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By Emmie Miller Even having studied history in college, it is difficult to chase away the ennui of seemingly dead-end research, particularly when you imagine divulging exciting facts and uncovering lost secrets. For me, research possesses the allure of sleuthing a mystery. Spontaneous discoveries do not exist outside the realm of possibility, but more often than not, making difficult sources pliant requires context and focus. My experience with the Smithsonian Field Book Project exemplifies this process of making your search an informed one. When told I could write about almost anything pertaining to the field books, my question was, “Where to start? ”! Eager as I was, I was at a bit of a loss. Then I found an ink-etched scrawl in a seam between pages of Agnes Chase’s field book: “Who is Ramón Corral? ” This was my spontaneous discovery! Never having heard the name, I asked the same question. Who was Ramón Corral? A quick search explained that Corral was vice president of Mexico from 1904-1911. Corral resigned from his post as incumbent president in light of revolutionary uprisings against the government of Porfirio Diaz. Diaz and Corral’s deposition began the Mexican Revolution that made Pancho Villa and Emilio Zapata famous rebel leaders. This gave me context to understand one small mystery buried in Chase’s scientific notes. Uncovering Corral’s identity also supplied me with the focus for this blog post. While Chase’s quick scrawl may have been a passing thought that was never answered, her presence in Mexico at this time subjected her to precarious situation, including growing revolutionary sentiments. Her exposure to this tension may have prompted her thought on Corral’s identity. Unfortunately, however, there was no other obvious record of conflict in her notes. So began my hunt for other botanists with similar experiences represented in the field books. Some botanists used wartime as an opportunity for collecting, like Edward Palmer. As a Union soldier during the Civil War, his command sent him west to Colorado, a new biological landscape for him to explore; his field notes document his collecting during this time. Another botanist, Egbert Walker, received specimens mailed from American servicemen all around the globe during World War II after establishing the Servicemen’s Collecting Program, giving him access to diverse ecosystems. But the most intriguing botanical character to pursue life-threatening field work was Joseph Rock. Rock was perhaps more an adventurer than a botanist. He spent his life collecting in Asia and studying Chinese and Tibetan indigenous cultures. Rock’s frequent use of Chinese characters in his field books demonstrates the degree to which Rock studied Chinese culture. He journaled his ambivalent feelings about China, criticizing the culture from his very Western perspective, though he often felt at home there. Context is pivotal here in explaining Rock’s experiences: Rock continually returned to China despite the five occasions on which violence interrupted or destroyed his work. This makes his field books more valuable, as Rock had, at times, poor luck preserving his scholarship. To understand the risk of his returns, you must understand Rock’s departures. One of Rock’s 1922 field books gives a cursory glance at the difficulties of working in China. In a note to Smithsonian botanist William Maxon, he says, “I will mail [my field book] to you from China if I find a post office in Yunnan.” At what point he found a post office is hard to say, but presumably the note and the field book were sent together, reaching the Smithsonian safely. Rock’s early years in China are well-documented, and while he botanized, he experienced localized tribal conflict. In one instance he’d made preparations for the precipitous journey to a mountain pass for collecting, but fighting between Chinese Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists jeopardized the expedition and it was called off. World War II further challenged Rock’s studies. When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, Rock fled to modern-day Vietnam. 1944 found Rock evacuated to the United States as WWII intensified in the Pacific. In 1949, Rock fled China for the last time during the Chinese Revolution. The context surrounding Rocks’ exploits explains why my article’s focus is important: scientists often find themselves in dangerous regions in dangerous times. Rock’s location in the early twentieth century posed challenges due to the dangers and inconveniences of the politically unstable region. Like the other determined and ambitious botanists mentioned in this article, Rock would not be stopped. Beaty, Janice. Plants in a Pack: A Life of Edward Palmer, Adventurous Botanist and Collector. New York: Pantheon Books, 1964. Chase, Mary Agnes. Field Notes, Natural History Library (1906-1959). Jowett, Philip S. The Mexican Revolution, 1910-20. Oxford: Osprey Printing, Limited, 2006. Palmer, Edward. Field Notes, Natural History Library (1861-1914). Rock, Joseph F. Field Notes. Natural History Library (1920-1924). Smithsonian Institution Archives. SIA RU007270, Walker, Egbert H (Egbert Hamilton) 1899-1991, Egbert Hamilton Walker Papers, 1923-1987. Finding Aid. Smithsonian Institution Archives. 21 September 2012. http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217427?back=%2Fsearch%2Fsia_search_findingaids%2Fegbert%2520walker. 11 July 2011. Sutton, Stephanne Barry. In China’s Border Provinces: The Turbulent Career of Joseph Rock, Botanist-Explorer. New York: Hastings House, 1974.

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Like people, Music offers different styles and genres, which is great. There will always be the kind of music that will suit your personality. You could play rock, classic, hip hop and many more. Here in Project Free Sheet, we don’t limit our joiners on what genre they should play. We are very versatile and we hope that you are too. Because we encourage our students not to be limited in one genre only. There are so many genre in music which is why we can’t cover them all. We are not that big yet. But if there is a kind of music you are really interested in, you can request to our head to include this in one of our practices and sessions. Originated in rural areas of United States. It is light and usually upbeat music composed of fiddle guitars, drums, keyboards. Medium to dark type music and the most common played since 1960’s. Rock music is commonly played with heavy drums, electric guitars and keyboard. Combination of other music styles such as dance, rock, latin, country, and urban. It has rhythmic element that makes it catchy. There is no limit on what instruments you could use as long as it goes along with the song. It could be urban or contemporary and mixture of both. R&B focuses on the vocals accompanied by upbeat music background. Most R&B uses electronic music effects to add as another element. Classical music has a serious approach as it uses established principles from other genres. Most classical music are soft and light. Though we are already in the modern age, Project Free Sheet still loves to play classical music. If there’s anything you want to play, feel free to approach us.

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Haiti, an independent republic since 1804, is the oldest black republic in the world. It is located in the West Indies on the western third of the Island of Hispaniola, whic. . . Republic of Haiti FLAG: The upper half is blue, the lower half red. ANTHEM: La Dessalinienne (Song of Dessalines). MONETARY UNIT: . . . Haiti - Jean-Bertrand Aristide (pronounced "zhuhn BARE-trahnd air-ess-TEED") "Power no longer resides with the bayonet but instead with the pe. . . The Republic of Haiti is a small, mountainous country on the western onethird of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. Haiti was originally the Arawak name for the island, meaning �. . . POPULATION 7,063,722VODOUIST 80 percentCHRISTIAN (ROMAN CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT) 93 percentOTHER (JEWISH, SANTERIAN, RASTAFARIAN, MORMON) 7 percent Haiti was once the first black independent republic in the world and the richest island in the Caribbean. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries. . .

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Differences Between HTML5 vs Flash HTML5 is the markup language utilized for presenting and structuring the content of the World Wide Web. HTML5 is the fifth and the current version of the HTML standard. HTML5 improves the language with support for the latest multimedia. HTML5 is readable by humans and well parsed by Web browsers, parsers, etc. Flash is an Adobe product. It is a multimedia software platform heavily used for the production of animations, desktop applications, mobile applications, mobile games and embedded web browser video players, Rich Internet applications. Flash is commonly used for video or audio players, advertisement and interactive media content to web pages. - HTML5 was released in October 2014 by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). HTML5 is written using HTML elements, consisting of tags. Data between these tags represent the content. The prime motive of HTML5 is to allow web browsers to interpret the content and finally display them. HTML5 comes along with pre-defined tags. - Front-end developers can insert images, videos, forms, and various content together into a cohesive web page. HTML5 uses pure code to generate interactive content. Elements are not pre-made in the exact form and then stored, but their traits are coded and then the browser renders the actual content once the page is loaded. Thus a web page designed using HTML5 can behave and look differently on different web browsers. - Flash, one can create an animation of texts, drawings and still images used by graphics. Bidirectional streaming of audio and video is also supported by Flash. It can capture the user input via mouse, keyboard, camera, and microphone. Adobe AIR is a runtime system cross-platform created by Adobe Systems for building desktop and mobile applications which require Flash. - Flash was widely installed on a desktop computer during the early 2000s. It was commonly utilized to display interactive web pages, online games and to play audio and video content. After Adobe introduced Stage3D, Flash websites saw a growth of 3D content for demonstrations and tours. - Flash uses containers to store the interactive content, which is finally rendered in the browser using a plug-in – Flash Player. Flash content is platform-independent since the container does not change from one platform to another platform. So if someone is watching Flash-based website on a PC or mobile, it will appear the same. Head to Head Comparison Between HTML5 and Flash Below is the top 8 comparison between HTML5 and Flash: Key Differences Between HTML5 and Flash Both HTML5 vs Flash are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major Difference Between HTML5 and Flash: - HTML5 has a vast potential market reach of any platform whereas, with Flash, browser support is limited and need a plug-in. - HTML5 is open source and freely available whereas Flash is an Adobe proprietary and one has to buy it. - HTML5 is lightweight, fast and takes less CPU time to render web pages whereas Flash is CPU intensive and not as lightweight as compared to HTML5. - Audio and Video support with HTML5 is not in-built whereas Flash has nice support for Audio and video formats. - HTML5 runs natively in the web browsers whereas Flash requires a plug-in to be installed separately on a web browser to display and run content. - Processing power requires to run HTML5 content is significantly lower as compared to the power required by Flash content. - HTML5 is a fairly new technology and still evolving with new elements and tag support whereas Flash is an old horse with a number of its mature tools available in the market although expensive. - HTML5 uses code to generate the interactive content, the browser renders the content when the page is loaded whereas Flash uses containers to store the interactive content, which is rendered in browsers using a plug-in called Flash player. - HTML5 is aimed to build a web with native support for media streaming whereas Flash is technology that enables developers to stream media over the internet. - HTML5 power consumption is benefiting the users immensely since it draws less power whereas Flash is more CPU intensive and draws more power with its plug-in and tools like Flash Player. HTML5 and Flash Comparison Table Below is the list of points, Describe the comparison Between HTML5 and Flash. |Basis Of Comparison Between HTML5 vs Flash||HTML5||Flash| |Arrival||Latest HTML version in the market||Older technology as compare to HTML5| |Support||Supported by all browsers natively||Additional plug-in needs to be installed| |Performance||Lower processing power is required||Require higher processing power as compared to HTML5| |Resources||Lighter on a resource does not need any plug-in||More resource oriented, plug-in needs to be installed| |Cost||Freely available, open source||Dedicated development environment, have to buy| |Support||Varying audio and video support lacks inbuilt support||Good audio and video support| |Tools||Construct 2 is HTML5 editor||Flash builder like tool are although mature but expensive| |Friendly||Friendly with SEO (Search Engine Optimization)||Flash is not friendly with SEO| HTML5 is open source and anyone can improve it by contributing whereas Flash is owned by Adobe. HTML5 is a secure technology which will benefit business, home users etc, with Flash which is a proprietary solution, leads to the security issue and slower development. The web has grown to accept only open standards like HTML5 Flash has been around for more than 20 years. During its time, it was the dominant platform for video and other multimedia. It has been a standard in the online video distribution industry, but Flash technology has some issues which revolve around security and speed. First Apple release of the iPhone in 2007 did not support Flash; hence Flash support drifts in the market. And this trend is visible in the market including some web browsers dropping Flash support. Like in July 2016, Firefox phase out the support for Flash. And hence all major web browsers have jumped on the HTML5 train as well. HTML5 is slowly and steadily filling gaps which Flash has dominated during its peak. JW player which is an HTML5 video player powers videos on millions of popular websites. Times are changing, and move toward more modern, faster standard is taking place. Flash is no longer the dominant force it once was. HTML5 is overcoming all short-comings like security and speed offered by Flash. HTML5 support for “https” and video player support will help deliver the content securely and seamlessly unlike in Flash which was CPU intensive and not fully secure. I hope now you must have got a fairer idea of both HTML5 vs Flash. Stay tuned to our blog for more articles like these. This has been a useful guide to Difference between HTML5 vs Flash. Here we have discussed HTML5 vs Flash head to head comparison, key difference along with infographics and comparison table. You may also look at the following articles to learn more

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Tina Ramirez (Heroes) exhales chlorine gas. Emit various types of gas - Gas Exudation - Miasma Breathing - Toxic Spraying User can exude toxic gases, causing various effects on others who inhale these fumes including hyper stimulation, lethargy, coma. Because gas diffuses indefinitely in concentration, it becomes less potent and less concentrated once it has expanded. - "Hazard Breath": May disperse thick smog to escape danger or choke foes. - Chlorine Gas Generation: The power to exhale chlorine gas instead of carbon dioxide. - Nerve Gas Generation: The power to generate nerve gas,in which they are immune to. Inhalation of this gas causes subjects to have pupil contraction, convulsions, involuntary evacuation, and seized respiratory system. - Pheromone Generation - Stench Generation - May be constantly active. - User may be incapable of singling secreted chemical. - Gas is not always toxic. - Sometimes incapable of bodily harm.

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- Walch Education - Function Graph A mobile phone manufacturer has to upgrade the circuitry in one of its products. Currently, the voltage in the signal-capture circuit rises according to the exponential function model , in which is a positive constant and the coefficient of , the time in seconds, and is the circuit voltage in volts. The graph shows how the voltage increases when a cell-phone tower signal is detected for . How will the function model have to be modified if the upgraded phone circuit has a voltage “rise time” that results in a circuit voltage of at least 7. 9 volts in less than 1 second when a cell-phone tower signal is detected? - Write an inequality using the function that reflects the necessary conditions for a faster rise time. - Solve the resulting inequality. - Check the result of the previous step by substituting it into the original exponential function.

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Three stories today are inexorably linked together. - Today is the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War. By the way for you history buffs the war started on June 5th 1967 and the truce was signed on June 11th 1967 meaning the Six Day War was seven days. - The diary of a 14-year-old Jewish girl, dubbed the “Polish Anne Frank,” was unveiled Monday by Israel’s Holocaust museum more than 60 years after the teenager vividly described the world crumbling around her as she came of age in a Jewish ghetto. “The rope around us is getting tighter and tighter,” Rutka Laskier wrote in 1943, shortly before she was deported to Auschwitz. “I’m turning into an animal waiting to die. ””I simply can’t believe that one day I will be allowed to leave this house without the yellow star. Or even that this war will end one day. If this happens I will probably lose my mind from joy,” she wrote on Feb. 5, 1943. “The little faith I used to have has been completely shattered. If God existed, He would have certainly not permitted that human beings be thrown alive into furnaces, and the heads of little toddlers be smashed with gun butts or shoved into sacks and gassed to death. ””I have a feeling that I am writing for the last time,” Rutka wrote on Feb. 20, 1943, as Nazi soldiers began gathering Jews outside her home for deportation. “I wish it would end already! This torment; this is hell. I try to escape from these thoughts of the next day, but they keep haunting me like nagging flies. If only I could say, it’s over, you only die once … but I can’t, because despite all these atrocities, I want to live, and wait for the following day. ” However, Rutka would write again. Her last entry was dated April 24, 1943, and her last written words were: “I’m very bored. The entire day I’m walking around the room. I have nothing to do. ” Within a few months Rutka was dead and, it seemed, her diary lost. But last year, a Polish friend who had saved the notebook finally came forth, exposing a riveting historical document. - A mass grave holding the remains of thousands of Jews killed by the Nazis has been found in southern Ukraine near the site of what was once a concentration camp, a Jewish community representative said Tuesday. The grave was found by chance last month when workers were laying gas pipelines in the village of Gvozdavka-1, near Odessa, said Roman Shvartsman, a spokesman for the regional Jewish community. He said that Nazis established a concentration camp near the village in November 1941 killed about 5,000 Jews at or near the site. “Several thousand Jews executed by the Nazis lie there,” Shvartsman told The Associated Press. Ukraine’s Jewish population was devastated during the Holocaust. Babi Yar, a ravine outside the capital Kiev where the Nazis slaughtered some 34,000 Jews over two days in September 1941, is a powerful symbol of the tragedy. How are the three items linked? During the Shoah there was no Israel. When Jews tried to escape the Nazi horrors nations around the world including the United States,refused to take them in. For example the St. Louis-Voyage of the Dammed: The St. Louis sailed out of Hamburg into the Atlantic Ocean in May 1939 carrying 963 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution just before World War II. The ship arrived in Cuba seeking asylum. The boat was kept waiting offshore while the Cuban government disagreed on how much they could charge the passengers to come ashore. A small boat armada formed to keep people from jumping off and swimming ashore, and searchlights guarded it at night. The ship was then refused asylum, prompting a near mutiny. Two people attempted suicide and dozens more threatened to do the same. On 4 June 1939, the St. Louis was also refused permission to unload on orders of President Roosevelt as the ship waited in the Caribbean Sea between Florida and Cuba. Initially, Roosevelt showed limited willingness to take in some of those on board, but vehement opposition came from Roosevelt’s Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, and from Southern Democrats — some of whom went so far as to threaten to withhold their support of Roosevelt in the 1940 Presidential election if this occurred. The St. Louis then tried to enter Canada but was denied as well. The ship eventually sailed back to Hamburg, Germany, whereupon various European nations each agreed to admit a small number of its passengers. The majority of these travelers perished in the Holocaust as most of the host countries eventually fell to Nazi occupation during the war, which started only a few weeks after the ship’s return. There were many other St. Louis’. As long as there is a strong Israel there will be a place of refuge for the Jewish People. Today’s Islamic Terrorists are not just calling for the destruction of Israel but for the destruction of all Jews everywhere. When push came to shove 60 years ago no one helped the Jews, if the Islamic terrorists gain additional power, Israel may be the only country that we can count on. Another parallel that binds these stories together is that abandonment of the Jews during the Shoah. No nation spoke out while Six Million Died. In 1967 with Israel’s very existence on the line no one stepped up to help Israel. Right before the war, President Johnson warned: “Israel will not be alone unless it decides to go alone. ” Then, when the war began, the State Department announced: “Our position is neutral in thought, word and deed. ” Johnson imposed an arms embargo on the region (France, Israel’s other main arms supplier, also embargoed arms to Israel). By contrast, the Soviets were supplying massive amounts of arms to the Arabs. Simultaneously, the armies of Kuwait, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq were contributing troops and arms to the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian fronts. Israel had to go out alone in 1967, and the more I read about “Baker Reports” or Europe and the US Funding terrorist organizations like Fatah and Hamas. the more I realize that when push comes to shove, Israel will only have herself and Jews in the galut to rely on. Some more great reading on the Six (Really Seven) Day War Can be found at: A war that never ends– From Wake Up America How TIME Reported the Six Day War in 1967- Little Green Footballs How could so many forget so much? --Boker Tov Boulder

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Warm-summer humid continental climate |Köppen Code: Dfb| |D :||Cold (continental)| |f :||Without dry season| |b :||Warm summer| View Index of Climate Classification Types Cold (continental) without dry season, warm summer. The coldest month averaging below 0 °C (32 °F), all months with average temperatures below 22 °C (71. 6 °F), and at least four months averaging above 10 °C (50 °F). No significant precipitation difference between seasons. Related climatic classifications A selection of mineral localities found in this climate zone.

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GLOSSARY OF GOLF ARCHITECTURE TERMS Berm - a landform consisting of an elongated mound commonly used on a golf course to visually define an area, to deflect surface water or to prevent the ball rolling out of bounds. Blind hole - a hole where either the green or landing area (target area) is not visible from where the golfer must execute the shot. Bunker - a depression usually, though not always, filled with sand, which is a golf course hazard. Clubhouse - the main building on a golf course usually containing locker rooms, the pro shop, food and beverage facilities and other amenities. Contour line - a line on a map or plan that joins areas of equal elevation. Contours - the topography, or physical shape, of an area of land. Dogleg - a par 4 or 5 hole that changes direction at a point (called the turnpoint or pivot) between the tee and the green. Par 5 holes may change direction more than once. Double green - a green, usually with a very large surface area, which has two cups cut into it and is used by two different holes. Double hazard - a situation where a golfer is forced to play from one hazard, such as a bunker or sandtrap, over or around another hazard, such as water or a tree. Driving range - a large teeing area maintained for golfers to practice hitting shots. Earthwork - the grading of land to form the final shape or contours of an area. Also refers to the moving of soil from one area to another. Fairway - the area of shortly cut grass between the tee and the green that constitutes the desired playing surface of the hole. Green - the area of smooth, shortly clipped grass putting surface, surrounding the hole. Also referred to as the putting green. The Rules of Golf define the putting green as “all ground of the hole being played which is specially prepared for putting”. Green complex - a term used to describe the green and its immediate surroundings, including the fringe, bunkers and adjacent rough. Green speed - an expression of the velocity of the ball rolling on the putting surface. Quantitatively measured by an instrument called a stimpmeter. Grubbing - the removal of tree stumps and roots after the timber has been cut and removed. Halfway house - a building located between the ninth green and tenth tee where golfers may purchase refreshments and food if playing on from the front to the back nine. Hard landscaping - a term used to describe features such as retaining walls or any artistic construction made of rock, wood or concrete. Hazard - a golf course feature that is meant to penalize a poorly hit golf shot. Bunkers, the rough and water features are all considered hazards. The Rules of Golf state that a hazard is “any bunker or water hazard”. Heroic design - a design style where hazards are positioned to give the golfer a choice of playing around a hazard on a longer route to the green or negotiating a full carry over all or part of the hazard and being rewarded with an easier subsequent shot. Heroic design is a type of strategic design where players “bite off what they can chew”. Hydromulching - a process by which mulch is sprayed onto a seeded area using a jet of water. Landing area - the portion of the fairway of a par 4 or 5 hole where the majority of properly hit golf balls will land when hit from the tee. A second landing area is usually located short of the green on par 5 holes. Links - a Scottish term most commonly referring to the natural landform found along the coast of Scotland where the first golf courses where thought to have developed. The predominant features are sandy dunes covered with grasses, gorse and other low-growing plants. Golf courses that are built in these areas, or are designed to imitate these courses, are often called links. Localized dry spots - areas on a green that do not accept and retain moisture as well as the other areas of the green. Macro-climate - the weather conditions that predominate in a larger area or region. Master plan - the plan laying out the overall design of the golf course. Micro-climate - the weather conditions of a small area. Micro-climate is affected significantly by the shelter provided by trees, changes in terrain or the presence of large bodies of water. Out-of-bounds - an area that is defined as being out-of-play. Overseeding - the application of seed into an established turf area to fill bare spots or to attempt to alter the species or variety composition of the area. Parallelism - a situation where holes run parallel, or directly adjacent to one another. Parkland - a golf course built in a setting of trees and turf as opposed to the relatively treeless links setting. Penal design - a design style that penalizes poor shots by placing hazards directly in the line of play. A player must carry the hazard as there is no route provided to play around the hazard. Revetting - a construction technique that involves the use of layers of sod laid horizontally around the inside perimeter of a bunker to create a very steep sod face. Rough - the playing area surrounding the tee, fairway and green. Usually the grass in this area is left at a higher height of cut than the grass on the main playing surfaces in order to penalize poorly hit shots. Routing - the laying out of the golf holes in terms of the direction, or route, that the layout follows. Soft landscaping - a term used to describe features such as trees, shrubs and flowers. Specifications - detailed descriptions of the way in which specific features will be constructed. Specimen trees - trees that exhibit superior characteristics (size, age, health, location) which make them desirable for retention in a design. Split fairway - a fairway that is divided by a hazard such as water, sand or trees, providing the golfer with a choice of two routes to the green. Stolonized - a method for establishing a stand of turfgrass by the planting of stolons (above ground stems) that will root and produce plants. Strategic design - a design style that provides both a safer but longer route to the hole around the hazards and a more direct route to the hole that requires playing closer to or over hazards but offers the golfer a better opportunity to use fewer strokes. Stroke - defined by the Rules of Golf as “the forward movement of the club made with the intention of fairly striking at and moving the ball. Surrounds - the area immediately adjacent to a green or a tee. Swale - a depression in the ground that is lower than the surrounding ground. This term is frequently used to describe a depression in the surface of a green. Tee - the area from which a golfer plays the first stroke on a hole. Topdressing - the application of soil or sand to a turf area, which aids in levelling any depressions or filling holes left by aeration machinery. Water hazard - defined by the Rules of Golf as “any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface drainage ditch or other open water course (whether or not containing water) and anything of a similar nature. Wetting agent - a material that increases the ability of water to infiltrate the soil; used to treat localized dry spots on greens. Working drawings - the drawings that constitute the architect’s standards for the construction of a golf course or the pictorial portion of the contract documents showing design and dimensions.

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True to their name, these popular kidney-shaped beans come in both dried and canned forms. Well known for being a key ingredient in chilli con carne, kidney beans are especially good in simmered dishes, absorbing the flavours of seasonings and the other foods with which they are cooked. One cup of cooked red kidney beans provides 277 calories, with very little fat content. Not only are these beans a quality carbohydrate choice, they provide your body with essential nutrients and are a great, inexpensive choice for vegetarians and vegans year-round. Keep reading for our Top 5 Health Benefits of Red Kidney Beans! Red kidney beans are supercharged with antioxidants – the “disease-fighting compounds that Mother Nature puts in our foods to help our bodies stay healthy. ” Powered by strong anti-aging properties and exceptionally rich in flavonoids, these beans are great in promoting your longevity. Except for your morning bran flakes, there’s no food more fibre-rich than beans and pulses. Beans are especially high in cholesterol-lowering soluble fibre. Evidence from research studies shows that just ½ a cup of cooked beans a day for two months lowered cholesterol by 20 points! 3. Fat-free, high-quality protein Pulses are a good source of protein, essential for building and replacing muscle. If you are vegetarian or vegan, kidney beans are a useful way to get protein into your diet. These hearty beans when combined with a whole grain, such as whole wheat pasta or brown rice, provide protein comparable to that of meat or dairy foods – and without the high calories or saturated fat found in those foods! A cup of kidney beans provides over 15 grams of protein. Check out this kidney bean burger recipe for a tasty fast food alternative! 4. Controls blood sugar Beans are known as a diabetes superfood. A very good source of cholesterol-lowering fibre, kidney beans’ fibre content prevents your blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making them an especially healthy choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. 5. Long-lasting fullness Since kidney beans are full of fibre and fibre-rich foods are low in energy density, they take up lots of space in your stomach without providing the calories. Kidney beans also take a while for your body to digest, ideal if you want to feel fuller for longer if you’re trying to lose weight. According to a study, women who consumed more fibre were less likely to gain weight than those who consumed less. Remember! Whilst many foods are perfectly fine to eat in their natural state, red kidney beans are not one of them. Though many raw beans contain the toxin Phytohaemagglutinin, (also called kidney bean lectin), kidney beans contain the highest toxin levels. Cooked kidney beans contain this toxin at much lower, harmless levels. If you choose dried kidney beans over the canned alternative, soaking and cooking the beans thoroughly destroys the toxin. If in doubt, just buy the already cooked, canned kidney beans and you’ll be safe and good to go eat them! For inspirational dishes that use kidney beans, check out these recipes. Got any other bean recipes? Let us know below, join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

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It’s a common misconception that Bitcoin transactions are completely private and anonymous. Whilst Bitcoin does offer greater level of privacy than traditional banking, users of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can have their transactions tracked through the public distributed ledger, and potentially give away valuable information. Instead, privacy coins are a way to transact truly anonymously using a range of privacy-preserving methods. One of the oldest and well-established privacy coin protocols is Zerocoin, an extension to the Bitcoin protocol with enhanced privacy features. Many projects have tried to implement the Zerocoin protocol with mixed success, but one cryptocurrency which has delivered a functioning and practical privacy coin is Zcoin. Blokt spoke to Reuben Yap, COO of Zcoin, to find out why privacy-preserving technologies are essential to cryptocurrencies, and what makes the Zcoin team so passionate about them. What is Zcoin? Established in 2016 by lead developer Poramin Insom, Zcoin is an open-source, decentralized privacy coin which focuses on achieving anonymity for its users while transacting on the blockchain. Discussing why Insom decided to create Zcoin, Yap explains: “Poramin was unhappy about the lack of financial privacy in Bitcoin and Vertcoin, which he also co-founded. Instead, he decided to create a coin using the Zerocoin protocol to enable anonymous transactions, whilst retaining fair distribution. ” Insom and the Zcoin team achieved this by implementing an ASIC-resistant algorithm, essentially allowing anyone with a GPU or CPU to mine. Zcoin is the first full implementation of the Zerocoin Protocol, which was first proposed by Professor Matthew Green from John Hopkins University (JHU) in the United States. An extension of the Bitcoin protocol, the Zerocoin protocol allows users to have complete privacy over their transactions via zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs. Whilst studying his masters at JHU, Poramin learned about the Zerocoin protocol and has since integrated academic ideas with practical contributions to cryptographic research. Why Do Blockchains Need Privacy Enhancing Technology? Bitcoin addresses are pseudonymous rather than actually anonymous, and whilst they cannot directly be tied to individuals, remaining truly anonymous while transacting Bitcoin is problematic as transactions are stored permanently and transparently on the blockchain. Because of this, transaction patterns between addresses can often give clues as to real identities. Interested parties, such as companies or law enforcement agencies, expend vast amounts of resources to merge this available data and derive enough information to build a profile on and identify users. To protect crypto users, Zcoin was the first project to implement Merkle Tree Proofs on its network to promote egalitarian mining; in addition to the Dandelion protocol which protects user identities by obscuring their IP addresses. Additionally, as Zcoin’s blockchain is both permissionless and immutable, it was recently used in the Thailand Democrat Party’s primary election, where over 127,000 votes were cast securely, nationwide. Sharing why privacy is so important to Zcoin’s fundamentals, Yap says: “Zcoin believes financial privacy is a fundamental human right, and also necessary for cryptocurrency adoption. One of the primary attractions of cryptocurrency is as a self sovereign money. Uncensorability and privacy go hand in hand in protecting this. It is not so much about anonymity, as it is about having the autonomy to choose what data you reveal. ” Zcoin also promotes a fair proof of work consensus to encourage widespread distribution during initial trading of a cryptocurrency. Zcoin argues that other mechanisms, such as proof of stake, offer higher throughput but don’t aid coin distribution, instead of making the largest token holders wealthier. How Does Zcoin Work? Zcoin enables anonymity by “burning” coins and redeeming them for new ones without any prior transaction history. Here, Zcoin uses zero-knowledge proofs as proof of ownership of burnt coins, without showing which burnt coins they are – so that users of a new coin can be redeemed privately. The entire Zcoin technology stack includes Znodes, smart contracts, Dandelion transaction broadcasting and more. Participants of the Zcoin protocol have the opportunity to run their own full node, called “Znodes.” Each Znode verifies transactions on the Zcoin protocol and ensures the Zcoin network remains adequately decentralized. Discussing rewards for Znode operators, Yap says: “Full nodes are a crucial part of any cryptocurrency network, but there are usually no incentives to run nodes, despite it costing money to do so. By paying Znode operators a part of the block reward, we create incentives to operate a node which benefits the network. We are planning to involve Znodes in upcoming network features such as governance and in providing better transaction finality and instant transactions, along with 51% attack protection. ” Znodes are designed to provide protection against 51% attacks, and also allow for instant confirmations on the network. Currently, Znode operators are paid out 7. 5 Zcoin around every 15 days. Zcoin, ticker symbol XZC, is both the namesake of the Zcoin protocol and its native currency. Notable uses of Zcoin include integration with CoinPayments, a secure payment gateway, which is used by thousands of merchants ranging from auto parts to honey sellers and VPN providers. Sharing other methods of using Zcoin which are in development, Yap remarked: “We have also integrated into Paytomat, a system that connects to existing point of sale devices, to accept cryptocurrency. Likewise, we are working on a way to spend Zcoin nationwide in Thailand.” Crypto traders will find Zcoin on major cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance, Bittrex, and Huobi, as well as regional platforms with local Thai fiat pairings such as Indodax, Koinx, BX Thailand and Sistemkoin. Zcoin has an existing smart asset platform, which it has named Exodus, that allows simple tokens to be created on their own independent ledger whilst being secured via Zcoin’s protocol. Zcoin has likewise stated that it is working on Themis, which will enable full smart contract capability on Zcoin. On bringing smart contracts to Zcoin, Yap says: “There are many smart contract platforms but few have fully developed privacy features. Business applications in the real world require privacy and it is hard to imagine a business scenario where it would be acceptable for the data to be public to anyone. ” When interacting with a smart contract, businesses may not want to reveal the parties involved, and most definitely wouldn’t want to reveal on a public ledger the value of their transactions. Other examples include voting applications. Privacy-preserving smart contracts would instead facilitate data sharing without revealing its contents. Dandelion Transaction Broadcasting Cryptocurrency transactions spread through networks in a distinct pattern, which allows interested parties to trace a transaction back to its originating IP address. Studies show that the accuracy of these techniques can be as high as 50%. Explaining how the dandelion protocol works, Yap says: “The Dandelion protocol adds an element of randomness – otherwise known as high entropy – to transaction patterns, making harder to pinpoint the origin of a transaction. It achieves this through modifying the way nodes communicate with each other in a two phase method known as the stem phase and the fluff phase. ” The Sigma Protocol Sigma is the replacement for the Zerocoin privacy protocol, still based around zero-knowledge proofs, but around 20x smaller than Zerocoin’s proofs, which yields much faster validation times. “One important aspect of Sigma is that it is not based on a trusted setup. When a new cryptographic system which requires a trusted setup is launched, initial parameters have to be created. The issue with this is that you have to trust the project to destroy these setup parameters, otherwise they could create unlimited coins. ” As Sigma’s cryptographic construction is relatively simple compared to Zerocoin or Zerocash, it is much easier to audit and reduce the chance of flawed code which is commonplace in more complex protocols. There have also been other projects which have implemented the Zerocoin protocol or expanded its capabilities. These include NAVcoin, with its ZeroCT paper; or PIVX that is using a Zerocoin implementation which uses “bulletproofs. ” However, the Zcoin team has a strong development roadmap ahead. Yap shares: “Implementing new or novel applications in cryptography and zero knowledge proofs is not easy, so most projects generally adopt privacy protocols developed by larger projects. Instead, Zcoin will continue pushing the frontiers of our privacy technology, such as the deployment of Sigma and Lelantus, which will replace the Zerocoin protocol in Zcoin.” The Future of Zcoin In addition to the replacement of Zcoin with the upgraded Sigma protocol, the team at Zcoin have big plans for the future. Discussing the Zcoin development outlook, Yap says: “Too many projects are solutions looking for a problem, and blockchain has been promoted for a wide range of uses, not all of them applicable. This is why Zcoin has been focusing on real world use cases for our currency and our blockchain together with technical development. ” Yap also shared that Zcoin is focusing on building a community which aligns with its core privacy beliefs, looking beyond monetary gains and instead promoting constant education and communication. As far as the short-term outlook goes, Yap shared: “We are looking at two main goals in 2019 and 2020. One is Lelantus, our next generation privacy protocol that greatly improves privacy and usability. Lelantus’ academic paper is available for review, receiving very positive feedback from top cryptographers. The other is governance for funding and guiding the development of Zcoin beyond just the developers and miners – which is how it is with Bitcoin. We look forward to tackling these challenging issues! ” Finally, we asked Yap how Zcoin responded to critics who argued that anonymous cryptocurrencies could be used to facilitate criminal activities, to which he responded: “Financial privacy should be seen as a universal human right. Let’s not forget that today, crime can be facilitated by cash or even money passing through banks. We have all seen from countless breaches that centralized organizations, even large established entities, cannot be trusted with keeping our private data secure. ” Blokt would like to thank Reuben Yap and the entire Zcoin team for sharing their valuable insights with us.

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How can we help? You can also find more resources in our Select a category Something is confusing Something is broken I have a suggestion What is your email? What is 1 + 3? his 131 11-13 chapters Frederick Douglass argued that: slaves were truer to the principles of the Declaration of Independence than were most white Americans The U.S. slave population by 1860 was approximately Which of the following was NOT true of the South and slavery in nineteenth-century America In the South as a whole, slaves made up only 10 percent of the population In the nineteenth century, what product was the world's major crop produced by slave labor? Approximately how much of the world's cotton supply came from the southern United States? The internal slave trade in the United States involved the movement of hundreds of thousands of enslaved persons from: older states like Virginia to the Lower South What economic effect did southern slavery have on the North? Southern slavery helped finance industrialization and internal improvements in the North. The term "Lords of the Loom" refers to: early New England factory owners Which of the following is a true statement relative to the Upper South and the Deep South? Several Upper South states did not join the Confederacy at the time of the Civil War. Which of the following was NOT true of the South and its economy in the period from 1800 to 1860? The South produced nearly two-fifths of the nation's manufactured goods, especially cotton textiles. In 1860, what percentage of southern white families were in the slaveowning class? Southern farmers in the backcountry generally worked the land using family labor. The relationship between rich southern planters and poor southern farmers benefited in part from a sense of unity bred by criticism from outsiders. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee and Joseph Brown of Georgia rose to political power: in the 1850s, as members of the small but influential southern Republican Party. In 1850, a majority of southern slaveholders owned how many slaves? 1 to 5 To qualify as a member of the planter class, a person had to be engaged in southern agriculture and: own at least twenty slaves From 1840 to 1860, the price of a "prime field hand rose about 80 percent, which made it harder for southern whites to enter the slaveholding class. What event is credited with helping to ingrain the paternalist ethos more deeply into the lives of southern slaveholders? the closing of the African slave trade In the South, the paternalist ethos reflected the hierarchical society in which the planter took responsibility for the lives of those around him. What did the Reverend Charles C. Jones of Georgia NOT do? urge an end to slavery By the late 1830s, the South's proslavery argument: claimed that slavery was essential to human economic and cultural progress. Who said that the language in the Declaration of Independence—that all men were created equal and entitled to liberty—was "the most false and dangerous of all political errors"? John C. Calhoun The end of slavery in most Latin American nations involved gradual emancipation accompanied by recognition of owners' legal rights to slave property Defenders of American slavery claimed that British emancipation in the 1830s had been a failure because the freed slaves grew less sugar cane, which hurt the economy of the Caribbean John C. Calhoun and George Fitzhugh agreed that slavery was not a necessary evil but something actually positive and good. Which of the following statements about slavery and the law is true? Slaves accused of serious crimes were entitled to their day in court, although they faced all-white judges and juries. a slave tried for killing her master while resisting a sexual assault. Why did southern slaves live in better conditions by the mid-nineteenth century than those in the Caribbean and South America? The rising value of slaves made it profitable for slaveowners to take better care of them. In an 1840 letter written from Canada, fugitive slave Joseph Taper asked for divine blessings upon: Bennet Barrow's advice to slaveowners on slave discipline (based on rules for slaves at his Highland Plantation in Louisiana) included all of the following EXCEPT: Allow slaves to grow some of their own food to cut down on costs. Free blacks in the South were allowed to: What was the name of the vibrant community of former slaves freed by Virginian Richard Randolph Free blacks in the United States: sometimes became wealthy enough to own slaves of the following statements are true of the work done by southern slaves EXCEPT: slaves worked exclusively as agricultural field hands and house servants. On the plantation, the white employee in charge of ensuring a profitable crop for the plantation master was called the: allowed slaves to take on daily jobs, set their own pace, and work on their own when they were done. most often were domestic servants. The plantation masters had many means to maintain order among their slaves. According to the text, what was the most powerful weapon the plantation masters had? the threat of sale were more common in the West Indies, where living conditions favored their formation and survival Jumping over a broomstick was a ceremony celebrating a slave marriage Gender roles under slavery differed from those of white society because men and women alike suffered a sense of powerlessness combined African traditions and Christian beliefs Which of the following statements about religious life among African-Americans in southern cities is true? Urban free blacks sometimes formed their own churches Which of the following stories did NOT play a central role in black Christianity Noah and the ark The Brer Rabbit stories of slave folklore celebrated how the weak could outsmart the more powerful. Compared to slave revolts in Brazil and in the West Indies, slave revolts in the United States were: smaller in scale and less frequent "Silent sabotage" can be defined as when slaves did poor work and broke tools generally understood that the North Star led to freedom Historians estimate that approximately ____________ slaves per year escaped to the North or Canada. was a fugitive slave who risked her life many times to bring others out of slavery. Denmark Vesey's conspiracy reflected a combination of American and African influences. Joseph Cinqué led a slave rebellion: aboard the Amistad. Which statement about Nat Turner's Rebellion is true? Many southern whites were in a panic after the rebellion After an 1831 slave rebellion, which state's legislature debated, but did not approve, a plan for gradual emancipation of slaves in that state

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The Stream and Its Altered Valley: Integrating Landscape Ecology into Environmental Assessments of Agro-EcosystemsEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment (2006) Little is known about the importance of landscape and land cover to the implementation and performance of agricultural conservation projects designed to improve stream quality. In our study, we addressed the potential importance of landscape and land cover to conservation projects by measuring variation across 191 μ-basins (100–2400 ha) and integrating the observed variation into a study design aimed at determining the effectiveness of conservation projects. Our findings indicate that there are strong gradients across which landscape and land cover attributes vary. Land cover varied along a gradient of agricultural intensity, basin morphometry across gradients of stream closure and basin size, basin substrate was described by variation in drumlin formation, glacial landform type, and soil drainage, while agricultural conservation projects varied according to the level of project implementation. Correlation of these gradients found several associations between landscape and land cover, indicating that agricultural intensity was being constrained predominantly by drumlin formation and glacial landform type. Landscape and land cover did not appear to be determining factors in the implementation of conservation projects by land owners. Based on these findings we chose 32 μ-basins which represented the variability along each of the defined gradients for further study. We conclude that landscape scale variables demonstrate important variation and covariation that can and should be integrated into study designs for the assessment of streams and human activities affecting streams. Publication DateWinter February 15, 2006 Citation InformationAdam G Yates and Robert C Bailey. "The Stream and Its Altered Valley: Integrating Landscape Ecology into Environmental Assessments of Agro-Ecosystems" Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Vol. 114 Iss. 1-3 (2006) p. 257 - 271 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/adam-yates/8/

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Libraries Respond 2016: Election - Our Most Vulnerable The role of the librarian and information science professional has changed greatly over the past few decades. Now more librarians have become agents for social change as they serve the most vulnerable in society. Librarians provide a spectrum of opportunities for upward mobility, equity, and equality through education, literacy, and access to information technologies. The services librarian and information service professional provide are invaluable to society. For instance, a young woman from a country that prohibits girls from seeking an education could receive their very first library card granting them the ability to read, learn English, enroll in school, and become a US citizen. A homeless individual might wander into a local library branch to access the free internet to discover a free workshop on job skills training seminar is in session. Libraries provide refuge during shootings, give meetings space to those who feel isolated and render hope to hopeless. Tax help, life skills training, immigration information, and ESL lessons, support groups- all of these things exist in public and local libraries. Libraries engage the community in finding resources for the poor, homeless, underserved, immigrants and marginalized people groups. Here are some resources for libraries to better serve their communities: - Library Development- Texas State Library guide for serving vulnerable communities. - Libraries are Lifelines - Resources for librarians and social service professionals. For more information, please contact: ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services 50 E. Huron St. Chicago, Illinois 60611 1-800-545-2433 ext. 4294

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A Nonsynonymous Change in Adhesion G Protein–Coupled Receptor L3 Associated With Risk for Equine Degenerative Myeloencephalopathy in the Caspian Horse Equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM), a neurological disease of young horses, causes progressive development of symmetric ataxia predominantly in the pelvic limbs. Our findings were in agreement with other studies in that microsatellite DNA genotyping is useful for individual identification, and paternity and maternity verification on horse population. In this study, 51 fibroblast cell lines from Caspian horse ear marginal tissue were successfully established by sampling 60 horses using primary explant technique. Recently, new advanced high-throughput sequencing technology as a novel tool has opened the way to study of genomic variants and functional information stored within farm animals. GENETIC DIVERSITY AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF THE ARABIAN HORSE POPULATIONS FROM SYRIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES Humans and horses weaved together wonderful stories of adventure and generosity. As a part of human history and civilization, Arabian horses ignite imagination throughout the world. Populations of this breed exist in many countries. This report describes the use of a genome-wide set of autosomal SNPs and 814 horses from 36 breeds to provide the first detailed description of equine breed diversity. Caspian and Kurd horse populations showed significant differences with other populations and sequences from the GenBank. Phylogenetic relationships of the Hucul horse from Romania inferred from mitochondrial D-loop variation For instance, the H2 haplotype was shared between the Akhal Teke, Friesian and Caspian pony breeds. Analysis of genetic diversity and estimation of inbreeding coefficient within Caspian horse population using microsatellite markers When both genealogical and molecular information is available, it can be combined to calculate the coancestry conditional on markers which might better help to estimate the genetic structure of Caspian horse population.

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"the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event [. . ] was a mass extinction of some three-quarters of plant and animal species on Earth—including all non-avian dinosaurs—that occurred over a geologically short period of time 66 million years ago". This certainly sounds quite bad, but in fact not as bad as the so-called Great Dying, the "Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) extinction event [. . ] that occurred 252. 28 million years ago. [. . ] It is the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct. It is the only known mass extinction of insects. Some 57% of all families and 83% of all genera became extinct. "Thus some 252 million years ago a chain of events produced a catastrophe that affected so deeply the terrestrial ecosystem that it is conjectured "it took some 10 million years for Earth to recover" from it. Nevertheless, the Earth ultimately did recover from it, which led to so big a change in natural history that scientists had to clearly separate what was before from what followed, the Paleozoic ("Old Life") from the Mesozoic (the "Middle Life"). Among the many important questions that raise when considering so catastrophic an event, some that I feel are particularly relevant here are: - Q1: Was there any "common reasons" behind the P–Tr extinction event? In other words—were there "common triggers" causing such a widespread correlated failure? - Q2: What was the key ingredient—the key defensive strategies that is—that made it possible for the Earth to survive in spite of so harsh a blow? - F1: "Mineralized skeletons confer protection against predators" [Knoll] - F2: "Skeleton formation requires more than the ability to precipitate minerals; precipitation must be carried out in a controlled fashion in specific biological environments" [Knoll] - F3: "The extinction primarily affected organisms with calcium carbonate skeletons, especially those reliant on ambient CO2 levels to produce their skeletons" [Wikipedia]. If we read the above with the lingo of computer dependability and resilience we could say that: - A given solution became widespread (for instance a memory technology, a software library, a programming language, an operating system, or a search engine). - The solution introduced a weakness: for instance, a dependence on a hidden assumption, or a "bug" depending on certain subtle and very rare environmental conditions. - This translated in a common trigger, a single-point-of-multiple-failures: one or a few events "turned on" the weakness and hit hard on all the systems that made use of the solution. What can we conclude from the above facts and analogies? That solutions that work well in the "common case" are those that become more widespread. Regrettably this decreases disparity, namely inter-species diversity. Species that externally appear considerably different from each other in fact share a common trait -- a common design template. This means that whenever the "common case" is replaced by the very rare and very bad "Black Swan", a large portion of the ecosystem is jeopardized. In fact the rarest the exceptional condition, the more widespread is the template and the larger the share of species that will be affected. This provides some elements towards an answer for question Q1: yes, there were common triggers that ultimately produced the P–Tr extinction event by increasing the diffusion of the same "recipes" thus paving the way to large amounts of correlated failures. On the other hand, the Earth did survive the Great Dying and other extinction events. Why? My guess for an answer to Q2 is that Nature introduces systemic thresholds that make sure that disparity never goes beyond some minimum. The key ingredient to guarantee this is diversity: it is not by chance that mutation is an intrinsic method in genetic evolution. Mutation and possibly other mechanisms make sure that, at any point in time, not all of the species share the same design templates. In turn this guarantees that, at any point in time, not all the species share the same fate. Interestingly enough, similar solutions are sought also when designing computer systems. In order to decrease the chance of correlated failures multiple diverse replicas are executed in parallel or one after the other. It's called design diversity and it's often based on design templates such as N-version programming or Recovery Blocks. (It is worth remarking how the adoption of the design diversity templates also decreases disparity. . . yes, it's a never ending story. ) The major lesson we need to learn from all this is that diversity is an essential ingredient of resilience. Bring down diversity and you decrease the chance the ecosystem will be able to withstand the Black Swan when it will show up. (And, given enough time, rest assured it will show up). High diversity means that a large number of systems will be put to test with new conditions when the Big One strikes. Even when most of the system-environment fits will decree extinction (or system failure), still a few systems, by chance so to say, will have the right elements to pass through the sieves of the Black Swan with limited damage. And it's those limited few that are going to inherit the Earth. Lessons from the Past by Vincenzo De Florio is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3. 0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://win.uantwerpen.be/~vincenz/.

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Simply the thing I am Shall make me live. (4. 3) In All’s Well That Ends Well, a woman is given in marriage to the man she longs for, but, because she is of lower rank, he refuses to accept the marriage. It becomes her challenge to win his acceptance. Helen, the daughter of a dead physician, secretly loves Bertram, the Count of Rosillion’s son. When the count dies, Bertram becomes a ward of the French king, who is dying of a fistula. Helen heals the ailing king, and he grants her wish to marry his ward. Bertram refuses to consummate the marriage and goes off to war, sending Helen a list of seemingly impossible conditions to be met before he will consider her his wife. To meet his conditions, Helen substitutes herself for a woman whom Bertram desires, and sleeps with him. When false news comes that Helen is dead, Bertram faces the charge that he has killed her. Helen, now pregnant, reappears, saving Bertram and demonstrating that she has met his conditions. Bertram then acknowledges her (reproduced with permission from Folger).

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Christophe Zimmer, Head of the Imaging and Modeling Unit at the Institut Pasteur, looks at artificial neural networks, algorithms with learning ability (deep learning), which fuel the renewed interest in artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence will play a key role in personalized medicine. Christophe ZimmerHead of the Imaging and Modeling Unit at the Institut Pasteur What are artificial neuronal networks? They are algorithms containing a large number of computational units, known as "neurons", which are used to learn complex relationships between very different types of digital data, such as text, sound or images. All these data can be represented as tables of numbers, and these numbers are fed as inputs to a first layer of neurons. Each of these neurons performs a fairly simple calculation and produces a new digital value as output. This value, along with those computed by other neurons, is sent to neurons of another layer, which then send the outcome of their calculation to another layer, and so on, until the last layer, which represents the final output (also often called “prediction”). This propagation of information between neurons remotely resembles what occurs in the brain, and the combination of a large number of basic calculations can lead to very complex mathematical transformations. Crucially, the calculation performed by each neuron depends not only on the input data, but also on a large number of parameters, also called "weights". These weights are not specified a priori, but determined gradually by analyzing training data, hence the notion of "learning". Can you give us an example of deep learning? A textbook example is the task of automatically classifying pictures of cats and dogs. Human beings can almost instantly tell the difference between a picture of a cat and that of a dog because evolution has provided us with a very powerful visual recognition system (a network of billions of biological neurons). But it is practically impossible to manually program an algorithm that can distinguish between these two categories of images from scratch. In deep learning, we start with a set of photographs of dogs and cats that have already been seen and labeled by humans (for example with a 0 for dogs and 1 for cats). The images and their labels are the training data. The neural network takes each image as input and outputs a value between 0 and 1, which can be interpreted as the probability that the image shows a cat or a dog. At first, the values calculated by the network are random, as if the algorithm was blind. But since we already know the correct answers, we can accurately assess the errors made by the algorithm. Thanks to an algorithm known as “backpropagation”, the weights of the neurons are gradually adjusted to reduce these errors. At the end of this process, the network predicts values close to 0 for dogs and 1 for cats. Of course, this exercise would be pointless if it was limited to training data. But, if all goes well, the neural network also acquires the ability to generalize, i. e. it becomes capable of distinguishing between cats and dogs in completely new images. And in many cases it can do so as accurately as a human - or better. Why this recent surge in deep learning and, more generally, in artificial intelligence? Artificial intelligence is a generic term that refers to many different approaches besides deep learning, but the breakthroughs achieved by deep learning are the main driver behind the current resurgence of interest in AI. Deep learning is a recent name for algorithms using artificial neural networks with many layers of neurons (deep nets). These algorithms have existed for several decades, but at the time, neural networks only worked well on relatively simple data, mainly because training data and computing power were limited. Today, thanks to increased digitalization and the Internet, we have access to huge amounts of data in many fields, including the medical sector. Having a large quantity and variety of training data is crucial for neural networks to achieve high prediction quality. And we now have sufficient computing power, particularly thanks to graphics cards, like those used for video games. These graphics cards can perform thousands of operations in parallel and make it possible to train large and deep neural networks in reasonable time. So, it is the combination of large quantities of data and computing power that now enable neural networks to perform remarkably well in many applicative fields. This success has led to widespread enthusiasm for these methods, and the development of new and even more powerful algorithmic approaches. What can deep learning be used for? Can you give us an example of an application in healthcare? Deep learning can be used for a very wide range of data processing tasks. For example, deep learning allows smartphones to recognize speech and has significantly improved automatic translation of texts from one language to another. Deep learning also plays a key role in various image recognition applications, e. g. in self-driving cars. In healthcare, the most direct applications are certainly in medical imaging. For example, a team from Stanford University has trained a neural network to predict whether a mole is malignant or benign based on a simple photograph. And with an error rate comparable to that of a qualified dermatologist. Besides such applications, a recent deep learning method called “generative adversarial network” (which we used in ANNA-PALM) can generate new data with certain desired properties, for example realistic images of birds, or chemical formulas of new therapeutic drugs. It's the start of a healthcare revolution! This type of application will likely have a significant impact on how healthcare is organized, since it may no longer be necessary to see a dermatologist for an initial diagnosis. Doctors will be able to devote more of their precious time to follow-up examinations and to treating patients. Diagnosis will be much easier and cheaper in areas with inadequate healthcare services because all you need is a smartphone to get an initial medical opinion. Automated image analysis by deep learning is also very likely to change radiology, ophthalmology or interpreting MRI scans. You mentioned the large amounts of data available in science. What about DNA sequencing data? How can this data be used with artificial intelligence? Artificial intelligence is likely to play a key role in personalized medicine based on genomic data. Medicine remains mostly an empirical science, which proceeds by trial and error, and does not take sufficient account of an individual's genetic makeup – a doctor makes a diagnosis, prescribes a treatment, observes how the patient reacts, and if the treatment does not work, changes it. But the evolution of a disease and the response to treatment could in principle often be predicted based on the patient’s genome. The cost of DNA sequencing has dropped very rapidly in the last ten years, much more rapidly than the cost of computers. In the coming decade, the DNA of most of the human population will probably have been sequenced, which will generate a gigantic genomic data trove. For a human, understanding the genomic sequence and predicting how it affects disease risk and treatment response is dauntingly difficult, because of the complexity of biological systems and the sheer mass of data to be considered. But, artificial intelligence methods like deep learning could provide a solution to this challenge and help doctors decide on the best course of treatment for patients. Artificial intelligence speeds up high-resolution microscopy

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One of the most important factors influencing the foraging of animals is predation risk. As a result, animals do not utilize landscapes uniformly. Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) use both arboreal and terrestrial habitats, and thus forage across a 3-dimensional landscape. To explore how both aerial and terrestrial predators influenced small-scale foraging patterns, we measured giving-up densities (GUDs) in artificial food patches across a woodland–grassland interface. Patch transects ran vertically through trees, and horizontally into open grasslands. As vervets move up trees to avoid terrestrial predators and down out of the canopies to avoid aerial predators, we predicted that there would be a safe zone with higher patch use extending from just below the canopy to the base of the tree. Lower GUDs in this area showed this to be the case. Another factor that influenced patch use was group size. The different sized groups displayed a similar overall pattern of patch selection (i. e., they all fed more in specific patches). However, larger groups fed more intensively in all patches. As a result, larger groups achieved lower GUDs in all patches compared to the smaller groups both vertically and horizontally. Possible explanations include differences in predator abundance between the locations of the groups, group benefits lowering predation risk, competition forcing individuals to feed in less safe patches, or a combination of these factors. Ultimately, our results indicate that predation risk from both aerial and terrestrial predators shapes the vervets' 3-dimensional landscape of fear. You have requested a machine translation of selected content from our databases. This functionality is provided solely for your convenience and is in no way intended to replace human translation. Neither BioOne nor the owners and publishers of the content make, and they explicitly disclaim, any express or implied representations or warranties of any kind, including, without limitation, representations and warranties as to the functionality of the translation feature or the accuracy or completeness of the translations. Translations are not retained in our system. Your use of this feature and the translations is subject to all use restrictions contained in the Terms and Conditions of Use of the BioOne website. Vol. 93 • No. 2

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The amount of data coming into the average company is increasing by 30% to 35% every year. Since data also flows the other way, companies have concerns about their intellectual property, trade secrets and financial records. There are challenges on the information security side, privacy side and compliance side. Even though there isn’t a regulating act in India as of now, let’s focus our discussion on how to manage the governance of data in your company. By submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers. 1) Collection of data: Most MNCs get their data into India because of the safe harbor agreement, but they are also liable to meet all the requirements they have agreed to. Governance of data should be done where companies clearly know what they have to collect. They have to inform end users in advance about the purpose of the collection. Collection is a major issue; hence data governance will stipulate what has to be collected, how it will be collected, where it has to be stored and how long it has to be stored. 2) Access to information: When we say governance of data, we mean a combination of quality, processes and technologies. Individual policies, processes and procedures related to it should be outlined. Once the collection is done, there has to be a clear understanding as to who will access this data. Is everybody in the organization allowed to access the data or will only specified people have access to it? This has to be mentioned in great detail because most data collection laws state that you can use data collected only for a specific purpose and not beyond it. If at all you are, you should get in touch with the end user again and seek permission to use it. 3) Awareness of the sensitivity of data: For effective governance of data, people who use the data should understand the sensitivity of this data. For example, if you look at an infrastructure management company, it may have around 1,000 servers. Out of these, 100 servers may have critical information which the people who are handling them may not be aware of. If no data governance or awareness process is created, these people can always say that they didn’t know there was a criticality there. Even when you see an incident response activity, once it is known that the information present is critical it can be prioritized in the database. So if any attachments or suspicious activity is seen from that particular server or database, you can prioritize the incident response plan. 4) Security: There are times when we need to transfer data to vendor partners, third-party users, testing teams, etc. Under the governance of data, we need to ensure that the third party to which we will transfer the data also has adequate security, that they are also aware of the sensitivity of the data, and that they will also handle the data in a similar manner. 5) Preservation of data: There are some regulations which mandate that you store data for seven years, others which suggest that you preserve the data for a year. So we have to formulate regulations according to the need. The data which must be preserved has to be in an encrypted form to avoid any kind of breach. In this case also governance of data is needed. Besides, for storage, there should be proper mention about how the data is going to be stored. 6) Disposal of data: As part of the governance of data, you should have clarity on how you will dispose the data. Whether it is a hard copy or a soft copy, there should be a clear understanding about how to dispose data. A higher-ranking team should validate this as part of your data governance strategy. About the author: Sunil Varkey, CIPP, CISSP, CGEIT, is a senior security & privacy professional currently working for Barclays in Pune. (As told to Anuradha Ramamirtham)

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Mangoverde :: World Bird Guide :: Ducks, Geese and Swans :: Baer's Pochard Baer's Pochard Aythya baeri Described by: Radde (1863) Alternate common name(s): None known by website authors Old scientific name(s): None known by website authors Select thumbnail to view larger image - Place cursor over image for image information RangeC. ne. Asia; Ex. se. Siberia from e. Transbaicalia e. to n. Mongolia and ne. China (Heilungkiang, Kirin and Liaoning), Ussuriland, Amurland, s. Soviet Far East, and perhaps North Korea. Migration through Karze (Kazi) Reservoir in Lhunzhub country, Tibet. Winters mainly in se. China in the lowlands s. of the Yangtze River to Kwangtung, Taiwan, Indochina and fairly regularly in South Korea and Japan. Smaller numbers sometimes winter further w. and s. to ne. India (Assam, Manipur, Bihar and Bengal), Bangladesh (Haor basin), n. Burma, n. Thailand and Vietnam. No videos are available for this species No sounds are available for this species Clements, James F. Birds of the World: A Checklist. Vista, CA: Ibis Publishing Company, 2000. Comments/ErrorsPlease email with errors/comments on this page or to donate photos. If there is no family list to the left, you may have arrived at this page from a direct link. Please select "Mangoverde World Bird Guide" to view the entire bird site.

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National Park, established in 1949, protects the region surrounding Mount Kenya . Initially it was a forest reserve before being announced as a national park. Currently the national park is within the forest reserve which encircles it. In April 1978 the area was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The national park and the forest reserve, combined, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The Government of Kenya had four reasons for creating a national park on and around Mount Kenya. These were the importance of tourism for the local and national economies, to preserve an area of great scenic beauty, to conserve the biodiversity within the park, and to preserve the water catchment for the surrounding area. The national park covering an area of 715 square kilometres (276 sq mi), most of which is above the 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) contour line. A small portion of this park's borders near heavy populations have electrified fences to keep the elephants out of the surrounding farmland. [ Volcanic sediment in the surrounding region's soil and the huge volume of fresh water coming down the slopes makes the area particularly favourable for agriculture.

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Abstract Since the middle of 2006, more and more beekeepers have been experiencing regular or repetitive losses from 50 to 90 percent of their hives. Although losing honeybee hives during winters is natural, the scope of such losses was more than expected. In this context, professionals and researchers in biology have come to recognize these losses under the name Colony Collapse Disorder (sometimes also called Fall Dwindle Disease). The causes of CCD remain unknown, and scientists are vainly trying to determine the ways in which honeybees could potentially respond to the emerging problem. In the current state of research, a detailed analysis of literature may shed the light on some out of many controversies associated with CCD. Colony Collapse Disorder Introduction Since the middle of 2006, more and more beekeepers have been experiencing regular or repetitive losses from 50 to 90 percent of their hives. Although losing honeybee hives during winters is natural, the scope of such losses was more than expected. In this context, professionals and researchers in biology have come to recognize these losses under the name Colony Collapse Disorder (sometimes also called Fall Dwindle Disease). The causes of CCD remain unknown, and scientists are vainly trying to determine the ways in which honeybees could potentially respond to the emerging problem. In the current state of research, a detailed analysis of literature may shed the light on some out of many controversies associated with CCD. Background CCD became one of the distinguishing features of honeybee loss since the middle of 2006: more and more beekeepers were complaining at losing large amounts of honeybee population without any visible reason. “In colony collapse disorder (CCD, honey bee colonies inexplicably lose their workers. CCD has resulted in a loss of 50 to 90% of colonies in beekeeping operations across the United States” (Cox-Foster et al, 2007). Sometimes, beekeepers lost 100% of their honeybees during one season. The growing interest toward CCD, however, is not in that it causes huge honeybee population losses, but in that these losses are not caused by any of the well-known honeybee diseases, including pesticide poisoning, the deadly larval disease, varroa mites, or starvation is also natural in winter. The more scientists are trying to determine the only single cause of such colony losses, the more confused they become at the variety of possible reasons as well as their insignificance and irrelevance in terms of CCD. In this context, special attention has been paid to the role, which infections and microbes may play in the development of CCD and similar disorders in honeybees. Possible causes Case studies and professional researches list several potential causes of CCD, but none of the existing chemicals is solely responsible for CCD in honeybee populations. Researchers name viruses and immune disorders, pathogenic microbes and pesticides, but they cannot find a single agent or their combination that results in the development of CCD. Possible stresses that cause CCD include varroa mite parasites, poor nutrition, and pollination of plants with low nutritional value or nectar scarcity, as well as contaminated water supplies (James & Pitts-Singer, 2008). Literature review In her article, Watanabe (2008) provides an extensive review of the information that is currently available about CCD. Watanabe (2008) refers to David Hackenberg, an experienced beekeeper from California who was among the first to notice that some of his hives were empty. CCD damaged only adult population of bees, leaving healthy brood intact, and at the point of CCD development Hackenberg was confident that it was due to an environmental toxine and stressful apicultural practices that honeybees were dying in hundreds (Watanabe, 2008). Since that time, much about CCD has been learned, but for many professional and amateur beekeepers it is still a mystery; that is why Watanabe (2008) finds it appropriate to speak about parasites. Certainly, honeybees can be loaded with parasites; among those, varroa mites are fairly regarded as the biggest and the most dangerous types of parasites damaging bees. These feed on bee hemolymph and wreak havoc in bee hives (Watanabe, 2008). Another parasite usually called “tracheal mites” uses bees’ breathing apparatus and suck out their hemolymph. Potentially, microsporidia may also be responsible for large honeybee colony collapses, but generally, honeybees are also vulnerable to a whole set of chemical insults, including in-hive insecticides, in-hive antibiotics, and environmental pesticides (Watanabe, 2008). Stress is sometimes included into the list of the major colony threats. None of these viruses and environmental threats seems to be directly responsible for what we currently know as CCD, but researchers are trying to prove that pesticides may be directly responsible for the loss of honeybee populations, because their metabolites are readily identified in pollen, wax, nectar, and bees themselves (Watanabe, 2008). Throughout the course of research, the list of possible pollutants has been limited to include only in-hive chemicals and agrochemicals, but the difficulty is in that physiology of bees in summer is much different from than in winter, and determining the environmental factors that are responsible for CCD is almost impossible. Some scientists suggest that CCD can be the result of the combined impact of stress and pesticides, because pesticides cannot be solely responsible for the development of CCD in hives. Moreover, it can also be a combination of pesticides, but the question is why these pesticides damage large bee populations, if bees have natural defense mechanisms. Moreover, the question is why bees lose these defense mechanisms and become vulnerable to external influences and forces. In this context, Cox-Foster et al (2007) pay special attention to microbes that can potentially contribute in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder. In their article, Cox-Foster et al (2007) also mention that in case of CCD, “no dead adult bees are found inside or in close proximity to the colony. At the final stage of collapse, a queen is attended only by a few newly emerged adult bees. Collapsed colonies often have considerable capped brood and food reserves”. After reviewing the genome-sequence databases from several samples collected in Switzerland, Germany, and Africa, the researchers have mainly concentrated on Israeli acute paralysis virus – an unclassified virus that is often associated with CCD (Cox-Foster et al, 2007). IAPV was first described in 2004, when bees displayed the progressive signs of paralysis and were gradually dying outside their hives. When it came to CCD, bee colonies from Australia displayed similar symptoms, but pathogenicity of IAPV in different regions may also change or increase by other stressors like poor nutrition or pesticides. Again, Cox-Foster et al (2007) mention varroa mites as a possible cause of CCD, but both Watanabe (2007) and Cox-Foster et al (2007) have any compelling evidence to assert that it is due to varroa mites that honeybee colonies die in thousands. Discussion Does that mean that we will never be able to find the most relevant reason of CCD? Moreover, why is it that the public is so much concerned about the possible causes of CCD in honeybee populations? The truth is that honeybees are extremely important to the agricultural sector. “Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables” (USDA, 2008). About one out of three products we eat daily benefits of honeybee pollination, making bees the integral components of successful food production. James and Pitts-Singer (2008) write that “there had been much-hyped press interest in reports (mis-reports as it turns out) of links between bee decline and mobile phone technology”. Whether under the impact of mobile or any other technology, it is obvious that the whole population of bees is gradually declining, and if in the middle of the 1940s the earth could boast having more than 5 million bees, honeybee population now has shrunk to no more than 2. 5 million (USDA, 2008). Of course, with so few bees at hand, agricultural workers can hardly hope to gather good crops. Crops are deteriorating; so is honey bee colony health. There are still enough bees to supply all needed pollination, especially during spring and summer, but CCD leads to the growing price of honeybee hives. The growing price is caused by the growing demand for quality bee populations, which under the impact of CCD are harder and harder to achieve. Scientific literature mentions several incidents of mass bee colony collapses at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th (James & Pitts-Singer, 2008), but there is no compelling evidence to the fact, that CCD was the main reason of those collapses. What seems to be true is that none of the current researchers has been able to produce a theory that would at least be close to realistic. Pathogens, pesticides, microbes, and viruses – all these are given equal place among the probable causes of CCD, and while honeybee populations are gradually vanishing, beekeepers do not even suspect how they can prevent or at least minimize the risks of an unknown disease. On the one hand, CCD can be the result of the whole combination of factors, and may be due not to physiological but biological features (for example, peculiarities of honeybee organism functioning). On the other hand, CCD can remain a mystery, without any hope to resolve it. Simultaneously, it is more than important that researchers resolve the major CCD controversies in the nearest time, as far as the shrinking bee population is likely to produce negative impacts on the quality and quantity of accessible crops all over the world. Conclusion CCD remains the topic of the major biological concern. With the growing scope of the collapsing colonies, crops and agricultural businesses may carry significant economic losses. Unfortunately, the specific causes of CCD remain unknown. Among the most probable reasons of such collapses are microbes, environmental factors (pesticides), viruses, and other types of stresses. Being unable to determine a single and the most relevant cause of CCD, researchers suggest that a whole combination of factors can be responsible for the development of such disorders in honeybee populations. Honeybee populations continue to decrease, and the public should be particularly attentive to these types of honeybee losses, bearing in mind the role and importance, which bees have for nature and environment. Obviously, the scope of losses caused by CCD will only increase, and unless we are able to invest in various types of biological researches, we will hardly arrive to objective and reliable conclusions in the nearest future.

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Space Heaters Gas Natural gas space heaters are often used to supplement central heating systems in areas such as added-on rooms, basements and garages. Categorization of the heaters can be made according to: - Vented or Non-vented - Radiant or Convection - Power or Passive Most utility companies do not endorse non-vented gas heaters for interior living spaces, and in some cases, they are against local codes. Before installing any space heater, the application and local codes (personal safety) must be considered. Most natural gas space heaters have standing pilots that may be lit using spark igniters. The pilot also includes a safety that will not allow the main gas valve to the burner to open unless the pilot is first burning. If the unit is radiant of passive conductive (no fan) no electricity is required to operate the unit. Larger units tend to be fan-forced heat and therefore must also be plugged into electricity for operation. Some units are equipped with an oxygen sensor that automatically shuts the unit off if O2 drops in the space – before carbon monoxide (CO2) can form. This is an important safety feature. Larger, more expensive units will have remote thermostats; most have only a built-in adjustable dial setting, or simply an on-off setting. Sizes range from about 5,000 BTUs/hour up to about 50,000 BTUs/hour. This type of heater fires either behind, in or on the surface of a ceramic radiant panel. The ceramic glows hot producing a source of heat that is ‘line of sight’ of panel. Convection heat is also produced off the top of the unit. This type of heater is available from about 5,000 BTUs through about 20,000 BTUs/hour The smaller heaters are non-vented (picture to right). Larger units may be vented. Open Flame/Direct Heat The open flame uses a burner that is open or behind glass to produce mostly convection heat out the top of the unit. A smaller amount of heat is given off the front in a line of sight from the flame. These units are available in sizes from about 10,000 to 50,000 BTUs/hour. The smaller units are mostly non-vented; larger units may be direct-vented through the wall they are mounted on. Concealed Flame Direct Vent Heaters with a concealed flame and direct vent of products of combustion burn the gas inside of a heat-exchanger. This system is the most often approved unit for codes and utility companies. They may also include an automatic pilot and circulation fan, which means they must be plugged into electricity. They must also be located on an outside, above grade wall. These units tend to be a little larger and range in size from about 20,000 BTUs to 50,000 BTUs. The wall heater design is the most like a furnace. They are often used in small apartments and condos. They use heat exchangers and are vented and approved by most codes and utilities. Some units can be equipped with ducts through the rear to heat more than one room. They may have auto-ignition pilots, remote thermostats, and be vented in a variety of ways, including up, so they could be used in a basement. These are the largest units, available in sizes from about 25,000 to 75,000 BTUs/hour. See also PTAC – Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners Empire Comfort Systems 918 Freeburg Avenue Belleville, IL 62222-0529 Telephone: 618-233-7420 or 800-851-3153 Go to the Empire web site at www. empirecomfort. com Source: Text Bob Fegan 12/2008; radiant heater pictures Empire web site; 7/2003; Rev 11/2005;

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According to the definition of father Joseph Wresinski, founder of the Movement of human rights, ATD Fourth World, in his report to the French economic and social Council, the precarious result of the absence of one or several securities, in particular that of the employment, allowing people to ensure their basic responsibility and to enjoy their fundamental rights It leads to extreme poverty when it is prolonged and it becomes permanent. Indeed, precariousness and poverty are at the beginning of the Twenty-first century a major societal problem but also a public health problem. In France, 9 000. 000 of people living below the poverty line (1 008 euro/month for a single person, 2 116 € /month for a couple with two children). The median income of poor people is 805 euros/month. The number of poor people has increased by 1 000. 000 between 2004 and 2014. 3 000. 000 of children live in poverty. 141. 000 people are homeless, an increase of nearly 50 % since 2001 .

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Compare book prices at 110 online bookstores worldwide for the lowest price for new & used textbooks and discount books! 1 click to get great deals on cheap books, cheap textbooks & discount college textbooks on sale. Women and Slaves in Greco-Roman Culture: Differential Equations Women and Slaves in Classical Culture examines how ancient societies were organized around slave-holding and the subordination of women to reveal how women and slaves interacted with one another in both the cultural representations and the social realities of the Greco-Roman world. The contributors explore a broad range of evidence including: * the mythical constructions of epic and drama * the love poems of Ovid * the Greek medical writers * Augustine's autobiography * a haunting account of an unnamed Roman slave * the archaeological remains of a slave mining camp near Athens. They argue that the distinctions between male and female and servile and free were inextricably connected. This erudite and well-documented book provokes questions about how we can hope to recapture the experience and subjectivity of ancient women and slaves and addresses the ways in which femaleness and servility interacted with other forms of difference, such as class, gender and status. Women and Slaves in Classical Culture offers a stimulating and frequently controversial insight into the complexities of gender and status in the Greco-Roman world. Recent Book Searches: ISBN-10/ISBN-13: 0713001682 / 978-0713001686 / Teaching and Learning Mathematics (Woburn Education Series) / Peter G. Dean 0713001712 / 978-0713001716 / The Study of Education: Inaugural Lectures, The Last Decade (The Woburn Education Series) / Peter Gordon 0713001720 / 978-0713001723 / Comprehending Comprehensives: The JFS Experience / Edward S. 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- ScienceDaily: “Are Empathetic Bonobos Our Evolutionary Soul-Mates? ” Do you work and play well with others? Keep your tantrums to a minimum? Are you basically a nice person? Emotionally balanced and stable? Sensitive, out-going, and supportive of your fellow man? If so, evolutionary primatologists Frans B. M. de Waal and Zanna Clay suggest your empathetic nature and even temperament are rooted in humanity’s evolutionary past. (If you lack those mature character qualities . . . well, let’s not be too insulting, but perhaps the logical implication would be that you are some sort of evolutionary throwback. ) Why the Bonobo? Bonobos are widely regarded as the most empathetic of the great apes. And like chimpanzees, evolutionists consider them among humanity’s “closest relatives. ”1 De Waal says, “This makes the species an ideal candidate for psychological comparisons. Any fundamental similarity between humans and bonobos probably traces back to their last common ancestor, which lived around six million years ago. ” “Development of socio-emotional competence in bonobos,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on comparison of bonobo orphans raised by humans to bonobos raised by their own mothers. Observers correlated bonobo spats, tantrums, and quickness to comfort others with their age and upbringing. The animals live at the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most bonobos in the sanctuary are wild-caught orphans who were subsequently raised and rehabilitated for years by humans and ultimately released into an enclosed forest for bonobos. De Waal and Clay found that human-raised bonobo orphans did not control their emotions as well as bonobo-reared juveniles. “Compared to peers reared by their own mothers, the orphans have difficulty managing emotional arousal,” says Clay. They were also slow to recover once they got upset. “They would be very upset, screaming for minutes after a fight compared to mother-reared juveniles, who would snap out of it in seconds. ” These same orphans were slow to console their distressed peers, such as bonobos screaming after being attacked. Mother-reared juveniles were quick to console and caress their friends in need. “It's almost as if one first needs to have one's own emotional house in order before one is ready to visit the emotional house of another,” de Waal says. “This is true for children, and apparently also for bonobos. ”2 Besides seeing a correlation between personal emotional control and the ability to empathize with others, Clay and de Waal note that human-reared bonobos play less, display more anxiety after a fight, and have fewer friends than their mother-reared counterparts. They believe the bonobo orphans’ behavior is comparable to the poor emotional control and difficulty in forming social attachments more commonly seen in institutionalized human orphans than in children with stable parental bonds. 3 “Animal emotions have long been scientifically taboo,” explains de Waal, but he—a professor in Emory University’s Department of Psychology—thinks the study of animal emotions is a reliable way to explain human emotional needs and responses because he believes apes and humans are evolutionary cousins. “By measuring the expression of distress and arousal in great apes, and how they cope, we were able to confirm that efficient emotion regulation is an essential part of empathy,” he says. “Empathy allows great apes and humans to absorb the distress of others without getting overly distressed themselves. ” Interestingly, the researchers found that adolescent and adult bonobos don’t console their unhappy peers as much as juveniles do. This discovery does not fit the pattern seen in humans, they write, and is “seemingly at odds with the human literature. ”4 To explain this discrepancy, they suggest that human adults are better able than bonobos to evaluate situations and choose appropriate responses. They add, “It is hard to make meaningful interspecies comparisons in this regard, however, because the methodology typically used for adult human studies (i. e., questionnaires) differs markedly from the observational measures applied to children and used here. ”5 “Living Links” director at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Frans de Waal is the author of the 2013 book The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism among the Primates. This study is a sample of the sort of evidence used to support the beliefs he expresses in his book. De Waal maintains that morality is a product of molecules-to-man evolutionary biology. He maintains that ethical and empathetic primate behavior “cements the case for the biological origins of human fairness”6 and believes we humans can succeed in the “struggle to find purpose in our lives”7 by reflecting on our roots in primate society—our “living links” to our evolutionary past. Humanizing with Hubris? But is this valid? First of all, are the investigators imposing their own thoughts and interpretations on observable bonobo behavior? For instance, consolation is defined as “spontaneous contact comfort aimed at distressed parties by means of touching, stroking, embracing, and kissing. ”8 But evolutionary psychologist Richard Byrne of the University of St. Andrews, commenting on the study, points out that consolation implies we have some knowledge of the empathetic-appearing apes’ actual emotions and motives, whereas such information “is not part of the observed data. ”9 The feelings and motives of animals are simply not subject to objective measurement. In other words, we as humans cannot possibly know what those “empathetic” little apes are actually feeling, thinking, and trying to accomplish. Their behavior may be nothing more than conditioned responses. De Waal and Clay’s anthropomorphized conclusions impute human feelings to these animals just as pet owners commonly do. But because they are convinced humans are just highly evolved animals, de Waal and Clay use those presumptive interpretations as scientific support for their evolutionary presuppositions and specifically for de Waal’s assertion that human morality evolved. We as humans cannot possibly know what those “empathetic” little apes are actually feeling, thinking, and trying to accomplish. Furthermore, comparing these apes to institutionalized children cheapens the genuine tragedy of every child who has ever suffered from “the lack of a stable caregiver. ”10 When 19th century author Charles Dickens described such tragic situations in his famous novels, he called attention to their plight and promoted remedial social action. These authors appear to have a different agenda. Indeed, they pluck at the public’s emotional heartstrings when they relate the tragic state of the ape rescue-rehabs, doubtless creating a market not only for a book that advances de Waal’s atheistic humanistic notions about morality’s roots but also for the God-rejecting idea itself. More significantly—regardless of why these apes behave the way they do—nothing about the behavior of these bonobos proves anything about the origin of human morality. The authors simply assume that humans evolved from ape-like ancestors and interpret their findings in light of their unverifiable presupposition. And where the findings cannot be made to match up with human behavior, they write off the discrepancy by saying—quite correctly, incidentally—that “it is hard to make meaningful interspecies comparisons,” a statement that should apply to their entire set of evolutionary conclusions and the anthropomorphized interpretations used to support them. Drawing conclusions about human children based on ape behavior is not valid, for human children are not animals but are made in God’s image. Animals were not made in the image of God. Human beings were. Animals bear no moral responsibility or sin guilt. Humans do. Ascribing human moral standards and motives to animals reinforces the false evolutionary faith that humans are merely highly evolved animals who will never have to face the holy judgment of God. And drawing conclusions about human children based on ape behavior is not valid, for human children are not animals but are made in the image of God. We do not have to look to the world of arguably endearing but mute animals to find the origin of morality or to understand the true nature of human beings. We have a historical account provided by the Creator of all animals and humans available in the Word of God. God created Adam and Eve—the human couple ancestral to all humans—in His own image on the sixth day of Creation week, the same day He created all kinds of land animals, about 6,000 years ago. These two people, as described in Genesis chapter 3, despite being placed in a perfectly good world, rejected and rebelled against the God who created them. From that day forward all human beings—except Jesus Christ the Son of God—have had a sinful nature (Ephesians 2:1–3) and have willfully sinned innumerable times (Romans 3:23). God as the Creator of all has the right to define what is right and wrong, moral and immoral, good and sinful. Though justice would demand the death penalty (Romans 6:23) for rebellion against our Creator, God loves all people so much that He made a way—through the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, His sacrificial death on the Cross, and His Resurrection—for people to be saved from eternal judgment and restored to a proper loving relationship with their Creator (Hebrews 2:9–10). From our sinful nature springs the immorality rampant among mankind. Humans—unlike animals—have the capacity to understand right and wrong. God’s moral law is written on our hearts (Romans 2:14–15). We generally develop the sense to behave in socially acceptable ways, at least when it suits us. But despite the claim that people are inherently “good,” God’s assessment is that all people are sinful, wanting to go our own way (Isaiah 53:6), thus rejecting the authority of our Creator. No one can ever be morally perfect (James 2:10) and pure enough be truly “good” (Mark 10:18). We all need the gracious gift of salvation freely available through Christ (Romans 5:8–12), which will set us free from this sinful nature (Romans 6:22) and give us a new heart that wants to obey and love God (Ezekiel 36:26–28). What we believe about God, morality, and human nature has eternal consequences. We can choose to take our theology from man’s evolutionary interpretations of ape behavior or from the Word of the Creator God. Banking on the abundant life Jesus Christ our Creator and Savior (Colossians 1:16–17) promises for now and all eternity, I choose to put my trust in the Word of God, which is trustworthy from the very first verse, rather than in the “morality” and “meaning” preached by apes. It is the desire of all of us at Answers in Genesis that all who read this will do the same. - The Gospel of Jesus Christ - Empathy Study and Evolution - Easy-Going Ape Joins Genome Club - Show and Tell: What Can Chimps Tell Us? - Morality—the Secular Response? - Morality and the Irrationality of an Evolutionary Worldview - What Makes Us Human, and Why It Is Not the Brain: A Creationist Defense of the Soul For More Information: Get Answers 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, the 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 all the latest News to Know, why not take a look to see what you’ve missed?

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Does any part of your site contain any portions that could be considered Hazardous Areas? By Brad Guy Defining Hazardous Areas Firstly, we need to define what a Hazardous Area is, and AS/NZS60079. 10. 1 explains this: AS/NZS 60079. 10. 1:2009 (+A1) The objective of this Standard is to set out requirements for the classification of areas where flammable gas or vapour risks might arise, in order to permit the proper selection and installation of equipment for use in such hazardous areas. This Standard is for the use of manufacturers and installers of equipment as well as by inspecting authorities. It is intended to be applied where there may be an ignition hazard due to the presence of flammable gas or vapour, mixed with air under normal atmospheric conditions (see note4 below), but it does not apply to a) mines susceptible to firedamp; b) the processing and manufacture of explosives; c) areas where a hazard may arise due to the presence of ignitable dusts or fibres (refer AS/NZS 61241. 10) d) catastrophic failures which are beyond the concept of abnormality dealt with in this standard (see note 5); f) domestic premises. Note 4 – Atmospheric conditions include variations above and below reference levels of 101,3 kPa (1 013 mbar) and 20 °C (293 K), provided that the variations have a negligible effect on the explosion properties of the flammable materials Note 5 – Catastrophic failure in this context is applied, for example, to the rupture of a process vessel or pipeline and events that are not predictable 3. 3 Hazardous area (Definition) an area in which an explosive gas atmosphere is or may be expected to be present, in quantities such as to require special precautions for the construction, installation and use of equipment Explaining Flammable Atmospheres By the explanation and definition above, Hazardous Areas (in relation to explosive atmospheres) are areas where the prospect of a flammable atmosphere developing through gasses (or combustible dusts as per AS/NZS 60079. 10. 2) “may be expected” in quantities that could cause a fire or explosion if an ignition source is present. If we look at the fire triangle it shows that three elements need to be present to create a fire or explosion: As mentioned above, Hazardous Areas can only be “classified” at what is considered normal temperatures and at atmospheric pressure. So basically, the fire triangle depends on there being 21% oxygen in the air and a flammable mixture. All flammable material will have an explosive range that will sustain combustion – that is to say, it is to be mixed with air in certain proportions above the Lower Explosion Level (LEL) and below the Upper Explosion Level (UEL) to form an explosive mixture. Some examples are given below: It can be seen from the table above that different chemicals can have varying ranges of an explosive range. Mixtures below the LEL means the mixture is too lean to ignite, not enough fuel and with mixtures above the UEL they are too rich to ignite, so there is too much fuel to ignite the mixture (flooding). So theoretically as a flammable gas is released from a source very close to the source will more than likely be above the UEL and difficult to ignite, while the further away you get the easier to ignite until you get beyond the LEL and there is not enough gas to ignite. Introducing Sources of Ignition The only element left to introduce is a source of ignition. These sources of ignition can be created from many different sources. Some basic sources are shown below; – ANY electrical equipment that is not certified to be installed in the hazardous area, including: - Portable, transportable and personal electrical equipment - Battery tools - Electrical meters - Two-way radios - Mobile phones - Car key remote controls - Static electricity - Equipment and actions that heats up with friction - Equipment and actions that create sparks - Concentrated lasers can be an ignition source to some flammable or combustible material - Untrasonics can be an ignition source to some flammable or combustible material Where can these flammable gases (or combustible dusts) be found in industry? Flammable gases and combustible dusts can be found in many and varied industries, some examples obvious – others not so obvious. Insurance companies are very aware of hazardous areas and the need for compliance and safety. Some examples are shown below: - Gas drilling and processing both on shore and offshore - Coal mining both underground and surface - Manufacturers of crop protection products (Combustible organic dusts) - Manufacturers and suppliers of industrial gases - Grocery food manufacturing companies (Combustible organic dusts) - 3D printing machines (Combustible metallic dusts) - Spray painting booths - Fuel farms - Copper mining - Manufacturers and suppliers of fertilisers - Petrol stations - Aviation refuelling facilities - Bakeries (combustible organic dusts such as flour etc) - Sewage treatment plants - Plasterboard manufacturers - Coal or gas fired power stations - Pet food manufacturers - Paper manufacturers The problem is less needing to know IF you have any Hazardous Areas within your industry, but rather WHERE ARE THEY? As shown in the above list, it covers a vast array of industry and most industrial plant will have some form of Hazardous Area in places. It only takes an ignition source to start a fire or explosion that could cause injury, death and major damage to plant and disruption to the process.

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Flood Vulnerability of Delaware Communities Delaware is extremely susceptible to the dangers of flooding. It is one of only three states in which 100 percent of its population lives in coastline counties, according to a census report. An article published by Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Sea Level Rise: Delaware’s Rising Tide, describes possible impacts of sea level rise in the First State. It explains that Delaware is vulnerable to coastal inundation, storm surge, saltwater intrusion, tidal wetland losses, nuisance flooding from high tides, and inland flooding from extreme participation—all of which will be exacerbated by the looming threats of higher rates of sea level rise. Also, each year, 10 – 35 storms such as nor’easters and tropical storms occur in Delaware, often causing flooding. All Delaware communities must evaluate risks, prepare, and implement plans to address flooding caused by storms and extreme precipitation, seasonal high “king” tides, and climate change—including sea level rise. Because Delaware is the lowest state in the nation regarding average sea level, many think that only coastal communities or towns along bodies of water (rivers, ponds, lakes, inland bays, streams, and creeks) are impacted by flooding. This is not the case. In addition to climate change, flooding can be caused by issues associated with poor or insufficient management of stormwater, floodplains, and/or drainage—including an increase in impervious surfaces due to sprawling land use patterns and development. Flooding also impacts properties near ditches. In Delaware, there are 228 individual tax ditch organizations that manage 2,000 miles of channels that provide benefits/protection to over 10,000 Delawareans. Therefore, flood vulnerability impacts each jurisdiction in Delaware and heightens the need to make communities flood-ready and resilient. State Policy Framework Delaware has a long-standing history of fostering stewardship of Delaware’s natural resources promoting wise land use, and ensuring water quality and water management practices. State policies, regulations, and programs have been developed to promote stormwater management, low-impact development, land conservation, riparian buffers, floodplain management, and land use planning strategies to mitigate flooding and adapt to flood risks. In recent years, there has been great momentum to build upon Delaware’s efforts in resiliency and adaptation. In August 2011, Governor Markell signed Senate Bill 64 into law, authorizing DNREC to adopt guidance and minimum standards to reduce risk from flooding. As a result, DNREC adopted 15 floodplain standards and 6 drainage standards, along with a variety of recommendations that local governments may wish to incorporate into local codes. In addition, Governor Markell’s Executive Order 41, Preparing Delaware for Emerging Climate Impacts and Seizing Economic Opportunities from Reducing Emissions, set forth an action plan to address climate change, a major cause of flooding in the First State. First, it created the Committee on Climate and Resiliency. This committee was tasked with developing actionable recommendations for state agencies and local governments to improve Delaware’s preparedness and resiliency to climate change and sea level rise. The Climate Framework for Delaware, unveiled in December 2014, summarizes the work and recommendations of three Committee workgroups that focused on Mitigation, Adaptation, and Flood Avoidance. It includes recommendations that outline Delaware’s future direction for climate action. In addition to recommended actions for state agencies, the Framework outlines the need for interagency coordination and strategies “local governments can take to improve community resiliency, and outreach strategies to inform and prepare Delaware’s residents and businesses about identified risks, vulnerabilities, adaptation strategies, and basics of climate change and its causes, with particular attention to providing strategies to help protect at-risk populations. ” Delaware Local Government Planning Framework: Flood-Ready Communities With a variety of existing useful resources, this toolbox content provides a planning framework to equip Delaware communities with the tools necessary to transform communities into flood-ready, resilient places. Resilient communities leverage the strengths and capacities of individuals, families, businesses, schools, and hospitals to “bounce back” after flood events, rather than merely react to impacts. Community engagement is an integral process that should be prioritized throughout all stages in creating a flood-ready community. Visit the Public Engagement section of the Delaware Complete Communities Planning Toolbox for ways to achieve public involvement, educate citizens, engage community members, and gain valuable input from stakeholders. The following sections provide a process and tools for Delaware communities to evaluate risks, plan to adapt, and execute actions to address the impacts of flooding. - Conduct a Vulnerability and Risk Assessment - Review Maps and Data to Evaluate Risk - Gauge Local Government Capacity to Manage Risk - Evaluate Education and Outreach Needs - Review State of Delaware Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment - Assess Adequacy of Local Plans, Policies, Codes, and Regulations - Engage Stakeholders - Adopt and Incorporate Recommendations of an All Hazards Mitigation Plan into the Comprehensive Plan - Incorporate Flood Resiliency, Sea Level Rise, and Climate Change Adaptation into Official Local Government Plans. This includes: - Revising, Updating, or Amending the Comprehensive Plan, or - Preparing a Separate or “Stand-Alone” Plan (e. g., a Natural Hazards/Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan) that is adopted as an amendment to the comprehensive plan - Implement Recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan or Stand-Alone Plan(s) - Adopt Delaware Complete Communities Planning Strategies - Strengthen Codes and Ordinances to improve Flood Readiness - Consider Delaware Best Practices GIS StoryMap on Freeboard This GIS StoryMap showcases “freeboard” as a tool to achieve a Sustainable and Resilient community. When adopted as part of a floodplain management strategy, freeboard can create Flood-Ready Communities that are prepared to protect and preserve properties and lives.

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Indoor plants should be an essential component of every interior design. Greenery brightens up indoor spaces and are known to have mood-boosting qualities. Indoor plants are popular because they are relatively easy to take care of, provide health benefits and can be used in a variety of indoor décor themes. Indoor plants are a great option for those who have little yard space for an outdoor garden or for those who live in climates with severely cold winters. So, if you’re caring for indoor plants for the first time, our ultimate guide will provide you with the necessary information to allow your green friends to thrive. To provide you with expert insight, we asked our Senior Horticulturist at Ambius, Matt Kostelnick, to answer the most frequently asked questions about indoor plants. What are indoor plants? Indoor plants are plants that grow indoors. There are a variety of tropical plants, like palms, that thrive in indoor environments. How do you plant indoor plants? Most of the time, indoor plants are already in containers, so there is no need to plant them. There are typically only two reasons you need to plant an indoor plant. If your plant is getting too big, then you will need to replant it into a larger container. If you wanted to grow bulbs indoors, then you will need to plant the bulbs yourself. How much light do indoor plants need? Succulents and cacti need continuous, daily sunlight. Plants with foliage need roughly 8 hours of light per day. The amount of light depends on the plants you are growing, so we suggest doing research on the specific plants you are growing. What qualities make for a good indoor plant? There are several qualities to look for when selecting an indoor plant. - A good root system – This is incredibly important when choosing a plant. It’s not practical to pull a plant out of its pot to check its roots but if it is a small plant, this can be done. Healthy roots are thick and light in color. - Foliage- Here’s a good rule of thumb when it comes to plant’s foliage: if you can’t see through it, the foliage is thick enough. - Check for disease – Some signs of a plant with pests or disease are: white dots, sticky residue on the leaves and a bad odor. Which indoor plants require low light? Indoor plants that need little light could be good fits for locations where light is more dim. Some plants that require low light are: - Philodendron – A very common indoor plant that rarely attracts pests. It’s a hearty plant that is adaptable to various environments - Pothos or Devil’s Ivy- A plant with colorful and vibrant leaves. This plant does great in a variety of environments, thriving in low light or in bright, indirect light. - Dracaena– This is another popular indoor plant with long green leaves. This is one indoor plant you will want to prune if foliage gets too long. - Peace Lily- This plant thrives best when the soil is moist, but not overwatered. If you want flowers to appear on your peace lily plant, move your plant to a darker room. Which indoor plants are the easiest to take care of? Below is a list of indoor plants that are easy to take care of: - Most succulents - ZZ plant Which plants are considered indoor plants? Plants that require a low amount of light and water to thrive are typically known as indoor plants. Ambius considers these plants as examples of common indoor plants: - Hedera Helix - Sansevieria Zeylanica Superba What are examples of some common indoor plants? More examples of common indoor plants include the following: What are the best indoor plants? Good indoor plants will tolerate lower light and humidity. Also, they will be less likely to deal with pests. Plus, they usually do not grow too much (you wouldn’t want an indoor plant to grow at a rapid rate). The best indoor plants include the following: - Aglaonema – It is attractive, tolerates low light, and does not grow too quickly. - Aspidistra – You should not need to give it a lot of water and it will handle low light. If you’d like to take a vacation and don’t want to be concerned about your plant, aspidistra a great one for you. - Succulents – Make sure you give them bright light. How do you re-pot indoor plants? Unless your indoor plant has become too large for the pot it is in, you typically don’t need to re-pot indoor plants. For steps and tips on how to properly re-pot plants, check out our blog on re-potting plants. How do you care for indoor plants? Here are some tips that will help you care for indoor plants: - Keep potting soil moist- It’s important to make sure soil is not too wet nor too dry - Make sure the plant pot has drainage holes in the bottom of the pot - Place your plant near a light source, whether it’s natural or artificial - Determine what species of plant you have so you can more accurately care for it How do you prune indoor plants? If you have no reason to prune plants, don’t do it. But, if you notice your plant getting tally and spindly, then we recommend you prune them. What are some of the common reasons indoor plants die? Some of the most common reasons plants die are: - Overwatering or underwatering - Light Levels (either not enough light or too much light) How long do indoor plants typically live? On average, indoor house plants last 2-5 years. After that, plants stop thriving and it’s best to invest in another plant. Which interior plants improve air quality the most? All plants can act as air purifiers but these plants are more beneficial than others. - Red-Edged Dracaena - Weeping Fig - Bamboo Palm How do indoor plants affect people’s mood? People are often surprised on how beneficial indoor plants are. Not only do plants clean the air, but they also reduce noise levels and stress in the workplace. For more information on the benefits of indoor plants, click here. Are indoor plants expensive? Indoor plants are known for being very affordable. The smaller the plant, the less expensive it will be. We do warn customers from buying plants from large retailers. Oftentimes, large retailers will sell coconut or palm trees, which are large indoor plants sold at a relatively low price. Just because a plant is large and sold for a low price does not mean you are getting the best deal. We recommend doing some research prior to buying or speaking with a salesperson at a gardening center. Which indoor plants work well for small living spaces? The plants below are great for those living in apartments or working in a small workspace. Here is a list of small plants great for small spaces. - Succulents, if you have a good light source - Hedra helix - Devil’s Ivy What is the best kind of indoor plant fertilizer to use? Go to a garden center and look for a fertilizer with “indoor plant” on the label. You will use less fertilizer for plants inside versus outside, so ensure you use the rate specified for indoor plants. If you’re getting fertilizer for blooming plants, look for a fertilizer labeled with the type of plant (orchids, for example) – but if it is unclear which one you should pick, it’s fine to use fertilizer for houseplants. How do I get rid of bugs on indoor plants? Bugs on your indoor plants can be really annoying! If you spot pests, go to a garden center and purchase an insecticidal soap, which usually is contained in a spray bottle. When you notice bugs, spray the entire plant – the undersides and tops of the leaves as well as the stem. Next, wait about two weeks and repeat the spraying. Then, wait two more weeks and spray again. You will want to spray three times because the soap usually will not eliminate eggs, which could hatch. If your plant is dealing with a severe infestation and you are unable to eradicate the pests, throw out the plant. You can also use a damp paper towel to remove a pest. How do I know when to water my indoor plant? Over-watering is a common mistake, and you will want to make sure the plant actually requires water now or if it should wait until later. Here are some ways to see if it’s time to water: - Soil probe – This probe will draw out soil, which will help you understand how dry the soil is below the surface. - Moisture meter – This tool tells you, on a scale, how dry soil is. - Lifting the plant up – Heaviness signifies the plant has enough water, but lightness signifies the plant is dry. - Wilting – Wilting typically happens because the plant is not getting sufficient water. Lift the plant to see if it is light in weight or if it’s heavy. - Tipping – If the leaf edges begin browning and are crispy to the touch, the plant likely needs water. If the leaf edges are becoming brown but feel mushy, the plant has likely gotten too much water. - Yellow leaves – Yellow leaves may also signify that a plant has too much or too little water, but this is not always the case. How do I care for peace lily plants indoors? Peace lily plants (spathiphyllum) could make a nice addition to your indoor space, such as an office. These plants need to be watered moderately often, but make sure you do not over-water them. If your peace lily begins wilting, just give it some water. You’ll know it has enough if water begins seeping out of the pot’s drainage holes. Peace lilies also will handle low light. A north-facing window is a nice location for this plant, but you do not necessarily need to put it in a window.

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Virtualizing an Infrastructure with System p and Linux An IBM Redbooks publication Note: This is publication is now archived. For reference only. This book positions the capabilities of IBM® System p™ to virtualize Linux® infrastructure services for server consolidation using Advanced POWER™ Virtualization features. It discusses the benefits of virtualization, the Linux infrastructure services workload, planning, and configuration of a virtualized server environment, and the various tools that are available. This book can help you plan, configure, and install Linux infrastructure services on System p platform and use System p virtualization capabilities with Advanced POWER virtualization features. It also covers various topics on how to configure Linux built-in infrastructure services, such as DNS, DHCP, firewall, and so forth, and the different virtualization management techniques that are available on System p. This book is intended as an additional source of information that, together with existing sources referenced throughout the book, can enhance your knowledge of IBM virtualization technology. While the discussion focuses on the Linux operating system, you can extend the basic concepts to other operating systems running on System p. The information in this book is not intended to replace the latest marketing materials and tools. Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Configuration planning Chapter 3. Creating a virtual environment on System p Chapter 4. Installing and configuring Linux infrastructure services Chapter 5. Managing a virtualized server environment Appendix A. Sample System Planning Tool output Appendix B. Resource monitor attributes on Linux on POWER

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With the development of new technologies, data centers need greater bandwidth and higher speed to keep up with the pace of development. OM5 fiber, as a new model of multimode fiber (MMF), provides data centers with greater bandwidth and higher speed. Now, OM5 fiber is widely used in high-speed transmission. What are the futures of OM5 optical fiber and its advantages over other cables? This article will introduce OM5 fiber cable in detail. OM5 Fiber Definition OM5 fiber is a new type of multimode fiber cable, designed for high bandwidth and short to medium distance. The ISO and TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) standardization organizations released the latest cabling standards ISO 11801 3rd and TIA-568. 0-D respectively in 2017, it develop guidance for a wideband multimode fiber (WBMMF) 50/125 μm standard to support short wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM) transmission. The OM5 color is a lime green outer jacket, meanwhile, the geometry of OM5 (50μm core, 125μm cladding) is the same as the geometry of OM3 and OM4, so OM5 fiber cable is backward compatible with OM3 and OM4 fiber. Figure 1: OM5 Multimode Fiber OM5 is the first approved WBMMF (Wide Band Multimode Fiber). It uses a pair of fibers to transmit the data rate from 40GB/s to 100GB/s. The OM5 fiber cable is powered by shortwave wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM). This multiplexing design allows OM5 fiber optic cable to reduce the number of parallel fibers significantly. The OM5 fiber cable operates in the range of 850 to 950nm wavelength and it can provide a 100GB data stream with only one pair of parallel optical fibers. The less optical fiber makes the less crosstalk, and the lower overall loss. The attenuation of OM5 wide band multimode fiber has been reduced from 3. 5 dB/km for previous OM3, OM4 cables to 3. 0 dB/km, and the bandwidth requirement of 953 nm wavelength has been increased. More importantly, OM5 fiber optic cable can utilize four independent wavelengths in its range, and the channel loss of each frequency is consistent. The OM5 multimode fiber distance is shown in the following table: |Bandwidth (MHZ*KM)||Distance Limitation| |Fiber Type||Core/Cladding (μm)||Overfilled Launch (LED Source), 850nm||Effective Modal Bandwidth(LASER Source), 850 nm||10GBASE-SR Distance||40GBASE-SR4 Distance||100GBASE-SR10 Distance| |OM3||50/125||1500||2000||300m / 1000ft||100m / 330ft||100m / 330ft| |OM4||50/125||3500||4700||400m / 1300ft||150m / 500ft||150m / 500ft| |OM5||50/125||3500||4700||400m / 1300ft||150m / 500ft||150m / 500ft| Figure 2: OM3 vs OM4 vs OM5 Bandwidth and Distance Limitation What Is The WBMMF and SWDM Technology? Wideband multimode fiber is the first choice for high-end data centers to build a network cabling system, Multimode fiber can increase the transmission rate to 100GB/s by using pairs of strands of fibers with the simultaneous light signal transmission in the data center. Each cable groups fiber pairs into up to 16 strands, which will improve the overall performance whenever adding a pair of fibers. The feature of multimode fiber using a wideband allows each fiber strand to transmit data at the same time, allowing fiber pairs to work virtually to realize multiple pairs transmission. In the current application, the designed wideband multiplies the data rate by a factor of four. It is expected that future applications will use more synchronous frequency bands to improve the data rate further. Figure 3: Total Bandwidth Comparison Shortwave wavelength division multiplxing（SWDM）is a new technology that transmits and receives the light of four different wavelengths at the same time over wideband multimode fiber, it is powered by a vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) to transmit data over a pair of optical fiber. The SWDM transceiver operates on wavelengths of 850nm, 880nm, 910nm, 940nm，the SWDM optics are designed to connect to a transceiver with OM5 multimode fiber by using 2-fiber connectivity. SWDM optics are compatible with OM3/OM4/OM5 cabling systems, but the SWDM transceivers can’t be used in the existing fiber infrastructure unless they use wideband multimode fiber. Figure 4: 100GbE(4x25GbE/Wavelength 2-Fiber SWDM) Comparison OM5 Fiber with Others Optical Fiber In fact, the OM5 cabling system is more expensive than OM4 about 50%, the cost of single-mode transceivers is also becoming lower due to silicon photonics technologies and the large demand in the market, which makes single-mode transceivers more cost-effectively, and most data center is willing to choose single-mode optics modules. For instance, a single-mode MTP trunk cable operates on 100GBASE-PSM4 which supports up to 500m and only costs $750. OM4 VS OM5 Transmission Distance In multimode IEEE applications, the maximum transmission distance supported by OM4 and OM5 is the same. For example, a 40G-SWDM4 transceiver can operate over OM4 supports a maximum transmission distance of up to 400m，while over the OM5 optics fibers is up to 500m. When the user deploys a 100G-SWDM4 optics module that does not comply with IEEE standards, it is proved that OM5 fiber can support a maximum transmission up to 150m, while over OM4 cables are 100 meters. Using OM5 multimode fiber in a 40G/100G connection solution can reduce the fiber count. Compared with OM3 and OM4, OM5 fiber is the latest version and it is backward compatible with OM3 and OM4 fiber cabling. By using SWDM technology, This fiber uses only two OM5 fibers and 40/100G SWDM4 transceivers in 40G and 100G SWDM4 cabling. Management & Installation The multimode connection with MTP/MPO breakout cabling system in 40G/100G network provides a more user-friendly solution for data centers and building and campus backbone, especially in installing cabling system, troubleshooting, cleaning, and overall maintenance. Although the price of single-mode fiber is lower than the OM5 multimode fiber price, multimode fiber can save more fiber cost. Meanwhile, it has more superiority in installation, troubleshooting, cleaning, and other aspects, which is also the reason why most data centers will choose the OM5 optical fibers. However, the maximum transmission distance of OM5 will decrease with the increase of transmit rate. Well, how to use OM5, it is better to select OM5 within 500m and it is better to choose single-mode fiber at a distance of more than 500 meters. QSFPTEK offers high-quality and high-density optical fibers, if you still have any questions, you can contact email@example. com.

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Boredom Isn't Boring We all know these situations in our everyday lives when we are left with nothing in particular to do, maybe waiting for an event or anything else to arouse the interest in our surrounding. This emotional state is commonly referred to as boredom, the “state of being weary and restless through lack of interest” (Merriam-Webster). This expression which was first used in 1778 of the thing that causes ennui or annoyance derives from the Old English “borian” meaning to bore through or to perforate. Things that are slow and repetitive and don’t appear to be going anywhere, just like boring a hole, came to be described as “boring”. Although “boredom” didn’t become an official word until 1852 it is by no means a recent invention. - Seneca (ca 4 BC – AD 65), the roman philosopher, talks about it as a kind of nausea: "How long will things be the same? Surely I will be awake, I will sleep, I will be hungry, I will be cold, I will be hot. Is there no end? Sometimes, this makes me nauseous". - Even a wall of the Basilica in Pompeii, the ancient Roman town-city which was mostly destroyed after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD bears the following graffiti: "Wall! I wonder that you haven't fallen down in ruin, when you have to support all the boredom of your inscribers. " The original Latin word here is taedia, meaning weariness or boredom. - The early Christian Evagrius of Pontus (345-399 AD) refers to the state of boredom as the “Noonday Demon”: "It attacks a hermit at about the fourth hour and besieges his soul until the eighth hour. . . It causes the hermit to look continually at the windows and forces him to step out of his cell and to gaze at the sun. This is to see how far it still is from the ninth hour. And it forces him to look around, here and there, to see whether any of his brethren are near. " During that time boredom was called acedia (negligence), most likely a precursor to sloth, one of the seven deadly sins. By the Renaissance, this “demon-induced sin” became melancholia and later the French ennui. For Further Reading A great book that covers everything relating boredom: Its ancient history, modern issues and boredom as one of our most common and constructive emotions. It is for anyone "interested in what goes on when supposedly nothing happens". Why do we get bored? German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) once said: For if life [. . . ] possessed in itself a positive value and real content, then would be no such thing as boredom: mere existence would fulfill and satisfy us. But apparently this is not the case. Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837), an Italian philosopher and poet explained the existence of boredom and the reason why we get bored as following: "Boredom is the most sublime of all human emotions because it expresses the fact that the human spirit, in a certain sense, is greater than the entire universe. Boredom is an expression of a profound despair at not finding anything that can satisfy the soul's boundless needs. " Researchers found that brain activity only drops by 5% when people are consciously doing nothing. This could explain why time seems to pass more slowly when we are bored. But they also found the brain to be much more active in regions responsible for recalling autobiographical memories, imagining thoughts and feelings of others and conjuring hypothetical events. In her essay “Our Boredom, Ourselves” Jeniffer Schuessler refers to these regions as the literary areas of the brain. 3 Different Kinds of Boredom being trapped in a tedious situation has fascinated great philosophers and writers no product of the environment childish form of weakness or lack of attention emptiness of meaning, alienation and isolation lack of dopamine receptors in the brain "normal" kind of boredom closely related to depression most dangerous form Why is boredom good for us? Boredom can be a very productive emotion. People who are bored tend to think about themselves, notice things they may have overlooked and are more likely to do productive tasks like cleaning or writing. According to Schuessler, it is “an important source of creativity, well-being and our very sense of self”. Boredom leads always to some form of change, positive or negative. The outcome of the change is defined by the situation and state of mind the bored person finds themselves in. Many inventions, ideas or concepts were born this way: J K Rowling came up with the main idea of “Harry Potter” while she was just quietly thinking, sitting on a train from Manchester to London. According to Peter Toohey, author of “Boredom: A Lively History”, "Boredom is an evolutionary mechanism which tells us we need to bring about a change to survive". Are you often getting bored? Boredom can also be bad Of course, you don't have to worry if you get bored from time to time, because, as this Hub implies, that's totally natural and even good for you, your health and humanity. However, boredom can have negative effects on your lifespan if it is experienced as a "bored to death"-feeling, a kind of never ending ennui. Researchers found out, that people who reported to be bored all the time (the study was started in 1985) were 2. 5 times more likely to die of cardiovascular diseases than those who were just bored from time to time. People who are nothing but bored are also at higher risk for factors such as "excessive drinking, smoking, taking drugs and low psychological profiles," as another study found out. Those extreme cases where boredom can lead into depression are not very common, but they do exist. Another interesting thought is the possible impact that boredom could have on a manned mission to Mars. Being caught in a tiny spaceship for eight months in order to land on a planet that is mostly empty can more than likely cause boredom, no matter how exciting the exploration of this new world will be. "If your brain does not receive sufficient stimulus, it might find something else to do — it daydreams, it wanders, it thinks about itself," writes Maggie Koerth-Baker at The New York Times. "Chronic boredom correlates with depression and attention deficits. " Astronauts could make simple mistakes if they're not fully focused and they will subconsciously take more risks.

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|(C;C)||1. 1||Can taste bitter. | |(C;G)||1. 1||Can taste bitter. | |(G;G)||1. 1||Possibly unable to taste bitter in some foods. | rs713598 is one of three SNPs that form the main haplotypes behind the ability to perceive as bitter the taste of the compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and similar molecules in foods (like cabbage and raw broccoli) or drinks (like coffee and dark beers). Due to it's minus orientation and nearly 50/50 split of allele frequency it is easily confused. In the orientation shown in dbSNP and used in SNPedia In the GRCh37 orientation currently (2017) reported by 23andMe Tasting is dominant, so heterozygotes are able to taste bitterness. If you are a "taster", you're also likely to carry at least one rs10246939(C) and one rs1726866(C) allele since, along with rs713598(G), these three SNPs form the most common tasting haplotype. If you lack these alleles, you're quite likely (~80%) to be a non-taster of bitterness, meaning that foods that may taste bitter to others taste far less bitter to you. [PMID 12595690] |Title||The perception of quinine taste intensity is associated with common genetic variants in a bitter receptor cluster on chromosome 12| |Odds Ratio||None None| |CLNSRC||OMIM Allelic Variant UniProtKB (protein)| [PMID 15883422] TAS2R38 (phenylthiocarbamide) haplotypes, coronary heart disease traits, and eating behavior in the British Women's Heart and Health Study. [PMID 18248681] Prevalence of common disease-associated variants in Asian Indians. [PMID 18834969] A combinatorial approach to detecting gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in family studies. [PMID 19092995] Bitter taste receptors influence glucose homeostasis. [PMID 19687126] A non-synonymous variant in ADH1B is strongly associated with prenatal alcohol use in a European sample of pregnant women. [PMID 19779476] Sex differences in the effects of inherited bitter thiourea sensitivity on body weight in 4-6-year-old children. [PMID 21763010] Implication of the G145C polymorphism (rs713598) of the TAS2r38 gene on food consumption by Brazilian older women. [PMID 24083639] Variations in Bitter-Taste Receptor Genes, Dietary Intake, and Colorectal Adenoma Risk [PMID 23133589] Bitter taste receptor polymorphisms and human aging. [PMID 25257701] Polymorphisms in TRPV1 and TAS2Rs associate with sensations from sampled ethanol

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Seasonal changes in mood and energy are a fact of life for many Canadians, especially many women. The effects can start as early as later August. More commonly, people note they are into the symptoms by mid-fall. A problem is that the symptoms develop slowly and can “sneak up” on you. The symptoms commonly include lack of energy, possibly also difficulty problem solving and difficulty initiating change, and sometimes clinical depression. So, by the time people come to realize that their energy and mood have shifted lower, often they have been living with the symptoms for some time. The very symptoms that are bothering them tend to make it more difficult for them to apply the problem-solving and initiative to seek and start treatment. Even if a person understands the situation well because of being through it in previous years, their treatment light may sit unused in the closet, as they sit unable to apply the intent and energy to get the light out and switch it on. Because of this, it is a good idea to think of the Labour Day weekend as a time to get your treatment light out and put it in place to be ready to use it. That, or use that weekend as a reminder that by this time of year you should be looking to discuss your symptoms and concerns with your doctor, if you feel that seasonal changes in mood, energy or related symptoms may be an issue for you. (1) A brief video, from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, in Canada, posted in December, 2012. (3 minutes) “Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)” “Dr. Robert Levitan, CAMH Senior Scientist and Research Head, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, explains the prevalence of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) among Canadians and offers tips on the best ways to treat symptoms from depression to the winter blues. ” (2) This longer video takes a bit of patience to get through, as it is a bit rambling. However, the information is very useful. “Seasonal Affective Disorder: More Than Just the Winter Blues” Presented by Dr. Kuhn of Holland Hospital, posted on January 22, 2014 “Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that most often occurs during the shorter days of winter when our exposure to sunlight is reduced. Symptoms build up slowly and can include feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, weight gain, loss of energy, increased sleep and inability to concentrate. Mental health expert Thomas Kuhn, M.D., from Holland Hospital Behavioral Health Services talks about how to recognize and manage Seasonal Affective Disorder in yourself or family members. Dr. Kuhn also discusses use of medications, diet, exercise, counseling and light therapy to treat SAD. ”

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Definición de small clause en inglés: A clause which contains neither a finite verb nor the infinitive marker ‘to’, for example him groan in I heard him groan. - Thus, if a language has long-distance reflexivization with indicatives, then it will necessarily have it with (if relevant) subjunctives, infinitives, small clauses, and NPs. ¿Qué te llama la atención de esta palabra o frase? Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. Most popular in the US Most popular in the UK Most popular in Canada Most popular in Australia Most popular in Malaysia Most popular in Pakistan

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Solar cycle No. 22 which started in 1986 seems to have already passed through a maximum. The maximum annual mean sunspot number was 157 for 1989. The maximum twelve-month running average was 159, centered on July 1989. For cycle 21, the similar value was 165 centered at December 1979. Thus, cycle 22 is slightly weaker than cycle 21. Schatten and Sofia (1987) had predicted a stronger cycle 22 (170 ± 25) as compared to cycle 21 (140 ± 20). Predictions based on single variable analysis, viz. , R z (max) versus aa(min) were ∼ 165 and came true. Predictions based on a bivariate analysis, viz. , R z (max) versus aa(min) and R z (min) were ∼ 130 and proved to be underestimates. Other techniques gave over- or underestimates.

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Honey bees and other insects important to agriculture could get help from recent genetic studies of an agricultural pestthe fruit fly, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators who have completed genome sequences of 12 fruit fly species. The fruit fly, Drosophila, is often used as a model organism in genetic studies. The researchers analysed immune genes in the 12 fly species and report that the study offers insights into the immune system of honey bees, a valuable pollinator beset by a variety of problems, including the highly publicized colony collapse disorder (CCD). The analysis of the immunity-related genes in Drosophila was done by entomologist Jay Evans at the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., and researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.; Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.; and Umea University in Umea, Sweden. The study was published recently in Nature Genetics. Having the complete genetic sequences for the 12 fruit fly species will provide researchers tools for dissecting the evolutionary history of the Drosophila immune system. Eventually, this may enable scientists to test immune predictions for honey bees and other agriculturally beneficial insects. That's because both insects share numerous disease-resistance traits. Insects' immune systems must constantly evolve to remain effective against a changing array of diseases and other threats. These changes are evident when examining the genes involved in immune response. Before this sequencing study, general patterns have been difficult to discern, because previous studies focused on a small number of genes in a few particular species. The current study describes how the immune systems of the well-studied fruit fly group have changed over time, strengthening comparisons to bees and other insects of agricultural importance. Additional information can be found at: ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

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Public Policies to Be Implemented to Encourage the Use of Renewable Energy Sources in the Rural Area of Paraná Batista, Alexandre G. Braz. arch. biol. technol. DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO Abstract Around the world there’s a rising interest in the installation of renewable energy sources due to their ecological, economical, political and social advantages. In this article is studied specifically the case of the incentive towards the installation of these sources in the state of Parana’s rural area, where they wouldn’t just be ecologically interesting, but also would help the improvement on the living conditions of the rural producers, promote income distribution and would cause an increase on the power supply, this way reducing the tariff. However, the problem arises in the acquisition of the energy generator, since even though they are interesting for the rural producers, these sources are majorly too expensive and end up being beyond their purchasing power. Based on that, this article brings a selection of public policies that could make the use of these sources viable in the rural area of the state, based on the experiences of other countries who face or have faced in the past similar difficulties, like China or India, and countries who have become reference in the matter, like Germany. - Integration of Renewable Energy Sources to Operate in Microgrids in Rural Zones in Brazil - Main Variables of Brazilian Public Policies on Biomass use and Energy - Solar Energy for Residential Use and Its Contribution to the Energy Matrix of the State of Paraná - England launches scheme to encourage use of “care bundles” - Service to the Lay Public III. Policies Set Up by Medical Society Libraries to Regulate the Use of Materials by the Lay Public *

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How to Indent the First Line of a Paragraph in Word 2010 Do you suffer from the shame of manual paragraph indenting? Too many Word users — even those with the latest, Word 2010 — still begin a paragraph of text by pressing the Tab key. It's ugly, but it's a topic that must be covered. Have Word automatically indent the first line of every paragraph you type: Click the Dialog Box Launcher button, found in the lower-right corner of the Paragraph group. The Paragraph dialog box appears. In the Indentation area's Special drop-down list, select First Line. To remove the first-line indent from a paragraph, select (None) from the drop-down list. Unless you’ve messed with the settings, the box should automatically say 0. 5, which means that Word automatically indents the first line of every paragraph a half-inch — one tab stop. Type another value if you want your indents to be more or less outrageous. (Items are measured here in inches, not in points. ) The selected block, or the current paragraph (and the remaining paragraphs you type), automatically has an indented first line. Word's AutoCorrect feature can perform these steps for you, but it's tricky. First, you must type the paragraph. Then, go back to the start of the paragraph and press the Tab key. This action instantly fixes the paragraph indentation (if AutoCorrect is on), and you see the AutoCorrect icon on the screen. Here's the secret: Ignore the AutoCorrect icon, and your paragraph indenting is fixed. Ta-da!

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A plant disease that presents a serious threat to the U.S. citrus industry has been located in South Carolina. Federal and state plant-health officials have confirmed the presence of citrus greening (CG). An infected tree produces fruit that is bitter and unmarketable. Officials are establishing a quarantine to prohibit the movement of citrus plants and other hosts from the area. This is the first confirmation of CG in South Carolina. The disease was found in a leaf sample from a residential property in Charleston (Charleston County). South Carolina Department of Plant Industry officials plan to remove the infected tree and, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), have begun planning next actions. Surveillance teams will take additional samples for testing, survey the area around the site and gather data on the tree’s history, if possible. Outreach and education to nurseries, plant dealers and citrus hobbyists will be conducted in the near future as well. Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB, is caused by the bacterial pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. Other than tree removal, there is no effective control once a tree is infected and there is no known cure for the disease. Citrus greening reduces the quantity and quality of citrus fruits, eventually rendering infected trees useless. In areas of the world affected by citrus greening the average productive lifespan of citrus trees has dropped from 50 or more years to 15 or less. Citrus trees in orchards usually decline within 3 to 5 years after becoming infected and require removal and replanting. The disease-causing bacteria are spread by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). While officials found the insect in the Charleston area in 2008 and performed molecular analysis on the specimen collected, they did not detect any symptoms of citrus greening bacteria. Last year, Asian citrus psyllids were not detected on this specific tree during surveys conducted by APHIS and the state, but were detected less than a mile away. The insect also was found on citrus in Beaufort and Colleton counties. The presence of psyllids in the three counties led to federal and state quarantines of Beaufort, Charleston and Colleton counties. With the confirmation of citrus greening in Charleston, federal plant officials are seeking to establish a citrus greening quarantine in Charleston County. South Carolina officials have indicated that the state intends to take action to establish a parallel quarantine. The dual action makes it possible for federal regulators to hold the quarantine for CG only in those counties in South Carolina in which the disease is present. Citrus greening has been in Asia and Africa for decades. It was detected in Brazil in 2004. APHIS confirmed the disease in Florida in 2005 and Louisiana in 2008. The 2005-2006 Florida citrus crop had an on-tree value of $1. 04 billion. For additional information about this disease, please visit www. saveourcitrus. org.

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Water that reaches our glasses each day has been around in one form or another since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, hundreds of millions of years ago. The amount of fresh water on the earth has remained fairly constant over this time because the nature could recycle this easily but with the constant pollution in the atmosphere there has been a rapid decrease of this once abundant source. Wherever they are, people need water to survive. Not only is the human body 60 percent water, the resource is also essential for producing food, clothing, and computers, moving our waste stream, and keeping us and the environment healthy. We as city dwellers take this Safe water for granted, but did you know that 663 million people - 1 in 10 - lack access to safe water. It’s a grave problem with solution which is either too expensive or practically impossible for most to achieve. The scarcity of fresh water has reached at an alarming situation; the time is ripe to find a solution for fresh drinkable water for the ever growing world population. The Faircap Project is one such collaborative initiative which aims to create affordable open source 3D printed water filtration device. This device could provide clean, safe, drinkable water at an affordable price. The project has now unveiled a working prototype, and is calling engineers, designers, microbiologists, or anyone interested in further improving the current device or developing their own variant of the solution. Faircap Project is led by a social entrepreneur Mr. Mauricio Cordova. It is said that he got the inspiration for such a device during an adventure tour to the Amazon Rainforest. There this Peruvian thinker got amazed to see the extent of damage done to the once flawless water. He said “I realized that no matter where you are in the planet, we all will be suffering from more contamination from human and industrial activities in rivers, lakes and natural water reserves,” Mr. Cordova, who was well aware of open source and maker’s community as he had worked extensively with them during his stay in Barcelona, decided to use the advantages of this new community to create a device that would provide fresh water to the needy. Faircap 3D printed water filter prototype has been created with extensive research and testing, the said device is said to be capable to filter particles, chemicals, bacteria and viruses from the dirtiest of water, all while fitting onto a standard sized water bottle. To made the device safe for use, its printed with food-grade, FDA approved PET plastic filament. Faircap, has also released free STL files so that anyone who has a 3d printer could take part in making the device better. Once water cap is printer it needs things like charcoal from a BBQ, cotton swabs to complete the filter. This filter can fit onto a 5-8 liter water jug. Faircap inventor and incubator said "Water is the operating system (OS) for life, without clean water we would not be able to survive; clean water technologies should be shared and open sourced, to innovate on design and make them easily accessible for the people who need them most. " To take the project to the masses he has also announced a crowdfunding campaign where you can pre-order the first Faircap filters and help get the first 1,000 units manufactured. The 3D Printable file of the Faircap file is available on instructables. com which also includes the assembly instructions. The approximate cost of making such a filter is around $1 which makes this a perfect solution for developing countries. We have already downloaded the files to make one for ourselves, what about you ?

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UF Health researcher: Omicron variant is more transmissible due to mutations GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - University of Florida Health researcher Dr. David Ostrov mapped the numerous mutations of the Omicron variant of coronavirus and found changes that make it more transmissible. Ostrov studied the changes to the virus’ spike protein at the request of the Global Virus Network. He determined the mutation enables the virus to more quickly enter a human cell. Other mutations may also inhibit an immune system protein which works to prevent viruses from entering cells. These changes make the virus highly transmissible. Omicron has many times more mutations than other variants of concern including Alpha, Gamma, and Delta. These changes are expected to impact vaccine efficacy. Ostrov believes vaccine makers should create booster shots tailored to the new variants. “The fact that it has so many mutations suggests to me that we are very likely to see a reduced efficacy of the vaccines,” said Ostrov. He said it is too early to know how likely the variant is to cause severe illness but that data will come in within the next couple of weeks. Natural immunity does not appear to prevent infections based on the cases reported so far. Ostrov is researching an antiviral drug combination that could work against omicron and all other covid variants. In a study published this month, his team showed that combining a common antihistamine drug and a protein found in cow and human milk reduces virus replication by 99%. “It is more affordable than monoclonal antibodies, much more affordable than the antiviral drugs coming out from the large pharmaceutical companies,” said Ostrov. He said the university is open to engaging in a private-public partnership to begin human clinical trials. Copyright 2021 WCJB. All rights reserved. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

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(Latin: Rhipicephalus sanguineus) This tick originates from Africa but is now widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical areas of the world. In Europe it is common in the Mediterranean countries. It occurs mainly on dogs and rarely on man. Like the previous species it has to have three separate blood meals before it becomes sexually mature, and under favourable conditions development from egg to adult takes about 65 days at a temperature of 25-30° C. In temperate areas the dog tick is completely dependent upon warm buildings during the cold part of the year. As it originally evolved in very dry climates, it is able, unlike the castor bean tick, to live and breed in centrally heated houses with a dry climate. Fully fed female dog ticks are scarcely one centimetre long when they leave the host, and this most often happens in the dog’s bed. Even in this condition they are surprisingly mobile and while searching for a suitable site for egg-laying they have a tendency to wander upwards. The 2,000-4,000 red-brown eggs are attached in large or small clumps in a sheltered position, as for example small cavities in panelling, along piping or behind cupboards and pictures. To control these ticks it is essential to treat both the dog and the surrounding areas at the same time.

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the GFCE-Meridian Good Practice Guide on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection for governmental policy-makers van Schie, T.C.C. van Ruijven, T.W.J. Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) is a complex but important topic for nations. Nations at large critically depend on Critical Infrastructure (CI) services such as energy supply, telecommunications, financial systems, drinking water, and governmental services. Critical Infrastructures (CI) are defined as: “Those infrastructures which are essential for the maintenance of vital societal functions, health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of people, and the disruption or destruction of which would have serious consequences” [EC2008]. Today, the physical disruption (or even destruction) of critical elements of CI is not the only factor threatening the correct operation of CI. Information and communication technologies (ICT)-based services are becoming increasingly important for the functioning of CI. Disruption of information infrastructure is capable of causing major impact to a nation. This leads to the concept of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) which comprises both critical information and (tele)communication infrastructure (e. g. mobile telephony and internet access services) and ICT and process control systems that are a critical part of the CI service provisioning (see Figure 1). Human & Operational Modelling ICT To reference this document use: NO - Networked Organisations CSR - Cyber Security & Robustness ELSS - Earth, Life and Social Sciences Safety and Security Defence, Safety and Security

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Illustration: Maja Moden A team of UCLA-led researchers studying sleeping patterns among traditional peoples whose lifestyles closely resemble those of our evolutionary ancestors found that the industrialized world’s sleep habits do not differ much from those of our pre-industrial forebears. “The argument has always been that modern life has reduced our sleep time below the amount our ancestors got, but our data indicate that this is a myth,” says Jerome Siegel, PhD, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences. The researchers monitored sleep patterns among the Hadza, hunter-gatherers who live near the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania; the Tsimane, hunter-horticulturalists who live along the Andean foothills in Boliva; and the San, hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert of Namibia. It is the first study of sleep habits of people who maintain foraging and traditional hunting lifestyles in the present day. Measurements included length of sleep during the summer and winter, body temperatures, environmental temperatures and the amount of light exposure. One myth dispelled by the results is that people in earlier eras went to bed at sundown. The subjects of the study stayed awake an average of nearly three-and-a-half hours after sunset. “The fact that we all stay up hours after sunset is absolutely normal and does not appear to be a new development,” Dr. Siegel says. Most of the people studied by Dr. Siegel’s team slept less than seven hours each night, clocking an average of six hours and 25 minutes. The amount is at the low end of sleep averages documented among adults in industrialized societies in Europe and America. The amount they slept also was found to vary with the seasons — less in the summer and more in the winter. One recent history suggested that humans evolved to sleep in two shifts, a practice chronicled in early European documents. But the people Dr. Siegel’s team studied rarely woke for long after going to sleep. Dr. Siegel chalks up the discrepancy to a difference in latitudes. The groups of people studied live near the equator, as did our earliest ancestors; by contrast, early Europeans migrated from the equator to latitudes with much longer nights, which may have altered natural sleeping patterns, he says. Insomnia was so rare among those studied that the San and the Tsimane do not have a word for the disorder, which affects more than 20 percent of Americans. The reason may have to do with sleep temperature. The people studied consistently slept during the nightly period of declining ambient temperature, Dr. Siegel found. Invariably, they woke when temperatures, having fallen all night, hit the lowest point in the 24-hour period. This was the case even when the lowest temperature occurred after daybreak. The pattern resulted in roughly the same wake-up time each morning, a habit long recommended for treating sleep disorders. The team was surprised to find that all three groups receive their maximal light exposure in the morning. This suggests that morning light may have the most important role in regulating mood and the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a group of neurons that serve as the brain’s clock. Morning light is uniquely effective in treating depression. “Many of us may be suffering from the disruption of this ancient pattern,” Dr. Siegel says. “Natural Sleep and Its Seasonal Variations in Three Pre-industrial Societies,” Current Biology, November 2, 2015

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A new “future city” is set to spring up in southwest China, featuring an urban design intended to combine industry and technology with the pastoral beauty of the countryside. The 4. 6-square-kilometer (1. 8-square-mile) site outside Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, will be home to multiple new universities, laboratories and offices, according to the architectural firms behind the project, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and Gerkan, Marg & Partners (GMP). Known as Chengdu Future Science and Technology City, the project was unveiled last week via a series of digital renderings. The development is being built in a rural area close to the forthcoming Tianfu International Airport, which is set to open later this year and will make Chengdu only the third Chinese city, after Beijing and Shanghai, to be served by two international airports. OMA, which designed Beijing’s eye-catching CCTV Headquarters nearly a decade ago, is responsible for a 460,000 square meter (nearly 5-million-square-foot) section of the new city, home to various educational facilities, known as the International Educational Park (IEP). GMP, meanwhile, will lead the design of a series of public spaces and transport facilities in an area dubbed the Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The two architecture firms were appointed based on separate entries to an international design competition. Digital renderings of the educational park show a sprawl of buildings with greenery on their roofs, curving in layers like the topography of terraced rice paddies. The buildings, which include university buildings, dorms, national laboratories and offices, mimic the hilly landscape to form a valley, with a 80,000-square-foot building nestled at its center. “Masterplans in China are typically based on infrastructure and quantities … the local topography (is) often ignored,” said Van Duijn over email. “The result is that many masterplans throughout China look very much the same and opportunities to develop cities with local characteristics are missed. ” GMP’s plans for its transit hub include overhauling an existing subway station and building a sculptural rotating viewing platform called the Eye of the Future. A crop of new cities Chengdu’s new outpost is among a number of “future city” projects currently under construction in China. Rapid urbanization in the country has led to population caps in major metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai, while the Chinese government projects that around 1 billion people will be living in its cities by 2035. To manage the overflow, officials are funneling money into new satellite cities like Xiongan, which is being built just over 60 miles from Beijing and is expected to be home to 2. 5 million people. And last June, plans were unveiled for the car-free “Net City” in Shenzhen, which will be roughly the size of Monaco and is being built by tech conglomerate Tencent. The forthcoming Future Science and Technology City is not the only large-scale urban development being built in Chengdu. Also under construction in the Tianfu New Area, where the city’s new airport is located, is the so-called “Unicorn Island,” a technology hub designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Van Duijn said OMA anticipates that the first parts of its new project will be completed by the end of 2021, with the wider site finishing within another two years. “Despite decades of urbanization in China, the repertoire of urban planning is still very limited. It seems we have only two conditions: it is either a city or it is a rural area. But as cities have expanded … people are also becoming interested in alternatives,” he said. “The project is not a typical urban project nor a landscape preservation project, but we hope to provide multiple ways in which city and countryside can both coexist and provide another type of urbanized development. ”

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lead (Pb), a soft, silvery white or grayish metal in Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table. Lead is very malleable, ductile, and dense and is a poor conductor of electricity. Known in antiquity and believed by the alchemists to be the oldest of metals, lead is highly durable and resistant to corrosion, as is indicated by the continuing use of lead water pipes installed by the ancient Romans. The symbol Pb for lead is an abbreviation of the Latin word for lead, plumbum. Occurrence and distribution Lead is mentioned often in early biblical accounts. The Babylonians used the metal as plates on which to record inscriptions. The Romans used it for tablets, water pipes, coins, and even cooking utensils; indeed, as a result of the last use, lead poisoning was recognized in the time of Augustus Caesar. The compound known as white lead was apparently prepared as a decorative pigment at least as early as 200 bce. Modern developments date to the exploitation in the late 1700s of deposits in the Missouri-Kansas-Oklahoma area in the United States. On a weight basis, lead has nearly the same abundance in Earth’s crust as tin. Cosmically, there is 0. 47 lead atom per 106 silicon atoms. The cosmic abundance is comparable to those of cesium, praseodymium, hafnium, and tungsten, each of which is regarded as a reasonably scarce element. Although lead is not abundant, natural concentration processes have resulted in substantial deposits of commercial significance, particularly in the United States but also in Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Africa, and South America. Significant deposits are found in the United States in the western states and the Mississippi valley. Rarely found free in nature, lead is present in several minerals, but all are of minor significance except the sulfide, PbS (galena, or lead glance), which is the major source of lead production throughout the world. Lead is also found in anglesite (PbSO4) and cerussite (PbCO3). By the early 21st century, China, Australia, the United States, Peru, Mexico, and India were the world’s top producers of lead in concentrate. Lead may be extracted by roasting the ore and then smelting it in a blast furnace or by direct smelting without roasting. Additional refining removes impurities present in the lead bullion produced by either process. Almost half of all refined lead is recovered from recycled scrap. (For commercial production, see lead processing. ) Uses of the metal Only a single crystalline modification, with a close-packed metallic lattice, is known. Properties that are responsible for the many uses of elemental lead include its ductility, ease of welding, low melting point, high density, and ability to absorb gamma radiation and X-radiation. Molten lead is an excellent solvent and collector for elemental silver and gold. The structural applications of lead are limited by its low tensile and fatigue strengths and its tendency to flow even when only lightly loaded. When freshly cut, lead oxidizes quickly, forming a dull gray coating, formerly thought to be lead suboxide, Pb2O, but now recognized as a mixture of lead and lead monoxide, PbO, which protects the metal from further corrosion. Similarly, although lead is soluble in dilute nitric acid, it is only superficially attacked by hydrochloric or sulfuric acids because the insoluble chloride (PbCl2) or sulfate (PbSO4) coatings that are formed prevent continued reaction. Because of this general chemical resistance, considerable amounts of lead are used in roofing, as coverings for electric cables placed in the ground or underwater, and as linings for water pipes and conduits and structures for the transportation and processing of corrosive substances. Elemental lead can also be oxidized to the Pb2+ ion by hydrogen ions, but the insolubility of most salts of Pb2+ makes lead resistant to attack by many acids. Oxidation under alkaline conditions is easier to effect and is favoured by the formation of the soluble species of lead in the +2 oxidation state. Lead oxide (PbO2, with lead as the Pb4+ ion) is among the stronger oxidizing agents in acidic solution, but it is comparatively weak in alkaline solution. The ease of oxidation of lead is enhanced by complex formation. The electrodeposition of lead is best effected from aqueous solutions containing lead hexafluorosilicate and hexafluorosilicic acid. Lead has many other applications, the largest of which is in the manufacture of storage batteries. It is used in ammunition (shot and bullets) and as a constituent of solder, type metal, bearing alloys, fusible alloys, and pewter. In heavy and industrial machinery, sheets and other parts made from lead compounds may be used to dampen noise and vibration. Because lead effectively absorbs electromagnetic radiation of short wavelengths, it is used as a protective shielding around nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, X-ray equipment, and containers used for transporting and storing radioactive materials. Together with the compound lead oxide (PbO2) and with lead-antimony or lead-calcium alloys, it is employed in common storage batteries. Properties of the element Lead and its compounds are toxic and are retained by the body, accumulating over a long period of time—a phenomenon known as cumulative poisoning—until a lethal quantity is reached. The toxicity of lead compounds increases as their solubility increases. In children the accumulation of lead may result in cognitive deficits; in adults it may produce progressive renal disease. Symptoms of lead poisoning include abdominal pain and diarrhea followed by constipation, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache, and general weakness. Elimination of contact with a lead source is normally sufficient to effect a cure. The elimination of lead from insecticides and paint pigments and the use of respirators and other protective devices in areas of exposure have reduced lead poisoning materially. The recognition that the use of tetraethyl lead, Pb(C2H5)4, as an antiknock additive in gasoline was polluting the air and water led to the compound’s elimination as a gasoline constituent in the 1980s. (For full treatment of lead and lead mining and refining, see also lead poisoning. )

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For more about Antonio Meucci, read Antonio and the Electric Scream—The Man Who Invented the Telephone: Antonio Meucci represents an unlikely story in American history. Having come of age in Florence, Italy, he immigrated to America by way of Cuba, where he lived for many years and where he worked with the Italian Opera Company. Familiar with telegraphy, wherein intelligence (information) was being transmitted through a wire, he proposed to transmit human voice through the same type of wire. Having come to New York, and having established several kinds of business, he experimented with his telettrofono (electric phone). Satisfied with the results of having transmitted voice intelligence from one end to the other end of copper wire, Meucci applied for a patent and received a caveat instead. A. Graham Bell, however, received a patent for a similar invention. Now, finally, after more than 160 years, Meucci is being vindicated: 1) A Silver and Bronze Medal were struck by The Italian American Bicentennial Society. 2. The Meucci-Garibaldi Museum has been established in New York. 3. The US Postal Services has published a commemorative stamp, and, 4. The 107th Congress of the United States resolved to recognize Meucci as the inventor of the telephone.

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Descriptive statistics are useful for describing the basic features of data, for example, the summary statistics for the scale variables and measures of the data. In a research study with large data, these statistics may help us to manage the data and present it in a summary table. For instance, in a cricket match, they can help us to manage records of the player and also help us to compare one player’s records with another player’s records. Types of Descriptive Statistics 1. Measure of central tendency: The measure of central tendency measures the average value of the sample. In descriptive statistics, there are two types of averages: the first are the mathematical averages and the second are the positional averages. Aligning theoretical framework, gathering articles, synthesizing gaps, articulating a clear methodology and data plan, and writing about the theoretical and practical implications of your research are part of our comprehensive dissertation editing services. The mathematical averages are of three types: arithmetic mean, geometric mean, and harmonic mean. The arithmetic mean is the most widely used measure for central tendency; it can be obtained by adding all the items of the series and dividing this total by the number of items. In descriptive statistics, the geometric mean is defined as the nth root of the products of all the n values of the variable. In descriptive statistics, the geometric mean is used when the items in the series are very large. The harmonic mean is defined as the reciprocal of the item. The harmonic mean is useful in finding the averages that involve speed, time, price and ratio. There are two types of positional average: the median and the mode. The median is the average value of the series in which half the values are less than the median and half the values are greater than the median. The mode, the second positional average, shows a higher frequency in the series. 2. Measure of dispersion: In descriptive statistics, we can elaborate upon the data further by measuring the dispersion. Usually the range of the standard deviation and variance is used to measure the dispersion. In descriptive statistics, range is defined as the difference between the highest and the lowest value. The standard deviation and variance are usually used to measure the dispersion. Standard deviation is also called the root mean square deviation. Variance is also used to measure the dispersion, which can be simply derived from the square of the standard deviation. Descriptive Statistics in SPSS As we’ve just described, descriptive statistics are used primarily to summarize the data. SPSS is statistical software that is used to calculate descriptive statistics. In SPSS, we have to perform the following steps: This table summarizes all of the raw data in the form of a table; these descriptive statistics are also used for comparison. Your committee and the other professional readers of your dissertation will want to know the make-up of your sample and the responses to the questions in your instrument. Our statistics consultants will conduct these descriptive statistics for you, including a written explanation of the descriptive statistics, tables of the descriptive statistics, and figures of the descriptive statistics where appropriate, all in APA formatwith special attention to your institution’s requirements. Descriptive statistics are important for establishing the validity of your sample as a representation of the sampled population. Including these in your dissertation will allow comparison to other similar studies, while placing your results in perspective. Descriptive Statistics and Interpreting Statistics Resources Bartz, A. E. (1971). Basic descriptive statistics for education and the behavioral sciences (4th ed. ). Oxford, UK: Burgess. Bernstein, S., & Bernstein, R. (1999). Schaum’s outline of elements of statistics I: Descriptive statistics and probability. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gotkin, L. G., & Goldstein, L. S. (1965). Descriptive statistics: A programmed textbook. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Levitas, R., & Guy, W. (1996). Interpreting official statistics. New York: Routledge. Li, J. C. R. (1957). In J. C. R. Li (Ed.), Introduction to statistical inference (pp. 3-13). Ann Arbor, MI: The Science Press. McHugh, M. L., & Hudson-Barr, D. (2003). Descriptive statistics, part II: Most commonly used descriptive statistics. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 8(3), 111-116. McPherson, G. (2001). Applying and interpreting statistics: A comprehensive guide (2nd ed. ). New York: Springer-Verlag. Morgan, G. A., Gliner, J. A., & Harmon, R. J. (1999). Measurement and descriptive statistics. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(10), 1313-1315. Statistics Solutions can assist with your quantitative analysis by assisting you to develop your methodology and results chapters. The services that we offer include: Edit your research questions and null/alternative hypotheses Write your data analysis plan; specify specific statistics to address the research questions, the assumptions of the statistics, and justify why they are the appropriate statistics; provide references Justify your sample size/power analysis, provide references Explain your data analysis plan to you so you are comfortable and confident Two hours of additional support with your statistician Clean and code dataset Conduct descriptive statistics (i. e., mean, standard deviation, frequency and percent, as appropriate) Conduct analyses to examine each of your research questions Provide APA 6th edition tables and figures Explain chapter 4 findings Ongoing support for entire results chapter statistics Please call 727-442-4290 to request a quote based on the specifics of your research, schedule using the calendar on t his page, or email [email protected]

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To cite this article: Elviana, Saputra, A. & Sulistyo, D. (2018). Effect of water content and water type on the physical properties of concrete. J. Phys. Sci., 29(Supp. 2), 159–173, https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2018.29.s2.12 Reinforced concrete buildings are the preferred choice of water constructions such as harbour, dock, offshore construction, and other seawater structures that cannot be separated from the influence of adhesive environments. Adhesive environment can lead to expansion and corrosion. Furthermore, crystallisation of salt content in reinforced concrete pores can even lead to a decrease in reinforced concrete strength. This study aims to determine the effect of seawater content on the physical properties of concrete. The study was carried out on cylindrical test specimens with 150 mm and 300 mm diameter in wet and dry conditions immersed in seawater from the Indian Ocean (Trisik Beach, Indonesia). The specimens were tested after 28 days and 90 days. The comparator used a freshwater-immersed concrete cylinders test object. The results showed that after 28 days, the concrete strength of concrete immersed in seawater increased, but after 90 days, the strength decreased. Wet conditions on concrete will reduce the strength of concrete.

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Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals [plant compounds, or nutraceuticals] that can protect us against illness. Sprouts also contain large amounts of plant oestrogen. They increase bone formation and density and prevent bone breakdown, or osteoporosis. They are also helpful in controlling hot flashes, menopause symptoms, PMS and fibrocystic breast tumours. Sprouting is the practice of soaking, draining and then rinsing seeds at regular intervals until they germinate, or sprout. Other seeds that can be sprouted are Goa beans [alsande], Bengal gram [white chana and red chana], black gram [urad], cow pea [chawli, or lobia], field bean [avare], green gram [moong], dehydrated green peas [vatana], horse gram [kuleeth], kidney beans [rajma], lentil [masur], moth bean [matki], pigeon pea or red gram [tur or arhar], soybean and dals, or split pulses like chana dal. All whole pulses — moong, matki, chana, chole, chawli, rajma, vatana, masur etc. , can be easily sprouted. Even grains and groundnuts when sprouted are easy to digest; they are more easily available as “energy” for the body. You can use all these sprouts to make wholesome, economic, regionally satisfying, one-dish-meals like khichdi, upma, ussal, bhel, poha, and so on. Sprouts contain an abundance of highly active anti-oxidants that prevent cell destruction and protect us from the ongoing effects of aging. It may not be conceivable to find the fountain of youth, but sprouts or sprouting, to use a figure of speech, represent the miracle of birth. When a proper diet of greens, seeds, nuts, vegetables, and fruit, is followed, a proper balance of acid versus alkaline foods is maintained. When the diet is heavy on the protein side, it results in acidity. Hence, it is necessary to eliminate as many acid-forming foods as possible. Sprouting helps to reduce the acid-alkaline imbalance which might occur when grains, legumes, and other proteins are used. - Moong beans, apart from being a good source of protein also contain useful amounts of fibre, potassium, and B-vitamins. They contain low levels of fat, cholesterol and sodium. It is useful for those of us who want to increase their alertness and mental abilities. Phosphorous is also necessary for healthy bones and teeth, a fact which makes sprouted seeds desirable for babies and children - Alfalfa, probably the most popular sprouted seed, contains much chlorophyll, as well as vitamins A, B complex, C, D, E, G. K, and U. It also has large amounts of iron, calcium, phosphorous, and sulphur. - Sprouted wheat contains vitamins C, E, B complex, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, protein, enzymes, chlorophyll, and possibly B-17. In its cooked form, wheat is unacceptable to some individuals. It causes mucous congestion, allergic reaction, and constipation. In its sprouted form, a large portion of starch is converted to simple sugars, making it a wholesome food that is acceptable to many who would, otherwise, need to eliminate wheat as a food source. Sprouts in diet For most people, sprouts would be an excellent addition to their diet. However, no set dietary rules can be established to encompass the case of every individual. Sprouts are best when eaten raw, because cooking always destroys a large part of their nutritional content. The entire sprout is eaten, including leaves and roots. Sprouts are good eaten by themselves, but they can also be added to salads, sandwiches, or soups. They can be blended for baby food, sauces, and dressings. They can be stored in the refrigerator in a jar or plastic bag for up to two weeks. It is preferable, however, to make small amounts at frequent intervals since seeds and sprouts tend to become rancid when held for too long a time. Sprouts probably contain the largest amount of nutrients per unit of any food known. Enzymes that initiate and control most chemical reactions in our body are activated in the sprouting process. This helps convert proteins into amino acids and starch into glucose. It also increases the value of vitamins. For example, vitamin B increases by 1,000 per cent and vitamin C by 600 per cent in sprouted wheat. It is best to eat sprouts fresh. However, the nourishment which develops as the sprouts grow is very stable and can be frozen, or dried, for future use. Sprouts can be mixed with other foods and dressings such as lemon juice and rock salt. This live food rejuvenates body cells and tissues and provides energy. It also retards the aging process. Alfalfa and moong-bean sprouts are, on the other hand, excellent, soft food: they contain every known vitamin necessary for the human body in perfect balance. What Can I Sprout? This is primarily a pulse crop grown in India. The sprout is tender and delicious and is ready to eat when the root is between 1 1/2 and 2 inches long. Sprouts grown from chickpeas have nutty flavour and a crunchy texture. They add substance to baked dishes and casseroles. This legume is used in medicine, food and teas. It is a spicy seed that is excellent for making curry. These sprouts have a crunchy texture and is a general tonic for activeness and diabetes. They can be consumed raw. When lentils are sprouted, they become sweeter with a delicate flavour. These sprouts have a pleasant, slightly spicy, peppery flavour and thin, white shoots. Use only whole lentils for sprouting; split ones will not sprout! Moong beans [Green gram] These are the easiest to sprout for beginners. These are the most widely available type of bean sprouts. They have a fresh flavour and are very nutritious. They are used in soups, salads and stir-fries. They are fairly large, with crunchy texture and a delicate flavour. Some people find them indigestible and may prefer to blanch them briefly in boiling water before using them. Sprouting peas increase their sugar content, giving pea sprouts a sweet vegetable flavour. Wrinkled or smooth varieties work equally well. When the root is two inches long, they are ready to eat raw. They need only 5 minutes for cooking. These are the most nutritious of all sprouts. The small soy bean that is yellow in colour is excellent for sprouting. They are ready to eat when the root is 2 inches long. Soy bean sprouts require approximately 10 minutes for cooking. These sprouts are higher in protein content than any other bean. It is the most complete protein food. It is a great source of lecithin, which is known to disperse deposits of fatty materials in certain vital organs. A rich source of protein, groundnut contains more protein than meat, about two-and-half times more than eggs and far more than any other vegetable food, except soybean and yeast. It is best to eat groundnuts after they has been soaked overnight. Spot an error in this article? A typo maybe? Or an incorrect source? Let us know!

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In today’s world, kids have less free play time than ever. Recess time is being reduced at many schools, and physical education classes are not always available. Kids are in a variety of adult directed activities after school such as music, gymnastics, art, karate, soccer, tutoring, all of which teach valuable skills that they will carry with them for a lifetime. Physical fitness, being part of a team, learning the rules of the game, developing artistic talent, are just some of the important life lessons children gain from these activities. So why play? It is important to distinguish between adult directed and adult supervised activities. When children engage in adult supervised play, they learn to be creative. Who comes up with rules? They do. They learn cooperation. What happens when there is disagreement about how to play? They work it out. They learn resilience. What happens when things don’t work out as planned? They figure out what happened, what needs to be changed, and try a new way. They learn independence. All of this leads to genuine self esteem which stems from the realization that they truly are able to read a situation and adjust. These are invaluable skills which they will have throughout their lives. So as parents, our challenge is to balance both, along with the thousand other things we need to do each day. Some ways to begin are: - Turn off the electronic devices. I know, I know, this is not easy! Try it for a few minutes at a time, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Give yourself permission to work up to longer periods. - Be present and available, physically and mentally. - Be open to what your child wants to do. This may be playing Connect 4 together, building a tower of blocks and knocking it down, going to the park, the activity itself does not matter as much as being open to the experience. - When in doubt, ask your child “what now? ” They will know. - Let go of playing by the rules if your child is very young. It’s more important to enjoy the time together than to teach them the rules of Don’t Break the Ice. - Be aware of the tendency to lapse into teaching. - Allow for “failure”. If things don’t work out as initially planned, it is a perfect opportunity to learn. Most of all, give yourselves credit for being brave enough to let go!

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SECOND GRADE SPELLING LISTS: A. Pre-Test Monday. B. Homework is handed out on Monday and due on Friday. Remember to do both sides and show the work that is done. C. The Unit Test is on Friday. Each test will be 10-12 words. The test will include the 5 new words and 5-7 review words from previous tests. The students will also write their own sentence using a homophone given by the teacher. 1. some 2. so 3. these 4. would 5. other 1. out 2. them 3. the 4. she 5. many 1. will 2. each 3. about 4. how 5. up 1. which 2. their 3. said 4. if 5. do 1. we 2. there 3. can 4. an 5. your 1. Spelling Homework is due on Thursdays. 2. Spelling Test are on Fridays. 3. Spelling Corrections are due (usually on Tuesdays) the day after the unit test is handed back. 4. Adjustment to due dates are made as needed. (Example: One or two short weeks. ) 1. If a word is spelled wrong, it is to be printed or typed 20 times. It can be sent to me by e-mail. Some students will be required to use graph paper, if printed. That will be on an individual basis. Typed words must have spaces between words or on separate lines. If it is sent to me by e-mail, I still need the test re-handed in. 2. Some words are not spelled wrong, they are used in the wrong way. Usually these words are homophones, or plural vs possessive words. Students are to rewrite the sentence from the test with the corrected word 2 times. I want the student to see the proper usage. This also can be typed. 3. Grade information is in the Parent Portal under “Fifth AM. ” (There is not a separate spelling section. ) 4. I will be adding information about the Spelling City app or website, as we see what is available this year. Apps and websites often change. among, surface, faces, grew, does, groups, several, most, first, build, together, written, listen, ask, follow, sure, single, clear, together. Homophones: their/there/they’re, it’s/it easy, week, upon, country, area, energy, another, only, every, usually, little, beautiful, United States, English, without, spring, lost, certain, special, explain, language, friends/friend’s, it’s/its, travel, music, farm, often, I’m, beautiful, wrote, explain, perhaps, answers, that’s, watch, single, circle, notice, than, then, farm, friends/friend’s, who’s/whose, there/their/they’re. completely, system, usually, ground, although, animals, bed, correct, sound, noticed, really, heard, because, straight, least, base, energy, different, measure. Homophones: their/there/they’re, we’d/weed, theirs/theres. bird, only, perhaps, watched, work, later, explain, true, sure, morning, thought, happened, straight, course, mountains, than, able, through, hair, wood, earlier, beautiful, caught, Homophone: it’s/its together, explained, bottom, United States, fly, against, war, animals, correct, finally, enough, measures, hundred, turned, yourself, seem, color, thought, hair, often, although, said, woods, Homophones: their/they’re/there happy, along, second, travel, else, first, because, yourself, surface, square, another, possible, teacher, you’d, between, thus, moment, areas, important, across, through, finally, Homophones: theirs/there’s, to/too/two build, plan, circle, river, important, world, energy, sent, straight, present, bright, picture, built, since, people, toward, strong, always, simple, clear, rather, across, Homophones: it’s/its young, speed, bright, stopped, little, finally, rather, seemed, problem, yourself, moment, asked, machine, teacher, length, possible, explain, girl, caught, information, except, Homophones: There/They’re/Their, Who’s/Whose except, usually, often, until, information, answer, special, single, every, earth, suppose, during, figure, fell, surely, several, money, free, many, common, that’s, Homophones: its/it’s, your/you’re instead, government, group, correct, example, than, size, then, body, piece, ocean, grass, suppose, thought, because, natural, quite, any, fact, baby, although, Homophones: its/it’s, lets/let’s, their/they’re, there. couldn’t, street, difference, because, another, since, always, information, figure, answer, else, until, surely, yours, carefully, simple, complete, something, reason. Homophones: Your/you’re, plane/plain, there/their/they’re. Possessive/Plural: friend’s/friends language, middle, different, problem, people, maybe, sure, mouth, however, history, information, first, friend, English, step, reason. Homophones: too/two/to, who’s/whose, there’s/theirs, may be/maybe, your/you’re, Contraction/Verb: let’s/lets. human, during, strong, strange, happened, either, least, child, field, wish, single, learn, suddenly, soil, Americans, across, Homophones: weather/whether, their/there/they’re, who’s/whose, all ready/already. Possess/Plural: let’s/lets quite, draw, remember, eye, milk, colored, choose, beautiful, straight, child, couldn’t, along, caught, later, square, money, trip, Homophones: buy/by, too/to/two, all ready/already, theirs/there’s. correct, pay, famous, until, late, difference, early, north, often, seven, perhaps, children, past, always, learned, instead, history reasons, carefully, important, language, Homophones: there/their/they’re although, humans, change, once, largest, besides, sleep, troubled, does, every, either, store, choose, ice, animals, iron, Homophones: whose/who’s, your/you’re, weather/whether, witch/which, its/it’s. never, began, examples, though, large through, bright, except, suppose, before, instead, became, hours, American, oil, natural, first, modern, business, thought, catch, didn’t, energy, fun, HOMOPHONES: its/it’s, their/there/they’re speak, woman reach, several, except, matters, case, business, language, differently, single, explain, almost, examples, won’t, often, figure, understand, HOMOPHONES: strait/straight, there/their/they’re, piece/peace, your/you’re, a lot/allot, PARTS OF SPEECH: let’s/lets eye, strong, almost, length, built, possible, villages, information, yourself, group, explained, already, edge, couldn’t, reason, surface, eight, soft, through, shape, HOMOPHONES: its/it’s, your/you’re, write/right. often, animal, store, wall, edge, friend, water, mouth, bigger, suddenly, nothing, point, age, minute, catch, because, field, trouble, table, village, object, HOMOPHONES: there/their/they’re, peace/piece, already/all ready, meet/meat. period, blood, rich, team, corner cat, amount, garden, led, note various, race, bit, result, brother addition, doesn’t, dead, weight, thin stone, hit, wife, island, we’ll

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Understanding clinical trialsBMJ 1994; 309 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.309.6957.755 (Published 24 September 1994) Cite this as: BMJ 1994;309:755 - D L Sackett, - R J Cook What measures of efficacy should journal articles provide busy clinicians? The randomised clinical trial has revolutionised the way that we decide whether a treatment or intervention does more good than harm. In its breadth and explanatory power it provides a cornerstone not only for evidence based medicine1 but for evidence based public health, evidence based hospital administration, evidence based purchasing, and evidence based consumerism. Randomised trials provide not only qualitative conclusions about whether a treatment is better but also quantitative estimates of the extent to which it is better. Take as an example (with rounded numbers) an overview of the effects of treatment with antihypertensive drugs on patients with moderate to severe hypertension. Trials have shown that about 1800 strokes occur among 15 000 patients randomised to active drugs for an average of five years, while about 3000 such events occur in 15 000 randomised to placebo or no active treatment. 2 This difference in stroke is extremely unlikely to be due to chance (in other words it is highly significant statistically), providing the qualitative answer that antihypertensive drugs are better than no treatment for patients with moderate to severe hypertension. These results also tell us a lot about how much better drug treatment is, but the way in which this quantitative difference is expressed can lead clinicians to different conclusions about whom to treat - whether …

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by Rev. Danielle Marie Hewitt Does human trafficking happen in America? Absolutely. My daughter Rochelle Keyhan was an assistant district attorney when she came upon Philadelphia’s first case of human trafficking. An underground world that can be called nothing less than a slave trade came to light, she faced an uphill battle to prosecute due to the lack of understanding, funding, collaboration, and connections among the law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. Ultimately, she prevailed, but there is much still to be done. The awareness of human trafficking in our own country was simply not on the radar at that time. She was so inspired by what she learned on this case, that her next career step took her to Washington DC where she worked for a nonprofit organization called Polaris whose mission statement is to assist federal and state law enforcement officials understand, seek, prosecute and disrupt human trafficking. Perhaps like you, I thought this was a thing of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth. Why would I choose to share such frightening and dark of news with you? Because, until we know better, we cannot do better. Right action is called for in every circumstance where basic human rights are withheld from any individual. What is human trafficking? It presents itself in several subgenres. They are generally, sex trade, slave labor, child labor, and orphan trafficking. Sex trade is a form of human trafficking where small to large organizations regularly and abusively hold in fear young women or in some cases young men who are forced into having paid sexual relations. The victims of the sex trade are usually very young and are runaways or have been taken from or even sold by their families. They are driven by fear and threats to comply with those who cannot be called anything other than “captors. ” Sex trade happens worldwide, including inside the United States. Slave labor occurs when manufacturers, agricultural, mining or any other such organizations maximize their profits by having the supply of human resources cost either nothing or virtually nothing in places with severe economic poverty or where political refugees or victims of natural disasters have rendered them in a state of disempowerment. They become vulnerable to taking work in whatever form even if it means not being paid as long as they have a roof over their heads and are being fed even the most meager amounts of food. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest perpetrators of slave labor to build their new cities and skyscrapers using people from the most impoverished nations in deplorable working conditions. Child labor is another form of human trafficking which happens in many industries, more prevalently in agricultural, textiles, mining, and soap. Many regions where poverty is so abject the parents not only have to work long hours themselves but also bring their children to work in order to make enough money to feed the entire family because the wages paid to the parents are so exploitive . Many US companies have come under fire for utilizing supply chains of child labor (Nike, H&M, Nestle, Phillip Morris, Walmart and more…). The most horrific form of trafficking that I discovered is called orphan trafficking. This situation occurs where someone exploits the charity, government funding and good intentions of charitable organizations who wish to help orphanages. I was shocked to learn that human traffickers in impoverished areas or those of refugee camps and areas of natural disasters will approach parents offering them, for a fee no less, to take their children and provide an education, a warm bed, and food for them. They promise the children will return in good health and educated and be able to earn a living to help provide for families. Then the human traffickers pocket the funds, neglect the orphans and even abuse them. This last one shocked me on many levels; it was difficult to understand how a human being could do such a thing. My daughter Rochelle has spent the last eight years working in the Crimes Against Women Department of the Philadelphia district attorney’s office as well as in exposing human trafficking in her position with Polaris. Her title: Director of Disruption Strategies. In her capacity at Polaris, she was nominated for a Hero Award by the Thomson Reuters Foundation which produces an annual conference where like-minded people who are diligently and actively providing solutions to all forms of human trafficking gather, network and strategize. Her father and I travelled to London in November to proudly support her while we watched her receive an acknowledgment from a very relevant and respectful collection of her peers. As we sat in the two-day conference, we listened to the panelists and speakers who are either surviving victims of such forms of human trafficking and/or are advocates and leaders in making positive changes. I experienced polarized emotions. On one hand, I was shocked by what I learned regarding the types, depth and prevalence of human trafficking, and on the other so inspired to hear the work and innovative solutions these leaders and advocates in the treatment of humanity are actively doing. It was both heartbreaking and inspiring. The Thomson Reuters Foundation which conducts this annual Trust Conference in London employs the tagline “Putting the rule of law behind human rights. ” The CEO, Monique Villa is a remarkable woman. I quickly learned she is so much more than the host of this conference, but also a driving force of innovation, right action, and accomplishments with a clear vision and ability to evoke action in people who hold positions of power to make positive changes. The videos of the speakers and panel discussions of these inspired activists doing work in this area may be seen at www. Trustconference.Com. They will describe in detail both the problems and the solutions in human trafficking. I was so proud to be in a room with people who dedicate their daily lives to the most necessary form of change we can do, the restoration of humanity for all. Of the 50 speakers and panelists in attendance, I was impressed by Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. who is the New York County District Attorney. He has been working since 2010 to spearhead his vision of not just the prosecution of criminal activity, but more proactively, the prevention. He spoke on the panel where sex trade was the topic. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard him declare he and his team of hundreds of assistant district attorneys now understand that women who engage in the sex trade are not the criminals, but rather, they are the victims. He now understands his job is to stop the traffickers who force them into it. I appreciated his acknowledgment. This more accurate understanding has been a long time coming. I was additionally impressed with Andrew Zolli, VP of Global Impact Initiatives with a firm called Planet. Their company produces and regularly monitors satellite systems that orbit the Earth and gather information daily on patterns and changes in topography and other conditions that indicate where slave trade operations are active. . The CEO Monique Villa facilitated a panel discussion called the “Banks Alliance.” She and Cyrus Vance, Jr working together asked banks in the U.S. to assist in detecting and providing evidence of money laundering of both sex trade and slave trade activities. Not only was this successful in the U.S. but it inspired banks worldwide to join the effort. Many of the slave trade activities have been disrupted and the traffickers prosecuted by everyday bank tellers who are trained to detect trafficking behavior patterns. Chloe Setter, the senior advisor for Lumos which was founded by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books. Rowling, because of her heartfelt connection to her fictional character Harry Potter who was orphaned and lived in an uncaring situation without a loving family, was inspired to understand the plight of orphans worldwide. She and her organization advocate and work diligently in their dream of having the 8 million orphans worldwide be placed in homes and the complete removal and disintegration of institutionalized orphanages by the year 2050. Twenty years of studies have proven the ill effects on a human child going into adulthood who has experienced an institutionalized orphanage. James Bartle, founding CEO of Outland Denim and his wife have created a beautiful denim jean for both ladies and men, but they have a unique approach to being a fashion designer and manufacturer. The women who work in their factories are from Cambodia and have been trained to make the entire garment (where conversely most foreign clothing manufacturers only train them on one part which renders them in a state of being unskilled labor and therefore unable to find employment elsewhere). Outlander Denim provides living wages (as compared to minimum wages) and educates their workers in business education, language, and management skills. Their goal is to make them dignified independent workers who can manage their own lives. (It is important to note that of the thousands of fashion industry manufacturers none of them until now have ever been honored with an award by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In fact, 71% of this industry has actually disclosed anonymously they are aware their supply chain comes from slave trade labor. ) Arjen Boekhold, Cocoa Game Changer at Tony’s Chocolonely discovered in the chocolate industry that the supply chain of all of the luxury chocolate lines comes from cocoa farms which employ child labor. Their chocolate bar, on the other hand, is not only delicious but more importantly, is made from 100% adult fair trade labor. It’s a little pricier than many chocolates, but market studies indicate 56% of the people surveyed are willing to pay a little bit more for something if the supply chain comes from humanitarian efforts exclusively. Millennials demonstrated a 71% willingness to pay more for something if the supply chain was clean. Apple was awarded as a winner of the 2018 Stop Slavery Award for being a leader in every category of the corporate criteria. The Judges especially highlighted Apple’s supplier engagement and monitoring and its extremely robust audit program, which includes annual audits and spot audits. Judges praised its wide variety of industry collaborations, the fact that it openly shared its learnings with the public and its innovative solutions to push forward its supplier responsibility program. (Apple had in previous years been poor in its vigilance of monitoring its supply chain. ) Unilever was also named a winner of the 2018 Stop Slavery Award, with recognition given for the outstanding leadership of its CEO, Paul Polman, in the fight to clean one of the highest risk supply chains in the world. Judges noted its highly complex, global and high-risk supply chain, including the use of palm oil in many of its products and praised its participation in the Consumer Goods Forum, where it facilitates industry collaboration. Triveni Acharya, Founder of the Rescue Foundation, was awarded the Stop Slavery Hero Award for her “outstanding work on the frontlines” in rescuing, rehabilitating and repatriating victims of sex trafficking in India. Particularly impressive was her commitment to the cause, despite great personal risk. She was recognized for the tremendous impact of her work in lives of almost 16,000 girls so far, and it was noted that because of her efforts, “traumatized girls have been counseled so well that they are able to live progressive lives by forgetting their past trauma and developing a positive attitude. ” My daughter Rochelle Keyhan was awarded the Stop Slavery Hero Award “for creating an impact on a regional or global scale. ” She was recognized for work building relationships with anti-trafficking stakeholders, from victim advocates to law enforcement, to create sustainable local solutions. Rochelle’s success in training hundreds of law and code enforcement officers to identify trafficking and build victim-centered cases, transforming some of the largest jurisdictions in the country, was highlighted. She was also awarded for her work with dozens of cities, counties and states to pass laws making it impossible for traffickers to hide behind storefronts. This article does not allow for the time and space needed to share all of the innovations and inspired work that these human rights activists are doing. I would ask you to go to the trust conference website and learn for yourself (www. trustconference. com) in order to discover the heroic efforts being done for our global community. You may ask what is it that you can do? Remember to think globally and act locally. And if you are unsure of the level of contribution that you might be able to make, remember a mosquito can bring down a 200 lb man. You and your voice matter. I share this with you because without this knowledge and awareness we would not have the ability to enact positive change. For it is said, “Once you are aware, you are responsible for your action and your inaction. ” Particularly impressive was her commitment to the cause, despite great personal risk.

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|Technological Independence The Asian experience (UNU, 1994, 372 pages)| |3. The Republic of Korea| In the 1960s, the education and training of technology manpower had been led by the government. The light industries of this period required only a supply of enough technicians and some college-graduate engineers to be able to operate and maintain industrial facilities. Manpower policy during the 1960s, therefore, concentrated on training a sufficient number of technicians. The industrial demand for technicians rapidly increased after the first Five-Year Plan, but school education could satisfy only 30 per cent of this demand. The government, therefore, enacted in 1967 a law on vocational education in order to encourage or force industries either to train the necessary technicians directly or to finance their training at vocational schools. In the same year, the government also enacted a law for job stabilization, in order to reduce frictional unemployment and utilize technical manpower efficiently. In the 1970s, high-level technologies that were imported required a good base of R&D personnel for their assimilation. Hence, graduate education in science and engineering was actively promoted during the 1970s. The establishment of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science (KAIS) as a postgraduate school in applied science and engineering was a turning point. KAIS led the nationwide upgrading of graduate education and contributed to the establishment of a mass supply system of high-quality scientists and engineers. To supply sufficient numbers of college-graduate engineers to the heavy and chemical industries, the government began in 1973 to foster specified departments in some universities. Such departments and universities were appointed with consideration to the industrial needs of their regions. From the mid-1970s, it was widely understood that, for further economic growth, the Republic of Korea would have to compete with developed countries in high-technology industries. The government realized the importance of basic science as well as applied science in this competition. As a result, the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation was established in 1977, in order to support researchers in basic science. Fostering high-quality scientists and performing basic research became urgent tasks for the new higher technology requirements. Increasing the quantity and quality of graduate education was one effort in this direction. In addition, the government operated overseas study, training, and research programmes in S&T. These programmes consist of degree, training, post-doctoral, and research courses. Since 1982, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has been offering Master's and Ph.D. courses for researchers in government-sponsored research institutes. Four science high schools were founded in 1984 and the Korea Institute of Technology was established in 1985 to supply scientists comparable with first-class scientists in advanced countries. The foundation of these schools is also a long-term strategy in the competition with developed countries in high-technology industries, which is essential for future economic growth. To encourage basic research, the Ministry of Education has since 1979 supported the establishment and financing of basic research institutes in universities. But universities spent less than 15 per cent of total R&D expenditures during the 1980-1983 period, although they had more than 40 per cent of total researchers. This may indicate that basic research has not yet been sufficiently supported. According to a recent survey, the proportion of basic research expenditure to total research and development expenditures since 1982 has been around 17 per cent. To foster basic research, this proportion would have to increase by up to at least 20 per cent and the increase in the basic research budget should be distributed to universities more proportionately.

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Tinjauan Surat Edaran Satgas Covid-19 Nomor 20 Tahun 2021 Atas Kebijakan Wajib Karantina Setelah Melakukan Perjalanan Internasional Pada Masa Pandemi Covid-19 Dalam Perspektif Hak Asasi Manusia Keywords:Mandatory Quarantine, Covid-19 Pandemic, Human Rights The phenomenon of the spread of the corona virus (Covid-19) which is very fast and uncontrolled has made the World Health Organization (WHO) stipulate that Covid-19 as a pandemic on March 12, 2020. In Indonesia, as one of the countries affected by Covid-19, has tried to make several policies in order to suppress the spread and limit the space for the transmission of Covid-19. One of these policies is the regulation of mandatory quarantine for Indonesian Citizens (WNI) and Foreign Citizens (WNA) who have traveled internationally as stated in the Covid-19 Task Force Circular No. 20 of 2021 concerning International Travel Health Protocols During the Covid-19 Pandemic. -19. The policy regarding the obligation to undergo quarantine during the pandemic has the potential for violations in terms of fulfilling human rights. This study examines more specifically the self-quarantine regulations that are placed in hotels with the components of all costs incurred not being borne by the government but by themselves. This type of research uses a normative juridical method with an approach to legislation and concepts related to self-quarantine. This study summarizes that the state policy regarding mandatory quarantine in an emergency situation such as the Covid-19 pandemic is something that is legally allowed, as long as the limitation of human rights is still in the derogable right group (which can be limited in its fulfillment). However, taking such action must be done carefully, and full of wisdom. There are sanctions for violations (such as the case of decision Number 21/Pid.S/2021/PN Tng) regarding escaping from the quarantine center, even though the trial process and case title are brief criminal proceedings, hoping that it will not only cause a deterrent effect on the community , but as an effort to make the public aware of the law and efforts to prevent similar cases from happening and reoccurring. How to Cite Copyright (c) 2022 Budi Harto, Mahzaniar This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4. 0 International License.

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According to the population census (2016), ethnic minorities (EM) represent around 6% of the HK population – with Filipino, Indonesian, Indian, Nepalese, and Pakistani as most prominent groups (except Chinese who account alone for 92% and White people). Their economic situation is very different from Chinese Hong Kongers with a median monthly household income significantly lower and an average poverty rate amongst the South and South-East Asian EM of 24% (highest amongst the Pakistani) against 20% in the HK population. In general, poverty among EM groups is worsening as is child poverty. From 2001 to 2011, the EM child poverty rate increased by almost 10 percent points while at the same time this rate decreased for HK Chinese children. EM populations face also regular discrimination. Poor equitable access to the education system and restrictions in their choice of school at all levels of the system is just one example. Due to lower educational attainment coupled with a weaker skill set and exacerbated by low Chinese language skills they encounter difficulties in finding and securing employment which is enforcing a vicious cycle of poverty. In EM communities, women and girls are the most vulnerable group, exposed to different forms of violence and deprived of their rights. TZF has anecdotal evidence of Pakistani girls being excluded from upper secondary education to marry earlier (before the age of 18) – a harmful traditional practice that seems to increase under COVID-19 bringing greater economic hardship to EM families . TZF raises also the concern that the domestic violence rate of 4. 7% among EM (young) women is most likely underreported as CSOs have difficulties to reach them. Their programmes with Pakistani women confirm that domestic violence is widespread in those communities. Further TZF research and experience working with girls and young women aged 15-24 found that parents traditional views and gender stereotypes hinder girls and young women to have career aspirations. Not surprisingly, as a result, EM women’s participation rate in the labor force is lower compared to their Hong Kong Chinese counterparts. TZF found that in the age groups of 15-24 and 25-34, only around a quarter of Pakistani women are engaged in employment and this percentage drops significantly to 12% once they get married and have children. TZF was founded in 2013 by Shalini Mahtani (current CEO of TZF) and Ravi Gidumal, aiming to improve the lives of ethnic minorities (EM) living in HK, a population that is largely marginalized. The organisation strives for a systematic inclusion of this population through conducting research, developing and implementing projects and influencing public policy. Currently, TZF runs different programmes that cater specific needs of four EM groups: 1. Programmes for EM girls and women: Examples are: 1. a helpline “Call Mira” (Hindi/Urdu/English) for EM girls and women looking for support and 2. a mentoring programme for EM young women started in 2019 (that we suggest for funding); 2. Programmes for EM young people: One example is the programme “Your Voice, Your Choice” during which around 250 young people developed different project ideas. The winning project was an idea of developing a mobile App that helps EM students to find EM tutors. The Marketing and Development Committee formed by a group of former youth project participants aims to launch the App by the end of 2020. Another example is an online hub called “Opportunity Bank” which connects EM (young) people to resources such as links to jobs and networks, upskilling training courses, scholarships or social services in a one-stop platform. It was developed in strong collaboration with TZF Youth Committee. 3. Programmes for EM parents of children with special education needs: Parents receive support from peers and guidance from clinical psychologist in workshops. 4. Programmes for the EM population: An EM Well-being Centre, run by TZF through EM counsellors, provides free counselling services to the EM population suffering from mental health issues. EMpower’s 1st Girls Fund award to The Zubin Foundation (TZF) will empower 15 young ethnic minority (EM) women, aged 18 to 22, with training and mentoring and bring their voices at the centre. They will shape planning, design and implementation of the project and will be part of its monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, 3 of the 15 young EM women will be part of the project Steering Committee that will meet regularly to reflect on the project at different stages. The female project participants will participate in a series of trainings and mentoring sessions entirely grounded in their needs They will also plan and design with their 9 female mentors their own community outreach projects and will implement the wining project together in their EM communities. The exact content of the core project offers (trainings, mentoring sessions, and community outreach project) is open as it will be decided with them, but surely deal with life challenges and discrimination they often face. At the end of the project, young EM women will become visible ambassadors for their community when rolling out their outreach project. Primary Location: Hong Kong, China Funded Since: 2020 Stay up-to-date on the latest EMpower news, highlights from our grantee partners, upcoming events, and more.

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"Empathy training led to increased activation in the insula and cingulate cortex, the same parts of the brain that would be active if you were empathizing with the pain of someone you care about. Compassion training led to activation in other parts of the brain, such as the ventral striatum, which is involved in, among other things, reward and motivation. These results connect nicely with the recent conclusions of Paul Condon and his colleagues, published in the journal Psychological Science in 2013, who found that being trained in meditation makes people kinder to others and more willing to help (compared with a control condition in which people were trained in other cognitive skills). They argue that meditation “reduces activation of the brain networks associated with simulating the feelings of people in distress, in favor of networks associated with feelings of social affiliation. ” Limiting the impact of empathy actually made it easier to be kind. I don’t deny the lure of empathy. It is often irresistible to try to feel the world as others feel it, to vicariously experience their suffering, to listen to our hearts. It really does seem like a gift, one that enhances the life of the giver. The alternative—careful reasoning mixed with a more distant compassion—seems cold and unfeeling. The main thing to be said in its favor is that it makes the world a better place. " Paul Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology at Yale University. This essay is adapted from his new book, “Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion,” which will be published next week by Ecco. The full article isat the link below:

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The forest is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site March 24 , 2017 in the Bialowieza Forest, in Poland, a bison stands near a place where fir trees have been logged, photo: AP/Adam Bohdan 19 of May 2017 12:41:27 WARSAW, Poland – Writers and artists have appealed to Poland's top leaders to stop the logging in Europe's last primeval forest. The letter by some 230 people to Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szydlo revives the controversy surrounding the government's decision to intensify logging in the Bialowieza Forest in eastern Poland.The forest is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. The Environment Ministry argues that it's saving the woods' youngest, human-planted parts, mainly spruce trees, from an invasion of bark beetles, thus preserving it. But environmentalists and the European Union say too much of the forest is being felled, including areas not necessarily affected by the bark beetle. Among the signatories to the letter are Nobel Prize-winning German writer Herta Mueller and Polish filmmakers Agnieszka Holland and Jerzy Skolimowski.The forest covers around 60,000 hectares (148,260 acres) in eastern Poland and stretches into Belarus, where it covers an even larger area, of 87,000 hectares. It is home to hundreds of animal and plant species, including bison, lynx, moss and lichens. The ministry says some 4,000 hectares (9,885 acres) of the forest is deadwood now, because of the bark beetle infestation.

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By Dorivar Ruiz Diaz, Extension Nutrient Management Specialist Soybean is a crop that can remove significant amounts of nutrients per bushel of grain harvested. Because of this, soybeans can respond to starter fertilizer applications on low-testing soils, particularly phosphorus. In many cases, corn shows a greater response to starter fertilizer than soybean. Part of the reason for that is that soils are generally warmer when soybeans are planted than when corn is planted. The typical response in early growth observed in corn is usually not observed in soybeans. However, yield response to direct soybean fertilization with phosphorus and other nutrients can be expected in low-testing soils. K-State guidelines for soybeans include taking a soil test for phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), zinc (Zn), and boron (B). If fertilizer is recommended by soil test results, then fertilizer should either be applied directly to the soybeans or indirectly by increasing fertilizer rates to another crop in the rotation by the amount needed for the soybeans. The most consistent response to starter fertilizer with soybeans would be on soils very deficient in one of the nutrients listed above, or in very high-yield-potential situations where soils have low or medium fertility levels. Furthermore, starter fertilizer in soybeans can be a good way to complement nutrients that may have been removed by high-yielding crops in the rotation, such as corn and help maintain optimum soil test levels. Figure 1. Visual differences with starter phosphorus fertilizer on low-testing soils. Banding fertilizer to the side and below the seed at planting is an efficient application method for soybeans. This method is especially useful in reduced-till or no-till soybeans because P and K have only limited mobility into the soil from surface broadcast applications. However, with narrow row soybeans, it may not be possible to install fertilizer units for deep banding. In that situation, producers can surface-apply the fertilizer. Fertilizer should not be placed in-furrow in direct seed contact with soybeans because the seed is very sensitive to salt injury. Soybean seldom responds to nitrogen (N) in the starter fertilizer. However, some research under irrigated, high-yield environments suggests a potential benefit of small amounts of N in starter fertilizer.

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May 2016 Articles What Does Your Garage and a Cigarette Have in Common? One cigarette probably has more chemicals than all the stuff you keep in your garage. Take a look at what's in a cigarette. Related Topic: Tobacco & Smoking Feeling Out of Breath after a Run? It might be EIB. Exercise is important to maintaining a strong, healthy body, even for people with asthma. Some people experience asthma symptoms that are triggered during exercise, which can make the path toward health a little harder. This is called "exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, or EIB," also known as exercise-induced asthma. For Kids with Asthma, Rising Temperatures Require Extra Caution For children with asthma, the warm summer months are anything but carefree. Pennsylvania resident Claudia Ramos constantly worries about her 12-year-old son Jesse's health when temperatures rise toward the end of the school year and throughout the summer months. Lung Cancer Research Q&A Sharad Goyal, MD is the first-ever recipient of The LUNG FORCE Research Innovation Project: Lung Cancer in Women Award, funded by the American Lung Association's LUNG FORCE initiative, which raises awareness of the impact of lung cancer in women and critical funds for lung cancer research. Mishka, the Little Sea Otter with an Inhaler You might assume that asthma is a human condition, but animals can have asthma, too. In fact, it's fairly common in cats and horses. Marine animals with asthma, on the other hand, are a lot less common. Mishka is the first known sea otter to be diagnosed with asthma. Kids Missing School Because of Asthma? Children with asthma should be encouraged by caregivers to be active, participate in school and other activities, and should not let asthma be a crutch. A team approach can help to ensure that they will be safe and healthy when they are outside a parent or guardian's reach. Related Topic: Health & Wellness Reporting from the Front Lines of Lung Disease Research Each year we connect with our researchers on the front line of lung health research at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) - the largest meeting of lung health doctors and pulmonary researchers in the world - to engage in and witness the discussion on patient care and the development of cutting edge research. Related Topic: Research How Fast Is a Sneeze Versus a Cough? Cover Your Mouth Either Way! Coughing and sneezing are just some of the more interesting and complicated ways the body works to protect your lungs from contamination, and these methods are performed with a surprising speed and efficiency. But how fast does a sneeze or cough travel, and which is faster? Nutritional Supplements for Asthma? Not So Fast. Who can blame asthma sufferers for looking for different ways to alleviate their asthma symptoms? Many are desperate for a treatment for the wheezing, coughing and sometimes even the drowning-on-land feeling associated with asthma. One purported remedy is the nutritional supplement soy isoflavone. Poor air quality threatens health of more than half of Americans While we have seen tremendous improvements in air quality over the years due to the public health success of the Clean Air Act, poor air quality still threatens the health of more than half of all Americans, especially those with asthma and other lung diseases.

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Art Teacher Education: The Process An education, in which a student has hands-on engaging experiences through the diverse applications and mediums that can be holistic and well rounded, is immeasurable. Educating not only the fundamental basics, but also giving a varied introduction to the details that makes the world interesting and unique. If enriching a child’s education through non-traditional methods is something that you find compelling, a career as an art teacher might speak to you. Topics On This Page: - The Right Teaching Education - Take The Required Teaching Exam - Get Your Classroom Experience - Get The Right Teaching License - Stay In Tune With Art Teacher Education 1. Get The Right Art Teaching Education The first step in your education is to research your states’ requirements for becoming a licensed teacher. All states require a bachelor’s degree to become a teacher, but each state has its own guidelines for the specific content of the degree. There are two pathways that are most common. - Complete an education degree, with an emphasis in art. If your state requires teachers to have a bachelor’s degree in education, you develop an area of specialty with your coursework. Each state will establish a credit hour requirement that will tell you how many hours of study you need to have in your specialty area, credit hour requirements typically range from 30 to 45. - Complete a post-graduate credentialing program. In some states, any bachelor’s degree can lead to a teaching career by completing a post-baccalaureate credentialing program. If your bachelor’s degree is not specifically in art, your state may require you to complete courses in art in order to be qualified in the subject. If you have an existing bachelor or master’s degree in the arts, your state may offer an alternative track for you. Some states have an endorsement process that allows individuals who complete art degrees to use them to fulfill the education requirement. A state may still require applicants for endorsement credentials to completion a secondary credentialing process to learn education principles and practices. Educations also vary depending on the type of teaching you want to do. Multiple subject credentials allow a graduate to teach in elementary schools, and single-subject credentials allow a graduate to teach in middle or high-schools. While learning education theory and practical instruction guidelines are required of all teachers, the orientation of these subjects is different for different ages and the education programs are oriented to ensure that a graduate is well-qualified both for the subject and grades he or she wishes to teach. Additionally, the instruction of art as a subject and as an activity area varies depending on the age being taught, and your education will be organized to give you the tools to teach art to the proper age effectively. It is important to ensure that the college program you are considering will meet your state’s guidelines. Research the programs you’re considering and make sure that it offers a state approved teacher credentialing program, and, if required, is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). 2. Take the Required Teaching Exam In almost all states, passing a competency test is required to receive a license to be a teacher. There are two types of tests: - A basic skills test. These examinations are designed to assess a starting teacher’s competency in the areas of reading, writing, general information, and may include education theory and practices. - A subject area test. These tests are designed for teachers who are pursuing credentials in specific areas. Subject area examinations are specific to the specialty area a teacher has studied – to become an art teacher you’ll need to pass specialty area testing in art and art instruction. Actual test requirements are determined by the states. Some states have developed their own assessments, while many other states use the Praxis examinations. Praxis is a national testing organization that offers both basic skills tests and specialty area testing in many subject areas, including art. In both circumstances, the testing may be multi-part. A state may require several components of basic skills testing as well as several areas of subject testing in the area of art. States may also require a candidate to take supplemental testing in state-specific education guidelines, or education theory. Testing requirements can vary depending on the specific type of license a teacher is attaining. Multiple-subject credentials, those that allow a teacher to teach elementary grades, may only require the basic skills tests. Single subject-credentials may require a candidate to complete both the basic skills and subject area tests. 3. Get Your Classroom Experience Teaching is a hands-on profession. It happens with real children in real situations. When a teacher is learning the profession, nothing can duplicate the experience that working in a classroom can provide. All degree programs in education that lead to a teaching license or credential require a student teaching experience. Student teaching experiences typically happen later in a teacher certification program, once much of the practical coursework has been completed. Specific program requirements vary, but most have a minimum GPA requirement for education coursework, and some require that examinations (either state, program specific or Praxis examinations) be passed before the student teaching experience can begin. Student teaching experiences are geared toward a candidate’s credential goals, so multiple-subject credential candidates will have much of their experience with younger grades, and single-subject credential students will be placed in positions in middle or high-school grades. However, some programs may require a teaching student to have some experience in all age areas and student teaching placements may have more variety. The goal of student teaching experiences is to cultivate specific skills in a teaching candidate by pairing them with a senior or mentor teacher and allowing them to put learned concepts into practice. Skill areas targeted in student teaching experiences include: - Lesson planning - Information delivery - Applying education practices in a classroom environment - Progression of classroom responsibility - Parent-teacher communication - Inter-professional communication - Data recording and distribution A student teacher in the area of art will learn the practical aspects of: - Assigning art activities - Teaching the creative process - Grading art assignments fairly - Teaching the history and impact of art - Teaching art as an aspect of expression - Teaching art appreciation and critique - Organizing projects - Teaching mediums and materials Each program establishes its duration requirement for the student teaching experience. Programs range from 300 to 500+ hours of student teaching experience, and most programs state a minimum percentage of those hours that must actual classroom instruction. A student teacher in the area of art will find that they get to learn the real experience of teaching art to children in an authentic way, while having the benefit of a mentor teacher behind them. 4. Get the right Teaching License All states require that a teacher be licensed, credentialed, or certified. While the name for the process may vary from state to state, the requirements are similar: - Complete the necessary education. - Pass the required tests. - Complete the state’s application process. While the specific process and forms are set individually by each state, many of the steps are the same, and all states in the US have a department of education or comparable governing board for teachers. These departments oversee the licensing or certification of teachers and ensure that all requirements are met. Steps that your state may include in its application process are: - Completing the state’s specific application - Mailing certified copies of your transcripts to the state board - Sending testing scores to the state board - Completing a background check - Registering your fingerprints with the state - Sending letters of recommendation - Paying an application fee If you are already licensed in a different state, or are getting a teaching credential through an endorsement program, the steps may be different. In most states, licenses (or certifications or credentials) expire in two to four years, and a renewal process must be completed in order to continue teaching in a public school. Some art teachers may choose to pursue supplemental credentials or certifications to improve their abilities, and to make them more desirable candidates for available positions. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (www. nbpts. org), for example, offers a national certification in the area of art that communicates a sophisticated understanding of both the subject, and the necessary principles to teach it. Other advanced credentials are available for the dedicated art education professional. 5. Stay in-tune with Art Teacher Education Once you’ve completed your education and are working as an art teacher, it’s important to maintain your education and training, both in the area of art and as an educator. Art is a dynamic medium and is ever changing, and understanding of education and the learning process is constantly growing. Continuing education allows a teacher to stay current with trends in his or her specialty area, and learn about new research in the area of teacher and teacher efficacy. Many states require that teachers continue learning throughout their careers by establishing continuing education requirements for license renewal. The specific requirement is set by each state, but 10 to 12 hours per year is common. States may require that continuing education courses be taken through providers that have met certain requirements. Check any courses you are considering to make sure that the hours you spend in a class can be counted toward your license or certification renewal. Continuing education also plays a critical role when government agencies – either at the state or federal level – implement broad changes in policy. Continuing education courses can be invaluable to give a teacher the necessary tools and procedures to implement changes effectively. You can also stay current in the area of art instruction and network with other art education professionals by joining one of the many organizations that support professional teachers. The National Art Educators Association (www. arteducators. org) or The National Education Association (www. nea. org) are both organizations that seek to allow teachers and other education professionals to continue learning and growing, to look forward to a long career of providing excellent learning experiences to the children they teach.

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Biology studies life in its variety and complexity. It describes how organisms go about getting food, communicating, sensing the environment, and reproducing. On the other hand, physics looks for mathematical laws of nature and makes detailed predictions about the forces that drive idealized systems. Spanning the distance between the complexity of life and the simplicity of physical laws is the challenge of biophysics. Looking for the patterns in life and analyzing them with math and physics is a powerful way to gain insights. Biophysicists study life at every level, from atoms and molecules to cells, organisms, and environments. As innovations come out of physics and biology labs, biophysicists find new areas to explore where they can apply their expertise, create new tools, and learn new things. The work always aims to find out how biological systems work. Biophysicists ask questions, such as: How do protein machines work? Even though they are millions of times smaller than everyday machines, molecular machines work on the same principles. They use energy to do work. The kinesin machine shown here is carrying a load as it walks along a track. Biophysics reveals how each step is powered forward. How do systems of nerve cells communicate? Biophysicists invented colored protein tags for the chemicals used by cells. Each cell takes on a different color as it uses the tagged chemicals, making it possible to trace its many pathways. How do proteins pack DNA into viruses? How do viruses invade cells? How do plants harness sunlight to make food? Biophysics discovers how atoms are arranged to work in DNA and proteins. Protein molecules perform the body’s chemical reactions. They push and pull in the muscles that move your limbs. Proteins make the parts of your eyes, ears, nose, and skin that sense your environment. They turn food into energy and light into vision. They are your immunity to illness. Proteins repair what is broken inside of cells, and regulate growth. They fire the electrical signals in your brain. They read the DNA blueprints in your body and copy the DNA for future generations. Biophysicists are discovering how proteins work. These mysteries are solved part by part. To learn how a car works, you first need to know how the parts fit together. Now, thanks to biophysics, we know exactly where the thousands of atoms are located in more than 50,000 different proteins. Each year, over a million scientists and students from all over the world, from physicists to medical practitioners, use these protein structures for discovering how biological machines work, in health and also in diseases. Experiments in the 1940’s showed that genes are made of a simple chemical–DNA. How such a simple chemical could be the molecule of inheritance remained a mystery until biophysicists discovered the DNA double helix in 1953. The structure of DNA was a great watershed. It showed how simple variations on a single chemical could generate unique individuals and perpetuate their species. Biophysics showed how DNA serves as the book of life. Inside of cells, genes are opened, closed, read, translated, and copied, just like books. The translation leads from DNA to proteins, the molecular machinery of life. During the 2000’s, biophysical inventions decoded all the genes in a human being. All the genes of nearly 200 different species, and some genes from more than 100,000 other species have been determined. Biophysicists analyze those genes to learn how organisms are related and how individuals differ. Biophysics is a wellspring of innovation for our high-tech economy. The applications of biophysics depend on society’s needs. In the 20th century, great progress was made in treating disease. Biophysics helped create powerful vaccines against infectious diseases. It described and controlled diseases of metabolism, such as diabetes. And biophysics provided both the tools and the understanding for treating the diseases of growth known as cancers. Today we are learning more about the biology of health and society is deeply concerned about the health of our planet. Biophysical methods are increasingly used to serve everyday needs, from forensic science to bioremediation. Biophysics gives us medical imaging technologies including MRI, CAT scans, PET scans, and sonograms for diagnosing diseases. It provides the life-saving treatment methods of kidney dialysis, radiation therapy, cardiac defibrillators, and pacemakers. Biophysicists invented instruments for detecting, purifying, imaging, and manipulating chemicals and materials. Advanced biophysical research instruments are the daily workhorses of drug development in the world’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Since the 1970’s, more than 1500 biotechnology companies, employing 200,000 people, have earned more than $60 billion per year. Society is facing physical and biological problems of global proportions. How will we continue to get sufficient energy? How can we feed the world’s population? How do we remediate global warming? How do we preserve biological diversity? How do we secure clean and plentiful water? These are crises that require scientific insight and innovation. Biophysics provides that insight and technologies for meeting these challenges, based on the principles of physics and the mechanisms of biology. Biophysics discovers how to modify microorganisms for biofuel (replacing gasoline and diesel fuel) and bioelectricity (replacing petroleum products and coal for producing electricity). Biophysics discovers the biological cycles of heat, light, water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, heat, and organisms throughout our planet. Biophysics harnesses microorganisms to clean our water and to produce lifesaving drugs. Download What is Biophysics? brochure as a PDF Image captions and credits (clockwise from top right): The natural symmetries of viral shell molecules contribute to their strength and flexibility. These properties are vital to their life cycles, and also provide principles for devising strong, flexible materials for manufacture; Yang, Z., Bahar, I. and Widom, M., Biophysical Journal, Volume 96, Issue 11, 4438-4448, 3 June 2009. The patterns and quantities in an electrocardiogram describe the functioning of the human heart; drawing by Sarina Bromberg. Biophysicist Luis Marky loads his differential scanning calorimetry instrument; photo courtesy of Luis Marky. Each nerve cell takes on an individual color, depending on its response to engineered biomolecules, allowing individual nerve pathways of communications to be traced; image by Tamily Weissman, Harvard University; the Brainbow mouse was produced by Livet J, Weissman TA, Kang H, Draft RW, Lu J, Bennis RA, Sanes JR, Lichtman JW. Nature (2007) 450:56-62. Biophysicists Maurice Wilkins (not pictured), James Watson, Francis Crick (above) and Rosalind Franklin (above) discovered the structure of DNA; James Watson and Francis Crick photo courtesy of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives. This fragment of DNA is being opened, read and transcribed by a protein (the light-colored structure that surrounds it); Gnatt et al, SCIENCE v 292, 1876, 2001. Gene-chips are made to test the functions of thousands of genes in one experiment; Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Batches of biofuel microbes are being tested; U.S. Department of Energy Genome Programs, http://genomics.energy.gov. Molecules for photosynthesis (green) and for fuel are fluorescently labelled in this cross-section of a stalk; U.S. Department of Energy Genome Programs, http://genomics.energy.gov. Biophysics determines the abundance of photosynthetic microbes and plants in the global biosphere; U.S. Department of Energy Genome Programs, http://genomics.energy.gov. MRI scans help diagnose disease without surgery; photo courtesy of FONAR Corporation. The implantable cardiac defibrillator saves lives; image © medmovie. Rosalind Franklin photo courtesy of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives. Image by David S. Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank. Kinesin protein (center) walking along a protein track (bottom diagonal) carrying a load (large blue sphere); Robert Loe and Alain Viel, Harvard University, John Liebler, XVIVO, LCC. Shining X-rays on protein creates a diffraction pattern revealing its structure (cover image). This false-color pattern of a protein from peas was created using data from the world’s fi rst dedicated high energy synchrotron, the Synchrotron Radiation Source. Biophysicists analyze diffraction patterns to determine the positions of the atoms in proteins, DNA and other important molecules. Understanding the atomic structures is an important step toward understanding how molecules work together to sustain life; Daresbury Laboratory, UK. © STFC.

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Serrated triangular arrowhead, about one inch in length. This projectile point is interesting, not only because it was made from a decortication flake (a relatively unusual occurrence for any period) but because it is serrated. The maker of this arrowhead used a deer antler or some other soft material shaped like a punch or awl to remove small flakes from around the edge giving the object the sharpness of a serrated kitchen knife. Most triangular points dating to the Late Woodland are not serrated. Archaeologist Stephen Potter, in his Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture in the Potomac Valley (University of Virginia Press, 1993), attributes these kinds of points to the Protohistoric and Historic periods (AD 1500-1650s). They are typically small ( not much more than a half inch in length) and, in Virginia's Northern Neck, are serrated isosceles triangles made from quartz. Potter discusses movement of Indian tribes back and forth across the Potomac River and the development of the various tribes that formed the Conoy chiefdom, including the Piscataway and Portobacks. Continued excavation around Unit 7 may well contribute to Potter's larger story as it appears increasingly likely that the archaeology team has found a small Indian settlement dating to the first half of the 17th century; a community that was in direct contact with the Jesuit mission and the colonists whose increasing numbers led to the formation of Charles County 350 years ago.

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Germans from Russia Naturalization and CitizenshipEdit This Page From FamilySearch Wiki Germans from Russia Naturalization and Citizenship Naturalization is the process of granting citizenship privileges and responsibilities to residents. Naturalization records in the United States may be an excellent source for determining the specific town or city where your ancestor was born (especially records after 1906). See the United States “Naturalization and Citizenship” Wiki page, and the Canada "Naturalization and Citizenship Wiki page. - This page was last modified on 17 October 2011, at 12:30. - This page has been accessed 1,182 times. Share Your Opinion! Review redesigns of wiki pages and give your feedbackImprove the Wiki

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The tomato harvest will leave the International Space Station (ISS) on April 15 aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, which will carry about 2,000 kilograms of supplies for scientific experiments and resupply. In the Veg-05 experiment, astronauts on the ISS grew dwarf tomatoes in the orbiting laboratory’s miniature greenhouse and harvested three crops. The tomatoes were then frozen to analyze their nutritional value. “The crew’s enhanced life experience and ability to grow plants in space for fresh food is important for future long-duration missions,” NASA wrote in a blog post. Adaptable For Use On Earth This equipment can be adapted for use around the world to provide fresh produce to those without access to a garden and to offer garden therapy to the elderly and disabled. Other ISS experiments that will return to Earth over the weekend include crystals produced by the Japanese space agency JAXA that could help in the development of more efficient solar cells and the Canadian Space Agency’s research on how arteries age in microgravity. Since The 1980s, Growing Plants Has Been The Subject Of Numerous Experiments Growing food and plants in space has been the subject of numerous experiments by various space agencies since the 1980s, when a Soviet crew grew the first flower on the Salyut 7 space station. Last year, Chinese astronauts, known as astronauts, grew paddy from seed for the first time in space. This was the first time scientists had successfully produced the entire life cycle of a paddy, from seed to a mature plant capable of producing its own seeds, in a microgravity environment. NASA will broadcast the launch and departure of the Dragon cargo vehicle from the ISS on Saturday, April 15 at 5:45 p. m. Turkish time, free of charge and live on its website.

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WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF True unsupervised learning, that allows AI’s to learn by themselves, will represent a quantum leap in AI development and begin pushing it to the next level. Most of today’s artificial intelligence (AI) systems rely on machine learning algorithms that can predict specific outcomes by drawing on pre-established values, but now researchers from OpenAI, a company funded by no less than Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, who are trying to democratise AI for “human good” just discovered – literally – that a machine learning system they created to predict the next character in the text of reviews from Amazon evolved into an unsupervised learning system that could learn how to read sentiment. By itself. That’s a pretty big deal, and it’s also something that, at the moment, even the researchers themselves can’t explain. “We were very surprised that our model learned an interpretable feature, and that simply predicting the next character in Amazon reviews resulted in discovering the concept of sentiment,” said OpenAI in a blog. According to the post OpenAI’s neural network was able to train itself and analyse sentiment accurately by classifying Amazon’s reviews as either positive or negative – and it then generated follow on text that fit with the sentiment. The AI the team used was what’s known as a multiplicative long short-term memory (LSTM) model that was trained for a month, processing 12,500 characters a second using Nvidia Pascal GPU’s – which Nvidia’s own CEO gifted to Elon Musk last year – with “4,096 units on a corpus of 82 million Amazon reviews to predict the next character in a chunk of text. ” After training it the researchers then turned the model into a sentiment classifier using a linear combination of these units. When they noticed that their model was using just a few of the learned units, rather than all of them, they discovered that there was a single “sentiment neuron” with a highly predictive sentiment value. The diagram below represents the character-by-character value of the sentiment neuron, displaying negative values as red and positive values as green. Note that strongly indicative words like “best” or “horrendous” cause particularly big shifts in the colour. So far the sentiment analysis capabilities of their new AI has surpassed every other approach used in the Stanford Sentiment Treebank, which is a small, but extensively studied, sentiment analysis data set, and the OpenAI teams AI was 91. 8% accurate, which beat the previous record of 90. 2%. So far every AI researcher I’ve ever met seems to dream of the day they finally manage to make a breakthrough and create an unsupervised learning system – where the AI just learns by itself without any help and that eliminates the need to feed it huge tomes of training data, and it looks like OpenAI’s mLSTM has achieved that, or is at worst very close to achieving that – depending on your view. That said though the researchers also recognise that it might not be the only machine out there at the moment that can perform unsupervised learning: “We believe the phenomenon is not specific to our model, but is instead a general property of certain large neural networks that are trained to predict the next step or dimension in their inputs,” they said. “Our results are a promising step towards general unsupervised representation learning,” they said, “and we found the results by exploring whether we could learn good quality representations as a side effect of language modelling, and scaled up an existing model on a carefully chosen dataset. Yet the underlying phenomena remain more mysterious than clear. ” Being able to learn unsupervised would give AIs a significant boost and dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes for them to learn new tasks, and as the team at DeepMind close in on creating the world’s first Artificial General Intelligence architecture that, combined with an AI that can learn unsupervised, would represent a step change – another step change in a long line of step changes – in the path to unleashing AI’s true potential.

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>The northern Gulf of Mexico contains the vast majority of the nation's platforms (almost 3,000), and there are another 23 off southern California. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, a rig is a derrick that drills a well, and a platform is the structure that's built once a well is completed. The number of platforms began to climb rapidly in the 1960s, and they quickly became de facto artificial reefs. Government scientists estimate that a typical four-legged platform is equivalent to two to three acres of marine habitat. >Islands of Life >"We've done quite a bit of research, and these structures are even more important than we first imagined," said Greg Stuntz, Ph.D., chair of Ocean and Fisheries Health at Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. "We see elevated abundance of fish and high diversity. We're confident at this point saying platforms do increase productivity in the Gulf." >According to marine biologist and filmmaker Soames Summerhayes, estimates of fish populations around individual platforms range from 12,000 to 30,000. "Extrapolate that number using the number of existing rigs, and you could hazard a guess of between 40 and 100 million additional fish as a result of these platforms in the northern Gulf." >Despite that potential value to the marine ecosystem, U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) rules require companies to remove nonproducing structures within one to five years, depending on location and drilling lease status. More than 4,000 platforms have already been removed from the Gulf, and the pace accelerated after a September 2010 notice from the DOI reminding offshore operators of the rules. At least 359 platforms are scheduled for removal in 2013. >Legitimate reasons for removing nonproducing platforms include the possible hazard to shipping and the potential for spills or leaks from aging structures — risks that increase if platforms are damaged or toppled by storms. Some environmental groups also support removal as a way to return the Gulf to a more natural state. But many divers, fishermen and scientists want to keep these oases of life right where they are. >It's possible to preserve these structures by officially converting the platforms to artificial reefs. The process requires approval by the DOI's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, environmental review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federally endorsed, state-run rigs-to-reefs programs exist in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and California. These programs are funded by donations from platform owners of an amount equivalent to half of what removal would cost. To date, approximately 420 platforms (10 percent of those removed) have been converted in the Gulf. Most were moved to a designated reef site and dropped on the sea floor, although some were cut off below the surface and left in place. In Texas, of 133 platforms converted to reefs to date, only 34 were reefed in place, and all of those were cut off at 85 feet or deeper. >Rigs to Reefs >Rigs to reefs isn't a perfect solution. Offshore companies say the lengthy process can be more trouble than it's worth. Many of the reefs are too deep for divers, while others lie on silty bottom with poor visibility. Efforts are afoot to solve these problems; these include two bills currently before congress (see info box) and official requests by various elected officials and interest groups to DOI Secretary Ken Salazar requesting a moratorium on platform removal. >Standing platforms make the best dive sites because of their vertical profiles. A prime example is High Island 389A, a platform erected in 1989 that fell inside the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) when the sanctuary was designated in 1992. In January 2012, 389A went on the government list for removal. >Treasures or Trash? >Jesse Cancelmo, who first dived at the Flower Gardens in 1977, calls 389A a world-class artificial-reef dive. Cancelmo chairs the FGBNMS sanctuary advisory council's artificial-reef working group, which is investigating alternatives to full removal of platforms in the sanctuary. Proposed expansion of the sanctuary could put several more platforms within its boundaries. The working group recommended partial removal of 389A: cutting the platform off 60 feet below the surface — the depth at which natural reef in the sanctuary begins. This would allow an additional 25 vertical feet of structure compared to the depth (85 feet) at which rigs subject to cutting are usually cut off. The sanctuary advisory council endorsed that recommendation. >"We've always said we're open to the reefing-in-place option," said G.P. Schmahl, sanctuary superintendent. "But there are many issues, primarily financial and legal, that make it difficult. " The platform owner doesn't want the ongoing liability, and Schmahl said the government doesn't either. Putting 389A under the Texas rigs-to-reefs program is one potential solution. >There are still negatives to leaving platforms in place, however. "Platforms aren't actually good habitat for coral, and most of what is on them is invasive," Schmahl said. "Platforms are essentially vectors for invasive species. " While other scientists agree that is true, some also say invasions would happen with or without platforms. >A larger issue is that platforms will eventually corrode and collapse. "We don't know if that's a problem," Schmahl said, "but from a management point of view, it's an important question. We also should be looking at the bigger picture of marine spatial planning. How many platforms should we save? Is it better to place them in aggregations in designated locations? Those are some of the questions we need to answer. " >Cancelmo would like to see each individual platform assessed for its value as marine habitat before removal. "We don't have a one-size-fits-all solution," he said. "There are platforms out there that probably don't merit being left in place, but there are many that do. As long as the structure poses no hazard and liability can be adequately addressed, there's no reason whatsoever to not leave the platforms in place. " And, from a diver's perspective, there are plenty of reasons to do so. >Let your federal (and, if applicable, state) representatives know these structures are important to divers. Two bills before Congress would make decommissioning rules more favorable to artificial reefing: S1555, the Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act, and S3525, the Sportsmen's Act of 2012. >What Can You Do? >Go diving on an offshore platform. You won't be disappointed. >Offshore Platforms Gallery >© Alert Diver —Winter 2013

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In every profession we put the knowledge we have learned to use each day. While many people work on the frontlines of healthcare, where resilient bacteria live and thrive, most of us do not. We work in manufacturing facilities or on construction sites, where worries about the dangers of cuts, musculoskeletal injuries and falls are top of mine and very few people are concerned about the dangers of bacteria. Clostridium difficile (C Diff) is a resilient bacteria most commonly found in healthcare settings, but it is gaining momentum in communities and work environments and can be fatal. C. Diff is gram-positive and anaerobic; it is a spore that is able to live without oxygen. It is of the genus Clostridia, which is a common bacterium of the human intestine in 2 to 5 percent of the population. Previously, C Diff only became a serious gastrointestinal infection when individuals were exposed to antibiotic therapy, experienced long-term hospitalization or had an extended stay in a long-term care facility. However, the risk of acquiring a C Diff infection (CDI) is increasing since it is highly infectious and can live for as long as 3 months on hard surfaces. This means that someone who has acquired C Diff and who does not practice good hand hygiene can transfer it to another person via a door handle, shopping cart or public restroom. As a result, C Diff is spreading throughout homes and workplaces. There are significantly higher risk factors of acquiring C Diff for individuals who have weakened immune systems due to cancer, other medical conditions that lower their ability to fight infections, people who have been on antibiotic therapy and the elderly population. Antibiotics cause a disruption in the normal intestinal flora which leads to an over growth of C difficile bacteria in the colon. The leading antibiotics known to disrupt the normal intestinal flora are Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Cephalosporin, and Clindamycin, which are broad-spectrum antibiotics. Proton pump inhibitors have also been shown to be associated with an increased risk for CDI. Making a Difference: Raising C Diff Awareness

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Renewable energies, vehicle-to-grid technologies, second-life battery energy storage and cloud platforms: a combination of all of these is being used to help Porto Santo become the world’s first “Smart Fossil Free Island.” Electric vehicles - powered by batteries, and not by burning fossil fuels - are the key to a future where travel is clean, non-polluting and emissions-free. But for that to happen, the electricity that our electric vehicles use also has to come from clean, renewable sources too. If they don't, the problem of the emissions simply moves from the vehicle to the power plant. And when it comes to producing renewable energy, there are natural fluctuations, of course - the wind doesn't blow the same amount 24 hours a day, you can't produce solar energy after sunset and even during the day, you can't be sure that panels will be able to catch enough rays. And sometimes, you also end up generating more energy than you need. That's why Munich-based energy innovation company The Mobility House is working on a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solution - where electric cars serve as intermediate storage for renewable energy. Another project they're working on is second-life battery energy storage - recycling discarded electric car batteries and turning them into storage for surpluses in energy production. Now, on a small Portuguese island in the North Atlantic, they're linking together these two innovations - the V2G and the second-life battery storage units - via a software, the so-called "Marketplace", and adding electric cars and smart charging stations into the mix, in a bid to create to boost the island’s energy independence and encourage the production of renewable energy. The island of Porto Santo is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about 40 km from Madeira. About 5,500 people live on the island, which covers an area of around approximately 42 square kilometres. The size provides an ideal starting point for the pilot project, which aims to turn the holiday destination into a "Smart Fossil Free Island". The project, which is being run with the support of Renault and the local energy provider Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira, kicked off in early 2018. Twenty Renault electric cars were handed over to residents and public institutions such as the police and 40 charging stations were installed on the island, equipped with a controller and connected to the internet. The Marketplace software, which connects the electric cars, the battery storage units and the power grid, is cloud-based and monitors the levels of supply and demand levels among the current energy usage. If more renewable energy is produced than is needed, that electricity is passed on to stationary storage facilities, e. g. connected electric cars or batteries. If the demand is greater than the electricity produced, then those stationary storage facilities release the energy back into the grid. And to ensure that there's always enough power in the cars' batteries to get from A to B, there's an app residents can use to control the minimum amount of power that is to be stored in the car battery at all times. However, the island's modest size means that the range anxiety often associated with electric vehicles shouldn't be a problem there anyway. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether the results of the project can be scaled up to suit locations where vehicles might have to travel longer distances. According to The Mobility House, renewable energies currently make up 15 percent of the island's energy mix: 1. 1 megawatts are generated by wind energy and 2. 0 megawatts by solar energy. A large part of the rest of the energy is currently still generated by diesel generators, as the power grid is relatively small and isolated. But that's set to change - their ambitious goal is to make the entire island fossil fuel free, and more wind and solar power plants are set to be constructed in the long term. "In Porto Santo we've been able to prove that a world without fossil fuels is possible," says Thomas Raffeiner, founder and CEO of The Mobility House. However, the production of the batteries that are needed for a project like this are still not exactly known for their sustainability; with the mining of lithium and other rare materials in particular having huge environmenta. Reusing car batteries is a step in the right direction - by turning them into storage and saving them from the scrapyard. But one key question still remains: how can the production of electric vehicles be made more sustainable? And it's a question to which the whole e-mobility sector has to find an answer. This is a translation by Marisa Pettit of an original article that first appeared on RESET's German-language site.

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Planets are born to support life – or not Numerical simulations suggest if a planet doesn't have the goods from the get-go, it won't sustain life – even if it's in the Goldilocks zone. But it's not that simple, writes Belinda Smith. Location, location, location. It’s one of the most important factors when it comes to a planet’s habitability, and Earth is square in the "Goldilocks zone". The sun provides the vast majority of our planet’s heat – not too much, and not too little. But how a planet evolves – and if it's habitable – also hinges on the amount of heat it contained when it was born, Jun Korenaga, a geophysicist at Yale University, writes in Science Advances. Just as you might put on a coat when you go outside in winter, Earth and other rocky planets are thought to add their own blanket in the form of a crusty layer as they cool over time. This “self-regulation” stems heat loss. Today, the Earth radiates around 44 terawatts of heat into space. Much of this is a relic of energy from the planet’s first few hundred million years. Once things settled down, Earth started to cool. And in the four billion years since, it settled into layers: a solid iron inner core and liquid iron outer core – which circulates and creates our magnetic field – sheathed in a 2,900-kilometre-thick layer of hot rock called the mantle. The mantle also circulates, albeit sluggishly compared to the outer core. This is all topped by the crust, which formed as the mantle cooled. There are two types – oceanic crust, which is only a few kilometres thick, and continental crust, which is 30 to 50 kilometres thick. Heat is also pumped out by decaying radioactive elements such as uranium-238 and thorium-232. Exactly how much of Earth’s total heat loss comes from radioactive decay is unknown, but recent estimates hover around half or more. The idea that rocky planets, such as Earth, self-regulate their temperature has been around since American chemist and Nobel prize winner Harold Urey proposed the idea in 1955. Now, geophysicists cite the “Urey ratio”: calculated as the amount of heat generated in the mantle divided by heat loss. A Urey ratio of one means a planet’s in thermo-equilibrium – in other words, the amount of heat produced inside a planet is the same as the heat shrugged off into space. Estimates peg the Earth’s current Urey ratio between 0. 16 and 0. 76. But, Korenaga argues, this self-regulation is not the full story. His numerical modelling suggests the internal temperature of the Earth has little effect on mantle convection. Oceans, he says, would never have existed if the planet had started outside a certain range of temperature. “This means that the beginning of Earth’s history cannot be too hot or too cold. ” The paper overlooks a crucial element, says Louis Moresi, a geophysicist at the University of Melbourne in Australia. “You’re in trouble if you ignore the continents,” he says. Continental crust, being thicker than oceanic crust, comprises the thick, fluffy parts of the planet’s natural blanket. Korenaga’s equations, he says, are one-dimensional – they don’t take the planet's varying crust thickness into account, nor do they address how mantle might move laterally beneath the surface or how the planet “fine-tunes” itself via heat hissing from volcanoes. In a 2011 paper, he and colleagues in the US calculated the Urey ratio but included the blanketing effect of continents. They ended up with much higher values than before – up to 0. 76. Still, there’s plenty about the inner workings of the Earth left to be discovered. The Borexino experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, for instance, is detecting the slippery anti-particles called geoneutrinos produced during radioactive decay. The more it snares, the better scientists will be able to estimate Earth’s composition. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” Moresi says.

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Grade 6 - Social Studies Middle School World History (Credit: 1. 00)This is an engaging, course offering students an in-depth but easily understood view of the human experience, from the earliest civilizations through the Age of Enlightenment. Interactive features allow students to apply their mastery of lessons through such activities as customizing maps and designing feudal villages. An audio pronunciation guide assists students' ability to say and remember the names of people and places. Frequent self-check practice questions and homework assignments prepare students for the accompanying assignments.

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Bilberry is any of several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, bearing edible berries. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus, but there are several other closely related species. Bilberries are found in very acidic, nutrient-poor soils throughout the temperate and subarctic regions of the world. They are closely related to North American wild and cultivated blueberries and huckleberries in the genus Vaccinium. One characteristic of bilberries is that they produce single or paired berries on the bush instead of clusters, as the blueberry does. The fruit is smaller than that of the blueberry but with a fuller taste. Bilberries are darker in colour, and usually appear near black with a slight shade of purple. While the blueberry's fruit pulp is light green, the bilberry's is red or purple, heavily staining the fingers and lips of consumers eating the raw fruit. The red juice is used by European dentists to show children how to brush their teeth correctly, as any improperly brushed areas will be heavily stained. Bilberries are extremely difficult to grow and are thus seldom cultivated. Fruits are mostly collected from wild plants growing on publicly accessible lands, notably Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, parts of England, Alpine countries, Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and northern parts of Turkey and Russia. Note that in Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, it is an everyman's right to collect bilberries, irrespective of land ownership, with the exception of private gardens. Bilberries can be picked by a berry-picking rake like lingonberries, but are more susceptible to damage. Bilberries are softer and juicier than blueberries, making them difficult to transport. Because of these factors, the bilberry is only available fresh in gourmet stores, where they can cost up to 25 Euro per pound. Frozen bilberries however are available all year round in most of Europe. In Finland, bilberries are collected from forests. They are eaten fresh or can be made in different jams, and dishes. The famous one is Mustikkapiirakka, bilberry pie In Ireland, the fruit is known as fraughan, from the Irish fraochán, and is traditionally gathered on the last Sunday in July, known as Fraughan Sunday. Bilberries were also collected at Lughnasadh in August, the first traditional harvest festival of the year, as celebrated by Gaelic people. The crop of bilberries was said to indicate how well the rest of the crops would fare in their harvests later in the year. The fruits can be eaten fresh or made into jams, fools, juices or pies. In France and in Italy, they are used as a base for liqueurs and are a popular flavoring for sorbets and other desserts. In Brittany, they are often used as a flavoring for crêpes.

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Every year, more than 80,000 people suffer total loss of vision in both eyes, and 250,000 in one eye, due to glaucoma. Glaucoma is a general term for a group of eye diseases that, if left untreated, will elevate pressure inside the eye causing optic nerve damage. This damage creates a loss of vision. Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve. The optic nerve carries the images we see to the brain. It is like an electric cable containing a huge number of wires. Glaucoma earned its reputation as a “sneaky thief of sight” because there are no early visual symptoms alerting one to the presence of the disease. By the time someone determines their vision is changing, it is too late, and irreversible damage has already occurred. If caught early though, glaucoma can be successfully treated with medication. Regular preventative eye exams are important to help to detect this disease in its early stages. What causes Glaucoma? Clear liquid, called the aqueous humor, flows in and out of the eye. This liquid is not part of the tears on the outer surface of the eye. The flow of aqueous fluid would be similar to having a sink with the faucet turned on all the time. If the “drainpipe” gets clogged, water collects and pressure builds up. If the drainage area of the eye is blocked, the fluid pressure within the inner eye may increase, which can damage the optic nerve. There are many different types of Glaucoma, but there are two major types: open angle and closed angle. Chronic open-angle glaucoma is the most common type of glaucoma. Over 90% of adult glaucoma patients have this type. It occurs when the drainage angle of the eye becomes less efficient or “clogged” and pressure within the eye gradually increases. In open-angle glaucoma, the angle where the iris meets the cornea is as wide and open as it should be but it malfunctions. Closed-angle glaucoma or acute glaucoma is the type of glaucoma which occurs when the drainage canals of the eye become blocked suddenly causes eye pressure to build up rapidly. Glaucoma is a genetic disorder which frequently manifests itself only after the age of 40. There are subsets of glaucoma which appear as congenital and are seen in infancy and as juvenile glaucoma. Secondary glaucoma can result from an eye injury, inflammation or tumor, or in advanced cases of cataract or diabetes. Low tension or normal tension glaucoma occurs when the optic nerve is genetically weak and even normal or low eye pressure is capable of causing glaucoma damage. Who is at risk for Glaucoma? You are at risk for glaucoma if you: - Are over the age of 40 and do not have regular eye exams - Have a family history of glaucoma - Have diabetes, myopia or high blood pressure - Suffer morning headaches or migraines - Experience recurrent blurry vision - See haloes around lights at night - Notice your peripheral (side) vision is decreasing - Experience pain around your eyes after watching TV - Have used steroid drugs (orally or inhaler) for any length of time - Are of African-American or Asian-American descent How is Glaucoma detected? Regular eye examinations by your Ophthalmologist are the best way to detect glaucoma. As a medical eye doctor, your Ophthalmologist can detect and treat glaucoma. How is Glaucoma treated? Glaucoma is usually controlled with eye drops which are generally taken several times a day, sometimes in combination with pills. These medications decrease eye pressure, either by slowing the production of aqueous fluid within the eye or by improving the flow leaving the drainage angle. For these medications to work, you must use them regularly and continuously. As with any medication, it is important to tell all of your doctors about the eye medications you are using. » read more about Beta-Blocker eye drops Laser surgery may be effective for different types of glaucoma. The laser is usually used in one of two ways: - In open-angle glaucoma, the drain itself is treated. The laser is use to enlarge the drain (trabeculoplasty) to help control eye pressure. - In angle-closure glaucoma, the laser creates a hole in the iris (iridotomy) to improve the flow of aqueous fluid to the drain. Operative surgery may sometimes be needed to control glaucoma. This surgery is performed using miniature instruments to create a new drainage channel for the aqueous fluid to leave the eye. The new channel helps to lower the pressure.

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In April, my family received news that my mother’s friend passed away from COVID-19. We were overcome with grief—especially because we were still grieving another recent death. Our last memory of her is watching the EMTs carry her to the ambulance outside of her house as we waved goodbye. We all feared the worst but were hopeful that that goodbye wave would eventually turn into a welcome back gesture. It didn’t. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, loss and grief are two themes that transcend age, race, religion, and location. The U.S. alone has reported more than 100,000 deaths and counting. Because of shelter-in-place and social distancing mandates, many have lost loved ones without the opportunity to properly say goodbye. Public gatherings, including funerals, are limited to 10 people or less. These restrictions make it difficult to complete burial rituals and funeral practices, especially in the Muslim community. Imagine not being able to pray on a loved one. It’s double the grief. Muslims adhere to a burial process that incorporates religious and community elements. After the body is released from the hospital, it is ceremoniously washed. This is a crucial step, but because officials prohibit the touching and washing of bodies because of virus transmission, Muslims are implementing another method called tayammum, a dry purification process where sand is used instead of water: “Instead of washing the body with water, we would use dry dirt from the earth to rub on them while they’re clothed, so we’re not touching the body directly,” says Fuad Mohamed, the imam at the Muslim American Society of White Center in Seattle. Typically, after the body is purified, it is wrapped in a white cloth, placed in a coffin and transported to a mosque for the funeral prayer. But because of current circumstances, this step is skipped and the body is taken directly to the grave. There, 10 people can stand 6 feet apart and pray on the body. This is called Salat al-Janazah, the funeral prayer. If a person is hospitalized for COVID-19, family members are usually not allowed to visit to prevent spreading the disease. It gets even more complicated if the person dies and the burial process starts without the family. The words of an imam, prayers mixed with tears, and quiet sniffles in a crowded mosque is usually what a Muslim funeral sounds like. Funerals represent a transitional act for the deceased to be put to rest, and, for many, the process itself is an opportunity to say goodbye and an important step in the grieving process. “Imagine not being able to pray on a loved one. It’s double the grief. The grief of losing somebody, and the grief of not being able to be there in their last moments,” Imam Mohamed says. Besides the shift in burial practices, the grieving process in the Muslim community is also changing. It’s customary for Muslims to convene at the family’s house and bring food and water. Many will stay for hours to provide comfort and support for the grieving family however they can. Now, we can’t do that. “The community is losing the opportunity to be there for one another,” Imam Mohamed says. Beyond helping our communities grieve, our funerals serve as a reminder that death is part of worship. My mother and our community are mourning our friend’s death from afar and sending condolences through the phone. Still, my mother is struggling with the reality of not saying goodbye properly. “It’s still not registering in my mind that my friend is gone. I would’ve liked to be there in her last moments, go to her funeral, say goodbye. I can’t even be there for her kids and visit them and comfort them. This virus is unforgiving, and I hate it,” my mother shared with me in Somali. She grieved her own mother’s loss a couple of years ago. Knowing her mother received a proper goodbye, surrounded by loved ones, helped her cope. “Not being physically there hurts differently,” she told me. Beyond helping our communities grieve, our funerals serve as a reminder that death is part of worship. Muslims believe that death signifies the end of this life and the transition to the next one. Similar to other social distancing accommodation methods used for work and social interactions, virtual support is how many are showing up for loved ones right now: texting, calling, video chatting, and stopping by their house while maintaining 6 feet of distance. “I think the best thing to do is to go back to our family homes, if you don’t already live with them. So even if the people from the outside are unable to help us during a crisis, then maybe your parents and siblings can help you through this,” Imam Mohamed suggests. The coronavirus outbreak has unleashed a collective sense of grief, whether we mourn a loved one or the life we had planned for ourselves. The Muslim community is feeling this, compounded with the loss of our death care practices. Trying to grieve amid the instability and barriers around traditions has been challenging. I feel myself constantly reaching to give my emotions some space to breathe. But I’m finding comfort in the Arabic word Tawakkul, an Islamic concept that loosely translates to perfectly relying on God. It’s practiced in times of uncertainty or when things feel so out of our control. My faith has gotten me through many strenuous times before, and aligning myself spiritually is how I’m finding some peace. Iman Mohamed is the social media coordinator at YES! , where she supports the editorial team with online production, scheduling, and social media content creation. A media enthusiast with a degree in journalism and international studies from the University of Washington, Iman specializes in digital and social media production. She has reported for Seattle Globalist, The UW Daily, and interned at Real Change. Iman speaks English, Somali, and Arabic.

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Washington, April 11: Researchers have identified a supernova remnant – known as G352. 7-0. 1 (or, G352 for short) – that has swept material, equivalent to about 45 times the mass of the Sun. Another atypical trait of G352 is that it has a very different shape in radio data compared to that in X-rays. Most of the radio emission is shaped like an ellipse, contrasting with the X-ray emission that fills in the center of the radio ellipse. This is seen in a new composite image of G352 that contains X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in blue and radio data from the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in pink. A recent study suggests that, surprisingly, the X-ray emission in G352 is dominated by the hotter (about 30 million degrees Celsius) debris from the explosion, rather than cooler (about 2 million degrees) emission from surrounding material that has been swept up by the expanding shock wave. This is curious because astronomers estimate that G352 exploded about 2,200 years ago, and supernova remnants of this age usually produce X-rays that are dominated by swept-up material. Scientists are still trying to come up with an explanation for this behavior. G352 is found about 24,000 light-years from Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. (ANI)

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Redefining Instruction With Technology: Five Essential Steps In the fall of 2010, I was awarded a grant that brought 32 iPads to my classroom. I had high hopes that this would revolutionize teaching and learning in my class. These devices would help me to create a magical, collaborative learning environment that met all my students’ individual needs. These seemed like lofty goals—but they all came true. Eventually. First, I had to learn a hard lesson: Just bringing new technology in your classroom and working it into day-to-day routines isn’t enough. The iPads arrived two days before my students, and I quickly made plans to integrate them into our curriculum. Despite my high hopes, the next two months were less than successful. A casual observer would have witnessed a sea of students glued to glistening tablets, but the effects were superficial. The iPads were not helping my students make substantial progress toward self-efficacy, academic achievement, or social-emotional growth. Around the end of September, I took a step back—it was time to evaluate and reflect on what was happening. I asked myself: "What have we been doing so far with this technology? " Students used math apps instead of math card games. They’d made slideshow presentations for isolated units. They’d done some research on the Internet. In short, things were going . . . OK. Nothing to write home about. Not what I would consider "worthy" of a $20,000 grant. Clearly it was time for a change. The problem, I began to realize, was my own understanding of how the iPads should be utilized in the classroom. I had seen them as a supplement to my pre-existing curriculum, trying to fit them into the structure of what I’d always done. This was the wrong approach: To truly change how my classroom worked, I needed a technology-based redefinition of my practice. A year and a half later, I know a little more about what that really means. Here are five lessons I’ve learned about redefining classroom instruction with technology—whether iPads or other tools. Break down to rebuild. As terrifying as it may sound, the first step is to take a proverbial sledgehammer to your existing classroom framework. This realization was a turning point for me. I would have to be willing to depart from what I had "always done" or "always taught. " I needed to review my program with the power of my new tools in mind. By setting aside my pre-conceived notions of how my classroom "should" look, sound, and feel, I was able to transform my practice from the ground up. Redefine with a goal in mind. When rethinking your curriculum and classroom, identify the goals you have for yourself and your students. I focused on two important goals: increased differentiation and robust, efficient assessment. Next, I asked myself, "Can the iPads help me reach those goals? " Realizing that they could, I redesigned my classroom practice around the goals, with iPads as the infrastructure. Here are a few examples: • I created interactive video mini-lessons to increase differentiation. • I used online student surveys and audio/visual apps such as Toontastic to allow my students to voice their emotions, curiosities, and academic goals in private. • To redefine assessment and differentiation, I employed websites such as Google Docs and Edmodo to create a faster feedback loop. These sites utilize color coding, instantaneous feedback, and automatic student grouping to allow me to immediately analyze data. I can enact same-day differentiation—no need to spend an evening reviewing paper-and-pencil exit tickets. Get more app for your money. I also asked myself the question: "What can I do with these devices that would be impossible to do without them? " In other words, I was hoping to create new teaching methods rather than just replacing old ones. I moved away from content apps, such as Rocket Math or Math Ninja, which are very engaging but only address a handful of standards. Once a student has mastered the relevant standard(s), such apps only serve as practice—and the data I can collect from them is limited. Instead, I focused on student-creation apps. Moving beyond replacing paper math games with flashy math apps, students are now creating their own math videos, writing math blogs, and conducting challenge-based-learning math projects. For example, the app Educreations allows students to record notations on a virtual whiteboard along with their narration, generating a multimedia lesson or problem explanation. This app can be used to address standards in all subjects and engages students at the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy: creation. Other versatile creation apps and programs include Toontastic, iMovie, Garage Band, PaperPort Notes, Kabaam, Popplet, and Aurasma Lite. Embrace failure. Last year gave me an invaluable lesson in celebrating failure. When the iPad integration didn’t go as I’d initially hoped, I had the rich experience of reflecting and restarting. I teach my students to evaluate their own incorrect math strategies to better appreciate the beauty of one that works. Similarly, I had to fail—and take a good long look at that failure—to truly understand why what I'm doing now works. To be honest, I know that I still have a lot of room for improvement. I'm sure I have more failure in my near future and I can’t wait. So if you begin to implement a new app in your classroom and it falls flat, react by asking yourself what you’ve learned. Welcome your students into this culture of learning from adversity. By creating a safe, open environment and by being clear that this endeavor is as foreign to you as it is to them, you encourage risk taking—and greater achievements. Enjoy the results, reflect towards the future. After redefining my classroom, the iPads were out all day, every day. They were being pushed to their limit so that my students could be pushed to theirs. This effort paid off: 10 times as many of my students scored at the 90th percentile or above on the 2011 state test as compared to the 2010 state test. I saw students become active agents in their own learning—because they now had choices about the methods that worked best for them. Kids who’d professed to hate school were now eager to engage in the classroom. One student wrote in her daily reflection, "[iPads] make me want to come to school every day because I know that Ms. Magiera has a lesson just for me. " These "wins" were a source of euphoria for me as an educator, but I also know that there is more to do, more to learn, more to try. Our classrooms must grow and evolve to meet the fluctuating needs of our students and take advantage of the ever-changing array of technological tools. Someone recently asked me, "What do you predict the classroom of the future will look like? " I had to say, if I could predict what's in the future classroom, I’d be sorely disappointed. I love being surprised by new developments in technology and pedagogy. Classroom redefinition is an ongoing process, and I can’t wait to discover what tomorrow brings.

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Arthrogryposis, also known as arthrogryposis multiplex congenita or AMC, is a birth defect in which a child has various joints that are tight (contracted) with decreased motion, stiffness, deformity, and difficulty with function. The incidence for this is one in 3,000 live births. It is not a progressive disorder. In some cases, arthrogryposis is inherited and is passed from one generation to the next. In other cases, there is no explanation for the decreased movement of the fetus while in utero. Arthrogryposis encompasses a spectrum of musculoskeletal joint contractures from general joint immobility/tightness to rare syndromes creating difficulty with walking, mobility and function. The one thing that they all have in common is weak muscles and stiff joints. The clinical findings of arthrogryposis are due to fetal akinesia. There are multiple proposed mechanisms that result in a lack of fetal motion: failure of skeletal muscle development, anterior horn cell abnormalities, vascular interruption, defective myogenic regulatory genes resulting in defective somites, maternal antibodies to fetal acetycholine receptor (as in maternal myasthenia gravis) and possible infectious viral causes (Hall, 1997; Swinyard, 1985). About 93% of cases are thought to be neuropathic (abnormal anterior horn cells) and 7% myopathic. Distal arthrogryposis has been linked to autosomal dominant transmission. Most forms of amyoplasia are idiopathic, and there is no known genetic cause. The incidence of arthrogryposis is 1 in 3000 births. The incidence of true amyoplasia is 1 in 10,000 births Types of Arthrogryposis There are four main types of arthrogryposis: Amyoplasia: Babies diagnosed with amyoplasia have dense fibrous tissue and fat instead of skeletal muscle. This leads to a loss of muscle development and poor range of motion and deformity in most joints. Distal arthrogryposis: This type affects only several joints, usually in the hands and feet, and range of motion may be mildly limited. Classic arthrogryposis: This type usually affects the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, feet and knees with varying severity. The most severe cases can affect almost every joint, including the back and jaw. A loss of joint motion is frequently accompanied by muscle weakness. Syndromic arthrogryposis: This type affects internal organs, as well as the muscle and joint systems. It can cause breathing problems, feeding problems, speech disorders and, in some cases, development delays. Here, the ring and tiny fingers are more straight due to arthrogryposis on the palm’s top. Risk factors and primary prevention AMC occurs from 1/3000 to 1/5000 live births. Males and females are equally affected. Muscle disorders, muscular dystrophies, mitochondrial disorders, neural tube defects, or other PNS and CNS disorders are at an increased risk for AMC. Neurogenic factors are the most common cause of fetal akinesia presented in 70-80% of AMC patients. Other risk factors include maternal illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus, myasthenia gravis, and maternal hyperthermia in the first trimester. Severe bleeding during pregnancy or after a failed attempt at pregnancy termination, metabolic disease such as phosphofructokinase deficiency and drugs taken during pregnancy (e. g., muscle relaxants, misoprostol, cocaine, alcohol) can also be associated with arthrogryposis. Additionally, maternal Zika virus infection is the most frequent viral infection causing AMC and CNS anormalis with 30% of affected newborns with bilateral or unilateral hip, knee, hand and /or foot contractures. Regular prenatal care assists with early diagnosis of decreased fetal movement but does not decrease incidence or improve outcome. Causes of Arthrogryposis In most cases, the exact underlying cause of arthrogryposis is unclear. However, the most common possible causes of arthrogryposis include: Limitation of your baby’s movement caused by insufficient amniotic fluid, another baby in the uterus or an unusually shaped uterus. If your baby can’t move their joints, then excess tissues form around those joints. A maternal disorder like multiple sclerosis. Your risk of multiple sclerosis increases if someone in your family has it. A genetic disorder like muscular dystrophy. Diseases of your central nervous system, including Moebius syndrome and spina bifida (meningomyelocele). Diseases of your neuromuscular system, including myasthenia gravis. Diseases of your connective tissues, including dysplasia and metatropic dwarfism. In some cases, the cause of arthrogryposis is likely a combination of genetic and environmental issues. Children with AMC may be diagnosed before birth on ultrasound or shortly after birth. Symptoms vary depending on the specific diagnosis but commonly include: Stiff joints of the arms and/or legs (joint contractures) All 4 limbs are affected in 84%, just the upper extremities in 11 %. Head and neck normal Normal or above-average intelligence Limited fetal movement during pregnancy Decreased amount of muscle Absent skin creases at joints Delayed development such as sitting up or standing Abnormalities of feet (ex: clubfoot) Characteristic birthmark on the face Hips are often flexed and dislocated They sometimes have scoliosis Distal arthrogryposis is an important type of arthrogryposis. In these children, the knees and elbows are relatively spared, and the hands and feet are more affected. There are more than 20 different subtypes of distal arthrogyposis, and the face and neck be affected in some. Complications of Arthrogryposis Common characteristics and complications associated with arthrogryposis: Internally rotated shoulders and limbs Intestine, kidney, bladder and genital malformation Muscle absence or atrophy Respiratory problems and aspiration of fluids Webbed and/or dimpled skin A baby born with Arthrogryposis Diagnosis and test In some cases, arthrogryposis isn’t spotted during pregnancy. But your baby’s doctor can usually diagnose it during an early physical exam. In order to make the most accurate diagnosis, your doctor may also order tests such as: MRI (to see if any organs in the body are affected) Biopsy (small tissue sample) of a muscle to see if the muscle fibers are normal Blood tests to look for any gene variations or atypical chromosomes that may indicate another disease Treatment for Arthrogryposis Treatment for arthrogryposis should be started as soon as possible. In some cases, the newborn may need immediate care in our Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Our NICU provides specialized care for babies born with serious health conditions. Early treatment for arthrogryposis is often very successful, and most children with this condition live satisfying and productive lives. Depending on the extent and type of your child’s syndrome, they may have one or more of these treatments: Physical therapy (PT): This includes exercises, stretches and other movements to increase your child’s muscle strength and range of motion. PT can also help with gross motor skills such as learning how to roll, crawl, sit, stand, walk, use crutches and other ways of being mobile. Occupational therapy (OT): Occupational therapists help children learn ways to take care of themselves. If your child needs a wheelchair or walker, our OT can help them learn how to use it. OTs also help children with fine motor skills such as writing and using utensils to eat. Splinting and casting: These are used to hold a joint in place, to stretch the tissues in a joint or to line up bones so the child can move more easily. Splints can be changed as your child’s range of motion improves. In some cases, splints are worn only at night. Your child may be referred to an orthotist who will make these splints. Surgery: When other treatments have not worked, or when the child has reached optimal improvement with other therapies, your child’s specialist may recommend a surgical procedure. The surgical team at Phoenix Children’s has the skills and experience to provide safe surgeries with excellent results. For children with arthrogryposis, the team usually consists of orthopedic and plastic surgery teams working together. Surgery for arthrogryposis can include procedures to: Shorten, lengthen or change the position of a bone to improve how joints line up. Release a joint capsule if it is restricting movement. Release or lengthen tendons or muscles. Transfer tendons or muscles to help improve function Correct clubfoot, hip dysplasia or scoliosis related to arthrogryposis. If your child’s arthrogryposis includes severe nervous system involvement, the specialists in our Neuromuscular Clinic can provide the necessary care for the best outcome. Currently, Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita may not be preventable. If there is a family history of the condition, then genetic counseling will help assess risks, before planning for a child Active research is currently being performed to explore the possibilities for treatment and prevention of inherited and acquired genetic disorders Regular medical screening at periodic intervals with tests and physical examinations are recommended.

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By Mark Brown, Wired UK A team of geologists from Britain have pinpointed the exact quarry that Stonehenge’s innermost circle of rocks came from. It’s the first time that a precise source has been found for any of the stones at the prehistoric monument. [partner id=”wireduk” align=”right”]Robert Ixer of the University of Leicester and Richard Bevins of the National Museum of Wales painstakingly identified samples from various rock outcrops in Pembrokeshire, Wales. For nine months the pair used petrography — the study of mineral content and textural relationships within rocks — to find the origins of Stonehenge‘s rhyolite debitage stones. These spotted dolerites or bluestones form the inner circle and inner horseshoe of the site. They found the culprit on a 65-metre-long outcropping called Craig Rhos-y-Felin, near Pont Saeson in north Pembrokeshire. It lies approximately 160 miles from the Stonehenge site. The question remains though, as to how neolithic people transported huge chunks of rock from Wales to Wiltshire, some 5,000 years ago. Some historians reckon that these stone age builders quarried the stones in Pembrokeshire and brought them over to England, while others argue that giant glacial shifts moved the stones, hundreds of thousands of years earlier. Ixer and Bevins hope that by finding the exact source for some of the monument’s stones, they will be able to discover new clues as to when and how they made their 160 mile journey. The more well-known and iconic stones, the huge sarsens, were incorporated into the monument several centuries later. They came from somewhere in the Marlborough Downs, 20 miles north of Stonehenge. Source: Wired.co. ukGo Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.

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Kurs im Seminarraum This course is organized in collaboration with EMPA. The FSRM discounts don't apply to this course. The course language is English. Our daily living is governed by a comprehensive, omnipresent and ubiquitous information network with a remarkably small, continuously shrinking “grid size”. Implanted and portable biomedical devices, sensor-assisted navigation, portable multimedia, distributed sensor networks, smart label technologies, mobile communication or portable IT systems are the forerunners of this revolutionary trend that is gaining importance in almost every living and working environment. Together with that, the serious question arises, how a widely distributed network of embedded systems should be supplied with energy. Micro Energy Harvesting, i. e. the conversion of ambient energy into the supply energy required for an embedded system, is a promising perspective, as it would make the nodes truly energy-autonomous, without the need of power grids or batteries. However, a simple replacement of the battery or the supply cord by a local “micro power plant” will not solve the task. In contrary, micro energy harvesting relies on a thorough design of the whole embedded system. Micro energy converters have to be provided with a size and function compatible to the respective application site. The varying availability of ambient energy will require an efficient intermediate storage to bridge phases of low supply, as the back-up power grid is not available. An efficient energy management has to transfer the electrical energy between all subsystems in an optimal way. Finally, the energy consumption of the system node itself has to be minimized to a high extent by appropriate design and system control measures. These issues define an extremely widespread field of research and development that is not easily covered in a one-day course. Therefore, this course will give, on one hand, an overview of the actual state of the art in microgenerators with some detail remarks on generator design, a thorough description of relevant energy storage concepts and an overview on electronic power management. Finally, practical examples of energy-autonomous embedded systems will be discussed in various fields of applications, e. g. in building infrastructure or automotive applications. This course is designed for the practicing scientist or engineer, but also for a technical marketing person, to provide an overview on the wide field of energy harvesting and also a selected in-deep knowledge on various areas of this widespread discipline, e. g. the design of microgenerators, of power management, and some insight into application scenarios. 09:00 – 17:00 » Kurs in meinen Kalender eintragen Unverbindlich und mit einer Erinnerung 14 Tage vor dem Kurs. » Interessiert, aber Termin passt nicht? Kontaktieren Sie uns ! Ab 5 Interessenten kontaktieren wir Sie, um einen Termin zu finden, der Ihnen zusagt. Preis early bird : 690. 00 Normalpreis : 690. 00 The course provided a great description of selected technologies. Wirklich super Veranstaltung! Vielen Dank Herr Woias Very good experience. Serious and entertaining tutor, great!

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Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia. Related to Aleutian: Aleutian disease (or Unangan), the language of the Aleuts, spoken on the Aleutian Islands (USA, Aleut population about 5,000 in 1961) and the Komandorskie Islands (USSR, population about 400 in 1959). It belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages and consists of three dialects: Unalaskan (from Unalaska Island), Atican, and Attuan. The last two are spoken by the Aleuts of the Komandorskie Islands. The phonemic structure includes three vowels and 17 (20) consonants. The morphological word structure is suffixal and agglutinative. Through contacts between the Aleuts of Mednyi Island (USSR) and the Russians, the Aleutian language has borrowed the Russian conjugation system, while retaining the lexical basis of Aleutian verbs. This is a rare case of linguistic interference. REFERENCESVeniaminov, I. Opyt grammatiki aleutsko-lis’evskogo iazyka. St. Petersburg, 1846. Iokhel’son, V. I. “Unanganskii (aleutskii) iazyk. ” In lazyki i pis’mennost’ narodov Severa, part 3. Moscow-Leningrad, 1934. Menovshchikov, G. A. “Aleutskii iazyk. ” In lazyki narodov SSSR, vol. 5. Moscow-Leningrad, 1968. G. A. MENOVSHCHIKOV

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We often don’t realize how much we depend on the internet until it’s not working. There are a few common reasons a computer may be unable to stay connected to the internet. If you have other devices that connect to the internet, you can use those to help determine whether the problem is with the computer or something else. If all your devices experience connectivity issues at the same time, the issue could lay with the cable or DSL modem, network router or ISP. If only one computer is having issues, there could be a problem with the hardware. Sometimes, power-cycling can correct issues related to a cable modem failing to maintain a connection. First, power off your computer. Then turn off the modem by disconnecting the power cord from the back. Leave it unplugged for at least 10 seconds before plugging it back in. Give the modem a few minutes to run through its self-checks and reconnect to the internet. When the internet connectivity light on the front of the modem comes on, you can plug in the router and turn your computer back on. If you’re still having problems connecting to the internet, you may want to try resetting your router. Like power-cycling the modem, turn off your computer and unplug your router. Wait at least 10 seconds before plugging it back in. Wait for the indicator lights on the front of the router to stop blinking and then turn on your computer. Internet Service Provider If your computer still won’t stay connected to the internet, contact your internet service provider. They can tell you about any outages that may affect you and perform system checks to ensure there’s not any issues on their end. Still can’t get online? Think it might be hardware related? Give us a call at 308. 534. 1500

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Treatment of mild heart failure usually starts with an ACE inhibitor, the most common vasodilator drug for heart failure patients. Studies have shown that ACE inhibitors are beneficial for treating heart failure symptoms and prolonging the life of patients with chronic heart failure. They also help increase the excretion of sodium and water, helping to reduce fluid overload. One of the next steps is often the use of a type of negative inotropic drug called a beta-blocker. Studies have shown that beta-blockers can benefit heart failure patients by improving their symptoms and heart function, and, in some cases, the chance of survival. In more severe heart failure, a diuretic is added. Even if diuretics alone controls a patient's symptoms, they should be used in combination with an ACE inhibitor and often a beta-blocker. A thiazide diuretic may be sufficient -- if not, a loop diuretic is used. Diuretic drugs are used in most heart failure patients because heart failure leads to retention of sodium and water by the kidneys, which can lead to fluid overload. Congestion in the lungs can interfere with their ability to exchange oxygen from the air and can be life-threatening. Doctors prescribe diuretic drugs for all patients with heart failure who have evidence of fluid overload, such as lung congestion, raised jugular venous pressure or peripheral edema, and most heart failure patients are eventually placed on a diuretic drug. Doctors usually start patients on a low dose of a diuretic and increase the dose until the effective range is reached. When the diuretic is working effectively, the patient will lose weight because of fluid loss. If a patient doesn't respond even to high doses of a diuretic, a doctor will often prescribe intravenous administration or more than one diuretic. Sometimes diuretics work better in combination. Patients are usually maintained on a diuretic, once it is working, to prevent episodes of fluid overload. Periodic adjustments may be needed in the dose, and care must be taken to prevent side effects like: - Imbalances in electrolytes (small molecules in the fluids in our bodies, like sodium) - Inappropriate activation of some hormonal systems - Low blood pressure - Increase in level of serum creatinine (a chemical in the blood that's used to measure kidney function) - Symptoms of kidney failure - Interactions with other drugs If heart failure is so severe that a combination of an ACE inhibitor and a diuretic fails to relieve symptoms, digoxin, the most commonly prescribed positive inotropic drug, may be added. Studies have shown that digoxin can reduce the symptoms of patients who are already receiving diuretics and ACE inhibitors. The prolonged use of other positive inotropic drugs has been shown to increase the risk of death in some heart failure patients -- so they should only be used for acute or end-stage heart failure. For more information about heart failure treatments and medications, take a look at the links on the next page.

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Two fathers in the state of Florida are spending this Father's Day feeling the wrath of the state's now infamous "Stand Your Ground Law." One father, Tracy Martin, the father of Trayvon Martin of Miami, is grappling with having his son killed on a visit to the Central Florida town of Sanford. Another father, Derrick Spillman, the father of former Florida International University (FIU) running back Kendall Berry from the small Central Florida town of Haines City is still trying to cope with the killing of his son on FIU's Miami campus in March of 2010 (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5029605). Both of the perpetuators of these killings, in Berry's case another young black male and in Martin's case a non-black male, are using the "Stand Your Ground Law" as a defense for their actions. Both young men were killed during apparent fights. This begs several questions that the state and the nation have to wrestle with. Has the state of Florida granted an individual engaged in an altercation an automatic license to kill? Can a person who may find themselves on the losing end of a fight lawfully use lethal force to take the life of another? How much does the fact that the victim is a young black male weigh on the application of the law? What does the fact that it took weeks of nationwide protests just for an arrest to happen in Martin's case and an intense letter writing campaign that spanned months for Berry's killing to warrant a trial say about the value of the life of the young black male? The devaluation and dehumanization of people based on their darker shade of melanin has been maintained and entrenched throughout American history. The very constitution that set the legal standard for the country once deemed black people as being three-fifths of a human being. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee he was there supporting the rights of sanitation workers to be recognized as full human beings and as equal citizens. Their slogan as reflected by the signs that the protesters carried was simply "I am a Man." Today, both Tracy Martin and Derrick Spillman are pushing for the repeal of Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law." The jolting of this legislation into the national spotlight has highlighted both its uneven application in the case of Marissa Alexander and its usage as a justification for using a fight as an excuse to take the life of another. The Trayvon Martin case has led many to think critically about the fine line between valid self-defense and using an extreme amount of excessive force in a fight. Unfortunately, neither the conviction of the killers of Trayvon Martin and Kendall Berry nor the repealing of the state's "Stand Your Ground Law" will bring back either of the young men. What it will do, however, is make a significant statement in the interest of justice and the valuation of the lives of all people regardless of their race, gender, religion, or legal status. Follow Marcus Bright on Twitter: www. twitter. com/marcusabright

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Because we care. This is why it touches our heart to see our students upset or crestfallen. This is why when they bomb a math test or bury their head in their arms over another behavior regression, we seek to soften the blow. We engage them to talk it out, to see the silver lining, to put it in their rear-view mirror. We tell them that it’s going to be okay, that we all make mistakes, and that it wasn’t such a big deal after all. We’ve become so conditioned to easing the burden that it has become part and parcel to the job. It’s expected, which is why you see teachers all over campus, in and out of the classroom, huddled with students, lifting chins, assuaging guilt, and making it all better. We tell our students what they should think and how they should feel. We downplay their downfalls. We frame in the most positive light. But in doing so, critical life lessons are lost. The truth is, our students are far better off when allowed to experience their mistakes, failures, and defeats. They’re better off when left to stew, to ponder where they went wrong, and to gain strength from their disappointment. You see, when we ease their burden, when we redefine for them their failure to prepare for the test, to learn the material, to follow the rules, to listen to the instructions, to treat others with respect . . . lessons are never learned. And the same mistakes are repeated over and over again. We do our students a disservice by interfering with the normal, human, and energy-producing powers of regret. We snatch away their creativity. We weaken their determination. We undermine their ability to overcome obstacles. We owe it to our students not to minimize failure, but to allow them to feel it. For these feelings, these churning, sinking, aching feelings of disappointment are the impetus they need to learn from their mistakes. They are what cause them to say, “No more, never again! ” To help your students grow in character, maturity, and independence, to help them improve their behavior, motivate their work habits, and encourage healthy self-reflection, you have to allow them to experience failure. You have to expose them to the truth of where they are, both behaviorally and academically, in order for them to climb their way out. A meaningless ‘C’ when they deserve an ‘F’ is not only dishonest, but it’s harmful. And so is telling them how well they’re doing when in fact they’re not doing well at all. This doesn’t mean you’ll withhold praise or swallow your desire to encourage. It only means that you’ll offer your words artfully, based on the truth, and after your students are granted the dignity to know and experience when they have failed. Now is the time, when they’re young and impressionable, to learn the lessons that will save them from great and future hardship. Now is the time to fail spectacularly, to learn from their mistakes, and to grow strong and resilient. Now is the time, when the stakes are low, to build the fortitude needed to overcome that closed door, that letter of rejection, that loss of job. For every time you soften the blow or mask the truth, you make their future murkier and more difficult. Amid the backdrop of a celebrity culture run amok, amid the bombardment of both a warped view of success and an undersell of what it takes to succeed, they need you now more than ever. They need the truth now more than ever. They need kind and faithful accountability now more than ever. They need your gentle touch, your honest words, and your willingness to allow for private self-reflection. They need to experience failure now, in the safety of your loving guidance, so that it doesn’t crush them in the future. So that instead, they’ll rise to their own two feet, face the inevitable disappointments to come with grace and determination, and blossom into compassionate, contributing citizens of the world. If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

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- PURCHASED - - CLASSROOM DETAILS - I am a fourth grade teacher at an elementary school and I teach all subjects. Our school has a predominately minority student population. We are also an urban, low socio-economic, title one school with limited funding. I would like to use the BAM experience to empower my culturally diverse group of students. The goal is for students to learn about the cultural commonalities that exist among themselves as well as celebrate their similarities and differences. With the "Legend Has It: School-Time Performance at BAM, I could really address Language, Reading, Writing Common Core Standards in a more meaningful way. I want to encourage students to reenact and/or rewrite legends by incorporating what they've learned from our Ready Gen curriculum and each performance. I am encouraged that these experiences will improve students writing and the understanding of curriculum goals, as well as common core standards. As much as explicit instruction and close reading strategies are beneficial to student achievement, I feel positive that these exciting experiences will foster a deeper love for learning.

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Clinicians may be able to identify patients at the highest risk of developing type 1 diabetes with a simple saliva test. Thyroid disorders present with overt symptoms or insidiously with few signs of disease. Here’s how pediatricians can identify and effectively treat children with thyroid disease or refer patients for further evaluation. Poorer educational outcomes may need to be added to the list of the potential outcomes for children who have type 1 diabetes. Quality and quantity go hand-in-hand when it comes to surgical outcomes, according to a new report highlighting positive outcomes at high-volume thyroid surgery centers. Contemporary Pediatrics sits down exclusively with Philippe F. Backeljauw, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist to discuss the one key condition for which he believes community pediatricians should be especially aware—Turner syndrome. Children who are overweight or obese are potentially at risk for developing diabetes, but there’s more to identifying prediabetes than just obesity. With planning, transitioning teenagers from pediatric care to adult care for their diabetes doesn’t have to be stressful for either patient or provider.

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Everybody has the choice to spend their money as they wish. The freedom to choose what to buy is an important measure not just of personal growth, but also well-being in modern society. I know that I certainly relish this freedom. Economists are trained to think about this in terms of maximising your utility subject to a budget constraint. But what if our purchasing decisions also have an effect on other people? Let’s think about the decision to buy a vehicle. Vehicles are examples of purchases that have an effect on not just our own well-being, but potentially on that of others, especially if the vehicles are polluting. This is especially true of bustling urban areas in low and middle-income countries, where air pollution is not just a nuisance, it actually poses serious health risks. At the Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE), we have been studying the barriers to the adoption of fuel-efficient and electric motorcycles in Kathmandu, Nepal since 2019, in a project funded by the ETH for Development (ETH4D) initiative. Along with our research partners at the Tribhuvan University, , we have been studying some of the reasons for potential buyers in Kathmandu, among the most polluted cities in the world, to undervalue fuel economy when buying a new motorcycle. Not only are fuel-efficient vehicles more environmentally-friendly and thus beneficial to society, but they are also cheaper to operate over their life, which means there are also possible private gains. Why, then, doesn’t everyone invest in fuel-efficiency? Well of course, one simple explanation is that other vehicle attributes (such as power, performance, or cost) may trump fuel economy in the minds of buyers. After all, it is a person’s choice which type of vehicle they want to buy. Another explanation is a person’s expected usage. Not everyone needs to drive several kilometers every day anyway, and so they may not care about fuel economy. Everybody assesses the features of a vehicle differently. I deeply respect the notion of individual choice, and acknowledge that the vehicle one buys is the culmination of tastes over several dimensions. However, in our research, we discovered several other contributing factors that appear to shroud the importance of fuel economy. In an ongoing study, we found that myopic individuals, for example, were less likely to perceive the future savings from investing in fuel-efficiency, and bought less fuel-efficient motorcycles. In another study, we found that those individuals who were made aware of the environmental or health benefits of driving electric motorcycles were more likely to express an interest in buying them. Our survey data suggested that less than 50% of respondents were even able to use information on fuel economy in a math problem to calculate annual fuel costs. Thus, the decision to buy a vehicle is not just the outcome of preferences over observable attributes, but is also shaped by intrinsic behavioural traits such as time-inconsistency, lack of awareness, as well as cognitive limitations that may prevent individuals from correctly valuing complicated attributes, such as fuel economy. As our research has found, several hurdles often prevent individuals from understanding fuel economy and its implications, both private, environmental and health-related. These shortcomings need to be addressed by policy-makers. Information and knowledge galvanize consumers to make decisions that are not misguided; if after knowing about the implications of fuel economy choices, consumers still choose to buy fuel-inefficient vehicles, that is their choice. But all consumers need to be mindful of these implications. While governments cannot justify dictating what vehicles we should buy on environmental grounds (although this has been done in the past with other technologies, such as the phase-out of incandescent bulbs in several countries), they should ensure that consumers are on a level playing-field with respect to their understanding of energy consumption. This could be achieved, for instance, by formulating energy labelling schemes and using targeted information campaigns. Informed, educated consumers are likely to make choices that are better for themselves, as well as for society. About the author Suchita Srinivasan is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Energy Policy and Economics at ETH Zürich. Her research focuses on issues related to environmental and energy economics, with a focus on developing countries. She is also interested in understanding why it is difficult for us to transform to a carbon-neutral world, from a behavioral perspective.

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As the people of the Kurdistan Region prepare to head to the polls on September 25, 2017, in a historical referendum on Kurdistan's independence, we compare the economies of Iraq with other nations and ask, “What economic structure would a sovereign Kurdistan take? "Read More This is not a political opinion, but an economic point of view. Some people in the Kurdistan Region oppose the proposed referendum for independence just because it's adopted by a certain party, while others argue that this isn't the right time for a serious step like that as the Region is suffering from severe economic crisis. Read More Kaufmann et al (1999) defined "governance as the traditions and institutions that determine how authority is exercised in a country. " Based on available literature including thoughts of neo-institutional scholars including, Douglass North and MancurOlsan, a positive relationship between the quality of institutions, governance structures, and economic growth is found. Read More In recent steps in Kurdistan Region (KR) which is called the step before being a country. It is difficult to have a definite definition for Kurdistan Region Government (KRG); is it governance or management? . The recent government is treating (persons) in the proper way and it has a path dependency or/and indulgence or/and as a defector tolerance to managing. However, governance should be set the right procedures for ensuring those issues are done in a proper way and there should be a strong strategy that saves the sovereignty of the country. So, how do we know planning or/and making policies? Is it an expert professional process that does some planning or/and decision making? Or is it an organized process in the wide cycle of knowledge and implementation? Some believe, the planning or/and making policies are an expert and scientific job and it is professional process, and society does not relate to that. In contrast, there are beliefs that the plan is continuity of politic, politic decision, social need and interesting of individual, society, and the society movement power, therefore the representative of these institutions have to participate in it. It means the policy is the implementation of the acceptable goals in terms of politics, society and economics, not it just adjusted in the terms of expert and technical. So, it shows the invisible issue and design a plan by all invisible issues that have impact on the economic situation and its development. Currently in KR there is no long-term industrial policy (as much as say for 20-25 year plans). In addition to this, the flow of industrial investment resources is subject to major uncertainty and highly irregular. It should be noted that in 2008-2009 such policy and strategy measures are proposed, but no statistics in whatever form were available, which make it rather difficult, and not impossible to give some recommendations. As the strategic challenges, facing the industry sector includes: Before delving into the elements of the MI‘s and its growth in Kurdistan region/ Iraq, it would be advisable to define KR and its geographical location, in the closest context relevant. The KR is the southern part of the greater Kurdistan which is a roughly defined geo-cultural region where the Kurds form a prominent majority population, which was built about 6,000 years ago. In majority it is the mountainous area with natural borders, located between the width degrees of 34. 15° and 37. 22° with longitude degrees of 40. 20° and 46. 20°. Kurds concentrated on priority in northern and north-eastern Iraq: Erbil, Sulaymaniy, Dahuk, Kirkuk, and Sinjar and Akre of Nineveh province. As well as in the areas of (Khanaqin and Mandali) of Diyala province, and areas of (Badra and Jassan) of Wasit province (Lorestan Minor), they also spread in the Lores in the cities of Amara and Kut. But the KRs‘ border (current administrative), bordered to Turkey from the north, in the east with Iran, from the North West with Syria, and from the south and west with of administrative Iraqi federal provinces (Mosul and Kirkuk, Tikrit and Diyala). In an administrative point of view, the KR was under the Iraqi mandate throughout the best part of 19th century, but it is separated as a political region in 1992. From the first article of the draft constitution of KR/ Iraq came: ((Kurdistan Region is regions of Federal Republic of Iraq, and its political system is a parliamentary republic democratically pluralistic)), and Erbil city is the capital of KR. With regard to the administrative units which formed the region, it was subject to many changes and amendments, as well as the border and area of these units at from time to time on the basis of the policies pursued by various central governments towards the KR. Kurdistan is a pluralistic society, with a sharp diverse economic position backed up by religious diversity (Moslem, predominantly Sunni Muslim also some Shia, Sufi, Yazidism, Christianity, Judaism, Yarsan,. . etc), and different languages and dialects. However, following racial riots in 1991 after the Kurdish revolution in Kurdistan, which the Kurdish people controlled the north of Iraq that called Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan authorities formulated social-economic policies based on affirmative action and exceptional sensitivity to income distribution. As a result of the existence of the KR in a geographical area that has an international contact with Iran, Turkey and Syria, and internal contact with Iraqi federal provinces, and the consequences of its trade-economic relations, social-cultural, historical and political by virtue of the elements of nature and neighbourhood. All pillar elements that contribute in enabling KR to establish good business and political relations at the level of political parties or KRG with its neighbouring countries taking into account its common interests. Some of these relationships go back to earlier decades when repression and persecution practiced by the Iraqi governments over the past decades, and which led to the exodus of millions the Kurdish people of KR to Iran and Turkey in 1974 and also 1991. By virtue of the political situation experienced in Iraq and also in Kurdistan and the formation of regional government to manage Kurdistan and contact with its neighbouring countries, KR has been focusing on building economic relations with the need of the local market to products, accessories and materials need from these countries to perpetuate the needs of the KRs‘ citizens of those substances in the economy. Then, the KRG facilitated the issues of building the commercial bonds to create a common ground of understanding with the neighbouring countries, yet, KRG‘s flexibility towards the issues of relations between them and their neighbours, those countries did not help too much to establish relations in an official political nature. This lack of official and political relationship stems from fears that Kurds in these countries may incline to KRs‘ experience which has achieved much tangible success on the economic, urban and commercial scales. What makes the geographic location of KR more important and highly strategic is the rapid development of the Eastern Asian economies and the deterioration of security in Iraq and Syria (Shia controlled), and the on-going religious tension and divisiveness in the Gulf states (majority Sony controlled), especially that which has impacts of the Iranian intervention (Shia led) on the region, and also increasing the risk and threat of Iran on Israel, and Turkey as a powerful Sunni in the Islamic monde. The industrial researches are suffered from taking an important place in each country, because it is being the cornerstone of economic-social evolution and development. The degree of development of this sector is one of the main criteria and indicators for the development of countries and/or its under-development. In particular the potential of its development and configured is the highest among the other sectors, also the sector qualified to attract and accommodate modern technology, which leads to raise the level of productivity and thereby it increases its contribution in the economic growth of the country. The MI‘s sector as a leader sector is a wider and branched sector, it includes those industries that require the introduction of manufacturing operations by mechanical, chemical, natural and different structural means to change its nature, shape and makes it suitable for new uses, and contributes directly in the construction of the industrial base that could be relied on in future. It plays an important role in advancing in the development and accelerates in the process of structural change of the production and the economies of these countries. In another word, the industry is manufacturing of raw material by new approach on its natural situation which was not in a position to benefit them only to a limited extent to the new image adjusted to its needs. It is known that the industry requires the availability of a range of main constituent in KR which wants to enter the industrial activity and the most important constituent that could be referred to is the raw materials, dynamics power, labour, capital, transportation and market. . etc. The industrial development (ID) and its commercial movement in KR could be divided into differential periods: First phase: Before 1991; KR had suffered from multiple economic problems aggravated from wars and destruction in long previous years. Second phase: The economic situation after the Kurdish revolution in 1991 and it continued until the fall down of Baath regime in 2003. The development period pre-2003 is characterized by a lack of financial resources. The KR had suffered from two blockades, firstly it was part of its geographical location as a part of the State of Iraq, and the second blockade imposed on local management by the central government in Baghdad. The economic situation arrived that the three provinces of Erbil, Sulaimany and Dohuk suffered from a major crisis in the shortage or lack of required service such as electricity, safe drinking water, poor health services and lack of basic materials to the needs of citizens in their daily lives. One of most the important events in this stage when the central government tried after abolishing the Iraqi Swiss Dinar and issuing a new currency in attempt to put the pressure on the young Kurdish management that it got recently (from the tops of mountains and stripped them uniforms to try a new experience in civilian rule) in an attempt by the Iraqi State to withdraw the Iraqi Swiss Dinar, which was available in KR in very large scale due to Kurds who have controlled the most commercial outlets between Iraq and the outside world being represented by Iran, Turkey and Syria. This alarmed the political leadership in Baghdad and lost control on commercial imports of Iraq, and the Kurdish side's response declared approving the cancelled currency as the official currency to deal with trading in their influential areas. The acceptance of suppliers and businessman for dealing with trading by cancelling currency which was more surprising and spontaneous process linked the cancelled currency to the USD. In the period from 1992-2003 the KRG revenue was limited to what was collected from taxes and customs duties on imports from outside of the region. These revenues were not exceeding to 1. 5 billion USD annually at best. Third phase: It was the period after the fall down of Baath regime in 2003; In contrast to before 2003, the economy has rapidly been modernized by the inflow of oil revenues and the promotion of private sector (PS), capital investment and FDI development. Government market intervention is minimal and the economy has become open and liberal, and the PS has operated effectively. The inflation and wages increased and the corruption expansion have deteriorated the competitiveness and development of local IP. After the fall down of the former regime in 2003, the KR began to receive its share of oil revenues from the central government, this share would amount to 17% of total Iraqi revenue. The interest of the KR in the defoliation of the former regime is not limited to oil revenues on their importance, but also it is a threat to other areas of the economy. Before, the Baath regime had applied the principle of state control over the wholesale of imported materials. It has limited import a large number of imported materials in the hands of the Iraqi state in Baghdad. This action led to the on-going abstraction of KR of the important sources for accumulation of capital and operating, thereby the businessmen and owners of capital in the KR has been deprived of this important source for achieving the profit. The removal of central control over the wholesale trade of imported materials led to stop the financial leaks and to strengthen the inflationary of expenditure within the KR and this has supported the economic activity and increased the recovery of the economy and employment within the KR. Methodologies of the economic experience in KR have been recognised in the face of the political-social-economic crisis that Iraq swept after 2003 on methodologies for many other DCs. In the time, Iraq suffered from multi crisis and most Arab countries left their economies in the nets of IMF and could move with the objectives of globalisation economic. KR adopted the method of self-solutions to overcome the crisis especially political crisis, and has made progressed of tangible results in development construction, thereby, has succeeded in attracting a wide range flows of investment companies, as it has proved directory applied in this experiment that developing nations could plan its path in economic advancement and adoption of the established rules on solid foundations before the storms of crisis, and it is possible to overcome these crisis by inflationary investment approach based on the rationality and seriousness. So, KR has to open its economy to international reality in the effective movement based on give and take interests or mutual interests, which the Kurdish economy has seen tangible and remarkable developments after. Therefore, KR showed the process of economic openness to the world. The suffering of KR from the economic problems exacerbated under conditions of war and the suffering of devastation during the long past years led to the pursuit of seriousness and persistence to build the region‘s infrastructure for the ED process. It is clear that the process of ED in the light of economic openness needs to necessity of the presence of the appropriate investment climate, which leads to the issuance of an investment law that regulates and facilitates the work of investment in general and foreign private for the wide and quick stepping in achieving the goals of the ED in the KR. After 2003 albeit the volume of production has increased but due to inelastic demands the demand curve has decreased on local products in contrast to the increase of the demand of foreign goods. KR has a relatively suitable investment climate in terms of providing stable security and the abundance of labour and fertile land for agricultural and mineral water, in addition to the work program of the amalgamation of government with providing the opportunities for domestic and foreign investment in accordance with legal and constitutional safeguards, as well as the opening of international airport in Erbil, Sulaimany and a lot of international exhibitions where the Kurdish specialists take the initiative approve of a new investment law through that makes clear the concept of foreign investment and openness of the investment fields and the formation of (the Investment Board in KR), where it has the power to do all legal necessary actions for the implementation of the Investment Law No.4 for the year 2006. The most important events in KR after fall down of Baath regime in 2003 are: First: The abolition of the double economic blockade on KR. Second: It got a quantum leap in revenue in KRG, which provided an opportunity to allocate a larger sum to the process of ED. Third: The opening of markets and the abolition of restricting laws for businessman and the movement of capital, it has also been achieving stability in the exchange rate of the national currency and returned some banks to engage in their activities. Fourth: It gives an importance to the activities of the PS, and government of the region has developed mechanisms to facilitate the activities of the PS, and facilitates the participation of the PS in all aspects of economic processes. Fifth: The issuing of the Investment Law No. 4 of 2006 to encourage the PS. Sixth: Kurdish oil export by the Kurds to global markets in 1, June 2009, and the development of border crossings and which make them international, and the development of economic relations with neighbouring countries, especially with Turkey, has been major economic events during the years after 2009. Seventh: The direct role of government to manage the economy, to create a favourable climate to economic activity, and focuses of supporting investment by building the economic-social infrastructure and the necessary institutions services for the process of economic growth. In addition to the high production costs with the low level of quality in local industries, lead to consumer‘s reluctance and attract to foreign goods in more quality and less price. So, due to Kurdish consumer oriented of the imported goods, thereby the domestic demand year after year the rate of domestic production comes to decrease relatively to the trade sector which becomes active (just in one sector which is importing sector and that makes imbalance of trading in KR). In fact comparing the KR situation with other countries is difficult due to complex economic-social and political situation, but it is not unique. it started according to it to interpret, analyse and the studies of industrial economic reality in the KR note that the KR economic is completely different with disaster staring in the Iraq's economy. As it could be seen that even KR is just 17% of Iraqi budget and destruction of KR in sector before 2003, while KR is developed several times more than Iraq in terms of investment in general (infrastructure, as the sector of education, building, contracting, tourism, agriculture, industrial, electricity and water in terms of the availability, transport, communications and security). As it is seen in recent years due to geographic location of KR, the rapid political changing in Middle East has positive impact on the economics of KR. The change and development have been seen in KR, from plans to strategy studies, encouraging the local and foreign investments, and other efforts for ED where it is a new phenomenon for KR. Being in its first steps, the government is obliged to take caution and to control the continuity and completion of the projects. The ED thoughts provide a minimum of these infrastructures and put them with moderate price in disposal of investors. Therefore, those productive investments could directly produce competitive costs. It falls within the need to provide the infrastructure competencies, technical elements, private banks, stock markets and securities. It is important that prices of factors of production such as electricity, water, communications, and land rents are as low as possible to encourage investors and provides investment costs. However, there are a set of obstacles for which constraint the development process of this sector. Some of these obstacles reasons return to KRG procedures‘, like: Reference: Dr. Razzaq Othman Mustafa, Developing Economy, Evaluation of Manufacturing Industrial and a model for industrial development for a case of Kurdistan Regon-Iraq, PhD Thesis, EHESS, Paris-France, 2014. PP 1-11.

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THE SQUARE OF A BINOMIAL Perfect square trinomials LET US BEGIN by learning about the square numbers. They are the numbers 1· 1 2· 2 3· 3 and so on. The following are the first ten square numbers -- and their roots. 1 is the square of 1. 4 is the square of 2. 9 is the square of 3. And so on. The square root of 1 is 1. The square root of 4 is 2. The square root of 9 is 3. And so on. In a multiplication table, the square numbers lie along the diagonal. The square of a binomial (a + b)2 The square of a binomial comes up so often that the student should be able to write the final product immediately. It will turn out to be a very specific trinomial. To see that, let us square (a + b): (a + b)2 = (a + b)(a + b) = a2 + 2ab + b2. For, the outers plus the inners will be ab + ba = 2ab. The order of factors does not matter. (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2 The square of any binomial produces the following three terms: 1. The square of the first term of the binomial: a2 2. Twice the product of the two terms: 2ab 3. The square of the second term: b2 The square of every binomial has that form: a2 + 2ab + b2. To recognize that is to know an essential product in the "multiplication table" of algebra. (See Lesson 8 of Arithmetic: How to square a number mentally, particularly the square of 24, which is the "binomial" 20 + 4. ) Example 1. Square the binomial (x + 6). Solution. (x + 6)2 = x2 + 12x + 36 x2 is the square of x. 12x is twice the product of x with 6. (x· 6 = 6x. Twice that is 12x. ) 36 is the square of 6. x2 + 12x + 36 is called a perfect square trinomial -- which is the square of a binomial. Example 2. Square the binomial (3x − 4). Solution. (3x − 4)2 = 9x2 − 24x + 16 9x2 is the square of 3x. −24x is twice the product of 3x· −4. (3x· −4 = −12x. Twice that is −24x. ) 16 is the square of −4. Note: If the binomial has a minus sign, then the minus sign appears only in the middle term of the trinomial. Therefore, using the double sign ± ("plus or minus"), we can state the rule as follows: (a ± b)2 = a2 ± 2ab + b2 This means: If the binomial is a + b, then the middle term will be +2ab; but if the binomial is a − b, then the middle term will be −2ab The square of +b or −b, of course, is always positive. It is always +b2. Example 3. (5x3 − 1)2 = 25x6 − 10x3 + 1 25x6 is the square of 5x3. (Lesson 13: Exponents.) −10x3 is twice the product of 5x3 and −1. (5x3 times −1 = −5x3. Twice that is −10x3. ) 1 is the square of −1. The student should be clear that (a + b)2 is not a2 + b2, any more than (a + b)3 is equal to a3 + b3. An exponent may not be "distributed" over a sum. Example 4. Is this a perfect square trinomial: x2 + 14x + 49 ? Answer. Yes. It is the square of (x + 7). x2 is the square of x. 49 is the square of 7. And 14x is twice the product of x· 7. In other words, x2 + 14x + 49 could be factored as x2 + 14x + 49 = (x + 7)2 Note: If the coefficient of x had been any number but 14, this would not have been a perfect square trinomial. Example 5 Is this a perfect square trinomial: x2 + 50x + 100 ? Answer. No, it is not. Although x2 is the square of x, and 100 is the square of 10, 50x is not twice the product of x· 10. (Twice their product is 20x. ) Example 6 Is this a perfect square trinomial: x8 − 16x4 + 64 ? Answer. Yes. It is the perfect square of x4 − 8. Problem 1. Which numbers are the square numbers? To see the answer, pass your mouse over the colored area. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, etc. They are the numbers 12, 22, 32, and so on. a) State in words the rule for squaring a binomial. The square of the first term. b) Write only the trinomial product: (x + 8)2 = x2 + 16x + 64 c) Write only the trinomial product: (r + s)2 = r2 + 2rs + s2 Problem 3. Write only the trinomial product. Problem 4. Write only the trinomial product. Problem 5. Factor: p2 + 2pq + q2. p2 + 2pq + q2 = (p + q)2 Problem 6. Factor as a perfect square trinomial -- if possible. Problem 7. Factor as a perfect square trinomial, if possible. a) 25x2 + 30x + 9 = (5x + 3)2 b) 4x2 − 28x + 49 = (2x − 7)2 c) 25x2 − 10x + 4 Not possible. d) 25x2 − 20x + 4 = (5x − 2)2 e) 1 − 16y + 64y2 = (1 − 8y )2 f) 16m2 − 40mn+ 25n2 = (4m − 5n)2 g) x4 + 2x2y2 + y4 = (x2 + y2)2 h) 4x6 − 10x3y4 + 25y8 Not possible. i) x12 + 8x6 + 16 = (x6 + 4)2 j) x2n + 8xn + 16 = (xn + 4)2 Here is a square whose side is a + b. It is composed of a square whose side is a, a square whose side is b, and two rectangles ab. (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2. Please make a donation to keep TheMathPage online. Copyright © 2016 Lawrence Spector Questions or comments?

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The prosthetic group (Hb), consisting of a porphyrin ring (protoporphyrin IX) with an iron group in the center. This is what binds the oxygen by forming an iron-oxygen bond. The binding is mediated by the protein microenvironment and the sixth ligand, which in Hb is a histidine The oxygen binding changes the electronic state of the Fe(II)-haem, which therefore changes colour from cherry red (oxygenated) to dark red (deoxygenated). Unfortunately small molecules such as CO, NO and H2S bind to haem better, which accounts for their toxic properties. PostScript: I reluctantly add a hardlink to the interesting alternative spelling of 'heme' used by the evil overlords of the world.

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The diversity of life on our Earth is part of the beauty and wonder of this planet. From the mighty seafaring Albatross that can live up to 50 years to the tiny mayfly which lives less than a day. Pay attention and you will see how wondrous each being is. Take the tiny humble ants, that form complex societies and share with humans the practice of taming and farming other species (aphids in the case of ants) and yet are so thoughtlessly crushed beneath our feet. Or the mighty Elephant that also has complex social interactions and mourn their dead. Each of these beings plays a role in the ecosystem it evolved to inhabit and adds to the richness of life on Earth. Consider the animals, birds, insects and plants that share your own home. Maybe you are woken by the melodious magpie with its strong family structure and phenomenal memory? A friend has a lame magpie who has been visiting her home for many years for a feed of oats. While she was living overseas for a year and her house sitters were not putting out food the magpie stopped visiting. One day after returning home she chanced across the magpie in her little town and the next day the magpie returned to her house looking expectantly for a feed. This magpie continues to visit and each year introduces a new generation of young magpies to the feeding station. Or perhaps a Brush-tailed Possum, one of the few marsupials to have adapted to urban life, raids your fruit trees, nests in your roof and wakes you in the night with its bone chilling screeches? It may be a pest to you, but while abundant in urban areas Brush-tailed Possums are in serious decline in rural areas due to loss of habitat and increase in predators. The intensification of our use and modification of this planet is having massive ramifications for the other species that also call this planet home. It can be surprising what creatures do share our lands of concrete and steel. It was delightfully strange to sight a Red-tailed Hawk in New York’s Central Park, but turns out that it it not uncommon for some raptors to roost in city high rises. Foxes, the plucky survivor that they are, will slip through the city parks and greenways and of course rats and mice do well on our food stashes. Sadly though these human dominated areas are not friendly to many plants and animals. Dip into the history books and you will discover a multitude of other beings that used to call our concrete deserts home, from the Bandicoot and Red Kangaroo of the Adelaide Plains to the iconic Tasmanian Tiger. And our impact is not limited to areas we live in. Albatrosses which spends so much of their life out at sea, roosting on remote islands far from human habitation have been found dead with stomachs full of our plastic waste. The sorry legacy of the throwaway generation that has created huge floating islands of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean1. Australia, an island continent separated from other land forms for so long, has a large number of animals and plants that are found nowhere else in the world. Since European arrival the continent has experienced the highest rate of species extinction in the world and its one major river system no longer regularly runs all the way to the ocean. So it it not just the digging up and burning all the fossilised remnants of past creatures that is destabilising the global climatic systems. Our destruction of other species and ecosystems is also contributing to the increasing instability in planetary cycles. We all know that trees produce oxygen so vital for our survival. They also take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. In this way forests are important in reducing the level of greenhouse gases that are contributing to global warming. This is only the beginning of why intact forest systems are so important in maintaining a more stable, human habitable planet. Science is beginning to understand that forests also influence hydrological cycles with research finding that deforested areas experience decreases in rainfall2. So instead of forests existing in areas of high rainfall, the existence of forests generate a higher rainfall. While loss of tree root structures makes the soil less able to absorb rainfall and more susceptible to erosion. In this way water tables are not replenished and in heavy rainfall the rich topsoil is washed into rivers (or into towns causing havoc to the human settlements). The excess sedimentation in rivers disturbs the ecology of the rivers and affects the ability of these rivers to sustain the fish and amphibians that live in it. In this way the destruction of one area has consequences that ripple outward across the planet. Grasslands, mangroves, seagrass meadows and all other intact ecosystems similarly help maintain stability and to absorb damage caused by disruptive weather events such as hurricanes, tidal waves and intense rainfalls. It is imperative then that our responses to the numerous eco-social challenges that humanity faces today takes into account how it affects other lifeforms. For both their sake and our own. When Ecuador in 2007 requested the world pay to keep oil reserves in the Yasuni rainforest in the ground and this part of the Amazon rainforest intact, the international community missed an opportunity to prevent further climatic destabilisation and to preserve one of the world’s most biodiverse areas. Perhaps it was too early and globally we were not ready to move towards a new value system which truly recognises the importance of healthy ecosystems and instead of paying lip service to the ecological crisis, actually takes meaningful action. From this view we will be able to value and recognise the right of the forests, grasslands, mangroves and other ecosystems to exist over the resources that could be extracted from them. All is not lost though. We can still move in this direction. Some starting steps could be to: - Prioritise and allocate funds to ecological restoration. Lets create more greenways instead of roads. - Allow indigenous communities to care for their lands instead of going and in destroying the ecosystems to make way for cash crops and extractive resource industries. - Create planning and design standards that require human structures and settlements to allow for both human habitation and the needs of other animals, birds, insects and plants that are native to that area. No more creation of concrete deserts and massive energy intensive buildings that are unsuited to the local climate. - Instead of the triple bottom line of economy, society and environment all human activity must be situated back where it must be, within the capacity of the Earth to support life. I could go on about all the ways in which healthy ecosystems benefit humans but it seems to come down to why you care and what drives you to act. Is it to maintain the current dominant form of human society with its energy intensive and increasingly sterilise settlements that are populated by only a few non-human species, many of which are the same from London to Hobart? Or do you want something more alive and wondrous and gloriously unique to the area of the planet you call home? If it is the former then the mainstream focus on climate change and the simple solution of renewables and carbon capture will likely suffice to maintain human life on this planet. If it is the latter then there is the greater challenge of learning to understand the land and what it means to share it with all the more than human world. This is not a challenge that can be solved by more technology and other quick fixes. Rather it is a slow and much more rewarding remembering of our place in this planet and how to truly look after it. We need to develop a society that has also has this awareness of the complexity and aliveness of the soil, the waterways and the entire planet of which we are but one part. Then just maybe future generations will once more be able to safely drink out of rivers, bask in the glory of a star filled sky and move confidently through landscapes enjoying the diverse abundance of this earth. References & more info - National Geographic. Great Pacific Garbage Patch. - Fred Pearce, 2018. Rivers in the Sky: How Deforestation Is Affecting Global Water Cycles. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. - Charles Eisenstein Climate: A New Story

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Acclaimed as the best book ever written on St. Thomas, this outstanding profile introduces one of Christianity's most important and influential thinkers. G. K. Chesterton chronicles the saint's life, focusing on the man and the events that shaped him, rather than on theology. In a concise, witty, and eminently readable narrative, he illustrates the relevance of St. Thomas' achievements to modern readers. Born into an aristocratic family, Thomas rejected a life of privilege to join a new order of preaching and teaching monks, the Dominicans. Chesterton compares Thomas' views to those of another famous thirteenth-century figure, St. Francis of Assisi. He also explores the influence of Aristotelian philosophy on Thomas' character, along with the effects of Parisian culture, society, and politics. The final chapter examines the impact of Thomas' work on later religious thinkers, including Martin Luther. This brief but vivid profile provides fascinating glimpses into the medieval scholastic movement, and it presents an excellent beginning to further explorations of St. Thomas Aquinas' works. Reprint of the Sheed & Ward, New York, 1938 edition. |Availability||Usually ships in 24 to 48 hours| |Author/Editor||G. K. Chesterton| |Dimensions||5 1/2 x 8 1/2|

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Tiny island deer in Panama hunted to extinction thousands of years ago This news release is available in Spanish. As polar ice caps melted at the end of the last Ice Age about 8,500 years ago, the global sea level rose and Panama's Pearl Islands were isolated from the mainland. A new archaeological study by a team including a Smithsonian scientist shows that several thousand years later pre-Columbian colonists hunted a dwarf deer to extinction on an island called Pedro González. The settlers arrived on the 14-hectare island by sea 6,200 years ago and stayed for a maximum of eight centuries, farming maize and roots, fishing, gathering palm fruits and shellfish and hunting deer, opossums, agoutis, iguanas and large snakes–the major predators. "When I was washing the animal bones from the first test cut in 2008, out fell a deer ankle bone called a calcaneum," said Richard Cooke, archaeologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and co-author of the study. "It was so tiny that I realized we had come across a population that had probably dwarfed through isolation. " The Pearl Archipelago, named for rich pearl beds encountered by early Spanish explorers, lies about 16 miles off Panama's Pacific coast. The islands are perhaps best known as the location of several seasons of the TV series, Survivor. As Darwin discovered in the Galapagos, islands are hotbeds of evolution. Through time, animals isolated from mainland populations commonly undergo a reduction in size compared to their mainland relatives due to competition for limited food resources. In the case of the dwarf deer, this must have occurred between the time when the island was isolated from the mainland and the time when the settlers arrived. Adult deer living on Pedro González island 6,000 years ago weighed less than 22 pounds, about as much as a beagle. Collagen fingerprint studies by Manchester University biochemist Mike Buckley infer that deer bones on the island were not from the tiny red brocket deer, corzo in Spanish, found in Panama today. Deer bones on the island represent a different group of deer, which includes white-tailed deer and some gray brocket populations found in South America. Only DNA studies will confirm to which deer clade the island deer belong. Buckley found that the 6,000-year-old deer bones belong to the same lineage as a larger deer still found on San José island, 5 miles to the south in the Pearl Archipelago. Why it survived there is an unresolved mystery. About 2,500 fragments of deer bones corresponding to 22 individuals were found in the 4-meter-deep trash heap (midden) that built up in a large hollow near the coast. Some deer bones had cuts indicating butchering, such as disarticulation and slicing meat from the bone, or had the marks of human teeth. Others had been burned or smashed to get at the marrow. Antlers and long bones were often cut for making everyday tools and ornaments. Hunting appears to have been indiscriminate, including adults as well as juveniles. The number of deer bones decreased in the youngest layer of the midden, and those of older adults were absent, suggesting that the species was becoming scarcer and life expectancies lower. No deer bones were found in later layers left by pottery-using people after 2,300 years ago, indicating that the species had become extinct on Pedro González by then. The history of this tiny deer illustrates just how vulnerable island species can be. The loss of the Pedro González dwarf deer may inspire conservation of the population still found on the neighboring island. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Website: http://www.stri.si.edu. Martínez-Polanco, María Fernanda, Máximo Jiménez, Mike Buckley and Richard G. Cooke. 2015. Impactos humanos tempranos en fauna insular: El caso de los venados enanos de Pedro González (Archipiélago de las Perlas, Panamá). Arqueobios 1 (9): 202-214.

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How Management Leads To Success. Management skills for a Better Future The basic and most important factor that is required for a disciplined life is management. Be it time, work or even fun, everything must have a slot and should be celebrated or received in the right amount. Management of time makes a person more disciplined. By sketching out a calendar or time table to take forward their activities allows them to fix proper periods for certain tasks and make extra time to do what they like. By being organized, they are aware of what is happening in their life and they would know what action would be responsible for development. This way they will focus on what activities are hindering their progress and get rid of them while they can work on activities leading to progress. Management plays a vital role in becoming successful there are also career option for people who enjoy organizing and managing activities. Jobs like event management, hotel management etc pay you for doing what you do best management. This involves taking responsibility of the human organization behind it, motivating them to complete the product or service before the deadline and satisfying their customers. A job that could take you to heights, management has its own course to be studied. India is house for many management colleges that have blended skills and knowledge together to bring out the best in their students. Among them GIBS Business School gave the astounding entry to the industry, run by Mr. Ritesh Goyal who also believes that management is very necessary in our daily lives. With several management courses being offered in GIBS lots of youngsters from all over the world have been attending college here. Hence, if you’re confused about what to do while you know you can convince people and get the job done, management is definitely your cup of tea…!

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Over the last few years, Melissa and I have learned that we have to give kids lots of time to come up with their project ideas. One year we tried to rush things, giving kids only a couple of weeks to think. Well, that didn't work very well; we had a lot of kids change projects because while they were doing their project, they discovered their real idea. Kids naturally have a lot of starts and stops. Some will latch onto an idea before we introduce Genius Hour. Some will struggle for weeks. We have to accommodate both kinds of learners. So we give time. We give time for kids to converse, wonder, think and imagine. We ask kids to start researching their project idea because after their initial research, kids will either confirm that their idea is awesome or realize that their idea isn't for them. Over the last few weeks, we have been doing a lot of idea-generating activities. These activities are important because kids need exposure to many ideas and they also need time to reflect and talk to others. Through these conversations and reflections, they begin to flesh out their ideas. This is what learning is all about, attempting new things and reflecting on those attempts. Do all of the kids have ideas at this point? No. Do all of the kids have some idea of the talents they want to use for their projects? Nearly all do. In a few weeks, kids will pitch their ideas. In the past, because of our situation, we were able to have pitch committees of adults who saw these pitches, like in the television show Shark Tank. Because of my current situation, I don't have those resources at the ready so we will do things differently. My goal is to have Pitch Day work a bit differently than the past but not too differently. I may be able to get another set of adult eyes to help me form the Pitch Committee. I may not. The structure of my new school may not allow the time resource for that adult. That's okay. Each student will give a 3-5 minute pitch presentation. They may use any technology they would like to help us visualize their goal. They will present to our class and any other adults I can get in the room during that time. Feedback is important for the kids. The committee has always given the students feedback on style, substance, and presentation. This year, kids will still get feedback. Some of that feedback will come from me, some will come from other adults in the room and some will come from the other students. Now, most of our kiddos have not had the opportunity to make many presentations so this is a skill that is under development. We will model a good presentation, we will help kids prepare and we watch them excel. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing our students accomplish something that they didn't think they could do. They get such a boost in confidence and begin to see themselves differently. They begin to see that they are in charge of their own learning and that they have more control over their learning than anyone else. Not only are kids learning the content that their projects will require, but they are also learning secondary and tertiary skills. Kids will learn to prepare, to speak in front of an audience, to walk with confidence, to create an effective visual, to offer and accept feedback. Sometimes these skills may make up the foundation of the kids' careers later in life. By including a variety of skills for the kids to learn, we are making sure that kids see their potential as learners. Through completing their Genius Hour projects, we think that the kids will fulfill this potential.

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Phoenix, Arizona (NAPSI) - The next time you or someone you care about needs hospitalization or just a medical test, your well-being could depend on a medical professional you may have never even see: your pathologist. Who Are Pathologists? Pathologists are board-certified physicians who use technology such as digital imagery, advanced screening tools, molecular-based diagnoses and others that were once just imagined to identify and diagnose disease. Pathology and laboratory results comprise as much as 70 percent of the information in a patient’s health record. Pathologists are investigators on whom every medical specialist relies to provide a range of services, from prenatal testing to cancer screening, to guide the clinical team on how to treat their patients. The right test at the right time can make all the difference in diagnosis, treatment and recovery. The pathologist’s pursuit of precision extends across a continuum of care during a patient’s lifetime. What Pathologists Do • By helping health care providers pick the right test at the right time, unnecessary testing and unnecessary procedures are avoided. • Pathologists use molecular testing to look for multiple drug-resistant organisms in patients and identify those at high risk for a surgical site infection so doctors can proactively treat that patient and avoid the problem. • They’re on call to examine samples taken during surgery and to review those results, which can be life-changing. • Pathologists also provide data and data analysis about the entire population of patients so doctors can determine who’s likely to be at high risk for cardiac disease, vascular disease and diabetes. Seeing trends lets doctors be proactive and plan for what the community needs. The diagnostic truths that pathologists reveal can help all of society lead better, healthier lives. Where To Learn More For more information about pathologists and laboratory medicine, visit the College of American Pathologists (CAP) at www. cap. org and on Twitter @Pathologists, or watch CAP’s YouTube Channel to learn more about how pathologists are involved in your health and your family’s well-being.

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Pupils in England who fail to get at least a grade C in GCSE maths and English will have to continue studying the subjects until they're 18. It's thought the change could affect more than 250,000 teenagers. The government says it will help British businesses, as well as young people's chances of getting a job. Until now pupils have been able to drop both subjects at the age of 16 without having gained a qualification in them. Many would never study these subjects again, and some employers said that this means too many young people lack skills needed for work. Last year, there were more than 250,000 19-year-olds without a C grade in English and maths. Raise in the leaving age In a separate move, the government has raised the leaving age to 17 from this year, and from 2015 it will rise again to 18. This doesn't mean you have to stay in school past 16 - but that teenagers in work would also need to keep learning and training. So pupils who left year 11 in summer 2013 will need to continue in education or training until at least the end of the academic year in which they turn 17. Pupils starting year 11 or below in September 2013 will need to continue until at least their 18th birthday.

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