so great (as they tout in their promotional material), they should proudly label their technology to consumers. The problem is these companies know that when people read up on GE foods they most likely will avoid them. The reason is that there is a growing body of evidence that contradicts the government's and the ag-biotech companies' assertions that they are safe. According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, animal studies conducted by independent labs indicate serious health risks associated with GMO food. As a consequence of these studies, the AAEM has called on all physicians to prescribe diets without GMO foods to all patients. They also called for a moratorium on GMOs, long-term independent studies, and labeling. Understandably, this is bad news for the industry. As one Monsanto executive said, "If you put a label on genetically engineered food, you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it." So, get ready, California, in the next few months there will be a massive food fight in the state. We can't afford to lose this one. Please vote yes on Proposition 37 on Nov. 6. Go to www.CARightToKnow.org to learn more. Camille Sauvé is a resident of Castro Valley.

Most of the world doesn't have the benefit of picking up food from the corner store — they grow it themselves. A family's plot of land has to provide for their nutritional and economic needs. When food shortages occur due to drought and conflict, Mercy Corps helps prevent hunger and treat malnutrition in the most vulnerable — children, pregnant women, the elderly and the displaced. Distributing food is necessary in times of crisis, and we always try to procure food from local suppliers to save money, ensure faster delivery and support of the local economy. Learn more about the success of this model in Niger (PDF) ▸ In addition to emergency responses, we quickly focus on long-term solutions that strengthen harvests and livestock for the long-term. Mercy Corps works with families to ensure quality inputs, smart land use, good crop yields and a fair price at local markets. All stories about Agriculture & Food Guatemala: Part 1: Owning the land April 3, 2008 Conflicts over land erupted when worldwide prices for coffee plummeted in 2000. Many Guatemalan coffee plantations shut down and forced workers from their homes on the land — leading to violent confrontations between landlords and laid-off workers. Guatemala: Worth The Wait April 3, 2008 Guatemala: It Begins With Land April 3, 2008 To most rural Guatemalans, land means everything. DR Congo: Rainstorms, Lava and a Human Flood February 27, 2008 I recently watched as the rain fell for hours over Goma. From the comfort of a house, rain in tropical Africa is spectacular, even magic. But for the thousands displaced Congolese waiting out the storm in their twenty-four square foot huts made of sticks and banana leaves, it is hell. China: Finding Hope on the Side of the Road February 6, 2008 One day as 40-year-old Guo Peiling was rummaging around the neighborhood for his recycling business, he found a school for his youngest daughter. China: Planting Day February 6, 2008 For many families throughout the world, the spring days when family gardens are planted are a cherished annual tradition. As seeds are sown, loved ones take time to talk, laugh and share thoughts. With any luck, the food grown in the family plot will nourish them later that year. China: Perfect Harmony Family February 6, 2008 China: Both Ends of the Long Road February 6, 2008 It is a long road between southwestern China’s myriad green hillocks and the congested outskirts of the country’s teeming cities. Indonesia: Aceh: Rising from War and Disaster December 21, 2007 The Indian Ocean tsunami quite literally shook the world. The magnitude 9.3 earthquake that spawned its catastrophic waves was the second most powerful on record. The waves traveled with such force that, seven hours after the earthquake, they killed almost 300 people on Somalia's coast. Indonesia: Empowerment Through Gardening December 21, 2007 The women of Mirik Lamreudup village are not only winning awards for their organic agriculture, but sharing their newfound success with other women in the area. Most of them are survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami. All of them have made great strides in the last three years.

View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.) (born 1715, Kirkharle, Northumberland, Eng.died Feb. 6, 1783, London) British master of naturalistic garden design. He worked for years at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, one of the most talked-of gardens of the day, under William Kent (1685–1748). By 1753 he was the leading improver of grounds in England. At Blenheim Palace he created masterly lakes and almost totally erased the earlier formal scheme. His landscapes consisted of expanses of grass, irregularly shaped bodies of water, and trees placed singly and in clumps. His style is often thought of as the antithesis of that of André Le Nôtre, designer of the formal Versailles gardens. Brown's nickname arose from his habit of saying that a place had capabilities. Variants of BROWN, CAPABILITY Brown, Capability orig. Lancelot Brown This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on Brown, Capability, visit Britannica.com. Seen & Heard What made you look up Brown, Capability? Please tell us what you were reading, watching or discussing that led you here.

View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.) Act of offering objects to a divinity, thereby making them holy. The motivation for sacrifice is to perpetuate, intensify, or reestablish a connection between the human and the divine. It is often intended to gain the favour of the god or to placate divine wrath. The term has come to be applied specifically to blood sacrifice, which entails the death or destruction of the thing sacrificed (seehuman sacrifice). The sacrifice of fruits, flowers, or crops (bloodless sacrifice) is more often referred to as an offering. This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on sacrifice, visit Britannica.com.

Pesticides: The Danish Pesticide Leaching Assessment Programme In 1998, the Danish Government initiated the Pesticide Leaching Assessment Programme (PLAP), an intensive monitoring programme aimed at evaluating the leaching risk of pesticides under field conditions. The objective of the PLAP is to improve the scientific foundation for decision making in the assessment of pesticides for registration in Denmark. The specific aim is to analyse whether pesticides applied in accordance with current regulations leach to the groundwater at levels exceeding the maximum allowable concentration of 0.1 µg/l. The programme was designed and the six test sites were established in Denmark during 1999. The work is being carried out by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS) and the National Environmental Research Institute (NERI). The six test sites and the monitoring equipment installed are described in the report: “The Danish Pesticide Leaching Assessment Programme: Site characterization and monitoring design”. The first results, from three test sites where monitoring was started in 1999, are presented in the report: “The Danish Pesticide Leaching Assessment Programme: Monitoring results, May 1999 – July 2000”. Further information: Bo Lindhardt, GEUS. Phone: +45 3814 2323. E-mail: email@example.com. The two reports can be downloaded from http://www.pesticidvarsling.dk or purchased from GEUS. Back to the newsletter. to the newsletter.

- Health Library - Research a Disease or Condition - Lookup a Symptom - Learn About a Test - Prepare for a Surgery or Procedure - What to do After Being Discharged - Self-Care Instructions - Questions to Ask Your Doctor - Nutrition, Vitamins & Special Diets DefinitionWrist pain is any pain or discomfort in the wrist. Pain - wrist Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common cause of wrist pain. You may feel aching, burning, numbness, or tingling in your palm, wrist, thumb, or fingers. The thumb muscle can become weak, making it difficult to grasp things. Pain may extend up to your elbow. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when an important nerve (called the median nerve) gets compressed at the wrist because of swelling. Such swelling can occur if you: - Do repetitive movements with your wrist such as typing on a computer keyboard, using a computer mouse, playing racquetball or handball, sewing, painting, writing, or using a vibrating tool. - Are pregnant, menopausal, or overweight. - Have diabetes, premenstrual syndrome, an underactive thyroid, or rheumatoid arthritis. Wrist pain with bruising and swelling is often a sign of an injury. The signs of a possible broken bone include deformed joints and inability to move the wrist, hand, or a finger. Other common injuries include sprain, strain, tendinitis, and bursitis. Arthritis is another common cause of wrist pain, swelling, and stiffness. There are many types of arthritis. Osteoarthritis occurs with age and overuse. Rheumatoid arthritis generally affects both wrists. Psoriatic arthritis accompanies psoriasis. Infectious arthritis is a medical emergency. The signs of an infection include redness and warmth of the wrist, fever above 100°F, and recent illness. Other common causes of wrist pain include: For carpal tunnel syndrome, you may need to make adjustments to your work habits and environment: - Make sure that your keyboard is low enough that your wrists aren't bending upwards while you type. - Take plenty of breaks from activities that aggravate the pain. When typing, stop often to rest the hands, if only for a moment. Rest your hands on their sides, not the wrists. - An occupational therapist can show you ways to ease pain and swelling and stop the syndrome from coming back. - Over-the-counter pain medications like ibuprofen or naproxen can relieve pain and swelling. - Various mousepads, typing pads, split keyboards, and wrist splints (braces) are designed to relieve wrist pain. Some people find these devices help their symptoms. You may wish to try a few different kinds to see if any help. - You may only need to wear a wrist splint at night while you sleep. This helps reduce the swelling. If that alone is not working, wear the splints during the day and apply hot or cold compresses periodically. For a recent injury: - Rest your wrist. Keep it elevated. - Apply ice to the tender and swollen area. - Take over-the-counter pain medication, like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. - Wear a splint for several days. Wrist splints can be purchased at many drugstores and medical supply stores. For non-infectious arthritis: - Do flexibility and strengthening exercises every day. Work with a physical therapist to learn the best and safest exercises for your wrist. - Try the exercises after a hot bath or shower so that your wrist is warmed up and less stiff. - DO NOT perform exercises when your wrist is actively inflamed. - Make sure that you also rest the joint adequately. Both rest and exercise are important when you have arthritis. When to Contact a Medical Professional Get emergency care if: - You are unable to move your wrist, hand or a finger. - Your wrist, hand, or fingers are misshapen. - You are bleeding significantly. Call your doctor right away if: - You have a fever over 100°F. - You have a rash. - You have swelling and redness of your wrist and you have had a recent illness (like a virus or other infection). Call your doctor for an appointment if: - You have swelling, redness or stiffness in one or both wrists. - You have numbness, tingling, or weakness in the wrist, hand, or fingers with pain. - You have lost any muscle mass in the wrist, hand, or fingers. - You have been following self-care treatments for two weeks but still have pain. What to Expect at Your Office Visit Your health care provider will perform a physical examination, and ask questions about your symptoms and history such as: - When did the wrist pain begin? - Did it occur suddenly and severely or gradually and mildly? - Is the pain constant, or does it come and go? - Is the pain worse in the morning or at night? - Does it go away without self care? - Is the pain sharp, throbbing, or burning? Is there numbness or tingling in any of your fingers? - Where exactly is the pain? Is it in both wrists? Does it extend into the fingers? - Does the pain occur only with certain movements or positions? - Does the pain prevent normal use of the wrist, hand, or arm? - Is the pain worse with movement? - What helps it? Is it better with immobilization to prevent movement? Does splinting the wrist or applying heat help? - Do any medications help? - Is there joint pain elsewhere? - Is there pain elsewhere, such as the neck? - What medications are you taking? - Have you had any recent injuries or illnesses? - Are you involved in activities requiring repetitious hand and wrist movements, such as sewing, knitting, computer keyboard use? X-rays may be taken. If your health care provider thinks that you have an infection, gout, or pseudogout, fluid may be removed from the joint to examine under a microscope. Anti-inflammatory drugs may be prescribed. Injection with a steroid medication may be performed. Surgery or medications may be needed to treat some conditions. To prevent carpal tunnel syndrome: - Adjust your keyboard so that you do not have to bend your wrist upward while typing. - Take frequent breaks from activities that require wrist movement. - Work with an occupational therapist. To prevent gout attacks: - Limit alcohol. - Lose weight if you are overweight. - Drink plenty of water. - Eat lower amounts of liver, anchovies, sardines, and herring. - Your doctor may prescribe medication. Swigart CR. Hand and wrist pain. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Harris ED Jr, et al, eds. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 44. Wright PE II. Carpal tunnel, ulnar tunnel, and stenosing tenosynovitis. In: Canale ST, Beatty JH, eds. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2007:chap 73. Ingari JV. Wrist and hand: The adult wrist. In: DeLee JC, Drez D Jr, Miller MD, eds. DeLee and Drez’s Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2009:chap 20, section A. Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of Medicine; C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

After Team Anna demanded Right to Reject and Recall, newspapers and other media ran reports over these very new concepts. There is no doubt that Right to Reject and Right to Recall would mean revolution for the Democracy and Politics. People would be surely benefited but arguments against these Rights are equally strong. This article covers various aspects of Right to Reject. An article on Right to Recall can be viewed here. Reading both the articles would give you a clear picture of both the rights. What is Right to Reject? Candidates are chosen by the political parties but it might happen that people in the constituency are discontented with the candidates presented to them. On the voting machine, below the names of the candidates, a new option would be inserted which says “None of the Above”. A voter may choose “None of the Above” option to express disapproval of all the candidates given on the list. If ‘None of the Above’ option gets the maximum votes in the constituency then all the candidates would be considered as rejected. In such scenario, re-elections would take place with new candidates. Something similar already exists in the Rule 49-O Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. It states that if a person does not want to vote, and wishes to get this fact recorded, he may follow a set procedure in the election booth and do so. But it is not as practical or as grand as Right to Reject. The reasons why Right to Reject should be introduced: 1. Right to Reject gives people power to express discontent. If citizens are dissatisfied with the background or previous performance of the candidates, they may opt to reject all the candidates. 2.Right to Reject would check candidates with criminal records and parties would be forced to give tickets to good candidates. 3. If almost all the candidates on whom political parties spent crores of Rupees are rejected, they would be discouraged to spend their money. 4. Right to Reject would mean true democracy as the people will be able select their ‘representative’ in true sense of the word. The representative in all likelihood would be honest and transparent in his functions as a Member of Parliament because he has gone through rigorous selection procedure. The reasons why Right to Reject should not be introduced: 1. With Right to Reject at their disposal, people will be able to express their opinion and cast vote rejecting all the candidates but this won’t be counted against the votes cast in the candidate’s favour. The number of selections of ‘None of the above’ must have maximum votes to initiate re-election. 2. On an average 60% of the voters cast their votes. More and more people are disenchanted by the politics today. Right to reject might become a fashion statement among them which would prolong election. 3. There are around 11 million teachers, staff and other officers who assist in conducting general elections. Also, tight security measures have to be taken by police for upholding law and order during elections. It would become tedious and unnecessary burden for everyone to conduct the whole activity again if candidates get rejected. 4. The cost would increase manifold if re-elections would have to be conducted. Increases the burden on the tax payers. Also, political parties would spend huge amount again to campaign for the new candidate. 5. In J&K and some North eastern states, the right to reject may be misused to create political instability. Every candidate presented to the people might be rejected again and again, sending a negative political message. 6. Voting in India is party oriented. Masses don’t care who is representing them. Its the ruling party which matters. Though arguments in support of Right to Reject may be less in number but they outweigh the other side. Now-a-days, candidates with serious criminal background are imposed upon the public by political parties. This gives us no choice but to exercise our very limited options that is -to choose an incompetent/corrupt candidate or not to vote at all. In spite of all the efforts of the Election Commission, the election scenario continues to be dire. In such a situation introduction of Right to Reject may prove to be a breather for the masses. The issue of introduction of Right to Reject in J&K and some North-Eastern States must be dealt with very tactfully by the Election Commission. Its up to the Election Commission and the Government now to weigh the Pros and Cons for Right to Reject and decide whether to introduce it or not. But considering the effort of various NGO’s and other eminent personalities lobbying for it, we may hope that we will be granted with the “None of the above” option on the voting machine soon. Express your opinion by way of comments! You might even have some points to contribute to this debate. We welcome both comments and criticism. Don’t forget to share this article with your Facebook friends. Link to article on Right to Recall Co-Founder and Editor, MightyLaws.in Student, National Law Institute University, Bhopal.

When wearing braces, are there things to avoid? To ensure a timely and successful treatment, there are things to consider. Try to avoid eating foods that are hard, sticky or high in sugar and acid as they may damage the braces. If sports are played, the dentist or orthodontist may suggest wearing a protective mouth-guard. Keeping your teeth clean and cavity free is very, very important while you have braces. Avoiding foods like popcorn, sticky candies like toffee which can stick in teeth and gums, helps reduce the risk of cavities.

DNR fisheries biologists write Status of Fishery Reports on major lakes and streams around the state. These reports contain the environment, both physical and chemical, the history, including all stockings and fish surveys, Current status of the fishery, management operations, and finally Management direction recommendations. These reports are available online on the DNR's web site. Today we will look at a gem of an inland lake, Gratiot Lake. Gratiot Lake, which lies at the feet of Mt. Horace Greeley and Mt. Gratiot, contains 1,438 acres (2.25 sq miles) and is the largest lake in Keweenaw County. These peaks are the two highest points in the Keweenaw, at 1550 feet and 1490 feet, respectively. Gratiot Lake is at 743 feet, while Lake Superior is at 602. It has a maximum depth of 78 feet and averages 25-30 in depth. Fifteen percent, or 216 acres, is less than 15 feet deep. It has four inlet streams, Eister Creek, Sucker Creek, 932 Creek, and an unnamed creek. It has an outlet, the Little Gratiot River, which flows about six miles into Lac La Belle. The water is very clear, one being able to see bottom in 20 feet of water. The oxygen levels and pH are good for aquatic life. Gratiot Lake has a long history of fish stocking, with the first in 1934 and the last in 2004, in 31 different years and 10 different species. The species stocked were large and smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, northern muskie, tiger muskie, yellow perch, bluegill, lake trout, and rainbow trout. Although 110,000 bluegill were stocked, none are present today, as Gratiot Lake lies north of their historical range, with mid-Houghton County being the northern extent of bluegill. In 1962, a single stocking of 3,000 northern muskie fingerlings was made and will be discussed later. Of the 10 species stocked, five are currently found in Gratiot lake, so not all stockings are successful. Ten fish surveys have been conducted on Gratiot Lake, with the first being in 1926 and the last in 2011. The 1926 survey found yellow perch and pike abundant, rock bass abundant, but smallmouth bass moderately abundant, and brook trout present, but rare. The brookies probably came out of the creeks entering the lake. For more information If you have questions regarding this column, and/or would like to see more of this type of report, please email the Daily Mining Gazette. The next survey, done in 1938, was more comprehensive and attempted to see if any of the almost 1.5 million walleye fry stocked in the four previous years had survived. None were found. They did report about the same fish and numbers as the 1926 survey. They did report on minnow species sampled, which are important as forage for game fish. They found blunt nose minnows, Johnny darters, Iowa darters, sculpin, log perch, and ninespine stickleback. The next seven surveys were done in 1953, 1957, 1968, 1977, 1987, 1997, and 2005. These were made to evaluate the various stockings of walleye, muskie, lake trout, and rainbow trout. No lake trout and very few rainbow trout were found in these surveys. All surveys reported rock bass very abundant and small. In the early 1980's smelt were reported by anglers and also captured in surveys. The 1987 survey found the first walleye, the result of the 1985 and 86 fingerling plants. The recently developed smelt population mostly likely contributed to their survival. The 2005 survey was the first to capture muskie, although there were reports previously anglers had caught them. The 2011 survey's goal was to evaluate and get a population estimate of the northern pike, muskie, and walleye. It was done with fyke nets and electrofishing, so all the fish could be released back into the lake unharmed. Several members of the Copper Country Walleye Association assisted DNR on the survey and reported it was great fun and a tremendous learning experience. Ten fish species, excluding minnows, were captured, including walleye, pike, muskie, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass, bullhead, smelt, and common white suckers. The bullheads were a first-time discovery and probably came from a well-meaning angler dumping his bait bucket after a day's fishing. Common white suckers were the most numerous, numbering over a thousand. Walleye were second-most common, with 659 captured. They represented 20 different inch classes from 5-25, with 139 being in the 15-inch class. Of the total, 391 or over 59 percent of the walleye were legal size of 15 inches or greater. The walleye fishery is very good. Seventy-eight pike were handled, with 28 or almost 36 percent being the legal minimum size of 24 inches. Of the 24 smallmouth sampled, 17 were 14 inches or greater and the largest in the 17-inch class. Seven muskie were captured, ranging from just over 10 inches to a monster female of 51-plus inches. The range of sizes indicates they are naturally reproducing, albeit at a low level. The large female, weighed over 50 pounds, and as far as is known, still swims in Gratiot Lake. So, if you are fishing on Gratiot Lake and something very big grabs your lure and suddenly breaks your line, this may have been the large muskie. Rock bass continue to be small and very abundant, while perch populations are low. In 1961, a public access site was purchased and developed. It is located on the north side of the lake, off Gratiot Lake Road. In 1947, 90 brush shelters were placed along the 15-foot contour and another 600 were placed in 1958. It is not known if any of these remain or are functional. Management direction is totally up the the Fisheries Division of the DNR. A couple of my thoughts: Protect the smelt population by banning dipping in the tributary creeks. They are a very important part of the forage base and over time, a winter ice fishery could be developed. A low-level stocking of muskie fingerlings, in my opinion, of say 5,000 every third year, would be appropriate. This would potentially create a better fishery, while reducing the white sucker population, the muskie's favorite food.

Astigmatism is caused by an irregular curvature of the cornea or lens. A cornea without significant astigmatism is shaped like the side of a basketball (the curvature is uniform over the entire surface). A cornea with astigmatism is shaped more like the side of a football (with the curvature being short and steep in one direction and long and flat in the other). Astigmatism distorts rays of light in a way that is similar to a funhouse mirror, making objects look wider, taller or thinner than they really are. Astigmatism is very common. In fact, most people have some degree of astigmatism. In most cases, people with astigmatism are born with this condition. The reason why corneal shape differs from person to person is unknown, but the likelihood of developing astigmatism is inherited. Sometimes, astigmatism can develop after an eye disease, eye injury or surgery. When the cornea has an irregular shape, it is called corneal astigmatism. When the shape of the lens is distorted, you have lenticular astigmatism. As a result of either type of astigmatism, your vision for both near and far objects appears blurry or distorted. Astigmatism may be combined with other refractive errors such as nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia). While adults with a higher degree of astigmatism may realize their vision is not as good as it should be, children who have astigmatism symptoms may not be aware they have this condition and are unlikely to complain about blurred or distorted vision. Astigmatism can be treated non-surgically with glasses or rigid or soft contact lenses. Astigmatism can also be corrected surgically using a variety of procedures, such as LASIK, PRK, as a part of cataract surgery using LRI’s (limbal relaxing incisions, which are only for very low degrees of astigmatism), or as a part of cataract surgery using specialized TORIC lens implants which can correct even very high degrees of astigmatism by putting the correction inside the eye.