text
stringlengths 247
264k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 20
294
| date
stringlengths 20
20
| file_path
stringclasses 370
values | language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.65
1
| token_count
int64 62
58.7k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Journal Main Page Back to Journal Index Page
Thomas P. Schirrmacher, Th.D., Ph.D., D.D.
Chair in Systematic Theology and
President, Martin Bucer Seminary
On December 10, 1948, the Soviet Union signed the General Declaration of Human Rights passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The declaration states that all human beings possess the same dignity (Article 1) and forbids all discrimination due to race, color, sex, language, religion or political conviction (Article 2). Because all men have the right to life and liberty (Article 3), both slavery (Article 4) and torture (Article 5) are prohibited. All are equal before the law and may be condemned only according to established law, only after being heard in a court of law (Articles 7-11). All are free to emigrate and to choose their place of residence (Article 13), and to request asylum in other countries (Article 14). Every human being is free to choose his spouse, and the family, as the “natural and basic unit in society’, must be protected by the State and by society (Articles 16+26). The Declaration also demands the right of private property (Article 17), the right to liberty of conscience and religion, which includes the individual’s right to change his faith (Article 18), the right of opinion and information (Article 19), the right to congregate and to form associations (Article 20), the right to vote (Article 21). Everyone has the right to security in social matters (Articles 22+25+28), to labor with just remuneration (Article 23) and to education (Article 26).
Closely related to the idea of human rights is the claim that all people have the same right to be treated as persons - whatever race, religion, sex, political persuasion or social or economic status they may be. What is the basis of human equality, if not the fact that all were equally created by God? Thus, a Christian argument for human rights must begin with the biblical account of Creation, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:26-27). The fact that Man was created in the image of God plays a major roll in the relationships of human beings to each other. Genesis 9:16, for example, requires murder to be punished, for it injures the image of God. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Genesis 9:6)
Creation exists for the glory of God and has its meaning from God. This fact holds all the more for the ‘Crown of Creation’, Mankind was created according to the divine order of Creation to fulfill the purpose given him by God. God made him ruler over the earth, but also gave him the responsibility for the preservation of the earthly creation. The psalmist writes, “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;” (Psalm 8:6-7).
For this reason, human rights include only those privileges which God has given Man, no other rights which mankind may choose or claim for himself.
Christians may not, therefore, automatically identify the human rights catalogs formulated by western countries with those in the Bible. Scripture prescribes the right to an orderly court procedure according to clearly stated laws, to the hearing of witnesses, to judges who have not been bribed and to legal defense, as we will see. Such legal proceedings cannot, however, be automatically identified with Western jurisdiction. Supposing they could be - with which system? The German system, the British, the French, the American? We all know that these systems are quite different! There is plenty of room for a variety of legal systems which differ due to the cultural and historical traditions of their people, yet still guarantee human rights.
No one disputes the fact that human rights, given to protect the individual, are derived from Christian thought. The General Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, of December 10, 1948, clearly demonstrates its Christian roots. The bans on slavery and torture, the principle of equality before the law, the right to rest and recreation - as seen in the Sabbath or Sunday rest - come from Christian traditions and not by chance are the governments which confirm these rights and anchor them in their constitutions mostly in Christian countries. Even Karl Marx acknowledged this, for he rejected human rights as a product of Christianity (for example, Marx and Engels Works, Vol. 1).
No state and no legal system can survive without a minimum of common, and necessarily ‘metaphysically’ based values. A legal system assumes a value system. The law is derived from moral standards which exist prior to and outside itself.
The guarantee of human dignity assumes that Man is more than that which he perceives about himself. He cannot be comprehended by the means and methods of natural science; he is metaphysically open. The modern State, with its legal system, depends on requirements that it cannot itself guarantee.
According to the philosophies of the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, which attempted to found human rights without God and against the Church, all Good, including human rights, could be derived from Nature and from Reason. Rousseau’s identification of ‘Reason’ and ‘Nature’ is peculiar to Enlightenment thought. The attempt to base human rights on Nature has failed, however, for no one can agree on the meaning of ‘Nature’ or on how it’s laws can be discovered. Wolfgang Schild, professor for penal law, writes, “The Enlightenment cannot and must not be the last word, our last word. Its rationality and functionality must be taken to its limits, for social life with a dignity worthy of Man is otherwise impossible. Even and particularly penal law cannot limit itself to rational means in order to achieve peace and order at any price: it requires the recognition of the human dignity—even of the felon—as its fundament and its limit.”
The thought that human beings could be improved by education, and that human ills could be solved by intellectual enlightenment, is a basic problem of Greek philosophy, of Humanism and of the Enlightenment. The Humanist ideal of education owes its existence to the idea that morals could be raised through education, for it assumes that the individual does wrong only because he is ignorant or because he thinks wrongly, not because his will is evil and because he is incapable of doing good on his own strength. These philosophies try to reduce the ethical and responsible aspect of thought, words and deeds to the question of knowledge, which hold a man responsible, only when he knows what he is doing.
Yet we are surprised to learn that doctors smoke as much as laymen do, that people maintain unhealthy life-styles, and that women continually become pregnant in spite of a flood of information about birth control. We all know from our own lives, that knowing the right answer, even being convinced of it, in no way guarantees that we live accordingly. A politician who vehemently defends monogamy as the foundation of society in Parliament does not necessarily insist on marital fidelity in his private life, and is not immune to adultery or divorce.
The Bible teaches that human sin affects not only our thoughts, but also our whole being, and that above all, our wills, which are opposed to God, lead us to act and think falsely, so that more thought and consideration in itself are insufficient. We must clear up our old, sin-encumbered past. Christians believe that God Himself died in Man’s place, when Christ died on the Cross for our lack of love and our egotism. When we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves by our own strength and our own reason, but rely on Christ’s fulfillment of our penalty, we can overcome our evil will by faith in Jesus, and renew our will and our mind according to God’s will (Romans 1:20-25; 12:1-3). True renewal occurs when the power of God works in our inner selves; not through educational campaigns, but by God’s love and forgiveness.
Human dignity and human rights are part of man’s being as God’s creation. Thus, the State does not create human rights, it merely formulates and protects them. Since the right to life belongs to the very essence of the human being, man does not receive them from the government, and no government has the right to decide that its citizens have no more right to live, but can be executed at the ruler’s whim. Nor does the State confer the right to have a family, for the State does not own the family, it merely acknowledges the duty implied in the order of Creation to protect marriage and the family.
There are, therefore, rights which existed prior to the State, and there are rights above the State, rights derived from nature, from human nature and from the various types of human society. The government must respect these rights and accept the limitations implied by these natural, divinely given rights of the individual, the family, the employee (or the employer!) and other human social groups.
Since human rights are rooted in a moral code prescribed to the State, this code equally forbids a false appeal to human rights, because it also defends the human dignity of others. No one has the right to express his own personality through murder or arson, for example.
Human rights assume a State with limited powers and a law valid for all mankind, a law which limits the powers of government. Were this not so, man would indeed receive his rights from the State. The individual would then have only the rights and the claims to protection which his government assured. This is the socialist view, which leaves no place for criticism or correction of a State which has declared itself to be God.
The most important scripture about the role of the State is the thirteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, which was written by the apostle Paul, who brought Christianity to Europe and Asia in the first century AD: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” (Romans 13:1-7)
This text makes it clear that no one who opposes the State on principle can appeal to God’s authorization. On the contrary: he is opposing God’s law, and is rightly liable to legal proceedings (Rom. 13:2). Since the State has the duty to stem and to punish evil, Christians must do good, if they wish to avoid conflict. If a Christian does wrong, he is justly punished by the State. For the government, as God’s minister, has the duty of vengeance (13:4). As a result, the Christian pays his taxes and gives government officials proper respect (13:6-7).
But the question is, who defines what is good or evil? Did Paul leave this up to the State? Can the State declare anything good and demand it from its citizens? No. When Paul spoke of goodness, he defined it according to God’s will, and defined evil as that which was condemned by God’s law. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34).
The Bible thus gives us clear limitations and directions for taxes, military service and the police. John the Baptist, for example, told the tax inspectors and the police (One body served both as police and as military): “Exact no more than that which is appointed you” and “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:12-14).
From Paul’s statements, we can derive two essential thoughts:
1. The government can judge only what people do, not what they think. It is responsible for good or evil ‘works’, with doing. It is not the duty of the State to control all sin, only those sins whose activity can be observed and which damage public order, which the State has the responsibility to maintain and to protect.
2. The State may not distinguish between Christians and other people, i.e. between believers in different faiths, as long as they pursue their beliefs in a peaceful manner. Since God forbids partiality in legal matters, Christians must be punished just as severely as unbelievers when they break the law. The State cannot distinguish between Christians and members of other religious groups, for it may judge only on the basis of deeds.
Human rights are protective; they serve not so much to define the privileges of the individual, as to limit the powers of the State and of other institutions which deal with the lives of individuals. For this reason, Paul limits the State’s duties to specific aspects of life, rather than giving it the right to regulate and penalize all of man’s thought and life.
The State is not to be identified with society, as the socialist governments have done ever since the French Revolution. In such states, all aspects of society including the family and the Church are subject to the government. Society is more than the State. The State does not have authority over all parts of society.
Just as the State may not dominate a church or a religion, it may not itself be subject to any church or religion. The separation of Church and State does not contradict the Christian faith, but arises naturally out of it, for the Bible makes it the duty of the State to enable people to live in peace, whatever they believe. It is the responsibility of the Church and of religion to point to eternity, to provide moral stability and to encourage man’s relationship to God.
The historian Eugen Ewig therefore speaks of the Old Testament Doctrine of Two Powers. Eduard Eichmann, also an historian, writing about the Old Testament division of powers between priest and king, “Along with the sacred Scriptures, Old Testament views have become common property of the Christian West.”
Jesus confirmed this separation in the words, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17). Because this rule comes from God, Who is above the emperor, the religious institutions of God on earth, the organized People of God, are not above the emperor. The first priority is obedience to God, Who determines and limits what belongs to Caesar. Caesar has no authority to determine or limit what belongs to God. This does not, however, mean that the ruler is dependent on the Church, for God has given him the responsibility for all the people in his realm, not only for the members of one religious group.
The separation of Church and State does not mean that their duties never overlap, or that neither institution needs the other. On the contrary, the Church may advise the government and teach it God’s law, as Jehoida taught Jehoash. “And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” (2 Kings 12:2). It is sad that the modern Church has given up this critical office and prefers to howl with the pack.
The separation of Church and State does not become a war against Christianity until the State forgets its obligation to God’s law and begins to persecute the faith.
Centuries ago in the Bible, God made fair judicial proceedings a human right. A just judge is necessary to determine justice, and God is the proto-type of the just judge (Deut. 10:17-18; Psalm 7:9+12; 9:5; 50:6. See also Psalm 75:3+8), “for the LORD is a God of judgment” (Isaiah 30:18). He is the defender of justice. Those who judge fairly act in God’s Name. The Old Testament tells of the just king Jehoshaphat, “And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” (2 Chronicles 19:6-7).
A judge must be aware of the fact that God is observing him and stands by the innocent: “To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.” (Lamentations 3:35-36).
For this reason the Bible has many directions concerning just, humane judicial proceedings. Prosecution, for example, requires at least two witnesses (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Mat. 18:16; John 8:17; Heb. 10:28; 1 Tim 5:18), so that the accusation is brought by two or three witnesses (Deut 10:17-18). Violent witnesses are not to be heard (Psalm 35:11).
The judge’s ruling must be completely impartial (Deut. 1:16; 2 Chr. 19:7; Prov. 18:5; 24:23; Job 13:10; Col. 3:25; Eph 6:9), for God is Himself impartial. (Deut 10:17-18). Only wicked judges are partial (Isa. 10:1-2; 3:9).
The ruling is to be made without prejudice (1 Tim. 5:21), after the judge has carefully examined all the evidence (Deut 17:4). “Execute true judgment,” God says in Zecharia 7:9; so that the ruling need not be repealed.
“If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.” (Deuteronomy 25:1). Bribery must not influence the judge’s opinion. “A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.” (Proverbs 17:23). God is the great example. “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:” (Deuteronomy 10:17). “Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” (2 Chronicles 19:7)
Scripture generally approves of gifts, when given to delight or to help others. Sometimes, the Bible realizes, gifts may even be necessary, if people are to achieve valid goals. The wise teacher tells us, “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” (Proverbs 18:16) and “A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.” (Proverbs 21:14). Should an innocent person be confronted with corrupt officials, he has no hope of achieving perfectly legal goals. If he has no opportunity of overcoming this corruption in any other way, he can get his rights with gifts. Only when he buys injustice, is he himself guilty of corruption. He who is forced to bribe others will certainly strive to eliminate corruption, particularly in the Church, or in other religious institutions.
For this reason, there must be no double standard, such as one set of laws for the wealthy and another for the peasants. The Old Testament required the same penal system for both nationals and for foreign residents: (Exodus 12:49). “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.” (Leviticus 19:15). Because God defends “the cause of the poor,” (Prov. 29:7) and ” the cause of the poor and needy.” (Prov. 31:8), Proverbs 31:8-9 enjoins us, “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
The Bible thus measures the justice of a country by its protection of the weak. Not only the condition of the wealthy or the ruling class, but also the condition of the simple citizens is to be considered. Not only the condition of the State Church is significant , but also the condition of the smaller Christian groups. Not only the condition of the judges with money and power to defend their rights, is important, but also the condition of the poor, the widows and the orphans in court.
God is the Creator and the Lord of all mankind. He wishes us to treat with each other as His image and His creatures—human beings dealing with human beings, not animals with animals.
Originally published in Russian in POISK: Ezemedel'naja Vsesojuznaja Gazeta [Journal of the Russian Academy of Science]. Nr. 48 (446) 22.-28. November 1997. p. 13; reprinted in Utschitjelskaja Gazeta (Teachers Journal of Russia). No. 2 (9667) 3.1.1998. S. 21 + No. 3 (9668) 20.1.1998. p. 21 + No. 4 (9669) 3.2.1998. p. 22 . Written for the Conference of Evangelical Media People of the German Evangelical Alliance.
Thomas Schirrmacher holds doctorates in Missiology (1985), in Cultural Anthropology (1989) and in Ethics (1996), Honorary doctorate 1997. He is professor of Ethics, Missiology and Comparative Religion at theological seminaries in Germany, USA and South Africa and is the President of the Martin Bucer Seminar in Bonn. He is member of the Religious Freedom Commission of the German Ecvangelical Aliance and the World Evangelical Alliance.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Journal Main Page Back to Journal Index Page | <urn:uuid:880e3b5a-3e44-4f94-b970-0cd6ea80f001> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phc.edu/gj_schirrmacherv3n2.php | 2013-06-20T02:38:26Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710115542/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131515-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953202 | 5,011 |
Washington, DC — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month released its new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which call for a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week for adults. That equates to about 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. The guidelines recommend that children get an hour or more of physical activity a day.
Physical activity benefits children and adolescents, young and middle-aged adults, older adults, and those in every studied racial and ethnic group, the report said.
Jan Rubins, the owner and general manager of LifeCenter Plus, a for-profit club in Hudson, OH, says the release of the guidelines is a positive step for the fitness industry.
“It's about time,” Rubins says. “People in the industry have known about the benefits of exercise for years. I sort of liken this to the Surgeon General report that came out a number of years back that said the lack of exercise is detrimental to your health.”
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans are based on the first thorough review of scientific research about physical activity and health in more than a decade. A 13-member advisory committee appointed in April 2007 by Secretary Michael Leavitt reviewed research and produced an extensive report.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association voiced their support of the guidelines. The organizations, which jointly published physical activity recommendations last year, say the guidelines effectively support each other and are all based on the most relevant science that links physical activity to improved health and wellness.
The report also recommends that children and adolescents get one hour or more of moderate or vigorous aerobic physical activity a day, including vigorous physical activity at least three days a week. Moderate intensity activities include skateboarding, bicycle riding and brisk walking. Vigorous intensity activities include jumping rope, running and sports.
Children and teens should incorporate muscle-strengthening activities, such as rope climbing and sit-ups, three days a week, according to the report. Bone-strengthening activities, such as jumping rope, running and skipping, are recommended three days a week.
Rubins says the fitness industry has to be active in helping people follow the HHS guidelines, and once they do, they will likely be more interested in joining a health club.
“The guidelines they put out are just words,” Rubins says. “If there's no action followed, it's not going to go anywhere. I think the fitness industry is the one that's going to have to take the lead in this. There may be other organizations that have a vested interest in it. No one has a more vested interest in this than the health and fitness industry.”
“This isn't just a prelude to a gym membership because you can be active anywhere,” Rubins adds. “But we hope that as people get fitter and see the benefits of it, then they're going to drive themselves into a club scenario where they can be more challenged in their workouts, get more professional guidance and interact in a social area.” | <urn:uuid:f20fe584-cd75-4994-ab82-bbce0aee4c59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clubindustry.com/print/studies/government_physical_activity_guidelines_1108 | 2013-05-25T13:01:42Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964259 | 643 |
Passwords establish the identity of a user, and they are an essential component of modern information technology. In this article, I describe one-time passwords: passwords that you use once and then never again. Because they’re used only once, you don’t have to remember them. I describe how to implement one-time passwords with a Texas Instruments (TI) eZ430-Chronos wireless development tool in a watch and how to use them to log in to existing web services such as Google Gmail (see Photo 1).
Photo 1—The Texas Instruments eZ430 Chronos watch displays a unique code that enables logging into Google Gmail. The code is derived from the current time and a secret value embedded in the watch.
To help me get around on the Internet, I use a list of about 80 passwords (at the latest count). Almost any online service I use requires a password: reading e-mail, banking, shopping, checking reservations, and so on. Many of these Internet-based services have Draconian password rules. For example, some sites require a password of at least eight characters with at least two capitals or numbers and two punctuation characters. The sheer number of passwords, and their complexity, makes it impossible to remember all of them.
What are the alternatives? There are three different ways of verifying the identity of a remote user. The most prevailing one, the password, tests something that a user knows. A second method tests something that the user has, such as a secure token. Finally, we can make use of biometrics, testing a unique user property, such as a fingerprint or an eye iris pattern.
Each of these three methods comes with advantages and disadvantages. The first method (passwords) is inexpensive, but it relies on the user’s memory. The second method (secure token) replaces the password with a small amount of embedded hardware. To help the user to log on, the token provides a unique code. Since it’s possible for a secure token to get lost, it must be possible to revoke the token. The third method (biometrics) requires the user to enroll a biometric, such as a fingerprint. Upon login, the user’s fingerprint is measured again and tested against the enrolled fingerprint. The enrollment has potential privacy issues. And, unlike a secure token, it’s not possible to revoke something that is biometric.
The one-time password design in this article belongs to the second category. A compelling motivation for this choice is that a standard, open proposal for one-time passwords is available. The Initiative for Open Authentication (OATH) is an industry consortium that works on a universal authentication mechanism for Internet users. They have developed several proposals for user authentication methods, and they have submitted these to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). I’ll be relying on these proposals to demonstrate one-time passwords using a eZ430-Chronos watch. The eZ430-Chronos watch, which I’ll be using as a secure token, is a wearable embedded development platform with a 16-bit Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller.
ONE-TIME PASSWORD LOGON
Figure 1 demonstrates how one-time passwords work. Let’s assume a user—let’s call him Frank—is about to log on to a server. Frank will generate a one-time password using two pieces of information: a secret value unique to Frank and a counter value that increments after each authentication. The secret, as well as the counter, is stored in a secure token. To transform the counter and the secret into a one-time password, a cryptographic hash algorithm is used. Meanwhile, the server will generate the one-time password it is expecting to see from Frank. The server has a user table that keeps track of Frank’s secret and his counter value. When both the server and Frank obtain the same output, the server will authenticate Frank. Because Frank will use each password only once, it’s not a problem if an attacker intercepts the communication between Frank and the server.
Figure 1—A one-time password is formed by passing the value of a personal secret and a counter through a cryptographic hash (1). The server obtains Frank’s secret and counter value from a user table and generates the same one-time password (2). The two passwords must match to authenticate Frank (3). After each authentication, Frank’s counter is incremented, ensuring a different password the next time (4).
After each logon attempt, Frank will update his copy of the counter in the secure token. The server, however, will only update Frank’s counter in the user table when the logon was successful. This will intercept false logon attempts. Of course, it is possible that Frank’s counter value in the secure token gets out of sync with Frank’s counter value in the server. To adjust for that possibility, the server will use a synchronization algorithm. The server will attempt a window of counter values before rejecting Frank’s logon. The window chosen should be small (i.e., five). It should only cover for the occasional failed logon performed by Frank. As an alternate mechanism to counter synchronization, Frank could also send the value of his counter directly to the server. This is safe because of the properties of a cryptographic hash: the secret value cannot be computed from the one-time password, even if one knows the counter value.
You see that, similar to the classic password, the one-time password scheme still relies on a shared secret between Frank and the server. However, the shared secret is not communicated directly from the user to the server, it is only tested indirectly through the use of a cryptographic hash. The security of a one-time password therefore stands or falls with the security of the cryptographic hash, so it’s worthwhile to look further into this operation.
A cryptographic hash is a one-way function that calculates a fixed-length output, called the digest, from an arbitrary-length input, called the message. The one-way property means that, given the message, it’s easy to calculate the digest. But, given the digest, one cannot find back the message.
The one-way property of a good cryptographic hash implies that no information is leaked from the message into the digest. For example, a small change in the input message may cause a large and seemingly random change in the digest. For the one-time password system, this property is important. It ensures that each one-time password will look very different from one authentication to the next.
The one-time password algorithm makes use of the SHA-1 cryptographic hash algorithm. This algorithm produces a digest of 160 bits. By today’s Internet standards, SHA-1 is considered old. It was developed by Ronald L. Rivest and published as a standard in 1995.
Is SHA-1 still adequate to create one-time passwords? Let’s consider the problem that an attacker must solve to break the one-time password system. Assume an attacker knows the SHA-1 digest of Frank’s last logon attempt. The attacker could now try to find a message that matches the observed digest. Indeed, knowing the message implies knowing a value of Frank’s secret and the counter. Such an attack is called a pre-image attack.
Fortunately, for SHA-1, there are no known (published) pre-image attacks that are more efficient than brute force trying all possible messages. It’s easy to see that this requires an astronomical number of messages values. For a 160-bit digest, the attacker can expect to test on the order of 2160 messages. Therefore it’s reasonable to conclude that SHA-1 is adequate for the one-time password algorithm. Note, however, that this does not imply that SHA-1 is adequate for any application. In another attack model, cryptographers worry about collisions, the possibility of an attacker finding a pair of messages that generate the same digest. For such attacks on SHA-1, significant progress has been made in recent years.
The one-time password scheme in Figure 1 combines two inputs into a single digest: a secret key and a counter value. To combine a static, secret key with a variable message, cryptographers use a keyed hash. The digest of a keyed hash is called a message authentication code (MAC). It can be used to verify the identity of the message sender.
Figure 2 shows how SHA-1 is used in a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) construction. SHA-1 is applied twice. The first SHA-1 input is a combination of the secret key and the input message. The resulting digest is combined again with the secret key, and SHA-1 is then used to compute the final MAC. Each time, the secret key is mapped into a block of 512 bits. The first time, it is XORed with a constant array of 64 copies of the value 0×36. The second time, it is XORed with a constant array of 64 copies of the value 0x5C.
Figure 2—The SHA-1 algorithm on the left is a one-way function that transforms an arbitrary-length message into a 160-bit fixed digest. The Hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) on the right uses SHA-1 to combine a secret value with an arbitrary-length message to produce a 160-bit message authentication code (MAC).
THE HOTP ALGORITHM
With the HMAC construction, the one-time password algorithm can now be implemented. In fact, the HMAC can almost be used as is. The problem with using the MAC itself as the one-time password is that it contains too many bits. The secure token used by Frank does not directly communicate with the server. Rather, it shows a one-time password Frank needs to type in. A 160-bit number requires 48 decimal digits, which is far too long for a human.
OATH has proposed the Hash-based one-time password (HOTP) algorithm. HOTP uses a key (K) and a counter (C). The output of HOTP is a six-digit, one-time password called the HOTP value. It is obtained as follows. First, compute a 160-bit HMAC value using K and C. Store this result in an array of 20 bytes, hmac, such that hmac contains the 8 leftmost bits of the 160-bit HMAC string and hmac contains the 8 rightmost bits. The HOTP value is then computed with a snippet of C code (see Listing 1).
Listing 1—C code used to compute the HTOP value
There is now an algorithm that will compute a six-digit code starting from a K value and a C value. HOTP is described in IETF RFC 4226. A typical HOTP implementation would use a 32-bit C and an 80-bit K.
An interesting variant of HOTP, which I will be using in my implementation, is the time-based one-time password (TOTP) algorithm. The TOTP value is computed in the same way as the HOTP value. However, the C is replaced with a timestamp value. Rather than synchronizing a C between the secure token and the server, TOTP simply relies on the time, which is the same for the server and the token. Of course, this requires the secure token to have access to a stable and synchronized time source, but for a watch, this is a requirement that is easily met.
The timestamp value chosen for TOTP is the current Unix time, divided by a factor d. The current Unix time is the number of seconds that have elapsed since midnight January 1, 1970, Coordinated Universal Time. The factor d compensates for small synchronization differences between the server and the token. For example, a value of 30 will enable a 30-s window for each one-time password. The 30-s window also gives a user sufficient time to type in the one-time password before it expires.
IMPLEMENTATION IN THE eZ430-CHRONOS WATCH
I implemented the TOTP algorithm on the eZ430-Chronos watch. This watch contains a CC430F6137 microcontroller, which has 32 KB of flash memory for programs and 4,096 bytes of RAM for data. The watch comes with a set of software applications to demonstrate its capabilities. Software for the watch can be written in C using TI’s Code Composer Studio (CCStudio) or in IAR Systems’s IAR Embedded Workbench.
The software for the eZ430-Chronos watch is structured as an event-driven system that ties activities performed by software to events such as alarms and button presses. In addition, the overall operation of the watch is driven through several modes, corresponding to a particular function executed on the watch. These modes are driven through a menu system.
Photo 2 shows the watch with its 96-segment liquid crystal display (LCD) and four buttons to control its operation. The left buttons select the mode. The watch has two independent menu systems, one to control the top line of the display and one to control the bottom line. Hence, the overall mode of the watch is determined by a combination of a menu-1 entry and a menu-2 entry.
Photo 2—With the watch in TOTP mode, one-time passwords are shown on the second line of the display. In this photo, I am using the one-time password 854410. The watch display cycles through the strings “totP,” “854,” and “410.”
Listing 2 illustrates the code relevant to the TOTP implementation. When the watch is in TOTP mode, the sx button is tied to the function set_totp(). This function initializes the TOTP timestamp value.
Listing 2—Code relevant to the TOTP implementation
The function retrieves the current time from the watch and converts it into elapsed seconds using the standard library function mktime. Two adjustments are made to the output of mktime, on line 11 and line 12. The first factor, 2208988800, takes into account that the mktime in the TI library returns the number of seconds since January 1, 1900, while the TOTP standard sets zero time at January 1, 1970. The second factor, 18000, takes into account that my watch is set to Eastern Standard Time (EST), while the TOTP standard assumes the UTC time zone—five hours ahead of EST. Finally, on line 14, the number of seconds is divided by 30 to obtain the standard TOTP timestamp. The TOTP timestamp is further updated every 30 s, through the function tick_totp().
The one-time password is calculated by compute_totp on line 33. Rather than writing a SHA1-HMAC from scratch, I ported the open-source implementation from Google Authenticator to the TI MSP 430. Lines 39 through 50 show how a six-digit TOTP code is calculated from the 160-bit digest output of the SHA1-HMAC.
The display menu function is display_totp on line 52. The function is called when the watch first enters TOTP mode and every second after that. First, the watch will recompute the one-time password code at the start of each 30-s interval. Next, the TOTP code is displayed. The six digits of the TOTP code are more than can be shown on the bottom line of the watch. Therefore, the watch will cycle between showing “totP,” the first three digits of the one-time password, and the next three digits of the one-time password. The transitions each take 1 s, which is sufficient for a user to read all digits.
There is one element missing to display TOTP codes: I did not explain how the unique secret value is loaded into the watch. I use Google Authenticator to generate this secret value and to maintain a copy of it on Google’s servers so that I can use it to log on with TOTP.
LOGGING ONTO GMAIL
Google Authenticator is an implementation of TOTP developed by Google. It provides an implementation for Android, Blackberry, and IOS so you can use a smartphone as a secure token. In addition, it also enables you to extend your login procedure with a one-time password. You cannot replace your standard password with a one-time password, but you can enable both at the same time. Such a solution is called a two-factor authentication procedure. You need to provide a password and a one-time password to complete the login.
As part of setting up the two-factor authentication with Google (through Account Settings – Using Two-Step Verification), you will receive a secret key. The secret key is presented as a 16-character string made up of a 32-character alphabet. The alphabet consists of the letters A through Z and the digits 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. This clever choice avoids numbers that can confused with letters (8 and B, for example). The 16-character string thus represents an 80-bit key.
I program this string in the TOTP design for the eZ430-Chronos watch to initialize the secret. In the current implementation, the key is loaded in the function reset_totp().
base32_decode((const u8 *)
”4RGXVQI7YVY4LBPC”, stotp.key, 16);
Of course, entering the key as a constant string in the firmware is an obvious vulnerability. An attacker who has access to a copy of the firmware also has the secret key used by the TOTP implementation! It’s possible to protect or obfuscate the key from the watch firmware, but these techniques are beyond the scope of this article. Once the key is programmed into the watch and the time is correctly set, you can display TOTP codes that help you complete the logon process of Google. Photo 1 shows a demonstration of logging onto Google’s two-step verification with a one-time password.
OTHER USES OF TOTP
There are other possibilities for one-time passwords. If you are using Linux as your host PC, you can install the OATH Toolkit, which implements the HOTP and TOTP mechanisms for logon. This toolkit enables you to install authentication modules on your PC that can replace the normal login passwords. This enables you to effectively replace the password you need to remember with a password generated from your watch.
Incidentally, several recent articles—which I have included in the resources section of this article—point to the limits of conventional passwords. New technologies, including one-time passwords and biometrics, provide an interesting alternative. With standards such as those from OATH around the corner, the future may become more secure and user-friendly at the same time.
[Editor's note: This article originally appeared in Circuit Cellar 262, May 2012.]
Patrick Schaumont writes the Embedded Security column for Circuit Cellar magazine. He is an Associate Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. Patrick works with his students on research projects in embedded security, covering hardware, firmware, and software.
To download the code, go to ftp://ftp.circuitcellar.com/pub/Circuit_Cellar/2012/262.
Google Authenticator, http://code.google.com/p/google-authenticator.
Initiative for Open Authentication (OATH), www.openauthentication.org.
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), www.ietf.org.
D. M’Raihi, et al, “TOTP: Time-Based One-Time Password Algorithm,” IETF RFC 6238, 2011.
—, “HOTP: An HMAC-Based One-Time Password Algorithm,” IETF RFC 4226, 2005.
OATH Toolkit, www.nongnu.org/oath-toolkit.
K. Schaffer, “Are Password Requirements Too Difficult?,” IEEE Computer Magazine, 2011.
S. Sengupta, “Logging in With a Touch or a Phrase (Anything but a Password),” New York Times, 2011.
IAR Embedded Workbench – IAR Systems
eZ430-Chronos Wireless development system and Code Composer Studio (CCStudio) IDE – Texas Instruments, Inc. | <urn:uuid:e3b6e0e1-b905-4eee-9885-a472147247ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://circuitcellar.com/tag/security/ | 2013-05-26T03:01:58Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895072 | 4,336 |
Missoula Measures - American Indians
Why this topic?
The largest minority population in Missoula County is American Indians: they are a very diverse mix, representing populations originating from Alaska to the Southwest. Their tribes are culturally distinct and sometimes have little in common with each other. Most Missoula Indians are from Montana tribes and many split their time between their reservation and Missoula.
There are roughly 2 million American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the United States. Although their population is a minority, they are greatly over-represented in the child welfare system, suffer disproportionately from a variety of health problems and are among the poorest people in the United States. They fare worse than the average Missoulian regarding income, education level, housing, and employment, and they have a higher than average rate of some chronic diseases associated with overweight, tobacco use and alcoholism.
American Indian people play a significant role in Montana and Missoula with two major reservations near by, and a long history in the area.
For most tribes, their remotely placed homes and communities frequently stifle viable economic activity:
On the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana the annual unemployment rate is 69 percent. The national unemployment rate at the very peak of the Great Depression was around 25 percent.
Counties on Native American reservations are among the poorest in the country. . . nearly 60 percent of all Native Americans who live outside of metropolitan areas inhabit persistently poor counties.
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: Native American Poverty, Tom Rogers - President of Carlyle Consulting of Alexandria, Virginia, a Blackfoot tribal member, previously a congressional staffer for Senator Max Baucus.
Spotlight on Poverty;
National Center for Education Statistics, 1994;
CDC - Adolescent Reproductive Health.
POVERTY RATES IN MONTANA COUNTIES
Between 2006-2011, the average county poverty rate in Montana was 14.5%:
- 12 counties (26%) had a poverty rate below 14%
- 22 counties (39%) had a poverty rate between 14 - 20%
- 8 counties (14%) had a poverty rate over 20%
- Of those 8 counties with a poverty rate over 20%, 6 of them (75%) include a major Indian Reservation. (There are 7 major Indian Reservations in Montana.)
Although the census found 2.2% of Missoula County population to be American Indian, or Alaskan Native, the Missoula Indian Center has estimated that 5–6% is more realistic. Many people move in and out of Missoula in the course of a year. (Between 1999 and 2009, 4% of students at the University of Montana were American Indian, for both undergraduate and graduate programs.)
Native American percent of the population, US Census, 2005-2009:
- US - 0.8%
MT - 6.2% Missoula - 2.2%
The Flathead Indian Reservation is home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes. They are a combination of the Salish, the Pend d'Oreille and the Kootenai. Of the approximately 6,950 enrolled tribal members, about 4,500 live on or near the reservation. The reservation comprises over 1.2 million acres between Missoula and Kalispell.
The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is home to the Blackfeet tribe. Of the approximately 14,000 enrolled tribal members, there are about 7,000 living on or near the reservation. The Blackfeet Reservation is in northwestern Montana along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Its 1.5 million acres are bordered on the north by Canada and on the west by Glacier National Park.
RANK OF LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH
|Native Americans||CAUSE||MT General Population|
|2||Cancer of all types||2|
National Vital Statistics Report and Montana Vital Statistics, 2006
Alcohol abuse, tobacco use and obesity are major risk factors for all Americans. However, it seems that Indian populations are at higher risk.
Alcohol abuse in any population not only contributes to liver disease, but also contributes to high rates of motor vehicle crashes, suicide, homicide, domestic abuse, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
The increase in obesity among all Americans, as well as Indians, has paralleled the increase in diabetes, which is 230% higher for Indians than for the general population. Obesity is also linked to high blood pressure, stroke, coronary heart disease, and some types of cancer.
To be effective in meeting the needs of Indian populations, it is important to recognize and incorporate their traditions, culture, and values into community health care programs.
In 2008, about 84% of all Americans had health insurance coverage. Only about 68% of Native Americans had health insurance. That can probably be attributed to the higher rate of unemployment of Native Americans, especially those living on a reservation.
- American Indian & Alaska Native (AI/AN) Populations
- American Indian Health
- Diabetes Prevalence Among American Indians and Alaska Natives and the Overall Population --- United States, 1994--2002
- Health Disparities Experienced by American Indians and Alaska Natives
- Injury Mortality Among American Indian and Alaska Native Children and Youth --- United States, 1989--1998
- Surveillance for Health Behaviors of American Indians and Alaska Natives Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1997-2000 | <urn:uuid:f82f077b-79df-42ac-8673-1903f8af1f97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/measures/Social/amindian.htm | 2013-05-23T19:27:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703728865/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112848-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930797 | 1,113 |
Related BLS programs | Related articles
June 1994, Vol. 117, No. 6
Randy E. Ilg
T he number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate are among the most visible and politically sensitive economic statistics. But while these aggregate measures certainly are important, policies undertaken to lessen the extent of unemployment, or its impact after the fact, must be based on a detailed knowledge of the makeup of the jobseeking population. For example, joblessness among teenagers can be quite different, in both cause and effect, from the joblessness among adult men and women with families. Similarly, policy implications of short-term unemployment, such as that which occurs for seasonal reasons or because of temporary fluctuations in product demand, are much different from those associated with long-term unemployment stemming from chronic deficiencies in demand or from structural problems.
In recent years, the amount of time that persons go jobless has been a critical aspect of the discussion regarding whether, and for how long, extended unemployment insurance benefits might be provided for those whose normal coverage has expired. This brief analysis focuses on the extent of long-term unemployment associated with the 1990-91 recession and its aftermath, and compares it with conditions related to other major recessions of the past two decades. (The minor recession that occurred in 1980 is not addressed separately here.)
Data on the long-term unemployed-those jobless 27 weeks and longer (or more than 6 months)-suggest similarities among the last three major recessions, but also indicate some differences.1 In each case, the incidence of long-term unemployment continued to increase following the official end of the recession.2 Levels peaked and began to improve slightly more than a half year after the official end of the 1973-75 and 1981-82 recessions, but were much slower to peak following the 1990-91 recession, as were other major labor market indicators.3
This excerpt is from an article published in the June 1994 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
Read abstract Download full text in PDF (242K)
1 The source of these data is the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of nearly 60,000 households, conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
2 The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private research organization, determines the official starting and ending dates of recessions by examining changes in many economic indicators, including-but not limited to-employment and unemployment.
3 See Jennifer Gardner, "The 1990-91 recession: how bad was the labor market?" on pp. 3-11 of this issue, for additional information on the most recent downturn.
Within Monthly Labor Review Online:
Welcome | Current Issue | Index | Subscribe | Archives
Exit Monthly Labor Review Online:
BLS Home | Publications & Research Papers | <urn:uuid:8928b78d-c4af-4168-b8c8-193cabef806c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1994/06/art2exc.htm | 2013-05-25T19:36:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937968 | 593 |
“Creationists will have a field day with this one,” writes one blogger on the news. Bingo.
Actually, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, even if simply because scientists have known about the appendix’s function for some time now. Creationists—whose research was not clouded by evolutionary presuppositions—had an easier time documenting the appendix’s importance, such as in a paper from 1988. News to Note reported on determinations of the appendix’s function as well, in October 2007 and June 2008. (We touched on the topic two weeks ago when reporting on discoveries of the spleen’s functions.)
The latest news is of further research by some of the same scientists who had previously cast light on the appendix’s function. In a twist, those scientists have used evolution-based approaches to show that the appendix isn’t a vestigial by-product of evolution.
Specifically, the scientists examined existing beliefs about evolutionary relationships to determine that the appendix “has been around for at least 80 million years, much longer than we would estimate if Darwin’s ideas about the appendix were correct.” Those are the words of the study’s senior author William Parker, an assistant professor of surgical sciences at Duke University.
Charles Darwin first suggested that the appendix was an evolutionary dead-end that lingered, unused, in humans. Yet as Parker explained, “We find that more than seventy percent of all primate and rodent groups contain species with an appendix”—contrary to Darwin’s idea that only a few creatures had appendices.
Furthermore, according to the new study, the appendix has evolved “at least twice”—separately in Australian marsupials, rodents, and some primates (and humans). This again counters Darwin’s idea of the appendix as a useless dead-end. And as we’ve pointed out before, such “convergent evolution”—similar organs and anatomical features in otherwise isolated biological groups—makes much more sense as evidence of a common designer.
“Darwin simply didn’t have access to the information we have,” Parker said, adding, “Maybe it’s time to correct the textbooks. Many biology texts today still refer to the appendix as a ‘vestigial organ.’” To that, we can heartily agree. For decades scientists have started understanding the functions of the appendix, functions that should immediately put to rest “vestigial” claims. And while both creationists and evolutionists maintain their explanations for the origin of organs, each biological function discovered adds to the design evolutionists must explain and subtracts from the shrinking list of “vestigial evidence” evolutionists like to tout.
(As for the blogger mentioned above, he defends Darwin on his appendix mistake, writing, “[S]omehow, his theory that animals evolved from common ancestors is stronger and more confirmed than ever,” then he refers to us as “the same brain trust that advocates the laughable idea that all animals—including dinosaurs—were created by their god 6,000 years ago.” So much for substantive discussion.)
A recently discovered exoplanet may have been found just in the nick of time—in time for us to witness its demise, that is.
We’ve reported previously on WASP-12b and WASP-17b, two of the nearly twenty planets discovered by the UK SuperWASP team. (“WASP” stands for “wide-angle search for planets.”) But it’s planet WASP-18b that made headlines this week.
The newly discovered WASP-18b belongs to a class of exoplanets known colloquially as “hot Jupiters”—extremely large planets (WASP-18b is ten times the mass of Jupiter) that orbit extremely close to their stars. WASP-18b is so close to its star that it takes only 94 percent of an Earth day to complete an orbit. (By contrast, Mercury’s relatively short orbital period is nearly 88 Earth days.)
Because of the gravitational pull the star exerts, astrophysicists believe WASP-18b is on a collision course with the star it orbits. But that raises a question: how is it that we found the planet so close to its demise? As LiveScience’s Andrea Thompson puts it, “While planets spend most of their lives sort of growing up, they perish in a cosmic blink of the eye. And so there is only a small time window where a planet would be in this position of impending demise—it would be statistically more likely to have found it much earlier in its lifetime, or after its destruction (which means it wouldn’t have been seen at all).”
University of Maryland–College Park astronomer Douglas Hamilton said the same: “Either the odds of finding it are really small, and we just got lucky”—or astrophysicists are misunderstanding the full nature of the gravitational interactions between planets and stars. However, that understanding is partially based on evolutionary models of the origin of solar systems. Also, billions-of-years dogma dictates that a “cosmic blink of the eye” may actually be thousands or millions of years.
Regardless, astronomers are eager to keep a close eye on WASP-18b for changes in its orbit. It could be that astrophysicists are mistaken and that we don’t fully understand the true nature of physical forces in orbital contexts. Or it could be that WASP-18b is indeed on a collision course, perhaps heading toward impact even sooner than scientists guess. If that is the case, we will again have to revisit the issue of whether it was merely a one-in-a-2,000 chance (as The Independent reported) that we observed the planet so near its demise, or whether perhaps evolutionary timetables fail to predict the actual speed of events in the universe.
It sounds like an April Fools’ Day joke that came months too late: a Canadian scientist declares he will “flip some levers” and develop a dinosaur out of a chicken embryo.
The scientist is Hans Larsson, an evolutionary researcher at McGill University. Though Larsson has previously focused on paleontology—finding dinosaur and other animal fossils—he was influenced by fellow paleontologist Jack Horner, author of the book How to Build A Dinosaur. In the book, Horner—a technical advisor on the Jurassic Park series of films—proposes the embryonic experiment as a way to make a “chickenosaurus.”
Larsson calls the project—which is funded by Canadian taxpayers and the National Geographic Society—“a demonstration of evolution.” Although the team does not currently have plans to actually hatch any “chickenosaurus” embryos, that could change.
“If I can demonstrate clearly that the potential for dinosaur anatomical development exists in birds, then it again proves that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs,” explained Larsson, who told AFP it would only require “flipping certain genetic levers” (as the report puts it) to reproduce dinosaur anatomy.
The project sounds far more complicated than Larsson seems to suggest, and it will yet be seen what success the team has. But even if the team can, someday, on some level, create a purportedly dinosaurian embryo from a chicken embryo, will it prove dinosaur-to-bird evolution?
Consider this analogy: a robotics company produces a full line of robots for industrial uses. The various families of robots—each suited for a different purpose—were designed separately. However, they all share a few of the same elements that the designers re-used for the sake of efficiency. For instance, most are made of the same materials, use very similar servomechanisms, and have the same type of battery. Their internal computers use software programmed in the same language with many similar routines and subroutines.
Suppose that, for whatever reason, a malicious gang of engineers raided one of the robotics firm’s factories that was producing a certain family of robots. The gang then used their knowledge and skills to hijack the factory’s production, shifting it to a different family of robots. Such a feat would not demonstrate that the robots were developed from a single, original design—as we said, the robot families were designed separately by a common design team. The feat would only show the talent of the gang, able to transform the blueprints for one of the robot types into another. Likewise, even if Larsson’s team ever creates anything dinosaur-like, it will only show that they were able to successfully alter the genomic “blueprints” of the chicken embryo to make it more dinosaurian. That is not proof of evolution.
In related news, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute have taken another step toward creating a synthetic life-form, reports BBC News.
A team began with the genome of one type of bacteria, transferring it to a yeast cell and modifying it before inserting it into a different bacterium. The researchers have overcome a key hurdle in their project: coaxing a newly inserted genome to function properly. Under normal conditions, a bacterium has an immune system of sorts that protects it from foreign DNA—like a virus. The scientists were able to shut the system down, however, permitting the genome insertion.
Ultimately, the team hopes to create synthetic organisms that can execute specific tasks. While sometimes called “artificial life,” these organisms would actually simply have human-customized “programming.” Thus, as with creating a “chickenosaurus,” such projects remind us of the incredible design in living organisms—design on a scale that challenges our smartest engineers. Pouring years of “intelligent design” work into such projects confirms not that life is an accident, but that life was engineered by the master Designer.
Although we frequently decline to comment when individuals inveigh against creationists (especially because such comments are often redundant and misinformed), we can hardly help but respond to vocal atheist (and anti-creationist) Richard Dawkins.
Dawkins begins his strangely titled* piece with what he intends to be an analogical scenario: a teacher of Roman history and Latin whose pupils are distracted by “a baying pack of ignoramuses” who “scurry about tirelessly attempting to persuade your unfortunate pupils that the Romans never existed.”
Before we can respond, Dawkins trots out a supplementary example: Holocaust deniers. “Imagine that,” Dawkins writes, “as a teacher of European history, you are continually faced with belligerent demands to ‘teach the controversy,’ and to give ‘equal time’ to the ‘alternative theory’ that the Holocaust never happened but was invented by a bunch of Zionist fabricators.” Dawkins then makes explicit the implication of his analogy:
The plight of many science teachers today is not less dire. When they attempt to expound the central and guiding principle of biology; when they honestly place the living world in its historical context—which means evolution; when they explore and explain the very nature of life itself, they are harried and stymied, hassled and bullied, even threatened with loss of their jobs. . . . They are supplied with state-approved textbooks that have had the word “evolution” systematically expunged, or bowdlerized into “change over time.”
We of course disagree that this is an apt analogy to what’s happening to teachers of evolution today—for several reasons:
Dawkins cannot even see around his own biases. Misleadingly, he decries the spread of attacks on evolution in Europe as “partly because of American influence,” as though it were an issue of foreign policy or popular culture—instead of simply more and more people recognizing the failings of Darwinian theory.
Nonetheless, Dawkins declares, “The evidence for evolution is at least as strong as the evidence for the Holocaust, even allowing for eye witnesses to the Holocaust.” That’s why, in his new book, as he explains,
I shall be using the name “historydeniers” for those people who deny evolution: who believe the world’s age is measured in thousands of years rather than thousands of millions of years, and who believe humans walked with dinosaurs.
Next, Dawkins lists a number of (mostly Anglican and Roman Catholic) church leaders who “grudgingly in some cases, happily in others . . . accept the evidence for evolution,” as if to say there’s no legitimate contention between religion and evolution (an ironic point for Dawkins to make, given how he has previously railed against the irrationality of religion). But then he—inadvertently—makes a point for our side:
To return to the enlightened bishops and theologians, it would be nice if they’d put a bit more effort into combating the anti-scientific nonsense that they deplore. All too many preachers, while agreeing that evolution is true and Adam and Eve never existed, will then blithely go into the pulpit and make some moral or theological point about Adam and Eve in their sermons without once mentioning that, of course, Adam and Eve never actually existed! If challenged, they will protest that they intended a purely “symbolic” meaning, perhaps something to do with “original sin,” or the virtues of innocence.
Here, Dawkins makes clear the point that certain theological truths are at odds with evolution! The Christian faith rests on the doctrine of original sin; original sin requires a real Adam and Eve. Thus, if evolution undermines the reality of Adam and Eve, it also must undermine the reality of original sin!
The remainder of Dawkins’ essay is increasingly dogmatic—and fallacious. He essentially repeats (over and over again, louder and louder) that evolution is a “fact,” dressing up his language in various ways but continuing to beg the question at the heart of the debate:
Dawkins gives no scientific specifics, merely offering such comments as, “We know [evolution is true] because a rising flood of evidence supports [evolution being true].” And he rips apart a creationist straw man, lecturing the reader that “[e]volution is a theory in the same sense as the heliocentric theory.” He even sounds religious at one point (which is no surprise, since evolutionism is effectively a religious position), declaring, “Evolution is within us, around us, between us, and its workings are embedded in the rocks of aeons past.”
Near the end, Dawkins uses another analogy that we have used previously:
We are like detectives who come on the scene after a crime has been committed. The murderer’s actions have vanished into the past. The detective has no hope of witnessing the actual crime with his own eyes. What the detective does have is traces that remain, and there is a great deal to trust there. There are footprints, fingerprints (and nowadays DNA fingerprints too), bloodstains, letters, diaries. The world is the way the world should be if this and this history, but not that and that history, led up to the present.
Dawkins is right—the origin of life is a historical event, something that none of us could have directly witnessed. All of us agree on most of the facts, and those facts permit certain conclusions and not others (which conclusions are permitted and which aren’t are the subject of most creation/evolution debates). However, there is one piece of evidence we all do not agree on: God’s Word. Presumably Dawkins would accuse us of arbitrarily introducing a piece of false evidence; we accuse Dawkins, et al., of arbitrarily rejecting the most important piece of evidence. And hence the debate is as much about religion as it is about science.
Have your own thoughts on a news item? Want other News to Note readers to hear them?
When we put together News to Note each week, our goal is not only to offer our Bible-based analysis of science and other news. Just as important is encouraging readers to think biblically as well.
That’s why we’re offering a trial run of “Readers’ Voice,” an opportunity for us to share some of the best comments sent in by readers. If it’s a success, we hope to feature at least one reader comment each week.
If you would like to participate, find a current news story that you think we should cover in News to Note and that you have a pithy comment or interesting question on (fifty words or fewer, preferably). Then send the story and the comment or question to us along with your name and location, and be sure to mention it’s for “Readers’ Voice.”
Please don’t be offended if your comment isn’t selected the first week—our hope is that many readers will have thoughts they would like us and other readers to hear. If we continue to receive plenty of comments, we’ll make it a regular feature.
Remember, we’re looking for concise, thought-provoking (or even humorous) comments and questions on current news from a biblical perspective. If you have something that fits the bill, let us know!
Remember, if you see a news story that might merit some attention, let us know about it! (Note: if the story originates from the Associated Press, Fox News, MSNBC, New York Times or another major national media outlet, we will most likely have already heard about it.) And thanks to all of our readers who have submitted great news tips to us. If you didn’t catch last week’s News to Note, why not take a look at it now? See you next week!
Help keep these daily articles coming. Support AiG.
“Now that I have updated, revised, and expanded The Lie, I believe it’s an even more powerful, eyeopening book for the church—an essential resource to help all of us to understand the great delusion that permeates our world! The message of The Lie IS the message of AiG and why we even exist! It IS the message God has laid on our hearts to bring before the church! It IS a vital message for our time.”
– Ken Ham, president and founder of AiG–U.S.
Answers magazine is the Bible-affirming, creation-based magazine from Answers in Genesis. In it you will find fascinating content and stunning photographs that present creation and worldview articles along with relevant cultural topics. Each quarterly issue includes a detachable chart, a pullout children’s magazine, a unique animal highlight, excellent layman and semi-technical articles, plus bonus content. Why wait? Subscribe today and get a FREE DVD download! | <urn:uuid:95f5976a-7048-45df-bf01-e4b28b492bd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/08/29/news-to-note-08292009 | 2013-05-22T14:18:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948994 | 3,998 |
A team of anthropologists that studied chimpanzees trained to use treadmills has gathered new evidence suggesting that our earliest apelike ancestors started walking on two legs because it required less energy than getting around on all fours.
"When our earliest ancestors started walking on two legs, they took the first steps toward becoming human," said lead researcher Michael Sockol of UC Davis. "Our findings help answer why."
The research appears this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It will appear in the July 24 print edition.
"This is the first time anyone has succeeded in studying energetics and biomechanics in adult chimps," said Sockol, who worked for two years to find an animal trainer willing to coax adult chimps to walk on two legs and to "knucklewalk" on all fours on the sort of treadmill found in most gyms. The five chimps also wore face masks used to help the researchers measure oxygen consumption.
While the chimps worked out, the scientists collected metabolic, kinematic and kinetic data that allowed them to calculate which method of locomotion used less energy and why. The team gathered the same information for four adult humans walking on a treadmill.
The researchers found that human walking used about 75 percent less energy and burned 75 percent fewer calories than quadrupedal and bipedal walking in chimpanzees. They also found that for some but not all of the chimps, walking on two legs was no more costly than knucklewalking.
"We were prepared to find that all of the chimps used more energy walking on two legs -- but that finding wouldn't have been as interesting," Sockol said. "What we found was much more telling. For three chimps, bipedalism was more expensive, but for the other two chimps, this wasn't the case. One expended about the same energy walking on two legs as on four. The other used less energy walking upright."
These two chimps had different gaits and anatomy than their knucklewalking peers. And when the researchers examined the early hominid fossil record, they found evidence of these traits – skeletal characteristics of the hip and hind limb that allow for greater extension of the hind limb -- in some early bipeds.
Taken together, the findings provide support for the hypothesis that anatomical differences affecting gait existed among our earliest apelike ancestors, and that these differences provided the genetic variation natural selection could act on when changes in the environment gave bipeds an advantage over quadrupeds.
Fossil and molecular evidence suggests the earliest ancestors of the human family lived in forested areas in equatorial Africa in the late Miocene era some 8 to 10 million years ago, when changes in climate may have increased the distance between food patches. That would have forced early hominids to travel longer distances on the ground and favored those who could cover more ground using less energy.
"This isn't the complete answer," Sockol said. "But it's a good piece of a puzzle humans have always wondered about: How and why did we become human? And why do we alone walk on two legs?"
Sockol, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, has been pursuing his research for four years as part of his dissertation. He conducted the research at UC Davis and at a private animal refuge and training facility in Northern California with colleagues Herman Pontzer of Washington University in St. Louis and David Raichlen of the University of Arizona.
Source: UC Davis
Explore further: Navy dolphins discover rare old torpedo off Calif. coast near Coronado | <urn:uuid:d462b90b-a34f-474c-b896-47d3e95aca26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news104162325.html | 2013-05-24T22:36:24Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964639 | 738 |
Introduction to Motion Estimation and Compensation
Successive video frames may contain the same objects (still or moving). Motion estimation examines the movement of objects in an image sequence to try to obtain vectors representing the estimated motion. Motion compensation uses the knowledge of object motion so obtained to achieve data compression. In interframe coding, motion estimation and compensation have become powerful techniques to eliminate the temporal redundancy due to high correlation between consecutive frames.
In real video scenes, motion can be a complex combination of translation and rotation. Such motion is difficult to estimate and may require large amounts of processing. However, translational motion is easily estimated and has been used successfully for motion compensated coding.
Most of the motion estimation algorithms make the following assumptions:
There are two mainstream techniques of motion estimation: pel-recursive algorithm (PRA) and block-matching algorithm (BMA). PRAs are iterative refining of motion estimation for individual pels by gradient methods. BMAs assume that all the pels within a block has the same motion activity. BMAs estimate motion on the basis of rectangular blocks and produce one motion vector for each block. PRAs involve more computational complexity and less regularity, so they are difficult to realize in hardware. In general, BMAs are more suitable for a simple hardware realization because of their regularity and simplicity.
Figure 1.1 illustrates a process of block-matching algorithm. In a typical BMA, each frame is divided into blocks, each of which consists of luminance and chrominance blocks. Usually, for coding efficiency, motion estimation is performed only on the luminance block. Each luminance block in the present frame is matched against candidate blocks in a search area on the reference frame. These candidate blocks are just the displaced versions of original block. The best (lowest distortion, i.e., most matched) candidate block is found and its displacement (motion vector) is recorded. In a typical interframe coder, the input frame is subtracted from the prediction of the reference frame. Consequently the motion vector and the resulting error can be transmitted instead of the original luminance block; thus interframe redundancy is removed and data compression is achieved. At receiver end, the decoder builds the frame difference signal from the received data and adds it to the reconstructed reference frames. The summation gives an exact replica of the current frame. The better the prediction the smaller the error signal and hence the transmission bit rate. | <urn:uuid:4a2711e7-c836-4e46-bf6e-d1b1c264f5be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cmlab.csie.ntu.edu.tw/cml/dsp/training/coding/motion/me1.html | 2013-05-19T10:54:03Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697420704/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094340-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9092 | 493 |
The bicentennial of the War of 1812 approaches. This guest post from Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Art, of the Prints and Photograph Division at the Library of Congress, looks at images related to that war.
The War of 1812 might be best known for inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, but students might also recall that, during the war, British soldiers burned both the White House and the United States Capitol building.
On June 18, 1812, in reaction to British interference in American international commerce, the United States declared war on Great Britain. The War of 1812 lasted more than two and a half years, from 1812 to 1815.
Initially the United States, three and a half decades old, did well. That changed in 1814, when Great Britain used its well-honed military, which had recently secured victory in the Napoleonic Wars, to attack the United States with a vengeance and imposed an economic blockade. British general Robert Ross led his troops into Washington with strict orders to burn only public buildings. Reinvigorated British troops sacked the city, burning both the Capitol and the White House on August 24, 1814.
George Munger created a watercolor, passed down through the Munger family for generations before it was purchased by the Library, of the Capitol shortly after it was burned. Noted Greek Revival architect William Strickland etched Munger’s drawings in the months after the destruction of the Capitol and White House.
Two weeks later British troops entered the Port of Baltimore. Francis Scott Key immortalized the American victory at the Battle of Baltimore when he penned the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner. On September 14, 1814, British ships left Baltimore Harbor, defeated.
The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, did not signify victory, but a return to the pre-war status quo. The final battle of the War of 1812 occurred a few weeks later in New Orleans.
Teachers may ask students to:
- Compare the Munger drawing to the Strickland print. Observe the details each artist chose to include and form a hypothesis about which came first. What clues in the two images support the hypothesis? Check the bibliographic record for each item for additional information.
- Use this map to trace the route taken by the troops of British general Robert Ross. What other public buildings might have been burned?
- Compare the two historical images with a current image of the Capitol. What has changed? What has stayed the same?
- For additional images, see The War of 1812: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress.
- For background information about the burning of Washington, D.C., read The British Are Coming.
Strickland and Munger recorded their wartime observations using the means of expression available to them at the time. How do students think people today are using technologies to record observations of current conflicts and wars that will provide evidence for future historians? | <urn:uuid:fcfcd494-d8f2-49e0-8c8c-fa35540968f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2012/05/ | 2013-06-18T04:33:41Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706933615/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122213-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951761 | 626 |
Zoo will release last of its rabbits into Washington wildlife area July 19
The Oregon Zoo's 12-year effort to save the endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit will draw to a close on Thursday, July 19, when the zoo releases its last 14 breeding rabbits and their offspring at the Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area in eastern Washington.
"We've helped give these rabbits a chance for survival, and now it's time to send them off into the world," said Michael Illig, Oregon Zoo animal curator. "Our hope is that they'll continue to breed and establish a stable population at Sagebrush Flat. A strong pygmy rabbit population there will keep the local community involved and help preserve the habitat."
The recovery program ends on a high note for these federally endangered bunnies. Nearly 30 kits were born under the Oregon Zoo's watch this year. The rabbits, currently housed at the zoo's Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation in rural Clackamas County, are headed for a six-acre transitional enclosure at Sagebrush Flat that will acclimate the animals to their surroundings, encourage breeding and protect them from predators. Rabbits recently released from the enclosure have been tracked and are successfully living in the area – a good indication for future population growth, according to Illig.
The pygmy rabbit is America's smallest native rabbit, weighing less than one pound when fully grown, and is the country's only burrow-digging and sagebrush-climbing rabbit. The shy species is dependent on sagebrush, which makes up the majority of its diet and grows in deep, loose soil, where the rabbits dig burrows.
Although there are pygmy rabbits in other states, the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit has been separated from other populations for thousands of years and is genetically distinct. Over time, as sagebrush steppe was converted to agricultural land, the rabbits were edged out of their habitat. By 2002, only 15 Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits remained in the region.
The Oregon Zoo's involvement with pygmy rabbit breeding began in 2000 when it received four wild-caught rabbits from Idaho to see whether they could be bred in captivity. Zoo staff constructed behind-the-scenes habitats full of loose soil, with tubes to serve as hiding places for the reclusive rabbits. They also constructed nest boxes fitted with infrared video cameras to monitor the rabbits' behavior. Using video recorders, scientists studied their activity patterns exhaustively, learning subtle behavioral nuances.
In 2001, the research paid off as the Oregon Zoo became the first zoo in the world to successfully breed pygmy rabbits. Thereafter, the zoo bred Washington's endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit. With breeding protocols established, the zoo shared its research with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The protocols helped the WDFW develop its pygmy rabbit breeding facility at Washington State University in Pullman as well as the program at Northwest Trek, a Washington zoo specializing in native species.
Since then, more than 1,600 pygmy rabbits have been born among the three institutions. More than 600 of these lived long enough to receive names and many went on to breed and produce offspring. One female, named Shasta, gave birth to 67 kits and lived more than five years (average life expectancy is three years). Washington pygmy rabbits were crossed with Idaho, Nevada and Oregon rabbits to increase genetic diversity and reduce inbreeding. The last purebred Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, named Bryn, died in 2008.
In March, the zoo and its conservation partners collected 47 wild pygmy rabbits from Utah and Nevada and released most of them at Sagebrush Flat. Conservation officials hope the wild rabbits will breed with rabbits raised at the zoo. This cross-breeding will strengthen the endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit stock and increase its chance of a successful recovery.
"Pygmy rabbits are at the bottom of the food chain, and their habitat has many predators and risks," said David Shepherdson, the zoo's deputy conservation division manager. "But if they continue to breed, and if we continue to restore their habitat, we're hopeful we can give these rabbits a good chance to survive."
The pygmy rabbit reintroduction program is a collaborative effort by the Oregon Zoo and Oregon Zoo Foundation, Northwest Trek, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington State University and Portland State University.
The Oregon Zoo is a service of Metro and is dedicated to its mission of inspiring the community to create a better future for wildlife. Committed to conservation, the zoo is currently working to save endangered California condors, Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits, Oregon silverspot and Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies, Western pond turtles and Oregon spotted frogs. Other projects include studies on black rhinos, Asian elephants, polar bears and bats.
The zoo relies in part on community support through donations to the Oregon Zoo Foundation to undertake these and many other animal welfare, education and sustainability programs. The zoo is located five minutes from downtown Portland, just off Highway 26 at exit 72. The zoo is also accessible by MAX light rail line. Visitors who travel to the zoo via MAX receive $1.50 off zoo admission. Find fare and route information online or by calling TriMet Customer Service at 503-238-RIDE (7433).
General zoo admission is $10.50 (ages 12-64), $9 for seniors (65 and up), $7.50 for children (ages 3-11) and free for those 2 and younger; 25 cents of the admission price helps fund regional conservation projects through the zoo’s Future for Wildlife program. A parking fee of $4 per car is also required. Additional information is available by calling 503-226-1561.
Hova Najarian at 503-220-5714 or firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:0c13e1ef-6ad1-4c55-90aa-10f80675c496> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oregonzoo.org/node/1780/media | 2013-06-19T06:29:12Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142617/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951226 | 1,210 |
So you’ve found your puppets or made your puppets. You know that you’d like to use them with your group, but… what exactly are they going to say ? You’re not quite ready yet to launch into a full scale puppet play.
Why not begin by making an announcement or introduce someone to the children ? Your puppet can add interest or humour to a flat part of the program.
Practise your announcement using short sentences and appropriate language for the age-group of your hearers. Remember puppets need to move in the mood and the emotion of the words they are saying. Have a minimum of narration and a maximum of dialogue.
Try these ..
BEGINNINGS…. The puppet(s)
> Enter excitedly when they hear the leader mention a key word. e.g.
Leader: I know someone who is quite rude.
Puppet: Food, did I hear someone say food ??
> Enter shyly, disappearing when people call out.
> Introduce yourself.
> Ask for a riddle and give the answer ” toothpaste” to any riddle asked. It will set up an opportunity for some interesting dialogue.
> Enter looking for something, then look surprised when you find it. Look even more surprised when you notice the audience are there watching you!
> Come in complaining. you have a problem, or are looking for help.
MIDDLES… The puppet(s):
> Listen carefully to the leader and then ask dumb questions.
> Listen to one another.
> Make an announcement.
> Give directions to people to do things, look for something etc.,
> Make up a song (using a well known tune) , limerick or rap to advertise the event or person.
ENDS … The puppet(s)
> Excuse themselves to prepare for the announced event.
> Ask to be shown the direction to the toilet and excuse themselves with great embarrassment.
> Suggest that it’s time to go and look for another riddle, song, book etc..
>Suggest that it’s time to go and visit Grandma for afternoon tea or another food related activity (we all know how much puppets like to eat !).
Remember practise in front of a mirror or a friend to gain confidence with your movements and dialogue. Soon you’ll be improvising and ready for some simple scripts.
See also 20 ways to use a puppet. | <urn:uuid:6b3e64f6-2e33-4151-b149-3d01a3e64263> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://childrensministerblog.com/ | 2013-05-24T22:29:47Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936269 | 514 |
Today IBM researchers published a breakthrough technique in the journal Science that measures how long a single atom can hold information, and giving scientists the ability to record, study and "visualize" extremely fast phenomena inside these atoms.
Just as the first motion pictures conveyed movement through high-speed photography, scientists at IBM Research - Almaden are using the Scanning Tunneling Microscope like a high-speed camera to record the behavior of individual atoms at a speed about one million times faster than previously possible. IBM researchers in Zurich invented the Scanning Tunneling Microscope in 1981 and were awarded with the Nobel Prize.
For more than two decades IBM scientists have been pushing the boundaries of science using the Scanning Tunneling Microscope to understand the fundamental properties of matter at the atomic scale, with vast potential for game-changing innovation in information storage and computation.
The ability to measure nanosecond-fast phenomena opens a new realm of experiments for scientists, since they can now add the dimension of time to experiments in which extremely fast changes occur. To put this into perspective, the difference between one nanosecond and one second is about the same comparison as one second to 30 years. An immense amount of physics happens during that time that scientists previously could not see.
"This technique developed by the IBM Research team is a very important new capability for characterizing small structures and understanding what is happening at fast time scales," said Michael Crommie, University of California, Berkeley. "I am particularly excited by the possibility of generalizing it to other systems, such as photovoltaics, where a combination of high spatial and time resolution will help us to better understand various nanoscale processes important for solar energy, including light absorption and separation of charge."
In addition to allowing scientists to better understand the nanoscale phenomena in solar cells, this breakthrough could be used to study areas such as quantum computing and information storage technologies.
How it works
Since the magnetic spin of an atom changes too fast to measure directly using previously available Scanning Tunneling Microscope techniques, time-dependent behavior is recorded stroboscopically, in a manner similar to the techniques first used in creating motion pictures, or like in time lapse photography today.
Using a "pump-probe" measurement technique, a fast voltage pulse (the pump pulse) excites the atom and a subsequent weaker voltage pulse (the probe pulse) then measures the orientation of the atom's magnetism at a certain time after excitation. In essence, the time delay between the pump and the probe sets the frame time of each measurement. This delay is then varied step-by-step and the average magnetic motion is recorded in small time increments. For each time increment, the scientists repeat the alternating voltage pulses about 100,000 times, which takes less than one second.
In the experiment, iron atoms were deposited onto an insulating layer only one atom thick and supported on a copper crystal. This surface was selected to allow the atoms to be probed electrically while retaining their magnetism. The iron atoms were then positioned with atomic precision next to non-magnetic copper atoms in order to control the interaction of the iron with the local environment of nearby atoms.
The resulting structures were then measured in the presence of different magnetic fields to reveal that the speed at which they change their magnetic orientation depends sensitively on the magnetic field. This showed that the atoms relax by means of quantum mechanical tunneling of the atom?s magnetic moment, an intriguing process by which the atom?s magnetism can reverse its direction without passing through intermediate orientations. This knowledge may allow scientists to engineer the magnetic lifetime of the atoms to make them longer (to retain their magnetic state) or shorter (to switch to a new magnetic state) as needed to create future spintronic devices.
"This breakthrough allows us - for the first time - to understand how long information can be stored in an individual atom. Beyond this, the technique has great potential because it is applicable to many types of physics happening on the nanoscale," said Sebastian Loth, IBM Research. | <urn:uuid:c87cac2a-f3ae-4b86-8327-faaebeb4b6fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Print.aspx?NewsId=28449 | 2013-05-24T23:41:55Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705284037/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115444-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937853 | 830 |
Astronomers used a computer and data about the star AB Doradus to make this picture. This is what the star might look like. Can you see some starspots on AB Doradus?
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy A. Cameron, M. Jardine and K. Wood, University of St Andrews.
You may have heard of sunspots that sometimes dot the "surface" of
the nearest star, our Sun. Well, other stars have spots too. They are called starspots and are relatively
cool, dark regions on the visible "surfaces" of some stars.
formation is apparently a result of the tangling of the Sun's
magnetic fields due to the Sun's rotation.
The powerful magnetic
fields on other stars are also thought to generate starspots.
The Sun is roughly 5 billion years old and rotates once every 25 days. Most
of the stars upon which starspots have been "observed" are young and rotate rapidly. The star AB
Doradus has rotational period of just 12.4 hours (it spins nearly 50 time faster
than the Sun!) and is only 30 million years old. Another spotted star, EK Draconis,
turns once every 2.7 days and is 100 million years old.
Astronomers have even observed starspots on binary star systems (double stars). This is especially the case for
binaries which orbit very close to each other, and may result from interactions
between the two stars. The binary system VW Cephei is a remarkable case; spots
cover some 66% of the surface area of one partner and 55% of the other, and
both stars appear to have large spots at their poles.
One active red
giant star, HD 12545, has a HUGE starspot. The single spot covers
11% of the entire surface area of the giant star, which has a radius 11.4 times
the size of our Sun. This gigantic elliptical spot covers an area 10,000 times bigger than the largest
sunspots observed on the Sun.
Stars are so far away that their images, even in the largest telescopes, are
much too small for us to directly view starspots. Astronomers have to "observe" starspots indirectly? Please use the button bar at the top of the page to read more about these techniques at the Advanced level of text.
Just as the number and locations of sunspots vary over the course of the sunspot
cycle, some astronomers are beginning to study similar variations in
starspot counts and locations on certain stars.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
The Summer 2010 issue of The Earth Scientist
, available in our online store
, includes articles on rivers and snow, classroom planetariums, satellites and oceanography, hands-on astronomy, and global warming.
You might also be interested in:
Sunspots are dark, planet-sized regions that appear on the "surface" of the Sun. Sunspots are "dark" because they are colder than the areas around them. A large sunspot might have a temperature of about...more
Most of the energy we receive from the Sun is the visible (white) light emitted from the photosphere. The photosphere is one of the coolest regions of the Sun (6000 K), so only a small fraction (0.1%)...more
The Sun has a very large and very complex magnetic field. The magnetic field at an average place on the Sun is around 1 Gauss, about twice as strong as the average field on the surface of Earth (around...more
The force of magnetism causes material to point along the direction the magnetic force points. As shown in the diagram to the left, the force of magnetism is illustrated by lines, which represent the force....more
You may have heard of sunspots that sometimes dot the "surface" of the nearest star, our Sun. Well, other stars have spots too. They are called starspots and are relatively cool, dark regions on the visible...more
Astronomers use a special term to talk about the brightness of stars. The term is "magnitude". The magnitude scale was invented by the ancient Greeks around 150 B.C. The Greeks put the stars they could...more
Because of the rotation of the Earth and its orbit around the Sun, we divide the stars and constellations into two groups. Some stars and constellations never rise nor set, and they are called circumpolar....more | <urn:uuid:4da99dbe-642e-42c0-97a1-0ac522a639bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/Stars/starspots.html | 2013-06-19T19:00:38Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936155 | 940 |
A few months ago my 70-year-old father, who looks deceptively young for his age, left his doctor’s office with a simple prescription: eat more fiber—30 grams per day. My mother, the food buyer and chef of the house, asked me, despair in her voice, “How can Dad get that much fiber in a day?”
Like the average American, my father was consuming only about 14 grams of fiber per day, far below the 21 to 38 grams recommended for healthy adults. A routine test detected diverticular pockets developing in his intestine, a condition that can lead to inflammation and infection and that can be the result of inadequate fiber. But 30 grams of fiber sounds like a lot, especially when you realize that white bread has only 0.6 gram per slice. Surely, the solution is not to eat 50 slices of white bread a day.
Although adequate fiber is crucial for colon health and preventing constipation, research is now revealing even more compelling reasons to increase dietary fiber: the prevention of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and a number of cancers, including rectal, breast, prostate, laryngeal and ovarian.
The human gastrointestinal tract lacks the enzymes to digest fiber, found in structural components of plant cells. Some fibers are soluble in water, while others are not. It is the soluble fibers that have been found to offer health benefits related to cardiovascular disease and diabetes prevention. In one recent review of studies from the United States and Europe, Mark Pereira, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, found that “every time you add 10 grams of fiber, there is a 14 percent reduction for all risks [of coronary heart disease] and a 27 percent reduction in risks for coronary heart disease mortality.”
Insoluble fibers add bulk, which not only promotes a feeling of fullness (aiding in weight loss) but also increases intestinal transit time, reducing the risk of certain cancers. “Fiber found in whole grains and vegetables appears to be most important in reducing the risk of rectal cancer,” says Marty Slattery, professor of health and preventive medicine at the University of Utah. Both soluble and insoluble fibers in foods reduce the meal’s glycemic load.
After listening to the doctor, my father, who for the past 20-odd years has breakfasted on one cup of coffee and two slices of white toast smeared with butter and jam, started eating whole-grain cereals topped with nuts and fruit. It’s the first step in his fiber reform, and he and my mother, who has also benefitted from the changes, are determined to reach the goal.
Any foods high in fiber contain both the soluble and insoluble kind and are often rich in other micronutrients. Look for 3 grams or more of fiber per serving. It helps to keep a bowl filled with fresh fruit on the countertop and nuts readily available.
|Fruit juices||Whole fruits|
|White bread||Whole-grain bread|
|White pasta||Whole-wheat pasta|
|White rice||Brown rice, barley|
|Meat||Beans, lentils, whole grains|
|Meat stews||Bean chilis|
|Cream soups||Lentil soups|
|Chips, crackers||Raw vegetables, nuts|
|Cake or pie||Fresh fruit|
Depending upon your age, fiber requirements vary:
“After age 50, the typical person eats fewer calories, so they also need less fiber,” explains Joanne Lupton, Texas A&M nutrition professor who chaired the Dietary Reference Intakes panel.
Drink more than two glasses of milk a day and your chances of getting gout, an arthritis that typically attacks men, may be cut in half. Researchers suspect that the protein in dairy products may dismantle the chemicals that cause the joint inflammation.
N. Eng. J. Med 350, March 2004. | <urn:uuid:eeda8e02-ff34-466d-a50e-e9ed67a7f9de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/diabetes/the_fiber_crunch?quicktabs_1=3 | 2013-05-19T11:03:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697420704/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094340-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932491 | 822 |
Mathematically speaking, a function relates all values in a set A to values in a set B. The function , given that x is an integer, will map all elements of the set of integers into another set -- in this case the set of square integers. In Haskell functions can be specified as below in the examples, with an optional type specification that gives the compiler (and other programmers) a hint as to the use of the function.
square :: Int -> Int square x = x * x
In other words, a function has input and output, and it describes how to produce the output from its input. Functions can be applied, which just means that you give an input value as argument to the function and can then expect to receive the corresponding output value.
Haskell functions are first class entities, which means that they
- can be given names
- can be the value of some expression
- can be members of a list
- can be elements of a tuple
- can be passed as parameters to a function
- can be returned from a function as a result
(quoted from Davie's Introduction to Functional Programming Systems using Haskell.)
1.1 map example
As an example of the power of first-class functions, consider the function map:
map :: (a -> b) -> [a] -> [b] map f xs = [f x | x <- xs]
(Note this is a Higher order function.)This function takes two arguments: a function f which maps as to bs, and a list xs of as. It returns a list of bs which are the results of applying f to every member of xs. So
1.2 Composition / folding example
Haskell supports a Function composition operator:
(.) :: (b -> c) -> (a ->b) -> (a->c) (f . g) x = f (g x)
newSet = (foldr1 (.) (map insert myList)) mySet
will define newSet as mySet with the elements of myList inserted.
2 See also
- The Functions section in the Gentle Introduction. | <urn:uuid:43c3925e-13b5-46fa-b7f8-a332af24c8d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Function | 2013-05-20T03:29:36Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698222543/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095702-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.852185 | 444 |
Parent Primer: American History
You can help your child transform the study of American history from a list of names and dates into a living, breathing story that encompasses all of us and continues to be told. Local museums, historic sites, and the Internet offer rich primary source materials that breathe life into past times and places. (Primary sources are any original artifact from an era, such as firsthand accounts of events like diaries and letters, or physical objects like maps and machines. Secondary sources are historical reflections or descriptions.)
Looking at old photographs is one great way to time travel — be sure to notice the details that place the scene in a particular time, like a shopkeeper sweeping his stoop or a woman gazing from a window. Ask your child to imagine the stories behind these historical players, and then take your own photographs as part of a family time capsule project.
Early America Emerges
The human story of American history starts with Native Americans, including their culture and traditions. Students will study why early explorers, such as Christopher Columbus, ventured forth to find new trade passages and claim more land. Colonization is a popular topic, including the 13 British colonies and the Mayflower Compact, which set the laws and government for the Pilgrims before they settled.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) is sure to play a part in your child's studies. One central cause was taxation without representation. The British government demanded taxes of the colonists, but no colonist could be elected to British Parliament. A group of men, including principal author Thomas Jefferson, penned The Declaration of Independence, containing the famous line "all men are created equal." It was signed on July 4, 1776. For information about the Constitution, take a look at The Constitution: A Living Document and a historical timeline. Your student will also study The War of 1812 and the Monroe Doctrine from this era.
Starting in the early 1800s, settlers pushed west, further squeezing out indigenous Native American populations. Your child will study how The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was one example of westward expansion. The Mexican War (1846-1848) occurred due to disputes over borderlines. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave settlers a land incentive to push west.
The Civil War Era
Your child will learn about events leading up to the Civil War (1861-1865), including the secession of Southern states over disagreements about slavery and other topics. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freed slaves in regions still under Confederate control. The war extracted a large human toll, and Reconstruction was a slow and challenging process.
After the Civil War, the national economy turned away from farming and toward industry. The Industrial Revolution (1850-1900) marked a shift toward factory culture. A massive wave of immigration took place between 1870 and 1910, when some 20 million European immigrants arrived looking for work. Globally, the U.S. continued to acquire territories such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. The Spanish-American War (1898) demonstrates the aggressive stance the U.S. took at this time.
Challenge and Change in the 20th Century
As industrial countries built up and formed alliances, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand triggered one of the most destructive wars in history. World War I (1914-1918) took place between the Allies and the Central Powers. President Woodrow Wilson founded the League of Nations after the war to "promote international cooperation."
Big changes were happening on the home front too. In 1920, women were granted the right to vote after a long suffrage movement. On the economic front, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 added to more general causes to jumpstart the Great Depression, an era of intense hardship. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed a plan called the New Deal that included far-reaching programs to improve the economy.
The world again erupted in war as Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded one country after another. World War II (1939-1945) was fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. A tragic chapter of the war was the Holocaust, the organized murder of millions of Jews and other people deemed unfit by the Nazis. At the conclusion of the war, the United Nations was established to maintain peace and security with international cooperation. The Cold War emerged between democratic countries of the West and the former Soviet Union, but it was a war of differing ideas rather than bombs. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signaled the end of the Cold War.
History Keeps Happening
During the Korean War, in which North Korea invaded South Korea, the U.S. fought on the side of the South, along with 16 other countries under the United Nations, to keep the conflict from spreading. The war ended with no declared victor in 1953. The Vietnam War lasted from 1957 to 1975. The U.S. became involved in 1961 mostly based on the fear that if Vietnam fell under communist rule, the rest of Asia would too.
A widespread protest movement against the war developed in the U.S. as wave after wave of soldiers were sent to serve. Before and during this time, leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X led citizens in the continued fight for civil rights.
Modern history continues to unfold. Since 1990, the U.S. has been involved in the Persian Gulf War in reaction to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced international terrorism on its own soil when the terrorist group Al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, hijacked several jet planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Another plane destined for the White House was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania when passengers realized what was happening and thwarted the terrorist's plans. The Iraq War began on March 19, 2003 in response to President George W. Bush's belief that Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction. American troops left Iraq at the end of 2011, and the war was declared over.
Recommended Products for Your Child Ages 8-10 | <urn:uuid:1eccb281-357c-4d24-bbac-5c54b1cc2356> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/subject-refreshers/parent-primer-american-history | 2013-05-25T19:35:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953169 | 1,248 |
Gains in sow productivity are one of the most impressive areas in pork production. Currently, some units are exceeding 30 pigs weaned/sow/year (p/s/y); 28 or 29 p/s/y are no longer considered unusual.
However, with this improvement come concerns about “unintended consequences” of larger litter size, such as increased level of management to maintain pre-weaning mortality at acceptable levels, reduced performance in grow-finish, greater variability of growth, and impaired pork quality. Pork quality concerns surfaced when research showed low birth weight piglets have fewer primary muscle fibers at birth than normal birth weight piglets.
A study was undertaken at a 600-sow commercial research facility at which 98 litters were fully attended at birth to allow accurate recording of birth weight and birth order. Piglets weighing less than 1.7 lb. at birth were excluded from the study, as they were considered non-viable piglets. Standard operating procedures were followed.
In the first analysis of the data, litters were divided into three categories based on number born alive: less than 10, 10 to 13 and more than 13, resulting in mean litter sizes of 9.3, 12.9 and 15.0 (Table 1).
Table 1 shows the performance of pigs from the three litter size categories. Birth weight declined as litter size increased; however, of particular interest is the fact that the variation in birth weights (standard deviation) was similar across litter size groups. In other words, as litter size increased, birth weight declined but the variation in birth weight was unaffected. Indeed, throughout the growout period, there was no increase in body weight variation due to litter size. And, by the end of the nursery phase, there was no difference in body weight due to litter weight either.
Although the data are not shown, there was no difference in any carcass parameters, such as dressing percentage, backfat thickness, loin thickness or estimated lean yield.
A subset of 24 litters was selected for detailed carcass and pork quality analysis. Within each of the 24 litters, piglets were chosen in each of four birth weight quartiles: 1.65 to 2.64 lb., 2.75 to 3.20 lb., 3.31 to 3.75 lb., and 3.85 to 5.50 lb.
When the data were divided according to birth weight, there were differences in weights at all ages, culminating in average days to market of 159, 155, 152 and 150 days for the four increasing birth weight categories, respectively. However, there were no differences in dressing percentage, loin thickness, backfat thickness and estimated lean yield.
Similarly, there were no differences in more detailed carcass quality measurements, such as color, pH, cooler losses, fat firmness, total lean, total bone or total fat. Taste panel evaluation also found no difference in such parameters as tenderness, palatability and juiciness. There was a tendency for lower flavor desirability scores in the intermediate birth weight piglets.
Overall, these data suggest that concerns regarding increasing sow productivity leading to greater variation in growth rates or inferior eating quality of pork are unfounded.
Also of interest, we observed different results if the performance data were summarized according to litter size or by birth weight. Differences observed as a result of lower birth weight was not seen when litter size was considered.
While there is obviously a biological limit to the productive capability of the sow, current levels of performance indicate that such a limit has not yet been reached, at least in terms of animal growth performance, carcass composition or pork eating quality.Researchers: John Patience, Denise Beaulieu, Prairie Swine Centre; Jennifer Aalhaus, Lacombe Research Centre. Contact Patience by phone (306) 667-7442 or e-mail email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:66277101-f2a3-423a-ab29-16753c63de97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalhogfarmer.com/genetics-reproduction/evaluation-selection/litter-size-impact-growth-rate | 2013-05-25T12:35:29Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964164 | 801 |
The late Avraham Biran worked for several decades at the city of Dan. In addition to locating the massive city walls, the high place, and the house of David inscription, he found a pedestal or rostrum within the gate where it is thought the king would sit when he visited Dan. Here is a view of the pedestal as we see it today. Note the standing stone to the left of the podium. Click on the photo for an image large enough for use in presentations.
Prof. Carl Rasmussen has a photo showing a canopy built over the podium several years ago at Holy Land Photos. Just search for Dan, and you will also see some photos showing details of certain parts of the podium.
Balage Balogh has provided us with an illustration showing the way this area of the gate might have looked in biblical times. The illustration is based on information gleaned from the excavation at Dan. Take a look at other illustrations at Archaeology Illustrated. [At the moment this page is slow in loading. It is worth the wait.]
In several places in the Old Testament we have examples of the king sitting in the gate of a city. David sat in the gate at Jerusalem after the death of Absalom.
Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his own home. (2 Samuel 19:8 ESV)
The officials of the king of Babylon sat in the middle gate at Jerusalem.
Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. (Jeremiah 39:3 ESV)
Eli, the judge, had a seat at the gate of Shiloh.
As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. (1 Samuel 4:18 ESV)
The king of Israel and the king of Judah sat at the entrance of the gate of Samaria.
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. (1 King 22:10 ESV)
I trust the photo and illustration with make these biblical texts more vivid when you read them in the future.
The Explorations in Antiquity Center at LaGrange, Georgia, has a wonderful display of the various aspects of the city gate. We reported on the Center along with two reviews by David Padfield here, and here, and here. the Explorations in Antiquity web site may accessed here. The photo is provided by David Padfield. | <urn:uuid:832661a3-a3e1-4a9c-9591-8f53a226908c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/ | 2013-05-23T19:34:18Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703728865/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112848-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968569 | 663 |
|Unit system:||SI base unit|
|1 m in...||is equal to...|
|U.S. customary||≈ 3.2808 ft|
|≈ 39.370 in|
The metre (meter in American English), (SI unit symbol: m; SI dimension symbol: L), is the fundamental unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole (at sea level), its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology. Since 1983, it has been defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second."
A decimal-based unit of length, the universal measure or standard was proposed in an essay of 1668 by the English cleric and philosopher John Wilkins. In 1675, the Italian scientist Tito Livio Burattini, in his work Misura Universale, used the phrase metro cattolico (lit. "catholic [i.e. universal] measure"), derived from the Greek μέτρον καθολικόν (métron katholikón), to denote the standard unit of length derived from a pendulum. In the wake of the French Revolution, a commission organised by the French Academy of Sciences and charged with determining a single scale for all measures, advised the adoption of a decimal system (27 October, 1790) and suggested a basic unit of length equal to one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the Equator, to be called 'measure' (mètre) (19th March 1791). The National Convention adopted the proposal in 1793. The first occurrence of metre in this sense in English dates to 1797.
Meridional definition
In 1668, Wilkins proposed using Christopher Wren's suggestion of a pendulum with a half-period of one second to measure a standard length that Christiaan Huygens had observed to be 38 Rijnland inches or 39 1⁄4 English inches (997 mm) in length. In the 18th century, there were two favoured approaches to the definition of the standard unit of length. One approach followed Wilkins in defining the metre as the length of a pendulum with a half-period of one second, a 'seconds pendulum'. The other approach suggested defining the metre as one ten-millionth of the length of the Earth's meridian along a quadrant; that is, the distance from the Equator to the North Pole. In 1791, the French Academy of Sciences selected the meridional definition over the pendular definition because the force of gravity varies slightly over the surface of the Earth, which affects the period of a pendulum.
To establish a universally accepted foundation for the definition of the metre, more accurate measurements of this meridian would have to be made. The French Academy of Sciences commissioned an expedition led by Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain, lasting from 1792 to 1799, which measured the distance between a belfry in Dunkerque and Montjuïc castle in Barcelona to estimate the length of the meridian arc through Dunkerque. This portion of the meridian, assumed to be the same length as the Paris meridian, was to serve as the basis for the length of the half meridian connecting the North Pole with the Equator.
The exact shape of the Earth is not a simple mathematical shape (sphere or oblate spheroid) at the level of precision required for defining a standard of length. The irregular and particular shape of the Earth (smoothed to sea level) is called a geoid, which means "Earth-shaped". Despite this fact, and based on provisional results from the expedition, France adopted the metre as its official unit of length in 1793. Although it was later determined that the first prototype metre bar was short by a fifth of a millimetre because of miscalculation of the flattening of the Earth, this length became the standard. The circumference of the Earth through the poles is therefore slightly more than forty million metres (40,007,863 m).
Prototype metre bar
In the 1870s and in light of modern precision, a series of international conferences was held to devise new metric standards. The Metre Convention (Convention du Mètre) of 1875 mandated the establishment of a permanent International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) to be located in Sèvres, France. This new organisation would preserve the new prototype metre and kilogram standards when constructed, distribute national metric prototypes, and maintain comparisons between them and non-metric measurement standards. The organisation created a new prototype bar in 1889 at the first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM: Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures), establishing the International Prototype Metre as the distance between two lines on a standard bar composed of an alloy of ninety percent platinum and ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.
The original international prototype of the metre is still kept at the BIPM under the conditions specified in 1889. A discussion of measurements of a standard metre bar and the errors encountered in making the measurements is found in a NIST document.
Standard wavelength of krypton-86 emission
In 1893, the standard metre was first measured with an interferometer by Albert A. Michelson, the inventor of the device and an advocate of using some particular wavelength of light as a standard of length. By 1925, interferometry was in regular use at the BIPM. However, the International Prototype Metre remained the standard until 1960, when the eleventh CGPM defined the metre in the new International System of Units (SI) as equal to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line in the electromagnetic spectrum of the krypton-86 atom in a vacuum.
Speed of light
To further reduce uncertainty, the seventeenth CGPM in 1983 replaced the definition of the metre with its current definition, thus fixing the length of the metre in terms of the second and the speed of light:
- The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1⁄299,792,458 of a second.
This definition fixed the speed of light in vacuum at exactly 299,792,458 metres per second. An intended by-product of the 17th CGPM's definition was that it enabled scientists to compare their lasers accurately using frequency, resulting in wavelengths with one-fifth the uncertainty involved in the direct comparison of wavelengths because interferometer errors were eliminated. To further facilitate reproducibility from lab to lab, the 17th CGPM also made the iodine-stabilised helium–neon laser "a recommended radiation" for realising the metre. For purposes of delineating the metre, the BIPM currently considers the HeNe laser wavelength to be as follows: λHeNe = 632,991,212.58 fm with an estimated relative standard uncertainty (U) of 2.1×10−11. This uncertainty is currently one limiting factor in laboratory realisations of the metre, and it is several orders of magnitude poorer than that of the second, based upon the caesium fountain atomic clock (U = 5×10−16). Consequently, a realisation of the metre is usually delineated (not defined) today in labs as 1,579,800.762042(33) wavelengths of helium-neon laser light in a vacuum, the error stated being only that of frequency determination. This bracket notation expressing the error is explained in the article on measurement uncertainty.
Practical realisation of the metre is subject to uncertainties in characterising the medium, to various uncertainties of interferometry, and to uncertainties in measuring the frequency of the source. A commonly used medium is air, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology has set up an online calculator to convert wavelengths in vacuum to wavelengths in air. As described by NIST, in air, the uncertainties in characterising the medium are dominated by errors in finding temperature and pressure. Errors in the theoretical formulas used are secondary. By implementing a refractive index correction such as this, an approximate realization of the metre can be implemented in air, for example, using the formulation of the metre as 1,579,800.762042(33) wavelengths of helium-neon laser light in vacuum, and converting the wavelengths in a vacuum to wavelengths in air. Of course, air is only one possible medium to use in a realization of the metre, and any partial vacuum can be used, or some inert atmosphere like helium gas, provided the appropriate corrections for refractive index are implemented.
Length measurement in metres
Although the metre is now defined as the path length travelled by light in a given time, the practical laboratory length measurements in metres are determined by counting the number of wavelengths of laser light of one of the standard types that fit into the length, and converting the selected unit of wavelength to metres. Three major factors limit the accuracy attainable with laser interferometers for a length measurement:
- Uncertainty in vacuum wavelength of the source,
- Uncertainty in the refractive index of the medium,
- Least count resolution of the interferometer.
Of these, the last is peculiar to the interferometer itself. The conversion of a length in wavelengths to a length in metres is based upon the relation:
which converts the unit of wavelength λ to metres using c, the speed of light in a vacuum in m/s. Here n is the refractive index of the medium in which the measurement is made; and f is the measured frequency of the source. Although conversion from wavelengths to metres introduces an additional error in the overall length due to measurement error in determining the refractive index and the frequency, the measurement of frequency is one of the most accurate measurements available.
Timeline of definition
- 1790 May 8 – The French National Assembly decides that the length of the new metre would be equal to the length of a pendulum with a half-period of one second.
- 1791 March 30 – The French National Assembly accepts the proposal by the French Academy of Sciences that the new definition for the metre be equal to one ten-millionth of the length of the Earth's meridian along a quadrant through Paris, that is the distance from the equator to the north pole.
- 1795 – Provisional metre bar constructed of brass. Based on Bessel's ellipsoid, Legally equal to 443.44 lines on the toise du Perou.
- 1799 December 10 – The French National Assembly specifies the platinum metre bar, constructed on 23 June 1799 and deposited in the National Archives, as the final standard. Legally equal to 443.296 lines on the Toise of Perou.
- 1889 September 28 – The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the metre as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.
- 1927 October 6 – The seventh CGPM adjusts the definition of the metre to be the distance, at 0 °C (32 °F), between the axes of the two central lines marked on the prototype bar of platinum-iridium, this bar being subject to one standard atmosphere of pressure and supported on two cylinders of at least 1 cm (0.39 in) diameter, symmetrically placed in the same horizontal plane at a distance of 571 millimetres (22.5 in) from each other.
- 1960 October 14 – The 11th CGPM defines the metre to be equal to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in a vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the 2p10 and 5d5 quantum levels of the krypton-86 atom.
- 1983 October 21 – The 17th CGPM defines the metre as equal to the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1⁄299,792,458 of a second.
- 2002 – The International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) considers the metre to be a unit of proper length and thus recommends this definition be restricted to "lengths ℓ which are sufficiently short for the effects predicted by general relativity to be negligible with respect to the uncertainties of realisation".
|Basis of definition||Date||Absolute
|1⁄10,000,000 part of the quarter of a meridian, astronomical measure by Bessel (443.44 lines)||1792||0.5–0.1 mm||10−4|
|1⁄10,000,000 part of the quarter of a meridian, measurement by Delambre and Mechain (443.296 lines)||1795||0.5–0.1 mm||10−4|
|First prototype Metre des Archives platinum bar standard||1799||0.05–0.01 mm||10−5|
|Platinum-iridium bar at melting point of ice (1st CGPM)||1889||0.2–0.1 µm||10−7|
|Platinum-iridium bar at melting point of ice, atmospheric pressure, supported by two rollers (7th CGPM)||1927||n.a.||n.a.|
|Hyperfine atomic transition; 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of light from a specified transition in krypton-86 (11th CGPM)||1960||0.01–0.005 µm||10−8|
|Length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1⁄299,792,458 of a second (17th CGPM)||1983||0.1 nm||10−10|
SI prefixed forms of metre
SI prefixes are often employed to denote decimal multiples and submultiples of the metre, as shown in the table below. As indicated in the table, some are commonly used, while others are not. Long distances are usually expressed in km, astronomical units (149.6 Gm), light-years (10 Pm), or parsecs (31 Pm), rather than in Mm, Gm, Tm, Pm, Em, Zm or Ym; "30 cm", "30 m", and "300 m" are more common than "3 dm", "3 dam", and "3 hm", respectively.
The term micron is often used instead of micrometre, but this practice is officially discouraged.
|10−1 m||dm||decimetre||101 m||dam||decametre|
|10−2 m||cm||centimetre||102 m||hm||hectometre|
|10−3 m||mm||millimetre||103 m||km||kilometre|
|10−6 m||µm||micrometre||106 m||Mm||megametre|
|10−9 m||nm||nanometre||109 m||Gm||gigametre|
|10−12 m||pm||picometre||1012 m||Tm||terametre|
|10−15 m||fm||femtometre||1015 m||Pm||petametre|
|10−18 m||am||attometre||1018 m||Em||exametre|
|10−21 m||zm||zeptometre||1021 m||Zm||zettametre|
|10−24 m||ym||yoctometre||1024 m||Ym||yottametre|
|Common prefixed units are in bold face.|
Metre is used as the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in all English-speaking nations except the USA, which uses meter.
The most recent official brochure, written in 2006, about the International System of Units (SI), Bureau international des poids et mesures, was written in French by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. An English translation (using the spelling: metre) is included to make the SI standard "more widely accessible".
In 2008, the U.S. English translation published by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology chose to use meter in accordance with the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual.
Measuring devices (such as ammeter, speedometer) are spelt "-meter" in all countries. The word "meter", signifying any such device, has the same derivation as the word "metre", denoting the unit of length.
Equivalents in other units
expressed in non-SI units
expressed in metric units
|1 metre||≈||1.0936||yards||1 yard||≡||0.9144||metres|
|1 metre||≈||39.370||inches||1 inch||≡||0.0254||metres|
|1 centimetre||≈||0.39370||inch||1 inch||≡||2.54||centimetres|
|1 millimetre||≈||0.039370||inch||1 inch||≡||25.4||millimetres|
|1 metre||≡||1×1010||ångström||1 ångström||≡||1×10−10||metre|
|1 nanometre||≡||10||ångström||1 ångström||≡||100||picometres|
Within this table, "inch" and "yard" mean "international inch" and "international yard", respectively, though approximate conversions in the left-hand column hold for both international and survey units.
- "≈" means "is approximately equal to";
- "≡" means "equal by definition" or "is exactly equal to."
One metre is exactly equivalent to 10,000⁄254 inches and to 10,000⁄9,144 yards.
A simple mnemonic aid exists to assist with conversion, as three "3":
- 1 metre is nearly equivalent to 3 feet–3 3⁄8 inches. This gives an overestimate of 0.125 mm.
The ancient Egyptian cubit was about 1⁄2 m (surviving rods are 52.3–52.9 cm.) Scottish and English definitions of ell (two cubits) were 0.941 m and 1.143 m, respectively. The ancient Paris toise (fathom) was slightly shorter than 2 m, and was standardized at exactly 2 m in the mesures usuelles system, such that 1 m was exactly 1⁄2 toise. The Russian versta was 1.0668 km. The Swedish mil was 10.688 km, but was changed to 10 km when Sweden converted to metric units.
See also
- Conversion of units for comparisons with other units
- International System of Units
- Introduction to the metric system
- ISO 1 – standard reference temperature for length measurements
- Length measurement
- Metre Convention
- Metric system
- Orders of magnitude (length)
- SI prefix
- Speed of light
- "Base unit definitions: Meter". National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
- "17th General Conference on Weights and Measures (1983), Resolution 1.". Retrieved 2012-09-19.
- Wilkins c. 2007
- George Sarton (1935). "The First Explanation of Decimal Fractions and Measures (1585). Together with a History of the Decimal Idea and a Facsimile (No. XVII) of Stevin's Disme". Isis 23 (1): 153–244.
- ('decimalization is not of the essence of the metric system; the real significance of this is that it was the first great attempt to define terrestrial units of measure in terms of an unvarying astronomical or geodetic constant.) The metre was in fact defined as one ten millionth of one quarter of the earth's circumference at sea-level.' Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge University Press, 1962 vol.4, pt.1, p.42.
- Paolo Agnoli,Il senso della misura: la codifica della realtà tra filosofia, scienza ed esistenza umana, Armando Editore, 2004 pp.93-94,101.
- "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure, lu à l'Académie des sciences, le 19 mars 1791" (in French). Gallica.bnf.fr. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- Paolo Agnoli and Giulio D’Agostini,'Why does the meter beat the second?,' December, 2004 pp.1-29.
- Oxford English Dictionary, Clarendon Press 2nd ed.1989, vol.IX p.697 col.3.
- Humerfelt 2010
- National Institute of Standards and Technology 2003; Historical context of the SI: Unit of length (meter)
- Beers & Penzes 1992
- Marion, Jerry B. (1982). Physics For Science and Engineering. CBS College Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 4-8337-0098-0.
- "Iodine (λ≈633 nm)" (PDF). MEP (Mise en Pratique). BIPM. 2003. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- The term 'relative standard uncertainty' is explained by NIST on their web site: "Standard Uncertainty and Relative Standard Uncertainty". The NIST Reference on constants, units, and uncertainties: Fundamental physical constants. NIST. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
- National Research Council 2010
- National Institute of Standards and Technology 2011.
- A more detailed listing of errors can be found in Beers, John S; Penzes, William B (December 1992). "§4 Re-evaluation of measurement errors" (PDF). NIST length scale interferometer measurement assurance; NIST document NISTIR 4998. pp. 9 ff. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
- The formulas used in the calculator and the documentation behind them are found at "Engineering metrology toolbox: Refractive index of air calculator". NIST. September 23, 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2011. The choice is offered to use either the modified Edlén equation or the Ciddor equation. The documentation provides a discussion of how to choose between the two possibilities.
- "§VI: Uncertainty and range of validity". Engineering metrology toolbox: Refractive index of air calculator. NIST. September 23, 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- Dunning, F. B.; Hulet, Randall G. (1997). "Physical limits on accuracy and resolution: setting the scale". Atomic, molecular, and optical physics: electromagnetic radiation, Volume 29, Part 3. Academic Press. p. 316. ISBN 0-12-475977-7. "The error [introduced by using air] can be reduced tenfold if the chamber is filled with an atmosphere of helium rather than air."
- National Physical Laboratory 2010
- The BIPM maintains a list of recommended radiations on their web site.
- Zagar, 1999, pp. 6–65ff
- Barbrow & Judson 1976, appendix 6.
- Taylor and Thompson (2008a), Appendix 1, p. 70.
- Taylor and Thompson (2008a), Appendix 1, p. 77.
- Cardarelli 2003
- Taylor & Thompson 2003, p. 11.
- Naughtin 2008
- BIPM, 2006, p. 130ff.
- The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 gives the Secretary of Commerce of the US the responsibility of interpreting or modifying the SI for use in the US. The Secretary of Commerce delegated this authority to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (Turner). In 2008, NIST published the US version (Taylor and Thompson, 2008a) of the English text of the eighth edition of the BIPM publication Le Système international d'unités (SI) (BIPM, 2006). In the NIST publication, the spellings "meter", "liter" and "deka" are used rather than "metre", "litre" and "deca" as in the original BIPM English text (Taylor and Thompson (2008a), p. iii). The Director of the NIST officially recognised this publication, together with Taylor and Thompson (2008b), as the "legal interpretation" of the SI for the United States (Turner).
- "Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary". Cambridge University Press. 2008. Retrieved 2012-09-19., s.v. ammeter, meter, parking meter, speedometer.
- "American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language". (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1992., s.v. meter.
- Astin & Karo 1959.
- Well-known conversion, publicised at time of metrication.[where?]
- 17th General Conference on Weights and Measures. (1983). Resolution 1. International Bureau of Weights and Measures.
- Astin, A. V. & Karo, H. Arnold, (1959), Refinement of values for the yard and the pound, Washington DC: National Bureau of Standards, republished on National Geodetic Survey web site and the Federal Register (Doc. 59-5442, Filed, 30 June 1959, 8:45 a.m.)
- Barbrow, Louis E. & Judson, Lewis V. (1976). Weights and Measures Standards of the United States: A brief history (Special Publication 447).. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- Beers, J.S. & Penzes, W. B. (1992). NIST Length Scale Interferometer Measurement Assurance.[not in citation given] (NISTIR 4998). National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- "The International System of Units (SI)" (PDF) (in French). Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- HTML version. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. (n.d.). Resolutions of the CGPM (search facility). Retrieved 3 June 2006.
- Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. (n.d.). The BIPM and the evolution of the definition of the metre. Retrieved 3 June 2006.
- Cardarelli, Francois (2003). Encydopaedia of scientific units, weights, and measures: their SI equivalences and origins, Springer-Verlag London Limited, ISBN 1-85233-682-X, page 5, table 2.1, data from Giacomo, P., Du platine a la lumiere, Bull. Bur. Nat. Metrologie, 102 (1995) 5–14.
- Humerfelt, Sigurd. (26 October 2010). How WGS 84 defines Earth. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- Layer, H.P. (2008). Length—Evolution from Measurement Standard to a Fundamental Constant. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 18 August 2008.[not in citation given]
- Mohr, P., Taylor, B.N., and David B. Newell, D. (28 December 2007). CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2006. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 18 August 2008.[dead link]
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. (December 2003). The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty: International System of Units (SI) (web site):
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. (27 June 2011). NIST-F1 Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock. Author.
- National Physical Laboratory. (25 March 2010). Iodine-Stabilised Lasers. Author.
- National Research Council Canada. (5 February 2010). Maintaining the SI unit of length. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
- Naughtin, Pat. (2008). Spelling metre or meter. Author.
- Penzes, W. (29 December 2005). Time Line for the Definition of the Meter. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology – Precision Engineering Division. Retrieved 4 December 2010.[dead link]
- Taylor, B.N. and Thompson, A. (Eds.). (2008a). The International System of Units (SI). United States version of the English text of the eighth edition (2006) of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures publication Le Système International d’ Unités (SI) (Special Publication 330). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- Taylor, B.N. and Thompson, A. (2008b). Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (Special Publication 811). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
- Tibo Qorl. (2005) The History of the Meter (Translated by Sibille Rouzaud). Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- Turner, J. (Deputy Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology). (16 May 2008)."Interpretation of the International System of Units (the Metric System of Measurement) for the United States". Federal Register Vol. 73, No. 96, p. 28432-3.[not in citation given]
- Wilkins, J. (c. 2007). An essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language.[Also available without images of original.] Metrication Matters. (Reprinted from title page and pp. 190–194 of original, 1668, London: Royal Society)
- Zagar, B.G. (1999). Laser interferometer displacement sensors in J.G. Webster (ed.). The Measurement, Instrumentation, and Sensors Handbook. CRC Press. isbn=0-8493-8347-1.
Further reading
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Metre|
- Alder, Ken. (2002). The Measure of All Things : The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World. Free Press, New York ISBN 0-7432-1675-X | <urn:uuid:fa0e6c33-a237-4883-bc51-f2048e695b69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petametre | 2013-05-18T17:30:42Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.835327 | 6,505 |
Sound Therapy for crying babiesCrying is the most effective way a baby has of communicating its needs!
IntroductionWhy do babies cry? Most babies cry quite a lot and for a variety of reasons. Crying is normal. Crying is the only way babies can let you know that something is upsetting them and that they need you. When babies cry they might be hungry, thirsty, too hot, too cold, off color, gas pains (colic), over-tired or uncomfortable. They may have been startled and just need to be held close and cuddled for a while. There are some babies who cry a lot from the time they are born. They pull up their legs, clench their fists, go red in the face and become very distressed.
The problem is usually worse in the afternoons and evenings. Other babies may develop severe bouts or attacks of crying when they are a few weeks old. After six to eight weeks these bouts of crying usually become less intense and most babies become more settled at about four to five months old. However, some babies continue to cry for longer than that. Some babies find it hard to settle into a routine, while others can not get themselves off to sleep very easily. Some babies need to be left in a quiet, dark room, while others want to be held, massaged and stroked. Some like silence while others prefer some quiet music. A regular routine of bath, feed and song seems to be most successful.
- Your baby will cry. It is his/her main language for communicating the baby needs at first.
- It is never spoiling to attend to your baby's needs.
- All parents need a break from excessive crying, or it can become unbearable.
Some babies find it hard to settle into a routine, while others cannot get to sleep very easily. It takes the average baby about 12 weeks for brainwave patterns to develop a regular routine.
Many theories about the cause of colic have been suggested, but none has been definitely identified. J. Marc Rhoads, MD, the director of pediatric gastroenterology at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston researched colic, a condition that is punctuated by excessive crying in young infantsand excessive exhaustion in their parents. According to Rhoads, colic is one of the most common gastrointestinal disturbances in newborns. As many as 30 percent of infants between the ages of two weeks and two months experience colic, and up to ten percent have symptoms so severe that parents seek out medical attention.
Colic's cause is unknown, but its symptoms, as any parent with a colicky baby can attest, are palpable and relentless. A baby with colic may cry more than three hours a day, more than three days per week and for more than three weeks. No amount of parental comforting seems to help, and babies may cry so hard that they have difficulty breathing or swallowing.
Rhoades believes that colic could be the result of a bacterial imbalance that causes excess hydrogen in the large intestine. Babies with colic tend to have higher levels of breath hydrogen than babies who aren't as fussy, Rhoads says. They also have abnormal bacterial DNA patterns in stool samples, according to preliminary tests conducted by Mike Ferris, PhD, a colleague at New Orleans Children's Hospital.
Another theory of why babies have colic is that the intestines of the baby are going into spasm in response to too much gas or as a reaction to something in the formula or breast milk that they are being fed. These muscle spasms are very painful, thus the baby cries and cries for long periods of time, and it is difficult for the parents to figure out why their baby is crying. Babies on formula may be reacting to the cow's milk present in it. Cow's milk is a very common food allergen/reaction in children. Cow's milk has been associated with an increased frequency of ear infections in children that are sensitive to it. Try switching to a soy-based formula, a pre-digested formula or a hypo-allergenic formula.
The cause of colic is uncertain. Following is a list of methods to use to try soothing your baby:
- Frequent feeding
- Rubbing or massage
- A change of room or environment
- A drive in the car
- It is not advisable to use medicines to give your baby relief without first consulting your doctor or health nurse. However, Tummycalm is proclaimed to be an excellent, natural product for easing newborn colic. How does it work? It contains a combination of herbs that have a long historical use for treating upset digestion. Several substances in these herbs relax muscle spasms, alleviate gas pains and help the digestive tract of the newborn return to a state of relaxation.
Symptoms of nappy rash vary from mild sore red spots to cracked or broken skin and even blisters. You may also be able to smell ammonia strongly on the nappy. Treatment of nappy rash is usually not too difficult, and the problem should clear up after a few days: change the nappy as soon as it is wet/dirty; let your baby play without a nappy as much as possible; so their bottom is exposed to the air; if you're using a barrier cream, stop using it as it could be causing the rash or preventing the rash from healing; avoid using plastic pants; keep your baby's bottom dry, but don't use talcum powder. If the rash lasts longer than three days, gets worse or shows signs of being infected, (inflammation, discharge or your baby develops a fever) ask your health visitor or doctor for advice.
Coping with a Crying BabyA new baby that is frequently crying can be very stressful for the parents and caregivers. It is helpful to try not to become tense, as your baby will sense this and it may make things worse. If possible find someone who can take turns with you soothing the baby. Make sure that you rest when you get the chance. Put on some soothing music that you enjoy. Try to keep things in perspective and not to worry about things that are not getting done such as the laundry or the washing up. Remember that most colic disappears before your baby is three months old and nappy rash is usually easily treated, so relief is in sight.
If you are finding it difficult to cope, talk to your doctor or health nurse about getting local support and advice.
BoredomMake sure that your baby has a selection of interesting toys within reach. Spend time with your baby just talking or playing or reading from a storybook. Singing and music can also be fun.
AnxietyYour baby may cry if he/she fears separation from you or in the presence of strangers or if he/she is in a strange place. Always be supportive and never make fun of your child's fears. Reassure your baby with soothing words in a gentle tone of voice and cuddle him. When you are separated from your baby reassure him or her that you will come back soon. Whenever possible, try to make frequent appearances to reassure your baby that you are nearby.
If you have to be away from him or her for longer periods (for example with a child caregiver when you return to work) then take time to make sure that your baby is used to the new environment and the new caregiver. If possible, try to prepare your baby for your being apart by starting with short periods at a time and gradually making them longer. Make sure that you and the caregiver are patient with your baby's anxiety and don't show any frustration or impatience. If he/she has a comfort object, such as a toy or blanket, make sure that he/she has it when you leave. When you return give your baby extra cuddles and plenty of soothing talk. Make sure that you and the caregiver are patient with your baby's anxiety and don't show any frustration or impatience. When you return give your baby extra cuddles and plenty of soothing talk.
FrustrationYour baby will cry when they want to do things that they are not yet able to or when they do not get their own way. Make your home as childproof as possible to allow your baby to explore in safety without you having to fuss around with moving things out of the way. Attempt to have a favorite or new toy or game to hand to distract your baby when he/she becomes frustrated. Offer help when he/she needs it but do not completely take over, this allows your baby to feel a sense of achievement.
If your baby simply wants his or her own way it is important to decide for yourself whether the issue is an important one. A good rule of thumb is only to assert your own will over those things that are really important and not simply because you prefer things a certain way. When you do decide to assert your will then don't change your mind; this will confuse your baby and make him or her less likely to do as you wish next time. Provided the baby is safe then tantrums are best ignored when possible.
Rather than shouting or punishing your baby explain in a reasoned way why he/she cannot do whatever it is they want to do. Although he/she will not understand what you say at first, your baby will understand your tone of voice and will learn what you mean.
TeethingWhen the teeth are coming through the gums become swollen and red. Your baby may also tug on their ear or even develop cold symptoms whilst teething. Your baby may dribble a lot, be irritable, clingy and have trouble sleeping. Medical treatment is not usually necessary. Try giving him or her something to chew on such as a cold carrot or a chilled (not frozen) teething toy. You can also try rubbing your baby's gums with your finger or applying a small amount teething gel.
Illness or InfectionCrying accompanying symptoms such as: fever, loss of appetite, vomiting, skin rash, light-phobia, is more likely to be the result of an infection. If your baby has these symptoms or if you think your baby is not well, contact the doctor or health nurse as symptoms can progress quickly with small babies.
Temperament Each baby is different. Some will be more 'fussy' than others and may seem to cry more, often right from birth, and with no obvious explanation.
Jumpy Baby Some babies may strongly protest about being too hot or too cold or won't like being bathed or dressed. They may be very sensitive to touch or to changes.
Difficult Birth For example, babies who were born prematurely, or those who have had to be in special care.
Environmental Change Some babies can be more sensitive to changes in their surroundings or care routine.
New Developmental Stage Babies often cry more just before they take some big steps in learning or growth.
Tension Some baby's sense when their parents are tense and it can affect their behavior. This can be a bit confusing; are you feeling tense because your baby cries a lot, or is the baby crying a lot because you're tense
Colic Colic is also a reason of excessive crying.
And if all else fails? Your baby may be sick. A doctor should be notified if a baby who has been diagnosed with colic:
- Develops a rectal fever higher than 101°F (38.3°C)
- Cries for more than four hours
- Has diarrhea or stools that are black or bloody
- Loses weight
- Eats less than normal
Offer Your Baby a Feed Whether at your breast, a bottle, baby's own fingers, thumb or a dummy, sucking is always comforting.
Carry your baby close Snuggle him close to you in a baby carrier or sling.
Massage Gentle stroking and massage of all kinds can help calm your baby. But don't massage his tummy before he's four weeks old. You'll enjoy the feeling of gently massaging your baby, but miss out his spine and avoid nut-based oils such as almond oil.
Music Soft rhythmic sounds or music can help comfort newborns. Even the droning sound made by a washing machine, fan or vacuum cleaner can help soothe some babies.
Fresh Air Get out and about with your baby, and even if the crying doesn't stop, it will not seem quite so bad outdoors.
Wind Some babies feel better after they've had a chance to bring up some wind. One way to do this is to place your baby in an upright position against your shoulder and pat his back gently.
Bath Some parents swear by giving their baby a warm bath. It can instantly calm some babies, but be aware that it can also have the opposite effect. You know your baby best.
Quiet Time After a feed, put your baby down for some quiet time. Be aware he may cry for a few minutes before going off to sleep. Most babies settle when taken for a walk in the pram, and the exercise helps parents feel better too.
Drive Some babies only seem to settle when taken for a drive. This is not ideal, but if you are able to do this might be useful for the few weeks before he grows past this stage.
Whispering To babies will sometimes get their attention and stop them crying.
Crying babies tend to arch their heads back and stiffen their legs. Holding them curved into a C or flexed position can help them calm down. Here are some different ways of holding your baby that may help.
Anxiety Especially after about seven to eight months, some babies get worried when you are out of sight. They may get more and more worried about being apart from you.
Wanting Company Crying because he wants you to come, and acting pleased when you do. This isn't naughty or manipulative - you baby may cry to let you know that he needs company.
Teething Not everyone agrees that babies cry because they are teething - but many parents are convinced it causes some crying.
Having New Fears Your baby can start to feel afraid for no clear reason, for example, the sound of the vacuum cleaner or particular animals or even having a bath.
Loss of a Comforter When your baby becomes attached to something, he finds soothing; perhaps a dummy or special toy.
Knocks and Bumps obviously more common once your baby gets mobile.
If you are on your own, you may need to take a break anyway when you feel angry feelings building up. Put your baby down in a safe place and walk away. Go outside perhaps, and take some deep breaths, phone someone or make a cup of tea. Put on quiet music to distract yourself. When you feel calmer, go back to your baby and try to settle her again. It is important to look after yourself when you have a young baby who depends on you.
Take up offers of help and get some regular breaks when you can. Soft music or sound can help comfort newborns; help parents relax, and decrease tension. Try to deliberately relax your muscles; your baby will be calmed by the relaxation in your muscles even if you are still feeling quite stressed. Your baby will not cry forever. Generally, as your baby gets older he/she will get more interested in the surroundings and cry less.
American Academy of Family Physicians. 8880 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64114. (816) 333-9700.
American Academy of Pediatrics. 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098. (847) 434-4000. .
P.O. Box 1027 Pearl City, HI 96782 USA 1-800-952-5884 or 808-218-1811 firstname.lastname@example.org
Caring professional team of dieticians, nurses, and moms 1-800-361-6323
© 2007 Mead Johnson Nutritionals
Patricia Hughes is a freelance writer and mother of four. Patricia has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University. She has written extensively on pregnancy, childbirth, parenting and breastfeeding.
Rhoads, Marc., MD, the Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston
Two high fidelity, ultra-thin stereo speakers positioned deep within the pillow, so you can surround your head with sound for enhanced therapy or privacy. MORE> | <urn:uuid:6f1e0148-c248-46ea-8fef-1dcf0225542c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sound-oasis.com/how-we-can-help/crying-babies/ | 2013-06-19T14:18:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963616 | 3,382 |
How Child Abuse Primes the Brain for Mental Illness
By Maia Szalavitz
Child maltreatment has been called the tobacco industry of mental health. Much the way smoking directly causes or triggers predispositions for physical disease, early abuse may contribute to virtually all types of mental illness.
Now, in the largest study yet to use brain scans to show the effects of child abuse, researchers have found specific changes in key regions in and around the hippocampus in the brains of young adults who were maltreated or neglected in childhood. These changes may leave victims more vulnerable to depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the study suggests.
Harvard researchers led by Dr. Martin Teicher studied nearly 200 people aged 18 to 25, who were mainly middle class and well-educated. They were recruited through newspaper and transit ads for a study on “memories of childhood.” Because the authors wanted to look specifically at the results of abuse and neglect, people who had suffered other types of trauma like car accidents or gang violence were excluded.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/15/how-child-abuse-primes-the-brain-for-future-mental-illness/#ixzz1n7nH0Z00
Keywords: Child Abuse, Mental Illness, Mental Disorder, Children | <urn:uuid:f4fa4c0d-2b26-4cfd-9313-53b21830f8c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://recoverymonth.gov/Press-Room/News/2012/Feb-22-How-Child-Abuse-Primes-the-Brain-for-Mental-Illness.aspx | 2013-06-19T19:19:24Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949947 | 284 |
Tomsk oblast overview
Tomsk oblast (also spelled Tomskaya) lies in the south-east of West-Siberian plain (Siberian Federal District). Most of Tomsk region territory is inaccessible because it is covered with taiga woods. Capital city of the region is Tomsk.
Tomsk oblast population is about 1,039,000 (2009); land area - 316,900 sq. km.
Tomsk oblast history
The development of the territory which now belongs to Tomsk oblast began in the early 17th century. Tomsk was built as a fortress on Tom river in 1604. In 1629 the settlement became the center of the region and then trade center of Siberia.
In 1804 Tomsk was the center of Tomsk province. By the end of the 19th century Tomsk became a big economic and cultural center of Siberia. Tomsk oblast was established in 1944.
Tomsk oblast natural resources
There are various natural deposits in Tomskaya oblast: oil, gas, metallic and non-metallic deposits, brown coal, peat, fresh drinking water, mineral, thermal and technical underground waters.
Hydrocarbons are the most important energy supply sources which provide the highest level of economy and investment growth. Tomsk region is a part of West-Siberian oil- and gas-bearing province among the leading regions of Russia in oil- and gas-extracting. The lands having prospects and divided into 5 oil- and gas-bearing regions contain up to 7,5 billion tons of hydrocarbons.
As for metallic natural deposits Tomsk region has large resources of iron ores which are the basis of its mining and processing industries future development. Total resources of iron ores are 85,9 billion tons. Deposits of gold, zinc and bauxites are found in the south-east of the oblast. Within this range of metals gold is the main item of geological prospecting. The forecast of the total gold resources are about 105 tons.
Non-metallic natural deposits which serve as the raw base for processing industries are presented by industrial and mining chemical raw and construction materials. These deposits are mostly located in the south-east of Tomskaya oblast. The most representative kinds among this group of natural deposits are refractory clays and quartz glass sands.
Tomsk oblast is the second in Russia in peat resources. They are used extremely little as well as coming along with peat natural deposits, such as phosphates and carbonates. Brown coal is still little prospected and unused although it is a valuable chemical and energy supply source.
Large resources of fresh underground water are the main source of economical water supply. 4 deposits of mineral water have been prospected for curing resorts. Forests are also among the most significant assets of Tomsk region: about 20% of West Siberian forest resources are located there.
Tomsk oblast nature
Tomsk Russia oblast nature
Tomsk oblast climate, economics
The climate differs greatly in the southern and northern areas of Tomsk oblast. Almost all the territory of the region is located within taiga zone. The climate is of moderate continental type and is remarkable for its large amplitudes within day and night and a year and besides, for a longer winter period. The year average temperature is 0,6 degs C below zero, in July - 18,1 degs C above zero, in January 19,2 degs C below zero. The climate in the northern part of the oblast is more severe and winters are longer.
Largest cities and towns of the region are Tomsk (497,000), Seversk (107,000), Strezhevoy (45,000), Asino (27,000), Kolpashevo (26,000). Tomsk oblast is divided into 16 districts, 4 towns of regional submission, 14 town settlements, 199 villages.
Industry makes up about half of regional GDP, while agriculture contributes 19% and construction 13%.
Leading industries are as follows: machine-building and metal-working, forest and oil. All the machine-building and metal-working plants are located mainly in Tomsk and partly in Kolpashevo and Seversk. Oil is extracted mainly in the north-west and west of the oblast. A large oil-processing plant is located near Tomsk. Tomsk region major export items are: oil, methanol, machines and equipment.
Agricultural fields occupy about 5% of Tomsk region territory. Wheat, flax and vegetables are grown in small amounts there. Cattle-, pig-, sheep-, and goat-breeding are presented as well as poultry farming. Fur trade (squirrel, sable, musk-rats) and fur-breeding (silver-black fox) are developed. | <urn:uuid:182e08c5-4094-4574-aa64-d6a1f7c715f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://russiatrek.org/tomsk-oblast | 2013-05-24T02:33:02Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132729/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949098 | 1,028 |
Headache is our most common form of pain and a major reason cited for days missed at work or school as well as visits to the doctor. Anyone can experience a headache. Nearly two out of three children will have a headache by age 15. More than nine in ten adults will experience a headache sometime in their lives. Without proper treatment, headaches can be severe and interfere with daily activities.
Certain types of headache run in families. Episodes of headache may ease or even disappear for a time and recur later in life. It's possible to have more than one type of headache at the same time.
Primary headaches occur independently and are not caused by another medical condition. It's uncertain what sets the process of a primary headache in motion. A cascade of events that affect blood vessels and nerves inside and outside the head causes pain signals to be sent to the brain. Brain chemicals called neurotransmitters are involved in creating head pain, as are changes in nerve cell activity (called cortical spreading depression). Migraine, cluster, and tension-type headache are the more familiar types of primary headache.
Secondary headaches are symptoms of another health disorder that causes pain-sensitive nerve endings to be pressed on or pulled or pushed out of place. They may result from underlying conditions including fever, infection, medication overuse, stress or emotional conflict, high blood pressure, psychiatric disorders, head injury or trauma, stroke, tumors and nerve disorders.
Headaches can range in frequency and severity of pain. Some individuals may experience headaches once or twice a year, while others may experience headaches more than 15 days a month. Some headaches may recur or last for weeks at a time. Pain can range from mild to disabling and may be accompanied by symptoms such as nausea or increased sensitivity to noise or light, depending on the type of headache. How and under what circumstances a person experiences a headache can be key to diagnosing its cause.
Keeping a headache journal can help a physician better diagnose your type of headache and determine the best treatment. After each headache, note the following:
Women should record the days of their menstrual cycles. Include notes about other family members who have a history of headache or other disorder. A pattern may emerge that can be helpful to reducing or preventing headaches.
Not all headaches require a physician's attention. But headaches can signal a more serious disorder that requires prompt medical care. Immediately call or see a physician if you or someone you're with experience any of these symptoms:
Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | <urn:uuid:6890a8c7-71f7-4bab-82f1-fe31cb8da0fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cabellhuntington.org/services/neuroscience/headache-evaluation-and-treatment/ | 2013-06-20T09:16:20Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938454 | 511 |
Definition of off :
1. Away; begone; - a command to depart.
2. Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off.
3. Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off.
4. Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off.
5. Denoting opposition or negation.
6. Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like.
7. Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from his post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent; as, he took an off day for fishing: an off year in politics.
8. In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as:
9. Not on; away from; as, to be off one's legs or off the bed; two miles off the shore.
10. On the farther side; most distant; on the side of an animal or a team farthest from the driver when he is on foot; in the United States, the right side; as, the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse or ox; the off leg.
11. The side of the field that is on the right of the wicket keeper.
sullen, get rid of, rack up, maniac, far, initiated, do in, touched, despatch, shoot, take away, fruity, above, slow, knock off, murder, waste, dark, bonkers, collide with, begun, discharge, help, beside, lunatic, come to, inactive, pip, cracked, withdraw, tally, take out, forward, soured, moonstruck, reach, put away, strike, arrive at, wrong, send off, unsatisfactory, wrap up, afar, mop up, subnormal, slack, unsound, mangle, glum, run into, morose, untrue, rancid, unbalanced, bump off, insane, polish off, cancelled, glowering, out, off-duty, erring, demented, sour, distraught, moody, like, originated, rub out, appreciate, beneath, make, stumble, dull, gain, finish, kill, gone, mutilate, soft, daffy, distant, clear up, off-key, eat up, fallacious, take pleasure in, returning, by, dotty, absent, transfer, down, cuckoo, attain, confused, mistaken, disconnected, brainsick, coming, get through, remove, nuts, non compos mentis, inaccurate, batty, finish up, increase, ahead, zap, gaga, away, screwy, move out, liquidate, erroneous, bananas, false, loco, take, unemployed, complete, finish off, hit, behind, disordered, sluggish, unproductive, wipe out, nutty, score, mad, incorrect, maniacal, substandard, saturnine, buggy, dour, crackers, correct, dispatch, destroy, here, mentally ill, sane, wacky, removed, impinge on, turned, slay, aside, daft, onward, loony, forth, poor
nonconforming (part of speech: adjective)
fey, quirky, curious, funny, uncustomary, bizarre, unusual, different, incompatible, incongruous, unconventional, freakish, aberrant, un-ordinary, novel, divergent, oddity, crosspatch, crazy, irregular, deviant, outlandish, atypical, odd, singular, nonconforming, extraordinary, uncommon, deranged, oddball, queer, improper, anomalous, idiosyncratic, misfit, strange, eccentric, mismatch, out of the ordinary, untypical, erratic, unique, exceptional, abnormal, peculiar, inconsistent, unfamiliar | <urn:uuid:94589423-f4d8-4ee2-a494-cbc07e5c366c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dictionarylink.com/off | 2013-05-26T03:16:13Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706578727/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121618-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.849739 | 886 |
Cut Europe’s Land Footprint!
18 Mar 13
A coalition of groups (1), including Slow Food, Friends of the Earth, ActionAid, Birdlife, Biofuelwatch, Compassion in World Farming and European Environment Bureau have united to call for European governments, and the EU as a whole, to reduce Europe’s land footprint – i.e. the amount of land it uses each year for food, textiles, wood, biofuels, etc. (2)
Research has shown that the EU is effectively ‘importing’ 1,212,050 square kilometres of agricultural land to meet its demand for food, textiles and biofuels (3). Even more land is used to produce forest products like paper and for mining minerals and fossil fuels.
This massive import of land is happening at the same time as land is under increasing pressure around the world, with the land grabbing phenomenon taking land away from local communities. In addition, the EU has made the problem worse by adopting ill-advised policies promoting biofuels and biomass burning.
The launch of this coalition comes as the EU is examining how to measure Europe’s resource use. We are pushing for land footprint, along with carbon footprint, water footprint and material use, to be the basis for this measurement. By measuring and managing Europe’s resource use we will be able to become more resource efficient; reducing waste, the cost of materials and creating jobs in resource efficient industries.
“The classic development model has produced dramatic consequences on the distribution of the planet’s resources,” said Piero Sardo, president of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. “A system based on constant consumption of animal protein and uncontrolled waste is aberrant and is putting unsustainable pressure on the world’s water resources and fertile soils."
"Today enough food is produced in the world to feed 12 billion people, but 40% of it becomes waste before even coming close to a table," Sardo continued. "For years Slow Food has been committed to promoting a system of production, distribution and consumption that opposes waste and land grabbing (the acquisition of fertile lands at ridiculously low prices, mostly in the global south, that is threatening biodiversity, food sovereignty and the existence of local communities). We need rapid and incisive action at the community level and on the part of institutions, citizens and civil society.”
Individuals and organizations can also do their bit to reduce our land footprint, for example, through:
- avoiding food waste and reducing consumption of animal products (meat and dairy)
- reducing paper use and making sure the paper used is recycled
- making sure clothes are re-used or recycled instead of thrown out, and buying second hand clothes.
The following groups and individuals have signed up to the land footprint coalition:
Friends of the Earth Europe
Compassion in World Farming
Fred Pearce (author)
Dr Ian Fitzpatrick (researcher)
Kenya Debt Relief Network (KENDREN)
The Land is Ours
London Mining Network / Colombia Solidarity Campaign
ONG Mani Tese
UK Food Group
Les Amis de la Terre France (Friends of the Earth France)
Friends of the Earth Cyprus
Amigos de la Tierra España (Friends of the Earth Spain)
Magyar Természetvédők Szövetsége (Friends of the Earth Hungary)
NOAH (Friends of the Earth Denmark)
Hnuti Doha (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic)
Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
The land footprint coalition statement is as follows:
We call on European countries, and the EU, to:
1) Measure and publicly report on their land footprint, along with their use of other key resources – water footprint, carbon footprint and overall material use.
2) Set targets to reduce their land footprint and other resource use towards sustainable and equitable levels.
3) Create policies to reduce their land footprint, whilst also reducing other resource use, for example through cutting food waste, and changing diets by reducing significantly the consumption of animal products in high consuming populations.
4) Require large companies registered in the EU to publicly report on their land footprint in the context of their overall resource efficiency reporting, and their strategies for reducing this footprint whilst also reducing other resource use.
5) Examine all relevant existing and new policies to identify how they can be modified in order to reduce Europe’s land footprint and other resource use, for example policies on renewable energy, biofuels and agriculture.
6) Promote good stewardship of land and livestock, and sustainable farming to protect the planet and its resources.
7) Protect customary and traditional land rights, and promote fair and transparent land governance and genuine land reform around the world.
8) Put in place measures to curb the financing of land grabs through policies that apply to both large scale investments and financial speculation on land.
‘Hidden impacts: How Europe's resource overconsumption promotes global land conflicts’, Sustainable Europe Research Institute for Friends of the Earth, March 2013.
Search the Slow Stories archive
Latest Slow Stories
Somalia | 24/05/2013 | Celebrating the life of Sid Ali Mohamed Abdi, our friend and coordinator of the Thousand Gardens in Africa...
Italy | 22/05/2013 | We reflect on this year’s theme for the International Day of Biological Diversity – water – and its vital...
Italy | 21/05/2013 | Carlo Petrini and journalist Stefano Liberti talk about land grabbing in the African continent...
Italy | 20/05/2013 | Buzzword, fad or innovative philosophy? A UNISG Master’s student sheds some light on the natural wine...
Mexico | 17/05/2013 | A massive wind farm development threatens the environment and livelihood of indigenous fishers and farmers in... | <urn:uuid:74914d7c-b5d7-43da-b509-6e6c4c5380f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slowfood.com/international/slow-stories/170395/cut-europe-s-land-footprint-/q=DF2DA2 | 2013-05-26T02:38:46Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897708 | 1,227 |
Do you like this post?
Posted on August 30, 2012 with No Comments
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that a private homeowner in the City of Schenectady reported a suspected infestation of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid to the USDA Forest Service. The infestation was later confirmed by DEC Forest Health staff.
The hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) is native to parts of Asia and was first discovered in New York in 1985. It is in the family Adelgidae, which is related to aphids. The adelgid uses long mouthparts to extract sap and nutrients from hemlock foliage, this prevents free growth, causing needles to discolor from deep green to grayish green, and to drop prematurely. The loss of new shoots and needles seriously impairs tree health. Infestation is usually fatal to the host after several years. Valued plantings of the shade-loving eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) can be ravaged by the hemlock woolly adelgid, and the natural stands of hemlock in the forests and parks in upstate New York would be greatly affected if the pest spreads to those locations. The wind, birds, other wildlife and the movement of infested host material (wood) by humans are all factors in the dispersion of the adelgid.
From the first discovery of the hemlock woolly adelgid in the Hudson Valley in the 1980′s, the insect has spread north and west to the Catskills, the Capital Region and even the Finger Lakes and other parts of westertn New York. Currently 25 New York counties are infested with the hemlock woolly adelgid. | <urn:uuid:0541f9b1-b4ad-4e70-a6e3-3ddf5f83da2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nopests.com/blog/invasive-species/4440 | 2013-05-19T10:17:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93631 | 370 |
Australian and British researchers have found that one of the world’s largest carbon sinks stores carbon differently than first thought. Utilising data collected over ten years from robotic – Argo – probes, the team has shown subduction happens at specific locations as a result of interplay between winds, currents and massive whirlpools.
Dr Matear says the study also shows the Southern Ocean is not as efficient as first thought in capturing anthropogenic carbon dioxide. The Southern Ocean contains about 40 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions absorbed by the world’s oceans.
Researchers from the CSIRO and British Antarctic Survey examined the way the Southern Ocean sucks carbon absorbed from the surface layer into the deeper ocean.
Research co-author Dr Richard Matear from the CSIRO says the study shows the method through which carbon is drawn down from the surface of the Southern Ocean to the ocean’s interior – or deep waters ::::
Dr Matear says it was previously thought this process, known as subduction, happened uniformly across the ocean.
“A conventional thought would be that once it gets out of this surface layer, it’s kind of been tucked away and won’t appear for a long time; many years of hundreds of years,” Dr Matear told ABC’s Dani Cooper “But with this re-ventilation, there’s some places where actually it doesn’t get put away into the deep ocean for long at all, re-ventilating in the time-scale of a decade.”
Using information collected across 10 years from robotic probes known as Argo floats and various sensors, the team has shown subduction happens at specific locations as a result of interplay between winds, currents and massive whirlpools.
Dr Matear says the study also shows the Southern Ocean is not as efficient as first thought in capturing anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
“Once the carbon is out of the surface layer it is no longer communicating with the atmosphere so it is buried in the ocean and out of the equation,” Dr Matear said. ”But in many places it is a shallow burial and the carbon gets re-introduced into the atmosphere.”
The largest reventilation occurs in the Indian Ocean sector in a band extending eastwards from South Africa to the middle of the basin. Another hotspot for reventilation occurs east of New Zealand and in the Atlantic zone east of South America.
The findings have particular implications for “ocean fertilisation” projects as it can help pinpoint regions where the carbon-capture approach is most likely to be successful.
Ocean fertilisation schemes involve scattering iron particles on the ocean surface to create a feeding ground for microscopic marine vegetation called phytoplankton.
As the plants gorge on the iron, they suck up atmospheric carbon thanks to natural photosynthesis and create a giant plankton bloom. These phytoplankton then die and sink to the deep ocean floor – taking the carbon to the ocean floor where it can lie for centuries.
“It actually makes you think about where in the Southern Ocean you could actually implement something like iron fertilisation to enhance carbon uptake because you’d want to avoid these places where you have re-ventilation,” Dr Matear said.
Dr Matear says an improved understanding of how the Southern Ocean draws down the carbon will give greater insights into the impact of climate change and future carbon absorption by the ocean.
He says while the movement of carbon from the atmosphere to ocean surface happens rapidly, the transport of the carbon to the deep ocean is a slower process creating a bottleneck.
“The ocean can’t keep up with the amount of carbon dioxide we are putting in the atmosphere,” Dr Matear said.
The research has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Subduction: In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate and sinks into the mantle as the plates converge. Regions where this process occurs are known as subduction zones. Rates of subduction are typically measured in centimeters per year, with the average rate of convergence being approximately 2 to 8 centimeters per year.
Plates include both oceanic crust and continental crust. Stable subduction zones involve the oceanic crust of one plate sliding beneath the continental crust or oceanic crust of another plate. That is, the subducted crust is always oceanic while the overriding crust may or may not be oceanic. Subduction zones are often noted for their high rates ofvolcanism, earthquakes, and mountain building.
Orogenesis, or mountain-building, occurs when large pieces of material on the subducting plate (such as island arcs) are pressed into the overriding plate. These areas are subject to many earthquakes, which are caused by the interactions between the subducting slab and the mantle, the volcanoes, and (when applicable) the mountain-building related to island arc collisions
Argo Floats: Argo is an observation system for the Earth’s oceans that provides real-time data for use in climate, weather, oceanographic and fisheries research. Argo consists of a large collection of small, drifting oceanic robotic probes deployed worldwide. The probes float as deep as 2 km. Once every 10 days, the probes surface, measuring conductivity and temperature profiles to the surface. From these, salinity and density can be calculated. The data are transmitted to scientists on shore via satellite. The data collected are freely available to everyone, without restrictions. The initial project goal was to deploy 3,000 probes, completed in November 2007.
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge UK
- Jean-Baptiste Sallée
CMAR – CSIRO, Tasmania Australia
- Richard J. Matear,
- Stephen R. Rintoul &
- Andrew Lenton
Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Tasmania, Australia
- Stephen R. Rintoul | <urn:uuid:53af4bd5-e808-4d68-97a0-436ee00af9d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cankler.com.au/2012/07/30/5912/ | 2013-05-19T11:01:21Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697420704/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094340-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926412 | 1,247 |
This is a drawing of what the surface of a comet might look like.
Click on image for full size
The Comet Nucleus
The nucleus of a comet is the central portion of the head of a comet. It is a solid part of the comet, made of
a special sort of dust which is called "fluffy" because it could be as light weight and full of holes as a sponge. The holes of this "sponge" are filled with ices like water, carbon dioxide (dry ice), and carbon monoxide (what comes out of your car).
Observations of the nuclei of comet Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake have given scientists fresh ideas about comet composition and evolution.
But, scientists still don't know whether the nucleus is very hard, like solid ground, or very soft and breakable, like a snowball. The Rosetta mission hopes to land a probe on the surface of a comet to find out just how hard it is!
As a comet approaches the Sun, it begins to evaporate, forming the coma and a spectacular comet tail.
This picture shows that evaporation may happen only in specific places on the nucleus. These spots of evaporation are called "jets". Halley's comet had three distinct jets on its surface as it approached the Sun in 1986.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our online store
on science education, ranging from evolution
, classroom research
, and the need for science and math literacy
You might also be interested in:
This example of Interstellar Dust is a perfect example of the kind of rocky material that may make comets. The grains themselves seem to be made of smaller grains. There are many holes, or pores. In a...more
Hale-Bopp continues to offer new surprises as two astronomers report of their study of the comet. Using the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Ultraviolet Explorer, the astronomers did a year-long...more
When comets are kicked out of the Oort Cloud, they begin a passage into the solar system, spinning and tumbling as they come. The trajectory which they acquire can be hyperbolic, parabolic, or elliptic...more
As the ices of the comet nucleus evaporate, they expand rapidly into a large cloud around the central part of the comet. This cloud, called the coma, is the atmosphere of the comet and can extend for millions...more
The picture on this page shows the best views ever of the nucleus of a comet. It shows two pictures of the comet's nucleus that were taken at slightly different times. The pictures were taken by a spacecraft...more
NASA’s Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR), launched July 3, 2002. The CONTOUR spacecraft will fly by at least two comets, taking pictures and collecting dust from the nucleus of each comet to help scientists...more
We are sad to report that the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) is currently lost in space. The CONTOUR spacecraft was launched July 3, 2002 to explore the nucleus of comets. It was scheduled to fly by at...more | <urn:uuid:bfa6d92e-7472-4e86-921e-c7feb636b500> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.windows2universe.org/comets/comet_nucleus.html | 2013-05-19T11:09:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697420704/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094340-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946659 | 644 |
Water in Peril
Human activity, natural disasters, even terrorism create threats
There’s something magical about Hawaiʻi’s water. Evaporated from the ocean and mixed with sunshine, it tumbles from the skies creating rainbows, replenishing streams and nourishing the ʻaina. Then it vanishes into lava rock—a natural filtration system—reappearing 10–20 years later in underground lakes known as aquifers, cleansed of impurities and ready to drink.
Lately, though, some of that magic has been flushed down the drain. Overuse and droughts shrink the underground lakes. Agricultural pesticides, lead, arsenic and leptosporosis bacteria show up in wells, streams or estuaries. Terrorism brings threats of malevolent contamination.
Problems with water are not limited to the islands, of course. The tsunami in Asia is one recent reminder that supplying people with clean water is a worldwide concern. University of Hawaiʻi researchers, most affiliated with the interdisciplinary Water Resources Research Center, are responding by seeking solutions at home and abroad.
Trouble in river cities
"Many cities in India use river water for drinking because groundwater is scarce or undrinkable. Yet mega-cities dump their wastes into these rivers," says Chittaranjan Ray, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Ray received a Fulbright award to study the potential for riverbank filtration in India and Nepal. Water is drawn through sand and alluvial (clay, silt or gravel) deposits beside or beneath a river, removing many of the pathogens and chemicals. Ray also works with scientists in Seoul to clean up Korea’s Han river, as well as officials in Louisville, Cedar Rapids, Santa Rosa and other U.S. cities that use riverbank collectors.
A 1993 outbreak of Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee killed 20 people and sickened 400,000 when the protozoa, carried in cow feces, washed into rivers feeding Lake Michigan. The public water utility’s chlorination procedure proved ineffective.
Ray says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now takes a very aggressive approach in favor of riverbank filtration for any public utility drawing its water from the surface or surface-influenced wells.
Drugs in the water
In addition to fecal bacteria, substances turning up in the world’s water supplies include antibiotics, pain medication, tranquilizers, caffeine, cholesterol drugs and birth-control hormones.
"Drugs we take are only partially metabolized; the rest goes into wastewater," explains Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Roger Babcock.
Pharmaceuticals aren’t removed by conventional wastewater treatment, which eliminates organisms that cause disease. Babcock is helping evaluate the ability of microfiltration systems known as membrane-bioreactors to remove pharmaceuticals and provide high-quality recycled water for non-potable use.
"A lot of our potable (drinkable) water goes for uses that don’t require potable water," he emphasizes. Oʻahu’s 35 golf courses each guzzle close to one-million gallons a day—enough for 9,000–10,000 people.
Wastewater could even be put through reverse osmosis (a process that pushes water through a very fine membrane, trapping unwanted particles on the membrane) to make ultra-pure potable water, he adds.
Fellow engineer Clark Liu is studying reverse osmosis to desalinate water. "We might have major water shortages as population and economic development increases. That’s why we have to find other sources," he cautions.
Scientists around the world are looking at reverse osmosis as desalination’s magic bullet, but it’s an expensive procedure that requires power to produce the necessary water pressure, he says. "Some people are using the wind to generate electrical power. Our system is more efficient and cheaper. We’re bypassing the need for electricity and using wind directly to raise the water pressure."
When enough is too much
Liu is also evaluating an aquifer’s sustainable yield: how much water can be pumped out without negative consequences. Land subsidence occurs when overpumping causes the pressure to drop inside a groundwater source and the surrounding soils collapse. Luckily, it’s not a problem for Hawaiʻi’s sturdy basal rock.
Intrusion is another story, however. Oʻahu's freshwater lens sits on top of a seawater basin. "If you pump too much, seawater moves upward into freshwater—especially in coastal areas where the freshwater lens is thinner-and turns the freshwater brackish and undrinkable," Liu says.
Working with Honolulu’s Board of Water Supply and the U.S. Geological Survey, Liu monitors water and salinity levels in the Pearl Harbor aquifer and prepares a mathematical model that will predict how salinity levels change with pumping rates and quantities.
Assistant Professors of Botany Kaʻeo Duarte and Lawren Sack are working at the source, studying the effects of nonnative versus native forests on the infiltration of water.
"How are these plants using water throughout their growing cycle, how does water availability affect forest dynamics and how does the forest community affect soil moisture and infiltration?" Duarte explains. "We want to see if the different communities of plants make a difference in the net recharge of water into the ground, and from there into streams and groundwater."
The team is looking at two test sites in South Kona. The sites are at the same elevation and receive similar rainfall, but one has nonnative eucalyptus and ash, the other, native plants such as koa, ʻōhiʻa, hāpuʻu, kōlea and pilo. The ultimate goal is an accurate watershed-wide model of the interaction between plant life and hydrology that can contribute to better water resource policy decisions.
The chemical threat
Experts agree that Oʻahu’s groundwater is free of biological, disease-causing organisms, which die off during their multiyear journey through soil and lava rock. But man-made chemicals don’t die, and they can end up in the islands’ aquifers.
In 1983 agricultural pesticides DBCP and EDB were banned from Oʻahu’s sugarcane and pineapple fields after they were discovered in some Mililani-area wells. The Board of Water Supply removes known chemicals with activated-charcoal filters before they reach household taps, but there’s pressure from golf courses, diversified agriculture and termite-control businesses to import new chemicals, says Ray.
"The Department of Agriculture favors the introduction of newer chemicals but wants to make sure they won’t be harmful to our water supply. So we test and make recommendations—which ones leach into the soil after it rains, how readily they stick to different soil types (if they stick, they don’t wash down into aquifers), what secondary products are produced when they degrade and how toxic they are."
With a similar objective, engineer Ray and Associate Professor of Geology and Geophysics Aly El-Kadi locate, categorize and rank the danger of all potentially contaminating hazards near each of the state’s 450-plus drinking water sources.
"We looked at gas stations, auto repair shops, landfills, parks—any activity that could impact a water source," says Ray.
The taste of chlorine
Some chemicals are added for good reason. Honolulu’s Board of Water Supply selectively chlorinates some drinking water at a low level to prevent biological contaminants from reaching households. EPA is considering legislation to force states to disinfect most drinking water with 0.2 milligrams per liter of chlorine, a remedy Professor of Public Health Roger Fujioka calls unnecessary on Oʻahu.
"People will be able to taste the chlorine," Fujioka says. He has served on a number of EPA advisory panels and successfully argued against the excessive chlorine for many years. Environmental water-quality standards are applied uniformly to every state, even though microbes behave differently in tropical climates, he points out.
"We were able to convince the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to fund the Pacific Research Center for Marine Biomedicine at Mānoa, one of four Ocean and Human Health Centers across the country," he adds. Its mission includes prevention of waterborne diseases.
Fujioka also developed a monitoring plan and trains Board of Water Supply laboratory staff to rapidly detect changes in drinking water that could signal contamination by terrorists.
Other water-preservation efforts by UH faculty include safe operation of water-catchment systems in areas not hooked up to a public utility.
Ultimately, all appreciate the sentiment expressed by American anthropologist Loren Corey Eiseley: "If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."
In a state where water figures prominently in recreation, concerns about biological and chemical contaminants aren’t limited to drinking water.
Researcher Roger Fujioka hopes to develop an accepted health-safety standard for Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that causes more infections among swimmers, surfers and paddlers in Hawaiʻi than in any other state (see Mālamalama, September 2004).
And on the Big Island, UH Hilo Assistant Professor of Chemistry Debra Weeks investigates the movement of arsenic in Hilo Bay’s Wailoa estuary.
Arsenic was introduced into the estuary between 1932 and 1962 when the Waiākea Sugar Mill operated in the area. Sugarcane bagasse, or waste, didn't break down easily, so it was treated with an arsenic solution to repel termites and processed into a building material called canec. "The arsenic solution drained into the estuary as waste," says Weeks. Arsenic sticks to particles that sink to the bottom as sediment. "There’s a concern about contamination if the bottom gets stirred up or swimmers ingest muddy water," she says.
Subsequent sediment layers could have covered those containing arsenic. Still, a graduate student working on the project won’t let her children go barefoot in Waialoa Park. "Until the distribution of arsenic has been fully studied, this level of discretion is reasonable," says Weeks.
She plans to look into the arsenic’s mobility in the food chain—algae-eating ducks, Hawaiian mud hens and bottom-feeding fish caught by recreational fishermen. | <urn:uuid:905cba45-6692-45a6-90cc-2aea81f8aff9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hawaii.edu/malamalama/2005/05/f3_water.html | 2013-05-20T11:31:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940498 | 2,211 |
Verticillium wilt: It's the V in "VFN" tomato plants, as in "resistant to Verticillium wilt." But other vegetables are attacked by this fungal disease, as are numerous varied trees, shrubs and perennials. What's a gardener to do?
Verticillium fungi infect all kinds of plants, blocking their sap flow. This leads to overall wilting, yellowed leaves, dead twigs and branches, and poor crops yields. Those heirloom tomatoes you've fallen in love with? Quite prone to Verticillium. Those resistant new hybrid tomatoes? Losing their edge against new, tougher strains of Verticillium. There is no fungicide treatment available to home gardeners for this disease. Have I got your attention yet?
Verticillium wilt is a disease caused by one of two specific fungus in soil. Gardens across the US and Canada can harbor these fungi. They like conditions we'd probably describe as "very pleasant for our plants" but can withstand years of deprivation. Verticillium will survive adversity and become active when conditions favor it again. It flourishes in the warming soil temperatures of spring, enters a plant, and collapses its cells so that the first onset of hot weather brings "sudden" sickness.
Suspect verticillium wilt when you see these symptoms*
Vegetables, annuals, perennials
Trees and shrubs
Sudden wilt on hot days
Wilting of leaves on just part of the plant, not the entire plant
Yellowing and dying lower leaves
Yellowing of leaves in a V shaped patch between veins
* While these are typical of Verticillium infection, other conditions can cause similar symptoms. Look for and rule out other possible problems. Absolute diagnosis of Verticillium wilt needs laboratory analysis.
There are thousands of species of fungus in normal garden soil. The majority are benign or helpful to trees and flowers. Some are harmful to green plants. Verticillium dahliae and V. albo-atrum are known to infect many of the plants we find useful and pretty. The fungus invades the roots of plants. Then it clogs up the circulatory system of the plant. This "arboreal atherosclerosis" causes wilting and yellowing as the plant cannot deliver needed sap to all parts. The fungus favors mild soil temperatures around 70 degres, but the symptoms may appear more severe in hotter weather. That's when daytime heat extracts more moisture from the plants extremities than the clogged plant can provide.
Susceptible plants and trees
Unfortunately for us, Verticillium can infect a wide range of ornamental specimens and food plants. The majority of vegetables are infected to some degree. Among trees, maples and redbuds are generally very vulnerable to Verticillium. Many other trees can be infected. Quite a few favorite shrubs, from azalea to Viburnum, can suffer this ailment. Perennials and annuals can be stricken; many aster family plants are at risk from Verticillium, as are Dahlias, as you may have guessed from the species name of one of the offending organisms.
Is anything safe?
The situation sounds dire, and indeed there are lists of plants of all types that can fall prey to this wilt; see the links in Resources below. Fortunately, other plants shrug off Verticillium; see the same links for their lists of plants resistant or immune to this disease.
Monocots (plants in the "grass" family) do not suffer from Verticillium wilt. Monocots have generally elongated leaves with veins that run lengthwise on the leaf. This group includes loads of plants that may not instantly come to mind as grasslike. All kinds of Lilies are members of this tribe. Iris and Hostas are, too. In the vegetable garden, asparagus and any onion type crop (onions, chives, garlic, leeks) are monocots, and thus safe from Verticillium. In shrub and tree size specimens, the selection narrows greatly. Bamboos and palms are the large members of this group.
Common evergreens with needle like, evergreen leaves are safe here. They are "gymnosperms'" and members of this group do not suffer from Verticiloium wilt. Pines, junipers, and yews can be considered safe from Verticillium. And though a Ginkgo tree is deciduous and not "needle leafed," it is a gynosperm and thus also safe.
Garden practices to avert Verticillium
~ Crop rotation is a tried and true, traditional method of disease control. When plants appear to have Verticillium, be sure not to plant Verticillium prone plants in the same spot the following year. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, strawberries and raspberries are all prone to similar Verticillium strains. Break the cycle of verticillium by not planting any of these crops in the same spot year to year. In the years between, if possible, plant grasses or grass family crops. Keep the area weeded so verticillium cannot harbor in alternate host plants. Asparagus and all alliums are resistant. Sweet potatos, beans and peas, lettuce, and carrots are less prone to this wilt.
~ Choose tomatoes of resistant hybrid varieties. Catalogs and labels should indicate resistance; a " VFN resistant" cultivar resists Verticillium, Fusarium, and nematodes.
~ Burn or destroy (do not compost) any clippings or leaves from sickened plants. When the entire vegetables or flowering plants are removed, include the rootball. Disinfect tools after using them on verticillium-affected plants.
~ Good care keeps plants and trees in tiptop shape. Then they are most able to resist infection. Attention to soil fertility and proper watering reduces the stress that makes plants most vulnerable. Use proper planting methods to prevent the root damage. Damaged roots are more easily infected.
~ Extent of infection on trees and shrubs is subject to several variables. Prune out affected branches from trees and shrubs. Limited branch loss on woody plants does not necessarily dictate removal of the entire specimen. When a woody plant must be removed due to Verticillium wilt, do replace with a resistant choice.
Resources: Publications with extensive lists of prone and resistant species
I grew up playing in the Maryland woods, and would still do it often if life allowed! Graduate of University of Maryland, my degree is in Agriculture. Gardens and natural areas give me endless opportunity for learning and wonder. Naturally (pun intended) my garden style leans towards the casual, and my cultural methods towards organic. I like to try new plants, and have "some of everything" in my indoor and outdoor gardens. Thanks go to my parents for passing along their love of gardening and nature, and my husband and kids for being patient when I get lost in the garden. | <urn:uuid:67eb7e5d-d1ad-43c9-bc4e-b8f25a2619dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3857/ | 2013-06-19T06:11:13Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928931 | 1,481 |
Because smart meters use wireless radio transmitters to send and receive data, some customers have asked about possible negative health effects from the associated radio frequency (RF) emissions. The most comprehensive scientific study to date which investigates this topic was completed by the California Council on Science and Technology in 2011, the results of which are published in their report entitled “Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters.”
The two primary conclusions of the report are as follows:
The FCC standard provides a currently accepted factor of safety against known thermally induced health impacts of smart meters and other electronic devices in the same range of RF emissions. Exposure levels from smart meters are well below the thresholds for such effects.
There is no evidence that additional standards are needed to protect the public from smart meters.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the United States' governing body for the electromagnetic spectrum and it sets strict limits on the design specifications for radio transmitters of all types, including the smart meters and other telecommunications equipment used in Anaheim.
So how does a person’s exposure to RF energy from a smart meter compare to that from other common household devices, such as cell phones and microwave ovens? The answer is, it’s quite a bit less. Here’s why:
Smart meters are low powered, generally 1 watt or less. By comparison, a microwave oven draws anywhere from 300 to well over 1000 watts of power.
A smart meter only sends and receives data for a few seconds each day. The rest of the time it is effectively off, emitting no RF energy.
The strength of a radio wave decreases very rapidly with distance (the inverse square law) and people don’t generally spend a great deal of time very near to their electric or water meters. That’s quite different from a cell phone which is held up to a person’s ear for minutes or hours at a time.
It’s also important to know that there are very large margins of safety built into the certification requirements for wireless radio transmitters, such as smart meters. Even in a worst case scenario where a smart meter malfunctioned and got stuck in a “transmit continuously” mode, someone standing a foot away from the meter would be experiencing RF exposure levels 40% below the FCC’s Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limit. And the MPE limit itself is 50 times lower than the lowest demonstrated hazard level.
For those interested in knowing more about the technical specifications of a smart meter, here are the models that are currently in use in Anaheim:
Any discussion of the health implications of smart meters would be incomplete without acknowledging the environmental benefits of the smart grid as a whole. By using energy more efficiently, we reduce our emissions of green house gasses and other pollutants. Empowering customers with near-time information about their energy usage is one of the primary requirements for widespread adoption of emerging green technologies, such as plug-in electric vehicles. And if the smart grid enables us to shift even a small percentage of our peak energy demand to off-peak hours, there’s the very real potential of avoiding the need to construct additional power plants in the future. When taken together, these factors collectively contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment for all of us. | <urn:uuid:a9cf7688-a783-4979-b023-26671d5a4f4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anaheim.net/article.asp?id=4810 | 2013-05-23T11:40:21Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949893 | 673 |
Hundreds of Plagues
Rabbi Yossi the Galilean said: "How do you know that the Egyptians were struck by 10 plagues in Egypt and 50 plagues at the sea? Because regarding the plagues of Egypt it says: 'The magicians said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God' (Exodus 8:15). While at the sea it says: 'And the Jewish people saw the great hand which God had used in Egypt, and the people feared God, and they believed in God and in Moses His servant' (Exodus 14:31).
How many plagues did they receive with the finger? Ten. Therefore if in Egypt they received 10 plagues then at the sea (when smitten by God's hand) they must have had 50 plagues.'"
Rabbi Yossi the Galilean said there were 50 plagues.
Rabbi Elazar says that the number of plagues was four-fold. This is an allusion to the four-letter Name of God – Yud, Heh, Vav, Heh – which represents God's attributes of kindness and mercy. Because in Rabbi Elazar's opinion, the purpose of the plagues was to sensitize the Jewish people to the love and care shown to them by God.
Rabbi Akiva, meanwhile, says that the plagues were primarily for sake of punishing the Egyptians. The number of plagues was therefore five-fold, corresponding to the five letters of Elokim – the Name of God which represents strict justice.
Rabbi Tom Meyer
Rabbi Yossi the Galilean said: "How do you know that the Egyptians were struck by 10 plagues in Egypt and 50 plagues at the sea?...
Many people find this part of the Haggadah confusing. Basically, the idea is that each plague in Egypt was "by the finger of God," and the miracle at the Sea was "the hand of God." So there must have been five times more miracles at the Sea than there were original plagues. It's all rabbinical mathematics – multiply 10 times five.
So what? The Haggadah spoke earlier about the Sages staying up all night talking about the Exodus. What took them so long? They were trying to identify each aspect of how God interacts with us. They were examining details of how choosing spirituality brings a reward, and choosing unnecessary physicality brings a punishment. In Judaism, "reward" doesn't only mean a relief from pain, depression, suffering, anti-Semitism, etc. (although that's part of it). You also get innumerable positive things. And that's why it's so great to be Jewish.
We don't hate the body. Judaism uses the body. It's not the enemy. Just don't get swallowed by it. If God didn't want us to have a body, He wouldn't have put us in this world. But He also doesn't want you to totally surrender to the body. He shows you the consequences – all the plagues and punishments and suffering. Each plague can damage yourself, damage interpersonal relationships, damage you with God, damage your possessions, damage the ecology and the environment.
Each plague had all these different parts.
Dayenu!-That Would Have Been Enough
Rabbi Tom Meyer
"Dayenu" – Therefore, how much more so do we owe abundant thanks to God for all the manifold good He bestows upon us. He brought us out of Egypt, He executed justice upon the Egyptians and their gods. He slew their first born. He gave to us their wealth. He split the sea for us, led us through it on dry land and drowned our oppressors in it. He provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years and fed us the Manna. He gave us Shabbat, led us to Mount Sinai and gave us the Torah. He brought us into the Land of Israel and built for us the Temple to atone for all our mistakes.
To demonstrate all the positive consequences of choosing God, the Haggadah lists all the good that God has done for the Jewish people through history.
"Dayenu" has 15 stanzas, 15 aspects, 15 gifts. The first five involve leaving the lowliness of enslavement to our bodies. The second five describe miracles – i.e. how God changes nature. And the last five are closeness to God.
FIVE STANZAS OF LEAVING SLAVERY
1) "If He had brought us out of Egypt."
Leaving Egypt is lifting you into an awareness of your soul. For many people, achieving that moment of transcendence is the greatest experience in life. They'll travel around the world and spend their entire life trying to get it. Think of a moment when you were in love. Or when you stood on a mountaintop and all of a sudden felt the beauty of everything. You knew you were a soul. You just left Egypt. That's fantastic, right? That would have been enough.
2) "If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians."
Justice means that once you have clarity and you know good from bad, you can fight evil. It is terrific to see an evil person stopped in his tracks – the bully, the exploiter. We feel lifted when somebody stands up against them with moral clarity. People pay money at the movies to see "good" triumph over "evil." In a world that is so cynical, people don't believe that "good" can win. But everyone craves to see it. And if you merit, you see it happening in real life. That would have been enough.
3) "If He had executed justice upon their gods."
This is when people who subscribe to ideologies of selfishness and greed appear to be prospering and happy – and then you see the falsehood of those gods exposed. Your intuitive sense of values is restored. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. That would have been enough.
4) "If He had slain their first born."
There's a higher level of satisfaction when "the first born" – the evil leaders who have power – get their just reward. Of course, we would prefer that any human being reform his ways and be spared the punishment. But if you can't change them, the next best thing is to see them killed. Believe me, when Hitler got it, people were happy. The whole world breathed a sigh of relief. It's more than just gaining clarity for yourself or seeing a false ideology destroyed. Here you actually see the vicious exploiters have their power broken. That would have been enough.
5) "If He had given to us their wealth."
When you surrender to your body, you don't really get the body pleasures. Because you never reach a point of satiation and satisfaction. For example, sex without love is ultimately not pleasurable. And when is enough money enough?
But when you refine your soul, you acquire all the body pleasures as well. They're in perspective, in the proper measure, and under control. You can enjoy food and marital relations – and feel you did the right thing. Direct the animal drive and you'll get the riches. That's what it means "they acquired the Egyptian's wealth." At the moment the Jews left Egypt they became a soul. And that would have been enough.
FIVE STANZAS OF MIRACLES
6) "If He had split the sea for us."
Have you ever seen the world opening up for you? I've asked groups of people many times, "How many have experienced a personal miracle?" Almost everyone in the room raises their hand. They don't believe other people's miracles, but they believe "something happened to me, I can't explain it, it was amazing." One student told me that he never wore a seat belt in his life. Then one day he got into his car and felt an urge to put on his seat belt. That day his car was totally destroyed. He would have been unquestionably killed. A miracle.
The sea splitting is an open miracle where nature changes. It's much more pleasurable when you see an open miracle, right in front of you. Most of us have not seen that level. But from what we have seen, we can infer the potential of even greater miracles.
When you choose to be a soul, the physical world opens up for you. The tension releases. You don't have to fight nature as we're so used to doing. At the sea, God released us from that constraint. That would have been enough.
7) "If He had led us through on dry land."
This is when you don't just get the miracle, but it's with ease. The road to Oz opens right up. Ease on down the road. It's going where you want to go. And you don't just see the miracle, you actually pass right through it. You and the road are one. You pass through nature and into the arms of the Almighty. Into miracle. Into Israel. Into the soul. That would have been enough.
8) "If He had drowned our oppressors."
This is when nature is not only "not your enemy," but has become completely submerged and is now your friend. It's under your employ and will produce for you. Just as we want to give our own children everything, the Almighty wants to help us "lift" nature so that it works with us as a friend.
When the Jews saw the Egyptian bodies drowning, they realized that nature has no power over us any more. Not just for the next week or two. But it's gone, permanently. That was the pleasure. In fact, the Midrash says that the Jews were still nervous and they didn't believe. They came out the other end and the Egyptians had drowned. But they said, "Maybe they're going to come out of the water a mile downstream and attack us." So God finished the job – He washed the dead bodies ashore so the Jews could see for sure. How much we lose when we are always afraid that somehow we are going to be overpowered again. God removed that insecurity. That would have been enough.
9) "If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years."
Imagine if I set you loose in the Sahara desert without anything for 40 years. It's freedom – but it's tough. For 40 years the Jews had everything they needed. They had a "portable well" that provided water; their clothing didn't wear out; they were automatically bathed. God took care of them so that they wouldn't be obsessed and distracted by physical details. Instead, they could focus on spiritual growth and learning Torah. They felt the whole world operating in confluence with them. They were surrounded by spiritual clouds which were that was like being enveloped by God's presence. Imagine that moment when you walk outside and it's the first beautiful, warmish day of spring – "Wow, what a beautiful world." You feel nature is surrounding you with its beauty. That's what the Jews felt for 40 years in the desert – nature flowing with them. That would have been enough.
10) "If He had fed us manna."
Earning a living is really a hidden miracle. We go out there and struggle and worry and pray – and then if we're successful we think our power and genius did it! It's nice to feel your genius did something. But on the other hand that's a formula for arrogance.
With the manna, the Jews woke up every morning and saw a thin layer of food carpeting the desert floor. They gathered exactly what they needed each day. They didn't have to put anything away in a bank account. They knew that the next day God was going to open the heavens and shower His blessing again. They felt taken care of. Like being in the womb. They didn't have to worry. That would have been enough.
FIVE STANZAS OF BEING WITH GOD
11) "If He had given us Shabbat."
What is Shabbat? Just as physical space can be sanctified – people get off the plane in Israel and feel something special – so too time can be sanctified. Rather than being in a rat-race all week long – earning money, earning money, earning money, there's one day when you cannot earn money! Instead you sit back, relax and enjoy existence. You feel the Almighty's presence. Shabbat is a special day to focus on learning and growing. You don't hop in the car and drive off somewhere. Americans have lost the concept of family life. Shabbat gives it back. And that would have been enough.
12) "If He had led us to Mount Sinai."
I remember as a child, President Kennedy said we're going to put a man on the moon. The whole country got together – universities, big business, government agencies. Everyone was committed to putting a man on the moon. And America did it.
When the Jews came to Mount Sinai, they had absolute unity as a people. It's an entirely new level when you have society working together to feel God's presence. At Mount Sinai, the Jewish people achieved national revelation.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, spirituality was open and obvious. But then they made a mistake and ate the fruit. The physical became overpowering, and from then on you had to work to uncover spirituality. But in reality, spirituality is like water – if you take a shovel and dig in most places, you'll see water running there. So too, there's spirituality underlying everything. We just don't see it.
When God brought us to Mount Sinai, He opened all the wells. The Jews looked at each and every thing and understood its spiritual origin. It was a shimmering spiritual world around them. Nobody had any doubts at Mount Sinai. And there is no joy like getting rid of doubt. They were totally united amongst themselves and with God. That would have been enough.
13) "If He had given us the Torah."
Each of us has moments of transcendence where we feel God. It could be that winter morning after a snowfall when you look out the window and see icicles hanging from the trees. The sunlight hits the icicles, they're gleaming, and you see how pure and beautiful everything is. You feel lifted. But then you turn around and you have to deal with your kids, your business, your mother-in-law. If you get a spiritual high and then go out into the world without knowing how to apply it, you'll come down from the high. Life becomes very complex. It's a struggle to get back to God.
Mount Sinai was a tremendous spiritual high, and it's great to know that God is with you. But still you have to go on with daily life. You've got to eat food, raise a family. Well, how do I do it? What's the rulebook? Where's the map?
The beauty of Torah is that it directs us as to what to do.Torat Chaim is literally "Instructions for Living." Torah teaches us right from wrong. Not just morally, but practically, too. The Torah labels everything and explains which actions are good and which are destructive – in user-friendly steps. And that would have been enough.
14) "If He had brought us into the Land of Israel."
We already said that time can have sanctity in the form of Shabbat. Land also can have sanctity. Of course, God is everywhere. But in certain places you feel His presence more. For example, God reveals Himself more in Israel. That's why when the plane lands, you feel something special. And when you arrive in Jerusalem, it's even more special. And when you get to the Wall it's... indescribable. Everyone feels it. So don't think you're crazy. The Almighty parts the curtain a little in Israel.
There's a second aspect to Israel. You also feel "at home." Imagine a child who is orphaned and has feelings of insecurity as he's shuffled from one foster home to another – then finally finds a family who really cares about him and he's got a place to call "home." It's an enormous sense of relief. When you're at home, you're more open to everything around you.
That's what Israel is for the Jew. It's our special home. And that would have been enough.
15) "He built the Temple for us."
Our greatest gratitude is reserved for the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Some people say, "What's the big deal about the Temple?" Well, for starters, it's the site of the Binding of Isaac, Jacob's dream with the ladder, King Solomon's Temple – and the focus of Jewish hopes and prayers for 3,000 years.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had an extremely intensive, centered experience of God. Yet a river ran out of Eden and split into four directions – meaning they were to take this experience and transmit it to all four corners of the globe.
That's the Holy Temple. It provided an immense, awesome, inspiring feeling of God's presence. Yet ultimately the idea is to communicate that to the rest of the world. This is why the Temple Mount is called Mount Moriah, which means "teaching." From that spot we can teach about God and lift all of humanity. Jerusalem straddles all the continents because it's the center of the universe. From there everything flows. "From Zion goes forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3).
Everyone knows there's something special going on there. Even the biggest atheist comes to Israel and heads straight for the Western Wall. And that's just the Temple's outer wall! Actually, the Sages said thousands of years ago that the Temple would be destroyed, but the Western Wall would be left standing – in order to give us a taste of what we are missing and what we want to get back to. The Temple was the ultimate fulfillment of Jewish nationalism. Wouldn't that be enough?
Finally, the Haggadah lists all 15 steps together. That's because more than each one is a wonderful, separate gift, it's all one unit. The pieces works together – and when you have the whole thing, you have it all.
Dayenu and Miracles
Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Therefore, how much more so do we owe abundant thanks to God for all the manifold good He bestows upon us. He brought us out of Egypt, He executed justice upon the Egyptians and their gods. He slew their first born. He gave to us their wealth. He split the sea for us, led us through it on dry land and drowned our oppressors in it. He provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years and fed us the Manna. He gave us Shabbat, led us to Mount Sinai and gave us the Torah. He brought us into the Land of Israel and built for us the Temple to atone for all our mistakes.
The purpose of "Dayenu" is to focus our every need. Unfortunately, we can become so "accustomed" to His providence, that we no longer appreciate – or even recognize it!
The Talmud tells the story of a father who puts his son on his shoulders, and carries him day and night around the world. At mealtime, the father would always reach up his hand and feed the boy. Quietly and regularly, the father cared for his son's every need. Then one day as they passed another traveler, the boy shouted out: "Hey, have you seen my father?"
That's taking things for granted.
One of the stanzas of "Dayenu" speaks about the Jewish people being sustained for 40 years by mann, a bread-like substance that fell each day from the sky. Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler asks the question: Which is the greater miracle – bread coming from the Earth, or bread coming from Heaven? Instinctively, we would say "bread from Heaven" is an amazing miracle. But objectively speaking, "bread from Heaven" is really just a simple showering down. "Bread from the Earth," however, demands a complex balance of factors including soil, nutrients, sunlight, rain, temperature, etc.
So what's more of a miracle? We say "bread from Heaven" because it is uncommon. But if we were exposed only once to the idea of a tiny seed being thrown into the ground and growing into grain – we would immediately say, "That's a miracle!!"
There was once a young man who went to a rabbi and said, "If you can show me a miracle, I'll believe in the existence of God." So the rabbi speaks with Elijah the Prophet and arranges for tickets to see the Red Sea split. The rabbi and the young man go back in time to Egypt, stand on the shores of the Red Sea, and watch as 3 million Jews approach. Moses raises his staff, the Red Sea splits, and the Jews walk through on dry land. The guy is so impressed, he immediately runs out and buys a pair of Tefillin.
A few weeks later, he comes back to see the rabbi. "Rabbi," he says, "it was really great seeing the sea split. But I'm starting to lose the feeling. If I could just see another miracle, I would truly believe." So the rabbi puts in another request, and obtains tickets to see the Red Sea splitting. They go down to Egypt, here comes Moses and the people, the sea splits – and the guy is astounded. A miracle! He runs out and enrolls in yeshiva. It's a miracle!
After a few more weeks, the guy comes back to the rabbi. "Listen, rabbi, I need to see another miracle. Can you arrange it for me?" So the rabbi gets tickets, they go down to Egypt, here comes Moses, the sea splits. At which point the young man turns to the rabbi and says, "That's nothing – I've seen it before!"
Sadly, the difference between what we call "nature" and what we call a "miracle" is a matter of frequency. This is sad because we wind up taking things for granted. Do we fully appreciate the miracle of trees breathing carbon dioxide, so that we can breathe oxygen? Do we recognize the miracle of a semen-drop becoming a thriving, intelligent human being? The fact that colors never clash in nature? The simplicity of thirst-quenching, life-sustaining water? The attractive smell and color of an orange, with it's protective coating?
The writer Oscar Wilde expressed how desensitized we are to the wonders of nature, when he commented, "Niagara Falls is nice. But the real excitement would be to see it flowing backwards."
"Dayenu" teaches us that everything we have is a blessing. And if we have more, that's even better. The prophet Jeremiah said: "Just the fact that you're alive is enough of a blessing that you should never complain." The miracle of life itself would have been sufficient for us. | <urn:uuid:acc8abb3-6c85-43b7-b298-da047bce2d18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aish.com/h/pes/h/48959306.html | 2013-06-19T06:01:45Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980014 | 4,819 |
14 October 2005
GSA Release No. 05-39
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Disaster Lessons: What You Don't Know Can Kill You
Something remarkable happened on the island closest to the epicenter of the great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake last December: Only seven of the island's 78,000 inhabitants died. This is despite the fact tsunamis hit the island only eight minutes after the quake, despite the destruction of many Simuelue villages, and despite the lack of an official tsunami warning system and little in the way of telecommunications.
Why were the lives of Simuelue islanders spared when all around the Indian Ocean, coastal villages, towns, and cities hit by the tsunamis experienced near-total annihilation? The answer, says Humboldt State University geology professor Lori Dengler, is knowledge.
"The single most important lesson for anyone anywhere is that what you know can save your life and what you don't know can kill you," said Dengler, who was part of an International Tsunami Survey Team of scientists that visited the tsunami destruction zones in April. What she and others discovered in the western coast of Aceh province, Simuelue and the Nias Islands of Indonesia is that there are a number of vital lessons emergency planners and every human being can learn from the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe.
Dengler is also a member of the Redwood Coast Working Group, an unfunded volunteer consensus planning and mitigation group. She will be presenting some of her findings - with particular emphasis on their application to the U.S. and the earthquake and tsunami-prone Pacific Northwest - on Sunday, 16 October, at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America at in Salt Lake City (see specific time and location below).
The knowledge the people of Simuelue had was simply this: Once in a while large earthquakes are followed by large killer waves, so it's always wise to run to high ground and wait a while, just in case.
"They have a long oral tradition that remembers what happened in 1907," said Dengler. That's the year Simuelue was last was struck by an earthquake-induced tsunami, she said. The survivors of that disaster learned their lesson and wisely didn't let their descendents forget it. "It doesn't matter that the information is a century old," said Dengler. "They don't ignore it. They take great pride in getting it perfectly. You don't fret about false alarms." They even have a word for the 1907 tsunami in their local language: "smong."
In stark contrast, the populations of other coastal areas where there was far more time between the quake and the tsunami's arrival to respond were nearly wiped out. "The west coast of Indonesia had fifteen to twenty minutes of warning time and had casualty rates upwards of ninety percent," Dengler said. "It was absolutely horrific." Survivors interviewed in those places had little or no knowledge of tsunamis or what caused them before the disaster, she said.
The Simuelue story was reenacted that day in other places around the Indian Ocean. A merchant marine in a Sri Lankan fishing village remembered the near-shore signs of an approaching tsunami from years ago when he witnessed another in Chile. His warning saved hundreds of lives. Near et in Thailand, a 10-year-old English girl on holiday with her family remembered a geography lesson covering tsunamis given two weeks earlier. She also recognized the danger and is credited for saving at least 100 lives, including her own.
Yet other coastal communities received calls warning them of the coming wave, said Dengler, but the warnings were not understood and were not heeded. The tragedy underlines a problem that's often overlooked by the public and even emergency planners: A warning is of little use if the public doesn't understand how to respond to it.
That message was driven home more recently in California on 14 June, when a 7.2 earthquake jolted the ocean floor off Northern California. A tsunami warning was issued within five minutes of the quake, said Dengler. "From that point it was complete chaos," she said. People just didn't know how to respond. Luckily, there was no tsunami after that earthquake.
The lessons from the Indian Ocean are clear: the answer is planning and public education.
WHEN AND WHERE
The 2004 Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami: Mitigation Implications for Cascadia
Sunday, October 16, 4:15 pm. MDT, Salt Palace Convention Center Ballroom A/C
View abstract: http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_93027.htm
During the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 16-19 October, contact Ann Cairns at the GSA Newsroom, Salt Palace Convention Center, for assistance and to arrange for interviews: +1-801-534-4770.
- After the meeting contact:
- Lori Dengler
- Department of Geological Sciences
- Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
- Phone: 707-826-3115
- E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:57c5695c-5c1e-4d2b-abaa-1494a5d32de0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dbuehler@geosociety.org/news/pr/05-39.htm | 2013-06-18T05:31:46Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706933615/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122213-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961466 | 1,073 |
The Indian Civilization Fund Act authorized the federal government to allocate money to instruct Native Americans in agriculture, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The Act went into effect on March 3, 1819, and it provided $10,000 per year to promote cultural assimilation among the nation's Indians.
Prior to the establishment of the Indian Civilization Fund, religious missionaries had long sought to teach Native Americans about Christianity and other elements of what they called "civilized" society. After the formation of the United States, and largely beginning with the Jefferson administration, the federal government took an active role in promoting the secular transformation of Natives. What became known as the Indian factory system began in 1795 to set standard rates and to control the behavior of traders and hunters. Indian agents, like Benjamin Hawkins, and other employees of the federal factory system, used their presence among the Indians to teach them to herd cattle, grow cotton, use written laws, adopt Western gender norms, and otherwise embrace elements of American "civilization." When Indian agents did not perform these functions, religious missionaries often did. A lack of steady funding for these efforts, however, frustrated many Americans who believed in the desirability of assimilating Native Americans.
In 1817, Thomas L. McKenney, the Superintendent of Indian Trade for the United States, began to lobby Congress to coordinate and fund a large-scale campaign to promote cultural change. He believed that such a program could be beneficial to both Indians and the United States. By expanding the federal factory system, McKenney believed that he could teach Indians to stop hunting and start practicing agriculture. He encouraged Indian agents to cooperate with religious missionaries, he provided agents with agricultural equipment and livestock to give to cooperating Indians, and he otherwise pursued policies that he believed would lead to acculturated Indians. These actions, McKenney hoped, would allow Indians to become citizens and at the same time bring Native lands under the control of the United States.
With the cooperation of Henry Southard, chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs, McKenney brought his plan for widespread schooling for Indians to Congress in 1818. After much internal haggling over who should be in charge of the education, whether profits from the factory system could fund the program, and, if not, how the program would be funded, Congress passed the Indian Civilization Fund Act. It provided a $10,000 annual allocation, far short of McKenney's $100,000 request. In addition, it authorized the president to use his discretion on how to spend the money. Rather than expand the factory system, President James Monroe chose to fund groups who were already engaged in educating Indians to do the work.
Most of the groups who received money from the Indian Civilization Fund were religious missionaries from Protestant sects, primarily Methodists and Baptists. With this new funding, they were able to expand their presence in Indian Country and to create new schools to teach Indians how to become part of American culture. Other allocations went directly to Indian nations, who could choose for themselves which schools to support.
Even with this additional funding, missionary schools did not become a prominent presence in Indian Country. Still, the money allowed the schools to expand and it made the education of Native Americans a central component of U.S. Indian policy. In 1824, the Indian Civilization Fund subsidized thirty-two schools and contributed to the ostensible education of more than 900 Indians. Funds allocated from various Indian treaties helped augment the program, and, by 1830, the Indian Civilization Fund helped support fifty-two schools with 1,512 enrolled students.
The Choctaw Academy was the most well-known institution that received money from the fund. Created in 1825, the academy also received federal funds as a result of several treaties and land sales by the Choctaws. The school was built in Scott County, Kentucky, outside of the Choctaw nation, and it was run by the Baptist General Convention. Students studied basic subjects like English and mathematics while also learning the mechanical arts. Most of the students were Choctaws, but students from other Indian nations attended as well. In 1835, the all-male academy had 188 students.
Andrew K. Frank
Murphy, Justin D. 1991. "Wheelock Female Seminary 1842–1861: The Acculturation and Christianization of Young Choctaw Women." Chronicles of Oklahoma 69, no. 1: 48–61.; Prucha, Francis Paul. 1984. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. | <urn:uuid:17995a28-8767-413c-ac51-d8cad9ea2db8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.historyandtheheadlines.abc-clio.com/ContentPages/ContentPage.aspx?entryId=1171801¤tSection=1161468&productid=5 | 2013-05-22T14:18:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965901 | 927 |
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT; INDIAN TURNIP (ARISAEMA TRIPHYLLUM)
Jack-in-the-pulpit is not widespread in Nova Scotia, but can be found in rich soil in woodlands, thickets, ditches, and low-lying streamsides. It is an unusual wildflower in appearance. Leaflets are in threes, above which a spathe arises. This green and white striped hood obscures the spadix carrying the flowers, or Jack. The fruit are clusters of red berries.
The corms were once dried and ground as a coarse flour; apparently, this processing renders harmless the oxalate crystals, which normally cause poisoning symptoms when the plant is eaten.
The greatest concentration of the toxin occurs in the leaves.
Calcium oxalate, a compound derived from oxalic acid, as well as enzymes that trigger the release of histamine in the bloodstream of persons who ingest the leaves. Oxalates are needle-like crystals, which, when eaten, may pierce the mouth, throat, and digestive tract as they pass through, causing, at the very least, intense discomfort.
TYPICAL POISONING SCENARIO
The main problem lies with infants, toddlers, or pets who, once attracted to the showy flowers and foliage, may nibble on the leaves. If arums are kept out of curious mouths, there is little further risk, as they are quite safe to handle.
Even small doses of oxalate toxin is enough to cause intense sensations of burning in the mouth and throat, swelling, and choking.
In larger doses, oxalate causes severe digestive upset, breathing difficulties, and—if enough is consumed—convulsions, coma, and death. Recovery from severe oxalate poisoning is possible, but permanent liver and kidney damage may have occurred.
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT; INDIAN TURNIP POISON INFORMATION
Oxalates are unstable salts of oxalic acid. When eaten, they break down to release the highly poisonous acid.
The sour flavour of sorrel (Rumex species), wood sorrel (Oxalis), and even rhubarb is due to the presence of the acid.
Some plants may contain differing amounts of potassium or calcium salts, rendering them unsafe, particularly in the buckwheat and goosefoot families. | <urn:uuid:72381c3b-9e50-4646-a0ee-4a614fd6a9bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://museum.gov.ns.ca/poison/?section=species&id=70 | 2013-05-24T09:04:12Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927651 | 497 |
A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America
Volume 65 Number 5, September/October 2012
Death on the Roman Empire's eastern frontier
In the first century A.D. Roman army veterans arrived in what is now northern Macedonia and settled near the small village of Scupi. The veterans had been given the land by the emperor Domitian as a reward for their service, as was customary. They soon began to enlarge the site, and around A.D. 85, the town was granted the status of a Roman colony and named Colonia Flavia Scupinorum. (“Flavia” refers to the Flavian Dynasty of which Domitian was a member.) Over the next several centuries Scupi grew at a rapid pace. In the late third century and well into the fourth, Scupi experienced a period of great prosperity. The colony became the area’s principal religious, cultural, economic, and administrative center and one of the locations from which, through military action and settlement, the Romans colonized the region.
Scupi, which gives its name to Skopje, the nearby capital of the Republic of Macedonia, has been excavated regularly since 1966. Since that time archaeologists have uncovered an impressive amount of evidence, including many of the buildings that characterize a Roman city— a theater, a basilica, public baths, a granary, and a sumptuous urban villa, as well as remains of the city walls and part of the gridded street plan. Recently, however, due to the threat from construction, they have focused their work on one of the city’s necropolises, situated on both sides of a 20-foot-wide state-of-the art ancient road. In the Roman world, it was common practice to locate necropolises on a town’s perimeter, along its main roads, entrances, and exits. Of Scupi’s four necropolises, the southeastern one, which covers about 75 acres and contains at least 5,000 graves spanning more than 1,500 years, is the best researched. The oldest of its burials date from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age (1200–900 B.C). These earlier graves were almost completely destroyed as Roman burials began to replace them in the first century. According to Lence Jovanova of the City Museum of Skopje, who is in charge of the necropolis excavations, the burials have provided much new information crucial to understanding the lives of ancient Scupi’s residents, including the types of household items they used, their life spans, building techniques, and religious beliefs. In just the last two years alone, nearly 4,000 graves have been discovered and about 10,000 artifacts excavated, mostly objects used in daily life such as pots, lamps, and jewelry.
Among the thousands of graves there is a great variety of size, shape, style, and inhumation practice. There are individual graves, family graves, elaborate stone tombs, and simple, unadorned graves. Some burials are organized in regular lines along a grid pattern parallel to the main road, as was common in the Roman world. Other individuals are buried in seemingly random locations within the necropolis area, more like a modern cemetery that has been in use for a long time. The oldest Roman layers, dating to the first through mid-third centuries A.D., contain predominantly cremation burials. The later Roman layers, however, containing graves from the third and fourth centuries A.D., are, with very few exceptions, burials of skeletons. According to Jovanova, this variety in burial practice is normal for this time and reflects a complex, long-term, and regionwide demographic change resulting not only from an increased number of settlers coming from the east, but also from internal economic, social, and religious changes.
This past summer, Jovanova’s team was finishing excavations in one section of the southeast necropolis, where she hopes to uncover more evidence about Scupi’s history and its inhabitants among the 5,000 to 10,000 graves she thinks are left to investigate. Although there are construction pressures on archaeological work in the necropolis, the ancient city is legally protected from any modern building, so future work will focus on excavating the city walls and buildings. There are also plans to create an archaeological park on the site.
Matthew Brunwasser is a freelance writer living in Istanbul.Share | <urn:uuid:6499c543-de38-4527-a231-8bea0a9eb674> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.archaeology.org/1209/features/scupi_macedonia_roman_colony_bronze_age.html | 2013-05-22T08:26:01Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701508530/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105148-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969093 | 925 |
Colors affect us in numerous ways both mentally and physically. A strong red color has been shown to raise the blood pressure while a blue or soft pink color has a calming effect. That could be why our Creator gave us a soft restful blue sky and a lovely relaxing pink sunset at the end of the day . I love red but Imagine if the sky was bright red? Me thinks he knew what he was doing!
Being able to use colors consciously and harmoniously can help you create spectacular results in your scrapbook layouts.
So this months ( February) Challenge is about using the RYB ( Red Yellow Blue)color wheel!
- so , a little Introduction to Color Theory
With colors you can set a mood attract attention or make a statement. You can use color to energize or to cool down. By selecting the right color scheme you can create an ambiance of elegance warmth or tranquility or you can convey an image of playful youthfulness. Color can be your most powerful design element if you learn to use it effectively.
Lets look at the color wheel for this Challenge
****Too much of a Primary color is not usually good in large doses, but works well when you want something to stand out. BUT for this exercise we will use them just for the sake of learning more about THE COLOR WHEEL
The challenge is to learn what Primary colors are and create your own secondary and tertiary colors:
What are the Primary Colors?
What are secondary colors ?
What are tertiary colors?
If you think of schooling .primary, secondary and tertiary it will help you remember... I.e 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
So again! Remember this
Q.What are primary colors? A. RYB or red yellow Blue
Q. What are Secondary colors?A. Secondary colors (E.G.green orange and purple) are created by mixing two primary colors.
Q.What are tertiary Colors?A.Tertiary colors are created by mixing primary and secondary colors.
HERE IS THE CHALLENGE!!!
Your mission - should you decide to accept it is to make your own secondary and tertiary colors using JUST SBMax ( It isn't Mission Impossible LOL)
The page Must use Primary colors (Primary Colors= RYB red, yellow, blue)
3. You must create Secondary and tertiary colors from the primary color you choose to use.!
*There are more effective ways to do this with a graphics program but the challenge is to do it within Scrapbook Max.
I have an example for you to see what I mean.
- YOU must create a secondary color by putting 1 primary color on top of another and use the transparency slider to let the underneath color mix with the top one thereby creating a secondary colour
- Then YOU must create a Tertiary color by Taking a copy of your secondary colored object and moving the transparency slider even further to let MORE of the underneath color through.. Thereby in effect creating the tertiary color
This kit I have made is very basic and plain and is not a pretty kit .. It is ONLY really for the purpose of showing you how to use the color wheel., and your pages COULD look a bit overpowering because Primary colors should be used in small amounts normally... But this is a learning curve.. You can overcome this by using more secondary and tertiary color that the primary! DO NOT make the primary colour dominate the page or it will be YUK!
Once you have your 3 colors created YOU CAN add any of your own embellishments to jazz up your page but it MUST only be one of the 3 colors you now have.Once you get your colors there with the Papers .You can recolor any of the embies with the advance tab in SBMax to match .... And go ahead and decorate in your color scheme. ( No other colors) ANY TEXT should be black !
any questions .. dont be afraid to ask!
click here to download the COLOR wheel KIT | <urn:uuid:bfe27ad5-3a6c-4908-94e0-855776c9e080> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scrapbookmax.com/forums/threads/19330-Moonbeam-s-Mid-Month-Challenge-FEB-2012?mode=hybrid | 2013-05-22T00:08:30Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914458 | 828 |
PROLOGUE - 3
Structure vs. Contents
The concept of cycles makes little sense, in terms of any broad cosmological picture of existence, unless we differentiate clearly between structure and contents. This concept refers to the structure of the vast flow of existence, but not of the contents of this flow. Existence is a process of unceasing changes. But man has realized for many millennia that the forever changing events which affect his senses and the organic rhythms of his body and psyche display certain definable patterns of recurrence which make the events yet to come to some extent predictable. What is predictable, however, is not the total existential situation including all perceptible or conceivable events in the world, but only certain configurations or gestalts relative to special sets of events isolated by the mind from the total picture of existence.
This is a very important statement which obviously cannot be verified in any absolute sense, but which is at the very root of man's experience of existence. When we speak of cyclic processes in nature, we are isolating definite sets of events the pattern of which recur. For instance, we speak of a lunation cycle because every so many days we observe a recurrence of the new moon and full moon in a particular relationship to the horizon — i. e. a full moon always rises in the east when the sun sets in the west. But while there are recurrences of full moons, these full moons change their position with reference to the stars. Moreover as each full moon recurs it throws its lights on events and situations on the earth's surface which are never the same. Likewise we can expect and safely predict the return of spring, but no two springs occur under exactly the same weather conditions and bring into identical living organisms the same chemicals.
in other words, events never repeat themselves exactly; and history never repeats exactly the same events. The beginnings and ends of every solar year, of every century, of the great cycle of precession of equinoxes (approximately every 26,000 years) occur in always different regions of the galaxy, which itself has brought its billions of solar systems and stars to ever-new regions of cosmic space. What this means is that you can never speak of two identical events in the existential sense of the term, event, simply because the infinitely complex network of relationships between all "existents" — whether they be solar systems, human persons, molecules or atomic particles — can never be precisely the same; unless we choose to believe that the potentialities of existence and existential relations are finite. Such a belief, however, seems to run against every ingrained human expectation and practically against all that religions and philosophies have ever conceived. Whatever the term, God, may refer to, the fact is that whatever and whenever this term and its equivalent have been used by human consciousnesses, it has always been associated with the feeling and/or the concept of infinity. A Nietzschean type of totally repetitive "Eternal Return" would indeed be the negation of the God-idea. It would also be the total negation of meaning in human existence and of any possible freedom of choice for man.
What repeats itself is not the event, but the pattern of relatively closed series of events with reference to a particular field of existence. In other words, the flow of everchanging events is an ordered and structured process. As an illustration let us consider a river. This river, seen in its totality from mountain spring to sea, has a characteristic structure which we can see on a map, and we give it a name; but the water itself, whose unceasing flow is normally contained within the structuring boundaries which the particular features of the land make for it, is never the same. The often quoted Zen saying that you can never bathe twice in the same river is untrue or at least confusing in its imprecision, as so many so-called mystical statements are. You can bathe in the same river, but not in the same water. The distinction is most important and far reaching in its implications.
I can bow reverently before the sunrise everyday; but while it is correct to speak of the occurrence as "sunrise" — i. e. as a formal configuration relating the sun, the earth, and the horizon of my place of residence — everything at the existential level that participates in this sunrise scene differs each day in some degree. It is not actually the same sun, nor the same horizon, nor the same human organism — though the mind within this organism may insist that the "I" is a permanent entity. What is permanent is a certain structure of living processes, a gestalt. The name is the same, but the existential reality of every sunrise scene differs in many ways.
This factor of "structure" when generalized and abstractized, is actually what we mean by time — that which can be measured by clocks which in turn work according to the motions of the earth (its axial revolution creating the "day," and its revolution around the sun creating the "year"). There can be no process without time; there can be no thinking or feeling (as we normally use these terms) without a time-sequence of events in our body. Whether the time-sequence seems to our consciousness fast or slow has nothing to do with the reality of time, in spite of the fashionable arguments to the contrary — arguments based on an inaccurate or needlessly paradoxical use of words. And if the present scientific concept of the relativity of time with reference to the speed of an observer has any meaning at all, beside its convenient use in formal algebraic reasoning, this would involve a metaphysical concept of the universe which so far does not seem even to have been formulated.
By permission of Leyla Rudhyar Hill
Copyright © 1969 by Dane Rudhyar
and Copyright © 2001 by Leyla Rudhyar Hill
All Rights Reserved.
Web design and all data, text and graphics appearing on this site are protected by US and International Copyright and are not to be reproduced, distributed, circulated, offered for sale, or given away, in any form, by any means, electronic or conventional.
for full copyright statement and conditions of use.
Web design copyright © 2000-2004 by Michael R. Meyer.
All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:323d1623-e3d4-4cb6-b233-47b3070a2deb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.khaldea.com/rudhyar/at/at_pro_p3.shtml | 2013-05-25T13:49:36Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705955434/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120555-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953152 | 1,280 |
Director José Achache unveils new Observing the Earth website
What is the use of Earth Observation? Quite a lot is the short reply; the full list gets longer all the time. For the complete answer, visit ESA's new Observing the Earth Portal, redesigned to highlight the growing number of applications of this unique technique, and featuring a mass of information on the full scope of ESA remote sensing activities.
To mark its launch, ESA Earth Observation Director José Achache explains the thinking the new Portal has been designed around, and shares his views on the past, present and future of Earth Observation.
How has the concept of Earth Observation developed over the years?
"Probably one of the most significant achievements of the space age has been the re-evaluation of planet Earth. When the exploration of space started in the 1960s, space was regarded solely as the means of leaving the Earth to investigate the ends of the universe.
"Since then, a remarkable change in perspective has taken place. The process of space exploration served to underline the unique value and fragility of the Earth environment. And today, space has come back to Earth in a very practical way: the data returned from satellites turns out to have qualities that classical ground-based observation techniques simply cannot match.
"Measurements from space are global, continuous, objective and precise. This rich source of information gives us the ability to perceive our planet in many new and varied ways, and this is an ability that can be put to a wide variety of potential uses.
"Maximising its take-up has been a priority of the Earth Observation Directorate in recent years, with a strategy of fostering the development of new applications and services based on user needs."
Does this strategy involve reaching out beyond purely scientific users?
"Very much so, and the new Earth Observation Portal is an important part of this. The biggest single block to the wider take-up of satellite data is lack of familiarity with it.
"The Portal has been designed to inform people in a clear way not just about individual missions but about Earth Observation as a whole: how it is a tool to improve scientific understanding of our planet, but at the same time helping to secure our environment, and also increasingly enabling value-added services to benefit our economy.
"In fact, the Portal is directly based around this set of themes: space to understand, to secure and to benefit.
Each of these themes features within them a number of introductory background articles and highlighted examples, as well as links to related ESA resources."
How does Earth Observation help to better understand our planet?
"Satellites can monitor the state of our world in all sorts of exact ways. They can map land cover and biomass health, identify millimetre-scale buckling in the Earth's crust, measure sea surface temperature to a few tenths of a degree, plot any increases in average sea level or decreases in ice sheet thickness, chart the chemical composition of the atmosphere down to a few molecules per million, and identify microscopic aerosols drifting in the air.
"Accurately characterising these various interrelated components of the Earth system improves our knowledge of its current state, but also our potential to predict its future evolution.
"There was a time when the Earth sciences were concentrated on the past, modelling how various geomorphic phenomena gave rise to the world, its landscapes and climate. Now the field is coming to be attached to the future tense, as it responds to new needs concerning the forecasting of climate change, the evolution of the global environment and the incidence of natural disasters.
"Nowadays the knowledge of the laws of physics enables increasingly sophisticated numerical models of the Earth system that allow scientists to extrapolate its future state. The more closely these models match observed reality the more confident we can be in their predictions. By assimilating data from satellites these models are being established as reliable forecasting tools."
What role can satellites play in securing our environment?
"This same detailed wide-area perspective that aids science is a tool for more effective stewardship of our environment and better protection of our citizens from natural hazards. Effective governmental decision-making requires the acquisition of accurate up-to-date information, and Earth Observation makes possible the gathering of high-quality intelligence on a global scale.
"The most high-profile example is ESA's joint endeavour with the European Union called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). The aim of GMES is to set up information-gathering infrastructures and services for governments, administrations and municipal authorities. Its remit includes the forecasting and managements of natural risks, management of resources, monitoring and implementing major international environmental agreements, the management of wetlands and rural areas, and the conservation of biodiversity and national heritage.
"ESA has commenced with the five-year GMES Services Element (GSE) comprising operational services integrating space and ground-based observations. Many of these services have evolved from existing pilot projects – also detailed in the new Portal – dealing with activities such as international treaty implementation and supporting civil protection agencies.
To give one current example of how Earth Observation is helping to secure people and the environment, ESA has been a founding member of the international Charter on Space and Major Disasters, committing world space agencies to supply satellite data to civil protection groups responding to natural or man-made disasters. In less than four years the Charter has been activated more than 50 times."
And how does Earth Observation benefit our economy?
"The single clearest practical benefit from Earth Observation is the improved accuracy of weather forecasting made possible by meteorological satellites like ESA's Meteosat series – in this instance every single citizen is a daily consumer of satellite data, and it has brought huge benefits to agriculture and industry.
"Beyond this now self-sustaining aspect of Earth Observation, we have been working hard to develop other applications for commercial activities. There has been a long history of attempting to commercialise Earth Observation during the last 20 years, but with an early emphasis on direct selling of satellite imagery rather than value-adding services.
"The example of weather forecasting shows how this initial strategy was flawed – the ordinary person watching the weather on television is not interested in the satellite image alone but the analysis and forecast derived from that image.
"Our emphasis now is on tailoring Earth Observation-based information products and services for specialised market segments, and doing this by fostering links between the Earth Observation industry and new user groups. The result has been the start of specific services serving such activities as oil and gas exploration, forest management, agricultural – most notably rice - forecasting, and ship navigation through sea ice and bad weather.
"More broadly, Earth Observation can also underpin our future economic development by ensuring it occurs in a sustainable way, with natural resources being exploited at a replaceable rate. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg made clear the role space-based systems could play in helping to manage growth so that finite resources such as agricultural land and clean water are not diminished.
"Detailed information on all this work is available at the new Earth Observation Portal. I hope people will visit it so they can judge the importance of these activities for themselves."
Director Achache, thank you very much. | <urn:uuid:15da3ce9-b4b5-42bf-b4fc-9bfde14fa308> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Director_Jose_Achache_unveils_new_Observing_the_Earth_website2 | 2013-05-22T08:16:49Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701508530/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105148-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941338 | 1,490 |
Dementia is a group of symptoms marked by gradual changes in brain function and the ability to think, reason, and remember. Serious changes in memory, personality, and behavior are the hallmarks of dementia.
The ability of the brain to work correctly depends on a complex communication system among billions of neurons, or brain cells. Certain parts of the brain are in charge of creating a memory. Others catalog this memory. Still others retrieve it.
The way that a brain functions could be compared to the workings of a computer. If an area of the brain in charge of these special functions is damaged, dementia may occur. Damage may be caused by infection, loss of blood supply, chemicals, or a genetic tendency for losing neurons.
People normally lose a certain number of brain cells as they age. However, major losses cause progressive and widespread loss of normal brain function.
In normal aging, memory loss is usually slow. It may result in forgetting names, phone numbers, or where an item was just placed. Intelligence and problem-solving skills are not affected.
True dementia involves loss of intelligence and problem-solving skills. It often cannot be reversed and will become worse over time.
Symptoms of dementia often are not noticed immediately. If they are, people sometimes assume that dementia is just a part of aging. However, as more brain cells die, more brain functions are lost, and symptoms become more severe. Common symptoms of advanced dementia include the following: being disoriented to time and placechanges in mood, including depression and anxietydelusions, or believing things that are not true hallucinations, which include hearing, seeing, feeling, and smelling things that do not exist impaired ability to orient the body to the surrounding space (late in illness course)language breakdown, with slurred speech and trouble finding the right wordsloss of bowel and bladder control (late in illness course)a loss of interest in activities that gave pleasure beforememory loss that affects the person's skills. Short-term memory, or memory of recent events, is particularly affected in people with dementia.misplacing belongingspersonality changes, including agitation, irritability, paranoia, and hostilitypoor or decreased judgmenttrouble doing familiar activities
Sometimes, family members may not want to face how serious their loved one's decline is. Doctors may misdiagnose the condition.
Dementia is always caused by an underlying disease or condition. Brain tissue is damaged, and the ability to function decreases. Some, but not all, of these conditions can be reversed. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. In this disease, changes in nerve cells in some parts of the brain result in the death of large numbers of cells. The result is a progressive, but slow, decline in memory and thought processes.
Another common form of dementia is multi-infarct dementia. With this condition, small strokes or changes in the blood supply to the brain from the narrowing or hardening of arteries causes the death of brain tissue. Symptoms will depend on what part of the brain tissue is destroyed. These symptoms usually begin suddenly.
Other less common causes are as follows: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative disorder of the nervous system that progresses quickly and causes problems with walking, talking, and the senses. When dementia occurs in young or middle-aged people, it is often due to this disease should be considered.Huntington's disease, a progressive disease causing brain cells to waste away that affects both the body and the mind. It causes changes in thinking, memory, speech, judgment, and personality. Dementia often occurs in the later stages of the disease. Huntingdon's Disease has been linked to a certain inerited gene.Lewy body disease, a degenerative disease of the nervous system. Lewy bodies are deposits of protein in nerve cells, often deep within the brains of those who also have Parkinson Disease. When these protein deposits occur throughout the brain, dementia results. The course of illness is different from Alzheimer's disease, in that it results in changes in the speed of thought, memory, judgment, reasoning, and language. It can also cause a person to get lost easily. In addition, it may cause hallucinations.Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder of part of the nervous system. Up to 30 to 40 percent of people with this disease may develop dementia in the later stages.Pick disease, also known as frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. FTD is a rare disorder of the brain. It causes changes in personality, behavior, and memory over time. It gets steadily worse, but it is difficult to diagnose until after death.
Other less common disorders that can cause dementia, or dementia-like behaviors include: brain tumorchronic subdural hematoma, a bleeding between the brain lining and brain tissueHIV, the immunodeficiency disorder that leads to AIDSmultiple sclerosis, a disorder of the sheath that lines the brain and spinal cordneurosyphilis, an infection of the nervous system by the syphilis bacterium, which causes weakness and mental deterioration normal pressure hydrocephalus, which is a build up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. This condition can often be treated through surgery to put a shunt tube in the brain that allows the excess fluid to flow out of the brain.progressive supranuclear palsy, also known as Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome, a rare disorder of late middle age that causes widespread nervous system problemsstrokeviral or bacterial encephalitis, a swelling of the brainWilson disease, a rare disease causing an excess of copper in the liver, brain, kidneys, and corneas
Certain abnormal aspects of a person's metabolism or hormones may also be responsible for the development of dementia, including the following: chronic alcohol abusechronic exposure to metals, such as lead or mercury, and to dyes, such as anilinehigh-dose steroid abusehyperthyroidism, which means the thyroid gland is overactivehypothyroidism, which means the thyroid gland is underactivevitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) deficientcymedicine side effects or drug interactionsvitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiencyvitamin B3 (niacin) deficiency
In some of these cases, dementia can be reversed by removing the toxic agent or bringing vitamin levels back to a healthy range.
In older adults, depression and dementia are often mistaken for each other. They do sometimes occur together, but depression is treatable, while dementia is not.
Most cases of dementia are caused by Alzheimer disease. Although there are no proven methods to prevent Alzheimer's disease, recent research findings provide some options that may slow the onset of the disease or how fast symptoms progress. These findings, which need further study, include the following: low doses of aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, called NSAIDs, which may work by making blood cells and vessels less sticky and by improving blood flowactively engaging in cognitive activities such as reading, which may increase the nerve connections in the brain and delay the onset of the diseasetaking antioxidants such as vitamins C and Eavoiding head injuries. A person should wear a seat belt at all times when riding in a motor vehicle. Sports safety guidelines for children, adolescents, and adults can be helpful in avoiding other head injuries.
Strokes are another major cause of dementia. Preventing or treating high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and alcohol abuse can lower the risk of stroke.
Dementia can be diagnosed only if a doctor is made aware of the problem. Diagnosis will start with a thorough physical and mental exam, as well as the gathering of a detailed medical history. The family should be prepared to tell the doctor the range of the person's symptoms over time. The doctor will want to know how the symptoms progressed and whether they have improved or become worse. Also, the family should report how suddenly or gradually symptoms appeared.
A complete list of all medicines the person is taking will be needed. This includes over-the-counter products, herbal remedies, and prescription medicines. Combinations of drugs may impair thinking at times.
To determine if other medical conditions may contribute to the symptoms, the doctor may order certain tests, such as: blood tests, such as a complete blood count, called a CBC, thyroid function tests, tests for infectious diseases, and tests to determine vitamin levels in the bloodmemory testingelectroencephalogram, called an EEG, which measures brain waveselectrocardiogram, called an EKG, which measures the electrical activity of the heartcranial MRI or cranial CT scans, which can be used to view the structures of the brainspinal tap, a procedure in which a small amount of fluid is withdrawn from the spinal column to check for infection or bleeding
Since there is no definitive test for dementia in a living person, the doctor will try to rule out other conditions or diseases that may cause the symptoms.
Long-term progressive dementia results in the continued loss of mental abilities. In the end, the person is unable to care for him or herself. A person suffering from the condition often requires nursing home care. Falls, trauma, infections, and depression may also result in a need for more intense medical care.
Dementia poses no risk to others, except for the disruption to home life and family relationships.
Even when dementia is incurable, there are things that can be done to treat the patient and help his or her family to cope. Medical care is crucial, both for the patient and to answer questions family may have. In the early and middle stages of Alzheimer disease, medicine may help.
The 5 medications currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of Alzheimer's disease are donepezil (i.e., Aricept), tacrine (i.e., Cognex), galantamine (i.e., Razadyne), rivastigmine (i.e., Exelon), and memantine (i.e., Namenda). The first four medications are designed to improve memory by increasing the amount of acetylcholine in the body. Currently, tacrine is rarely prescribed. Memantine is a newer medication which works by reducing overexposure of the brain to a chemical called glutamate which harms brain cells.
Other medicines, such as risperidone (i.e, Risperdal) or quetiapine (i.e., Seroquel), may also be used to help behavioral problems such as hallucinations, delusions, or agitation if caused by psychotic symptoms.
Some people with dementia may also need medicines for depression, anxiety, or insomnia.
Eating a healthy diet and practicing healthy lifestyle habits can also help any person to maintain health status. In addition, the person's caregivers should work to maintain a daily routine, help the person to be as active as possible, and maintain social contacts. Memory aids such as posting big calendars, making lists of daily plans, and hanging up written directions for household tasks can help greatly.
Other treatments include support and education for those caring for people with dementia. Individual and family counseling can help. Support groups have also been found to assist caregivers. As the disease progresses, many families are unable to provide home care for the person with dementia, and placement in a special facility is needed.
Medicines used to treat dementia can damage the liver, so periodic liver function tests are needed. Other side effects may include: nauseadiarrheainsomniavomitingfatiguemuscle cramps
In most cases, dementia is a progressive disease without a cure. Treatment is lifelong. Because the course of dementia is hard to predict, people with the condition should make plans for end-of-life care while they are still able to think clearly.
Some of the challenges that family members may face include: promoting independence while making sure the person is safestopping the person from drivingfinding supportive care among family, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing homemaking business decisionsdetermining executors of written wills and making sure that advanced directives are in the person's patient file at his or her doctor's office
A person with dementia needs to have regular visits to the doctor for evaluation and treatment. From time to time, liver function tests may be ordered if the person is taking tacrine (Cognex). Any new or worsening symptoms should be reported to the doctor. | <urn:uuid:746d4691-44b8-463d-abd0-c2241a2465b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.activeforever.com/a-Dementia | 2013-05-18T07:38:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381630/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94027 | 2,558 |
Exam 101 Topics
Exam 101 tests five Linux administration topics, each containing a series of objectives:
- Topic 1.3, GNU and Unix Commands. This is a broad
topic, comprising these objectives:
- Work Effectively on the Unix Command Line. This means understanding the nature of commands, environment variables, history and command editing, and other shell capabilities. This objective will be a challenge for those who haven't used command-line text interfaces (and DOS doesn't count!).
- Process Text Streams Using Text Processing
Filters. The idea of piping data through filters is
fundamental to the "Unix way." This objective includes a long list
of commands used as filters, such as
- Perform Basic File Management. No GUI here -- strictly command line, including wildcards.
- Use Unix Streams, Pipes, and Redirects. All about redirection. Again, this may be unfamiliar to Windows users.
- Create, Monitor, and Kill Processes. This
objective includes a list of relevant commands such as
- Modify Process Execution Priorities. Check out
- Perform Searches of Text Files Making Use of Regular
Expressions. This involves basic regular expressions using
- Topic 2.4, Devices, Linux Filesystems, Filesystem
hierarchy Standard. This Topic details much of the activity
surrounding the filesystem. It has these objectives:
- Create Partitions and Filesystems. This is
essentially the use of
- Maintain the integrity of filesystems. This
objective covers inodes, free space,
- Control Filesystem Mounting and Unmounting.
Contained in this objective is just about everything on mounting,
including the contents and syntax of
- Set and View disk Quotas. This involves
filesystem quotas, using commands such as
- Use File Permissions to Control Access to
Files. This objective covers the mode bits, including
- Manage File Ownership. This one is
straightforward and involves
- Create and Change Hard and Symbolic Links. If
you've never seen links before (maybe because NTFS doesn't support
them) you'll like
- Find System Files and Place Files in the Correct
Location. This is essentially requires that you study the
Standard, and understand commands such as
- Create Partitions and Filesystems. This is essentially the use of
- Topic 2.6, Boot, Initialization, Shutdown, and Run
Levels. As the name implies, this topic covers startup and
shutdown, along with
- Boot the System. This objective requires more than a cursory exposure to the Linux boot procedure. Lilo is covered a little here, as well as messages and kernel module setup.
- Change Runlevels and Shutdown or Reboot the
System. This objective covers everything about
runlevels, including shutdown.
- Topic 1.8, Documentation. This is a general
overview of documentation for Open Source.
- Use and Manage Local System Documentation. Man
pages, man sections, and
/usr/docare covered here.
- Find Linux Documentation on the Internet. Be aware of Linux Documentation Project, et. al.
- Write System Documentation. Open source programmers are encouraged to write docs for their projects. This is a general-purpose objective that essentially proposes the same without getting very specific on methods.
- Provide User Support. This one's a bit vague as an exam objective, but serves to remind us that end users are people, not people's computers.
- Use and Manage Local System Documentation. Man pages, man sections, and
- Topic 2.11, Administrative Tasks. Users, cron,
logs, and backup.
- Manage Users and Group Accounts and Related System Files. Everything pertaining to users except Pluggable Authentication Modules, which is beyond the scope of LPIC-1.
- Tune the User Environment and System Environment
Variables. This involves stuff in
/etc/skel. Note that the exam is
- Configure and Use System Log Files to Meet
Administrative and Security Needs. This covers the
- Automate System Administration Tasks by Scheduling Jobs to Run in the Future. Cron configuration.
- Maintain an Effective Data Backup Strategy.
This objective is sketchy on the details, and is not specific to any
particular tool (such as
dump). It's basically an overview of good backup practice.
Admittedly, that's a lot of information. Even if you're already a Linux admin, there are bound to be items in the objectives that you haven't had to deal with (like quotas, perhaps). More detail on these topics is available from the LPI list of objectives.
LPI's Program Objective Management System
In addition to the list of objectives already cited, the LPI maintains a CGI-based Program Objective Management System (POMS). This system is primarily used during the development phase of exam objectives, but a few additional clues on established objectives may be found there. For example, Topic 1.8 Objective 4 (Objective 1.8.4 in POMS) reads as follows:
Provide technical assistance to users via telephone, e-mail, and personal contact.
You may wonder just how the LPI intendes to test something as personal as user support. If we examine POMS for item 1.8.4 we find this note:
This objective has been considered important and therefore is retained to remind would-be sysadmins; it will be difficult to test.
Based on the comment, be advised that user support is part of the job, but not part of the exam. Other details not mentioned in the summaries can be found in POMS, particularly for exam 102. | <urn:uuid:1b2ff668-913a-40a5-99c8-502cd2b6a3b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2000/04/07/lpi.html?page=2 | 2013-05-22T14:19:07Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.868824 | 1,205 |
Dictionary and translator for handheld
New : sensagent is now available on your handheld
A windows (pop-into) of information (full-content of Sensagent) triggered by double-clicking any word on your webpage. Give contextual explanation and translation from your sites !
With a SensagentBox, visitors to your site can access reliable information on over 5 million pages provided by Sensagent.com. Choose the design that fits your site.
Improve your site content
Add new content to your site from Sensagent by XML.
Crawl products or adds
Get XML access to reach the best products.
Index images and define metadata
Get XML access to fix the meaning of your metadata.
Please, email us to describe your idea.
Lettris is a curious tetris-clone game where all the bricks have the same square shape but different content. Each square carries a letter. To make squares disappear and save space for other squares you have to assemble English words (left, right, up, down) from the falling squares.
Boggle gives you 3 minutes to find as many words (3 letters or more) as you can in a grid of 16 letters. You can also try the grid of 16 letters. Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. See if you can get into the grid Hall of Fame !
Change the target language to find translations.
Tips: browse the semantic fields (see From ideas to words) in two languages to learn more.
The Samhan period of Korean history (also Proto–Three Kingdoms Period) comprises confederacies of Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan in central and southern Korean peninsula, during the final century BCE and the early centuries CE. These confederacies were eventually absorbed into two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea by the 4th century CE. The Samhan period is generally considered a subdivision of the Three Kingdoms Period.
Sam (三) means "three", and Han is a Korean word meaning "great" or "leader" (cognate with "khan" used in inner Asia for leaders). Han was transliterated into Chinese characters 韓, 幹, or 刊, but is unrelated with the Han in Han Chinese and the Chinese kingdoms and dynasties also called Han (漢, 韓). Ma means south, Byeon means shining and Jin means east. The names of these confederacies are reflected in the current name of South Korea, Daehan Minguk (literally, "Great Han People's Nation"). See Names of Korea.
The Samhan are thought to have formed around the time of the fall of Gojoseon in northern Korea in 108 BC, around when the state of Jin in southern Korea also disappears from written records. By the 4th century, Mahan was fully absorbed into the Baekje kingdom, Jinhan into the Silla kingdom, and Byeonhan into the Gaya confederacy, which was later annexed by Silla.
|History of Korea|
This article is part of a series
|Gojoseon ?–108 BC|
|Wiman Joseon 194 BC–108 BC|
|Proto–Three Kingdoms 300–57 BC|
|Buyeo, Goguryeo, Okjeo, Dongye|
|Jin state, Samhan (Ma, Byeon, Jin)|
|Four Commanderies of Han|
|Three Kingdoms 57 BC–668|
|Goguryeo 37 BC–668|
|Baekje 18 BC–660|
|Silla 57 BC–935|
|North and South States 698–926|
|Unified Silla 668–935|
|Later Three Kingdoms 892–936|
|Taebong, Hubaekje, Silla|
|Korean Empire 1897–1910|
|Colonial Korea 1910–1945|
|Provisional Gov't 1919–1948|
|Division of Korea 1945–present|
|North Korea 1948–present|
|South Korea 1948–present|
|List of monarchs|
|Science and technology history|
The Samhan are generally considered loose confederations of walled-town states. Each appears to have had a ruling elite, whose power was a mix of politics and shamanism. Although each state appears to have had its own ruler, there is no evidence of systematic succession.
The name of the poorly understood Jin state continued to be used in the name of the Jinhan confederacy and in the name "Byeonjin," an alternate term for Byeonhan. In addition, for some time the leader of Mahan continued to call himself the King of Jin, asserting nominal overlordship over all of the Samhan confederations.
Mahan was the largest and earliest developed of the three confederacies. It consisted of 54 minor statelets, one of which conquered or absorbed the others and became the center of the Baekje Kingdom. Mahan is usually considered to have been located in the southwest of the Korean peninsula, covering Jeolla, Chungcheong, and portions of Gyeonggi.
Jinhan consisted of 12 statelets, one of which conquered or absorbed the others and became the center of the Silla Kingdom. It is usually considered to have been located to the east of the Nakdong River valley.
Byeonhan consisted of 12 statelets, which later gave rise to the Gaya confederacy, subsequently annexed by Silla. It is usually considered to have been located in the south and west of the Nakdong River valley.
The exact locations occupied by the different Samhan confederations are disputed. It is also quite likely that their boundaries changed over time. Samguk Sagi indicates that Mahan was located in the northern region later occupied by Goguryeo, Jinhan in the region later occupied by Silla, and Byeonhan in the southwestern region later occupied by Baekje. However, the earlier Chinese San guo zhi places Mahan in the southwest, Jinhan in the southeast, and Byeonhan between them.
Villages were usually constructed deep in high mountain valleys, where they were relatively secure from attack. Mountain fortresses were also often constructed as places of refuge during war. The minor states which made up the federations are usually considered to have covered about as much land as a modern-day myeon, or township.
Based on historical and archeological records, river and sea routes appear to have been the primary means of long-distance transportation and trade (Yi, 2001, p. 246). It is thus not surprising that Jinhan and Byeonhan, with their coastal and river locations, became particularly prominent in international trade during this time.
The Samhan saw the systematic introduction of iron into the southern Korean peninsula. This was taken up with particular intensity by the Byeonhan states of the Nakdong River valley, which manufactured and exported iron armor and weapons throughout Northeast Asia.
The introduction of iron technology also facilitated growth in agriculture, as iron tools made the clearing and cultivation of land much easier. It appears that at this time the modern-day Jeolla area emerged as a center of rice production (Kim, 1974).
Until the rise of Goguryeo, the external relations of Samhan were largely limited to the Chinese commanderies located in the former territory of Gojoseon The longest standing of these, the Lelang commandery, appear to have maintained separate diplomatic relations with each individual state rather than with the heads of the confederacies as such.
In the beginning, the relationship was a political trading system in which "tribute" was exchanged for titles or prestige gifts. Official seals identified each tribal leader's authority to trade with the commandery. However, after the fall of the Kingdom of Wei in the 3rd century, San guo zhi reports that the Lelang commandery handed out official seals freely to local commoners, no longer symbolizing political authority (Yi, 2001, p. 245).
The Chinese commanderies also supplied luxury goods and consumed local products. Later Han dynasty coins and beads are found throughout the Korean peninsula. These were exchanged for local iron or raw silk. After the 2nd century CE, as Chinese influence waned, iron ingots came into use as currency for the trade based around Jinhan and Byeonhan.
Trade relations also existed with the emergent states of Japan at this time, most commonly involving the exchange of ornamental Japanese bronzeware for Korean iron. These trade relations shifted in the 3rd century, when the Yamatai federation of Kyūshū gained monopolistic control over Japanese trade with Byeonhan.
Goryeo historians identified Mahan, Jinhan, Byonhan with Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje respectively, which was supported by their works like Samguk Sagi, Samguk Yusa and Jewang Ungi. Thus, the term, Samhan was occasionally synonymous with Samkuk, the Three Kingdoms of Korea. That historical view was previously given by Choe Chiwon, a noted Confucian scholar and Historian in the late of the Silla. Apart from the geographical location of Mahan, the Chinese historical record History of Song defines the ethnical origin of the Jeong-an kingdom, a successor state of Balhae, as Mahan.
In the late Joseon period, that historical notion came under criticism by an early Silhak scholar, Han Baek-gyeom who emphasized the linkage between Mahan and Baekje in terms of the geographical location. | <urn:uuid:6b546f46-fe6e-4783-9e5a-abaa15c9ba7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Samhan/en-en/ | 2013-05-24T02:11:41Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132729/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951698 | 2,007 |
This papercraft is Sakakibara Yasumasa‘s helmet, the Big Four of Tokugawa Clan Buddhist symbol sword (Vajra) Crest Suji Kabuto Helmet. The paper craft is created by Yonezawa Naoe. Sakakibara Yasumasa (榊原 康政) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Sengoku period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan. As one of the Tokugawa family’s foremost military commanders, he was considered one of its “Four Guardian Kings”. His court title was Shikibu-dayū.
Sakakibara Yasumasa was born in 1548, the 2nd son of Sakakibara Nagamasa, in the Ueno district of Mikawa Province. The Sakakibara were hereditary retainers of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan, being classified as fudai. However, they did not serve the clan directly, but instead served one of its senior retainers, which at that time was Sakai Tadanao. The young Yasumasa interacted with Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu) often from a young age, and was soon appointed his page. Due to his valor in the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa, he was allowed to use the “yasu” from Ieyasu’s name.
At this time, he unseated his brother and became head of the Sakakibara clan. There are two explanations for this. One is that his brother had been an ally of the Ikko Ikki rebels, and the other is that his brother was a retainer of Ieyasu’s son Matsudaira Nobuyasu, who was implicated in what was most probably a fraudulent treason plot against Oda Nobunaga.
In 1566, at age 19, Yasumasa had his coming-of-age ritual, and soon after, he and Honda Tadakatsu were made hatamoto by Ieyasu, and each granted command of 50 cavalrymen. From that point on, they would function as Ieyasu’s hatamoto unit commanders.
Yasumasa battled at Anegawa during the year of 1570, The Mikatagahara during the year of 1573, along with the Nagashino during the year of 1575. When the latter chose to defy Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Yasumasa still served under Ieyasu, suggesting the region of Komaki, suited for the currently ensuing campaign. Yasumasa was given the title of “Shikibu-taiyu”, when accompanying Ieyasu to Osaka to meet with Hideyoshi. After the Tokugawa moved to the region of Kantō, he was to have a team responsible for the allocation of fiefs. While Ieyasu was serving as one of Hideyoshi’s staff in the region of Kyūshū, Yasumasa was to supervise Kantō, as one of the chief administrators.
Yasumasa received the 100,000 koku fief of Tatebayashi han following the Tokugawa victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, which remained in the family for a few generations. Yasumasa himself died in 1606, at the age of 59, and is buried at Zendoji Temple in Tatebayashi, where his grave still stands.
For more japan’s Feudal Warlords helmet papercrafts visit the topic: Japanese Feudal Warlords Helmet Papercrafts Collection
For this paper model, we recommend that you use the material (Paper, Paint, Glue, etc.) to make. Here are Great Deals, and here are 100s of card making ideas. There is FREE sewing patterns that you may need. | <urn:uuid:c1d70914-9a3a-4e0b-9447-ce96d76f70b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.papercraftsquare.com/japanese-feudal-warlords-helmet-papercraft-sakakibara-yasumasa-free-template-download.html | 2013-05-24T01:58:23Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976367 | 822 |
Definition:Naturally occurring, Inorganic, Solid, Crystalline, specific chemical composition, regular repeating atomic arrangement
Chemical Composition- specific ratio of chemical elements
Common elements in rocks: Si, Al, O, Ca, Mg, H, C, Fe, Na, K
silicate structure - SiO4 tetrahedron, isolated tetrahedra, single chain, double chain, sheet, 3-D framework
silicate minerals,isolated tetrahedra -olivine (Fe, Mg); single chain - pyroxene (Fe, Mg); double chain - amphibole (Fe, Mg, Ca); sheet - mica; biotite (Fe, Mg) or muscovite (K); 3-D framework - Feldspar (Ca, Na, K); Quartz (SiO2)
Non-silicate minerals- calcite (CaCO3), halite (NaCl); gypsum (CaSO4)
Physical properties-luster, color, crystal shape, cleavage, fracture, hardness, specific gravity, other (fizz, magnetism, double refraction...)
Carefully define mineral. How does this relate to rocks? elements? Characterize the difference between a mineral and natural glass.
Be able to identify a sketch of a silica tetrahedron, a single chain, a double chain, and a sheet structure. Give an example of a mineral which contains each type of structure.
Describe six techniques used in identification of an unknown mineral. Which are the most useful?
Why does the silica tetrahedron have the composition SiO4 while quartz is SiO2?
Briefly, but thoroughly, describe two physical properties that are distinctive, but only useful for a limited number of minerals (i.e. only work in rare occasions, but are really useful for those unique minerals).
Go back to Geology page | <urn:uuid:4a189eb4-0124-410b-8003-95fb9b5f1725> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ms.yccd.edu/earth_science/EarthScience/sgminerals.html | 2013-05-26T03:15:18Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706578727/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121618-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.768748 | 402 |
Modern training regimens often divorce instruction from practice, concentrating on either one or the other. GuSS brings them together. GuSS applications are based on flexible social simulations. On top of this base, GuSS adds four different types of teachers. Each teacher monitors the student's on-going activity in the simulation and offers a particular type of intervention as it is warranted:
Storyteller: Stories convey the cultural knowledge of a world of practice as it is actually seen and performed by experienced practitioners. The Storyteller uses the case-based teaching architecture to deliver real-world stories when it sees they are relevant to the student's activity, situating the knowledge the stories contain in the context of the activity. In George (a GuSS application that teaches selling to business consultants), the Storyteller contains over 100 stories, gathered from experienced sellers and representing a wide range of selling situations and strategies.
Analyzer: Like the Storyteller, the Analyzer is a case-based teaching module. But while the Storyteller tells students about the informal knowledge of practitioners in a field, the Analyzer talks about "textbook" knowledge relating to practice. Such knowledge includes, for example, rules and theories about communication styles, organizational behavior, and personalities. Even though the Analyzer contains much the same information as one might find in a textbook, it is significantly more powerful because the Analyzer can present its material "just in time," at the moment the student is likely to be interested.
Coach: The Coach indicates what sorts of goals the student should have and tracks those goals to see when they have been satisfied. For example, when a student using the George system enters a new organization, his goal should be to find out who the buyer is. A new student is explicitly told that this is a goal worth pursuing. As the student becomes more adept at the task, the Coach gives less assistance, requiring the student to do more. This method of teaching, called scaffolding and fading, is an important technique in how apprenticeships operate in the real world. (Collins, Brown and Newman, 1989).
The Coach is implemented using what one might call a "Learn By Being Told" architecture. This architecture works because the student is ready to hear what the Coach wants to tell. It is an efficient way to bring the student to the point of knowing which goals to have and when to have them. Because the George application is meant for students who have limited time to use the system, simply telling them the answer is a reasonable course.
Evaluator: The simulation itself provides feedback to the student about progress. But, sometimes the feedback offered by the simulator is not enough to help students understand the effects of their actions. For instance, in the High Spotter application, a student who fails to make a sale or angers a client, will know that all is not well. However, it may be difficult for that novice student to diagnose exactly what went wrong. Typically, the student will have made some error early in the interaction, and without help it can be difficult for him to retrace his steps to identify the error. The Evaluator provides feedback to help students understand the results caused by their actions.
Yello: Selling to Simulated Customers
Where am I in the content of the book? | <urn:uuid:17a96a4c-d63c-46d5-811d-b09937339115> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.engines4ed.org/hyperbook/nodes/NODE-137-pg.html | 2013-05-21T00:56:05Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699632815/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102032-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95902 | 671 |
New research might help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
The discovery of a mechanism in the brain explains for the first time why people make particularly strong, long-lasting memories of stressful events in their lives and could help sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Bristol's Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience & Endocrinology (HW-LINE) in the School of Clinical Sciences, and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The research found that stress hormones directly stimulate biochemical processes in neurons that play a role in learning and memory. The way these hormones stimulate these signalling and epigenetic processes in neurons is completely new and has never been shown before.
In the healthy brain these processes operate smoothly and help people to cope with and learn from stressful events in their lives. In vulnerable people or in strongly traumatized people (victims of rape or war), these processes may be disturbed and stressful events may result in the formation of highly traumatic memories such as those seen in patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The discovery may lead to new ways to develop drugs to help these patients and to prevent PTSD in trauma victims.
Professor Johannes Reul, Professorial Research Fellow in Neuroscience at HW-LINE, said: "Making memories of events in our lives is of critical importance in order to cope properly with new situations and challenges in the future. This is of particular importance for emotional and traumatic life events. Our newly discovered mechanism should be regarded as an adaptive mechanism. We believe this mechanism could be disturbed in stress-related psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.
"The new findings may be of particular significance for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as these patients are pained by pathological memories of an endured trauma (rape or war situations). We hope our discovery may help to generate a new class of drugs to help these patients."
The researchers found that stress-induced glucocorticoid hormones enhance memory formation through a direct, physical interaction of glucocorticoid-binding receptors ("glucocorticoid receptor") with a particular intracellular signalling pathway in a specific population of neurons of the hippocampus. This signalling pathway, the so-called ERK MAPK pathway, is known to be strongly involved in learning and memory processes but it was not known that it could interact with glucocorticoid receptors and that this would lead to an enhancement of memory formation.
This type of interaction has never been described before. The interaction has a major impact as the stimulated signalling cascade results in augmented epigenetic mechanisms in the nucleus of the affected neurons leading to enhanced expression of certain gene products. The induced gene products are known to evoke structural and functional changes in neurons allowing them to strengthen their role in the memory circuits of the brain.
It is well known that people make very strong memories of stressful, emotionally disturbing events in their lives. These so-called episodic memories are memories of the place (e.g. room, office) or surroundings where the event happened, how we felt at the time (mood), and the time of the day at which it happened. These kind of memories can last a lifetime.
The consolidation of such memories is taking place in a specific limbic brain region called the hippocampus part of the brain involved in memory and learning. Hormones secreted during stress like the glucocorticoid hormone cortisol (in rodents, corticosterone) act on the hippocampus to enhance the consolidation of these memories. However, until now it has been unknown how these hormones act on the hippocampus to enhance the formation of emotional event-related memories.
Provided by University of Bristol
- 'Trauma pill' could help those with PTSD Jan 30, 2006 | not rated yet | 0
- Stress can enhance ordinary, unrelated memories Dec 21, 2010 | not rated yet | 0
- New strategy to weaken traumatic memories Mar 17, 2009 | not rated yet | 0
- Controlling our brain's perception of emotional events Apr 20, 2009 | not rated yet | 0
- Fear boosts activation of young, immature brain cells Jun 14, 2011 | not rated yet | 0
- Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions Apr 23, 2013 | 3 / 5 (2) | 2
- Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update) Apr 02, 2013 | 4.5 / 5 (11) | 5
- The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation Mar 30, 2013 | 5 / 5 (2) | 9
- Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled Mar 27, 2013 | 4.9 / 5 (8) | 0
- Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance Feb 28, 2013 | 4.8 / 5 (10) | 14
Why is zone 1 in liver more prone to ischemic injury?
May 23, 2013 Hi, Is it because around central vein, there is only deoxygenated blood from the vein where as in the periphery there is hepatic artery. Also why...
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
May 22, 2013 As title suggest. Thanks :smile:
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013 Hello everyone, Ok Stomach's normal epithelium is simple columnar, now in intestinal type of adenocarcinoma of stomach it undergoes "intestinal...
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013 From pressure-volume curve of the lung and chest wall (attached photo), I don't understand why would the elastic recoil pressure of the lung is...
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013 I'd want the rest of me to stay alive. Sure it's a lousy way to live but it beats being all-the-way dead. Maybe if I make it 20 years they'll...
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013 Dear PFers, The hospital gave us a $12k bill for one MRI (head with contrast). The people I talked to at the hospital tell me that they do not...
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
By discovering the new mechanism by which estrogen suppresses lipid synthesis in the liver, UC Irvine endocrinologists have revealed a potential new approach toward treating certain liver diseases.
Medical research 12 hours ago | not rated yet | 0 |
Aortic arch pulse wave velocity, a measure of arterial stiffness, is a strong independent predictor of disease of the vessels that supply blood to the brain, according to a new study published in the June issue the journal ...
Medical research 13 hours ago | not rated yet | 0
Since the discovery of Prontosil in 1932, sulfonamide antibiotics have been used to combat a wide spectrum of bacterial infections, from acne to chlamydia and pneumonia. However, their side effects can include serious neurological ...
Medical research 14 hours ago | not rated yet | 0 |
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as ...
Medical research 14 hours ago | 5 / 5 (2) | 0 |
Spanish researchers have discovered that the daily clearance of neutrophils from the body stimulates the release of hematopoietic stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, according to a report published today ...
Medical research 16 hours ago | 5 / 5 (2) | 0
(Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined ...
11 hours ago | 4.8 / 5 (6) | 0 |
A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study. This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain's unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose ...
16 hours ago | 4.5 / 5 (10) | 1 |
Teams of highly respected Alzheimer's researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.
14 hours ago | 5 / 5 (1) | 2 |
Little is known about why asthma develops, how it constricts the airway or why response to treatments varies between patients. Now, a team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University Medical Center ...
15 hours ago | not rated yet | 0 |
Ethnic background plays a surprisingly large role in how diabetes develops on a cellular level, according to two new studies led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
12 hours ago | not rated yet | 0 |
Cinnamon: Can the red-brown spice with the unmistakable fragrance and variety of uses offer an important benefit? The common baking spice might hold the key to delaying the onset of –– or warding off ...
12 hours ago | 5 / 5 (5) | 0 | | <urn:uuid:3362cd26-9a81-4af8-be0f-e614ff0c24a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-people-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html | 2013-05-24T08:57:53Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931044 | 1,946 |
The C. V. Starr East Asian Library is one of the major collections for the study of East Asia in the United States, with over 1,000,000 volumes of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, and Western-language materials and almost 7,500 periodical titles, and more than 55 newspapers. Subject emphasis is on the humanities and social sciences. The Chinese collection is particularly strong in history, philosophy, traditional literature, and increasingly film studies. The Japanese collection excels in literature, history, and philosophy. The Korean collection is deepest in history and is growing in literature. The Tibetan collection, which originally centered on traditional Tibetan subjects, has expanded to include modern Tibet as well. These primary materials are supported by an extensive collection of secondary materials on East Asian subjects in Western languages. The Kress Special Collections Reading Room provides access to the rare book, special, and archival collections, especially strong in Chinese local histories and genealogies, Japanese Edo-period woodblock-printed books, and the Korean Yi Song-yi Collection of rare books, as well as extensive collections of non-print materials such as ancient Chinese oracle bones, Chinese paper god prints from the early twentieth century, Edo-period Japanese woodblock prints, maps, and paintings. These special collections are non-circulating materials, and are available for use by readers in the Rare Books and Special Collections Reading Room. The library's microfilm collection and East Asian feature films and documentaries on DVD are extensive. Both collections are stored offsite. An increasing number of electronic databases is also offered, most of them through the E-resources link on the Libraries homepage, some as stand-alones on designated terminals in our reading room, one each for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. | <urn:uuid:df7b9964-0160-4ccd-8e15-e32aa9c2ae30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.columbia.edu/content/libraryweb/indiv/eastasian/about.print.html | 2013-05-18T08:49:30Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381630/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922583 | 361 |
Barfield's abiding passion for the Romantic movement
in literature and philosophy dates back at least as early as his Oxford
days prior to World War I. Most interested in the work of the German romantic
and the Englishman Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(about whom he wrote a book--What Coleridge Thought--as well as
his writings contain numerous references as well to most of the other major
British romantics and to the German romantic philosophers as well (especially Schelling).
For Barfield, Romanticism represents a rebirth
of the "perennial philosophy" (Huxley), of ideas that had Oriental equivalents2
and had been around in the West since the ancient Greeks,
as he made clear as early as History in English Words.
But Romanticism gave these ideas a new, more "natural"
emphasis; indeed, Romanticism equated imagination and nature.
Slowly the divers of the Romantic
expedition brought up to the surface of consciousness that vast new cosmos
which had so long been blindly forming in the depths. It was a cosmos in
which the spirit and spontaneity of life had moved out of Nature and into
man. The magic of Persia, the Muses of Greece, the witches and fairies
and charms and enchantments or Romance--all these had been locked safely
in man's bosom, there to sleep until the trumpet of Romanticism sounded
its call to imagination to give back their teeming life to Nature. . .
. this re-animation of Nature was
possible because the imagination
was felt as creative in the full religious sense of the word. It had itself
assisted in creating the natural forms which the senses were now contemplating.
It had moved upon the face of the waters. For it was the "repetition in
the finite mind of the eternal act of creation"--the Word made human. (212)
Barfield chose to call a collection of occasional
writings and lectures published during World War II (his first published
book since Poetic Diction ) Romanticism Comes of Age--a
title which referred to a central Barfield thesis: that the thought of Rudolf
could become, if accepted and fully realized, the mature fruition of Romantic
thought. This thesis is developed in the three representative passages
quoted below, all from
Romanticism Comes of Age:
For there is no doubt [for the Romantics]
about where the life in an invented or fictitious image comes from. There
can be no "pathetic fallacy" there,3
What is peculiar to the Romantic Movement--as, indeed, its very name recalls--is
the further reaction of this enthusiasm for fictitious and fabulous representations
on the phenomena--on Nature herself. This is also what took the Romantic
conception of art, properly understood, a step beyond the Neo-Platonic
theory. . . . The Neo-Platonic theory holds that man the artist is, in
some measure, a creator. The Romantic conception agrees--but goes further
and returns him, in this capacity, to Nature herself. (SA 129)
Twenty three years later, Barfield seemed less
optimistic that Romanticism had, in fact, grown up. In Saving the Appearances
he seems to have less faith that his prediction will come true: "The tremendous
impulse underlying the Romantic movement has never grown to maturity;"
he concedes there, "and after adolescence, the alternative to maturity
is puerility" (130-31).
A young man may be considered as fully come of
age only when he has discovered two things: firstly his identity and secondly
his vocation. . . . the young man called the Romantic Impulse appears to
have gone a long way . . . toward discovering his identity, but . . . I
see little sign as yet of his having discovered his vocation. (22)
To make Romanticism into a self-sufficient organic
being, able to stand on its own legs and face the rest of the world, there
ought to have been added to the new concept, beauty, the renewed conception
of freedom, a new idea also of the nature of truth. (28)
In the legend of Parsifal
tragic consequences follow the failure of the hero to ask the crucial question
at the crucial moment. The question he should have asked when he saw the
Holy Grail was "Of what is it served?" The same question should have been
asked by the Romantic Movement, when it saw the visionary Grail of the
human imagination. But it was not asked . . . except by Coleridge.
. . . And in the state of Romanticism, as it exists today, we see the tragic
consequences that followed. The charm faded. The mirror cracked from side
to side. Just as Coleridge, who had indeed had a vision of imagination
as the vessel by which the divinity passes down into humanity--just as
he fell back from this kind of imagination into the fantastic dreams of
the opium slave; so the metaphysic of Romanticism has gradually fallen
sick, lost faith in itself. Imagination is still accepted, but it is accepted
for the most part as a kind of conscious make-believe or personal masquerade.
|See in particular
What Coleridge Thought,
Comes of Age,
likewise editor of a volume--Coleridge's philosophical letters--in the
still-yet-to-be-published definitive edition of Coleridge's collected writings.
imagination, Barfield concedes, "represents "the emergence in the West
. . . of an experience which the East had cultivated for ages" (quoted
in BAR 18).
post-Romantic, Victorian-era term, coined to expose and condemn the tendency
to project human emotions into nature. | <urn:uuid:ab37379e-00d9-4102-86aa-3f165cad9fac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davidlavery.net/Barfield/encyclopedia_barfieldiana/ideas_concepts/romanticism.html | 2013-05-22T21:25:29Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942936 | 1,230 |
Charlotte, NC : Information Age Pub., Inc., c2009.
xiii, 269 p. ; 25 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-251) and indexes.
Prologue. Improvising Riffs on Dewey and the Utopian-- 1. No Schools at All-- 2. Gatherings-- 3. Assembly Places-- 4. Homelike Ambience-- 5. Resources-- 6. Parents and Peers-- 7. All as Teachers and Learners-- 8. Learning Community for Children-- 9. Sharing of Gifts-- 10. Responsibility for Cooperation-- 11. Life, Not Objectives-- 12. Toward Worthwhile Lives-- 13. Purpose Engrained in Activities-- 14. Discovery of Aptitudes and Development of Capacities-- 15. Inevitability of Learning-- 16. Analogy to Babies-- 17. Creating Attitudes, Not Acquiring and Storing-- 18. Resisting Acquisitive Society-- 19. Overcome Acquisitiveness-- 20. Cultivating Positive Capacities to Liberate-- 21. Enjoyment Now, Not Deferred-- 22. Always "Is" with Faith in "To Be"-- 23. All-Around Development-- 24. Sense of Positive Power-- 25. Elimination of Fear-- 26. Confi dence, Eagerness, and Faith in Human Capacity-- 27. Faith in the Environment-- 28. Worthwhile Activities-- 29. The "Right Way"-- 30. From Love to Justice, "For Goodness Sake!"-- Epilogue: Riffs of Hopes and Dreams-- Bibliography.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
"Love, Justice, and Education" by William H. Schubert brings to life key ideas in the work of John Dewey and their relevance for the world today. He does this by imagining continuation of highly evocative article that Dewey published in the "New York Times" in 1933. Dewey wrote from the posture of having visited Utopia. Schubert begins each of thirty short chapters with a phrase or sentence from Dewey's article, in response to which a continuous flow of Utopians consider what is necessary for educational and social reform among Earthlings. Schubert encourages the Utopians, who have studied Earthling practices and literatures, to recommend from their experience what Earthlings need for educational and social reform and how they can address obstacles to that reform. The Utopians speak to myriad implications of Dewey's report by drawing upon a wide range of philosophical, literary, and educational ideas - including many of Dewey's other writings. Their central message is that loving relationships and empathic dedication to social justice are necessary for educational reform that responds wholeheartedly to learner needs and interests. True to Dewey's original position, such education must be built upon social reform that works to overcome acquisitive society based on greed: the principal impediment to realizing human potential, democratic society, and educational relationships that enhance it. To overcome the debilitating acquisitiveness that plagues Earth is the challenge for educators and all human beings who seek to involve the young in composing their lives and cultivating a world of integrity, beauty, justice, love, and continuously evolving capacities of humanity. (source: Nielsen Book Data) | <urn:uuid:aec02527-9bb7-43e1-a150-cbd7a512a909> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8489447 | 2013-05-23T18:32:02Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874109 | 673 |
Lesson plan Class nº 2.
2 periods: Simple present (affirmation and basic questions).
. 2010.Level: 7º
:-The student recognizes grammatical structure of simple present.- The student produces sentences in simple present properly.
Whiteboard – handout (simple present)- student’s body (TPR) - Teacher’s voice – student’snotebook
10 min.- Greetings- call the row- ask students to go back to their seats-etc- The (permanent) teacher talks with the class and explains them why the test isnot going to be today.- The teacher asks the class to organize the sits in a semi-circle.- Teacher tells students they are going to play “Symon says”. Make sure allstudents know how to play it by asking them about the rules of it.
The teacher clarifies the vocabulary for the play using mnemonics, and asksthe students to stand up.- Then, the students should response the commands (TPR).- The ones that do not response or make some mistakes should sit down.
The teacher asks students if they know why it is “Symon says” and not“Symon say”.- Then, she gives them a worksheet with a conceptual map which explains therule for 3
singular person in simple present.- The students should read it carefully.- The teacher explains students about the exceptions (goes, does, has, is, etc).And ask students to take notes about that in their notebooks.- The teacher explains them about the structure for making questions (do notuse twice the “s”: Ex. does/ likes) and asks them to take notes about that intheir notebooks also.
the teacher asks them to interview their partners about likes and dislikes usingthe verbs learnt last week and write down the information in their notebooks.The teacher provides them an example in the whiteboard.- The teacher adds some other verbs also such as have and to be.(Ex. Do you have brothers or sisters?)
Students should report what they have written down about their partnersusing simple present properly.- The teacher gives them feedback of their work by checking one by one thegrammatical mistakes orally.
Teacher asks students to say what they learn today.- Teacher congratulates students for the disposition in the class and say themgood bye. | <urn:uuid:1c634703-01ea-4ab9-a55d-b7c271f24075> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scribd.com/doc/33934578/Lesson-plans-unit-1-7%C2%BA | 2013-05-21T10:31:05Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922212 | 490 |
Bleher's Rainbowfish - Chilatherina bleheri
Bleher's Rainbowfish was scientifically described by Allen in 1985. Its scientific name is Chilatherina bleheri. The fish was collected for scientific purposes for the first time in 1982, by Allen and Bleher.
Bleher's Rainbowfish can grow to be 12 cm long. The body has a sparkling green colour, except for the posterior part which is decorated by pastel shades of yellow to red. The same pastel colours are present on both dorsal and anal fins. The lower side of the body is white and decorated with pale vertical dark markings. The male is usually more flamboyant than the female and displays a brilliant yellow-orange stripe along the forehead during the breeding period. Older males have really deep bodies.
Geographical distribution, habitat and conservation
Bleher's Rainbowfish lives in the lower Mamberamo system in West Papua. It has only been encountered in the lake Danau Bira (also known as Lake Holmes), which is actually three connected lakes, and in small and rocky streams that empties themselves into Danau Bira. The three lakes are fairly shallow and are believed to be really young, perhaps no older than a decade or two. The shoreline contains a lot of plant life. The surrounding environment consists of jungle and is located 430 meters (1400 feet) above sea level. The terrain is mountainous.
Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) has been introduced to the lakes.
Bleher's Rainbowfish is listed as “Vulnerable” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Keeping Bleher's Rainbowfish in aquariums
Bleher's Rainbowfish is an adaptable species and not very tricky to care for in captivity. It can be kept in a species aquarium or be combined with other peaceful species of similar size in a community set up. Try to resemble the natural environment of Bleher's Rainbowfish in the aquarium and use a lot of driftwood and aquatic plants to create hiding spots and sheltered environments. In the wild, dead tree stumps are often seen protruding above the surface in the shallow Danau Bira. The recommended water temperature when keeping Bleher's Rainbowfish is 25-28 degrees C (77-82 degrees F). The water should be alkaline, from pH 7.5 to 8.0.
Breeding Bleher's Rainbowfish
The male Bleher's Rainbowfish reaches sexual maturity when he is roughly 6 cm (2.4 inches) long, and the female can be even smaller at her fist spawning. Always keep at least 2-3 females for each male Bleher's Rainbowfish in the aquarium, in order to disperse the aggressive tendencies of several individuals. It is also important to make sure that the females have a lot of good hiding spots in the aquarium, especially during the breeding period.
As mentioned above, the male becomes even more colourful than normal during the breeding period. Give your fishes a suitable spawning medium in the aquarium, e.g. java moss or spawning mops. When the actual spawning has taken place, move the spawning medium with the eggs to a separate container to avoid predation. You can feed the fry infusoria and finely grounded flake food until they are big enough to nibble at whole flakes and devour newly hatched brine shrimp.
Other New Guinea Rainbowfishes
Tami River Rainbowfish
Lake Wanam Rainbowfish
Goldie River Rainbowfish
Lake Tebera Rainbowfish
Irian Jaya Rainbowfish
Lake Kutubu Rainbowfish
Lake Kurumoi Rainbowfish
Pima River Rainbowfish
Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish
Fly River Rainbowfish
Red Striped Rainbowfish
Van Heurn’s Rainbowfish
Central American Cichlids
Frogs and Turtles
Lake Victoria Cichlids
Marine Aquarium Fish
Responsible Fish Keeping
South American Cichlids
Tropical Fish Food | <urn:uuid:03b096fa-08ee-47b0-b7f0-6d84dfffd374> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/rainbowfish/blehers.php | 2013-05-24T23:26:50Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705284037/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115444-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.87083 | 825 |
|[This is a MPIWG MPDL language technology service]|
Hang (v. i.) To suspend; to fasten to some elevated point without support from below; -- often used with up or out; as, to hang a coat on a hook; to hang up a sign; to hang out a banner.
Hang (v. i.) To fasten in a manner which will allow of free motion upon the point or points of suspension; -- said of a pendulum, a swing, a door, gate, etc.
Hang (v. i.) To fit properly, as at a proper angle (a part of an implement that is swung in using), as a scythe to its snath, or an ax to its helve.
Hang (v. i.) To put to death by suspending by the neck; -- a form of capital punishment; as, to hang a murderer.
Hang (v. i.) To cover, decorate, or furnish by hanging pictures trophies, drapery, and the like, or by covering with paper hangings; -- said of a wall, a room, etc.
Hang (v. i.) To paste, as paper hangings, on the walls of a room.
Hang (v. i.) To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect; to droop; as, he hung his head in shame.
Hang (v. i.) To be suspended or fastened to some elevated point without support from below; to dangle; to float; to rest; to remain; to stay.
Hang (v. i.) To be fastened in such a manner as to allow of free motion on the point or points of suspension.
Hang (v. i.) To die or be put to death by suspension from the neck.
Hang (v. i.) To hold for support; to depend; to cling; -- usually with on or upon; as, this question hangs on a single point.
Hang (v. i.) To be, or be like, a suspended weight.
Hang (v. i.) To hover; to impend; to appear threateningly; -- usually with over; as, evils hang over the country.
Hang (v. i.) To lean or incline; to incline downward.
Hang (v. i.) To slope down; as, hanging grounds.
Hang (v. i.) To be undetermined or uncertain; to be in suspense; to linger; to be delayed.
Hang (n.) The manner in which one part or thing hangs upon, or is connected with, another; as, the hang of a scythe.
Hang (n.) Connection; arrangement; plan; as, the hang of a discourse.
Hang (n.) A sharp or steep declivity or slope. | <urn:uuid:10db20a0-38db-4f16-8043-22bff3a26b44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mpdl-service.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/mpiwg-mpdl-lt-web/lt/GetDictionaryEntries?query=hang&queryDisplay=hang&language=en&outputFormat=html&outputType=morphCompact&outputType=dictFull | 2013-05-25T13:01:50Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.871485 | 611 |
After Britain imposed new and increasingly invasive taxes on the American colonies in the 1760s, resistance ripened into rebellion. But not all Americans saw the wisdom of severing ties with the mother country.
LINDA: All this talk of Independence and Revolution... Don't forget, John – we’re still subjects of the British Empire. No people has ever been blessed with greater liberty than us. Why get Parliament angry and risk it all?
JOHN: Linda, your "British Empire" is nothing more than a band of corrupt and greedy ministers who give us no voice in government yet tax us at their whim. The liberty we ought to enjoy as British subjects is chipped away, bit by bit, with each new tax and each new law that London hands us. The way they see it, they have the power to force upon us any law they wish. You call that "liberty"?
LINDA: Let Parliament and the King "see it" anyway they wish. In truth, we are hardly penniless from paying taxes, and our ability to live life as we please has hardly been taken away by the laws of the Parliament. Remember, this is the British Parliament, the most enlightened legal body in the world.
JOHN: Enlightened enough to know they can tax us as heavily as they want to since we have no say in electing their members, unlike the English landowners, who do vote. There is no liberty when we have to depend on the good will of those who rule us and just hope they treat us fairly.
LINDA: Think of the lives that will be lost fighting against the most powerful army in the world-
JOHN: I agree with Thomas Paine when he says that "Those who expect the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
LINDA: Mr. Paine is a rabble rouser with a pen, and you are a shopkeeper, not a soldier. And what if you could defeat the British Army on the battlefield? What then? Who's going to run these Colonies better than Parliament?
JOHN: We won't be Colonies. We'll be a republic, based on the unalienable rights of man.
LINDA: A republic? Over a land that stretches a two-month trip from Boston to Charleston? We'll be thirteen republics. Thirteen weak republics, a squabbling bunch of Virginia farmers and New England merchants with nothing in common but our radical politics. As if a republic so vast could ever lead to anything but chaos and tyranny.
JOHN: Liberty will not survive on this continent unless we fight for it.
LINDA: We're free enough! We worship how we choose, we work and live where we choose.
JOHN: And should Parliament decide tomorrow to take those rights away? To whom will you turn then?
LINDA: To risk everything we do have because of something Parliament might become is senseless.
JOHN: No, it's just common sense. | <urn:uuid:a24eb837-81a1-4270-9f71-eda69e889427> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://constitutioncenter.org/timeline/html/cw01_11825.html | 2013-05-19T02:38:50Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958796 | 608 |
Originally, a shield-bearer or armor-bearer, an attendant on a knight; in modern times, a title of dignity next in degree below knight and above gentleman; also, a title of office and courtesy; -- often shortened to squire.
To wait on as an esquire or attendant in public; to attend.
Title conferring no rights or privileges but simply an intangible sort of dignity and theoretically membership in the landed gentry of one who had no other title.
In the United States the title commonly appended after the name of an attorney. In English law a title of dignity next above gentleman and below knight. Title also given to barristers at law and others. Abbreviated: Esq.
1)A member of the English gentry who ranks just below a knight, 2)A candidate for knighthood who serves as an attendant to a knight, and carries his arms, 3)Someone who holds an office from the crown such as a Justice of the Peace, a sheriff, or a judge, 4)An attorney who has graduated from law school and passed the bar.(modern use), 5)Landed proprietor, or landed gentry, 6)When a son is named after his father, he is called I, II, III, etc. When the first born mail heir of that lineage is given a different name, he is given the title "esquire".
A title of courtesy, placed after a man's name. Abbreviated to Esq. When this appears in Almanacs, Parish Registers, and newspapers prior to about 1840 it is usually used of landed proprietors or gentry, or persons of high social standing. There it is distinguished from those referred to as "Mr.". See Mister. By 1865 the Almanac stated that all persons appearing in the Almanac were entitled to the title of Esquire in Jamaica.
(Middle Ages) an attendant and shield bearer to a knight; a candidate for knighthood
a title of respect for a member of the English gentry ranking just below a knight; placed after the name
a shield-bearer for and between the king/queen and any other with whom the king/queen wishes to engage in battle
(1) In England a title of dignity next above gentleman and below knight. The title of office given to sheriffs, serjeants [sergeants], lawyers and justices of the peace. (2) In the USA a title appended after the name in addressing letters, is bestowed on any person at pleasure, and contains no definite description. It is merely an expression of respect.
A title sometimes appended to the end of a lawyer's name.
n. a form of address showing that someone is an attorney, usually written Albert Pettifog, Esquire, or simply Esq. Originally in England an Esquire was a rank just above "gentleman" and below "knight." It became a title for barristers, sheriffs and judges.
1) a candidate for knighthood, from esquier, akin to Fr. ecuyer and It. scudiero. 2) in Great Britain, a member of the gentry ranking below a knight; squire. 3) in some English-speaking countries, title of courtesy placed after a man's name. 4) an armigerous gentleman.
In the United States, the title commonly following an attorney's name. Historically, a title of dignity next above gentleman but below a knight. Abbreviated as Esq. | <urn:uuid:0811da6a-8b72-4540-89c4-b3ebe252ff28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metaglossary.com/meanings/332039/ | 2013-05-24T01:44:43Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950018 | 735 |
| ||Definition:|| |
A technique for implementing virtual machine interpreters, introduced by J.R. Bell in 1973, where each op-code in the virtual machine instruction set is the address of some (lower level) code to perform the required operation. This kind of virtual machine can be implemented efficiently in machine code on most processors by simply performing an indirect jump to the address which is the next instruction.
Many forth implementations use threaded code and nowadays some use the term "threading" for almost any technique used to implement Forth's virtual machine.
["James R. Bell", "Threaded Code", CACM, 1973, 16, 6, pp 370-372].
["An Architectural Trail to Threaded Code Systems", Kogge, P. M., IEEE Computer, March 1982]. | <urn:uuid:8ddadb12-d664-42cd-9bb4-6b1d35bbe65c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hyperdictionary.com/computing/threaded+code | 2013-05-19T02:58:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383160/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.86932 | 165 |
Adventures in Fantasy
offers an exciting approach to teaching narrative and descriptive writing that stimulates a student’s creativity and imagination. Filled with mini-lessons, reading projects, and hands-on writing activities, the book shows teachers step-by-step how to introduce students to the “magic” of creating a complete story in the fantasy/adventure genre.
Before fleshing out their stories, however, students are asked to construct actual maps of their ‘fantasyland’ – and then to write a travelogue describing the setting in vivid detail. This initial fantasizing encourages students to be wildly inventive in creating the drama, ogres, villains, heroes and heroines featured in their story, and on the way they learn about the mythic journey. | <urn:uuid:a501687c-cfd1-4ad7-bb16-af5efd2a127b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470639865.html | 2013-05-22T00:42:29Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907203 | 161 |
In POSIX systems, a user can specify the time zone by means of the
TZ environment variable. For information about how to set
environment variables, see Environment Variables. The functions
for accessing the time zone are declared in time.h.
You should not normally need to set
TZ. If the system is
configured properly, the default time zone will be correct. You might
TZ if you are using a computer over a network from a
different time zone, and would like times reported to you in the time
zone local to you, rather than what is local to the computer.
In POSIX.1 systems the value of the
TZ variable can be in one of
three formats. With the GNU C Library, the most common format is the
last one, which can specify a selection from a large database of time
zone information for many regions of the world. The first two formats
are used to describe the time zone information directly, which is both
more cumbersome and less precise. But the POSIX.1 standard only
specifies the details of the first two formats, so it is good to be
familiar with them in case you come across a POSIX.1 system that doesn't
support a time zone information database.
The first format is used when there is no Daylight Saving Time (or summer time) in the local time zone:
The std string specifies the name of the time zone. It must be three or more characters long and must not contain a leading colon, embedded digits, commas, nor plus and minus signs. There is no space character separating the time zone name from the offset, so these restrictions are necessary to parse the specification correctly.
The offset specifies the time value you must add to the local time
to get a Coordinated Universal Time value. It has syntax like
is positive if the local time zone is west of the Prime Meridian and
negative if it is east. The hour must be between
23, and the minute and seconds between
For example, here is how we would specify Eastern Standard Time, but without any Daylight Saving Time alternative:
The second format is used when there is Daylight Saving Time:
std offset dst [offset]
The initial std and offset specify the standard time zone, as described above. The dst string and offset specify the name and offset for the corresponding Daylight Saving Time zone; if the offset is omitted, it defaults to one hour ahead of standard time.
The remainder of the specification describes when Daylight Saving Time is in effect. The start field is when Daylight Saving Time goes into effect and the end field is when the change is made back to standard time. The following formats are recognized for these fields:
365. February 29 is never counted, even in leap years.
365. February 29 is counted in leap years.
6. The week w must be between
1is the first week in which day d occurs, and week
5specifies the last d day in the month. The month m should be between
The time fields specify when, in the local time currently in
effect, the change to the other time occurs. If omitted, the default is
For example, here is how you would specify the Eastern time zone in the United States, including the appropriate Daylight Saving Time and its dates of applicability. The normal offset from UTC is 5 hours; since this is west of the prime meridian, the sign is positive. Summer time begins on the first Sunday in April at 2:00am, and ends on the last Sunday in October at 2:00am.
The schedule of Daylight Saving Time in any particular jurisdiction has changed over the years. To be strictly correct, the conversion of dates and times in the past should be based on the schedule that was in effect then. However, this format has no facilities to let you specify how the schedule has changed from year to year. The most you can do is specify one particular schedule—usually the present day schedule—and this is used to convert any date, no matter when. For precise time zone specifications, it is best to use the time zone information database (see below).
The third format looks like this:
Each operating system interprets this format differently; in the GNU C Library, characters is the name of a file which describes the time zone.
TZ environment variable does not have a value, the
operation chooses a time zone by default. In the GNU C Library, the
default time zone is like the specification ‘TZ=:/etc/localtime’
(or ‘TZ=:/usr/local/etc/localtime’, depending on how the GNU C Library
was configured; see Installation). Other C libraries use their own
rule for choosing the default time zone, so there is little we can say
If characters begins with a slash, it is an absolute file name; otherwise the library looks for the file /share/lib/zoneinfo/characters. The zoneinfo directory contains data files describing local time zones in many different parts of the world. The names represent major cities, with subdirectories for geographical areas; for example, America/New_York, Europe/London, Asia/Hong_Kong. These data files are installed by the system administrator, who also sets /etc/localtime to point to the data file for the local time zone. The GNU C Library comes with a large database of time zone information for most regions of the world, which is maintained by a community of volunteers and put in the public domain. | <urn:uuid:6a263cce-6395-4741-9f11-3bac604f4338> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/TZ-Variable.html | 2013-06-19T06:42:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142617/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.87883 | 1,147 |
Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area
Description: Stretching along the banks of the Ohio River, this management area is a network of agricultural lands, forestlands, wetlands, and open water. Bottomland hardwoods dominate the areas along the river's bank, whereas oak and hickory dominate the upland portions of the area.
Viewing Information: The various habitats at Green Bottom support a diversity of wildlife that includes 30 species of mammals, 105 species of birds in the fall and 47 species in the winter, 12 species of amphibians and 5 species of reptiles. In early spring, bald eagles migrate through. Canada geese can been seen nesting throughout the wetlands and on any of the 14 manmade nesting islands at Green Bottom Swamp.
Wood ducks nest in natural cavities and in any of the 50 nesting boxes constructed by the Wildlife Resources Section. Gray and red foxes live here. Red foxes prefer more open habitat and are seldom found in dense woodlands; gray foxes can be found in open habitats but seem to prefer forests in the early successional stages of development. Other mammals include minks, muskrats, raccoons, white-tailed deer and beavers.
Amphibians in the area include leopard frogs and Jefferson salamanders. Early August is particularly beautiful at Green Bottom when marsh roses cover the wetlands. This is a public hunting area. Please check with the manager for seasons and affected areas.
Directions: From Huntington, travel north on West Virginia State Route 2 for 16 miles. There are several access points to the area on the west side of WV 2 just south of the Cabell and Mason county line.
Ownership: U.S. Army Corp of Engineers; West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (304) 675-0271
Size: 1,100 acres
Closest Town: Glenwood
Excerpt from the WV Wildlife Viewing Guide by Mark Damian Duda . Available from the WVDNR. | <urn:uuid:61376c79-86c5-48aa-a3ef-ec8142ac09a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/Archive/03Spring/field_trip_Green_Bottom.shtm | 2013-05-25T13:17:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705955434/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120555-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903002 | 404 |
Let's face it - putting money in a savings account isn’t exactly the most exciting thing to do with your hard-earned cash, even for adults. If you find it difficult to motivate yourself to save, imagine how kids feel about saving. Here are some tips on how to help motivate your kids to save money and become financially responsible individuals:
1) Give your kids a weekly allowance and help them set a budget.
Have your kids agree to an amount that they should save weekly and the amount they can spend on whatever they want for the week.
2) Give your kids a reason to save.
Don’t just make your kids save money for the sake of saving money or “because you told them so.” Help your kids set goals for themselves. If there is a toy your child wants, make him or her earn it with his or her savings. Or, find a charity that your kids would be interested in helping, and have their savings go to that charity.
3) Use visual aids.
Visual aids are great tools to use for young children to help them see the benefits of saving. For example, give your kids two transparent piggy banks or jars, and have them put the agreed upon amount of allowance in these “savings accounts”. Pay your kids a set percentage of interest in the second piggy bank or jar. Your kids will be able to literally see their savings accounts grow, and they will be able to see the money they earned by simply putting their money in the “bank.”
4) Open a savings account.
Once your kids are older and understand the concept of saving, open a savings account for them at your local bank. Take your kids to the bank each week to deposit their money rather than doing it for them, and have them look at their deposit receipts and bank statements so they can see how their accounts are growing.
5) Match your kids' savings.
Similar to paying your kids interest, you can match the amount, or a percentage of the amount, that your kids put away. This technique will help your kids learn the benefits of 401(k)s, as many employers match a portion of their employees 401(k) contributions. Many first jobs teenagers get do not have 401(k) benefits, so you can provide this service for them yourself.
6) Set a good example.
Whether you like it or not, your kids are constantly observing you. Use this to your advantage by making wise financial decisions. If you don’t have the greatest history of financial management, now you will have the extra motivation of not only feeling like you need to be financially responsible for your own sake, but also for your children’s sake.
If you found this article helpful, be sure to check out these similar articles:
Four Things the Easter Bunny Taught Me About My Credit
How I Graduated Debt-free from College
The Imaginary Mortgage - Fake It Til You Make It | <urn:uuid:d0d630ae-fa2b-4196-bd95-46a532480669> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.1stmarinerbank.com/blog/post/2012/06/01/Mom-You-Want-Me-to-Put-My-Money-WHERE.aspx | 2013-05-21T18:26:55Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700380063/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955575 | 615 |
Making good and aesthetically pleasing bamboo joints is rather complicated because bamboo is hollow, tapered, has nodes at varying distances, and it is not perfectly circular. It is important to keep all these constraints in mind when designing a bamboo joint.
Although traditions, local practices and publications give some information on bamboo joinery, this information is far from complete as essential data is missing in most cases. Many traditional joinery techniques suffer from weakness or deformation, where the strength of the bamboo culm itself is lost.
Before bamboo gets widely adopted in modern architecture (and becomes affordable for all to use), the problem with bamboo joints and universal joining systems has to be solved. After all, timber, steel, and more recently prefabricated concrete, only became proper building materials for the same reasons. How many cumbersome solutions for joints have one seen, before these materials became a standard in construction?
Only if the problem with bamboo joinery can be satisfactorily addressed, and simplified, we can expect to see much more bamboo in Western buildings, bridges and furniture.
Below you'll find some examples and illustrations of traditional bamboo joinery techniques.
>>> Also see our article about: Basic Principles when Joining Bamboo Poles.
1. Joint with one or two ears. Is used to join bamboo rafters, logs or lumber.
|2. Double ear joint. This technique Is used when the rafters or beams have a larger diameter than the diameter of the columns.||3. Joint with one or two external ears.|
|4. Flap joint. Is used when there is no lashing wire available. The flap can be secured with bamboo strips.||5. Fish mouth joint.|
1. Joining bamboo with dowels and lashing. The peg should be placed in the column parallel to the rafter.
2. Fish mouth joint with pegs.
3. Bamboo joint with wooden anchor. Is also used inverted.
4. Bamboo joint with metal anchor. This technique Is used in various positions.
1. Beams formed by 4 or 6 members. The top row is separated from the bottom with bamboo or wood slats so that the upper bamboos do not slide over the lower.
2. Central double rafter. It has a wide range of applications in the construction of bridges and structures for rural facilities.
3. Lateral double rafter. Each of the rafters is secured independently at the side support and each other. It is often used in the construction of bridges and structures for rural facilities
4. Lateral double rafters. Is often used as a central support for bridge structures or sheds.
|1. Joint with double wooden wedge.||2. Joint with dowels and clamping fitters.|
|3. Cross joint with dowel.||4. Lateral joint with dowel.||5. Corner joint.|
1. Top splicing.
2. Bevel splicing.
4. Half bamboo splicing.
5. Splicing with internal union.
6. Splicing with external union.
7. Telescope splicing.
Source: Oscar Hidalgo Lopez, Manual de construccion con bambu. | <urn:uuid:0294688c-2d6a-4b13-b350-cb8d27dc59e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guaduabamboo.com/bamboo-joinery.html | 2013-05-23T18:51:32Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924284 | 663 |
Sodium in humans
Sodium is an essential nutrient that regulates blood volume and blood pressure, “maintains the right balance of fluids in the body, transmits nerve impulses, and influences the contraction and relation of muscles”. It is also necessary for maintaining osmotic equilibrium and the acid-base balance. The minimum physiological requirement for sodium is only 500 milligrams per day. However, according to the American Heart Association, in order to “ensure nutrient adequacy and replace sweat losses a healthy adult needs 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day” or 2/3 of a tablespoon. | <urn:uuid:ad4e27e9-1510-4bc7-b42b-651925f4a546> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthybenefitsof.com/p/sodium.html | 2013-05-24T09:31:06Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704433753/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114033-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.869268 | 128 |
|The Tudors||19th Century Railways||the Making of the UK|
In 1812 William Hedley, was commissioned by Christopher Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery, to produce a steam locomotive. Hedley was helped in his task by two talented craftsman, Jonathan Forster, an enginewright, and Timothy Hackworth, a blacksmith. By 1814 Hedley produced a locomotive that had two vertical cylinders outside the boiler. Piston rods extended upwards to pivotted beams, which were in turn connected by rods to a crankshaft beneath the frames, from which gears drove and also coupled the wheels. Originally carried on four wheels, the 8 ton locomotives were two heavy for the plate rails, and so to spread the weight on the templates, they were redesigned with eight wheels. Two of these locomotives were still working at Wylam Colliery in 1860. This included Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly.
William Hedley's Puffing Billy | <urn:uuid:728c847b-e59b-46ab-b3d1-cc668852698f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RApuffing.htm | 2013-05-23T18:39:26Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980062 | 209 |
Can We Teach Computers What “Truth” Means?
It’s harder than it sounds.
Courtesy of null0/Flickr
This article arises from Future Tense, a partnership of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University. From Feb. 28 through March 2, Future Tense will be taking part in Emerge, an annual conference on ASU’s Tempe campus about what the future holds for humans. This year’s theme: the future of truth. Visit the Emerge website to learn more and to get your ticket.
I’d like to begin with two different ideas of truth. The first appears to be the simplest: “It is true that 1+1=2.” The second is from the beginning of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Now, these sound like quite different ideas about truth. But the process of trying to teach computers to understand truths like these—difficult for both notions—is revealing the ways in which they are similar.
The term artificial intelligence was coined in 1955 by a computer scientist named John McCarthy. Early on, McCarthy enunciated his key aim as the systematization of common sense knowledge. In 1959, he wrote: “[A] program has common sense if it automatically deduces for itself a sufficiently wide class of immediate consequences of anything it is told and what it already knows.” This has proven very difficult, primarily because it is difficult to encode, in a systematic fashion, what it means to say something is true.
Even “1+1=2” is less obvious than it seems at first. Beginning in the early part of the 20th century, mathematicians and philosophers, led at first by Bertrand Russell and Gottlob Frege and later by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Kurt Gödel, Alan Turing, and others, tried to see whether mathematical knowledge—facts like “1+1=2”—could be reduced to the laws of logic. (By logic, Frege meant “those laws of thought that transcend all particulars.” The most basic principle of logic is perhaps the conviction that nothing exists—it is possible to name a set that has no elements.) David Hilbert, the dean of mathematics at the dawn of the century, had thought that such a reduction was possible and posed it as a challenge.
But Hilbert was doomed to failure here. The reason for this, at a basic level, is self-reference. Sentences like “This sentence is false” turn out to pose a nasty set of technical challenges that make it impossible to fully express mathematical knowledge as a consequence of logical axioms—things that are held, on their face, to be true.
Gödel, an Austrian logician who would become a good friend of Albert Einstein’s after both of them settled in Princeton, proved this in a 1931 paper, whose consequences were later strengthened by Turing. Gödel’s incompleteness theorem says that in any sufficiently strong logical system (meaning one that is rich enough to express mathematics), it is impossible to prove that the axioms—the assumptions—of the system do not lead to a contradiction.
The importance of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems for artificial intelligence is something that remains hotly debated. One school of thought, as Ernest Nagel and James Newman wrote in 1956, holds that incompleteness means “that the resources of the human intellect have not been, and cannot be, fully formalized, and that new principles of demonstration forever await invention and discovery.” The other school of thought says, basically, “Don’t worry about it!” The best-known recent exponent of this school is Ray Kurzweil, who claims, without much evidence, that “there is an essential equivalence between a computer and the brain.”
Kurzweil’s overheated triumphalism aside (he seems determined to prove that careful thought is not necessary to be human by displaying a tremendous lack of care himself), this is not a question that we need to resolve to say something about what current progress in artificial intelligence is doing to the idea of truth. Even if Nagel and Newman are right and human intellect cannot be fully formalized, computer scientists have come a long way since John McCarthy first enunciated the aim of formalizing common sense.
Computer scientists have worked to come up with formal descriptions of the everyday world. Here is a short list, taken from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy of some of scenarios they’ve tried to encode:
The Baby Scenario, the Bus Ride Scenario, the Chess Board Scenario, the Ferryboat Connection Scenario, the Furniture Assembly Scenario, the Hiding Turkey Scenario, the Kitchen Sink Scenario, the Russian Turkey Scenario, the Stanford Murder Mystery, the Stockholm Delivery Scenario, the Stolen Car Scenario, the Stuffy Room Scenario, the Ticketed Car Scenario, the Walking Turkey Scenario, and the Yale Shooting Anomaly.
Let’s take the last of these—the Yale Shooting Anomaly, which aims to formally codify the fact that an unloaded shotgun, if loaded and then shot at a person, would kill the person. Classical logic dealt with things like “1+1=2” which are true, (or false, like 1=0) for all time. They were true, are true, and always will be true. It doesn’t allow for things to happen. But to encode common- sense knowledge, computer scientists need a way to allow for events to take place. They also need ways to encode spatial locations.
Some of this had been worked out in a rigorous but limited way, in what philosophers call modal logic, which was first enunciated by C.I. Lewis in 1918. But modal logic was too limited for computer scientists to use in semireal world systems. In the languages that computer scientists have come up with, as in the Yale Shooting Anomaly, they were unable to preclude the possibility that the shotgun would spontaneously unload itself. It’s not that computer scientists think that that will happen; it’s that they struggle to formalize how it can’t. (Since the Yale Shooting Anomaly was first stated in 1986, many solutions have been proposed, but it remains an area of research.)
A central challenge computer scientists face is what’s called the ramification problem: How to codify that fact that if I walk into a room, my shirt does, too. This is paralleled by the “frame problem,” first enunciated by McCarthy in 1969, which is the “problem of efficiently determining which things remain the same in a changing world.” These problems are considerably harder than careless cheerleaders like Kurzweil make them out to be.
The central result of logicians in the 20th century was that, in the end, it will always be necessary to extend your axioms—things you just assume to be true without proving them—if you are to extend your idea of truth. This brings us to our second idea about truth—that men are created equal and entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson’s insight (without getting into the abominable hypocrisy of the fact that slavery was legal at the time) was that these truths were not provable from some more basic system of logic, but must themselves be assumed.
The sense in which artificial intelligence research has eroded the distinction between such moral truths and mathematical truths is not a rigorous philosophical identification of the two, but just a sense that truths of the first sort are not as absolute as they seem (at the end the fights between logicians come down to opinion and taste) while truths of the second sort can be, grudgingly and with struggle, written down in a form that outwardly resembles the simpler-seeming truths of mathematics.
Konstantin Kakaes is a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation. Follow him on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:bbdae031-edd1-48b3-8f6f-ab3d827c60c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/02/artificial_intelligence_can_we_teach_computers_what_truth_means.single.html | 2013-05-22T00:23:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962016 | 1,722 |
Hot Zones shows just how closely human health is dependent on that of the environment. With the outbreak of thirty previously unknown diseases in the last two decades, the film examines the human consequences of altering global and local ecosystems. In this program, we visit Kenya, Peru, Bangladesh and the United States where changing climates, uncontrolled development and loss of natural habitat have led to an increase in infectious disease. We also explore how cutting edge use of remote sensing data and new epidemiology studies are assisting health and ecosystem scientists predict and ultimately control serious epidemics.
Our journey begins along the shores of East Africa's Lake Victoria, one of the world's largest fresh water lakes. Home to more than thirty million people, this region is located in one of Africa's unhealthiest environments. Lake Victoria is the malaria capital of the world. To make matters worse, raw sewage, over-fishing and agricultural run-off are slowly destroying the lake's ecosystem. Many families are left with few choices but to abandoned their ancestral fishing grounds and migrate to larger cities like Nairobi, only six hours away. Until recently, Nairobi was malaria free. Today, it has hit the city with a vengeance 40% of its children are infected. Scientists are struggling to understand the spread of malaria by examining environmental change and the massive migration of people from the countryside.
In the high valleys and jungles of Peru lie some of the greatest stands of tropical rainforests on the planet. In the depths of the jungle, just as in Nairobi, people are suddenly dying of malaria. Deforestation and changes in land use are affecting the distribution of many disease vectors. As the forests are cleared and wildlife eradicated, vectors of disease must seek out new hosts on which to feed namely humans. In an attempt to mitigate the problem, scientists are studying the rainforest to understand how changing land use can affect the distribution of disease vectors.
One of the great concerns for the future is that insect borne diseases are adapting to cities. Malaria is one but there are others. In the Peruvian port city of Iquitos, those living in sprawling shanty towns not only suffer from an upsurge of malaria they have become victims of another mosquito borne disease Dengue fever. Ten years ago it posed no threat. But today, Dengue has reached epidemic proportions five percent of its victims will die. Once again, research shows that cities can create their own ecology of disease making them ripe for colonization by mosquitoes.
But environmental degradation and infectious disease are not exclusive to the tropics or the developing world. Travel, commerce and tourism have put places like Iquitos and Nairobi on the doorstep of the West. In the United States and Europe, health professionals successfully eradicated malaria and most other insect borne diseases in the 1950's. That doesn't mean they are gone for good. Diseases never before seen in the Western hemisphere, like West Nile virus, are a looming threat to the United States.
Yet there is a global health issue even greater than insect borne
diseases looming for the 21st century. It revolves around the most
basic human need water clean water. The effects of
water borne diseases are devastating. In the poorest regions of
the world one in five do not live to see their fifth birthday diarrhea alone claims the lives of nearly three million children
each year. As people flood into cities, the problems of sanitation,
clean water and the spread of water borne diseases become even more
In 1991, a cholera epidemic began in a small coastal fishing village about 250 miles north of the Peru's capital. Within days Lima became a hot zone. Victims started arriving at local hospitals every few minutes. Because the epidemic began in a fishing village many thought seafood might be responsible. The reality is, raw fish was never the problem provided it was washed in clean water. Cholera is transmitted when infected human waste contaminates the water supply it is a disease of the poor.
Bangladesh is a place whose
fragile infrastructure is squeezed hard by the dispossessed and
poor. Clean water and sanitation are rare commodities disease
is rampant especially for children. Yet, ten percent of children
born in Bangladesh die before the age of five. Seasonal outbreaks
of cholera make hospitals look more like battlefields littered with
casualties of war. Each year the disease strikes nearly half a million
Bangladeshis it claims 25,000 lives.
Water is clearly a global problem and it is not just limited to the countries of the developing world. In Maryland's
Chesapeake Bay, watermen have faced a serious decline in their catch. Several years ago watermen began to notice grotesque lesions in the fish and crabs they were catching. Not long after the fish started getting sick, so did the watermen. The bay is showing the affects of sewage, pesticides and industrial effluents that have been seeping into the Chesapeake for decades. Teams of scientists struggle to find solutions, but the fish are still dying and the watermen of Maryland continue to suffer.
Fortunately, there are programs that are beginning to offer glimmers of hope. In the jungles of Peru, clinics have been established in rural villages introducing vaccination programs that promise to ease the suffering from mosquito borne diseases. In Bangladesh, thousands of rural health workers are teaching women simple sanitation procedures that will help protect their children from cholera and other serious childhood diseases. In the slums of Dhaka, clinical trials of a new oral vaccine for ecoli hold great promise to ease the suffering of infants. And in Kenya, medical researchers have helped convince local authorities to begin eradicating the breeding grounds for the deadly Anopheles mosquito. | <urn:uuid:a109ca52-1050-4f20-90f2-5c060b6c170c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth/about/hotzones.html | 2013-05-26T02:49:55Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948422 | 1,160 |
I Spy Something Red!
t risk of his own life, Moravian missionary Johann Gottleib Ernestus Heckewelder acted as a spy for General Washington during the American Revolution. It was not uncommon for colonial governments to commission missionaries to render secular services.
While answering his call to civilize and Christianize the Indians, Heckewelder was quick to finger the British agents in his neck of the woods, Eastern Ohio. He also is most likely the first white to see our Cuyahoga River.
John had penetrated far into Ohio’s wilderness as early as 1761 and in 1772 helped establish the village Schoenbrunn (the first organized settlement in Ohio) for the Christian Delewares in Tuscarawas County. Other Moravian communities quickly followed, including one near the junction of Tinkers Creek and the Cuyahoga River called Pilgerruh, meaning Pilgrim’s Rest. They constructed 28 buildings on the ruins of an old Ottawa village. In 1787 the Moravians had left Pilgerruh and headed west to establish New Salem near Milan, Ohio.
A map Rev. Heckewelder drew and description of the village
are archived by the Western Reserve Historical Society.
Ten years later, in 1797, members of the Connecticut Western Reserve Land Company arrived to survey the land for permanent settlement by pioneers from New England. There, they discovered the ruins of the Moravian ghost town. They renamed the area Tinker's Creek, after the survey team's principal boatman, Joseph Tinker. | <urn:uuid:87794c1a-e767-47f8-bc25-ad11dd8945ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kentohio.net/kent-history/i-spy-something-red | 2013-06-19T14:25:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963084 | 324 |
Primary school years
In Egypt, girls and boys between the age of six and 14 years of age should – by law -- attend school. Thanks to huge investment during the 1990s, when about 11,000 new schools were built and many more renovated, access to primary school education is now nearly universal. Indeed, a study indicates that almost nine out of every 10 Egyptian boys and girls is currently enrolled in school.
On the other hand, there are questions about the quality of the education children receive – problems the government has acknowledged by the development of new standards for the educational system. One major problem is the persistence of traditional teaching methods. An Egyptian child is far more likely to be taught using traditional “chalk and talk” methods, where the teacher writes on a blackboard and students are expected to repeat or copy by rote, than any more interactive method. Anecdotal evidence suggests that boys and girls alike are subjected to physical punishment and verbal abuse.
Another problem is the under-use of infrastructure. While almost 90 percent of schools have a library, surveys indicate that only a quarter of the children use them, and while almost 60 percent of schools have computers, less than 20 percent of students have access to them.
A small but significant minority of pre-adolescent children--about 13 percent of girls and four percent of boys--have never been to school at all. Like other school attendance figures, these numbers are higher in Upper Egypt (the southern part of the country), where in places almost one third of girls never go to school at all.
Boys and girls between the ages of six and 11 make up about one quarter of children who work in Egypt. Because many of these children work in the informal sector as street vendors, domestic workers or as agricultural labourers, their working environments are difficult if not impossible to regulate.
Many work long hours under dangerous conditions for little reward and this has an impact both on their health situation and on their educational prospects.
Malnutrition, linked to lowered IQ as well as less energy to devote to learning and creative activities, also remains a problem for children in this age group. In 1997 a study indicated that by the beginning of adolescence, about 20 percent of boys and girls are below average height for their age because of insufficient nutrition. | <urn:uuid:1ff16575-9877-4d26-9a89-bb100f2f407d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicef.org/egypt/children_152.html | 2013-05-25T19:45:03Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972734 | 465 |
IBM images shoe detailed molecular bonds.
A team of international researchers from the IBM in Zurich has published the first detailed single-molecule images of atomic bonds in fullerene.
According to the report published in Science
, the new study has examined fullerene, which has linked rings of carbon atoms at its core, using an atomic force microscopy or AFM.
Their images show the length of the atomic bonds. The bright and dark spots on the images correspond to the higher and lower density of electrons in the particle.
“The individual bonds between carbon atoms in such molecules differ subtly in their length and strength,” explained lead author Leo Gross.
“All the important chemical, electronic, and optical properties of such molecules are related to the differences of bonds in the polyaromatic systems," he added.
"Now, for the first time, these differences were detected for both individual molecules and bonds. This can increase basic understanding at the level of individual molecules, important for research on novel electronic devices, organic solar cells, and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)."
The IBM team is planning to use the same method to examine graphene, one-atom-thick sheets of pure carbon and explore the use of different molecules for their "record needle."
The same team presented the world’s first single-molecule image in 2009 and published images of a molecule shaped like the Olympic rings recently. | <urn:uuid:eb38e1ab-22fe-4e75-a16d-aa0cc051aea9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://presstv.com/detail/2012/09/16/261969/ibm-images-show-molecular-bonds/ | 2013-05-19T18:51:13Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920227 | 299 |
Specific political and cultural events combined to form a setting when Jesus lived, which can be described as the "fullness of time." In the founding and development of the early church, Pentecost, the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 and the persecution of Christians were significant.
The Early Church
3. Early Christianity to Constantine
a. Fullness of time
1. Political empires
2. Different parties in Judaism
3. Diaspora of Jews
4. Greco-Roman world
c. Question about how much the Gentiles should be bound by Jewish Law
d. The message of the early church
e. The fall of Jerusalem
h. Early heresies
i. Lessons we learn from the early church
Along the left side of the window are all the files you can download for this lecture. (You need to be logged into you user account to see these links.) This includes a link to download the lecture in high quality or in fast download, and any handouts we have available. If the link does not appear, then we do not have the material.
If you want to listen to the lecture on the computer, you can click the right arrow on the Listen now player (the free Flash player is required). Be patient as it can take some time to start playing if your connection to the internet is not fast.
Check out the tabs on the page. They show you the outline and transcription for the lecture (if they are available). You can also click on Reference Materials and search BibleGateway for helpful information. If you copy the code under the Embed tab and paste it into your own website, blog, etc, then people can click on your link and listen to the lecture without leaving your site. (If you are not familiar with web technology, your webmaster may need to do this for you.) | <urn:uuid:b0a27678-28af-4217-bf6b-08fa10c4807a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biblicaltraining.org/early-church/church-history | 2013-05-19T18:27:16Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910809 | 380 |
Because I work with such a diverse population of students and cultural backgrounds, I really have to focus on choosing diverse activities that allow us to celebrate the season in many different ways. My favorite book to read this time of year is "The Gingerbread Man". It's a fun story about something that we all enjoy: COOKIES! This year, I have collected MANY versions of this story to enjoy with my students!
The goals that I target during these activities include the following:
Articulation/phonology: multi-syllable words/phrases; final consonants; phonemes: "dge", /f/, /k/
Receptive language: Recognizing animals, actions, positions
Expressive Language: Core Vocabulary--"In, Out, Go, Run, He, She, They"; Answer Who, What Doing, Where and Why Questions; Problem solving; Inference; Predicting; Story Grammar; Sequence; Re-telling stories, Compare/Contrast
Pragmatic Language: Feelings/emotions, Non-literal language/Metaphors ("Sly as a Fox")
I started by reading this version: "The Gingerbread Man". In this version, the fox tricks the gingerbread man by telling him, "Come closer, I can't hear you". The kids love this one because we all YELL together like the gingerbread man, "I have run away from . . . .!" and then we list all of the characters.
Then I read this version of the book:
While reading each story, we focused on the articulation and phonology goals using the repetitive text "Run, Run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" Then, after reading each story (usually during the second session), we retold the story using this visual that I created: Retell the Story. This is a great tool that we used to identify the Story Parts and practice Sequence skills. This is also helpful for identifying details and events from the a story.
After retelling each version of the story. We were worked on compare/contrast of the stories. I use a simple Venn diagram to compare/contrast the stories. I found a new idea on how to do this on Pinterest using paper plates. What a great idea! Here is the link to the post: Paper Plate Venn Diagrams
The kids have been so engaged that I sought out many more versions of this story and have them laid out. They ask every day which book we will read next! So, we also read these stories and completed the same kinds of activities. Here they are:
The kids have done such a great job and have been really engaged in pointing out similarities and differences while we have read the books. I have been using these activities with Pre-K through 2nd grade students. I even used the first version of this story in my youngest pre-school group. I found lots of Gingerbread Man activities on various websites, here are some of my favorites!
Sequence pictures and a mini book:
Gingerbread Man themed games and websites:
YouTube Links for Gingerbread Man story and How to Make Gingerbread cookies:
I really like the video "Gingerbread Men Recipe Demonstration". It's kind of long, so I fast-forwarded many parts, but it was great for my students to see the process for making gingerbread cookies. Many of them thought that decorating and eating were the only steps! The last activity that I did with the kids was to make cookies with them. I had them list the steps for making the cookies and I purchased some Gingerbread Cookie Mix. We did this hands on activity to complete the recipe, bake the cookies, decorate, and EAT (everyone's favorite).
If you have students with diet restrictions or have limitations in making real cookies, we also had lots of fun using the Cookie Doodle app on the iPad. Using this app, you and your students can walk through the steps of mixing the ingredients, baking, and decorating. It's fun, too!
I hope you have fun using some of these Simple Speech "holiday themed" activities with your students! What are your favorite books or activities to use during the holiday season? | <urn:uuid:e42c17f7-3e0f-4663-a27b-ef48884d18d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://speech-specialed.blogspot.com/2012/12/simple-speech-gingerbread-man.html | 2013-05-26T02:48:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958977 | 884 |
The driving force behind Africa’s growing electronic waste problem is domestic consumption, according to a recently released United Nations report. The report, “Where are WEee in Africa?” [PDF] studied five African countries and discovered that between 650,000 and 1,000,000 tons of domestically consumed electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) are disposed of within their borders every year.
Industrialized countries consume the majority of electronics now entering the waste stream. Often this e-waste is exported to developing countries because regulations in Europe and the U.S. make it costly and time consuming to dispose of it properly.
Electronics are known to contain heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and endocrine disrupting substances such as brominated flame retardants. When e-waste is burned, the easiest way to access the valuable metals, these hazardous emissions are released into the air, soil, water, and ultimately, the food supply.
While the use of EEE in Africa is still low compared to other regions of the world, the report found that it is growing at a staggering pace. Ownership of personal computers in Africa, for example, has increased by a factor of 10 in the last decade, while the number of mobile phone subscribers has increased by a factor of 100. This does not bode well for the countries studied in the report (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, nd Nigeria), which are already seeing the negative consequences of unsupervised e-waste recycling techniques.
Although well aware that African nations are ill-equipped to deal with e-waste properly, other countries, especially the European Union, continue to dump their unwanted electronics on their shores. An analysis of used EEE imported into Nigeria, conducted from March to July 2010, revealed that more than 75 percent of all containers came from Europe, 15 percent from Asia, 5 percent from African ports (mainly Morocco) and 5 percent from North America. A similar distribution could be observed in Ghana, where 85 percent of used EEE imports originated in Europe, 4 percent in Asia, 8 percent in North America and 3 percent from elsewhere.
Still, African nations know that e-waste recycling could be a lucrative endeavor if a sound resource recovery and management system can be established.
“We can grow Africa’s economies, generate decent employment and safeguard the environment by supporting sustainable e-waste management and recovering the valuable metals and other resources locked inside products that end up as e-waste,” said United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary General Achim Steiner in a statement. “In the run-up to Rio+20 in June, this report shows how measures such as improved collection strategies and establishing more formal recycling structures, can limit environmental damage and provide economic opportunities.” | <urn:uuid:9dfa8163-61b1-4754-b555-6dfc2eec01c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.earthtechling.com/2012/02/can-africa-turn-e-waste-into-opportunity/ | 2013-05-22T07:14:06Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944138 | 589 |
Scientists discover 'needle in a haystack' for muscular dystrophy patients
MU scientist Dongsheng Duan, Ph.D., and colleagues have identified significant sections of a gene that are essential in helping muscle tissues function. Their findings, described this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could provide hope to young patients with muscular dystrophy. Credit: University of Missouri School of Medicine
(Medical Xpress)—Muscular dystrophy is caused by the largest human gene, a complex chemical leviathan that has confounded scientists for decades. Research conducted at the University of Missouri and described this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has identified significant sections of the gene that could provide hope to young patients and families.
MU scientists Dongsheng Duan, PhD, and Yi Lai, PhD, identified a sequence in the dystrophin gene that is essential for helping muscle tissues function, a breakthrough discovery that could lead to treatments for the deadly hereditary disease. The MU researchers "found the proverbial needle in a haystack," according to Scott Harper, PhD, a muscular dystrophy expert at The Ohio State University who is not involved in the study.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), predominantly affecting males, is the most common type of muscular dystrophy. Children with DMD face a future of rapidly weakening muscles, which usually leads to death by respiratory or cardiac failure before their 30th birthday.
Patients with DMD have a gene mutation that disrupts the production of dystrophin, a protein essential for muscle cell survival and function. Absence of dystrophin starts a chain reaction that eventually leads to muscle cell degeneration and death. While dystrophin is vital for muscle development, the protein also needs several "helpers" to maintain the muscle tissue. One of these "helper" molecular compounds is nNOS, which produces nitric oxide that can keep muscle cells healthy during exercise.
"Dystrophin not only helps build muscle cells, it's also a key factor to attracting nNOS to the muscle cell membrane, which is important during exercise," Lai said. "Prior to this discovery, we didn't know how dystrophin made nNOS bind to the cell membrane. What we found was that dystrophin has a special 'claw' that is used to grab nNOS and bring it to the muscle cell membrane. Now that we have that key, we hope to begin the process of developing a therapy for patients."
Duan and Lai, scientists with MU's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, found that two particular sections of the dystrophin gene must be present for nNOS to bind to the muscle cell membrane. The sections of the gene, known as "repeaters 16 & 17," contain a "claw" that can grab nNOS and bring it to the muscle cell membrane so that it will prevent ischemic damage from muscle activity. Without this "claw," nNOS doesn't bind to the cell membrane and the muscle cells are damaged, leading to further problems associated with muscular dystrophy.
The other key to this puzzle is dystrophin. If the protein is not present in the body, no "claw" exists and nNOS would never make it to the muscle cell membrane. For years, scientists have been attempting to find ways to make the body manufacture dystrophin, and thus get nNOS to the muscle cell membrane. Duan and Lai said the answer might lie elsewhere.
"Everybody, including those individuals with muscular dystrophy, has another protein known as 'utrophin,' " said Duan, a Margaret Proctor Mulligan Distinguished Professor in Medical Research at MU. "Utrophin is nearly identical to dystrophin except that it is missing repeaters 16 & 17, so it cannot attract nNOS to the muscle cell membrane. In our study, we were able to modify utrophin so that it had the repeaters, and thus, the ability to grab nNOS and bring it to the muscle cell membrane to protect muscle. Our study was completed in mice, but if we can do the same thing in larger animals, we could eventually have a therapy for humans with this devastating disease."
Harper described the MU research as "as an exquisite example of a basic study with potentially important translational implications for therapy of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. … The data from the Duan laboratory, reported in this paper and previous studies, demonstrates that the structural elements required for proper nNOS localization should be included in any DMD therapy for which dystrophin restoration is the goal."
For more than 10 years, Duan has been a leader in muscular dystrophy, gene therapy and biology research at MU. In addition to his recently published study in PNAS, Duan's lab continues to examine the basic scientific mechanisms behind muscular dystrophy as well as strategies for treating the disease. For example, his lab is studying the effectiveness of a gene therapy for treating heart failure associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Using viruses as a means for delivering gene therapy, Duan is also testing how synthetic microgenes could improve muscle function in dystrophic dog and mouse models. In 2011, he and Lai were granted a patent for a synthetic microgene developed in his lab that has now proved to enhance muscle function in dogs. Those results were also published this month in the journal Molecular Therapy.
More information: www.pnas.org/conte… 0/2/387.full
Provided by University of Missouri School of Medicine
- Another muscular dystrophy mystery solved; MU scientists inch closer to a therapy for patients Dec 07, 2012 | not rated yet | 0
- Muscular dystrophy mystery solved; scientists move closer to MD solution Feb 26, 2009 | not rated yet | 0
- A quantum leap in gene therapy of Duchenne muscular dystrophy Jan 15, 2013 | not rated yet | 0
- Scientist clears hurdles for muscular dystrophy therapy Oct 29, 2008 | not rated yet | 0
- Reprogrammed human adult stem cells rescue diseased muscle in mice Dec 12, 2007 | not rated yet | 0
- Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions Apr 23, 2013 | 3 / 5 (2) | 2
- Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update) Apr 02, 2013 | 4.5 / 5 (11) | 5
- The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation Mar 30, 2013 | 5 / 5 (2) | 9
- Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled Mar 27, 2013 | 4.9 / 5 (8) | 0
- Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance Feb 28, 2013 | 4.8 / 5 (10) | 14
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013 From pressure-volume curve of the lung and chest wall (attached photo), I don't understand why would the elastic recoil pressure of the lung is...
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013 I'd want the rest of me to stay alive. Sure it's a lousy way to live but it beats being all-the-way dead. Maybe if I make it 20 years they'll...
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013 Dear PFers, The hospital gave us a $12k bill for one MRI (head with contrast). The people I talked to at the hospital tell me that they do not...
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013 As an experiment, for the past few months I've been consuming at least one portion of Jell-O or unflavored Knox gelatin per day. I'm 64, in very...
Alcohol and acetaminophen
May 13, 2013 Edit: sorry for the typo in the title , can't edit I looked around on google quite a bit and it's very hard to find precise information on the...
Marie Curie's leukemia
May 13, 2013 Does anyone know what might be the cause of Marie Curie's cancer
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Nearly 20 percent of kidneys that are recovered from deceased donors in the U.S. are refused for transplant due to factors ranging from scarring in small blood vessels of the kidney's filtering units to the organ going too ...
Medical research 13 hours ago | 5 / 5 (2) | 0 |
Discovery of circadian clock in mice hair reveals period of time when damage from radiotherapy can be quickly repaired
Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock - a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair - researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy ...
Medical research 13 hours ago | 5 / 5 (2) | 1 |
Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have ...
Medical research 14 hours ago | 4.8 / 5 (6) | 2 |
New research from the University of Southampton has shown that blind and visually impaired people have the potential to use echolocation, similar to that used by bats and dolphins, to determine the location of an object.
Medical research 17 hours ago | not rated yet | 1 |
A novel vaccine study from South Dakota State University (SDSU) will headline the groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference ...
Medical research 17 hours ago | not rated yet | 0
A Nobel prize-winning scientist Tuesday played down "shock-horror scenarios" that a new virus strain will emerge with the potential to kill millions of people.
48 minutes ago | 5 / 5 (1) | 0
No new human cases of the H7N9 virus have been recorded in China for a week, national health authorities said, for the first time since the outbreak began in March.
29 minutes ago | not rated yet | 0
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered specific chemical alterations in two genes that, when present during pregnancy, reliably predict whether a woman will develop postpartum depression.
1 hour ago | not rated yet | 0 |
(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.
11 hours ago | 4.6 / 5 (13) | 5 |
New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer ...
14 hours ago | 4.8 / 5 (12) | 2 |
Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36% more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study by King's College London. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective ...
1 hour ago | not rated yet | 0 | <urn:uuid:02c7abd7-9d5f-45ba-b293-6e0f2cc221e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-needle-haystack-muscular-dystrophy.html | 2013-05-21T10:00:12Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944439 | 2,366 |
Mars rover Curiosity set to hit the road again
LOS ANGELES — After playing in the sand, the Curiosity rover is poised to trek across the Martian landscape in search of a rock to drill into, scientists reported Thursday.
The six-wheel rover has been parked for more than a month at a sand dune where it has been busy scooping up soil, sniffing the atmosphere and measuring radiation levels on the surface. Its next task is to zero in on a rock and that requires driving to a new location.
Mission deputy scientist Ashwin Vasavada expected Curiosity to be on the move in the “next few days.”
“It’s the bedrock which really gives you the story of ancient Mars,” said Vasavada of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $2.5 billion mission. “The soil is a little harder to interpret because we don’t know how old it is or where it came from.”
The car-size rover touched down in Gale Crater, an ancient depression near the Martian equator, in August on a two-year mission to probe whether the landing site once had conditions capable of supporting microbial life. Armed with a high-tech suite of instruments, it’s the most sophisticated spacecraft to ever land on the red planet.
During the first three months, a weather station aboard Curiosity detected brief drops in air pressure, a sign of whirlwinds in the region.
“These events are starting to occur more and more often,” said Manuel de la Torre Juarez of NASA JPL. “We expect to see more in the future.”
Previous rovers have spotted and even recorded dust devils dancing across the Martian terrain, but scientists said Curiosity has not yet seen evidence that the swirling winds have lifted dust.
Curiosity’s ultimate destination is a 3-mile-high mountain rising from the center of the crater floor that’s rich in mineral deposits. Scientists had hoped to drive to the base before the end of the year, but that doesn’t look likely after the extended stay at its current spot. | <urn:uuid:bfc9c805-4f76-4dee-80eb-03f12022d6c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aikenstandard.com/article/20121117/AIK0106/121119567/0/pacers-start-season-cruise-past-tigers | 2013-06-19T14:39:15Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944392 | 442 |
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Parnassia palustris L.
- Family: Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae)
- Flowering: July-October
- Field Marks: This species differs from others in the genus by its unfringed petals that have 3-13 veins.
- Habitat: Wet meadows and other moist places.
- Habit: Perennial herb with short rootstocks.
- Stems: Upright, slender, unbranched, up to 1 1/2 feet tall, smooth, bearing a single leaf (often called a bract) about 1/3 the way up the stem.
- Leaves: All basal except for the single, ovate, sessile leaf (or bract) about 1/3 way up the stem; basal leaves ovate, heart-shaped to tapering to the base, up to 1 1/2 inches long, smooth, without teeth, on stalks up to 4 inches long.
- Flowers: Solitary on the stem, up to 1 inch across.
- Sepals: 5, green, united below to form a short floral tube, lanceolate to ovate, pointed at the tip, 1/4-1/2 inch long, with 5-7 veins.
- Petals: 5, white, free from each other, ovate to obovate, up to 1/2 inch long, not fringed, with 3-13 veins.
- Stamens: 5 fertile, with many sterile stamens present consisting of slender, gland-tipped filaments up to 1/3 inch long.
- Pistils: Ovary more or less superior or slightly inferior.
- Fruits: Capsules ovoid, up to 1/2 inch long, subtended by the persistent sepals, with
numerous tiny, angular seeds.
Previous Species -- Fringed Grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia fimbriata )
Return to Species List -- Group 8
Next Species -- Elephant's-head Lousewort (Pedicularis groenlandica) | <urn:uuid:2f56c2f1-bc7d-489a-a5bc-6d3c8e2ce51e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/8/parnpalu.htm | 2013-05-25T13:29:06Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705955434/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120555-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.773784 | 457 |
Programs & News | Contact Us | For Readers | Fiction | Kids & Teens | Reference & Nonfiction | Movies, Music, Audiobooks
Library Blogs | Hours & Locations | Friends | Foundation | Gift Shop | A to Z Index
"Nelle" Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. She grew up in Monroeville, a small town in southwest Alabama. Her father was a lawyer who also served in the state legislature from 1926 -1938. As a child, Lee was a tomboy and a precocious reader. After finishing public school in Monroeville, she attended Huntington College, a private school for women in Montgomery, for a year and then transferred to the University of Alabama to study law but withdrew six months before graduation.
She moved to New York in 1949 and worked as a reservations clerk for Eastern Air Lines and British Overseas Airways. While in New York, she wrote several essays and short stories but none were published. Her agent encouraged her to develop one short story into a novel. In order to complete it, Lee quit working and was supported by friends who believed in her work. In 1957, she submitted the manuscript to J. B. Lippincott Company. Although editors found the work too episodic, they saw promise in the book and encouraged Lee to rewrite it. In 1960, with the help of Lippincott editor Tay Hohoff, To Kill a Mockingbird was published.
To Kill a Mockingbird became an instant popular success. A year after the novel was published, 500,000 copies had been sold and it had been translated into ten languages. Critical reviews of the novel were mixed; it was only after the success of the film adaptation that many critics reconsidered To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird was honored with many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961, and was made into a film in 1962 starring Gregory Peck. Lee worked as a consultant on the screenplay adaptation of the novel. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Gregory Peck won the Best Actor Award, Horton Foote won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and a design team was awarded an Oscar for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration B/W.
Author Truman Capote was Lee's next-door neighbor from 1928 to 1933. In 1959 Lee and Capote traveled to Garden City, Kansas, to research the Clutter family murders for his work, In Cold Blood (1965). Capote dedicated In Cold Blood to Lee and to his partner, Jack Dunphy. Lee was the inspiration for the character Idabel in Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). Capote in turn clearly influenced the development of the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Harper Lee divides her time between New York and her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where her sister Alice Lee practices law. Though she has published no other work of fiction, this novel continues to have a strong impact on successive generations of readers.
Harper Lee had many childhood experiences that are similar to those of Scout Finch, her young narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird.
|She grew up in the 1930s in a rural southern Alabama town.||She grew up in the 1930s in a rural southern Alabama town.|
|Her father, Amasa Lee, was an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama.||Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who serves in the state legislature in Alabama.|
|Her older brother and young neighbor (Truman Capote) were playmates.||Her older brother (Jem) and young neighbor (Dill) are playmates.|
|Harper Lee was an avid reader as a child.||Scout reads before she enters school and reads the Mobile Register newspaper in the first grade.|
|She was six years old when the Scottsboro trials were widely covered in national, state and local newspapers.||She is six years old when the trial of Tom Robinson takes place.| | <urn:uuid:c24e4f94-eeb0-4f04-ae0e-a515d0571527> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.duluth.lib.mn.us/programs/Mockingbird/LeeBio.html | 2013-05-23T04:54:22Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976397 | 852 |
An American Heart Association study published yesterday shows most toddlers are getting too much salt that comes primarily from pre-packaged snacks. Busy mothers know how hard it is to get food into toddlers who are on the run, but most of those snacks designed for kids age 1 to 3 are way too high in sodium.
The research that was presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions took a close look at 1,115 products for babies and toddlers using information on major and private label brands from data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The study is the first to look at sodium content in infant and toddler foods. The findings showed toddler meals had higher amounts of salt than infant food. Anything over 210 mg per serving was considered high. Some of the sodium content was as high as 630 mg; found in savory snacks and meals for toddlers.
Why limit salt in a child’s diet?
The concern, the researchers say is that giving high sodium snacks and meals to toddlers can set the stage for a lifetime of poor health that comes from high blood pressure; then cardiovascular disease.
A second concern is that once a toddler develops a taste for the seasoning the habit may be hard to break later in life.
Joyce Maalouf, M.S., M.P.H., ORISE, lead author and Fellow at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia recommended in a press release that parents read food labels to ensure children are receiving the healthiest food options.
Hidden sources of salt include anything with the word sodium in front of it including sodium nitrite, sodium benzoate, breads, rolls, sodium bicarbonate, baking soda and sodium alginate found in milk and ice cream.
The recommendation for toddlers and adults alike is to consume no more than 1500 mg of sodium daily to maintain optimal cardiovascular health.
Researchers are now advocating for public health policies that can help get sodium out of our diets.
According to the CDC, most salt comes from prepared, canned and pre-packaged foods that could be modified by changing our food environment.
The next time you reach for a snack on the grocery shelf, look at the label for sodium content. Salt is necessary for optimal cellular function, but too much for your child can set the stage for heart risks later in life.
Source: AHA/ASA Newsroom | <urn:uuid:80e9f955-80c2-4abe-897e-4957ddfd65d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/too-much-salt-toddler-meals-and-snacks-finds-first-study?cid=rss | 2013-05-23T11:41:35Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945561 | 518 |
Learning Debian GNU/LinuxBy Bill McCarty
1st Edition September 1999
1-56592-705-2, Order Number: 7052
360 pages, $34.95 , Includes CD-ROM
This chapter equips you to perform common system administration tasks. By using a few simple commands and a text editor, you can override many configuration choices made during system installation. You'll learn how to add, delete, and modify user accounts, and how to add and delete groups and change their membership. You'll learn how to configure swap space and how to cause Linux to automatically mount filesystems. This chapter doesn't deal with the configuration and administration of network facilities, such as servers. Those topics are covered in Chapters 10, 11, and 12.
In this section, you'll learn how to perform common administrative tasks affecting users and groups. Most system administration tasks require that you login as
root. Throughout this section and subsequent section, you should assume that you must be logged in as
root, unless directed otherwise.
To create a user account, you use the adduser command, which has the form:adduser userid
useridspecifies the name of the user account that you want to create. The command prompts you for the information needed to create the account.
Here's a typical example of using the command, which creates a user account named
adduser newbieAdding user newbie... Adding new group newbie (1001). Adding new user newbie (1001) with group newbie. Creating home directory /home/newbie. Copying files from /etc/skel Changing password for newbie Enter the new password (minimum of 5, maximum of 8 characters) Please use a combination of upper and lower case letters and numbers. Re-enter new password: Password changed. Changing the user information for newbie Enter the new value, or press return for the default Full Name :
Newbie DewbieRoom Number : Work Phone : Home Phone : Other : Is the information correct? [y/n]
Notice that the lines where the password was typed were overwritten by the subsequent lines. Moreover, for security, passwords are not echoed to the console as they are typed.
Notice also that several of the information fields were omitted - for example, Room Number. You can specify such information if you think it may be useful, but the system makes no use of the information and doesn't require you to provide it.
The similarly named useradd command also creates a user account, but does not prompt you for the password or other information.
When the command establishes a user account, it creates a home directory for the user. In the previous example, the command would have created the directory /home/newbie. It also places several configuration files in the home directory, copying them from the directory /etc/skel. These files generally have names beginning with the dot (.) character, so they are hidden from an ordinary ls command. Use the -a argument of ls to list the names of the files. The files are generally ordinary text files, which you can view with a text editor, such as ae. By modifying the contents of such files, you can control the operation of the associated application. For example, the .bashrc file controls the operation of the BASH shell, which you'll learn more about in Chapter 13, Conquering the BASH Shell.
You can change the name associated with a user account, by using the chfn command:chfn -f name userid
namespecifies the new name and
useridspecifies the account to be modified. If the name contains spaces or other special characters, it should be enclosed in double quotes ("). For example, to change the name associated with the account
newbieto Dewbie Newbie, you would enter the following command:chfn -f "Dewbie Newbie" newbie
From time to time, you should change your password, making it more difficult for others to break into your system. As system administrator, you may sometimes need to change the password associated with a user's account. For instance, some users have a bad habit of forgetting their password. They'll come to you, the system administrator, seeking help in accessing their account.
To change a password, you use the passwd command. To change your own password, enter a command like this one:passwd
This command changes the password associated with the current user account. You don't have to be logged in as
rootto change a password. Because of this, users can change their own passwords without the help of the system administrator. The
rootuser, however, can change the password associated with any user account, as you'll see shortly. Of course, only
rootcan do so - other users can change only their own password.
The passwd command initiates a simple dialog that resembles the following:$
passwdChanging password for newbie Old password: Enter the new password (minimum of 5, maximum of 8 characters) Please use a combination of upper and lower case letters and numbers. New password: Re-enter new password: Password changed.
Notice the restrictions governing the choice of password, which are designed to prohibit passwords that might be easily guessed. If you choose a password that violates these restrictions, the command will refuse the password, prompting you for another.
rootuser, you can change the password associated with any user account. The system doesn't ask you for the current password, it immediately prompts for the new password:debian:~# passwd newbie Changing password for newbie Enter the new password (minimum of 5, maximum of 8 characters) Please use a combination of upper and lower case letters and numbers. New password: Re-enter new password: Password changed.
Information on users is stored in the file /etc/passwd, which you can view using a text editor. Any user can read this file, though only the
rootuser can modify it. If you selected shadow passwords, passwords are encrypted and stored in the file /etc/shadow, which can be read only by the
Recall from Chapter 4, Issuing Linux Commands that Linux uses groups to define a set of related user accounts that can share access to a file or directory. You probably won't often find it necessary to configure group definitions, particularly if you use your system as a desktop system rather than a server. However, when you wish, you create and delete groups and modify their membership lists.
To create a new group, use the groupadd command:groupadd group
groupspecifies the name of the group to be added. Groups are stored in the file /etc/group, which can be read by any user but modified only by
For example, to add a group named
newbies, you would enter the following command:groupadd newbies
To delete a group, user the groupdel command:groupdel group
groupspecifies the name of the group to be deleted. For example, to delete the group named
newbies, you would enter the following command:groupdel newbies
To add a member to a group, you use a special form of the adduser command:adduser user group
userspecifies the member and
groupspecifies the group to which the member is added. For example, to add the user
newbie01to the group
newbies, you would enter the following command:adduser newbie01 newbies
Unfortunately, no command removes a user from a specified group. The easiest way to remove a member from a group is by editing the /etc/group file. Here's an excerpt from a typical /etc/group file:users:x:100: nogroup:x:65534: bmccarty:x:1000: newbies:x:1002:newbie01,newbie02,newbie03
Each line in the file describes a single group and has the same form as other lines, consisting of a series of fields separated by colons (:). The fields are:
- Group name
The name of the group.
The encrypted password associated with the group. This field is not generally used, containing an x instead.
- Group ID
The unique numeric ID associated with the group.
- Member list
A list of user accounts, with a comma (,) separating each user account from the next.
To remove a member from a group, first create a backup copy of the /etc/group file:cp /etc/group /etc/group.SAVE
The backup can prove helpful if you modify the file incorrectly. Next, open the /etc/group file in a text editor. Locate the line that describes the group and delete the user name and the following comma, if any. Save the file, exit the editor, and check your work.
To delete a user account, use the userdel command:userdel user
userspecifies the account to be deleted. If you want to delete the user's home directory, its files and subdirectories, use this form of the command:userdel -r user
WARNING: Because deleted files can't generally be recovered, you should backup potentially useful files before deleting a user account.
The BASH shell, which you met in Chapter 4, is the most popular, but not the only Linux shell. Others include:
a version of the sh shell that resembles the System V shell
the C shell, favored by many users for interactive use
the Korn shell, the third major Unix shell
the Bourne shell, a precursor of BASH, also known as the bsh shell
an enhanced version of csh
the Z shell, a feature-packed version of the Korn shell
When you create a new user, the system automatically assigns the shell (command interpreter) that Linux presents to the user when the user logs in. Debian GNU/Linux assigns the BASH shell, as specified by the file /etc/adduser.conf. However, you can assign another shell, if you prefer. The shell must be on the list of available shells, which resides in the file /etc/shells.
Back to: Learning Debian GNU/Linux
© 2001, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. | <urn:uuid:9489752b-6b1a-46b4-863e-b6f3057bcd0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oreilly.com/openbook/debian/book/ch07_01.html | 2013-05-22T21:58:39Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896156 | 2,118 |
Lightning is visible through a silhouette of trees
Click on image for full size
Image Courtesy of University Corporation for Atmospheric Research/Carlye Calvin
Thunder and Lightning
Lightning is the coolest thing about a thunderstorm. In fact, it is how thunderstorms got their name. Wait a minute, what does thunder have to do with lightning? Well, lightning causes thunder.
Lightning is a giant spark. It can heat the air around it to extremely hot temperatures! This makes the air expand. The expansion creates a booming sound wave, better known as thunder. This explains why it has the name thunderstorm.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
The Fall 2009 issue of The Earth Scientist
, which includes articles on student research into building design for earthquakes and a classroom lab on the composition of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere, is available in our online store
You might also be interested in:
Thunderstorms are one of the most exciting and dangerous types of weather. Over 40,000 thunderstorms happen around the world each day. Thunderstorms form when very warm, moist air rises into cold air....more
Lightning occurs during a thunderstorm. Most lightning takes place within a single cloud. Sometimes lightning moves from a cloud to the ground. Other times it jumps from one cloud to another or into the...more
Cumulonimbus clouds belong to the Clouds with Vertical Growth group. They are also known as thunderstorm clouds. A cumulonimbus cloud can grow up to 10km high. At this height, high winds make the top...more
Below is a list of different weather advisories, watches, and warnings. Severe Thunderstorm Watch: A severe thunderstorm watch is issued when a thunderstorm with strong winds and/or hail the size of a...more
Lightning is very dangerous! About 100 people are killed each year by lightning. That's more than tornadoes or hurricanes! Here are some more neat facts about lightning. Most people that are hit by lightning...more
There are 19 large wildfires burning in the United States (as of June 13, 2002). Most of the fires are in the western part of the country. Some fires started when people were careless with fire. Some fires...more
Tonenili is the Navaho God of Water. He is also called the Water Sprinkler because he sprinkles water on people. He makes rain, sleet, and snow. He also makes thunder and lightning Tonenili is a very...more | <urn:uuid:3bcf3b23-1210-4c78-8f73-19ee7392de0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tstorm/tstorm_lightning.html&edu=elem | 2013-05-25T12:54:30Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943393 | 513 |
Most forms of heat illness can be avoided by following basic prevention guidelines. Even so, it's essential for athletes and coaches to know the warning signs of developing heat-related emergency and understand the level of severity of each condition. (see: Heat Illness - Symptoms and Severity)
Normally, our body temperature is regulated by sweating. A number of factors can limit the sweat response, including intense exercise in high temperatures or high humidity, age, obesity, fever, dehydration, illness, medications and alcohol. When anthlete develops a heat illness, it usually occurs after several hours of exertion and excessive sweating that leads, first to dehydration, and then to electrolyte imbalances. | <urn:uuid:b00d349a-f9cf-48f8-a0e6-794603b9fa41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cfr-ins.com/news-blogs/tags/tag/social-media | 2013-05-25T12:54:45Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956473 | 138 |
Canker sores (aphthous stomatitis) are painful white ulcers in the mouth that appear most often on the tongue, inside the cheeks, and inside the lips. Unlike cold sores, canker sores are not contagious.
The cause of canker sores is not well-understood but may include injury or irritation inside the mouth, infection, and stress. Minor canker sores heal in 1 to 3 weeks.
Most people do not need to see a doctor for canker sores. The sores will get better on their own. To relieve pain, you might try over-the-counter medicine or change your diet to bland, soft foods.
|Primary Medical Reviewer||Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine|
|Specialist Medical Reviewer||Arden Christen, DDS, MSD, MA, FACD - Dentistry|
|Last Revised||September 14, 2012|
|By:||Healthwise Staff||Last Revised: September 14, 2012|
|Medical Review:||Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Arden Christen, DDS, MSD, MA, FACD - Dentistry
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. | <urn:uuid:83616be2-a53e-4af7-b800-e8fc4b3fd195> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pamf.org/teen/healthinfo/index.cfm?section=healthinfo&page=article&sgml_id=stc123645 | 2013-06-20T01:52:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.827854 | 279 |
Solve Quadratic Equation
Learn about solving quadratic equations
by factoring methods.
A quadratic equation is a polynomial equation of degree 2. It can be simply represented
in the form:
ax2 + bx + c = 0
where 'x' is the constant, a, b, c are the constant co efficient (which are not equal to 0).
Method for Solving Quadratic Equations by FactoringBack to Top
Here is the method to solving quadratic equations by factoring -
In this method, we use the basic idea of factoring the co efficient 'b' in the manner
shown: Know More About What is an Acute Angle
b = a x c
'b' should be broken in such a way that its original value turns out to b equal to the
product of 'a' and 'c'.
Let us take a general description of the method by solving the generalized equation.
Assumption: Let 'p' and 'q' be the constants such that
b = p + q
Also we know the basic requirement for the application of this method, which is
b = a x c
Now to proceed further, we break 'b' such that it fol ows the above mentioned two
conditions. Taking the general equation now :
ax2 + bx + c = 0
ax2 + px + qx +c = 0 (mentioned above: b = p+q)
Now since we have also fol owed the condition b = a x c Learn More On :- Acute Angle Definition
So 'a' tuns out to be a factor of 'p' and 'q' turns out to be a factor of 'c' also. Moving
forward and taking the common terms out we get :
x(x + p) + q(x + p) = 0
(x + p) x (x + q) = 0
Where 'p' and 'q' are the factors of the equation.
To make the understanding further clear lets take an example
How to Solve Quadratic Equations by Factoring
Below is the example how to solve quadratic equations by factoring method
Let us consider the following quadratic equation :
x2 + x + 6 = 0
here a = 1, b = 1, c = 6.
Now we break 'b = 1' such that the who parts turn out to be the product of 'a x c' i.e.
equal to 6.
x2 + 3x - 2x + 6 = 0 ( both of our necessary conditions are fulfilled here).
Systems Of Equations Solver
Learn about systems of equations
concept. A "system" of equations is a set or group
of equations. Linear equations are easy than non-linear equations, and the simplest
linear system is one with two equations and two variables.
System of equations is a col ection of two or additional equations with a same set of
unknowns. In solving a system of equations, we need to find values for every of the
unknowns that will declare every equation in the system. The system of equation can
be linear or non-linear. The problem can be spoken in sequence of actions form or the
problem can be expressed in algebraic form.
Types of Systems of Equations
Elimination :- Elimination technique is considered as one of the algebraic method for
solving systems. In elimination method an operation on 1 equation is performed so that
cancelling one variable and finding the other variable.
Substitution :- In substitution method the algebraic expression of one of the variable is
substituted in another equation at the place of the respective variable and then the
variable is solved. Again by substituting in any of the equation the value of the second
variable is also found.
Linear equation :- An algebraic expression which relate two variables and whose graph
is a line.
Matrix :- A rectangular array of number written in brackets and used to find solutions for
complex systems of equations.
Consistent System :- In this way we have the set of equations whole solutions set is
represented by only one ordered pair.
Solving Systems of Equations
Below are the examples on solving systems of equations
Given :- x + 27 = 71
Step 1: x + 27 - 27 = 71 - 21 (Subtract 27 on both the sides) Read More On :- Define Acute Angle
Step 2: x = 50 (So the answer is 50)
a + 15 = 75.
Step 1: We need to find the value of a.
Step 2: Subtract 15 on both the sides.
Step 3: So the value of a is 60. | <urn:uuid:68f4eb75-ac67-4edf-bdbf-387464a12355> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pdfcast.org/pdf/solve-quadratic-equation-2 | 2013-05-19T02:08:37Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893678 | 1,009 |
Visual Models of Morphogenesis (Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz et al.)
Grow more plants with algorithm
- a population of 1000; [think about local maximum- could be a problem for sparse samples across the set]
- some evaluation to score each individual/ fitness function.s
- kill the ones underscore certain threshold;
- the survivor breed offspring. HOW?
- the likely hood of mutation M, say 3%
- crossover C, 5%
- parametric representation of the individuals.
0000 01110 | 0000 0011
- repopulate the died portion
BOOK an introduction to genetic Algorithms (complex adaptive systems)
BRIAN SCAZ lecture
Outline of the Basic Genetic Algorithm
1.[Start] Generate random population of n chromosomes
2.[Fitness] Evaluate the fitness of each chromosome
3.[New population] Create a new population by repeating:
A.[Selection] Select two parent chromosomes based on their fitness
B.[Crossover] With a crossover probability cross over the parents to
form new offspring (children). If no crossover was performed,
offspring is an exact copy of parents.
C.[Mutation] With a mutation probability mutate new offspring at
each locus (position in chromosome).
D.[Accepting] Place new offspring in a new population
4.[Replace] Use new generated population for a further run of algorithm
5.[Test] If the end condition is satisfied, stop, and return the best
solution in current population
6.[Loop] Go to step 2
“Evolving 3D Morphology and Behavior by Competition “
- Evolving Morphology with Control , i.e. body and brain
- Evolution at times involves more than competition with the environment | <urn:uuid:d3d5a318-4f32-4c0b-93c4-3ebe2fde9103> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chengx.wordpress.com/category/algorithm/ | 2013-05-22T00:20:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.797108 | 374 |
Recently while searching for a friend I noted some of their ancestors had died in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Can you explain to me why they would be buried in their garden? That is what I learned from their death records in the 19th century. Can you advise if this is correct?
Chelsea, Massachusetts was annexed from Boston, and formed as a town on January 10, 1739. Your friend’s relatives most likely were not buried in a “garden” but in an actual cemetery. On Shawmut Street in Chelsea is the Garden Cemetery which was created in 1842. The surviving gravestone inscriptions were published under the reference [G.R. 2] in the Vital Records of Chelsea, Massachusetts to the year 1850 (Boston, Wright & Potter, 1916). I am not aware of a full transcription of all the gravestones in this cemetery. | <urn:uuid:ff17e831-04e7-4c8b-a46f-608181080a00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanancestors.org/Blogs.aspx?blogmonth=9&blogday=16&blogyear=2010&blogid=111 | 2013-05-21T17:38:16Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98222 | 175 |
Simply begin typing or use the editing tools above to add to this article.
Once you are finished and click submit, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review.
infant memory development
...or object that is not currently present. A major advance in recall memory occurs between the 8th and 12th months and underlies the child’s acquisition of what Piaget called “the idea of the permanent object.” This advance becomes apparent when an infant watches an adult hide an object under a cloth and must wait a short period of time before being allowed to reach for it. A...
...action. An important part of the child’s progress in his first year is his acquisition of what Piaget calls the idea of “ object permanence”—i.e., the ability to treat objects as permanent entities. According to Piaget, the infant gradually learns that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer in view. Children younger than six months do not behave as...
What made you want to look up "object permanence"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:0617f687-abe7-4fa5-a676-7549b5f8e0a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/423787/object-permanence | 2013-05-20T03:23:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698222543/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095702-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944074 | 230 |
80-85% of Haitians are of African descent, and the remaining 20-15% of the population are mostly of mixed-race background. A small percentage of the non-black population consists primarily of White Haitians; mostly of Western European (French, German, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish), and Arab, Armenian,or Jewish origin. Haitians of east Asian descent or East Indian origin number approximately 400.
One of Haiti's two official languages is French, which is the principal written and administratively authorised language. It is spoken by all educated Haitians, is spoken in schools, and is used in the business sector. It is also used in ceremonious events such as weddings, graduations and church masses. The second is the recently standardised Haitian Creole, which is spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti. Haitian Creole is one of the French-based creole languages, it is strongly related to French and Spanish, with influence from west African languages, Taíno and almost every European language. Haitian creole is closely related to Louisiana Creole and all the other French creoles.
For many years Roman Catholicism was the official religion of Haiti. Its official status was repealed with the enactment of the 1987 constitution; however, neither the government nor the Vatican has renounced the 1860 Concordat that serves as a basis for relations between the two. In many ways Roman Catholicism retains a position of honour, but Haitians are guaranteed the freedom to practice all religions by the constitution.
According to 1998 estimates, Roman Catholics represent about 80% of the population. Most of the remainder belong to various Protestant denominations, the largest being the Baptist (10%) and Pentecostal (4%) churches. Other significant denominations include Methodists, Episcopalians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Adventists, and Orthodox.
Other religious groups include Jews, Muslims, Rastafarians, and Baha'is. Voodoo, a traditional religion partially derived from West African beliefs, is still widely practised, often in tandem with Christianity. Voodoo became an officially recognised church in 2001 with the establishment of the Eglise Voudou d'Ayiti (the Voodoo Church of Haiti) and has had a growing attendance since then. | <urn:uuid:15bb22bb-d77d-458c-b53a-571078c78fce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haiti.alloexpat.com/haiti_information/people_language_religion_haiti.php | 2013-05-24T22:50:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959362 | 455 |
Even if you do your best to avoid toxic chemicals in your everyday life, there’s no avoiding your home or office. And it’s there, in the materials used to construct the built environment, where some of the worst chemical offenders lie.
Design firm Perkins+Will first revealed some of these chemicals in 2009, when it rolled out the Precautionary List--a storehouse of chemicals found in building products that are known to be hazardous by government agencies. That list has now been rolled into the new Transparency Site, which features a precautionary materials list, an asthma list (building products that are known asthmagens or trigger asthma) and a flame retardants list (flame retardants have numerous health hazards).
"The precautionary list is the center of the constellation. What we realized over the past few years is that we have to go deeper and more in detail about particular health or chemical issues," explains Peter Syrett, associate principal at Perkins+Will. "There’s no comprehensive database of flame retardants [in building products] besides this. Asthma attacks often come from our built environment."
Carcinogens are also everywhere. Look around. You might be surrounded by creosete, the most commonly used wood preservative in the United States. The carcinogenic substance is a neurotoxicant and is toxic to skin. There is "Limited evidence of the association between occupational creosote contact and subsequent tumor formation, sufficient evidence of local and distant tumor formation after dermal application to mice, and some evidence of mutagenic activity," according to the EPA.
How about polystyrene, which is used in rigid insulation? The EPA identifies it as a possible mutagen, carcinogen, chronic toxin, and environmental toxin.
In many cases, there are alternatives to items found on the Precautionary Materials and Asthma lists (and the Transparency Site lists them). Not so with the flame retardant list. In many cases, manufacturers are required by regulatory agencies to meet a certain performance in terms of smoke and fire protection in their products. "There is no alternative for flame retardants. You’re replacing one with another," says Syrett. "The list is about education."
There is progress being made in the notoriously opaque building industry. The Health Product Declaration (HDP) Open Standard offers a format to list building products’ content and health information; Perkins+Will recently announced its Building Product Transparency Project; and companies like Construction Specialties and Interface Global are starting to become more open.
Still, "it does take a lot of research to see what substances are in a particular product," admits Chris Youssef, an interior designer at Perkins+Will. The hope is that the Transparency Site can give the design community (and the rest of us) the power to demand change.
"We would like a world where the consumer can make informed decisions based on the fullest possible information available to them," says Syrett. | <urn:uuid:685d22ad-250c-416b-891d-04983af31ed2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678846/haunted-houses-a-new-site-reveals-the-nasty-chemicals-lurking-in-our-buildings | 2013-05-23T19:04:48Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939096 | 607 |
Parents are Teachers Too: Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten
You have been your child’s teacher since birth. Now that your child is in school, there is another teacher to help you. But you still play a very important part in teaching your child. Everything you do with your child at home will affect how your child performs at school.
How Can I Prepare My Child To Start School?
Starting school is a big change for you and your child. It’s natural for you both to feel a little nervous. Here are some ways to help prepare your child to start school, so that you can both get the most out of this exciting time:
Talk with your child
- Talk about school as a happy, friendly place where your child will have fun and be safe. Answer your child’s questions about school. The more your child knows what school will be like, the better he or she will feel about it. Give cheerful and reassuring answers to your child’s questions. If your child is worried or afraid, reassure him or her that everything will be okay. If there are things you don’t know about school, call the school and ask.
Keep a positive attitude
- Say positive things to your child about starting school. Let your child experience school as something brand-new and exciting. If you have concerns about school, share them with the teacher or principal, not with your child.
Teach your child good habits for school
- Start habits at home that will help your child in school. Let your child dress himself or herself. Set a regular clean-up time for putting things away. Make your child responsible for a few chores at home. Have meals, baths and storytime at settimes each day.
Visit the School
- Your school may host an event for parents and entering kindergarteners prior to the start of school. During this time you and your child can tour the school and meet your child's teacher. This will help your child become familiar with the school and the classroom. It will also allow you to discuss any concerns or questions regarding the start of school with your child's teacher. Contact your local school to find out more. If your child's school does not offer an event like this, you and your child are welcome to visit the school at any time.
Add your own comment
Today on Education.com
WORKBOOKSMay Workbooks are Here!
WE'VE GOT A GREAT ROUND-UP OF ACTIVITIES PERFECT FOR LONG WEEKENDS, STAYCATIONS, VACATIONS ... OR JUST SOME GOOD OLD-FASHIONED FUN!Get Outside! 10 Playful Activities
- Kindergarten Sight Words List
- The Five Warning Signs of Asperger's Syndrome
- What Makes a School Effective?
- Child Development Theories
- Why is Play Important? Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Creative Development
- 10 Fun Activities for Children with Autism
- Test Problems: Seven Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Not Working
- Bullying in Schools
- A Teacher's Guide to Differentiating Instruction
- Steps in the IEP Process | <urn:uuid:21f085b7-9a2f-4409-9182-b78fffede817> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Parents_Teachers_Too/ | 2013-05-20T13:07:39Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698958430/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100918-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947231 | 649 |
- Comparative Anatomy
Located west of the Awash River and spanning an area of more than 5,000 km, the Middle Awash area of Ethiopia is one of the most important regions in East African Paleoanthropology. Beginning with the pioneering work of geologists in the 1960s, and continuing through the present day work conducted by the Middle Awash Research Project, this area has been at the forefront of research into human evolution. Within the Middle Awash are numerous fossiliferous localities that span the late Miocene through the Middle Pleistocene (i.e. from about ~6 million years ago to ~200 thousand years ago)1, providing a wealth of insight into hominin evolution that includes some of the earliest hominin species (e.g., Ardipithecus kadabba and Ardipithecus ramidus), several species of australopithecine, Homo erectus, and even our own species Homo sapiens.
Lead by French geologist Maurice Taieb, the International Afar Research Expedition team first explored the Middle Awash region in 1971 and 1972. Investigations in the mid 1970’s were conducted by the Rift Valley Research Mission in Ethiopia (RVRME), created and led by geologist Jon Kalb. A partial hominin cranium was discovered at the Bodo locality during the RVRME’s extensive explorations of the region. Beginning in 1981, work under The Middle Awash Project, led by Tim White, resulted in over 10,000 vertebrate fossils, important artifacts, as well as a suite stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental information1.
Notable sites such as Asa Koma on the western margin of the Middle Awash study area have yielded a small, but highly important sample of hominin fossils. In 1997, a team lead by Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Giday WoldeGabriel discovered the fossilized remains of a very early hominin dating to nearly 5.8 million years ago (Ma), Ar. Kadabba2. Other sites have also yielded many important paleontological discoveries. In 1992, the 4.4 Ma remains of an early fossil hominin were discovered by the Middle Awash Project at Aarmis, and assigned to the species Ar. ramidus3. White’s team is also credited with the discovery of Australopithecus anamensis, an early member of the genus Australopitethecus whose remains were first recovered at Asa Issie, approximately 10 km west of the Aramis locality.
One of the younger sites in the Middle Awash includes Bouri, which is located in the southern part of the region and has been a subject of paleoanthopological research since the 1990s. From 1996-1998, a team led by White recovered the remains of Australopithecus garhi, a previously unknown hominin that emerged at a crucial time between the disappearance of Australopithecus afarensis, and the advent of Homo.
While the paleontological data have been rich, the geology of the region has long been problematic and early attempts to determine an accurate stratographic sequence were hampered by confounding issues like faulting and uplift. In addition, there is very little similarity between same age deposits exposed only short distances apart1. Breakthroughs in radiometric dating, however, coupled with tephrastratigraphic correlation with other East African basins more reliably dated (e.g. Hadar) have helped to resolve many of these issues1.
In addition to sampling a long sequence of hominin evolution, the Middle Awash preserves evidence of paleoenvironmental change over the course of more than 5 million years. These include the shift from largely lacustrine deposits older than 3.9 Ma to fluvial deposits younger than 3.9 Ma1. Additionally, the geological, paleontological, and geochemical data show evidence of a shift from wetter, wooded habitats associated with the earliest hominins, such as Ardipitehcus and A. anamensis, to drier and more open habitats beginning with the emergence of A. afarensis. These major changes in paleoenvironments can provide insight into conditions affected hominin evolution.
Cultural and technological innovation is also documented in the area, including evidence of early stone tool use at the Bouri locality that demonstrates hominins were proficient at processing animal remains for food as early as 2.5 Ma. Later sites, such as Daka-Bouri and Bodo, preserve more advanced archaeological material that documents the transition between early and late stage Acheulean technology, which might be associated with evolutionary shifts from Homo erectus to Homo heidelbergensis.
In total, the hominin material from the Middle Awash currently represents some of the earliest evidence in the fossil record for hominin bipedality and tool. Combined the fossil material with paleoecological and geological information, the Midde Awash provides one of the most complete datasets for inferring about the anatomical adaptations, behaviors, and environmental conditions effecting early hominin evolution.
The hominin record in the Middle Awash constitutes some of the oldest evidence for bipedal hominin evolution. At least 3 species spanning almost across five million years have been identified at different Middle Awash localities.
Some of the oldest hominin material in the Middle Awash derives from Asa Koma and its associated localities (Saitune Dora, Alayla, and Digiba Dora). The western margin of the Middle Awash has been the subject of study since 1992, but hominin fossils were not found in the area until 1997 when a very early hominin known as Ardipithecus kadabba was discovered by a team led by Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Giday WoldeGabriel. These hominin fossils have been dated by 40Ar/39Ar radiometric dating to ~5.8-5.2 Ma, and represent the earliest member of the Ardipithecus genus.
The Asa Koma area fossil material represents at least 7 individuals and consists primarily of dental and gnathic (i.e. mandibular and maxillary) specimens, including a partial mandible with potentially 5 associated teeth and 8 additional isolated teeth. In addition, postcranial remains have been recovered from Asa Koma, including fragments of the humerus (ASK-VP-3/78) and ulna (ALA-VP-2/101), the clavicle (STD-VP-2/893), and a hand phalanx (ALA-VP-2/11).
The Ar. kadabba fossils were initially attributed to a subspecies of Ardipithecus ramidus, but differences in the dentition eventually warranted a separation at the species level. The hominin status of Ar. kadabba is based on the upper canines, which in both overall shape and cross-sectional geometry appear to be trending in the direction of Ar. ramidus as opposed to chimpanzees. However, there are some apelike attributes to the teeth in that the upper canine sharpened itself, or was “honed”, against the lower canine (C1) and the third premolar (P3), a condition found in living apes but not in later hominins. In fact, it was the presence of this “honing complex” that prompted the specific level designation for Ar. kadabba.
Postcranial remains attributed to Ar. kadabba are less conclusive with regard to its hominin status. The sole Ar. kadabba specimen relating to locomotor behavior is a complete pedal phalanx (AME-VP-1/71) found at Amba East, a locality in the Central Awash Complex. This phalanx is one of the youngest A. kaddaba fossils (~5.2 Ma) and shares traits with both living apes and Australopithecus afarensis. Specifically, the strong apelike curvature seen in the shaft is combined with a dorsally-oriented proximal articular surface, which is similar to the condition found in later hominins and could provide some evidence for bipedal locomotion. However, this dorsal canting of the proximal joint surface is also found in the Miocene hominoid Sivapithecus, which did not engage in bipedalism.
The phalanx specimen of Ardipithecus kadabba is only one of the notable hominin specimens to come out of the Central Awash Complex. In 1992, a team of researchers led by Tim White found the first hominin specimens at Aarmis, arguably one of the most important Middle Awash sites. Subsequent investigations at Aramis have produced over 100 hominin specimens, representing at least 36 individuals. When first reported in 1994, the hominin assemblage consisted of 13 dental fragments, assorted cranial fragments, and postrcranial elements that included an associated lower arm (left radius and ulna)1.
The small sample size and incomplete nature of the material originally led researchers to tentatively attribute the specimens to a new species of Australopithecus, namely Australopithecus ramidus. Just a year later, the Aramis material was reassigned to the new genus Ardipithecus, based on observed distinct differences between Ar. ramidus and other australopiths. For example, the Aramis post canine dentition was much smaller than, and fell outside the range of Australopithecus. This species reassignment to Ar. ramidus also suggested Ar. ramidus as the sister taxon to all other hominins.
It wasn’t until 14 years later, in 2009, that a full description of the hominin material was published in a special issue of the journal Science. This publication described a partial skeleton identified as ARA-VP-6/500, dubbed “Ardi”. The ~4.4 Ma skeleton contains elements comprising the skull and face, arms and hands, legs and feet, as well as the spine and pelvis.
The skeleton’s constituent material was poorly fossilized, highly fragmentary (possibly due to trampling) and required intensive preparation and reconstruction, both physical and virtual (e.g., using 3D scanning and reconstruction methods). These analyses produced a wealth of information about Ardi, as well as the species Ar. ramidus, including suggestions as to their phylogentic position in the hominin lineage.
The digital reconstructions revealed that Ardi stood around 120 cm tall and weighed ~50 kg. The relatively reduced canines suggest that she is female, though her postcrania (e.g. humerus) indicate that she is the 2nd or 3rd largest of the 8 Ar. ramidus individuals for whom measurements could be made, including some males. Both canine size and body size measurements have led researchers to conclude that Ar. ramidus did not display significant body size dimorphism - perhaps similar to what is seen in chimpanzees.
The craniodental anatomy of the Ar. ramidus specimens may be close to that of the last common ancestor hominins shared with the African apes. However, some scientists have argued that extant apes represents the more derived condition. If this view is correct, it would mean that using modern African apes as proxies for the hominin ancestral condition is misguided.
Though found in numerous scattered pieces, a replica of Ardi’s nearly complete cranium was produced using microCT scanning. Based on these digital reconstructions, the Ar. ramidus specimen’s cranial capacity sits between 300 and 350 cc. This cranial capacity is similar to female chimpanzees and both sexes of bonobo, but smaller than all later hominins (e.g., australopiths are typically between 400-550 cc). The basicranium of Ar. ramidus is similar to australopiths in that it exhibits a short cranial base and a downturned posterior aspect of the skull. Both features are thought to be primitive hominin traits, and are also shared with the older (~6-7 Ma) purported hominin Sahelanthropus tchadensis from Chad.
The skull lacks other australopithecine traits such as large cheekbones indicative of strong chewing musculature. Ar. ramidus exhibits significant prognathism in the face, though the lower face projects comparatively less than chimpanzees. The upper canines and incisors are also reduced when compared to chimpanzees. The dentition differences in Ar. ramidus may indicate less ripe-fruit frugivory specializations (as in chimpanzees) and a trend toward a more omnivorous diet. Further, Ar. ramidus molars have a more generalized molar occlusal morphology than modern apes. This is similar to the morphology seen in australopiths, though Ardipithecus species lack the postcanine megadonty seen in later hominins. The thickness of the enamel in Ar. ramidus molars is also relatively less than the Australopithecus condition. Both the increased molar size and enamel thickness suggests a shift to a diet consisting of more abrasive foods.
Stable isotope analysis has also shed light on the feeding behavior of Ar. ramidus. Carbon isotope analysis has shown that the percentage of C4 plants exploited by Ar. ramidus is significantly lower than that found in Australopithecus species, indicating feeding in a more closed environment (i.e., woodland). However, the proportion of C4 plants Ar. ramidus exploited is not as low as that found in chimpanzees, indicating Ar. ramidus’ diet was less restrictive.
Aspects of the canine/third premolar complex show further distinction between Ardiptiehcus and extant African apes. Unlike modern chimpanzees, Ar ramidus exhibits little to no canine sexual dimorphism, and lacks a honing complex between the upper canines and lower third molar. Ar. ramidus also exhibit an australopith-like canine eruption schedule (as seen on a Ar. ramidus juvenile male specimen), which is delayed when compared to chimpanzees. These features could provide evidence that enlarged canines were not important sociobiological aspects of adult group dynamics. The fact that the upper canine crown projects less than the lower canine crown provides further evidence that the canines were not as important for fighting or display purposes.
Ardi’s postcrania is considerably more primitive than later hominins, with a few derived anatomical aspects. Ar. ramidus retains a fully abductable big toe (primitive), yet also exhibit a relatively inflexible midfoot and other anatomical structures indicative of bipedalism (i.e. adaptations for propulsive movement such as effective heel strike and toe off).
A mosaic of primitive and derived features are also present in Ardi’s pelvis and femur. For example, the relatively primitive pelvis of Ar. ramidus has comparatively mediolaterally broad ilia, a derived trait that results in the formation of the anterior inferior iliac spine as a separate growth site. The ischium, however, is largely the same as the African apes.
The Ardipithecus femur shares traits with later hominins and earlier Miocene apes to the exclusion of the extant African apes. These include retention of homologs of the hypotrochanteric fossa, a third trochanter, and the lack of a lateral spinal piliaster.
The Ardi skeleton exhibits limb length proportions closest to the values found in above branch quadrupeds (i.e. the hindlimbs and forelimbs of Ardipithecus were roughly the same length). This is in contrast to later hominins which have longer legs relative to arms, and the reverse of extant African apes which have longer arms relatively to their legs.
Meanwhile, the hands of Ar. ramidus exhibit flexible wrists, palms and fingers, which may be interpreted as primitive retentions from an arboreal quadrupedal common ancestor shared with the extant African apes. The flexibility of the wrist, compared to the less flexible African apes, would have allowed Ardipithecus to support its body weight in a palmigrade posture. This would indicate that the orthograde positional behavior of later hominins (related to bipedality) and the living apes (related to suspensory locomotion and vertical climbing) is a case of homoplasy.
The proportions, along with other aspects of the postcrania, suggest that Ardipithecus engaged in terrestrial bipedality and above branch arboreal palmigrade locomotion.
Australopithecus anamensis remains have been found at 2 Middle Awash localities, Asa Issie and Aramis 14. Asa Issie is located approximately 10 km west of the Aramis localities where Ardipithecus ramidus was discovered. Asa Issie first came to prominence in 2006 with the publication of an article by Tim White and colleagues that announced 30 newly found Au. anamensis fossils at the site. The 4.12 Ma fossils extended the geographic range of Au. anamensis from its previously known localities in Kenya into Northeastern Ethiopia.
The Asa Issie fossils are comprised of 2 partial maxillary dentitions, a partial metatarsal shaft, a foot phalanx, a hand phalanx, 4 vertebral fragments, and a proximal femur. At least 2 individuals are represented in the dentition material recovered from Asa Issie. Compared to Ar. ramidus, the cheek teeth of Au. anamensis appear substantially larger, but similar in size to their Au. anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis counterparts. Relatively large canines are present for both individual, and the absolute crown dimensions for these teeth are larger than the ranges of variation seen in Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis. The low crowned molars are also different from Au. afarensis, in that they exhibit flaring buccal and lingual crown faces. Au. anamensis also exhibits relatively thick molar enamel when compared to Ar. ramidus.
Few Au. anamensis postcranial elements were discovered among the Asa Issie fossils. The single intermediate hand phalanx found appears morphologically similar to Australopithecus fossils from Hadar, including slight dorsal curvature of the shaft and heavy attachment sites on the proximal palmar surface for the m. flexor digitorum superficialis. Four vertebral elements include an atlas larger than the Hadar Au. anamensis specimen and a distinctly larger thoracic arch when compared to any of the vertebrae in the Hadar A.L. 288-1 specimen (i.e. the 3.2 Ma specimen of Au. afarensis nicknamed Lucy).
Only the proximal portion of the Asa Issie femur specimen is present, which preserves the lesser trochanter and a portion of the neck-shaft junction. The anteroposterior curvature of the femoral shaft is artificially emphasized as a result of taphonimic damage. The cortical bone on the shaft is extremely thick when viewed in cross-section. The heavily roughened superioinferiorly directioned posterior attachment for the m. gluteus maximus differs from the rest of the relatively smooth shaft; lacks a linea aspera but exhibits blunt outlines of the adductor attachments medially and laterally. The Asa Issie femur is comparable to the AL 288-1 femur in the aspect of the “minimal linea aspera” morphology. Based on these traits, the Asa Issie specimen is located on the more primitive end of the range of variation seen in Au. afarensis.
Other Au. anamensis specimens outside the Asa Issie locality have been discovered and investigated. Postcrania (including elements from the hindlimb and the forelimb) exhibit morphology indicative of bipedalism and powerful arms for tree climbing.
The Bouri peninsula is located in the southern part of the Middle Awash and has been a subject of paleoanthopological research since the 1990s. From 1996-1998, a team led by Tim White recovered hominin remains that helped fill a crucial temporal gap in the fossil record. Prior to the discovery of the Bouri hominins, the record for East African hominins between 2-3 Ma was relatively scarce. These new fossils, dubbed Australopithecus garhi by its discoverers are dated to ~2.5 Ma and appear most similar to Australopithecus afarensis, though there are some important differences, especially in the dentition. The characters traits of Au. garhi, and subsequently the discovery of a new Australopithecus species, was so unexpected that the discovers used the Afar word for “surprise” as the new species name. Au. garhi is represented by a partial cranium derived from the Hata Member of the Bouri Formation. Postcranial elements suspected as Au. grahi, including a partial skeleton, have also been recovered at Bouri.
The holotype of Au. garhi is a partial skull (ARA-VP-12/130), which preserves portions of the frontal, parietals, and maxilla including the complete dentition with the exception of the left second and third molars. It exhibits an intriguing mix of features that share similarities with both gracile and robust australopithecines as well as those that presage morphological characteristics seen in Homo. Much of the cranial morphology recalls that seen in Au. afarensis, including the a significant degree of subnasal prognathism, the shape of the braincase, and a relatively small cranial capacity of 450 cc.
With regard to the dentition, while the canines and incisors are well within the range for Au. afarensis, the postcanine denition (premolars and molars) are larger than almost any other known Australopithecus or Paranthropus specimen. The only hominin with larger premolars and molars is Paranthropus boisei. Unlike Paranthropus, however, Au. garhi exhibits a much thinner palate, relatively non-flaring zygoma (i.e., cheek bones), and the incisors and canines are more similar to the gracile condition as seen in Au. afarensis. Futhermore, though the size of Au. garhi’s premolars and molars are in the paranthropine range, Au. grahi’s wear patterns are quite different. Paranthropine teeth tend to wear flat and obliterate the morphology of the tooth cusps, while the cusp morphology of cheek teeth in Au. garhi remains intact. In fact, the wear pattern of the cheek teeth in Au. garhi has similarities with that found in Homo.
The partial skeleton located 278 meters (m) from the holotype skull, includes fragments of numerous limb elements, such as the left femur, right humerus, radius, and ulna, as well as parts of the fibula and foot. While the femur was found in situ, the other elements were collected on the surface only 2 m from each other, prompting some researchers to argue that the elements came from the same individual. Found alongside this postcranial material was a partial mandible that lacked teeth or any diagnostic characters. Another 9 km away, at a locality designated Esa Dibo, White's team found more hominin material including a nearly complete mandible with preserved dentition. Additional humeral fragments were found ~1 km north of the mandible.
The postcranial material, which can't be absolutely attributed to Au. garhi, also shares similarities with both australopiths and Homo. The single pedal phalanx is indistinguishable from Au. afarensis, both in size and curvature. The arm and leg material are a mosaic of human and australopith proportions. The femur is long relative to the upper arm bone (humerus), which is similar to humans, but the lower arm (radius and ulna) is relatively longer than the humerus. Longer lower arm relative to the upper arm is similar to the australopith and extant ape condition. This mix of features may indicate a combination of arboreal and terrestrial (bipedal) locomotor strategies. Other tantalizing clues about group composition and social structure come from size differences in the fragmented fossils recovered. For example, 2 recovered mandibles are much too small to fit with the ARA-VP-12/130 maxilla. In addition, some of the recovered arm bones (e.g. a proximal ulna and humeral shaft) are significantly larger than corresponding elements preserved in the partial skeleton found at Bouri. Both of these examples could be evidence of sexual dimorphism in Au. garhi.
No archaeological material has been recovered at the Asa Koma, Aramis, and Asa Issie sites. The archaeological record within the Middle Awash complex begins ~2.5 Ma at the Bouri locality, which provides important zooarchaeological evidence of stone tool use and early hominin foraging behavior, though no actual stone tools have been recovered at the site. Along with lithics found ~90 km away at Gona, the zooarchaeological material at Bouri represents some of the earliest evidence for stone tool use by hominins. The relationship between the Australopithecus garhi fossils and the tool assemblage is inconclusive; the modified animal material, however, is reliably dated to the same 2.5 Ma age as the hominin remains.
Remains of 1equuid and 2 bovid elements were recovered at Bouri, all of which preserve evidence of modification via stone tool. First recovered was a partial mandible of a medium sized antelope-like animal (i.e. alcelaphine bovid). Striae were clearly visible near muscle attachment sites, suggesting the marks were made when the tongue was removed from the animal. The tibia of a larger bovid covered with cut marks, chop marks, and impact scars was found ~197 m from the mandible. The marks may result from the use of a hammerstone, took often utilized to break open the tibial shaft and gain access to the nutritions marrow inside. A femur from an early horse species, Hipparion, was found near the tibia, and also exhibited cut marks interpreted as evidence for butchery.
While the Bouri zooarchaeological discoveries are unambiguous evidence for hominin tool use, it remains the case that the actual tools used to make the cut marks are absent. One argument asserts that Bouri lacks the raw materials needed to manufacture stone tools, so that the hominins produced the lithics elsewhere and transported the finished tools in and out of the site as needed. Either way, the Bouri assemblage offers the supporting evidence that hominins used stone tools for processing animal carcasses almost from their earliest appearance in the archaeological record.
Asa Koma and the western margin of the Middle Awash represent one of the most diverse late Miocene faunal assemblages in East Africa. Sixty four mammalian species representing 23 families across 8 orders have been identified from the region. In terms of some of the primary mammalian groups, cercopithecid primates are rare in the late Miocene of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Asa Koma area is no exception, though fragmentary remains of a minimum of 3 (and possibly 4) species have been recovered. The carnivore fauna on the other hand is quite diverse, with species representing 18 genera having been recovered. These genera span 6 family groups including large cats, dogs, bears, and weasels (i.e. felids, canids, ursids and mustelids respectively). Some genera, including the mustelid Plesiogulo and the viverrid Helogale (i.e., a type of mongoose) represent the earliest known occurrences of those taxa. Bovids are also well represented with 8 tribes comprising 13 genera found at Asa Koma. The most abundant of the bovid tribes are the tragelaphines (similar to antelopes) and reduncines (reedbucks and waterbucks). These 2 groups are suggestive of woodland and grassland environments. The fauna at Asa Koma are also important for biostratigraphic dating, with mammals such as the fossil pig, Nyanzachoerus syrticus, and the primitive elephant Primelephas corroborating the radiometric dating of the volcanic tuffs.
Like Asa Koma, the associated vertebrate faunal assemblage at Aramis is also extensive, numbering more than 6000 catalogued fossils at or below the family level. In terms of the large mammals recovered, these fossils represent nearly 40 species and 34 genera. Interestingly, almost one third of the macrovertebrate fauna is made up of 2 species of cercopithecoid monkeys (primarily colobines), which supports the more closed habitat designation for Aramis. Tragelaphus, the spiral horned antelope or kudu, is the most common large mammal in the assemblage and the dentition of the fossil specimens is congruent with modern dietary preferences for this group of browsers, preferring woody habitats over open ones. Open habitat associated antelopes (grazers) are not common in the Aramis assemblage.
The Aramis micromammal and avian assemblages tell a similar story to the macrovertebrates. Most of the microvertebrate remains are believed to be the result of owl pellets based largely on the assemblage composition and patterns of observed damage. The small mammal fossils, representing 32 genera, are primarily indicative of a woodland environment and include the porcupine Atherurus and the murid Oenomys (i.e. the rusty-nosed rat). Other mammals corroborate this view, including woodland bats, shrews and mice. The avian fossils at Aramis represent 16 families, and support inferences that Aramis was a woodland during the Pliocene. Open country birds and waterfowl are both rare, while woodland associated fowl (guineafowl and peafowl), lovebirds, and parrots are more common, as are raptors that hunt in emergent forests.
Unlike the Aramis 14, another Middle Awash Australopithecus anamnesis locality, Asa Issie is notable in that hominin fossils were found in close association with a sizeable fauna assemblage (>500 vertebrate fossils). Since many of the associated taxa are fairly well-constrained temporally, the assemblage is important for biostratgraphic dating of Asa Issie relative to the faunal composition of the Aramis localities. These chronologically sensitive animals include bovid, suid and primate species that are more derived than those found in the Gaala Tuff (4.4 Ma) of the Sagnatole Formation (at Aramis) yet older than the overlying Moiti Tuff (3.9 Ma). The Asa Issie fauna is dominated by tragelaphine bovids (27% of the total fauna) and colobine monkeys (24% of the total fauna), including a new species of colobine monkey, Kuseacolobus hafu. A notable characteristic of the Asa Issie assemblage is that aquatic fauna are rare and the assemblage is dominated by terrestrial animals.
While the dating for the Bouri locality is based primarily on 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic dating, some of the recovered faunal remains help to corroborate the absolute dating results, including the bovids Tragelaphus pricei, Beatragus whitea, and Damaliscus ademassui. Two biochronologically sensitive species of extinct pigs, Metridiochoerus andrewsi and Kolpochoerus limnetes, have also been found at Bouri. Aside from the previously mentioned fauna, alcelaphine bovids are the most abundant. The faunal assemblage also includes the early three-toed horse, Hipparion, 3 genera of carnivore, 2 genera of non-human primate (Therapithecus and Papio), as well as birds, reptiles (e.g., Crocodilia), and 2 genera of the elephant-like Proboscidian.
The localities where Ardipithecus kadabba have been found span a period of more than 600,000 years (Ka) and occur in two different geologic formations. The formation of the region is due to a series of volcanic, sedimentary, and tectonic processes. The majority of the localities are found in the Adu-Asa Formation, and more specifically from the Asa Koma Member of the Adu-Asa Formation. The younger localities, such the Asa Koma site from which a complete pedal phalanx was derived, are found in the Kusaralee Member of the Sagantole Formation. The fossiliferous sediments of both members are comprised of lacustrine and fluvial units, indicating that lakes and rivers, respectively, were in existence when these members were deposited. Hominin fossils in the Asa Koma Member were found in silty clay sediments bounded by basaltic tephra and diatomite. The Asa Koma Member is dated securely to a maximum of 5.77 ± 0.08 Ma based on the Ladina Basaltic Tuff that underlies the member and a minumum of 5.54 ± 0.17 Ma based on basalts at the locality of Saitune Dora. Dates for the Alayla and Digba Dora localities fall within the range of these two dates.
The geology surrounding Aramis, which is separated from Asa Issie by a northwest to southeast oriented fault, has been studied since the early 1980s. The exposed Middle Awash sediments span a period from approximately 6 Ma to a little more than 150 Ka and are in excess of 1 km thick. The Aramis member of the Sagantole Formation is located in the Central Awash Complex (CAC) of the Middle Awash. The CAC is a domelike horst near the southwestern rift margin. It consists of 300 m of exposed sediments that date between ~3.9 and ~5.6 Ma. Sediments at the Ardipithecus locality are within this section in silt and clay deposits on a floodplain, which is exposed along a 9 km arc. The hominin-bearing sediments are very tightly constrained in their dating, occurring between two volcanic tuffs which are both dated to ~4.4 Ma.
The lower tuff, which is known as the Gaala Tuff Complex (GATC) and is heavily inundated with pumice and crystals, is dated to 4.419 ± 0.068 Ma. Overlying this tuff is the Aramis Member of the Sagnatole Formation where the hominin fossils are found. These sediments are floodplain deposits containing salmon to red-brown colored silt, clay, and sand. The deposits are between 3 m and 6 m thick, with the thickest portions situated toward the east. The Aramis Member is capped by the Daam Aatu Basaltic Tuff (DABT) that dates to 4.416 ± 0.031 Ma. The Lower Aramis Member has been identified as the GATC and DABT tuffs and all the strata in between. As the GATC and DABT are extremely close in age, it's possible that these sediments and fossils were deposited over as little as 100 years, though it could have taken as long as 10,000 years. In any event, the depositional area represents a relatively short time period and is as securely dated as one can hope for in a paleoanthropological setting.
The massive and bioturbated silty clays that dominate the Aramis Member indicate that these floodplain deposits occurred at some distance from the ancient river. There is very little evidence of river channels (e.g., sandstone lenses) and much of the bioturbation evidence (e.g., dung beetle burrows) points to a predominantly terrestrial environment that received some seasonal moisture from springs. The sediments containing the Ardipithecus fossils are considered drier and more terrestrial than similarly aged localities where other Ardipithecus fossils have been found (i.e., Gona). Evidence of wetter conditions at Aramis appears after the deposition of the poorly consolidated DABT tuff, which is overlain by sediments and faunal deposits that suggest a shift to a wetter environment.
The Asa Issie locality is located approximately 10 km from Aramis. The sediments are of similar age with those of the Adgantole Member of the Sagantole Formation, and biostratigraphic dating of key index fossils confirms their contemporaneity. The sediments at Asa Issie are interpreted as floodplain deposits lying distal to the main river channel and are a mix of silts and clays. Paleosol nodules are found interbedded within these sediments. The overall sedimentology along with the faunal makeup is characteristic of an assemblage that was affected taphonomically by carnivores, but was covered quickly and not subjected to fluvial transport.
Bouri is located on a tilted fault block formed by a series of multiple, tightly packed normal faults and associated grabens. It lies perpendicular to the Quaternary Rift Zone and diverts the Awash River while acting as a dam for Yardi Lake. The geology of the area is complex, with the fault systems causing the older Daka Member to appear stratigraphically above the younger deposits where the Bodo cranium was discovered. The Daka Member is also directly atop the Hata Member at Bouri, obscuring this previously unknown Member where the Bouri hominins were found. Though the type locality for the Hata Member is comprised of fluvial and deltaic sediments, the portion of the Hata Memeber where the Bouri hominins were found is comprised mainly of lacustrine and lake margin sediments, and nearly devoid of fluvial deposits.
The primary volcanic unit associated with Bouri is the Maoleem Vitric Tuff (MOVT), which was deposited on shallow lake margin environs. The MOVT is approximately 1 m thick and is exposed for ~10 km. The MOVT was dated using laser-total-fusion 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic dating. Of the 60 MOVT grains that were analyzed radioisotopically, 57 yielded dates that were statistically the same and provided an average date of 2.496 ± 0.008 Ma. In addition, 21 samples were tested using magnetostratographic techniques that showed a reverse polarity signature for the MOVT. Combined with the 40Ar/39Ar dates, this places the MOVT within the Matuyama Chron. Paleomagnetic and radioisotopic data suggests an estimated sediment deposition rates below the MOVT at 10.9 cm/1000 years. Given the similarity between the lithologies above and below the MOVT, using the same rate of deposition is appropriate and indicates that the minimum age for the Bouri hominin is 2.45 Ma.
Sometime between 5.8 and 4.4 Ma, parts of the Middle Awash were covered in forest and/or woodlands with elements of wooded grasslands. In particular, between 5.8 and 5.4 Ma Asa Koma was a moderately wet wooded environment, possibly riparian, with some grassland areas. The overall composition of the large mammal communities found within the Asa Koma faunal assemblage appears quite similar to the extant communities living in woodland environments today. For example, the Bovid present at Asa Koma point toward habitats with dense vegetation, and wet floodplain grasslands and swamps. Bovid taxa typical of drier, more open conditions were relatively rare in the analysis. Meanwhile, rodent fossils such as the root rat (Tachyoryctes) and cane rat (Thryonomys) suggest higher elevation and wetter (e.g., lakes and rivers) surroundings. The scarcity of lagamorphs (e.g. hares and rabbits) reflects the lack of open grasslands.
Other lines of evidence, including the study of non-mammalian fauna, geology and radio metric dating stable isotopes concur with the mammalian assemblage analyses regarding the woodland conditions at Asa Koma. Stable carbon isotopes show a grass biomass proportion of between 20-45%, which is indicative of woodland or grassy woodland environs. Stable oxygen isotopes indicate that the environment was humid or cool at a high altitude.
Like Asa Koma, the Aramis paleoenvironment at 4.4 Ma was also predominately woodlands with areas of grassland and forest. Woodland associated animals such as colobine monkeys, tragelaphine antelope, and species of rodents like porcupines and murids (e.g. rats) all point to a woodland environment. The presence of invertebrates and lower vertebrates were also analyzed. For example, the dominant gastropod at Aramis is a genus of land snail (Maizania) whose modern analogs inhabit lowland forest environments. On the other hand, lower vertebrates rarely appear in the assemblage, and their appearance is hypothesized to be a result of periodic flooding and/or raptor kills.
Among the Aramis paleobotanical data analyzed, researchers found evidence of fossil wood from palm trees, endocarps of hackberry fruits, evidence of fig trees, and phytoliths (i.e., redeposited silica from plants) from woody dicots and palms. These remains are also consistent with a woodland or woody grassland reconstruction.
Chemical analysis corroborates the faunal and floral analyses. Results of carbon isotope data extracted from fossil teeth suggests there was a low percentage of C4 plants in the area, indicating that the animals present at Aramis 4.4 Ma did not exploit open grassland food resources to a large degree. Isotopic studies on paleosol carbonates taken from the depositional layers at fossil localities showed 13C levels consistent with woodland or grassy woodland environments.
The woodland designation for Aramis is not without contention. While the published data indicates that Ardipithecus existed in a predominately woodland environment, other researchers argue that Aramis was more savanna-like, with patches of riparian woodland and forest. The critique claims that the initial results relied too heavily on isotopic data gleaned from paleosol organic matter and carbonate. However, the most recent analysis, while relying on isotopic data, also incorporated other paleoenvironmental indicators including the geology, sedimentology, taphonomy, and paleontology of the area. The results of this analysis are specific to the Ardipithecus habitat at Aramis, and are not a generalization of the Middle Awash.
Another Middle Awash locality, Asa Issie (~4.12 Ma) may represent an intermediate environment between the earlier closed woodland habitats and later periods trending towards a more open, warmer wooded grasslands. Analysis of stable δ18O and δ13C from paleosols derived from the vertebrate-bearing sediments suggest the environment at Asa Issie was more like a humid woodland savannah. Faunal analysis suggests the Asa Issie habitat at 4.12 Ma was similar to the Aramis environment during the time of Ar. ramidus at ~4.4 Ma.
The majority of the faunal and sedimentalogical data suggest that the relatively younger Bouri site (~2.5 Ma) was located on a lake margin with grasslands along the water's edge. The absence of rivers and streams capable of transporting cobbles into the area may account for the lack of raw materials available for local stone tool manufacture. The faunal assemblage at Bouri reflects a lake margin habitat and comprises a mix of grazers and aquatic or water-dependent forms. The sedimentology of the area is lacking in channel sands and riverine invertebrates, which further supports the characterization of the area as being on the margin of a shallow lake.
Asfaw B. White TD. Lovejoy CO. Latimer B. Simpson S. Suwa G. 1999. Australopithecus garhi: A New Species of Early Hominid from Ethiopia. Science 284: 629-635.
de Heinzelin J. Clark JD. White TD. Hart W. Renne P. WoldeGabriel G. Beyene Y. Vrba E. 1999. Environment and Behavior of 2.5-Million-Year-Old Bouri Hominids. Science 284:625-29.
Haile-Selassie,Y. 2001. Late Miocene hominids from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 412:178-181.
Haile-Selassie, Y.; Suwa, G.; White, TD. 2004. Late Miocene Teeth from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia and Early Hominid Dental Development. Science 303: 1503-1505.
Haile-Selassie, Y and WoldeGabriel, G. 2009. Ardipithecus kadabba, Late Miocene Evidence from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Klein RG. 2009. The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
White TD. Suwa G. Asfaw B. 1994. Australopithecus ramidus, a new species of early hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia. Nature 371: 302-312
WoldeGabriel G, Haile-Selassie Y, Renne PR, Hart WK, Ambrose SH, Asfaw B, Heiken G, and White T. 2001. Geology and palaeontology of the Late Miocene Middle Awash valley, Afar rift, Ethiopia. Nature 412:175-178.
eFossils is a collaborative website in which users can explore important fossil localities and browse the fossil digital library. If you have any problems using this site or have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.
Funding for eFossils was provided by the Longhorn Innovation Fund for Technology (LIFT) Award from the Research & Educational Technology Committee (R&E) of the IT governance structure at The University of Texas at Austin. | <urn:uuid:cc17063d-80a7-402e-8e16-cd7a3a6d6f11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://efossils.org/site/middle-awash | 2013-05-19T19:51:43Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698017611/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095337-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935318 | 9,878 |
Get the Today’s Document App
Tag: Civil War
The War Department issued General Order 143 on May 22, 1863, creating the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10 percent of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army, and another 19,000 served in the Navy.
John Wilkes Booth, wanted for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, was found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia, by a platoon of New York Cavalry and shot on April 26, 1865.
Posted by Darren Cole on April 26, 2011, under April, Documents.
The first engagement of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861. After 34 hours of fighting, the Union surrendered the fort to the Confederates. Major Robert Anderson informed Secretary of War Simon Cameron of the surrender in this telegram, dated April 18.
On April 9, 1865, Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met in the parlor of a house in Appomattox Court House, VA, to discuss the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
“Recruiting in the New York City Hall Park”
“The Double Pike” By Owen G. Warren, March 16, 1865
On March 10, 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was officially promoted to the highest rank in the United States Army — Lieutenant General.
Highest Rated Documents
Find Documentsfor May 20
Subscribe to Email Updates
You can also subscribe to the RSS feed | <urn:uuid:157e76e8-bb1e-40be-bd8b-67435f2c43c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.archives.gov/todaysdocument/tag/civil-war/ | 2013-05-20T02:06:01Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927521 | 333 |
In the early days of streaming media -- the mid-to-late 1990s -- watching videos and listening to music online wasn't always fun. It was a little like driving in stop-and-go traffic during a heavy rain. If you had a slow computer or a dial-up Internet connection, you could spend more time staring at the word "buffering" on a status bar than watching videos or listening to songs. On top of that, everything was choppy, pixilated and hard to see.
Streaming video and audio have come a long way since then. According to Bridge Ratings, 57 million people listen to Internet radio every week. In 2006, people watched more than a million streaming videos a day on YouTube [source: Reuters]. The same year, television network ABC started streaming its most popular TV shows over the Web. People who missed an episode of shows like "Lost" or "Grey's Anatomy" could catch up on the entire thing online -- legally and for free.
The success of streaming media is pretty recent, but the idea behind it has been around as long as people have. When someone talks to you, information travels toward you in the form of a sound wave. Your ears and brain decode this information, allowing you to understand it. This is also what happens when you watch TV or listen to the radio. Information travels to an electronic device in the form of a cable signal, a satellite signal or radio waves. The device decodes and displays the signal.
In streaming video and audio, the traveling information is a stream of data from a server. The decoder is a stand-alone player or a plugin that works as part of a Web browser. The server, information stream and decoder work together to let people watch live or prerecorded broadcasts.
In this article, we'll explore what it takes to create this stream of ones and zeros as well as how it differs from the data in a typical download. We'll also take a look at how to make good streaming media files. | <urn:uuid:eb566c43-3b13-4d3e-a996-dea426b86673> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/streaming-video-and-audio.htm | 2013-05-21T18:05:43Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700380063/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955609 | 413 |
Want to figure out the date that is exactly nine thousand two hundred and ninety-one days before now without counting?
Today is May 19, 2013 so that means that 9291 days before today would be December 11, 1987.
You can check this by using the date difference calculator to measure the number of days from today to Dec 11, 1987.
Need to calculate 9291 days before a specific date? Use the Days From Date calculator.
December 11th, 1987 is a Friday. It is the 345th day of the year, and in the 50th week of the year (assuming each week starts on a Sunday), or the 4th quarter of the year. There are 31 days in this month. 1987 is not a leap year, so there are 365 days in this year. The short form for this date used in the United States is 12/11/1987.
In some cases, you might want to skip weekends and count only the weekdays. This could be useful if you know you have a deadline based on a certain number of business days. If you are trying to see what day falls on the exact date difference of 9,291 weekdays before today, you can count up each day skipping Saturdays and Sundays.
Start your calculation with today, which falls on a Sunday. Counting backward, the next day would be a Saturday.
To get exactly nine thousand two hundred and ninety-one weekdays before now, you actually need to count 13,008 total days (including weekend days). That means that 9291 weekdays before today would be October 7, 1977.
If you're counting business days, don't forget to adjust this date for any holidays.
October 7th, 1977 is a Friday. It is the 280th day of the year, and in the 41st week of the year (assuming each week starts on a Sunday), or the 4th quarter of the year. There are 31 days in this month. 1977 is not a leap year, so there are 365 days in this year. The short form for this date used in the United States is 10/7/1977.
This site provides an online Days From Today calculator to help you find the date that occurs exactly X days from now. You can also enter a negative number to find out when X days before today happened to fall. You can use this tool to figure out a deadline if you have a certain number of days remaining. Or read the full page to learn more about the due date if you're counting business days or weekdays only, skipping Saturday and Sunday. If you're trying to measure the number of days between two dates, you can switch to the Date Difference calculator instead.
This page was loaded in 0.0030 seconds. | <urn:uuid:a1ac3e9f-9f29-488f-afc8-2e917ea6f5d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromnow/-9291 | 2013-05-19T18:57:32Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941586 | 559 |
Immediately after an
emergency, essential services may be cut-off and local disaster relief and
government responders may not be able to reach you right away. Even if they
could reach you, knowing what to do to protect yourself and your household is
This chapter describes how to prepare for any kind of disaster. It also provides specific information about emergency water and food, and a recommended disaster supply kit.
a disaster plan
One of the most important steps you
can take in preparing for emergencies is to develop a household disaster
1. Learn about the natural disasters
that could occur in your community from your local emergency management office
or American Red Cross chapter. Learn whether hazardous materials are produced,
stored or transported near your area. Learn about possible consequences of
deliberate acts of terror. Ask how to prepare for each potential emergency and
how to respond.
2. Talk with employers and school
officials about their emergency response plans.
3. Talk with your household about
potential emergencies and how to respond to each. Talk about what you would need
to do in an evacuation.
4. Plan how your household would stay
in contact if you were separated. Identify two meeting places: the first should
be near your home-in case of fire, perhaps a tree or a telephone pole; the
second should be away from your neighborhood in case you cannot return
5. Pick a friend or relative who lives
out of the area for household members to call to say they are okay.
6. Draw a floor plan of your home.
Mark two escape routes from each room.
7. Post emergency telephone numbers by
telephones. Teach children how and when to call 911.
8. Make sure everyone in your
household knows how and when to shut off water, gas, and electricity at the main
switches. Consult with your local utilities if you have questions.
9. Take a first aid and CPR class.
Local American Red Cross chapters can provide information. Official
certification by the American Red Cross provides "good Samaritan" law protection
for those giving first aid.
10.Reduce the economic impact of
disaster on your property and your household's health and financial
• Review property
insurance policies before disaster strikes-make sure policies are current and be
certain they meet your needs (type of coverage, amount of coverage, and hazard
• Protect your
household's financial well-being before a disaster strikes-review life insurance
policies and consider saving money in an "emergency" savings account that could
be used in any crisis. It is advisable to keep a small amount of cash or
traveler's checks at home in a safe place where you can quickly gain access to
it in case of an evacuation.
certain that health insurance policies are current and meet the needs of your
11.Consider ways to help neighbors
who may need special assistance, such as the elderly or
Make arrangements for pets. Pets are not allowed in public shelters. Service
animals for those
who depend on them are allowed.
If you have a disability or special
need, you may have to take additional steps to protect yourself and your
household in an emergency. If you know of friends or neighbors with special
needs, help them with these extra precautions. Examples include:
Hearing impaired may need to make special arrangements to receive a warning.
Mobility impaired may need assistance in getting to a shelter.
Households with a single working parent may need help from others both in
planning for disasters and during an emergency.
Non-English speaking people may need assistance planning for and responding to
emergencies. Community and cultural groups may be able to help keep these
People without vehicles may need to make arrangements for
People with special dietary needs should have an adequate emergency food supply.
1. Find out about special assistance that may be available in your community. Register with the office of emergency services or fire department for
2. Create a network of neighbors,
relatives, friends and co-workers to aid you in an emergency. Discuss your needs
and make sure they know how to operate necessary equipment.
3. Discuss your needs with your
4. If you are mobility impaired and
live or work in a high-rise building, have an escape chair.
5. If you live in an apartment
building, ask the management to mark accessible exits clearly and to make
arrangements to help you evacuate the building.6. Keep extra wheelchair
batteries, oxygen, catheters, medication, food for guide or hearing-ear dogs, or
other items you might need. Also, keep a list of the type and serial numbers of
medical devices you need.
7. Those who are not disabled
should learn who in their neighborhood or building is disabled so that they may
assist them during emergencies.
8. If you are a care-giver for a
person with special needs, make sure you have a plan to communicate if an
You may need to survive on your own
for three days or more. This means having your own water, food and emergency
supplies. Try using backpacks or duffel bags to keep the supplies together.
Assembling the supplies you might
need following a disaster is an important part of your disaster plan. You should
prepare emergency supplies for the following situations:
supply kit with essential food, water, and supplies for at least three days-this
kit should be kept in a designated place and be ready to "grab and go" in case
you have to leave your home quickly because of a disaster, such as a flash flood
or major chemical emergency. Make sure all household members know where the kit
· Consider having additional supplies for sheltering or home confinement for up to two weeks.
You should also
have a disaster supply kit at work. This should be in one container, ready to
"grab and go" in case you have to evacuate the building.
A car kit of
emergency supplies, including food and water, to keep stored in your car at all
times. This kit would also include flares, jumper cables, and seasonal
Water: the absolute necessity
1. Stocking water reserves should be a
top priority. Drinking water in emergency situations should not be rationed.
Therefore, it is critical to store adequate amounts of water for your
needs vary, depending on age, physical condition, activity, diet, and climate. A
normally active person needs at least two quarts of water daily just for
drinking. Children, nursing mothers, and ill people need more. Very hot
temperatures can double the amount of water needed.
will also need water for sanitary purposes and, possibly, for cooking, you
should store at least one gallon of water per person per day.
2. Store water in thoroughly washed
plastic, fiberglass or enamel-lined metal containers. Don't use containers that
can break, such as glass bottles. Never use a container that has held toxic
substances. Sound plastic containers, such as soft drink bottles, are best. You
can also purchase food-grade plastic buckets or drums.
· If you suspect that your well may be contaminated, contact your local or state health department or agriculture extension agent for specific advice.
· seal your water containers tightly, label them and store them in a cool, dark place.
· It is important to change stored water every six months.
For water purification for
immediate or near term use, please read the "Shelter " chapter of this
1. If activity is reduced, healthy
people can survive on half their usual food intake for an extended period or
without any food for many days. Food, unlike water, may be rationed safely,
except for children and pregnant women.
2. You don't need to go out and buy
unfamiliar foods to prepare an emergency food supply. You can use the canned
foods, dry mixes and other staples on your cupboard shelves. Canned foods do not
require cooking, water or special preparation. Be sure to include a manual can
3. Keep canned foods in a dry place
where the temperature is fairly cool. To protect boxed foods from pests and to
extend their shelf life, store the food in tightly closed plastic or metal
4. Replace items in your food supply
every six months. Throw out any canned good that becomes swollen, dented, or
corroded. Use foods before they go bad, and replace them with fresh supplies.
Date each food item with a marker. Place new items at the back of the storage
area and older ones in front.
5. Food items that you might consider
including in your disaster supply kit include: ready-to-eat meats, fruits, and
vegetables; canned or boxed juices, milk, and soup; high-energy foods like
peanut butter, jelly, low-sodium crackers, granola bars, and trail mix;
vitamins; foods for infants or persons on special diets; cookies, hard candy;
instant coffee, cereals, and powdered milk.
You may need to survive on your own
after a disaster. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after
a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in
hours, or it may take days. Basic services, such as electricity, gas, water,
sewage treatment and telephones, may be cut off for days, even a week or longer.
Or you may have to evacuate at a moment's notice and take essentials with you.
You probably won't have the opportunity to shop or search for the supplies
you'll need. Your household will cope best by preparing for disaster before it
The basics for
your first aid kit should include:
- First aid manual
- Sterile adhesive bandages in assorted sizes
- Assorted sizes of safety pins
- Cleansing agents (isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide)/soap/germicide
- Antibiotic ointment
- Latex gloves (2 pairs)
- Petroleum jelly
- 2-inch and 4-inch sterile gauze pads (4-6 each size)
- Triangular bandages (3)
- 2-inch and 3-inch sterile roller bandages (3 rolls each)
- Cotton balls
- Moistened towelettes
- Tongue depressor blades (2)
- Tube of petroleum jelly or other lubricant
· It may be difficult to obtain prescription medications during a disaster because stores may be closed or supplies may be limited. Ask your physician or pharmacist about storing prescription medications.
· Be sure they are stored to meet instructions on the label and be mindful of expirations dates--be sure to keep your stored medication up to date.
Extra pair of
prescription glasses or contact lens.
following nonprescription drugs in your disaster supply kit:
- Aspirin and nonaspirin pain reliever
- Antidiarrhea medication
- Antacid (for stomach upset)
- Syrup of ipecac (use to induce vomiting if advised by the poison control center)
Tools and emergency supplies
It will be important to assemble
these items in a disaster supply kit in case you have to leave your home
quickly. Even if you don't have to leave your home, if you lose power it will be
easier to have these item already assembled and in one place.
Tools and other
- A portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra batteries (also have a NOAA weather radio, if appropriate for your area)
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- Signal flare
- Matches in a waterproof container (or waterproof matches)
- Shut-off wrench, pliers, shovel and other tools
- Duct tape and scissors
- Plastic sheeting
- Small canister, A-B-C-type fire extinguisher
- Tube tent
- Work gloves
- Paper, pens, and pencils
- Needles and thread
- Battery-operated travel alarm clock
- Manual can opener
- Mess kits or paper cups, plates, and plastic utensils
- All-purpose knife
- Household liquid bleach to treat drinking water
- Sugar, salt, pepper
- Aluminum foil and plastic wrap
- Re-sealing plastic bags
- If food must be cooked, small cooking stove and a can of cooking fuel
· Sanitation and hygiene items:
- Washcloth and towel
- Towelettes, soap, hand sanitizer, liquid detergent
- Tooth paste, toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorants, comb and brush, razor, shaving cream, lip balm,sunscreen, insect repellent, contact lens solutions, mirror, feminine supplies
- Heavy-duty plastic garbage bags and ties--for personal sanitation uses - and toilet paper
- Medium-sized plastic bucket with tight lid
- Disinfectant and household chlorine bleach
- Consider including a small shovel for digging a latrine
documents and contact numbers:
- Personal identification, cash (including change) or traveler's checks, and a credit card
- Copies of important documents: birth certificate, marriage certificate, driver's license, social security cards, passport, wills, deeds, inventory of household goods, insurance papers, immunizations records, bank and credit card account numbers, stocks and bonds. Be sure to store these in a watertight container.
- Emergency contact list and phone numbers
- Map of the area and phone numbers of place you could go
- An extra set of car keys and house keys.
Clothes and bedding
change of clothing and footwear for each household member. Shoes should be
sturdy work shoes or boots. Rain gear, hat and gloves, extra socks, extra
underwear, thermal underwear, sunglasses.
Blankets or a
sleeping bag for each household member, pillows.
Remember to consider the needs of
infants, elderly persons, disabled persons, and pets and to include
entertainment and comfort items for children.
books, games, quiet toys and stuffed animals.
It is important for you to be ready, wherever you may be when disaster strikes.
With the checklists above
supply kit kept in the home with supplies for at least three days;
Although it is
unlikely that food supplies would be cut oft' for as long as two weeks, consider
storing additional water, food, clothing and bedding other supplies to expand
your supply kit to last up to two weeks.
A work place
disaster supply kit. It is important to store a personal supply of water and
food at work; you will not be able to rely on water fountains or coolers. Women
who wear high-heels should be sure to have comfortable flat shoes at their
workplace in case an evacuation require walking long distances.
A car disaster
supply kit. Keep a smaller disaster supply kit in the trunk of you car. If you
become stranded or are not able to return home, having these items will help you
be more comfortable until help arrives. Add items for sever winter weather
during months when heave snow or icy roads are possible-salt, sand, shovels, and
extra winter clothing, including hats and gloves.
County Office of Emergency Services|
Monday-Friday: (760) 878-0395 or (760) 878-0235
After hours/Weekends: (760) 878-0383
Office of Emergency Services|
Department of Homeland Security|
Emergency Management Agency|
Disclaimer: The County of Inyo reserves the right to make changes and
improvements to its Web site at any time and without
notice, and assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions or discrepancies.
Copyright © 2001 County of Inyo
Last Updated: June 23, 2006 | <urn:uuid:98a2e8e9-380e-420b-a033-991ad4645d74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inyocounty.us/OES/emergency_planning_and_disaster_supplies.htm | 2013-05-24T15:29:58Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91353 | 3,356 |
Although zucchini is often thought of as a vegetable, it is actually a fruit. Zucchini is considered to be a summer squash, which is part of the Cucurbitaceae family. According to the West Virginia extension office, it contains approximately 94 percent water, is low in calories and is a good source of vitamin A as well as potassium.
In the United States, Florida and California are the major commercial producers of zucchini. However, it can be grown in the backyard garden in many states throughout the country. Zucchini is a bountiful fruit, producing ample amounts yearly. After you've enjoyed multiple dishes of sauteed zucchini, fried zucchini and loaves of sweet zucchini bread, consider freezing this succulent garden treat to enjoy it year-round.
Zucchini can be frozen easily and then enjoyed later in many of your favorite zucchini dishes. Freezing zucchini is simple and can be done in a few easy steps.
Selecting the zucchini
While you can't always choose the perfect specimen for freezing, it does help to select fruits with skins that have a shiny appearance. Dull skins can mean the inside of the zucchini may be dry, making this choice not the best for freezing.
Preparing the zucchini
Wash and cut your zucchini into one-half inch cubes or one-half inch slices. You do not have to peel or skin the zucchini, but be sure to wash it thoroughly. Before freezing zucchini, it needs to be blanched. Blanching is a cooking process achieved through boiling or steaming. According to the Utah State University extension office, certain enzymes can continue to be active in the zucchini during frozen storage if not blanched correctly. Time is critical when blanching. Underblanch and the enzymes are not stopped. Overblanch and you will lose flavor.
Blanching the zucchini
To blanch the zucchini, bring one gallon of water to boil in a large pot. One gallon of water is enough for one pound of zucchini. When the water hits its boiling point, add the zucchini. Cover the pot and set a timer for three minutes. As soon as the three minutes have passed, remove the zucchini from the water. Place it into a strainer and immediately run cold water over it. You also can prepare a large bowl of ice water to submerge the zucchini in. Submerging hot zucchini into ice water will halt the blanching process. Whatever method you choose, be sure to cool the zucchini in the cold water for three minutes. Drain the zucchini thoroughly.
Freezing the zucchini
Label freezer-safe bags or containers with "zucchini" and the current date. Place the drained, cooled zucchini into the freezer-safe packages. It is easiest to portion the zucchini into one-cup servings. This makes it easier to grab measured amounts later when preparing meals. Be sure to squeeze any excess air out of the freezer bag before sealing.
Grated zucchini is ideal for baking breads, muffins and more. Grated zucchini can also be frozen; however it is best to blanch it using a steaming method versus the boiling method. You will need a pot that a steamer basket can fit in. Make sure that the steamer basket sits about three to four inches above the bottom of the pan. A tight lid also is needed. Place about two inches of water in the pan and bring it to a boil. Add the grated zucchini to the basket, being careful not to overfill it.
Cover the basket and pan with the lid and set a timer for two minutes. The steam will blanch the zucchini. After two minutes, remove the basket from the pan and plunge it into a bowl of ice water for two minutes. Drain thoroughly and place it into a freezer-safe bag. You may have to prepare several batches depending on how much zucchini you have.
Frozen zucchini will last about ten months if properly packaged. | <urn:uuid:7f8616a1-c470-443a-9df5-7fa9ca5474c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.life123.com/food/cooking-tips/freeze/freezing-zucchini.shtml | 2013-05-24T08:30:39Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939557 | 863 |
When you pour a glass of ice cold water out of one of our 7-Gallon Orange Gott Coolers the water may appear colorless, but water is actually a faint blue color. Water’s natural blue color is easy to see when one looks at deep bodies of water such as the oceans, and deep mountain lakes such as Lake Tahoe. The color of water does not come from light scattering(why the sky is blue) nor dissolved elements and compounds(such as copper). Water absorbs the red end of the visible spectrum, thus when we look at water we see the complementary color of orange which is blue. When one observes dark blue water they are looking at deep water that has absorbed most of the orange. When one looks at turquoise colored water they are looking at water that has only absorbed a little of the orange. Pure water actually derives its color from, and is the only known example of natural color caused by vibrational transitions. Vibrational transitions have to do with the molecular form of water.
There are other factors that can change the color of pure water. For example the Colorado River when it flows out the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam is green in color due to green algae in the river, and the natural color of the Colorado River is a light tan color due to suspended brownish colored silt. Small particles in rivers can scatter, absorb, and reflect light. In the case of the Little Colorado River and Havasu Creek, they are very rich in lime due to to the sedimentary rock layers they have cut through. In addition to the lime scattering light in these streams, the calcium carbonate in the lime coats the bottom of these waters with a white bottom. The white light reflected off objects can be seen when no part of the light spectrum is reflected significantly more than any other color. Thus in swimming pools, the Little Colorado River, and Havasu Creek, the deeper the water the darker the blue color, due to more orange absorption of the sunlight from the water and the white bottom reflecting all colors equally. | <urn:uuid:99a43e2d-d8c4-4ee4-b2b1-5def1dc868d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crateinc.com/run-wild-run-rivers/tag/little-colorado-river/ | 2013-05-25T05:29:53Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935557 | 414 |
The Bahá'í Faith // is a monotheistic religion emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. Three core principles establish a basis for Bahá'í teachings and doctrine: the unity of God, that there is only one God who is the source of all creation; the unity of religion, that all major religions have the same spiritual source and come from the same God; and the unity of humankind, that all humans have been created equal, and that diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance. According to the Bahá'í teachings the human purpose is to learn to know and love God through such methods as prayer, reflection, and being of service to humankind.
The Bahá'í Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia. Bahá'u'lláh was exiled for his teachings, from Persia to the Ottoman Empire, and died while officially being a prisoner. After Bahá'u'lláh's death, under the leadership of his son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, the religion spread from its Persian and Ottoman roots, and gained a footing in Europe and America, and was consolidated in Iran, where it still suffers intense persecution. After the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, the leadership of the Bahá'í community entered a new phase, evolving from a single individual to an administrative order with both elected bodies and appointed individuals. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.
In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Abrahamic figures as well as Dharmic ones - Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and others. For Bahá'ís, the most recent messengers are the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow, and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfilled the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale.
The word Bahá'í is used either as an adjective to refer to the Bahá'í Faith or as a term for a follower of Bahá'u'lláh. The word is not a noun meaning the religion as a whole. It is derived from the Arabic Bahá' (بهاء), meaning "glory" or "splendor". The term "Bahaism" (or "Baha'ism") has been used in the past, but the generally accepted name for the religion is the Bahá'í Faith.
Three core principles establish a basis for Bahá'í teachings and doctrine: the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of humankind. From these postulates stems the belief that God periodically reveals his will through divine messengers, whose purpose is to transform the character of humankind and develop, within those who respond, moral and spiritual qualities. Religion is thus seen as orderly, unified, and progressive from age to age.
The Bahá'í writings describe a single, personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. The existence of God and the universe is thought to be eternal, without a beginning or end. Though inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of creation, with a will and purpose that is expressed through messengers termed Manifestations of God.
Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, or to create a complete and accurate image of, by themselves. Therefore, human understanding of God is achieved through his revelations via his Manifestations. In the Bahá'í religion God is often referred to by titles and attributes (for example, the All-Powerful, or the All-Loving), and there is a substantial emphasis on monotheism; such doctrines as the Trinity are seen as compromising, if not contradicting, the Bahá'í view that God is single and has no equal. The Bahá'í teachings state that the attributes which are applied to God are used to translate Godliness into human terms and also to help individuals concentrate on their own attributes in worshipping God to develop their potentialities on their spiritual path. According to the Bahá'í teachings the human purpose is to learn to know and love God through such methods as prayer, reflection, and being of service to humankind.
Bahá'í notions of progressive religious revelation result in their accepting the validity of most of the world's religions, whose founders and central figures are seen as Manifestations of God. Religious history is interpreted as a series of dispensations, where each manifestation brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed. Specific religious social teachings (for example, the direction of prayer, or dietary restrictions) may be revoked by a subsequent manifestation so that a more appropriate requirement for the time and place may be established. Conversely, certain general principles (for example, neighbourliness, or charity) are seen to be universal and consistent. In Bahá'í belief, this process of progressive revelation will not end; however, it is believed to be cyclical. Bahá'ís do not expect a new manifestation of God to appear within 1000 years of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation.
Bahá'í beliefs are sometimes described as syncretic combinations of earlier religious beliefs. Bahá'ís, however, assert that their religion is a distinct tradition with its own scriptures, teachings, laws, and history. While the religion was initially seen as a sect of Islam, most religious specialists now see it as an independent religion, with its religious background in Shi'a Islam being seen as analogous to the Jewish context in which Christianity was established. Muslim institutions and clergy, both Sunni and Shia, consider Bahá'ís to be deserters or apostates from Islam, which has led to Bahá'ís being persecuted. Bahá'ís, themselves, describe their faith as an independent world religion, differing from the other traditions in its relative age and in the appropriateness of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to the modern context. Bahá'u'lláh is believed to have fulfilled the messianic expectations of these precursor faiths.
The Bahá'í writings state that human beings have a "rational soul", and that this provides the species with a unique capacity to recognize God's station and humanity's relationship with its creator. Every human is seen to have a duty to recognize God through His messengers, and to conform to their teachings. Through recognition and obedience, service to humanity and regular prayer and spiritual practice, the Bahá'í writings state that the soul becomes closer to God, the spiritual ideal in Bahá'í belief. When a human dies, the soul passes into the next world, where its spiritual development in the physical world becomes a basis for judgment and advancement in the spiritual world. Heaven and Hell are taught to be spiritual states of nearness or distance from God that describe relationships in this world and the next, and not physical places of reward and punishment achieved after death. See Bahá'í Faith on life after death.
The Bahá'í writings emphasize the essential equality of human beings, and the abolition of prejudice. Humanity is seen as essentially one, though highly varied; its diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance. Doctrines of racism, nationalism, caste, social class, and gender-based hierarchy are seen as artificial impediments to unity. The Bahá'í teachings state that the unification of humankind is the paramount issue in the religious and political conditions of the present world.
|Texts and scriptures
|From the Báb|
|From Shoghi Effendi|
Shoghi Effendi, the appointed head of the religion from 1921 to 1957, wrote the following summary of what he considered to be the distinguishing principles of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, which, he said, together with the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas constitute the bedrock of the Bahá'í Faith:
The independent search after truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition; the oneness of the entire human race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith; the basic unity of all religions; the condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national; the harmony which must exist between religion and science; the equality of men and women, the two wings on which the bird of humankind is able to soar; the introduction of compulsory education; the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; the abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty; the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations; the exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship; the glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations; and the establishment of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all mankind—these stand out as the essential elements [which Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed].
The following principles are frequently listed as a quick summary of the Bahá'í teachings. They are derived from transcripts of speeches given by `Abdu'l-Bahá during his tour of Europe and North America in 1912. The list is not authoritative and a variety of such lists circulate.
- Unity of God
- Unity of religion
- Unity of humankind
- Equality between men and women
- Elimination of all forms of prejudice
- World peace
- Harmony of religion and science
- Independent investigation of truth
- Principle of Ever-Advancing Civilization
- Universal compulsory education
- Universal auxiliary language
- Obedience to government and non-involvement in partisan politics unless submission to law amounts to a denial of Faith.
- Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty
Although the Bahá'í teachings have a strong emphasis on social and ethical issues, there exist a number of foundational texts that have been described as mystical. The Seven Valleys is considered Bahá'u'lláh's "greatest mystical composition." It was written to a follower of Sufism, in the style of `Attar, a Muslim poet, and sets forth the stages of the soul's journey towards God. It was first translated into English in 1906, becoming one of the earliest available books of Bahá'u'lláh to the West. The Hidden Words is another book written by Bahá'u'lláh during the same period, containing 153 short passages in which Bahá'u'lláh claims to have taken the basic essence of certain spiritual truths and written them in brief form.
The Bahá'í teachings speak of both a "Greater Covenant", being universal and endless, and a "Lesser Covenant", being unique to each religious dispensation. The Lesser Covenant is viewed as an agreement between a Messenger of God and his followers and includes social practices and the continuation of authority in the religion. At this time Bahá'ís view Bahá'u'lláh's revelation as a binding lesser covenant for his followers; in the Bahá'í writings being firm in the covenant is considered a virtue to work toward. The Greater Covenant is viewed as a more enduring agreement between God and humankind, where a Manifestation of God is expected to come to humanity about every thousand years, at times of turmoil and uncertainty.
With unity as an essential teaching of the religion, Bahá'ís follow an administration they believe is divinely ordained, and therefore see attempts to create schisms and divisions as efforts that are contrary to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Schisms have occurred over the succession of authority, but any Bahá'í divisions have had relatively little success and have failed to attract a sizeable following. The followers of such divisions are regarded as Covenant-breakers and shunned, essentially excommunicated.
The canonical texts are the writings of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice, and the authenticated talks of `Abdu'l-Bahá. The writings of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are considered as divine revelation, the writings and talks of `Abdu'l-Bahá and the writings of Shoghi Effendi as authoritative interpretation, and those of the Universal House of Justice as authoritative legislation and elucidation. Some measure of divine guidance is assumed for all of these texts. Some of Bahá'u'lláh's most important writings include the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, literally the Most Holy Book, which is his book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Íqán, literally the Book of Certitude, which became the foundation of much of Bahá'í belief, the Gems of Divine Mysteries, which includes further doctrinal foundations, and the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys which are mystical treatises.
|1844||The Báb declares his mission in Shiraz, Iran
|1850||The Báb is publicly executed in Tabriz, Iran
|1852||Thousands of Bábís are executed|
|Bahá'u'lláh is imprisoned and forced into exile
|1863||Bahá'u'lláh first announces his claim to divine revelation|
|He is forced to leave Baghdad for Constantinople, then Adrianople
|1868||Bahá'u'lláh is forced into harsher confinement in `Akká, Palestine
|1892||Bahá'u'lláh dies near `Akká|
|His will appointed `Abdu'l-Bahá as successor
|1908||`Abdu'l-Bahá is released from prison
|1921||`Abdu'l-Bahá dies in Haifa|
|His will appoints Shoghi Effendi as Guardian
|1957||Shoghi Effendi dies in England
|1963||The Universal House of Justice is first elected|
Bahá'í history follows a sequence of leaders, beginning with the Báb's May 23, 1844 declaration in Shiraz, Iran, and ultimately resting on an administrative order established by the central figures of the religion. The tradition was mostly isolated to the Persian and Ottoman empires until after the death of Bahá'u'lláh in 1892, at which time he had followers in 13 countries of Asia and Africa. Under the leadership of his son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, the religion gained a footing in Europe and America, and was consolidated in Iran, where it still suffers intense persecution. After the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1921, the leadership of the Bahá'í community entered a new phase, evolving from a single individual to an administrative order with both elected bodies and appointed individuals.
On May 23, 1844 Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad of Shiraz, Iran proclaimed that he was "the Báb" (الباب "the Gate"), referring to his later claim to the station of Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam of Shi`a Islam. His followers were therefore known as Bábís. As the Báb's teachings spread, which the Islamic clergy saw as a threat, his followers came under increased persecution and torture. The conflicts escalated in several places to military sieges by the Shah's army. The Báb himself was imprisoned and eventually executed in 1850.
Bahá'ís see the Báb as the forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith, because the Báb's writings introduced the concept of "He whom God shall make manifest", a Messianic figure whose coming, according to Bahá'ís, was announced in the scriptures of all of the world's great religions, and whom Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, claimed to be in 1863. The Báb's tomb, located in Haifa, Israel, is an important place of pilgrimage for Bahá'ís. The remains of the Báb were brought secretly from Iran to the Holy Land and eventually interred in the tomb built for them in a spot specifically designated by Bahá'u'lláh.
Mírzá Husayn `Alí Núrí was one of the early followers of the Báb, and later took the title of Bahá'u'lláh. He was arrested and imprisoned for this involvement in 1852. Bahá'u'lláh relates that in 1853, while incarcerated in the dungeon of the Síyáh-Chál in Tehran, he received the first intimations that he was the one anticipated by the Báb.
Shortly thereafter he was expelled from Tehran to Baghdad, in the Ottoman Empire; then to Constantinople (now Istanbul); and then to Adrianople (now Edirne). In 1863, at the time of his banishment from Baghdad to Constantinople, Bahá'u'lláh declared his claim to a divine mission to his family and followers. Tensions then grew between him and Subh-i-Azal, the appointed leader of the Bábís who did not recognize Bahá'u'lláh's claim. Throughout the rest of his life Bahá'u'lláh gained the allegiance of most of the Bábís, who came to be known as Bahá'ís. Beginning in 1866, he began declaring his mission as a Messenger of God in letters to the world's religious and secular rulers, including Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III, and Queen Victoria.
In 1868 Bahá'u'lláh was banished by Sultan Abdülâziz a final time to the Ottoman penal colony of `Akká, in present-day Israel. Towards the end of his life, the strict and harsh confinement was gradually relaxed, and he was allowed to live in a home near `Akká, while still officially a prisoner of that city. He died there in 1892. Bahá'ís regard his resting place at Bahjí as the Qiblih to which they turn in prayer each day.
`Abbás Effendi was Bahá'u'lláh's eldest son, known by the title of `Abdu'l-Bahá (Servant of Bahá). His father left a Will that appointed `Abdu'l-Bahá as the leader of the Bahá'í community, and designated him as the "Centre of the Covenant", "Head of the Faith", and the sole authoritative interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh's writings. `Abdu'l-Bahá had shared his father's long exile and imprisonment, which continued until `Abdu'l-Bahá's own release as a result of the Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Following his release he led a life of travelling, speaking, teaching, and maintaining correspondence with communities of believers and individuals, expounding the principles of the Bahá'í Faith.
Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Aqdas and The Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá are foundational documents of the Bahá'í administrative order. Bahá'u'lláh established the elected Universal House of Justice, and `Abdu'l-Bahá established the appointed hereditary Guardianship and clarified the relationship between the two institutions. In his Will, `Abdu'l-Bahá appointed his eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the first Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.
Shoghi Effendi throughout his lifetime translated Bahá'í texts; developed global plans for the expansion of the Bahá'í community; developed the Bahá'í World Centre; carried on a voluminous correspondence with communities and individuals around the world; and built the administrative structure of the religion, preparing the community for the election of the Universal House of Justice. He died in 1957 under conditions that did not allow for a successor to be appointed.
At local, regional, and national levels, Bahá'ís elect members to nine-person Spiritual Assemblies, which run the affairs of the religion. There are also appointed individuals working at various levels, including locally and internationally, which perform the function of propagating the teachings and protecting the community. The latter do not serve as clergy, which the Bahá'í Faith does not have. The Universal House of Justice, first elected in 1963, remains the successor and supreme governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, and its 9 members are elected every five years by the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies. Any male Bahá'í, 21 years or older, is eligible to be elected to the Universal House of Justice; all other positions are open to male and female Bahá'ís.
In 1937, Shoghi Effendi launched a seven-year plan for the Bahá'ís of North America, followed by another in 1946. In 1953, he launched the first international plan, the Ten Year World Crusade. This plan included extremely ambitious goals for the expansion of Bahá'í communities and institutions, the translation of Bahá'í texts into several new languages, and the sending of Bahá'í pioneers into previously unreached nations. He announced in letters during the Ten Year Crusade that it would be followed by other plans under the direction of the Universal House of Justice, which was elected in 1963 at the culmination of the Crusade. The House of Justice then launched a nine-year plan in 1964, and a series of subsequent multi-year plans of varying length and goals followed, guiding the direction of the international Bahá'í community.
Annually, on April 21, the Universal House of Justice sends a ‘Ridván’ message to the worldwide Bahá’í community, which generally gives an update on the progress made concerning the current plan, and provides further guidance for the year to come. The Bahá'ís around the world are currently being encouraged to focus on capacity building through children's classes, youth groups, devotional gatherings, and a systematic study of the religion known as study circles. Further focuses are involvement in social action and participation in the prevalent discourses of society. The years from 2001 until 2021 represent four successive five-year plans, culminating in the centennial anniversary of the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
A Bahá'í published document reported 4.74 million Bahá'ís in 1986 growing at a rate of 4.4%. Bahá'í sources since 1991 usually estimate the worldwide Bahá'í population to be above 5 million. The World Christian Encyclopedia estimated 7.1 million Bahá'ís in the world in 2000, representing 218 countries.
From its origins in the Persian and Ottoman Empires, by the early 20th century there were a number of converts in South and South East Asia, Europe, and North America. During the 1950s and 1960s, vast travel teaching efforts brought the religion to almost every country and territory of the world. By the 1990s, Bahá'ís were developing programs for systematic consolidation on a large scale, and the early 21st century saw large influxes of new adherents around the world. The Bahá'í Faith is currently the largest religious minority in Iran Panama, and Belize,; the second largest international religion in Bolivia, Zambia, and Papua New Guinea; and the third largest international religion in Chad and Kenya. According to The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004:
The majority of Bahá'ís live in Asia (3.6 million), Africa (1.8 million), and Latin America (900,000). According to some estimates, the largest Bahá'í community in the world is in India, with 2.2 million Bahá'ís, next is Iran, with 350,000, the US, with 150,000, and Brazil, with 60,000. Aside from these countries, numbers vary greatly. Currently, no country has a Bahá'í majority.
The Bahá'í religion was listed in The Britannica Book of the Year (1992–present) as the second most widespread of the world's independent religions in terms of the number of countries represented. According to Britannica, the Bahá'í Faith (as of 2002) is established in 247 countries and territories; represents over 2,100 ethnic, racial, and tribal groups; has scriptures translated into over 800 languages; and has an estimated seven million adherents worldwide. Additionally, Bahá'ís have self-organized in most of the nations of the world.
- Prayer in the Bahá'í Faith consists of obligatory prayer and devotional (general) prayer. Bahá'ís over the age of 15 must individually recite an obligatory prayer each day, using fixed words and form. In addition to the daily obligatory prayer, believers are directed to daily offer devotional prayer and to meditate and study sacred scripture. There is no set form for devotions and meditations, though the devotional prayers written by the central figures of the Bahá'í Faith and collected in prayer books are held in high esteem. Reading aloud of prayers from prayer books is a typical feature of Bahá'í gatherings.
- Backbiting and gossip are prohibited and denounced.
- Adult Bahá'ís in good health should observe a nineteen-day sunrise-to-sunset fast each year from March 2 through March 20.
- Bahá'ís are forbidden to drink alcohol or to take drugs, unless prescribed by doctors.
- Sexual intercourse is only permitted between a husband and wife, and thus premarital, extramarital and homosexual intercourse are forbidden. (See also Homosexuality and the Bahá'í Faith)
- Gambling is forbidden.
- Fanaticism is forbidden.
- Adherence to ritual is discouraged, with the notable exception of the obligatory prayers.
- Abstaining from partisan politics is required.
While some of the laws from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are applicable at the present time and may be enforced to a degree by the administrative institutions, Bahá'u'lláh has provided for the progressive application of other laws that are dependent upon the existence of a predominantly Bahá'í society. The laws, when not in direct conflict with the civil laws of the country of residence, are binding on every Bahá'í, and the observance of personal laws, such as prayer or fasting, is the sole responsibility of the individual.
The purpose of marriage in the Bahá'i faith is mainly to foster spiritual harmony, fellowship and unity between a man and a woman and to provide a stable and loving environment for the rearing of children. The Bahá'í teachings on marriage call it a fortress for well-being and salvation and place marriage and the family as the foundation of the structure of human society. Bahá'u'lláh highly praised marriage, discouraged divorce and homosexuality, and required chastity outside of marriage; Bahá'u'lláh taught that a husband and wife should strive to improve the spiritual life of each other. Interracial marriage is also highly praised throughout Bahá'í scripture.
Bahá'ís intending to marry are asked to obtain a thorough understanding of the other's character before deciding to marry. Although parents should not choose partners for their children, once two individuals decide to marry, they must receive the consent of all living biological parents, even if one partner is not a Bahá'í. The Bahá'í marriage ceremony is simple; the only compulsory part of the wedding is the reading of the wedding vows prescribed by Bahá'u'lláh which both the groom and the bride read, in the presence of two witnesses. The vows are "We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God."
Monasticism is forbidden, and Bahá'ís attempt to ground their spirituality in ordinary daily life. Performing useful work, for example, is not only required but considered a form of worship. Bahá'u'lláh prohibited a mendicant and ascetic lifestyle. The importance of self-exertion and service to humanity in one's spiritual life is emphasised further in Bahá'u'lláh's writings, where he states that work done in the spirit of service to humanity enjoys a rank equal to that of prayer and worship in the sight of God.
Places of worship
Most Bahá'í meetings occur in individuals' homes, local Bahá'í centers, or rented facilities. Worldwide, there are currently seven Bahá'í Houses of Worship, with an eighth under construction in Chile, and a further seven planned as of April 2012. Bahá'í writings refer to an institution called a "Mashriqu'l-Adhkár" (Dawning-place of the Mention of God), which is to form the center of a complex of institutions including a hospital, university, and so on. The first ever Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in `Ishqábád, Turkmenistan, has been the most complete House of Worship.
The Bahá'í calendar is based upon the calendar established by the Báb. The year consists of 19 months, each having 19 days, with four or five intercalary days, to make a full solar year. The Bahá'í New Year corresponds to the traditional Persian New Year, called Naw Rúz, and occurs on the vernal equinox, March 21, at the end of the month of fasting. Bahá'í communities gather at the beginning of each month at a meeting called a Feast for worship, consultation and socializing.
Each of the 19 months is given a name which is an attribute of God; some examples include Bahá’ (Splendour), ‘Ilm (Knowledge), and Jamál (Beauty). The Bahá'í week is familiar in that it consists of seven days, with each day of the week also named after an attribute of God. Bahá'ís observe 11 Holy Days throughout the year, with work suspended on 9 of these. These days commemorate important anniversaries in the history of the religion.
The symbols of the religion are derived from the Arabic word Bahá’ (بهاء "splendor" or "glory"), with a numerical value of 9, which is why the most common symbol is the nine-pointed star. The ringstone symbol and calligraphy of the Greatest Name are also often encountered. The former consists of two five-pointed stars interspersed with a stylized Bahá’ whose shape is meant to recall the three onenesses, while the latter is a calligraphic rendering of the phrase Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá (يا بهاء الأبهى "O Glory of the Most Glorious!").
The five-pointed star is the symbol of the Bahá'í Faith. In the Bahá'í Faith, the star is known as the Haykal (Arabic: "temple"), and it was initiated and established by the Báb. The Báb and Bahá'u'lláh wrote various works in the form of a pentagram.
Since its inception the Bahá'í Faith has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.
The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated October 20, 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
Bahá'u'lláh wrote of the need for world government in this age of humanity's collective life. Because of this emphasis the international Bahá'í community has chosen to support efforts of improving international relations through organizations such as the League of Nations and the United Nations, with some reservations about the present structure and constitution of the UN. The Bahá'í International Community is an agency under the direction of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, and has consultative status with the following organizations:
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
- United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- World Health Organization (WHO)
The Bahá'í International Community has offices at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and representations to United Nations regional commissions and other offices in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Nairobi, Rome, Santiago, and Vienna. In recent years an Office of the Environment and an Office for the Advancement of Women were established as part of its United Nations Office. The Bahá'í Faith has also undertaken joint development programs with various other United Nations agencies. In the 2000 Millennium Forum of the United Nations a Bahá'í was invited as the only non-governmental speaker during the summit.
Bahá'ís continue to be persecuted in Islamic countries, as Islamic leaders do not recognize the Bahá'í Faith as an independent religion, but rather as apostasy from Islam. The most severe persecutions have occurred in Iran, where over 200 Bahá'ís were executed between 1978 and 1998, and in Egypt. The rights of Bahá'ís have been restricted to greater or lesser extents in numerous other countries, including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The marginalization of the Iranian Bahá'ís by current governments is rooted in historical efforts by Muslim clergy to persecute the religious minority. When the Báb started attracting a large following, the clergy hoped to stop the movement from spreading by stating that its followers were enemies of God. These clerical directives led to mob attacks and public executions. Starting in the twentieth century, in addition to repression that impacted individual Bahá'ís, centrally directed campaigns that targeted the entire Bahá'í community and institutions were initiated. In one case in Yazd in 1903 more than 100 Bahá'ís were killed. Bahá'í schools, such as the Tarbiyat boys' and girl's schools in Tehran, were closed in the 1930s and 40s, Bahá'í marriages were not recognized and Bahá'í texts were censored.
During the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to divert attention from economic difficulties in Iran and from a growing nationalist movement, a campaign of persecution against the Bahá'ís was instituted. An approved and coordinated anti-Bahá'í campaign (to incite public passion against the Bahá'ís) started in 1955 and included the spreading of anti-Bahá'í propaganda on national radio stations and in official newspapers. In the late 1970s the Shah's regime consistently lost legitimacy due to criticism that it was pro-Western. As the anti-Shah movement gained ground and support, revolutionary propaganda was spread that some of the Shah's advisors were Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís were portrayed as economic threats, supporters of Israel and the West, and societal hostility for the Bahá'ís increased.
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Iranian Bahá'ís have regularly had their homes ransacked or been banned from attending university or holding government jobs, and several hundred have received prison sentences for their religious beliefs, most recently for participating in study circles. Bahá'í cemeteries have been desecrated and property seized and occasionally demolished, including the House of Mírzá Buzurg, Bahá'u'lláh's father. The House of the Báb in Shiraz, one of three sites to which Bahá'ís perform pilgrimage, has been destroyed twice.
According to a US panel, attacks on Bahá'ís in Iran have increased since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights revealed an October 2005 confidential letter from Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Iran to identify Bahá'ís and to monitor their activities. Due to these actions, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights stated on March 20, 2006, that she "also expresses concern that the information gained as a result of such monitoring will be used as a basis for the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Bahá'í faith, in violation of international standards. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating."
On May 14, 2008, members of an informal body known as the "Friends" that oversaw the needs of the Bahá'í community in Iran were arrested and taken to Evin prison. The Friends court case has been postponed several times, but was finally underway on January 12, 2010. Other observers were not allowed in the court. Even the defence lawyers, who for two years have had minimal access to the defendants, had difficulty entering the courtroom. The chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said that it seems that the government has already predetermined the outcome of the case and is violating international human rights law. Further sessions were held on February 7, 2010, April 12, 2010 and June 12, 2010. On August 11, 2010 it became known that the court sentence was 20 years imprisonment for each of the seven prisoners which was later reduced to ten years. After the sentence, they were transferred to Gohardasht prison. In March 2011 the sentences were reinstated to the original 20 years.
On January 3, 2010, Iranian authorities detained ten more members of the Baha'i minority, reportedly including Leva Khanjani, granddaughter of Jamaloddin Khanjani, one of seven Baha'i leaders jailed since 2008 and in February, arrested his son, Niki Khanjani.
The Iranian government claims that the Bahá'í Faith is not a religion, but a political organization, and hence refuses to recognize it as a minority religion. However, the government has never produced convincing evidence supporting its characterization of the Bahá'í community. Also the government's statements that Bahá'ís who recanted their religion would have their rights restored, attests to the fact that Bahá'ís are persecuted solely for their religious affiliation. The Iranian government also accuses the Bahá'í Faith of being associated with Zionism because the Bahá'í World Centre is located in Haifa, Israel. These accusations against the Bahá'ís have no basis in historical fact, and the accusations are used by the Iranian government to use the Bahá'ís as "scapegoats". In fact it was the Iranian Shah who banished Bahá'u'lláh from Persia to the Ottoman Empire and he was later exiled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, at the behest of the Persian Shah, to territories further away from Iran and finally to Acre in Syria, which only a century later was incorporated into the state of Israel.
Bahá'í institutions and community activities have been illegal under Egyptian law since 1960. All Bahá'í community properties, including Bahá'í centers, libraries, and cemeteries, have been confiscated by the government and fatwas have been issued charging Bahá'ís with apostasy.
The Egyptian identification card controversy began in the 1990s when the government modernized the electronic processing of identity documents, which introduced a de facto requirement that documents must list the person's religion as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish (the only three religions officially recognized by the government). Consequently, Bahá'ís were unable to obtain government identification documents (such as national identification cards, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage or divorce certificates, or passports) necessary to exercise their rights in their country unless they lied about their religion, which conflicts with Bahá'í religious principle. Without documents, they could not be employed, educated, treated in hospitals, travel outside of the country, or vote, among other hardships. Following a protracted legal process culminating in a court ruling favorable to the Bahá'ís, the interior minister of Egypt released a decree on April 14, 2009, amending the law to allow Egyptians who are not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish to obtain identification documents that list dash in place of one of the three recognized religions. The first identification cards were issued to two Bahá'ís under the new decree on August 8, 2009.
Bernard Lewis states that the Muslim laity and Islamic authorities have always had great difficulty in accommodating post-Islamic monotheistic religions such as the Bahá'í Faith, since the followers of such religions cannot be dismissed either as benighted heathens, like the polytheists of Asia and the animists of Africa, nor as outdated precursors, like the Jews and Christians. Moreover, their very existence presents a challenge to the Islamic doctrine of the finality of Muhammad's revelation.
- Bahá'í apologetics
- Bahá'í Faith in fiction
- Bahá'í orthography
- Bahá'í Terraces, the Hanging Gardens of Haifa
- List of Bahá'ís
- In English // with two syllables, in Persian Persian: بهائی [bæhɒːʔiː] with three syllables. The exact realization of the English pronunciation varies. The Oxford English Dictionary has // ba-HAH-ee, Merriam-Webster has // bah-HAH-ee, and the Random House Dictionary has // bə-HAH-ee. See Banani, Amin, A Baha'i Glossary and Pronunciation Guide (MP3), Bahá’i Study and Shahrokh, Darius, Bahá’i Library – A Guide to Pronunciation part 1 and 2, for more pronunciation instructions
- Houghton 2004
- Hutter 2005, pp. 737–40
- Affolter, Friedrich W. (January 2005). "The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran" (PDF). War Crimes, Genocide, & Crimes against Humanity 1 (1): 75–114. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
- Smith 2008, p. 56
- Bahá'í statistics for a breakdown of different estimates.
- Smith 2008, pp. 107–9
- Stockman 2006, p. 209
- Bahá'ís prefer the orthographies Bahá'í , Bahá'ís, the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and `Abdu'l-Bahá , using a particular transcription of the Arabic and Persian in publications. "Bahai", "Bahais", "Baha'i", "the Bab", "Bahaullah" and "Baha'u'llah" are often used when diacriticals are unavailable.
- Hatcher & Martin 1998, pp. xiii
- Centre for Faith and the Media. A Journalist's Guide to the Baha'i Faith. Calgary, Alberta: Centre for Faith and the Media. p. 3.
- Smith 2008, pp. 108–109
- Smith 2008, p. 106
- Britannica 1992
- Smith 2008, pp. 111–112
- Hatcher 2005, pp. 1–38
- Cole 1982, pp. 1–38
- Stockman, Robert. "Jesus Christ in the Baha'i Writings". Baha'i Studies Review 2 (1).
- McMullen 2000, p. 7
- Stockman, Robert (1997). "The Baha'i Faith and Syncretism". A Resource Guide for the Scholarly Study of the Bahá'í Faith.
- "Bahais". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Archived from the original on May 07 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
- Van der Vyer, J.D. (1996). Religious human rights in global perspective: religious perspectives. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 449. ISBN 90-411-0176-4.
- Boyle, Kevin; Sheen, Juliet (1997). Freedom of religion and belief: a world report. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN 0-415-15978-4.
- Afshari, Reza (2001). Human rights in Iran: the abuse of cultural relativism. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 119–120. ISBN 0-8122-3605-X.
- Lundberg, Zaid (1996–2005). "The Concept of Progressive Revelation". Baha'i Apocalypticism: The Concept of Progressive Revelation. Department of History of Religion at the Faculty of Theology, Lund University. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
- Buck, Christopher (2004). "The eschatology of Globalization: The multiple-messiahship of Bahā'u'llāh revisited". In Sharon, Moshe. Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths. Boston: Brill. pp. 143–178. ISBN 90-04-13904-4.
- McMullen, Michael D. (2000). The Baha'i: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity. Atlanta, Georgia: Rutgers University Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-8135-2836-4.
- Masumian, Farnaz (1995). Life After Death: A study of the afterlife in world religions. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-074-8.
- Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, US: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. pp. 281–2. ISBN 0-87743-020-9.
- Smith 2008, pp. 52–53
- "Principles of the Bahá'í Faith". bahai.com. March 26, 2006. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2006.
- Cole, Juan (1989). "Bahai Faith". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on March 17, 2008.
- Meyjes, Gregory Paul P. (2006). "Language and world order: A new paradigm revealed". In Omoniyi, T.; Fishman, J. A. Explorations in the Sociology of Language And Religion. Volume 20 of Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society, and Culture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 26–41. ISBN 9789027227102.
- See for example: Political Non-involvement and Obedience to Government – A compilation of some of the Messages of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice (compiled by Dr. Peter J. Khan)
- Smith, Peter (2000). "peace". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 266–267. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Smith, Peter (2000). "Seven Valleys". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 311. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Taherzadeh, Adib (1972). The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-344-5.
- Momen, Moojan. "Covenant, The, and Covenant-breaker". Retrieved June 14, 2006.
- MacEoin, Denis (1989). "Bahai Faith". Encyclopædia Iranica. p. 448.
- Smith 2008, p. 173
- Smith, Peter (2000). "canonical texts". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 100–101. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Hatcher & Martin 1998, pp. 46
- Hatcher & Martin 1998, pp. 137
- Smith 2008, pp. 20–21, 28
- Taherzadeh, Adib (1987). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 4: Mazra'ih & Bahji 1877–92. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. p. 125. ISBN 0-85398-270-8.
- Winter, Jonah (September 17, 1997). "Dying for God: Martyrdom in the Shii and Babi Religions". Master of Arts Thesis, University of Toronto.
- Balyuzi, Hasan (2001). `Abdu'l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh (Paperback ed.). Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-043-8.
- Cole, Juan (1989). "Baha'-allah". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007.
- Smith 2008, p. 47
- Smith 2008, pp. 55–57
- Taherzadeh, A. (2000). The Child of the Covenant. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. 347–363. ISBN 0-85398-439-5.
- Smith 2008, pp. 58–69
- Smith 2008, p. 160
- Stockman, Robert (1995). "Bahá'í Faith: A portrait". In Joel Beversluis (ed). A Source Book for Earth's Community of Religions. Grand Rapids, MI: CoNexus Press. ISBN 978-1-57731-121-8.
- Smith 2008, p. 205
- Danesh, Helen; Danesh, John; Danesh, Amelia (1991). "The Life of Shoghi Effendi". In M. Bergsmo (Ed.). Studying the Writings of Shoghi Effendi. George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-336-4.
- Hassal, Graham (1996). "Baha'i History in the Formative Age". Journal of Bahá'í Studies 6 (4): 1–21.
- Momen, Moojan; Momen, Moojan (1989). "The Baha'i Faith 1957–1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments". Religion 19 (1): 63–91. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8.
- Smith, Peter (2000). "ridván". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 297. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- All Ridván messages can be found at Bahairesearch.com
- Gervais, Marie (February 8, 2008). "Baha’i Faith and Peace Education" (PDF). University of Alberta Canada. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
- Universal House of Justice (January 17, 2003). "17 January 2003 letter". bahai-library.org. Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved June 15, 2006.
- Bodakowski, Michael (March 2, 2011). "A Discussion with Farida Vahedi, Executive Director of the Department of External Affairs, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India". Interviews. Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
- Universal House of Justice (April 21, 2010). "Ridván message 2010". bahairesearch.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- Universal House Of Justice (2006). Five Year Plan 2006–2011 (PDF). West Palm Beach, Florida: Palabra Publications.
- Dr. Rabbani, Ahang; Department of Statistics at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel (July 1987). "Achievements of the Seven Year Plan". Bahá'í News (Bahá'í World Center, Haifa: Bahá'í International Community). pp. 2–7. Retrieved October 4, 2009.
- Bahá'í International Community (2010). "Statistics". Bahá'í International Community. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- Barrett, David A. (2001). World Christian Encyclopedia. p. 4.
- International Federation for Human Rights (August 1, 2003). "Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran" (PDF). fdih.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
- "Panama". National Profiles > > Regions > Central America >. Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- "Belize". National Profiles > > Regions > Central America >. Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- "Bolivia". National Profiles > > Regions > Central America >. Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- "Zambia". National Profiles > > Regions > Eastern Africa >. Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- "Papua New Guinea". National Profiles > > Regions > Melanesia >. Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
- "Country Profile: Chad". Religious Intelligence. Religious Intelligence. Archived from the original on Oct 13, 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
- "Kenya". National Profiles > > Regions > Eastern Africa >. Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- edited by Ken Park. (2004). World Almanac and Book of Facts. New York, United States: World Almanac Books. ISBN 0-88687-910-8.
- Encyclopædia Britannica (2002). "Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-2002". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
- FP Magazine (May 1, 2007). "The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions". FP. Archived from the original on May 01 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
- Smith, Peter (2000). "Law". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 223–225. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Smith 2008, pp. 158–161
- Walbridge, John (March 23, 2006). "Prayer and Worship". bahai-library.org. Retrieved July 11, 2006.
- Smith 2008, pp. 164–165
- Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Warwick (October 12, 2003). "Baha'i Marriage". Bahá'ís of Warwick. Archived from the original on May 28, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2006.
- Smith 2008, pp. 154–155
- adherents.com (2001-05). "Baha'i Houses of Worship". adherents.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2006.
- "Plans to build new Houses of Worship announced". Bahá'í World News Service (Bahá’í International Community). 22 April 2012. Retrieved 4–22–2012.
- Smith 2008, p. 194
- Smith, Peter (2000). "Mashriqu'l-Adkhar". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 236. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Smith 2008, pp. 188–190
- Smith, Peter (2000). "greatest name". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 167–168. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Faizi, Abu'l-Qasim (1968). Explanation of the Symbol of the Greatest Name. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, PO Box No. 19, New Delhi, India.
- "Bahá'í Reference Library – Directives from the Guardian, Pages 51–52". Reference.bahai.org. December 31, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- "Nine-Pointed Star, The:History and Symbolism by Universal House of Justice 1999-01-24". Bahai-library.com. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- "Haykal – Baha'i Five Pointed Star Symbol". Altreligion.about.com. November 14, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- History of Bahá'í Educational Efforts in Iran.
- Momen, Moojan. "History of the Baha'i Faith in Iran". draft "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Bahai-library.com. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi (1997). "Education of women and socio-economic development". Baha'i Studies Review 7 (1).
- Momen, Moojan; Smith, Peter (1989). "The Baha'i Faith 1957–1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments". Religion 19 (1): 63–91. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8.
- Momen 2007
- McMullen, Michael (2000). The Baha'i: The religious Construction of a Global Identity. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. p. 39. ISBN 0-8135-2836-4.
- Bahá'í International Community (2006). "History of Active Cooperation with the United Nations". bahai.org. Retrieved June 15, 2006.
- Bahá'í World News Service (September 8, 2000). "Bahá'í United Nations Representative Addresses World Leaders at the Millennium Summit". Bahá'í International Community. Archived from the original on April 22, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.
- United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (October 26, 2009). "Afghanistan: International Religious Freedom Report". U.S. State Department. Archived from the original on March 31, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (October 26, 2001). "Indonesia: International Religious Freedom Report". U.S. State Department. Archived from the original on March 16, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
- United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (October 26, 2009). "Indonesia: International Religious Freedom Report". U.S. State Department. Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
- United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (October 26, 2009). "Iraq: International Religious Freedom Report". U.S. State Department. Archived from the original on March 31, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (April 3, 1994). "Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Morocco". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved March 3, 2007. see paragraphs 215 and 220.
- Smith, Peter; Momen, Moojan (1989). "The Bahá'í Faith 1957–1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments". Religion 19 (1): 63–91. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8.
- Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (2007). "A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Baha'is of Iran" (PDF). Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
- Nash, Geoffrey (1982). Iran's secret pogrom: The conspiracy to wipe out the Bahaʼis. Sudbury, Suffolk: Neville Spearman Limited. ISBN 0-85435-005-5.
- Sanasarian, Eliz (2000). Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 0-521-77073-4.
- Akhavi, Shahrough (1980). Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran: clergy-state relations in the Pahlavi period. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 76–78. ISBN 0-87395-408-4. "In line with this is the thinking that the government encouraged the campaign to distract attention from more serious problems, including acute economic difficulties. Beyond this lay the difficulty the regime face in harnessing the nationalist movement that had supported Musaddiq."
- Abrahamian, Ervand (1982). Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton Book Company Publishers. p. 432. ISBN 0-691-10134-5.
- Simpson, John; Shubart, Tira (1995). Lifting the Veil. London: Hodder & Stoughton General Division. p. 223. ISBN 0-340-62814-6.
- Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (March 8, 2006). "Iran, Islamic Republic of". Netherlands Institute of Human Rights. Archived from the original on May 02 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
- Bahá'í International Community (April 14, 2005). "Bahá'í International Community dismayed at lack of Human Rights Resolution on Iran". NewsWire. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
- CNN (May 16, 2008). "Iran's arrest of Baha'is condemned". CNN. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
- Sullivan, Amy (December 8, 2009). "Banning the Baha'i". Time. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- Asma Jahangir (March 20, 2006). "Special Rapporteur on Freedom of religion or belief concerned about treatment of followers of Bahá'í Faith in Iran". United Nations. Archived from the original on April 26, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.
- Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (May 14, 2008). "IHRDC Condemns the Arrest of Leading Bahá’ís" (PDF). Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
- "Trial underway for Baha'i leaders in Iran". CNN. January 12, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: A Trial In Tehran: Their Only 'Crime' – Their Faith, April 8, 2010.
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Iran Baha'i Leaders Scheduled In Court On Election Anniversary, June 3, 2010.
- Siegal, Daniel (August 11, 2010). "IRAN: Court sentences leaders of Bahai faith to 20 years in prison". Los Angeles Times.
- Los Angeles Times. Sentences for Iran's Baha'i leaders reportedly reduced. September 16, 2010.
- AFP. Families fear for Bahais jailed in Iran. February 16, 2011.
- AFP. US 'troubled' by Bahai reports from Iran. March 31, 2011.
- Iran detains 5 more Baha'i, (The Jerusalem Post), Retrieved February 14, 2010
- (French) Kravetz, Marc (1982). Irano nox. Paris: Grasset. p. 237. ISBN 2-246-24851-5.
- Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Crimes Against Humanity: The Islamic Republic's Attacks on the Bahá'ís. New Haven, CT: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. p. 5.
- Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Community Under Siege: The Ordeal of the Bahá'ís of Shiraz. New Haven, CT: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. p. 9.
- Statement of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Buenos Aires, September 26, 1979, cited in Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (2007). "A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Baha'is of Iran" (PDF). Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
- Cooper, Roger (1993). Death Plus 10 years. HarperCollins. p. 20. ISBN 0-00-255045-8
- Simpson, John; Shubart, Tira (1995). Lifting the Veil. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. p. 223. ISBN 0-340-62814-6
- Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohamad (2008). "Anti-Baha'ism and Islamism in Iran". In Brookshaw, Dominic P.; Fazel, Seena B. The Baha'is of Iran: Socio-historical studies. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 200. ISBN 0-203-00280-6
- Freedman, Samuel G. (June 26, 2009). "For Bahais, a Crackdown Is Old News". The New York Times.
- Momen, Moojan (2004). "Conspiracies and Forgeries: the attack upon the Baha'i community in Iran". Persian Heritage 9 (35): 27–29
- U.S. Department of State (September 15, 2004). "Egypt: International Religious Freedom Report". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
- U.S. Department of State (October 26, 2001). "Egypt: International Religious Freedom Report". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Archived from the original on December 27, 2006. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
- "Congressional Human Rights Caucus, House of Representatives". November 16, 2005. Archived from the original on December 27, 2006. Retrieved December 29, 2006.
- Editors of Bahá'í News Service (April 17, 2009). "Egypt officially changes rules for ID cards". Bahá'í News Service. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
- Editors of Bahá'í News Service (August 14, 2009). "First identification cards issued to Egyptian Bahá'ís using a "dash" instead of religion". Bahá'í News Service. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
- Lewis 1984, pp. 20–21
- `Abdu'l-Bahá (1978). Gail, Marzieh, ed. Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá. Wilmette, Illinois, US: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-85398-084-5.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá (1891). Browne, E.G., ed. A Traveller's Narrative: Written to illustrate the episode of the Bab. Cambridge University Press.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá (1921). The Will And Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Mona Vale, NSW, Australia: Bahá'í Publications Australia (published 1992). ISBN 0-909991-47-2.
- editors, Daphne Daume, Louise Watson. (1992). "The Bahá'í Faith". Britannica Book of the Year. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. ISBN 0-85229-486-7.
- Cole, Juan (1982). "The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá'í Writings". Bahá'í Studies. monograph 9. pp. 1–38.
- Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, US: Bahá'í Publishing Trust (published 1979). ISBN 0-87743-020-9.
- Esslemont, John (1923). Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (5th ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, US: Bahá'í Publishing Trust (published 1980). ISBN 0-87743-160-4.
- Foltz, Richard (2004). Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions. Oxford: Oneworld publications. ISBN 1-85168-336-4.
- Hatcher, John S. (2005). "Unveiling the Hurí of Love". Journal of Bahá'í Studies 15 (1). pp. 1–38.
- Hatcher, W.S.; Martin, J.D. (1998). The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion. New York, NY: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-065441-4.
- Heggie, James (1986). Bahá'í References to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-242-2.
- Houghton (2004). "Bahaism". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-71146-0.
- Lewis, Bernard (1984). The Jews of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00807-8.
- Hutter, Manfred (2005). "Bahā'īs". In Jones, Lindsay. Encyclopedia of Religion 2 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference US. pp. 737–740. ISBN 0-02-865733-0.
- McMullen, Michael D. (2000). The Baha'i: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity. Atlanta, Georgia: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2836-4.
- Momen, Moojan (2007). "The Bahá'í Faith". In Partridge, Christopher H. New Lion Handbook: The World's Religions (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Lion Hudson Plc. ISBN 0-7459-5266-6.
- Momen, Moojan (1994). Buddhism and the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-384-4.
- Momen, Moojan (1990). Hinduism and the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-299-6.
- Momen, Moojan (2000). Islam and the Bahá'í Faith, An Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith for Muslims. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-446-8.
- Motlagh, Hudishar (1992). I Shall Come Again. Global Perspective. ISBN 0-937661-01-5.
- Schaefer, U.; Towfigh, N. & Gollmer, U. (2000). Making the Crooked Straight: A Contribution to Bahá'í Apologetics. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-443-3.
- Smith, Peter (2008). An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86251-5.
- Smith, P. (2000). A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Stockman, Robert H. (2006). "The Baha'is of the United States". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael. Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: Asian Traditions 4. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-275-98712-4.
- Townshend, George (1966). Christ and Bahá’u’lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-005-5.
- Universal House of Justice ([ca. 1996]). A Statement on Peace, to the Peoples of the World, by the Universal House of Peace. Thornhill, Ont.: Bahá'í Peace Council of Canada.
- Universal House of Justice (2001). Century of Light. Wilmette, Illinois, US: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-294-5.
|Find more about Bahá'í Faith at Wikipedia's sister projects|
|Definitions and translations from Wiktionary|
|Media from Commons|
|Learning resources from Wikiversity|
|News stories from Wikinews|
|Quotations from Wikiquote|
|Source texts from Wikisource|
|Textbooks from Wikibooks|
|Database entry Q22679 on Wikidata|
- The Bahá'í Faith – The international website of the Bahá'ís of the world
- Bahá'í Faith at the Open Directory Project | <urn:uuid:d94d2a3e-feb3-433d-8062-4033c284fb00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%c3%a1%e2%80%99%c3%ad | 2013-06-18T22:53:04Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.892094 | 15,179 |
Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
|Part of a series on|
Although the title "difference feminism" is a relatively recent addition to the feminist movement, the philosophies of gender relations undergirding this category have their roots as far back as the early Greeks. Forms of difference feminism often stress a fundamental biological, emotional, psychological or spiritual difference between the sexes.
Reverse gender polarity Edit
Reverse gender polarity is the form of difference feminism that asserts that women, per se, are superior to men. It developed as the opposite of traditional gender polarity that asserts that men, per se, are superior to women. Traditional polarity was espoused beginning with Aristotle.
Reverse gender polarity, however, began in the medieval era with the exaltation of feminine virtue by authors like Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Lucrezia Marinelli. It became prominent again in second-wave feminism with women like psychologist Carol Gilligan.
Gender complementarity Edit
- Further information: Complementarianism
Fractional gender complementarity Edit
Fractional gender complementarity argues that men and women complement one another as separate parts that together make up a composite whole. This form of difference feminism was most prominent in the Cult of True Womanhood developed in reaction to other forms of feminism in the 19th century. It originally developed from a neoplatonic unisex theory that one sexless soul was incarnated into two different bodies: male and female. The two, when added together, were to have formed a single mind.
Difference feminism has been criticized for claiming that the sexes differ in their style of reasoning by evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker. "If difference feminism is true," he writes, "it would disqualify women from becoming constitutional lawyers, Supreme Court justices, and moral philosophers, who make their living by reasoning about rights and justice." He also notes that many studies have not found significant differences between men and women in their moral reasoning.
Integral gender complementarity Edit
Integral gender complementarity argues that men and women are each integral, whole beings unto themselves whose result when put together is greater than the sum of their parts. Michele M. Schumacher, for example, believes that there is "one (human) nature, two modes of expression... Together they form a communion of persons..."to exist mutually one for the other" "
The metaphysical foundation of this theory was developed by Dietrich von Hildebrand and Edith Stein, and later by Personalists like Emmanuel Mounier and Jacques Maritain. More recently, the theory was espoused by Pope John Paul II as a foundation for a new feminism.
In regards to differences in emotions, styles or reasoning, those who follow integral complementary assert that the differences are not divisional - that women only feel or reason one way and men another. Rather, they claim the characteristic differences can be found in tendencies and inclinations rather than finite generalizations. For example, author Janne Haaland-Matlary asserts that it "is far more profound than simple biological reductionism...or... social constructivism." A woman may use her "feminine genius" in practically every profession and vocation.
Pope John Paul II asserted that the challenge facing most societies "is that of upholding, indeed strengthening, woman's role in the family while at the same time making it possible for her to use all her talents and exercise all her rights in building up society." For feminists who believe in integral complementary, like the new feminists, biology is not "destiny", but it is essentially important.
See also Edit
- ↑ Allen, Prudence, RSM. The Concept of Woman: The Aristotelian Revolution 750BC - AD 1250. Montreal: Eden Press, 1985
- ↑ Allen, The Concept of Woman. p. 89-126
- ↑ Allen, "Man-Woman Complementarity", p.3
- ↑ Allen, "Man-Woman Complementarity". p.3-5
- ↑ Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate, Chapter on Gender p. 342.
- ↑ Schumacher, Michele M. "The Nature of Nature in Feminism, Old and New: From Dualism to Complementary Unity". p.17-51 in "Women in Christ; Toward a New Feminism". William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2003. p. 45
- ↑ Von Hildebrand, Dietrich. Marriage: the Mystery of Faithful Love. Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 1991. p. 53-55; Von Hildebrand, Dietrich. Man and Woman: Love and the Meaning of Intimacy. Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 1992, p. 91
- ↑ Stein, Edith. "Letter to Sister Callista Koph" in Self-Portrait in Letters: 1916-1942. Washington DC: ICS Publications, 1993. Stein, Edith. Essays on Woman.
- ↑ Allen, "Man-Woman Complementarity". p.5-18
- ↑ John Paul II, "Letter to Women" in The Genius of Women (Washington DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1997)
- ↑ Haaland-Matlary, Janne. "Men and Women in Family, Society and Politics". L'Osservatore Romano. Vatican. January 12, 2005. p. 6-7. http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=6309&longdesc
- ↑ John Paul II, "Welcome to Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the Fourth World Council on Women", May 1995. No 8, as included in "The Genius of Women".
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).| | <urn:uuid:5e6cd5b8-6e1f-4b55-8bfc-7012a63cb03a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Difference_feminism | 2013-05-21T17:47:42Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.894517 | 1,227 |
||Topex was JPL's follow-on to the Seasat-A mission of 1978. Unlike Seasat, Topex had just one scientific instrument, a radar altimeter designed to measure sea surface height. Surface height is directly related to temperature, tides and currents, all of which are important to oceanographers and meteorologists. But in the poor fiscal atmosphere of the early 1980s, NASA could not afford the project. Similarly, the French space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, had a nearly identical "Poseidon" mission in its plans that it could not afford. So, NASA associate administrator Burt Edelson arranged a merger with his French counterpart, Jean-Louis Fellouf, with NASA providing the satellite, France providing an Ariane launch vehicle, and both providing radar altimeters.
Arianespace launched Topex/Poseidon on Oct. 10, 1992, from its facility in Korou, French Guyana. Over its life, the mission proved the existence of deep-ocean waves previously known only from theory, watched the complete evolution of the largest El Nino in the 20th century during 1997 and 1998, showed seasonal cycles in the world ocean, and measured the slow thermal expansion of the oceans as they warm.
Far exceeding its expected five-year life, Topex/Poseidon was finally shut down in January 2006. The mission had been so valuable to Earth science, it had already been replaced by the Jason-1 mission (also a joint U.S./France effort). The two spacecraft shared the same orbit for several years, while scientists compared their data. | <urn:uuid:79ae505e-6e77-4a01-8e62-5e2a944f0424> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jplhistory/the80/ocean-t.php | 2013-05-22T00:09:48Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960525 | 332 |
Golden lion tamarins are small orange-yellow monkeys, weighing 500 to 600 grams. They live in the heavily populated coastal region of Brazil, where less than two percent of the forest remains.
They are endangered because their habitat has been fragmented into small, unconnected areas, each area only capable of supporting a small number of groups. Without intervention by the National Zoo, other zoos, organizations, and the Brazilian government, inbreeding would soon lead to the local extinction of many of these small populations of tamarins, and eventually of the entire species.
About 1,500 golden lion tamarins (GLTs) live in the wild, most in or near the Reserva Biologica de Poço das Antas in the state of Rio de Janeiro. About 450 live in zoos worldwide.
Habitat and Range
Golden lion tamarins inhabit the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil. In Poço ("POH-so") das Antas, they prefer swamp forest, which contains many vines and bromeliads, and has a high density of fruit and animal foods. Because all of this land has been logged in the past, we don't know what kind of habitat GLTs originally preferred. Presumably they preferred a humid, closed canopy forest with many vines, bromeliads, and other epiphytes. The closed canopy and tangles of vines provide easy arboreal pathways and protection from aerial predators. The bromeliads host many insects and small vertebrates that are important tamarin foods. They are also an important water source.
GLTs sleep in tree holes, which are used for heat conservation and protection from nocturnal predators.
Golden lion tamarins are omnivorous, feeding on fruits, insects, and small lizards. GLTs actively search crevices, bark, bromeliads, and other hiding places for their prey. They use their long, slender fingers and hands to probe into these areas, a behavior called "micromanipulation."
In zoos, GLTs are fed fruit (bananas, apples, and oranges), canned marmoset diet, mealworms, and crickets. They supplement their planned diet with cockroaches, mice, and other uninvited guests that aren't quick enough to escape.
Hawks and other raptors, cats, and large snakes are the main predators of GLTs. Data on predation are difficult to obtain. The tamarins give alarm calls in response to strange and/or threatening stimuli. They have a particular alarm call for large birds overhead. When that call is made, the animals head for the trunks of the trees or sometimes just let themselves fall to the ground. The alarm call and the response seem to be genetically "hard-wired." Zoo born animals that have always lived inside make the call and respond appropriately when birds fly over.
In zoos, GLTs are kept in family groups. In the wild, groups are small (two to nine animals) and usually consist of one breeding adult of each sex and younger animals. The group members could be related (a family group), but transfer of animals between groups has been seen and may be quite common.
Tamarin groups actively defend a territory against other GLTs. Territories average 40 hectares (about 100 acres). The defense of a territory is accomplished through vocalizations and scent marking during ritualized group encounters. Actual fighting does not occur.
Occasionally more than one adult male (or, less commonly, more than one female) will breed in a group. Whether this represents a transitional situation, an alternate reproductive strategy based on cooperative rearing of infants, or just variation in tolerance between adults is unknown.
In captivity aggression occurs between animals of the same sex, especially between adult females. Mothers have been known to attack their older daughters, resulting in the death of one or more animals if they are not separated. Males appear to be more tolerant of each other, but will fight on occasion.
Births are usually twins. Infant care is cooperative. All members of the group will carry an infant, with the adult male commonly doing the largest share. The mother only takes the babies to nurse them. Since a set of twins might weigh as much as 15 to 20 percent of the mother's weight, she can use the help.
Young animals benefit from their experience with younger siblings. Males and females with previous caregiving experience as youngsters are much more likely to successfully raise their infants from the start. Pairs without prior infant experience often lose several sets of infants before they become competent parents.
Food is shared on occasion. Sharing is both passive (tolerated stealing) and active (offering food). Usually the food goes from older to younger animals. Often young animals will make a rasping noise (known as an infant rasp) as they try to take food from another animal.
GLTs retire at dusk and sleep until after sunrise. The adults are the first out of the holes in the morning and the last to enter at night. At zoos, they sleep in nestboxes. If nestboxes are provided in reserves or outdoor zoo exhibits, GLTs will always sleep in one.
Other GLT Facts
Gestation length: 126-130 days
Time to weaning: 90 days
Age at sexual maturity: 18 months
Life expectancy (in captivity): about 8 years for animals that survive past the infant stage—40 percent of infants die before 1 year.
Longevity record: 31 years
Several photos on this page were taken by James M. Dietz, University of Maryland, and are used with permission. | <urn:uuid:f2b0c68b-2520-464c-bf8b-b087c8a39479> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/EndangeredSpecies/GLTProgram/Learn/ | 2013-05-24T15:49:23Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953489 | 1,151 |
Washington, October 18 (ANI): Children with autism may recognize socially inappropriate behaviour, but they have difficulty using spoken language to explain why the behaviours are considered inappropriate, according to a research from Carnegie Mellon University.
Elizabeth Carter from the University and colleagues said the results of their functional MRI studies support previous behavioural studies that reached similar conclusions about language impairment in children with autism.
In the current study, the researchers asked children with autism and children with typical development to identify in which of two pictures a boy was being bad (social judgment), or which of two pictures was outdoors (physical judgment).
Both groups successfully performed the task, but the children with autism showed activity in fewer brain regions involving social and language networks while performing the task.
Even though language was not required for the task, the children with typical development recruited language areas of the brain while making their decisions.
According to the researchers, their results support the hypothesis that children with autism may recognize socially inappropriate behaviour, but have difficulty using spoken language to explain why the behaviour is considered wrong.
They suggested that this decreased use of language might also make generalization of the knowledge more difficult.
"These results indicate that it is important to work with these children on translating their knowledge into language", said Carter.
The study was published in the open access journal PLOS ONE. (ANI) | <urn:uuid:6785ad68-0bb1-4f93-9c95-c90b439c47e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://in.news.yahoo.com/autistic-kids-identify-misbehavior-cannot-explain-verbally-104033642.html | 2013-05-25T20:23:26Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706298270/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121138-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968717 | 270 |
Date of this Version
As the Nation strives for energy independence, interest in renewable energy sources intensifies. Wind energy is one such source, and North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana are ranked among the top five states for wind potential by the Department of Energy. The Missouri Coteau is especially rich in wind energy potential. With its hilly topography and rocky soils, the Coteau also contains large tracts of unplowed grasslands and undrained wetlands. Accordingly, the Coteau is a prime area for nesting waterfowl and other grassland birds, many of which have suffered marked population declines in recent decades. To help maintain breeding populations of these birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has established a Grassland Easement Program, which provides landowners with an economic incentive to keep the land in native prairie, rather than converting it to cropland. The USFWS is keenly interested to know if wind turbines are compatible with the goals of their Grassland Easement Program. | <urn:uuid:dfba1461-ef5f-47e3-8104-8b8eac012a5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/90/ | 2013-05-21T18:27:42Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700380063/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103300-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938995 | 206 |
Botswana Human Rights
Human Rights Concerns
Botswana frequently speaks out against democratic abuses across the African continent, often one of the only regional voices to take such a stand. However, while transitions to power in Botswana have been seamless, the same ruling party has been in power for the last 40 years and succession is frequently guaranteed by a term limited president stepping down in favor of his vice president in order to allow that person to run in the next election as an incumbent. This makes it difficult for opposition parties to gain traction. Further, state media control also challenges any opposition party's ability to run on an equal campaign footing.
The death penalty has been in force in Botswana since the country became independent in 1966. The death penalty is available against those convicted for murder, treason, an attempt on the life of the head of state and the military offences of mutiny and desertion in the face of the enemy. Executions are often carried out unannounced to the public and the family members of the condemned prisoner. Families are not allowed to attend the burial of a condemned prisoner nor visit their graves once they are buried.
On March 2, 2005 the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights called on Botswana to end its enforcement of "inhuman and degrading" corporal and capital punishment. Botswana has defended its position on both issues, saying this was the will of its citizens. On December 18, 2007 Botswana voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly and was one of the most vocal opponents of the resolution during the debates.
The Botswana government has been accused of dispossessing the San from their land in the Kalahari Desert because of the vast diamond fields present in the region. The San, also known as Bushmen, are southern Africa's first inhabitants and consider the Kalahari their ancestral lands. They won a court decision in 2006 in Botswana's High Court declaring they were wrongly evicted and should be allowed to return. However, after the judgment the attorney-general said the government was not obliged to provide essential services to the Bushmen. Mining activities in the region make it difficult for the San to access water and they are blocked from access to boreholes. Currently, most San are crowded in resettlement camps in less than desirable living conditions.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people recently issues a report about conditions in Botswana. While he acknowledged that Botswana has made efforts to allow cultural freedoms of expression by indigenous groups, he noted a need beyond ceremonial and artistic expression to include real promotion of cultural diversity. He further roundly criticized the government for its treatment of the San population and their forced removal from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
In 2011, the San won access through the courts for the right to return to their lands and access to water. Many have now begun to return. | <urn:uuid:39e82cf3-cd71-4ff7-84bc-a09424ae7027> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/countries/africa/botswana | 2013-06-19T14:26:58Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975249 | 598 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.