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An aerial view shows the 1992 lava dome of Bogoslof Island, the summit of a largely submarine stratovolcano located in the Bering Sea 50 km behind the main Aleutian arc. The 1992 lava dome grew to a height of 100 m in July at the northern tip of Bogoslof Island. The island is about 1.5 x 0.6 km wide, and due to its frequent eruptive activity and energetic wave action, has changed shape dramatically since first mapped in the late 1700's. Type/Process: Lava Dome Volcanic Status: Historical Image Number: 053-082 Photographer: Tom Miller (U.S. Geological Survey) Summit Elevation: 150 meters Latitude/Longitude: 53.93 N / 168.03 W Timeframe: Last known eruption 1964 or later

Profound and peculiar changes caused by the recession From babies to sharks, the recession has affected the US in some pretty peculiar ways. See what the downturn changed Wed, Sep 22 2010 at 1:55 PM The recession officially ended in June 2009, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced on Monday (Sept. 20). Yet the financial pain lingers for many, and the downturn caused profound shifts in everything from consumer habits to the rate of births. The recession affected the United States in some other, more peculiar ways, too. Shark attacks declined In 2008, attacks worldwide dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may have forgone vacation trips to the beach, according to ichthyologist George Burgess of the University of Florida. The total number of shark attacks declined from 71 in 2007 to 59 in 2008— the fewest since 2003, when there were 57, said Burgess. Energy consumption declined Americans used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power, according to energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a government national security laboratory in Livermore, Calif. There also was a decline in natural gas use and an increase in use of alternative energy sources, including solar, hydrothermal and geothermal power, the researchers said. Fewer babies were born Birth rates in the United States started to decline in 2008, after rising to their highest level in two decades, and the decrease appears to be linked to the recession, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of state fertility and economic data. The analysis found a strong association between the magnitude of birth rate change from 2007-2008 and the housing foreclosure rates in 2007. Over the past decade, birth rate trends roughly mirrored the nation’s economic ups and downs. Violent crime went down Violent crime decreased 4.4 percent in 2009 compared with 2008, according to the FBI's preliminary crime report released in May. The Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which collects and reports crime data to the FBI, defines violent crimes as crimes that involve force or threat of force. Heavier women became more beautiful Two studies, one using American movie actresses, the other Playboy Playmates of the Year, found that in uncertain economic times, beauty icons tend to be slightly more "mature" looking women — taller, heavier and sporting larger waists and less babyish facial features. Social and economic conditions, such as unemployment and homicide rates, influence what traits are viewed as attractive, according to Coastal Carolina University researchers. Dead bodies piled up Family members became unable to afford proper burials for deceased relatives due to economic hardship. For example, the Wayne County morgue in midtown Detroit had 67 unclaimed bodies in October 2009, according to news reports. As neither the deceased's families nor the county could afford to bury the dead, the corpses remained stacked up in the morgue's freezer. In July 2009, cremation went up 36 percent in Los Angeles, Calif., because of unclaimed bodies, according to news sources. Adulthood was delayed Young Americans took more time than before to leave home and become full-fledged adults, according to Richard Settersten, a professor of human development and family sciences at Oregon State University, and Barbara Ray, president of Hired Pen, Inc. As young people became more financially insecure and took home lower wages, they relied more heavily on their parents for financial assistance, the researchers observed.

for Content Publishers and Webmasters - Introducing RSS - Choosing Content for Your Feeds - Publishing Your Feed - Telling People About Your Feed - Format Versions and Modules - Which Format Should I Choose? - Tips for Generating Good Feeds - Feed Tools - More Information - About this Document Think about all of the information that you access on the Web on a day-to-day basis; news headlines, search results, “What’s New”, job vacancies, and so forth. A large amount of this content can be thought of as a list; although it probably isn’t in HTML the information is list-oriented. Most people need to track a number of these lists, but it becomes difficult once there are more than a handful of sources. This is because they have to go to each page, load it, remember how it’s formatted, and find where they last left off in the list. RSS is an XML-based format that allows the syndication of lists of hyperlinks, along with other information, or metadata, that helps viewers decide whether they want to follow the link. This allows peoples’ computers to fetch and understand the information, so that all of the lists they’re interested in can be tracked and personalized for them. It is a format that’s intended for use by computers on behalf of people, rather than being directly presented to them (like HTML). To enable this, a Web site will make a feed, or channel, available, just like any other file or resource on the server. Once a feed is available, computers can regularly fetch the file to get the most recent items on the list. Most often, people will do this with an aggregator, a program that manages a number of lists and presents them in a single interface. Feeds can also be used for other kinds of list-oriented information, such as syndicating the content itself (often weblogs) along with the links. However, this tutorial focuses on the use of RSS for syndication of links. What’s in a feed? A feed contains a list of items or entries, each of which is identified by a link. Each item can have any amount of other metadata associated with it as well. The most basic metadata for an entry includes a title for the link and a description of it; when syndicating news headlines, these fields might be used for the story title and the first paragraph or a summary, for example. For example, a simple entry might look like; <item> <title>Earth Invaded</title> <link>http://news.example.com/2004/12/17/invasion</link> <description>The earth was attacked by an invasion fleet from halfway across the galaxy; luckily, a fatal miscalculation of scale resulted in the entire armada being eaten by a small dog.</description> </item> Additionally, the feed itself can have metadata associated with it, so that it can be given a title (e.g., “Bob’s news headlines”), description, and other fields like publisher and copyright terms. For an idea of what full feeds look like, see ‘RSS Versions and Modules’. How do people use feeds? Aggregators are the most common use of feeds, and there are several types. Web aggregators (sometimes called portals) make this view available in a Web page; my Yahoo is a well-known example of this. Aggregators have also been integrated into e-mail clients, users’ desktops, or standalone, dedicated software. Aggregators can offer a variety of special features, including combining several related feeds into a single view, hiding entries that the viewer has already seen, and categorizing feeds and entries. Other uses of feeds include site tracking by search engines and other software; because the feed is machine-readable, the search software doesn’t have to figure out which parts of the site are important and which parts are just the navigation and presentation. You may also choose to allow people to republish your feeds on their Web sites, giving them the ability to represent your content as they require. Why should I make a feed available? Your viewers will thank you, and there will be more of them, because it allows them to see your site without going out of their way to visit. While this seems bad at first glance, it actually improves your site’s visibility; by making it easier for your users to keep up with your site — allowing them to see it the way they want to — it’s more likely that they’ll know when something that interests them is available on your site. For example, imagine that your company announces a new product or feature every month or two. Without a feed, your viewers have to remember to come to your site and see if they find anything new — if they have time. If you provide a feed for them, they can point their aggregator or other software at it, and it will give them a link and a description of developments at your site almost as soon as they happen. News is similar; because there are so many sources of news on the Web, most of your viewers won’t come to your site every day. By providing a feed, you are in front of them constantly, improving the chances that they’ll click through to an article that catches their eye. But isn’t that giving away my content? No! You still retain copyright on your content (if you wish to). You also control what information is syndicated in the feed, whether it’s a full article or just a teaser. Your content can still be protected by your current access control mechanisms; only the links and metadata are distributed. You can also protect the RSS feed itself with SSL encryption and HTTP username/password authentication too, if you’d like. In many ways, syndication is similar to the subscription newsletters that many sites offer to keep viewers up-to-date. The big difference is that they don’t have to supply an e-mail address, lowering the barrier of privacy concerns, while still giving you a direct channel to your viewers. Also, they get to see the content in the manner that’s most convenient to them, which means that you get more eyes looking at your content. Choosing Content for Your Feeds Any list-oriented information on your site that your viewers might be interested in tracking or reusing is a good candidate for a feed. This can encompass news headlines and press releases, job listings, conference calendars and rankings (like ‘top 10’ lists). - News & Announcements - headlines, notices and any list of announcements that are added to over time - Document listings - lists of added or changed pages, so that people don’t need to constantly check for different content - Bookmarks and other external links - while most people use RSS for sharing links from their own sites, it’s a natural fit for sharing lists of external links - Calendars - listings of past or upcoming events, deadlines or holidays - Mailing lists - to compliment a Web-based archive of public or private e-mail lists - Search results - to let people track changing or new results to their searches - Databases - job listings, software releases, etc. While it’s a good start to have a “master feed” for your site that lists recent news and events, don’t stop there. Generally, each area of your site that features a changing list of information should have a corresponding feed; this allows viewers to precisely target their interests. For example, if your news site has pages for World news, national news, local news, business, sports, etc., there should be a feed for each of these sections. If your site offers a personalized view of data (e.g., people can choose categories of information that will show up on their home page), offer this as a feed, so that the viewers’ Web pages match the content of their feeds. A great example of this is the variety of feeds that Netflix provides; not only can you keep track of new releases, but also personalised reccommendations and even a listing of the movies in your queue. Another good example is Apple’s iTunes Music Store RSS feed generator; you can customize it based on your preferences, and the views it allows match those provided in the Music Store itself. Finally, remember that feeds are just as — if not more — useful on an Intranet as they are on the Internet. Syndication can be a powerful tool for sharing and integrating information inside a company. Publishing Your Feed There are a number of ways to generate a feed from your content. First of all, explore your content management system - it might already have an option to generate an RSS feed. If that option isn’t available, you have a number of choices; - Self-scraping — The easiest way to publish a feed from existing content. Scraping tools fetch your Web page and pull out the relevant parts for the feed, so that you don’t have to change your publishing system. Some use regular expressions or XPath expressions, while others require you to mark up your page with minimal hints (usually using <div> or <span> tags) that help it decide what should be put into the feed. - Feed integration — If your site is dynamically generated (using languages like Perl, Python or PHP), it may have a RSS library available, so that you can integrate the feed into your publishing process. - Starting with the feed — Alternatively, you can manage the list-oriented parts of your content in the RSS feed itself, and generate your Web pages (as well as other content, like e-mail lists) from the feed. This has the advantage of always having the correct information in the feed, and tools like XSLT make this option easy, especially if you’re starting from scratch. - Third party scraping — If none of these options work for you, some people on the Web will scrape your site for you and make the feed available. Be warned, however, that this is never as reliable or accurate as doing it yourself, because they don’t know the details of your content or your system. Also, using third parties introduces another point of failure in the delivery process; problems there (network, server or business) will cause your feed to be unavailable. Telling People About Your Feed An important step after publishing a feed is letting your viewers know that it exists; there are a lot of feeds available on the Web now, but it’s hard to find them, making it difficult for viewers to utilize them. Pages that have an associated RSS feed should clearly indicate this to viewers by using a link containing like ‘RSS feed’. For example, <a type="application/rss+xml" href="feed.rss">RSS feed for this page</a> where ‘feed.rss’ is the URL for the feed. the ‘type’ attribute tells browsers that this is a link to an RSS feed in a way that they understand. Additionally, some programs look for a link in the <head> section of your HTML. To support this, include a <link> tag; <head> <title>My Page</title> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="feed.rss" title="RSS feed for My Page"> </head> These links should be placed on the Web page that is most similar to the feed content; this enables people to find them as they browse. Note that Atom feeds should use application/atom+xml rather than application/rss+xml in both styles of use. Finally, there are a number of guides and registries for RSS feeds that people can search and browse through, much like the Yahoo directory for Web sites; it’s a good idea to register your feed; see More Information. Format Versions and Modules There are a number of different versions of the RSS format in use today, but the main choices are RSS 1.0 and RSS 2.0. Each version has its benefits and drawbacks; RSS 2.0 is known for its simplicity, while RSS 1.0 is more extensible and fully specified. Both formats are XML-based and have the same basic structure. There’s one more choice; Atom is an effort in the IETF (an Internet standards body) to come up with a well-documented, standard syndication format. Although it has a different name, it has the same basic functions as RSS, and many people use the term “RSS” to refer to RSS or Atom syndication. This section presents a quick overview of each; for more information, see their specifications and supporting materials. RSS 2.0 is championed by UserLand’s Dave Winer. In this version, RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication,” and simplicity is its focus. Included in 2.0.1 - the latest stable version of this branch — are channel metadata like allows you to specify a thumbnail image to display with the feed); managingEditor, to identify who’s responsible for the feed, and lastBuildDate, which shows when the feed was last updated. Items have the standard well as other, more experimental facilities like which allows attachments to be automatically downloaded (don’t expect these features to be supported by all aggregators, however). Finally, items can have guid element that identifies the item uniquely; this allows some advanced functionality in some aggregators. Here’s an example of a minimal RSS 2.0 feed: <?xml version="1.0"?> <rss version="2.0"> <channel> <title>Example Channel</title> <link>http://example.com/</link> <description>My example channel</description> <item> <title>News for September the Second</title> <link>http://example.com/2002/09/01</link> <description>other things happened today</description> </item> <item> <title>News for September the First</title> <link>http://example.com/2002/09/02</link> </item> </channel> </rss> In the RSS 2.0 roadmap, Winer states that this branch is, for all practical purposes, frozen, except for clarifications to the specification. However, exensions to the format are allowed in separate modules, using XML Namespaces to avoid conflicts in their names. For example, if you had an ISBN module to track books, it might look like this; <item xmlns:book="http://namespace.example.com/book/1.0" rdf:about="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553575376"> <title>Excession</link> <link>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553575376</link> <book:isbn>0553575376</book:isbn> </item> Generally, though, you should look for available RSS Modules, rather than defining your own, unless you’re sure that what you need doesn’t exist. RSS 1.0 stands for “RDF Site Summary.” This flavor of RSS incorporates RDF, a Web standard for metadata. Because RSS 1.0 uses RDF, any RDF processor can understand RSS without knowing anything about it in particular. This allows syndicated feeds to easily become part of the Semantic Web. RSS 1.0 also uses XML Namespaces to allow extensions, in a manner similar to RSS 2.0. RSS 1.0 feeds look very similar to RSS 2.0 feeds, with a few key differences; - The entire feed is wrapped in </rdf:RDF>elements (so that processors know that it’s RDF) rdf:aboutattribute that usually, but not always, matches the <link>; this assigns an identifier to each item - There’s an <items>element in the channel metadata that contains a list of items in the channel, so that RDF processors can keep track of the relationship between the items - Some metadata uses the rdf:resourceattribute to carry links, instead of putting it inside the element. RSS 1.0 is developed and maintained by an ad hoc group of interested people; see their Web site for more information about RSS 1.0 and RSS Modules. See below for an example of an RSS 1.0 feed. Dublin Core Module The most well-known example of an RSS 1.0 Module is the Dublin Core Module. The Dublin Core is a set of metadata developed by librarians and information scientists that standardizes a set of common metadata that is useful for describing documents, among other things. The Dublin Core Module uses these metadata to attach information to both feeds (in the channel metadata) and to individual items. This module includes useful elements like associating dates with items, dc:subject, which can be useful for categorizing items or feeds, and dc:rights, for dictating the intellectual property rights associated with an item or a feed. Here’s an example of a minimal RSS 1.0 feed that uses the Dublin Core Module: <?xml version="1.0"?> <rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" > <channel rdf:about="http://example.com/news.rss"> <title>Example Channel</title> <link>http://example.com/</link> <description>My example channel</description> <items> <rdf:Seq> <rdf:li resource="http://example.com/2002/09/01/"/> <rdf:li resource="http://example.com/2002/09/02/"/> </rdf:Seq> </items> </channel> <item rdf:about="http://example.com/2002/09/01/"> <title>News for September the First</title> <link>http://example.com/2002/09/01/</link> <description>other things happened today</description> <dc:date>2002-09-01</dc:date> </item> <item rdf:about="http://example.com/2002/09/02/"> <title>News for September the Second</title> <link>http://example.com/2002/09/02/</link> <dc:date>2002-09-02</dc:date> </item> </rdf:RDF> As you can see, RSS 1.0 is a bit more verbose than 2.0, mostly because it needs to be compatible with other versions of RSS while containing the markup that RDF processors need. Both RSS 1.0 and 2.0 are informal specifications; that is, they aren’t published by a well-known standards body or industry consortium, but instead by a small group of people. Some people are concerned by this, because such specifications can be changed at the whim of the people who control it. Standards bodies bring stability, by limiting change and having well-established procedures for introducing it. To introduce such stability to syndication, a group of people established an IETF Working Group to standardise a format called Atom. Atom is functionally similar to both branches of RSS, and is also an XML-based format. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> <title>Example Feed</title> <link href="http://example.org/"/> <updated>2003-12-13T18:30:02Z</updated> <author> <name>John Doe</name> </author> <id>urn:uuid:60a76c80-d399-11d9-b93C-0003939e0af6</id> <entry> <title>Atom-Powered Robots Run Amok</title> <link href="http://example.org/2003/12/13/atom03"/> <id>urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a</id> <updated>2003-12-13T18:30:02Z</updated> <summary>Some text.</summary> </entry> </feed> As you can see, Atom has a feed element that contains both the feed-level metadata as well as the entrys (analogous to RSS’ entry can contain similar metadata, such as id (instead of RSS 1.0’s rdf:about or RSS 2.0’s guid), and a short textual summary (instead of RSS’ Generally, Atom isn’t as widely supported as RSS 1.0 or 2.0 right now, because it’s relatively new. However, it should catch up quickly, because of the broad base of vendors supporting the standardisation effort. Which Format Should I Choose? One of the most confusing and unfortunate problems in syndication is the large number of formats in use. In addition to those listed above, there are many other formats (e.g., RSS 0.9, 0.91, 0.92) that are commonly encountered on the Web. For better or worse, the decision isn’t as critical as you might think. Most aggregators and other software use syndication libraries which abstract out the particular format that a feed is in, so that they can consume any popular syndication feed. As a result, which format to choose is a matter of personal taste. RSS 1.0 is very extensible, and useful if you want to integrate it into Semantic Web systems. RSS 2.0 is very simple and easy to author by hand. Atom is now an IETF Standard, bringing stability and a natural community to support its use. Tips for Generating Good Feeds RSS and Atom are easy to work with, but like any new format, you may encounter some problems in using them. This section attempts to address the most common issues that arise when generating a feed. - Distinct Entries — Make sure that aggregators can tell your entries apart, by using different identifiers in guid(RSS 2.0) and id(Atom). This will save a lot of headaches down the road. - Meaningful Metadata — Try to make the metadata useful on its own; for example, if you only include a short <title>, people may not know what the link is about. By the same token, if you shove an entire article into <description>, it’ll crowd people’s view of the feed, and they’re less likely to stay interested in what you have to say. Generally, you want to put enough into the feed to help someone decide whether they should follow the link. - Encoding HTML — Although it’s tempting, refrain from including HTML markup (like <p>) in your RSS feed; because you don’t know how it will be presented, doing so can prevent your feed from being displayed correctly. If you need to include a a tag in the text of the feed (e.g., the title of an entry is “Ode to <title>”), make sure you escape ampersands and angle brackets (so that it would be “Ode to <title>”). - XML Entities — Remember that XML doesn’t predefine entities like HTML does; therefore, you won’t have ©and other common entities available. You can define them in the XML, or alternatively just use an character encoding that makes what you need available. - Character Encoding — Some software generates feeds using Windows character sets, and sometimes mislabels them. The safest thing to do is to encode your feed as UTF-8 and check it by parsing it with an XML parser. - Communicating with Viewers — Don’t use entries in your feed to communicate to your users; for example, some feeds have been known to use the <description>to dictate copyright terms. Use the appropriate element or module. - Communicating with Machines — Likewise, use the appropriate HTTP status codes if your feed has relocated (usually, 301 Moved Permanently) or is no longer available ( 404 Not Found). - Making your Feed Cache-Friendly — Successful feeds see a fair amount of traffic because clients poll them often to see if they’ve changed. To support the load, Web Caching can help; see the caching tutorial. - Validate — use the Feed Validator to catch any problems in your feed; it works with RSS and Atom. Also, don’t just run it once; make sure you regularly check your feed, so that you can catch transient errors. This is an incomplete list of tools for creating feeds and checking them to make sure that you’ve done so correctly. Note that there are many more libraries that help parsing feeds; these haven’t been included here because this tutorial focuses on the Webmaster, not consumers of feeds. - xpath2rss — Tool for scraping Web sites using XPath expressions (a method of selecting parts of HTML and XML documents). - Site Summaries in XHTML — Online service (also available as an XSLT stylesheet) that uses hints in your HTML to generate a feed. - myRSS — An online, third-party automated scraping service. Doesn’t require any special markup. - RSS.py — Python library for generating and parsing RSS. - ROME — Java library for parsing and generating RSS and Atom feeds, as well as translating between formats. - XML::RSS — Perl module for generating and parsing RSS. - Online Validator - Check your RSS 1.0, 2.0 and Atom feeds. - Syndicated content — Good list of best practices for creating an RSS feed. - Syndic8 — A community effort to gather, validate and search feeds with lots of other information. - RSS Workshop — A well-regarded introduction to publishing RSS feeds, from the state of Utah Online Services division. - RSS Devcenter — O’reilly’s Web portal for all things RSS. About this Document If you do mirror this document, please send e-mail to the address above, so that you can be informed of updates. All trademarks within are property of their respective holders. Although the author believes the contents to be accurate at the time of publication, no liability is assumed for them, their application or any consequences thereof. If any misrepresentations, errors or other need for clarification is found, please contact the author. The latest revision of this document can always be obtained from http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/ Translations are available in: Brazilian Portuguese. Version 0.91 — September 7, 2005

Term used in the 20th century, in particular from the 1960s, to describe a style characterized by an impersonal austerity, plain geometric configurations and industrially processed materials. It was first used by David Burlyuk in the catalogue introduction for an exhibition of John Graham’s paintings at the Dudensing Gallery in New York in 1929. Burlyuk wrote: ‘Minimalism derives its name from the minimum of operating means. Minimalist painting is purely realistic—the subject being the painting itself.’ The term gained currency in the 1960s. Accounts and explanations of Minimalism varied considerably, as did the range of work to which it was related. This included the monochrome paintings of Yves Klein, Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Frank Stella and Brice Marden, and even aspects of Pop art and Post-painterly Abstraction. Typically the precedents cited were Marcel Duchamp’s ready-mades, the Suprematist compositions of Kazimir Malevich and Barnett Newman’s Abstract Expressionist paintings. The rational grid paintings of Agnes Martin were also mentioned in connection with such Minimalist artists as Sol LeWitt. After the work of such critics as Clement Greenberg and Michael Fried, analyses of Minimalism tended to focus exclusively on the three-dimensional work of such American artists as Carl André, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, LeWitt, Robert Morris and Tony Smith, although Smith himself never fully subscribed to Minimalism. These artists never worked or exhibited together as a self-defined group, yet their art shared certain features: geometric forms and use of industrial materials or such modern technology as the fluorescent electric lights that appeared in Flavin’s works. Minimalists also often created simple modular and serial arrangements of forms that are examples of Systems art. LeWitt’s serial works included wall drawings as well as sculptures. Judd and Morris were the principal artists to write about Minimalism. Judd’s most significant contribution to this field was the article ‘Specific Objects’ (1965). Judd’s article began by announcing the birth of a new type of three-dimensional work that could not be classified in terms of either painting or sculpture and, in effect, superseded both traditions. Judd’s concept became retrospectively identified with his own boxes and stark geometric reliefs of the period . Originally, however, he explained his idea with reference to the work of a heterogeneous selection of artists, including Lee Bontecou, John Chamberlain, Klein, Yayoi Kusama (b 1929), Claes Oldenburg, Richard Smith, Frank Stella and H. C. Westermann (1922–81). The article was also copiously illustrated with works by such artists as Richard Artschwager, Flavin, Jasper Johns, Phillip King, Morris, Rauschenberg, Stella, and with one of Judd’s own pieces. Judd distinguished the new work by means of its compositional ‘wholeness’, which, unlike previous art, was not ‘made part by part, by addition’. He was later to focus the critical implications of this distinction with a dismissive reference (1969) to the ‘Cubist fragmentation’ of Anthony Caro’s work. For Judd, his own work achieved its formal integrity principally by adapting into a third dimension the ‘singleness’ that he observed in the compositions of such painters as Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. Morris’s influential ‘Notes on Sculpture’ appeared a year after Judd’s article. In it he established the criteria by which his own recent work could be evaluated. Like Judd, he repudiated an aesthetic based on Cubist principles. ‘The sensuous object, resplendent with compressed internal relations, has had to be rejected’ (Artforum, v/2 (Oct 1966), p. 23). In its place Morris proposed a more compact, ‘unitary’ art form. He was especially drawn to simple, regular and irregular polyhedrons. Influenced by theories in psychology and phenomenology, Morris argued that these configurations established in the mind of the beholder ‘strong gestalt sensation’, whereby form and shape could be grasped intuitively. Judd and Morris both attempted to reduce the importance of aesthetic judgement in modernist criticism by connecting the question of the specificity of the medium to generic value. Nevertheless, a distinction between the categories of art and non-art was maintained with Judd’s claim that ‘A work needs only to be interesting’. For Greenberg and Fried, Minimalist work was united by the threat it posed to their modernist aesthetic. The modernist response to Minimalism was outlined in Greenberg’s ‘Recentness of Sculpture’ and Fried’s ‘Art and Objecthood’ (both 1967). Both critics were troubled by claims for Minimalism as a new art form, and were also concerned at the Minimalist elimination of complex compositional relations and subtle nuances of form, which they believed to be essential qualities of modernist sculpture. The critical resistance that Minimalism met in its initial stages persisted, and censure arose not only from modernist critics but also from the tabloid press. This was particularly evident in the abuse that was given to André’s sculpture made from building bricks, Equivalent VIII (1966; London, Tate), upon the occasion of its exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London in 1976. From the 1960s the Minimalists’ work remained remarkably consistent, continuing its geometric and serial forms (e.g. LeWitt’s Cube Structures Based on Five Modules, 600×800×700 mm, 1971–4; Edinburgh, N.G. Mod. A.). Conceptual art inherited many of the concerns as well as the contradictions of Minimalist discourse. Attempts were made by Joseph Kosuth, among others, to resolve its complex views on the relationship between aesthetic judgement and the art object. Minimalism’s sense of ‘theatricality’ stimulated much subsequent work in the fields of installation and performance art, where it helped facilitate a critical engagement with the spectator’s perception of space and time. The concept of ‘theatricality’ was first used in connection with Minimalism by Michael Fried to characterize the absence of ‘presentness’ in the spatial and temporal experience of the art work. While Fried was critical of this situation, his analysis led, by default, to a reassessment of Minimalism from an anti-humanist perspective. From Grove Art Online © 2009 Oxford University Press

Moving beyond superheroes to tell his people's story. Artist and writer Will Eisner did not invent the graphic novel, but he was among the first to apply the convention of comics to novel-length stories. Eisner was born in Brooklyn in 1917, the son of Austrian Jewish immigrants. His father, a renowned church painter in Europe, first painted sets for theatres after moving to New York. Eventually, to better provide for his family, he opened a retail store. When that business prospered, the Eisners moved to the quieter, more affluent, and relatively more suburban Bronx. They left a neighborhood that was nearly all Jewish, and moved into an area with a more varied ethnic makeup of Irish, Italian, and Eastern European presences. Eisner’s experiences from his youth created a tableau for many of the recurring themes in his work: new immigrants, crooked landlords and store-owners, salesmen with wandering eyes, and housewives with wandering affections. Eisner watched these seedy characters, absorbed their stories, and used them later in life to paint vivid character portraits. Even as a child, Eisner was a gifted artist. At a young age, his father took Will to drawing lessons at an inexpensive art school. When the school turned out to be a fraud -- the "school" was a machine that was attached to the student's arm in order to draw shapes -- the senior Eisner didn't give up. He was determined to find a suitable place for Will to develop his skill. That "suitable place" ended up being their apartment. Self-taught, Will sold his first cartoon in 1936 to Wow What a Magazine. Soon thereafter, he joined one of the many assembly-line comic art studios springing up all over lower Manhattan. There, he met and collaborated with many of the era's finest talents--among them, Jack Kirby (co-creator of Spider-Man and The Eternals) and Max Gaines (Wonder Woman, Famous Funnies). Eisner became so successful that he and cartoonist Jerry Iger created their own studio in 1936. They hired a new team and began to produce high quality work, quickly. In 1939, the two had an amicable split. Eisner ended up selling his half of the studio and started work on his own ventures. Though the overwhelming majority of early comic book creators were Jewish, anti-Semitism still persisted in the industry. Eisner had experienced anti-Semitism in his youth--the kind that provoked street fights in his neighborhood. In the workplace, Eisner encountered people who tried to stop him and other Jews from getting ahead. When Eisner didn't give Bob Powell, creator of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, permission to leave his company, Powell accused Eisner of pulling a "Jew trick." In his early career, Eisner also did business with several publishers and businessmen who, seeing him as an uneducated child of immigrants, attempted to steal his creations and claim them as their property.

JOURNAL OF JAMES EDMOND PEASE : A CIVIL WAR UNION SOLDIER (MY NAME IS AMERICA York : Scholastic, 1998. Edmond Pease is a sixteen year old orphan who finds himself in the Union Army during the Civil War. He is chosen to keep the troop journal -- a chore is does not want to have. He believes that being the troop reporter is a cursed position. Anyone who has had the job has been killed. We follow the daily routines of the troop through the diary of young Mr. Pease. We learn of the food, the poor living conditions and the horrors of war. This journal is written in a realistic style complete with misspellings and jargon of the day. If you enjoy reading historical fiction diaries, you'll enjoy THE JOURNAL OF JAMES EDMOND PEASE. United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction Orphans -- Fiction Diaries -- Fiction Permission is granted for the noncommercial duplication and use of this resource, provided it is substantially unchanged from its present form and appropriate credit is given.

Joined: 16 Mar 2004 |Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:47 pm Post subject: Nanoscale capacitor feasibility studied |Nanoscale capacitor feasibility studied U.S. scientists say they have discovered why the size of capacitors, often the largest components in integrated circuits, can't be cut to nanoscale. Researchers at the University of California-Santa Barbara say their finding answers a 45-year-old question: Why is the capacitance in thin-film capacitors so much smaller than expected? Scientists have tried to use high-permittivity materials to achieve more capacitance in a smaller area but nanoscale devices have yielded lower-than-expected capacitance values. Those low values have limited the performance of thin-film capacitors and prevented further device miniaturization. University of California-Santa Barbara Professor Nicola Spaldin and post-doctoral researcher Massimiliano Stengel used quantum mechanical calculations to prove a so-called "dielectric dead layer" at the metal-insulator interface is responsible for the observed capacitance reduction. Spaldin and Stengel say the fundamental quantum mechanical properties of the interfaces are the root cause of the problem and show that metals with good screening properties can be used to improve the properties. "Our results provide practical guidelines for minimizing the deleterious effects of the dielectric dead layer in nanoscale devices," they said. This story was first posted on 13th October 2006

The latest news from academia, regulators research labs and other things of interest Posted: May 18th, 2012 Synthetic scent hounds - Nanostructured sensor for the detection of very low concentrations of explosive (Nanowerk News) To prevent terrorist attacks at airports, it would be helpful to detect extremely low concentrations of explosives easily and reliably. Despite the development of various sensor technologies, dogs continue to be the most efficient detectors. In the journal Angewandte Chemie ("Bio-Inspired Nanostructured Sensor for the Detection of Ultralow Concentrations of Explosives"), a German and French team has now described a type of micromechanical sensor with a structure derived from the sense organs of butterflies. One approach used for sensors is based on microcantilevers. These are tiny flexible cantilevers like those used to scan surfaces with atomic force microscopes. When used in "chemical noses" the microcantilivers are coated with a material that specifically binds to the analytes being detected. Cantilevers can vibrate like springs. When analyte molecules are bound to a microcantilever, its mass changes along with its frequency of vibration. This change can be measured. TNT: Silicon microcantilevers modified with a three-dimensional layer of vertical titanium dioxide nanotubes (see picture) can be used in micromechanical sensors with optical signal detection to detect low levels of explosives such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in the gas phase, even in the presence of other volatile impurities such as n-heptane and ethanol. Because of their very low vapor pressure at room temperature, the highly sensitive, reliable detection of explosives remains a big challenge. In order to make microcantilevers more sensitive to the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT), research groups led by Denis Spitzer at the French-German Research Institute of Saint Louis and Valérie Keller at the Laboratoire des Matériaux, Surfaces et Procédés pour la Catalyse in Strasbourg have now taken inspiration from the highly sensitive sense organ of some types of butterfly. Male silk moths use this organ to recognize pheromone molecules excreted by females as they land on its broad antennae. These antennae are covered with sensilla, which are porous hairs containing chemonsensing neurons. The scientists equipped their microcantilevers like the butterfly antennae. They coated them with a dense three-dimensionally ordered layer of titanium dioxide nanotubes oriented vertically, like the butterfly sensilla. This has several advantages: the specific surface of the microcantilevers is significantly increased; titanium dioxide binds well to substances that contain nitro groups, which are characteristic of TNT and other explosives; also, the tubes have an open structure, which improves the movement of mass and ensures a rapid sensor response. The tubes are about 1700 nm long and have an outer diameter of about 100 nm and a wall thickness of 20 nm. Each cantilever holds about 500,000 of these nanotubes. For test purposes, the researchers vaporized TNA by heating a tiny crystal. The sensor was able to detect concentrations of less than one part per trillion (ppt) within 3 minutes. The researchers are now working on building a selective detector system for explosives or other gases based on this method. Translate this article: Check out these other trending stories on Nanowerk:

The following HTML text is provided to enhance online readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML. Please use the page image as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy. School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children as reported from survey data from SFAs for the school year 2005–2006. Food prices have changed since that time (see the section “Changes in Food Prices” later in this chapter). These price changes certainly affect the level of costs reported above. Importantly, changes in the relative importance of food items that occur through the menu modifications also affect the estimated changes in food costs and hence the committee’s estimates of the percentage changes. The effect of changes in food prices is discussed in the next section. OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING MEAL COSTS Many factors affect the price of school meals. Some directly affect the cost of food. Others relate to the food service operation. Several of these factors are discussed briefly below. Other Factors Affecting the Cost of Food in School Meals Food purchase practices have a major impact on the cost of food. The Phase I report (IOM, 2008) provides brief summaries of relevant findings from cost studies (USDA/FNS, 2008f) and a school food purchasing study (USDA/FNS, 1998b), along with the websites that can be accessed to obtain further information. At a minimum, procurement and purchasing regulations must conform to federal regulations found at 7 CFR 3016.36, but they are determined at the state level, and they vary considerably from state to state. The School Cost Environment School Food Authorities’ (SFAs’) food costs vary widely because of many factors, including Methods the state uses to manage U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)5 foods (and also the amount a school district receives in USDA food values, which depends on participation the year prior); Purchasing rules of the state or district; Geographical differences that govern the availability of fresh produce, dairy products, and grain products; Location in metropolitan or rural area; Bid pricing and purchasing power; Quality of the bid specification; Distributor costs, district and distributor locations; USDA foods are known familiarly as commodity foods.

Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole. Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages. Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines. OCR for page 1 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Executive Summary The diminishing of the Earth's biological diversity has consequences far more profound than other, sometimes more widely recognized, environmental dilemmas. Because the loss is irreversible—species that are lost are lost forever—the potential impact on the human condition, on the fabric of the Earth's living systems, and on the process of evolution is immense. Our species has evolved biologically and culturally in a highly diverse world. Our interactions with other organisms have shaped our humanity in intricate ways, and our future cannot be separated from that of the life forms and ecosystems with which we share the planet. The conservation of biodiversity is a global responsibility. Each nation has a necessary role to play in finding new ways to manage biological resources and new ways to sustain commitment. As part of this responsibility, we need to identify what we do not know about biodiversity and the means that will be required to increase and disseminate our knowledge. This report presents an agenda for research in areas critical to the conservation of biodiversity in the world's developing countries. It addresses the biological aspects of conservation as well as the socioeconomic factors and cultural context that must be considered in successful, long-term conservation work in these countries. The challenge of biodiversity research entails not only the gathering of information, but its management, application, and communication. Likewise, the quality of research depends on the people and institutions that perform it. These considerations are especially important in developing nations and are addressed as part of this agenda. The specific recommendations offered here flow from the general conviction that comprehension and conservation of biodiversity in developing nations represent a challenge of such magnitude that all links in the research chain must be strengthened to ensure success. The agenda presented here is an ambitious one, but the urgency of the situation requires that it be implemented immediately, and to the fullest extent feasible; a delay of even five years will be too late to prevent irreversible losses. Moreover, we already know a great deal about what needs to be done to preserve biodiversity. We must take OCR for page 2 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies immediate steps to reduce losses; we must not wait for research to reveal in full detail how we may sustain biodiversity permanently. BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CONSERVATION The state of knowledge of biological diversity suggests that the most basic research requirement is to gain a better, more complete sense of ''what's out there.'' At the same time, we need to know more about how biological diversity is distributed, how it is faring, how to protect it and use it in a sustainable manner, and how to restore it. We also need to improve our ability to gather, organize, communicate, and apply this basic biological knowledge. Biological Surveys, Inventory, and Monitoring To achieve an acceptable standard of knowledge about the diversity of the world's biota, the following actions are needed. National Biological Inventories National biological inventories should be organized, funded, and strengthened in each country of the world. This should be the priority for development agencies in biodiversity research. National inventories offer exceptional possibilities for professional linkages and community development and provide the thorough knowledge of organisms necessary for intelligent management of biological diversity to solve any number of practical problems. In many cases this work, with appropriate investments, can be implemented through existing institutions, but should be coordinated through the establishment of national biological institutes or equivalent centers. Global Biological Survey A strategy for gauging the magnitude and patterns of distribution of biological diversity on Earth should be coordinated and implemented. A global survey, drawing on the work of national biological inventories and supplemented by extensive surveys of particular localities, should be undertaken immediately. The National Academy of Sciences study Research Priorities in Tropical Biology (NAS, 1980) recommended that a comprehensive, multidisciplinary worldwide survey of well-known groups of tropical organisms (for example, plants, vertebrates, and butterflies) be undertaken. This recommendation is even more timely now. Such a survey would serve as an index to OCR for page 3 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies the patterns of species distribution and the nature of communities throughout the tropics, and would provide the cornerstone for a global-scale effort. Screening of Organisms The screening of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms for features of potential human benefit should be systematized and accelerated through strengthened programs. Screening allows us to determine more systematically the present and potential uses of organisms for appropriate human purposes. The national biological inventories recommended above should provide both screening opportunities for new natural products and rational methodologies for using materials derived from them. Monitoring To detect, measure, and assess changes in the status of biological diversity, appropriate monitoring methods, employing specific indicators of biodiversity attributes, should be implemented. Inventory, survey, and screening efforts must be complemented by the development and implementation of methods to track the continually changing status of biological diversity. These monitoring efforts should not be undertaken as separate activities, but integrated into the other recommended activities. Conservation Research To advance our understanding of successful conservation strategies and methods, the following actions are needed. Site-Specific Research To advance the understanding of ecosystem composition, structure, and function; to use this knowledge to link basic and applied research, sustainable land use and development, and the conservation of biological diversity; and to provide baseline data for environmental monitoring, long-term ecological research should be supported at selected sites in developing nations. Progress toward truly sustainable land use systems requires information on the effect of management options on the ecosystem dynamics, and this information can be gained only through long-term research. Long-term ecological research is especially necessary in the tropical ecosystems of the developing world, where few comprehensive investigations have been undertaken. OCR for page 4 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Conservation Biology Principles and Methods Research on biological diversity in developing countries should focus on the application and further development of the methodologies and principles of conservation biology. The implementation of conservation strategies in developing nations, particularly the establishment of biological reserves and parks, presents an opportunity to test the sustainability of conservation concepts and practices. Most of these originated in developed nations of the Temperate Zones, where human population pressures are much lighter than in the tropics, and where ecosystems are generally less diverse. Testing and comparing conservation methodologies may enable us to elucidate principles that can be more widely applied. Sustainable Use of Biological Resources Research should be conducted on strategies for the sustainable use of biological diversity and for returning something of the value of biodiversity to developing countries. Sustainable use implies that current human needs should be met without degrading the resource base for future generations. Although many strategies for accomplishing this have been advanced, few have undergone scientific scrutiny. Substantive research results are needed to guide policymakers in choosing among them. Restoring and Utilizing Degraded Lands Increased support should be given to research on the restoration and utilization of degraded lands and ecosystems in developing countries . Restoration of degraded lands, although practiced on a small scale for a number of years in some developed nations, is a relatively new area of emphasis in most developing countries. Currently, only a limited theoretical foundation can be applied to site restoration, and there are very few cases in which these theories have been tested. Development agencies must play a larger role in encouraging these efforts and applying restoration techniques more widely. Information Needs To enhance the availability and application of scientific information for the purposes of managing and conserving biological diversity, the following actions are needed. Computer Data Bases and Inventories Resources should be devoted to the development of computer data bases, inventories, and information networks for the collection and OCR for page 5 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies collation of information. Support should be given to the improvement of interinstitutional coordination, system design, and operational administration through the establishment of national biological institutes or equivalent centers. As conservation faces greater competition for resources, the need for coordination and shared information to prevent duplication of effort becomes paramount. Researchers and administrators involved in conservation efforts must have access to information on the classification, distribution, characteristics, status, and ecological relationships of species. Much of this information, when it exists, is scattered and difficult to obtain. The development of computer data bases and inventories would be a major factor in overcoming this constraint. Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Additional research and technical development are needed to advance the utility of remotely sensed data for ecosystem monitoring in developing countries. The data of remote sensing techniques, coupled with the data management capacity of geographic information systems, offer unprecedented opportunities to assess and monitor ecosystem processes. Even regions that are experiencing rapid change, such as tropical environments, can be closely surveyed through means not available a decade ago. However, remote sensing data must be made more available in developing countries, and training opportunities must be increased. Strengthening Scientific Networks Development agencies should use their financial and institutional resources to establish and encourage networks that foster communication among scientists working with biological diversity in developing countries. As the need for scientific information on biological diversity grows, and as the volume and the quality of information increase, scientific networks must keep pace. These networks should serve to improve communication among scientists in developing countries, between scientists in different countries, and between scientists in both developing and developed countries. Human Resources To strengthen the human resources necessary to survey, research, monitor, and manage biological diversity in developing nations, the following actions are needed. OCR for page 6 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Developing Taxonomic Expertise International development agencies should sponsor and support the development of taxonomic expertise, both paraprofessional and professional, as an increasingly important part of their conservation programs. Many of the recommendations previously outlined presume the existence of the taxonomic expertise to implement them. Yet the cadre of trained taxonomists able to perform this work simply does not exist. To describe, inventory, classify, monitor, and manage biological diversity, such expertise must be cultivated. Strengthening Local Institutions Because the fate of biological diversity in developing countries depends ultimately on the sense of stewardship, scientific capacities, and administrative structures within these countries, it is important that development agencies invest in strengthening local institutions . Only native institutions are capable of imparting the understanding of biological diversity among the general public and the proficiency among professionals that will result in effective conservation. It is especially important that development agencies support nongovernmental organizations, educational institutions, museums, and libraries in developing countries, and foster effective operation of the government agencies legally charged with managing resources. Expanding Cooperative Research Programs New and existing programs of international cooperative research should undertake research on biological diversity as a fundamental part of their mission, and should be given the financial and administrative support to do so. New and existing international cooperative research programs should devote more attention to research on biological diversity and should emphasize increased levels of cooperation with developing countries. Biodiversity and its relationship to sustainable land use are central to attaining development goals and should be fundamental considerations in carrying out all research programs involving natural resource management. In particular, these programs need to involve more systematists and other biologists to perform basic research on biodiversity. SOCIOECONOMIC CONTEXT The accelerated rate at which the world's biological diversity is being eroded can be attributed, in large part, to socioeconomic factors OCR for page 7 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies that encourage exploitative development practices while discouraging conservative resource use. The economic aspects of biodiversity conservation in developing countries demand sophisticated analysis, necessarily involving economists and ecologists working together and with other researchers. The overall objectives of an economic research agenda are: to identify the economic forces leading to the loss of biodiversity within a country; to determine the role of international economic institutions and trends that support this depletion; to elucidate the principles operant in cases of successful development and conservation; and to develop and test economically viable mechanisms for slowing resource depletion and stimulating conservation. Project- or Country-Level Research Project- or country-level socioeconomic research is considered urgent. Emphasis should be placed on three critical areas of inquiry: causal mechanisms, valuation, and incentives or disincentives. Causal Mechanisms. Economic instruments (including rents, taxes, royalties, concessions, tax holidays, low-or no-interest loans, government-financed infrastructure development, and land tenure systems based on landscape alteration) are integral components of development programs and should be analyzed carefully to determine their short-and long-term effects on natural resource depletion rates. Valuation. Because the full value of biodiversity is not yet recognized or incorporated in the policy process, valuation research must be given high priority. Incentives and Disincentives. Economic incentives and disincentives play an important role in inducing local people, governments, and international organizations to conserve—or deplete—biological diversity. Research needs to focus on their application and effect. International Economic Research Many of the economic forces that profoundly affect the depletion or conservation of biodiversity within a country are transnational in origin. However, the relationships between these transnational forces and natural resource exploitation within countries are poorly understood. Therefore, more research is needed that focuses on the interaction between national and international economic factors, institutions, trends, and impacts. OCR for page 8 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Global Macroeconomic Research Because biodiversity is important at the global as well as the local and national levels, many nations and institutions will have to contribute if conservation efforts are to succeed. Development agencies often have central bureaus that attempt to anticipate global needs and to apply a global perspective when designing their in-country activities. These bureaus should support research that focuses on macroeconomic forces operating on a global scale and establishes principles of biodiversity conservation that can be applied in most countries. CULTURAL CONTEXT Biological diversity has been lost as a result of social processes, and will ultimately be conserved only through adjustments in these processes. Unless and until they are understood, there is little lasting hope for conservation. In developing countries, the fundamental challenge for researchers in the social sciences is to determine if, where, and how complex local systems can be adapted to modern needs while still retaining the biological diversity of both agroecosystems and surrounding nonagricultural lands. The social sciences can also mediate between indigenous people and institutions, examining indigenous knowledge and land use patterns to understand the problems of biodiversity loss and methods of biodiversity conservation. They can help identify not only the components of local knowledge and land use systems, but also the timing, ecological processes, and structural characteristics that result in the conservation or reduction of biological diversity. Local Management Systems Research should provide information on local management systems. We need information on local cultures that are particularly good examples of productive relationships between people and their environment. Special attention should be given to the identification of management systems that are endangered. Adapting Local Knowledge Research should promote the application of local knowledge to modern resource management. Based on this information, development agencies would be able to design projects that benefit indigenous people and that benefit from local knowledge. Agencies should identify opportunities to demonstrate how local knowledge can be combined with modern scientific studies in the design of systems for sustainable resource use. OCR for page 9 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Promoting Local Knowledge To promote the idea that local knowledge and practices remain relevant for contemporary natural resource management, especially in terms of the scientific insights they provide, the rationale for examining local knowledge and rules should be communicated to professional groups. Priority Groups There are, at minimum, thousands of indigenous cultural groups in the developing nations, and it is clearly impossible to study all existing or possible resource use patterns, traditions, combinations, and relationships. A selection of people and places is required. Of highest priority are those use patterns and knowledge systems that are changing most rapidly or disappearing, including those of foragers and collectors, particularly tropical forest dwellers and desert nomadic pastoralists; coastal fisherman, strand foragers, and small island villagers; subsistence agriculturalists raising unconventional staple crops; subsistence agriculturalists raising local cultivars and breeds of conventional crops and animals; and groups that have successfully adapted traditional technologies and resource use patterns in developing market opportunities. RECOMMENDATIONS All areas of research on biodiversity and its conservation—biological, economic, and cultural—will require activities across ecological zones and at each level of the "development hierarchy" (project, national, and global). Based on the agenda outlined above, development agencies should place priority on the following actions. Development agencies should promote the conservation of biological diversity by strengthening institutional capacity in developing countries. Unless developing countries can build their own corps of competent researchers and develop solid institutions in which they can work, little effective research on biodiversity will be accomplished. The most relevant institutions in this regard are universities, museums, and government ministries, which will require adequate funding, equipment, and personnel to mount national surveys and to establish monitoring capabilities. Information, as it is collected, should be built into data bases so that it can be readily retrieved by other institutions. Development agencies should support long-term ecological research sites (comparable to La Selva in Costa Rica or Barro Colorado OCR for page 10 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Island in Panama) with provisions for continuous monitoring to provide a baseline for understanding natural ecosystems and learning how to modify them most effectively, consonant with development needs. Development agencies should place greater emphasis on, and assume a stronger role in, systematizing the local knowledge base—indigenous knowledge, "gray literature," anecdotal information. A vast heritage of knowledge about species, ecosystems, and their use exists, but it does not appear in the world literature, being either insufficiently "scientific" or not "developmental." Much of this information can be interpreted only by local scientists. The U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and other donor agencies can lend support to the collection and analysis of this important information through their resident offices or missions by providing support to local universities and research institutes as part of project and program development. Development agencies must support more and broader-based research in connection with their development projects, including specific studies of the projects' impact on biological diversity, along with the required environmental impact statements. Specific examples of projects that have a direct impact on biodiversity include forest clearing, dam construction, road construction, large-scale human resettlement, and the introduction of new crops or new agricultural production packages and technologies (including the expansion of crop production for export earnings). The impact of these and other activities on ecosystem function and diversity must be investigated more thoroughly, and the likely consequences for affected species must be identified and characterized. Development agencies should assist their counterparts in client countries in building the capacity to carry out multidisciplinary research on development options. The capacity to assess and monitor the impact of development activities on biodiversity should receive specific attention. This continuing process should feed its results into the political process at the highest levels—the Ministry of Planning, the Presidency, or equivalent—and provide for the assessment of future economic options in terms of their long-term human and ecological impact. This research should build greater understanding about the relationship between biodiversity and local systems of knowledge and resource use, and should translate this understanding into useful policy and program tools. OCR for page 11 Conserving Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for Development Agencies Development agencies should support occasional broader studies of the operation of economic systems as they affect biological diversity. These studies should focus on macroeconomic policy and development strategy—the operation of the economic system locally or regionally—in attempting to provide more generalized conclusions about the relationship between development activities and natural resource management. Studies should analyze the impact of these activities on the conservation of biological resources for agriculture and other economic activities, for their amenity values, and for their influence on future ecosystem stability, including the effects on regional and global climate change, watershed maintenance, river basin flood regimes, and coastal zone (marine, reef, tourism, fishing) resources. CONCLUSION In the past decade, the conservation of biological diversity has come to be understood as an essential aspect of sustainable development worldwide. Biodiversity is a basic determinant of the structure and function of all ecosystems and provides the foundation on which the future well-being of human society rests. Research must be expanded and strengthened to improve our understanding of biodiversity, its conservation, and its role in building sustainable human societies. Many of the nations that are home to the highest concentrations of biological diversity are also crippled by persistent poverty and high rates of population growth, which work against conservation in two ways: (1) by increasing the pressure for inappropriate and harmful land use, and (2) by limiting the ability of individuals and governments to take the steps necessary to halt the degradation of ecosystems and the loss of diversity. International development agencies can and must play a special role in overcoming these obstacles. They are often the most significant sources of funding for human resource development and exert important influence on national and regional policies, economic incentives, and resource use practices that affect the status of biodiversity. Support for research on biodiversity is therefore a critical responsibility of development agencies as they assist client countries in improving the management of their economies and their natural resources. We need to understand a great deal more about what, why, and how to conserve, and the need is urgent. Although this report focuses on that need, it is also premised on the conviction that research should not serve as a substitute for immediate action to stem the loss of genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Rather, research must serve to inform, supplement, and improve these efforts. Representative terms from entire chapter:

Egypt - Migration In the early 1960s, most of the Greek population emigrated as the result of the government's nationalization measures; nearly all Jews, who formed less than 0.3% of the population in 1966, left the country after the 1967 war with Israel. With the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970, up to 100,000 Nubian tribesmen were moved from flooded parts of the upper Nile and resettled in the plain downstream. During the 1970s there was significant internal migration from rural to urban areas. During the 1970s and first half of the 1980s, more than 3 million workers took jobs in other countries. In 1992 some 2,850,000 Egyptians were living abroad, including about 1 million in Libya and 850,000 in Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian government estimates that there are 3–5 million Sudanese refugees, and some have lived in Egypt for over 30 years. In 2000 there were 169,000 migrants living in Egypt. In 2000, the net migration rate was -1.2 migrants per 1,000 population. The government views the immigration level as satisfactory, but the emigration level as too low.

It's a good news/bad news situation for believers in the 2012 Mayan apocalypse. The good news is that the Mayan "Long Count" calendar may not end on Dec. 21, 2012 (and, by extension, the world may not end along with it). The bad news for prophecy believers? If the calendar doesn't end in December 2012, no one knows when it actually will — or if it has already. A new critique, published as a chapter in the new textbook "Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World" (Oxbow Books, 2010), argues that the accepted conversions of dates from Mayan to the modern calendar may be off by as much as 50 or 100 years. That would throw the supposed and overhyped 2012 apocalypse off by decades and cast into doubt the dates of historical Mayan events. (The doomsday worries are based on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, much as our year ends on Dec. 31.) The Mayan calendar was converted to today's Gregorian calendar using a calculation called the GMT constant, named for the last initials of three early Mayanist researchers. Much of the work emphasized dates recovered from colonial documents that were written in the Mayan language in the Latin alphabet, according to the chapter's author, Gerardo Aldana, University of California, Santa Barbara professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies. Later, the GMT constant was bolstered by American linguist and anthropologist Floyd Lounsbury, who used data in the Dresden Codex Venus Table, a Mayan calendar and almanac that charts dates relative to the movements of Venus. "He took the position that his work removed the last obstacle to fully accepting the GMT constant," Aldana said in a statement. "Others took his work even further, suggesting that he had proven the GMT constant to be correct." But according to Aldana, Lounsbury's evidence is far from irrefutable. "If the Venus Table cannot be used to prove the FMT as Lounsbury suggests, its acceptance depends on the reliability of the corroborating data," he said. That historical data, he said, is less reliable than the Table itself, causing the argument for the GMT constant to fall "like a stack of cards." Aldana doesn't have any answers as to what the correct calendar conversion might be, preferring to focus on why the current interpretation may be wrong. Looks like end-of-the-world theorists may need to find another ancient calendar on which to pin their apocalyptic hopes. - 10 Failed Doomsday Predictions - Earth in the Balance: 7 Crucial Tipping Points - Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth © 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has created the world's largest network of marine reserves and will restrict fishing as well as oil and gas exploration in a major step to safeguard the environment and access to food. With the expansion announced Thursday, Australia will protect 1.2 million square miles of ocean. The reserves will encompass a third of the island continent's territorial waters, which sustain more than 4,000 species of fish. Australia is surrounded by the world's third-largest ocean territory, which provides important habitat to threatened species of whales, sharks and turtles as well as spectacular corals. Previously only 310,000 square miles of Australian waters were protected. According to the Protect Planet Ocean website, only 1.1 million square miles of oceans worldwide were within marine protection areas before. Environmental group WWF welcomed the expansion as a "major advance in marine conservation" that hopefully will inspire other countries at next week's United Nations' Rio+20 conference on sustainable development. Environment Minister Tony Burke said the government expects to pay an estimated $100 million to compensate the fishing industry for new restrictions that will take effect late this year, with only a minor impact on most types of fishing. While the public will be invited to lodge complaints before the sanctuaries are enshrined in law, the center-left government faces no hurdles in imposing the new restrictions under existing environmental laws. But the conservative opposition has vowed to review the boundaries if it wins government at elections next year — an outcome that opinion polls agree is likely. "I am instinctively against anything that damages the rights of recreational fishing ... and anything that will further damage the commercial fishing industry and tourism industry," opposition leader Tony Abbott said. The number of marine reserves off the Australian coast will rise from 27 to 60. Highly protected areas such as the Coral Sea off Australia's northeastern coast and the adjoining World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef also will be protected from oil and gas exploration. Both areas, which cover 500,000 square miles, have shallow reefs that support tropical ecosystems with sharks, coral, sponges and many fish species. Burke said he wanted the reserves to set a benchmark for the world in environmental protection and food security — the access to and consistent availability of food. The plan aims to guarantee future fish stocks by preventing overfishing. "We have an incredible opportunity to turn the tide on protection of the oceans and Australia can lead the world in marine protection," he said. Don Henry, chief executive of the environmental group Australian Conservation Foundation, said the plan will make Australia a global leader in ocean protection. But he warned that the remote northwest region where an offshore oil and gas industry is already established had been left vulnerable to the threats of further energy exploration. Rachel Siewert, a senator for the environmentally focused Greens Party, which supports the Labor Party minority government, described the plan as a "cave-in to the oil and gas industry." She said allowing exploratory drilling beside some of the most highly protected zones off northwest Australia leaves critical habitats for threatened species, including humpback whales, whale sharks, flatback turtles and dolphins, vulnerable to contamination from oil spills. Judy Lynne, chief executive of the recreational anglers' group Sunfish Queensland, said the ban on commercial operations in the most environmentally sensitive areas would result in more foreign trawlers fishing illegally. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Health Effects of Medicaid Coverage for Children are Unclear "The expansion of insurance coverage by Medicaid and private health insurance was associated with better health ratings by mothers of low-income black and Hispanic children, but it had no effect on the reported health status of poor white children." Between 1986 and 1994, the number of children from low-income families enrolled in the Medicaid program, the government program that finances medical care for the nation's poor and near-poor families, rose by 71 percent. Medicaid spending on the health care of these children climbed 107 percent in real terms during that period. This was the largest expansion of public health insurance coverage for children since the original introduction of the Medicaid program. In addition, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 included a $24.3 billion block grant to states to extend health insurance coverage to uninsured children from families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal government's official poverty level. These spending increases were based on the assumption that increased utilization of medical services would improve the health of children from low-income families. Yet an examination of the data by NBER Research Associates Theodore Joyce, Robert Kaestner, and Andrew Racine finds only weak support for this belief. While much previous research evaluated the merits of health insurance solely on the basis of whether it expanded the utilization of medical care by children, in Does Publicly Provided Health Insurance Improve the Health of Low-Income Children in the United States? (NBER Working Paper No. 6887), the authors concentrate on the health consequences of increased insurance coverage. They study a large, nationally representative sample of children from the National Health Interview Surveys of 1989 and 1992. They limit their analysis to children between the ages of two and nine who come from families with incomes below $25,000, as these are the families targeted by the legislation. These surveys include information about health insurance coverage, the health of the children as reported by their mothers, and the social and demographic characteristics of the families. Mothers rated the health of their children (excellent to poor) and provided the number of days a child was in bed sick (morbidity) in the previous 12 months. Both of these measures are correlated with acute and chronic health conditions. The authors also analyze hospital discharge data for a sample of 544 hospitals in 11 states to investigate whether expansion of Medicaid eligibility was associated with a decrease in the incidence of ambulatory care sensitive admissions for children from low-income areas. Kaestner, Joyce, and Racine find that the expansion of insurance coverage by Medicaid and private health insurance was associated with better health ratings by mothers of low-income black and Hispanic children, but it had no effect on the reported health status of poor white children. In fact, with Medicaid coverage, the health status of the white children was slightly worse. Nor did insurance coverage reduce days sick in bed, which were actually greater for black and Hispanic children covered by Medicaid than for uninsured children. "Perhaps," the authors speculate, "Medicaid provides greater access to care for poor black and Hispanic children than it does for white children, but this hypothesis is only conjecture at this point." As for the increased bed days, one hypothesis is that they are a result of greater access to primary care and of physicians recommending longer periods of rest or time in bed for treatment. The authors do find that the Medicaid expansion decreased the incidence of ambulatory care sensitive discharges - mostly for children admitted to the hospital with convulsions, asthma, dehydration, and pneumonia -- by 10 to 20 percent among young children in low-income families. But there are some "anomalous results" in this data that raise questions about the robustness of their findings, they caution. Reviewing possible explanations for their inconsistent findings, the authors note that uninsured children may already be receiving adequate health care, with parents paying for essential treatment out-of-pocket or getting it free at hospitals and clinics. But they do not find this explanation compelling, since health insurance does increase utilization of medical facilities. Another explanation, they note, could be that their measures of child health do not adequately reflect the benefits of having insurance. Certain unmeasured types of child illnesses may benefit from the extra health care. They conclude that the proposition that the provision of health insurance through Medicaid to remedy the relatively poor health condition of children from poor and near-poor families "has not been adequately demonstrated." -- David R. Francis The Digest is not copyrighted and may be reproduced freely with appropriate attribution of source.

Family Structure and the Treatment of Childhood Asthma Background: Family structure is known to influence children's behavioral, educational, and cognitive outcomes, and recent studies suggest that family structure affects children's access to health care as well. However, no study has addressed whether family structure is associated with the care children receive for particular conditions or with their physical health outcomes. Objective: To assess the effects of family structure on the treatment and outcomes of children with asthma. Methods: Our data sources were the 1996-2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). The study samples consisted of children 2-17 years of age with asthma who lived in single-mother or two-parent families. We assessed the effect of number of parents and number of other children in the household on office visits for asthma and use of asthma medications using negative binomial regression, and we assessed the effect of family structure on the severity of asthma symptoms using binary and ordinal logistic regression. Our regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, parental experience in child-rearing and in caring for an asthmatic child and, when appropriate, measures of children's health status. Results: Asthmatic children in single-mother families had fewer office visits for asthma and filled fewer prescriptions for controller medications than children with two parents. In addition, children living in families with three or more other children had fewer office visits and filled fewer prescriptions for reliever and controller medications than children living with no other children. Children from single-mother families had more health difficulties from asthma than children with two parents, and children living with two or more other children were more likely to have an asthma attack in the past 12 months than children living with no other children. Conclusions: For children with asthma, living with a single mother and the presence of additional children in the household are associated with less treatment for asthma and worse asthma outcomes.

To read the story of the NCPA's development from its beginnings in 1965 until today, click on the links below 1965-1975 First steps - the genesis of a pioneering cultural institution for India It was in 1965 that Dr Jamshed J Bhabha, philanthropist, scion of an illustrious Mumbai family and a leading figure at Bombay House, wrote a letter to the Dorabji Tata Trust outlining the need for a pioneering institution in the area of arts and humanities that would safeguard India’s rich heritage of performing arts for future generations. Dr Bhabha pointed out that in India, perhaps more than in any other nation “music and the related arts constituted a most important part of the country’s 5,000-year-old cultural and spiritual legacy”. Land had to be found for the new institution, and the Government of Maharashtra in 1965 proposed that in view of the shortage of land in Bombay itself, the arts centre should be built near the Ajanta Caves. Dr Bhabha rejected this idea, favouring a city centre location that would be accessible to all. He came up with the ingenious (if expensive) idea of reclaiming land from the sea, opening up a superbly located site of 8 acres (about 32,000 square metres) at Nariman Point. With the State Government’s blessing, the site was leased for 99 years for the purposes of research and training in the performing arts, the presentation of Indian and international art forms, the promotion of excellence and the preservation of India’s rich cultural heritage. An initial sponsorship grant of Rupees 4 milion was given by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust to establish the NCPA. While its Nariman Point site was being developed, a temporary setup was established at 89 Bhulabhai Desai Road, which housed a small auditorium, listening rooms and practice facilities. This was inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 29th December 1969. 1975-1985 American dreams with Indian horizons – the creation of the Tata Theatre Work on the Nariman Point facilities continued, with the construction of the Little Theatre, a recording studio, a research block, a dance academy, art gallery and offices. These were officially inaugurated on 5 May 1975. Meanwhile, during the late 1960s Jamshed J Bhabha made extensive visits to the US, visiting new arts facilities such as the Kennedy Center in New York and the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles, meeting architects and leading arts figures in America, including Zubin Mehta, then chief conductor of the LA Philharmonic. Mehta introduced Dr Bhabha to Welton Becket, architect of the Los Angeles Music Center, who subsequently visited Mumbai to advise on the site of a concert hall. It was Becket who persuaded Sir Dinshaw Petit (the third baronet) to donate the splendid 18th century Italian baroque staircase made of white marble at the old Petit Hall, which was about to be demolished to make way for a new house. Becket’s intention was to install it in a modern theatre foyer “like ancient jewels worn on a young lady’s dress”. Sir Dinshaw also donated four superb Murano glass chandeliers from Venice, which now embellish the Tata Theatre. Welton Becket’s untimely death in 1969 led to Dr Bhabha returning to the US to seek another architect. It was at this point that he was introduced to Philip Johnson, one of the foremost modernist architects of his day, who now embarked on several trips to India to study the country’s performing arts traditions and to devise a theatre that would provide the most effective stage for music and dance. Meanwhile, Dr Bhabha had been so impressed with the acoustics of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House in Washington DC that he immediately engaged the theatre’s acoustic consultant, Professor Cyril Harris, to work on the new theatre in Bombay with Philip Johnson. This was achieved with a generous grant of $ 200,000 from the Ford Foundation to cover the costs of providing the basic design for construction. The 1000-seat Tata Theatre, with its auditorium styled as a classical amphitheatre, superb acoustics, and the audience arranged in fan-shaped seating around a central group of performers to ensure excellent sight lines from every seat in the house, was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 11th October 1980. Four years later, when visiting the Tata Theatre again for a performance of Rossini’s opera, The Barber of Seville, she remarked to Dr Jamshed Bhabha that she felt it a pity that this theatre did not have an adequate orchestra pit in front of the stage, and that “a National Centre should have a theatre designed to feature opera also.” 1985-2000 Final stages – paving the way for Jamshed Bhabha Theatre Through the 1980s, the development of the NCPA continued apace. After the Tata Theatre came the Experimental Theatre, a versatile ‘black box’ space which opened up the possibility of presenting flexible creative work by small-scale groups at the Centre. The Experimental Theatre was established initially by the Tata Iron & Steel Company with a donation of 5 million Rupees, and was officially inaugurated on 25th April 1986. The Godrej Dance Academy and Piramal Gallery followed in 1987. Originally intended as an exhibition area for the new Centre for Photography as an Art Form, which was established with a grant of $ 75,000 from the Ford Foundation, the Piramal Gallery today presents exhibitions by leading Indian and international photographers as well as the works of young, promising artists. The next major phase of development of the NCPA came with the construction of the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, a major lyric theatre with the capacity to stage international events on an ambitious scale, whose name celebrates the legacy of the Centre’s founding father. The story of the creation of the theatre, at a time when finances were scarce, reflects something of the undaunted determination of Dr Jamshed Bhabha. On New Year’s Eve 1998, as the theatre neared completion, the entire edifice was destroyed by fire, the result of an electrical short-circuit. Dr Bhabha called a meeting the next morning, while the embers were still glowing and, without recrimination or rancour, started by saying “tomorrow we start reconstruction plans”. The investigation and cause of the fire were, for him, things of the past. He was interested only in looking ahead. Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was inaugurated on 24th November 1999, fulfilling at last Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s suggestion, made in October 1984, that the NCPA should build a theatre not only for Indian music but also for performances of opera and concerts by well-known symphony orchestras. Since 2000 A vision fulfilled – the NCPA today Today, Mumbai can be proud to have a modern cultural complex that is a home to India’s first professional full-scale orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of India (established in 2006), and which provides a platform for world-class performance both from national performing arts groups and international visitors. In 2008, the Indian premiere of Puccini’s operatic masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, took place at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre. This hugely complex undertaking was produced entirely by the NCPA to worldwide critical acclaim. Dr Bhabha’s motto in life was “When the cause is good, the means will follow”. The creation of India’s National Centre for the Performing Arts at Nariman Point in Mumbai is a tangible example of this belief. Dr Jamshed Bhabha passed away on 30th May 2007. He has been ably succeeded as Chairman of the NCPA by Mr Khushroo Suntook, who carries forward the vision and legacy of the Centre’s founding father, with a view to creating an international arts centre for India fit for audiences in the 21st century. Since 1970 Selected performances – past and present Theatre Mohan Agashe | Shabana Azmi | Nadira Babbar | Eugenio Barba | Bhakti Barve | Kabir Bedi | Fritz Bennewitz | The Brechtian Ensemble | Peter Brook | P L Deshpande | Neena Gupta | A K Hangal | Rohini Hattangadi | Daisy Irani | Manoj Joshi | B V Karanth | Anupam & Kiran Kher | Shiram Lagu | Anant Mahadevan | Vijaya Mehta | Sabira Merchant | Shombu & Tripti Mitra | Alyque Padamsee | Amol Palekar | Kawalam Pannikar | Shernaz Patel | Smita Patil | Amrish Puri | Om Puri | Royal Shakespeare Company | Naseeruddin Shah | Faroque Sheikh | Anjan Shrivastava | Habib Tanvir | Ratan Thiyam Hindustani Music Kishori Amonkar | Ashwini Bhide | Ajay Chakrabarty | Hariprasad Chaurasia | Dagar Brothers | Buddhadev Dasgupta | Kumar Gandharva | K G Ginde | Gundecha Brothers | Shobha Gurtu | Gangubai Hangal | Zakir Hussain | Pandit Jasraj | Bhimsen Joshi | Dinkar Kaikini | Ali Akbar Khan | Amjad Ali Khan | Bismillah Khan | Rashid Khan | Vilayat Khan | Moghubai Kurdikar | Mallikarjun Mansur | Rajan & Sajan Misra | Shahid Parvez | Malini Rajurkar | Vijay Raghav Rao | Veena Sahasrabuddhe | Bhavani Shankar | Ravi Shankar | Shivkumar Sharma | Jagjit & Chitra Singh | Parveen Sultana | Padma Talwalkar | C R Vyas Carnatic Music S Balachander | M Balmuralikrishna | Sheikh Chinnamaula | Palghat Mani Iyer | D K Jayaraman | Lalgudi Jayaraman | Ravi Kiran | D K Pattamal | Palghat Raghu | M S Subbalakshmi | Semmangudi Srinivas | Sikkil Sisters | Umayalpuram Sivaram | L Subramaniam Western Classical Music Bamberg Symphony Orchestra | Boris Berezovsky | Marat Bisengaliev | Kammerphilharmonie Bremen | English Chamber Orchestra | Festival Arties | Andrei Gavrilov | Larissa Gergieva | Israel Philharmonic Orchestra | Malaysian Philharmonic Chamber Players | Zubin Mehta | Yehudi Menuhin | Munich Philharmonic Orchestra | New York Philharmonic Orchestra | Opera- Barber of Seville | Opera- Madama Butterfly | Opera- La Traviata | Orchestra di Maggio Musicale, Florence | Maciej Pikulski | Ekaterina Solovieva | Vladislav Sulimsky | Symphony Orchestra of India | Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra | Julian Lloyd Webber | West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra

Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 can hold seven crew and will be bigger than Apollo but smaller than NASA's Orion, and be able to launch on a variety of different rockets, including Atlas, Delta and Falcon. It will use a simple systems architecture and existing, proven components, Boeing stated. The company envisions the spacecraft supporting the International Space Station and future Bigelow Aerospace Orbital Space Complex systems. Bigelow is building what it calls "expandable habitats," that which are inflatable spacecraft would act as large, less costly space stations. In Feb. NASA awarded some $50 million to Blue Origin, Boeing, Paragon Space Development Corporation, Sierra Nevada Corporation and United Launch Alliance to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable, and cost-effective capabilities to transport cargo and eventually crew to low-Earth orbit and the ISS. CCDev represents a milestone in the development of an orbital commercial human spaceflight sector, NASA stated. By maturing "the design and development of commercial crew spaceflight concepts and associated enabling technologies and capabilities," the program will allow several companies to move a few steps forward towards the ultimate goal of full demonstration of commercial human spaceflight to orbit, NASA said. Follow Michael Cooney on Twitter: nwwlayer8 Layer 8 Extra Check out these other hot stories:

Dominican cardinal, philosopher, theologian, and exegete; born 20 February, 1469 at Gaeta, Italy; died 9 August, 1534 at Rome. He came of noble stock, and in early boyhood was devout and fond of study. Against the will of his parents he entered the Dominican Order before the age of sixteen. As a student of Naples, Bologna, and Padua he was the wonder of his fellow-students and preceptors. As bachelor of theology (19 March, 1492), and afterwards master of students, he began to attract attention by his lectures and writings. Promoted to the chair of metaphysics at the University of Padua, he made a close study of the prevailing Humanism and Philosophism. Besides engaging in controversy with the Scotist Trombetta, he took a stand against the Averroistic tendencies or teachings of such men as Vernias, Pompanazzi, and Niphus, directing against them his celebrated work, "De Ente et Essentiâ", counted the most subtle and abstruse of his productions. At a general chapter of the order (Ferrara, 1494) Cajetan was selected to conduct the customary defence of theses in presence of the assembled dignitaries. He had to face Pico della Mirandola among others, and such was his success that the students bore him in triumph on their shoulders to receive the felicitations of the master general. He was immediately made master of sacred theology, and for several years expounded the "Summa" of St. Thomas, principally at Brescia and Pavia, to which latter chair he had been called by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. After two years he resigned and repaired to Milan, whence in 1500 Cardinal Oliviero Caraffa procured his transfer to Rome. In 1501 he was made procurator general of his order and appointed to the chairs of philosophy and exegesis at the Sapienza. On the death of the master general, John Clérée, 1507, Cajetan was named vicar-general of the order, and the next year he was elected to the generalship. With foresight and ability, he devoted his energies to the promotion of religious discipline, emphasizing the study of sacred science as the chief means of attaining the end of the order. His encyclical letters and the acts of chapters promulgated during his term of office bear witness to his lofty ideals and to his unceasing efforts to realize them. He was wont to say that he could hardly excuse from grevious sin a brother Dominican who failed to devote at least four hours a day to study. "Let others rejoice in their prerogatives", he once wrote, "but the work of our Order is at an end unless sacred doctrine be our commendation." He was himself a model of diligence, and it was said of him that he could quote almost the entire "Summa" from memory. About the fourth year of his generalship, Cajetan rendered important service to the Holy See by appearing before the Pseudo-Council of Pisa (1511), where he denounced the disobedience of the participating cardinals and bishops and overwhelmed them with his arguments. This was the occasion of his defence of the power and monarchical supremacy of the pope. It is chiefly to his endeavors that is ascribed the failure of this schismatical movement, abetted by Louis XII of France. He was one of the first to counsel Pope Julius II to convoke a real ecumenical council, i.e. the Fifth Lateran. In this council Cajetan was deputed by the principal religious orders to defend their common interests. Under the same pontiff he was instrumental in granting to Ferdinand of Spain the first Dominican missionaries who devoted organized effort to the conversion of the natives of America. On 1 July, 1517, Cajetan was created cardinal by Pope Leo X. He was also appointed Archbishop of Palermo, but opposition on the part of the Sicilian senate prevented his taking possession and he resigned 8 February, 1518. On taking the demand of Charles V, however, he was later made Bishop of Gaeta, but this was after he had been sent in 1518 as Apostolic legate to Germany, bringing the insignia of the cardinalate to Albert of Brandenburg, and a sword blessed by the pope to Emperor Maximilian. On this occasion he was empowered to confer with the latter and with the King of Denmark on the terms of an alliance against the Turks. He also represented the pope at the Diet of Frankfort (1519), and took an active part in the election of Charles V (1519), thereby winning that emperor's friendship and gratitude. While executing these missions, the more serious duty of meeting Luther, then started on his career of rebellion, was assigned to him. Cajetan's theological learning and humane disposition seemed to fit him for the task of successfully treating with the proud and obstinate monk, and Protestants have admitted that in all his relations with the latter Cajetan exhibited a spirit of moderation, that did honour to his lofty character. But neither pleading, learning, nor conciliatory words availed to secure the desired submission. Luther parleyed and temporized as he had done with the Holy See itself, and finally showed the insincerity of his earlier protestations by spurning the pope and his representative alike. Some have blamed Cajetan for his failure to avert Luther's defection, but others like Hefele and Hergenröther exonerate him. In 1523 he was sent by Adrian VI as legate to King Louis of Hungary to encourage the Christians in their resistance to the Turks. Recalled the following year by Clement VII, he became one of the pope's chief advisors. During the sack of Rome by the imperialist army (1527) Cajetan, like other principal persons, was seized, and obtained the release of himself and household only on payment of five thousand Roman crowns of gold, a sum which he had to borrow and which he later made up by strictest economy in the affairs of his diocese. He was one of the nineteen cardinals who, in a solemn consistory held by Clement VII (23 March, 1534), pronounced definitively for the validity of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. This was about the last public act of his life, for he died the same year and was buried, as he requested, in an humble tomb in the vestibule of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It was the common opinion of his contemporaries that had he lived, he would have succeeded Clement VII on the papal throne. Much interest attaches to a portrait of Cajetan, the only one known, recently discovered by Père Berthier, O.P. in a collection of notables of the Reformation, owned by Count Krasinski of Warsaw, Poland (see bibliography). Cajetan has been described as small in bodily stature but gigantic in intellect. In all his varied and laborious offices he never omitted his daily study and writing, nor failed in the practices of the religious life. He faced the trying issues of his times calmly and fearlessly, and endeavored by learning, tact, and charity to pacify hostile minds, to lead back the erring, to stem the tide of heresy, and to prevent schism. His written solutions of living moral problems cover a wide field. His circumstances and position often required him to take part in polemical discussions, yet he is said never to have given personal offence in his writings. His style, purely scientific and unrhetorical, is the more noteworthy for having attained its directness and simplicity in the golden age of Humanism. More than any other philosopher and theologian of his epoch, he ministered to actual intellectual needs of the Church. With penetration and sagacity he ranged beyond the confines of contemporary thought, and in his tentative solutions of grave problems, still open and unsettled, displayed judgment and frankness. It is not strange that he developed tendencies which surprised the more conservative, and essayed opinions which in some instances were, and have remained, unusual and occasionally erroneous. He found numerous critics, even in his own order, who were as censorious of him as his friends were zealous in upholding his merits. Among his opponents, the learned Dominican Bartholomew Spina (died 1542) was conspicuous. His persistent antagonism began, strangely enough, after he had written a laudatory preface to Cajetan's commentary on the "Secunda Secundae" (second section of the second part of the "Summa") of St. Thomas, whose publication he supervised for the author in 1517. The next year, in his refutation of Pompanazzi, Spina appears to have considered Cajetan as falling party within the scope of his strictures because of certain alleged concessions to the prevalent Averroistic rationalism in a commentary on the "De Animâ" of Aristotle. Cajetan held that Averroes had correctly exhibited the Stagirite as a believer in monopsychism, or the doctrine of the unity of one intellectual soul for humanity and the mortality of individual souls. Whilst working for, and concurring in the council's condemnation of this doctrine in 1513, Cajetan had not favoured the requirement that in their public lectures professors of philosophy should bring up no teachings in conflict of Christian faith without refuting them; this, he contended, was the proper office of theologians. Elsewhere Cajetan had also intimated that reason left to itself could not adequately and conclusively demonstrate the soul's immortality. From these beginnings, Spina, who during his later years was Master of the Sacred Palace, relentlessly pursued Cajetan living and dead. On these slender grounds some writers, including Renan (Averroés et l'Averroîsme, Paris, 1867, 351) and Botta (Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, tr. Morris, New York, 1903, II, Appendix II), have misrepresented Cajetan as "boldly asserting the eternity of the universe and the destruction of personality at death", and have classed him with the very men against whom he wrote, as an initiator of a new period in the development of anti-Scholastic philosophy. In theology Cajetan is justly ranked as one of the foremost defenders and exponents of the Thomistic school. His commentaries on the "Summa Theologica", the first in that extensive field, begun in 1507 and finished in 1522, are his greatest work and were speedily recognized as a classic in Scholastic literature. The work is primarily a defence of St. Thomas against the attacks of Scotus. In the third part it reviews the aberrations of the Reformers, especially Luther. The important relation between Cajetan and the Angelic Doctor was emphasized by Leo XIII, when by his Pontifical Letters of 15 October, 1879, he ordered the former's commentaries and those of Ferrariensis to be incorporated with the text of the "Summa" in the official Leonine edition of the complete works of St. Thomas, the first volume of which appeared at Rome in 1882. This edition has restored a number of passages which St. Pius V desired to have expunged from the texts, the publication of which he ordered in 1570. The suppressed parts, now for the most part inoffensive, were largely in the nature of personal views and had no direct bearing on Thomistic doctrine as a system. In his exegetical work, begun in 1523 and continued to the time of his death, Cajetan sought to counteract the Biblical extravagances of the Humanists and to defeat the Lutheran movement on the ground from which it had chosen to reject the authority of the Church and of tradition. Chiefly with rabbinical assistance, it is said, being himself unversed in Hebrew, and with the aid of current Greek versions he prepared a literal translation of the Bible, including the Old Testament as far as the end of the third chapter of Isaias, and all the New Testament except the Apocalypse, which on account of its difficulties he was unwilling to undertake. It was his object, he declared in a dedicatory letter to Clement VII published in his edition of the Gospels, to ascertain the true literal sense of the Scriptures, and he did not hesitate to adopt new renderings, provided they did not conflict with the Sacred Word and with the teachings of the Church. This position, much criticized in his time, is now quite in line with the common method of Catholic exegetics. Though closely following St. Jerome on the authenticity of the Biblical texts and utilizing the New Testament version and notes of Erasmus, with whom he was on friendly terms, he produced a work whose importance was not overlooked, but whose freedom and wide departure from the Fathers and the theological schools created distrust and alarm. In his critical interpretation, for instance, he ventured an allegorical explanation of the first chapters of Genesis, and he seemed more than three centuries in advance of his day in questioning the authenticity of the last chapter of St. Mark, the authorship of several epistles, viz., Hebrews, James, II Peter, II and III John, Jude, the genuineness of the passage of the three witnesses of (1 John 5:7), etc. In this field also he was bitterly assailed, especially by Ambrose Catharinus, an extraordinary but erratic genius, who had abandoned the law to enter the Dominican Order, and had become a bishop. Cajetan's accompanying theological observations, however, are important, and many scholars have profitably studied them in conjunction with his commentaries on the "Summa". It has been significantly said of Cajetan that his positive teaching was regarded as a guide for others and his silence as an implicit censure. His rectitude, candour, and moderation were praised even by his enemies. Always obedient, and submitting his works to ecclesiastical authority, he presented a striking contrast to the leaders of heresy and revolt, whom he strove to save from their folly. To Clement VII he was the "lamp of the Church", and everywhere in his career, as the theological light of Italy, he was heard with respect and pleasure by cardinals, universities, the clergy, nobility, and people. The works of Cajetan aggregate about 115 titles. The commentaries on the several parts of the "Summa" exist in many editions. Of complete editions, sometimes including the text of the "Summa" and sometimes without it, the following are noteworthy: 10 vols. fol., Lyons, 1540; edition of Pius V in complete works of St. Thomas, Rome, 1570; 7 vols. 8vo with commentaries of Javelli and Caponi, Venice, 1596; 10 vols. fol., Rome, 1773; Leonine edition of St. Thomas (Summa) Rome, 1888. Other works of Cajetan are: FONSECA, Biographical notice of Cajetan in introduction to Commentary on Pentateuch (Paris, 1539); QUÉTIF-ECHARD, Script. Ord. Praed. (Paris, 1719), II, 14; CIACCONIUS, Vitae et res gestae pontificum Romanorum et cardinalium (Rome, 1675), III, 392; TOURON, Hist. des hommes illus. (Paris, 1743), IV, 1-76; LIMBOURG, Kardinal Cajetan in Zetschr. f. kath. Theol. (Innsbruck, 1880), IV, 139-179; HURTER, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1903), II, 1201; COSSIO, Il Cardinale Gaetano e la Riforma (Cividale, 1902); MANDONNET in Dict. de théol. cath. (Paris, 1904); BERTHIER, Il Ritratto del Gaetano in Il Rosario (Rome, Aug., Sep., 1907), ser. II, vol. IX, No. 476-477. APA citation. (1908). Tommaso de Vio Gaetani Cajetan. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145c.htm MLA citation. "Tommaso de Vio Gaetani Cajetan." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145c.htm>. Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Matthew Reak. Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Canada's Environment Minister and international partners launch new global Climate and Clean Air initiative WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - Today, Canada's Environment Minister, the Honourable Peter Kent, alongside United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Environment Ministers from participating countries, launched a new global initiative aimed at making rapid progress on countering climate change and improving air quality. The new initiative, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, is composed of six participating countries—Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden and the United States—and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "This is an important alliance that will serve to reduce emissions, help counter climate change, and work towards delivering a global solution to this global problem," said Minister Kent. "Taking action on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) will yield positive results in the near-term as we continue to make progress in our efforts to reduce emissions from longer-lived greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide." It is estimated that SLCP emissions, such as methane, black carbon (soot), and tropospheric ozone, will contribute about half of the climate warming from current anthropogenic emissions over the next couple of decades. They have critical impacts on water cycle, crop yields, air quality and human health. This issue is of particular importance for Arctic countries, as black carbon has an additional warming effect when deposited on snow and ice. For more information and to view a backgrounder on this announcement, please visit the Web site of Environment Canada at http://www.ec.gc.ca/. [Backgrounder - 2012-02-16] Canada's fast-start financing projects Office of the Minister of the Environment Environment Canada's Twitter page: http://twitter.com/environmentca Environment Canada's Facebook page: (Également offert en français)

Aristotelianism is a philosophical tradition that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. Since Aristotle's death in 322 B.C.E., there has been an unbroken continuation of schools and individual philosophers who have cultivated the study of his works and adopted and expanded on his doctrines and methods. During the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, an Arabic tradition of Aristotelianism was developed by Syrians, Persians, Turks, Jews, and Arabs, who wrote and taught in their own countries, in Africa, and in Spain. During the twelfth century, new Latin translations from Greek and from Arabic commentaries introduced Aristotle to the medieval Christian scholastics, and initiated an intellectual revival in Europe. Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas developed a synthesis of Aristotelian ideas with Christian doctrines, which became essential to Roman Catholic theology. During the seventeenth century, modern philosophy began to develop largely as a reaction to, or in response to, traditional Aristotelian teachings. Contemporary philosophers, though they generally rejected Aristotelian metaphysics, incorporated Aristotelian concepts in their theories of ethics and politics. Aristotle's philosophy, as well as Plato's, has been a source of inspiration throughout the history of philosophy. Characteristics of Aristotelianism Aristotelianism has made an indelible contribution to the language used to articulate philosophical concepts, experiences and problems. Some words are still in their original Greek forms, others are derived from Latin equivalents of Aristotle’s words. The use of the terms “subject” and “predicate” in grammar and logic; “form” (information, transform) and “matter” to express the correlative aspects of essential nature and physical being; “energy” as the active power inherent in a thing; “potential” for latent possibility; “substance” and “essence,” “quantity” and “quality,” “accidental,” “relation,” “cause” (and the many meanings of “because”), “genus” and “species” (general, special), “individual,” and “indivisible” (atomic) are only some of the words which have become established in common use. Philosophical features of Aristotelianism include a methodology which takes a critical approach to existing or hypothetical doctrines, and an emphasis on knowledge that can be acquired by natural means through the senses and the exercise of reason. Aristotelian metaphysics places the individual at the center of the realm of existence. In the philosophy of nature, Aristotelianism portrays a perfect and economic organization of the natural world, in which heavenly, geocentric spheres driven by intelligent movers carry the stars, the Sun, the planets, and the Moon, in circular movements, and influence the “sublunary” world. From its beginnings, Aristotelianism incorporated the concept of gravity, in which light bodies rise away from the center of the earth and heavy bodies move naturally toward it with a speed related to their weight. Aristotelian aesthetics hold that poetry and literature are an imitation of what is possible in real life; and that tragedy in drama and literature can achieve purification (katharsis) through artificially constructing a situation which evokes fear and pity. Aristotelian ethics emphasize intellectual activity as the primary path to happiness, followed by the practice of virtue. Virtue is characterized as moderation and conscious self-control. Aristotelian political theory considers the state as a self-sufficient society, necessary to provide the social structure and order in which men can achieve happiness. Aristotelian teleology incorporates Plato’s ideals as goals and “goods” internal to natural species, that are realized in activity. Sometimes contrasted by critics with the rationalism and idealism of Plato, Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as a critical development of Plato’s theories. History of Aristotelianism Since Aristotle's death in 322 B.C.E., there has been an unbroken continuation of schools and individual philosophers who have cultivated the study of his works and adopted and expanded on his doctrines and methods. Aristotle’s ideas, originally developed in Greek, were taken up by Latin authors, then by Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew authors, and beginning in the middle ages, by Italian, French, English, and German writers. The Greek Aristotelian tradition continued for two thousand years along the eastern Mediterranean Sea, diverging at various times between the fourth and fifth centuries to give rise to or reinforce their traditions. Latin Aristotelianism originated in Rome in the fourth century, and acquired new life from Greece early in the sixth century. It was revived in the ninth century and again in the twelfth. In the twelfth century, a new tradition of Aristotelianism emerged from Constantinople, and a third tradition from Arab translators and commentators in Spain. Both of these new traditions dispersed, through the schools of the Roman Catholic Church, to Italy, France, and the British Isles. In the fifteenth century, the Greek tradition once more came to Italy from Constantinople and influenced the Italian Renaissance. Aristotelianism in Islamic philosophy In Arabic philosophical circles, Aristotle was called Aristalus, Aristu, First Teacher, and referred to by sobriquets such as “the wise man.” Hellenistic texts were first introduced into Islamic thoughts during the time of Al-Kindi (c. 801-873 C.E.), who commissioned Arabic translations of the works of the Greek philosophers. In the tenth century, Al-Farabi discovered a more accurate translation, and incorporated Aristotle’s thought so thoroughly into his own philosophy that he was called the “Second Teacher.” Ibn Bajjah (Avempace, c. 1095-1138/39) introduced the Islamic Aristotelian tradition into Spain, where it was further developed by his disciple, Ibn Tufail (c.1105-1185). His protégé, Averroes (1126–1198) wrote extensive commentaries on Aristotle, which had a profound impact on medieval scholasticism in Europe. The Persian philosopher Avicenna (980-1032 C.E.) synthesized the theories of Aristotle with the monotheistic tradition of Islam. His work, ’al Shifa (The Cure) was translated into Latin in twelfth century Spain, and his metaphysics considerably influenced Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. The primary characteristics of Islamic Aristotelianism were an emphasis on the superiority of philosophy, and knowledge gained through reason, over knowledge gained though faith; and the theory of a single, universal Active Intellect, an emanation of God, with which the human soul came into contact at its highest stage of development. Just as Aristotelianism later encouraged the advancement of scientific investigation in Europe, in the Islamic world it inspired the development of logic and of a system for classifying the natural sciences From the fall of Rome until 1450, Aristotle’s works, originally written in Greek, were unavailable to most educated Europeans. Boethius (480–525) produced some early translations into Latin but these were largely ignored, and only his translations of the Categories and De interpretatione were widely studied before the twelfth century. During the ninth and tenth centuries, an Arabic tradition of Aristotelianism was developed by Syrians, Persians, Turks, Jews, and Arabs, who wrote and taught in their own countries, in Africa, and in Spain until the twelfth century. Much of the Arabic and Hebrew works passed into the Latin tradition between 1130 and 1550. During the twelfth century, new Latin translations from Greek and from the Arabic commentaries of Avicenna and Averroes, and the Hebrew works of Maimonides (1125–1204), introduced Aristotle to the medieval Christian scholastics, and initiated an intellectual revival. During the thirteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church began to react to the challenges posed by new developments in philosophy. The teaching of Aristotelian books was condemned at Paris in 1210, 1215, and 1231; and lists of propositions inspired by certain interpretations of Aristotle were condemned at Paris and Oxford in 1270 and 1277. Some Christian theologians attempted to appropriate the teachings of Aristotle and interpret them in a way that was compatible with Christian doctrines. Albertus Magnus paraphrased the entire works of Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas produced a synthesis of Aristotelianism and Christian doctrines that became essential to Roman Catholic theology. Since the 1870s, the Roman Catholic Church has reasserted a Thomistic Aristotelianism. Soon after the beginning of Latin Aristotelianism in Europe during the twelfth century, Aristotelian teachings were introduced into the Greek schools of Athens and Alexandria by certain Armenians and Syrians. The Armenian tradition was still alive in the nineteenth century in such places as Madras and Venice; and the Syrian tradition, which never completely disappeared, was still active in the fourteenth century. Aristotelianism and the Renaissance During the Renaissance (c. 1348-c. 1648), a great quantity of Aristotelian commentaries were produced. Many of the Renaissance universities used Aristotelian texts in the training of philosophers, and the corpus aristotelicum was used as a framework for textbooks and encyclopedias, and as a point of departure for many philosophical treatises. The growing number of universities increased the numbers of teachers expounding the works of Aristotle and the numbers of students learning from them. The advent of printing heightened the impact of Aristotelianism by making Aristotelian works, and commentaries on them, much more widely available. A change in the role of philosophy in university education, and new advances in scholarship, created a need for new commentaries. Exposure to newly-discovered classical texts from outside the Aristotelian tradition provoked philosophical re-examination and criticism. Aristotle’s emphasis on naturally acquired knowledge and on the use of reason to examine and explain phenomena contributed to the growth of the natural sciences. His own observations of the natural world and his classification of beings into categories influenced scientific study. The primacy of the individual in Aristotelian thought contributed to a new appreciation of the value of the individual and of the natural beauty of human beings. The Aristotelian view of a logical and beautifully organized world governed by higher intelligences according to inherent logical principles had a transforming effect on the Christian worldview. Aristotelianism during the seventeenth century During the seventeenth century, Aristotelian philosophy took on a new role as the background against which new ideas and systems were developed. Scholastic Aristotelianism was considered to be outmoded and conservative, and most of the works written were traditional textbooks. Philosophers such as Descartes and Galileo developed their views in reaction to Aristotelianism as it had been taught for the previous four centuries. However, many seventeenth century Aristotelian philosophers incorporated contemporary scientific developments in their thought, and the views of commentators such as Eustachios a Sancto Paulo, Franciscus Toletus, Charles d’Abra de Raconis, Scipion Dupleis, and the scholars of the Portuguese Comibra school formed a background for the development of modern philosophy. Aristotelianism and modern philosophy After retreating under criticism from modern natural philosophers, the idea of teleology was transmitted through Christian Wolff and Kant to Hegel, who applied it to history as a totality. Although this project was criticized by Trendelenburg and Franz Brentano as un-Aristotelian, Hegel is now often said to be responsible for an important Aristotelian influence upon Marx. Postmodernists, in search of new ways of perceiving truth and understanding reality, reject the claim that Aristotelianism reveals important theoretical truths. They follow Heidegger’s critique of Aristotle as the greatest source of the entire tradition of Western philosophy. Recent Aristotelian ethical and "practical" philosophy, such as that of Hans-Georg Gadamer, is often premised upon a rejection of Aristotelianism’s traditional metaphysical or theoretical philosophy, while accepting its theory in other areas. The early modern tradition of political republicanism, which views the public sphere or State as constituted by its citizens’ virtuous activity, appears to be thoroughly Aristotelian. The most famous contemporary Aristotelian philosopher is Alasdair MacIntyre. Especially famous for helping to revive virtue ethics in his book, After Virtue, MacIntyre revises Aristotelianism with the argument that the highest temporal goods, which are internal to human beings, are actualized through participation in social practices. He places the Aristotelian concept of essentially human goods and virtues in opposition to the managerial institutions of capitalism and its state, and to rival traditions, including the philosophies of Hume and Nietzsche. MacIntyre claims that Aristotelianism is not identical with Western philosophy as a whole; rather, it is "the best theory so far." - ↑ Hans-Georg Gadamer, The Idea of the Good in Platonic-Aristotelian Philosophy (Yale University Press, 1986). - ↑ George E. McCarthy, ed, Marx and Aristotle: Nineteenth-Century German Social Theory and Classical Antiquity (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992). - ↑ Ted Sadler, Heidegger and Aristotle: The Question of Being (Athlone, 1996). - Chappell, Timothy. ed. Values and Virtues: Aristotelianism in Contemporary Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0199291454 - Ferrarin, Alfredo. Hegel and Aristotle. Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0511018118 - Kenny, Anthony. Essays on the Aristotelian Tradition. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0198250681 - Knight, Kelvin. Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre. Polity Press, 2007. ISBN 0745619762 - Lobkowicz, Nicholas. Theory and Practice: History of a Concept from Aristotle to Marx. University of Notre Dame Press, 1967. ISBN 0819133353 - MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. University of Notre Dame Press, 1984. ISBN 2130478964 - MacIntyre, Alasdair. Whose Justice? Which Rationality? University of Notre Dame Press, 1988. - MacIntyre, Alasdair. Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, and Tradition. University of Notre Dame Press, 1990. ISBN 0268018715 - MacIntyre, Alasdair. "The Theses on Feuerbach: A Road Not Taken," in Kelvin Knight (ed.), The MacIntyre Reader. University of Notre Dame Press, 1998. - MacIntyre, Alasdair. Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues. Open Court, 1999. - MacIntyre, Alasdair. "Natural Law as Subversive: The Case of Aquinas" and "Rival Aristotles: 1. Aristotle Against Some Renaissance Aristotelians; 2. Aristotle Against Some Modern Aristotelians," in MacIntyre, Ethics and Politics: Selected Essays. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0521670624 - Riedel, Manfred, ed. Rehabilitierung der praktischen Philosophie. Rombach, 1972. - Ritter, Joachim. Metaphysik und Politik: Studien zu Aristoteles und Hegel. Suhrkamp, 1977. - Schrenk, Lawrence P., ed. Aristotle in Late Antiquity. Catholic University of America Press, 1994. ISBN 0813207819 - Sharples, R. W., ed. Whose Aristotle? Whose Aristotelianism? Ashgate, 2001. ISBN 0754613623 - Shute, Richard. On the History of the Process by Which the Aristotelian Writings Arrived at Their Present Form. Arno Press, 1976. ISBN 0405073380 - Sorabji, Richard, ed. Aristotle Transformed: The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence. Duckworth, 1990. ISBN 0801424321 - Stocks, John Leofric. Aristotelianism. Harrap, 1925. - Veatch, Henry B. Rational Man: A Modern Interpretation of Aristotelian Ethics. Indiana University Press, 1962. All links retrieved October 30, 2012. - Aristotelianism in the Renaissance, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. - Aristotelianism in Islamic philosophy. - MEDIEVAL ARISTOTELIANISM AND THE CASE AGAINST SECONDARY CAUSATION IN NATURE, Alfred J. Freddoso, University of Notre Dame. General philosophy sources - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. - The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. - Guide to Philosophy on the Internet. - Paideia Project Online. - Project Gutenberg. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

NFPA 111: Standard on Stored Electrical Energy Emergency and Standby Power Systems, 2013 Edition |Item # 11113| Get the latest on stored emergency power supply systems in the 2013 NFPA 111. Readiness of emergency power is a key consideration in safeguarding building occupants in the event of a disruption of the normal utility supply. NFPA 111: Standard on Stored Electrical Energy Emergency and Standby Power Systems covers performance requirements for stored electric energy systems providing an alternate source of electrical power in buildings and facilities during an interruption of the normal power source. Requirements in NFPA 111 address: - Power sources - Transfer equipment - Supervisory equipment - Accessory equipment needed to supply electrical power to selected circuits - Installation, maintenance, operation, and testing requirements as they pertain to the performance of the stored emergency power supply system (SEPSS). Stay up-to-code and maximize safety with new options for stored power systems. Changes in the 2013 edition include the addition of a rectifier plant -- commonly used in the telecommunications industry -- as a potential stored emergency power supply system, or as a suitable bridging system. (Softbound, 22 pp., 2013) |CUSTOMERS ALSO BOUGHT| |YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE|

13th October, 2009 - Posted by admin - Comments Off In a speech to the Overseas Development Institute in June, Lord Turner, chair of the Climate Change Committe, said: …we can pretty much totally decarbonise our electricity generation. UK electricity generation currently puts out approx 550gm of CO2 per KW hour … we believe it’s possible to get to a low of 100g/KW hour by 2030. And 10-20g/ KW hour by 2050. That’s important not only to take the CO2 out of electricity generation, but once we’ve done that it’s likely we can apply electricity to a wider set of economic activities- largely electrfying the light end of the service transport – cars- and putting electric heating back into our houses, having spent the last 30 years taking it out. That means removing your gas central heating … and your gas cooker. Listen to Lord Turner’s speech to the Overseas Development Institute on 03 June 2009 here: ODI Public Lecture: “UK leading the way: Moving forward in international climate change policy”

How Does the Frolov Breathing Device Work? The main principle is relatively simple: when we breathe in and out through the device, we get a different air composition in our lungs. In normal conditions, when we breathe usual air, the air that we inhale has about 21% of oxygen and 0.03% of carbon dioxide. If we start to breathe through any device, in and out, the device traps a portion of the exhaled air. This exhaled air has less O2 and more CO2. For example, if we collect all exhaled air of the ordinary healthy man during normal breathing, it will contain about 15.3% O2 and 4.2% CO2 since the human body uses O2 and generates CO2. When we breathe only through the device (inhalations and exhalations), there are changes in the air composition that enters our lungs depending on the parameters of our breathing and device. Indeed, during our exhalation, part of the exhaled air is trapped in the breathing device. Furthermore, the initial part of the exhaled gas has almost no extra CO2 and about 21% O2 since this air does not participate in gas exchange. (Ironically, it is called “dead volume”, but in reality it is a factor promoting health due to drastic changes in air compositions during Earth’s evolution). The last portion of the exhaled air has highest CO2 content and lowest O2 values. Hence, the device can trap this last portion of the exhaled air, which has high CO2 concentration (up to about 5-6% in healthy people) and much less oxygen (about 14-15%) than in normal air. Hence, during our next inhalation, when we breathe only through the device, this trapped air mixes with fresh air. Hence, most people can more safely practice deep breathing (e.g., 3-5 large deep breathe in one minute) when using the device without problems with low CO2 in the lungs and other body cells. The approximate composition of the inhaled air during breathing sessions is provided in this Table: Inhaled air during breathing sessions |Gas composition parameter||Inhaled normal air||Inhaled air during |CO2 content||0.03% CO2||1-2% CO2| |O2 content||20% O2||18-19% O2| The exact composition of the inhaled air is difficult to predict because it depends on many parameters: 1) volume of trapped air in the plastic bottle (the larger this volume, the higher the inhaled CO2 and the lower the exhaled O2); 2) amplitude of breathing (it is called tidal volume); 3) breathing frequency (it is considered in the next section); 4) metabolic rate (or CO2-generation rate). Those people, who inhale through the nose and exhale through the device, do not use air that is trapped in the device for their breathing. However, since they try to make longer exhalations, their lungs naturally accumulate more CO2 and have less O2. Hence, they experience a similar physiological effect, but to a smaller degree. Therefore, Frolov device breathing exercise is a type of intermittent hypercapnic hypoxic training: “intermittent” means that it is done only for about 15-20 minutes, but the effects are lasting for many following hours; “hypercapnic” indicates higher CO2 levels in the alveoli of the lungs during sessions (CO2 concentration in the arterial blood and body cells also gets higher if there is no ventilation-perfusion mismatch); and “hypoxic” implies temporary reduced oxygen content in the alveoli. Similar effects (more CO2 and less O2 in the inhaled air) take place during other beneficial forms of breathing exercises: Buteyko breathing exercises and Pranayama (a slow deep breathing exercise from hatha yoga). However, the breathing device has some advantages: it allows active movements of the respiratory muscles (mainly the diaphragm) and, as a result, it is much easier to tolerate higher CO2 and lower O2 concentrations in the lungs and blood. Active muscular diaphragmatic movements, together with variations in internal pressure during inhalations and exhalations, gently stimulate all internal organs and lymph nodes located under the diaphragm as during intensive physical exercise. Furthermore, the device causes gentle or gradual CO2 increase, while Pranayama breath holds and Buteyko breath holds lead to sudden CO2 upsurge, which can cause problems to some groups of people. Hypoxic training (less O2 in the inhaled air) without hypercapnia takes place when athletes and other people breathe air and live at high altitude (1,500-3,000 m above the sea level). Related links and web pages (Frolov breathing device): - Frolov breathing device - Overview and general information about the Frolov breathing device therapy - Frolov device history and origins are connected with the Buteyko breathing technique - Frolov device: How does it work explains the main physiological mechanism (hypercapnic hypoxic training) - Frolov device effects describes its main clinical effects - Acute asthma exacerbations clinical trial - Application of the Frolov device in a hospital setting - COPD breathing exercises - Another clinical trial with application of the Frolov device on hospitalized patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (*** More Trials: Under construction ***) - Buy Frolov breathing device with 30 min online support from Dr. Artour Rakhimov - How to Use Frolov Device (Instructions): Ultimate health restoration program (90 pages book in PDF and Kindle formats) with Dinamika instructions and lifestyle manuals included - Prototypes of the Frolov breathing device: Breathslim (breathing device for weight loss) and Samozdrav (or Cosmic Breath/Cosmic Health) Some facts about the Frolov Breathing Device: - Over 300 health professionals (MDs, GPs or family physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and other medical professionals) have been involved in studying, endorsing and promoting the Frolov breathing device and its application to their patients in Russia since the year 2000. - More than 2,500,000 people in Russia could confirm that they have improved their health with the help of the Frolov Respiration Training Device, implying the goals set have been successfully achieved (http://www.intellectbreathing.com/) - According to the results of clinical trials on children and adults and the long-term practical application of the device, it is a very efficient therapy against diseases of the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems. The Frolov breathing exercises normalize oxygenation of the arterial blood, blood supply to the brain and myocardium, oxygenation of cells, the immune system, and metabolism, and improve lung function tests and abnormal blood parameters, including the hormonal profile. The exercises also improve energy level, sleep and digestion. - Typical reduction in medication in clinical trials for bronchial asthma was about 60-80%. (Note that since correction of risk life style factors was not a part of the program, much better results are expected when the practicing person makes positive changes in this area.) Clinical trials also found reduced inflammation in airways and normalizations in the heart rate, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, cardiointervalography and renovasography measurements. The breathing device improved the removal of mucus and reduced coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. - Systematic clinical trials and published medical studies with hundreds of patients have been conducted on the following health problems: bronchial asthma, bronchial asthma in children, bronchial asthma with weakness of respiratory muscles, hypertension, angina pectoris, chronic bronchitis, acute stages of bronchitis, emphysema, and diabetes. Apart from these investigations, medical reports have indicated positive effects on gastrointestinal problems, cystic fibrosis, psychological disorders, obesity, osteochondrosis, and some other conditions. If you click the above Facebook like button and "like" this page, I will be nearly "forced" to asnwer your question. You can also tweet this page. Mention this in your comment, and you can ask even more. Thanks. Back to: Frolov Breathing Device |Disclaimer||Copyright 2013 Artour Rakhimov||Contact details||About Artour Rakhimov (Google profile)|

Clean Energy Policy Basics States and local communities can create policy strategies to help them achieve their clean energy goals. To create effective strategies, it's helpful to understand how to build a clean energy policy portfolio and the different types of policies. Clean Energy Policy Portfolios Single policies don't transform markets for a clean energy economy in states and localities. The most effective approach is to apply a suite of policies in succession—from policies that prepare and create the market to those directed towards market expansion and saturation. To build such a policy portfolio at the state and local level, NREL analysts suggest using a framework that considers: - Policy types - Different mixes of technologies. For more information about NREL's suggested framework, see State and Local Clean Energy Policy Primer: Getting from Here to Clean Electricity with Policy. Clean Energy Policy Types At the state and local level, the following policies are designed to meet specific clean energy goals. A feed-in tariff is an energy-supply policy focused on supporting the development of new renewable power generation. Learn more. Renewable Energy Rebates States, utilities, and a few local governments offer rebates to promote the installation of renewable energy technologies. Learn more. Renewable Fuel Standards A renewable fuel standard mandates the increased development of renewable fuels, such as biofuels. Learn more. Renewable Portfolio Standards Renewable portfolio standards require utilities to use renewable energy or renewable energy credits to account for a certain percentage of their retail electricity sales — or a certain amount of generating capacity — according to a specified schedule. Learn more. The following resources provide more information on state and local clean energy policies:

You are here What is SAAM? The month of April has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in the United States. The goal of SAAM is to raise public awareness about sexual violence and to educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence. By working together and pooling our resources during the month of April, we can highlight sexual violence as a major public health, human rights and social justice issue and reinforce the need for prevention efforts. Download information about the SAAM Symbol and Color

HISTORY OF FLIGHT Use your browsers 'back' function to return to synopsisReturn to Query Page On May 28, 1996, approximately 1710 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-401, N1549D, registered to and operated by Monticello Flying Service, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight, was destroyed following a loss of control while maneuvering near Lake Providence, Louisiana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The flight originated from a private air strip, about 55 minutes prior to the accident. According to the operator, the airplane was returning to home base following an aerial application of rice seed in the local area. The airplane impacted in an open field, approximately 600 feet from the home base hangar. Witnesses located near the accident site reported to the investigator-in-charge that they observed the airplane approach the private airstrip from the north at a low altitude. As the airplane neared the south end of the north-south runway, it turned right and headed back towards the north. After passing over highway 580, the airplane turned right and again headed towards the south. When the airplane was approximately abeam the midpoint of the runway, it turned right. With the "nose of the airplane up," the airplane "seemed to over bank and went straight into the ground." The witnesses also reported that the engine sounded "normal." The commercial rated pilot had accumulated 710 hours in the accident airplane while employed by Monticello Flying Services. (See the enclosed pilot's flight logbook.) A review of the airframe and engine records by the FAA inspector did not reveal evidence of any uncorrected maintenance defects prior to the flight. The weather observation at 1715 for Monroe Regional Airport (MLU), located approximately 32 nautical miles west of the accident site, was an estimated ceiling of 6,000 feet broken, 8,000 feet broken; visibility 8 miles; wind from 170 degrees at 8 knots; altimeter 29.78. The temperature was 89 degrees Fahrenheit with a dew point of 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Monroe also reported that thunderstorms ended 15 minutes past the hour and had moved east. There were cumulonimbus clouds to the north, east, and south. Witnesses reported that the wind sock was observed to be "straight out," and that thunderstorms were located approximately 1.5 miles to the south of the accident site. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION The aircraft wreckage was located 15 nautical miles southwest of Lake Providence, Louisiana. The aircraft came to rest 300 feet west of the south end of the operator's air strip in a soy bean field on a magnetic heading of 360 degrees. The initial ground scar was on a magnetic heading of 310 degree. All aircraft components and wreckage were located within a 150 foot radius from the point of impact. (See enclosed wreckage diagram for wreckage distribution details.) The aircraft fuselage was compacted and the empennage was partially separated and displaced to the right. Both wings were still attached to the fuselage, with the right wing displaced aft. The leading edge of the right wing had multiple tears and was crushed aft. The right aileron and flap were separated from the wing. The flaps were determined to be in the retracted position. Continuity was established to all flight controls. The engine was found partially buried in the ground and attached to its mounts. The engine was fractured in numerous places. The propeller was attached to the engine. One propeller blade was bent aft, and it exhibited S bending and chordwise scratching. The other propeller blade exhibited no damage. Examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any pre-impact structural or mechanical anomalies. MEDICAL & PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION Autopsy and toxicology tests were requested through the East Carroll Parish Sheriff Department. However, due to a miscommunication with the medical examiner, the tests were not performed. The pilot's seat bottom was deflected downward and it had contacted the elevator push pull tube. The seat belt was intact and the buckle was operable. Both the right and left shoulder harnesses were separated in the box stitching at the lower buckles. The pilot's brother indicated that they had modified the harness and had stitched the separated connections. The aircraft was released to the owner and his representative.

Molybdenum is a mineral that serves as a part of several key enzymes that help the body use carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Major food sources of molybdenum include legumes, grain products and nuts. Fruits, many vegetables and most animal products are usually low in molybdenum. Molybdenum is efficiently absorbed in the stomach and the small intestine. |Product: ||Molybdenum 250McG| |Brand: ||Insperra (More Products)| |Size: ||100 Tablets| Review this product and receive triple credits toward free samples! Learn more Be the First to Review Molybdenum 250McG! Learn ways that Nutritional Tree can: 1. Increase your traffic 2. Grow your brand 3. Increase your conversion

Three different types of omega-3 fatty acids, and they aren't all created equal. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), occurs in plant foods like soybeans, canola oil and pumpkin seeds. The second and third types, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docasahexaenoic acid (DHA), found mostly in seafood, are most closely associated with boosting heart health. Since your body has to first convert ALA into EPA and DHA for it to be effective, and only a small amount actually converted, it's important to get the bulk of your omega-3's from fish sources. References:April 1, 2011, Family Circle

Motorists & Parking Alternative Fuels Program Reducing emissions through increasing our use of alternative fuels and retrofitting vehicles is crucial to improving New York City's air quality. The mission of the Alternative Fuels Program is to promote understanding and increased usage of alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles within New York City. The Program has two goals: - To make the air cleaner and safer for New Yorkers so that we can breathe easily and without worry - To promote the use of alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles in New York City by both the private businesses and government agencies New York's Emissions Reduction GoalsOne of the most dangerous pollutants is particulate matter (PM) - commonly known as soot. Its small size lets it drift deeper into the lungs, where it can cause inflammation and other damage. According to the U.S. EPA, up to 15,000 premature deaths a year are caused by exceeding the emissions standard of PM 2.5. A paper by the Environmental Defense Fund "All Choked Up" shows that New Yorkers living within two to six blocks of a busy road are likely to be at higher risk for conditions including cancer, heart disease, impaired childhood lung development, asthma attacks, and lung disease in adults. The City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene estimates that a 10% decrease of current PM levels in New York City would result in hundreds fewer deaths annually.Our goal is to reduce PM 2.5 emissions across the City by 9% by 2015 and 39% per square mile by 2030. To accomplish this, the Alternative Fuels Program is working to replace New York City's public fleets with alternative fuel vehicles in order to promote and expand usage of alternative fuels which are much less polluting to the air and more friendly to the environment. The Program works closely with all levels of government agencies that operate fleets in New York City, as well as utilities (KeySpan and Con Edison) and some private sector fleets.DOT will lead the way by greening our operations and offering incentives to private fleet owners and vehicle operators to do the same. We will also partner with City Hall, the MTA and the Port Authority to promote hybrid and other clean-energy vehicles. Alternative Fuels Program DOT is expanding the use of biodiesel, compressed natural gas and hybrid electric technology throughout our fleet. Nearly 700 of our 3,000 vehicles use this technology already.We are using cleaner burning fuel and filtering the exhaust from our Staten Island ferry fleet. In 2005 in the first project of its kind in the US, one of our ferries (Alice Austen) was outfitted with a Selective Catalytic Reduction system and a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst, achieving a 70% overall nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction (17 tons a year). The success of that trial has led us to begin outfitting the entire fleet with clean technology. Two of our larger ferries have received mechanical upgrades, and because they are larger than the Austen we have reduced NOx output by over 120 tons a year. The remainder of the fleet will be completed in 2008.DOT's fleet vehicles, heavy equipment, and over 2000 power tools refueling at the Harper Street Yard in Brooklyn fill their tanks with B5 (95% diesel and 5% soy-based vegetable oil. B5 is currently being introduced at the department's other refueling stations as well. We are also already testing the cold-weather performance of B20, an even cleaner burning fuel. The Staten Island ferry fleet burns between 60,000 and 70,000 gallons of fuel every week. We are currently testing the use of B5 fuel in the John F. Kennedy and finalizing a contract to provide B5 for the entire fleet. All of our new construction equipment is delivered with the latest emission reduction technology. And over the next two years DOT's older heavy equipment will be outfitted with technology that can reduce emissions up to 85% when combined with ultra-low sulfur fuel. We also intend to introduce hydrogen fuel for our light duty fleet and gas to liquid in refuse trucks in late 2008. Other Measures to Reduce Tailpipe Emissions In 2005, vehicles traveled 18.6 billion miles through the five boroughs, approximately 48 million miles per day. Each year, these trips generate about 11% of our local PM 2.5 emissions as well as 52% of NOx and 32% of VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions, both of which contribute to PM 2.5 levels. There are four main ways to reduce transportation-related emissions: decrease the amount of time vehicles spend stuck in congestion and idling; use less and cleaner fuels; and filter exhaust before it is released into the air. DOT's alternative fuels program is just one part of the overall picture of reducing emissions from the transportation sector. We are partnering with the MTA to create select bus service corridors, making mass transit faster and more accessible for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who currently live far from existing subway lines. We are also building out the City's 1800-mile bicycle master plan to foster bike commuting. Encouraging the Private Sector DOT and NYSERDA award grants to private industry to help in the procurement of alternative fuel vehicles. DOT with NYSERDA offers funding incentives to private fleets to retrofit their diesel trucks with exhaust filtering technology in order to reduce exhaust produced as trucks idle. We are currently working with Manhattan Beer, UPS, FedEx, and Coca-Cola. DOT will soon launch a separate grant program to retrofit truck fleets based at the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx. Nearly 15,000 trucks pass through Hunts Point daily. Finally, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has committed to requiring that, beginning October 1, 2008, all taxicabs coming into service (with the exception of accessible taxicabs) must be capable of achieving a city mileage rating of 25 miles per gallon (mpg). As of October 2009, all new taxicab vehicles must have a minimum city driving rating of 30 mpg. More Information on Alternative Fuels For more information on the types of alternative fuels, the environmental damage caused by vehicle emissions, and links to other helpful information sources, read more about alternative fuels (in pdf format). Reducing Emissions From Non-Road Equipment (Local Law 77) Local Law 77, which was signed into law in 2003, requires the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel and "best available technology" for reducing emissions from non-road equipment used on City construction projects. Read the Verified Technologies List of diesel retrofit technologies that have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in engine retrofit programs. Read a summary of verified diesel emission control strategies by the California Air Resources Board.

Substance Abuse / Chemical Dependence There are three different terms used to define substance-related disorders, including the following: - Substance abuse. Substance abuse describes a pattern of substance (drug) use leading to significant problems or distress such as failure to attend school, substance use in dangerous situations (driving a car), substance-related legal problems, or continued substance use that interferes with friendships and/or family relationships. Substance abuse, as a disorder, refers to the abuse of illegal substances or the abusive use of legal substances. Alcohol is the most common legal drug of abuse. People can often stop substance abuse on their own or with a little help when they realize it is interfering with their life. - Substance dependence Substance dependence describes continued substance abuse, even after significant problems in everyday functioning have developed. Signs include an increased tolerance or need for increased amounts of a substance to attain the desired effect, withdrawal symptoms with decreased use, unsuccessful efforts to decrease use, increased time spent in activities to obtain substances, withdrawal from social and recreational activities, and continued use of a substance even with awareness of physical or psychological problems encountered by the extent of the substance use. People often need professional help when they develop substance dependence. - Chemical dependence. Chemical dependence is another term used to describe the compulsive use of chemicals (drugs or alcohol) and the inability to stop using them despite all the problems caused by their use. Substances frequently abused by adolescents include, but are not limited to, the following: - Prescription drugs - Anabolic steroids Cultural and societal norms influence acceptable standards of substance use. Public laws determine the legality of the use of substances. Substance-related disorders in adolescence are caused by multiple factors including genetic vulnerability, environmental stressors, social pressures, individual personality characteristics, and psychiatric problems. However, determining which of these factors are most to blame in adolescent populations has not been determined. Parental and peer substance use are two of the more common factors contributing to youthful decisions regarding substance use. Some adolescents are more at risk of developing substance-related disorders, including adolescents with one or more of the following conditions present: - Children of substance abusers - Adolescents who are victims of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse - Adolescents with mental health problems, especially depressed and suicidal teens - Physically disabled adolescents The following behaviors may indicate an adolescent is having a problem with substance abuse. However, each adolescent may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include: - Getting high on drugs or getting intoxicated (drunk) on a regular basis - Lying, especially about if and how much they are using or drinking - Avoiding friends and family members - Giving up activities they used to enjoy such as sports or spending time with non-using friends - Talking a lot about using drugs or alcohol - Believing they need to use or drink in order to have fun - Pressuring others to use or drink - Getting in trouble at school or with the law - Taking risks, such as sexual risks or driving under the influence of a substance - Suspension from school for a substance-related incident - Missing school due to substance use and/or declining grades - Depressed, hopeless, or suicidal feelings The symptoms of substance abuse may resemble other medical problems or psychiatric conditions. Always consult your adolescent's doctor for a diagnosis. A pediatrician, family physician, psychiatrist, or qualified mental health professional usually diagnoses substance abuse in adolescents. However, adolescent substance abuse is believed by some to be the most commonly missed pediatric diagnosis. Adolescents who use drugs are most likely to visit a physician's office with no obvious physical findings. Substance abuse problems are more likely to be discovered by physicians when adolescents are injured in accidents occurring while under the influence, or when they are brought for medical services because of intentional efforts to hurt themselves. Clinical findings often depend on the substance abused, the frequency of use, and the length of time since last used, and may include the following: - Weight loss - Constant fatigue - Red eyes - Little concern for hygiene Specific treatment for substance abuse/chemical dependence will be determined by your adolescent's doctor based on: - Your adolescent's age, overall health, and medical history - Extent of your adolescent's symptoms - Extent of your adolescent's dependence - The substance abused - Your adolescent's tolerance for specific medications or therapies - Expectations for the course of the condition - Your opinion or preference A variety of treatment programs for substance abuse are available on an inpatient or outpatient basis. Programs considered are usually based on the type of substance abused. Medical detoxification (if needed, based on the substance abused) and long-term follow-up management are important features of successful treatment. Long-term follow-up management usually includes formalized group meetings and age-appropriate psychosocial support systems, as well as continued medical supervision. Individual and family psychotherapy are often recommended to address the developmental, psychosocial, and family issues that may have contributed to and resulted from the development of a substance abuse disorder. There are three major approaches used to prevent adolescent substance use and abuse, including the following: - School-based prevention programs. School-based prevention programs usually provide drug and alcohol education and interpersonal and behavior skills training. - Community-based prevention programs. Community-based prevention programs usually involve the media and are aimed for parents and community groups. Programs, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), are the most well-known, community-based programs. - Family-focused prevention programs. Family-focused prevention programs involve parent training, family skills training, adolescent social skills training, and family self-help groups. Research literature available suggests that components of family-focused prevention programs have decreased the use of alcohol and drugs in adolescents and improved effectiveness of parenting skills. Click here to view the Online Resources of Growth & Development

Long live the creepy-crawlies, the bugs, the tiny wigglers and wrigglers, the minuscule parasites and nematodes, the mites and oribatids and all the myriad life forms that buzz, crawl and throb below our feet. Most have barely been given a second thought by science, but biologists now think that these mostly named creatures make up the beating heart of the biosphere and that the fate of all life may depend on the wellbeing of their fragile worlds. Thanks to photographer David Liittschwager, we now have a visual inkling of what exactly lives high in the cloud forest canopy, below our feet in the parks, in the sediments of rivers and on coral reefs. Liittschwager, primarily a portrait photographer, had the idea of taking a one-cubic-foot metal frame and recording what moved through this habitat over a day and night. He then made portraits of the life that could be seen with the naked eye. What was found even in fairly nondescript places was wondrous. When the metal frame was dropped in the Duck River in Tennessee, it recorded 32 fish species, and nearly 100 others. "Dig a few handfuls of sediment from the bottom and the river's significance begins to reveal itself. Half of what you hold in your hands is sand and gravel, and the rest is live species - mussels, snails, juvenile crayfish, the larvae of stoneflies and dragonflies. It seems possible that the driving force of planetary life is actually very small and that its intricacies are lost on most of us," author Alan Huffman remarks in an essay accompanying the pictures. An unknown world was found when the cube was suspended from the branch of a tree in Costa Rica's rainforest. This time, 145 species - birds, mammals, mosses, bromeliads and epiphytes - were recorded. "This is the last biotic frontier, the missing pieces of the phenomenal jigsaw puzzle that is the tropical rainforest. How forest canopy populations become established, grow and disperse to other sites remains wholly unknown," said canopy researcher Nalini Nadkarni. The cubic foot was dropped on Temae coral reef near Tahiti in the Pacific. There, 600 individual animals and plants more than a millimetre in size - some living permanently in the space, others swimming or floating through - were recorded. "And this is not counting the many thousands of smaller creatures that floated by each hour. Wrasses, sea slugs, a baby octopus, shrimp, worms and crabs as small as the letters on the page were all recorded," reported author Elizabeth Kolbert. Jasper Slingsby, a researcher at the South Africa environmental observational network, recorded life in a cubic foot of Table Mountain National Park in South Africa. In the course of 24 hours, the sample revealed almost 30 plant species and roughly 70 invertebrates. By moving the cube, as much as a 50 per cent difference in plant species was recorded. "There are multitudes of species many orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest mite we found. "Indeed, it would take more than a lifetime simply to document the diversity of life in one cubic foot here. Even one cubic inch is a world worth contemplating," Slingsby wrote. Science is only slowly catching up with biodiversity, partly thanks to the great United States biologist E.O. Wilson, who, apart from studying ants, has best communicated the interlocking mechanisms of life. "When you thrust a shovel into the soil or tear off a piece of coral, you are, godlike, cutting through an entire world. You have crossed a hidden frontier known to very few," he says in a foreword. "Immediately close at hand, around and beneath our feet, lies the least explored part of the planet's surface. It is also the most vital place on earth for human existence. "In any habitat, on the ground, in the forest canopy, or in the water, your eye is first caught by the big animals - birds, mammals, fish, butterflies. "But gradually the smaller inhabitants, far more numerous, begin to eclipse them. "There are the insect myriads creeping and buzzing among the weeds, the worms and unnameable creatures that squirm or scuttle for cover when you turn garden soil for planting." Among the photographic celebration of life's abundance and complexity lies the tragedy. Liittschwager's pictures record the beauty, weirdness, elegance and sheer extraordinariness of life, but, as nearly every commentator in the book notes, these habitats are fast disappearing in what is becoming known as the sixth great extinction. The testaments of the experts are terrifying. "Even as I make my measurements of the abundance of canopy life in the protected forests of Costa Rica, I can hear chainsaws," writes Nadkarni. "From Cameroon to Costa Rica logging, development, climate change and changes in agricultural land use have led to the disappearance and fragmentation of rainforests at an alarming pace. "We canopy researchers hang from our arboreal perches, [but] we can see clear cuts just beyond." Says Kolbert: "If nothing is done to reduce [climate change] emissions, many scientists believe that, by mid-century, reefs worldwide will no longer be able to sustain themselves and will slowly disappear. With them will go the wealth of life they support. "As the creatures from just this one cubic foot attest, the losses up and down the food chain would be staggering." Earth, says Wilson, is the only planet we know that has a biosphere. "It alone is able to maintain the exact environment we ourselves need to stay alive. "If all the organisms were to disappear from any one of the cubic spaces depicted, the environment in it would shift to a radical new state. "The molecules of the soil or streambed would become smaller and simpler. The ratios of oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gases in the air would change. A new equilibrium would be approached, at which the cubic foot would resemble that on some distant sterile planet." A small world, says Liittschwager, awaits exploration. "In time, we will come fully to appreciate the magnificent little ecosystems that have fallen under our stewardship." Unless, of course, we leave it too late.

OECD Home › Environment Directorate › Environmental indicators, modelling and outlooks › Latest Documents OECD Environmental Strategy Environment Ministers of OECD countries met in Paris on 16 May 2001 to discuss the main environmental concerns OECD Member countries face and adopt an OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century. English, , 955kb Environment Ministers adopted an ambitious OECD Environmental Strategy when they met in 2001. It aims to provide clear directions for environmentally sustainable policies in OECD member countries, and guides the work of the OECD in the field of environment. English, , 929kb Key Environmental Indicators endorsed by Environment Ministers of OECD countries at their meeting in 2001. In order to prevent irreversible damage to our environment over the next 20 years, governments need urgently to take action to change their policies in a number of clearly identifiable areas. This is the key message of OECD's Environmental Outloo... English, , 1,186kb The Special Session on Material Flow Accounting was organised following a joint proposal by the United States and Japan at the 29th meeting of the Working Group on Environmental Information and Outlooks. This book examines progress towards the effective measurement of sustainable development, presenting the wide range of initiatives and indicators that are already in place. Experience shows that the availability of environmental data, indicators and information helps improve the accountability of public authorities to public opinion in their own country and beyond. This publication reviews a number of initiatives undertaken within the OECD to monitor trends in the sustainability of specific sectors and sub-national areas. The aim of this seminar was to take stock of current environmental monitoring practices in China and in OECD countries. The aim of this report is to provide measured indicators of OECD countries' consumption patterns and trends, thereby relating conceptual and policy-oriented work to available economic and environmental data.

From Ohio History Central Cass Gilbert was a well-known American Architect in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Gilbert was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on November 24, 1859. His father died in 1868, and Gilbert found a job working as a surveyor in a local architect's office. It was there that he gained an interest in architecture. He studied for a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before traveling to Europe to obtain additional training. Gilbert began to make a name for himself as an architect after designing Minnesota's new state capitol building in 1896. His design was chosen for a new United States Customs building in New York City, and he designed the Woolworth Building as well. In 1908, Gilbert was elected president of the American Institute of Architects. Later in his career, he was chosen to be president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an honorary member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a member of the French Legion of Honor. He also served on the National Commission of Fine Arts. Gilbert's best-known design was the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. Cass Gilbert died in England in 1934.

Cirrhosis is a disease in which the liver becomes permanently damaged and the normal structure of the liver is changed. Healthy liver cells are replaced by scarred tissue. The liver is not able to do its normal functions, such as detoxifying harmful substances, purifying blood, and making vital nutrients. In addition, scarring slows down the normal flow of blood through the liver, causing blood to find alternate pathways. This may result in bleeding blood vessels known as gastric or |Cirrhosis of the Liver |Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc. Causes of cirrhosis include: Excessive consumption of - Autoimmune hepatitis Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), associated with: Bile duct blockages, associated with: - Congenital defects - Scarred ducts—sometimes related to inflammatory bowel disorders - Gallbladder surgery Drugs and toxins: Heart failure, causing blood to repeatedly back up into the liver A risk factor is something that increases your chance of getting a disease or condition. Risk factors include: - Alcohol abuse - Hepatitis infection - Use of drugs toxic to the liver or gaining weight - Diabetes that is poorly controlled too much iron Cirrhosis often does not cause symptoms early in the disease process. Symptoms start when the liver begins to fail, as scar tissue replaces healthy cells. Symptom severity depends on the extent of liver damage. Early symptoms include: - Poor appetite - Abdominal swelling, tenderness, and pain - Weight loss - Enlarged breasts in men Later symptoms, some due to complications, include: Yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice) - Reddened palms - Loss of body hair - Shrunken testicles - Enlarged liver - Enlarged spleen - Appearance of thin, purplish-red, spidery looking blood vessels on the skin, especially around the navel - Dark urine - Water retention and swelling in the legs and abdomen - Bleeding and bruising - Vomiting blood - Menstrual problems - Abdominal infections - Inability to fully process drugs - Enlarged, twisted, thin-walled blood vessels called varices that bleed easily and sometimes catastrophically (usually located in the esophagus) - Sleep disturbances - Breathing problems - Insulin resistance The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history and perform a physical exam. Tests may include: - Blood tests—to assess how well the liver is working and determine a cause ultrasound, or liver/spleen scan—to identify changes in the liver biopsy—analyzing a sample of liver tissue removed via a thin needle inserted through the abdomen and into the liver Laparoscopy—looking at the liver via a thin tube with a lighted tip inserted through a small incision near the belly button Other tests may include: - Inserting a catheter into the liver vein and measuring the pressure within that vein; rarely necessary - Removing fluid from the abdomen and examining it - Other tests to determine what caused the cirrhosis and what complications may occur There is no cure for cirrhosis. The goals of treatment are to keep the condition from getting worse, including: - Control the cause - Treat underlying medical conditions - Prevent additional damage - Treat symptoms and complications - Liver cancer screenings Doctors prescribe drugs to: - Treat hepatitis and complications that arise - Reduce the absorption of waste products and toxins in the digestive system - Reduce the risk of a blood vessel breaking - Fight infections - Shed excess fluids - Complications can no longer be controlled using medical therapy - The liver stops functioning —This is used to tie off bleeding blood vessels (varices) or to inject drugs to cause clotting. A thin tool with a lighted tip is inserted down the throat to help the doctor see and access the varices, which are located in the esophagus. - Stop drinking alcohol completely. - Do not take any medicines without your doctor's approval, including over-the-counter drugs. balanced diet. Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as lean proteins, like beans and poultry. - If your liver disease is more advanced, you may need to limit protein intake, because your weakened liver will not be able to process it properly. - You may need to limit salt in your diet, because it increases water retention. - Take any vitamin supplements your doctor recommends. - Put your feet and legs up to decrease swelling. Due to increased risk of infections, doctors recommend: Getting vaccines for - Avoiding raw seafood - Avoiding people who are sick with communicable diseases, like the flu or common cold - Washing your hands often If you are diagnosed with cirrhosis, follow your doctor's To decrease the risk of cirrhosis: - Drink alcohol in moderation. Moderate alcohol intake is no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. - Get hepatitis vaccines. to lower your chance of getting hepatitis B. - If you use IV drugs, do not share needles, which can spread hepatitis B, C, or D. - Maintain a healthy weight. - Follow your doctor's recommendations about blood tests when taking medications that may damage the liver. American College of Gastroenterology American Gastroenterological Association American Liver Foundation Canadian Liver Foundation Cirrhosis. National Guideline Clearinghouse website. Available at: http://www.guideline.gov. Accessed July 9, 2009. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases website. Available at: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/cirrhosis. Published December 2008. Accessed July 9, 2009. Cirrhosis and chronic liver failure: what you should know. American Academy of Family Physicians website. Available at: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20060901/781ph.html. Published September 2006. Accessed July 9, 2009. Cirrhosis of the liver. AGA Patient Center. American Gastroenterological Association website. Available at: http://www.gastro.org/patient-center/digestive-conditions/cirrhosis-of-the-liver. Accessed July 9, 2009. Dambro MR, Griffith JA. Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1999. Ferri F, ed. Ferri’s Clinical Advisor 2010. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 8th ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby; 2005. Hirschfield GM, Gershwin ME. Primary biliary cirrhosis: one disease with many faces. Isr Med Assoc J. 2011;13(1):55-59. Molodecky NA, Kareemi H, Parab R, Barkema HW, Quan H, Myers RP, Kaplan GG. Incidence of primary sclerosing cholangitis: a systematic review and 2/12/2010 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance https://dynamed.ebscohost.com/about/about-us: Chang Y, Ryu S, Sung E, et al. Weight gain within the normal weight range predicts ultrasonographically detected fatty liver in healthy Korean men.

( Originally Published Early 1900's ) IN talking with some inventors, and in reading the opinions of others, we have been greatly surprised to see what an estimate they put upon application in the field of invention. They insist that a young man of average ability, by severe and constant effort, can become quite an inventor. Mr. Edison says : " The question of natural aptitude enters into the matter, and without it no man can become a star, nevertheless it is an auxiliary attainment; dogged perseverance is the keystone of success. In the arts, such as painting, music, poetry, and so forth, a very special temperament may be required, but in the workshop of science, men of the sanguine, sandy kind come out ahead. The man who keeps at one thing, and never minds the clock, is always sure to do something. He may miss many social engagements, of course, but his success is assured." Mr. Elmer Gates, of Washington, told me that it was his one great ambition to make permanent his school for teaching young men to become inventors. When I suggested to him the current opinion that inventors are rather born than made, he took issue with me at once, and said that any person of average ability, with proper instruction and persistent application, could be quite successful in this field of endeavor. Mr. Edison says : " I believe that any person, even of the most limited capacity, could become an inventor by sheer hard work. You can do almost anything if you will keep at it long enough. Of course, the man with a natural aptitude would get there first, but the other plodder would eventually gain his point. The constant brooding on the one thing is sure to develop new ideas concerning it, and these in turn, suggest others, and soon the completed idea stands out before you. Above all things a man must not give up, once he has outlined his plan of action. Once fairly on your way, don't stop because of some seemingly impossible obstacle in front of you. What you want may be just beyond your nose, though you do not see it. I once had that fact forcibly presented to me. I was working on an invention, and finally reached a point when I could go no further. The thing lacked something, but, try as I might, I could not tell what it was. Finally, I got angry at it, and threw the whole business out of the window. Afterward, I thought how foolish the action was, and I went out and picked up the wreck. In putting it together again, I saw just what was needed. Repairing the broken portions suggested it, and it was so simple that I wondered I had not seen it before. Now that slight addition to the apparatus could have been ascertained by a little thoughtful experimentation. I suppose I found it out quicker because of the ` accident,' but that does not alter the moral of the incident." It is painstaking, persistent endeavor, which tells in the religious world. What new worlds of thought and feeling are opened to the heart which is persistent in its meditation and devotion ! What vast results follow the efforts of those who labor for the Divine Master, year in and year out. It is the one who holds out in the race, who wins the prize; who remains faithful unto death, who secures the crown of life.

Awareness of oncologic emergencies is raised through education program In an oncologic emergency, nurses must intervene quickly to prevent life-threatening complications and save lives. This is especially important given that the incidence of oncologic emergencies increases along with the number of people diagnosed with cancer. According to Suzanne Brady, RN, BSN, CCRN, the Nursing Staff Executive Council at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, determined the need existed to provide nurses with the most current information available regarding emergencies in cancer patients. To address that need, a day-long oncologic emergencies educational program was held to provide registered nurses in a comprehensive cancer center and the surrounding community with an overview of the signs, symptoms, and nursing management of the following oncologic emergencies: malignant pleural effusions, tumor lysis syndrome, sepsis, increased intracranial pressure, and superior vena cava syndrome, Brady noted in a presentation at the Oncology Nursing Society 36th Annual Congress. Speakers at the oncologic emergencies educational program included three doctors, a staff development instructor, and a nurse practitioner. The program offered 5.25 continuing nursing education credits. Members of the Nursing Staff Executive Council were involved in planning, advertising, and hosting the event, which was attended by 59 nurses. Attendee evaluation of the program revealed the goal of increasing awareness of oncologic emergencies had been met. Comments about the program included, “good presentation,” and “very informative.” “By providing education to nurses and the community we can recognize and intervene in these emergencies earlier and may even save a life,” the researchers concluded.

Importance of programming languages As technology evolves, as a driving force in business. In the past, companies were manage by people and processes. These two factors that have led business performance and to determine whether the organization will be successful in achieving important goals. Thus, the need and importance of programming was arose. Graphical Programming with Python: QT Edition OpenDocs Publishing is now taking feedback on Graphical Programming with Python: QT Edition. You may view the book online as it develops. The book is being authored by: Boudewijn Rempt. Python course for beginners? Is there such a thing? Yes, there are several Python courses for people who have no programming background, but their quality varies widely. Most of the Python manuals and courses aimed at people who already have extensive programming skills and would like to expand the list of programming languages, they are competent in. Why Python is popular? Application developers those developing applications for Linux, as a rule, have a huge range of possibilities. It is believed that Linux can be used effectively for almost any sort of job. Linux provides its users with a luxurious choice of language. The developer can find an updated version of virtually any programming language. Python application development Python is a dynamic object-oriented programming language that can be compared with Java and Microsoft .NET-based languages, a general-purpose substrate for many types of software. Connecting access to Python Access is not really a database, it is a file format. Thus, programs that access it, access the file directly. This has several advantages for small projects, as the file size and speed. Most of the DB to act as a gate keeper between the application and data files. It also makes it impractical for many user environments.

Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0 Effect of Adverse Weather Conditions on Speed-Flow-Occupancy Relationships The effect of adverse weather conditions on the flow-occupancy and speed-flow relationships is studied. The data used in the analysis were obtained from the Queen Elizabeth Way Mississauga freeway traffic management system. Regression analyses were performed to select proper models representing the flow-occupancy and speed-flow relationship for uncongested operation. Then dummy variable multiple regression analysis techniques were used to test for significant differences in traffic operations between different weather conditions. It is concluded that adverse weather conditions reduce the slope of flow-occupancy function and cause a downward shift in the speed-flow function. Adverse weather conditions also reduce the maximum observed flow rates. Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Record No. 1457, McMaster University (Ontario, Canada), Department of Civil Engineering. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov. PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®.

The Other Oils Sands Pipeline Project: Northern Gateway If the U.S. doesn't allow the northern half of the Keystone XL pipeline to be built, Canada is just going to sell its oil to power-hungry China. That's one of the common rebuttals to opposition of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would allow oil derived from oil sands (known colloquially as tar sands) from northern Alberta to flow to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Whether or not the full Keystone XL gets built, Canadian pipeline builder Enbridge wants to connect Edmonton with the port of Kitimat in northern British Columbia, where oil would be loaded onto tankers and shipped through the Douglas Channel, headed to Asia and California. Called the Northern Gateway Project, the pipeline would run 730 miles, traversing the Rockies and Coast mountain ranges before its terminus in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, one of the largest contiguous tracts of temperate rainforest left in the world. Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a team of conservationists and scientists, opposes the project due to what it considers grave threats placed on the B.C. coast and its aboriginal people should an oil spill occur. Chris Darimont, the group's director of science and a B.C. coast surfer, attracted Patagonia's attention to the pipeline plans. Subsequently, Patagonia ambassadors and surfing filmmakers the Malloy brothers became involved. The result is Groundswell, a short film the brothers shot last year during a sailing and surfing expedition to the Great Bear Rainforest. The film, due out in October, will serve to advocate against the pipeline and for the rainforests and its inhabitants. (Click here for a Q&A with Chris Malloy and the trailer for Groundswell.) Enbridge is ready to sink $5.5 billion into the project and says it will employ state-of-the-art safety equipment and protocols, bring 1,150 long-term jobs, and "drive gross domestic product growth across Canada by $270 billion during the first 30 years of operation." But First Nation tribes that live along the northern B.C. coast have banded together to oppose the pipeline, through the Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative. They say the government's safety assessments of the project are flawed and that First Nation people would be disproportionately harmed by a tanker spill along the coast. However, opposition to the pipeline isn't universal among Canada's Aboriginal people, to whom Enbridge is offering a 10 percent share in the project, which it estimates would amount to $280 million over 30 years. Some inland tribes have signed on to the deal. Aside from coastal communities, the marine life, avian populations, and fauna along the coast is obviously vulnerable to a spill. The Great Bear Rainforest is home to 2,500 salmon runs, according to the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and these fish are a fundamental food source for grizzlies, wolves, and black bears in the area, including the white Spirit Bear, a genetically unique sub-species of black bear. There are believed to be fewer than 400 Spirit Bears, all of them on the B.C. coast. Darimont and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation are concerned not only over the vulnerability of the Great Bear Rainforest but also over escalating the use of fossil fuels and the impact this is having globally. Raincoast will be presenting the foundation's opposition to the pipeline during a government hearing this fall. The decision is ultimately in the hands of a three-person Joint Review Panel, assembled by Canada's Environmental Assessment Agency and National Energy Board. Darimont says a final decision will likely be made by the end of this year or early 2013. "I'm an advocate of informed advocacy," says Darimont, who is also a post-doctoral fellow in environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "We work with the best available science and many of us are scientists and professors. This [pipeline] is the singular issue not just for our coast but also for North America. Not just because of climate change, but because of First Nation sovereignty." --Mary Catherine O'Connor

FOLK AND NATION After these many digressions let us return to Má vlast and witness the outcome of its musico-poetic strategies by comparing the coda of Vltava (Ex. 9-5) with the peroration of Blaník (Ex. 9-6). The former brings the Moldau theme into sudden juxtaposition—or collision—with the explicitly labeled “Vyšehrad Motive,” the theme on which the previous poem in the cycle had been built. The castle-rock theme is in a grandiose threefold rhythmic augmentation with respect to the rushing river music that continues beneath it, carrying echoes of the forest fanfares, and so the effect of climactic magnificence is inescapable, even to an audience unaware of the thematic recall. To an audience properly aware, of course, the effect is an ecstasy of českost. - Citation (MLA): - Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Slavs as Subjects and Citizens." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 18 May. 2013. <http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-009004.xml>. - Citation (APA): - Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 9 Slavs as Subjects and Citizens. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 18 May. 2013, from http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-009004.xml - Citation (Chicago): - Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Slavs as Subjects and Citizens." In Music in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 18 May. 2013, from http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-009004.xml

Colposcopy and Cervical Biopsy Reference Colposcopy Opens New Window is a way for your doctor to use a special magnifying device to look at your Reference vulva Opens New Window, Reference vagina Opens New Window Reference Opens New Window, and Reference cervix Opens New Window Reference Opens New Window. If a problem is seen during colposcopy, a small sample of tissue (Reference biopsy Opens New Window) may be taken from the cervix or from inside the opening of the cervix (endocervical canal). The sample is looked at under a microscope. Colposcopy is usually done to look at the vagina and cervix when the result of a Reference Pap test Opens New Window is abnormal. Most abnormal Pap tests are caused by viral infections, such as Reference human papillomavirus (HPV) Opens New Window infection, or other types of infection, such as those caused by bacteria, fungi (yeast), or protozoa (Trichomonas). Natural cervical cell changes (Reference atrophic vaginitis Opens New Window) related to Reference menopause Opens New Window can also cause an abnormal Pap test. In some cases, untreated cervical cell changes that cause abnormal Pap tests may progress to precancerous or cancerous changes. During colposcopy, your doctor uses a lighted magnifying device that looks like a pair of binoculars (colposcope). The colposcope allows your doctor to see problems that would be missed by the naked eye. A camera can be attached to the colposcope to take pictures or videos of the vagina and cervix. Your doctor may put vinegar (acetic acid) and sometimes iodine (Lugol's solution) on the vagina and cervix with a cotton swab or cotton balls to see problem areas more clearly. |By:||Reference Healthwise Staff||Last Revised: Reference October 22, 2012| |Medical Review:||Reference Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine Reference Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology

Parenting through Crises Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don’t give up. —Anne Lamott, American writer The start of the school year should be a time of anticipation and discovery. Unfortunately, the past weeks have been marred by horrific school shootings. As parents, we can’t help but think about the unthinkable. And we also struggle with how we help our children sort through what’s happening. Children need adults—especially their parents—to guide them through these kinds of difficult, confusing, and scary times. As challenging as it can feel, there are ways for us to offer our children and ourselves hope and comfort, to show them that light still shines even in the darkest hours. Here are some suggestions for helping you and your children cope. Tips for . . . - parents with children ages birth to 5 - Limit your children’s exposure to the details of the situation. If you need to have conversations about it with others, read or watch news shows, or otherwise gather and process information, make every attempt to ensure your children are doing something else during this time. - As much as possible maintain routines, with a little extra flexibility. For example: Keep consistent bedtimes and bedtime rituals, but know that children might need more hugs, soothing stories, an additional nightlight, and other comfort measures. - parents with children ages 6 to 9 - Without going into graphic detail, answer children’s questions truthfully and in clear and simple language. - Be realistic in your reassurances. Don’t say, for instance, “I’ll never let anything hurt you.” Instead say, “You’re safe now and I’ll always try to protect you.” - Encourage children to express emotions through play or art. - parents with children ages 10 to 15 - Always listen when your children start to talk about their emotions concerning a difficult event. - Know that anger may be a natural extension of other emotions. Anger can make young people feel more in control during times when everything seems out of their control. Help your children find healthy ways to express their anger such as physical activity, breathing exercises, or expressing themselves through music or other arts. - Reassure your children that you are doing everything you can to keep your family safe. - parents with children ages 16 to 18 - Don’t try to “fix” or make assumptions about what your teenager is feeling. It can take a long time for fears, sadness, or other reactions to surface. Give your full attention and validation when they do express themselves, but also be patient and don’t push them to process things until they are ready. - Remind your teen that it’s important to connect with others during this time, such as extended family, caring adults, and supportive peers. - As a family, find specific ways to help ease others’ pain or troubles that have resulted from the crisis. Send cards of sympathy or encouragement, provide services, or get involved in some other way.

Adam Health Illustrated Encyclopedia Multimedia - Self-Care InstructionsSearch Health Information Heart failure - home monitoring What to Expect at Home Knowing your body and the symptoms that tell you your heart failure is getting worse will help you stay healthier and out of the hospital. At home, you should watch for changes in your: - Blood pressure - Heart rate When watching out for warning signs, you can catch problems before they get too serious. Sometimes these simple checks will remind you that you forgot to take a pill, or that you have been drinking too much fluid or eating too much salt. Be sure to write down the results of your home self-checks so that you can share them with your doctor. Your doctor’s office may have a "telemonitor," a device you can use to send your information automatically. A nurse will go over your self-check results with you in a weekly phone call. Throughout the day, ask yourself: - Is my energy level normal? - Am I getting more short of breath when I am doing my everyday activities? - Are my clothes or shoes feeling tight? - Are my ankles or legs swelling? - Am I coughing more often? Does my cough sound wet? - Do I get short of breath at night? Checking Your Weight You will get to know what weight is right for you. Weighing yourself will help you know if there is too much fluid in your body. You might also find that your clothes and shoes are feeling tighter than normal when there is too much fluid in your body. Weigh yourself every morning on the same scale when you get up -- before you eat and after you use the bathroom. Make sure you are wearing similar clothing each time you weigh yourself. Write down your weight every day on a chart so that you can keep track of it. Call your doctor if your weight goes up by more than 3 pounds in a day or 5 pounds in a week. Also call your doctor if you lose a lot of weight. Checking Your Heart Rate and Pulse Know what your normal pulse rate is. Your doctor or nurse will tell you what yours should be. You can take your pulse in the wrist area below the base of your thumb. Use your index and third fingers of your other hand to find your pulse. Use a second hand and count the number of beats for 30 seconds. Then double that number. That is your pulse. Your doctor may give you special equipment to check your heart rate. Checking Your Blood Pressure Your doctor may ask you to keep track of your blood pressure at home. Make sure you get a good quality, well-fitting home device. Show it to your doctor or nurse. It will probably have a cuff with a stethoscope or a digital readout. Practice with your doctor or nurse to make sure you are taking your blood pressure correctly. When to Call the Doctor Call your doctor if: - You are tired or weak. - You feel short of breath when you are active or when you are at rest. - You are wheezing and having trouble breathing. - You have a cough that does not go away. It may be dry and hacking, or it may sound wet and bring up pink, foamy spit. - You have swelling in your feet, ankles, or legs. - You have to urinate a lot, especially at night. - You have gained or lost weight. - You have pain and tenderness in your belly. - You have symptoms you think might be from your medicines. - Your pulse or heartbeat gests very slow or very fast, or it is not regular. - Your blood pressure is lower or higher than your doctor says is normal for you. Mant J, Al-Mohammad A, Swain S, Laramée P; Guideline Development Group. Management of chronic heart failure in adults: synopsis of the National Institute For Health and Clinical Excellence guideline. Ann Intern Med. 2011 Aug16;155(4):252-9. Greenberg B and Kahn AM. Clinical assessment of heart failure. In: Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, eds. Braunwald'sHeart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 9th ed. Saunders; 2011:chap 26. Jessup M, Abraham WT, Casey DE, Feldman AM, Francis GS, Ganiats TG, et al. 2009 focused update: ACCF/AHA Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines: developed in collaboration with the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Circulation. 2009 Apr 14;119(14):1977-2016. Epub 2009 Mar 26. Riegel B, Moser DK, Anker SD, Appel LJ, Dunbar SB, Grady KL, Gurvitz MZ, Havranek EP, Lee CS, Lindenfeld J, Peterson PN, Pressler SJ, Schocken DD, Whellan DJ; American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology; American Heart Association Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; American Heart Association Interdisciplinary Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research. State of the science: promoting self-care in persons with heart failure: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2009 Sep 22;120(12):1141-63. Reviewed By: Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc.

Democracy has been an elusive term, one that has been used to mean different things. The much effective propaganda of the Western imperialist world that presents ‘liberal democracy’ as the only legitimate form of democracy has always tried to position Marxism, socialism and communism as the opposite of democracy. But Marxists have been and should be the most relentless advocates, defenders and practitioners of democracy. Marx and Engels stated in the Communist Manifesto of 1848 that, “The first step in the revolution by the working class, is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, to win the battle of democracy.” The Marxist project, for the first time gave a class perspective to democracy by providing an incisive and holistic critique of ‘neutral’ liberal state and ‘free-market’ economy under bourgeois democracy. But perhaps even more significant than this critique was the development of the Marxian idea of democracy as a class state; dictatorship of the proletariat would replace the dictatorship of the capitalists; it would use its power to abolish the legal basis of capitalism and replace private ownership and control with social ownership and control of production. The whole purpose of this period of proletariat rule, or the higher form of democracy would be to establish a classless society. The democracy of capitalist society is curtailed, wretched and false; it is a democracy for the rich minority. The dictatorship of the proletariat and the period of transition to communism will, for the first time, create democracy for the majority) and the necessary suppression of the exploitative minority. As Lenin told us in State and Revolution, “Communism alone is capable of providing really complete democracy, and the more complete it is, the sooner it will become unnecessary and wither away of its own accord.” Fight for democracy Nepal is a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country that has been ruled by an autocratic monarchy for several hundred years. The movement for New Democracy started with the establishment of the Communist Party of Nepal in 1949. The more-or-less peaceful movement, which lasted until the 1990s, brought about only cosmetic changes. The protracted ‘People’s War’ initiated in 1996 destroyed the roots of feudalism, ending in the abolition of monarchy in 2008. Since then, a Democratic Republic has been declared in the country and an elected Constitutional Assembly is now in the process of institutionalising democracy. The rapid success of the ‘People’s War’ was mainly attributed to the raising of the democratic agenda against feudal autocracy. Also the class question was very judiciously fused with national, regional, gender and caste questions. As the traditional parliamentary democratic forces could not mount a decisive struggle against feudal autocracy due to their vacillating and compromising character, the Maoists could effectively champion the cause of democracy and lead millions of people, emerging as the largest political formation in the country. The struggle against imperialism in general and expansionism in particular was also a part of the struggle for democracy. In other words, the struggle for nationalism and democracy was correctly blended to unite the whole country behind progressive forces. However, the delicate geo-strategic position of the country puts serious constraints on charting an independent path of development. After 2006, the UCPN (Maoist) has signed a comprehensive peace accord with the parliamentary parties to abolish monarchy and establish the democratic republic. However, after the abolition of monarchy, the inevitable contradiction between the bourgeois democratic forces and the proletarian revolutionary forces has sharpened leading to a prolonged political impasse. The razing struggle between bourgeois democracy and proletarian democracy has been sharply manifested while drafting a new constitution. The issue of PLA integration into the traditional Nepal Army (NA) has also hindered the peace process. As a country of tremendous ethnic, regional, linguistic and cultural diversity, the question of federal restructuring of the state is another thorn stalling the political process. The internal nationality question is part and parcel of the broader democratic question. The ability to resolve the nationality question in the most scientific way will determine the success of the democratic movement in the country. The overwhelming majority of the population in Nepal is part of the poor peasantry. Rampant poverty, unemployment, inequality, and dependence plague the economy. As such, a new democratic restructuring of the economy is the immediate democratic agenda including revolutionary land reform based on the principle of ‘land to the tiller’. Problems and challenges The foremost challenge to be faced by any revolutionary movement is the question of development of the ideological and political line based on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM). The defence, application and development of MLM are the most important tasks of the proletarian revolutionaries. Whatever gains we have made in Nepal in advancing the revolution so far are primarily because of our constant thrust to guard against both dogmatic and pragmatic distortions of Marxism. Even while launching the armed ‘People’s War’ in 1996 and practicing peaceful development of revolution since its end, we have been constantly hammering the need to defend and develop MLM and to discard dogmatism and pragmatism. We have tried to be ‘critical’ and ‘revolutionary’ throughout, as Lenin and Mao used to exhort. We have strived to learn bitter lessons from both ‘left’ and ‘right’ liquidation of revolutionary movements especially during the past few decades. The debacle faced by the Peruvian revolution has been our latest reference point. At times our friends, both inside and outside (including India), have been alarmed by our bold experiments in revolutionary practice, especially during the recent peace process. But we have consistently proved their apprehensions wrong and resolve to continue to do so. Another theoretical issue currently being debated within the Maoist party is the nature of democratic revolution. In a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society one has to pass through a stage of bourgeois democratic revolution before transiting to socialism. Especially in a country like Nepal, where autocratic monarchy has ruled for hundreds of years, it would be prudent to go through a phase of democratic republic before completing the bourgeois democratic revolution. A democratic republic was established through a peace negotiation with the parliamentary parties after 10 years of ‘People’s War’. But the question now is how to turn this democratic republic into a People’s Democracy or New Democracy. Can it be achieved through the Constituent Assembly? Or, is an armed insurrection necessary? Also, the usefulness and prudence of the democratic republic phase is being questioned. It is exactly here that the differences between anarchism, reformism and Marxism come out sharply. Whereas reformists disagree with a revolutionary leap, anarchists discard the need of passing through stages and sub-stages. Marxists support both revolutionary leaps and the need to pass through stages. The question of imperialism and expansionism has been another important issue in Nepal’s revolutionary movement. Whereas globalised imperialism has spread its tentacles in almost all spheres of the Nepali economy, society and state, the domination of expansionism in the last 200 years has been the most vexing issue. There has been a razing debate within the Maoist party regarding the strategy to fight against foreign domination, particularly expansionism. Also, given the country’s sensitive position between the emerging global powers in India and China, a balanced relation with both neighbours is crucial for the success of the New Democratic revolution. It is thus prudent to focus on the internal democratic agenda to unify the country and to take on foreign domination. The fight for loktantra in Nepal is sure to reach its climax in the next few months. Either we will move ahead by rising above the traditional parliamentary democracy on the way to drafting the constitution of a People’s Federal Democratic Republic or the country will move towards regression even before the May 28 deadline. In order to forestall this possibility and institutionalize a loktantrik government system in, all true republicans, patriots and progressive forces should not delay their joint effort towards this goal. - Barburam Bhattarai, Democracy and Class Struggle

The Visualizing approach uses a variety of research-based visuals to engage students so they become active participants in the learning process. Visualizing Geology immerses students in course material through visuals (both in print and rich multimedia resources) while organizing complex processes and related course information into easily digestible segments. Visualizing Geology is a comprehensive, modern book for today's geology course. With current examples, thorough coverage of geologists' tools and technology, and a visual design that is accessible without sacrificing content, it is a title that will appeal to a broad range of instructors. The narrative and concepts are tightly linked to visual elements, including practical examples that highlight the relevance of the concepts. Maps are integrated throughout to help reveal patterns or trends. Divergent views and critical thinking are emphasized. Photographs and other visuals are also included to reinforce the concepts.

Pharmaceutical International News - November 2011 Camera Pill To Offer High Definition Medical Imaging Posted by Pharma International's News Correspondent on 30/11/2011 - 08:20:00 Scientists in Norway are exploring ways to stream high definition images of the human organs via a pill that's swallowed by patients. The imaging pill concept would give medical professionals the capacity to view parts of the body - like the intestines and stomach - in unprecedented detail. The technology current exists for pills to be swallowed that transmit at a rate of 120 frames a minute, or two a second. In contrast, said the development team's leader, Ilangko Balasingham: ‘Our pill will employ wireless ultra-wideband technology with enough bandwidth to handle the live, high-quality video transmission of observations from the intestine. It will also communicate its co-ordinates via radio so that the doctors can pinpoint its location in the body.' High Definition Camera Pill The programme to develop a high definition camera pill is known as ‘Melody' and it involves a number of partners. These include NTNU (the Norwegian University of Science and Technology), UiO (the University of Oslo) and FFI (the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment). Funding comes from the VERDIKT (Research Programme on Core Competence and Value Creation in ICT) effort, overseen by the Research Council of Norway. The high definition camera pill concept's already been tested in trials involving pigs, which have yielded positive results. They've shown that a camera pill-type device can successfully generate strong video signals, providing the transmitter's inserted no more than five centimetres into the chest cavity or the abdomen. Any deeper and the interaction between the transmitter, inside the body, and the external antenna used to pick up the signals becomes less dependable, but that's just one development area being explored. HD Medical Imaging There's also the issue of data processing, given the researchers are aiming for an HD medical imaging transmission rate of 30 frames a second. To handle this sheer volume of data, the Norwegian scientists have come up with an algorithm that squashes the video by 97 per cent. According to reports, the resultant footage - at three per cent of the size at which it started - maintains enough quality to still be usable in medical imaging. Once perfected, the camera pill technique could have countless medical applications but it could also be used elsewhere. As Balasingham adds: "We envision using the camera pill for purposes such as looking for damage in underwater oil pipes" Image copyright Gilbert Tremblay. Used for representational purposes only Recently Added News Men who take high-dose opioid drugs for four months or more are 50 per cent more likely to experience erectile dysfunction than non-opioid users, a new study st... Scientists at Queen's University in Belfast have created a nanomedicine, named the 'Magic Bullet', for treatment of Acute Lung Injury. Rotavac vaccine emerges from highly positive clinical trials with the potential to introduce a new age of low-cost rotavirus protection treatment in India and b... Set higher than any fine previously given to a generic drug production firm, India's leading drug manufacturer, Ranbaxy, is ordered to pay a historic $500m

1.4 Measurement, Calculations, and Uncertainties Vernier Caliper Tutorial Click on the "Start Simulation" button to start the applet. Click and drag on the picture with the mouse to position the Caliper for a new measurement. You can read the value by using the Vernier scales. To verify your measurement, type your reading in the provided box then press the enter key. The "Reset" key sets the Caliper at the 0.0 mm position. You can set the Caliber on tutorial mode by selecting the "show" checkbox. When in tutorial mode, three red arrows and number displays are provided to help you make the reading. The first two arrows help you get the measurement in mm. The third helps you read the decimal. You can come back to this window by pressing the "Close Simulation" button on the bottom frame of the utility. The Vernier caliper is a standard method used in instruments to get higher precision readings. As discussed in section 1.4, the method used in making a measurement determines the accuracy with which the numbers are reported. This simulation allows for a reading to the tenth of a mm. Calipers commonly used in industry provide an accuracy to the hundredth of a mm. Go to the web site and link to the Online Library for further information.

Vectors - Fundamentals and Operations Need to see it? Study the 6 + 8 = ??? animation from the Multimedia Physics Studios.Walter Fendt Physics Applets: Resultant of Forces (Addition of Vectors) Add between two and five vectors together with this interactive Java simulation. Explore nine lessons from a two-week unit on vectors by the Center for Innovation in Science and Engineering Education (CIESE).The Laboratory Looking for a lab that coordinates with this page? Try the As the Crow Flies Lab from The Laboratory.The Laboratory Looking for a lab that coordinates with this page? Try the Map Lab from The Laboratory.Treasures from TPF Need ideas? Need help? Explore The Physics Front's treasure box of catalogued resources on vectors. The resultant is the vector sum of two or more vectors. It is the result of adding two or more vectors together. If displacement vectors A, B, and C are added together, the result will be vector R. As shown in the diagram, vector R can be determined by the use of an accurately drawn, scaled, vector addition diagram. To say that vector R is the resultant displacement of displacement vectors A, B, and C is to say that a person who walked with displacements A, then B, and then C would be displaced by the same amount as a person who walked with displacement R. Displacement vector R gives the same result as displacement vectors A + B + C. That is why it can be said that A + B + C = The above discussion pertains to the result of adding displacement vectors. When displacement vectors are added, the result is a resultant displacement. But any two vectors can be added as long as they are the same vector quantity. If two or more velocity vectors are added, then the result is a resultant velocity. If two or more force vectors are added, then the result is a resultant force. If two or more momentum vectors are added, then the result is ... In all such cases, the resultant vector (whether a displacement vector, force vector, velocity vector, etc.) is the result of adding the individual vectors. It is the same thing as adding A + B + C + ... . "To do A + B + C is the same as to do R." As an example, consider a football player who gets hit simultaneously by three players on the opposing team (players A, B, and C). The football player experiences three different applied forces. Each applied force contributes to a total or resulting force. If the three forces are added together using methods of vector addition (discussed earlier), then the resultant vector R can be determined. In this case, to experience the three forces A, B and C is the same as experiencing force R. To be hit by players A, B, and C would result in the same force as being hit by one player applying force R. "To do A + B + C is the same as to do R." Vector R is the same result as vectors A + B + C!! In summary, the resultant is the vector sum of all the individual vectors. The resultant is the result of combining the individual vectors together. The resultant can be determined by adding the individual forces together using vector addition methods.

|Oct14-04, 04:49 PM||#1| Rotational energy levels Are rotational energy levels of a molecule in general equally spaced or does the spacing increase with energy? How about a diatomic molecule; I have seen a derivation showing that the rotational levels in a diatomic molecule are equally spaced, but when drawn in an energy level diagram they clearly aren't? What is right? And another thing; in my book the expression for the rotational and vibrational energies of a diatomic molecule is derived in terms of a classical "dumb-bell"-picture? How is this justified taking quantum mechanics into account? |Oct14-04, 05:58 PM||#2| No, even in the most simple diatomic molecule rotational levels are not equally spaced. If you look at any rotational spectrum of such molecules you will clearly appreciate it. You will see how the first lines are separated more or less a 2B distance (B is the rotational constant) but they get closer when increasing frequency. But be carefull with this, the energy levels get more separated when you increase J, but the transition frequency values: E(J+1)-E(J) get closer between them when increasing J. This is the real behaviour. The question is what model do you choose to theoretically calculate those energy levels (and the frequency values). The most simple quantum model is the rigid rotor (exuse me if that isnīt the correct word, Iīm spanish). The energy expression derived from that model is: E(cm-1)=B J (J+1) then the frequency expression F=2B (J+1). Frequencies are equally separated. But this is not real. In order to get a better description elastic rotor is used: [tex] E(cm^-1)=BJ(J+1)-DJ^2 (J+1)^2 [/tex] This model introduces the "D" constant to allow the variation of bond length (in fact vibration movement). The frequency values obtained get closer between them while increasing J, Itīs more real but It continues being a model. Theese expressions are only for diatomic molecules. |Oct25-04, 05:12 AM||#3| |Similar Threads for: Rotational energy levels| |Kinetic Energy and Radiant Energy levels||Atomic, Solid State, Comp. Physics||0| |Rotational spectra - thermal population of rotational levels||Advanced Physics Homework||0| |Energy Levels||Introductory Physics Homework||1| |Rotational energy levels of NH3||Advanced Physics Homework||4| |Rotational energy levels||General Physics||0|

Learn How to Play Piano Riffs / Licks – Add to Your Repertoire Learn how to play piano riffs / licks and add to your repertoire of piano techniques. Knowing Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Boogie Woogie, Funk, Latin, and Country piano riffs will make your piano playing sound lot more professional. If you’re not sure what a piano riff / lick is, then the couple of videos here will show you what it means. Video showing you how to play a Blues Riff / Lick Video showing you how to play a Funk Groove Books to Learn Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Boogie Woogie, Funk, Latin, Country and many more Piano Riffs/Licks Some of these books can be used by beginners but mostly suitable for intermediate to experienced piano players. With these books, you can learn intros and endings suitable for use in gigs, smooth-sounding progressions for fill-ins, and simple to more complex chord progressions. Thousands of people have learned to play with this Piano Learning Course. Check it Out Now! Here’s a little bit of music theory before me move ahead with the explanation. Don’t worry it won’t be long Heard of the word Ostinato? In music theory, it means a musical phrase that is persistently repeated. And since this is music, you have flexibility to use it as part of melody or use it as part of the rhythm. Lot of musicians in the 1920s, especially those who played more of rock and jazz probably felt that the word Ostinato was too formal. So they introduced the term Riff in their music vocabulary. Over a period of time musicians also started using the term Lick. That’s how the terms Piano Riffs and Piano Licks came into existence! A piano Riff / Lick is a repeated chord progression, or a melodic phrase, and can be used as part of the accompaniment or as part of solo playing. What is a Piano Riff / Lick If you have played in a band, I am sure you would have realized that playing the rhythms become monotonous after some time. It would be great to know some amazing “musical runs / short passages” which you can play from time to time to make it sound more interesting. Piano riffs should help you out! A Piano riff is nothing but an impressive sounding musical ditty / pattern that you use as part of an accompaniment or as fillers between songs. They are not recognizable melodies as such and are basically used more as a decoration tool on the overall song. It is a handy tool to have in your repository since it easily impresses people who happen to be listening to you. If you are playing in a band, it is even more important to be able to play piano riffs; you can use them during breaks or you can use them for your solo part. Though some of the riffs may look very easy to play, you need to ensure that you observe the correct articulations and dynamics, which makes it a challenge to play riffs. Play it on Your Piano If you have an acoustic piano at home, and have not been practicing a lot, then you may find it difficult to play Piano Licks all of a sudden, considering that you may have to play it faster. Add to it the hammer action keys, and you may need more time and practice to play piano licks comfortably. On music keyboards, it may be comparatively easy to play riffs, but then these licks sound much better on a piano (IMHO). Nevertheless, you still have to learn and practice them! As always, when learning new things, try learning each hand separately and once you are comfortable try both the hands together. In general, you can use riffs to add to your repertoire and melodic ideas. You may even choose to use these rhythmic chord patterns for music therapy practice. Learn how to play piano riffs for various styles of music like rock, blues, boogie, etc. and make sure you always have a handful of those in your bags of tricks. I am sure nobody will see you as a novice once you can play riffs. Learn to Play Piano the Right Way with this Piano Course No related posts.

Terminal blocks pass insulation testing for photovoltaic applications Testing ensures that terminals can withstand a continuous voltage of 1000 V dc under all climatic conditions. Specialized insulation testing is required for solar photovoltaic (PV) applications because standard insulation tests do not detect low-energy (partial) discharges, which are common in PV applications. Weidmuller announces the completion of specialized insulation testing on its terminals blocks geared specifically for solar photovoltaic (PV) applications. This testing ensures that terminals can withstand a continuous voltage of 1000 V dc under all climatic conditions. Specialized insulation testing is required for PV applications because standard insulation tests do not detect low-energy (partial) discharges, which are common in PV applications. Partial discharges can slowly work through a terminal’s insulation line, ultimately causing a defect. In addition, insulation lines react differently to partial discharge tests for dc voltage than to partial discharge tests for ac voltage. Since solar panels generate dc electricity, only terminal blocks that have passed a partial discharge test for dc voltage are suitable for safe use in photovoltaic systems. To maximize the power generated by a PV system, solar panels that convert solar energy to dc electricity are connected in series or in parallel to create solar arrays. Arrays are connected to a dc-to-ac converter (solar inverter) via a combiner box. The combined voltage from the arrays within a combiner box may be as high as 1,000 V dc in global applications, or 600 V dc for NAFTA applications requiring UL certification. It is critical that terminal blocks used within a combiner box are able to safely and reliably withstand these voltages. - Also see: - Edited by Renee R. Bassett for Control Engineering, www.controleng.com Case Study Database Get more exposure for your case study by uploading it to the Plant Engineering case study database, where end-users can identify relevant solutions and explore what the experts are doing to effectively implement a variety of technology and productivity related projects. These case studies provide examples of how knowledgeable solution providers have used technology, processes and people to create effective and successful implementations in real-world situations. Case studies can be completed by filling out a simple online form where you can outline the project title, abstract, and full story in 1500 words or less; upload photos, videos and a logo. Click here to visit the Case Study Database and upload your case study. 2012 Salary Survey In a year when manufacturing continued to lead the economic rebound, it makes sense that plant manager bonuses rebounded. Plant Engineering’s annual Salary Survey shows both wages and bonuses rose in 2012 after a retreat the year before. Average salary across all job titles for plant floor management rose 3.5% to $95,446, and bonus compensation jumped to $15,162, a 4.2% increase from the 2010 level and double the 2011 total, which showed a sharp drop in bonus.

Newly discovered plague proteins could help fight bioterrorism and disease The Black Death, the great pestilence, bubonic plague—familiar names for a disease documented since antiquity that has at times caused epidemics throughout the world, most notably during the Middle Ages when it wiped out roughly one-third of Europe's population. Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which can infect humans through the bite of a rat flea carrier, plague did not disappear into the dusty pages of history but still exists today. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers Y. pestis a high-priority organism for study because of its potential use for bioterrorism. The bacterium is a potent human health threat that has the power to overcome its host's immune defenses. To improve detection and enable the design of new vaccines and treatment, the biological processes that determine the bacterium's life cycle and ability to cause disease need to be identified. At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, scientists recently discovered unique proteins in Y. pestis specifically related to their growing environment that are potential biomarkers for use in detecting the disease and intercepting its progress. Biomarkers are indicators of change in a biological system that can yield information about the state of a disease, susceptibility and exposure. PNNL scientists Mary Lipton and Kim Hixson, along with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, re-created the growing environment for Y. pestis in flea carriers and mammal hosts using unique proteomic equipment (a proteome is a survey of proteins in a cell) and cultured the bacteria to express virulence-related proteins. They compared abundance changes of 992 proteins under four different growth conditions at two different temperatures with and without calcium. An increase in temperature and decrease in calcium concentration are two known regulators that trigger the expression of proteins related to the organism's ability to cause disease. Changes in these two conditions simulate changes the bacteria encounter as they are transmitted between flea and host. Identifying abundance changes of proteins under the environmental conditions that promote or inhibit the disease can provide insights into the bacterium's life cycle. Lipton and Hixson found 176 proteins and likely proteins in Y. pestis whose numbers rise and fall according to the disease's virulence. Of these, 89 were found to have similar changes in abundance to 29 proteins known to be linked to virulence, indicating they are biomarkers related to virulence. The scientists also uncovered another 87 "hypothetical" proteins as unique biomarkers associated with disease condition. A hypothetical protein is defined by the Institute for Genomic Research as one identified by a gene-finding algorithm whose sequence matches that of no other known protein and for which there is no other evidence showing it to be a gene product. These unique biomarkers have promise for use as detection tools in public health, medical and defense applications. Drug and vaccine designers could potentially use these biomarkers to develop new agents to disrupt a biological pathway and intercept the bacteria's ability to infect a host. The approach used in this research is also being applied to search for biomarkers across a wide range of biological systems, from other infectious bacteria such as Salmonella to soil microbes of interest for cleaning up toxic waste. This research study was published in the November 2006 Journal of Proteome Research.

National Principals Month? National Principals Month recognizes the essential role that principals play in making a school great. Principals are among the hardest working, yet often least recognized individuals in education. Principals set the academic tone for their schools, and it is their vision, dedication, and determination that provide the mobilizing force for achieving student success. Each October, NASSP and NAESP seek to honor these unsung heroes for their tireless efforts in pursuit of excellence in education. National Principals Month is a widely recognized celebration of the principalship, marked by national and state resolutions supporting the event, as well as acknowledgements from US Senators and Representatives, and top government officials. However, the most important National Principals Month celebrations are the ones that take place in schools and communities across the country.

The word Santon comes from "santoùon", which means in Provençal "little saint". In Italy they are called "santoni", an abbreviated version of "Santi Belli", the beautiful saints. Using clay figurines to depict the Nativity Scene has a long tradition in Mediterranean countries. But the Provençal santons of the Nöel Crèche (Christmas Nativity scene) have a moving human touch: Rather than portraying the people of the Holy Land during the times Jesus lived, the characters are common folks of the Provence in 18th and 19th century clothes. They visit the Holy Family and bring presents. The tradition goes back to the 13th century, perhaps earlier. It gained enormous importance in the small villages of the Provence during the French Revolution. It was a way to keep religion alive inside the home. These were the times when churches were pillaged and became stables, ammunition depots or were used for or grain storage. When the days of the week and the months were renamed. When priests were persecuted and any public display of religion had dire consequences. People in the Provence, at those times an impoverished backwater of France, tried to keep their faith and traditions as best as they could. Sunday service was held secretly in private homes and the Nöel Crèche, previously a privilege of rich people, gained special meaning during Christmas times. After The French Revolution times were harsh and seeking refuge in religion was one way to cope. No wonder santons became immensely popular and also more elaborate. This was the time when the Provence developed its own santon style. Whole Provençal village were recreated, including many of its inhabitants. It was good business for local craftsmen and in 1803 the first Nativity Fair was held in Marseille to sell santons. Soon there was another santons fair in Aubagne (12 km to the east of Marseille), and before long there were other santon fairs at a number of villages in the Provence. Competition was fierce and clever craftsmen soon developed custom made figurines, depicting their customer's families and friends honoring the Holy Family. The Marseille santons fair is held to this day, every Advent through Epiphany, on the Canebière in Marseille. And there are many regional santons fairs, some starting as early as November. A typical santon scene has as its center piece the Holy Family, the Rois Mages (the Three Kings) and angels. Shepherds call Provençal villagers to honor the Holy Family. First the important notables of the village, the mayor and the parish priest. Then the craftsmen, such as the baker, the grocer, the butcher, the fromager (cheese vendor) and musicians. Depending on where the village is located there might be a vigneron (winegrower), a fisherman, a basket weaver and a potter. Then there are the common people of the village, rich and poor. The traditional santon scene includes musicians and dancers who dance the farandole with joined hands. So what's missing? The village animals of course, lots of them. The traditional ox and the ass, a part of any nativity scene, but in the Provençal Nöel Crèche there are also sheepdogs with bells under their necks, sheep, goats, rabbits, pigeons on the roof, and other barnyard animals. Anything else? Yes, let's not forget the ravi (sometimes called ravie). This is a man or woman throwing up the arms in delight, interpreted as being either a simpleton or simply a very happy person. Nowadays Provençal santons are always made of clay. There are two types: santons d'argile (hand painted figurines) and santons habilles (figurines dressed in cloth, craftsmen carry their miniature implements, such as baskets, fishing nets etc.). Santons d'argile come in 6 sizes, from 1 inch to 6 inches tall. Santons habilles range from 6 inches to 18 inches tall. The figurines are created from molds, from which up to 1,000 copies can be made. They are fired in kilns for roughly 48 hours at 900 C (1,650 F). After the base coat is put on, the figurines are hand painted, color after color is put on with times in between so the color can dry. Hence the price - this is a skilled artisan's work. Go and see for yourself. So here are a number of workshops with adjacent stores we recommend. On most of these workshops you can visit the atelier and watch the different stages of the creation of santons. Santons Fouque 65, cours Gambetta, Aix en Provence,Tel: 04 42 26 33 38 Santons Cavasse Villa Mireille, 32, Avenue Jean Moulin, 13100 Aix en Provence, Tel: 04 42 21 16 62 Santons Richard 955, Chemin Bouenhoure Haut, 13090 Aix en Provence, Tel : 04 42 20 10 15 Santons Jouve: 2, Allée du Capricorne, 13080 Luynes, Tel : 04 42 24 01 40 Santons Didier 41 rue Léon Bourgeois, 13001 Marseille, Tel: 04 91 64 72 92 Santons Marcel Carbonel 49, Rue Neuve Sainte Catherine, 13007 Marseille, Tel: 04 91 13 61 36 Santons Escoffier1 44 Rue du Vallat, Les Paluds, 13782 Aubagne Tel: 04 42 70 14 32

Back in September Frey, William H. 2010. Investigating change in American society, 3rd edition. Belmont, CA : Wadsworth. This workbook/website combination allows students to analyze and manipulate huge data sets drawn from 1950 through present day, with data from U.S. decennial censuses and the American Community Survey. Each chapter consists of exercises specifically tailored to data sets drawn from this current data. Students gain access to the software and data sets by using passcodes provided with each copy of the text. An important feature new with this edition of the book allows students to conduct their analysis directly on the Web. The Internet-based WebCHIP version of the traditional StudentCHIP software permits students to access datasets and create tables on any computer that has an Internet connection. Moreover, the textbook homepage at http://www.cengage.com/sociology/frey lets the student access all of the data simply and directly. In addition, this site also offers a number of tutorials, references, aids, and analysis tools that will come in handy for you and your students. The new edition will take advantage of the fact that the Census Bureau is now releasing annual data that was previously only available every ten years, based on the American Community Survey (ACS). Exercises and their instructions are updated to reflect the availability of new data and data set labels. Country of focus: United States.

Joining the list of disorders studied mostly in white men, yet extrapolated to others, is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the repeated occlusion or near-occlusion of the pharynx during sleep. OSA might not actually be on the rise, but recognition of it is, particularly in women. Because OSA is more common among people with Parkinson disease, myotonic dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer disease, and seizure disorders, neurology patients may mention snoring, daytime sleepiness, or inexplicable fatigue, not realizing it is a treatable condition--or a condition at all. MDs and certain PhDs can earn "certificates of special knowledge" from the American Board of Sleep Medicine (www.absm.org). Not counting the most recent certification exam, 2846 MDs and 147 PhDs are diplomats of the organization. "About 40% of board-certified sleep specialists are neurologists. After all, sleep is about the brain," said Philip Westbrook, MD, chief medical officer of Advanced Brain Monitoring of Carlsbad, CA. He is past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and has been in the field "since all of us could fit into one room." OSA Basics: More Than A Snore OSA is a form of sleep-disordered breathing in which breathing stops for 10 seconds or longer a significant number of times per night. The apnea-hypopnea index measures degree of severity: mild OSA is 5 to 15 episodes per hour; moderate is 15 to 30; and severe is more than 30. Hypopnea is a 30% or more reduction in airflow and a 4% drop in blood oxygen saturation. A less quantitative but equally telling measure of OSA severity is "bed partner satisfaction," for it is often the bedmate who is most aware of snoring. Other signs and symptoms include leg jerks and restlessness during sleep, slowed reaction times, impaired short-term memory, and morning headache that resolves within a few hours. Anxiety, depression, irritability, and decreased sex drive may also occur. The American Sleep Apnea Association estimates that 12 million people in the United States have OSA, but many more, perhaps 80% to 90% of the true total, are unaware of the problem or do not seek help. Diagnosis is important because of associations between OSA and other conditions, including hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, and cognitive impairment. In addition, incidence of car accidents is increased 3- to 7-fold among persons with OSA. Presumably, treating OSA can lower the linked risks. However, people have avoided confronting the problem because of fears of sleep labs and torture-like headgear. New diagnostics and therapeutics, however, are making the situation more palatable, so to speak. Not Just Large White Men In the past, studies on clinic populations set the male-to-female ratio of patients with OSA at 8 to 10 males to 1 female, said Grace Pien, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "But the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study1 showed about 3 males per female. We definitely know it isn't rare in women, which was the general thinking," she said. Studies based on the general population place the male-to- female ratio at 2:1 to 4:1. Overall, OSA affects about 4% of men and 2% of women. However, women are more likely to present with fatigue and insomnia, rather than or in addition to the excessive daytime sleepiness and snoring that are the primary symptoms in their male counterparts. "It may not be a classic presentation--the doctor has to do a little more digging to elicit the symptoms of OSA in a woman," Pien added. Attention also is turning to racial differences in OSA. Michael Friedman, MD, professor of otolaryngology at Rush University Medical Center, and colleagues set up a free ENT screening booth at a large health fair held in Chicago, offering a prize to couples who participated in an interview and assessment of body mass index (BMI) and neck and tonsil sizes. The researchers translated the measurements into a score and tallied results from 500 people: 287 (55%) African Americans and 236 (45%) white persons. (Asians were interviewed but excluded from the analysis.) Results were reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, which convened in Los Angeles in September. More telling than the increased incidence among African Americans was attitude. African Americans were much more likely to consider snoring normal and much less likely to flee a bedroom to avoid hearing it than were white persons. Newspaper reports billed the experiment as "random" because people of different races were equally likely to approach the booth. Another misconception about OSA that should bite the dust is that most sufferers are obese. A study of 6132 participants in the Sleep Heart Health Study stratified patients with OSA according to BMI and found that 45.5% were obese, 38.1% were overweight, and 16.4% were of normal weight.2 However, obesity is still a powerful risk factor, and the current obesity epidemic may be associated with the increasing incidence of OSA, suggested Meir H. Kryger, MD, director of the sleep disorders center at St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg. Apples and Oranges Tangle Causes While studies of OSA are fraught with the usual difficulties of small sample sizes, reporting biases, and different criteria, the causes of the condition are indeed many, interrelated, and not always obvious. The short list includes obesity and variants of fat distribution, postmenopausal status, and nuances of upper airway anatomy and physiology. "All of these appear to cause OSA, and the contribution of each is not linear," explained J. Catesby Ware, PhD, chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. He offered an example: "If a patient does not have large tonsils, small increases of upper airway tone may be sufficient to maintain a patent airway during inspiration. However, if the tonsils are large enough, no amount of airway tone will keep the airway free of obstruction." To adequately tease apart the causative threads, he added, a study would need to assess OSA before and after tonsillectomy in patients with different sizes of tonsils, weights, neck sizes, and hormonal statuses. Such a study could easily require hundreds of participants, more than most granting agencies will fund, he added. Gender may dictate which causative factors carry the greatest weight. A study from the Stanford University School of Medicine sleep clinic, for example, suggests that for women, obesity is the primary cause, whereas for men it is upper airway abnormalities, such as longer soft palates, lower hyoid bones, and larger neck circumferences.3 Women have stiffer upper airways. Also, in men with OSA, the muscles that dilate the upper airway--the genioglossus and the tensor palatini--are more active in the men while awake than in affected women. This suggests that these muscles may be more important during sleep in men. Increased risk with aging is striking in women compared with men. In a study of 215 men and 215 women stratified by age, the average number of apnea events per hour changed with age from 27 to 30 to 34 in men, but from 15 to 13 to 26 in women.4 The fat factor is not merely a matter of amount, but distribution. High BMI appears to be a greater risk factor for men because a man's weight tends to settle in higher regions of the body, whereas it settles around the waist and hips in women.5 Even men with OSA who maintain a healthy weight tend to have fatter necks. Once women hit menopause, risk rises. It may seem paradoxical that both obesity, which presumably ups estrogen, and menopause, which depletes it, are risk factors, but Kryger pinpointed progesterone(Drug information on progesterone) as the culprit. "Progesterone has a powerful protective effect before menopause. For a premenopausal [woman] to have sleep apnea, she has to be really overweight, with a BMI of 55." The protection mechanism may reflect the fact that progesterone increases sensitivity to oxygen and CO2 levels in the blood. Menopause also alters fat distribution so that fat begins to pad the neck. Because of OSA's association with excess weight, OSA can develop during pregnancy. Pien has found that sleep-disordered breathing occurs more frequently during pregnancy, but severe apnea is unlikely to develop in a woman who has never had OSA. However, mild cases can and do arise. "During pregnancy, estrogen can be 20 to 200 times higher than in a normal cycle, which can cause puffiness and rhinitis of pregnancy. The upper airway slightly swells, and the uterus pushes up the diaphragm, changing the mechanics of the chest. Neck circumference may also increase a little," she said. The long-recognized association of OSA with menopause has suggested that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could lower the risk. But results have been mixed. "The studies are apples and oranges. Nobody has really done a placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial," Kryger said. According to Pien, smaller studies have differed in hormone combinations, dosages, and durations, whereas epidemiologic studies often raise questions of self-selection. "That is, does a population of women who've chosen HRT differ from women who haven't?" she asked. Ware suggested that levels of HRT might need fine-tuning to have an effect. "There may be a critical threshold in that once OSA begins, HRT might not reverse it. But if started earlier enough, HRT might have prevented it from developing. It is also possible that the hormonal status is a red herring. This is a question to be answered by research." Given that HRT has been prescribed more conservatively in the years since many studies on OSA were done, ethics committees might hesitate to recommend further study of HRT in OSA, Kryger said. Considering the prevalence of OSA and its possible complications and the new identification of susceptible populations, neurologists should not overlook OSA in the differential diagnosis. Summed up Pien, "One important message is that menopause does appear to increase the risk, so women who have difficulty sleeping or daytime sleepiness, as they go through menopause or after, should be aware that this is the possible etiology of the symptoms, and should seek evaluation. OSA can be effectively treated." * 1. Young T, Finn L, Austin D, Peterson A. Menopausal status and sleep-disordered breathing in the Wisconsin sleep cohort study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2003;167:1181-1185. 2. Nieto FJ, Young TB, Lind BK, et al. Association of sleep-disordered breathing, sleep apnea, and hypertension in a large community-based study. Sleep Heart Health Study. JAMA. 2000;283:1829-1836. 3. Guilleminault C, Quera-Salva MA, Partinen M, Jamieson A. Women and the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Chest. 1988;93:104-109. 4. Ware JC, McBrayer RH, Scott JA. Influence of sex and age on duration and frequency of sleep apnea events. Sleep. 2000;23:165-170. 5. Kapsimalis F, Kryger MH. Gender and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, part 2: mechanisms. Sleep. 2002;25:499-506.

Vitamin E is an umbrella term for eight fat-soluble compounds with definite antioxidant qualities. Four of the eight are called tocopherols; the other four are known as tocotrienols. Both tocopherols and tocotrienols exist in four forms alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Each form has its own biological function and potency, but of the eight, alpha-tocopherol is the most active type of Vitamin E in humans, and the only one maintained in human blood circulation. Vitamin E is absorbed into the lymph with fat and bile salt from the intestines, and then is picked up by the blood stream and carried to the liver, where it is used immediately or stored. Vitamin E serves as a co-enzyme in cellular membranes, and acts as a scavenger for free radicals destructive to internal cellular components. As a whole, Vitamin E is the most effective, fat-soluble antioxidant known to the human body. It is found naturally in some foods and added to others. Vitamin E is an essential nutrient crucial for good health. - Vitamin E is an intelligent choice to help ensure a sufficient daily intake of the heart-health supplements you need most. - Some people, including those on low-fat diets, may not be meeting the recommended daily intake for Vitamin E. - Topical Vitamin E can be absorbed through the skin. - Studies support the ability of Vitamin E to promote antioxidant health. - Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that helps fight cell-damaging free radicals in the body. - Vitamin E promotes the health of your cardiovascular system. - Studies support the ability of Vitamin E to promote heart health. - Vitamin E's antioxidant properties support skin health. - Vitamin E helps maintain a healthy immune system. - Free radicals can contribute to oxidative stress, which in turn may contribute to the premature aging of cells. The key function of Vitamin E is to protect the physical stability of the body's intracellular membrane, and help defend against tissue damage caused by oxidation. Vitamin E lessens the oxidation of lipid membranes and fatty acids, thereby reducing cellular damage. Vitamin E is also a powerful antioxidant which helps stabilize cell membranes and protect tissue which is more sensitive to oxidation, such as the skin, eyes, liver, breast, and testes. When applied to the skin, creams and oils containing Vitamin E are believed to promote skin health and maintenance. The benefits of the antioxidant qualities of Vitamin E are enhanced by other antioxidants such as Vitamin C, beta-carotene, glutathione(L-cysteine), and the mineral selenium. Fortunately, numerous foods provide Vitamin E. Nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils are especially rich sources of alpha-tocopherol, and significant amounts are available in green leafy vegetables and fortified cereals, as well. | || | | || | | || | | || | | || | | || | The structure function claims made on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These dietary supplement products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

- THE MAGAZINE - WEB EXCLUSIVES Anyone who has faced a production problem with a need to solve it by using production data can relate to the notion of a brain teaser. The brain teasers presented here are based on real-world situations encountered by workers in manufacturing environments. The brain teasers have three parts: (1) the situation, (2) available data or other supporting information, and (3) questions that various workers need answered for continual improvement. Recommended solutions follow in the next issue and on the Web at Quality Online (www.qualitymag.com). SituationOn a recent monthly report Roxanne, the production manager for a company that manufactures mobile technology equipment, noticed that the total number of units sold in January 2009 was lower than the total number of units sold in both January 2008 and January 2007. She then started looking at other months and discovered that the number of units sold in December 2008 was the lowest value for the entire time period. At the next monthly production meeting, Roxanne expressed her concern that company sales were beginning to decline and decisions about staffing needed to be made soon. Available DataThe monthly sales data for units sold are printed on production reports. Roxanne asked for a special printout of all months in 2007 and 2008. These data appear in the table, “Monthly Sales of Units.” Questions1. Based on the data from January 2007 through January 2009, what evidence exists that sales are beginning to decline? 2. Using an individuals and moving range chart with all of the data, what is the behavior of these data on number of units sold? What is the routine variation month-to-month for these data? 3. How do 2007 and 2008 sales compare? What should Roxanne expect for monthly sales of units in 2009? 4. What, if any, actions should Roxanne propose concerning monthly sales? Answers to April Brain TeaserKeith is the production manager at a motor plant. He has been asked to provide process behavior information at the morning meeting instead of the summaries currently used. Because the current summaries are preprinted, setting up charts for the data will take some time. Keith asked LaShawn, a production supervisor, to set up the charts to analyze yield of all stator production process lines. Q: La Shawn decided to analyze all stator lines together. He set up an average and range chart with a subgroup of size 6. What is your interpretation of process behavior with this setup? What are the sources of variation in the ranges? A: Using an average and range chart with a subgroup size of 6, the process behavior appears to be predictable at a grand average of 86% (85.97%) and a standard deviation of 5.4% calculated from the average range. Using these results, LaShawn explains to Keith that the natural process limits for yield from the stator lines are 70% to 100% due to routine variation only. In this analysis, the subgroup ranges include equipment, material, operator, procedure and measurement variations plus differences in lines and shifts, all of which will make up the sources of routine variation. See the chart, “Stator Production Yield.” Q: After he made the first chart, LaShawn decided to analyze each line separately. He set up an individuals and moving range chart for each line by plotting all 14 day shift values and then all 14 night shift values. What does this organization of the data reveal? A: With separate individuals and moving range charts for each line, LaShawn can determine if all stator lines have the same average and standard deviation and if they all have predictable behavior. For Line 1, night shift has a long run about the overall average line indicating that night shift yield is higher than day shift. The average for Line 2 is 80.6% with no detectable difference between the day and night shifts. Also, for Line 3 the overall average is 90% with no detectable difference between the two shifts. The two shifts on each line have about the same amount of variation (see the range chart for each line), but it appears that Line 1 has a greater amount of variation than the other two lines. See the chart, “Line 2, Day and Night Shifts.” Q: The third charting approach LaShawn used was to plot each line and shift separately. He had six individuals and moving range charts. What do you learn from these charts? A: From these six charts it is possible to compare lines and shifts to determine where any differences might be found. A summary of these six charts is in the table, “Summary of Stator Yield by Line and Shift.” Q: What other ways might LaShawn have charted these data to understand process behavior? In order to have all stator processes achieve the same yield at the highest level, which charting approach gives the best insight about the stator processes and the challenges that Keith faces? A: The behavior of any process is best understood with data plotted in time order. Some insights surface when data are plotted by shift and/or by line. However, the goal is to achieve predictable high yields regardless of the line or shift. To monitor this goal, Keith needs to have process behavior charts for each line separately with day and night shifts occurring in time order instead of displaying the shifts on separate charts. By plotting shifts separately, some patterns that indicate process changes will be missed.

Current Affairs Cuckoo, declining in numbers in Czech Republic, named Bird of Year The common cuckoo has just been named Bird of the Year 2010 by the Czech Society for Ornithology. One of the aims of the annual award is to draw attention to the problems faced by particular species of birds. In the case of the cuckoo, ornithologists report a baffling fall in numbers over the last few decades. The Czech Society for Ornithology has just named the cuckoo the Bird of the Year 2010. The head of the organisation Zdeněk Vermouzek explains why. “Given that this is the Year of Biodiversity we wanted to choose a breed that would be sufficiently well known to all Czechs. I’d go so far as to say that there’s nobody in this country who doesn’t know the cuckoo, or hasn’t heard of it. At the same time, the bird has broader cultural significance, if we consider various superstitions and lore linked to particular times of the year.” Czech ornithologists say that as elsewhere there has been a steep decline in the cuckoo population here over the last 20 or 30 years. As to why, however, they are not entirely sure. “We can assume that it is because of changes in agriculture, which has become more intensive, with mechanisation and the use of insecticides and other factors whose influence it is hard to prove. But at the same time it could be due to changes in conditions at the cuckoo’s wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.” Cuckoos are what are known as brood parasites, which means they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and the only such parasites to be found in the central Europe region. By the way, their behaviour is said to explain the provenance of the word cuckold.

Washington, Feb uary 21: There is increasing evidence of a connection between diet and acne, particularly from high glycemic load diets and dairy products, a new study has revealed. The study noted that medical nutrition therapy (MNT) could play an important role in acne treatment. Acne influences quality of life, including social withdrawal, anxiety, and depression, making treatment essential. Since the late 1800s, research has linked diet to this common disease, identifying chocolate, sugar, and fat as particular culprits, but beginning in the 1960s, studies disassociated diet from the development of acne. "This change occurred largely because of the results of two important research studies that are repeatedly cited in the literature and popular culture as evidence to refute the association between diet and acne," said Jennifer Burris, MS, RD, of the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University. "More recently, dermatologists and registered dietitians have revisited the diet-acne relationship and become increasingly interested in the role of medical nutritional therapy in acne treatment," she noted. Burris and colleagues, William Rietkerk, Department of Dermatology, New York Medical College, and Kathleen Woolf, of New York University's Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, conducted a literature review to evaluate evidence for the diet-acne connection during three distinctive time periods: early history, the rise of the diet-acne myth, and recent research. Culling information from studies between 1960 and 2012 that investigated diet and acne, investigators compiled data for a number of study characteristics, including reference, design, participants, intervention method, primary outcome, results and conclusions, covariate considerations, and limitations. They concluded that a high glycemic index/glycemic load diet and frequent dairy consumption are the leading factors in establishing the link between diet and acne. They also noted that although research results from studies conducted over the last 10 years do not demonstrate that diet causes acne, it may influence or aggravate it. The study team recommends that dermatologists and registered dietitians work collaboratively to design and conduct quality research. "This research is necessary to fully elucidate preliminary results, determine the proposed underlying mechanisms linking diet and acne, and develop potential dietary interventions for acne treatment," said Burris. "The medical community should not dismiss the possibility of diet therapy as an adjunct treatment for acne. At this time, the best approach is to address each acne patient individually, carefully considering the possibility of dietary counselling," she concluded. The study was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (ANI)

This is an issue that is often misunderstood in the public sphere and media, so it is worth spending some time to explain it and clarify it. At least three careful ice core studies have shown that CO2 starts to rise about 800 years (600-1000 years) after Antarctic temperature during glacial terminations. These terminations are pronounced warming periods that mark the ends of the ice ages that happen every 100,000 years or so. Does this prove that CO2 doesn’t cause global warming? The answer is no. The reason has to do with the fact that the warmings take about 5000 years to be complete. The lag is only 800 years. All that the lag shows is that CO2 did not cause the first 800 years of warming, out of the 5000 year trend. The other 4200 years of warming could in fact have been caused by CO2, as far as we can tell from this ice core data. The 4200 years of warming make up about 5/6 of the total warming. So CO2 could have caused the last 5/6 of the warming, but could not have caused the first 1/6 of the warming. It comes as no surprise that other factors besides CO2 affect climate. Changes in the amount of summer sunshine, due to changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun that happen every 21,000 years, have long been known to affect the comings and goings of ice ages. Atlantic ocean circulation slowdowns are thought to warm Antarctica, also. From studying all the available data (not just ice cores), the probable sequence of events at a termination goes something like this. Some (currently unknown) process causes Antarctica and the surrounding ocean to warm. This process also causes CO2 to start rising, about 800 years later. Then CO2 further warms the whole planet, because of its heat-trapping properties. This leads to even further CO2 release. So CO2 during ice ages should be thought of as a “feedback”, much like the feedback that results from putting a microphone too near to a loudspeaker. In other words, CO2 does not initiate the warmings, but acts as an amplifier once they are underway. From model estimates, CO2 (along with other greenhouse gases CH4 and N2O) causes about half of the full glacial-to-interglacial warming. So, in summary, the lag of CO2 behind temperature doesn’t tell us much about global warming. [But it may give us a very interesting clue about why CO2 rises at the ends of ice ages. The 800-year lag is about the amount of time required to flush out the deep ocean through natural ocean currents. So CO2 might be stored in the deep ocean during ice ages, and then get released when the climate warms.] To read more about CO2 and ice cores, see Caillon et al., 2003, Science magazine Guest Contributor: Jeff Severinghaus Professor of Geosciences Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego. Update May 2007: We have a fuller exposition of this on a more recent post.

Every mom knows that fruits and veggies do a growing body good. She also knows how tough it is to get a toddler (or a grade-schooler or even an adult) to choose greens and berries over chicken fingers and Fruity Pebbles. So it's no surprise that only one in 50 kids eats a healthy diet (one that meets federal recommendations). But there are ways to turn your child into a healthy eater without turning you into the nutrition police. Try these reality-tested tips: Get your kids into the kitchen. Seven-year-old Jason Zoller of Portland, OR, would zip his lips whenever he didn't like the looks of something on his plate. Then his mom, René, discovered that he'd try just about anything if he'd helped prepare it. Giving kids a say in what they're eating from letting them pick out items at the grocery store to enlisting their aid in the kitchen entices them to venture beyond hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. "Children feel important when they're asked to pitch in, and because they take pride in the finished product, they're more likely to have an open mind about eating it," says Christine Mastrangelo, R.D., a registered dietitian in Wakefield, MA. That time spent at the market and in the kitchen also teaches kids to make healthful choices, nutritionists say. (Kids' math and reading skills get a boost too.) Play with produce. It's important to serve fruits and vegetables to your child each day so she develops a taste for them and gets the nutrition she needs. But don't fret if she turns up her nose at the scrubby texture of broccoli or the slime factor of spinach just give 'em to her in forms she'll find more appetizing. For instance, Medford, OR, mom Marcie Dixon's kids clamor for "beancicles," which are really just frozen green beans. Tanya Kaanta's children in Bloomington, IN, gobble up dried fruits and veggies (peas are a favorite). Frozen fruit and homemade juice popsicles also have kid appeal, and even some packaged goods hold a lot of veggie power: Six-year-old Rachel Maloney of Denver has no problem eating her greens as long as her mom, Kathy, gives her Flat Earth Baked Veggie Crisps. Each serving of these chips is equal to a half serving of vegetables. Moms also give these two fruit-packed products a thumbs-up: Larabars (one bar equals one fruit serving) and FruitaBü Organic Smooshed Fruit (one packet offers half a serving of fruit).

Scantron is a company, based in Irvine, California, USA, that manufactures and sells machine-readable papers on which students mark answers to academic test questions, the machines to analyze those answers, survey and test scoring systems, the taking of school attendance (with a mark denoting an absent student) and image-based data collection software and scanners. The use of the name Scantron pervades primary and secondary education in North America, and many students associate the word "Scantron" with computer-graded, multiple choice examinations. Scantron test forms commonly, there are two sides to Scantron answer sheets. They can contain 50 answer blanks, 100 answer blanks, and so on. A smaller form, called a Quizzstrip™, provides answer space for only about 20 questions. On the back of larger sheets is a space in which answers to other kinds of questions can be written. The 8.5×11-inch form may contain a larger area for working math problems, write long-hand answers, etc. Answers "A" and "B" are commonly used for "True or False" questions. It is common for Scantron sheets to have instructions such as "Do not make any stray marks on the answer sheet", "Fill in each circle/square completely. To change your answer completely erase the mark" and "Please use a number 2 pencil" (or "HB pencil" in Canada). Grading of Scantron sheets in a stand-alone testing scoring machine (either model 888P+ or iNSIGHT 4) is performed first by creating an answer key. The answer key is simply a standard Scantron answer sheet with all of the correct answers filled in, along with the "key" rectangle at the top of the sheet. The key is fed into the Scantron machine, which stores the correct answers in the memory. Further sheets fed are graded according to the key in memory. Switching the machine off stops the paper feed and clears the memory. Incorrect answers are marked with a red dash, or the correct answer (unless the correct answer is made up of multiple letters, such as BCE, in which case it will be marked with an asterisk), down the left side of the paper. In this way, students see which questions they answered correctly. The number of correct answers is printed on the form. It can also show a percentage grade along with the number of answers correct. Scantron test scoring software can create the key and only student forms are scanned. Once student tests are scanned in, various reports can be created, including item analysis, grade distribution, student response report, etc. A photocopied Scantron form will not work, because the printed image is too dark. It is, however, possible to laser print forms that will work in the Scantron machine using software such as FLIPS or eListen.

The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, the Brotherhood or MB) is a transnational Sunni movement and the largest political opposition organization in many Arab nations, particularly Egypt. The world's oldest and largest Islamist group was founded by the Egyptian schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. These groups are dedicated to the credo: Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope. Since its inception in 1928 the movement has officially opposed violent means to achieve its goals, with some exceptions such as in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or to overthrow secular Ba'athist rule in Syria (see Hama massacre). This official position has been questioned, particularly by the Egyptian government who accused it of a campaign of killings in Egypt after World War II. The Brotherhood has been described as both unjustly oppressed and dangerously violent. Members have been arbitrarily arrested; in Egypt the government has obstructed the party's attempts to field candidates in elections, with arrests or harassment of activists and obstruction of voting in Muslim Brotherhood strongholds. However, supporters of the Brotherhood have demonstrated violence on their part in many occasions and have often clashed with supporters of other parties, specifically the NDP in Egypt. Outside of Egypt, the group's political activity has been described as evolving away from modernism and reformism towards a more traditional, "rightist conservative" stance. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood party in Kuwait opposes suffrage for women. Among the Brotherhood's more influential members was Sayyid Qutb. Qutb was the author of one of Islamism's most important books, Milestones, which called for the restoration of Islam by re-establishing the Sharia and by using "physical power and Jihad for abolishing the organizations and authorities of the Jahili system, which he believed to include the entire Muslim world. While studying at university, Osama bin Laden claimed to have been influenced by the religious and political ideas of several professors with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood including both Sayyid Qutb and his brother Muhammad Qutb. With a bit of clarification it is easy to see the Brotherhood's theology and methods are opposed to those of bin Laden, and that they are "reformist," "democratic," "non-violent" and "chiefly political. However some journalists have reported the opposite. The Brotherhood is financed by contributions from its members who are required to allocate portion of their income to the movement. Most of these contributions come from members living in oil-rich countries, such as Saudi Arabia. On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam quite strictly. Its founder called for "a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior," "segregation of male and female students," a separate curriculum for girls, and "the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes..." The Brotherhood is one of the most influential movements in the Islamic world, and especially so in the Arab world. It was founded in Egypt and Egypt is considered the center of the movement; it is generally weaker in the Maghreb, or North Africa, than in the Arab Levant. Brotherhood branches form the main opposition to the governments in several countries in the Arab world, such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan, and are politically active to some extent in nearly every Muslim country , possibly excluding Turkey. There are also diaspora branches in several Western nations and in south and east Asia, composed by immigrants previously active in the Brotherhood in their home countries. The movement is immensely influential in many Muslim countries, and where legally possible, it often operates important networks of Islamic charities, creating a support base among Muslim poor. However, most of the countries where the Brotherhood is active are ruled by non-pluralist regimes. As a consequence, the movement is banned in several Arab nations, and restrictions on political activity prevent it from gaining power through elections. The MB is a movement, not a political party, but has created separate political parties in several countries, such as the Islamic Action Front in Jordan and Hamas in Palestine. These parties are staffed by Brotherhood members but kept independent from the MB to some degree. The Brotherhood itself denounces the "catchy and effective terms and phrases" like "fundamentalist" and "political Islam" which it claims are used by "Western Media" to pigeonhole the group, and points to its "15 Principles" for an Egyptian National Charter, including "freedom of personal conviction... ... opinion... forming political parties... public gatherings... free and fair elections... It has the following divisions (not complete): - Executive leadership - Organisational office - Secretariat general - Education office - Political office - Sisters office In each country there is a Branch committee with a Masul (leader) appointed by the General Executive leadership with essential the same Branch-divisions as the Executive office has. To the duties of every branch belongs fundraising, infiltrating in and overtaking other muslim organisations for sake of uniting the muslims to dedicate them to the general goals of the MB. The general goals and strategic plans of the MB are only found in Arabic documents. One for Europe called "The Project" is found in 2001 in Switzerland, another for North America is found in 2005 called the "General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America, an evaluation of this Memorandum is made for US-Congress and for the Pentagon. Their influence is fast growing, especially in Europe, but not easy to trace while the active members have to keep their membership secret. One citation from the document "General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America make the objectives of the MB clear: "The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Ismailia in March 1928 along with six workers of the Suez Canal Company. It began as a religious, political, and social movement with the credo, “Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” Al-Banna called for the return to an original Islam and followed Islamic reformers like Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. According to him, contemporary Islam had lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by Western influences. Sharia law based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah were seen as laws passed down by Allah that should be applied to all parts of life, including the organization of the government and the handling of everyday problems. The Brotherhood also saw itself as a political and social movement Al-Banna strived to be a populist. The Muslim Brotherhood claimed to want to protect the workers against the tyranny of foreign and monopolist companies. It founded social institutions such as hospitals, pharmacies, schools, etc. However, in addition to holding conservative views on issues such as women's rights, it was from the start extremely hostile to independent working-class and popular organisations such as trade unions. This is disputed however by William Cleveland, who points out that the Muslim Brotherhood became involved with the labour movement early on, and supported efforts to create trades unions and unemployment benefits. By 1936, it had 800 members, then this number increased greatly to up to 200,000 by 1938. By 1948, the Brotherhood had about half a million members. Robin Hallett says: "By the late 1940s the Brotherhood was reckoned to have as many as 2 million members, while it strong Pan-Islamic ideas had gained it supporters in other Arab lands". The Muslim Brotherhood also tried to build up something like an Islamist International, thus founding groups in Lebanon (in 1936), Syria (1937), and Transjordan (1946). It also recruited among the foreign students in Cairo. Its headquarters in Cairo became a center and meeting place for representative from the whole Muslim world. In November 1948 police seized an automobile containing the documents and plans of what is thought to be the Brotherhood's "secret apparatus" with names of its members. The seizure was preceded by an assortment of bombings and assassination attempts by the apparatus. Subsequently 32 of its leaders are arrested and its offices raided. The next month the Egyptian Prime Minister of Egypt, Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi, ordered the dissolution of the Brotherhood. In what is thought to be retaliation for these acts, a member of the Brotherhood, veterinary student Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan, assassinated the Prime Minister on December 28, 1948. A month and half later Al-Banna himself was killed in Cairo by men believed to be government agents and/or supporters of the murdered premier. The Brotherhood has been an illegal organization, tolerated to varying degrees, since 1954 when it was convicted of the attempt to assassinate Gamal Abdel Nasser, head of the Egyptian government. The group had denied involvement in the incident and accused the government of staging the incident to use it as a pretext to persecute the group and its members. On this basis from 1954 until Nasser's death in 1971, thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members were systemically tortured under Nasser's secular regime, highlighted in Zainab al Ghazali's Return of the Pharaoh. Nasser's successor, Anwar Sadat, promised the Brotherhood that shari'a would be implemented as the Egyptian law and released all of the Brotherhood prisoners. However, as a result of Sadat signing a peace agreement with Israel in 1979, an Islamic group other than the Brotherhood assassinated Sadat in September, 1981. The Brotherhood is still periodically subjected to mass arrests. It remains an extremely opposition group in Egypt, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians. The political direction it has been taking lately has tended towards more moderate Islamism and Islamic Democracy, somewhat more anti-Western than and a degree to right of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Brotherhood's candidates, who must run as independents due to their illegality as a political party, won 88 seats (20% of the total) to form the largest opposition bloc. The electoral process was marred by many irregularities, including the arrest of hundreds of Brotherhood members. On the other hand observers such as Jameel Theyabi, writing in an op-ed for Dar Al-Hayat, noted that a December 2006 Muslim Brotherhood military parade and the "wearing of uniforms, displaying the phrase, 'We Will be Steadfast', and the drills involving martial arts, betray the group's intent to plan for the creation of militia structures, and a return by the group to the era of 'secret cells'.... Meanwhile, approved opposition parties won only 14 seats. This revived the debate within the Egyptian political elite about whether the Brotherhood should remain banned. General leaders (G.L) or Mentors of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt المرشد العام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمون After the Six Day War when occupation started, Israel, usually through the Mossad, looked to cultivate Islam as a counterweight to Palestinian nationalism. One of Israel's first actions after the war was to release various Muslim Brotherhood activists from prison, including Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the future founder of Hamas. From there, political Islamism grew exponentially. Between 1967 and 1987, the year Hamas was founded, the number of mosques in Gaza tripled from 200 to 600. (Dreyfuss 2006) Likewise, antagonistic and sometimes violent opposition to Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization and other secular nationalist groups increased dramatically in the streets and on university campuses. The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, founded in 1987 in Gaza, is a wing of the Brotherhood , formed out of Brotherhood-affiliated charities that had gained a strong foothold among the local population. During the First Intifada (1987-93), Hamas militarized and transformed into one of the most violent Palestinian militant groups. Hamas had refused to accept the 1993 Oslo Accords, and has, particularly during the al-Aqsa Intifada, launched a series of attacks (including suicide bombings) against Israeli civilians. This led many governments, including the USA, Canada, and the European Union, to label Hamas terrorist movement, while the prevailing view in the Arab-Muslim world has been that Hamas is carrying out a war of legitimate resistance. In the general elections of January 2006, Hamas swept to victory, claiming 74 out of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Palestine, while still under occupation, thus became the only present-day Arab nation where the Muslim brotherhood has gained power through democratic elections. However, when the movement later formed the first non-Fatah government, this engendered considerable controversy, as Western governments refused to deal with a group that they had formally listed as a terrorist organization. This has caused an economic crisis for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), as these governments withheld the foreign aid that is the main source of the PNA's income. While these developments are primarily a part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they are also closely monitored by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in other countries, and seen as a setback to its strategy of participating in democratic elections. Among the most prominent leaders of Hamas are Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of the movement who was assassinated by Israel in March 2004, his successor Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, who was also assassinated by Israel in April 2004, and Mahmoud al-Zahar. The political head of the movement is now Khaled Mashal, a hardliner living in exile in Syria, who survived an assassination attempt by Israeli agents in Jordan in 1997. The Muslim Brotherhood in Israel -the Islamic Movement- is divided between the southern and northern branches. The southern branch is represented in the Knesset, Israel's parliament while the northern radical branch boycotts Israeli elections. At that time Navab Safavi was an associate and ally of Ayatollah Khomeini who went on to become a figure in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Safavi is thought to have influenced Khomeini with the ideas of the Brotherhood Khomeini and other religious figures in Iran worked to establish Islamic unity and downplay Shia-Sunni differences. Also, in the north of Iraq there are several Islamic movements inspired by or part of the Muslim Brotherhood network. The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) holds seats in the Kurdish parliament, and is the main political force outside the dominance of the two main secularist parties, the PUK and KDP. Always close to Egyptian politics, Sudan has had a Muslim Brotherhood presence since 1949. In 1945, a delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt visited Sudan and held various meetings inside the country advocating and explaining their ideology. Sudan has a long and deep history with the Muslim Brotherhood compared to many other countries. By April 1949, the first branch of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood organization emerged. However, simultaneously, many Sudanese students studying in Egypt were introduced to the ideology of the Brotherhood. The Muslim student groups also began organizing in the universities during the 1940s, and the Brotherhood’s main support base has remained to be college educated. In order to unite them, in 1954, a conference was held, attended by various representatives from different groups that appeared to have the same ideology. The conference voted to establish a Unified Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood Organization based on the teachings of Imam Hassan Al-banna. An offshoot of the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Charter Front grew during the 1960, with Islamic scholar Hasan al-Turabi becoming its Secretary general in 1964. The Islamic Charter Front (ICM) was renamed several times most recently being called the National Islamic Front (NIF). Turabi has been the prime architect of the NIF as a modern Islamist party. He worked within the Institutions of the government, which led to a prominent position of his organization in the country. NIF supported women's right to vote and ran women candidates. The Muslim Brotherhood/NIF's main objective in Sudan was to Islamize the society "from above" and to institutionalize the Islamic law throughout the country where they succeeded. The Brotherhood penetrated into the ruling political organizations, the state army and security personal, the national and regional assemblies, the youth and women organizations of Sudan. They also launched their own mass organizations among the youth and women such as the shabab al-binna, and raidat al-nahda, and launched educational campaigned to Islamize the communities throughout the country. At the same time, they gained control of several newly founded Islamic missionary and relief organizations to spread their ideology. The Brotherhood members took control of the newly established Islamic Banks as directors, administrators, employees and legal advisors, which became a source of power for the Brotherhood. The Sudanese government has come under considerable criticism for its human rights policies, links to terrorist groups, and war in southern Sudan and Darfur. The conservatism of at least some elements of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood was highlighted in a August 3, 2007 Al-Jazeera television interview of Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheikh Sadeq Abdallah bin Al-Majed. As translated by the Israeli-based MEMRI, Bin Al-Majed told his interviewer that "the West, and the Americans in particular ... are behind all the tragedies that are taking place in Darfur," as they "realized that it Darfur is full of treasures"; that "Islam does not permit a non-Muslim to rule over Muslims;" and that he had issued a fatwa prohibiting the vaccination of children, on the grounds that the vaccinations were "a conspiracy of the Jews and Freemasons. The chairman of the organization is Dr. Ali Shiekh, who is also the President of Mogadishu University. During the 1990s, Al-Islah devoted much effort to humanitarian efforts and providing free basic social services. They are also known to have contributed to educating the Somali people. The leaders of Al-Islah played a key role in the educational network and establishing Mogadishu University. Through their network, they educate more than 120,000 students in the city of Mogadishu. In Somalia, they are known to be a peaceful organization that does not participate in any factional fighting and rejects the use of violence. Today the group's membership includes urban professionals and students. According to a Crisis Group Report, Somalia’s Islamists, “Al-Islah organization is dominated by a highly educated urban elite whose professional, middle class status and extensive expatriate experiences are alien to most Somalis.” Although Al-Islah have been criticized by some hardcore Islamists who considered them to be influenced by imperialist western values, Al-Islah speaks of democratic peaceful Somalia. They promote women's rights, human rights, and other Western ideas, which they argue that these concepts originate from Islamic concepts. Al-Islah is gaining momentum in the Somali societies for their humanitarian work and moderate view of Islam. Dr. Ezzudine Ibrahim was one of the most influential founders of the Brotherhood in Libya. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Brotherhood was a religious and intellectual tendency in Libya and had many followers amongst the intellectuals and students in the university campuses, and by the mid 1970s it developed a structured Brotherhood organization. The Brotherhood in Libya limited itself to peaceful social, political, economic, and cultural activities. Soon after coming to power, Muammar al-Gaddafi regarded the Brotherhood a potential source of opposition. He arrested many Egyptian Brothers and expelled them back to Egypt. In 1973, the security services arrested and tortured members of the Libyan Brotherhood banning the organization and forcing it underground. The secrecy phase helped the Brotherhood to become more popular. The Brotherhood operated secretly in groups of interlinked cells, which was spread in the country. The brotherhood remained underground until the end of 1970s. At the beginning of 1980s, the Brotherhood renamed itself the “Libyan Islamic Group” (Al-Jama’a al-Islamiya al-Libyia) and tried to re-introduce themselves into the Libyan society. On March 2, 2006, the Libyan government released 132 members of the Muslim Brotherhood that were held as political prisoners. Their core ideology, strategy, operations and membership are the same as Brotherhood groups in other countries: it seeks to replace the existing regime with one following Sharia law through what it claims are peaceful means. It has an active charitable and welfare wing and has attracted many members of the middle classes, mainly academics, students, engineers and business people. The group has been strengthened by the large number of Libyan students who became member or supporters of the Brotherhood while studying abroad in the United Kingdom and the United States, and have returned home to spread its ideology. . Organizations in the US started by activists involved with the Muslim Brotherhood include the Muslim Students Association in 1963, North American Islamic Trust in 1971, the Islamic Society of North America in 1981, the American Muslim Council in 1990, the Muslim American Society in 1992, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought in the 1980s. According to the Washington Post, Muslim activists say MSA's members represent "all schools of Islam and political leanings -- many are moderates, while others express anti-U.S. views or support violence against Israelis." The Holy Land Foundation trial has led to the release as evidence of several documents on the Muslim Brotherhood In one of these documents, "Ikhwan in America", it is revealed that the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in the US include going to camps to do weapons training (referred to as Special work by the Muslim Brotherhood), as well as engaging in counter-espionage against US government agencies such as the FBI and CIA (referred to as Securing the Group). Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005. Malaysia political parties vie to 'out-Islamize' each other; With general elections to be held March 21, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is courting votes from Muslim Malays.(WORLD) Mar 09, 2004; Byline: Ioannis Gatsiounis Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA -- Ever since the Bush...

State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2010 - Lebanon |Publisher||Minority Rights Group International| |Publication Date||1 July 2010| |Cite as||Minority Rights Group International, State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2010 - Lebanon, 1 July 2010, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4c3331110.html [accessed 18 May 2013]| The 15-year Lebanese civil war ended with the signing of the 1989 Ta'if Agreement. Twenty years on, Lebanon continues to be divided along sectarian lines. Post-independence, Lebanon's political system was institutionalized in the National Pact of 1943. The National Pact had introduced a confessional formula, which provided for the representation of Christians and Muslims in a six to five ratio throughout government. Furthermore, the offices of president, prime minister and speaker of the parliament were allocated to the Maronite, Sunni and Shia sects respectively. Following a bloody internal conflict, the Ta'if Agreement replaced the six to five ratio of parliamentary seats, which had previously favoured Christians, with a more equitable division of parliamentary seats between Muslims and Christians. Accordingly, nine new Muslim seats were added to the Chamber, creating a 54-54 seat balance. The Agreement, however, maintained the distribution along religious lines of the country's offices of state. Appointments in the public sector are similarly based on a sectarian quota system. Although the Ta'if Agreement provided for the eventual abolition of political sectarianism, little progress has been made in this regard. In a televised address, President Michel Suleiman proposed to establish a national committee charged with the abolition of the country's confessional political system. His proposal was seconded by Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, who vowed to set up the committee and implement the Ta'if Agreement's provisions on the abolition of political sectarianism. The president's proposal was met with resistance and scepticism in Lebanon's wider political circles, thus casting doubt on whether the country is indeed ready to part with its confessional political system. Sectarian tensions continue to underlie Lebanon's fragile balance of power. The assassination of Lebanon's Sunni Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, in February 2005 created a rivalry between pro-Syrian political groups (otherwise known as the March 8 Alliance), and pro-Western political parties (otherwise known as the March 14 Alliance). The March 8 Alliance consists mainly of the Hezbollah and Amal Shi'ite groups, and followers of the Free Patriotic Movement's Maronite leader Michel Aoun, while the March 14 Alliance consists of the Future Movement led by Saad Hariri, the son of the slain prime minister, and the Lebanese Forces led by Maronite leader Samir Geagea. A tight race during the parliamentary elections of 7 June 2009 ended with the victory of the March 14 Alliance and the appointment of Saad Hariri as prime minister. After five months of intense negotiations with the opposition, Hariri was finally able to form a national unity government on 10 November 2009. He also made a landmark visit to Syria in December 2009, which marked the end of five years of animosity between Damascus and the March 14 Alliance, led by Hariri. Although its confessional distribution of public offices may be viewed as inherently discriminatory, Lebanon's government generally respects religious rights. Lebanon's Constitution protects religious freedom and the freedom to practise all religious rites, provided that the public order is not disturbed. Religious groups are, however, legally required to register with the government in order to conduct most religious activities. There are 18 officially recognized religious groups in Lebanon. The two largest Muslim groups are Sunnis (28 per cent of the population) and Shias (28 per cent of the population), according to the most recent demographic study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm. There is also a smaller community of Alawites and Ismailis. Christians make up over a third of the population (21.5 per cent are Maronites, 8 per cent are Greek Orthodox and another 4 per cent are Greek Catholic), while Druze amount to 5 per cent. Lebanon is also home to a declining Jewish minority, which is now estimated to have just 100-150 members. Lebanon's Jews have been without a place of worship since Israeli shelling destroyed their synagogue in 1982. Plans to repair the capital's remaining synagogue were suspended in 2009 as funding failed to materialize, thus forcing the Lebanese Jewish Community Council to appeal to the international community for help to carry on the work. Israel's military assault on the Gaza Strip, along with anti-Israeli literature published and distributed mainly by Hezbollah, have served to blur the lines between Israelis and Jews. USCIRF 2009 reported continued acts of vandalism committed against a Jewish-owned cemetery in downtown Beirut. Government documents referring to Jewish Lebanese citizens as 'Israelis' have added to this confusion, and to the increasing level of hostility towards Lebanon's Jewish community. In April 2009, Interior Minister Ziad Baroud submitted a proposal to the cabinet to amend legislation by referring to 'Jewish Lebanese' citizens instead of 'Israelis'. The government does not, however, require citizens' religious affiliations to be indicated on their passports. A circular issued by the Ministry of Interior on 11 February 2009 removed the requirement to inscribe a citizen's religious affiliation on national identity cards and civil registry records. HRW viewed this move as a step in the right direction, while noting that further steps were needed for Lebanon to meet its international human rights obligations. USCIRF 2009 highlighted the disadvantaged status under the law of unrecognized religious groups, such as Baha'is, Buddhists and Hindus, who are required to register as part of another recognized religious organization in order to marry, divorce or inherit property in Lebanon. According to UNRWA, Lebanon is home to about 422,000 Palestinian refugees, or an estimated 10 per cent of the population. These refugees continue to be denied basic social and civil rights, such as the right to own property. Considered as foreigners under Lebanon's current labour law, they are prohibited from working in any syndicated profession. This has forced many Palestinian refugees to work illegally, rendering them vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination. The Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), established in 2005 by the Lebanese Council of Ministers, has recently submitted a detailed plan to the government reforming Lebanese labour law to facilitate Palestinian employment. The plan is still being reviewed by the government.

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Philip LeDuc, PhD (pictured), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) professor of mechanical engineering, and Mary Beth Wilson, a CMU PhD candidate in biomedical engineering, have won an extremely competitive Grand Challenges Explorations Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to explore nutrition for healthy growth of infants and children in underdeveloped countries. "What we are doing is studying how to alter a plant's cellular and molecular structures to optimize release of nutrients during digestion," said Dr. LeDuc, who has courtesy appointments in the Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences and Computational Biology departments at CMU. "The idea originated when we became interested in how structural mechanics affect the taste of food. We built off this idea in thinking about how we could apply it in an innovative and meaningful way to tackle global challenges especially for the health of children in poor regions of the world." Both Dr. LeDuc and Ms. Wilson believe that generating widespread acceptance and consumption of nutrient rich plants like African leafy vegetables could significantly improve infant and child nutrition while curbing rising food costs. Global food prices hit record highs in February 2011 and are expected to become even more volatile. The United Nations reports that more than 900 million people in the world suffer from hunger on a daily basis. "We have chosen to focus initially on amaranth, a plant indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa, due to its high content of provitamin A and other micronutrients. We hope that integrating amaranth leaves into feeding strategies as infants transition from breast milk to solid foods could contribute to a reduction in vitamin A deficiency," said Ms. Wilson, a CMU Dowd-ICES (Institute for Complex Engineered Systems) fellow from Bridgeport, WV. Dr. LeDuc said the work involves significantly changing the palatability of the end food product. "These African leafy vegetables are perceived as 'poor man's food' with a bitter taste," Dr. LeDuc said. "We aim to change both taste and perception by reengineering the plant's cellular structure using traditional principles of cell mechanics that have been used for decades in areas such as heart disease and cancer." CMU researchers say they also are tapping into the modern and cutting-edge methodology of "molecular gastronomy," the study of physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking. Their culinary curiosity will be showcased next year in a new academic course titled "Culinary Mechanics," designed to explore the application of engineering principles to the science of food. Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Carnegie Mellon University News Release (11/07/11) Grand Challenges for Global Health Bio: Dr. Philip LeDuc

You are here: REHACARE Portal. Up-to-date. Archive. Wheelchair. Communicate and Steer a Wheelchair by Sniffing The nasal cannula is used to carry nasal pressure to the sensor; © Weizmann Institute A device based on sniffing – inhaling and exhaling through the nose – might enable numerous disabled people to navigate wheelchairs or communicate with their loved ones. Sniffing is a precise motor skill that is controlled, in part, by the soft palate – the flexible divider that moves to direct air in or out through the mouth or nose. The soft palate is controlled by several nerves that connect to it directly through the braincase. This close link led Sobel and his scientific team to theorise that the ability to sniff – that is, to control soft palate movement – might be preserved even in the most acute cases of paralysis. To test their theory, the researchers created a device with a sensor that fits on the nostril’s opening and measures changes in air pressure. For patients on respirators, they developed a passive version of the device, which diverts airflow to the patient’s nostrils. About 75% of the subjects on respirators were able to control their soft palate movement to operate the device. ‘The most stirring tests were those we did with locked-in syndrome patients. With the new system, they were able to communicate with family members, and even initiate communication with the outside,” said Noam Sobel who developed this system. One patient who had been locked in for seven months following a stroke learned to use the device over a period of several days, writing her first message to her family. Another, who had been locked in since a traffic accident 18 years earlier wrote that the new device was much easier to use than one based on blinking. Another ten patients, all quadriplegics, succeeded in operating a computer and writing messages through sniffing. In addition to communication, the device can function as a sort of steering mechanism for wheelchairs: Two successive sniffs in tell it to go forward, two out mean reverse, out and then in turn it left, and in and out turn it right. After fifteen minutes of practice, a subject who is paralysed from the neck down managed to navigate a wheelchair through a complex route – sharp turns and all – as well as a non-disabled volunteer. Sniffs can be in or out, strong or shallow, long or short; and this gives the device’s developers the opportunity to create a complex ‘language’ with multiple signals. The new system is relatively inexpensive to produce, and simple and quick to learn to operate in comparison with other brain-machine interfaces. Sobel believes that this invention may not only bring new hope to severely disabled people, but it could be useful in other areas, for instance as a control for a ‘third arm’ for surgeons and pilots. REHACARE.de; Source: Weizmann Institute - More about the Weizmann Institute at www.weizmann.ac.il ( Source: REHACARE.de )

Montanus lived in the second century after Christ. He was a nomad who traveled around present-day Turkey and preached messages he claimed came directly from the Holy Spirit. At times he even spoke as if he were God. Two women traveled with Montanus, Prisca and Maximilla. Prisca preached that Christ revealed himself to her as a woman. When she was excommunicated from the church she said, “I am driven away like the wolf from the sheep. I am no wolf; I am word and spirit and power.” The movement Montanus started died out in a few generations.

Thesis (MPhil)--Macquarie University, Faculty of Arts, Dept. of Modern History, Politics, International Relations and Security, 2010. Introduction -- 1. Survival strategies: assimilation and integration -- 2. Multiculturalism: unifying strategy or threat to the nation? -- 3. Survival of Anglo-Australian culture -- 4. From Hanson to Cronulla -- Conclusion During the period from the end of World War II to the early 2000's Australia was forced to adapt to the migrant presence if it were to survive as a modern liberal democracy. Migrants were necessary to the economy and the building of the nation after World War II. Immigration was conceived as a mechanism of national survival. But immigrants needed to fit into Anglo-Australian culture, the existing template. Our society thus had two driving needs: a desire to increase population through migration, and a desire to preserve the existing society that had been derived from Great Britain. This thesis argues that one of the central themes of the story of immigration after the war has been the working out of a fundamental dialectic between the demands of the 'body' and that of the 'soul'. These produced, or were propelled by, different conceptions of survival. Evolving settlement policies became ways of resolving the emerging conflict between the numbers and background of migrants and the need to preserve an Anglo-Australian culture. Assimilation and integration were designed firmly to preserve the latter, but multiculturalism had shifted towards maintaining migrant culture and migrant survival within the larger society. But many thought that multiculturalism wasn't a solution, that it undermined Anglo-Australian culture. The pendulum then swung back the other way with John Howard's retreat from multiculturalism and the rise of nationalist reactionary sentiment surrounding Pauline Hanson, Tampa and the Cronulla riots. -- This thesis charts how Australia attempted to resolve this dialectic, to manage large-scale immigration and at the same time preserve the existing Anglo-Australian nation. The greater immigration influx brought a structural tension to Australian society, between maintaining that White Australian culture and incorporating migrants into society. The further settlement policy moved away from White Australia the greater the tensions in society became, witnessing the advent of Pauline Hanson and the Cronulla riots. It became an issue of how the nation might survive that process, and remain viable.

Environment - Jun 2 Click on the headline (link) for the full text. Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage Canada Pays Environmentally for U.S. Oil Thirst Doug Struck, Washington Post Huge Mines Rapidly Draining Rivers, Cutting Into Forests, Boosting Emissions FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta -- Huge mines here turning tarry sand into cash for Canada and oil for the United States are taking an unexpectedly high environmental toll, sucking water from rivers and natural gas from wells and producing large amounts of gases linked to global warming. The digging -- into an area the size of Maryland and Virginia combined -- has proliferated at gold-rush speed, spurred by high oil prices, new technology and an unquenched U.S. thirst for the fuel. The expansion has presented ecological problems that experts thought they would have decades to resolve. "The river used to be blue. Now it's brown. Nobody can fish or drink from it. The air is bad. This has all happened so fast," said Elsie Fabian, 63, an elder in a native Indian community along the Athabasca River, a wide, meandering waterway once plied by fur traders. "It's terrible. We're surrounded by the mines." ...Operators of the mines, which have helped make Canada the largest supplier of oil to the United States, believe they can find technological solutions to the environmental problems. "There is a whole lot of work being done," Charles Ruigrok, chief executive of Syncrude, one of the largest companies, said at his corporate headquarters in downtown Fort McMurray. "I do believe technology will fix it." The oil companies point to steady reductions in the amount of water and natural gas used to produce each barrel of oil, for example. But those efficiency gains have been wiped out by the rise in the number of barrels produced. Increasingly, environmental organizations are calling for a moratorium on the growth of the mines. (31 May 2006) Too many folk on a planet too hot for comfort Bruce M. Dinham, The Age While focusing attention on greenhouse emissions and climate change, Tim Flannery ("Let's talk about nuclear power and other energy sources", Opinion, 30/5) ignores or overlooks a range of other problems we face or from which we already suffer. These include, as well as greenhouse emissions and climate change: holes in the ozone layer, reactive nitrogen, restricted water supplies, electricity shortages, urban sprawl, traffic congestion, increasing pollution, overstretched health and education systems, overfishing, river and dry land salinity, soil degradation and diminishing oil and gas reserves. All of these have a single underlying cause: people, or to be exact, too many people. They are, in fact, symptoms of a fundamental problem: overpopulation. There seems to be a strange reluctance, especially on the part of governments, to face up to this and do something about it. A common response is that science and technological developments will provide answers. This is wishful thinking. There can be no guarantee that such developments will occur. In any case, those in the past have depended on cheap and plentiful oil and natural gas supplies. There is a growing expert consensus that these supplies, coming as they do from finite resources, are reaching a global peak and will begin to reduce with increasing rapidity and run out in the not too distant future. Unless we do something to reduce population, worrying about greenhouse emissions and nuclear power is a waste of time and only diverting attention from the real problem. (31 May 2006) As a thought experiment I tried replacing the word 'population' with 'consumption', and the letter reads quite well. It's a reminder that both consumption and population levels are complimentary issues. -AF Drought worsens China water woes Daniel Griffiths, BBC News Parts of China are suffering their worst drought in over 50 years. But in the cities, demand for water is increasing as China's economic boom continues. Environmentalists warn current levels of water consumption may not be sustainable. There are more than 300 million people in China live in rural areas short of clean drinking water. Pollution is so severe the government estimates 40% of water in the country's major rivers is fit only for industrial or agricultural use. More than a decade of near double-digit economic growth has put serious strain on water demand in China, which has only 7% of the world's total water resources, compared with more than 20% of the global population. But get back to the capital and you would never know there was a crisis. In the parks of downtown Beijing the sprinklers are all on and the gardeners are watering their plants. The government gives big cities top priority for water. The countryside and smaller towns are the losers. "In the area where Beijing and Tianjin are located there are some cities which in five to seven years will run out of water. We're talking about a time bomb and one day it will be too late to go back." (31 May 2006) As another part of the article reminds us water shortages might be exacerbated by energy shortages, as the drought forces villages to drill deeper and deeper for ground water. -AF This is the highest level of activity [the forecast team at Colorado State University] have forecast in their 23 years of making these predictions. They put the odds of a major (Category 3-4-5) hurricane crossing the U.S. coast at 82% (average for last century is 52%). The U.S. East Coast (including Florida) has a 69% chance of a major hurricane strike (31% is average), and the Gulf Coast, 38% (30% is average). In addition, there is an above-average risk of major hurricanes in the Caribbean. Which sounds horrifying enough. But wait - it gets better. Last year, CSU's May 31st forecast called for 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes. As you may recall, we ended up with 27 named storms, 15 hurricanes, and 7 major hurricanes, 4 of which were category 5. (1 Jun 2006) Original title 'Helene is Coming to Kill You All' but you'll have to read Giulianna's tangental comments on the popularity of baby names after a hurricane to see why. -AF Bush administration censors scientists again Original: "Salmon talk restricted" Washington Post via Bellingham Herald SEATTLE - The Bush administration - having made it hard for federal scientists to talk publicly about global warming - appears to have decided that loose lips are also bad when they talk about salmon. The Washington office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has instructed its representatives and scientists in the West to route media questions about salmon back to headquarters. Only three people in the entire agency, all of them political appointees, are now authorized to speak of salmon, according to a NOAA employee. (1 June 2006) The Seattle Times has a longer related article: Longtime salmon spokesman silenced. In the Nation: Science and the First Amendment. The continued harassment of scientists is reminiscent of totalitarian regimes. Shame on the Bush administration and the officials who acquiesce. In a time when we need objective scientific information - for global warming and energy alternatives - this censorship is a crime against the public interest. -BA - Richard Lindzen, prominent MIT climate scientist, is an irresponsible contrarian, who’s prepared to defend an implausible position on the off chance of being right when everyone else is wrong - The Competitive Enterprise Institute, well-known Washington thinktank, is a set of industry shills who will say whatever Exxon pays them to say - William Gray, respected hurricane expert, is a raving loon who thinks climate change is a conspiracy to bring in world government and compares Al Gore to Hitler (as Achenbach notes, it’s almost impossible to keep the Nazis out of the discussion in GW-sceptic circles) - All these guys know the score as regards the others. John's summary motivated me to read Achenbach's piece, and I think he has it exactly right: the contrarians come across as obvious shills and buffoons. If you want to watch Achenbach talk about these guys in person, his Bloggingheads.tv conversation with Robert Wright is here. (1 June 2006) Achenbach's Washington Post piece is a fascinating personality study of what makes climate skeptics tick. I tend to agree with Matt McIrvin's critique: "It's written as a more or less unjudgmental personality piece, of the 'I can't evaluate what these brainiacs are saying but it sure is interesting' variety. I frequently like Achenbach's writing style but this kind of coverage of science drives me nuts." -BA.

These are photos of a 1940s-era Gulf road map for the state of Maine. This map was published by the Gulf Refining Company and was printed by Rand McNally. It includes a map of Maine on one side, and a map that covers the eastern seaboard from New Brunswick to Virginia on the reverse side. There is also a detailed map of the Boston area. The map includes a mileage table to calculate the distance from a given point in Maine, Vermont or New Hampshire to a variety of other locations. Beginning with Gulf’s first road maps in 1915, the cover design featured an old roadster driving up a hill with a large orange disk behind it. Within the disk were printed the words, “There is More Power in That Good Gulf Gasoline”. This design was pretty much maintained through the 1930s, with only minor changes. Rather than the slogan in the orange disk, around 1924 the “Gulf” logo was placed with in the circle and small adjustments were made to the design of the car. The cover on this map features the first major redesign to the Gulf info-maps. The style is less realistic and more Art Deco. The Gulf logo is now featured on a sign and is more prominent than the car. In addition to being smaller, the car has changed direction and is now pointing to the right. Below the car is the slogan, “Stop At the Sign of the Orange Disc”. This design appeared on Gulf road maps until about 1951. Notice on the back of the map that there are three uniformed attendants helping the driver who has stopped to get gas. In addition to filling the tank, the copy says they will clean the windshield, check the oil, inspect the tires and “render a host of other free services”. It looks as if the driver’s getting help with directions, most likely with a copy of this very map.

Choosing a Motor: DC, Stepper, Or Servo How to choose a motor for your robot Electric motors are used to “actuate” something in your robot: its wheels, legs, tracks, arms, fingers, sensor turrets, or weapon systems. There are literally dozens of types of electric motors (and many more if you count gasoline and other fueled engines), but for amateur robotics, the choice comes down to these three: - In a continuous DC motor, application of power causes the shaft to rotate continually. The shaft stops only when the power is removed, of if the motor is stalled because it can no longer drive the load attached to it. - In a stepping motor, applying power causes the shaft to rotate a few degrees, then stop. Continuous rotation of the shaft requires that the power be pulsed to the motor. As with continuous DC motors, there are sub-types of stepping motors. Permanent magnet steppers are the ones you’ll likely encounter, and they are also the easiest to use. - A special “subset” of continuous motors is the servo motor, which in typical cases combines a continuous DC motor with a “feedback loop” to ensure accurate positioning. There are many, many types of servo motors; a common form is the kind used in model and hobby radio-controlled cars and planes. With three common motor types for amateur robots to pick from — DC, stepper, and servo — it can be hard to know which one is best. The answer is not simple, because each motor type has its own pros and cons. * The discussion is limited here to radio control (R/C) servo motors; there are other types of servo motors, but most are mondo expensive. Bear in mind that all motors are available in different sizes. - Small motors are engineered for applications where compactness is valued over torque. While there are small high-torque motors, these tend to be expensive because they use rare earth magnets, high efficiency bearings, and other features that add to their cost. - Large motors may produce more torque, but also require higher currents. High current motors require larger capacity batteries, and bigger control circuits that won’t overheat and burn out under the load. Therefore, match the size of the motor with the rest of the robot. Don’t overload a small robot with a large motor when big size isn’t important. - When decided on the size of the motor, compare available torque after any gear reduction. Gear reduction always increases torque. The increase in torque is proportional to the amount of gear reduction: if the reduction is 3:1, the torque is increased by about three times (but not quite, because of frictional losses).

Robot is such a broad term. I ponder the definition. The first definition in a dictionary states robots "sometimes resemble a human" although the second definition does not. The third entry actually refers to a type of person! I agree that it's hard to nail down but perhaps we should try and hack out some new terms. I have a strong belief that robots must be capable of some kind of motion. A robotic assembly arm at a manufacturing plant, though it can not change it's origin, it is capable of swinging it's hand to and fro and arriving at some point specified. To me a "robot" that doesn't move is a computer, or if simple enough a sensor. I submit for thought: SAR (Sound Activated Robot)*. At first I thought this didn't qualify as a robot, but when I looked up the definition, I realized it is so lax that it technically does. But then by that definition so could a computer. This lead me to question the difference between a computer and robot. We all know what computers are (I hope) although the lines are blurring there as well. Computers, and PDAs (ex: palm pilot), cell phones with operating systems. But what's the difference between a computer that controls a factory machine (let's say a cookie making factory that has a computer controlled conveyor and stamping system), and a robot? I guess this is an old discussion, much like what qualifies as life but there must be something more definitive people can agree on. More definitive than a definition that includes the word "sometimes", anyway. I sincerely believe that mobility is at least one major point of defining a robot. I'll have to think some more on it to decide what else differentiates a robot from a computer. - * Please Steven Frye don't be offended. I know that is probably the begining of a robot but I just use it as an example. No harm intended. I have to laugh anyway becuase it's more than I've ever made!

The tragic shooting that took place at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., took the lives of 20 children and six adults. Among them was 27-year-old Victoria Soto, a young woman of Puerto Rican descent, whose efforts to shield her kids undoubtedly saved lives. The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary has renewed a nationwide debate about gun control, an issue that has divided our nation for more than a decade. Since 2004, when the federal ban on assault weapons expired, a trend toward laxer gun laws emerged, fueled by the ever-powerful gun lobby led by the National Rifle Association. While similar calls for greater gun control took place after each of the mass shootings our nation has experienced in recent years, from Columbine to Virginia Tech to Arizona, there seems to be a growing consensus, among even gun enthusiasts, that something must change. Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., an avid hunter and NRA member, has called for Congress to rethink gun legislation in the wake of the shootings. He joins New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in calling for a ban on assault weapons. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Senator-elect Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., both candidates who were endorsed by the NRA, have also added their voices to the growing call for reasonable gun control. With Latinos fresh from the political victory that ushered President Barack Obama into his second term, we are a significant potential force for good in the growing new campaign for gun control. In fact, Latinos are more likely to favor stricter gun-control laws than either whites or African-Americans, according to a report released last April by the Pew Research Center. The study found that only 29 percent of Latinos felt it is more important to protect gun ownership rights than to control the ownership of guns, as opposed to 57 percent of whites. An earlier poll, conducted in 2011 by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, found that 86 percent of Latinos support background checks on gun sales and 69 percent believe that gun laws should be strengthened. Latinos are right to be concerned about gun laws because, as a community, Latinos, and especially young Latino males, are particularly vulnerable and more likely to die as a result of gun violence than white males. In fact, among Latinos ages 15-24, homicide is the second leading cause of death, according to federal data. Latino communities also bear a disproportionate share of violence-related death and injury, compared with the general population. Latinos have an opportunity to use their newly found political clout to call upon their leaders and members of Congress to enact stricter gun-control legislation, starting with renewing the ban on assault weapons. And they can do it without diminishing their efforts to win comprehensive immigration reform. As a proud veteran of the U.S. Army, I know firsthand that assault weapons like the ones used by the military on the field of war have no place in our homes, our schools or our communities. They are not weapons of protection nor are they weapons of sport. They are too often the weapons of choice for drug runners and cartels, not law-abiding citizens. For too long, the NRA has wielded the Second Amendment in an effort not to cede any ground to gun control advocates. They have long argued that guns in the hands of citizens help protect them from becoming victims of crime. Itís time to bring a sense of reason back to this debate, because the facts do not support their arguments. A study by the California-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence determined that seven of the 10 states with the strongest gun laws also have the lowest gun-death rates, while states with the weakest gun laws have some of the highest gun-death rates. Common sense is so uncommon! Letís not let this debate slide until the next act of senseless violence. Letís add Latino voices to the growing call for sensible gun control. We owe it to the children and other victims of Sandy Hook. And we owe it to Victoria Soto. Mickey Ibarra is founder of the Ibarra Strategy Group and chairman of the Latino Leaders Network. From 1997 to 2001, he served as assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the Clinton White House. Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously.

Story of Agnes | was born in the mountains near Myerstown in 1845. Her parents were Peter Bennethum and Sarah Heffelfinger, her grandparents were Peter Bennethum and his wife Kate Moyer, and her great-grandparents were Johannes Andreas Benedum and Marie Barbara Minnich. When she was a very old woman, Agnes's children insisted on recording the story of her life. And a fascinating life it was! When she was a young girl her family. along with her father's brother's family, moved to Ohio. She describes the trip in vivid detail. They took two Conestoga wagons crammed full of their possessions. She tells of provisions the wagons had for camping enroute, such as boards on the side that pulled up for sleeping. In Ohio all the women spoke the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect her mother didn't know it very well. She grew lonely and homesick and took to her bed, telling her husband she was not getting out of bed until he promised to take her back to Pennsylvania, They comprised and went to Illinois where her father's cousin owned the Pennsylvania House hotel. When Agnes was about 16, President Lincoln came to Freeport. There was a big parade and Agnes was chosen as one of three girls to represent of colors of the flag. She wore a all-white dress and rode a white horse When she married John Henry in ___ she wore an elegant brown silk wedding dress Submitted by: SueCunning@aol.com

Originally known as Northern Berkshire Township Number 2 and including all of Hinsdale and part of Middlefield, the town was first settled in 1767 and was officially incorporated as Partridgefield on July 4, 1771. It was originally named for Oliver Partridge, one of the three purchasers of the town (along with Governor Francis Bernard). On March 12, 1783, a part of Partridgefield was included in the new town of Middlefield. Then, on June 21, 1804, a part of Partridgefield was established as Hinsdale. And finally on June 19, 1806, the name of Partridgefield changed to Peru. , the name was officially changed to Peru in 1805, possibly because of its high altitude. is a mountainous and sparsely settled farming town near the middle of the eastern side of Berkshire County, 140 miles west of Boston, and about 5 miles east of the Boston and Albany Railroad station in Hinsdale bounding this town on the west. On the north the boundary is Windsor; on the east, Cummington and Worthington; and on the south, Middlefield and Washington. The area is about 27 square miles, of which 16,019 acres are assessed. Of these, 3,328 acres are forests of beech, maple and spruce. The land is elevated, rough and rocky. French's Mountain rises near the centre of the township to a height of 2,239 feet: The church on Peru Hill, near the western border, is so situated that water falling from one side of the roof finds its way into the Westfield River, and from the other side into the Housatonic. The largest watercourse is Fuller's Stream, draining the central portion of the town.. Some excellent limestone has been quarried here. There is much rock of a flinty, and some of granitic character. The soil is a sandy loam. The usual farm crops are raised; and the aggregate product of the 104 farms was valued in 1885 at $60,161. There are several large dairies. The manufactories consisted of 4 saw mills, two of which are quite important. The population was 368, of whom 116 were legal voters. The valuation in 1888 was $l22,616, with a tax-rate of $15.75. There were 81 dwelling-houses. The six public school-houses were valued at some $1,200. There is one church, which is Congregationalist. Township "No.Two " was sold at auction in Boston in 1762; and coming into the hands of Oliver Partridge and Elisha Jones, it acquired the necessary number of inhabitants, and was incorporated as the town of Partridgefield, July 4, 1771. On June 21, 1804, the western part of the township was set off to form Hinsdale. On June 19, 1806, the name of the town was changed to Peru. Among the early settlers were Joseph Badger, Captain Nathan Watkins and Nathaniel Stowell, who came here in 1766. These, with others from the town, were at the battle of Bunker Hill. The Rev. Stephen Tracy, ordained in April, 1772, was the first minister. 536-537 in Nason and Varney's Massachusetts Gazetteer, 1890

Producing Canvas Art Prints A very recent technology allows for artists? original paintings to be replicated on canvas. Prior to this an artist who painted an original work on canvas would have to have a reproduction made on paper. Unlike a paper reproduction, one printed on canvas can be displayed without glass and matting, and also looks like an original. There are two main ways that person can produce canvas prints. They are by canvas transferring and printing directly on the canvas. Both can produce high-quality results, and can be made to look as close to the original as possible. When it comes to reproducing an artist?s original canvas art prints, it is obvious that the reproduction should look as much like the original as possible. By using several techniques, it makes it easy to produce canvas art prints that look just as good as the original. Transferring to make canvas art prints is the most common of the two techniques. It begins with a standard, offset paper print that is made in the traditional way from the original. The print is then coated with a series of special chemicals that are designed to allow the paper and the ink to separate from each other. That means when the paper is removed, the ink remains. The canvass is then prepped with adhesive, and the film is carefully laid on it. Pressure is applied to bond the film to the canvas, which is then set aside to dry. The result is a beautiful canvas art print that looks very much like the original. Printing directly on the canvas to produce canvas art prints is the second most commonly used method. Other methods used consist of direct offset printing, where a piece of canvas is run through an offset press; Repligraphy, where a hot-melt color dye printing system is used to create an oil-based film that adheres to the canvas; and Artagraphs, which features a mold of both the artist?s original brushstrokes and textures. How can you tell if a piece of art is the original or a canvas art print reproduction? Although it may seem hard, there are clues that someone can use to tell what is real and what is a copy. The first is to look for limited edition print numbers, which are normally found at the bottom of the work in xx/yy format. When producing canvas art prints, a reproduction often leaves this out. Canvas art prints are usually completely flat or have small applications of hand-applied paint that is referred to as highlight. If the canvas art print is flat to the touch, then it?s probably a reproduction. Originals mostly include areas of texture. Highlights can be obvious to see. A hightlight can be simply a small dab of paint, which is quite different from an artist?s actual brushstroke. Other options include using a high-powered microscope to look for standard dot patterns and/or calling a gallery to see if they have someone who can identify your canvas art print as an original or a reproduction. About the Author: Canvas Themes with Information and Resources

In this tutorial, we will see how to create a short array with the help of short buffer. The java.nio.ShortBuffer class extends java.nio.Buffer class. It provides the following methods: |static ShortBuffer||allocate( int capacity)||The allocate(..) method allocate a short buffer of given capacity.| |short||array()||The array() method returns short array based on short buffer.| |abstract short||get()||The get() method read short value from current position and increment position..| Capacity of short buffer : 1024 Content in shortbuffer : Length of short buffer array : 1024 Content in short buffer array : If you are facing any programming issue, such as compilation errors or not able to find the code you are looking for. Ask your questions, our development team will try to give answers to your questions.

Pressure sores (Bedsores, Decubitus Ulcers or Pressure Ulcers) are a very graphic sign of systematic poor care at medical facilities and other long-term care institutions. The development of pressure sores is becoming an epidemic amongst patients in nursing homes, hospitals and assisted living facilities. In fact, studies suggest that patients in medical facilities today are more likely to develop pressure sores than they were just ten years ago! Causes of Pressure Sores The mechanics behind the development of pressure sores (also called bed sores, pressures ulcers or decubitus ulcers) involve unrelieved pressure on bony parts of the body over an extended period of time. Gradually, blood flow becomes restricted and the skin and tissue die, resulting in the development of a wound in the area. Pressure sores most commonly develop in bony areas of the body with little muscle or tissue to cushion the weight of the body over an extended period of time. Although a pressure sore can develop almost anywhere, the most common areas of the body prone to develop the wounds include the: Not only are positioning and movement factors in pressure sores, the patient’s health and hygiene care is also involved. Poor nutrition and dehydration can impact skin health and the bodies ability to heal, making individuals more susceptible to pressure sores. Also, patients who are allowed to sit in urine or feces or in wet clothing and bedding for any amount of time are also more likely to have skin deterioration and pressure sores develop. Complications Related To Pressure Sores When unrelieved pressure combines with other conditions such as incontinence and malnourishment the patient’s risk for developing pressure sores is exponentially increased. In addition to the pain and disability that accompanies the actual pressure sore, and open wound (that accompanies an advanced pressure sore) is the substantial increase in the patients likelihood of serious medical complications including: It is important that pressure sores are treated as soon as they are detected to prevent them from accelerating to additional stages or levels. If allowed to progress at the early stages, pressure sores can be much more difficult to heal as they become deeper into the patient’s tissue. Of course the best case scenario is not to let pressure sores form in the first place. Medical Facilities’ Duty To Protect Patients From Developing Pressure Sores Knowing the devastation that can come about after a pressure sore develops, facilities must make prevention of pressure sores a priority and implement a pressure sore prevention program. While the needs of each patient may indeed be unique — basic pressure sore prevention methods include: - Move patients at regular intervals—every 2 hours is considered a good practice - Keep patients clean and dry - Prevent dehydration and malnutrition - Use pressure-relieving devices for patients who are at high risk such as specialized mattresses or cushions Legal Rights For Those Whom Have Developed Pressure Sores During An Admission To A Medical Facility The overwhelming majority of pressure sore lawsuits against medical facilities derive from the fact that the facility was simply not doing an adequate job caring for the patient. While the underlying reasons may be complex; under-staffing and inadequate training of staff are recurring themes in pressure sore lawsuits. Our bed sore lawyers have experience litigating and settling cases involving the development of pressure sores in all types of facilities– both within Illinois and throughout other jurisdictions across the country. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can evaluate you pressure sore case and advise you of your legal rights, with an emphasis on timely and effective resolution of cases. We encourage you to review Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers’ Bed Sore FAQ (www.bedsorefaq.com), where you can find one of the most comprehensive collections of information anywhere regarding the prevention and treatment of pressure sores and the legal rights of those who have developed a pressure sore during an admission to a nursing home, hospital or assisted living facility.

"What are antacids, and how do they work? Antacids are a class of drugs used to treat conditions caused by the acid that is produced by the stomach. The stomach naturally secretes an acid called hydrochloric acid that helps to break "... The adverse reaction profiles for PROTONIX (pantoprazole sodium) For Delayed-Release Oral Suspension and PROTONIX (pantoprazole sodium) Delayed-Release Tablets are similar. Clinical Trial Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice. Safety in nine randomized comparative US clinical trials in patients with GERD included 1,473 patients on oral PROTONIX (20 mg or 40 mg), 299 patients on an H2-receptor antagonist, 46 patients on another proton pump inhibitor, and 82 patients on placebo. The most frequently occurring adverse reactions are listed in Table 3. Table 3: Adverse Reactions Reported in Clinical Trials of Adult Patients with GERD at a Frequency of > 2% Additional adverse reactions that were reported for PROTONIX in clinical trials with a frequency of ≤ 2% are listed below by body system: Metabolic/Nutritional: elevated CK (creatine kinase), generalized edema, elevated triglycerides, liver enzymes elevated Special Senses: blurred vision Safety of PROTONIX in the treatment of Erosive Esophagitis (EE) associated with GERD was evaluated in pediatric patients ages 1 year through 16 years in three clinical trials. Safety trials involved pediatric patients with EE; however, as EE is uncommon in the pediatric population, 249 pediatric patients with endoscopically-proven or symptomatic GERD were also evaluated. All adult adverse reactions to PROTONIX are considered relevant to pediatric patients. In patients ages 1 year through 16 years, the most commonly reported ( > 4%) adverse reactions include: URI, headache, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, and abdominal pain. For safety information in patients less than 1 year of age see Use In Specific Populations. Additional adverse reactions that were reported for PROTONIX in pediatric patients in clinical trials with a frequency of ≤ 4% are listed below by body system: Body as a Whole: allergic reaction, facial edema Gastrointestinal: constipation, flatulence, nausea Metabolic/Nutritional: elevated triglycerides, elevated liver enzymes, elevated CK (creatine kinase) Musculoskeletal: arthralgia, myalgia Nervous: dizziness, vertigo Skin and Appendages: urticaria The following adverse reactions seen in adults in clinical trials were not reported in pediatric patients in clinical trials, but are considered relevant to pediatric patients: photosensitivity reaction, dry mouth, hepatitis, thrombocytopenia, generalized edema, depression, pruritus, leukopenia, and blurred vision. In clinical studies of Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome, adverse reactions reported in 35 patients taking PROTONIX 80 mg/day to 240 mg/day for up to 2 years were similar to those reported in adult patients with GERD. The following adverse reactions have been identified during postapproval use of PROTONIX. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. These adverse reactions are listed below by body system: Investigations: weight changes Musculoskeletal Disorders: rhabdomyolysis, bone fracture Renal and Urinary Disorders: interstitial nephritis Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue Disorders: severe dermatologic reactions (some fatal), including erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN, some fatal), and angioedema (Quincke's edema) Read the Protonix (pantoprazole) Side Effects Center for a complete guide to possible side effects » Interference with Antiretroviral Therapy Concomitant use of atazanavir or nelfinavir with proton pump inhibitors is not recommended. Coadministration of atazanavir or nelfinavir with proton pump inhibitors is expected to substantially decrease atazanavir or nelfinavir plasma concentrations and may result in a loss of therapeutic effect and development of drug resistance. There have been postmarketing reports of increased INR and prothrombin time in patients receiving proton pump inhibitors, including PROTONIX, and warfarin concomitantly. Increases in INR and prothrombin time may lead to abnormal bleeding and even death. Patients treated with proton pump inhibitors and warfarin concomitantly should be monitored for increases in INR and prothrombin time. Concomitant administration of pantoprazole and clopidogrel in healthy subjects had no clinically important effect on exposure to the active metabolite of clopidogrel or clopidogrelinduced platelet inhibition [see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY]. No dose adjustment of clopidogrel is necessary when administered with an approved dose of Protonix. Drugs for Which Gastric pH Can Affect Bioavailability Pantoprazole causes long-lasting inhibition of gastric acid secretion. Therefore, pantoprazole may interfere with absorption of drugs where gastric pH is an important determinant of their bioavailability (e.g., ketoconazole, ampicillin esters, and iron salts). False Positive Urine Tests for THC There have been reports of false positive urine screening tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in patients receiving proton pump inhibitors. An alternative confirmatory method should be considered to verify positive results. Case reports, published population pharmacokinetic studies, and retrospective analyses suggest that concomitant administration of PPIs and methotrexate (primarily at high dose; see methotrexate prescribing information) may elevate and prolong serum levels of methotrexate and/or its metabolite hydroxymethotrexate. However, no formal drug interaction studies of methotrexate with PPIs have been conducted [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]. Last reviewed on RxList: 5/24/2012 This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances. Additional Protonix Information Protonix - User Reviews Protonix User Reviews Now you can gain knowledge and insight about a drug treatment with Patient Discussions. Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Get the latest treatment options.

The Jataka, Volume I, tr. by Robert Chalmers, , at sacred-texts.com "Fear’st thou the wind."--This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a Brother who lived in a perpetual state of nervous alarm. We learn that he came of a good family in Sāvatthi, and was led to give up the world by hearing the Truth preached, and that he was always in fear of his life both by night and by day. The sough of the wind, the rustle of a fan, or the cry of bird or beast would inspire him with such abject terror that he would shriek and dash away. He never reflected that death was sure to come upon him; though, had he practised meditation on the certainty of death, he would not have feared it. For only they that do not so meditate fear death. Now his constant fear of dying became known to the Brethren, and one day they met in the Hall of Truth and fell to discussing his fearfulness and the propriety of every Brother's taking death as a theme for meditation. Entering the Hall, the Master asked, and was told, what they were discussing. So he sent for that Brother and asked him whether it was true he lived in fear of death. The Brother confessed that he did. "Be not angry, Brethren," said the Master, "with this Brother. The fear of death that fills his breast, now was no less strong in bygone times." So saying he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was a Tree-Sprite near the Himalayas. And in those days the king put his state elephant in the elephant-trainers' hands to be broken in to stand firm. And they tied the elephant up fast to a post, and with goads in their hands set about training the animal. Unable to bear the pain whilst he was being made to do their bidding, the elephant broke the post down, put the trainers to flight, and made off to the Himalayas. And the men, being unable to catch it, had to come back empty-handed. The elephant lived in the Himalayas in constant fear of death. A breath of wind sufficed to fill him with fear and to start him off at full speed, shaking his trunk to and fro. And it was with him as though he was still tied to the post to be trained. All happiness of mind and body gone, he wandered up and down in constant dread. Seeing this, the Tree-Sprite stood in the fork of his tree and uttered this stanza:-- Such were the Tree-Sprite's cheering words. And the elephant thenceforth feared no more. His lesson ended, the Master taught the Four Truths (at the close whereof the Brother entered the Paths), and identified the Birth by saying, "This Brother was the elephant of those days and I the Tree-Sprite."

Today’s finance profession is not diminutive to honest the accounting jobs. With the legal kind of finance education, a finance student can salvage himself satisfactory for a variety of finance roles. Most finance careers require you to be sterling with numbers and have knowledge of basic business statistics. Let’s lift a witness at some of the lucrative financial education options. Accountancy: This is the most widely current financial career. Commonly referred to as a public accountant, you learn about to prepare and absorb a businesses financial records. You also learn about taxation and other financial aspects of the business. Education in this position is very comprehensive, and the exam is considered quite difficult. Apart from public accountants, there are also other specialized fields such as cost accountant, management accountant, and tax expert. MBA Finance: Another accepted place in finance education is the MBA in Finance. This program is at the post-graduate level and is offered by most universities as well as business schools. An MBA Finance degree opens up career opportunities in a plenty of areas, which include banking, financial analysis, financial markets, research, etc. In general, the reputation of an MBA Finance is measured based on his skill level and the reputation of the college from where the program was completed. Financial Planning: This is one of the most sought after professions in the finance field. As a financial planner, you are required to manage the personal finances of individuals. You are expected to invest people’s money in the best assets based on their risk profile and also advice them on various matters such as taxation, loyal estate, among others. Finance Certifications: As the finance profession has grown, many modern finance certifications have emerged that back students earn equipped with very specific financial knowledge. For example, the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) designation helps you become a financial analyst. There are favorite certification programs for becoming risk managers; these are Financial Risk Manager (FRM) offered by GARP, and Professional Risk Manager (PRM) offered by PRMIA. If you are fervent in Alternative investments, then you have the option to become a Certified Alternative Investments Analyst (CAIA) . There are financial certifications in almost every state of finance.

Country Profile of Belize Belize is a tiny country in Central America with a small population of approximately 288,000. It borders the Caribbean Sea, and sits between Guatemala and Mexico. While small, Belize is the most culturally diverse nation on earth. Belize’s history is rife with invasions of its resident Mayan civilization: first by the Spanish in the 17th century, then the British in the 18th century. The British heavily logged the country’s pristine mahogany forests, and christened the country British Honduras in 1862. Belize became an independent country in 1981, after territorial disputes with the UK and Guatemala. Guatemala did not recognize the new nation until 1992. English is the official language of Belize, although a large group of Spanish-speaking inhabitants live mainly in the north. The population is composed of 49% Mestizo, 25% Creole, 11% Maya and 6% Garifuna. Tourism is the principal foreign exchange earner, followed by marine products, citrus, cane sugar, bananas, and garments. Belize has the world’s second largest barrier reef, a favorite among divers. Belize experienced steady GDP growth averaging 5% from 1999 through 2005, due to government expansion of monetary and fiscal policies. A sizable trade deficit and foreign debt continue to be major concerns. Poverty reduction is a short-term objective of the Belizean government, which relies on international donations. Hemophilia in Belize An estimated 24 people live with hemophilia in Belize. Yet only 18 of them have been identified and registered, and only 14 receive treatment. Sadly, factor concentrates, the mainstay of treatment, are expensive and beyond the reach of most Belizeans. The government purchases a little factor. Most hemophilia patients live in extremely rural areas, and depend mainly on donated factor. Francisca Bardalez, a mother of five who wanted to educate families about proper care, founded the Belize Hemophilia Society in 1998. Thanks to her efforts, hemophilia care has improved in Belize.

Into the Volcano Booktalk - Grades: 3–5 About this book A mysterious journey, a dangerous job to do, and adventures far beyond what Duffy and Sumo had ever imagined. Duffy and Sumo felt like the whole world was crazy, but they had no idea why or how. Their father took them out of school, told them they were going to Kocalaha, the island their mother was from. After that, they met a huge bald man named Come and Go, who was their cousin, they flew halfway around the world in a private jet, hiked through island jungles, and met the strange old woman who turned out to be their aunt. But the strangest things were yet to come. An unexpected lava flow from the island’s volcano changed all their plans. Suddenly, their trip to see the volcano wasn’t three days away, but later that night! Come and Go went out to gather supplies, and when he came back, he’d changed his mind about the trip. The lava was moving too fast, the trip would be too dangerous. When Auntie heard that, she flew into a rage. “You get out there and do what must be done! Uphold our honor! If they get it off the island, it’s gone forever!” Come and Go gave in — the trip was a go. In spite of the huge waves in the lagoon, they managed to get around the island and into the Iki King Bay, where rivers of molten lava flowed down the slopes and into the bay. Suddenly, Duffy and Sumo realized where they were going — between the lava flows and into the volcano itself! What was in store for them? What did they have to find, and why was it so important? This booktalk was written by Joni Richards Bodart, university professor, librarian, consultant, and internationally known booktalking expert.

|Product #: ELE901012I_TQ| Cross-Curricular Building Blocks: Grades 3,4 (Enhanced eBook) (Resource Book eBookGrade 3|Grade 4 Please Note: This ebook is a digital download, NOT a physical product. After purchase, you will be provided a one time link to download ebooks to your computer. Orders paid by PayPal require up to 8 business hours to verify payment and release electronic media. For immediate downloads, payment with credit card is required. This unique selection of articles and non-fiction stories can be used in a wide variety of teaching situations and can be easily integrated into existing classroom studies. Including 12 educationally-based articles and 36 reproducible activities, Cross-Curricular Building Blocks are perfect for a quick break during the day or as complete, comprehensive units. All of the articles and activities in this resource support the National Standards. Article topics include elephants, bones, glaciers, the Wright brothers, deserts, tornados, butterflies, taste buds, Ancient Egyptians, Vincent Van Gogh, stars, and Louisa May Alcott. This enhanced eBook gives you the freedom to copy and paste the content of each page into the format that fits your needs. You can post lessons on your class website, make student copies, and more. For more information on enhanced eBooks, Click Here. Submit a review

Print version ISSN 0038-2353 S. Afr. j. sci. vol.106 no.5-6 Pretoria May/June 2010 Department of History, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Book Title: Fordlandia: The rise and fall of Henry Ford's forgotten jungle city Author: Greg Grandin Publisher: Metropolitan Books: New York; 2009, p. 416, R257.00* In 1928, with the Wall Street Crash and the start of the Great Depression only a year away, prospects for the Ford Motor Company still looked rosy. Henry Ford's celebrated Model T had been a major success. His firm's new Model A was just around the corner and had already received 700 000 orders. But there were flies in the ointment. Market competition from newer car manufacturers with lower production costs was denting sales and squeezing profits. The wages of Ford's mass assembly line workers could not be slashed because they were the essential purchasers of the vehicles they produced. Suppliers of key motor components, particularly the big rubber companies of Firestone, Goodyear and General, would not discount their prices. Thus, although Ford's factories continued to expand, allowing him to maintain his status as the world's richest man at the pinnacle of his wealth and power, lowering the vehicle production costs was becoming a preoccupation. Yet, the rising demand for rubber after the First World War continually frustrated Ford's plans. The car magnate's preoccupation became an obsession when the prospect of an Anglo-Dutch rubber cartel threatened to force his cars to run on ever more expensive tyres. Already famous for cutting corners on a grand scale, Henry Ford hit on a spectacularly ambitious solution to his need for a massive supply of cheap latex. This was to have Ford cars fitted with Ford tyres. The riveting story of Ford's eccentric solution is told, for the first time, in this engrossing book by Greg Grandin, a New York University historian of Latin America. As a history of colossal delusion and misguided economic and social aspiration, it is rivalled surely only by fiction, bringing to mind Aldous Huxley's Brave new world and Joseph Conrad's Heart of darkness and Nostromo. Attended to by fawning and mostly ignorant advisers who usually muddled through by telling their wilful boss what he wanted to hear, Henry Ford turned his acquisitive gaze upon Brazil. If the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, originated there, then was the Amazonian rainforest not the obvious spot to establish a massive Ford plantation? The harvest from millions of rubber trees would resolve the raw material worries of Michigan's production lines. So, by 1928, the Ford Motor Company had acquired an enormous land concession on a tributary of the Amazon, a plot of about 9200 square kilometres, or roughly the size of a mid-range US state such as Tennessee. Burly Ford men floated in to build a South American 'El Dorado' that was expected to yield a fat dividend in tyres, floor mats and windscreen wiper blades. From an exhaustive study of Ford company records, Grandin reveals that, in all of this 'press-on' American eagerness, there was an extraordinary disregard of one very obvious and crucially important factor - scientific knowledge of rubber cultivation. Astoundingly, Ford management made no effort to consult botanists, agronomists or experienced commercial rubber growers. Had they done so, they would have discovered why plantation rubber flourished in South-East Asia rather than in its native Amazonia. One significant reason for its success in the Malay States, for example, was the absence of natural tree pests. Brazil, however, was a cornucopia of caterpillars. In their natural jungle distribution - scattered single trees with kilometres between them - pests would nibble but not become a destructive rampage. But bunching trees together in the Fordlandia plantation spelled disaster. The merging canopies of mature trees signalled an open season for regiments of voracious caterpillars. In one of this book's many vivid episodes, over a thousand Brazilian workers fanned out across the plantation in a futile effort to combat a particularly acute infestation. They collected 250 000 caterpillars for squashing, but did little to check the blight. Rubber trees that endured in the wilds of the jungle could not be farmed in the way, and on the scale, envisaged by Henry Ford. Doomed from the outset, the plantation limped on until 1945, when Ford's grandson, Henry Ford II, sensibly gave up, withdrawing Fordlandia's expatriate American workers and managers virtually overnight. So ended the saga of what the author calls 'this forgotten jungle city'. But as Grandin's rich and complex historical narrative reveals, Ford's ambitions for the Fordlandia project went far beyond jungle clearance for mass agricultural production. Drawing on numerous Ford biographies to craft a forceful portrait of this book's central character, Grandin depicts Ford as 'a very distinctive' capitalist 'megalomaniac'. Gripped by a fanciful utopianism, Ford was ultimately 'more interested in cultivating people than products'. Arguably it was rather a case of treating people as if they were goods, but, in his account of this dream of Amazonian consumption, the author has a point. The Fordlandia project was also about taming the jungle, sanitising the Amazon River Basin and creating a 'Middle America' company town and a model industrial community. In a crusade to export an idealised American way of life, pre-fabricated bungalows designed in Michigan were shipped in, along with white picket fences. Their inhabitants were prescribed manicured lawns, a golf course, a community hall for wholesome square-dancing, based on Ford's own dance manual ('no bodily contact except for the thumb') and a milk bar diet of shakes and waffles. When they were having a break from constantly re-planting rubber trees, expatriate workers and their families could compete for a 'Best Home Garden' prize. Local labourers, enticed from surrounding forests and more distant villages by the promise of high wages, helped to build the roads and worked the fields and lumber mill of Ford's plantation compound. Grandin's account of this is not only rich in observation but often hilarious. A man of austere habits and semi-mystical beliefs, Henry Ford was not only a low-fat, high-fibre, missionary tycoon - he also hated cows. So, just as Fordlandia was promoted as a growing Latin-American Arcadia, the food of the future was the soybean. There was no room for hamburgers in the plantation's canteen. Instead, its Ford-endorsed nutritional universe consisted of soya cakes and soya-based waffles. But, by 1930, the settlement's carnivores had had enough and a major food riot tipped the settlement into an orgy of destructive violence. It did recover, but, by then, the writing was already on the wall. Reading as a great parable of bullish wrong-headedness, the story within Fordlandia is one of a powerful industrialist whose reach exceeded his grasp. The unpredictable, inhospitable and suffocatingly lush environment of the Amazon would 'not submit' to Ford's plans for a utopian working community regulated by time clocks and living on a diet of soya. A rickety, organisational mess, the rubber settlement crumbled into a tropical 'shanty-town' that became 'a sweltering, disease-ridden hellhole', with many expatriates succumbing to malaria and yellow fever. Burning off the surrounding jungle blanketed the area in smoke and ash, while the use of metal and asbestos-roofing turned houses into sweaty 'nightmares' that fried their occupants. Turning their backs on ice-cream parlours, the frustrated and demoralised company employees hit the bottle, while their equally disenchanted managers embezzled large sums of money, stashing away dollars in hollowed-out tree trunks. With bars and brothels springing up in the 1930s, venereal disease swept through the compound. Labour relations were no less toxic, with knife-fights between local and expatriate workers and periodic uprisings against conditions frequently endangering overall safety. Grandin's mordant account of the life of Henry Ford's rainforest experiment is that of a fiasco on an epic scale, squandering lives and millions of dollars in materials and cash. Inevitably, the blind imposition of American corporate paternalism on the people and the ecological system of the Amazon region was an invitation for disaster. In its trenchant exposure of misguided capitalist idealism, this absorbing volume is a salutary lesson for the blundering multinationals of the 21st century, not least those currently chewing up the rainforests. The author's poignant finale includes a number of ageing local memories of Fordlandia, which still hope that the touch of Henry Ford will one day return to revive a rubbery dream. However, we learn that Ford never visited Brazil himself, but was content to leave the site of his jungle delusions far out of sight. Department of History, Stellenbosch University Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa

Oct. 11, 2007 The hit song that proclaimed, "All we are is dust in the wind," may have some cosmic truth to it. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that space dust -- the same stuff that makes up living creatures and planets -- was manufactured in large quantities in the winds of black holes that populated our early universe. The findings are a significant new clue in an unsolved mystery: where did all the dust in the young universe originate? "We were surprised to find what appears to be freshly made dust entrained in the winds that blow away from supermassive black holes," said Ciska Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester, U.K. Markwick-Kemper is lead author of a new paper appearing in an upcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "This could explain where the dust came from that was needed to make the first generations of stars in the early universe." Space dust is essential to the formation of planets, stars, galaxies and even life as we know it. The dust in our corner of the universe was piped out by dying stars that were once a lot like our sun. But, when the universe was less than a tenth of its present age of 13.7 billion years, sun-like stars hadn't been around long enough to die and make dust. So, what produced the precious substance back when the universe was just a toddler? Theorists have long-postulated that short-lived, massive exploding stars, or supernovae, might be the source of this mysterious dust, while others have proposed that a type of energetic, growing supermassive black hole, called a quasar, could be a contributing factor. A quasar consists of a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dusty doughnut-shaped cloud that feeds it. Theoretically, dust could form in the outer portion of the winds that slowly blow away from this doughnut cloud. "Quasars are like the Cookie Monster," said co-author Sarah Gallagher of the University of California at Los Angeles, who is currently a visiting astronomer at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. "They are messy eaters, and they can consume less matter than they spit out in the form of winds." Nobody has found conclusive proof that either quasar winds or supernovae can create enough dust to explain what is observed in the early universe. Markwick-Kemper and her team decided to test the former theory and investigate a quasar, called PG2112+059, located in the center of a galaxy about 8 billion light-years way. Although this particular quasar is not located in the early universe, because it is closer, it is an easier target for addressing the question of whether quasars can make dust. The team used Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument to split apart infrared light from the quasar and look for signs of various minerals. They found a mix of the ingredients that make up glass, sand, marble and even rubies and sapphires. While the mineral constituting glass was expected, the minerals for sand, marble and rubies were a surprise. Why? These minerals are not typically detected floating around galaxies, suggesting they could have been freshly formed in the winds rushing away from the quasar. For instance, the ingredient that makes up sand, crystalline silicate, doesn't survive for long free-floating in space. Radiation from stars zaps the minerals back to an amorphous, glass-like state. The presence of crystalline silicate therefore suggests something -- possibly the quasars winds -- is churning out the newly made substance. Markwick-Kemper and her team say the case of the missing dust is not firmly shut. They hope to study more quasars for further evidence of their dust-making abilities. Also, according to the astronomers, quasars may not be the only source of dust in the early universe. "Supernovae might have been more important for creating dust in some environments, while quasars were more important in others," said Markwick-Kemper. "For now, we are very excited to have identified the different species of dust in a quasar billions of light-years away." Other authors of this paper include Dean Hines of the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo., and Jeroen Bouwman of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Spitzer's infrared spectrograph was built by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell. Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above. Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Sep. 9, 2008 The first few weeks of middle school are a frenzy of friends, parties, and school events. It's also time for parents to start talking with their kids about the dangers of drinking alcohol, according to The Science Inside Alcohol Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Nearly twenty percent of 14 year-olds say they've been drunk at least once, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, and recent news points out dangers of alcohol use by the young: - The Partnership for a Drug-Free America released a study in August, 2008 of 6,500 teens in which 73% said school stress caused them to drink and take drugs. - A Columbia University study, also released in August, found that "problem parents," those who let their kids stay out past 10:00 p.m. on school nights in particular, are putting them in situations where they are at risk for drinking and drug use. - About 100 university leaders called for a national discussion of lowering the drinking age back to 18, saying it's not clear that 21 works. The middle school years are crucial in the battle to prevent early alcohol use. Young adolescents' bodies and friendships are changing. They start pulling away from parents; yet seek out other adults for guidance. It's the most vulnerable time, specialists say, but also one of the last times they still can be influenced by adults. No one sets out to be a disengaged parent. But it's hard to be vigilant and talk to your kids about complicated topics when you are constantly on the go. "As parents better understand the physiological effects of alcohol on the body and the fact that their children might be starting younger, it can motivate them to have this sometimes awkward conversation," says Shirley Malcom, head of the Education and Human Resources office at AAAS. "That's where the science can help." Members of The Science Inside Alcohol Project at AAAS are writing a book for middle school parents and developing an interactive Web-based science and health curriculum explaining how alcohol affects adolescents' brains and bodies. Based on extensive research, the AAAS team suggests five steps parents can take to talk with their kids about alcohol. - Find Teachable Moments -- We live in a culture of celebrity. If a celebrity your child admires admits to a drinking problem, or an instance of alcohol abuse occurs in your community, talk about it. Ask your middle school student if she knows anyone who drinks alcohol and whether it is at parties or has been brought into her school. Answer questions. Have this conversation often. - Talk to Your Kids When Everything is Fine -- Middle school students are volatile, hormonal beings. They are sweet and wonderful one moment, and blow up the next. Pick a time when things are quiet and they're a captive audience such as in the backseat of your car. Don't take no for an answer. - Engage Your Kids in the Science of Alcohol -- Adolescents are incredibly self-involved. Alcohol can cause memory loss, impair sports performance, incite embarrassing behavior and affect how they feel and look. Make them aware of these facts. If there is a history of alcoholism in your family, explain about genetic predispositions towards alcohol abuse. - Be Vigilant -- There's no alternative to monitoring your kids. Have an early curfew. Know where they are at all times. Even if you are not home on a weeknight, make sure you can reach your kids by phone. Get to know their new friends and their parents. Find out what their rules and level of engagement are. - Learn to Trust Your Child -- Now's the time when all the work you've put into creating a value system for your child begins to pay off. Set limits and enforce rules, but remember to give your child room to make his or her decisions, within your comfort zone. Praise them when they do well. It's worth a thousand words. The Science Inside Alcohol Project of AAAS is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Association for the Advancement of Science, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above. Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Sep. 19, 2008 Menus and advertising affect our emotions, and if we understand those emotions, we make better food choices, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Authors Blair Kidwell, David M. Hardesty, and Terry L. Childers (all University of Kentucky) examined the "emotional intelligence" of consumers, including obese people. They found that people who made the healthiest choices had high correlations between their emotional intelligence and confidence in their emotional intelligence—what the authors call "emotional calibration." "When perusing a restaurant menu, many consumers may not be aware of the subtle implicit feelings of arousal elicited by visually appealing presentations of unhealthy food choices," the authors write. Faced with choices between healthy and unhealthy food options, individuals who are confident that they can appropriately interpret and employ their emotions, but who do not actually possess these emotional abilities, are likely to make low-quality decisions." In the first of two studies, the authors measured emotional ability, confidence, and nutritional knowledge. They asked participants to plan meals from a menu with a wide range of options—some healthier than others. They found that people with emotional miscalibration chose foods higher in calories, even more so than people with low levels of nutritional knowledge. In the second study, obese individuals conducted an online survey. The researchers found that among obese people, emotional miscalibration leaves them susceptible to impulsive eating triggered by vivid pictures of food. These results may be helpful in finding ways to help overeaters regain control. Since emotional calibration can reduce obese people's impulsive eating, encouraging emotional calibration may be useful in improving these consumers' food choices and overall health "Specifically, we have found that possessing greater ability (for both low and high confidence groups) is necessary and fundamental to better decisions. However, we find that consumers must also possess sufficient levels of heightened confidence to capitalize on those abilities," the authors conclude. Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: - Kidwell et al. Emotional Calibration Effects on Consumer Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, December 2008; 080822100129612 DOI: 10.1086/591107 Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Mar. 21, 2009 About the only thing doctors have understood about deep-brain stimulation, which is widely used to treat Parkinson's disease symptoms, is that somehow it works for many patients. In a new study that will be published March 20 in the journal Science, Stanford University researchers used light to illuminate how the treatment works, generating surprising insights into the diseased circuitry and also suggesting new ideas to improve Parkinson's therapy. Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans, causing tremors, stiffness and difficulty balancing. In those who undergo deep-brain stimulation, pulses of electricity are applied to the circuitry of a tiny brain region called the subthalamic nucleus. Naturally, researchers suspected that cells within that region are somehow stimulated, or calmed, by the shocks, leading to reduced Parkinson's symptoms. In the new study, which will also appear in an upcoming print issue of Science, the medical and engineering researchers found that by far the biggest effect in "Parkinsonian" rodents occurs not by stimulating cells in the subthalamic nucleus, but by stimulating the neural wires, called axons, that connect directly to it from areas closer to the surface of the brain. "Pointing to these axons that converge on the region opens the door to targeting the source of those axons. This insight leads to deeper understanding of the circuit and could even lead to new kinds of treatments," said senior author Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, associate professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "Because these axons are coming from areas closer to the brain's surface, new treatments could perhaps be less invasive than deep-brain stimulation." A spotlight on brain circuits To perform the research, Deisseroth's team, which included students and faculty from bioengineering, neuroscience and neurosurgery, used a technique his lab has pioneered called "optogenetics." They genetically engineered specific types of cells, or neurons, in the subthalamic nucleus regions of different rodents to become controllable with light. A blue-colored laser pulse makes the neurons more active, while a yellow laser light suppresses activity. [In a separate paper to be published in the journal Nature on March 18, Deisseroth and another cadre from within his research group show that the optogenetic technique can be applied not only to the electrical behavior of neurons, but also to the much broader biochemical activity of other cell types in the body.] "Using the technology allowed us to separate the different circuit elements by placing them under optical control," Deisseroth said. "It allowed us to systematically move through the circuit, turning on or off different elements and finding out which modifications of the circuit corrected the symptoms." This result also required a complementary method invented in the Deisseroth lab, namely delivering light via a thin, flexible fiber-optic cable deep into the brain of the animals, so that they can move and behave freely during the experiment. The team tried every kind of neuron they could think of within the brain region itself, and found no effect. Out of persistence and desperation, like a person who has searched the whole house for the keys and finally finds them in the doorknob, the team decided to investigate the incoming axons. In rodents with cells that had been made light-sensitive, the researchers found dramatic results both with high-frequency and low-frequency pulses. "The [high-frequency stimulation] effects were not subtle," the researchers wrote in the Science Express paper. "In nearly every case these severely Parkinsonian animals were restored to behavior indistinguishable from normal, and in every case the therapeutic effect immediately and fully reversed…upon discontinuation of the light pulse." Low-frequency stimulation, meanwhile, caused the Parkinson's symptoms to become worse. Deisseroth said the work raises even more interesting questions than it answers, such as what types of cells the axons target. In addition, he asked, "In what way can we team up with other clinicians to help guide therapies capitalizing on this insight?" Deisseroth said the most important outcome of the work, primarily carried out by graduate students Viviana Gradinaru and Murtaza Mogri, who are the first authors of the paper, is the new information about the role of the axons. He cautioned that, while the optogenetic technique had a therapeutic effect on the rodents and has worked well in every species tried so far, it still might not be the best therapy for people. "There may be better or simpler ways to get that therapeutic value now that we have this key insight," he said. This study is the first showing that optogenetics can be applied to brain disease. Deisseroth said another of this group's hopes is to extend the understanding of deep-brain stimulation to how it affects different diseases, such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. "Our goal is to better understand this disease and its treatment, and to help refine and generalize therapies by elucidating basic mechanisms," he said. Other Stanford co-authors include bioengineering postdoctoral scholar Kimberly Thompson, PhD, and Jaimie Henderson, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and several private organizations including the Keck, Coulter, Snyder, Yu and Kinetics foundations. Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Jan. 26, 2010 Replacing confusing language and icons on standard warnings labels for prescription medicine and listing only the most important warnings could make a big difference in how well patients understand the instructions that are critical to their health, according to a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Simple, concise language on warning labels of prescription medicine bottles is easier for patients to understand than the standard wording commonly used, according to the study. And the fewer warnings on a label, the more likely a patient will actually pay attention to them. For the study, Northwestern researchers and colleagues worked with patients and nationally renowned graphic designers to simplify and redesign the confusing language and icons of standard warning labels. Many of them have been used for decades without any evidence to show patients comprehend them, or even if they are true. "The study shows the value of a clear message," said Michael Wolf, associate professor of medicine and of learning sciences at Feinberg and lead author of the study. "A lot of the current warnings were phrased very abstractly and were confusing. For example, we changed 'For external use only' to 'Use only on your skin.' We moved from the intangible to the concise." Many of these label warnings are critical for patients to take their medications safely. But previous research by Wolf and colleagues found more than half of adults misunderstand common standard drug warnings, putting them at risk for using the medicine incorrectly or even having a life-threatening event. As a result of the new findings, Wolf and colleagues from Emory, Harvard and Louisiana State universities are working with the U.S. Pharmacopeia on a drug labeling task force to help overhaul the content and use of these labels. The study also found that newly designed icons improved understanding for patients with low health literacy, a group at greatest risk for misinterpreting instructions and misusing medications. The paper was published in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The graphic designers worked with the researchers and patients to capture their mental images of what each message means. "A current and widely used icon of a pregnant woman resembles an olive," Wolf said. "For most people that probably doesn't convey pregnancy. The new design of a silhouette of a pregnant woman with a bump on her stomach was more easily recognizable to patients." The design team included Deborah Adler, the co-creator of Target Corp.'s highly innovative and successful prescription bottle and labeling system called the ClearRx system, and Milton Glaser, a co-founder of New York Magazine who is known for creating the "I love NY" logo and a concert poster for Bob Dylan. Because the study found that patients ignore too many warnings on the bottle, Wolf recommends a limit of two. Those should include the most important few, and these should have evidence confirming their necessity. Several warning labels found on pill bottles today were created years ago without a scientific base, Wolf said. "There may not be a reason to use many of these," he noted. "And with such limited real estate on a pill bottle, the fewer the better. Our study supports that." "We need to out which are the most important warnings and only put those on the label. Otherwise you risk the message never reaching the patient," Wolf said. "The more warnings you put on a label, the more you distract them from essential instructions and precautions that ensure they safely use the medicine." The study included 500 adult patients from two academic and two community health clinics in Chicago and Shreveport, La. The patients were tested on their interpretation of nine drug warning labels that were 1) current standard drug warning labels on prescription containers; 2) drug warnings with text rewritten in simplified language or 3) labels with simplified language and icons developed with patient feedback. The patients reading standard labels had an 80 percent rate of correct interpretations, simplified text was 91 percent and simplified text with new icons was 92 percent. "Our findings underscore the importance of including patients in the process and using meaningful, plain language to support their understanding and proper use of their medicine," Wolf said. The study was funded by Target Corp. and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Creating a bibliography or works cited list is normally the last task for any research paper and predictably the most dreaded. These days tackling the enigmatic style guides (namely APA, MLA, and Turabian) for the correct citation format is made easier (through database generated citations, web-based citation builders & Word 2007) for most types of works. But you can't ditch the style guides entirely...since so many works can have challenging exceptions, such as, multiple publication dates, places of publications or even publishers -- which the style guides will answer. Citation Style Guide (Library Research Guide) The library has created a guide for the basic citation formats that you will encounter for APA, MLA and Turabian. Web-based Citation Creaters The Citation Machine -- choose APA or MLA, choose from print or nonprint, enter your information and submit. The Citation Builder -- This is an interesting utility. It generates both a citation for MLA & APA from the same information so that you can compare them. KnightCite -- by far, my favorite of the "free versions". Select your style (MLA, APA or Turabian), the source type (print/electronic) & the resource (book, article, etc.) and submit. EasyBib -- an automatic bibliography & citation maker for MLA only (free). You can search for books using the ISBN (how cool is that?) and export the bibliography (Works Cited) to Word. For APA you have to upgrade to MyBib Pro for an annual fee. BibMe -- while this site requires free registration, it offers citation help for books, magazines, newspapers, websites, journals, film, and other (from interview to encyclopedia). Some interesting features include autofill mode (book, magazine, newspaper, journal, and film) and manual entry mode, a Suggested Further Reading (based upon books in your bibliography), and you can save as many bibliographies as you need. Supports APA, MLA, Turabian and Chicago formats. MyBibPro -- cites sources according to the latest citation guidelines for APA, MLA and Turabian. MyBibPro offers footnote and parenthetical citation formatting, which can easily be copied and pasted directly into a research paper. If you frequently use electronic databases like EBSCO, you can export your journal citations into MyBibPro list easily. OR If you're citing a book, use the ISBN Autocite feature. Just type in the ISBN and MyBibPro will pull the book's bibliographical data to instantly create a citation. If you have access to the Internet, you can access MyBibPro. There's no download and nothing to install. Having reviewed many of the citation products out there, the College Librarians suggest this citation builder for its overall usability. Cost per year is $8.99. WorldCat.org will generate a book citation for practically every book ever held by a library. You can search for the work by author, title, or ISBN. Once you have located the correct publication, click on Cite This. A screen will open with the book's citation in APA, MLA & Turabian (Humanities). References (tab) in Word 2007 The latest version of Microsoft Word allows you to create citations, a bibliography and add footnotes or endnotes in APA, MLA or Turabian formats.

Sleep and Your Child A good night's sleep is as important to your child as a hearty breakfast. Without enough shut-eye, children are more likely to struggle with their school studies, do poorly on the playing field, and suffer depression, studies show. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), children are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep over a 24-hour period. This can make it tough for your child to solve problems and memorize lessons, which can lower grades and self-esteem. Sleep-starved kids are also more easily frustrated and fidgety. A child's sleep trouble affects the whole family. Parents who are up coaxing a child to bed are robbed of their own valuable sleep. The best cure is a consistent bedtime schedule. Stick to a bedtime that permits this amount of nightly sleep: 11 to 13 hours for a 3- to 5-year-old child. Preschoolers often have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, the NSF says. Children this age also are more likely to have nightmares and sleep terrors, and to sleepwalk. 10 to 11 hours for a school-aged child. Schoolchildren spend time with TV, computers, and the Internet, all of which can erode time for sleep. This age group also may be drinking caffeinated beverages that can affect the ease of falling asleep at night. Watching TV just before bedtime may make it more difficult to fall asleep and may create resistance or anxiety about bedtime. Too little sleep can lead to mood swings, and behavioral and cognitive problems, the NSF says. If the current bedtime for your child is too late, move it 15 minutes earlier each night, until you reach the desired bedtime. Tuck resisters back into their own beds, promptly and repeatedly, until they get the message that you expect them to get to sleep on their own. More sound sleeping advice Unplug the bedroom. Turn off TVs, computers, and cell phones. Better yet, keep such things out of the bedroom, which should be a stimulation-free zone. Set a wind-down routine. Start the transition to sleep with dimmed lights and a warm bath; end with reading a book. Avoid watching TV just before bedtime. Go decaf. Drinking any caffeine during the day can affect sound sleep. Caffeine is found not just in coffee and cola, but also in tea and chocolate. Reduce daytime stimulation. Overbooked kids who rush from band practice to dance class to dinner to homework may be too keyed up at bedtime to unwind. Experts recommend one activity per season. Get help. If, despite these measures, your child still resists bedtime, has nighttime awakenings, or snores, talk with your doctor.

Digital Latching Valve NASA requires efficient and lightweight valves for controlling thrusters in spacecrafts. While at Bell Aerospace in the 1960s, Eddie Sturman developed a very efficient valve control actuator that consumed little energy. His work resulted in five patents and systems extensively used in the space program and probably was one of the energy-saving factors that enabled Apollo 13 to find the additional power it needed to return to Earth. Mr. Sturman saw many non-aerospace uses for the technology and formed Sturman Industries in 1989 to develop commercial applications from Space to Earth. One of the first applications of his technology was in battery and solar-powered automated irrigation systems. Sturman Industries applies digital valves and advanced system designs to various applications requiring fluid control, making them more efficient in terms of energy used, speed, and precision. Projects include fuel injectors, irrigation systems, and hydraulics. Today the focus of Sturman Industries is to make engines operate more efficiently to reduce fuel consumption and pollution. Sturman's digital latching valve is being used in more powerful and lower emission commercial diesel engines and will be used in Ford Super Duty pickup trucks in 2003. Emerging technology could lead to a new generation of cam-less engine that uses hydraulic valve actuation to replace the camshaft completely, creating an energy efficient, low emission, I-6 diesel engine.

The Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) has announced it has developed a lightweight propulsion system that could propel small satellites to the Moon using only 100mL of fuel. The entire propulsion system, which comprises an electric ion engine powered by photovoltaic solar cells, weighs only 200g including propellant, and is small enough to fit within the limited envelope of a standard CubeSat nanosatellite. “The big limitation [of current nanosatellites] is that [they’re] stuck in whatever orbit they’re put in” says Herbert Shea, Associate Professor at the EPFL. “To free them, we need a very efficient, miniaturized propulsion system. […] [MicroThrust] is very efficient, and using only this very small volume, we could send such a satellite from Earth orbit to Moon orbit.” Although the system only works in space and could not be used to launch from Earth, if successful, the Microthrust system could greatly increase the list of potential applications for nanosatellites, which are currently limited to use in low Earth orbit. “You can then go to Mars, you can go to the Moon, you can go to asteroids, you can do all sorts of science exploration missions that are today impossible for Universities and for many countries because of the high cost” explained Shea. EPFL has already announced plans for the Microthrust system to fly on two missions. The first is the Orbital Low Frequency Array, or OLFAR, which intends to create a distributed low-frequency radio astronomy array in space using nanosatellites. Microthrust could be used to propel the array of satellites beyond the Moon where they could look deeper into the universe. EPFL is also planning to use MicroThrust on the CleanSpaceOne satellite, which intends to demonstrate active removal of space debris using a 3U Cubesat. The propulsion system has been designed to fit within the Cubesat standard, developed by California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University in 1999 to encourage universities and amateur space enthusiasts to develop standard hardware and increase accessibility to space. The standard designates a single unit (or “1U”) as a cubic nanosatellite weighing approximately 1kg and measuring 10cm along each outer edge. Cubesats can be either 1U in size, or any integer multiple for larger more complex missions. The video below shows an interview with Herbert Shea by the EPFL University news.

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols Language As Connection to Society Throughout Surfacing, the narrator’s feeling of powerlessness is coupled with an inability to use language. When she goes mad, she cannot understand David’s words or speak out against his advances. Similarly, when the search party comes for her, she cannot understand their speech, and her only defense from them is flight. Words betray her, as it is by yelling that the search party discovers her. The narrator maintains the false hope that she can reject human language just as she imagines she can reject human society. She admires how animals know the types of plants without naming them. When she goes mad, she vows not to teach her child language—yet eventually she conquers her alienation by embracing language. The Total Alienation of Women Atwood uses the narrator’s near-constant feeling of alienation to comment on the alienation of all women. The narrator feels abandoned by her parents because of the disappearance of her father and the detachment of her mother. She finds men especially alienating because of the way they control women through religion, marriage, birth control, sex, language, and birth. She depicts the way that men view relationships as a war, with women as the spoils. The narrator also describes her alienation as systematic, highlighting the way that children learn gender roles early on in life. The result of the narrator’s alienation is madness and complete withdrawal. The narrator remains unnamed, making her a universal figure and suggesting that all women are in some way alienated. Atwood packs Surfacing with images of Americans invading and ruining Canada. The Americans install missile silos, pepper the village with tourist cabins, leave trash everywhere, and kill for sport. David even goes so far as to theorize an American invasion of Canada for Canadian fresh water. Atwood depicts American expansion as a result of psychological and cultural infiltration. The narrator calls Americans a brain disease, linking American identity to behaviors rather than nationality. To the narrator, an American is anyone who commits senseless violence, loves technology, or over-consumes. David claims he hates Americans, yet he loves baseball and imitates Woody Woodpecker. Atwood depicts American expansion as destructive and a corruptive psychological influence. The narrator mentions power several times before going mad and actively seeking “the power.” In Chapter 4, she remembers thinking that seeds from a certain plant will make her all-powerful. In Chapter 9, she says that doctors pretend childbirth is their power and not the mother’s. In Chapter 15, she remembers alternately pretending to be a helpless animal and an animal with power. The narrator’s later quest for “the power” emphasizes her response to alienation. Ever since childhood, she has been isolated and emotionally numb, crippled by unsuitable religious ideals and gender roles. The narrator’s psychotic search for “the power” represents the false hope that by withdrawing from society she can regain her humanity. Ultimately, the narrator gains power by resolving not to be powerless. She acknowledges that in order to function in society, she must learn to love and communicate. The narrator’s quest for “the power” is similar to her anxiety over social alienation. Paul’s wooden barometer, which features a wooden man and woman inside, becomes an unfortunately accurate emblem of marriage for the narrator. The narrator’s shifting assessment of the barometer traces her shifting attitudes toward marriage. Initially, the narrator views the barometer couple as representative of a simplistic and even empty marriage, and she compares them to Paul and Madame. She mentions how Paul and Madame even look wooden. The narrator later compares the barometer couple to Anna and David in that the wooden couple, like Anna and David’s happiness, is not real. The narrator also thinks of the barometer in relation to her parents. She compares the image of the barometer with the image of her mother and father sawing a piece of birch. The image of the birch is evocative because the narrator associates birches with unspoiled nature. The implication is that the barometer represents an unattainable, unrealistic version of love, whereas her parents possess true love. The Hanged Heron The hanged heron at the portage represents the American destruction of nature. The narrator obsesses over the senselessness of its slaughter, especially that it was hanged and not buried. The heron’s death emphasizes that the narrator defines someone as American based on his or her actions. She condemns any act of senseless violence or waste as distinctly American. That the bird is killed with a bullet and hanged using a nylon rope emphasizes the subversion of nature to technology. Also, the narrator thinks of the hanged bird as a Christ-like sacrifice, which reflects Christian ideology. By using Christian ideas to describe nature, the narrator emphasizes her near-religious reverence for nature. The narrator also compares herself to the heron during her madness, when she worries that the search party will hang her by the feet. By associating the narrator with the hanged heron, Atwood associates the way Americans destroy nature with the way men control women. Anna’s makeup, which David demands she wear at all times, represents the large-scale subjugation of women. The narrator compares Anna to a doll when she sees her putting on makeup, because Anna becomes David’s sexual plaything. At the same time, makeup represents female deception. Anna uses makeup as a veneer of beauty, and the behavior is representative of the way she acts virtuous (but sleeps with other men) and happy (but feels miserable). Makeup goes completely against the narrator’s ideal of a natural woman. The narrator calls herself a natural woman directly after her madness, when she looks in a mirror and sees herself naked and completely disheveled. The narrator comments that Anna uses makeup to emulate a corrupt womanly ideal. The narrator’s ring symbolizes marriage and its entrapping effects. The narrator describes wearing both her boyfriend’s and her fake husband’s rings around her neck. She compares her rings to a crucifix or a military decoration. The crucifix suggests that marriage is not only a sacrifice but a sacrifice toward a false ideal. The image of a military decoration implies that marriage forces women into becoming the spoils of war. Atwood uses the narrator’s ring to foreshadow Joe’s demand for marriage, as she mentions in Chapter 1 that Joe fiddles with the narrator’s ring. Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!

Through EMDS, decision makers can apply logical models of ideal ecosystem conditions against spatially referenced information and then prioritize the results for a maximum net benefit to the environment based on management constraints and opportunities. EMDS integrates the logic engine of NetWeaver from Rules of Thumb, Inc. to perform create a logical model and perform various evaluations against it, and the decision modeling engine of Criterium DecisionPlus from InfoHarvest, Inc. for evaluating management priorities to create an application framework for knowledge-based decision support of ecological assessments. Logic processing in EMDS is performed by the NetWeaver engine. Data input to the engine is mediated by the EMDS Project Environment and ArcMap. Logic models (knowledge bases) that describe logical relations among ecosystem states and processes are created in NetWeaver Developer. NetWeaver readily supports design of knowledge bases for the types of large, complex, and abstract problems typically posed by ecosystem management. Priority Analyst is a dynamic MCDA tool that extends the functionality of EMDS to include integrated planning. The Priority Analyst can be used for priority setting, resource allocation, and trade-off analysis once a particular analysis has been completed in EMDS. The process of MCDA involves ranking alternative actions based on how well each rates against a set of decision criteria. Priority Analyst includes a variety of diagnostic tools that help developers, users, and the general public, understand the basis for planning priorities.

A Touch of the 18th Century By James Brannon Photos by John Froeschauer In September, as the summer heat slowly begins to give way to the coolness of fall, a small piece of the 18th century returns to East Tennessee. There, in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains on the banks of the Little Tennessee River, Fort Loudoun State Historic Area in Vonore will host its fourth annual 18th Century Trade Faire, September 12-13. "Trade Faires" were common sights throughout the 18th century, both in England and in most American colonies. In the early days of the century, these trade fairs were mainly commercial. In England, important fairs were held in London, Bristol, Oxford, Bath and in many other towns. One early trade fair was known as St. Bartholomews Faire. This fair started mainly as a cloth fair with merchants exhibiting their cloth in the town Priory. This fair, like other English fairs, grew into a more generalized market fair as the century progressed. Streets were filled with booths exhibiting lace, metal wares, jewelry, toys and secondhand cloths, just about anything could be found for sale. Entertainment was part of the "Trade Faire." There were booths filled with wild beasts, freaks and dwarfs. Quack doctors set up shop. Puppet shows, conjurers and theatrical plays were presented. One famous entertainer known as Faux had became so celebrated that at his death he was worth 10,000 British pounds. In 1769, St. Bartholomews Faire grew to such a point that the mayor had to appoint 72 special constables. Violence, robbery and even an occasional murder had also become part of the event. In America, annual Colonial trade fairs were a part of the lives of people in most of the English colonies, everywhere except in New England, where they occurred only occasionally. In Connecticut, trade fairs were not allowed at all. Samuel Peters, of Connecticut, said that dancing, hunting, fishing, skating, and sleighing on the ice were the only acceptable forms of entertainment. The colonial versions of the trade fairs were usually ordained by law, but sometimes support came through private fundraising as exemplified by the Rye New Hampshire Trade Faire and by the Williamsburg Faire in 1739. Horses, oxen, sheep, cloth, jewelry, foods, and all types of sundry items were seen at these fairs. Entertainment and sports were popular. At the Williamsburg Faire, foot races from the college to the capitol were popular. On Long Island, a race for women was watched with great excitement. There were cudgeling bouts (in which contestants fought with sticks), a greased pig contest and a grinning contest. Puppet shows, ropewalking and fortune tellers were all popular at the fairs. In Virginia, these fairs were also used as occasions to pay debts, trade horses and obtain bills of exchange. Throughout the 18th century, trade fairs played an important role in the lives of the people. People from all walks of life and all class levels could be seen attending. Farmers, merchants, tradesmen, entertainers, mountebanks, pickpockets and thieves all came to the fair. Even though these fairs began to serve the merchants, they soon outgrew this limited role and came to fill the social needs of many people of the 18th century. Each year for the past three years, Fort Loudoun State Historic Area has tried to recreate this mainstay of 18th century life. In 1997, there were nearly 200 reenactors and almost 5,000 visitors. These visitors watched in awe as the Amazing Bartholomew breathed fire and did magic. They enjoyed the puppet shows and music of Common Stock and the traditional Celtic music of the Celtic Jammers. Visitors strolled down the rows of tents, listening to the call of the trader and sometimes stopping to buy a token of the 18th century. This years 18th Century Trade Faire will be held September 12-13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area. Fort Loudoun is located about 30 miles south of Knoxville off Highway 411, in the town of Vonore. For more information, call the park office at 423/884-6217 or write to: Fort Loudoun State Historic Area, 338 Fort Loudoun Rd., Vonore, TN. 37885. (James Brannon is park interpretive specialist at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area.) Updated July 1, 1998; Send comments to Department of Environment and Conservation.

When it comes to statistical measurements of household income, education and health care, gaps between whites and minorities have widened significantly in the past 40 years. The I-News Network's “Losing Ground” series explores the complex reasons why. Denver Editor’s note: "Losing Ground" is the culmination of 18 months of investigative reporting done by a veteran team of award-winning journalists at the I-News Network, the public service journalism arm of Rocky Mountain PBS. This is the first in the four-part series that will appear on consecutive Sundays in the Steamboat Pilot & Today through Feb. 10, 2013. By some of the most important measures of social progress, black and Latino residents of Colorado have lost ground compared to white residents in the decades since the civil rights movement. Minority gains made during the 1960s and 1970s have eroded with time, an I-News Network analysis of six decades of demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau found. In other categories, the gaps between whites and minorities have widened steadily since 1960. The analysis focused on family income, poverty rates, high school and college graduation and home ownership. Health data and justice records examined also revealed disparities. Similar racial and ethnic inequities appear nationwide. But one glaring fact about Colorado is that it went from a state that by most measures was more equitable than the national average in the first decades covered by the analysis to one that is less so now. According to most experts, racial and ethnic inequality will pose a significant future handicap for a state in which minorities are a rising population. “I was actually shocked,” said Eric Nelson, vice president of the Aurora NAACP, after examining the data analysis. “You would think we as a nation would have overcome a lot of things since then. It’s like, ‘Wow! We’re spinning our wheels going in reverse.’” There are important caveats, of course, including the decades-long rise of professional classes among blacks and Latinos and striking examples of individual wealth and achievement. Minorities have made gains in a number of categories, as well, but in most have not kept pace. Gaps in income, education By the broad gauge of the census measure, recent decades have not been kind to aspirations of equality by the state’s minority residents. Almost 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his generation-defining “I have a dream” speech, income and education gaps have remained stubbornly high: ■ In 1970, for example, black families earned 73 percent of white family incomes and Hispanic families earned 72 percent. By 2010, those numbers had fallen to about 60 percent and 50 percent, respectively. ■ Almost 60 percent of Latino households were owner-occupied in 1970; now it’s just less than 50 percent. Most experts attribute an immigration influx with pulling down Latino numbers. ■ The gaps among adults with college degrees have widened steadily since 1960, with the percent of whites with college degrees three times higher than the Latino rate and double the black rate. Those disparities are the nation’s worst for Latinos as well as blacks. Among more positive trends, 86 percent of black adults had graduated from high school in 2010, up from 31 percent in 1960. Latinos also have improved high school graduation rates throughout the decades but still lagged badly at 65 percent, compared to 95 percent for whites, in 2010. Poverty, income and education gaps in the state parallel other important disparities outlined in many studies that show blacks and Latinos lagging behind whites in one critical measure of health after another. The U.S. Census Bureau only began tracking data about health insurance in recent years and does not collect other information about overall health. But data compiled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment throughout the past 15 years shows that the state’s ethnic minorities do not fare as well as white residents when it comes to disease and death. Blacks and Latinos, for example, experience significantly higher rates of infant mortality and deaths from diseases such as diabetes than whites in Colorado. “The general statement that I make is, we’re sicker than most and dying sooner than we should,” said Grant Jones, founder and executive director of the Center for African American Health in Denver. Implications of inequality The implications of inequality for the future are enormous: The number of minority babies being born nationally recently eclipsed that of whites, and in Colorado, 46 percent of children less than 1 year old in 2011 were minorities, the Census Bureau reported. That holds economic consequences in the future for all Colorado residents. Latinos are the largest minority group, comprising 21 percent of the population in 2011, compared to 4 percent for blacks and 70 percent for whites. I-News explored the social phenomena behind the numbers with community activists and politicians, researchers from liberal and conservative think tanks, educators, church leaders and people in the street. The reasons given for the gaps were myriad and complex. They are rooted in history and intergenerational in nature. Among those cited: ■ The civil rights era policies that provided a boost to minorities in the 1960s and ’70s, such as affirmative action, have been diminished or dismantled. “For all intents and purpose, affirmative action has been wiped out,” said former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. “There is no longer a desire to assure that minorities are being placed in jobs.” Affirmative action programs, first envisioned by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and strengthened and expanded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, have been narrowed or eliminated by U.S. Supreme Court decisions and, in individual states, by legislative action or by voters. ■ Many thousands of Colorado’s good paying, blue collar manufacturing jobs — think of Pueblo’s CF&I Steel or Denver’s Gates Rubber Co. or Montbello’s Samsonite Corp. — have disappeared, hurting minority families disproportionately. “CF&I Steel once had 13,000 employees,” said former State Sen. Abel Tapia, of Pueblo. “That used to be a path towards middle class prosperity. Pueblo took a really, really big hit in the ’80s when the steel company downsized. In a community of 100,000, when you are talking 13,000 jobs, that was a big hit.” ■ Support for K-12 education has diminished. The cost of attending college has skyrocketed. “We seem to be leading the way in the country on how not to fund education,” said Jim Chavez, executive director of the Latin American Educational Foundation. ■ The percentage of single-parent families and the number of births to single mothers have soared among black households, exacerbating the gaps, and immigration and teen-age births in the Latino population also have led to widening disparities, experts said. “You have a majority of children, particularly in the African American community, growing up in single-parent households,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who is black. “There’s nothing that impacts those issues — issues of economics, their education, their quality of life — more than the economic challenges faced by single mothers.” Apart from the census numbers, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2010, in Colorado, 45 percent of black infants, 35 percent of Hispanic infants and 18 percent of white infants were born to single mothers. That corresponds to a dramatic surge in the past five decades of children raised in single-parent homes, but the rate particularly is striking among blacks — 50 percent of black households with children in Colorado were headed by a single parent in 2010, compared to 25 percent of white households. Among Latino households with young children, 35 percent were headed by a single parent, according to the I-News analysis. In a stark way, that boils down to ongoing economic disparity and impacts general prosperity, said Alan Berube, senior fellow and research director for Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. “In part, it’s about how many adults you have and the income generating power these different households have,” he said. “From an economic standpoint, one plus one equals two,” said Christelyn D. Karazin, an Internet activist striving to reduce the birth rate to single mothers. “Even if two people are working at McDonald’s, that’s two McDonald’s salaries right there.” Census data shows that single motherhood is a greater indicator of poverty than race. Children living in a female-headed household in Colorado are four times more likely to grow up in poverty, the I-News analysis showed, than children in married-couple households. “If you wanted to announce a systemic assault on the African-American community, that’s how you would do it,” said Barry Fagin, a senior fellow with the Independence Institute, of the rate of births to single mothers. In addition, the incarceration of a highly disproportionate number of minority men is a significant factor in numerous problems, including the single-parent family, said Denver Mayor Hancock, among others. “There is one area where I think that many members of the African-American community would agree that the drug war is basically a war on black men,” said Fagin. Education as an equalizer Regardless of which way the causal arrow runs, poverty and education are intertwined across the range of societal distress. Several experts said the state’s pullback in funding education throughout the past two decades has narrowed the path for escaping poverty. Between 1992 and 2010, according to census data, Colorado plunged from 24th to 40th on overall state spending per student for K-12 education. When compared to per capita personal income, Colorado ranked 45th among the states on K-12 spending. Public school funding, very much dependent upon property taxes, is “inherently unequal” from district to district, said Corrine Fowler, of the Colorado Progressive Coalition. And even within the same district, schools in affluent neighborhoods have the ability to fundraise in ways that schools in poor neighborhoods do not. “Right now, today, I can almost predict where you’re going to be, based on your mother’s educational level and your family income,” said Nate Easley, who recently resigned as a member of the Denver Public Schools board, in an interview with Colorado Public Radio. “And until we correct that, our democracy is in jeopardy.” Said Fowler, “Education should be the great equalizer. It should not be that just because your parents have more money or you come from a more affluent background that you should then get better educational opportunities. That is completely unjust.” A separate report last year by the State Higher Education Executive Association found only New Hampshire and Vermont spent less per full-time college student than Colorado’s $3,316. “Almost every one of those (disparity) trends, the underlying cause or factor is education,” said Chavez, of the Latin American Educational Foundation. “We’ve seen the financial resources the state spent to help families with students go down dramatically the last 10 years.” Said former Denver City Council member Sal Carpio, who also served as head of the city’s housing authority, “The biggest single factor is all the effects of poverty. It’s like a funnel … a few trickle out. The funnel has gotten bigger. It still trickles, but there’s just more people in there that can’t get out.” Locked into poverty? The widening gaps in Colorado are related to national political swings throughout the decades, liberals and conservatives agree, but they disagree substantially on just how that has worked. The civil rights era begat President Johnson’s war on poverty, a host of society-altering civil rights laws, financial support to the poor and many other programs aimed at leveling the playing field. Some said the opposite happened. “What we’ve done in America is design a system that rewards people for not working and locks them into poverty,” said former Republican Colorado U.S. Sen. Hank Brown. “It’s a tragedy of the first order because the vast majority of people who are in poverty don’t want to be on welfare. They want jobs.” Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the historical narrative is complex but has much to do with the nation’s changing political will and policies. “Almost all of the efforts in the sense of positive impetus were abandoned by or shortly before the Reagan era,” he said. “We had a narrowing of the income gap for a long time in part because we taxed higher income people pretty heavily, and we had an increasingly generous set of social policies for disadvantaged people. We did just the exact opposite in the Reagan tax cuts and the Bush tax cuts. And there were simultaneous cuts in programs and services and dramatic reversals on civil rights policies. “It just isn’t any kind of big surprise,” Orfield said. “It is quite clear there was an intentionality both about the narrowing of the gap and the growing of the gap.” The widening gaps, in most appraisals, do not bode well for Colorado’s future. The Brookings Institution’s Berube noted that more and more of Colorado’s younger-than-18, school-aged population is brown and black, growing up in households that are disadvantaged economically, “which all the research shows places a negative strain on their educational potential.” Racial inequality poses a threat to the future economic viability of the state, Berube said, if in 20 years disadvantaged minorities are the majority of the workforce. “You still have on balance an aging white population and a young minority population. There are only so many white people you can pull from the rest of the country to help adjust for that imbalance and the challenge it is bringing,” he said. For others interviewed by I-News, the inequities are a moral as well as an economic issue. If left unchallenged in the coming decades, they threaten Colorado’s future. Widening disparities between whites, Latinos and blacks, 1960 to 2010 Visit www.inewsnetwork.org for more information. Contact Burt Hubbard at firstname.lastname@example.org or 303-446-4931. Contact Ann Espinola at email@example.com. I-News intern Leia Larsen contributed to this report, which was made possible, in part, by grants from The Colorado Health Foundation and the French-American Foundation. I-News used the Public Use Microdata Sample unweighted from the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota to do parts of the census data analysis.

Steinway, Heintzman, Pearl River, Marshall, Mason and Risch, Baldwin, Bechstein, Cable, Boesendorfer, Mason and Hamlin, Kawai, Yamaha, Boston, Kimball, Chickering, Nordheimer, Young Chang, Samick, Knabe, Kurtzwel, Petrof, Schimmel, Sohmer, Suzuki, Wurlitzer, Laughead © Copyright 1999-2000 Corner1 Design. All rights reserved.| All other content: © Copyright 1996-2001 Steve Van Nattan. All rights reserved. The logos and photos on this page are "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" Chapter V. MECHANICAL TECHNIQUE OF TUNING. The art of tuning the piano comprises two distinct and separate elements. That part of our education as tuners which relates to the science of the art has already been discussed in full in the previous chapters. We must now consider what may be called the general mechanical technique of the art, including the special subject of the tools required and their manipulation. The Raw Material. The raw material with which the tuner works may be described for practical purposes as consisting of the string, the wrest-pin or tuning-pin, the wrest-plank or pinblock, and the tuning hammer. The piano action, the digitals, the wedges for damping strings, and the tuning-fork may alike be considered for the present, as accessory to, rather than as part of, the essential material. Let us consider these in their order. It is well known, of course, that the pitch of a string — that is to say, its frequency of vibration — varies as the square root of its tension. Hence, if the tension be increased, the frequency is increased likewise; whilst if the tension be relaxed, the pitch is lowered. Now, the tension of a string is increased by tightening it on its pin ; that is by turning the pin so as to stretch the string more tightly. The relaxation of tension is achieved in precisely the opposite way; that is, by releasing the string somewhat. String and Pin. The piano string is wound so that the pin lies, as seen from the front, to its right, on an upright piano and to its left on a grand. But actually the positions are the same, and the difference stated is due to the different position from which we view the strings on an upright and a grand respectively. It would be better to say that the string is always on the treble side of the pin in a horizontal and on the bass side in an upright piano. When the tuner wishes to raise the pitch of a string he turns the pin so as to wind up the string on it. To lower the pitch he turns the pin so as to unwind the string. The mechanical problem therefore is to turn the pins in the wrest-plank in such a way as to adjust the pitch of each string to the requirements of the Equal Temperament at the standard of pitch agreed on. In following chapters, I give a general description of piano construction and necessarily include remarks on the functions of all the parts herein mentioned. In the present chapter, however, I shall treat these only with relation to the tuner's work. The piano string varies in length inversely as its pitch and may be from 2 inches to 80 inches long, according to its position in the scale and the size of the piano. Steel music wire is used, varying in diameter from .03" to .06". The lower strings are wound with steel or copper overwinding or covering. The tension at which the strings are stretched varies within the limits of 100 and 275 pounds ; but it would be fair to name as an average range of tension per string in modern pianos 150 to 160 pounds, although there is much inequality as to details. The opposite end of the string is passed around a hitch pin in the iron frame. In order to transmit its vibrations to the sound-board the string passes over a wooden bridge provided with double raked pins, so as to give it a side bearing. At the end near the tuning pin the string passes over a wooden or iron bearing bridge which determines the upper, as the soundboard bridge determines the lower, extremity of its vibrating length. This upper bridge gives an up and down bearing to the string. It is important that these points be kept in mind and the student carefully study the construction upon an actual piano; which I am presuming he has at hand. The Pin Block. The torsional stress on the pin being what it is, considering the high tension at which the string is commonly stretched, it follows that efficient means are required for the maintenance of the pin in a given position under this stress. The common method is to drive the pins into a wooden block called the wrest-plank or pinblock; which is built up by cross-banding several strips of hard wood. Such a block, when drilled for the reception of the tuning pins at right angles to the plane of the banding, gives an exceedingly stiff bedding, for the cross-grained strips present alternately end-grain and cross-grain, making a structure which interposes a very great frictional resistance to the rotative movement of the pin. It is the frictional resistance which is responsible for the pin holding its position, and hence for the string remaining at a given tension. The tuning-pin is a stout steel rod almost uniform in diameter from end to end, and threaded with a light fine thread. One extremity is bluntly pointed and the other is squared off to receive the tuning-hammer and pierced for the insertion of the end of the string. It is customary to wrap the string around the pin in three or four coils. The sound-board bridges carry the strings between pins set at an angle to each other, in such a way that each string is diverted from its line of direction and carried on from the bridge to the hitch-pin on a line parallel with the original line. The side-bearing thus given to the string is intended to ensure its tightness and steadiness on the bridge. The upper bearing bridge sometimes is in the form of a separate stud or “agraffe” for each string, and sometimes consists of a ledge cast in the plate over which the string passes, to be forced down into a bearing position by a heavy pressure bar screwed over it. The object is to give bearing to the string. The “capo-d 'astro” bar is simply the pressure-bar arrangement cast in one piece. The student will be well advised to study all these constructions on the piano at first hand. The tuning-hammer, with which the actual turning of the pin is accomplished, is a steel rod carrying a head bored to receive the pin. The hammer is placed on the pin,which is turned by pressure of the hand on the hammer handle in the required direction. There are many interesting points about the manipulation of the hammer, however, which must now be considered. The mechanical problem relates to the turning of a pin acting under a combined tensional and torsional strain; in other words a pin which is being simultaneously pulled down, and twisted around. If the wrest-plank is well made, the pin will resist successfully both of these strains and when turned by the hammer will retain its new position. But in order that this should be so it is necessary to acquire a certain technique of manipulation. Manipulating the Hammer. The implement used for turning the pins and known as the tuning hammer is, by its very shape, susceptible of wrong use. It presents the constant temptation to manipulate it as if it were a wrench. The resistance that the pin and string impose against turning is sufficiently great to cause the novice nearly always to twist and wrench at the pin in the effort to turn it. Now, it must be remembered that the distance through which the pin is turned is so very slight that where it has been tightly driven, or presents any other obstacle to free turning, the hammer nearly always gives too hard a twist or pull, so that the pin, after sticking, turns too far. In an upright piano the tuner stands in front of the pins, which are about on a level with his chest, and his natural inclination of course will be to pull downwards and outwards on the pins whilst attempting to turn them, in such a way as to drag the lower surface of the pin against the bushing in the plate and so gradually wear away the bushing and the wrest-plank hole and finally loosen the pin altogether. In order to overcome these possible faults, the student will have to work out his own method of manipulation, bearing in mind always that his object is to turn the pin and not merely bend it. If he merely bends it he may alter the string tension enough to change the pitch as desired ; but a smart blow on the piano key will soon knock the string back again where it was before. That is why young tuners do not tune “solidly.” They do not turn the pins; they merely bend them. I shall offer the following suggestions regarding the general handling of the piano in tuning, out of my own experience, with the understanding that I do not put them forth as rules, but only as notions which have been found practical in one man 's work. 1. Length of Hammer. Other things being equal, the experience of the best tuners points to the use of a short handled hammer, instead of a long one. I prefer a handle not more than 12 inches long. 2. Position of Hammer. The hammer should be held nearly vertical when tuning upright pianos, and it is well to rest the arm, as this tends to give better leverage. 3. Turning the Pin. In attempting to turn the pin, do not jerk the hammer back and forth, nor on the other hand, use it like a wrench, but rather try to turn the pin by gently impelling it in the desired direction, feeling it all the time under the hand and avoiding the mistake of pulling down on the pin whilst turning it in the sharp direction. 4. Use of Left Hand, in upright piano. The best way of making sure that the pin is not pulled downwards whilst the string is being sharped is to hold the tuning hammer in the left hand. The pin is then raised in the process of sharping ; which is as it should be. In any case, the hammer should be held vertical, or still better, inclining slightly over to the bass side. The above applies to the upright piano only. 5. And in Grand Pianos. In a grand piano, to tune with the right hand is best on account of the position of the tuner with relation to the strings; which is opposite to the position with reference to the upright. But the highest treble strings, on account of the peculiar construction of the grand piano, are most conveniently tuned with the hammer held in the left hand. 6. Tuning Pure Intervals First. All intervals that are to be tempered should be first tuned pure and then raised or lowered.^ Other things being equal, it is better to tune slightly above the required pitch and let the string slack back; which can be assisted by a smart blow on the key. Coaxing the string up to pitch usually involves its slacking off as soon as the piano is played. 7. Strings Hanging on Bridges. Strings often hang on the belly bridge and on the upper bearing. The waste ends at either extremity sometimes cause this trouble. The tuner must acquire the habit of so tuning that the string is pulled evenly through its entire length, from tuning-pin to hitch pin, maintaining the tension of all its sections uniform. To be sure that the pin is thoroughly turned gives the best assurance that the above requirement has been fulfilled. 8. “Pounding” Condemned. I do not believe in brutally pounding on the keys of a piano in an effort to “settle the strings.” It is quite uncertain how much the strings can be “settled” in any way like this ; and the process is objectionable in every other way. The simplest way of muting the strings is by using a long strip of felt to stop off the outside strings of the triples and the alternate strings of the doubles, from one end of the piano to the other, before the tuning begins. Then the temperament Octave may be tuned on the middle string of each note and the Octaves up and down therefrom; after which the outside strings of the Unisons may be tuned all together. If however for any reasons such as those mentioned below, this causes the piano to stress unevenly, the Unisons can be adjusted section by section. 10. Position at the piano. All things considered it is better to stand up to tune all pianos, even grand pianos. The practice of sitting to tune upright pianos is certainly to be condemned, as it leads to slovenly handling of the hammer and general slackness. 11. Raising Pitch. In raising the pitch of a piano, go over it at least twice, the first time roughly, the second time smoothly. If the amount of rise required is very great the piano will need three tunings at once and another shortly after. Arrangements should be made with the owner of the piano in accordance with the extra amount of work to be done. 12. On Old Pianos. Raising the pitch on old pianos is always risky, as strings are likely to break. In emergencies, rust may be treated, at the upper bearing bridge and hitch pins, sparingly with oil. But oil is only to be used in emergencies, and with the utmost care to see that it does not reach the wrest-plank or soundboard bridges. 13. Lowering Pitch. In lowering the pitch, not less than three tunings will be required usually. This work is even more delicate than the above and needs even more care. The first tuning should be merely a rough letting down. Then the second may be a rough, and the third a smooth, tuning. But it is well to have an interval of a day between the second and the third tunings. 14. Gang Mute. Even if a felt strip for a whole section is not used, it is advisable to have the entire temperament Octave wedged up whilst tuning it, so as not to have to disturb Unisons after they have been tuned. It is usually necessary to make various corrections in the temperament Octave as it is being tuned. 15. Uniform Pitch. Uniformity of pitch is a desideratum. Every tuner should have an international pitch guaranteed fork, kept carefully in a felt-lined box and carefully guarded from rust. Tune to this pitch whenever possible. But do not make the mistake of trying to adjust all pianos to one pitch. It cannot be done. 16. Theatre Pianos. In tuning pianos for use in theatres with orchestras, it is advisable usually to tune a few audible beats above the pitch of the instrument which is used as a standard. This instrument is usually the clarinet or cornet (in symphony orchestras, the oboe), which rises in pitch as it warms in the course of playing. 17. False Beats. The worst single enemy the tuner has is the string with false beats. In a good piano factory such strings are taken out and replaced before the piano leaves the premises. Sometimes faults in the scale, and especially the fault of uneven tension, make for strings that beat when sounded alone. This beating arises through sections of the strings being unevenly stressed, whereby the corresponding partial tones are thrown out of tune. Such uneven stress may be the result of a twist put in the wire during the stringing, or of uneven thickness of the wire. When false beats are encountered, sometimes the tuner will find he can neutralize the beats by tuning the string slightly off from the other two of the triple. If no such expedient will work, then the strings must be left alone. Such false beats are especially to be found in the upper treble. 18. Bass Tuning. The real fundamental tones of the lowest strings are not actually heard. We hear instead upper partials thereof. Hence it is very often impossible to tune bass octaves by mere audition of beats between coincident partials. In this condition of affairs the tuner may tune by testing the Tenths, which is a good plan, or by isolating some partial and testing it with the corresponding note above. To tune a clear bass is sometimes impossible.1 19. Test Intervals. All the tests recommended in the previous chapter should be used constantly during the progress of the work, for the tuning will not be good otherwise. The most prolific source of imperfection lies in the accumulation of exceedingly slight errors; which soon mount up to intolerable mis-tunings. Constant testing, note by note, is therefore absolutely essential. 20. Sharp Treble. The temptation to tune the treble tones too high is one constantly to be avoided, for it is constantly present. Careful testing will alone rid the tuner of this error, which is insidious and habit-forming. Not twenty, but a hundred and twenty, rules or suggestions like these could easily be laid down; but I prefer to leave the subject here. The student will learn at least one more: the value of Patience. “Style.” The student will also determine for himself, as time goes on, the characteristics of what may be called his special ''style." Tuning is an art and one which suffers more through being misunderstood than through any other single condition. The fine tuner is an artist in every sense of the word and the mental characteristics he must possess are such as not everybody can hope to have. Understanding and Patience. Understanding and Patience are the foundation of the tuner's art and for my part I am not sure to which of these qualities I should award the primacy. Certainly it is true that without Understanding the tuner is groping in the dark; whilst without Patience he is already condemned in advance to failure in the attempt to do artistic work. Experience too, is vastly important. The most talented student of the art finds that there is a mechanical technique to be mastered in tuning, just as in playing the piano. The necessary delicacy of wrist and arm, the necessary intuitive feeling that the pin has been turned as it should be; the necessary exquisite delicacy of ear:1 all these faculties are the product of patient experiment and practice. The novice cannot expect to possess them; nor can he have any reason for being disappointed when he finds, as he will find, that to gain anything worth gaining, one must work — and work hard. “Playing the Game.” Still, it also remains that when one does take the trouble to play the game as it must be played, the reward is certain — and by no means contemptible; even when measured by mere money, the lowest of standards. On the whole, good tuners are as scarce to-day as they were fifty years ago. The tuning of every day is not good, usually; and the artistic tuner will find a hearty welcome, and adequate compensation, almost anywhere. All that can be taught by a book I have here set forth. But mastery comes only through experience, combined with patient study and application. Various matters incidental to the art which do not come within the scope of “tuning” proper are treated in the following chapters of this book. 1Cf. the discussions in Chapters II, III and IV. 1 Delicacy" here means rather "power of discrimination" than mere intuition. What is usually called a "musical ear" is nothing more than, at best, a feeling of tonality sometimes extending so far as unaided recognition of individual tones and tonalities on hearing them; and at worst, an inclination towards simple melody, harmonically bare. The tuner's audition is acoustical, not artificially musical. The ordinary "musical ear" is of little value to him. PIANO OWNER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE- stevespianoservice.com, piano, pianos, tools, repair, supplies, supply, parts, catalog, tuning, tuner, regulation, repair, guild, Jansen, technician, parts, bench, benches, lamps, stools, piano parts, restore, and tune your piano. 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