Datasets:

enjalot

/

ls-fineweb-edu-100k

like 0

Asbestos Exposure in the Workplace Asbestos exposure is common among those who work in the trades or do manual labor. Discuss your work history with your doctor if you fall into one of the high risk categories listed below. This will keep your doctor on the alert for symptoms of asbestos–related diseases, which often take decades to develop after the initial asbestos exposure (see asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer for details). If your asbestos exposure took place during the course of private employment, you may be eligible to file a workers' compensation claim. You may also have a case against the manufacturer of the asbestos product involved. To learn more about workers' compensation options, visit the asbestos workers' compensation section. Additional Information About High Risk Jobs The following list of trades have a high incidence of asbestos exposure. More specific information about asbestos exposure on the following jobs can be found at Asbestos Network. Insulators, or people that worked extensively around asbestos insulation, are especially at risk for the development of an asbestos related disease. Common products that insulators worked with are: - asbestos pipe covering, - asbestos block insulation, - asbestos containing cement, - asbestos lagging, or - Zonolite Attic Insulation. Those involved with the building or maintenance of ships are at risk for high doses of airborne asbestos. Commonly used around boilers and steam pipes, asbestos insulation may become air borne during simple routine maintenance. Power Plants, Refineries and Industrial Settings Power plants, refineries and industrial settings are jobsites where asbestos was used extensively. Asbestos products were used extensively in both home and commercial construction. Fireproofing, insulation, joint compounds, plaster and patching compounds are just a few of the commonly used products that contained asbestos. Plumbers and pipefitters are also at risk—exposed through asbestos laden cement pipes, deteriorating asbestos insulation and pipe coverings. Pipefitters and Plumbers Miners of asbestos, talc and vermiculite are at significant risk for heavy asbestos exposure and asbestos disease. Large amounts of asbestos dust, poor ventilation and lack of proper breathing protection were contributing factors to the high incidence of mesothelioma in the Iron Range miners. The textile industry used asbestos in heat resistant products like heat–resistant pads, asbestos gloves, and woven into cloth coverings and protective blankets. There was extensive use of asbestos in brake pads and shoes, as well as asbestos clutch discs and linings. For mechanics, the danger from asbestos resides in asbestos fibers becoming airborne during brake, clutch, and gasket installation, removal, and inspection. The high heat output of steam and diesel locomotives made them a perfect candidate for the heat resistant properties of asbestos heat insulation. Boilers, steam pipes, hot water lines and refrigeration units were common applications of asbestos heat wrap and insulation. Regular maintenance involved the removal and replacement of asbestos insulation; exposing workers to airborne asbestos fibers. Appliance shops, where older asbestos–containing consumer products are dismantled and repaired. Helping Those With Asbestos & Work Related Injuries Our asbestos attorneys have helped asbestos victims for over 30 years. If asbestos exposure has affected you and you are suffering from an asbestos–related disease, contact our team of expert asbestos attorneys to learn more about how we can help you.

<urn:uuid:402fa223-faef-4bb9-97f1-4b7090cc8d5c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Skin Health and Disorders

Definition of Alveoli Alveoli: The plural of alveolus. The alveoli are tiny air sacs within the lungs where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place. Last Editorial Review: 6/14/2012 Back to MedTerms online medical dictionary A-Z List Need help identifying pills and medications? Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE!

<urn:uuid:01f8086d-a557-4ede-bf39-69a511ca63a8>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Medical Topics

Will our beaches become an example of the Tragedy of the Commons? Click on image for full size NCAR Digital Library The Tragedy of the Commons The term "Tragedy of the Commons" was coined by Garrett Hardin in a 1968 article in Science magazine. The concept, however, dates back to the days of Aristotle. Briefly, it states that a shared resource is inevitably ruined by uncontrolled use. The metaphor that Hardin uses to explain the concept is that of a community common or park on which the town’s people bring their cows to be fed. In the back of everyone’s mind is the fact that the common is going to be ruined because the grass is going to be eaten to depletion. Still, everyone wants to get grass for their cows. No one thinks or cares about the consequences of so many cows eating the grass, and the Tragedy of the Commons occurs. Human actions that many categorize as examples of the phenomenon include human-created air pollution; the hunting of the American buffalo to near extinction in the 1800s; the widespread abuse and destruction of rainforests and our oceans’ coral reefs; and human-induced climate change due largely to the burning of fossil fuels for energy use. Some people believe that the Tragedy of the Commons can only be averted by making most commodities private property. But how does someone own the air or the ocean? And can either the air or ocean stay unpolluted with populations of 10 million or more in the world’s megacities? Others believe the "Tragedy of the Commons" can be avoided through laws and taxing devices which make it more costly to serve one’s self interest over the common good. What almost everyone can agree on for now is that such vital resources need some form of control so that the world’s natural resources can be sustained and the Tragedy of the Commons can be avoided. Last modified February 19, 2006 by Teri Eastburn. Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!Cool It! is the new card game from the Union of Concerned Scientists that teaches kids about the choices we have when it comes to climate change—and how policy and technology decisions made today will matter. Cool It! is available in our online store You might also be interested in: What do smog, acid rain, carbon monoxide, fossil fuel exhausts, and tropospheric ozone have in common? They are all examples of air pollution. Air pollution is not new. As far back as the 13 th century,...more Rainbows appear in the sky when there is bright sunlight and rain. Sunlight is known as visible or white light and is actually a mixture of colors. Rainbows result from the refraction and reflection of...more The Earth travels around the sun one full time per year. During this year, the seasons change depending on the amount of sunlight reaching the surface and the Earth's tilt as it revolves around the sun....more Scientists sometimes travel in specially outfitted airplanes in order to gather data about atmospheric conditions. These research aircraft have special inlet ports that bring air from the outside into...more An anemometer is a weather instrument used to measure the wind (it can also be called a wind gauge). Anemometers can measure wind speed, wind direction, and other information like the largest gust of wind...more Thermometers measure temperature. "Thermo" means heat and "meter" means to measure. You can use a thermometer to measure the temperature of many things, including the temperature of...more Weather balloons are used to carry weather instruments that measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and winds in the lowest few miles of the atmosphere. The balloons are made of rubber and weigh up to...more

<urn:uuid:b9dff943-69f1-4fa7-baac-eabdcadfb431>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Water Resource Management

How can we create more effective education systems that provide access and highquality education for all students; capitalizing on emerging technologies for learning anywhere, anytime; and responsive to the 21st century context of an interconnected global economy and rapidly emerging global society? That was an organizing question for more than a thousand people who gathered in Doha, Qatar, for the inaugural World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) last November. Organized by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development, the summit brought together key individuals from more than 120 countries on every contintent. The summit’s goal was to examine the key challenges facing education around the globe and to promote visionary thinking about new education models. The summit was opened by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser al-Missned, chair of the foundation, who said, “Today, we place great faith in the power of education to prepare world citizens for a peaceful and cooperative future and to prepare citizens of our individual nations for the cultural transformations that result from globalization.” The WISE Summit was designed to be a multidisciplinary platform to promote international dialogue about best practices, to recognize exceptional impact through an annual WISE awards program, and to promote innovation and educational engagement on a global scale. The summit builds on and extends the Qatar Foundation’s domestic efforts to modernize Qatar’s own education system, including its flagship Education City, where more than eight top-flight American universities offer degree courses to students from a host of countries. This article cannot deal with every issue on the summit agenda. What follows are a few examples of the challenges and innovations under discussion. Access to Education At the most fundamental level, the world has still not achieved the commitment made by the world’s governments to provide basic education for all children. While there has been remarkable progress worldwide in giving millions of children, including girls, access to primary education, 75 million children never receive any schooling, primarily girls and children in conflict zones. Governments usually provide basic education, but since many of these children are in “weak states,” much of the discussion focused on the role of nongovernmental schools and organizations in reaching the hardest to reach and on the need for schools to be declared “protected zones” in times of conflict. Quality of Education Although the size of education systems has increased enormously in recent decades, the quality has not. Therefore, in higher education, summit participants addressed the role of accreditation systems in improving quality in higher education, making education more relevant in the dynamic global knowledge economy, and moving from measuring inputs to outputs. In elementary and secondary education, the growth of international assessments has increasingly led countries to compare themselves to emerging global standards of excellence and to examine how their education systems can emulate the effectiveness of the highest performing education systems. In keeping with the summit’s emphasis on innovation, central themes included using technology to increase access, improve performance, and promote a new conceptualization of education. For example, in Brazil, a distance learning initiative transmits live classes via videoconference to 25,000 students in 700 secondary school classrooms throughout the remote reaches of the Amazon forest. In sub-Saharan Africa, a consortium of 15 universities in nine countries delivers open educational resources to almost one quarter million teachers, many of whom are not formally trained. And in India, the provocative “hole in the wall” experiments, in which computers are installed in walls in slum areas and left for children to use unsupervised, show just how much children can learn on their own, without teachers, in “self-organized learning environments.” There was also lively debate about the potential educational uses of Twitter, videogames, and, especially, mobile phones, which now have four billion customers around the world (compared with 1.5 billion e-mail accounts). Given this huge penetration of mobile phones, could strong educational applications be developed so that poorer countries can leapfrog the lack of Internet access? Finally, there was widespread recognition that the content of education itself needs to change--that a global world requires a global education. Echoing Confucius’ sentiment that “It is better to take a journey of 10,000 li than to read 10,000 books,” there was agreement that more students need to study outside their own countries. Currently, only about 2% of higher education students do so. Migration and increasing diversity within countries also require that schools, from kindergarten on, teach tolerance and respect for other cultures and faiths. And the rapid pace of globalization is causing countries everywhere to recognize that their young people need to be more globally minded and to ask: What should all education systems teach their young people about other cultures, languages, and global challenges? How can education bring the world to students and students to the world? Overall, the summit made a convincing case that significant rethinking of education is needed. All nations share an interest in creating more effective education systems that provide access and high-quality education for all students, that capitalize on emerging technologies for learning anywhere and anytime, and that are responsive to the 21st-century context of an interconnected global economy and rapidly emerging global society. The WISE Initiative and annual summit were attempts to provoke some answers to the questions that concern all nations. Author: Vivien Stewart Originally published on pdkintl.org.

<urn:uuid:02c51374-9524-4afe-9b79-79a407b9a9f8>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Childrens Educational Activities

As previous research has demonstrated, HIV attacks the host's immune system, including an important category of T cells critical for fighting infection called CD4+ T cells. The virus specifically destroys those CD4+ T cells that reside in the tissues of the body like the intestine and lung that interface with the outside environment. As HIV replicates in the human body, the tissue levels of CD4+ T cells are killed and, when the number of these cells drop below a certain level, a patient develops AIDS. At this point, the patient's immune system is weakened enough to allow infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that are normally held at bay by a healthy human body. The infected body's inability to fight off these "intruders," leads to death. "To learn more about HIV, its impacts and possible treatments, we study simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a close relative of HIV that infects and causes AIDS in nonhuman primates," explained the study's lead author Louis Picker, M.D. Picker serves as director of the VGTI's vaccine program and associate director of the VGTI. He is also a professor of pathology, and molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine; and director of the Division of Pathobiology and Immunology at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center. "What we were able to discover using SIV-infected monkeys was that a certain naturally occurring protein called interleukin-15 (IL-15) caused a dramatic restoration of tissue CD4+ T cel Contact: Jim Newman Oregon Health & Science University

<urn:uuid:95ce3b4e-cb28-4a16-982c-0e56a07ade01>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

HIV/AIDS Information

Certain lifestyle factors greatly increase your risk of contracting HIV infection and developing AIDS. By avoiding behaviors that are associated with increasing your risk, you can greatly reduce your risk. Risk factors include: Having Unprotected Sex Most people become infected with HIV through sexual activity. You can contract AIDS by not using a condom when having sexual relations with a person infected with HIV. Not using condoms properly can also put you at increased risk for acquiring HIV infection. During sex, the vagina, vulva, penis, rectum, and mouth can provide entry points for the virus. Other risky behaviors include having: - Sex with someone without knowing his or her HIV status - More than one sex partner - Sex with someone who has more than one sexual partner - Anal intercourse Men who have sex with other men may be at a higher risk of being infected with HIV. Having unprotected sex and using drugs (eg, methamphetamines) during sex can increase this risk. Women who engage in risky behaviors and have both male and female partners may also be at a greater risk. If you inject illegal drugs, this increases your risk of becoming infected with HIV. Using a needle or syringe that contains even a small amount of infected blood can transmit HIV infection. Having Certain Medical Conditions Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and vaginal infections caused by bacteria tend to increase the risk of HIV transmission during sex with an HIV-infected partner. Examples of STDs include: For men, not being circumcised can also increase the risk of getting HIV infection. Having Certain Medical Procedures Having a blood transfusion or receiving blood products before 1985 increases your risk of HIV infection and AIDS. Before blood banks began testing donated blood for HIV in 1985, there was no way of knowing if the blood was contaminated with HIV, and recipients could become infected through transfusions. Receiving blood products, tissue or organ transplantation, or artificial insemination increases your risk of HIV infection and AIDS. Even though blood products are now screened for HIV, there is still some degree of risk because tests cannot detect HIV immediately after transmission. Being a Healthcare Worker Exposure to contaminated blood and needles puts healthcare workers at risk for HIV. - Reviewer: Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD - Review Date: 12/2011 - - Update Date: 12/30/2011 -

<urn:uuid:521781df-80fb-4d6d-8745-b8d75aeb91a3>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

HIV/AIDS Information

Chapter 31 of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible is presented as advice, which Lemuel's mother gave to him about how a virtuous king should reign and also describing how an ideal wife or virtuous woman should behave. The second section of text of this chapter directs women to be industrious and of good report; however, the first section is directed exclusively to men. It seems to me that we normally associate Proverbs 31 with finding a wife of noble character; hence, the popular phrase "Proverbs 31 Woman," while ignoring the advice for men. However, only vv.10-31 talks about the woman of noble character. What about the beginning of the chapter? What about the “Proverbs 31 Man?” On an openminded review of the chapter, it occurred to me that verses 1-9, 23 & 28 talks about male behavior and wise steps towards being a good leader, character and husband. Men are called to be nobles. We are to be "kings," or leaders, especially in the house and in the church. More so, just as the nobility are set apart from the common people and are to be distinguished with virtues and high standards, we are to be set apart-set apart from the world, or holy to God-and we are to be marked with honor, dignity, integrity, loyalty, righteousness and holiness. A commentary in my Bible says that "Lemuel" means "belonging to God." In other words, the noble man belongs to God, is set apart for God's use only. Proverbs 31:2- 3 -- a noble man guards his heart and sets his priorities straight. Proverbs 31:4-7 -- a noble man does not get drunk on wine but is instead filled with the Spirit; a noble man does not love the world or anything in the world. Proverbs 31:8-9 -- a noble man stands up for what is right and shows concern for others. Such are the sayings of King Lemuel, a noble man belonging to God. Many biblical scholars believe that Lemuel is another name for King Solomon, whose mother was Bathsheba. Interesting enough while King Solomon is often given credit for being the wisest man in the Bible, he did not follow the advice of his mother especially in Proverbs 31: 3 Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings. There are countless numbers of prominent men whom felt the consequences of playing loosely with the advice of Proverbs 31:3. Interestingly enough, Solomon had numerous wives and concubines and suffered the repercussions thus do many men of current times. As Christian men fall short of the “Proverbs 31 Man” on so many different levels, it seems hypocritical for men to continue without change in their own lives expect every Christian women to be a “Proverbs 31 Woman.” Nevertheless, there are Proverbs 31 men and women men but they are not found among the violent, drunkards, or whoremongers we find in our churches and sitting in high places everywhere. We must stop preaching so loudly about the Proverbs 31 woman until we at least take a closer look and begin to teach about the Proverbs 31 man. |< Prev||Next >|

<urn:uuid:c83f9e5f-81ec-4d4c-b4ef-14d4799b4b5c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Christianity and Religion

On Cancer’s Trail by Florence Williams Stefanie Raymond-Whish was 9 years old when her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. A traditional Navajo who raised 15 children after her husband died in a car wreck, Raymond-Whish's ama' sa' ni seldom spoke about her illness. Even after her surgery, when she lived with the grandchildren and their mother, she always acted strong around the kids. It became a pattern: When Raymond-Whish was 13, her 38-year-old mother, Nellie Sandoval, was also diagnosed with breast cancer. And Sandoval was equally reserved on the subject. "My mother was really good about not appearing sick in front of us," says Raymond-Whish, now 32. "As a little girl, I knew about cancer, but didn't understand the impact of it at the time." She understood it better by the time she was in college, in Flagstaff, Ariz., when a new tumor appeared in her mother's other breast. "When my mom had her recurrence, that's when it really hit me ... it was really upsetting. I went home to Farmington for her lumpectomy." Sandoval survived the disease, but not without a long struggle that included chemotherapy, radiation, and finally a double mastectomy. "My breasts were pretty mangled," says Sandoval, now 58. "So I said, 'Just get rid of them.' " Both Sandoval and her daughter have made breast cancer and its impact on Navajos the focus of their lives. Sandoval became an activist and filmmaker, working out of her papaya-colored home in Farmington, N.M. Raymond-Whish has taken her mission a step further: She works as a molecular biologist at the University of Northern Arizona, searching for breast cancer's root causes. "Is there any difference in how breast cancer develops in Native Americans and non-Native Americans?" she asks. One possible - and provocative - answer is emerging from her lab at the university: uranium. Scientists have long known that uranium damages human cells. But in over six decades of atomic health testing, no one had ever noticed that uranium, at low doses, can act like an estrogen. No one, that is, until recently, when Raymond-Whish and her coworkers observed some unusual effects in lab animals. Uranium can be found in several of the Jurassic sandstones that lie beneath the Four Corners region like a wrecked layered pastry. The target of frenzied mining throughout the Cold War, uranium ore has been wrenched from the ground, pulverized, milled and tossed in tailings across the Navajo Reservation. Low-level radioactive waste has dissolved into groundwater, escaped onto dust particles and blown off thousands of passing trucks to settle uneasily on surface soils. Over 1,000 abandoned uranium mines pockmark Navajo lands, but only half of them have been reclaimed. Exposure to uranium and its daughter elements has been linked to lung cancer, kidney damage and bone disease in Navajos, and it is the suspected culprit in numerous other medical conditions, from degenerative nerve disease and birth defects to a variety of other cancers. Raymond-Whish's research lab is tucked inside a neo-Grecian edifice on the Northern Arizona University campus. With her gloved hands in a ventilated booth, the white-coated scientist carefully measures out uranium in solution into small test tubes. The solution will be injected into dishes of cultivated human breast cells, donated by a nun who died of breast cancer in 1979. The MCF-7 cells, as they are known, have been kept alive by the Michigan Cancer Fund through 178 generations of cell division. They are famous among researchers for the properties they exhibit in lab experiments. For example, estrogen causes them to proliferate rapidly - exactly as it does in real-life breast tissue, which is why many women diagnosed with breast cancer have their estrogen-producing ovaries removed. Raymond-Whish wants to see if the cells react in the same way to uranium. "What I'm really interested in is the development of the mammary gland," says Raymond-Whish, who at this point is just weeks away from finishing her doctoral dissertation. A former teen rodeo star in barrel racing, she once wanted to be a veterinarian. But NAU didn't have a vet school, so she majored in zoology. That eventually landed her in the Discovery Research lab, where she studied the effects of pollution on tadpoles. She found she loved research. "It's like being a detective," she says. The lab's discoveries have already demolished the conventional wisdom on the properties of uranium. Not only does the heavy metal appear to alter mammary cells at very low doses, but it also seems to interfere with normal hormonal signals. Sometimes the uranium follows the same pathways as estrogen, but sometimes it doesn't, which means it's triggering other endocrine responses as well. "We don't yet know the mechanism of how uranium is affecting these cells," Raymond-Whish says, "but we do know an estrogen receptor is involved. We see it in both animals and MCF-7 cells." Although the work in Raymond-Whish's lab is considered pure research science, it is impossible to sift it from the real-world context of her family, her culture and her beliefs. Breast, uterine and ovarian cancers have risen steeply in Indian country since the advent of uranium mining. Having watched her grandmother and mother suffer, and now with two kids of her own, 14 and 4 years old, Raymond-Whish can't help but wonder if she's next in line. But while Raymond-Whish's intimate acquaintance with cancer may harm her credibility as a dispassionate scientist, it may also propel her to help make startling discoveries where no one else has thought to look. The lab's investigation started several years ago, when Northern Arizona University became part of a team that received a five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute. The project is designed to address community health care, so the local Navajo elders had a few suggestions. They told the scientists they wanted to know more about the health effects of uranium pollution. "So I started adding uranium to the drinking water of my lab animals," recalls physiologist Cheryl Dyer, who was Raymond-Whish's faculty advisor at the time. "And because I'm an ovarian physiologist, I wanted to see what happened in the ovary." Uranium has long been known to be radioactive and toxic, but no one had ever looked at its effects on follicle counts, or the number of "pre" eggs - eggs in the ovary that have not yet been released for fertilization. Dyer and Raymond-Whish found that the number of pre-eggs declined with low exposure to uranium, and that the mice developed heavier-than-normal uteruses. Normally, a toxic chemical will cause an organ such as a kidney to shrink, not expand. "I said, 'Whoa, what is going on here?' " says Dyer. "I started to wonder if there were other heavy metals that cause these changes, and it turns out cadmium does the same thing. That's when a light bulb went off in my head. Cadmium is an estrogen mimic." All those decades of lab work with atomic elements, and "they had completely missed the boat on estrogen mimicry." Raymond-Whish was the lead author of a paper showing the unexpected effects of uranium on mouse follicle counts, uterine weights and accelerated puberty. "Drinking Water with Uranium below U.S. EPA Water Standard Causes Estrogen Receptor Dependent Responses in Female Mice" was published in December in Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer-reviewed journal put out by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. Raymond-Whish concluded that uranium acts as an estrogen, and she recommended that Navajo girls and women be followed closely for reproductive cancers. In conversation, Dyer makes her opinion clear: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should lower its drinking water standard for uranium from 30 micrograms per liter to 20 micrograms, the Canadian standard. But Dyer and Raymond-Whish are tip-toeing out on a treacherous scientific limb by suggesting policy changes that are based on controversial data. Raymond-Whish's work and its results have landed her in the middle of a scientific and regulatory quagmire. It's one thing to regulate a chemical known to be toxic at high doses; it's entirely another to suggest regulating minute levels of a substance that is readily found across a large swath of the American West. Many communities, not just those on the reservation, are affected by uranium. Recent tests in Colorado, for example, revealed that 37 cities and towns in the state depend on drinking water that exceeds federal levels for uranium and its daughter nuclides. Uranium is not just an emotional issue for Raymond-Whish, but for the tribe as a whole. The legacy of mining the element on the 27,000-square-mile reservation is so deeply and collectively felt that the Navajo Nation banned it altogether in 2005 in the face of globally rising ore prices. During the '40s and the Cold War period, the U.S. government used yellow cake - or milled and concentrated uranium ore - to build nuclear weapons. The government stopped buying the ore for weapons in 1971, but the commercial nuclear energy market picked up the slack until the early 1980s. Only about a quarter of all U.S. uranium miners were Native American - Laguna, Hopi, Zuni and Ute as well as Navajo. But Native Americans have been disproportionately affected: Their tribal lands are still contaminated, and former miners suffer illnesses and deaths for which many families are still awaiting compensation. Despite the tribal ban, at least five companies are seeking state permits in New Mexico to mine lands just off the reservation, including on tribal allotment land. In Arizona, 700 individual mining claims were filed in 2005. The prehistoric sea and river beds that run underground from Naturita, Colo., to Grants, N.M., and across to Moab, Utah, still hold an estimated 600 million pounds of low-grade ore. But for every 4 pounds of uranium extracted, 996 pounds of slightly radioactive waste is left over, in piles, in pits and eventually in the soil, arroyos and underground aquifers. Some Western tailings piles, like those outside of Monticello, Utah, or Grand Junction, Colo., have been cleaned up. But those on tribal lands have fallen through yawning bureaucratic and regulatory gaps. It's estimated that up to 25 percent of unregulated water sources on the Navajo Reservation exceed federal drinking water standards for uranium. And many families still haul water from these wells, despite warnings by health providers and advocacy groups. In her lab experiments, Raymond-Whish applies concentrations of uranium that match those of water supplies in parts of the Four Corners, at or slightly above the current EPA standard. She will treat the mammary cells - which come bathed in a red wash of nutrients that resembles weak Kool-Aid - twice in nine days with differing doses. She will then collect the breast cells, extract their protein signatures, and use a tedious process to examine differences in the number of their estrogen receptors. She will also feed rats different mixtures of uranium-tainted water and examine their mammary glands for altered development. She will compare those results to rats fed a well-known synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol, or DES, and to rats that have drunk plain tap water. She'll look for changes to the mammary glands' terminal end buds, lobules and milk ducts, changes that may make them more prone to breast cancer. The work is controversial, and its implications, both for the science of breast cancer and for the treatment of past and future mining pollution, could be profound. Like Marie Curie over a century before, Raymond-Whish is both repelled and fascinated by the heavy element's mysterious abilities to alter living cells. In some respects, Raymond-Whish and Curie are not dissimilar. Curie, a Polish Jew working in anti-Semitic France, was the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. As the first Navajo to be awarded a Ph.D. in the Biology Department of NAU, Raymond-Whish displays a confident ease in navigating a different dominant culture. Like Curie, she is driven by an unrelenting curiosity. If it was a difficult journey from being Rookie of the Year in barrel racing to creating stunning presentations on heavy metals, Raymond-Whish doesn't show it. She moves through the fluorescent-lit lab in a quiet, deliberate fashion, her long, shiny hair neatly in place. "I like it that you're working on something no one knows the answers to and you're finding the answers," says Raymond-Whish. She grew up in Colorado and New Mexico with her siblings, stepfather and mother, who was a high school guidance counselor before becoming a breast-cancer activist. Forty-four percent of Navajos do not graduate from high school, but Raymond-Whish's mother made sure that she did. "Everybody's saying it's a big deal for me to get a Ph.D. For me, nothing less was expected than, 'You're going to college.' " The lab work is routine - even tedious - but it's also demanding and consuming. She is tired. With her oral defense looming before a committee of distinguished faculty, she doesn't slow down. In the mornings, she drops her two kids at school. Her husband, Bryan, a Wichita Indian, works nearby in the university's admissions office. She shuttles from the tissue culture room down a long linoleum-floored corridor to the animal histology lab with its wide-screened computer that magnifies mouse ovary sections 40 times over. Scrolling across the screen to count the follicles is her least favorite job. "I get motion sick," she says. The ovaries dominate the screen like giant pink potato chips, lightly salted. The science of endocrine disruptors, which studies chemicals that mimic hormones, is a little over 10 years old and still rife with skeptics. It has only been in recent years that very low doses of chemicals - in the parts-per-billion range - have been measurable. (A part per billion is the equivalent of one kernel of corn in a corn-filled silo 45 feet tall.) But natural hormones do their work at these very low levels in the human body. One theory holds that certain environmental chemicals, both natural and man-made, can bind to and deceive the hormone receptors. These receptors are the signal towers that trigger - or prevent - cellular responses that govern everything from metabolism to sex. Artificial chemicals scramble the signals. They appear to be interfering with normal cellular communication and altering how and when the cells, glands and organs develop. Endocrine disruptors have been implicated in obesity, infertility and the timing of puberty as well as in cancer. When many older women stopped taking synthetic estrogen a few years ago, breast cancer rates in this country dropped for the first time in 40 years. DES, the control substance used by Raymond-Whish, was given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriages up until 1971. Their daughters, who were exposed to it in the womb, have been stricken with unusual reproductive cancers, and recent studies have shown an increased risk of breast cancer as well. Typical carcinogens cause a cell's DNA to mutate, eventually leading to cancer. Radiation causes the fragile chains of DNA to break, also leading to errors and mutations. Scientists know a lot about these two types of cancer-causing agents. But endocrine disruption is far more mysterious. Which is why scientists like Raymond-Whish find themselves at a unique moment in science, just as the traditional models of understanding disease are shifting. The field of breast cancer research in particular is driving the debate. Chemicals such as atrazine and DDT (an herbicide and a pesticide, respectively), plastics - such as the bisphenol A compound found in Nalgene that was banned from baby bottles this spring in Canada - and now uranium, are challenging and confounding scientists seeking to understand the actions of chemicals in the human body. In the dynamic field of environmental health, toxicologists - who study traditional dose-response curves of carcinogens - and endocrinologists - who study extremely low levels of chemicals that do not always follow expected linear curves - frequently disagree. Because it is not yet known exactly how chemicals like uranium act upon cells, some scientists flatly dispute Raymond-Whish's findings. "Uranium is not plausibly linked as an endocrine disruptor," says toxicologist Margaret Ruttenber, director of the environmental health studies program of the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. "There is an absence of a known mechanism." Louise Canfield, director of the Native American Cancer Research Partnership at the University of Arizona, says: "My personal opinion is that obesity and other lifestyle factors are key risks (for breast cancer), along with access to care. Uranium in drinking water is a health hazard for sure, but I'm not sure it's a primary cause of cancer." But others consider the work groundbreaking. "This is a science of subtlety," explains Andrea Gore, a neuroendocrinologist at the University of Texas, Austin, and former advisor to the National Science Foundation. "(Dyer's and Raymond-Whish's) work is consistent with other good labs. People criticize the field of endocrine disruption because we don't always understand the mechanisms, but the effects are still real. This is why animal studies are so important. The responses we see in lab animals can happen in humans, because we share the exact same hormones. The estrogen receptor is similar." Still, more evidence is needed before scientists concede a link between uranium and breast cancer in humans. "You can make a very strong case with animal studies, but it will never be definitive," says cancer expert Joaquin Espinosa, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "You hope that nature would have done the experiment for you out there at some point. You need to show that real people are affected." But epidemiological data on the reservation is hard to come by. For one thing, it's difficult to sort out reliable cancer statistics and their changes over time. Some Navajo elders consult only medicine men, so some cancers go unreported. Cancer itself is translated in Navajo as Lood doo nadziihii, "the sore that does not heal." Some patients do not seek treatment, nor do they even speak of the disease for fear of wishing it upon their families, according to Fran Robinson, a nurse oncologist at San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington. Until recently, the Indian Health Services kept haphazard records in which diagnoses went unconfirmed and doctors came and went. For a variety of reasons, including instances of abuse of trust by researchers, the Navajo Nation guards its own data as closely as any member of the former Soviet bloc. The New Mexico State Tumor Registry keeps statistics on cancers by county, including those on the New Mexico portion of the reservation, which is also where many uranium mines were located. In her published paper, Raymond-Whish cites registry data from the late 1970s showing a 17-fold increase in childhood reproductive cancers there compared to the U.S. as a whole. These are extremely rare cancers that are related to hormone systems. Another study looking at registry data from 1970-1982 showed a 2.5-fold increase in these cancers among all Native Americans in New Mexico. (Although these statistics are not broken down by tribe, most of the Native Americans in the state are Navajo.) A 1981 paper showed a possible link between incidents of birth defects in families and the proximity of those families to uranium mine tailings. The sample sizes of the first two studies were too small to draw solid conclusions, and the birth defects study was flawed, cautions Charles Wiggins, director of the Tumor Registry. He plans to re-examine childhood cancer statistics this fall, using new data gathered since 1982. Overall, Native Americans in New Mexico actually suffer less cancer than the rest of the country, including about half the rate of breast cancer. But even as breast cancer rates in the U.S. have leveled or dropped slightly in recent years, they continue to grow among Native Americans, and the rate has increased more steeply over the past three decades. Breast cancer is the number-two killer (after heart disease) of Navajo women and the most common cancer found in Navajos. (In the U.S. as a whole, lung cancer is the most common cancer.) Navajos with cancer also suffer higher mortality rates due to poor access to medical care. One study found that between one-third and one-fifth of Navajo breast cancer patients receive substandard care. Relatively more young Navajo women get breast cancer, although much of this can be explained by demographics: Navajos have a younger population than other groups. To the doctors working on the reservation, the anecdotal evidence is disturbing. "When we see women in their 30s with breast cancer, it really knocks everyone for a loop," says physician Tom Drouhard, who has been practicing in Tuba City, Ariz., for 30 years. "Our ladies come in with later stages and higher death rates. It's hard to say what the trends are. All of these tumors are multi-factorial, and uranium could be another thing thrown at it. We are very paranoid about the situation with uranium. We had uncovered tailings five miles from Tuba City for 20 years. It's a reasonable concern." Two other hormonally active cancers, uterine and ovarian cancers, have doubled or tripled in New Mexico Indians since 1970 while remaining essentially the same for Anglos and Hispanics. But although lung cancer in the Navajo population has been authoritatively linked to uranium exposure, it's harder to make the case for other cancers. "It's a tough nut to crack," says Wiggins. "The rise in breast cancer everywhere almost certainly has to do with hormones more than anything else. Is something going on with hormones and hormone receptors? Our data is not going to make or break any one hypothesis, because there are a zillion factors going up or down. But you have to take seriously any proposition anyone comes out with, because we just don't have answers yet." It's difficult to trace a disease to an environmental exposure that may have occurred years earlier. And so far, cancer cases have not been mapped in concert with drinking water sources. "Is there more breast and reproductive cancer here?" asks Dyer. "Yes, but you can't localize it geographically. It would be nice to establish a connection between where people are getting sick and where they drink their water. It's hard to get the data. It's frustrating." One major effort is currently under way to do just that, but the sickness in question is kidney disease, not cancer. This five-year, $2.5 million study, a collaboration between the University of New Mexico Community Environmental Health Program, the Eastern Navajo Health Board and the Dine Network for Environmental Health, is being funded by U.S. Health and Human Services. The team is compiling illness data from 1,300 Navajos, backed up by urine and blood samples, and then overlaying the results on a map of 160 drinking wells that have been studied for uranium, arsenic and other contaminants. Preliminary data from 550 residents and 100 wells have already shown that living within .8 kilometer of an abandoned mine is a significant predictor of kidney disease and diabetes. Although the science linking uranium with kidney disease is solid, it's never before been demonstrated on a real-life map showing proximity to mines, says Chris Shuey, an environmental scientist at the Southwest Research and Information Center. Once the kidney data are in, the researchers might look at cancer next, he says. Of course, Navajos are not the only population exposed to uranium. What about breast cancer rates in other areas with better data? Susan Pinney is an epidemiologist at the University of Cincinnati. She and her colleagues looked at the population surrounding a nuclear processing facility in Fernald, Ohio, which operated between 1952 and 1989. The facility, which made fuel rods for nuclear power plants, was the site of numerous accidental releases of uranium into the surrounding air and water. As a result of a $73 million class action lawsuit in 1990 against National Lead of Ohio and the U.S. Department of Energy, the Fernald Medical Monitoring Project has accumulated 17 years worth of data on illnesses and exposures. Pinney examined the medical records of 8,770 people, including nearly 5,000 women, for a variety of cancers, and was able to model the exposure level of each individual. Her work is still being prepared for publication, and she declined to discuss it. However, a presentation of her preliminary, statistically significant findings last November to the annual conference of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers is now available on-line. Its provocative conclusion: "For women living within five miles of a uranium processing plant, degree of exposure to uranium particulates was related to risk of incident breast cancer." A few months ago, Raymond-Whish held a traditional Kinaalda ceremony for her daughter, Darby, to mark her passage into puberty. One of the most important Navajo rituals, it celebrates fertility, the natural order and harmony with the earth through song and prayer. Raymond-Whish's mother was there along with dozens of other relatives, and Dyer from the biology department at NAU also attended. For Raymond-Whish, it was a happy, soulful event, but shadowed by the uncomfortable realities of her career in cancer research. From now until late middle age, Darby will produce the large pulses of estrogen that have been linked to breast and other cancers in so many women. And natural harmony, as her mother knows, is not what it used to be, especially now that pollutants are acting like even more estrogen in our bodies. Raymond-Whish can only hope that Darby's cells have the normal number of receptors, and that her genes and her environment haven't somehow conspired to reprogram her development. "What does artificial estrogen do to the breast?" she asks. "It depends on the time of exposure. If you look at cells of a younger individual who's not yet through puberty, and you expose them to uranium, then that could promote earlier onset of puberty, earlier breast budding. And if they're exposed in the womb, you could be changing the way the receptors are expressed through life." In breast cancer research in general, there is a fundamental shift from large epidemiological studies that look at women's current lifestyles and exposures to an examination of what the women were exposed to as children. "Most epidemiology starts with the moment a tumor is diagnosed," said Irma Russo, a molecular biologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "We need to look at when normal cells may have transformed many years earlier." Suzanne Fenton, a research biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agrees. "We think one of the main drivers of breast cancer is what changes occurred in very early life to alter breast development. It's a fairly radical re-thinking." Among other experiments, Raymond-Whish is exposing pregnant rats to uranium in order to track what happens in their offspring. When she tried this earlier with mice, the female pups exposed in the womb entered puberty approximately two days earlier, just as they did when exposed to DES. It's a subtle difference, but when combined with other real-life exposures, it may add up. Explains Fenton: "It's important to remember that breast cancer risk is likely determined by a number of compounds interweaving with genetic factors and not just any one exposure." Certainly, lifestyles on the reservation have changed in many ways over the past 50 years. "Once upon a time there was no diabetes here, no diverticulitis, no colon cancer," says physician Drouhard. "We are now exposed to the same things you are: plastics, fast food, obesity. Now everybody I know eats at Kentucky Fried Chicken." One way to learn more is by working with all those nose-twitching rodents in the lab. In the coming months, Raymond-Whish will repeat her experiments, prepare to publish again, and spend more time staring at the nauseating giant ovaries on the computer screen. The rats are euthanized before they actually get sick. Still, she says, they do have to offer up their organs to science. It's not easy for her to kill the animals. "Culturally, it's an issue," she says. "But I'm searching for something that's going to help somebody or even lots of people. I always say, 'Thank you for your life.' " Florence Williams is a 2007-2008 Scripps Fellow at the University of Colorado, where she is researching endocrine disruption and cancer. A former HCN staffer, she currently serves on the HCN board. This story was funded by a grant from the McCune Charitable Foundation. Kathleen Tsosie, who has devoted her life to helping others, now faces the frightening possibility that her breast cancer has returned. Glenda Rangel and her family grew up drinking from and swimming in water tanks dangerously polluted with uranium. Nellie Sandoval, the mother of scientist Stefanie Raymond-Whish, has become an outspoken activist as a result of her own struggle with breast cancer.© High Country News

<urn:uuid:f6e63d4a-102d-4d22-914b-9c8b88f28c1e>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Medical Topics

Columbia Disaster: What Happened, What NASA Learned On Feb. 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth, killing the seven astronauts on board. NASA suspended space shuttle flights for more than two years as it investigated the disaster. An investigation board determined that a large piece of foam fell from the shuttle's external tank and fatally breached the spacecraft wing. This problem with foam had been known for years, and NASA came under intense scrutiny in Congress and in the media for allowing the situation to continue. A fatal strike Columbia, on mission STS-107, left Earth for the last time on Jan. 16, 2003. At the time, the shuttle program was focused on building the International Space Station. However, STS-107 stood apart as it emphasized pure research. The seven-member crew — Rick Husband, commander; Michael Anderson, payload commander; David Brown, mission specialist; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Laurel Clark, mission specialist; William McCool, pilot; Ilan Ramon, payload specialist from the Israeli Space Agency — spent 24 hours a day doing science experiments in two shifts. They performed around 80 experiments in life sciences, material sciences, fluid physics and other matters. During the crew's 16 days in space, NASA was investigating a foam strike during launch. About 82 seconds after Columbia left the ground, a piece of foam fell from a "bipod ramp" that was part of a structure that attached the external tank to the shuttle. Video from the launch appeared to show the foam striking Columbia's left wing. Several people within NASA pushed to get pictures of the breached wing in orbit. The Department of Defense was reportedly prepared to use its orbital spy cameras to get a closer look. However, NASA officials in charge declined the offer, according to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) and "Comm Check," a book about the disaster. On Feb. 1, 2003, the shuttle made its usual landing approach to the Kennedy Space Center. Just before 9 a.m. EST, however, abnormal readings showed up at Mission Control. They lost temperature readings from sensors located on the left wing. Then, tire pressure readings from the left side also vanished. The Capcom, or spacecraft communicator, called up to Columbia to discuss the tire pressure readings. At 8:59:32 a.m., Husband called back from Columbia: "Roger," followed by a word that was cut off in mid-sentence. At that point, Columbia was near Dallas, travelling 18 times the speed of sound and still 200,700 feet (61,170 meters) above the ground. Mission Control made several attempts to get in touch with the astronauts, with no success. It was later found that a hole on the left wing allowed atmospheric gases to bleed into the shuttle as it went through its fiery re-entry, leading to the loss of the sensors and eventually, Columbia itself. Searching for debris Twelve minutes later, when Columbia should have been making its final approach to the runway, a mission controller received a phone call. The caller said a television network was showing video of the shuttle breaking up in the sky. Shortly afterward, NASA declared a space shuttle "contingency" and sent search and rescue teams to the suspected debris sites in Texas and later, Louisiana. Later that day, NASA declared the astronauts lost. “This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the nation,” stated NASA's administrator at the time, Sean O’Keefe. The search for debris took weeks, as it was shed over a field of some 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) in east Texas alone. NASA eventually recovered 84,000 pieces, representing nearly 40 percent of Columbia. Among them were the crew remains, which were identified with DNA. Much later, in 2008, NASA released a crew survival report detailing the Columbia crew's last few minutes. The astronauts probably survived the initial breakup of Columbia, but lost consciousness in seconds after the cabin lost pressure and then died as it disintegrated. Report calls for more funding, emphasis on safety In the weeks after the disaster, a dozen officials began sifting through the Columbia disaster, led by Harold W. Gehman Jr., former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB, as it was later known, later released a multi-volume report on how the shuttle was destroyed, and what led to it. Besides the physical cause – the foam – CAIB had a damning assessment about the culture at NASA that led to the foam problem and other safety issues being minimized over the years. "Cultural traits and organizational practices detrimental to safety were allowed to develop," the board wrote, citing "reliance on past success as a substitute for sound engineering practices" and "organizational barriers that prevented effective communication of critical safety information" among the problems found. CAIB recommended NASA ruthlessly seek and eliminate safety problems, such as the foam, to help astronaut safety in future missions. It also called for more predictable funding and political support for the agency, and added that the shuttle must be replaced with a new transportation system. "The shuttle is now an aging system but still developmental in character. It is in the nation's interest to replace the shuttle as soon as possible," the report stated. Returning to flight The shuttle's external tank was redesigned, and other safety measures implemented. In July 2005, STS-114 lifted off and tested a suite of new procedures, including one where astronauts used cameras and a robotic arm to scan the shuttle's belly for broken tiles. NASA also put more camera views on the shuttle during liftoff to better monitor foam shedding. Due to more foam loss than expected, the next shuttle flight did not take place until July 2006. After STS-121's safe conclusion, NASA deemed the program ready to move forward and shuttles resumed flying several times a year. "We're still going to watch and we're still going to pay attention," STS-121 commander Steve Lindsey said at the time. "We're never ever going to let our guard down." Columbia's loss – as well as the loss of several other space-bound crews – receives a public tribute every year at NASA's Day of Remembrance. That date is marked in late January or early February because, coincidentally, the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews were all lost in that calendar week. The crew has received several tributes to their memory over the years. On Mars, the rover Spirit's landing site was ceremonially named Columbia Memorial Station. Also, seven asteroids orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter now bear the crew's names. — Elizabeth Howell, SPACE.com Contributor

<urn:uuid:0c911e9c-e805-4d60-a15e-3fc3108ca61c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

One ugly legacy of the Reaganite drug war of the 1980s has found a home in the nation's schools. "Zero tolerance," a term first brought into the national consciousness courtesy of Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese, who used it to refer to his policy of seizing vehicles and properties no matter how tiny the amount of drugs found, has evolved from a term of propaganda for drug warriors into a fuzzy philosophy for educators. Loosely translated, it means that any violation of the rules, no matter how minuscule or what the circumstances, will be punished severely. Zero tolerance didn't work for the drug war; the Customs program championed by Meese choked on its own absurdities, finally dying a quiet death after Customs agents attempted to seize a scientific vessel belonging to the Woodshole Oceanographic Research Institute (Cape Cod, MA) because a crewman had a joint in his cabin. Zero tolerance in the schools is generating the same kind of absurd outcomes while failing to increase school safety, according to a new study from the University of Indiana's Indiana Education Policy Center. The report, "Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence: An Analysis of School Disciplinary Practice," reviewed the use of zero tolerance in schools since its inception in the 1980s. It found that not only does zero tolerance not achieve its stated goals, but that its most common punishments, suspension and expulsion, lead to increased drop-out rates and other negative consequences and that African American students are "overexposed" to such punishments. "Zero tolerance is a political response, not an educationally sound solution," said Indiana University Professor Russell Skiba, director of the Safe and Responsive Schools Project in the IU School of Education and author of the report. "It sounds impressive to say that we're taking a tough stand against misbehavior, but the data say it simply hasn't been effective in improving student behavior or ensuring school safety." Tell it to Congress. The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 mandates zero tolerance policies for weapons violations at schools. But Congress does not deserve all the blame. States such as California, Kentucky and New York began implementing zero tolerance policies for drugs, fighting and gang activity as early as 1989. By 1993, the trend had swept the nation, broadening as it went to include alcohol, truancy, insubordination, unauthorized use of pagers and laser pointers, and swearing. As Berkeley researcher Joel Brown, head of the Center Research and Development, noted in his recent survey of drug education programs (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/187.html#cerdstudy), although zero tolerance is not a federal mandate when it comes to drug violations, under federal "no-use" guidelines, "students are to be suspended or expelled from school for use, possession or distribution of alcohol, tobacco or drugs." Brown found that such policies are in effect in nearly 90% of US schools, and their impact is staggering. In 1997, the only year for which national statistics are available, more than 177,000 students were suspended or expelled for drug, alcohol or tobacco violations. Eighty percent of those students, or about 136,000 kids, were suspended for more than five days or expelled. That ranked drug related reasons second only to physical fights as a reason for school discipline, Brown wrote. "Young people are removed from mainstream education for drugs nearly three times more often than they are removed for weapons, and ten times more often than the number of young people removed for carrying firearms," he noted. "The extent to which those who are removed from school have a drug abuse problem versus the legal problem of being caught with drugs is not known," Brown noted wryly. He also reported that no demographic data on those students was available. While the Indiana study did not explicitly look at racial disparities in zero tolerance drug punishments, it did find clear racial disparities in the administration of zero tolerance policies overall. In his survey of the literature, report author Skiba reported that "racial disproportionality in the use of school suspension has been a highly consistent finding." When Skiba controlled for socioeconomic status, he found that students from poor families were more likely to receive zero tolerance punishments, but that family wealth alone did not explain the difference between punishments for whites and blacks. Nor was there evidence that black students acted out more than white students, wrote Skiba. There are signs of hope, according to the report. Zero tolerance policies, ridiculed for excesses such as suspending five-year-olds for kissing or junior high students for possessing organic cough drops, are beginning to lose favor in some districts, Skiba reported. For those districts pondering a change, the study has several commonsense recommendations:

<urn:uuid:e73a15a0-ddcc-4780-baee-48caba9f0416>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Psychology and Child Development

About the Dictionary of Old English The Dictionary of Old English (DOE) defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (C.E. 600-1150) of the English language, using twenty-first century technology. The DOE complements the Middle English Dictionary (which covers the period C.E. 1100-1500) and the Oxford English Dictionary, the three together providing a full description of the vocabulary of English. Under the direction of editors Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, and now Antonette diPaolo Healey, the Dictionary has published (as of 2009) the following major research tools: the Dictionary of Old English Corpus on the World Wide Web, the DOE: A to G online, the DOE: A to G on CD-ROM, the fascicles for the letters A-G on microfiche, and an online bibliography of Old English texts and Latin sources cited in the DOE. More than one third of the Dictionary -- eight of the 22 letters of the Old English alphabet -- has been published, and more than 60% of the total entries have been written to date. See DOE on YouTube. The Dictionary of Old English Corpus The DOE is based on a computerized Corpus comprising at least one copy of each text surviving in Old English. The total size is almost five times the collected works of Shakespeare. The body of surviving Old English texts encompasses a rich diversity of records written on parchment, carved in stone and inscribed in jewelry. These texts fall into several categories: prose, poetry, glosses to Latin texts and inscriptions. In the prose in particular, there is a wide range of texts: saints' lives, sermons, biblical translations, penitential writings, laws, charters and wills, records (of manumissions, land grants, land sales, land surveys), chronicles, a set of tables for computing the moveable feasts of the Church calendar and for astrological calculations, medical texts, prognostics (the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the horoscope), charms (such as those for a toothache or for an easy labour), and even cryptograms. From the outset, the project has employed innovative methods and technologies. Most dictionaries tend to be deeply indebted to their predecessors. By contrast, it is the database of the Dictionary of Old English Corpus which determines the headwords, definitions and quotations. Research based on a comprehensive analysis of the surviving records of Old English is perhaps the most significant difference between the DOE and the work of earlier scholars. The project has followed in the footsteps of those who have established new standards in modern lexicography by providing parsed lists of all attested spellings, grammatical information, and detailed sense divisions (supported by illustrative citations from the Corpus) for each word. The DOE has an International Advisory Committee with members from Canada, Great Britain, the United States and Germany. The editors also consult with scholars throughout the world who have expert knowledge of specialized vocabulary, such as legal, medical and botanical terms. Use of Technology The DOE is a pioneer in the application of technology to lexicography. In 1997 the project launched its most sophisticated research tool--the Dictionary of Old English Corpus on the World Wide Web, which makes the Corpus with its complex search capabilities available to any institution in the world with access to the Internet. In 2007, the Web Corpus was made available to individual subscribers. Also in 2007, the project released DOE: A to G online, the first web version of the first eight letters of the Dictionary. It offers Boolean searches on multiple fields of the Dictionary as well as links to the Oxford English Dictionary. The DOE has received research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Ottawa; the British Academy, London; the Connaught Fund, University of Toronto; the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, New York; the Early English Text Society, Oxford; the Marc Fitch Fund, Oxford; the Jackman Foundation, Toronto; the McLean Foundation, Toronto; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York; the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, an independent federal agency; the Salamander Foundation, Toronto; the TAPoR (Text Analysis Portal) Project, funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation; the University of Toronto; Lulu, Raleigh, NC; and Xerox Corporation, Palo Alto and Toronto, among others. Support has also been given by many scholars and friends throughout the world. The search for funds is ongoing.

<urn:uuid:a93163df-c906-4643-90e2-ff9decb585da>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Linguistic explanations

Outer space is a term used to describe everything existing outside of the Earth's atmosphere. It mostly consists of empty space with clusters of stars, but also solid matter such as comets and meteoroids. There is currently little knowledge on the subject of outer space. The basic observations of astronomy have given an understanding of planetary movements as well as basic predictions; from basic waxing and waning of the moon to the arrival of comets and eclipses. The word "space" was specifically mentioned as the place from where the meteorite that made Toph's bracelet and Sokka's sword came. The characters demonstrated knowledge that the meteorite did not originate from Earth.

<urn:uuid:76aa4c0b-bd62-499c-a487-cd338555fc92>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

Chemotherapy is poison that happens to kill cancer cells faster than it kills healthy cells; that it wreaks havoc on the bodies of patients is unsurprising. But chemo may also affect their unborn children. According to a new study in PNAS, the offspring of mice treated with chemotherapy have higher rates of mutation, even though the offspring themselves were never exposed to the drugs. The results suggest that these mutations arise from genome destabilization caused by exposure to chemo, rather than just mutated sperm from the treated father. Male mice in the study were exposed to one of three common anticancer drugs—cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C, or procarbazine—and then allowed to mate with untreated females. After sequencing a small piece of DNA from the offspring, the researchers found that mice with treated fathers had mutation rates up to twice that of mice with untreated fathers. Notably, these mutations were present in DNA inherited from both the treated father and untreated mother. What this likely means, according to the researchers, is that chemotherapy induces epigenetic changes in the sperm. Epigenetic changes don’t affect the underlying DNA sequence, but they alter chemical tags that control how genes are expressed. This in turn lead to genome destabilization in the offspring, allowing sequence mutations to arise in DNA from the mother or father. The exact mechanism for genome destabilization and how it’s inherited is unknown. Lead author Yuri Dubrova is also cautious about how this data translates to humans. Since most cancer patients are too old to reproduce or are sterilized by treatment, childhood cancer survivors seem to be the only group this can potentially affect. Because of their short life span, the mice in this study reproduced only a few months after chemotherapy, but humans would likely have years in between. If the phenomenon applies to humans though, the nasty effects of chemotherapy might be longer-reaching than we realized. [via Nature News]

<urn:uuid:2ae60b96-e2ea-4ef9-8fcd-4e6a1ff19bcf>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Medical Topics

- Browse Cases - Search Cases - Browse Methods Niger women campaign for inclusion in National Assembly, 1991 The 1990s in Africa was a period of broad political movement towards the greater involvement of women in positions of power—this campaign is a part of that change. In November of 1990 in Niger, President Ali Saibou announced that a Preparatory Committee to organize a National Conference would take place before May 27 of the following year, on which date the National Conference would begin. The agenda of this National Conference, to be held at the National Assembly building in Niger's capital city of Niamey, was to transition the country from 17 years of military-led rule to a multi-party democracy. Out of 68 delegates for the Preparatory Committee, one, Houa Alio, was a woman. On May 11, 1991, the Prime Minister Aliou Mahamidou met with a number of interest groups that were involved with the Preparatory Committee. The meeting participants agreed on a structure of representation in which the Union of Niger Women would have seven representatives at the Preparatory Committee. However, many Niger women did not accept this low level of representation and wanted a greater input in the future direction of the nation. The first, and most well known protest showing disapproval of the scarce representation of women in the Preparatory Committee took place on May 13, 1991, two weeks before the scheduled National Conference date. Several thousand women marched from the national assembly to the Prime Minister's office in the center of the capital, and occupied the Ministry of External Affairs, where the Preliminary Committee was meant to meet. The women carried signs that read, "Down with the National Conference without women!", "Stop Injustice!", and "Equal Rights!" They also shouted, "Away with the National Conference without Women!" Alio resigned from the Preparatory Committee in solidarity. Acting as the spokesperson of the movement, she had earlier given the Prime Minister a nine-point letter demanding to have female representation in all of the delegations taking place during the Preparatory Committee. Despite the May 13th protest, the Prime Minister began the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee at noon of the same day. Six days later, on May 19, the General Assembly of Niger Women urged the people of Niger to become more involved in the political process by joining unions, associations, and political parties with the end goal of contributing to the National Conference's nation building process. The women organized a general assembly in order to begin compromising with members of the Preparatory Committee for greater representation in the soon-to-be-held National Conference. As of May 21, the General Assembly of Niger Women agreed to allow four more women to join the representation. A political party also said it would replace one of its own representatives on the commission with a woman. The date of the conference was postponed allegedly due to a lack of funds, although several political parties in opposition to the Prime Minister at the time saw this postponement as an attempt on his part to keep himself in power, and to slow transitional movements towards a multi-party democracy. The National Conference was rescheduled to take place on July 15, and then postponed again to July 29. Upon this second postponement, women marched again in opposition to their lack of equal representation in the Preparatory Committee and scheduled National Conference. By the spring of 1991 the women of Niger were able to increase their numbers in the formal reform efforts, going from one to five women representatives. Still, that was vastly lower than participation by men On November 25, 1992, May 13th was designated as "National Women's Day" to commemorate the march held on that date the previous year.

<urn:uuid:55fd88bd-89b2-4ea3-9e46-97a176ccb562>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Migration and Citizenship Topics

Removal of Parathyroid Glands Parathyroidectomy is surgery to remove hyperactive parathyroid glands. Parathyroid disease is the most common cause of elevated blood calcium levels in adults. Elevated calcium levels can lead to kidney stones and other disturbing symptoms. Most parathyroid disease is due to a benign tumor of a single parathyroid gland that produces excess parathyroid hormone (PTH). WHAT ARE PARATHYROID GLANDS? There are typically four parathyroid glands (two pairs) that are located behind the thyroid lobes in the neck. The parathyroid glands secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH) that regulates the calcium level in the body. Parathyroid hormone signals the release of calcium from the bones and increases calcium absorption from the intestines. The correct secretion of the parathyroid hormone maintains a normal level of calcium in the bloodstream to ensure the normal function of muscles and the normal conduction of electrical currents along the nerves. If one or more of the parathyroid glands secretes too much PTH (hyperparathyroidism), sustained elevations of blood calcium levels occurs. This event usually occurs in adults and is rare in children. Hyperparathyroidism is usually caused by an adenoma (non-cancerous tumor) of a single gland. It can also result from regulation problems within all of the glands (hyperplasia) or from parathyroid cancer – which is extremely rare. SYMPTOMS OF PARATHYROID DISEASE - Loss of energy & persistent fatigue (just don’t feel well) - Inability to concentrate or changes in mood - Bone pain due to osteoporosis (bone breakdown) - Trouble sleeping and general irritability - Kidney stones - GERD – gastric acid reflux It is not uncommon for people to suffer mildly with 2 or more of these problems at the same time. Due to increased blood testing, hyperparathyroidism is now diagnosed more frequently and often before patients are symptomatic. If left untreated, however, symptoms are likely to arise and worsen with time. Over the years physicians have tried to treat parathyroid disease with medications – often without success. Removal of the parathyroid glands continues to be the most effective treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism. Because of the numerous glands and other important structures in the neck, the surgery can be technically challenging and usually is performed in conjunction with preoperative localization studies to help determine which parathyroid glands are responsible for the problem. Surgeons with extensive head and neck surgical training usually perform the operation. The procedure has been proven to have a >94% cure rate when performed by an experienced specialist. Dr. Gunnlaugsson has extensive experience with parathyroid surgery and uses minimally invasive techniques to achieve the best functional and cosmetic result.

<urn:uuid:85f1268b-cf2c-46f4-9511-ba49f5ad2fa5>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Kidney and Thyroid Conditions

|Huang Ti about 1000 BC| That left as the oldest known medical book through most of history as Nei Ching written by Huang Ti about 2,697 BC. The work basically consists of conversations between the emperor and his physician Ch'i Pai. Parts of the dialog are recorded medical descriptions of asthma-like symptoms and possible remedies. Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen was known as the Yellow Emperor who reined over Ancient China from approximately 2697-2598 B.C. He is known as the Father of Chinese Medicine. (1) He is believed to have ruled China as the third of China's first five rulers from 2696-2598 B.C. There is an ongoing debate as to whether he actually existed or was the work of legends. There's also an ongoing debate as to whether he actually wrote the Nei Ching Su Wen or whether it was actually written about 1000 B.C and antedated "as to enhance it's value," according to one historian. Veith quotes one historian who questioned that Ti could possibly rule a nation and still have plenty of time for dialog with his physician ch'i Pai and also time to write it all down. (2) Of significance in the Nei Ching is the relevance of Yang, Yin and Tao. Ilza Veith, in her 2002 book, "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine," described that in the beginning there was chaos between the three primary substances -- force, form and substance. This ultimately results in a light substance rising to form heaven, and a heavy substance sinking to form the earth. |The Nei Chung| This whole concept was similar to other civilizations, such as in the West the belief was that disease was the result of an imbalance of the four humours. In China disease was believed to be caused by too much of the essence yang and/ or too little yin. So in order to maintain health one would have to maintain a balance of Yang and Yin, which was ultimately accomplished by good behaviours towards Tao, which refers to "the way." Veith explains that man must completely adjust to the "flow" of the Universe, which was the responsibility of Tao. For example, the earth was dependent on the heavens, such as rain was needed to end drought, sun was needed to melt snow, etc. In this way the yearly cycle of life flowed smoothly and was completed in a year. This was Tao, or the way. Essentially, there was "the Tao of Heaven, the Tao of the Earth, and the Tao of Man, one fitting into the other as an indivisible entity." The first paragraphs of the first chapter of the Nei Ching has the emperor asking his physician, Ch'i Po, why it is that ancient people used to live to be 100 years old and now people only live half that long. The physician answered: "In ancient times those people who understood Tao (the way of self cultivation) patterned themselves upon the Yin and the Yang (the two principles of nature) and they lived in harmony with the arts of divination.... There was temperance in eating and drinking. Their hours of rising and retiring were regular and not disorderly and wild. By these means the ancients kept their bodies united with their souls, so as to fulfill their allotted span completely, measuring unto a hundred years before they passed away.... nowadays people are not like this; they use wine as beverage and they adopt recklessness as usual behavior. They enter the chamber (of love) in an intoxicated condition; their passions exhaust their vital forces; their cravings dissipate their true (essence); they do not know how to find contentment within themselves; they're not skilled in the control of their spirits. They devote all their attention to the amusement of their minds, thus cutting themselves off from the joys of long (life). Their risings and retiring is without regularity. For these reasons they reach only one half of the hundred years and then they degenerate." (3) It is this "degeneration" then that causes diseases which plague a person in life, and many of which cause an early death. People that lived to be 100 are "in harmony with Tao, the Right Way." Health, or longevity, was completely dependent on a person's "behavior towards Tao, Veith explained. "Thus, man saw the universe endowed with a spirit that was indomitable in its strength and unforgiving toward disobedience." Longevity, thus, was a "token of sainthood." (4) So asthma-like symptoms were believed to be caused by an imbalance of Yin and Yang. The lungs were believed to be responsible for metabolism and flow of fluids through the body, and an imbalance of Yang and Yin in the lungs will cause too much phlegm, edema, sweat and cause diseases such as breathing disorders. (5) This ultimately obstructs Qi (also referred to as Chi). Imbalances of Yang and Yin are believed to be caused by obstruction of Qi, which may be described as the energy or life force that keeps the humors in balance and the body functioning properly. The force of Qi was the essential force of keeping the body healthy, and it was inhaled with each breath after birth. Once inhaled it was up to each healthy organ to transfer both Qi and nutrients throughout the body. In order for the organs of the body to function properly, Qi must continue to flow properly throughout the body. So dysfunction of the lung will result in failure of respiration, "leading to failure of fresh air to be inhaled and the turbid Qi of the body to be exhaled, with the resultant inadequate formation of Qi." (6) Likewise, the lungs were associated with mucus. Yang was heat and Yin was cold. Cold was believed to diminish Yin in the lungs, and this resulted in an imbalance of Qi in the lungs, which resulted in an increase in mucus, which ultimately resulted in difficulty in breathing, or asthma-like symptoms. It should be noted here that unlike Western medical doctrines such as the Hippocratic Corpus, the Nei Ching failed to specifically define any diseases. So terms equivalent to asthma and dyspnea were not used. Instead, diseases were referred to as "'injuries of the heart,' 'injuries of the lungs,' etc." (7) The Nei Ching basically called for diagnosing diseases by measuring the pulse, and treating diseases by remedies that reset Yang and Yin, which mainly involved mental balance, herbal medicine, diet, massage, acupuncture (inserting needle into certain regions of the body) or moxibustion (placing cones of powdered leaves on various regions of the body and burning them until blisters form). Since diseases of the lungs were caused by an imbalance of Yin caused by cold, asthma remedies were believed to warm the lungs, balance Yin, decrease mucus, and make breathing easier. Another neat similarity between the Nei Ching and the later written document the Hippocratic Corpus (such as the Hippocratic Oath) is that both writings mention the use of careful technique and responsibility by the physician. The Nei Ching notes that "The most important requirement of the art of healing is that no mistake or neglect occur... poor medical workmanship is neglectful and careless and must therefore be combated, because a disease that is not completely cured can easily breed new disease or there can be a recurrence of the old disease... illness is comparable to the root; good medical work is comparable to the topmost branch; if the root is not reached, the evil influences cannot be subjugated... The superior physician helps before the early budding of the disease. The inferior physician begins to help when the disease has already developed; he helps when destruction has already set in. And since his help comes when the disease has already developed, it is said of him that he is ignorant. " (8) While Nei Ching is the oldest known recorded Chinese medical treaties, Shen Nung, who lived from 2838-2698 is often considered as the founder of Chinese Medicine as well as the "Fire Emporor." (9) |Shen Nung (2838-2698)| The leaves and/ or stems of the Ma Huang plant were dried prepared in such a way that it was served as a drink, often as a bitter tasting tea. Nung believed Ma Huang worked by reversing the flow of Qi. One of the truly interesting things about ancient Chinese asthma treatment is the use of Ma Huang to treat asthma-like symptoms. The modern world refers to this plant as ephedra, and from it was derived the bronchodilator ephedrine in 1901 Leaves of the plant were crushed and served in a bitter tasting yellow tea. This may actually have provided relief from an asthma attack. While Veith describes that Western medicine reached China early in the 17th century, (10) it would be another 300 years before ephedrine would play a significant role in the treatment of asthma in the U.S. and Europe, as I describe in this post. So while Ancient Chinese asthmatics may have been able to obtain asthma relief by using ephedra, the rest of the world (except for maybe Japan and Korea) would have to wait. Click here for more asthma history. - Saunders, M, J.B. Dec, "Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen -- The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Mediciner," Calif Med. 1967 July; 107(1): 125–126 - Veith, Ilza, author /translator, "The Yellow emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine," 2002, Los Angeles, pages 4-6 - Ibid, page 97-8 - Ibid, pages pages 98 and 10-14 - "Qi Theory, damo-qigong.net, http://damo-qigong.net/qi-theory1.htm - Ibid, http://damo-qigong.net/qi-theory.htm - Veith, op cit, pages 49 and 50 - Veith, op cit, pages 57-8, also see chapter 26 beginning on page 217 - Navara, Tova, "The Encyclopedia of Asthma and Respiratory Disorders," 2003, New York, page 177 - Veith, op cit, page 1

<urn:uuid:3bf9344e-3e6b-4df5-9c07-b8fc8908c2f3>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

East Asian Culture

Understanding the functioning of brain network is one of the grand challenges of Science: many methods have been applied to analyze and study its structure and function. Interest is clearly motivated by the fact that the some general principles of brain functioning seem to govern also other complex networks, including social, biological and communications networks. In principle, a brain network can be modelled as graph representing activities in the brain, where the vertices represent anatomical regions and the edges their functional connectivity. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to extract data about how networks of neurons are performing tasks. In these experiments the activity of the brain is measured, in time steps of a few seconds, in data associated to a number of “voxels” of dimension of about 27 mm3. Data are organised in correlation matrices (also with Multidimensional Scaling techniques) to see where there is a correlation among the variables. A correlation matrix can describe correlation among M variables: it is a square symmetrical MxM matrix with the (ij)th element equal to the correlation coefficient r_ij between the (i)th and the (j)th variable. Over the last two decades, said data analysis techniques have transformed neuroscience: some scientists are even claiming they can identify the brain regions responsible for musical ability, food preference, fairness and even skills by analysing and correlating voxels data. Also the recent explosion in gene expression experiments has generated a large amount of data to be correlated: think about The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP), a program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that is researching the molecular patterns changes occurring when a normal cell is transformed into a cancer cell or the relationships between the gene expression profile of a tissue and the pattern of its neighbours. These are just two example where the capabilities of correlating data have an incredibly high impact value. Analysing interconnectivity is so fundamental to understanding the behaviour of any complex networks. Also Telecom Operators have huge amount of data, still to be leveraged: in this sense, methods and techniques adopted by neuroscience and genomics can provide valuable lessons learnt.

<urn:uuid:7fde60f4-0cc7-49f8-a13e-cb9d229dc2f1>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Brain Health and Memory

The Flat Rocks fossil site at Inverloch is located approximately 150 km south-east of Melbourne, on the south coast of Victoria. The area has special significance to Australia’s fossil history as the discovery of Australia’s first dinosaur bone, the Cape Paterson Claw, was found at a nearby site in 1903 by William Ferguson. The currently active site was discovered in 1991 when a group of researchers from Monash University and Museum Victoria were prospecting that part of the coastline for suitable locations for potential fossil dig sites. The Cape Paterson claw, found by William Ferguson in 1903 at Eagle’s Nest, was Australia’s first dinosaur bone. Source: Museum Victoria. The first formal dig at Inverloch was in 1992 when researchers spent two weeks testing the productivity of the site. In this time more than 300 fossil bones buried below the surface of the shore platform were recovered. The site proved so productive that organised annual summer digs called ‘Dinosaur Dreaming’ commenced in 1994 and have collected an average of 700 fossil bones and teeth from each field season. The fossil layer at the Flat Rocks site is still producing as many fossil bones and teeth as when digging first started. The Dinosaur Dreaming dig will continue for as long as financial support continues to fund the dig. The sedimentary rocks along the Strzelecki coastline were laid down approximately 120 to 115 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period. The rocks have been dated using both Fission Track Dating (based on radioactive content) and Palynology (based on the fossil pollen in the rock). Both methods of dating correlate the age of the rocks to about 120 million years plus or minus five million years. The fossil bones of many different animals have been found at the Flat Rocks site. There is evidence of at least five different types of dinosaur as well as the fossil bones of other reptiles, birds, mammals and fish. The fossil bones found at the site are the remains of animals that lived in an ancient river and the surrounding valley. The bones were washed into the river during flooding events and concentrated in the river bed. The Dinosaur Dreaming field dig at Inverloch. Photographer/Source: Lesley Kool The most commonly found dinosaur at Flat Rocks is a small plant eater belonging to the Hypsilophodont family. This dinosaur was the size of a small wallaby and ran on its hind legs. Qantassaurus intrepidus is the latest hypsilophodontid dinosaur to be named from the site, however there are at least two other members of the hypsilophodontidae family represented. Evidence of tiny dinosaur bones at the site suggests that the area may have been a nesting ground for part of the year. There is also evidence of other dinosaurs including ankylosaurs and theropod dinosaurs at Flat Rocks and surrounding areas. Flying reptiles (pterosaurs) are sometimes mistakenly called dinosaurs, but belong to a different group of reptiles. A number of unusual teeth found at the Flat Rocks site have been assigned to pterosaurs, as well as some limb bones. The turtles of Flat Rocks appear to have been rather primitive. They had short necks, unlike most of Australia’s modern turtles. A number of isolated teeth have been identified as belonging to small fresh-water plesiosaurs. In 1997, a fossil jaw only 17mm long with four teeth was found. The jaw belonged to an insectivorous mammal no bigger than a mouse and was named Ausktribosphenous nyktos. The teeth resembled those of a placental mammal. However, because all previous fossil evidence supported the idea that marsupials arrived in Australia long before placental mammals, the description of this discovery as a placental mammal was not accepted by many researchers. There has been much debate since the discovery of this jaw, and there is still no agreement as to which group of mammals it belongs to. Since 1997 a further 36 mammal jaws have been found at the site, some of which belong to a new group of monotremes (Teinolophos trusleri) and represent the world’s oldest and smallest monotremes. In 2004 a single tooth in a jaw fragment was found that may represent evidence in Australia of a group of extinct mammals called Multituberculates. The fossilised remains of fish are very common at the Flat Rocks site. Before 1997 the only evidence of Early Cretaceous birds in Victoria came from Koonwarra, 40 km north of the Flat Rocks site. In 1997 the first definitive bird bone was found at Flat Rocks. A number of other possible bird bones have since turned up at the site and are currently being studied. Please note: the Dinosaur Dreaming dig project is not currently accepting volunteers. Vickers-Rich, P., Monaghan, J. M., Baird, R. F. and Rich, T. H. 1991. Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia. Pioneer Design Studio, Novacek. Vickers-Rich, P. and Rich, T. H. 1993. Australia’s polar dinosaurs. Scientific American, July 1993: 50–55. Vickers-Rich, P., and Rich, T., 2000. Dinosaurs of Darkness. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest. Interesting point, John. While projects like these may appear to have an eerie side, it's also true that almost everything we know about prehistoric life depends on palaeontology projects like this one. Hi Justin, thanks for the enquiry. You are welcome to visit the beach at Inverloch and search for your own fossils, just as you can go and have a look at the Dinosaur Dreaming site. You will find the many links on this and the other Museum Victoria dinosaur information sheets useful in identifying fossils. Hi Bob, the Discovery Centre has a free identification service. If you think you may have found a fossil, you can take advantage of this service. You can read all about the details and guidelines for identifications here Hi Michael – If you contact the Queensland Museum through their Inquiry Centre they may also be able to provide you with advice about fossil hunting in the Ipswich region. Have fun! Hi Alexander - sorry to say, but unfortunately you need to be over 18 to be involved in the the digging at Dinosaur Dreaming. However, on Sunday February 13 there will be a ‘Friends of Dinosaur Dreaming’ day onsite, where visitors are welcome to come and watch the dig in process, talk to the volunteers and see a selection of some of the fossils found there. If you are interested in going and seeing this, you can visit the site on Feb 13 from late morning. Access to the dig is from ‘The Caves’ carpark on the Inverloch-Cape Paterson road; a few km outside Inverloch, take the steps down to the beach access and look for the Dinosaur Dreaming flags at the site not far from the base of the steps. Hi Alexander's mum, thank you for checking in and doing the right thing. As the area is a reserve any fossicking/digging on the beach at Dinosaur Dreaming can only be undertaken by Dinosaur Dreaming workers and volunteers who have the required permission to dig in the Bunurong Marine Park from Parks Victoria. Thank you for the feedback Christopher, however it's not clear to us which of the comments above this relates to; we think it is important that enquirers, regardless of their age, are given accurate information on the legal and safety issues associated with collecting fossils. This isn't intended as a 'brush off', more as responsible advice from our perspective at Museum Victoria. Feel free to contact us via the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of this page if you wish to discuss this further. Hi Jacqui - there are a few legal issues about excavating fossils, and there is no single permit that is available which allows you to fossick - you would need to get the appropriate permission from the landholder of your fossicking locality; be they private land owners, or government bodies responsible for parks, reserves, council and crown land. Please also be aware of some of the safety precaustions when fossicking, there is some helpful information on this on our Information Sheet at http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/fossil-collecting---methods/ Hope this helps Hello Brett; the Friends day for 2012 has not yet been scheduled, but once it is it will be posted here or you can simply call us in the Discovery Centre in early January 2012, and we will hopefully have clearer details by that date. Hi Naomi and Josh; we'd be most happy to meet you on the 'Friends Day' onsite at Inverloch and show you some of the fossils and the work that is being done, but I'm sorry to say that all active participants in the dig must be 18 years or older for health and safety reasons. The date and details of the 2012 Friends Day will be published on this page soon, stay tuned for an update... Hi Belinda; unfortunately applications for prospective volunteers closed on September 30th, and the selection process for new volunteers based on these applications is now well underway. As a result, I am sorry to say we can’t assist you with becoming involved in the 2012 dig. Should you be interested in participating in the 2013 dig, we recommend you contact the Discovery Centre via the "Contact us" link at the bottom of this page around August 2012; by this time we hope to commence the recruitment of new volunteers for the 2013 dig. Hi Jamie - as excavation only occurs for less than two months every year, there really isn't much opportunity for public engagement beyond the 'Friends' day; you may wish to contact the Bunurong Environment Centre at Inverloch, who occasionally run school holiday activities that might be of interest. Hi Jenni & Jim - unfortunately we're not able to involve you in this year's dig; applications for becoming a volunteer usually open in August or September in the preceeding year, and involves a selection process followed by specialised training for selected applicants. If you wish to be involved in next years dig, we reccommend you contact the Discovery Centre (via "Contact Us" at the bottom of this page) in August 2012 for details on applying for the 2013 dig. We love receiving comments, but can’t always respond. Hi Donna - the Dinosaur Dreaming dig may be of interest, but participants in the actuall digging are all over 18 for safety reasons; one option worth considering might be to come to the annual "Friends of Dinosaur Dreaming Day", which is usally in late February onsite at Inverloch; you may wish to check back on this page around the Christmas Holidays to see when this is scheduled for 2013. Hi Paula - as the dig is on a public beach, you are free to come and look at any time, digging will be occurring on the beach every day for the next few weeks at low tide. However, there will be a special "Friends Day" on February 17 on site, where the diggers will be set up to show visitors examples of the fossils being found, and can answer questions from the public. If you were interested, you could also sign up to become a "Friend of Dinosaur Dreaming" on the day. I know it's a long time since your request, but did you have any success with your search. I'm in the same position regarding August 1966 sailing and w... To read the latest tweets from @museumvictoria Follow Museum Victoria on

<urn:uuid:24695db4-635a-4a45-830b-1e2e600a8319>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Reptile and Amphibian Information

Simple stain- single human cheek cell with bacteria covering its surface (approx. X 100). Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively in MicrobeWorld. Read More Photo of Hut Cave taken by mountaineer Nick Giguere during the 2008 expedition Exploring the Rock Bottom of the Food Chain in McMurdo's Extreme Environments led by Dr. Laurie Connell and Dr. Hubert Staudigel. For more pictures go to their website: http://earthref.org/ERESE/projects/GOLF439/... Read More An electron photomicrograph of two spiral-shaped Treponema pallidum bacteria. Here we see two Treponema pallidum bacteria scanned by an electron microscope, magnified 36,000X. T. pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis. It contains one of the smallest prokaryotic genomes consisting of abo... Read More A press release via EurekAlert issued by Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers are reporting the first detailed molecular snapshots of a deadly gastrointestinal virus as it is caught in the grasp of an immune system molecule with the capacity to destroy ... Read More The USA300 strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, colorized in gold, shown outside a white blood cell. Staphylococcus aureus: USA:300 is a strain of gram-positive coccus bacteria responsible for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), or Staph infection in humans. This strain ... Read More This is a live image of the of Diatom Arachnoidiscus under 40x magnification. The picture shows the diatom's silicified cell wall, which forms a pillbox-like shell (frustule) composed of overlapping halves that contain intricate and delicate markings. The picture was obtained with new video enha... Read More Application of the mycopathogen, Beauveria Bassina, that make spores to introduce a fungus on tarnished plant bugs as an alternative to chemical control. Research and develop microbial control strategies for tarnished plant bugs on alternate hosts using entomopathogenic fungi. (http://www.ars... Read More This image of laboratory-grown cells was taken with the help of a scanning electron microscope, which yields detailed images of cell surfaces. Tina Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa. - NIGMS Image Gallery Read More Photomicrograph of Chlamydia grown in culture. The sample was taken from rhesus monkey kidney cells and stained with giemsa. The cell nuclei appear red and the infective 'elementary bodies' of the Chlamydia, which develop in 'blisters' in the cells, fluoresce green. Chlamydia is a very common se... Read More Cultures of a destructive mold called Phomopsis strains that infect both crop and noncrop plants. One of the species of this genus, Phomopsis viticola, cause a plant disease called phomopsis or dead-arm. Usually, infections begin during early growth stages in spring. This affects leaves, fruit, ... Read More Under a moderately-high magnification of 2500X, this digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an untreated water specimen extracted from a wild stream mainly used to control flooding during inclement weather, revealed the presence of unidentified organisms, which included bacter... Read More Chlamydia psittaci. Infected baby hamster kidney cell cultures, direct FA stain Read More Microscopic view of the green algae Spirogyra filament and a number of primitive worms known as rotifers. (approx. 100X). Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More fluorescent antibody staining of wall deficient mycobacterium tuberculosis var. hominis Read More Stan Maloy of the American Society for Microbiology participates in the first episode of This Week in Microbiology live from the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C. This Week in Microbiology will officially launch next week. Other guests for the fir... Read More The cyanobacterial mat is on the shores of Lake Fryxell in Taylor Valley- the McMurdo Dry Valley region of Antarctica. These organisms actively grow only a few weeks a year during December and January. Photo taken by Scott Craig and contributed by Dr. Laurie Connell. Read More Safranin stained rods. (approx. 1000 X). taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More This is a great visual resource for learning and teaching microbiology lab techniques. You have to join Flickr.com and then sign up to access the groups contents. Read More An Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever has killed three people in western India and dozens of doctors will screen a community of about 16,000 people in efforts to contain the disease, a state health minister said this past Wednesday. India's National Institute of Virology later confirmed that the th... Read More

<urn:uuid:b1c410f3-ada5-4adb-9376-bb1d21c69c6f>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Infectious Disease Information

Subsequent Nuremberg Trials The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials formally the Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals were a series of twelve U.S. military tribunals for war crimes against surviving members of the leadership of Nazi Germany, held in the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg, after World War II from 1946 to 1949 following the Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal. Although it had been initially planned to hold more than just one international trial at the IMT, the growing differences between the victorious allies (the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Soviet Union) made this impossible. However, the Control Council Law No. 10, which the Allied Control Council had issued on December 20, 1945, empowered any of the occupying authorities to try suspected war criminals in their respective occupation zones. Based on this law, the U.S. authorities proceeded after the end of the initial Nuremberg Trial against the major war criminals to hold another twelve trials in Nuremberg. The judges in all these trials were American, and so were the prosecutors; the Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was Brigadier General Telford Taylor. In the other occupation zones similar trials took place. The twelve U.S. trials before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT) took place from December 9, 1946 to April 13, 1949. The trials were: - The Doctors' Trial (9 December 1946 - 20 August 1947) - The Milch Trial (2 January - 14 April 1947) - The Judges' Trial (5 March - 4 December 1947) - The Pohl Trial (8 April - 3 November 1947) - The Flick Trial (19 April - 22 December 1947) - The IG Farben Trial (27 August 1947 - 30 July 1948) - The Hostages Trial (8 July 1947 – 19 February 1948) - The RuSHA Trial (20 October 1947 - 10 March 1948) - The Einsatzgruppen Trial (29 September 1947 - 10 April 1948) - The Krupp Trial (8 December 1947 - 31 July 1948) - The Ministries Trial (6 January 1948 - 13 April 1949) - The High Command Trial (30 December 1947 - 28 October 1948) In total, 142 of the 185 defendants were found guilty of at least one of the charges. 24 persons received death sentences, of which 11 were subsequently converted into life sentences; 20 were sentenced to life imprisonment, 98 were handed down sentences of varying lengths, and 35 were acquitted. Four defendants had to be removed from trials due to illness, and four more committed suicide during the trials. Many of the longer prison sentences were reduced substantially by decree of high commissioner John J. McCloy in 1951, and 10 outstanding death sentences from the Einsatzgruppen Trial were converted to prison terms. The same year, an amnesty released many of those who had received prison sentences. Some of the NMTs have been criticised for their misguided conclusion that "morale bombing" of civilians, including its nuclear variety, was legal, and for their judgement that, in certain situations, executing civilians in reprisal was permissible. Conduct of the prosecution In a 2005 interview for the Washington Post, Benjamin B. Ferencz, Chief Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, revealed some of his activities during his period in Germany: - "I once saw DPs beat an SS man and then strap him to the steel gurney of a crematorium. They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive. I did nothing to stop it. I suppose I could have brandished my weapon or shot in the air, but I was not inclined to do so. Does that make me an accomplice to murder?" In the interview, Ferencz also pointed out that the military legal norms at the time permitted actions that would not be possible today. - "You know how I got witness statements? I'd go into a village where, say, an American pilot had parachuted and been beaten to death and line everyone one up against the wall. Then I'd say, 'Anyone who lies will be shot on the spot.' It never occurred to me that statements taken under duress would be invalid." See also - Auschwitz Trial held in Kraków, Poland in 1947 against 40 SS-staff of the Auschwitz concentration camp death factory - Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, 1963–65 - Majdanek Trials, the longest Nazi war crimes trial in history, spanning over 30 years - Chełmno Trials of the Chełmno extermination camp personel, held in Poland and in Germany. The cases were decided almost twenty years apart - Sobibor Trial held in Hagen, Germany in 1965, concerning the Sobibor extermination camp - Belzec Trial before the 1st Munich District Court in the mid-1960s, eight SS-men of the Belzec extermination camp - Belsen Trial in Lüneburg, 1945 - Command responsibility doctrine of hierarchical accountability - Dachau Trials held within the walls of the former Dachau concentration camp, 1945–1948 - Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials, 1946–47 - Ravensbrück Trial - Research Materials: Max Planck Society Archive Further reading

<urn:uuid:06b93d9a-8163-48df-87ee-42d01f9db2da>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

European History Narratives

Anorexia may be a disorder more of the metabolism than the mind, according to a new paper that argues the disease is a sort of cousin of diabetes. But this theory of anorexia as a fundamentally biological disorder, rather than a psychological one, is untested, psychiatrists warn, and patients with the disease should not stray from proven treatments. The review of past research on the topic, published in the June issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry, finds that certain genetic and cellular processes get activated during starvation in organisms ranging from yeast to fruit flies to mice to humans. The idea, said study researcher Donard Dwyer, is that in people with a broken starvation response, a few initial rounds of dieting could trigger a metabolism gone haywire. In this theory, it’s not stubbornness or a mental disorder that keeps anorexics from eating, it’s their own bodies. The theory could explain why it can be so difficult to convince anorexic patients that anything is wrong with them, Dwyer told LiveScience. “Unless we conceive of it as more of a metabolic function, I don’t think we’ll get past the first stage of treatment with a lot of the real hard-core patients,” he said. The diabetes of starvation In the current understanding of anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder in which patients don’t maintain at least 85 percent of their normal body weight for their height, overachieving personality types attempt to control stress and emotion by restricting food and/or extreme exercising. Dwyer sees the disease, instead, as a condition similar to diabetes. Someone who becomes obese and is genetically susceptible will develop insulin resistance, which then becomes diabetes. An initial trigger — the obesity — is required, but once the patient has diabetes, you can’t talk him or her out of the disease. For anorexia, Dwyer said, the potential trigger is chronic undereating or dieting, and the messed-up molecular process could be any number of biological changes that happen during starvation. In the current review, he and his colleagues focus on a cascade of genetic and cellular events called the IGF-1/Akt/FOXO pathway. Organisms from yeasts to humans activate this pathway in response to starvation, triggering all sorts of biological changes, including a desire to look for food. If this pathway doesn’t work as it should, it could theoretically cause the warped approach to eating seen in anorexia. (The so-called epigenome, the supporting actor to our genes, is what helps determine which genes, or pathways, get switched on and off.) If Dwyer is right, difficult-to-treat anorexic patients may need drugs to get their metabolisms back on track, much as diabetic patients have to take insulin shots. But so far, the idea has not been tested in humans. “This is, at the moment, speculative,” Timothy Walsh, a psychiatrist at Columbia University who was not involved in the research, told LiveScience. “There’s no human data to support it, and it’s only part of the answer. It’s not proposed as the complete solution.” Starvation and metabolism Dwyer is careful to say that much more research is needed. But he says there is good reason to continue the work. Research on obesity has shown that being too heavy is more complex than simply calories in, calories out, he said. There are genetic and metabolic factors involved that make it hard for some people to shed weight. And obesity-related changes to the epigenome (our genes’ on-off switches) can even be passed down from mother to child. The same could be true on the flip side, with starvation, Dwyer said. The genes linked to anorexia could be the same ones that regulate the metabolism during starvation, he said. Additionally, studies on starving people suggest that many of the supposed causes of anorexia, including food obsession and anxiety, may be symptoms of starvation. And starving people, like anorexics, often report that they’re doing much better than their physical condition would suggest. “Here we have our anorexic patients who are not aware of how sick they are despite how thin they have gotten. … We’re not going to be able to convince them otherwise until we understand that better,” Dwyer said. “It’s probably not going to be something we can just talk them out of.”

<urn:uuid:483980a7-95f8-4a0c-9304-3b7369918fe7>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Healthy Eating and Obesity Strategies

As my 3 year old daughter, Emerson, has grown and excelled in her Montessori school, I’ve thought more and more about what my hopes are for her future education and what I believe an education should provide. There’s a great deal of talk these days about standards in education. I believe that it’s time for a new type of standards. I’ve attempted to put together a set of 10 belief statements that highlight the positive perspective of Emerson’s education and my own learning experiences. I didn’t set out to write statements that are exclusive to Montessori, but rather aspirational for the schools that I hope will help Emerson become the best possible version of herself. I believe children deserve a PERSONALIZED and PURPOSEFUL education. They should be free to do INDEPENDENT, SELF-DIRECTED and FASCINATION-DRIVEN work. The classroom should be an ENVIRONMENT OF BEAUTY that allows for FREE MOVEMENT and COLLABORATION. A commitment to EXPERIMENTATION and DISCOVERY during childhood will create a foundation for lifelong learning. 1) PERSONALIZED – I believe that a child deserves an education that is responsive to his or her individual spirit and learning style, utilizes all of the senses, and focuses on his or her dynamic development as a whole person (i.e. emotional, physical, social, spiritual, aesthetic and intellectual.) 2) PURPOSEFUL – I believe that a child with a positive conception of purposeful and concentrated work is prepared to be present and satisfied with his or her life’s work. 3) INDEPENDENT – I believe that a child provided an environment for independent decision-making is also prepared for responsibility in an ever-changing world. 4) SELF-DIRECTED – I believe that a child who learns the value of self-direction and self-correction will develop a positive self-image in a world requiring self-motivation. 5) FASCINATION-DRIVEN – I believe that a child with freedom to concentrate on his or her fascinations develops a capacity for both self-discipline and self-initiative. 6) ENVIRONMENT OF BEAUTY – I believe that a child who is taught the value and responsibility of learning in an environment of beauty and harmony will appreciate the value of beauty and harmony in one’s life. 7) FREE MOVEMENT – I believe that a child requires purposeful movement and activity as an integral component of realizing his or her full intellectual potential. 8) COLLABORATION – I believe that a child engaged in a classroom collaboration of diverse ages and cultures gains an open, empathetic, and respectful perspective on participation in a community. 9) EXPERIMENTATION – I believe that a child who is free to exercise critical thinking, experimentation and creativity will have an appreciation for the world of entrepreneurship and innovation in science and art. 10) DISCOVERY – I believe that a child started and supported on a journey of self-discovery will also discover the possibility of self-fulfillment and a lifetime of learning both inside and outside the classroom. Is there something missing? Is something not clear? Does something seem misplaced, overstated or uncomfortable? Don’t worry about formal remarks. I’d just love some kneejerk wisdom from others who care as much about education as I have grown to. Thanks to Bobby George and many others for feedback on this draft.

<urn:uuid:302870b4-f09b-497f-8d83-2e132f1715fd>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Child-Focused Learning Techniques

(455) At Coalface of Heating In February 2003, a small factory closed down in Seoul; the demand for its product had dropped below the level which made production economically viable. Stories like this are common in Korea and they are seldom seen as newsworthy. But the closure of the Samchully factory attracted the attention of the major media. The reason was simple: the factory was the last in Seoul to produce coal briquettes, known as yeontan. For decades, these briquettes kept Korean houses warm in winter. They were seen as a valuable commodity and, at some point, an embodiment of technical progress. Heating has always been a major problem in Korea. In the cold winters one had to keep the house warm. Since times immemorial Koreans used a very efficient system of heated floors, known as ondol, but the ondol hearth had to be fed with fuel. For centuries, it was firewood, but by the early 1900s the use of firewood was increasingly inconvenient. This was due to two major problems. First of all, population growth meant that most mountains around towns were virtually stripped barren (this is still the case in North Korea). Firewood was in short supply, and expensive. Second, the available low-quality firewood was a capricious fuel. It was very time-consuming to feed the hearth. Thus, Korean housewives welcomed the arrival of yeontan with great relief. What does a yeontan look like? I am pretty sure that many readers have seen these briquettes somewhere on Seoul’s streets. They are cylindrical and about the size of a paint can, with a number of drilled holes _ the standard yeontan had 22 holes. The holes are necessary to make it burn steadily and efficiently. The standard briquette weighs 3.5 kg. Yeontan were produced from a mixture of coal dust and a special gluing agent which kept the dust particles together. It was the standard weight and size that made yeontan so hugely popular. Unlike ``natural’’ coal and firewood, yeontan came in a predictable shape. One could easily stack a few briquettes on top of each other in a stove and leave them burning slowly for hours. In addition, the technology of their composition made it possible to utilize low-quality coal and coal dust. When did the history of yeontan begin? Despite my labors, I could not find a definite answer. These briquettes are not unique to Korea and their close cousins are widely used in China and Japan as well. This makes me suspect that the yeontan was invented in the early 1900s, but where and by whom I know not. The first yeontan were introduced to Korea by the Japanese in the late 1920s, but for a long time these briquettes remained an expensive luxury. The spread of yeontan began only after the 1950-53 Korean War when the price went down just as firewood became prohibitively expensive. Korean households enthusiastically took up the new fuel which _ as they soon discovered _ was so much more convenient than firewood. In a poll conducted in 1970, Koreans even chose yeontan as ``the most important product of our time’’ (in a 2000 poll, the same significance was ascribed to the mobile phone). The government also supported the switch to yeontan _ it helped to protect the then dwindling forests. However, yeontan was not without its dangers. The most serious one was the ever-present danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. This odorless and colorless gas could filter through the cracks of a damaged ondol floor and suffocate the victims while they were sleeping. Strict precautions were always taken, but gas poisoning remained a major case of death in Korea until quite recently. In 1988, 77.8 percent of all Korean households used yeontan briquettes for heating and/or cooking. By 1993, that percentage had dropped to 32.8 percent. The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and high oil prices of the late 1990s briefly reversed the trend, but soon the retreat of the venerable coal briquettes continued. In 2001 a mere 1.5 percent of families were still using yeontan. People were switching to oil and gas boilers, generally more expensive but also more convenient and safe (no danger of gas poisoning: the floor was heated not by fumes, but by hot water). Thus, the good old yeontan is going to soon become extinct. New, automated and computerized heating systems are replacing the coal briquettes. The introduction of these systems has greatly changed the daily lives of Koreans. Prof. Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul.

<urn:uuid:0f83d85a-78ef-42d5-98b8-e9b2ff372cb1>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Buildings and Materials

January 10, 2012 Carlos Peres and Maurício Schneider review the environmental and socioeconomic costs of Brazil's agrarian resettlement schemes, which have run from the 1970s as part an effort to to encourage migration from densely settled areas to low population regions. The largest, run by the Institute for Rural Settlement and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), has moved nearly a million families to settlements encompassing 85.8 million hectares of mostly forest land. The impact on forests has been substantial — by 2004 15 percent of all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon had occurred in INCRA areas. The proportion has since climbed, with some INCRA settlements reaching 70 percent forest loss. Fragmentation due to colonization in the Brazilian Amazon. Image courtesy of Google Earth But while the programs drive deforestation, the economic benefits for settlers are less than clear, according to the authors. "The environmental and monetary costs associated with these resettlement schemes are rarely outweighed by the socioeconomic benefits accrued to translocated farmers," they write. "At an average start-up resettlement cost of at least US$12,000 per family, this is an expensive development program." From a macroeconomic standpoint, this strategic investment policy is highly questionable. Brazil was the first tropical country to join the traditional 'big five' breadbaskets, but this 'agricultural revolution' was largely spearheaded by large rather than small properties. Only 8% of the country’s 5.2 million farms are relatively large landholdings (>100 ha) but they earn 52.5% of the overall farm income. This highlights the sociopolitical polarity between highly productive large corporate farms and myriads of relatively inefficient smallholdings. Thus Peres and Schneider conclude with a call to limit new agricultural settlements to previously deforested areas that are presently used for low-yield cattle pasture; improved law enforcement and forest monitoring programs; and a "truly integrated policy framework" that reconciles conflicting policy goals between different government sectors. "Above all," write Peres and Schneider, "both a reorganization of land-tenure law enforcement in settler destination regions and curbing the outflow of migrants from source regions will be central to improving the dismal environmental record of land redistribution policy in Brazil." CITATION: Carlos Peres and Maurício Schneider. Subsidized agricultural resettlements as drivers of tropical deforestation. Biological Conservation (2011) doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.011

<urn:uuid:1dd46069-da7c-4c5a-95ff-1f9d394cb0b2>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Forest Management and Restoration

"Actually get to have hands on experience of harvesting and preparing their own food," Adrienne Shaunfield, Community Food Systems Coordinator for Feed Fayetteville said. Head Start is a preschool program for children whose families fall under the poverty guidelines. Feed Fayetteville teamed up to build a garden for them last month to introduce them to a new way of getting food. "When kids take ownership of their food choices, they're more likely to be excited about it and also to want to try new things," Shaunfield said. Learning to grow their own food is not just cost effective, but studies have shown that the more time kids spend in a garden, the more vegetables kids will eat. "It's not just mom or dad is making me eat it, but I want to eat it because I helped grow it. If a child pulls a carrot out of the dirt they're more likely to eat it than if you serve one to them on a plate." Shaunfield said what kids learn in the garden they're likely to bring back home to their parents. "I think that children really do influence their parents choices at the grocery store. I know mine do anyway." Feed Fayetteville also has a farmer's market style program for families called SNAP Garden. It allows families to use food stamps to buy fresh, local produce. Shaunfield said a key element to the program however, is starting them young. "I think it's really important to start healthy eating habits at an early age, and by building the garden here at Head Start we've created an environment that is a learning space for the kids." Feed Fayetteville is having a food drive throughout October called Protein, Produce and Pennies to help support local families in need. For more information on the programs visit, www.feedfayetteville.org

<urn:uuid:011859ae-4102-42ed-9a92-e58db1bf8301>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Food Science and Safety

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an ancient group of molecules that are expressed in many species ranging from bacteria to humans. At least 1200 naturally-occurring AMPs have been identified which display considerable diversity in their primary sequences, lengths, structures, and biological activities (Wang et al., 2009). Generally speaking, these peptides have been studied due to their ability to directly kill medically important-microbes. Indeed, the increased demand for novel anti-infective therapies (due to the spread of drug-resistant bacteria) has likely contributed to the expansion of this field of research. However, there has been a definite change of focus in AMP research in light of the recent recognition of the regulatory functions of these molecules in the innate immune system. This has opened up the exciting possibility of developing novel antimicrobial therapies that centre on boosting host immunity rather than direct microbial killing (Zhang and Falla, 2010). In this volume, with emphasis on emerging technologies, mechanism of action studies and roles in disease, we aim to consolidate some of these developments and stimulate discussion on the therapeutic potential of these important molecules. The first three articles demonstrate how knowledge of AMP structure and amino acid composition is guiding rational peptide design strategies aimed at improving the therapeutic potential of these molecules. Mishra and Wang describe the development of a comprehensive AMP database that is enabling us to link amino acid composition with specific peptide activities (e.g., antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasital, insecticidal, spermicidal, anticancer, etc.). The article suggests how this information may be used to develop novel peptides with a desired activity. Next, Scorciapino and Rinaldi discuss how knowledge of the amino acid sequence of naturally-occurring AMPs can be used to dictate the design of antimicrobial peptidomimetics. The authors note that by retaining the biological activity of natural AMPs and improving their pharmacokinetic properties, these novel molecules may allow systemic use of AMPs to treat microbial infections. The third article by Devocelle describes how conjugation of AMPs to targeting moieties can improve delivery to their desired site of action and reduce potential off-target effects. It is clear that the complementary approaches described in these three articles will play an important part in making therapeutic AMPs a reality. The next two articles describe different, but equally powerful, approaches that may be used to probe the biological functions of AMPs. The development of various “–omics” (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and others) technologies has truly revolutionised biological research. In this regard, Plichta et al. discuss how the integration of various—omics datasets can help us to understand the role of AMPs in varied contexts from resolution of infections, improvement of prognosis for cancer patients to early detection of transplant rejection. The fifth article by Munoz and Read highlights the use of live cell imaging to study AMP function. With emphasis on the various approaches that may be used to label AMPs, this article demonstrates the central role live cell imaging continues to play in the elucidation of AMP function. The next six articles in this research topic cover recent advances in our understanding of the biological role of AMPs and their mechanism(s) of action. Brender et al. examine the role of cholesterol in dictating the selectivity of AMPs for microbial membranes. Defining the role of cholesterol in AMP-mediated cytotoxicity is important, especially if AMPs are to be used therapeutically. Melo and Castanho discuss the various experimental approaches that may be used to answer this very question. By comparing the use of bacterial membranes with model liposomal membranes, they illustrate the importance of physiological relevance in experimental design. The next two articles in this series illustrate how helminths express AMP homologues that are functionally adapted to either a free-living or parasitic lifestyle. For example, Pujol et al. describe the array of AMPs expressed by the model nematode Caenorhabditis elelgans and how they serve to protect the worm against attack by fungi in the free-living environment. Next, Cotton et al. probe the role of AMP homologues that are secreted by medically-important parasitic worms. This interesting family of molecules may hold the key to the evolution of immunomodulatory function in AMPs. In the following two articles, Ulm et al. and Choi and Mookherjee discuss advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which members of these major AMP families influence immune cell function. The final two articles in the volume cover the role of AMPs in disease resolution and the outlook for their therapeutic use in humans. The article by David describes how AMPs may fill a gap in our existing therapeutic repertoire. David builds the case for the use of polymyxins to treat Gram-negative sepsis, a condition for which there is currently no single effective therapeutic approach. The article by Berditsch et al. concludes the volume and describes how, perhaps surprisingly, AMPs can stimulate bacterial survival mechanisms leading to persistent infections. This article highlights the importance of understanding how microbial populations respond to exposure to AMPs before they can be used in the clinic. In summary, by inviting opinion articles from leading AMP researchers, the aim of this volume was to highlight recent advances in our understanding of the roles of these important molecules. We also hope that the articles compiled will stimulate discussion and further research in this area so that the therapeutic potential of AMPs may be realised. Citation: Robinson MW, Hutchinson AT and Donnelly S (2012) Antimicrobial peptides: utility players in innate immunity. Front. Immun. 3:325. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00325 Received: 05 October 2012; Accepted: 08 October 2012; Published online: 25 October 2012. Copyright © 2012 Robinson, Hutchinson and Donnelly. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.

<urn:uuid:3a7b47ae-8baf-4581-b4c8-3e0265ee6b85>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Infectious Disease Information

Life of St. King Stephen of Decani King Stephen of Decani is one of the best known Saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Through his holy and incorruptible relics God has performed numerous miracles. as the Serbian people suffer through another turbulent chapter in their history, they would do well to bring to mind the exemplary character of their martyred King Stephen Uros III (Decanski). He was born the eldest son of the saintly King Milutin (Stephen Uros II) and his wife Elizabeth, a Hungarian princess. Living at the court of his parents, the heir-apparent received a good education, his mind exercised by study of the language and writings of his people, and his heart strengthened by study of the Holy Scripture and the teachings of the Orthodox Faith. The good fruit of his upbringing proved itself when King Milutin was forced to send him as hostage to the Tartar chief Nogyi. In spite of the potential dangers, Stephen was obedient to his father's will and did not resist, trusting his life to the Lord. And his hope was not in vain. He eventually made friends with one of the Tartar nobles, who succeeded in assisting his safe return home. When Stephen came of age, his parents arranged that he marry the daughter of the Bulgarian King Smilatz, and the young couple were given the land of Zeta, where they settled until such a time as Stephen would be called to succeed his father to the throne. Meanwhile, King Milutin had remarried, and his second wife, Simonide, plotted in order that their son Constantine inherit the throne. She convinced Milutin that Stephen wanted to seize the throne prematurely, and the deceived Milutin ordered that his son be captured, that he be blinded to ensure that he never again entertain such treachery, and that he be sent as a prisoner to Constantinople. The coffin of St. King Stephan of Decani, 14th century The prince was taken together with his children, Dusan and Dusica, and when they were passing through Ovcepole (Sheep's Field), the guards took red hot pokers and blinded him. That night St. Nicholas appeared to Stephen in a dream: "Be not afraid," he said, "your eyes are in my hands." Comforted not a little by this vision, the sightless Stephen arrived in Constantinople. The Emperor Andronicus pitied the young exile, and received him graciously. He was soon settled in the monastery of Pantocrator, where he impressed the monks by his meekness and his longsuffering acceptance of the bitter trial that had come to him through his own father. years passed. King Milutin was growing old. Hearing good reports about his son, his heart softened, and he called Stephen home to Serbia. Before leaving Constantinople, Stephen had a dream in which St. Nicholas appeared to him a second time, holding in his hand a pair of eyes. When he awoke, his sight was restored. Three years later, his father died, and Stephen, always popular with the people, was crowned King of Serbia by the holy Archbishop Nikodim in the church at Pec. His halfbrother, Constantine, resented this turn of events, and raised an army in order to wrest the throne away from Stephen. Desiring to avoid bloodshed, King Stephen addressed a letter "Put far from thee thy desire to come with a foreign people to make war on shine own countrymen; but let us meet one another, and thou shalt be second in my kingdom, for the land is great enough for me and thee to live. I am not Cain who slew his brother, but Joseph who loved him, and in his words I speak to thee. Fear not, for I am from the Lord. You prepared evil for me, but the Lord has given me good, as you now was unmoved and gave orders to attack. In the ensuing battle, his army was defeated and he himself was slain. For the next ten years, King Stephen ruled in relative peace, and the Serbian land prospered. His son Dusan proved to be an able military leader and was successful in battles with the Bulgarians and the Greeks, who were envious of the now powerful Serbian state and rose up against it. Grateful to the Lord for these victories, King Stephen set about with Archbishop Daniel, Nikodim,s successor, to find a place to build a church. They settled upon a place called Decani, and there, in 1327, King Stephen himself laid the cornerstone for what was to become one of the most magnificent and enduring specimens of Serbian church architecture. Inside it was graced by splendid icons, to which more were added in the sixteenth century by the hand of the celebrated Slav iconographer, Longinos. St. King Stefan of Decani, fresco Decani Monastery, 14th click for a larger size image Saint Stephen gave generously to the needy. He also made liberal donations to churches and monasteries on the Holy Mountain, in Jerusalem, Alexandria, and to the monastery of Pantocrator in Constantinople. Nor did he forget his debt to the wonderworker Nicholas: he commissioned a silver altar and sent it together with some icons to the church in Bari, Italy, where the Saint's holy relics are located. St. King Stefan - a woodcarving (miniature) Having in a true Christian manner endured the grievous trials and afflictions which he met through the years, the good king deserved to live out the rest of his life in peace. But it was only fitting that he who suffered as a martyr in life should be granted an opportunity to receive in death a martyr's crown. His final trial was the most agonizing. Dusan's successes on the field of battle had given him an appetite for power and glory, and, encouraged by his entourage of nobles, he decided to hasten his father's death. In 1331, St. Stephen was taken prisoner to a fortress in the town of Zvecan and cruelly murdered (by some accounts he was hung, according to another he was strangled). Almost immediately Dusan was struck by remorse. He earnestly and tearfully repented of his treachery, and the next year, on the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, he had his father's remains transferred from Zvecan to Decani, where they were placed in a marble tomb. In 1339 the tomb was opened, and his body was found to be incorrupt. That same day saw many miracles of healing. Especially did the holy king prove to heal diseases of the eyes, and at his relics blind people received their Fr. Kozma Vasilopoulos The Orthodox Monastery of St Michael, Sidney relics of St. King Stephen of Decani Signature of St. King Stefan in his Decani Monastery Foundation Charter, 14c. TO DECANI MONASTERY PAGE

<urn:uuid:e9ae3d1e-a0e0-4b35-aa49-919fbf30029c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Middle East History & Politics

Bacterial vaginosis is a mild infection in the vagina caused by a type of bacteria (germ). The vagina normally contains a lot of "good" bacteria, called lactobacilli (say: "lack-toe bah-sil-li"), and a few other types of bacteria, called anaerobes (say: "ann-air-robes"). Too many anaerobes can cause bacterial vaginosis. It is not known why the anaerobe bacteria overgrow and cause this infection. You may notice a discharge from your vagina. The discharge may be clear or colored. It may be very light or heavy. It may have a fishy smell, especially after you have sexual intercourse. Some women have bacterial vaginosis without any symptoms. Bacterial vaginosis is an overgrowth of bacteria that are normally in the vagina. Researchers do not completely understand why it occurs. However, activities such as douching or having a new sexual partner or multiple sexual partners can put you at greater risk for bacterial vaginosis. While it's more common in women who are sexually active, it also occurs in women who are not sexually active. It's not usually necessary for your sex partner to be treated. Your doctor will examine your vagina and use a cotton swab to get a sample of the discharge. This sample will be tested. Yes. If the infection isn't treated, the bacteria may get up into the uterus or the fallopian tubes and cause more serious infections. Treating bacterial vaginosis lowers this risk. Treatment is especially important in pregnant women. It can be treated in one of several ways. Your doctor may prescribe pills for you to take by mouth, or a cream or gel to put in your vagina. It's important to use your medicine exactly as your doctor tells you. If your doctor prescribes metronidazole or other medicines, don't drink any alcohol while taking the medicine or for 24 hours afterward. Combining alcohol with these medicines can cause nausea and vomiting. Even the small amount of alcohol in many cough syrups can cause nausea and vomiting if you're taking metronidazole. Also, be sure to tell your doctor about any other medicines you are currently taking. Written by familydoctor.org editorial staff

<urn:uuid:a1c7fea1-8969-40ee-b8b4-7b32f6825c42>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Allergy and Infection Information

Coloring pages - Edupics.com All videos (0) Amusement park (15) Children's rights (14) Space exploration (103) Fairy tales (286) Youth organization (25) Famous people (182) Film and television (67) airplane, anatomy, animals, army, baby, beach, bike, birds, boat, boy, butterfly, car, cars, cat, chicken, children, clothes, cow, doctor, dog, dragon, duck, easter bunny, easter eggs, eating, egypt, Elephant, fairy, family, fish, flag, flower, flowers, food, forest, frog, Fruit, garden, girl, graffiti, guitar, heart, hippie, horse, house, human body, ice cream, lion, love, mandala, mandalas, meat, Mexico, MICHAEL JACKSON, monkey, music, music notes, ocean, peace, PEOPLE, pig, princess, rabbit, ROSES, school, spain, sports, sun, teacher, tiger, train, tree, Vegetables, water, weather Coloring pages, pictures and crafts at Edupics.comEducational pictures, photos and crafts On our website, we offer you a wide selection of coloring pages, pictures, photographs and handicrafts. Everything has been classified in themes which are commonly used in primary education. The coloring pages are especially designed to be used throughout the year at school. Coloring pages are widely used as an educational means in upbringing and education. In a school environment these useful tools can be applied in many ways: - to visually clarify concepts that are taught in the classroom. - to remind the children of made agreements or certain class assignments. - to help children express themselves, or to deal with certain issues. - to have fun, relax or encourage creativity. As their educational application is versatile, coloring pages can be a valuable tool in the general upbringing and education of children. This site runs on 100% Green Power! Powered by MDKMedia.

<urn:uuid:2aa4fbe6-bc90-4309-9c43-643167ce5305>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Childrens Educational Activities

US 6543011 B1 A method for recording events in Java. According to a preferred embodiment, an automator is attached to a Java applet. Responsive to selection by a user, listeners are added for each event type produced in the Java applet. Each time a specified event occurs, that event is captured and saved to a data structure. The recording of events is performed until the user stops the process. 1. A data processor implemented method of recording events, the steps comprising: loading an application; adding listeners for each event type produced in the application; capturing user generated events; recording the user generated events to a data structure; and replaying the user generated events. 2. The method as recited in 3. The method as recited in 4. The method as recited in 5. The method as recited in 6. The method as recited in 7. The method of 8. The method of 9. A computer program product in computer readable media for use in a data processing system for recording events, the computer program product comprising: first instructions for loading an application; second instructions for adding listeners for each event type produced in the application; third instructions for capturing user generated events; fourth instructions for recording the user generated events to a data structure; and fifth instructions for replaying the user generated events. 10. The computer program product as recited in 11. The computer program product as recited in 12. The computer program product as recited in 13. The computer program product as recited in 14. The computer program product as recited in 15. The computer program product of 16. The computer program product of 17. A system for recording events, comprising: means for loading an application; means for adding listeners for each event type produced in the application; and means for capturing user generated events; means for recording the user generated events to a data structure; and means for replaying the user generated events. 18. The system as recited in 19. The system as recited in 20. The system as recited in 21. The system as recited in 22. The system as recited in 23. The system of 24. The system of 25. A method of recording events, the steps comprising: loading an application; adding a listener for an event type; capturing an event; recording the event; and replaying the event. 26. The method as recited in 27. The method as recited in 28. The method as recited in 29. The method of 30. The method of 31. A system for recording events generated by an application, comprising: a listener; and a file; wherein the automator is attached to an application and adds the listener to a component of an application; and the listener monitors events of the event type received from a system queue within the application and posts received events to the file. 1. Technical Field The present invention relates generally to computer software and, more specifically, to methods of recording events in Java. 2. Description of Related Art The evolution of programming languages has, to a great extent, been driven by changes in the hardware being programmed. As hardware has grown faster, cheaper, and more powerful, software has become larger and more complex. The migration from assembly languages to procedural languages, such as C, and to object-oriented languages, such as C++ and Java, was largely driven by a need to manage ever greater complexity—complexity made possible by increasingly powerful hardware. Today, the progression toward cheaper, faster, and more powerful hardware continues, as does the need for managing increasing software complexity. Building on C and C++, Java helps programmers deal with complexity by rendering impossible certain kinds of bugs that frequently plague C and C++ programmers. In addition to the increasing capabilities of hardware, there is another fundamental shift taking place that impacts upon software programming, that is the network. As networks interconnect more and more computers and devices, new demands are being placed on software. One of these demands is platform independence. Java supports platform independence primarily through the creation of the Java Virtual Machine. The Java Virtual Machine is an abstract computer, and its specification defines certain features every Java Virtual Machine must have. However, the specification for the Java Virtual Machine is flexible, enabling it to be implemented on a wide variety of computers, devices, and operating systems. One of the main tasks performed by a Java Virtual Machine is to load class files and execute the bytecodes they contain. One type of program executed by a Java Virtual Machine is an applet. An applet is a Java program that has a set of standard properties that are defined by the applet class. This class was developed by Sun Microsystems and is included in the standard Java Software Development Kit (Java SDK). Although, theoretically, a program written in Java for one platform should perform on any Java enabled platform, given the allowable differences among Java platform implementations and other factors, a Java program or applet should be tested on all platforms on which it is anticipated to perform. Since user actions in Java are handled by events, and since it can sometimes take many hours or days for a problem to manifest itself, testing of the entire Java Virtual Machine on a platform can be very tedious. Therefore, it is desirable to provide methods of automating the functional testing of the Java platform on various systems. However, current methods of automating testing of the Java platform on various systems requires a specialized execution environment, as well as compilation of a separate program. Furthermore, current methods require that the applet or application must be exited before any automation can take place, and they require a significant amount of system resources. Therefore, there is a need for a simpler method of testing the Java platform, that does not require recompilation of code, that does not require the applet or application to be exited before automation, and that uses fewer system resources. The present invention provides a data processor implemented method for recording events in Java. According to a preferred embodiment, an automator is attached to a Java applet. Responsive to selection by a user, listeners are added for each event type produced in the Java applet. Each time a specified event occurs, that event is captured and saved to a data structure. The recording of events is performed until the user stops the process. The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a distributed data processing system; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data processing system that may be implemented as a server; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data processing system; FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a Java virtual machine (JVM); FIG. 5 depicts a sample user interface to an applet recorder; FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating how events are currently handled within Java applets; FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating how events are handled when an automator is attached to a Java applet; FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating how the applet recorder functions; FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the function performed by an automator listener; and FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the three main parts of an object created by an automator listener. With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference to FIG. 1, a pictorial representation of a distributed data processing system is depicted in which the present invention may be implemented. Distributed data processing system 100 is a network of computers in which the present invention may be implemented. Distributed data processing system 100 contains network 102, which is the medium used to provide communications links between various devices and computers connected within distributed data processing system 100. Network 102 may include permanent connections, such as wire or fiber optic cables, or temporary connections made through telephone connections. In the depicted example, server 104 is connected to network 102, along with storage unit 106. In addition, clients 108, 110 and 112 are also connected to network 102. These clients, 108, 110 and 112, may be, for example, personal computers or network computers. For purposes of this application, a network computer is any computer coupled to a network, which receives a program or other application from another computer coupled to the network. In the depicted example, server 104 provides data, such as boot files, operating system images and applications, to clients 108-112. Clients 108, 110 and 112 are clients to server 104. Distributed data processing system 100 may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. In the depicted example, distributed data processing system 100 is the Internet, with network 102 representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers consisting of thousands of commercial, government, education, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, distributed data processing system 100 also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks such as, for example, an intranet or a local area network. FIG. 1 is intended as an example and not as an architectural limitation for the processes of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a data processing system which may be implemented as a server, such as server 104 in FIG. 1, is depicted in accordance with the present invention. Data processing system 200 may be a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system including a plurality of processors 202 and 204 connected to system bus 206. Alternatively, a single processor system may be employed. Also connected to system bus 206 is memory controller/cache 208, which provides an interface to local memory 209. I/O bus bridge 210 is connected to system bus 206 and provides an interface to I/O bus 212. Memory controller/cache 208 and I/O bus bridge 210 may be integrated as depicted. Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge 214 connected to I/O bus 212 provides an interface to PCI local bus 216. A number of modems 218-220 may be connected to PCI bus 216. Typical PCI bus implementations will support four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. Communications links to network computers 108-112 in FIG. 1 may be provided through modem 218 and network adapter 220 connected to PCI local bus 216 through add-in boards. Additional PCI bus bridges 222 and 224 provide interfaces for additional PCI buses 226 and 228, from which additional modems or network adapters may be supported. In this manner, server 200 allows connections to multiple network computers. A memory mapped graphics adapter 230 and hard disk 232 may also be connected to I/O bus 212 as depicted, either directly or indirectly. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in FIG. 2 may vary. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk drives and the like, also may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. The data processing system depicted in FIG. 2 may be, for example, an IBM RISC/System 6000, a product of International Business Machines Corporation in Armonk, N.Y., running the Advanced Interactive Executive (AIX) operating system. With reference now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented is illustrated. Data processing system 300 is an example of a client computer. Data processing system 300 employs a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus architecture. Although the depicted example employs a PCI bus, other bus architectures, such as Micro Channel and ISA, may be used. Processor 302 and main memory 304 are connected to PCI local bus 306 through PCI bridge 308. PCI bridge 308 may also include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor 302. Additional connections to PCI local bus 306 may be made through direct component interconnection or through add-in boards. In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter 310, SCSI host bus adapter 312, and expansion bus interface 314 are connected to PCI local bus 306 by direct component connection. In contrast, audio adapter 316, graphics adapter 318, and audio/video adapter (A/V) 319 are connected to PCI local bus 306 by add-in boards inserted into expansion slots. Expansion bus interface 314 provides a connection for a keyboard and mouse adapter 320, modem 322, and additional memory 324. In the depicted example, SCSI host bus adapter 312 provides a connection for hard disk drive 326, tape drive 328, CD-ROM drive 330, and digital versatile disc read only memory drive (DVD-ROM) 332. Typical PCI local bus implementations will support three or four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. An operating system runs on processor 302 and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system 300 in FIG. 3. The operating system may be a commercially available operating system, such as OS/2, which is available from International Business Machines Corporation. “OS/2” is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. An object oriented programming system, such as Java, may run in conjunction with the operating system, providing calls to the operating system from Java programs or applications executing on data processing system 300. Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented operating system, and applications or programs are located on a storage device, such as hard disk drive 326, and may be loaded into main memory 304 for execution by processor 302. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in FIG. 3 may vary depending on the implementation. For example, other peripheral devices, If; such as optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIG. 3. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. For example, the processes of the present invention may be applied to multiprocessor data processing systems. With reference now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of a Java virtual machine (JVM) is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. JVM 400 includes a class loader subsystem 402, which is a mechanism for loading types, such as classes and interfaces, given fully qualified names. JVM 400 also contains runtime data areas 404, execution engine 406, native method interface 408, and memory management 424. Execution engine 406 is a mechanism for executing instructions contained in the methods of classes loaded by class loader subsystem 402. Execution engine 406 may be, for example, Java interpreter 412 or just-in-time compiler 410. Native method interface 408 allows access to resources in the underlying operating system. Native method interface 408 may be, for example, a Java native interface. Runtime data areas 404 contain native method stacks 414, Java stacks 416, PC registers 418, method area 420, and heap 422. These different data areas represent the organization of memory needed by JVM 400 to execute a program. Java stacks 416 are used to store the state of Java method invocations. When a new thread is launched, the JVM creates a new Java stack for the thread. The JVM performs only two operations directly on Java stacks; it pushes and pops frames. A thread's Java stack stores the state of Java method invocations for the thread. The state of a Java method invocation includes its local variables, the parameters with which it was invoked, its return value, if any, and intermediate calculations. Java stacks are composed of stack frames. A stack frame contains the state of a single Java method invocation. When a thread invokes a method, the JVM pushes a new frame onto the Java stack of the thread. When the method completes, the JVM pops the frame for that method and discards it. A JVM does not have any registers for holding intermediate values; any Java instruction that requires or produces an intermediate value uses the stack for holding the intermediate values. In this manner, the Java instruction set is well defined for a variety of platform architectures. PC registers 418 are used to indicate the next instruction to be executed. Each instantiated thread gets its own PC register (program counter) and Java stack. If the thread is executing a JVM method, the value of the PC register indicates the next instruction to execute. If the thread is executing a native method, then the contents of the PC register are undefined. Native method stacks 414 store the state of invocations of native methods. The state of native method invocations is stored in an implementation-dependent way in native method stacks, registers, or other implementation-dependent memory areas. In some JVM implementations, native method stacks 414 and Java stacks 416 are combined. Method area 420 contains class data, while heap 422 contains all instantiated objects. The JVM specification strictly defines data types and operations. Most JVM implementations choose to have one method area and one heap, each of which is shared by all threads running inside the JVM. When the JVM loads a class file, it parses information about a type from the binary data contained in the class file. It places this type information into the method area. Each time a class instance or array is created, the memory for the new object is allocated from heap 422. JVM 400 includes an instruction that allocates memory space within the memory for heap 422 but includes no instruction for freeing that space within the memory. In the depicted example, memory management 424 manages memory space within the memory allocated to heap 422. Memory management 424 may include a garbage collector that automatically reclaims memory used by objects that are no longer referenced by an application. Additionally, a garbage collector also may move objects to reduce heap fragmentation. Turning now to FIG. 5, there is depicted a screen image of user interface 500 for an applet recorder in accordance with the present invention, which may run on top of a JVM such as JVM 400. User interface 500 contains a start record button 510 to start recording events, and a stop record button 520 to stop recording events. User interface 500 also contains a close button 530 to close the applet recorder. The applet is viewed in area 550 on the left side of user interface 500. The applet is loaded and started prior to receiving a request to record events. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the applet has been loaded and started. Start record button 510 is enabled because recording has not commenced. Stop record button 520 is not enabled, for the same reason. Turning now to FIG. 6, there is shown a block diagram illustrating normal Java applet operation that runs on top of a JVM such as JVM 400 and may be implemented in a data processing system such as data processing system 300. An applet 620 must be loaded into an applet viewer, such as the applet viewers within Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Applet 620 contains all of the user-accessible components. Once applet 620 is loaded, it creates a standard Java class of event listeners (shown in FIG. 6 as applet listeners 640) that are attached to these components and system queue 650. It should be noted that several applet listeners may be (and usually will be) used. Applet listeners 640 are event listeners. An event listener is any object that implements one or more listener interfaces. There are different listeners for each category of event in Java. For instance, the MouseListener interface defines methods such as MouseClicked, MousePressed, and MouseReleased. In order to receive events from a component, an object adds itself as a listener for that component's events. If an object implements the MouseListener interface, it listens for a component's mouse events by calling addMouseListener on that component. This allows a component's events to be handled without having to create a subclass of the component, and without handling the events in the parent container. In response to user input 610 on a component in applet 620, such as moving a mouse, a keystroke, or a drag operation, an event 630 is constructed and posted on system queue 650. System queue 650 then dispatches this event to any applet listeners 640 on that component. The component's applet listeners 640 execute tasks according to the properties of event 630. Examples of tasks performed by applet listeners 640 include loading or saving information to a file when a button is depressed, playing a sound or displaying an image when the mouse cursor is moved over a specific area, and closing a program when a specific combination of keys is pressed. Turning now to FIG. 7, there is a block diagram illustrating an applet recorder 700 in accordance with the present invention. Applet recorder 700 runs on top of a JVM, such as JVM 400, and may be implemented in a data processing system, such as data processing system 600. Applet recorder 700 consists of automator 760, which loads an applet 620 from a database located either on the local data processing system or on a network computer, such as server 104, for viewing. Automator 760 references applet 620 and adds automator listeners 770 to each of the applet 620 components. In response to user input 610 to a component of applet 620, an event 630 is constructed and posted on system queue 650, as is done with normal applet operation as discussed above. However, system queue 650 not only dispatches event 630 to applet listeners 640, but also it dispatches event 630 to automator listeners 770 on that component. Automator listeners 770 receive an event 630 and store event 630 information to automator queue 780. When the recording session is complete, automator queue 780 contains all of the events that have occurred on applet 620 components. These events can then be played back by being posted to system queue 650 in the same order in which they were recorded. Automator listeners 770 are similar to applet listeners 640, and are created by the automator and attached to each component of the applet 620. However, rather than perform a specified task to implement applet 620 as applet listeners 640 are programmed to do, automator listeners 770 capture events 630 and record them to automator queue 780, thereby recording the events such that they may be played back at a later time. By having these events stored, testing of a Java Virtual Machine, such as JVM 400, on a particular platform may be automated by having applet recorder 700 replay the user-generated events, thus freeing a person from this tedious task. These events may be required to be played back several times over a period of hours or days. Turning now to FIG. 8, there is shown a flowchart illustrating a preferred method for recording events with applet recorder 700. After the applet recorder is started, it waits in idle mode (step 805) until it receives an indication from a user to start recording events 630 from an applet 620 (step 810). Once the indication to start recording is received from the user, an applet 620 is loaded into applet recorder 700 (step 815). The applet recorder then adds automator listeners 770 to each component of the applet (step 820), and then waits for user input (step 825). If user input is received (step 830), then an event is constructed and posted to system queue 650. The system queue dispatches event 630 to automator listeners 770, which capture event 630 (step 835) and record event 630 to automator queue 780 (step 840) for later playback. Applet recorder 700 then continues to wait for user input (step 825). If no user input is received (step 830), then the applet recorder determines if a stop recording command has been received from the user (step 845). If no stop recording command has been received (step 845), then applet recorder 700 continues to wait for user input (step 825). The recording of events generated by the user through applet 620 thus continues until a stop recording command is received (step 845). When a stop recording command is received, automator listeners 770 are removed, and applet recorder 700 ceases to record events generated by applet 620 (step 850). Applet recorder 700 then idles (step 805), waiting for a command to start recording anew (step 810). With reference now to FIG. 9, there is shown a flowchart illustrating the function performed by an automator listener 770. Automator listener 770 idles (step 910) until an event occurs (step 920). Once an event, such as MOUSE_CLICKED, occurs, the event information is saved to an object (step 930). The object is then added to the automator queue 780 (step 940) and the automator listener continues to idle (step 910), waiting for the occurrence of another event (step 920). A block diagram illustrating the three main parts of an object created by an automator listener 770 is depicted in FIG. 10. The object consists of event ID 1010, component field 1020, and event information 1030. Event ID 1010 indicates the type of event that occurred, such as MOUSE_CLICKED, ITEM_STATE_CHANGED, etc. Component field 1020 references the component on which this event occurred, such as a button, list, text area, etc. Finally, each object contains specific event information 1030, which includes several event-specific things. As an example of the functioning of an automator listener 770 and the creation of an object, suppose applet 620 button is clicked by a user. The automator listener 770 for that component would create an object with MOUSE_CLICKED as event ID 1010. A reference to the button component would be placed in component field 1020. Event information 1030 would contain all other information about the event, such as the x-y coordinate position, modifiers, click count (double or single click), etc. It is important to note that, while the present invention has been described in terms of recording events generated by Java applets, it is also applicable to applications as well. Furthermore, while described principally with respect to Java, the present invention may be applied to other event-driven object oriented programming languages following a similar “listener interface” model. It is also important to note that, while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media, such floppy discs, hard disk drives, RAM, and CD-ROMs and transmission-type media, such as digital and analog communications links. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Citations de brevets Citations hors brevets

<urn:uuid:1da42115-baf0-49e7-8fb4-ab7f7920694c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

GNU Project Tools

The Olympics: The Basics Published January 19th 2012 by Routledge – 192 pages Series: The Basics The Olympics: The Basics is an accessible, contemporary introduction to the Olympic movement and Games. Chapters explain how the Olympics transcend sports, engaging us with a range of contemporary philosophical, social, cultural and political matters, including: This book explores the controversy and the legacy of the Olympics, drawing attention to the deeper values of Olympism, as the Olympic movement’s most valuable intellectual property. This engaging, lively, and often challenging book, is essential reading for newcomers to Olympic studies and offers new insights for Olympic scholars. Preface 1. History and Philosophy 2. Society and Identity 3. Culture and Education 4. Politics and Diplomacy 5. Ethics and Values 6. Management and Economics 7. Media and Communication 8. Impact and Legacy Conclusion: The Future Professor Andy Miah (@andymiah) is Director of the Creative Futures Research Centre at the University of the West of Scotland. Dr Beatriz Garcia (@beatriz_garcia) is Head of Research at the Institute of Cultural Capital, University of Liverpool.

<urn:uuid:5ededfb4-ec25-4323-ad68-b1c14dc76555>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Sports and Recreational Activities

It is interesting to see how much we learn in our life time. Our learning process starts with very first day of our life; and ends with our life only. Even when we are not consciously learning anything; our subconscious mind keep grasping things. Scientists have proved that humans, as well as animals, learn many things before birth also; process may start as early as ‘Right after conception.’ It is also scientifically proved that leaning between conception and actual birth stays and sticks long. That includes preferences in food, color, general nature /behavior etc What comes our way naturally; we learn faster. For example;’Mother Tongue / Language’, our own culture, our daily routine etc. We also learn faster; what we like or prefer. This is especially true; in case of education and sports. I have seen many students grow from mediocrity or misery to very top; once they have gone from ‘All subjects’ to ‘Choice subject’ only classes. As they have to focus only on subjects, they actually love; they start getting more interested in studies, excelling or doing much better than before, in process. Many governments and social organisations are now trying to change their education system to find out early; about different preferences of subjects in different students. Same is the case of sports; you learn faster and do better a sport you actually love. That includes playing that sport or have knowledge about that. We know stories of great sportsmen; who started their career or training, in a different sports altogether, changing in between to achieve greatness. Same is case of many movie stars. Some start their ‘Movie Life’ as a singer or dancer; but later excel as an Actor / Actress / Director, and Vice Versa. We have many cases to prove this theory. Learning is not easy to everyone of us. It also differs from person to person or from thing to thing. One person may learn something faster than others; where as same person may not be able to learn other things, as fast as others. That explains; why some students excel in mathematics, some in science, some in languages, some in dramatics, some in art, some in sports etc. Learning also is a process; which we can improve, with certain set or unset rules. In our life; from a small student to a working person, learning has lot to do with quality of our performances on all levels. Besides, a natural learner; people who are open to learning / new experiences, also learn better than others. This is especially true about new languages and culture. Language learning is all about practice. More you practice; better you get. In our careers also learning process has a special meaning; whatever we learn gets accumulated as experience. Now this experience can be both; good or bad. If you think; learning is difficult; you should try Unlearning , which is way more difficult. Whenever we start anew or we change our careers / companies / business / location / partner etc; this unlearning becomes necessary. No two companies, businesses, locations or persons are same; different may have different requirements, rules, laws, standards, needs, styles etc. As learning is important and constant part of our life; we must also learn to UNLEARN. A same set of rules or standard or behavior may not apply or recommended to different careers / companies / business / location / partner etc. Unlearning thus is much more difficult (But Important) than learning; you have to remove from your mind / system, which may be there for years or whole your life. When I first went to learn ‘Horse Riding’; coach asked me if I already know any. I said ‘ I am afraid, not. I know nothing about this.’ I could see big relief on his face; he told me that he prefers to teach ‘Raw students’, to avoid any clash of new and old learning. ‘ It is always better and easier to write on a clean slate than wring on already occupied slate’ He said. Someone told me that new languages comes faster and easier to students from 8 Years old to 12 years old than to students older in age. As their minds are less occupied or corrupt with other things. In general saying their ‘Mind Slate’ is cleaner to write new things on. We sometimes wonder why things are not working with your same routine; which were earlier working fine. With changing time / environment / location etc; we must change our self, and learn to unlearn our now not working experience. Process of unlearning also help us adapt different situations; in a better, easier and faster way. People, who are too rigid to change or unlearn; may find it difficult to fit in to new environments. In case of relationships; it is very important to UNLEARN. No two persons are same; they may have different values, needs, moods, strengths or weaknesses. Actually; to achieve success and peace in life; we must keep a balance between ‘Learning’ and ‘Unlearning’.

<urn:uuid:68b0ae6a-0ebb-48ac-8ea6-fd4b91fb9cc3>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Child-Focused Learning Techniques

On May 28, 1828, began the official life of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who appeared mysteriously in the streets of Nuremberg and died of knife wounds five years later under equally mysterious circumstances. "Europe's child," as pamphleteers referred to him, captured the imagination of salon society. Allegedly raised in a dark cellar and deprived of human contact until the age of sixteen, he became proof of concept for theories about natural man, original sin, and the civilizing mission of culture. Rightful heir to the throne of Baden or a fraud? Redeemer of man's sins or "ambulatory automatist"? The curious circumstances and significance of his life have been disputed ever since. In Kaspar, Quebec cartoonist Obom draws on Hauser's own writings, and contemporary accounts, to tell the foundling's strange story. Minimalist grayscale panels and the simplest of line work register the wonder and bewilderment of a trusting and sensitive soul emerging into a fickle society. Gentle and poetic, naive and profound, Obom's first book to appear in English translation is a quiet and compelling charm. "[Caspar] presented an opportunity for observation of the highest interest to the philosopher, the moralist, the religious teacher, the physiologist, and the physician -- an opportunity which must be as rare as the crime which has afforded it." -Francis Lieber, 1832, preface to Caspar Hauser: An Account of an Individual Kept in a Dungeon

<urn:uuid:00fa6b4c-4cb5-4446-a3d8-b47c21873f3e>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Historical and Art Topics

Estimates of dinosaur speeds vary because several different methods are used to calculate them. One recent estimate suggests that an average person might have been able to to outrun an adult Tyrannosaurus (although you probably would not volunteer to try). The two basic approaches for estimating dinosaur speed are comparing to recorded speeds of modern animals of similar body size and build, and measuring distances between fossil footprints in a trackway and using these distances to calculate estimated speed. Walking-speed estimates for medium-sized bipedal (two-legged) dinosaurs vary from 4 kph to 6 kph, and peak running-speed estimates vary from 37 kph to 88 kph. The highest figure (88.6 kph) is the same as the peak speed of the currently fastest land animals, such as the North American pronghorn "antelope" (Antilocapra americana), and very probably is too high. Speed comparison of some ancient and modern animals Maintained by Publications Services. Last modified 05-17-01 (krw)

<urn:uuid:ff91979d-7b1d-499a-948f-bae1f7af2636>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Reptile and Amphibian Information

[A rough transcript of my keynote at the Victorians Institute Conference, held at the University of Virginia on October 1-3, 2010. The conference had the theme "By the Numbers." Attended by "analog" Victorianists as well as some budding digital humanists, I was delighted by the incredibly energetic reaction to this talk—many terrific questions and ideas for doing scholarly text mining from those who may have never considered it before. The talk incorporates work on historical text mining under an NEH grant, as well as the first results of a grant that Fred Gibbs and I were awarded from Google to mine their vast collection of books.] Why did the Victorians look to mathematics to achieve certainty, and how we might understand the Victorians better with the mathematical methods they bequeathed to us? I want to relate the Victorian debate about the foundations of our knowledge to a debate that we are likely to have in the coming decade, a debate about how we know the past and how we look at the written record that I suspect will be of interest to literary scholars and historians alike. It is a philosophical debate about idealism, empiricism, induction, and deduction, but also a practical discussion about the methodologies we have used for generations in the academy. Victorians and the Search for Truth Let me start, however, with the Heavens. This is Neptune. It was seen for the first time through a telescope in 1846. At the time, the discovery was hailed as a feat of pure mathematics, since two mathematicians, one from France, Urbain Le Verrier, and one from England, John Couch Adams, had independently calculated Neptune’s position using mathematical formulas. There were dozens of poems written about the discovery, hailing the way these mathematicians had, like “magicians” or “prophets,” divined the Truth (often written with a capital T) about Neptune. But in the less-triumphal aftermath of the discovery, it could also be seen as a case of the impact of cold calculation and the power of a good data set. Although pure mathematics, to be sure, were involved—the equations of geometry and gravity—the necessary inputs were countless observations of other heavenly bodies, especially precise observations of perturbations in the orbit of Uranus caused by Neptune. It was intellectual work, but intellectual work informed by a significant amount of data. The Victorian era saw tremendous advances in both pure and applied mathematics. Both were involved in the discovery of Neptune: the pure mathematics of the ellipse and of gravitational pull; the computational modes of plugging observed coordinates into algebraic and geometrical formulas. Although often grouped together under the banner of “mathematics,” the techniques and attitudes of pure and applied forms diverged significantly in the nineteenth century. By the end of the century, pure mathematics and its associated realm of symbolic logic had become so abstract and removed from what the general public saw as math—that is, numbers and geometric shapes—that Bertrand Russell could famously conclude in 1901 (in a Seinfeldian moment) that mathematics was a science about nothing. It was a set of signs and operations completely divorced from the real world. Meanwhile, the early calculating machines that would lead to modern computers were proliferating, prodded by the rise of modern bureaucracy and capitalism. Modern statistics arrived, with its very unpure notions of good-enough averages and confidence levels. The Victorians thus experienced the very modern tension between pure and applied knowledge, art and craft. They were incredibly self-reflective about the foundations of their knowledge. Victorian mathematicians were often philosophers of mathematics as much as practitioners of it. They repeatedly asked themselves: How could they know truth through mathematics? Similarly, as Meegan Kennedy has shown, in putting patient data into tabular form for the first time—thus enabling the discernment of patterns in treatment—Victorian doctors began wrestling with whether their discipline should be data-driven or should remain subject to the “genius” of the individual doctor. Two mathematicians I studied for Equations from God used their work in mathematical logic to assail the human propensity to come to conclusions using faulty reasoning or a small number of examples, or by an appeal to interpretive genius. George Boole (1815-1864), the humble father of the logic that is at the heart of our computers, was the first professor of mathematics at Queen’s College, Cork. He had the misfortune of arriving in Cork (from Lincoln, England) on the eve of the famine and increasing sectarian conflict and nationalism. Boole spend the rest of his life trying to find a way to rise above the conflict he saw all around him. He saw his revolutionary mathematical logic as a way to dispassionately analyze arguments and evidence. His seminal work, The Laws of Thought, is as much a work of literary criticism as it is of mathematics. In it, Boole deconstructs texts to find the truth using symbolical modes. The stained-glass window in Lincoln Cathedral honoring Boole includes the biblical story of Samuel, which the mathematician enjoyed. It’s a telling expression of Boole’s worry about how we come to know Truth. Samuel hears the voice of God three times, but each time cannot definitively understand what he is hearing. In his humility, he wishes not to jump to divine conclusions. Not jumping to conclusions based on limited experience was also a strong theme in the work of Augustus De Morgan (1806-1871). De Morgan, co-discoverer of symbolic logic and the first professor of mathematics at University College London, had a similar outlook to Boole’s, but a much more abrasive personality. He rather enjoyed proving people wrong, and also loved to talk about how quickly human beings leap to opinions. De Morgan would give this hypothetical: “Put it to the first comer, what he thinks on the question whether there be volcanoes on the unseen side of the moon larger than those on our side. The odds are, that though he has never thought of the question, he has a pretty stiff opinion in three seconds.” Human nature, De Morgan thought, was too inclined to make mountains out of molehills, conclusions from scant or no evidence. He put everyone on notice that their deeply held opinions or interpretations were subject to verification by the power of logic and mathematics. As Walter Houghton highlighted in his reading of the Victorian canon, The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-1870, the Victorians were truth-seekers and skeptics. They asked how they could know better, and challenged their own assumptions. Foundations of Our Own Knowledge This attitude seems healthy to me as we present-day scholars add digital methods of research to our purely analog ones. Many humanities scholars have been satisfied, perhaps unconsciously, with the use of a limited number of cases or examples to prove a thesis. Shouldn’t we ask, like the Victorians, what can we do to be most certain about a theory or interpretation? If we use intuition based on close reading, for instance, is that enough? Should we be worrying that our scholarship might be anecdotally correct but comprehensively wrong? Is 1 or 10 or 100 or 1000 books an adequate sample to know the Victorians? What we might do with all of Victorian literature—not a sample, or a few canonical texts, as in Houghton’s work, but all of it. These questions were foremost in my mind as Fred Gibbs and I began work on our Google digital humanities grant that is attempting to apply text mining to our understanding of the Victorian age. If Boole and De Morgan were here today, how acceptable would our normal modes of literary and historical interpretation be to them? As Victorianists, we are rapidly approaching the time when we have access—including, perhaps, computational access—to the full texts not of thousands of Victorian books, or hundreds of thousands, but virtually all books published in the Victorian age. Projects like Google Books, the Internet Archive’s OpenLibrary, and HathiTrust will become increasingly important to our work. If we were to look at all of these books using the computational methods that originated in the Victorian age, what would they tell us? And would that analysis be somehow more “true” than looking at a small subset of literature, the books we all have read that have often been used as representative of the Victorian whole, or, if not entirely representative, at least indicative of some deeper Truth? Fred and I have received back from Google a first batch of data. This first run is limited just to words in the titles of books, but even so is rather suggestive of the work that can now be done. This data covers the 1,681,161 books that were published in English in the UK in the long nineteenth century, 1789-1914. We have normalized the data in many ways, and for the most part the charts I’m about to show you graph the data from zero to one percent of all books published in a year so that they are on the same scale and can be visually compared. Multiple printings of a book in a single year have been collapsed into one “expression.” (For the library nerds in the audience, the data has been partially FRBRized. One could argue that we should have accepted the accentuation of popular titles that went through many printings in a single year, but editions and printings in subsequent years do count as separate expressions. We did not go up to the level of “work” in the FRBR scale, which would have collapsed all expressions of a book into one data point.) We plan to do much more; in the pipeline are analyses of the use of words in the full texts (not just titles) of those 1.7 million books, a comprehensive exploration of the use of the Bible throughout the nineteenth century, and more. And more could be be done to further normalize the data, such as accounting for the changing meaning of words over time. So what does the data look like even at this early stage? And does it seem valid? That is where we began our analysis, with graphs of the percent of all books published with certain words in the titles (y-axis) on a year by year basis (x-axis). Victorian intellectual life as it is portrayed in this data set is in many respects consistent with what we already know. The frequency chart of books with the word in “revolution” in the title, for example, shows spikes where it should, around the French Revolution and the revolutions of 1848. (Keen-eyed observers will also note spikes for a minor, failed revolt in England in 1817 and the successful 1830 revolution in France.) Books about science increase as they should, though with some interesting leveling off in the late Victorian period. (We are aware that the word “science” changes over this period, becoming more associated with natural science rather than generalized knowledge.) The rise of factories… and the concurrent Victorian nostalgia for the more sedate and communal Middle Ages… …and the sense of modernity, a new phase beyond the medieval organization of society and knowledge that many Britons still felt in the eighteenth century. The Victorian Crisis of Faith, and Secularization Even more validation comes from some basic checks of key Victorian themes such as the crisis of faith. These charts are as striking as any portrayal of the secularization that took place in Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Correlation Is (not) Truth So it looks fairly good for this methodology. Except, of course, for some obvious pitfalls. Looking at the charts of a hundred words, Fred noticed a striking correlation between the publication of books on “belief,” “atheism,” and…”Aristotle”? Obviously, we cannot simply take the data at face value. As I have called this on my blog, we have to be on guard for oversimplifications that are the equivalent of saying that War and Peace is about Russia. We have to marry these attempts at what Franco Moretti has called “distant reading” with more traditional close reading to find rigorous interpretations behind the overall trends. In Search of New Interpretations Nevertheless, even at this early stage of the Google grant, there are numerous charts that are suggestive of new research that can be done, or that expand on existing research. Correlation can, if we go from the macro level to the micro level, help us to illustrate some key features of the Victorian age better. For instance, the themes of Jeffrey von Arx’s Progress and Pessimism: Religion, Politics and History in Late Nineteenth Century Britain, in which he notes the undercurrent of depression in the second half of the century, are strongly supported and enhanced by the data. And given the following charts, we can imagine writing much more about the decline of certainty in the Victorian age. “Universal” is probably the most striking graph of our first data set, but they all show telling slides toward relativism that begin before most interpretations in the secondary literature. Rather than looking for what we expect to find, perhaps we can have the computer show us tens, hundreds, or even thousands of these graphs. Many will confirm what we already know, but some will be strikingly new and unexpected. Many of those may show false correlations or have other problems (such as the changing or multiple meaning of words), but some significant minority of them will reveal to us new patterns, and perhaps be the basis of new interpretations of the Victorian age. What if I were to give you Victorianists hundreds of these charts? I believe it is important to keep our eyes open about the power of this technique. At the very least, it can tell us—as Augustus De Morgan would—when we have made mountains out of a molehills. If we do explore this new methodology, we might be able to find some charts that pique our curiosity as knowledgeable readers of the Victorians. We’re the ones that can accurately interpret the computational results. We can see the rise of the modern work lifestyle… …or explore the interaction between love and marriage, an important theme in the recent literature. We can look back at the classics of secondary literature, such as Houghton’s Victorian Frame of Mind, and ask whether those works hold up to the larger scrutiny of virtually all Victorian books, rather than just the limited set of books those authors used. For instance, while in general our initial study supports Houghton’s interpretations, it also shows relatively few books on heroism, a theme Houghton adopts from Thomas Carlyle. And where is the supposed Victorian obsession with theodicy in this chart on books about “evil”? Even more suggestive are the contrasts and anomalies. For instance, publications on “Jesus” are relatively static compared to those on “Christ,” which drop from nearly 1 in 60 books in 1843 to less than 1 in 300 books 70 years later. The impact of the ancient world on the Victorians can be contrasted (albeit with a problematic dual modern/ancient meaning for Rome)… …as can the Victorians’ varying interest in the afterlife. I hope that these charts have prodded you to consider the anecdotal versus the comprehensive, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. It is time we had a more serious debate—not just in the digital humanities but in the humanities more generally—about measurement and interpretation that the Victorians had. Can we be so confident in our methods of extrapolating from some literary examples to the universal whole? This is a debate that we should have in the present, aided by our knowledge of what the Victorians struggled with in the past. [Image credits (other than graphs): Wikimedia Commons]

<urn:uuid:1808c844-0a38-46a5-868b-a5bdd51e12b6>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

QUASAR’S BELCH SOLVES LONGSTANDING MYSTERY February 23, 2011 Artist’s conceptualization of the environment around the supermassive black hole at the center of Mrk 231. The broad outflow seen in the Gemini data is shown as the fan-shaped wedge at the top of the accretion disk around the black hole. This side-view is not what is seen from the Earth where we see it ‘looking down the throat’ of the outflow. A similar outflow is probably present under the disk as well and is hinted at in this illustration. The total amount of material entrained in the broad flow is at least 400 times the mass of the Sun per year. Note that a more localized, narrower jet is shown, this jet was known prior to the Gemini discovery of the broader outflow featured here. Gemini Observatory Press Release For Immediate Release – February 23, 2011 When two galaxies merge to form a giant, the central supermassive black hole in the new galaxy develops an insatiable appetite. However, this ferocious appetite is unsustainable. The growth of supermassive black holes, which are found in the centers of all normal galaxies (including our Milky Way), is fundamentally linked to the stars in galaxies. Black holes grow and stars form over time, resulting in a tight connection between the mass of the central black hole and the mass in stars of the host galaxy. Since most galaxies in the local universe do not currently have actively growing black holes at their centers, some process must eventually emerge to shut down this growth and development. Theoretical modeling specifically points to quasar outflows as the culprit. In this negative feedback loop, while the black hole is actively acquiring mass as a quasar, the outflows carry away energy and material, suppressing further growth. Small-scale outflows had been observed before, but none sufficiently powerful to account for this predicted and fundamental aspect of galaxy evolution. The Gemini observations provide the first clear evidence for outflows powerful enough to support the process necessary to starve the galactic black hole and quench star formation. This extraction from the data cube shows the large-scale, fast outflow of neutral sodium at the center of the quasar Markarian 231. We are looking down onto the material that moves toward us relative to the galaxy, so the measured velocities are negative. The large black circle marks the location of the black hole, and red lines show the location of a radio jet. In addition to the quasar outflow, the jet pushes the material at the top right, resulting in even greater speeds. Part of the starburst is located at the position of the box at the lower left, and it is likely responsible for the gas motion in this region. For the first time, observations with the Gemini Observatory clearly reveal an extreme, large-scale galactic outflow that brings the cosmic dinner to a halt. The outflow is effectively blowing the galaxy apart in a negative feedback loop, depriving the galaxy’s monstrous black hole of the gas and dust it needs to sustain its frenetic growth. It also limits the material available for the galaxy to make new generations of stars. The groundbreaking work is a collaboration between David Rupke of Rhodes College in Tennessee and the University of Maryland’s Sylvain Veilleux. The results are to be published in the March 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters and were completed with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation. According to Veilleux, Markarian 231 (Mrk 231), the galaxy observed with Gemini, is an ideal laboratory for studying outflows caused by feedback from supermassive black holes. “This object is arguably the closest and best example that we know of a big galaxy in the final stages of a violent merger and in the process of shedding its cocoon and revealing a very energetic central quasar. This is really a last gasp of this galaxy; the black hole is belching its next meals into oblivion!” As extreme as Mrk 231’s eating habits appear, Veilleux adds that they are probably not unique, “When we look deep into space and back in time, quasars like this one are seen in large numbers and all of them may have gone through shedding events like the one we are witnessing in Mrk 231.” Although Mrk 231 is extremely well studied, and known for its collimated jets, the Gemini observations exposed a broad outflow extending in all directions for at least 8,000 light years around the galaxy’s core. The resulting data reveal gas (characterized by sodium, which absorbs yellow light) streaming away from the galaxy center at speeds of over 1,000 kilometers per second. At this speed, the gas could go from New York to Los Angeles in about 4 seconds. This outflow is removing gas from the nucleus at a prodigious rate – more than 2.5 times the star formation rate. The speeds observed eliminate stars as the possible “engine” fueling the outflow. This leaves the black hole itself as the most likely culprit, and it can easily account for the tremendous energy required. The energy involved is sufficient to sweep away matter from the galaxy. However, "when we say the galaxy is being blown apart, we are only referring to the gas and dust in the galaxy,” notes Rupke. “The galaxy is mostly stars at this stage in its life, and the outflow has no effect on them. The crucial thing is that the fireworks of new star formation and black hole feeding are coming to an end, most likely as a result of this outflow.” The environment around such a black hole is commonly known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN), and the extreme influx of material into these black holes is the power source for quasi-stellar objects or quasars. Merging galaxies help to feed the central black hole and also shroud it in gas. Mrk 231 is in transition, now clearing its surroundings. Eventually, running out of fuel, the AGN will become extinct. Without gas to form new stars, the host galaxy also starves to death, turning into a collection of old aging stars with few young stars to regenerate the stellar population. Ultimately, these old stars will make the galaxy appear redder giving these galaxies the moniker “red and dead.” Numerical astrophysicist Philip Hopkins, a Miller Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley, explains that many physical processes unique to rapidly growing black holes are likely to play a role in propelling the winds observed by Gemini. “At its peak, the quasar shines with such intensity that the light itself is ‘trapped’ by a cocoon of gas and dust pushing on material with a force that can easily overcome the gravitational pull of the black hole.” Hopkins adds that the bath of X-rays and gamma rays known to be generated by quasars could also heat up the gas in the galaxy’s center until it reaches a temperature where it "boils over" and causes a bomb-like explosion. “But until now, we haven’t been able to catch a system ‘in the act.’” Part of the problem, according to Hopkins, has been that the most visible outflows are those ‘collimated jets’ already known in Mrk 231. These jets are trapped (probably by magnetic fields) in an extremely narrow beam, whereas material is falling into the black hole from all directions. The previously known jets therefore only cause very localized damage – drilling a tiny hole in the cocoon, rather than sweeping it away more broadly as seen in these new, more all-encompassing, outflows. The observations for this study were obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini North, on Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i. The study used a powerful technique known as integral field spectroscopy. The integral field unit (IFU) in GMOS obtains a spectrum at several hundred points around the galaxy’s core. Each spectrum is then, in turn, used to determine the velocity of the gas at that point and represents the third dimension in what is called a data cube. Markarian 231 is located about 600 million light years away in the direction of the constellation of Ursa Major. Although its mass is uncertain, some estimates indicate that Mrk 231 has a mass in stars about three times that of our Milky Way galaxy and its central black hole is estimated to have a mass of at least ten million solar masses or also about three times that of the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way. Movie showing the gas in a galaxy merger with a quasar-driven “blowout”: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~phopkins/Site/Movies_files/collision_BH_run4.avi

<urn:uuid:415e6609-8fab-4f36-bea2-14f4543f324c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

The Hundred Years' War began in the reign of Edward III, who was the King of England from 1327 to 1377. Edward, who loved knightly pursuits such as war, jousting, tournaments and hunting, surrounded himself with warriors, magnates, and chivalrous knights. The Hundred Years' War broke out as a result of a dispute between Edward and Philip, the French King, over French royal succession. Edward was the nearest surviving male relative to the French king after the three French Capetian kings, Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV, all failed to produce male heirs. In order to prevent Edward from claiming the throne, the French parliament and supreme court declared that claims to the French throne could not be passed through women. The French Estates chose Philip of Valois, a first cousin of the preceding kings, to become king and Edward did not initially dispute this decision. However, there were other points of contention between the British and French. There was a clash of interests in the county of Flanders, whose cloth-making industry relied on England for wool. Early in the 14th century, Flemish artisans rose up in a series of bloody revolts against the aristocratic cloth dealers who had long monopolized power. The Count of Flanders and the French king supported the merchants, while the English sided with the artisans. This tension culminated in 1337, over the status of the feudal territories of Pontheau and Aquitaine. When Philip became the king of France, Edward paid homage for these territories, but Philip then insisted on liege homage, which would have obligated Edward to support Philip against all enemies. Edward refused and Philip attempted to confiscate the region of Gascony from his English "vassal" by declaring Edward's feudal territories forfeit. Edward declared war on France and his goal was to claim the crown of his maternal grandfather as well as to reclaim Gascony. The Hundred Years' War accelerated changes in technology and government institutions in both France and Britain. It stimulated the growth of parliamentary privileges, but it also drained the English economy and population. Since all the battles of the war were fought on French soil, English mercenaries continually pillaged the French lands. France suffered far more from the Hundred Years' War than England did. During the war, France was ravaged by civil strife as its population, economy and resources depleted. - ^ Swyrich, Archive materials This page was last modified on 5 January 2011 at 14:49. houseofnames.com is an internet property owned by Swyrich Corporation. Anderson Surname History Over 20 years of research into the family history from the earliest records, showing spelling variations, early origins, notables, settlers and much more. Suitable for framing. The Vikings: A History "A fascinating history of the Viking age and its complex culture and influence

<urn:uuid:7acb5b7c-6dfd-417a-970f-f9a14e1b36ea>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Historical and Genealogical Records

"Geneticists know that strength of a species comes from its diversity from the fact that the population as a whole can respond in mnay different ways to many different situations" - Eric S. Lander, MIT more genes two animals have in common, the closer they are "related" (not by blood, but by evolution) to one another. Therefore, different levels of classification exist to illustrate this relationship. There are seven levels of classification, the highest group being a kingdom, and the lowest group a species (the others between the two extremes are, in order, phylum, class, order, family, and genus). Many thousands of different organisms may belong to a kingdom, but only one to a species. For example: humans, dogs, porcupines, rats, eagles, and salmon all belong to the same kingdom (Kingdom Anamalia), but only humans belong to the species sapiens and only dogs to Canis domesticus. Two organism are more closely "related" as they approach the level of species. This also means they have more genes in common. Taxonomists (scientists who classify living organisms into the seven groups) define a species as any group of closely related organisms that can produce fertile offspring. Sometimes, members of the same species will look alike (all brown bears look alike and all humpbacked whales look alike) and other times they won't (such as German Shepherds and Chihuahuas, which are both members of the same species). level of species can be further divided into smaller segments. A population is the smallest unit of a species and is made up of organisms of the same species. All the hemlock trees in a forest make up a population of hemlock trees, and all the rattlesnakes on an island make up a population of rattlesnakes, and so forth. Sometimes, a population will physically alter over time to suit the needs of its environment. This is called a cline, and can make members of the same species subspecies is a distinct population of a species. A good example of a subspecies is the western flicker which has red wings and looks different than the eastern flicker which has yellow wings. The two types of birds belong to the same species, though, because they can produce fertile offspring (sometimes with orange wings!).

<urn:uuid:d8e9f1d0-801c-4db0-b57e-a6f1b8211510>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Conservation and Biodiversity Efforts

Conflict and Solidarity in Mudejar Society The activity of the industrious Mudejar at practically all levels of the economy, and the quotidian mingling of Muslim and Christian in field, workshop, and marketplace provided the foundation of—and the most effective adhesive reinforcing—the structure of Valencia's plural society. A common preoccupation with cultivation and harvest, manufacture and profit fostered among Muslims and Christians a certain homogeneity in outlook and understanding and opened the door to more meaningful social interaction, however hesitant and limited. It is, nevertheless, clear that Valencia's plural social structure was imperfectly articulated and fragile, and that the cement of economic relations was ultimately an unequal match to the solvent of overt religious antagonism. Thus, in 1502 when the Mudejars were faced with the threat of forced conversion in Valencia, many chose flight to the Maghrib with its detrimental material consequences, and a century later, after the abject failure of a policy meant to persuade the Moriscos to become true Christians, the Crown decided that the economic repercussions of the Moriscos' expulsion could be more easily endured than the risks of Morisco dissidence. Both episodes are indicative of the tenacious adherence of Valencia's Muslims to Islam, and this adherence reflects a religious and social reality far more compelling than the material life they shared with Christians. The aim of this chapter will be to provide some understanding of that reality and to explain how the Mudejars maintained both their identity as Muslims and a group cohesiveness while living in a Christian world. It will be suggested that Mudejar self-perception and group-perception were founded not only on religious belief per se, but also on the perpetuation of a social world the organization and mores of which were distinct from those of Valencian Christians. Indeed, it is perhaps more accurate to view the Mudejars as forming a distinct subsociety separated from the larger Christian society by patterns of intragroup social and cultural behavior, but intersecting with that Christian society in a number of ways not without telling acculturative impact. The Acculturative Challenge However durable Mudejar society might have been, it had nevertheless experienced considerable acculturative change. Prior to analyzing late-fifteenth-century Mudejar society, it will be useful to outline briefly some of the more significant of these changes, brought about both subtly by the Muslims' informal interaction with the Christian populace, and forcefully by the formal imposition of Christian authority on an Islamic society. Valencia's Muslims underwent their most radical cultural adjustment in the half-century immediately following the Christian conquest. During that time the Islamic society was essentially decapitated, losing its political and cultural elites to emigration and in failed rebellions. Islamic government and the public application of the Shariah were rudely shunted aside by a Christian colonial administration with its own body of law, the Furs . Even the autonomous and corporate aljama, vouchsafed to the Muslims by their Christian overlord, had no Islamic antecedent, compelling the Muslim adelantats to administer their communities in a foreign manner analogous to that of the Christian jurates in their corporate universitas . As has been indicated, the Christian bureaucracy, particularly when functioning as a tax-collecting mechanism, intruded on most areas of Mudejar life, so that in even so intimate a family affair as inheritance strict observance of the Shariah had to be modified in compliance with the king's demands. Furthermore, the Muslim by necessity had to learn to function in a Christian as well as Islamic legal system. Although this was to be expected for cases involving both Christian and Muslim parties, the fact that some Muslim litigants pursued civil suits with coreligionists in Christian courts is indicative of an acculturative process potentially damaging to the internal harmony of Mudejar communities. Also important were the more gradual processes of Christian urbanization and seigneurialization, which, coupled with the decreasing size of the Muslim population (from an overwhelming majority in the thirteenth century to 30 percent of the kingdom's total by the midfifteenth century), altered the very appearance of the kingdom, as churches re- placed mosques and Muslims retreated from the urban centers to the countryside. Although the rhythms of agricultural and pastoral life remained largely unchanged, Christian control of the economy, especially of the larger domestic and international markets, meant that Muslim farmers, artisans, and retail merchants were dependent on Christians for marketing their produce, selling their manufactured goods, and purchasing raw materials and bulk goods. Mudejar dependence was further manifested in their vassalage to Christian lords and their loss of ultimate control over their land. Outside of the walls of his own home or mosque, the Mudejar could hardly avoid coming to grips with the Christian presence, and having to do so on Christian terms. The greatest threat to the integrity of the Mudejars' Islamic culture and Muslim identity lay in the cities and towns, where the populations were overwhelmingly Christian. There the expressions of Christian religiosity were most pervasive and most aggressive, while conversely the public observance of Islam was all the more restricted. The best example of this tendency is the anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish preaching of the Inquisitors from the pulpits of Valencia and Cartagena. Another urban danger, particularly in the capital, was the volatility of the Christian mob. Although the evocation of despair fed on fear might have been an efficacious proselytizing tool with some Muslims, it is arguable that the demagoguery of Inquisitors and like-minded clerics and Christian mob violence would have been more likely to repel Muslims from Christianity and to inspire among them a reactionary zeal in their commitment to Islam. The cities posed another threat perhaps more serious than Christian aggression, namely, the possibility of friendly and leisurely contact with Christians and their religion. Adherents of both faiths congregated in city taverns and fonduks, passing their leisure time gambling together, drinking together, and sleeping together. For the Muslim such activities meant a violation of the precepts of his own faith, and signaled his entry into a gray area of cultural amorphousness, where, if his Muslim identity was not overtly challenged, there nevertheless resulted a weakening of his own sense of distinctiveness. That Mudejars flocked to Valencia to enjoy with their Christian friends the spectacle of the Corpus Christi Day processions has a similar significance: it does not mean that these Muslims were on the road to baptism; rather, it indicates that they had acquired non-Islamic cultural accoutrements and forms of behavior born of a long-term exposure to Christian society. A useful index of acculturation is the extent of Mudejar bilingualism. Burns, in unison with Fuster and Barceló Torres, concludes that in the thirteenth century the Muslim masses were unilingual Arabic-speakers. For midfourteenth-century Valencia Boswell points to only a minimal change in this pattern: "the vast majority of the Mudéjares did not speak the language of the dominant culture." This was in contrast to the kingdom of Aragon, where the Mudejars spoke Romance but had for the most part lost the ability to function in Arabic. It is thought that throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries this state of affairs remained more or less unchanged. In support of this view historians note the Moriscos' obdurate use of Arabic as their language of daily parlance and the systematic effort of the Christian authorities (from 1565) to discourage the teaching and use of Arabic. Of particular significance is the agreement reached between the Moriscos and Carlos I in 1526, in which the Moriscos maintained that "the greater part of the Moorish men and almost all of the women do not know how to speak aljamia (Romance)." Moreover, the Moriscos stated that they would need forty years in which to learn Romance (Carlos I allowed them only ten). The evidence is impressive, and that both the Mudejars and the Moriscos spoke and read Arabic seems indisputable (see below); however, their avowed unilingualism is open to debate. I would argue for a more extensive Mudejar bilingualism, although with Romance spoken with an imperfect accent and syntax. Given the Moriscos' insincere conversion and their anxiety to forestall thorough catechization in the Catholic faith and Inquisitorial inquiries, their presentation of their linguistic status in the negotiations with Carlos I might have been somewhat disingenuous, a device meant to discourage zealous Romance-speaking clergymen. Clearly, in asking for a forty-year period of grace the Moriscos were playing for time. In the years between 1526 and 1609 there very well might have ensued a decreasing bilingualism. As the Moriscos further withdrew from the cities, their contact with the Christian world would have decreased, while, in a reactionary manner, their desire to avoid Christian culture and to cultivate their own cultural distinctiveness—in effect, to freeze the acculturative process—would have intensified. Just as the Christian authorities realized that the Arabic language had to be removed as an impediment to the effective "Christianization" of the Moriscos, it is equally possible the Moriscos understood that by inculcating their children in the Arabic language, the sacred language of the Qur'an[*] , and by forbidding them any education in Romance they were strengthening their fidelity to Islam. In sum, the Moriscos' linguistic status is not necessarily an accurate indicator of that of their Mudejar predecessors. The records of cases tried in the court of the bailiff general, in which Muslims appear as litigants and witnesses, are suggestive of a significant Mudejar bilingualism. Normally, if a Muslim witness was in need of an interpreter, a role usually fulfilled by the royal qadi[*] , the latter's participation in the case was explicitly indicated. For instance, Nuzeya, a Muslim prostitute from Oliva, confessed with "Ali Bellvis, qadi , intervening." More explicitly, one defendant, Ubaydal Allepus of Bétera, is described as "mal algemiat (i.e., he speaks Romance poorly) ... he does not understand algemia," but his interpreter, the amin[*] Açen Amet, was a "Moor molt algemiat and a person who understands la algemia very well." Yet it is striking that the large majority of the Mudejars appearing in these trial records did not require an interpreter. While it is not surprising that the Muslims of urban morerías spoke Romance, given their constant mixing with the Christian populace, or that the amin of a rural aljama had mastered enough Romance to act as intermediary between the aljama and its lord, it is impressive that many Mudejars from rural areas could testify in Romance. Some examples are Açen Muça of Serra, Homar b. Perellos of Benaguacil, Ubaydal Suleymen of Mirambell, Maymo ben Çabit of Manises, and Abdulcarim of Oliva, among others. Equally significant are the testimonies of Christians about their seemingly routine verbal exchanges with Muslims. Ursula, the daughter of the innkeeper Joan Jeroni, testified how Alasdrach and Abdalla Sinube of Buñol, and Ali Alcayet of Chiva, "were speaking Arabic (alguaravia ) with the said captive Moor," whom they had allegedly helped to escape, and how later, after returning from a meeting with the lord of Carlet, "they requested [from her] a good room for sleeping." Miguel de la Serra, a tailor of Valencia, remembered that on Corpus Christi Day Muslim youths from Chiva had come to his house, eaten there, and then invited him and others to accompany them to the festivities. The odyssey of Angela de Vanya, a prostitute from Cuenca plying her trade in Onda, is revealing. She was first approached by Hadal, a Muslim from Benigazlo (Vall de Uxó), but did not know he was a Muslim, because he spoke "in the Valencian tongue and very suavely and not showing any sign of knowing the Moorish tongue." Hadal compelled Angela to go with him to Tales, a Muslim village (loch de moros ), and brought her to the house of Mahomat Cotalla. There, as the frightened Angela sat weeping in the Cotallas' kitchen, Mahomat and his wife assured her that she would not be harmed. Although these trial records afford only a glimpse at a small cross section of Mudejar life, they do show an erosion of linguistic barriers since the fourteenth century. The increasing size of the Christian population and the variety and frequency of its economic dealings with the Mudejars must have necessitated the latter's acquisition of at least enough Romance to carry on day-to-day affairs. It is unrealistic to assume that Muslim and Christian artisans, farmers, and merchants all had interpreters at their disposal for conducting their mundane but essential business. The documentation does not indicate that this was so. If the Mudejars assiduously cultivated an Arabic culture, there is still no reason to assume that at this point in time, before the mass conversions, they had any reason for a self-conscious refusal to communicate in Romance. Demography and economy advised otherwise, and linguistic adaptation proceeded apace. It should not be thought that such acculturation of the Mudejars to Romance-Christian culture as did take place was necessarily a negative or a degenerative process, or a process the flow of which was only unidirectional, although it is likely that the recessive but resilient culture of the Mudejar minority had experienced greater modification from its continual contact with a dynamic and expanding Christian majority. Rather, such acculturation was inevitable, an evolutionary process of adaptation necessary for the social and economic viability of a society that juxtaposed the proponents of mutually hostile ideologies. Even if the behavior of some Mudejars seemed almost to flout Islamic convention, this did not signal a reorientation of their fundamental religious beliefs. (If anything, it attests to a kind of secularization, in which beliefs were not so much altered as ignored.) In a medieval plural society, where identity was finally defined by religious affiliation, cultural erosion and unorthodox conduct were not evidence of Mudejar assimilation into Christian society. Such assimilation—the lessening of social distance, as opposed to acculturation, the lessening of cultural distance —could be achieved only through religious conversion, that is, through a fundamental change of identity. Therefore, in order to grasp the degree to which Mudejar society was truly threatened by absorption into the Christian body, one must broach the question of the extent of Mudejar conversion to Christianity. Unlike the thirteenth century, with its mendicant preachers, schools of Arabic, and refined techniques of polemic, the result of which had been the conversion of a considerable number of Muslims, the Valencia of the Catholic Monarchs saw no organized ecclesiastical campaign of proselytizing. After recovering from the trauma of the conquest, a factor that probably accounted for much of the Dominicans' early success, the Mudejars had regrouped, and so effectively that the Valencian Church seems to have made little or no further headway in the fourteenth century. This caused the Dominican preacher Vicent Ferrer to lament the inactivity of the clergy in missionary work (1413). The stimulus of Ferrer's zeal led to the establishment of an Arabic school in Valencia during the reign of Alfonso V (ca. 1424), but it seems to have quickly faded into oblivion. As we have seen in chapters 1 and 2, although King Fernando cautiously welcomed the baptism of individual Mudejars, he did not promote conversion on a mass scale. The lords of the kingdom, both ecclesiastical and secular, staunchly opposed any attempts to proselytize their vassals, since they could not wring as much rent out of Christian vassals. There were compelling social reasons for not converting. The convert, it seems, entered a sort of "no-man's land," being a full member of neither Christian nor Muslim society. If anything, owing to the strong ties of blood uniting Mudejar families (see below), converts tended to associate more with their Muslim relatives than with Christians. The convert Miguel Crestia was implicated along with his Muslim brother Ubaydal Allepus in the murder of another Muslim. A tornadizo of Cocentaina came to the aid of a Muslim relative, a runaway slave from Córdoba. Of course, Mudejars did not regard the conversion of their fellows favorably. Thus, the Inquisition arrested two Muslims who boldly and vociferously attempted to dissuade some Muslims from receiving baptism. Moreover, the convert put in jeopardy whatever inheritances he hoped to receive from Muslim relations. However, it seems that the Crown was no longer confiscating the estates of deceased converts, as had once been the case. Therefore, the potential convert was not burdened by the fear of depriving his descendants of their inheritances. Even so, Christian society did not welcome the convert with open arms. In previous centuries Christians had insulted converts by calling them "dogs," "renegades," and the like. Given the lukewarm reception of the judeo-conversos by Old Christians and the beginning of an obsession with the purity of Christian blood, it is highly unlikely that the situation would have improved. The murder of Mudejar converts by Old Christians supports this supposition. Nevertheless, a small number of Muslims chose to convert. The large majority of the proselytes were slaves who had the most to gain from conversion. Slaves with Jewish or Muslim masters had to be manumitted after their baptism, for infidels could not own Christian slaves. One Muslim woman preferred conversion to four years of servitude to a Jew. For slaves with Christian masters, the situation was less clear-cut. The law provided that the slave should be freed only if he converted with the consent of his master. Therefore, the decision to manumit the baptized slave was solely the master's. Some masters granted their Christian slaves freedom, but most did not. Business sense usually prevailed over religious scruples. Runaway slaves sometimes converted so as to conceal their fugitive status. When the Muslim slave Fatima fled from Valencia into Aragon, she became Elinor de Vellasquo. From there she journeyed to Barcelona and to Mallorca, where she was apprehended. There were some sincere free converts. The best known of these was the son of a faqih[*] of Játiva, who received baptism in 1487, became a priest, and preached to the Muslims of Granada and Aragon. Under the name of "Juan Andres" he translated into Aragonese the Qur'an[*] and the "seven books of the Sunnah ." Of the few other Valencian converts who appear in the documentation, we know nothing more than their name or place of residence, or sometimes both. Conversion among the Aragonese and Catalan Mudejars seems to have been equally infrequent. In an extremely bizarre incident, a Muslim woman of Albarracín converted just fifteen days after her wedding and then endeavored to retrieve her bridewealth from her Muslim husband. Perhaps conversion was a way of escaping an unhappy arranged marriage, although divorce might have been easier. Mudejar conversion, then, was not unknown, but it amounted to, at best, a few drops in the font. The large majority had no intention of abandoning Islam. Mudejar Feuding and Social Structure A discussion of Mudejar acculturation and religious conversion has served to clarify certain aspects of Muslim-Christian interaction and its impact on the minority culture. It has, however, revealed little about the Mudejar subsociety itself when it did not somehow mesh with the public life of the Christian kingdom. Posing a dichotomy between Valencia's Muslim and Christian societies may appear somewhat artificial, since both groups, after all, lived and labored together in the same kingdom. But occupying the same physical space does not necessitate the rigid conformity of all inhabitants to one all-encompassing social system with its prescribed modes of behavior. Even when dwelling in urban morerías amid large concentrations of Christian population, the Mudejars were enmeshed in distinct networks of social relations articulated in accordance with the moral and material demands of their families. As to the precise nature of Mudejar social structure, the documentation affords us only precious glimpses. Of course, the Christian bureaucrats had little intrinsic interest in the internal life of the king's Muslim communities. What they have left are details that for them were incidental to their fiscal and administrative concerns, bits and pieces that in the aggregate form a coherent, albeit by no means complete, picture. An exploration of the royal records for patterns of Mudejar behavior and the social structures underlying them reveals a high incidence of intracommunal violence, greatly exceeding the occurrence of violent conflict between Muslims and Christians (although probably not that between Christians). The discovery of 120 Crown-sponsored truces between antagonistic Mudejar families, not to mention the large number of assaults and murders, suggests that the family feud occupied a central place in Mudejar social life. The Mudejars' internecine violence indi- cates that their subsociety was still vital, and represents their channeling of energy inward into prescribed forms of behavior and association that had social meaning for them alone. In order to comprehend the origins of such feuding and the historical significance of this phenomenon, it will be necessary first to discuss the Berber and Arab settlement of the Valencian region and its structural implications, and then to describe the structure of the Arabo-Berber family, particularly its Mudejar variant. Historians differ as to the precise chronology and nature of the Muslim settlement of the Valencian region (Sharq al-Andalus ). Guichard argues in favor of an early (eighth through ninth century) Berberization of the area, but noting that from the eleventh century onward the Berbers were so Arabized that they pretended an affiliation to prestigious Arab tribes, conveniently forgetting their Berber origins. Barceló Torres disputes Guichard's use of toponyms as evidence for early Berber settlement, suggesting that these Berber place names originated in later waves of Berber immigration under al-Hakam[*] II (961–976) and al-Mansur[*] (978–1002), or perhaps during the conquests of the Almoravids and the Almohads. Míkel de Epalza has made important contributions regarding the religious status of Valencia's indigenous population following the Muslim conquest. Taking account of new evidence showing only a limited Christianization of pre-Islamic Valencia, he proposes a rapid mass conversion to Islam (in contrast to Bulliet's model of a more gradual conversion), a trend that was intensified in the tenth and eleventh centuries with a Cordoban-controlled campaign of politicoreligious indoctrination intended to stave off a Fatimid Shic i[*] threat to Sunni[*] al-Andalus. The result was that the Sharq al-Andalus became perhaps the most highly Islamized and Arabized region in the peninsula. From the above it may be said that on the eve of the Christian conquest the Valencian region was Islamized and Arabized with a greater or lesser portion of the population being possessed of Berber roots. Moreover, it is likely that the region was settled on a tribal pattern, in which individual villages were peopled by particular clans. For our purposes, whether these clans were Berber, Arab, or Arabized Berber is not important, inasmuch as Arabs and Berbers had and, indeed, still have, very similar forms of social organization. The social and political consequences of Arab and Berber settlement, and of Islamization and Arabization have been set forth by Guichard. He convincingly repudiates the views of Sánchez Albornoz and like-minded historians who argue in favor of the assimilation of the Muslim conquerors to the social norms of the indigenous population. According to Guichard, not only did the religion and literate culture of the conquerors become predominant in al-Andalus, but Arabo-Berber tribal structures prevailed as well. In terms of social organization, this meant that the Arabs and Berbers were members of agnatic, patrilineal groups in which endogamous marriage was preferred so as to maintain the cohesion, wealth, and power of the lineage. These agnatic groups were embedded in a segmentary social system characterized by the balanced opposition between the increasingly inclusive segments of elementary family, lineage, clan, and tribe. This system allowed for both atomization, when segments of equal size competed within the tribe or clan, and amalgamation, when the various segments of a tribe formed a unified front in opposition to an enemy tribe. Thus, tribal in-fighting, most notably between the confederations of Mudari[*] and Yemeni[*] Arabs, marked the political history of al-Andalus well into the tenth century. The intermarriage of Arabs and Berbers with women of the native population—the offspring would have been Muslims and full members of their father's lineage—and the clientage of muwalladun[*] , the descendants of converts to Islam, to particular tribes allowed for the retention of tribal structures. By the eleventh century tribalism had played itself out as the dominant factor in the political life of al-Andalus. In addition to the political centralization and pacification achieved by c Abd al-Rahman[*] III, Guichard emphasizes the processes of sedentarization and urbanization, which hindered segmentation, the dynamic of tribal organization. David Wasserstein argues that an "Andalusian identity" had supplanted tribalism, any politically significant elements of which were destroyed by the military reforms of al-Mansur[*] , which had dissolved the tribally based jund units. Glick suggests an additional factor—the explosion of conversion to Islam in the midtenth century (according to the Bulliet model) saw the Arabs and Berbers being numerically swamped by neo-Muslims for whom tribal issues were not a major concern. However, if Epalza's thesis of an earlier and more intense Islamization of the Valencian region is correct, it may be that Arabo-Berber structures had taken deeper roots there. This may explain the particular vitality of Arabo-Berber social structures among Valencia's Mudejars. In any case, the decline of tribalism as a political force, or the dissolution of the tribal unit as a form of social organization, need not have resulted in the lapse of the more elementary segments of agnatic family and lineage as significant structures. In fact, among the Muslims of Nasrid Granada, and even among the Moriscos of postconquest Granada, agnatic solidarity (c asabiyah[*] ) continued to be a potent social force. It is one thing to remark on the survival of agnatic solidarity in an Islamic polity, or in a recently conquered one like Granada; it is quite another matter to assert that Arabo-Berber social attitudes and structures, at the level of family and lineage, remained largely intact in Valencia some 250 years after the submission of that region to western Christian domination. The defeat and emigration of Muslim military elites in the thirteenth century had eliminated whatever political significance still remained to either the tribe or clan. Since the government was Christian and denied Muslims access to political power, it is difficult to see what sociopolitical role and aims even the smaller solidarities of family and lineage would have had. Furthermore, progressive Mudejar emigration to Granada or the Maghrib, coupled with the internal migration and fragmentation brought about by seigneurial alteration of rural settlement patterns, must have severely strained or severed the ties binding some Muslim lineages together, in effect, fostering a more radical segmentation. Still, at the same time, the conquerors' granting of communal and legal autonomy to the Mudejars was probably conducive to the retention of preconquest structures, or at least to the alleviation of the pressures for fragmentation. As will be seen below, the various official posts of the corporate aljama, however much they were distortions of their Islamic antecedents, became sources of prestige and power within the Mudejar community, prizes over which rival families deemed it worthwhile to feud. Also, Maliki[*] law, according to which the Mudejars regulated their daily lives, seemed to justify the perpetuation of feuding relations by its provision for either retaliation or the payment of blood money (diyah ) in cases of homicide and assault. Aside from the persisting legal and institutional supports for traditional patterns of social relations, it is important to emphasize the peculiar resilience and structural coherence of medieval Islamic society at its lower levels, despite the frequent and sometimes traumatic political upheavals in its upper reaches. In the Valencian case, this resilience derived from the ability of the larger solidarities of an Arabo-Berber society to segment without disturbing the primary social structures. Thus, if a family were broken up—say, through the emigration of one of two brothers to the Maghrib—the sons of the remaining brother could create a new agnatic solidarity composed of themselves, their father, and their own male children, even though their position would be weakened through the loss of their paternal uncle's support. In other words, so long as traditional attitudes were not eroded, preconquest structures could be perpetuated merely through biological reproduction. If 250 years seems an incredibly long time for such structures to have endured, it was also more than enough time for them to have reemerged and solidified. Since Mudejar political life was reduced to the confines of the local morería or village there was no impetus for the amalgamation of clans or tribes; family and lineage, however, remained important. That lineage long continued to be a special concern of Valencian Muslims is evinced in the claims of a Morisco family in 1567 to have descended from al-Mansur[*] and Valencia's Muslim rulers.c Asabiyah[*] in Valencia was buttressed through the practice of endogamy, that is, through parallel cousin marriage with the daughter of the paternal uncle (bint al-c amm). The negotiations of the newly converted Moriscos with Carlos I in 1526 leave little doubt that this type of marriage had been the preferred one among the Mudejars: inasmuch as among the Moors today there are many marriages concluded between close relations in a degree prohibited by the Christian law and permitted by the Moorish law, which law permits marriage to the degree of that between cousins-germane—the children of two brothers inclusive—should the said marriages begin to be disturbed, and to prohibit those marriages which could be made from today henceforth, would result in the greatest damage and disturbance among the said Moors. The Moriscos then requested that Carlos intercede with the papal legate and persuade him to grant a dispensation for the endogamous marriages consummated before the mass conversions. Our documentation is less useful on this matter. Normally, only the name (ism ) of the wife is given—as Fatima, wife of so and so—without ascription to her lineage (nisbah ). This was in keeping with the far greater importance given to patrilineal descent, whereby the offspring of the marriage pertained to the lineage of the father. Of course, in the instance of marriage with the bint al- c amm, the husband and wife would have the same nisbah . In a few rare cases the documentation shows unequivocally the marriage of parallel cousins. In Alcira, Fotoix bint (daughter of) Mahomat Xativi was the betrothed of Ali ibn (son of) Abrahim Xativi. Two cases from Aragon (where the practice of endogamy is all the more impressive, given the greater acculturation of Aragonese Mudejars) suggest that although the right of the male cousin to the hand of the bint al-c amm was recognized, the prospective brides were sometimes less than enthusiastic about their fate. For five years there was pending in the courts of the kingdom a decision on the litigation between a reluctant bride, Fatima bint Mahomat Margnan of Huesca, and her cousin, Ybraym ibn Mofferiz Margnan, concerning the marriage that Ybraym and his father "were claiming" to contract with her. Fatima bint Jayel de Gali of Zaragoza asked for a divorce from her cousin, Faraig ibn Juçe de Gali, on the grounds that he had maltreated her. Faraig maintained that his mother-in-law had put Fatima up to it and pleaded before the king that his wife be restored to him. Questions of marital harmony aside, there were compelling reasons for the practice of endogamy. The marriage of paternal cousins en- hanced the solidarity of the lineage by linking the interests of brothers and their children, and giving the bride's kin more control over the bridegroom. They could then present a more powerful front to rival lineages. Moreover, the reproductive power of the daughter was retained within the lineage; more children, particularly more sons, increased prestige, power, and economic potential. The economic angle was crucial. Since among the Mudejars daughters were able to inherit from their fathers, the exogamous marriage of a daughter implied the loss of property by her lineage. True, the groom had to render a specified bridewealth (sadaq[ *] , Catalan accidach ) to his intended, but, because that was paid to and retained by the bride, her family did not profit from it. In some instances wives left their husbands and took their bridewealth home with them, or when couples separated the wives demanded their bridewealth, but it is highly unlikely that families planned for such eventualities. While endogamy was preferred, exogamous marriage was not at all unusual. Demography militated against every person being able to wed his or her cousin. More important, exogamy served to define relationships between various lineages. Marriage ties created a community of interest, mitigated conflict between families, and stabilized community life. That Mudejars regarded such affinal connections as determinants of conduct is demonstrated in the judicial appeal of Çaat Siquuti. The lieutenant bailiff of Játiva, with the counsel of the local qadi[*], Yuçeff Alçamba, had passed sentence against Çaat, which sentence was then upheld by the bailiff general, with the counsel of Mahomat Bellvis, the qadi general. Çaat complained that the final ruling had gone against him because the two qadi s "are joined by a certain affinity, that the son of the said qadi Bellvis had married the niece of the aforesaid Yuçeff Alçamba, daughter of Yahye Alçamba his brother." In another case, Mahomat Perpir, when he fled to the Maghrib in 1501, was recorded as having Abdalla Murçi and Yuçeff Zignell as brothers-in-law. In 1499 he had reached a truce with Azmet Murçi, a relation of Abdalla, and in 1500 had done the same with Yuçeff Zignell. It may be that affinal ties had helped to close the rift separating the Perpirs from the Murçis and the Zignells, or perhaps in the end they proved insufficient and Mahomat had reasons other than the fear of forced baptism for taking refuge in the Maghrib. Since endogamous marriage was practiced, and the bonds between agnates thereby strengthened, it should follow that agnates acted jointly in the conduct of feuding relations. This is precisely the state of affairs encountered in the documentation. In a number of cases the perpetrators of violence were two or more agnates. Homaymat and Çuleymen Montani of Alacuás, with accomplices, shot and killed with a crossbow another Muslim vassal of the seigneury. Ali Orfayçi and his brother Mahomat Çaffahi of Alcira burst into the house of Pedro Delgado and wounded Juçeff Bolaix with two lacerations. On different occasions Muslims of Valldigna were wounded by Mahomat and Abdalla Giber, and by Çat and Ali Bolarif. Mahomat Malich had the misfortune somehow to incur the wrath of Ali and Mahomat Guayna of Artesa. Clearly casabiyah[*] was crucial for providing the strength in numbers that allowed for such aggression. At the same time, the readiness to resort to violence, combined with the support of sons, brothers, uncles, and cousins, tended to discourage the violent initiatives or retaliation of rivals. The threat posed by the enemy's group solidarity determined the very nature of much of the violence that occurred. Assault and murder were often committed under the cover of night; ambushes were laid and enemies attacked at unexpected moments; and victims were often alone and outnumbered by their assailants who struck in tandem with agnates or other—perhaps affinal—accomplices. We have mentioned elsewhere Juçeff Cabot of Játiva who returned to Valldigna, where, one evening, with henchmen, he did away with an enemy in his own home. Abdalla Çentido and Fuçey Ylel dispatched Azmet Gradano with a dagger-thrust to the throat as he was leaving his father's house in Mirambell. Mahomat Flori of Játiva was fined 110s, in lieu of eighty lashes, "because he had hidden in his house certain Moors [relatives] from Gandía and from the Vall d'Alfandech [Valldigna] for the purpose of killing Gabix, Moor of the said morería ." Mahomat Chiquet of Alcira even resorted to arson, attempting to burn down the house of the Arrayço family. Only rarely were attempts made on the lives of more than one member of a family at the same time, and in such cases the elements of surprise, darkness of night, and superiority in arms are apparent. The brothers Çahat and Amet Pachando were the victims of a ferocious nocturnal assault in Liria by Caet Natjar and Abraym Rabaça of Bétera. Natjar practically cut off Çahat's head with his sword, while Rabaça seriously wounded Amet with a poisoned crossbow dart. As casabiyah[*] was predicated on the responsibility of each agnate to uphold the honor of his family, an attack on one member of the group demanded of the others reprisal against the offender or his agnates. Failure to fulfill this responsibility resulted in the family's loss of honor and in a decrease in its prestige and power in the community. Thus violence elicited a violent response, setting in motion a potentially endless sequence of aggressive acts characteristic of the feud. The understanding of family members involved in feuds that violence would inevitably ensue and vengeance be exacted prompted Muslims of Oliva, Carlet, Játiva, the Vall de Uxó, and Valencia to apply for licenses to bear arms for the purpose of self-defense against their "enemies." Yuçeff Albanne's application hinged on the presumption that because Abrahim Corumbell had already wounded his brother he was next in line. A consideration of the feud between the Murçi and the Torralbi families of the morería of Valencia demonstrates the centrality of agnatic solidarity in the prosecution of a feud. We first encounter the brothers Azmet and Çahat Torralbi receiving from the bailiff general arms-bearing licenses (20 March 1503). Because Çahat had denounced Azmet Murçi before the bailiff's court (for a reason unknown to us), he believed he needed to be armed so that he would not be "damaged by the said Azmet Murçi or by another relative of his " (italics mine). Azmet Torralbi, sharing responsibility for his brother's legal actions, whether he liked it or not, felt equally threatened. Such was the expectation of Murçi vengeance that the Torralbis were licensed to bear arms not only for self-defense but also for the defense of "one other companion who will go in your company." Clearly, it was inadvisable for a man embroiled in a Mudejar feud to walk alone. Less than three months later the Torralbis took the offensive and, putting his licensed arms to good use, Azmet Torralbi severely wounded Abrahim Murçi. The precise relation of Abrahim to Azmet Murçi is unknown, although it seems most likely that they were brothers. In any case, they had the same enemies. Both Abrahim and Azmet had concluded truces with Mahomat Perpir and Ali Perpir, and both had fallen out with even the same agnate, Ubaydal Murçi, perhaps their cousin. Abrahim had also made Azmet's dispute with the Torralbis his own. Nusa, Abrahim's wife, maintained that Azmet and Çahat Torralbi, and their father Abdalla, all bore a grudge against her husband for no reason, and that Çahat and Abdalla prompted Azmet and planned with him the attack on Abrahim. She also asserted that as early as the previous January (1503) Çahat Torralbi had shown much bravado toward her husband and an intention to kill him. The testimonies of other witnesses contradicted some of Nusa's charges. First, it seems that Abrahim Murçi was not entirely blameless. Abrahim was said to have a "foul mouth," and many thought that "because of his tongue the said Azmet Torralbi has wounded him." Abrahim had indeed gone about stating that Azmet was a fool and deserved to be treated as such. Second, it seems that Çahat and Abdalla Torralbi had not urged on Azmet or planned the crime with him; rather, the attack was more of a spontaneous act on Azmet's part. In fact, Abdalla Torralbi had attempted to mollify his son's animosity toward Abrahim, urging Azmet to make peace with him. On the very day of the assault, Abdalla confronted Abrahim, demanding to know why he was deliberately antagonizing his son. Abrahim retorted that he did not have to answer to Abdalla, then wheeled and strode off. Abrahim's inability to hold his tongue proved calamitous, for when Azmet vented his wrath against him, he showed little mercy. Azmet slashed Abrahim about the head and arms with his sword, and, when Abrahim fled into the home of Gil Sanchiz, he followed him there and cut off his right foot. According to the painter Gabriel Gosalbo, it was his own intervention that prevented the affair from escalating into a bloodbath. With a lance he barred the way into Abdalla Torralbi's house against those (Abrahim's relatives, perhaps) who spoke of entering to slit the throats of Abdalla's daughters. Later, he met Çahat Torralbi and advised him to avoid the area of his father's house, lest he fall victim to Murçi revenge. In another case, the brothers Ali and Azmet Thorruc of Millena killed Azmet Araye of Benilloba on account of some disagreement. Consequently, Azmet's brothers, Mahomat and Çahat Araye—their father was an eighty-year-old invalid—recruited some neighbors in Benilloba and proceeded to Millena, where they took their revenge, slaying Azmet Thorruc. Açen Muça of Serra was similarly motivated by a desire to vindicate the murder of his half-brother Azmet Gradano ("jermans de mare," a blood tie not as strong as that between sons of the same father) by Abdalla Çentido. For four years he had restrained himself, but on Corpus Christi Day, 1491, he stabbed Abdalla to death as he sat watching the processions in Valencia. Earlier that day, Yuçeff Ada had asked Abdalla about the state of his relations with Açen Muça, and, upon learning that the two were still feuding, admonished Abdalla to be careful. The feud, then, seems to have been a matter of (Mudejar) public knowledge. This makes perfect sense, for the honor and status of a family rested on public evaluation and approval. This approval could best be attained through the display of solidarity and the willingness of the agnates to fulfill their responsibilities to the group, that is, through the family conducting itself properly in a feud. A number of victimized Mudejar families, either too weak in numbers or too law-abiding to retaliate against their enemies in kind, or perhaps exceedingly confident in the efficacy of royal and seigneurial justice, beseeched their Christian overlords to mete out the punishment due for assault or homicide. The parents of the murdered Azmet Zichnel of Valldigna, "although they have the ability and it would be permitted to them to kill with impunity Juçef Cuyta, the killer," turned first to the criminal justice of Valldigna, a seigneury, and then, once Juçef had fled the valley, to the Crown "to have him fittingly punished and chastized through the measures and means of that [justice]." It is due to this type of legal recourse to the Christian authorities that much of the information concerning Mudejar violence turns up in the documentation. The records of the kingdom's fiscal auditor (Maestre Racional ) indicate that royal officials, and probably their seigneurial counterparts as well, acted as mediators between feuding Mudejar families. The result of a bailiff's intervention in a dispute appears in the records as the payment of a monetary settlement (composicio ) by the offending Muslim or his family to the bailiff. Of course, payment to the Christian official provided little compensation for the victim and his family. It is probably safe to assert, therefore, that either the bailiff and the victim divided the settlement or the victim received a separate settlement equal to that received by the bailiff, who, in either case, would have presided over the entire transaction. This conjecture is substantiated in some cases by scribal notations that state that the victim "admitted" or agreed to the settlement. In the eyes of the victim and his family, the settlement would have appeared a form of blood money releasing them from the obligation, although not necessarily from the desire, to retaliate violently. A more effective means of maintaining the public peace was in the hands of the bailiff general, namely, the official "peace and truce," supposed to last for 101 years, or its permanent variant, the "final peace." Although many of these officially sponsored truces involved Muslims of the morería of Valencia, for keeping order was most difficult in the capital, many others bound Muslims from all over the kingdom. The truces highlight the importance of agnatic solidarity by emphasizing that each party swearing to abide by the truce was representing himself and his "relatives, friends, and defenders." In some cases entire families were present at the conclusion of the truce. Unfortunately, only in rare instances do the documents state the causes for the mutual hostility necessitating a formal truce. When given, the causes usually are acts of violence. The texts of the truces are written according to standard format, in which steep monetary fines are emphasized as the deterrent to any resumption of the feud. For example, in a truce dated 31 March 1489 we find various members of the Capo family of Alcira, standing "for themselves, friends, relations, and defenders," and Abdalla Pollet, his son Mahomat, Azmet Biari, Çahat Biari and his son Caleth, and Çapdon Eça, all of the same morería, pledging "a good peace and truce between them, to last for 101 years, concerning whatever debates, quarrels, rumors, ill-will, and wounds that might have existed between them until the present day." By virtue of an oath sworn "with hands and with mouth" in the presence of Joan Aduart, royal constable and vicar of the bailiff general, "'to our Lord God and to the qiblah of Muhammad' the face turned toward midday, according to the Sunnah and the Shariah of the Sarracens," both parties promised that "there will not be done nor caused to be done nor arranged nor attempted, neither openly nor secretly, neither directly nor indirectly, any evil or damage on the persons or goods of them [the other party]." For any violation of the truce, the Crown would penalize the offending family with a fine of 500 florins—100 florins to the injured party and 400 florins to the royal treasury. It is not difficult to understand why the royal authorities expended such effort to curb the Mudejars' feuding propensities. The death of vassals, the destruction of property, and the disruption of economic activity, all of which resulted from feuding, had the most negative implications for the state of the royal treasury. Moreover, the control of social violence and the efficient administration of justice were essential components of the effective exercise of royal authority. Stated more simply, public order had to be maintained. Feuds not only affected individual families but also at times threatened to engulf entire morerías in tumultuous and bloody disorder. Three royal aljamas were seen to be tottering on the edge of such calamity. In Valencia, the feud between the Roget and the Bizquey families had become so serious that they and "their fathers and mothers" had to be banished from the morería . In Alcira, the bailiff believed the aforementioned truce between the Capo and Biari families to be necessary in order to "pacify the said morería and to put the [morería ] in repose." The bailiff general urged the bailiff of Castellón de la Plana to do something to resolve the conflict between the Bocayos and their rivals "for the benefit and repose of that morería, which today ... is on the road to destruction." While official intervention prevented the growth of widespread violence within morerías, it is less certain that the truces between families always had their intended durability. Social anthropologies have observed in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern societies where the feud is a central element in social relations the ultimate inefficacy of truces and various forms of compensation as means of permanently extinguishing a feud. Rather, despite the fact that hostilities cease for varying lengths of time, feuds tend to be perpetual in nature. The Valencian evidence does not contradict these conclusions. Azmet Coxet of Paterna was to be apprehended "for breaking the peace and truce." Although Azmet Aixbir and Çaat Borrabe had concluded a truce, Azmet later seized the opportunity to attack Çaat. One also encounters the repetition of truces between the same families, such as the Murçis and the Perpirs, or the Bizqueys and the Rogets. Even if different members or combinations of members of the families appear in successive truces, this hardly masks the fact of the continuing and potentially explosive state of animosity existing between them. It should not be thought, however, that without the intervention of royal and seigneurial officials Mudejar society would have destroyed itself through unabated internecine violence. The Mudejars had their own mechanisms for achieving a cessation of hostilities, a state of affairs necessary if routine social and economic life were to continue. A settlement arrived at through the efforts of Muslim jurists preceded some of the truces established through the office of the bailiff general. When the powerful Paziar family of Alcira and the Getdi family of Picasent concluded an official "peace and truce" after the killing of Abdalla Getdi, the Paziars came with a "carta morischa (Arabic letter) received from Ali Bellvis, son of Mahomat Bellvis, qadi[ *] of the lord king," while the Getdis had an Arabic letter from their local faqih[*] . In other cases Muslims abandoned legal initiatives against enemies, having come to an understanding with them by their own methods and for their own reasons. In the feud between the Araye and Thorruc families, rather than pursuing the prosecution of Mahomat and Çahat Araye in the governor's court, the Thorrucs dropped the charges against them, after having "established peace with all [their] adversaries." It may be inferred that the Thorrucs realized that the capital punishment of the Araye brothers, even if executed through proper legal procedure, would have served only to provoke the perpetration of retaliatory violence by the Araye and their friends in Benilloba. Each family had already lost a son; with the score even, an uneasy truce seemed wiser than more killing and the disruption of the activities of those still alive. When the wife of the murdered Ali Dabbau, his sister, and the guardian of his children, Azmet Pulpul (apparently not an agnate of Ali), dropped charges against the killer, Çaat Melich, the reasons for their doing so were even more pressing than those motivating the Thorrucs. Here, the surviving members of the victim's family, two women and young children, were incapable of either exacting revenge themselves or defending themselves against later retaliation should they press prosecution through the bailiff's court. This evidence suggests that what moved Mudejars to accept compensation or blood money instead of physical retribution, or to make peace with the enemy, however temporary that peace might be, was not so much the threat of censure by the Christian authorities as the fear of triggering further violence, of reactivating the feud in its most destructive form. In other words, the most effective deterrent to feuding was the feud itself. Rival families eyed each other warily and exercised restraint, committing violent acts sporadically in an often calculated manner. It was to no one's interest to give violence free rein. The plethora of official truces between rival Mudejar families, the numerous acts of violence in which agnates were implicated, and the importance of vengeance as a motive for such violence all indicate that the feud was so pervasive as to constitute a primary determinant of Mudejar social relations. Jacob Black-Michaud, whose conclusions are based on the studies of various Mediterranean and Middle Eastern feuding societies, goes so far as to state that "feud can be regarded as a social system per se." While it is not our intention to discuss the validity of this conclusion, nor, for that matter, to attempt to fit Mudejar feuding within the framework of an anthropological model, it is crucial to emphasize a viewpoint on which most observers of feuding societies would seem to agree, namely, that feuding is better viewed as a social process than as a social aberration. If this is the case, then there must have been something other than the necessity to respond to a previous act of violence behind much of the Mudejar violence we have observed, a stake, or stakes, worth the risk of initiating a feud. These stakes were wealth and power. Among Mudejar farmers and artisans wealth was attained through the acquisition of land and through the control of a limited market for manufactured goods. Power, or local influence, rested on the prestige and status afforded by the possession of wealth and by the defeat of rivals in the competition for it. The agnates who constituted the feuding group also functioned as an economic unit, holding land jointly and practicing the same crafts, so that mutual material concerns strengthened agnatic solidarity. Mudejar feuding, then, may be interpreted as a consequence of the competition for material wealth and local status, and as a process determining the allocation of these scarce commodities, thereby stratifying individual communities. The official truces, which sometimes indicate the professions of the subscribing parties, strongly suggest that economic competition was at the root of much Mudejar discord. In a number of cases both of the feuding parties were practitioners of the same craft, producing for the same limited market. Conflict occurred between Muslim blacksmiths, shieldmakers, and shoemakers in Valencia, between Muslim fishermen in Oliva, and between hemp sandalmakers in the Vall de Uxó. The competition seems to have been most intense among Valencia's Mudejar shoemakers. The feuding Bizquey and Roget families, whom the authorities had to expel from the morería, both practiced shoemaking. The Bizqueys also concluded truces with other enemy shoemakers, namely, Çatdon Caeli, the brothers Abrahim and Çalema Cabero, Çilim Maymo, and Çahat Perpir with his nephews Ali and Mahomat Perpir. The Perpirs themselves clashed with shoemakers other than the Bizqueys: Çahat Carcaix, Azmet Murçi, Ali Maguarell, and Çaat Abducarim. In the feud which resulted in the wounding of Abrahim Murci, a shieldmaker, by Azmet Torralbi, a shoemaker, it is interesting that the Torralbis seem to have first come into conflict, not with Abrahim, but with Azmet Murçi, a shoemaker (see above). However, in many other feuds the parties were not of the same profession, in which cases one cannot delineate so precisely the clash of competing economic interests. The ties and common interests created through exogamous marriage or simple friendship complicated intracommunal relations considerably, so that families came into conflict who, had they been guided by economic concerns alone, otherwise might not have. Thus, one encounters truces like the one concluded between the shoemakers Ali Perpir of Valencia and Azmet Naixe of Mislata, on one side, and Ali Maguarell and Çaat Abducarim, shoemakers, and Azmet Claret, a linen salesman, all of Valencia, on the other side. The documentation does not reveal what, other than shoemaking, brought together Perpir and Naixe, Muslims from different families and locales, or why a linen salesman was involved in the feud at all. The frequent and varied business transactions between Mudejars of all walks of life, and matters associated with the complex pattern of land tenure, in which Muslim artisans also were concerned, provided ample opportunity for the sparking of controversy and mutual hostility. For instance, Çale Magarell had Çaat Feçi imprisoned for money Çaat owed him for the purchase of a donkey. In Játiva, Yuçeff Redona complained that Azmet Beniale had planted mulberry trees on his land and demanded that they be uprooted. Muslims of Valldigna went to court over the alleged sale of cloth, while Muslims of Alcira disputed the ownership of goats. Material interests fueled the fires of dissension even within families. For instance, Ali Gehini, a wealthy amin[*] of la Foyeta, was so afraid of being robbed by his own sons, disreputable characters who frequented taverns, that he hid his money in the walls of his house. Mahomat Negral had the justice of Valldigna sell his brother Abducalem's mule for debts Abducalem owed him on account of the justice's earlier sale of Mahomat's field for debts that had really been Abducalem's. Unfortunately, because most Mudejar civil litigation was handled in Islamic courts, the records of which do not survive, our information on Mudejar disputes over land or other commodities is extremely limited. Consequently, direct correlations cannot be made between such disputes and the occurrence of violence and feuding. Considering the extent of feuding between Muslims of the same profession reflected in the truces and the few instances of Mudejar property litigation encountered, it can be cautiously postulated that much of Mudejar feuding had its roots in conflicting economic interests. The feuding that threatened to destroy the morería of Castellón de la Plana was the violent manifestation of a struggle for political power. The struggle centered on the control of the two posts of adelantat and pitted Abdulazis and his son Yuçeff Bocayo against a faction headed by Çale Arroçen and Ubequer Faraig, which also included Caet Fando, Yuçeff Salio, Ali Gordo, and Ali Gerret. Shortly before 19 April 1487 the Bocayos informed the bailiff general of a fight that had broken out between Yuçeff Bocayo and Ali Gerret. Within weeks matters took a more serious turn: two Christians and some unidentified Muslims entered the Bocayos' home and wounded Yuçeff in the arm and hand, cutting off his finger. Investigation revealed that this was not random violence, but that the two Christian assailants had been hired by Çale Arroçen and Ubequer Faraig to do the dirty work. At this point the bailiff general had Ali Bellvis, the qadi[*] general, intervene. Bellvis managed to persuade the Bocayos and their rivals to agree to a power-sharing arrangement. According to this arrangement, the ten councillors of the aljama, among whom were members of both feuding factions, and the adelantats from the previous year would elect the amin[*] and the two adelantats . Most important, it was stipulated that "in any year either Ubequer Faraig or Çale Arroçen is elected as jurate [adelantat ] that in such case let there be elected as jurate one of the said Bocayos, either the father or the son." That the two posts of adelantat were so hotly contested was probably due to the adelantats ' function as advisors to the amin in the apportionment and collection of taxes. This is suggested by the fact that Ali Bellvis also inspected the aljama's account books to ensure that the amin had justly confiscated certain goods of the Bocayos and Yuçeff Pollina, presumably for reason of unpaid taxes. The Bocayos, then, had a clear material interest in being elected as one of the adelantats . Eventually (August 1488), the authorities established a formal truce between the two factions; however, by 1492 Yuçeff Bocayo was again complaining about wounds inflicted by his former antagonists (it is not clear that these were new wounds). There is no further evidence indicating that the feuds in other Mudejar communities were similarly motivated, and the aljama of Castellón, in which the office of amin changed hands annually, may well have been more politically unstable. Still, given that all the communities had more or less the same political structure with officials executing the same functions, it may not be too far-fetched to infer a more general phenomenon of feuding as being in part a contest for local political power, the exercise of which could influence individual rates of taxation. Even families secure in their possession of official posts, like the Paziars, the amin s of Alcira, were involved in feuding, which suggests that the holding of office was not the sole basis of power among the Mudejars. Intimately linked to the competition for economic and political power as a source of feuding was a punctilious concern for honor. The Mudejar conception of honor differed somewhat from that of western Christians. For the latter, honor was attached to social rank and varied according to the possession of wealth and title. For the Mudejars, honor had the same significance at all socioeconomic levels and was the possession of the family, to be augmented or lost. This may help to explain the apparently unusual phenomenon of Mudejar shoemakers and the like fighting over points of honor. As suggested above, family honor could be maintained and increased only through the agnates' fulfillment of their responsibilities to each other. Inasmuch as the family constituted an economic unit jockeying for its share of wealth and influence in the community, its performance in that contest reflected on its honor. However, a family without honor was by virtue of its loss of face excluded from participation in that same contest. Honor, then, was a prerequisite for the attainment of status and power in the community. Because in economic terms Mudejar society was relatively homogenous, being composed largely of small farmers and artisans and lacking an established aristocracy, the possession of honor, achieved through a family's action in accordance with the dictates of agnatic solidarity, was probably as great a determinant of local status as real wealth. This helps to explain why so much of the violence committed by Mudejars seems to have been in defense of family or personal honor. Although economic competition might have inspired the incidents leading families or individuals to believe that their honor had been somehow sullied, it was not considered to have been in itself a sufficient cause for violence. Questions of purely economic concern were settled licitly in court; questions of honor were settled extralegally in the forum of the community. Of course, the settlement of a question of honor through violence to some extent also resolved the economic question, inasmuch as the competition was then either temporarily or permanently eliminated. Thus, in the feud between the Torralbis and the Murçis, which seems to have originated in the clash between shoemakers—Azmet Murçi against Azmet and Çahat Torralbi—Azmet Torralbi inflicted violence on Abrahim Murqi, a shieldmaker, because Abrahim had ridiculed him and thereby stained his honor. It is worth recalling that many in the morería recognized that Abrahim had incurred Azmet's wrath because of his loose tongue. Another incident involving Muslims of Bétera shows the Mudejars' extreme sensitivity where their honor was concerned. Ubaydal Allepus and his convert brother Miguel Crestia went to a hamlet near Bétera where they intended to mow grass with a sickle that a Christian hosteler had given them. There, a Muslim named Raboça accused the two brothers of having stolen the sickle from him. Apparently, Ubaydal and Miguel felt they had been defamed and their honor challenged, for they immediately tried to strike Raboça. Raboça then called for his brother-in-law, Amet Biari, at which point a brawl ensued that resulted in Amet's death. Although Ubaydal denied any previous acquaintance with Amet Biari, the latter's widow claimed that Ubaydal had harbored ill will against her husband. Perhaps Ubaydal's spontaneous violence in defense of his honor was the culmination of a long-standing controversy with Biari's family. Because honor was essentially a social value, the possession of which depended on the community's evaluation of the conduct of an individual and his family, acts that entailed a challenge to or a defense of honor had a meaning recognized and understood by the entire community. Violence begot violence because social norms demanded that vengeance be exacted if honor was to be maintained. Thus, in the aforementioned stabbing of Abdalla Çentido by Açen Muça, Abdalla's friends expected that Açen would be seeking revenge. Açen, it seems, was a somewhat reluctant avenger, but he felt compelled to act when Abdalla passed by him in the street three times making insulting gestures and faces calculated to shame him publicly. If the childrearing methods of Axa, the wife of Abdalla Murçi, are any indication of a widespread phenomenon, then Mudejar children were from an early age socialized in the ways of violent initiative and riposte in the pursuit of honor. When her nine-year-old son came home weeping after having been hit by the son of Alfona, Axa deemed that he had been shamed. She upbraided the boy for not striking back, and she demanded retaliation: "Look, when he [the son of Alfona] passes, hit him with a rock." If this were not enough, she even nagged at her husband and servant: "If you do not strike either the husband or the wife [the Alfonas] I will not consider you men. If you do not do it, go to the devil!" A consideration of the position of women in Mudejar society confirms the continued importance of Arabo-Berber attitudes and social structures. To some extent women were pawns manipulated by their male relatives in the politics of marital alliance. Ideally, a woman was kept within the lineage through endogamous marriage, so that her lineage benefited from her reproductive power. However, if exogamous marriage were unavoidable, it was better and more honorable to receive than to give a woman in marriage. Families that had to give away their daughters in marriage did so to those families with whom alliance would prove most useful in the local scheme of feuding relations. Although the woman in an exogamous marriage lived with her husband's lineage, she still maintained important connections with her father's family. In fact, her behavior, particularly her sexual conduct, affected the honor of her father's family, not that of her husband. This ambivalent position of the woman, bearing children for her husband's family while being responsible for the honor of her father's family, is reflected in a number of ways in the documentation. First, because the children of a marriage belonged to the husband's family, Mudejar widows lost custody of their children, who were given into the hands of male guardians, presumably the agnates of the deceased husbands. The strategy here was to ensure that the children, along with the inheritances their fathers had bequeathed to them, continued to adhere to the father's family when their mother remarried. This explains why Fotayma resided in Sot with her new husband, Amet Albaytar, while her daughter Axa lived with two guardians in Cuart, the home of her deceased husband. Apparently, the only way a widow could continue to play a significant role in the lives of her children was either not to remarry, or to do so only to a man of the same town. The wife's continued close ties with her father's family divided her allegiance and seem to have contributed to the instability of some exogamous marriages. This is indicated by the fact that when a Mudejar wife separated from her husband she usually returned to the home of her father. When Suçey, the wife of Abrahim Çuleymen of the morería of Valencia, went to her father's home in Petrés to attend her brother's wedding, she never returned, "her father, mother, and brother detaining her and not allowing her to come in the power of her husband." Çoltana departed with her father from the seigneury of Castell de Castells without license of the lord, even though her husband was still living there. When Ali Mançor changed vassalage from Benimuslem to Castellón de Játiva, his wife refused to accompany him and demanded the payment of her bridewealth. The bailiff of Játiva did not quite comprehend what was happening and asserted, as a Christian might, "the wife has to follow the husband wherever he would wish to go ... and to live." Probably her confidence in and attachment to her agnates allowed this woman such freedom of choice. Although the father's household offered a haven to a woman in case of an unhappy marriage, it also harbored the harshest judges of her sexual misbehavior. An adulterous woman's shameful behavior affected mainly the honor of her father's lineage; that of the husband's remained largely unstained. Therefore, it was the responsibility of the woman's agnates to punish her. In some traditional Arabo-Berber societies the agnates were expected to kill her, and Islamic law required that adul- terers be stoned to death. The Valencian documentation records a surprisingly large number of cases of Mudejar adultery, in which the Islamic death penalty was normally commuted by the Christian authorities to enslavement to the king. This indicates not that Muslims involved themselves in adulterous affairs any more than did Christians, but that because the honor of the father's lineage was involved in the case of an adulterous wife—and those prosecuted were almost all women—her agnates were themselves especially eager to prosecute her so as to erase their own shame. Since royal law would not permit the agnates to dispose of the woman themselves, they had to go through the proper legal channels. Unfortunately, the documents do not reveal who brought the adulteresses before the qadi 's[*] court (the criminal penalty itself had to be executed by the local Christian authority), but, all else being consistent, the agnates, not the husbands, seem the most likely candidates. The social origins of Mudejar prostitutes further substantiate the importance of the woman's relation to her agnatic group, for the position of such women seems to have derived precisely from their having lacked the support of their agnates. Fotayma was an orphaned maidservant maltreated by her Muslim master. She ran off with a male servant who subsequently became her procurer. Mariem had left her husband, but, because her mother was forcing her to return to him, she departed from Alacuás for the brothel of Valencia. Nuzeya of Oliva had also separated from her husband, and since her parents were dead she, too, was compelled to earn a living in the brothel. Xuxa left her husband in Villamarchante for a lover who later became her procurer. Having committed adultery, she could not hope for forgiveness from her father's family. Adulterous women and prostitutes were the outcasts of Mudejar society. If fathers were preoccupied with the sexual conduct of their married daughters, so much more were they anxious to defend the chastity of their unmarried ones. The violation of a daughter's chastity, committed with the consent of the daughter or not, constituted an assault on the family's honor. Daughters could not bring honor to a family; they could only bring shame through sexual impropriety. Thus, Aragonese Mudejars conducting business in Zaragoza brought their daughters with them and kept them secluded in the fonduk so that they would not be "maltreated" or spoiled for marriage. The Mudejars' concern to guard their daughters' chastity in defense of family honor may be explained as a reaction to an unusual phenomenon encountered in the documentation, namely, the abduction of women. In pre-Islamic Arab society, and also to some extent among Arabs in Islamic times, women were abducted in order to shame the victimized family. The honor of the abductor's family was at the same time increased. Mudejars in royal and seigneurial morerías also seem to have employed abduction as a tactic to disgrace their enemies. Although in some cases abduction might have been, in fact, only an elopement, which still would have shamed the father who could not control his daughter, in other cases the participation of more than one man in the abduction indicates a deliberate intention to dishonor the woman's family. Mahomat and Omeymet Maixquarn of Valldigna paid a 340s settlement to the bailiff of Játiva "for having kidnapped Çayma, Mooress, daughter of the amin[ *] of the place of Manuel." The knight Miguel Çetina was sent to the Vall de Villalonga to search for the daughter ("mora donzella") of a Muslim of Millena who had been abducted by Muslims of Cocentaina. The fate of the abducted women is unknown, but it is likely that abduction lessened their prospects for a good marriage. The passive role of women (outside of the home at least) in the maintenance or loss of family honor was linked to the economic and local political considerations underlying much of Mudejar feuding. The primary factor at stake was the woman's reproductive power. Children, particularly sons, increased a family's economic potential, and the family with many sons and strong casabiyah[*] was a force to be reckoned with in the community. Thus endogamous marriage was preferred to keep offspring within the lineage, while if exogamous marriage was necessary, it was preferable to receive the woman of another family. The widow lost control of her own children to her late husband's family for the same reasons. Adulterous unions were frowned upon because the bastard offspring did not belong to any lineage and were of no help to anyone. Prostitutes, bereft of honor and family ties, existed on the margin of Mudejar feuding society. Above the level of family or lineage the most important solidarity among the Mudejars was that formed by the rural village or urban morería . During the era of Islamic rule such solidarity had greater force owing to the settlement of particular localities by individual clans (thus the prevalence of "Beni" in Valencian toponyms). The dissipation of larger tribe or clan solidarities and the post-Christian conquest seigneurialization of the countryside significantly modified the basis of local identity. The Mudejar no longer identified himself as the member of a particular clan, but as the vassal of a particular lord. Seigneurial control of a rural community meant that the lord's interests largely determined those of his vassals. So long as Muslim vassals stayed put, their lords tended to defend them, but not without a large degree of self-interest (see chaps. 1 and 2). The vassals themselves acted as a unit, and appear in the documentation as the aljama of a particular place of which a particular nobleman is lord. The community of interest between vassals, and between vassals and their lords, was necessitated by economic pragmatism and a scarcity of resources. Labor, water, arable land, and livestock were all in short supply. Efficient exploitation of available resources demanded communal cooperation, and retention of these resources required collective action for purposes of communal defense. Endogamous marriage, creating large extended families, and exogamous marriage, binding different families together, both would have served to reinforce the community's unity of purpose. One manifestation of the ability of Mudejar communities to overcome their internal differences and present a united front to their antagonists was their aggressive and joint defiance of the authorities, particularly of those sent to their villages to make arrests or to confiscate goods. When a royal constable and other officials arrived in Callosa, where they were to collect 19,666s 8d from the Muslims for pensions owed, they discovered that the Muslims had hidden their goods in places nearby. As they were returning with the goods from one of these places, the Muslims ambushed them with a barrage of stones. Officials sent to Matet to arrest two Muslims, fugitive vassals from Gaibiel, had even less luck: "there was made a great resistance by the Moors of the said place, not only breaking open the prisons where the said constable had put one arrested Moor and carrying him away, moreover, they inflicted on the said constable many blows with swords on the staff and one on the arm by which they wounded him." Three years later the amin[*] and adelantats of Matet were still refusing to cooperate in the matter. Muslim vassals of Alcocer possessing lands in the huerta of Castellón de Játiva together cleverly constructed hidden threshing floors near the river, so that they could quickly send threshed wheat downstream without paying their agricultural taxes. When the tax collector later confiscated a horse as a pledge for the unpaid taxes, two Muslims with a lance convinced him to let the horse go. More numerous than the instances of resistance to royal officials were the clashes between vassals of various seigneuries. Neighboring villages were frequently at odds over boundaries, possession of land, distribution of irrigation water, and other such matters that affected the livelihood of their residents. Conflict of interests issued in the courts as litigation, but not infrequently took on the more sinister aspects of theft and violence. Animosity between lords also soured relations between their vassals. It is often unclear whether the actions of vassals against communities nearby were perpetrated with the consent and direction of their lord or whether the vassals took action of their own accord. For the most part one can probably presume a concurrence between lords and vassals in such affairs, inasmuch as any gains or losses sustained by the vassals were also felt by the lord. A brief description of the difficulties and hostility faced by the vassals of some seigneuries should provide some sense of the necessity for communal cooperation and a minimal degree of cohesion. The Muslims of Llombay's marketing of their wheat in Alcira seems to have threatened the interests of some Muslims of the town's morería . Litigation ensued between them, and the bailiff of Alcira confiscated the wheat and pack animals of Yuçeff Carroff of Llombay. A decade later eight Muslims of Llombay murdered a rival of Alcira just outside the walls of the town, which suggests a long-term dispute. Llombay's bailiff and Muslims also rustled livestock from the pastures of neighboring Carlet, for which crime the residents of Carlet planned to enter Llombay and take action. The vassals of Carlet had already been involved in a more serious dispute with Alcudia, which had resulted from the feud between their respective lords, Gaspar de Castellvi and Pere de Montagut. The latter and two henchmen killed Silim Bono of Carlet and wounded his son. Muslims and Christians of Carlet retaliated by wounding a Christian miller and killing a farmer in Alcudia. The feud was finally resolved when Montagut married Castellvi's daughter. Some conflicts were more one-sided. The attack of the brothers Ferrer with their squires and Muslim vassals so terrorized the Muslim residents of Faldeta that they deserted the place. Perhaps the most frequent cause of strife was a community's misappropriation of irrigation water, which placed in jeopardy the crops of other communities in the vicinity. The lord of Alginet complained that his village was "perishing" because the officials, including the amin s[*] , of the Foya de Llombay were not allowing the water to flow as accustomed. The consequences of such disputes could prove dire, such as the one between Antella and Sumacárcel over "a bridge or a duct of an irrigation canal," which provoked Muslim and Christian vassals of Antella to kill Çahat Torraboni of the rival village. At the local level Mudejar society displays two conflicting tendencies: on one hand, fragmentation, as manifested in the feuding relations between rival family or lineage groups; and, on the other hand, a reflexive solidarity necessitated by the struggle between communities over the possession of scarce natural resources. The former tendency was rooted in traditional Arabo-Berber modes of social organization. The sources of the latter tendency are more complex, for the importance of seigneurial rivalry and the role of Christian vassals in the strife between communities disallows a description of local solidarity as a purely Mudejar phenomenon. Nevertheless, it is evident that the Muslims inhabiting individual villages were able to unite when the livelihood of the entire community was threatened, even if at the behest of their lord and in conjunction with their Christian neighbors. That such was the case perhaps can be explained in part by the ability of Arabo-Berber segmentary societies to amalgamate when necessary, as well as to atomize. Considerable space has been devoted to a discussion of Mudejar social structure and to an analysis of Mudejar feuding relations not only to provide some insight into life within the morería below the surface of the Muslim-Christian interface but also to make a point crucial to the understanding of the remarkable tenacity with which the Mudejars and, later, the Moriscos adhered to Islam despite considerable pressures, both informal and formal, to the contrary. The point is that for the Mudejars religious conversion involved much more than a change in their religious beliefs, a change radical enough in itself; it demanded a fundamental alteration of their social attitudes and social organization. The Mudejars were shielded from the allure of Christianity not only by their profession of a faith as exclusive as Christianity but also by the vitality and structure of their subsociety, which was founded on social practices and assumptions distinct from those of their Christian neighbors. While Mudejar feuding in its outward bloody manifestations did not differ from Christian feuding, the social significance Muslims ascribed to it and the family structures and system of values on which it was based were distinct. The feud as a process of status determination was group-specific, functioning in its very intensity to reinforce traditional attitudes and structures. Moreover, religious belief and social practice were largely coterminous, so that the Mudejars' distinct social customs were as much a sign of their "Moorishness" as was their belief in the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad. For instance, conversion to Christianity would have meant a prohibition of the practice of endogamous marriage (between first cousins), a custom sanctioned by the Prophet and essential for the maintenance of their Arabo-Berber social structures. The frequent and often friendly meeting of Muslim and Christian on the neutral ground of marketplace or tavern no more resulted in a merging of their different forms of social organization than it did in religious syncretism. Indeed, Mudejar social behavior, particularly the marked propensity for feuding—or at least the style and dynamic of that feuding—was sufficiently different so as to evoke comment from among the Christians. Francesch Centelles, a shoemaker well acquainted with the Muslims of Valencia's morería , when asked to testify in court about the character of Abrahim Murçi, responded in a manner that suggests that the feuding Mudejar had become a stereotype: "he is a man who seeks fights and quarrels, like any other Moor." It seems clear that the Mudejars' distinctively Arabo-Berber mode of social organization helped to shore up their cultural boundaries against the acculturative attrition of an overwhelming Christian presence. These boundaries preserved the essential element of their ethnic identity, the profession of Islam. Although social mores and behavior were intimately bound up with and were to a large extent the product of religious belief, nevertheless, they in themselves were insufficient to perpetuate the religious faith of the social group. The decision of Mudejars to flee the kingdom in 1502–1503 instead of abandoning Islam was the expression of an intensity of faith that transcended the more amorphous "Moorish" cultural identity engendered by repetitive social practice. It is necessary, therefore, to comprehend how the Mudejars actively instilled and fostered their Islamic faith and identity. An essential element buttressing the faith of individual Muslims was the sense of belonging to a larger community of believers, the ummah . Whatever the situation of the ummah 's individual component polities, even those long since subjugated to Christian powers, membership in the ummah served to distinguish them from all non-Muslims. Unfortunately, the Muslims' adherence to a common faith did not preclude divisiveness within the ummah . Since the fall of the Umayyads in the eighth century the Islamic world had been rent by factionalism, and, as has been seen, this was no less true of the Mudejars. However, making allowances for human imperfection and the not unusual inconsistency between religious precept and social practice, that the Mudejars frequently embroiled themselves in feuds, despite the fact that Muhammad had inveighed against such fratricidal strife among Muslims, does not mean that they had lost their sense of Muslim identity, particularly their collective identity vis-à-vis the Christian world. On the contrary, there were a number of instances in which the Mudejars appear to have acted as a collectivity or were perceived by the Christian authorities to have been such. Let us recall how the nobility advised Fernando against the forced conversion of Valencia's Muslims (1502), noting that "they have their communications with each other," and that any untoward royal initiatives would provoke a violent mass Mudejar reaction. The Mudejars also seem to have been united in a common concern for the embattled sultan of Granada, as was manifested in their taking up collections on his behalf, praying in their mosques for his victory, and negotiating with the Ottoman Turks to come to his rescue. Likewise, the aid provided to runaway slaves by the Mudejars—not just by one community but by any number of morerías in which the fugitives hid on their way to freedom—demonstrates their ability to act together as Muslims for the benefit of other Muslims. Mudejar group-consciousness may be seen as the sum of each Muslim's perception of the fundamental difference between himself and his Christian neighbor, and of each Muslim's participation in the life of an autonomous community juridically framed by the Shariah, a corpus of law at once religious and secular. This aggregate awareness of individual Mudejars, however, seems in itself insufficient to have counterbalanced the animosity between feuding families and competing communities, or to have allowed for the Mudejars' alleged network of "communications" and their ability to act as almost a single political entity. One must seek a more concrete pattern of relations transversing the cleavages between agnatic lineages and rival neighboring communities. The role of exogamous marriage in binding families together and the factor of intercommunal strife in promoting solidarity among the inhabitants of any one village has been discussed. The apparent impediment of intercommunal conflict to a larger, kingdom-wide Muslim solidarity presents a greater problem. Mudejar economic activity, establishing contacts between Muslims of all walks of life from a variety of localities, would have been a key factor in circumventing, or at least lessening, the rivalry between communities. It must be emphasized that while the Mudejars were vassals of particular royal or seigneurial morerías , their economic activities were not circumscribed by the boundaries of any one place. This was especially true of itinerant retail merchants, whose vending took them from the northern to the southern reaches of the kingdom. Since by the nature of their work they were more or less unattached to any particular local interest, these merchants would have served as an appropriate medium for relaying information from one community to another, tying together the separate worlds of distinct aljamas. Another group whose activities were equally unhampered by specifically local concerns were the licensed mendicants, who traveled throughout the kingdom begging alms from their Muslim brethren. Since charity was one of the Five Pillars of Islam, these itinerant mendicants provided an opportunity for pious Muslims to express their religiosity in a manner unrelated to the secular aims of the family and community. Both the giver and the receiver of alms participated in a transaction that emphasized exclusively their obligations as members of an Islamic community, not those stemming from kinship or from residence in a particular place. The economic interplay between town and countryside made the kingdom's urban centers sites for the meeting and mingling of Muslims from various rural villages. Mudejars traveled to town to market pro- duce, to purchase the manufactures of local artisans, or to pass their leisure time in the taverns or fonduk. The large Christian populations of the towns would have induced Muslims from out-of-town to congregate with their coreligionists before turning to Christians for comradeship. If towns like Játiva, Alcira, Castellón de la Plana, and Villarreal attracted Muslims from surrounding hamlets, the capital city gathered in Muslims from all over the kingdom—indeed, from all over the peninsula. Valencia, a veritable teeming metropolis, served as a "melting-pot" for the kingdom's Mudejars. This is indicated in the documentation by the frequent appearance of non-local Muslims working, purchasing, and pursuing litigation in the capital. Furthermore, new vassals in Valencia's morería originated from seigneuries of a wide geographic range, whereas those swearing vassalage to the king in towns such as Játiva or Alcira came from seigneuries nearby. Change of vassalage in itself accentuated two other trends that created links between Muslims of different communities. First, many Muslims who changed vassalage still continued to hold and cultivate land in their former seigneuries, either themselves or through local sharecroppers. This further complicated the already complex Valencian pattern of land tenure, which saw farmers and artisans renting small parcels of land in a variety of places, not just in their place of residence. Mudejars with economic interests in diverse localities likely would have had friends and contacts of equally diverse origins. Thus land tenure itself sometimes cut across the lines of economic competition contingent upon strictly local affiliations. Second, change of vassalage caused the fragmentation of local lineage groups as nuclear families left their agnates behind when they settled elsewhere. Given the importance of c asabiyah[*] in Mudejar society, agnates living in different places were probably still bound by kinship. In addition to these intercommunal agnatic links, there also occurred exogamous marriages between families of different towns, such as the one uniting the niece of Játiva's qadi[*] to the son of Valencia's qadi . Therefore, kinship, both agnatic and affinal, created a network of interests that would have mitigated the intensity of the rivalry between communities for economic reasons alone. The individual Mudejar's sense of belonging to a kingdom-wide Muslim community and the ritual expression of his commitment to Islam coalesced in the act of pilgrimage to the mosque of Atzeneta in the Vail de Guadalest. This mosque housed the sepulcher of the Sufi mystic Abu[*] Ahmad[*] Jac far b. Sid-bono[*] al-Khuzac i[*] (d. 1227). From the thirteenth century until 1570, when King Felipe II had the mosque of Atzeneta destroyed, the tomb of this saint attracted Muslim pilgrims from all over the kingdom of Valencia, and sometimes from Aragon, Catalonia, Granada, and the Maghrib as well. Ecclesiastical views, expressed at the Council of Vienne in 1311, that such Muslim pilgrimages were an affront to the Christian community, combined with royal misgivings about large numbers of Muslims of diverse origins gathering each year at the shrine of Atzeneta by 1379 resulted in Crown attempts to prohibit this pilgrimage. The royal authorities, however, were unsuccessful, for throughout the fifteenth century and much of the sixteenth century Valencian Muslims continued in "semiclandestine" fashion to journey to the tomb of Sid-bono[*] . This annual act of Islamic devotion thus became for the individual Mudejar a statement of resistance to Christian authority, a politically dangerous affirmation of identity with the other participants in the pilgrimage. As evinced by the Mudejars' awareness of the events occurring in the wider Islamic world, especially in Granada and the Maghrib, and by their political activities in conjunction with Granadan, Maghriban, and Ottoman Turkish Muslims, their understanding of what constituted the community of believers extended far beyond the borders of the kingdom. Recognition of this much larger community alleviated their sense of isolation and hopelessness, and strengthened their own Muslim identity, particularly when the large majority of that community was governed by Muslim rulers, some of whom, like the Ottoman sultan, were extremely powerful. As was pointed out in chapter 2, concrete family and commercial connections underlay the Mudejars' politicoreligious identification with the dar[*] al-Islam[*] . As a consequence of previous Mudejar emigration to Granada and the Maghrib, Valencian Muslims had family branches in Islamic lands. On account of these kinship ties, Mudejars traveled to Almería, Tunis, and Oran for the purpose of collecting the inheritances left them by deceased relatives, or, like Ali Fotoffa of Bétera, in order to visit those still alive. A Muslim family of Cocentaina journeyed to Granada to attend a family wedding, while a widow of the morería of Valencia married a Granadan Muslim and then departed with him to North Africa. Like this marriage, there were other instances of recent emigration that forged new links of kinship between Valencia and the Maghrib. The sub-qadi[*] of Játiva decided to spend his retirement in the Maghrib, while his son stayed behind in Játiva and succeeded him in office. Yahye Bellvis, the brother of the qadi general, moved to Tunis and continued to benefit from his commercial connections in Valencia. It was precisely such ties of kinship that facilitated Fernando's settlement of Granadan Muslims in Valencia after the conquest. Thus, Mahomat Fuçey of Bellreguart was licensed to travel to Almería "in order to fetch some relations that he has in the city." Reciprocal commercial interests strengthened Mudejar affinity for Granada and the Maghrib. Mudejars journeyed to Almería and Tunis to sell their merchandise, while Maghriban mer- chants came to Valencia on business. The royal licenses that permitted these merchants to reside in the kingdom for a year or more created ample opportunity for contact with Mudejars. Religion, kinship, and commerce all bound the Mudejar inextricably to the dar[*]al-Islam[*] . It is doubtful that the Mudejars' Muslim identity and group consciousness would have fared as well had they been isolated. Relative isolation of a different sort actually abetted the Mudejars in their preservation of an Islamic culture. Historians have puzzled over the fact that despite royal efforts to attract Muslims to urban royal morerías , where the tax burden was lighter, the large majority nevertheless preferred to remain on seigneurial lands. The Mudejars' choice of residence is best interpreted as having had a religiocultural foundation, rather than an economic one. Life in the largely Christian cities posed obvious threats to the integrity of Mudejar Islamic culture. Either militant Catholics were endeavoring to eradicate all signs of Islam—calling for the destruction of minarets, prohibiting the call to prayer, and the like—or the pleasantries of city life were insidiously weakening the Muslims' resolve to live in accordance with the Shariah. That pious Muslims were sensitive to the latter threat is evinced in the complaint of the aljama of Játiva regarding the nocturnal activities of Christian youths in the morería and the deleterious effect that the "dishonest dress" of the alfondeguer 's wife might be having on Muslim youths. In contrast, life in seigneurial villages afforded the Mudejars a refuge from an aggressive and expanding Christian presence. In these villages Muslims sometimes composed the majority of the population, and their freedom and comfort in religious observance were correspondingly greater. The lords seem to have had few qualms about the public manifestations of Islamic worship. For instance, they allowed their Muslim vassals to make the call to prayer with a horn and perhaps vocally, whereas it was prohibited in the cities. During the time of the Moriscos, the seigneurs were infamous for permitting their ostensibly Christian vassals to practice Islam and for protecting them from the Inquisition. The Mudejars also seem to have benefited from their lords' religious tolerance, even if at a price. For most Mudejars the religious freedom thus secured was sufficient compensation for the heavier burden of seigneurial dues. Not surprisingly, the centers of Islamic learning in Valencia, such as they existed, were for the most part located in rural villages, not in urban morerías . Of the twenty-five Mudejars who journeyed to Almería, Tunis, Oran, and Granada for the purpose of studying the Arabic language and Islamic law (see table 19), only five came from urban morerías —four from Játiva and one from Castellón. The others all came from seigneurial lands—Ondara, Cuartell, Artana, Mascarell, Valldig- na, Benilloba, the Vall de Uxó, and so on. Barceló Torres, intimating the cultural inferiority of the urban morerías , notes that of the 270 Mudejar and Morisco Arabic documents she has found, only nine were drawn up in the morería of Valencia. It is indicative of this state of affairs that Çahat Coret of the Foya de Buñol, who "applied himself diligently to Agarene letters," was appointed faqih[*] of Valencia, after the aljama had failed to find anyone in the morería sufficiently learned to fill the post. It appears, then, that the Mudejars' Muslim identity was nurtured both through the unobstructed public worship of Islam, a freedom they secured by their choice of residence, and through the maintenance of and participation in a literate Arabic culture. Clearly, the latter was needed to sustain the former. Even a minimal level of popular religious awareness necessitated the mediation of learned men (c ulama[*] ') who could read and interpret the Qur'an[*] for the faithful (the Arabic dialect spoken by Mudejars was different from the classical language of the Qur'an). Beyond that, men conversant in jurisprudence (fiqh ) and all that entailed—a knowledge of the Qur'an and of the customs of Muhammad and his companions (Sunnah ) as set down in the traditions (hadith[*] )—were needed to administer justice in the Islamic courts, either as qadi[*] or as faqih[*] , and to see to it that the community lived as much as possible within the framework of the Shariah. Taking into account the Mudejars' situation as a minority enclave composed primarily of farmers and artisans, the grooming of even a small group of culama[*] ' required a determined and sustained effort. Mudejar acquisition of the necessary cultic and legal knowledge was in itself a considerable achievement. The social and intellectual environment was unpropitious for the creation of original scholarly works. Arabic instruction given to Mudejar children in local schools perpetuated this rudimentary but essential Arabic culture. The thirteenth-century capitulations had granted the basic privilege of maintaining schools to the Mudejars. The Muslims inhabiting the new morería of Orihuela (formed in 1446, but lasting only until 1451) were allowed "to have a schoolmaster." The morería of Valencia also had a school, at least until 1455. Documentation from Fernando's reign contains references to schools operating in Ondara, Oliva, and Valldigna. Perhaps Çahat Coret of the Foya de Buñol began his studies of "Agarene letters" in his hometown. Since the Mudejars were able to give at least an elementary Arabic education to their children in Valencia, one may infer that the Mudejars who took the trouble to travel to Granada or North Africa for study did so not merely "to learn to read and write Moorish," as the travel licenses state, but to pursue more advanced studies, particularly in jurisprudence. Tunis and Almeria were both well equipped to meet the academic needs of the aspiring Mudejar faqih[*] . It is difficult to know whether there were schools for more advanced studies in Valencia, although it seems that the Mudejars possessed a sufficient amount of learned Arabic works to have allowed for at least the informal meeting of erudite culama[*] ' with students eager to learn. Juan Andres, the convert from Játiva, recounted that his father, a faqih[*] , had taught him jurisprudence. Barceló Torres's search for the bits of Arabic literature surviving in Valencia reveals that fifteenth-century Mudejars had access to Qur'ans, hadith literature, devotional works, and legal works. Also, in 1450 a faqih[*] of Paterna brought back from Cairo a treatise on trigonometry, in which the use of an astronomical instrument is explained. The most impressive information on Mudejar higher learning comes, surprisingly, from the kingdom of Aragon. The letter of a student to a faqih in Belchite reveals the existence of a madrasah (school) in Zaragoza as late as 1494. There the student in question studied theology, and medicine from the Qanun[*] of Ibn Sina[*] (Avicenna). Considering that such a school still functioned in Aragon, where the Muslims' fluency in Arabic was much less than that of their brethren in Valencia—although perhaps not as minimal as was once thought —it would seem that similar centers of advanced study must have existed in Valencia as well. It is doubtful that every Valencian faqih had the opportunity to travel to Islamic lands for study; some were probably purely local products. Moreover, there were Mudejar physicians and surgeons in Valencia, and these professions required a certain amount of learning, perhaps in the classical Arabic medical texts. Juçeff Alatar, a surgeon of Valencia, was granted a royal license to practice after administering to a Christian knight and passing the examination given by a Christian "master in medicine." The Mudejars frequently utilized their Arabic literacy in a far more mundane fashion in the writing of letters and contracts for official and private business. The extant Arabic documentation contains records of tax payment, and letters to and from local amin s[*] concerning the collection of taxes and debts from Muslim vassals or judicial procedure against them. Much of this correspondence was between amin s and royal bailiffs, which indicates the functioning and interpenetration of two levels of bureaucracy: the all-encompassing royal Romance-Latin administration and the local Mudejar Arabic administration manned by amin s, qadi s[*] , and faqih s. It has already been demonstrated how the two bureaucracies interrelated in the matter of the Crown's taxation of Mudejar inheritances (chap. 4). The Christian authorities' recognition of Arabic documents as valid evidence in litigation and as contractually binding in business transactions, even those between Muslims and Christians, gave Arabic an "official" status in the kingdom of Valencia. For instance, when passing sentence in favor of Fatima Bisquey, who claimed that she owned half of a house given to her as bridewealth (sadaq[*] ) by her husband, against the opposing claimant, the merchant Berthomeu Pinos, the bailiff general pointed out that the decisive evidence was "an act of acidach (sadaq[*] ) and/or marriage contract—exhibited in the trial on behalf of the said Fatima—received by the qadi[*] and/or faqih[*] Mahomat ben Abdulaziz Alcari on the date of 11 March 892 of the Moorish calendar." Muslims bound themselves to pay debts to Christian creditors by acknowledging their debts in Arabic documents. In an Arabic document written in his own hand, Ubaydal Donzell confessed, "I, Ubaydal Donzell, recognize that I owe to you, Manuel Bou, eighteen and one-half pounds, which are for spices and alum." The cultivation of Arabic for higher intellectual pursuits—Qur'anic[*] study, fiqh , medicine, and so on—for the drawing up of legal instruments of various sorts—marriage contracts, letters of debt, and tax records—and for daily parlance lent the Mudejars a common ethnic identity and group consciousness on the basis of language alone. Their knowledge of Arabic allowed them to participate in the intellectual life of the wider Islamic world, just as their understanding of Romance enabled them to function more efficiently in Valencia's Christian society. The Mudejars' use of Romance, however, was far more occasional, employed only when they desired or needed to communicate with Christians. Otherwise, Arabic was an effective social and intellectual barrier between Valencia's Muslim and Christian communities. Indeed, the Mudejars' use of Arabic sometimes aroused Christian suspicions. When Muslim slaves escaped from their masters, any Mudejar who had been seen speaking with the slave in Arabic was considered a prime suspect as an accessory to the crime. The Christians assumed that the Mudejars' choice of language defined their sympathies and guided their actions as persuasively as did their religious faith. There was much truth in this assumption. Since Arabic was the language of the Qur'an[*] , literally the word of God dictated to Muhammad, its use by the Mudejars had a special spiritual significance, and therefore contributed to their perception of themselves as Muslims. The veneration of the Arabic language itself explains the Aragonese and Castilian Mudejars' and Moriscos' writing of aljamiado literature (Romance written in Arabic script) as a means of strengthening their Muslim identity. It also explains why the Christian authorities decided to prohibit the Valencian Moriscos' teaching of Arabic to their children as a means of effecting their true conversion to Christianity. Social structure, language, communal and judicial autonomy, ties of kinship and commerce within Valencia and with their coreligionists in the dar[*]al-Islam[*] —all contributed to the Mudejars' distinct religioethnic identity and to their perception of themselves as a single body united in stark cultural opposition to Christian society. Still, the body required animation and direction, a sense of purpose particularly Islamic. This was provided by the faqih s[*] . They functioned in the Mudejar social body as spiritual cadres, infusing its individual communal cells with a commitment to Islam and, by virtue of their grounding in a common intellectual tradition and world view, binding those cells together in a unity of religious purpose. As the local fonts of religious and legal knowledge, the jurists were eminently suited for this task. By offering their legal opinions and resolving disputes on the basis of the Shariah, they ensured that it remained the lofty standard against which Mudejars evaluated their own conduct and by which they endeavored to regulate their lives. The plea of the newly converted Moriscos in their negotiations with Carlos I in 1526 reflects the great esteem in which the faqih s[*] were held by the kingdom's Muslim populace. The Moriscos informed the king that in the days before the conversions, "when the call to prayer was made in the mosques," the Muslims of the kingdom used the rents from those properties bequeathed by the pious to the mosques to pay the salary of the faqih s, "who have consumed their whole life in studying and knowing the Moorish law and have not been concerned with other offices." The Moriscos went on to request that a portion of the rents pertaining to the new Morisco churches, formerly mosques, continue to be reserved for the support of the baptized jurists. The Morisco faqihs —and they are still referred to as alfaqins in the sixteenth-century documentation—continued throughout the sixteenth century to form the core of Morisco resistance to the official Christian program of religious and social assimilation. The aforementioned Morisco request reveals important information about the Mudejar jurists. It is clear that they devoted their entire lives to the study of Islamic law and, presumably, of its foundations, the Qur'an[*] and the Sunnah . Because the study of the jurists ensured the continuity of Islam as a living religious and intellectual tradition, the Mudejars deemed it an essential activity, so essential that they used the pious endowments (waqf ) bequeathed by the faithful to the mosques to support the jurists. Furthermore, the jurists were supported in such a way that they would not need to bother themselves with any labor other than that properly religious and legal. It is important to note that in Islam there were neither priests nor an ecclesiastical hierarchy for whom financial support was institutionalized, as was the case with the Catholic Church. The Mudejars' support of the faqih s was made possible by the will of the community, a local adaptation to a situation in which Islam had long been deprived of public primacy. Despite the faqih 's key role in the life of the Mudejar community, the documentation provides, unfortunately, very little information about him. The reason for this is that the faqih 's sphere of activity—the mosque, the madrasah , the Islamic court—was very rarely impinged on by the Christian world. Matters concerning Muslims alone and not affecting the public life of the kingdom had no importance for the king and his officials. As a result, it is the amin[*] , the fiscal and juridical intermediary between Muslim and Christian worlds, who appears most often in the documentation. The activities of the faqih[*] held as little interest for the Christians as did the Muslims' theological views. The primary role of the faqih was that of jurisconsult, acting either as counsellor or as arbitrator in litigations between Muslims. Ageg b. Çaat Ageg of Alcira paid 10s to the faqih of Villalonga for having counseled him in his dispute with Abraym Xativi. A faqih of Ondara traveled to Ribarroja in order to "treat with and reconcile a Moor and a Mooress, husband and wife, who wanted to separate." The faqih also taught in the local school, a task for which his years of study had well prepared him. Also, as the Moriscos stated in 1526, the faqih s "were serving in the mosques," undoubtedly as preachers. Regarding the content of their sermons, the only information comes indirectly from the allusions made by the nobility when, in 1502, they beseeched Fernando not to convert their Muslim vassals. It seems reasonable to assert that the sermons of the jurists comprised primarily instruction in the basic tenets and precepts of Islam and positive exhortation to conduct oneself accordingly. As a consequence of their teaching, the lords stated, "among them [the Mudejars] each one defends the said sect [of Islam] and has worked and works [to the end] that the Moor may be a good Moor." More interesting is a type of sermon more negative in tone, which constituted a defense of Islam through a disparagement of Christianity. The nobles offered an illuminating explanation of why the Mudejars were "beside themselves" with fear that the Inquisition would proceed against them all: they [the Mudejars] say that ... none of them could be excused [from prosecution by the Inquisition] because publicly they have had and have in the present kingdom their mosques and their faqih s, who publicly admonish them that the sect of Mahomat is better than the law of the Christians and that all [Christians] end in this damnation. By emphasizing the threat of eternal damnation, the jurists hoped to discourage potential Muslim apostates who might be toying with the idea of baptism for worldly reasons. This kind of preaching may be interpreted as a reaction to the pressures exerted by an increasingly militant Spanish Church and to the threatening pervasiveness of Christian culture. The tragic end of the Spanish Jews and Conversos, and the incipient movements of the Inquisition against Islam, could hardly have failed to impress upon the faqih s the necessity of a defensive anti-Christian posture. The contemporary struggle between Christian and Islamic states did not fail to influence the direction of the faqih s[*] ' activism. The jurists understood what implications the conquest of Granada might have for the future of Islam in the Iberian peninsula, in terms of both the morale of the Mudejar populace and the Mudejars' treatment by the Catholic Monarchs. Consequently, the jurists' activity, particularly their preaching, took on a markedly political tone. It was they who collected in the morerías funds for the aid of the beleaguered Nasrid sultan. Moreover, the king was informed: the said Moors and the faqih s of the said morerías since the time of this enterprise [the war against Granada] have ordered a certain prayer and they make that [prayer] continually in their hours [of prayer], [the prayer] containing, in effect, that God should exalt the said king of Granada and that He should destroy us [King Fernando] and all our people. While the efforts of Mudejar jurists could hardly have altered the course of political events, they nevertheless succeeded admirably in strengthening the commitment of their congregations to Islam. This commitment is evinced in the very low rate of Mudejar apostasy. One document offers a rare glimpse of Mudejar sensitivity in matters of faith, an area of life where Christian interference was not easily endured. When royal officials made the mistake of entering a mosque in Ondara in order to apprehend a condemned Muslim criminal, the reaction of the congregation was one of violent indignation. "The Moors, amin s[*] , jurates [adelantats ], and all the people" hurled "stones and ... the tiles from the roofing, and with lances and crossbows wishing and working to damage you [the lieutenant governor] and your ministers, made a great resistance against you, perturbing you and preventing the capture of the one convicted." The success of the faqih s in overcoming intracommunal and intercommunal factionalism and imparting to each community a sense of commitment to the common cause of Islam was furthered by two factors: the communication between those possessed of religious and legal knowledge, and the foundation of the jurists' status on terms different from those which determined the prestige of other community members. Even though each faqih belonged to a particular community, the faqih s did not exist in a state of intellectual isolation, instructing their congregations and offering legal opinions without consideration of the opinions and perhaps greater knowledge of their learned fellows in other places. On the contrary, their role as the transmitters of a common tradition and their very similar intellectual formation—all having been educated in Granada, the Maghrib, and Valencia—facilitated consultation among the learned and, indeed, advised it, if they were to maintain a consistent orthodox standard. The activities of the faqih[*] Abdalla, originally a captive from Tripoli, suggest a network of communication and consultation among the Muslim judges and jurists of the kingdom. While in Valencia, Abdalla met the faqih of Manises, and they discussed Islamic law. The latter then invited him to dinner in Manises. He was also a friend of the qadi[*] of Benaguacil and lodged in his home. In Ribarroja Abdalla acted as marriage counselor to an unhappy couple. He taught school in Ondara, Oliva, and other places, and while in Oliva he conferred with the faqih and "read in the said morería ." More interesting still, he and the faqih of Paterna exchanged Arabic books. Abdalla's career was probably somewhat more peripatetic than that of most jurists, since he had to wander about collecting alms to repay the aljama of Ondara for having ransomed him. Nevertheless, Abdalla was able to "go among the faqih s of the present kingdom begging for the love of God," because there were established channels of communication among the learned, and because he himself was "a man of knowledge." The career of Abdalla also demonstrates that the Mudejars on the whole respected and heeded the opinions of learned and holy men. Abdalla was known by Muslims throughout the kingdom and was reputed to lead the life of a saint. The qadi of Játiva, the kingdom's largest morería , related why he and the aljama wished to make Abdalla their jurist. Abdalla, the qadi pointed out, "is a very good Moor and ... leader of prayers [oracioner ]," so much so that after the death of the former faqih of Játiva, Abdalla, owing to his "good fame, life, and knowledge," was the unanimous choice to succeed him. Clearly, the prestige of Abdalla, a foreigner and technically a slave, and of men like him in the eyes of the Mudejar community, rested neither on wealth nor on family backing; rather, their status and influence, both local and, in the case of Abdalla, kingdom-wide, derived from their knowledge of religious and legal tradition and from the holiness of their lives. This is suggested in two other cases mentioned above: the intervention of a faqih from Villalonga as legal counselor in a litigation between Muslims in distant Alcira, and the appointment of a Muslim of the Foya de Buñol as faqih of Valencia on the basis of his diligent studies alone. Put in another way, the jurists were able to rise above the petty feuding between Mudejar families and villages because their way of life, financially supported by the community, removed them from the competition for honor, wealth, and political power. Their opinion was heeded because they were nonpartisan and had no stakes in that competition. It is probable that the jurists were able to attenuate the intensity of local feuding by acting as legal counselors and arbitrators between disputants. Their preaching was persuasive because it was an expression of the knowledge and piety that so few possessed. The jurists were able to appeal to the Mudejars as Muslims on a level of consciousness unrelated to mundane local concerns. Because the jurists themselves had a scholarly network of sorts and a certain consensus of opinion regarding the Mudejar community's needs, they preached a similar message. Their message, that of Muslim resistance to Christian assimilative pressure, had efficacy and resonance because, on one hand, they themselves were dispersed throughout the kingdom's Muslim population, local products closely tied to their people, while on the other hand, they possessed vital knowledge that raised them above the mass of Mudejars in an overarching network of religious leadership. For reasons beyond the control of Valencia's faqih s[*] , the Muslims of the kingdom were to spend their final years in the peninsula as unwilling Christians. As has been seen, the chain of events that led to the Mudejars' conversion began with the fall of Granada. This signal and seemingly conclusive event in the long and bloody peninsular struggle between Islam and Christianity had an unforeseen and somewhat ironic consequence. For the Mudejars of Valencia it resulted in a cultural windfall that would help them in the difficult days ahead. When Fernando settled conquered Granadan Muslims in Valencia and promoted the sale of Maghriban and Granadan prisoners of war within the kingdom, he was not only helping himself by increasing royal revenues but also unconsciously contributing to the Mudejars' Muslim identity and group solidarity. The influx of numerous Muslim captives—hundreds from Málaga alone—elicited from the Mudejars considerable cooperative effort on behalf of their Muslim fellows. Mudejar communities collectively ransomed Muslims and, in a seemingly organized fashion, provided assistance to runaway slaves. More important still was the type of Muslim brought into the kingdom through Christian conquest and piracy. These Muslim captives and settlers, unaccustomed to Christian rule and little affected by the acculturative impact of long-term coexistence with Christians, were in all likelihood more steadfast in their commitment to their ancestral faith. Among the new arrivals were men of learning. There were physicians from Granada, jurists and readers of the Qur'an[*] from both Granada and the Maghrib, and a Sufi mystic from the Maghrib. True, it is not known what became of these men, although the career of the faqih Abdalla of Tripoli, a captive known throughout the kingdom for his learning and piety, is, if not typical, suggestive. In this regard, a puzzling but interesting comment was made by some Christians about Abdalla. When the Christian hostess of a hostel and some Muslims lodging there introduced Abdalla to some Christian guests as a faqih , the Christians remarked, apparently in jest, "he is black and he could be a faqih[*] ." Given the similarity between Iberian Muslims and Christians in terms of skin color, the reference to Abdalla's darker coloration as if it were part of a widespread stereotype of Valencia's faqih s hints at a perhaps more general phenomenon of Mudejar religious leaders with Maghriban origins. In any case, the social organization of Mudejar society would have facilitated the integration of Granadan and Maghriban Muslims, both erudite men and less extraordinary folk. Thus, Mudejar society was strangely reinvigorated as a result of the Monarchs' war against Islam. While the conquest of Granada ushered in the tragedy of the Moriscos, it also ensured that the Christian authorities of Valencia would have more formidable opponents in their struggle to eradicate Islam from the kingdom. Islam survived in Valencia not as a fossilized remnant of thirteenth-century Almohad glory, but as a resilient and adaptive society, steeled by its social structure and inspired by its faqih s.

<urn:uuid:8f58b8ef-0ff8-40f3-af7a-128ff7bcc038>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Ancient Civilizations History

Humans aren't the only ones who like fatty foods - bearded vultures do, too. A study by Antoni Margalida from the Bearded Vulture Study and Protection Group in El Pont de Suert, Spain, has found that the bearded vulture will discard less energy-dense bones and choose only the bones containing the highest fat content both for its consumption and delivery to its young. His findings will be published this week in the Springer journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The bearded vulture is the only vertebrate with a bone-dominated diet and can ingest bones up to 28 cm (11 inches) long and up to 4 cm (1 inches) wide. This makes sound ecological sense because due to their high fat content, mammal bones actually have a higher energy content than muscle tissue. To aid ingestion or transportation, the bearded vulture breaks up large bones on rocky surfaces, known as 'ossuaries', throwing the bones down from the air until they break up into small enough pieces to be swallowed or carried. Bearded vultures are one of the few species of vulture who do not feed their young by regurgitation but transport prey remains to the nest in their feet and bills. Margalida chose to study bearded vultures living in the mountains of the Pyrenees in Spain. It is a harsh environment and the author believes this contributes to the bearded vultures' high energy requirement leading them to choose smaller, more energy dense bones. This way they ensure that the energy consumed is greater than the energy expended in obtaining the food. As well as energy density, he also wanted to study whether larger bones were discounted as being too difficult to transport and swallow. As he had expected, bones left in the feeding stations and ossuaries, which had not been selected by the bearded vultures, had a lower content of oleic acid than those bones which had been selected. This would imply that nutritive content had a greater impact on choice than bone size. |Contact: Joan Robinson|

<urn:uuid:12a52333-35ae-4fd4-8faa-cffc1128c3b1>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Bird Species Profiles

A spectacular night launch from Cape Canaveral marked the beginning of the almost seven-year journey of the Cassini-Huygens mission to the ringed planet Saturn and its icy moons. After a decade of preparations, a Titan IVb, NASA’s most powerful launch vehicle, first brought the spacecraft into an orbit around Earth, and then boosted it with a Centaur upper stage in order to bring it into its complicated trajectory through the inner Solar System. Two close flybys of Venus and one each of Earth and, around the turn of the year 2001, of Jupiter, accelerated Cassini-Huygens to its ultimate cruising speed. On 1 July 2004, the mission entered into orbit around Saturn. On 25 December 2004, Cassini released the European probe Huygens, which landed on Saturn’s moon Titan on 14 January 2005. The Cassini orbiter will be circling Saturn until at least 2010.

<urn:uuid:cc5910f6-030c-4ebf-abe8-57bca6c11233>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

Easy Magic Tricks for Scouts > > > Triple Prizes < < < piece of paper - Write 1089 on the paper without showing anyone, fold it, and place it on the table in plain view. - Give someone a piece of paper and pencil. - Tell them to write down any 3 digit number that uses 3 different numerals in the middle of the paper. Not 111 or 202 or 330 where the same numeral is used more than once. - Tell him to reverse the number. If the number is larger, write it above the first one. If smaller, write it below. - Subtract the smaller from the larger. - If the resulting number has 2 digits, fill in ahead of it with a zero. - Reverse the number and write it below the bottom number. - Add the bottom two numbers. - Unfold your paper and ask if it matches their result - 1089! Guessing the Coins - Give the penny and nickel to a friend. - Turn your back and tell him to hold one coin in each hand. - Say that you want him to focus on the coins and mathematics is the best way to get his mind in gear. - Ask him to multiply the coin in the right hand by 2 and to say 'OK' when he has the answer. - Ask him to multiply the coin in the left hand by 17 and to say 'OK' when he has the answer. If it took about the same amount of time for each, then the nickel is in the right hand since 1x17 is easy to compute. If the 2nd one was much slower, then the nickel is in the left hand. The next time you do the trick, use different numbers like 13 or 19. - Give your friend these instructions: - Think of any number from one to 10. - Multiply it by 9. [Pause while they do this] - If it's a two-digit number, add them together. - Now, subtract 5 from the number in your head. [Pause again] - Now, think of the letter in the alphabet that corresponds with the number you are thinking about. For instance, if you are thinking of the number 1, it would be "A". Number 2 would be "B". 3 is "C", and so on. - Now, think of a country that starts with the letter you're thinking of. - Spell the country in your head. [Pause here] - Think about the second letter in that country's name. Now, quickly think of an animal who's name begins with that letter.[Pause here] - Now, think of the animal's color. - [Pause and concentrate] That's funny... this can't be right... there ARE no gray elephants in Denmark! Add to 15 paper and pencil - Write your answer (15) on a slip of paper, fold it, and lay it on the table. - Give your fiend the paper and pencil. - Ask him to draw a Tic-Tac-Toe board. - Ask him to write down the numerals 1 to 9 in order in the diagram. 1,2,3 on top. 4,5,6 middle. 7,8,9 on bottom. - Have him circle any numeral in the first row. - Have him circle any numberal in the second row that is not in the same column as the first one circled. - Have him circle the numeral in the bottom row that is in the column with no circled numerals. - Have him add up the circled numbers. - Have him unfold your answer - 15! Jump the Coin - Bet your friend that he will not be able to jump over this coin when you set it down. - Have him stand with his arms stright down at his sides and then place the coin on top of his head. - If he complains that you tricked him, then give him another chance - put the coin in the very corner of the room. Guess the Color 4 pieces of paper - 3 inch square red, blue, and green markers - Put a red spot on one piece of paper, blue on another, green the third. - On the back of the red paper, write in small neat printing - "YOU CHOSE RED" - On the envelope where the stamp would go, write "YOU CHOSE BLUE" - not too big so you can cover it with your thumb. - On the 4th piece of paper, write "YOU CHOSE GREEN", fold it, and put it in the envelope. - Put the 3 colored papers in the envelope and now the trick is ready. - Pull the envelope out of your bag covering the writing with your fingers and lay it front down on the table. - Slide the 3 colored papers out and lay them in a line on the table with the colors facing up. - Ask a friend to think of one of the colors. Really concentrate on it. - Say Kalamazoo and then ask him to tell you the color he chose. - If he says "BLUE", put the papers back into the envelope, fold the flap over to close it and then hold up the front and have your friend read what is written there. - If he says "RED", turn over the Green, then Blue, then Red papers and have him read what is written. - If he says "GREEN", pick up the envelop, and spread it open so he can see the paper inside. Ask him to take it and read what is on it as you pick up the papers and put them away. - Immediately retrieve the materials and put them away before they can be inspected. Do not do the same trick twice. Find the Card deck of cards - Separate the deck so all reds are together and all blacks are together. Place the reds on top of the blacks. - Fan out the deck face down on the table making just the bottom half of it spread out and the top half still piled. This will encourage the person to take a black card. - Tell him to look at his card and show it to his buddies. - While he is checking out his card, stack the deck back together. - When he is ready, fan the deck again, this time trying to keep the bottom half stacked and fanning the top half. - Have him slip his card into the deck wherever he wants. - Stack the deck and ask him to cut the deck once. - Stack the deck after the cut and ask someone else to cut it also. - You can have it cut quite a few times without much chance of it going wrong. - When ready, pick up the deck and look through it for a single card that is a different color from those around it. This is the card. The Best Card Trick Ever This is the card trick I learned in 6th grade and have used it ever since. It's easy but very entertaining for those that have never seen it before. And, it takes awhile to figure out. deck of cards - Count 21 cards off the top of the deck and give them to your friend. - Ask him to shuffle and cut them as much as he wants. Tell him this is his only chance to touch the cards so he needs to do a good job. - Have him give you the stack of cards face-down when he is finished. - Deal the cards face-up into 3 columns of 7 cards each with each card in a column overlapping the one under it so they are easy to scoop into a stack keeping the cards in order. Put the rest of the deck aside. - Point to each column telling everyone this is column 1, column 2, and column 3 from left to right. - Ask your friend to select in his mind one card. Have him tell a friend if he wants. - Have him tell you if the card is in column 1, 2, or 3. - Whichever column he chooses, stack up each column and put his chosen column between the other two to create one large stack. At this point, you know his card is between the 7th and 15th cards. - Now, lay the cards out in 3 columns again just like the start. The important thing to remember is to lay the cards out by row from left to right! This arranges them correctly. - Ask which column the card is in now and repeat the stacking and column creation. - Ask which column the card is in. At this point, you know the card is the middle card in the chosen column! Believe me. :-) - When you recreate the stack putting his column in the center, his card is now the 11th card. The next part is the fun part of the trick. - Deal out the cards into 4 card stars facedown. You will make 5 stars with 4 cards and the last one will have a 5th card in the center on top. As you deal out the cards, count them in your head so when you lay down card number 11, you know right where his card lays. - Ask him to point (do NOT touch or the magic will evaporate) to 2 piles of cards. If he points to the pile his card is in, then swipe away the other piles. Otherwise, swipe away the piles he pointed to. - Repeat asking him to point to 1 pile. Take away the pile or piles that do not contain his card. - You may have to do it a 3rd time until there is just one pile left. - Spread the cards apart a bit and have him point to 2 cards. Remove either the ones he pointed to or the others, leaving his chosen card behind. - Repeat until only his card is left. - Just sit there and wait for him to ask, or take all the other cards and shuffle them back into the deck and get up and go get a drink, or think of some other dramatic way to flip the card over. How Many Cards Moved? deck of cards - Retrieve these cards of any mixture of suits - A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack or Joker - Arrange the 11 cards on the top of the deck as 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 with the 6 on the very top. - Deal the top 11 cards from the prepared deck face-down into a row on the table going from left to right so the 6 is on the far left and the 7 is on the far right. - Explain that you want your friend to move as many cards as he wants from his left to right, one at a time, while you turn your back. - After he has moved the cards, turn back around and turn over the 7th card from your left. That number is the number of cards he moved! If it is the Jack, he tried to fool you by not moving any cards or by moving all of them. deck of cards - Separate a deck into two piles, those whose printed numeral has a ROUND top ( 2 6 8 9 10 Q ) and those whose printed numeral has a FLAT top ( 3 4 5 7 J K A ) - Put these two piles back together into one deck. It looks mixed up, but isn't really. It helps if you have the Ace of Spades as the bottom card for the Flat top group so it is easy to find in the middle of the deck. - Divide the deck in half, giving each half to a friend. (this is where having the Ace of Spades as the center card helps.) - Turn your back and ask them to each shuffle and cut their own decks as much as they like and let you know when they are finished. - When they are ready, tell them to fan out their decks and pull one card from the other person's deck. - Tell them to look at the card and then insert it anywhere into their own deck. - If they would like, shuffle and cut their own decks as much as they'd like and tell you when they are done. - When they are ready, turn around and have them give you their decks. Put the two decks together into one. - Fan out the cards in your hand looking for the ROUND top number in among the flat tops and the FLAT top number among the round tops. - Pull out the two cards and toss them on the table. deck of cards - Pull out all the Kings, Queens, and Jacks from the deck. - Arrange them into 2 piles - the KH, JC, KS, QD, QC, JD in one pile, the QH, KC, JH, QS, KD in the other, The JS is not needed. - Put the 5-card deck on your lap under the table and the 6-card deck on the table. - Deal the 6 cards face-up into a row on the table. - Have someone choose in their mind one of the cards and have him tell a friend. - Ask them to really concentrate on that card as you collect all the cards into a deck and bring it under the table. - While the cards are under the table, concentrate very hard, making mental contact with the two friends. - Switch decks with the 5-card deck and deal out all the cards, stating that their card has disappeared! - (of course ALL the cards have disappeared so it doesn't matter which card they chose. Don't do it twice!) deck of cards - Pull out all the Aces into a pile, all the Kings into another, and the Queens, and Jacks. Tell the audience that these are the King, Queen, Jack, and Ace patrols getting ready for a campout. - Flip the piles over and stack them one on top of the other into one deck. - Say that the patrols decided to mix it up and have one member of each patrol in a tent. Lay down (face-up) each Ace in a row. Then, on top of the Aces, flip the Kings, then the Queens, then the Jacks. Now, there are 4 piles with one of each card. - Flip the piles over and say the Scoutmaster called lights out and its time to sleep. - Pick up each pile, making a stack of the cards. - Cut the cards 3 or 4 times saying that during the night the scouts tossed and turned and had a terrible time sleeping. - Deal the cards one at a time into 4 piles (face-down) and say, "But morning finally came ..." - Flip the piles of cards over as you say, "and they all woke to find themselves back with their own patrol!" Finding the Aces deck of cards - Pull out all the Aces into a pile face-up. - Shuffle the remaining cards and deal the top 3 cards into a row face-down. - Deal out the remainder of the cards face-down onto these 3 cards until there are 14 on each. Then, put one more card each on the middle and right piles and put the remaining 4 cards face-down to the right as a 4th pile. - You have 4 piles and the 4 Aces. - Have a friend take the first pile and shuffle it all he wants, then put it back face-down. - Have him place the top Ace face-down on top of the first pile. - Have the friend shuffle the 2nd pile all he wants and then put it back. - Have him take any number of cards from the 2nd pile and place them on top of the 1st pile. - Have him place the 2nd Ace face-down on the 2nd pile. - Have him shuffle the third pile, replace it, and take any number of cards and put them on the 2nd pile. - Have him place the 3rd Ace face-down on the 3rd pile. - Have him shuffle the 4th pile and place it face-down on top of the 3rd pile. - When he is finished, place the 3rd pile on the 2nd, then the 2nd on the 1st. You still have the 4th Ace sitting aside. - Now announce that even though the Aces are well hidden throughout the deck, you will bring them to the top. - Deal 2 cards face-down next to each other. Continue dealing face-down alternating between the two piles until all cards are dealt. - Pick up the left-hand deck and deal the top card from it onto the remaining deck. Deal the next card down where the left-hand deck had been. Continue dealing out cards alternating between the two piles. - Repeat picking up the left-hand deck and dealing out the cards, first card on top of the remaining deck, until there are only 3 cards left. - Dramatically show that these are the 3 missing Aces! A Number from 1 to 9 deck of cards - Give the deck of cards to a friend and turn your back to him. - Let him shuffle the deck as much as he'd like. - Tell him to think of a number from 1 to 9 and then deal out that many cards face-down into a pile quietly so you can not hear them. - Tell him to now search through the rest of the deck for a card that matches the number he chose. So, if he chose 5, find the 5C or 5H or 5D or 5S. - Once he finds his card, tell him to put the deck face-down on the table and put his card face down on top of it. - Then, place his dealt out pile on top of the deck. - Now, have him deal off each card from the top of the deck face-up on the table and announce the name of each card as it is dealt. - Starting at zero, mentally count the cards he deals. When he calls a card that matches the number in your head, that is his card, so memorize it. If he calls 5 Spades when you are at '5', then that is his card. - Let him continue to deal out cards up to 10 and then ask him to stop. - Tell him his card was the 5 of Spades, or whichever matched. - Then, turn around for the applause. :-) More Cub Scout Information to Use: Cub Scouts - information about the cub scout program Bobcat Info - any grade Tiger Info - 1st grade Wolf Info - 2nd grade Bear Info - 3rd grade Webelos - 4th and 5th grade To help make your Cub Scouts of America program the best it can be, use these pages to find good stuff: Monthly Cub Scout Themes Activities - find age-appropriate, advancement-supporting activites for Cub Scouts Games - den or pack games just right for 1st through 3rd graders Projects - fun projects for cub scouts to use to do a good turn Recipes - easy recipes Cub Scout Skits - skits that Cub Scouts love Songs - songs to liven up a cub scout den or pack meeting Stories - choose stories that cub scouts will enjoy and understand Awards - see what awards are available to all cub scouts Cub Scout Academics & Sports - extra recognition opportunities Pinewood Derby - advice for the big race Yukon Jack on Starting post Yvonne N P on Outdoor Activity award New Advanc Chair on Merit Badges Mark Kirkendall on Project Search Tamara on Project Search Kim on Uniforms Dwight S on Outdoor Activity award Dawn on Webelos Super NOVA award Anna R. on Arrow of Light Contest - Ask a Question - Add Content - scout software This site is not officially associated with the Boy Scouts of America

<urn:uuid:9f9d9b7d-0b4a-4efc-89a3-39f9c3869597>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Math Learning Resources

What is a raw food diet? The recent boon in backyard and community gardens, farmers markets, and availability of organic foods offer evidence of increased consumer demand for more wholesome, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly foods. This growing trend to eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods combined with Americans’ favorite past-time of adopting restrictive, hard-to-maintain, weight-loss inducing diets at the turn of the New Year, creates a perfect storm for a surge in interest and popularity of the raw food diet. The raw food diet emphasizes intake of foods in their natural, unprocessed, uncooked form. Raw fruits and vegetables top the list of food options. Add to that a mix of beans and legumes and it seems like you should have a nutrient-dense, filling, and weight-loss inducing “perfect diet.” After all, each of these foods is packed with nutrients, light on calories, and high in fiber. In a nation known for massive portion sizes and ready access to highly processed foods, this way of eating should be a welcome change. But a closer looks reveals a more complicated, expensive, and questionable eating plan. Beyond promoting every nutrition expert’s mantra of “eat more vegetables and fruits”, the standard raw food diet is true to its name – most, if not all, foods need to be “raw”. This means dieters are prohibited from cooking food. The only allowed “cooking” is dehydration which requires a special machine that blows hot air through the food and increases the temperature to no more than 118F. Since grains are indigestible raw and the diet prohibits boiling them, raw grains must be soaked overnight or allowed to sprout before consumption. Proponents argue that avoiding heat exposure keeps food enzymes intact leading to better digestion; however, this argument does not physiologically hold merit since the acid in the stomach inactivates the enzymes once the food is eaten. Plus, the body already makes all the enzymes it needs to digest and absorb food. Since food can’t be cooked, meat and most animal products are off limits (unless a dieter chooses to put the risk of severe foodborne illness aside and eat raw meat). For this reason, the raw food diet typically resembles a vegan diet that is free of processed and cooked food. Most raw food devotees also consume a mostly organic foods to avoid exposure to pesticides and other synthetic chemicals. The extent of adherence to these tenants is pending the level of commitment to adopting a “pure” version of the diet. Few published studies evaluate risks and benefits of a raw food diet. The limited available research suggests a variety of potential benefits such as improved “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels (Koebnick et al, 2005), weight loss (Koebnick et al, 1999), improvement in fibromyalgia symptoms (Donaldson et al, 2001) and decreased blood pressure (Douglass et al, 1985) as well as potential harmful effects including decreased “good” HDL cholesterol (Koebnick et al, 2005), decreased bone density (Fontana et al, 2005), and vitamin B12 deficiency (due to elimination of animal products) (Koebnick et al, 2005). Extremists who do not adopt the vegan approach but instead consume raw animal products risk serious foodborne illness. Plus, as with any restrictive diet, strict adherence to a raw food diet is challenging. But it turns out that this imperfect adherence may be its major redeeming feature. After all, an overall concerted effort to eat a healthier, more wholesome, mostly plant-based diet should be the goal of any dietary overhaul. - Koebnick C., et al. (2005). Long-term consumption of a raw food diet is associated with favorable serum LDL cholesterol and triglycerides but also with elevated plasma homocysteine and low serum HDL cholesterol in humans. Journal of Nutrition, 135, 10, 2372-2378. - Koebnick C., et al (1999). Consequences of a Long-Term Raw Food Diet on Body Weight and Menstruation: Results of a Questionnaire Survey. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 43, 2, 69-79. - Donaldson M.S., et al (2001). Fibromyalgia syndrome improved using a mostly raw vegetarian diet: an observational study. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2001, 1, 7. Douglass, J. M., et al (1985). Effects of a raw food diet on hypertension and obesity. Southern Medical Journal, 78, 7, 841-844. - Fontana L., et al (2005). Low bone mass in subjects on a long-term raw vegetarian diet. Archives of Internal Medicine, 165, 684-689.

<urn:uuid:4d5c1a20-0ec9-4c2c-8694-666c91395f6d>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Food Science and Safety

Alexander Todorov, an associate professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University, has designed a new freshman seminar, "The Face: The Forces That Shape How We Perceive Others," to teach students about humans' specialized mechanisms for processing, recognizing and socially assessing faces — as well as the biases that lead to errors in perception. Photo by Denise Applewhite Academic journeys begin with freshman seminars Princeton's newest undergraduates are setting out on a path of inquiry and discovery this fall through the University's freshman seminar program. Freshman seminars enable students to build strong relationships with faculty members and classmates in a close-knit intellectual setting. Many students cite the freshman seminar as one of the highlights of their time at Princeton. Among other subjects, freshmen this fall are exploring forces that shape facial perception, issues related to global environmental change, experiences with sound and music, and notions of individuality. A total of 480 freshmen are enrolled this semester in 35 seminars, each of which is hosted by a residential college. Class discussions often continue in informal settings both on and off campus, through meals, guest lectures, field trips and other activities. This is part of a series of features highlighting freshman seminars offered at Princeton this semester. Other features: Exploring the science and nuance of facial perception Posted October 31, 2011; 12:00 p.m. Professor Alexander Todorov showed the students in his freshman seminar a series of images of the same blurry face — with the hint that it was a non-American political leader — as it would appear from 200, 100 and 50 meters. At 50 meters, only one student figured out who it was — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Todorov's next example illustrated how facial recognition can have serious consequences. He showed the students a photo of Darrell Edwards, a man who is currently fighting a 1999 murder conviction based in part on eyewitness testimony. Then Todorov demonstrated what Edwards would have looked like to the eyewitness who said she saw him the night of the murder from 271 feet (about 82 meters) away, without her prescription eyeglasses. The shocked students laughed at the blurry photograph. "The jurors didn't have that reaction. They thought it was actually possible from this distance to identify a person," Todorov said. "The fact of the matter is, from this distance, you can't identify a person. You might be able to identify somebody who's a highly familiar person based on their gait and other things, but in this case an unfamiliar person, the eyewitness, didn't know who Darrell is." In class, Todorov shows students photos of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 200, 100 and 50 meters away to demonstrate how distance and familiarity influence facial recognition. (Images courtesy of Geoffrey Loftus) Todorov, an associate professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University, uses a wide array of visual aids in his course "The Face: The Forces That Shape How We Perceive Others," which is being offered for the first time this fall. His 15 students are learning about humans' specialized mechanisms for processing, recognizing and socially assessing faces — as well as the biases that lead to errors in perception. "My ambition is to make them excited about psychology and cognitive science. It's a specialized topic but has something for everybody," Todorov said, with applications from eyewitness testimony to electoral outcomes to Hollywood casting of "attractive" performers. Freshman Miriam Pearsall had enjoyed her psychology class in high school and was drawn immediately to the seminar topic. "I was especially attracted to the fact that face perception has such great relevance in understanding society and the world as a whole," Pearsall said. "I love that this freshman seminar allows me to voluntarily delve in the topic. Then I can discuss what I've learned with people who are just as interested in the topic as I am." Todorov (left) incorporates material related to topics ranging from criminal justice to Hollywood casting to show students, such as Victor Hsiao (center) and David Dohan (right), the many applications of facial perception. (Photo by Denise Applewhite) Todorov began the course, which is designated as the Shelly and Michael Kassen '76 Freshman Seminar in the Life Sciences, by explaining how the brain develops facial representations. Students learned about unique ways the brain processes faces unlike other objects almost from birth; the fact that it takes less than 50 milliseconds of glimpsing a face to extract informatino about its familiarity, age, sex, race and attractiveness; and parts of the brain such as the fusiform face area dedicated to face processing. The class also visited the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) lab in Green Hall on campus where Todorov, with the help of a graduate student, demonstrated how brain scans are done, and students received a primer on analyzing the scans. For Sarah Cuneo, the trip to the fMRI lab has been the highlight of the class up to this point. "It was amazing to be able to see for ourselves all the techniques and results that we had been reading about for weeks — there's definitely a huge difference between understanding something in theory and seeing it in practice," Cuneo said. The classroom discussions have also shed light on and enlivened some of the more technical material, she said. "The small size of our freshman seminar gives the class an incredibly collaborative feel; we get to really engage our classmates in discussion, which means that we legitimately learn from each other," Cuneo said. "A lot of what we do in class is discussion of scientific journal articles, and it's great to have an active debate about the results. Different people in the class will offer several perspectives on the significance of any given study, and that means we get to examine a hypothesis from a variety of angles." From left, freshmen Miriam Pearsall, Jacob Simon and Sarah Cuneo are among the 15 students who engage in lively discussions about the nuances of facial perception and recognition in Todorov's seminar. (Photo by Denise Applewhite) Todorov's lesson on eyewitnesses was meant to contrast sophisticated perception skills for familiar faces with the factors in play when observing unfamiliar faces. Scientists have not yet discovered why and how the processes for perceiving familiar and unfamiliar faces are so different. In the same class as the discussion on Edwards, students picked out Michael Jordan, Bill Clinton and Jay Leno in a slide of blurry faces. Yet earlier, students had performed poorly on a hypothetical lineup. When they were asked to match the photo of a suspect to one of 10 mug shots, the students came to a consensus on one man and were surprised when Todorov told them that none of the 10 was the suspect. "It makes sense that we would be less able to identify unfamiliar faces, but I didn't think we would be as bad as we were. We were really, really bad," Cuneo said. Students suggested many factors and biases that could lead to a misidentification — witnesses may be agitated or motivated to find a culprit, or they may compare the faces in the lineup to each other rather than their own memory, or expect some variation between their memory and the lineup, among other factors. "We can use these insights for better police procedures for not arresting innocent people," Todorov said, adding that New Jersey is one of the states that changed its lineup procedures to reflect research in this area and remove some sources of bias. "The point is not to dismiss this sort of evidence but to look at it with a critical eye." From left, students Abidjan Walker, Kelly Kremer and Tova Bergsten listen attentively as Todorov (right) explains how overconfidence plays a role in facial perception. (Photo by Denise Applewhite) In his own lab, Todorov studies the social perceptions of faces, and he will focus on related issues for the rest of the semester. Some discussion topics include how people perceive emotional expressions, how people form first impressions, how they assess personality traits such as trustworthiness, and what makes a face attractive. "It's great to explain the basic concepts, and I also learn from teaching them," Todorov said. "I don't really want the students to be face experts, but if they get excited about the right way to do an experiment, how to test a theory, how to rule out alternative explanations and get excited about psychology, that's great."

<urn:uuid:93874dc6-ab62-464a-ba88-7805e3407537>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Psychological Topics and Issues

Small group learning is a useful educational approach. The group work has to be carefully planned and frequently requires a facilitator to ensure group progress. In addition the group function and the learning that takes place needs to be assessed and evaluated. The material learned is just as important as the group's ability to achieve a common goal . Facilitatory skills are important and require the teacher to ensure that both the task is achieved and the group functioning is maintained. Small group learning allows students to develop problem solving, interpersonal, presentational and communication skills, all beneficial to life outside the classroom. These generic skills are difficult to develop in isolation and require feedback and interaction with other individuals. Small group communication

<urn:uuid:9097b858-f29b-4ac0-91d6-5434d82a5699>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Child-Focused Learning Techniques

During slavery, some slaves were given a day of rest while others were forced to continue work. In some parts of the country, slaves were given a yule log to burn in the big house. As long as the log burned, they were granted rest during the holiday. Sometimes the log would burn until the New Year. During the days of rest, some slaves would hold quilting bees, with both men and women. It was also sometimes tradition that slaves could keep the money they earned for the sale of goods during the holiday. While the holiday season was meant to be a joyous occasion, slaves that worked inside the house would be worked hardest during Christmas, as many owners and their families would host Christmas parties. The Christmas holiday would also be a time that some slaveowners gave wine and alcoholic beverages to their slaves. With business still in mind, the effects of alcohol were something unknown to many slaves, and most would overindulge. The increased lounge and slumber would discourage runaways during the break. This was a theory held by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Despite, some slaves were given passes to see nearby relatives during Christmas time and allowed visitors from neighboring plantations. Along with the traditions of the Christmas holiday in Western culture, slaves had dancing and singing in the slave quarters. Sometimes the white masters would come to the slave quarters to watch the celebration. Parents would give children small, homemade tokens. Another celebration known as Jonkonnu, or a Christmas masquerade, took place on the plantations. It was a basic traveling show in which the slave would put on makeshift costumes and go from house to house to perform for gifts and money. The traditions of Christmas during slavery were tools for celebration in the harshest working and living conditions for blacks. While the whites in the “big house” were being showered with gifts and feast, they shared a portion of those with their captives, and at the same time, used the opportunity to convince slaves that slavery was their best option for living peacefully and safely among the masters.

<urn:uuid:c13a3f21-5b9f-416c-927c-2ef4e157b8c8>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Historical Events and Figures

Oh my, do I love this video. But seriously. Don’t do this. Thanks to Approximately Normal for the find. I have to show that to my students – or maybe not – do you think they would be insulted? Mary, it could definitely go south on you. Proceed with caution! I could imagine it being a way to open a conversation about how the class is going for students. As in, “I want to show you something funny, and the I want to talk about it. This video shows a math class going very very badly and I don’t want our class to be like this. So let’s talk afterwards about ways I can keep you from feeling like the student in this video…” With a class of future teachers, we can use the video to discuss teaching and learning of math in the abstract. But in a College Algebra or Math Center course, we would have to be super careful. Wow–on the other hand it’s hard to know what to do when you’re the teacher in that sort of situation. So what do you do? I know some of the answers, of course–acting it out, using manipulatives, making it a more concrete problem (if you had 6 cookies and you ate one, how many would be left), using smaller numbers (if you had 3 cookies and you ate one, how many would be left), and those are the sorts of things I’d hope that my future teachers would come up with if we discussed this video, but even with those mental tools, you do come across students where nothing works. I was working with a third grader some time ago, for whom the answer to taking away 0 was almost always 0 (what’s 4-0? 0!). Changing the wording and acting it out would work temporarily (though rarely the first time–asking if you had 4 cookies and you ate none of them how many would you have left generally resulted in the answer 0), but the next day we were generally back to 4-0=0, and I was never sure if anything was working or if it was all illusory. So–what should you do? If you have answers (or good resources) I’d love to have them. You never know when you might run into a child where you need a new trick. Thanks for the thoughtful comment, LSquared. Let me make explicit what I see in this video. First of all, I was finishing up a morning’s worth of writing Talking Math with Your Kids posts. So I wasn’t coming at the video so much from the teacher perspective as the parent one. Either way, though, I suppose I have the same perspective. Namely: The learner’s ideas are nowhere present in this conversation. The goal in the interaction is getting to a right answer to a particular problem. The things you mention, LSquared, are all means to that end. Manipulatives, contextualizing the problem, etc. All positive moves. But I would argue for putting the learners’ ideas at the center of the lesson (in school) or conversation (at home). My main resource for this is always going to be Children’s Mathematics, from the Cognitively Guided Instruction research project (CGI). CGI begins with the premise that children have mathematical ideas that do not match those of adults very well, but that these ideas have predictable structure and can be used to help kids move forward. So I would say that what to do involves digging for kids’ ideas. Not giving them strategies so much as asking to find out what they do know. Then build on that. Or we can just laugh along with the video and marvel at what a crazy and complex profession we’ve chosen for ourselves. I’m cool doing that too. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change ) You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change ) You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change ) Connecting to %s Notify me of follow-up comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. RSS - Posts RSS - Comments Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 1,051 other followers Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

<urn:uuid:44a15714-5629-4a5e-9d2a-d82c15f91d28>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Math Learning Resources

The UNESCO World Heritage Convention provides a unique framework for securing the conservation of over 200 of the world’s most important natural areas, recognized as being of Outstanding Universal Value. The identification of these Sites through the Convention is a direct response to the need to preserve and restore globally outstanding protected areas based on criteria that include scale of natural habitats, intactness of ecological processes, viability of populations of rare species, and rarity, notwithstanding aesthetic appeal which almost always accompany these natural wonders. The Convention provides a unique platform for developing and sharing best-practice, and can act as a barometer of global protected area performance. IUCN advises UNESCO on natural World Heritage Sites.This means that IUCN: - Evaluates sites nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List - Monitors the conservation state of existing natural sites, working with a global network of member organizations - Trains and strengthens capacity of site managers, governments, scientists and local communities

<urn:uuid:662bc5d2-899a-439e-9d90-a531bf898852>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Forest Management and Restoration

PURPOSE: To easily input a three-dimensional picture to a computer by reading positions of picture elements of the reflecting light beams from its two-dimensional picture and inputting the positions to the three-dimensional coordinates of the three-dimensional surface or the surface of the solid body after conversion. CONSTITUTION: When a solid body 3 is scanned in such a way that an origin O of three-dimensional coordinates is fixed inside the solid body 3 and light beams on a straight line are projected on the radial direction parallel to the XZ-plane by means of a 45°-inclined revolving mirror which successively makes relative movement along the fixed straight line of '0' on Z-axis and a fixed value on X-axis, one sides of plane mirrors 2 and 2' are respectively made coincident the fixed straight line of '0' on X-axis and a fixed value on Z-axis and the inclinations of the mirrors 2 and 2' are adjusted so that the optical beam can reflect in the direction parallel to Z-axis on one sides of the mirrors. Therefore, the optical beam never scans the area where the X-coordinate becomes negative and the terminating ends of the line images of the reflecting light always stay on the YZ-plane. Thus a solid body which is '0' or a positive value on X-coordinate can be scanned over its entire surface. Therefore, a three-dimensional picture can be inputted to a computer easily. |WO/2011/111506||METHOD FOR DRIVING CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR DRIVING DISPLAY DEVICE| |JP2013003629||IMAGE FORMING DEVICE AND CONTROL PROGRAM| |JP2008242758||PATTERN PRINT TRANSPARENT SHEET|

<urn:uuid:aa2622a9-2774-4cfc-be18-bf6306cddb44>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Advanced Technology Applications

Forces and Fields: The Concept of Action at a Distance in the History of Physics Dover Publications (1961) |Abstract||This history of physics focuses on the question, "How do bodies act on one another across space?" The variety of answers illustrates the function of fundamental analogies or models in physics as well as the role of so-called unobservable entities. Forces and Fields presents an in-depth look at the science of ancient Greece, and it examines the influence of antique philosophy on seventeenth-century thought. Additional topics embrace many elements of modern physics--the empirical basis of quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle, and the action-at-a-distance theory of Wheeler and Feynman. 1961 ed.| |Keywords||Physics History Physics Philosophy Force and energy| |Buy the book||$11.15 new (45% off) $11.15 used (45% off) $15.60 direct from Amazon (22% off) Amazon page| |Call number||QC7.H62 2005| |External links||This entry has no external links. Add one.| |Through your library||Configure| Similar books and articles Peter Kosso (1998). Appearance and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics. Oxford University Press. Karl Rogers (2005). On the Metaphysics of Experimental Physics. Palgrave Macmillan. Lawrence Sklar (1992). Philosophy of Physics. Westview Press. Edward G. Ruestow (1973). Physics at Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Leiden: Philosophy and the New Science in the University. The Hague,Nijhoff. Gordon Fraser (ed.) (2009). The New Physics for the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. C. W. Kilmister (1994/2005). Eddington's Search for a Fundamental Theory: A Key to the Universe. Cambridge University Press. Paul M. Clark (ed.) (1981). Modern Physics and Problems of Knowledge. Open University Press. José M. Sanchez-Ron (1985). Physics and Philosophy: Action at a Distance in 20th Century Physics. Theoria 1 (2):439-459. Edward Rosen (1962). Book Review:Forces and Fields: The Concept of Action at a Distance in the History of Physics Mary Brenda Hesse. [REVIEW] Philosophy of Science 29 (4):434-. Mary B. Hesse (1962/1970). Forces and Fields. Westport, Conn.,Greenwood Press. Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart. Added to index2009-01-28 Recent downloads (6 months)0 How can I increase my downloads?

<urn:uuid:a015530d-33d5-4cef-8927-13875c330645>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Physics Concepts and Discoveries

ASIA NEWS NETWORK WE KNOW ASIA BETTER Publication Date : 01-02-2013 Golden goose floats used in the funeral procession are based on the hamsa The golden goose floats used in the funeral procession for the late King Father Friday are based on the hamsa, the Sanskrit name for an aquatic bird in Hindu mythology. At least three such floats were seen as the procession got underway. One carried Venerables Bou Kry and Tep Vong, the heads of the two main Buddhist sects in Cambodia. A second carried National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Prime Minister Hun Sen, Royal Palace Minister Kong Samol and Senate Vice President Say Chhum. A third carried members of the royal family, who appeared to be grandchildren of the former king. Brahma, the god of creation, is typically represented with four faces and four arms mounted on a hamsa. Hamsas are still used as symbols and for decoration in India and Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar, where they appear on some regional flags, and Thailand, where the mythical bird is featured on the royal barge. In Cambodia, where the goose is known as a hang, the hamsa is found in the logo of the Ministry of Economy and Finance as well as Acleda Bank. The Chu Nath Dictionary defines the hang as a wild goose distinguished by a long neck and wings that are usually white but sometimes yellow. It says the geese are known for flying long distances at extremely high altitudes and swimming on water to find food. Some believe the mythical creature to be based on the bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) which migrates south across the Himalayas to spend the winters in India. A paper published by America's National Academy of Sciences in 2011 said this species makes one of the highest trans-mountain migrations in the world. The birds typically cross the Himalayas in a single day, climbing between 4,000 and 6,000 metres in seven to eight hours. According to the paper, they can support minimum climb rates of 0.8 to 2.2 kilometres an hour. According to Birdlife International, the bar-headed goose mainly breeds in China, Afghanistan and Mongolia. Non-breeding populations are found in Pakistan and India as well as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.

<urn:uuid:873aa78c-ee6d-453c-8b5d-11ba8cf9a73e>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Mammals and Conservation

Summary: With substance and style, Samaha helps students master the complexities of the criminal justice system and the law. His presentation engages students in active learning and encourages them to understand, rather than memorize. That students truly enjoy reading CRIMINAL JUSTICE is a testament to Samaha's skill as a teacher, writer, and scholar. Featuring a critical-thinking approach that encourages students to explore all sides of the criminal justice system, this thor ...show moreough introduction draws students in and encourages them to learn more. Samaha provides students with an important and realistic understanding of the formal and informal dimensions of criminal justice: from there, they have the ideal framework to learn about the sociology, politics, economics, and law of the discipline. ...show lessEdition/Copyright: 7TH 06 More prices and sellers below.

<urn:uuid:01760fd1-e985-422a-873b-f56d9bfadd09>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Criminal Justice and Law

Conservation and Research projects At Wellington Zoo we support a number of conservation and research projects both at the Zoo (ex situ) and in the field (in situ). Grand and Otago skinks Wellington Zoo, in partnership with the Department of Conservation (DoC), is housing and caring for three pairs each of grand and Otago skinks – some of New Zealand’s rarest lizards. We hope that these skinks will breed to create a larger insurance population to conserve them for years to come. Our partnership with DoC allows Zoo staff to gain valuable field experience by monitoring wild skinks in their natural North Otago habitat. Grand and Otago skinks are two of New Zealand’s rarest reptiles, estimated to remain in just 8% of their natural habitat and under increasing threat from predators. With no further protection in the wild, these species are predicted to become extinct within the next 10 years. The Department of Conservation has been working on grand and Otago skink recovery in Central Otago for several years. The decision was made in early 2007 to create an insurance population of both species in captivity, to ensure survival of genetic diversity of the skinks into the next decade. Wellington Bush Builders Bush Builders is a hands-on environmental education programme coordinated by Wellington Zoo, with the aim of connecting urban students with their local flora and fauna. The programme uses the living world to excite and empower students to take positive action in their own communities. Bush Builders accesses a range of Wellington Zoo resources to create and in-depth learning experience for local students at curriculum levels 1 -8. The Bush Builders programme develops environmental literacy over three distinct phases including a launch at Wellington Zoo and biological surveying at school. Schools can also choose to use Bush Builders as a Primary CREST Award activity. To talk with us about how your school can get involved with Bush Builders contact firstname.lastname@example.org Brothers Island tuatara For just over six years, Wellington Zoo was the guardian of 53 Brothers Island tuatara – the rarest sub-species of New Zealand’s living dinosaur. Incubated and hatched at Victoria University of Wellington, the tuatara came to us in 2001 and were raised and cared for, off display, at the Zoo. In October 2007 the tuatara were released onto Long Island in the Marlborough Sounds, in conjunction with Victoria University, the Department of Conservation and Te Ati Awa, in hopes of establishing an insurance population for this rare reptile. Other research projects undertaken by Zoo staff include: - Kakapo vaccination 05/06: veterinary project: DoC asked us to help with the vaccination of all kakapo after an outbreak of Erysipelotrix rhusiopathiae (bacterium). Wellington Zoo staff went to Codfish Island and vaccinated and took blood samples from over 20 birds. - Kea respiratory research 04/05: veterinary research project: First publication of chronic cystic pulmonary disease in a Kea together with Dr B Gartrell of Massey University. CT scans at Pacific Radiology helped make the diagnosis. - New Zealand fur seal Jan 08: veterinary conservation project: Landcare Research asked us to perform the veterinary work on the Fur seals. 64 animals were caught and assessed by the vet team of the Zoo in January 2008. - New Zealand sea lion 06 ongoing: veterinary conservation project: ongoing project with DoC in which we support them by providing the veterinary staff to anaesthetise sea lions and conduct health exams. - Oral vaccination of exotic birds against salmonella strain May 08: Veterinary research: world first large scale vaccination of exotic birds with salmonella vaccine. Research trial into the efficacy of the vaccination by one of our vet residents.

<urn:uuid:be3c99d7-36ed-4bdb-a30e-26305864323e>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Mammals and Conservation

Household Safety Checklist In order to protect you and your family, a thorough safety check of every room in your home should be conducted on a regular basis. Unintentional accidents, injuries, and nontraumatic emergencies may be prevented and your family will be healthier and safer when you practice a little prevention. The following checklist may be printed so it can be used for the inspection of your home. ___ Do not leave medications, toiletries, or other household products in drawers or on night stands. ___ To avoid accidental injuries or choking, keep penknives, nail files, scissors, and pocket change out of reach. ___ Install a smoke detector in the hallway outside of the bedrooms. Check and change the batteries regularly. ___ Make certain drapery cords and/or blind cords are well out of reach of children. ___ Make certain the crib mattress fits snugly. ___ Crib slats should be placed no wider than 2 and 3/8 inches apart. ___ Make certain the crib has been put together properly and is not missing screws or bolts to prevent it from collapsing. ___ Make certain there is a carpet or rug beneath the crib or changing table to soften the impact if an infant falls. ___ Make certain drapery cords and/or blind cords are well out of reach of children and cribs. ___ Remove all crib gyms, hanging toys, and decorations form a crib by the time a baby can raise up on hands and knees. ___ Make sure there is a safety belt on the infant changing table, and that it is used consistently and properly. ___ Make sure baby powder and lotions are out of a baby or child's reach. But, make sure the baby powder and lotions are within your reach, so you do not have to leave the infant to reach these items. ___ If your child can climb out of the crib, consider a youth bed with guard rails, or place the crib mattress on the floor. ___ Never leave small parts or pieces of a toy(s) in a child's room. ___ Make certain a night light is not near or touching drapes or the bedspread. ___ Never place a crib, playpen, or bed near a window. ___ Make certain window screens are securely in place, or that window guards are present to prevent a child from falling from a window. ___ Make certain there are plug protectors in the unused electrical outlets. ___ If there is a lid on the toy box, it should not be heavy, hinged, or lockable. Children may crawl inside and become trapped. ___ Put a nonskid bathmat on the floor and a nonskid mat or decals in the bathtub. ___ Protect all electrical outlets with ground fault circuit interrupters. ___ Store medicines, cosmetics, toiletries, and cleansers well out of reach of children. ___ When children are present, put child-resistant safety latches on all cabinets storing potentially harmful substances. ___ Store electrical appliances, such as hair dryers and curling irons, out of reach. ___ Always unplug such an appliance before leaving it unattended, no matter how briefly. ___ To avoid accidental scalding, make certain to set the water heater no higher than 120 degrees Fahreinheit (49 degrees Celsius). ___ Never leave a child or disabled person unattended in a bathtub, or in a bathroom where there is a tub, sink, or bucket containing water. ___ Keep toilet lids closed. ___ Do not store vitamins (or medications) on the kitchen table, counter top, or window sill. ___ Make certain knives, scissors, and other sharp utensils are out of reach. ___ Store dishwasher detergent and other cleaning supplies in their original containers and out of reach. ___ When children are present, install safety latches on cabinets and drawers within a child's reach. ___ Keep chairs and step stools away from counters and stoves. ___ Always turn pot handles inward when cooking on the stove. Use back burners whenever possible. ___ Keep the toaster out of the reach of toddlers. ___ Make certain appliance cords are not dangling, so they cannot be pulled from a counter. ___ Unplug appliance extension cords when not in use. ___ When children are present, use plug protectors for all unused wall outlets. ___ If a child is in a highchair, make sure it is sturdy and has a seat belt with a strap between the legs. ___ Keep a working fire extinguisher in your kitchen. ___ Keep houseplants out of reach of children. A number of plants are poisonous. ___ Make certain television sets and other heavy items are secure so they cannot be tipped over. ___ Remove unnecessary extension cords. ___ Put plug protectors in any unused electrical outlets when children are present. ___ Move tables and other objects with sharp edges away from the center of a room, especially if there are toddlers or disabled persons in the home. ___ Place protective material on sharp furniture edges. ___ Keep drapery and blind cords out of reach of children and/or disabled persons. ___ Secure area rugs to prevent falls and slips. ___ Keep stairs and walkways clear of snow, wet leaves, or other debris. ___ Repair cracks or chips in cement sidewalks and stairs. ___ Make certain railings, gates, and fences are secure and in good repair. ___ Keep garbage cans covered. ___ There should be a fence with a locked gate between the house and the backyard swimming pool. ___ Garden tools and lawn equipment should be securely stored. ___ Play equipment, such as swing sets and garden furniture, should be properly anchored and assembled. Check regularly for rust, splintered wood, or cracks. ___ If you have a fireplace, wood burning stove, or other heat source, place barriers around it to avoid accidental burns. ___ Inspect and clean chimneys and stovepipes regularly. ___ Make certain hazardous items, such as bug sprays, cleaners, auto care products, and weed killers, are secured and stored in their original containers in the garage, utility room, or basement. ___ Place "Mr. Yuk" stickers on all hazardous items. ___ The first action when a person has ingested a toxic substance is to consult with the local poison control center at the universal telephone number in the United States--800-222-1222. ___ Make certain plastic bags, broken pieces of toys, buttons, screws, and other choking or suffocation hazards are stored out of reach of children. ___ Post emergency telephone numbers near each telephone in your home. ___ When children are present, safety devices, such as gates, locks, and doorknob covers, should be in use at all stairways and exits in your home. ___ Make sure all indoor and outdoor stairways and entries are well-lighted and clear. ___ Make certain bathrooms and bedrooms can be unlocked from the outside. ___ Keep matches and lighters out of the reach of children and disabled persons. ___ A home should have two unobstructed exits, in case of fire or other emergency. ___ Check all electrical cords to make sure they are not cracked or frayed. ___ Make certain outlets or extension cords are not overloaded. ___ It is best not to use space heaters. If they are used, make sure they are in safe condition. Never plug them into an extension cord. Do not place them near drapes or furnishings. ___ Paint or wallpaper should not be chipping or peeling. ___ Keep purses, backpacks, and other portable storage bags out of a child's reach. They may contain medicines, penknives, hard candies, and other items that may harm children.

<urn:uuid:8a39937e-e682-4177-9bd9-c481ce0f6a5d>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Robotics and AI Technology

T2T || FAQ || Ask T2T || Teachers' Lounge || Browse || Search || Thanks || About T2T View entire discussion I have a person in my class who has trouble communicating with math language. Recently I taught my class fractions. He has a hard time trying to do word problems with fractions. He understands how to change improper fractions to mixed fractions, fractions to decimals etc. He has trouble with word problems. What activities can I do to support the areas he has trouble with and not interrupt the whole class's learning pace? Math Forum Home || The Math Library || Quick Reference || Math Forum Search

<urn:uuid:d094c196-6bff-4c4b-b26f-efd19adf366b>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Math Learning Resources

The Rand Corporation has released a new report "Strategies for Advancing Preschool Adequacy and Efficiency in California." Among the reports key findings: - Disadvantaged children, who are more likely to start school behind and stay behind, are also the least likely to attend high-quality preschool programs. - California's underfunded preschool system serves only half the eligible three- and four-year-olds, and the system does not reward higher-quality providers. - Increasing access to high-quality preschool for disadvantaged children can narrow existing achievement gaps. - In the short term, California can allocate existing resources more efficiently and provide infrastructure supports for raising quality in the future. - In the longer term, new resources should be used to expand access to and raise the quality of preschool programs for those who can benefit most.

<urn:uuid:23a4d001-f6a9-462a-a01d-062e69d8fe65>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Child-Focused Learning Techniques

This 1914 fire aerial ladder truck was in service at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition (world's fair) held in San Francisco to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. It is a 1905 Cadillac with an original price tag of $950.00 from Detroit. It was restored and has been part of the museum for 35 years. The sign says only 4,029 of these vehicles were made and very few remain today. Drum roll, please... From what I read, early fire departments used baking soda and acid (vinegar) together to form carbon dioxide gas to extinguish fires; thus, the term "chemical" hose. It was purchased for $4,345.00 in 1890, a lot of money back then, and used in the 1906 earthquake. The fire station collapsed, but the firemen dug out the engine and used it to fight fires for 2 straight days.

<urn:uuid:f3afbfd6-9473-46c0-a378-b1af41522c4f>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Industrial Chemical Hazards

Build a solid foundation in science, formulation and product development—find out more! Most Popular in: Formulate This: Inverse Emulsions By: Ken Klein, Cosmetech Labs Posted: February 1, 2010, from the February 2010 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries. Editor’s note: Cosmetics & Toiletries presents "Formulate This,” a new column highlighting commonly asked formulating questions with answers provided by seasoned industry experts. This feature is designed to provide cosmetic chemists and formulators with ideas and advice to solve formulating challenges. To submit a question, e-mail FormulateThis@allured.com. Question: I’m trying to understand cosmetic emulsion inversion. What actually happens inside the emulsion at the phase borders? Answer: First, remember the HLB system. For ethoxylated emulsifiers, as the temperature increases, the HLB decreases--i.e., they switch from o/w emulsifiers at a low temperature to w/o emulsifiers at a high temperature. When an oil phase is added to a water phase, an o/w emulsion is formed. As the temperature heats to 75°C, the HLBs of the o/w emulsifiers (ethoxylates) decrease and they orient to w/o. As the temperature is lowered, the HLB increases and there is a point at which the emulsifiers then orient to form an o/w emulsion (the Phase Inversion Temperature or PIT), resulting in an inverse emulsion. From a theoretical standpoint (and in reality, too), to form an o/w emulsion, it is a good idea to first form a w/o emulsion and invert it into an o/w emulsion. The resulting resistant emulsion will have a narrow particle size distribution, and oftentimes a smaller average particle size, thus making it a more stable emulsion.

<urn:uuid:5d541c60-3e4f-4df6-a059-357d69803c87>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Industrial Chemical Hazards

For many people, learning a language involves going to classes, doing homework, taking tests and trying to memorise vocabulary. Others try to teach themselves languages using similar techniques. These are all useful things to do, but won’t necessarily give you a fluency in the language. Conscious learning of a language using these methods tends to feel like hard work. If you really want to become highly proficient in a language, you need to spend a lot of time immersed in it. To become good at speaking the language, for example, you need to find opportunities to use it with other people, ideally in situations where you have to use it, or at least try to say as much as you can without falling back on your native language. Listening to radio programmes, watching videos, films and TV programmes, reading books and other material, and writing it as often as you can are also good things to do. This may not feel like study, especially if they involves subjects and activities you really enjoy, but you will be absorbing and acquiring a lot of the language without realizing it. Conscious learning and sub-conscious acquisition are both good ways to learn languages. You can probably make faster progress if you study a language consciously, but sub-conscious acquisition probably gives you a deeper knowledge of it. Combining the two together is even better.

<urn:uuid:c5ae14c7-d7d3-43fe-bfad-67cb2ab2c92b>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

ASL & Language Instruction

All the evidence to date shows that value-added techniques are being employed responsibly In one suburban school district, teachers across the system were ranked and evaluated according to the contribution they had made to student learning–based on a value-added analysis of state test results. When they were ranked again the next year, the results were very similar except for one teacher who moved from a top rank to a very low rank. When the school superintendent looked at the results, he immediately identified the teacher–her husband had died during the second year of rankings. What does this anecdote illustrate? For starters, that value-added assessments can misidentify good and bad teachers–and that the discrepancies can be cleared up by local administrators. More important, however, was the fact that the findings were robust; teachers’ rankings were similar across three years of analysis. Moreover, these rankings were used to grant a standard reward to a top group of teachers, not to make fine distinctions in the amount of compensation that teachers received. In other words, the results of value-added analysis, when examined over a period of two or three years, were stable and were used in a way that respected the margin of error involved in using these statistical techniques. Critics of value-added assessment tend to embrace the concept but don’t want the results gleaned from such analysis to be used for accountability purposes–and especially don’t want to use the results to reward or sanction teachers. But teachers are the dominant school input, in terms of both spending and impact on student learning. Excluding them essentially leaves the education system without accountability. The main concern with value-added assessment is that the technique exacerbates the amount of random error involved in measuring student performance. The risk is that teachers and schools may be wrongfully rewarded or punished because value-added techniques either over- or underestimated their students’ learning gains. However, no intelligent users of standardized testing would make policy choices based on a single year’s result or small differences among schools and teachers. Texas, for example, rewards schools based on value-added achievement gains calculated using two-stage regression analysis. The state does not hand out awards based on decimal-point differences among schools; officials reward a previously set percentage of top-ranking schools. The point here is that most of the statistical objections to value-added measurements assume a misuse of the analysis. The statistical “noise” involved in measuring value-added should preclude decisions that are based on small, unreplicated analysis; it should not preclude decisions that are based on gross findings. Confidence in gross findings can be developed by replication, by averaging results over several time periods, and by using several measures of the development of human capital–not tests alone, but also attendance rates, dropout rates, and promotion rates (a very high-quality assessment will track indicators of human capital such as post-secondary school earnings and higher-education outcomes as well). The richer the measures used, the less weight there is on the psychometric concerns involving test scores. The alternative is to rest teacher compensation on factors that have little to do with student learning. It is now well established, for example, that the number of degrees teachers possess and the number of hours teachers spend in education courses are unrelated to student learning. Put another way, an important criterion in the determination of a teacher’s salary does not have any bearing on the ability of the teacher to develop human capital. We know that because it has been replicated in many studies in many school districts, even though salary schedules have yet to reflect this information. Critics often cite the difficulty of comparing the results of large and small schools and comparing one subject with another. It is essential in the debate over the usefulness of the value-added assessment approach that the unit of observation and the comparison group be specified. If, as has been the case in a number of places, the comparison group is all the teachers in a given grade in the school district–with, say, the top 15 percent of the 4th grade teachers receiving an award–what is the significance of a big or small school? The class is the unit, and class size tends to be uniform within a school district. At the high-school level, the comparison group is likely to be, for example, all history teachers or all science teachers across the district. The award-receiving group is a percentage of that comparison group, and it is not affected by the test scores in another subject. If multiple factors are used for assessment, efforts to check on robustness are made, only extreme performances are rewarded or sanctioned, and comparison groups are selected carefully, the technical psychometric points raised by critics should not swamp the incentive and information benefits of performance-based compensation plans for teachers. If we are ready to determine reading programs, language labs, class sizes, and the use of computerized learning on the basis of value-added assessments, we should be ready to reward teachers using the same techniques. There is already considerable evidence from several places–such as Tennessee and Florida, where value-added analysis has been used for accountability purposes–that low-achieving students are the main beneficiaries of the changes that occur when these techniques are implemented. When low-achieving students are taught the same body of knowledge over and over again, and when they are taught how to work under a time constraint, they benefit. Value-added assessment techniques reveal that information. The Illusion of Transparency Critics of value-added assessment say that it is just too complicated for teachers and the public to understand the results these systems will generate. In other words, the results will not be transparent. But if transparency is the criterion that trumps all other criteria, we would be compelled to use an assessment method that we know to be wrong. For example, there is no satisfactory way to make judgments about which method of teaching reading is superior–whole language or phonics–without factoring in the socioeconomic, school, and teacher characteristics of each of the groups of students in the experiment. Statistical controls must be used if the assessments of teachers, schools, or programs are to be accurate, even though very few educators understand the statistical principles and methods involved. I do not require a transparent understanding of the efficacy of the flu shot I take, nor do I require a transparent understanding of the operating characteristics of my car; I trust the experts on the techniques. So must it be in educational evaluation. The problems with the use of value-added assessments, even for teachers, are greatly exaggerated, and the alternatives are simply untenable. One proposed alternative is the use of one or more methods of subjective evaluation. Other teachers, students, and/or parents can be surveyed to make the judgments. Most of those surveys focus on whether respondents like the teacher, are happy in the classroom, or equally soft attributes. They do not really determine what kind of learning gains a certain teacher is eliciting relative to other teachers. Most people look back at their primary and secondary schooling and identify an extremely demanding teacher (whom they disliked at the time) as the one who made the biggest contribution to their educational development. A second possibility is to set up a standard–some threshold–of student achievement as an absolute hurdle to define adequate performance. The problems with this are legion. How should the threshold be determined? Those who want to be rewarded set lower thresholds than those who watch budgets. The threshold becomes a major bargaining tool, quite divorced from the informed decisionmaking objective. What incentives for improvement are there for those who crossed the threshold? Basically, subjective evaluation allows the information essential to the rational allocation of educational resources to be derived politically rather than scientifically. The state of American public education has been deplored by critics for many years. The notion that student learning has remained somewhat stagnant over the past century, though the country has spent steadily more real resources on education, is a matter of profound concern. This surely indicates that we do not know a lot about what works and what doesn’t. We need to know if we are to change the pattern. We must have calibrated results; we must use sophisticated statistical methods to interpret the data; we need to use multiple measures of performance; and we need to implement the analysis in ways that are appropriate to the quality of the information. And teachers, the most important school-controlled input into the educational process, cannot be exempt from this information-gathering activity. Our current unhappy results are consistent with the subjective and/or unsophisticated tools we use for assessing effectiveness and creating incentives. -Anita A. Summers is a professor emeritus of public policy and management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Sign Up To Receive Notification when the latest issue of Education Next is posted In the meantime check the site regularly for new articles, blog postings, and reader comments

<urn:uuid:3ef38eb5-89b8-4e9f-926a-67df0d87ab70>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Child-Focused Learning Techniques

Monday, September 24, 2012 - 18:30 in Astronomy & Space NASA's rover Curiosity touched a Martian rock with its robotic arm for the first time on Sept. 22, assessing what chemical elements are in the rock called "Jake Matijevic." - Curiosity on Mars sits on rocks similar to those found in marshes in MexicoTue, 30 Oct 2012, 11:07:11 EDT - How Martian winds make rocks walkThu, 8 Jan 2009, 14:01:08 EST - MIT moves toward greener chemistryFri, 3 Sep 2010, 12:51:40 EDT - Martian rock arrangement not alien handiworkWed, 7 Jan 2009, 13:17:55 EST - ASU instrument on NASA rover helps identify outcrop of long-sought rare rock on MarsThu, 3 Jun 2010, 14:52:54 EDT

<urn:uuid:f52b34ac-b5ad-4f7c-a68e-cc1aab599e79>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

Ike Dike Proposed to Protect Texas Coast One year after the Hurricane Ike's 20-foot storm surge devastated Galveston, Texas, and surrounding areas, local governments are in the midst of making a decision about the proposed "Ike Dike" - an expansion of the existing Galveston Seawall that would cost the federal government billions of dollars. The Ike Dike, as proposed by Texas A&M University at Galveston professor William Merrell, would extend the existing seawall by over 50 miles and add floodgates that would close before an approaching hurricane (more details). The idea is based on the Delta Works, a series of dams and barriers that protect the southwest Netherlands from storm surge and coastal flooding. Supporters suggest that these additions would prevent future damage to Galveston Bay and the Port of Houston, protecting the region's oil production and shipping industry, in addition to Galveston Island's residents, infrastructure and the Galveston National Laboratory, a high-security medical research facility that houses some of the most contagious diseases in the world. Given the estimated $32 billion in damages to the Houston-Galveston area already caused by Ike and the likelihood of another catastrophic hurricane and rising sea levels, the Ike Dike's $2 to 3 billion dollar price tag and ten year timeline could make the project a worthwhile investment. Opponents voice concern that the proposed storm barrier would alter the fragile Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, cause more coastal erosion and offer no protection from hurricane-force winds, which contributed to damage during Ike. They argue that the region could take alternative actions and that the Ike Dike should not be considered a final solution, but rather one step toward protecting the coast. The questions remain: if rising sea levels and strong hurricanes remain constant threats to the Gulf Coast, should development along the shoreline and on barrier islands continue? Would the Ike Dike prove to be a lasting solution or just a band-aid to the already-injured subtropical shoreline that will be susceptible to hurricanes indefinitely? | September 9, 2009; 10:00 AM ET Categories: Posegate, Tropical Weather Save & Share: Previous: Forecast: Overcast, Cool & Damp Through Friday Next: A Hot and Dry August for the Region Posted by: nematode1 | September 9, 2009 11:55 AM | Report abuse Posted by: Ann-CapitalWeatherGang | September 9, 2009 12:16 PM | Report abuse Posted by: Jamie66 | September 9, 2009 12:30 PM | Report abuse Posted by: VaTechBob | September 9, 2009 2:22 PM | Report abuse Posted by: Ann-CapitalWeatherGang | September 9, 2009 6:50 PM | Report abuse Posted by: Mr_Q | September 10, 2009 2:23 AM | Report abuse Posted by: Mr_Q | September 10, 2009 11:34 AM | Report abuse The comments to this entry are closed.

<urn:uuid:827b927e-1157-45bc-b405-7c9f454c86b7>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Climate and Weather Events

The fillings referred to as "silver" are actually a mixture of silver, tin, copper, and mercury, and are more properly called amalgam fillings. The silver, tin, and copper are provided in a powder form by various manufacturers, with silver being the major constituent (40 to 70 percent), and tin and copper constituting 4 to 33 percent each, depending on the manufacturer. This powder is then mixed rapidly with mercury in a special machine, usually by the dental assistant, yielding a liquid that is from 50 to 60 percent mercury. The filling material is then placed in the tooth and smoothed with various dental tools. |DID YOU KNOW . . . Mercury (Hg), sometimes known as quicksilver, is named for the speedy Roman god who served as messenger for the other gods. The silver-white chemical is the only common metal that is a liquid at room temperature. It is used in thermometers, barometers, and some batteries, as well as in dental amalgams. Since the 1970s, there has been controversy in the dental profession regarding the safety of mercury as a filling material. Some dentists contend that no matter what the amount used in dental fillings, the mercury is toxic. At the same time, the American Dental Association (ADA) asserts that only a small percentage of individuals exhibit allergies to mercury, and that once mercury is mixed and hardened as a filling material, the percentage of individuals who are sensitive to it becomes even smaller. While the ADA has maintained that mercury in amalgam is stable, various researchers have demonstrated that it is not. In 1970, dentist Wallace Johnson and others published the results of their research in Journal of the American Dental Association. The report indicated that "mercury, an essential element of dental amalgams, is not a stable material but one that vaporizes at ordinary temperatures." In 1985, the Journal of Dental Research published a report by dentists Murry Vimy and F.L. Lorscheider, who also claimed that mercury vapor is released from amalgam fillings. These researchers further stated that the vapor is then distributed throughout the body via the respiratory system, but accumulates mostly in the brain, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. Some of the symptoms associated with mercury toxicity include a metallic taste in the mouth, severe headaches, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, depression, hair loss, memory loss, coma, and death. Furthermore, a natural balance of microorganisms in the body is upset by excess mercury in the gastrointestinal tract, and this imbalance may lead to candida. In addition, the previously mentioned researchers have reported that when the metal comes in contact with saliva, there is a "battery effect" in which currents are generated, causing mercury molecules from the surface of the fillings to be released into the tissues. Another negative report was published in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry in 1983. David Eggleston, a dentist in private practice and a researcher and professor at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry, indicated that when amalgam and nickel-based fillings are present, there is a reduction in the T-lymphocytes of the immune system. Lymphocytes are white blood cells that are the core of the body's immune system. Lymphocytes that circulate through the thymus gland are called T-lymphocytes (thymocytes). They recognize foreign invaders in the body and form antibodies against them. Eggleston concluded that the introduction of mercury into the body might weaken the immune system by reducing the number of T-lymphocytes.

<urn:uuid:da8c7ef2-506b-4f32-af23-3bc2aebc8759>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Industrial Chemical Hazards

UNICEF says Children's Lives Are Improving But 20 years after the adoption of a treaty guaranteeing children's rights, hundreds of millions still go without basics like food and health care, and violence against children remains a global problem. Last updated on: November 20, 2009 3:54 AM It's 20 years since the United Nations adopted a treaty guaranteeing children's rights and now the U.N. says children's lives have been transformed during those two decades. But it says there's a lot still to be done - to this day hundreds of millions go without basics like food and health care and violence against children remains a global problem. Selah Hennessy brings us this report from London. The United Nations Children's Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, released a special report to mark this 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. VOA spoke to the author of the report, David Anthony. He said globally the lives of children have improved over the last 20 years. "During its era, we have seen tremendous progress in child survival and development," he said. "For example, on average 10,000 fewer children now die every day than they did in 1990 - that's something that saves countless of millions of lives over the years." The report lists a series of positive statistics showing great leaps in children's quality of life. It says globally 84 percent of primary-school-age children are in class and the gender gap is narrowing. And important steps have been taken, it says, to protect children from serving as soldiers or being trafficked into prostitution. But Anthony adds there is still a long way to go. He says as many as one billion children still live without basic necessities such as clean water and food. And he says more needs to be done in the fields of protection and participation - the right of all children to have their opinions taken into account. These problems, Anthony says, are global. "You find that violence is something that no society can say it's immune from," he said. "I think protection in particular, and participation, are things which the industrialized countries, and the richer countries, cannot feel any great superiority over the developing countries and the least developed countries." More than 70 countries have adopted the convention's principles into their own legal codes. Only two countries in the world, Somalia and the United States, have not ratified the treaty. The U.S. has been slow to approve the Convention because of fears of government interference in family life. Anthony says although the convention has the widest support of any human rights treaty, not all countries are implementing its basic principles. "One of the main emphasis of this report has been implementation," he said. "Countries who ratify the treaties - who sign the treaties - then have an obligation to implement them and the symbolism I think of endorsement is most welcome but the more important thing is that all countries apply the principles that are embodied within the convention and to ensure that all of their children have their rights met." The report says despite progress, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from largely preventable causes. And it says 150 million children between five and 14 are engaged in child labor.

<urn:uuid:9c75dca3-d8f4-4e91-a1ea-9ef4e6ac5e25>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Gender Equality Initiatives

What Is a Virtual Tape Library Last Updated: 09-01-2010 , Posted: 06-16-2006 Virtual tape is a concept that has been in the data center for many years. Originally introduced for IBM mainframes, it is now exploding in the open systems arena. VTLs are logically just like physical tape libraries: They logically appear and operate as physical tape devices including virtual tape drives, data cartridges, tape slots, barcode labels and robotic arms. Traditional Tape SolutionsTraditional tape devices have a few problems: They are slow and the only way to solve that problem is to add more and more tape drives. Tape library robotics are prone to failure and the tape media itself is "delicate" and must be stored in a conditioned, secure environment. To increase backup performance, backups can be multiplexed across multiple drives and tapes. This increases the odds of a failed backup due to a bad tape, a faulty drive or malfunctioning robotics. Restores from tape are also time-consuming. Consider trying to recover a file that was part of a five-tape multiplexed backup. Each of the five tapes must be located in the library and loaded into tape drives. If the drives have tapes in them already, the tapes must be removed from the drives and moved to free slots before another tape may be loaded. Once the tapes are loaded, they must be advanced to where the file is and then, finally, the file can be read from tape. It can take many minutes just to start the recovery. If the tapes are not in the library, it can take many hours to recover a single file. On the plus side, tape-based solutions are usually considered to be relatively inexpensive. But when the tape media is considered, the cost can skyrocket. Some studies show that users will buy 30 times the amount of slots worth of tapes during the life of a library. For a medium-sized, 100-slot library, that's 3,000 tapes. LTO-3 tapes are currently in the $100 price range. Add the fact that extensive human intervention is required to manage and maintain a tape solution and they are not very inexpensive. It can cost a lot of money to be able to successfully backup your data 60 percent of the time. Comparing the problems associated with tape solutions with a virtual tape solution shows how a VTL can change how a data center can be run. A virtual tape library solution can perform 10-times tape speeds for backups. Speeding up the backups will greatly shrink the backup window, which allows servers to be backed up faster. With existing backups finishing quicker, second- and third-tier servers that have not been backed up in the past may now fit into the backup schedule. Recoveries are also significantly faster using a VTL (typically much faster than the backup). A single file can be recovered from a VTL faster than most tape libraries can find and load a tape into a drive. Full backups that span multiple tapes (as apposed to multiplexed) will also recover very slowly compared to a VTL since after the data is read from one tape the next tape must be located and loaded compared to a VTL that just keeps streaming data from disk. All virtual tape loads are immediate so there is virtually no delay when a new "tape" is "loaded." People who resort to multiplexing backups to increase the performance of the backup are usually shocked to discover that their recovery times will be about twice as long as the backup was. Most virtual tape library solutions also contain RAID-protected storage that has redundant, hot-swap components (drives, power, cooling). Backups that use a VTL rarely fail because of a VTL failure. Recoveries will never fail due to a bad or lost tape. VTLs are just not prone to the types of failures that a traditional tape library has. For example, a backup to disk will never fail because of a bad tape, broken tape drive or broken robotics. The initial cost of a tape library can be less than the cost of a VTL. But when a three- or five-year cost-of-ownership is considered (tape media, failed backups, lost data due to failed recoveries, management costs, and so on) a VTL will be less expensive. Also consider the lower cost of backup software. Some backup software is tiered based on the number of tape slots. By configuring a virtual library to have few slots, but very large "tapes," the software tier can be lowered. For backup software that is tiered on the number of tape drives, configure a virtual library with fewer "drives." Some backup software solutions are now adding a virtual tape library option that is priced based on the capacity of the library. Today's virtual tape libraries range from a customer-supplied server with VTL software and separate disk to a completely productized solution where the server, software and disk are all bundled. There are pros and cons for both extremes. With an unbundled solution, the user gets to purchase each piece separately. The pieces include the VTL software, server, disk and potentially the SAN infrastructure. Unfortunately, the user must also purchase separate support agreements for the VTL software, server, disk and SAN infrastructure and each piece must be managed and monitored by the IT staff. With a bundled solution, all the pieces are included, tightly integrated and guaranteed to work together. The solution is managed and monitored as one entity and support is covered by one contract. With current bundled VTL solutions expanding to a petabyte or more, scaling the solutions is not an issue. Adding an additional VTLs for each petabyte of backup is acceptable for most environments. The only negative with a bundled solution is that it is bundled. Some people just do not like that. When it comes to backup, it is best to keep things simple so a bundled VTL solution is probably the best bet (there are not very many home-made tape libraries in production so why make your own VTL solution?). Adding a virtual tape library into an existing tape environment will always improve the reliability of backups and recoveries. Even if a VTL is configured to backup only as fast as an existing library, the increase in performance for day-to-day data recovery makes the investment a no-brainer. Add the robust data processing capabilities not available in physical tape libraries (e.g., replication, single-instance data storage) and a VTL can open the door for tremendous advances in tape backup methodology and revolutionize traditional operations. Did You Know... |Key Terms To Understanding VTL: virtual tape library

<urn:uuid:9afdcd1e-88c0-42e4-8724-0ff4321f73ca>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

GNU Project Tools

International Women’s Day 2013 Every year the United Nations chooses a theme for that year’s International Women’s Day. This theme is something many organizations choose to build on, make their own, or change it completely. This year, 2013, I believe the UN has chosen a great theme: “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” International Women’s Day has been celebrated since the early 1900s and is still thriving, and unfortunately necessary, today. We live in a country where the Violence Against Women Act comes up for reauthorization too often, with too much debate about its merits. Really, who could be against anything that aims to reduce violence against women? Campaigning against violence against women does not diminish any pursuance of eliminating violence for all humans, but there is a particular reason why this must be a focus of the world at this time: The United Nations General Assembly defines “violence against women” as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” The 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women noted that this violence could be perpetrated by assailants of either gender, family members and even the “State” itself. Women are often the victims of violence simply because they are women. To end these horrific acts, it must be a decision made by our local communities and global society. We must prioritize a solution for all. What kind of world do we want our daughters, and sons, to grow up to inherit? - Follow @womensday on twitter #womensday - Network at facebook.com/internationalwomensday. - Celebrate and understand women’s strength and through photographs. - Take action with We Are Equals: Join the Big Inequality Debate. The Facebook App showing your 1950s life is interesting. - Learn more about International Women’s Day. - Share, share, share! What will you do today to support women? This post was written for the Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of Mom Bloggers for Social Good members who focus on maternal health, children, hunger, and women and girls.

<urn:uuid:aadda937-d53f-4475-84c5-f7a627cc5054>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Gender Equality Initiatives

What does a price tell you? Assume that you were going to purchase a GE Advantium 120 microwave oven on Sunday, August 12. Comparing Sears, Best Buy and Amazon’s sellers at 3 a.m., you would have seen, respectively, $899.99, 809.99 and 744.46. At Amazon’s website, the price changed to slightly more than $850 at 5 a.m., it dropped again to their $744.46 low several hours later and then back above $850 at 10 p.m. During that day, Sears kept the same price, Best Buy changed twice and Amazon, 9 times. Call it dynamic pricing. The story of dynamic pricing begins with airline deregulation in 1978. American Airlines (although some say Delta) was the first to realize that different classes of passengers were willing and able to pay different fares. Of course they could not ask if someone was planning a vacation or a business trip, but they could snag the business traveler by charging more if the flight was the next day. And so began what they called yield management. Spreading to hotels and cruises, rental car businesses and a host of others, yield management helped many firms increase revenue. The dynamic pricing version of yield management has the same revenue enhancing goal. As you probably know, all sorts of goods like bicycles, jewelry and detergents are dynamically priced online. One baby clothes vendor changes his prices every 15 minutes because being cheaper than everyone else means he will top the list of price related search results. But what does this mean? In a market economy, price is a source of information. Prices enable the supply side to assess productivity, to identify cost and to project profits. On the demand side, price can convey quality and affordability. With price changing frequently, the information flow increases. Or, as one market participant commented, “The long term implication is that a price is no longer a price.” My sources and other resources: A front page WSJ article, “Don’t Like This Price? Wait a Minute ” was interesting and had this fascinating graphic comparing price changes from Sears, Amazon and Best Buy. In addition, this academic article explains yield management while this more recent study looks at internet dynamic pricing.

<urn:uuid:46c74105-2f8e-46fa-b74c-894ce57ebf12>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Finance Education

System designed for household and neighborhood power generation RICHLAND, Wash. – Individual homes and entire neighborhoods could be powered with a new, small-scale solid oxide fuel cell system that achieves up to 57 percent efficiency, significantly higher than the 30 to 50 percent efficiencies previously reported for other solid oxide fuel cell systems of its size, according to a study published in this month's issue of Journal of Power Sources. The smaller system, developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, uses methane, the primary component of natural gas, as its fuel. The entire system was streamlined to make it more efficient and scalable by using PNNL-developed microchannel technology in combination with processes called external steam reforming and fuel recycling. PNNL's system includes fuel cell stacks developed earlier with the support of DOE's Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance. "Solid oxide fuels cells are a promising technology for providing clean, efficient energy. But, until now, most people have focused on larger systems that produce 1 megawatt of power or more and can replace traditional power plants," said Vincent Sprenkle, a co-author on the paper and chief engineer of PNNL's solid oxide fuel cell development program. "However, this research shows that smaller solid oxide fuel cells that generate between 1 and 100 kilowatts of power are a viable option for highly efficient, localized power generation." Sprenkle and his co-authors had community-sized power generation in mind when they started working on their solid oxide fuel cell, also known as a SOFC. The pilot system they built generates about 2 kW of electricity, or how much power a typical American home consumes. The PNNL team designed its system so it can be scaled up to produce between 100 and 250 kW, which could provide power for about 50 to 100 American homes. Goal: Small and efficient Knowing the advantages of smaller SOFC systems (see the "What is an SOFC?" sidebar below for more information), the PNNL team wanted to design a small system that could be both more than 50 percent efficient and easily scaled up for distributed generation. To do this, the team first used a process called external steam reforming. In general, steam reforming mixes steam with the fuel, leading the two to react and create intermediate products. The intermediates, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, then react with oxygen at the fuel cell's anode. Just as described in the below sidebar, this reaction generates electricity, as well as the byproducts steam and carbon dioxide. Steam reforming has been used with fuel cells before, but the approach requires heat that, when directly exposed to the fuel cell, causes uneven temperatures on the ceramic layers that can potentially weaken and break the fuel cell. So the PNNL team opted for external steam reforming, which completes the initial reactions between steam and the fuel outside of the fuel cell. The external steam reforming process requires a device called a heat exchanger, where a wall made of a conductive material like metal separates two gases. On one side of the wall is the hot exhaust that is expelled as a byproduct of the reaction inside the fuel cell. On the other side is a cooler gas that is heading toward the fuel cell. Heat moves from the hot gas, through the wall and into the cool incoming gas, warming it to the temperatures needed for the reaction to take place inside the fuel cell. Efficiency with micro technology The key to the efficiency of this small SOFC system is the use of a PNNL-developed microchannel technology in the system's multiple heat exchangers. Instead of having just one wall that separates the two gases, PNNL's microchannel heat exchangers have multiple walls created by a series of tiny looping channels that are narrower than a paper clip. This increases the surface area, allowing more heat to be transferred and making the system more efficient. PNNL's microchannel heat exchanger was designed so that very little additional pressure is needed to move the gas through the turns and curves of the looping channels. The second unique aspect of the system is that it recycles. Specifically, the system uses the exhaust, made up of steam and heat byproducts, coming from the anode to maintain the steam reforming process. This recycling means the system doesn't need an electric device that heats water to create steam. Reusing the steam, which is mixed with fuel, also means the system is able to use up some of the leftover fuel it wasn't able to consume when the fuel first moved through the fuel cell. The combination of external steam reforming and steam recycling with the PNNL-developed microchannel heat exchangers made the team's small SOFC system extremely efficient. Together, these characteristics help the system use as little energy as possible and allows more net electricity to be produced in the end. Lab tests showed the system's net efficiency ranged from 48.2 percent at 2.2 kW to a high of 56.6 percent at 1.7 kW. The team calculates they could raise the system's efficiency to 60 percent with a few more adjustments. The PNNL team would like to see their research translated into an SOFC power system that's used by individual homeowners or utilities. "There still are significant efforts required to reduce the overall cost to a point where it is economical for distributed generation applications," Sprenkle explained. "However, this demonstration does provide an excellent blueprint on how to build a system that could increase electricity generation while reducing carbon emissions."

<urn:uuid:a1fdaa33-21e9-4ea5-ba98-baa8acf5bb16>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound during breathing. It occurs when air moves through narrowed breathing tubes. Wheezing is a sign that a person may be having breathing problems. The sound of wheezing is most obvious when breathing out (exhaling), but may be heard when taking a breath (inhaling). Wheezing most often comes from the small breathing tubes (bronchial tubes) deep in the chest, but it may be due to a blockage in larger airways or in persons with certain vocal cord problems. Click to download Always take all of your medications as directed. Sitting in an area where there is moist, heated air may help relieve some symptoms. This can be done by running a hot shower or using a vaporizer. Call your health care provider if Call your health care provider if: If wheezing is severe or occurs with severe shortness of breath, you may have to go directly to the nearest emergency department. What to expect at your health care provider's office The doctor or nurse will perform a physical examination and ask questions about your medical history and symptoms, including: - When did the wheezing begin? - How long does it last? - When and how often does it occur? - Is it worse at night or in the early morning? - What does the wheezing sound like? - Does it make breathing difficult? - What seems to cause it? - Eating certain foods? - Taking certain medications? - Do any of the following things make it worse? - Being around pollens, insects, dust, chemicals (perfumes, cosmetics) - Being in cold air - Sickness (such as a cold or the flu) - Does it go away without treatment? - What helps relieve it? - Medications such as bronchodilators? - Do you have any other symptoms, such as: - Did you have an episode of choking - Did you have an insect bite? - Do you have a history of asthma - What medications do you take? - Have you been around tobacco smoke? - Have you recently been sick? The physical examination may include listening to the lung sounds (auscultation ). If your child is the one with symptoms, the doctor will make sure he or she did not swallow a foreign object. Tests that may be done include: - Blood work, possibly including arterial blood gases - Chest x-ray - Lung function tests A hospital stay may be needed if: Breathing is particularly difficult Medicines need to be given through a vein (IV) Supplemental oxygen is required The person needs to be closely watched by medical personnel Schatz M. Asthma in adolescents and adults. In: Bope ET, Rakel RE, Kellerman R, eds. Conn’s Current Therapy 2012. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2012:section 6. Szefler SJ. Advances in pediatric asthma in 2009: gaining control of childhood asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Jan;125(1):69-78. Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc.

<urn:uuid:e1a99047-6a7d-4868-a0a2-ef9806429900>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Allergy and Infection Information

It may be the site of the town of Hilfa, which is mentioned in the Talmud. The foundations of an ancient synagogue were discovered near there in 1929 by explorations done on behalf of the Hebrew University. The synagogue, measuring 46 x 92 feet, included a courtyard, hall, two side aisles and a women's gallery. It faced south toward Jerusalem. A small cavity in the floor probably served as a genizah; above it was an Ark for scrolls of the Law. The whole floor of the building is paved with mosaics. Two inscriptions were found at the entrance to the hall. One, in Aramaic, states that the mosaics were made during the reign of Emperor Justin (518--527). The other, in Greek, gives the names of those who made the mosaics, Marianos and his son Hanina. There are three mosaic panels in the center of the hall. The first shows the Akedah, the binding of Isaac on the altar. The second mosaic represents the signs of the Zodiac. The third depicts a synagogue ark with a gabled roof and an "eternal light" suspended from its top. On either side is a lion with a seven-branched menorah. Above the menorah and between the lions are pictured ritual items such as lulavim (palm branches), etrogim (citrons), and incense holders. Curtains adorned it on either side. The designs are simple and strong. In these mosaics, the artists took great care to make each scene expressive. The mosaics of Bet Alfa are striking in their coloring and style, and are among the finest examples of Jewish art in the Byzantine period. Kibbutz Bet Alfa was founded at in 1922. A scene at one of the children's houses Making up the daily work schedule (August 1946) A Man with his cow (August 1930)

<urn:uuid:99396f1c-2adc-4078-a560-0f70b1015a6e>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Ancient Civilizations History

Literary Research Paper Simple Ways To Write A Literary Research Paper Unlike most other research papers, a literary research paper generally requires an argumentative style of writing rather than a descriptive style. Loads of support content would be available to support an opinion, but knowing how to present it is a totally different ball game. The topics in these research papers may vary from character analysis of a fictitious character to analyzing the change in writing styles of different authors. Different alternative endings may have to be suggested for a plot. For instance, the assignment could be to write a critical commentary on a Shakespearian tragedy or Joyce’s writing. Attempting such varied topics is not easy. It is absolutely essential that research is conducted the right way to come up with a decent paper. Guidelines To Adapt While Writing A Literary Research Paper - Read the whole works several times. Literature is interesting, and reading it often makes you an expert on the piece. Ideas develop in your mind, which then become part of the review process. - Have a fair idea of your own opinion on the topic. Personal opinions carry great weight, because readers are more interested in what is written about the storyline .They may or may not actually know the story in detail. - Learn to come up with your own original content after you have read the piece of literature. Attempt writing each paragraph and try to rewrite it with your own ideas in place. This is a practical way to improve writing skills. - Develop the right research skills. For instance, to write a review of William Shakespeare’s style of writing, check other works by the same author. It would offer you further insight. ResearchPaperWriter.net specializes in providing you with your own blueprint for the essay. Experienced writers are at hand to guide you along the way. The dedicated writer would most certainly assist in putting your thoughts together in your literary research paper. A draft of the essay is reviewed at every step, and we can even assist you in choosing the style and format to best suit the nature of your essay. When the right metaphor or quotation eludes you, rely on us to supply you with the appropriate alternative. Be it the pre-classical poems of Byron and Shelley or the cold, morbid nature of a Dostovievskian character, we have expert writers on our panel to ease your workload. To help you make a decision, we have provided research paper samples to suit various levels of writing. ResearchPaperWriter.net has achieved excellence in the field of academic writing, and caters to a wide range of students and researchers. We leave no stone unturned in ensuring that our clientele get the best custom writing services. Our authors use the latest anti-plagiarism software to ensure that all research papers are original. Correspondence with our clients is always strictly confidential. For a very nominal amount, you can choose to avail of our services. We guarantee that your order for a literary research paper will be well received and appreciated.

<urn:uuid:91ee02b2-e00e-46af-bc3e-fcfaef6b5003>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Literacy and Reading Activities

Type of Culminating Activity Graduate Student Project As world-wide energy consumption continues to increase, so does the demand for the use of alternative energy sources, such as Nuclear Energy. Nuclear Power Plants currently supply over 370 gigawatts of electricity, and more than 60 new nuclear reactors have been commissioned by 15 different countries. The primary concern for Nuclear Power Plant operation and lisencing has been safety. The safety of the operation of Nuclear Power Plants is no simple matter- it involves the training of operators, design of the reactor, as well as equipment and design upgrades throughout the lifetime of the reactor, etc. To safely design, operate, and understand nuclear power plants, industry and government alike have relied upon the use of best-estimate simulation codes, which allow for an accurate model of any given plant to be created with welldefined margins of safety. The most widely used of these best-estimate simulation codes in the Nuclear Power industry is RELAP5-3D. Our project focused on improving the modeling capabilities of RELAP5-3D by developing uncertainty estimates for its calculations. This work involved analyzing high, medium, and low ranked phenomena from an INL PIRT on a small break Loss-Of-Coolant Accident as well as an analysis of a large break Loss-Of-Coolant Accident. Statistical analyses were performed using correlation coefficients. To perform the studies, computer programs were written that modify a template RELAP5-3D input deck to produce one deck for each combination of key input parameters. Python scripting enabled the running of the generated input files with RELAP5-3D on INL’s massively parallel cluster system. Data from the studies was collected and analyzed with SAS. Summaries of the results of our studies are presented. Gertman, Alexandra E. and Mesina, George L., "Uncertainty Analysis of RELAP5-3D©" (2012). Mathematics Graduate Projects and Theses. Paper 1.

<urn:uuid:adbd40a0-655d-427b-89ee-ad6fcfe46e1c>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Nuclear Power and Safety Issues

Charles Robert Darwin (18091882). Origin of Species. The Harvard Classics. 190914. XI. On the Geological Succession of Organic Beings On the Forms of Life Changing Almost Simultaneously throughout the World SCARCELY any palæontological discovery is more striking than the fact that the forms of life change almost simultaneously throughout the world. Thus our European Chalk formation can be recognised in many distant regions, under the most different climates, where not a fragment of the mineral chalk itself can be found; namely in North America, in equatorial South America, in Tierra del Fuego, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the peninsula of India. For at these distant points, the organic remains in certain beds present an unmistakable resemblance to those of the Chalk. It is not that the same species are met with; for in some cases not one species is identically the same, but they belong to the same families, genera, and sections of genera, and sometimes are similarly characterised in such trifling points as mere superficial sculpture. Moreover, other forms, which are not found in the Chalk of Europe, but which occur in the formations either above or below, occur in the same order at these distant points of the world. In the several successive palæozoic formations of Russia, Western Europe, and North America, a similar parallelism in the forms of life has been observed by several authors; so it is, according to Lyell, with the European and North American tertiary deposits. Even if the few fossil species which are common to the Old and New Worlds were kept wholly out of view, the general parallelism in the successive forms of life, in the palæozoic and tertiary stages, would still be manifest, and the several formations could be easily correlated. These observations, however, relate to the marine inhabitants of the world: we have not sufficient data to judge whether the productions of the land and of fresh water at distant points change in the same parallel manner. We may doubt whether they have thus changed: if the Megatherium, Mylodon, Macrauchenia, and Toxodon had been brought to Europe from La Plata, without any information in regard to their geological position, no one would have suspected that they had co-existed with seashells all still living; but as these anomalous monsters co-existed with the mastodon and horse, it might at least have been inferred that they had lived during one of the later tertiary stages. When the marine forms of life are spoken of as having changed simultaneously throughout the world, it must not be supposed that this expression relates to the same year, or to the same century, or even that it has a very strict geological sense; for if all the marine animals now living in Europe, and all those that lived in Europe during the pleistocene period (a very remote period as measured by years, including the whole glacial epoch) were compared with those now existing in South America or in Australia, the most skilful naturalist would hardly be able to say whether the present or the pleistocene inhabitants of Europe resembled most closely those of the southern hemisphere. So, again, several highly competent observers maintain that the existing productions of the United States are more closely related to those which lived in Europe during certain late tertiary stages, than to the present inhabitants of Europe; and if this be so, it is evident that fossiliferous beds now deposited on the shores of North America would hereafter be liable to be classed with somewhat older European beds. Nevertheless, looking to a remotely future epoch, there can be little doubt that all the more modern marine formations, namely, the upper pliocene, the pleistocene and strictly modern beds of Europe, North and South America, and Australia, from containing fossil remains in some degree allied, and from not including those forms which are found only in the older underlying deposits, would be correctly ranked as simultaneous in a geological sense. The fact of the forms of life changing simultaneously, in the above large sense, at distant parts of the world, has greatly struck these admirable observers, MM. de Verneuil and dArchiac. After referring to the parallelism of the palæozoic forms of life in various parts of Europe, they add, If, struck by this strange sequence, we turn our attention to North America, and there discover a series of analogous phenomena, it will appear certain that all these modifications of species, their extinction, and the introduction of new ones, cannot be owing to mere changes in marine currents or other causes more or less local and temporary, but depend on general laws which govern the whole animal kingdom. M. Barrande has made forcible remarks to precisely the same effect. It is, indeed, quite futile to look to changes of currents, climate, or other physical conditions, as the cause of these great mutations in the forms of life throughout the world, under the most different climates. We must, as Barrande has remarked, look to some special law. We shall see this more clearly when we treat of the present distribution of organic beings, and find how slight is the relation between the physical conditions of various countries and the nature of their inhabitants. This great fact of the parallel succession of the forms of life throughout the world, is explicable on the theory of natural selection. New species are formed by having some advantage over older forms; and the forms, which are already dominant, or have some advantage over the other forms in their own country, give birth to the greatest number of new varieties or incipient species. We have distinct evidence on this head, in the plants which are dominant, that is, which are commonest and most widely diffused, producing the greatest number of new varieties. It is also natural that the dominant, varying, and far-spreading species, which have already invaded to a certain extent the territories of other species, should be those which would have the best chance of spreading still further, and of giving rise in new countries to other new varieties and species. The process of diffusion would often be very slow, depending on climatal and geographical changes, on strange accidents, and on the gradual acclimatisation of new species to the various climates through which they might have to pass, but in the course of time the dominant forms would generally succeed in spreading and would ultimately prevail. The diffusion would, it is probable, be slower with the terrestrial inhabitants of distinct continents than with the marine inhabitants of the continuous sea. We might therefore expect to find, as we do find, a less strict degree of parallelism in the succession of the productions of the land than with those of the sea. Thus, as it seems to me, the parallel, and, taken in a large sense, simultaneous, succession of the same forms of life throughout the world, accords well with the principle of new species having been formed by dominant species spreading widely and varying; the new species thus produced being themselves dominant, owing to their having had some advantage over their already dominant parents, as well as over other species, and again spreading, varying, and producing new forms. The old forms which are beaten and which yield their places to the new and victorious forms, will generally be allied in groups, from inheriting some inferiority in common; and therefore, as new and improved groups spread throughout the world, old groups disappear from the world; and the succession of forms everywhere tends to correspond both in their first appearance and final disappearance. There is one other remark connected with this subject worth making. I have given my reasons for believing that most of our great formations, rich in fossils, were deposited during periods of subsidence; and that blank intervals of vast duration, as far as fossils are concerned, occurred during the periods when the bed of the sea was either stationary or rising, and likewise when sediment was not thrown down quickly enough to embed and preserve organic remains. During these long and blank intervals I suppose that the inhabitants of each region underwent a considerable amount of modification and extinction, and that there was much migration from other parts of the world. As we have reason to believe that large areas are affected by the same movement, it is probable that strictly contemporaneous formations have often been accumulated over very wide spaces in the same quarter of the world; but we are very far from having any right to conclude that this has invariably been the case, and that large areas have invariably been affected by the same movements. When two formations have been deposited in two regions during nearly, but not exactly, the same period, we should find in both, from the causes explained in the foregoing paragraphs, the same general succession in the forms of life; but the species would not exactly correspond; for there will have been a little more time in the one region than in the other for modification, extinction, and immigration. I suspect that cases of this nature occur in Europe. Mr. Prestwich, in his admirable Memoirs on the eocene deposits of England and France, is able to draw a close general parallelism between the successive stages in the two countries; but when he compares certain stages in England with those in France, although he finds in both a curious accordance in the numbers of the species belonging to the same genera, yet the species themselves differ in a very, difficult to account for, considering the proximity of the two areas,unless, indeed, it be assumed that an isthmus separated two seas inhabited by distinct, but contemporaneous, faunas. Lyell has made similar observations on some of the later tertiary formations. Barrande, also, shows that there is a striking general parallelism in the successive Silurian deposits of Bohemia and Scandinavia; nevertheless he finds a surprising amount of difference in the species. If the several formations in these regions have not been deposited during the same exact periods,a formation in one region often corresponding with a blank interval in the other,and if in both regions the species have gone on slowly changing during the accumulation of the several formations and during the long intervals of time between them; in this case the several formations in the two regions could be arranged in the same order, in accordance with the general succession of the forms of life, and the order would falsely appear to be strictly parallel; nevertheless the species would not be all the same in the apparently corresponding stages in the two regions.

<urn:uuid:146c545b-978c-45fb-8a7b-7c041427e3f7>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Conservation and Biodiversity Efforts

stockArticle Free Pass stock, in finance, the subscribed capital of a corporation or limited-liability company, usually divided into shares and represented by transferable certificates. The certificates may detail the contractual relationship between the company and its stockholders, or shareholders, and set forth the division of the risk, income, and control of the business. Common stock, or ordinary shares. Many companies have only one class of stock, often called common stock, or ordinary shares. This class of stock carries residual ownership of the company, entitling the holder to unlimited interest in the earnings and assets of the company after limited claims are paid. Common stockholders have the right to control the company through their voting rights, unless such rights are specifically withheld, as in special classes of “nonvoting” shares. The common stockholders’ legal rights may also include preemptive rights to maintain their proportion of equity when new stock is issued. Dividends paid on common stock are usually unstable because they tend to vary with earnings; they are also usually less than earnings, the difference being used by management to expand the firm and allow the stockholders’ equity to grow. The market price of common stock is often subject to wide fluctuations, because it depends largely upon investors’ expectations of future earnings. Preferred stock, or preference shares. To appeal to investors who wish to be sure of receiving dividends regularly, many companies issue what is called preferred stock, or preference shares. This class of stock has a prior claim to dividends paid by the company and, usually, to the assets of the company in the event of its dissolution. Dividends are usually set at a fixed annual rate that must be paid before dividends are distributed to the common stockholders. Preferred stock may be participating, meaning that its holders share with common stockholders in any company earnings over and above the stated dividends on the preferred stock. Preferred stock may be cumulative or noncumulative: if cumulative, dividends not paid in one year must be paid in addition to dividends earned in the following year, before any dividend payments are made on the common stock. What made you want to look up "stock"? Please share what surprised you most...

<urn:uuid:9d726ab9-7c70-482f-b935-9c2b4a18c923>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Finance Education

Originally printed in 1997, this revised "Orion DeepMap 600" is among those indispensable publications that Company Seven recommends to anyone who interested in learning their way around the night sky. The editor Steve Peters conceived of this as a very helpful device for anyone interested in astronomy and who may little or no observational experience. This has become the most popular chart of the night sky among our customers who are new to the hobby and who buy a telescope or binocular and now seek out what to see and when. This is often bought as a economical but valued and durable gift. Fully color illustrated, it is the first-ever star chart that folds up like a road map! DeepMap 600 shows the positions of more than six hundred of the finest celestial objects visible from the Northern Hemisphere. Each of these objects are plotted on a giant 33 x 21 inch full-color star chart by world-renowned celestial cartographer Wil Tirion. But what really makes this star chart invaluable is its convenience; it folds "accordion style" into a thin, pocket-size 4-¾ x 10-½ inches format - just like a road map! Even with no knowledge of the night sky one should be able to go out and find the patterns that make up the larger Constellations, and then match them to the DeepMap 600 chart to obtain their orientation to the night sky. But note that since this does mention some astronomical/navigational terms (zenith, meridian, latitude, magnitude, etc.) then a little homework about these terms in advance of going out at night with this chart will help the least understanding buyer to mover forward quickly. Above: sample of the Star Chart showing some of the symbols and nomenclature about to scale, and all readable by red light (189,505 bytes). On the side opposite the chart is a map of the northern circumpolar region, as well as a listing of essential data for each of the objects plotted on the DeepMap 600 chart. The information including coordinates (very helpful for those who have telescopes with Setting Circles), apparent magnitude (to help one know how bright the object is), angular size ('how big is big'), and even a brief description of how it will appear to the eye when looking through binocular or a telescope. Instructions offers tips on using the "Orion DeepMap 600", with general observing hints, and more. The contrast and clarity of your computer screen are not likely to match the original so you may click on image to see enlarged view (487,844 bytes). No longer must you fumble with bulky books, star atlases, and observing references to find interesting objects to view. The quick-reference DeepMap 600 is all you need to get started.

<urn:uuid:b95fcecd-24f5-475b-a40d-435f4a862cb3>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Space Exploration and Astronomy

WebMD Medical News Brenda Goodman, MA Laura J. Martin, MD July 14, 2011 -- People who say they vigilantly apply sunscreen are more likely to experience painful, damaging sunburns, a new study shows. The study, the first to look at how people in the U.S. shield themselves from the sun and how well those different strategies work, analyzed information on more than 3,000 white adults that was collected through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Sunscreen was the most commonly used kind of protection, grabbing the top spot with 30% of people saying they regularly apply it when they’re outside for longer than an hour. The next most common skin-saving strategies were seeking shade (25% said they frequently stayed under cover when the sun was blazing), wearing a hat (16%), and donning long sleeves (6%). People who said they frequently used sunscreen, however, had 23% greater risk of multiple sunburns in the past year compared to people who said they seldom used the stuff. Those who frequently sought shade and pulled on long sleeves, however, had about a 30% lower sunburn risk compared to people who rarely used those measures. Those risks remained even after researchers corrected for factors known to influence burn risk, including the skin’s sensitivity to the sun, alcohol use, season, physical activity, age, gender, education, and income. “I really like this study,” says Ronald P. Rapini, MD, professor and chairman of the department of dermatology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “I’ve always felt the same way, and I tell my patients the same thing.” “Just last week, one of my melanoma patients came in with a sunburn all over their back, and I said, ‘What happened?’ and they said, ‘Well, I had sunscreen.’ But they missed an area on their back, which is what always happens. They think that they can stay out in the sun because they’re using sunscreen, and the truth is it doesn’t really cover stuff that well,” says Rapini, who was not involved in the research. “Myself, personally, I’m a dermatologist, and I don’t even wear sunscreen all that much. I stay in the shade,” he says. “I try to stay out of the sun.” The study is published in the journal Cancer Causes & Control. “I was quite surprised to find the associations that we’ve found with the different types of sun protection,” says study researcher Eleni Linos, MD, DrPH, MPH, a dermatologist at Stanford University. “What we saw was that wearing long-sleeved clothing, wearing a hat, and staying in the shade were associated with fewer sunburns,” she says. “However, wearing sunscreen was actually associated with more sunburns.” Linos is quick to point out that her results don’t mean that sunscreen doesn’t work or shouldn’t be used. The study was designed to look at patterns, not to prove cause and effect. It’s possible that people with the fairest, most easily burned skin are also simply the group most likely to use sunscreen. But if that were the case, Linos says, she would have expected to see the same phenomenon across all the different groups. That is, frequent shade seekers and long-sleeve wearers would also report having more burns compared to those who rarely reported those tactics. The more likely explanation, she thinks, is user error -- people simply aren’t applying as much sunscreen as often as they should. Numerous studies have shown that most people, even after they’re carefully schooled in proper sunscreen application, still don’t get enough on. One of the latest, from researchers in Brazil, asked study participants to cover both forearms with sunscreen, and 30 minutes later, to reapply the sunscreen to just one arm. Researchers used tape strips to measure how thickly the lotion went on. Sunscreen is tested to work at its SPF when it’s applied to a depth of at least 2 milligrams per square centimeter on the skin. After the first application, study participants got only a quarter of that amount on. For the arm that got the second application, the depth of the sunscreen eventually reached half of what it should have been, suggesting that even people who remember to reapply aren’t being fully protected. Another problem is that many people rely on sunscreen as their sole form of protection, when really, shade and protective clothing need to be part of a multi-pronged approach to avoiding sunburns, which increase the risk of skin cancer. “There’s still a lot of work that we as physicians, especially dermatologists, need to do to educate individuals about proper photoprotection,” says Henry W. Lim, MD, chair of the department of dermatology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. He says this study is consistent with previous research. “It’s known that people use sunscreen, but they don’t use it at the appropriate amount and because of that, they have a false sense of a security,” says Lim, who was not involved in the research. That false sense of security can lead people to stay in the sun longer than they safely should, leading to an increased risk of sunburns and greater UV exposure, which can cause skin cancer. Sunscreen use has been shown to reduce some kinds of skin cancers, however, and earlier this year, a prospective study, the first of its kind, found that regular sunscreen use in a group of 1,621 Australian adults cut their risk of melanoma by 50%. Importantly, however, the study participants in that trial carefully and repeatedly applied sunscreen while also seeking shade and wearing protective clothing. “The best data that’s out there shows the combination of seeking shade, wearing protective clothing and wearing sunscreen, those three things together clearly lower your risk,” says Darrell S. Rigel, MD, a clinical professor of dermatology at New York University. Rigel says there is an important caveat about this study which should reassure people about their sunscreen. The latest data used in the study is now about five years old, and he says sunscreens have improved in a couple of key ways since then. “How long it lasts, 'substantivity' it’s called, has markedly improved, really with new formulations,” he says, and many of the newer formulations offer better broad-spectrum protections against both UVB, the burning rays, and UVA, the cancer-causing rays. New FDA rules for sunscreens, which will go into effect next year, should make it easier to pick a good product. That’s important, Rigel points out, because it’s not always possible to stay in the shade or wear longs sleeves. In those cases, it’s more important than ever to put sunscreen on correctly. Experts say the rule of thumb is a golf ball-sized blob for every exposed body part, applied at least 30 minutes before going outside, since sunscreen takes that long to absorb into the skin. That much sunscreen should be reapplied every two hours, and even more frequently, every 60 to 90 minutes, when swimming, sweating, or using a spray product, since those don’t last as long. SOURCES:Linos, E. Cancer Causes & Control, June 2011.De Villa, D. Photochemistry and Photobiology, March-April 2011.Kester, B. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, July 2010.Burnett, M. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, April 2011.Robinson J. Journal of the American Medical Association, June 28, 2011.Autier, P. Journal of Clinical Oncology, April 4, 2011.Ronald P. Rapini, MD, professor and chairman, department of dermatology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.Eleni Linos, MD, DrPH, MPH, Stanford University.Henry W. Lim, MD, chair, department of dermatology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit.Darrell S. Rigel, MD, clinical professor of dermatology, New York University. Here are the most recent story comments.View All The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of KOKI FOX23 - Tulsa The Health News section does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.

<urn:uuid:ad477624-d757-479b-9e12-efef45d2dcb2>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Skin Health and Disorders

You are here Edward Elgar (1857-1934) was 50 years old before he began what was to become his first symphony. It was not, strictly speaking, his first attempt at a symphony: he had actually composed a symphony modeled on Mozart as an exercise 30 years earlier (only one movement survives), and in 1898 took a stab at a programmatic symphony based on the life of the English military-imperial hero General Gordon, which, fortunately, did not get far. Any composer approaching the symphony after Beethoven might well have had some trepidation about it. Brahms’ difficulties with his first symphony were legend. By the early 20th century, there was the additional problem of whether the symphony’s day had passed. Though some composers of Elgar’s generation were moving away from the symphony, Elgar remained convinced that it was still viable. In a 1905 lecture at Birmingham University, he said “It seems to me that because the greatest genius of our days, Richard Strauss, recognizes the symphonic-poem as a fit vehicle for his splendid achievements, some writers are inclined to be positive that the symphony is dead… but when the looked-for genius comes, it may be absolutely revived.” A few years later, Elgar took it upon himself to be the “looked-for genius,” and the result was a staggering immediate success: the Symphony was performed about 100 times worldwide within a year after its premiere in December 1908. It has not done so well since, and is now only an occasional visitor to the standard repertory. The Symphony might be regarded as a battle, a study of opposites in conflict: the stately versus the agitated, the singable diatonic melody against the sinewy chromatic theme, the foreboding against the triumphant. At the very outset, Elgar pens one of his most stately melodies (he already had four of the five “Pomp and Circumstance” marches behind him). Elgar uses the unusual key of A-flat major for this introduction and “motto” theme, but does not stay there long. The tumultuous Allegro begins in D minor, a key as far as possible from A-flat (Elgar wrote to his friend August Jaeger that he had “thrown over all key relationships as formerly practiced” but that he “was not silly enough to think (or wish) that I have invented anything” in the process), with the motto inserting itself, and its mood, into the storm, and eventually establishing calm at the end. Throughout the symphony, Elgar uses a peculiar device to insinuate motifs such as the motto in an almost subliminal way: he writes them as “solos” for the players on the last stand of a string section. He commented: “I have employed the last desks of the strings to get a soft diffused sound: the listener need not be bothered to know where it comes from — the effect is of course different from that obtained from the first desk soli.” The second movement is another kind of battle. A turbulent main section, (in another distant key, F-sharp minor) features a driving perpetual motion figure and an ominous quick march. It modulates to B-flat major, where gossamer strings, flutes, and harp play an idyllic interlude that Elgar said should be played “like something we hear down by the river.” The perpetual motion figure reasserts itself, but gradually slows until, improbably, it becomes, note for note, the principal theme of the Adagio third movement. Both Hans Richter, who conducted the premiere, and August Jaeger, a longtime champion of Elgar’s music, compared this movement to the adagios of Beethoven, though to modern audiences it will more likely recall Mahler in its breadth, heart-on-sleeve passion, and richness (a richness which is due considerably to Elgar’s subdividing the strings into nine parts instead of the usual five). The finale begins with another slow introduction, in D minor, in which a foreboding opening gives way to a minor-key march figure in the low strings and bassoons, and then to the motto theme. Elgar gives the march figure a series of startling transformations, including thundering it out fortissimo and turning into a lush cantabile. At the end, the motto theme emerges triumphant over hammer blows from the brass and percussion, the battle clearly won. — Lawyer and lutenist Howard Posner has also annotated programs for the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra and the Coleman Chamber Concerts. His notes have appeared in the program of the Salzburg Festival. Length: 50 minutes Orchestration: piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, two harps, and strings First Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: July 29, 1926, Sir Henry Wood conducting

<urn:uuid:8805bbe8-0d9a-4b66-ad2f-28380390809d>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Music Themes and Theory

BlogsCan Chocolate Make You Slimmer? New research hints at another potential health benefit of chocolate. Chocolate continues to gain ground as a health food, this time as a way to stay slim while enjoying regular decadent snacks. Yes, regular. A new study found that people who ate chocolate a few times a week were leaner than those who ate it once in a while. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, compared the diet, chocolate intake, and body mass index of over 1,000 men and women. The researchers used BMI as an indicator of whether the participants were overweight or obese. Even when taking into account other factors, like exercise and total calories consumed, people who ate chocolate regularly had lower BMIs. While there was a connection between frequency and thinness, there was none for quantity. So it’s more important to eat chocolate throughout the week than to load up on King Size bars. Previous studies have shown that chocolate has many other health benefits. Eating chocolate can promote beneficial changes to your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, both of which are good for the heart. Chocolate, especially dark, also contains plentiful levels of antioxidants that neutralize damage done to cells by “free radicals.” The researchers are uncertain what aspect of chocolate promotes slender physiques, but suspect it is caused by catechins. These compounds have been shown to improve lean muscle mass and reduce weight in mice. Chocolate also contains caffeine, which can boost metabolism. This research, however, is not a free pass to binge on chocolate. Further research is needed to determine whether the health benefits of chocolate outweigh the additional calories consumed. Don’t be concerned about eating the occasional chocolate bar. If you are trying to lose weight, though, eating more fruits and vegetables is a better option.

<urn:uuid:3620cea5-b90a-4fe8-97e6-d0823e384316>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Health and Food Safety

Studies of Disorders With Increased Susceptibility to Fungal Infections - Researchers are interested in studying disorders that make individuals more susceptible to fungal infections, specifically infections with the Candida yeast. These disorders are often related to problems with the immune system and may have genetic factors, which suggests that researchers should study not only the individual with the disorder, but also his or her first- and second-degree relatives (such as parents, siblings, children, and first cousins). To provide material for future research, individuals with immune disorders and their first- and second-degree relatives will be asked to provide blood and other samples for testing and comparison with samples taken from healthy volunteers with no history of immune disorders. - To collect blood and other biological samples to study immune disorders that make individuals more susceptible to fungal infections. - Individuals of any age who have abnormal immune function characterized by recurrent or unusual fungal infections, recurrent or chronic inflammation, or other types of immune dysfunction. - First- or second-degree genetically related family members (limited to mother, father, siblings, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, and first cousins). - Healthy volunteers at least 18 years of age (for comparison purposes). - Participants will provide blood samples and buccal (cells from the inside of the mouth near the cheek) samples. - Participants with immune disorders will also be asked to provide urine samples, saliva or mucosal samples, or skin tissue biopsies, and may also have imaging studies (such as x-rays) to collect information for research. - Samples may be collected at the National Institutes of Health or at other clinical locations for the samples to the sent to the National Institutes of Health. - No treatment will be provided as part of this protocol.... Primary Immune Deficiency Autoimmune Polyendocrinopathy Candidiasis Ectodermal Chronic Mucocutaneous Candidiasis (CMC) |Study Design:||Time Perspective: Prospective| |Official Title:||Studies of Disorders With Increased Susceptibility to Fungal Infections| |Study Start Date:||September 2010| This study is designed for the evaluation, diagnosis, and long-term follow up of selected patients with primary immune deficiencies and other conditions associated with fungal, and more specifically with Candida spp. infections. The primary immune deficiencies to be studied include, but are not limited to, autoimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), myeloperoxidase deficiency (MPO), immune dysregulation polyendocrinopathy enteropathy X-linked (IPEX), Job's syndrome, chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), and biotinidase deficiency. Diabetic patients and infants also show increased susceptibility to such infections and might be studied. Patient participants (who we will refer to as patients in this study) will undergo evaluations that include history/physical, blood sampling, genetic testing, and possible tissue sampling. We may use some of the blood cells to investigate the utility of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) for immune cell derivation and targeted gene correction. First or second degree genetically related family members (limited to mother, father, siblings, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, and first cousins of an affected patient and who we will refer to as relatives in this study) might also be screened for clinical, in vitro, and genetic correlates of immune abnormalities. Healthy volunteers will be enrolled as a source of control samples for research testing. Among the aims of this protocol are to better understand the genetic and pathophysiologic factors that lead to defects in host defense, and to use modern and evolving methods in molecular and cellular biology to elucidate the pathogenesis of this particular susceptibility. A better understanding of primary immunodeficiency could allow for the rational development of novel therapies for such diseases and to benefit future patients, but it might not benefit current patient participants directly. Routine follow-up may occur every 6 months -with evaluation and blood sampling. Under some circumstances, we may provide treatment that relates to the immune deficiency. These treatments will follow standard medical practice. |Contact: Sandra Maxwell, R.N.||(301) email@example.com| |Contact: Sergio D Rosenzweig, M.D.||(301) firstname.lastname@example.org| |United States, Maryland| |National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike||Recruiting| |Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892| |Contact: For more information at the NIH Clinical Center contact Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office (PRPL) 800-411-1222 ext TTY8664111010 email@example.com| |Principal Investigator:||Sergio D Rosenzweig, M.D.||National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)|

<urn:uuid:9e35b512-beeb-4e2b-b59e-773a6be5a1da>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Infectious Disease Information

A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that the pay gap between men and women increased between 2011 and 2012, leaving women making $163 less per week: In 2012, the ratio of women’s to men’s median weekly full-time earnings was 80.9 percent, a decline of more than one percentage point since 2011 when the ratio was 82.2 percent. This corresponds to a weekly gender wage gap of 19.1 percent for 2012. Women’s median weekly earnings in 2012 were $691, a marginal decline compared to 2011; men’s median weekly earnings were $854, a marginal increase compared to 2011. Another measure of the earnings gap, the ratio of women’s and men’s median annual earnings for full-time year-round workers, was 77.0 in 2011 (data for 2012 are not yet available), less than half of a percentage point lower than in 2010 and equal to the gap in 2009. (This means the annual gender wage gap for full-time year-round workers is 23 percent.) As Bryce Covert noted at Forbes, “What’s particularly strange about this is that the wage gap typically narrows during a recession.” But women have been hammered by the hemorrhaging of public sector jobs that has occurred in the last few years, as states and the federal governments cut back significantly due to conservative insistence on austerity. The wage gap between women and men persists even for high-paying jobs, and women are significantly more likely to work for the minimum wage. A woman’s total lifetime earnings lost to the pay gap could feed a family of four for 37 years.

<urn:uuid:9ac51afb-4ab8-48d4-a1f5-51d2c2681f4f>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Criminal Justice and Law

The 65 ft tall interactive sculpture was created from wood from the 165 ft long schooner Wawona, which sailed from 1897 to 1947. It is connected to the museum at its top and bottom. © John Grade The new sculpture at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle required a great deal of structural analysis to ensure it can withstand seismic forces—and curious visitors. January 29, 2013—It’s plain to see that turning the remains of a sailing schooner more than a century old into a 65 ft tall interactive sculpture for the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle, required a great deal of artistic vision. But what might not be as obvious is the amount of structural analysis required to ensure the sculpture maintains its structural integrity under seismic forces and human-induced loads. Dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of Seattle and the Puget Sound region, the MOHAI commissioned Seattle-based artist John Grade to create a sculpture for the museum’s new home: the renovated Naval Reserve Armory along the shore of Lake Union. Shortly after winning the commission, Grade was entrusted with the remains of the dismantled schooner Wawona. Built by influential shipbuilder Hans Ditlev Bendixsen, the 165 ft long schooner Wawona sailed from 1897 to 1947, carrying lumber and, later, fish through Puget Sound. After it was decommissioned, the ship was on display until 2009, when it was disassembled. A great deal of the vessel’s wood had rotted significantly by that time, but much of the planking was in good condition despite having been under water all those years. Leaching from the ship’s wrought iron and temporary copper cladding and staining from the oils of the fish it once carried brought out a variety of colors within the wood, making it perfect for the sculpture, Grade said in written responses to questions posed by Civil Engineering online. Named for the vessel from which the wood was derived, the 10,000 lb Wawona sculpture extends from the floor of the museum to its ceiling. Grade said the vertical orientation of the sculpture references the old-growth trees that once covered the landscape near the museum. Its tapered shape—roughly 10 ft in diameter at its base and approximately 4 ft in diameter at its top— recalls a ship’s hull, he said. To further connect it to the natural world, the sculpture penetrates the museum’s floor and ceiling, enabling visitors who walk within the hollow form to see the lake below and the sky above, Grade explained. Creating such a large sculpture required a great deal of engineering expertise. Grade worked with the Seattle office of Arup, an international engineering firm headquartered in London, to turn his vision into a reality. “Arup provided structural engineering services, starting at concepts ... on through artwork permitting, construction documents, and construction administration,” said Hans-Erik Blomgren, P.E., P.Eng., M.ASCE, the project manager for Arup, in written responses to questions from Civil Engineering online. “Interactive artwork of this scale, weight, and permanence requires it to be treated as an element and component of the building from a code standpoint.” Artist John Grade wanted visitors to be able to walk within the sculpture, to be able to view the lake below and the sky above, and to be able to touch and push on the sculpture without damaging it. © John Grade But before they began getting into the details of the structural design, Arup’s engineers suggested using digital technology to fabricate the components of the sculpture. As a result, Grade engaged the University of Washington College of the Built Environments to individually cut the sculpture’s more than 200 wooden pieces using computer numerical control (CNC) fabrication. The CNC technology was also used to fashion the steel hangers and rods that hold the sculpture’s wooden components together horizontally and vertically. The digital fabrication plans were developed parallel with the structural design. Arup had several performance objectives for the project, including ensuring that the sculpture could endure human-induced movement, resist metal fatigue under cyclic motion, and withstand seismic forces. The team also had to ensure that the wood was kiln dried to the correct moisture content and that the sculpture would hang vertically through its center of mass over the correct location on the museum’s floor, Blomgren said. To meet these objectives, Arup and the team from the college used Rhino 3D and a parametric plug-in tool known as Grasshopper (both produced by Seattle-based Robert McNeel & Associates) to model each of the sculpture’s steel and wooden components for fabrication and structural analysis. They then exported a wireframe model from the Rhino files into another program that enabled them to analyze the sculpture under its own weight, seismic forces, and human-induced loads, Blomgren said. For the seismic forces, the team treated the sculpture as an element and component as defined in ASCE Standard 7-05 (Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, ASCE, Reston, Virginia, 2006.) “We then applied an equivalent static force in orthogonal directions,” Blomgren said. On the basis of the analysis, the team added rubber damper restraints at the base of the sculpture to provide lateral support under seismic loads and make the sculpture flexible between the floor and the ceiling, Blomgren said. Arup engineers used computer numerical control techniques to fabricate the more than 200 wooden pieces that form the sculpture as well as the steel hangers and rods that hold those wooden components together. © Arup The human-induced forces were studied as a 200 lb force at a height of roughly 4 ft from the sculpture’s base. “We wanted to be sure the wooden planks supporting this concentrated load were sufficient,” Blomgren explained. As a result of the analysis, the team included a steel rod that extends from the underside of the sculpture to approximately 10 in. below the floor. This rod is allowed to articulate but a viscoelastic polymer disk provides resistance to quickly dampen human-induced oscillation, Blomgren said. “It was important to me that people directly, physically interact with the sculpture,” Grade explained. “I wanted it to have enough flex that a small child could push the base of the sculpture into movement but that movement would stop quickly and not endanger other people simultaneously interacting with the sculpture.” Following 20 months of design, the Wawona sculpture was unveiled when the MOHAI opened at its new location on December 29, 2012. “The MOHAI is a fantastic and rich place full of cherished Seattle artifacts,” Blomgren said. “The Wawona sculpture, however, stands apart as something distinct because it is a new creation that employs state-of-the-art design but is richly and brilliantly tied to the Pacific Northwest’s history of shipbuilding, fishing, and old-growth forests.”

<urn:uuid:106dba21-6672-4df1-af8d-adbdbc31a41a>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Historical Military and Maritime Events

I mentioned Wolbachia in my parthenogenesis post; here I will talk about it in more detail, because it’s a really cool parasite, as well as in the center of much research nowadays. Wolbachia are Gram-negative ⍺-Proteobacteria (order Rickettsiales, family Anaplasmataceae; Dumler et al.,2001), systematically split into 6 supergroups, lettered from A to F (Lo et al., 2002). Those in supergroups C and D have coevolved with their nematodan hosts and are mutualistic (Bandi et al., 1998). Those in supergroups A and B are parasites in arthropods. Morphologically, they come in two groups: ~1µm large rods, and ~0.5µm diameter coccoids. They can be found in a membrane-bound vacuole in the host cell’s cytoplasm (Yen & Barr, 1971); in arthropods, this will be in egg and ovarian cells (see diagram above, from Weiss et al. (2009)), although it has also been found in other tissues, including the Malpighian tubules, and muscle and nervous tissue (Stouthamer et al., 1999). When found in sperm cell cytoplasm, it disappears during spermatogenesis (Clark et al., 2002). Note that in this post and in the literature, what’s referred to as Wolbachia is Wolbachia pipientis. Before DNA sequencing, when bacteria were classified morphologically, W. persica and W. melaphagi were also thought to be related, but these have nothing to do with the famous Wolbachia (W. persica is a γ-proteobacterium, W. melaphagi is a rhizobacterium). Being present endosymbiotically in 20+% of all known insect species (Werren & Windsor, 2000), and given that some estimate that over half of all insect species are infected by it (Hilgenboecker et al., 2008), it’s obviously extremely successful, although it should be noted that the virulence of each Wolbachia strain is different (Min & Benzer, 1997), and each species is has a different susceptibility. In Australian and Panamanian fig wasps, Wolbachia has been found to infect over 70% of all species (Haine & Cook, 2005). A host database can be found here. The biggest reason for its success is its parasitic effect: it’s always transferred maternally in the cytoplasm of the eggs, and in order to ensure maximal transfer rates, it alters its host’s reproductive abilities to favour their own reproductive success (Charlat et al., 2003). It has four ways to do this, in contrast to the one or two ways present in other such parasites: - Inducing thelytokous parthenogenesis in haplodiploid organisms, e.g. hymenopterans, thus making sure that only female offspring are produced (e.g. Stouthamer et al., 1993). It occurs by forcing the fusion of the two nuclei of the first mitotic division (Huigens et al., 2000). - Feminizing males, i.e. males reproduce as females (Wilkinson, 1998). The mechanism for this varies; for example, in the pillbug, Wolbachia blocks the formation of the androgenic gland which produces the masculinising androgenic hormone (Martin et al., 1990). - Killing males, either in the embryonic stages or later (Hurst, 1991). The mechanisms of action are still largely unknown, although recent pioneering research by Riparbelli et al. (2012) shows that it happens due to Wolbachia (purposely?) messing around with male chromosomes at various stages in development, leading to defective embryos and death. - Inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) between infected males and uninfected females (Hurst & Werren, 2001), causing sterility (Bordenstein & Werren, 2007) and eventually reproductive isolation within a species. The latter was the first of Wolbachia‘s effects to be discovered, by Yen & Barr (1971) in mosquitoes; Wolbachia itself was first spotted by Hertig & Wolbach (1924). What happens is that the sperm enters the cell as normal, but its chromosomes don’t decondense and fuse with maternal chromosomes due to a delay in the breakdown of the nuclear envelope in the male’s pronucleus (Tram & Sullivan (2002); see Landmann et al. (2009) for more molecular details), and so can’t enter the first mitosis, meaning they get discarded (Lassy & Karr, 1996). The embryo either becomes a haploid female (in haplodiploid organisms), or it dies. In evolutionary theory terms, in a population susceptible to Wolbachia-induced CI, uninfected females become more unfit, therefore giving a fitness advantage to infected females (Bourtzis et al., 2003), hence explaining how the phenotype persists. Which manipulation happens cannot be predicted even within the same species, as demonstrated by Hornett et al. (2008), who found that in their North American Hypolimnas bolina butterflies, Wolbachia was a male killer while in Southeast Asian ones, it was a CI-inducer. The difference came from a dominant allele in the SE Asian butterfly genome suppressing the male-killing. Charlat et al. (2007) showed that such a mutation can become fixed in a population in under 10 generations due to the extreme selection pressure to maintain a decent sex ratio, a testament to the ecological power of Wolbachia. However, in some cases, Wolbachia can be so prominent that the entire affected population gets a very female-biased sex ratio, which in the case of the butterfly Acarea encedon has led to females reversing their sexual roles and behaving like males (Jiggins et al., 2000). In other cases, Wolbachia is counteracted by other elements, for example the B chromosome in the parasitoid wasp Trichogramma kaykai which turns Wolbachia-feminised males back into regular males (Stouthamer et al., 2001). It must be mentioned that part of their success is their ability to be transmitted horizontally across different species (Raychoudhury et al., 2009) – they aren’t host-specific. This has been shown as happening through parasitoids (Heath et al., 1999) or through the environment (e.g. by sharing a common food source (Huigens et al., 2000)). This also means that a single individual may have multiple Wolbachia species (or, better said, strains) co-existing and mingling inside it; the largest number I know of is eight, in the fire ant Solenopsis daguerrei (Dedeine et al., 2005). Note that this ability only comes in the arthropod-associated Wolbachia, whose genomes are more plastic, with recombination and phage-derived elements (Wu et al., 2004), none of which are characteristics present in their nematodan counterparts (Foster et al., 2005). One study also reported the possibility of Wolbachia having transferred part or all of its genome to its hosts, albeit with only 2% of the genes able to be transcribed and none of them having any described effect (Hotopp et al., 2007). The negative effects of Wolbachia are obviously of great interest for biocontrol of pests and disease vectors. For example, Alam et al. (2011) discuss the possibility of using Wolbachia to control the tsetse fly, a vector of trypanosomiasis; Atyame et al. (2011) do the same for mosquitoes. Such biocontrol would work by allowing a chosen genotype to dominate the population by infecting the undesired genotype (e.g. Xi et al. (2005)), or by shortening lifespans to prevent sexual maturity (e.g. Moreira et al. (2009)). Wolbachia can also lead to population bottlenecks with very few individuals becoming able to reproduce (Nice et al., 2009), which is another way to control a pest population. In non-pest studies, Wolbachia leads to increased susceptibility to parasitoids in Drosophila (Fytrou et al., 2006). It also leads to a less effective immune system in the pillbug Armadillidum vulgare, as seen by a lower density of haemocytes and higher density of bacteria (Bracquart-Vanier et al., 2008). These would be other avenues for pest control if a similar effect is seen in pest groups. Positive Effects of Wolbachia Interestingly, the effects of Wolbachia aren’t all negative. In the Cimicidae (bed bugs), Wolbachia is a mutualist; getting rid of it with antibiotics reduces the amount of food the host gets (Hosokawa et al., 2010). In mosquitoes, Wolbachia was found to boost their immune system and cause resistance to dengue virus (Bian et al., 2010). Pinto et al. (2012) describe how this happens at the genetic level. This is another potential use of Wolbachia as a biocontrol agent for disease vectors. In Drosophila, Wolbachia has been shown to confer resistance to several RNA viruses (Teixeira et al., 2008). In a Drosophila lab culture, Weeks et al. (2007) showed that the Wolbachia went from being a parasite to being a mutualist within two decades. At the extreme end, nematode-infecting Wolbachia are needed for nematode development and fertility (Foster et al., 2005), so Wolbachia antibiotics could be used to control their populations (Taylor & Hoerauf, 1999). This is useful knowledge, given that some of the affected nematodes are vectors for very serious diseases like elephantiasis and onchocerciasis. It’s a similar story with the wasp Asobara tabida, wherein no ovocyte can even be produced when Wolbachia isn’t present (Dedeine et al., 2001) because its absence promotes excessive apoptosis in the ovarioles (Pannebakker et al., 2007). Other effects of Wolbachia on sexual physiology have been documented, for example an increase in sperm competition in Tribolium beetles (Wade & Chang, 1995), or changes to the spermathecal duct in female Allonemobius crickets (Marshall, 2007). An interesting point can be made about the process of molecular evolution in Wolbachia. As I said in the introductory paragraph, Wolbachia is a nematode mutualist and arthropod parasite (generally speaking). One of the Wolbachia genes involved in interaction with the host is wsp, which codes for cell membrane proteins. It was found to be undergoing divergent selection when it is in a parasitic relationship, but not when it’s in a mutualistic relationship (Jiggins et al., 2002). This is in line with what we expect: wsp being involved in host recognition means it theoretically should experience heightened evolutionary rates, and this is confirmed by the empirical data. Many, if not all, negative and positive effects of Wolbachia have evolved by natural selection in order to maximise the transmission of the strain, either by allowing the bacterium to survive in the host (depressed immune system), or reducing competition by blocking the transmission of other pathogens (as Teixeira et al. (2008) suggest for the viral resistance effect). By extension, this means that parthenogenic arthropods aren’t expected to be Wolbachia hosts, since the manipulations are useless there. In terms of evolutionary theory, they can be treated as nothing more than selfish genetic elements. When I first heard of Wolbachia, my intuition was that it played a sizeable role in speciation, since it promotes reproductive isolation, or by selecting for subdivided populations (Hatcher et al., 2000). Some analyses showed it not to be true (Rousset & Raymond, 1991), but more and more recent studies are supportive of the idea (Bordenstein, 2003), so it’s accepted as a cause of speciation. It definitely has been demonstrated (Thompson, 1987), and in some cases has also induced rapid speciation (Bordenstein et al., 2001). On a general evolutionary synthesis level, Wolbachia is pretty interesting as a very recognisable case of inheritable symbiosis, one of the few proper examples that lend credence to the view that symbioses are a driving force behind evolution. Milder effects of large-scale Wolbachia infection and sex ratio-skewing include altering dispersal ability – many insects have dispersing females and non-dispersing males, or vice versa. On a more influential level, there is also evidence that they can play a role in sexual selection (Jiggins et al., 2000), since sexual conflict gets reduced when levels of polyandry fall (Arnqvist & Rowe, 2005). Wolbachia can sometimes present a methodological stumbling block for molecular phylogenies based on mitochondrial DNA, since mtDNA will also hitchike maternally, favouring the maternal mtDNA haplotype, eventually leading to the entire dataset being worthless; see Ballard & Rand (2005) for more information. However, Arthofer et al. (2010) tested this idea using infected bark beetles and found no significant effect from Wolbachia, so it is still unsure just how significant this slight inaccuracy is. Where it is definitely a problem is in barcoding initiatives using mtDNA. For successful barcoding of a species, a stable molecular marker needs to be used that is guaranteed not to vary across individuals, populations, or ecomorphs. However, there are some studies that show that Wolbachia causes divergences in mtDNA sequences even among individuals of the same species, e.g. in the butterfly genus Hypolimnas (Galtier et al., 2009). The reason for this is that mitochondrial genes are transferred only maternally, so only the maternal set plays a role in evolution. Given the ubiquity of Wolbachia, this is definitely a large problem that should be studied carefully before proceeding with mtDNA barcoding. Wolbachia alone can’t be cultivated, but it is possible to keep a Wolbachia line using host cell lines (Noda et al., 2002), so experimental evolution studies are possible with them. For the entomologists among you, make sure to check any colonies for Wolbachia infections, as they could invalidate your results, especially if you’re doing population biology. They can be gotten rid of using any antibiotic. I hear that tetracycline is recommended; if that’s not possible, high heat is enough, since Wolbachia is sensitive to temperature. If you’re sequencing your insects as well, using DNA from the legs is probably the safest way to avoid getting contaminating Wolbachia DNA amplified (this is standard procedure anyway). Other symbionts that alter the reproduction of their arthropod hosts include Buchnera and Cardinium – but I’ll leave them for other posts. Alam U, Medlock J, Breisfoard C, Pais R, Lohs C, Balmand S, Carnogursky J, Heddi A, Takac P, Galvani A & Aksoy S. 2011. Wolbachia Symbiont Infections Induce Strong Cytoplasmic Incompatibility in the Tsetse Fly Glossina morsitans. PLoS Pathogens 7, e1002415. Arnqvist G & Rowe L. 2005. Sexual Conflict. Arthofer W, Avtzis DN, Riegler M & Stauffer C. 2010. Mitochondrial phylogenies in the light of pseudogenes and Wolbachia: re-assessment of a bark beetle dataset. ZooKeys 56, 269-280. Atyame CM, Pasteur N, Dumas E, Tortosa P, Tantely ML, Pocquet N, Licciardi S, Bheecarry A, Zumbo B, Weill M & Duron O. 2011. Cytoplasmic Incompatibility as a Means of Controlling Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Mosquito in the Islands of the South-Western Indian Ocean. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 5, e1440. Ballard JWO & Rand DM. 2005. The population biology of mitochondrial DNA and its phylogenetic implications. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 36, 621-642. Bandi C, Anderson TJC, Genchi C & Blaxter ML. 1998. Phylogeny of Wolbachia in Filarial Nematodes. Proc. R. Soc. B 265, 2407-2413. Bian G, Xu Y, Lu P, Xie Y & Xi Z. 2010. The Endosymbiotic Bacterium Wolbachia Induces Resistance to Dengue Virus in Aedes aegypti. PLoS Pathogens 6, e1000833. Bordenstein SR. 2003. Symbiosis and the origin of species. In: Bourtzis K & Miller TA (eds.). Insect Symbiosis, Vol. 1. Bordenstein SR & Werren JH. 2007. Bidirectional incompatibility among divergent Wolbachia and incompatibility level differences among closely related Wolbachia in Nasonia. Heredity 99, 278-287. Bordenstein SR, O’Hera FP & Werren JH. 2001. Wolbachia- induced incompatibility precedes other hybrid incompatibility in Nasonia. Nature 409, 707-710. Bourtzis K, Braig HR & Karr TL. 2003. Cytoplasmic incompatibility. In: Bourtzis K & Miller TM (eds). Insect Symbiosis. Bracquart-Vanier C, Lachat M, Herbinière J, Johnson M, Caubet Y, Bouchon D & Sicard M. 2008. Wolbachia media variation in host immunocompetence. PLoS ONE 3, e3286. Charlat S, Hurst GDD, Merçot H. 2003. Evolutionary consequences of Wolbachia infections. Trends in Genetics 19, 217-223. Charlat S, Hornett EA, Fullard JH, Davies N, Roderick GK, Wedell N & Hurst GDD. 2007. Extraordinary Flux in Sex Ratio. Science 317, 214. Clark ME, Veneti Z, Bourtzis K & Karr TL. 2002. The distribution and proliferation of the intracellular bacteria Wolbachia during spermatogenesis in Drosophila. Mechanisms of Development 111, 3-15. Dedeine F, Vavre F, Fleury F, Loppin B, Hochberg ME & Boulétreau M. 2001. Removing symbiotic Wolbachia bacteria specifically inhibits oogenesis in a parasitic wasp. PNAS 98, 6247-6252. Dedeine F, Ahrens M, Calcaterra L, Shoemaker DD. 2005. Social parasitism in fire ants (Solenopsisspp.): a potential mechanism for interspecies transfer of Wolbachia. Molecular Ecology 14, 1543-1548. Dumler JS, Barbet AF, Bekker CP, Dasch GA, Palmer GH, Ray SC, Rikihisa Y & Rurangirwa FR. 2001. Reorganization of genera in the families Rickettsiaceae and Anaplasmataceae in the order Rickettsiales: unification of some species of Ehrlichia with Anaplasma, Cowdria with Ehrlichia and Ehrlichia with Neorickettsia, descriptions of six new species combinations and designation of Ehrlichia equi and ‘HGE agent’ as subjective synonyms of Ehrlichia phagocytophila. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 51, 2145-2165. Foster J, Ganatra M, Kamal I, Ware J, Makarova K, Ivanova N, Bhattachryya A, Kapatral V, Kumar S, Posfai J, Vincze T, Ingram J, Moran L, Lapidus A, Omelchenko M, Kyprides N, Ghedin E, Wang S, Goltsman E, Joukov V, Ostrovskaya O, Tsukerman K, Mazur M, Comb D, Koonin E & Slatko B. 2005. The Wolbachia Genome of Brugia malayi: Endosymbiont Evolution within a Human Pathogenic Nematode. PLoS Biology 3, e121. Fytrou A, Schofield PG, Kraaljeveld AR & Hubbard SF. 2006. Wolbachia infection suppresses both host defence and parasitoid counter-defence. Proc. R. Soc. B 273, 791-796. Galtier N, Nabholz B, Glémin S & Hurst GDD. 2009. Mitochondrial DNA as a marker of molecular diversity: a reappraisal. Molecular Ecology 18, 4541-4550. Haine ER & Cook JM. 2005. Convergent incidences of Wolbachia infection in fig wasp communities from two continents. Proc. R. Soc. B 272, 421-429. Hatcher MJ, Dunn AM & Tofts C. 2000. Co-existence of hosts and sex ratio distorters in structured populations. Evolutionary Ecology Research 2, 185-205. Heath BD, Butcher RDJ, Whitfield WGF & Hubbard SF. 1999. Horizontal transfer of Wolbachia between phylogenetically distant insect species by a naturally occurring mechanism. Current Biology 9, 313-316. Hertig M & Wolbach SB. 1924. Studies on Rickettsia-Like Micro-Organisms in Insects. Journal of Medical Research 44, 329-374. Hilgenboecker K, Hammerstein P, Schlatmann P, Telschow A & Werren JH. 2008. How many species are infected with Wolbachia? – a statistical analysis of current data. FEMS Microbiology Letters 281, 215-220. Hornett EA, Duplouy AM, Davies N, Roderick GK, Wedell N, Hurst GDD & Charlat S. 2008. YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD PARASITE DOWN: EVOLUTION OF A MALE-KILLER SUPPRESSOR UNCOVERS CYTOPLASMIC INCOMPATIBILITY. Evolution 62, 1258-1263. Hosokawa T, Koga R, Kikuchi Y, Meng X-Y & Fukatsu T. 2010. Wolbachia as a bacteriocyte-associated nutritional mutualist. PNAS 107, 769-774. Hotopp JCD, Clark ME, Oliveira DCSG, Foster JM, Fischer P, Torres MCM, Giebel JD, Kumar N, Ishmael N, Wang S, Ingram J, Nene RV, Shepard J, Tomkins J, Richards S, Spiro DJ, Ghedin E, Slatko BE, Tettelin HE & Werren JH. 2007. Widespread Lateral Gene Transfer from Intracellular Bacteria to Multicellular Eukaryotes. Science 317, 1753-1756. Huigens ME, Luck RF, Klaassen RHG, Maas MFPM, Timmermans MJTM & Stouthamer R. 2000. Infectious parthenogenesis. Nature 405, 178-179. Hurst LD. 1991. The Incidences and Evolution of Cytoplasmic Male Killers. Proc. R. Soc. B 244, 91-99. Hurst GDD & Werren JH. 2001. The role of selfish genetic elements in eukaryotic evolution. Nature Reviews Genetics 2, 597-606. Jiggins FM, Hurst GDD & Majerus MEN. 2000. Sex-ratio-distorting Wolbachia causes sex-role reversal in its butterfly host. Proc. R. Soc. B 267, 69-73. Jiggins FM, Hurst GDD & Yang Z. 2002. Host-Symbiont Conflicts: Positive Selection on an Outer Membrane Protein of Parasitic but not Mutualistic Rickettsiaceae. Molecular Biology and Evolution 19, 1341-1349. Landmann F, Orsi GA, Loppin B & Sullivan W. 2009. Wolbachia-Mediated Cytoplasmic Incompatibility Is Associated with Impaired Histone Deposition in the Male Pronucleus. PLoS Pathogens 5, e1000343. Lassy CW & Karr TL. 1996. Cytological analysis of fertilization and early embryonic development in incompatible crosses of Drosophila simulans. Mechanisms of Development 57, 47-58. Lo N, Casiraghi M, Salati E, Bazzocchi C & Bandi C. 2002. How Many Wolbachia Supergroups Exist? Molecular Biology and Evolution 19, 341-346. Marshall JL. 2007. Rapid evolution of spermathecal duct length in the Allonemobius socius complex of crickets: species, population and Wolbachia effects. PLoS ONE 2, e720. Martin G, Juchault P, Sorokine O & van Dorsselaer. 1990. Purification and characterization of androgenic hormone from the terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare Latr. (Crustacea, Oniscidea). General and Comparative Endocrinology 80, 349-354. Min K-T & Benzer S. 1997. Wolbachia, normally a symbiont of Drosophila, can be virulent, causing degeneration and early death. PNAS 94, 10792-10796. Moreira LA, Iturbe-Ormaetxe I, Jeffery JA, Lu G, Pyke AT, Hedges LM, Rocha BC, Hall-Mendelin S, Day A, Riegler M, Hugo LE, Johnson KN, Kay BH, McGraw EA, van den Hurk AF, Ryan PA & O’Neill SL. 2009. A Wolbachia Symbiont in Aedes aegypti Limits Infection with Dengue, Chikungunya, and Plasmodium. Cell 139, 1268-1278. Nice CC, Gompert Z, Forister ML & Fordyce JA. 2009. An unseen foe in arthropod conservation efforts: the case of Wolbachia infections in the Karner blue butterfly. Biological Conservation 142, 3137-3146. Noda H, Miyoshi T & Koizumi Y. 2002. In vitro cultivation of Wolbachia in insect and mammalian cell lines. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Animal 38, 423-427. Pannebakker BA, Loppin B, Elemans CPH, Humblot L & Vavre F. 2007. Parasitic inhibition of cell death facilitates symbiosis. PNAS 104, 213-215. Pinto SB, Mariconti M, Bazzocchi C, Bandi C & Sinkins SP. 2012. Wolbachia surface protein induces innate immune responses in mosquito cells. BMC Microbiology 12 (Suppl. 1), S11. Raychoudhury R, Baldo L, Oliveira DCSG & Werren JH. 2009. Modes of acquisition of Wolbachia: horizontal transfer, hybrid introgression, and codivergence in the Nasonia species complex. Evolution 63, 165-183. Riparbelli MG, Giordano R, Ueyama M & Callaini G. 2012. Wolbachia-Mediated Male Killing Is Associated with Defective Chromatin Remodeling. PLoS ONE 7, e30045. Rousset F & Raymond M. 1991. Cytoplasmic incompatibility in insects: Why sterilize females? TrEE 6, 54-57. Stouthamer R, Breeuwer JAJ, Luck RF & Werren JH. 1993. Molecular identification of microorganisms associated with parthenogenesis. Nature 361, 66-68. Stouthamer R, Breeuwer JAJ, Hurst GDD. 1999. WOLBACHIA PIPIENTIS: Microbial Manipulator of Arthropod Reproduction. Annual Review of Microbiology 53, 71-102. Stouthamer R, van Tilborg M, de Jong JH, Nunney L & Luck RF. 2001. Selfish element maintains sex in natural populations of a parasitoid wasp. Proc. R. Soc. B 268, 617-622. Taylor MJ & Hoerauf A. 1999. Wolbachia Bacteria of Filarial Nematodes. Parasitology Today 15, 437-442. Teixeira L, Ferreira Á & Ashburner M. 2008. The Bacterial Symbiont Wolbachia Induces Resistance to RNA Viral Infections in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Biology 6, e1000002. Thompson JN. 1987. Symbiont induced speciation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 32, 385-393. Tram U & Sullivan W. 2002. Role of delayed nuclear envelope breakdown and mitosis in Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility. Science 296, 1124-1126. Wade MJ & Chang NW. 1995. Increased male fertility in Tribolium confusum beetles after infection with the intracellular parasite Wolbachia. Nature 373, 72-74. Weeks AR, Turelli M, Harcombe WR, Reynolds KT & Hoffmann AA. 2007. From Parasite to Mutualist: Rapid Evolution of Wolbachia in Natural Populations of Drosophila. PLoS Biology 5, e114. Weiss BL, Attardo GM & Aksoy S. 2009. Insect–Protozoa–Bacteria Associations: a Model System for Investigating Host–Parasite Interactions. In: Stock SP, Vandenberg J, Glazer I & Boemare N. Insect Pathogens: Molecular Approaches and Techniques, pp. 223-240. Werren JH & Windsor DM. 2000. Wolbachia infection frequencies in insects: evidence of a global equilibrium? Proc. R. Soc. B 267, 1277-1285. Wilkinson T. 1998. Wolbachia come of age. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 13, 213-214. Wu M, Sun LV, Vamathevan J, Riegler M, Deboy R, Brownile JC, McGraw EA, Martin W, Esser C, Ahmadinejad N, Wiegand C, Madupu R, Beanan MJ, Brinkac LM, Daugherty SC, Durkin AC, Kolonay JF, Nelson WC, Mohamoud Y, Lee P, Berry K, Young MB, Utterback T, Weidman J, Nierman WC, Paulsen IT, Nelson KE, Tettelin H, O’Neill SL & Eisen JA. 2004. Phylogenomics of the Reproductive Parasite Wolbachia pipientis wMel: A Streamlined Genome Overrun by Mobile Genetic Elements. PLoS Biology 2, e69. Xi Z, Dean JL, Khoo C & Dobson SL. 2005. Generation of a novel Wolbachia infection in Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) via embryonic microinjection. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 35, 903-910. Yen JH & Barr AR. 1971. New Hypothesis of the Cause of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility in Culex pipiens L. Nature 232, 657-658. Research Blogging necessities :) R. Stouthamer, J. A. J. Breeuwer, & G. D. D. Hurst (1999). WOLBACHIA PIPIENTIS: Microbial Manipulator of Arthropod Reproduction Annual Review of Microbiology DOI: 10.1146/annurev.micro.53.1.71

<urn:uuid:1c8eada4-497f-4036-864a-b1d29f8c4e8f>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Livestock and Poultry Insights

86 is conjectured to be the largest power of 2 not containing a zero. This simply stated conjecture has proven itself to be proof-resistant. Let us see why. What is the probability that the nth power of two will not have any zeroes? The first and the last digits are non-zeroes; suppose that other digits become zeroes randomly and independently of each other. This supposition allows us to estimate the probability of 2n not having zeroes as (9/10)k-2, where k is the number of digits of 2n. The number of digits can be estimated as n log102. Thus, the probability is about cxn, where c = (10/9)2 ≈ 1.2 and x = (9/10)log102 ≈ 0.97. The expected number of powers of 2 without zeroes starting from the power N is cxN/(1-x) ≈ 40 ⋅ 0.97N. Let us look at A007377, the sequence of numbers such that their powers of 2 do not contain zeros: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 49, 51, 67, 72, 76, 77, 81, 86. Our estimates predicts 32 members of this sequence starting from 6. In fact, the sequence has 30 conjectured members. Similarly, our estimate predicts 2.5 members starting from 86. It is easy to check that the sequence doesn’t contain any more numbers below 200 and our estimate predicts 0.07 members after 200. As we continue checking larger numbers and see that they do not belong to the sequence, the probability that the sequence contains more elements vanishes. With time we check more numbers and become more convinced that the conjecture is true. Currently, it has been checked up to the power 4.6 ⋅ 107. The probability of finding something after that is about 1.764342396 ⋅10-633620. Let us try to approach the conjecture from another angle. Let us check the last K digits of powers of two. As the number of possibilities is finite, these last digits eventually will start cycling. If we can show that all the elements inside the period contain zeroes, then we need to check the finite number of powers of two until this period starts. If we can find such K, we can prove the conjecture. Let us look at the last two digits of powers of two. The sequence starts as: 01, 02, 04, 08, 16, 32, 64, 28, 56, 12, 24, 48, 96, 92, 84, 68, 36, 72, 44, 88, 76, 52, 04. As we would anticipate, it starts cycling. The cycle length is 20, and 90% of numbers in the cycle don’t have zeroes. Now let’s continue to the last three digits. The period length is 100, and 19 of them either start with zero or contain zero. The percentage of elements in the cycle that do not contain zero is 81%. The cycle length for the last n digits is known. It is 4 ⋅ 5n-1. In particular the cycle length grows by 5 every time. The number of zero-free elements in these cycles form a sequence A181610: 4, 18, 81, 364, 1638, 7371, 33170. If we continue with our supposition that the digits are random, and study the new digits that appear when we move from the cycle of the last n digits to the next cycle of the last n+1 digits, we can expect that 9/10 of those digits will be non-zero. Indeed, if we check the ratio of how many numbers do not contain zero in the next cycle compared to the previous cycle, we get: 4.5, 4.5, 4.49383, 4.5, 4.5, 4.50007. All of these numbers are quite close to our estimation of 4.5. If this trend continues the portion of the numbers in the cycle that don’t have zeroes tends to zero; however, the total of such numbers grows exponentially. We can even estimate that the expected growth is 4 ⋅ 4.5n-1. From this estimation, we can derive the conjecture: Conjecture. For any number N, there exists a power of two such that its last N digits are zero-free. Indeed, the last N digits of powers of two cycle, and there are an increasing number of members inside that cycle that do not contain zeroes. The corresponding powers of two don’t have zeroes among N rightmost digits. So, how do we combine the two results? First, the expected probability of finding the power of two larger than 86 that doesn’t contain zero is minuscule. And second, we most certainly can find a power of two that has as many zeroless digits at the end as we want. To combine the two results, let us look at the sequences A031140 and A031141. We can deduce from them that for the power 103233492954 the first zero from the right occupies the 250th spot. The total number of digits of that power is 31076377936. So 250 is a tiny portion of the digits. As time goes by we grow more and more convinced that 86 is the largest power of two without zeroes, but it is not at all clear how we can prove the conjecture or whether it can be proven at all. My son, Sergei, suggested that I claim that I have a proof of this conjecture, but do not have enough space in the margin to fit my proof in. The probability that I will ever be shamed and disproven is lower than the probability of me winning a billion dollars in the lottery. Though then, if I do win the big bucks, I will still care about being shamed and disproven.

<urn:uuid:3b90e84d-a2f3-4345-b1c1-a2b13ac2c36b>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Advanced Mathematical Concepts

I have been trying to consolidate my beliefs and understandings about practice the last few weeks. As the mother of a hockey player and two dancers I am all too familiar with the idea of practice in sport. In their activities my children have the opportunity to work on isolated skills repeatedly until they become fluid, efficient and second nature. Their coaches are constantly giving them feedback, modelling and helping them get the “feel” for their sport. These practiced skills are constantly being put into use…be it a game or a dance. It is in those game situations where I really see my kids light up. They love to play, perform and just plain have FUN!! In those moments all of the practice becomes worth it and it is in those moments they become reenergize for and reinvested in further practice. It is with this notion of practice in my head that I began to explore what practice is in education. How it is like practice in sport? I do believe that practice is important in both sport and students learning, but I also believe that not all practice is created equal. Some practice can support learning, consolidate understanding and build confidence for students while other practice can frustrate, confuse and create a barrier for learning. Practice can make “perfect” or at least better but it can also make permanent…and if the practice isn’t effective we run the risk of making permanent misconceptions. But what is “perfect” practice? Can “perfect” practice really exist? I do not think that “perfect” is an attainable goal but I do think that purposeful is. Purposeful practice implies that teachers and coaches have an aim…intent…goal…target for the practice they want students to engage in. They identify a student/player need, envision what success would look like and with those things in mind create a plan to support the learning with practice. Purposeful practice takes careful thinking into the what, how and why of the practice with the goal of furthering individual students’ learning in ways that are the most meaningful. It is more than just practice for practice sake, more than a stack of worksheets for all students to complete…it is practice with purpose, practice that is deliberate, powerful and focused. The thing that I think we as teachers need to remember and that coaches do so well, is to put the practice into the game. After all it is in the game where the FUN is. As I continue to think about Purposeful Practice I am consolidating my beliefs into what it truly is in education. These beliefs are far from set in stone but are hopefully the start of a discussion. My Purposeful Practice Beliefs: - Students should practice what they understand. Practice without understanding can change the goal of the practice from fluidity of skills to simply getting to the end of the page to make the teacher happy. - Practice should focused on supporting individual student learning challenges and enhancing strengths. - Practice should be focused on progress and monitored constantly. If a student is not progressing then the practice needs to change. - Practice can be and should be messy…we need to see where errors are occurring so that we can help. - When students make mistakes (and they will) teachers need to be there to help them by offering support, feedback and additional instruction. We should use practice to inform instruction. - Practice should be sustained over time. It is not a one time thing. In order for practice to become permanent students will need to move the learning into their long-term memory - Students should be given opportunities to put their practice into authentic “game like” situation as often as possible. It is through the game that students can discover the purpose for the skills, transfer them to new situations and make connections. - Practice can be cooperative and noisy. Students can learn from each other. Once upon a time, in a land not so far away there lived a girl named Jennifer. Jennifer was a student and on this particular day she was sitting in her desk carefully writing her name on the back of a piece of white paper. When her teacher said GO and not a second before (it was strictly forbidden to peek) she turned over her paper to reveal a page full of math basic facts. As quickly as possible, she began computing math facts and writing the answers on the paper. The whole class was silent, the only exception was the quite sounds of pencils frantically scratching and the odd moan. The gauntlet had been thrown down and the race was on to conquer the sheet and then celebrate your triumph in front of your friends. After two minutes the class was told to stop..turn the page over and put their pencils down. Some students smiled with victory as the teacher walked between the rows collecting the sheets. Some students hung their heads defeated, deflated and quite frankly exhausted from the effort. Jennifer lived in both groups some days she felt the sweet sensation of victory, some days the sheer agony of defeat. On this day the sheet, only half completed had declared it’s victory over her. The teacher would return the worksheet the next day with X’s and checks marks on it, along with the final score out of 50. Students who did well were told to keep up the good work. Those who didn’t were told to try harder next week when Mad Minute day came. On this particular day Jennifer asked her teacher if they had to have Mad Minutes day every week. She was given this short, simple answer…”It will help you learn your basic facts”. Years later Jennifer was a teacher, with her own group of students sitting before her eagerly awaiting their signal to turn over the sheet of paper and begin. She had been given the most wonderful opportunity to teach students their basic math facts and was using the one tool she knew would ensure that students learned… The Mad Minute. After all, she had successfully learned her basic facts and had long since abandoned using her fingers and toes…well most of the time anyways. Some of her students experienced success, some struggled, some downright refused to start. Jennifer reflected on this fact with a colleague the next day. Why didn’t the kids get it?…she was doing all she could…she had even increased her Mad Minute time to twice a week…yet they refused to learn. Her colleague suggested sending the worksheets home for more practice. Maybe parents would have the time to help the students continue to learn those basic facts. After all they had now completed the unit on operations. As I reflect on this story I feel sad, for that young girl who felt defeated, that young teacher who knew very little about teaching mathematics, and for all of those students. I was that girl and knew how defeated the Mad Minute made me feel…yet I created that same experience for my students. I simply knew no other way. A few years later I heard a speaker say something that really struck home to me… “When teachers align what they teach… with what students learn…and with what they assess… they honour the learners in their classrooms. Mad Minutes, at least the way they had been modelled for me, were considered the one stop shop for teaching students to learn and assessing progress in basic facts. Knowing what I know now I understand that they are none of those things. They didn’t teach…they evaluated, they didn’t support learning…they evaluated, at best you could say they assessed and provided feedback for teacher planning and instructional decision-making (which they didn’t). At worst…they evaluated. They became an activity for survival of the fittest. The strong survived to basked in their success. The weak were defeated, crushed and left to feel like math failures. No one was honored. If you were one of those bright-eyed, trusting students in my classroom…I sincerely apologize. You deserved a teacher who would teach so that you could learn. A teacher who would assess and use those assessments for learning. A teacher who would not send home the very object of your frustration only to have you experience failure in a new environment. You deserved better! Knowing what I know now…I COULD do better. I now believe that: - Teaching mathematics is about developing student competence AND confidence - Teaching of basic facts should be done in a way that is strategic, and in attainable steps that can inspire confidence - Practice should be purposeful and targeted - Fluency is important and students should be given opportunities to develop fluency that is built on a foundation of conceptual knowledge - Monitoring of Progress is key and should inform instructional decisions - Assessments can be timed if necessary but students should be allowed to finish and only “compete” with themselves - Students should be given opportunities to see patterns within operations and connections between addition/subtraction and multiplication/division - Numbers are flexible and teaching/ learning about them should be as well My next few posts will continue to develop my thinking on purposeful practice and procedural fluency in a way that I hope honors our learners and inspires success. As always your comments and feedback are always welcome.

<urn:uuid:145e6a58-ef92-4bdb-83b2-0540ea0706b4>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Child-Focused Learning Techniques

Ongoing developments into memristor technologies have helped researchers come even closer to bendable, wearable electronics. Memristors are a fourth class of electric circuit, and, despite being hypothesised in the seventies, are a very new addition to the transistors, capacitors and inductors that usually make up chips. And now researchers at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), have found a novel use for memristors that could see bendable electronics become commonplace in the “near future”. The team says that one of the main problems with the production of flexible electronics has been the development of operational flexible memory. However they believe that they have solved this with what they describe as “fully functional” flexible resistive random access memory (RRAM). With this memory, they say, a cell can be randomly accessed, written and erased on a plastic substrate that is able to be bend and rolled easily. It is not the first time that flexible memory has been under development. However the researchers believe that their device overcomes one of the major problems of cell to cell interference. To solve this it is necessary to integrate switching elements like transistors with memory elements. However most transistors which are built on flexible plastic substrates are unable to achieve the performance level required to drive conventional memory. The team at KAIST managed to fix this by developing memory which is not affected by cell to cell interference, using the properties of memristors alongside a silicon transistor on flexible substrates. By applying the properties of both technologies they were able to get all the memory function in a matrix memory array functioning without problems.

<urn:uuid:05acddd3-9c4e-4859-91b3-3489e00ce22a>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Digital Signal Processing Topics

By DANIEL SUDDEATH NEW ALBANY — Judging by the pleasure clearly shown by the children as they wheeled their robots around the Ed Endres Boys & Girls Club, it would be easy to assume the kids were only having fun Wednesday afternoon. But the hours they spent turning Lego kits into functional robots that can play music, light up on command and spin around on four wheels introduced the kids to computer programming and basic engineering. Instruction is part of the reason behind the RoboTech program, officials and organizers behind the project said. In September, students at the New Albany club were selected to pilot the program locally. Time Warner Cable — parent company of Insight Communications — partnered with Boys & Girls Club of America and FIRST Robotics to bring the program to 20 chapters across the country. In September, New Albany students at Ed Endres Boys & Girls Club were introduced to robotics for the first time. When they saw the Lego Mindstorms boxes waiting to be opened, many had no idea the toy parts could be transformed into a robot. “They didn’t actually know they could build it themselves,” said Santanna Lea, program director at the Ed Endres Boys & Girls Club. She conceded she didn’t know much about robotics at the time either, or how drawn to the program the kids would be. They almost immediately were enticed with the idea of building their own robots, and their interest only grew with the more functions they learned how to program, she continued. “They actually taught me a lot,” Lea said. “It was a learning process for all of us.” Science-Technology-Engineering-Math — or STEM — youth activities and programs are vital because they help train kids for a new frontier of jobs, Insight Communications Director of Communications Dan Ballister said. “Time Warner and Insight are very excited about partnerships like these,” he said. The program is geared toward middle school students, though some younger kids also participated in the project at Ed Endres. The children formed groups to work on the robots and demonstrated their work Wednesday at the club. To congratulate them for their progress, Ballister and Insight donated several gifts to the clubs including games and gadgets that emphasize science and technology. Ballister said robotics are quite popular across the country, and there are tournaments regularly where kids can enter their robots in competitions based on functionality. Hopefully the students at the Ed Endres Boys & Girls Club will continue their interest in robotics and enter some tournaments, he continued. “The kids have to practice and practice and work as a team to make sure their robot can compete,” Ballister said. Jennifer Helgeson, president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana, was on hand to see the kids display their robots. Seeing the pride the kids had for their work proved how valuable the project was, she said. “I think the program is incredible,” Helgeson said. “It encourages them and gets the kids excited about science and technology.”

<urn:uuid:81a0df31-ccbc-40b0-b5ac-f2103ca638ea>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Sports and Recreational Activities

With the exceptions of peas and broad beans, fruit vegetables are warm-season crops, and with the exception of sweet corn and peas, all are subject to chilling injury. Fruit vegetables are not generally adaptable to long-term storage. Exceptions are the hard rind (winter) squashes and pumpkin. A useful classification for postharvest discussion of the fruit vegetables is based on the stage of maturity at harvest. This presents an overview of the general postharvest requirements and handling systems for this group of commodities. Legumes: snap, lima, and other beans, snow pea, sugar snap and garden peas Cucurbits: cucumber, soft rind squashes, chayote, bitter melon, luffa Solanaceous vegetables: eggplant, peppers, tomatillo Others such as okra and sweet corn Cucurbits: cantaloupe, honeydew, and other muskmelons; watermelon, pumpkin, hard-rind squashes Solanaceous vegetables: mature green and vine-ripe tomatoes, ripe peppers The harvest index for most immature fruit vegetables is based principally on size and color. Immature soft-rind squashes, for example, may be harvested at several sizes or stages of development, depending upon market needs. Fruit that are too developed are of interior internal quality and show undesirable color change after harvest. This also applies to other immature fruit vegetables such as cucumber and bell peppers. The harvest index for mature fruit vegetables depends on several characteristics, and proper harvest maturity is the key to adequate shelf life and good quality of the ripened fruit. For cantaloupe, the principal harvest indices are surface color and the development of the abscission zone. Most fruit vegetables are harvested by hand. Some harvest aids may be used, including pickup machines and conveyors for melons. Cantaloupe is also harvested with "sack" crews who empty the melons into bulk trailers. Crenshaw and other specialty melons are easily damaged and require special care in handling and transport to the packing area. Mature green tomatoes are usually hand harvested into buckets and emptied into field bins or gondolas. Almost all fresh market tomatoes grown in California are bush type, and the plants are typically harvested only once or twice. At the time of harvest, 5 to 10 percent of the tomatoes have pink and yellow color and are separated out later on the packing line as vine-ripest Immature fruit vegetables generally have very tender skins that are easily damaged in harvest and handling. Special care must be taken in all handling operations to prevent product damage and subsequent decay. Sweet corn, snap beans, and peas may be harvested mechanically or by hand. Many of the mature fruit vegetables are hauled to packinghouses, storage, or loading facilities in bulk bins (hard rind squashes, peppers, pink tomatoes), gondolas (mature green tomatoes and peppers), or bulk field trailers or trucks (muskmelons, hard rind squashes). Harvesting at night, when products are the coolest, is common for sweet corn and is gaining in use for cantaloupe. Products reach their lowest temperature near daybreak. Night harvest may reduce the time and costs of cooling products, may result in better and more uniform cooling, and helps maintain product quality. Fluorescent lights attached to mobile packing units have permitted successful night harvesting of cantaloupe in California. The trend is increasing toward field packing of fruit vegetables. Grading, sorting, sizing, packing, and palletizing are carried out in the field. The products are then transported to a central cooling facility. Mobile packing facilities are commonly towed through the fields for cantaloupe, honeydew melon, eggplant, cucumber, summer squashes, and peppers. Field-pack operations entail much less handling of products than in packinghouses. This reduces product damage and, therefore, increases packout yield of products. In melons, for example, field packing means less rolling, dumping, and dropping and thus helps reduce the "shaker" problem, in which the seed cavity loosens from the pericarp wall. It also reduces scuffing of the net which reduces subsequent water loss. Handling costs are also reduced in field pack operations. One difficulty with field packing, however, is the need for increased supervision to maintain consistent quality in the packed product. Field packing is not used for commodities that require classification for both color and size, such as tomato. Loaded field vehicles should be parked in shade to prevent product warming and sunburning. Products may be unloaded by hand (soft rind squashes, eggplant, some muskmelons, cucumber, watermelon), dry-dumped onto sloping, padded ramps (cantaloupe, honeydew melon, sweet peppers) or onto moving conveyor belts (tomatoes), or wet-dumped into tanks of moving water to reduce physical injury (honeydew melon, tomatoes, and peppers). Considerable mechanical damage occurs in dry-dumping operations; bruising, scratching, abrading and splitting are common examples. The water temperature in wet-dump tanks for tomatoes should be slightly warmer than the product temperature to prevent uptake of water and decay-causing organisms into the fruits. The dump tank water needs to be chlorinated. An operation may have two tanks separated by a clean water spray to improve overall handling sanitation. Presizing. For many commodities, fruit below a certain size are eliminated manually or mechanically by a presizing belt or chain. Undersize fruit are diverted to a cull conveyor or used for processing. Sorting or selection. The sorting process eliminates cull, overripe, misshapen, and otherwise defective fruit and separates products by color, maturity, and ripeness classes (e.g. tomato and muskmelons). Electronic color sorters are used in some tomato operations. Grading. Fruit are sorted by quality into two or more grades according to U.S. standards, California grade standards, or a shipper's own Trade standards. Waxing. Food grade waxes are commonly applied to cucumber, eggplant, sweet peppers, cantaloupe, and tomato, and occasionally to some summer squashes. The purpose is to replace some of the natural waxes removed in the washing and cleaning operations, to reduce water loss, and to improve appearance. Waxing may be done before or after sizing, and fungicides may be added to the wax. Application of wax and postharvest fungicides must be indicated on each shipping container. Waxing and fungicides are used only in packinghouse handling of fruit vegetables. European cucumbers are frequently shrink-wrapped rather than waxed. Sizing. After sorting for defects and color differences, the fruit vegetables are segregated into several size categories. Sizing is done manually for many of the fruit vegetables, including the legumes, soft and hard rind squashes, cucumber, eggplant, chili peppers, okra, pumpkin, rnuskmelons, and watermelon. Cantaloupes may be sized by volumetric weights, or diverging roll sizers, sweet peppers are sized commonly by diverging bar sizers, and tomatoes are sized by diameter with belt sizers or by weight. Packing. Mature green and pink tomatoes, sweet and chili peppers, okra, cucumber, and legumes are commonly weight- or volume-filled into shipping containers. All other fruit type vegetables and many of the above are place-packed into shipping containers by count, bulk bins (hard rind squashes. pumpkin, muskmelons, and watermelon) or bulk trucks (watermelon). Fruit type vegetables that are place-packed are often sized during the same operation. Palletizing. Packed shipping containers of most fruit vegetables in large-volume operations are palletized for shipment. This is a common practice with cantaloupe, muskmelons, sweet peppers, and tomato. Except for sweet corn, the immature fruit vegetables are often handled in low volume operations, where palletizing is not common because of lack of forklifts. In these cases, the products are palletized at a centralized cooling facility or as they are loaded for transport. Palletizing is usually done after hydrocooling or package-ice cooling, but before forced-air cooling. In field-pack operations, palletizing is generally done in the field. Various methods are used for cooling fruit vegetables. The most common methods are discussed here. Forced-air cooling is used for beans, cantaloupe, cucumbers, muskmelons, peas, peppers, soft rind squashes, and tomato. Forced-air evaporative cooling is used to a limited extent on chilling-sensitive commodities such as squashes, peppers, eggplant, and cherry tomato. Hydrocooling is used before grading, sizing, and packing of beans, cantaloupe, sweet corn, and okra. Sorting of defective products is done both before and after cooling. Hydrocooling cycles are rarely long enough during hot weather. The need to maintain a continuous, adequate supply of cantaloupes to the packers often results in the melons being incompletely cooled. This can be remedied if, after packing and palletizing, enough time is allowed in the cold room to cool the product to recommended temperatures before loading for transport to markets. Package icing and liquid-icing are used to a limited extent for cooling cantaloupe and routinely as a supplement to hydrocooling for sweet corn. Temporary cold storage. In large-volume operations, most fruit vegetables are placed in cold storage rooms after cooling and before shipment. Cold rooms are less used in small farm operations; the products are often transported to central cooperatively owned or distributor-owned facilities for cooling and short-term storage. Loading for transport. Some tomatoes, cantaloupe, and other muskmelons are shipped in refrigerated railcars, but most fruit vegetables are shipped in refrigerated trucks or container vans. Except for the major volume products such as cantaloupe and tomato, most are shipped in mixed loads, sometimes with ethylene-sensitive commodities. Among the immature fruit type vegetables, products such as cucumber, legumes, bitter melon, and eggplant are sensitive to ethylene exposure. Among the mature fruit types, watermelon is detrimentally affected by ethylene, resulting in softening of the whole fruit, flesh mealiness, and rind separation. For uniform and controlled ripening, ethylene is often applied to mature green tomatoes and sometimes to honeydew, casaba, and Crenshaw melons. Ethylene treatments may be done at the shipping point or the destination, although final fruit quality is generally considered best if the treatment is applied at the shipping point soon after harvest. Satisfactory ripening occurs at 12.5° to 25°C (55° to 77°F), the higher the temperature, the faster the ripening (table 29.3). Above 30°C (86°F), red color development of tomato is inhibited. An ethylene concentration of about 100 ppm is commonly used. Honeydew melons (usually class 12 melons) are sometimes held in ethylene up to 24 hours; tomatoes are usually held at 20°C (68°F) and treated for up to 3 days. Tomatoes may be ethylene-treated before or after packing, but most are treated after packing. An advantage of treating before packing is that the warmer conditions favor development of any decay-causing pathogens on the fruit, so infected fruit can be eliminated before final packout. Packing after ethylene treatment also permits a more uniform packout. Because most of the mature green tomatoes produced in California are packed and then treated with ethylene, "checkerboarding" may still occur and make a repack operation necessary. Modified atmospheres are seldom used commercially for these commodities, although shipments of melons and tomato under modified atmospheres are being tested for long-distance markets. Consumer packaging of vine-ripe tomatoes may also involve the use of modified atmospheres. For tomatoes held at recommended temperatures, oxygen levels of 3 to 5 percent slow ripening, with carbon dioxide levels held below 5 percent to avoid injury. Muskmelons have been less studied, but recommended atmospheres under normal storage conditions are 3 to 5 percent oxygen and 10 to 20 percent carbon dioxide. Recommended storage/transit conditions For mature fruit type vegetables temperature can effectively control the rate of ripening. Most mature-harvested fruit vegetables are sensitive to chilling injury when held below the recommended storage temperature. Chilling injury is cumulative, and its severity depends on the temperature and the duration of exposure. In the case of tomato, exposure to chilling temperatures below 10°C (50° F) results in lack of color development decreased flavor, and increased decay The optimum temperatures for short-term storage and transport are: Mature green tomatoes, pumpkin, and hard rind squashes: 12.5° to 15° C (55° to 60° F) Partially to fully ripe tomatoes, muskmelons (except cantaloupe): 10° to 12.5° C (50° to 55° F). Honeydew melons that are ripening naturally or have been induced with ethylene are best held at 5° to 7.5° C (41° to 45° F). Watermelon: 7° to 10° C (45° to 50° F) Cantaloupe: 2.5° to 5° C (36° to 41° F) The optimum relative humidity range is 85 to 90 percent for tomato and muskmelons (except cantaloupe), 90 to 95 percent for cantaloupe, and 60 to 70 percent for pumpkin and hard rind squashes. Immature fruit vegetables All fruit vegetables harvested immature are sensitive to chilling injury. Exceptions are the peas and sweet corn, which are stored best at 0° C (32° F) and 95 percent RH. The optimum product temperatures with RH at 90 to 95 percent for short-term storage and transport are as follows: Eggplant, cucumber, soft rind squashes, okra: 10° to 12.5° C (50° to 55° F) Peppers: 5° to 7° C (41° to 45° F) Lima beans, snap beans: 5° to 8° C (41° to 46° F) Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California. All contents copyright © 2011 The Regents of the University of California. All Rights Reserved. Development funding from the University of California and USDA, CSREES. Please e-mail your comments to: email@example.com Last updated: February 15, 2012 | Website design by Lauri Brandeberry

<urn:uuid:4a6c64f0-5e25-47bc-b259-5553cb046919>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs

Women Bear Greatest Burden of Alzheimer's Survey finds they're more likely than men to have Alzheimer's or take care of someone with the disease. MONDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) — Women fear Alzheimer's disease more than any other illness except cancer, and they are more often on the front lines of providing care for loved ones battling the disease, new research shows. "With statistics consistently pointing to the fact that more women are living with Alzheimer's and caring for people with Alzheimer's, it is clear women are disproportionately affected by this disease," said Angela Geiger, chief strategy officer of the Alzheimer's Association. A survey of women in France, Germany, Spain, Poland and the United States revealed that women are at the center of the global Alzheimer's epidemic. The multinational research team found women in all five countries were more concerned than men about a loved one developing the disease. Women in all countries, the survey also found, were more likely than men to be involved in the daily care of someone with the disease. In fact, women in France and Poland were significantly more involved in the decision-making and financial support of an Alzheimer's patient. If roles were reversed and those polled were to develop the disease, most identified their spouse as the person who would be responsible for their primary care. Men, however, identified their wives 6 percent to 18 percent more often than wives identified their husbands. In contrast, women were more likely to say they would rely on their children or paid caregivers outside the family to care for them. Despite their fear of the disease, which currently affects 36.5 million people worldwide, and their greater burden as caregivers, 71 percent of women in France and 76 percent of women in the United States seem to be more optimistic that a treatment for Alzheimer's will be developed within five years. That may be one reason why the survey also showed that women believe government spending on Alzheimer's research should be increased. "These insights reinforce the conclusions published in The Shriver Report: A Women's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's, which found the impact of Alzheimer's on women is significant. The perspectives we see in this survey must prompt thoughtful conversations about Alzheimer's with our friends, family members and government officials to change the trajectory of Alzheimer's disease," concluded Geiger. The research was slated for presentation Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Paris. Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed a preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

<urn:uuid:27cd2f94-4dc8-43b2-9e20-a933360fd766>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Brain Health and Memory

51°15' / 22°34' Translation of "Lublin" chapter from Pinkas Hakehillot Polin Published by Yad Vashem Published in Jerusalem Project Coordinator and Translator Morris Gradel z"l Our sincere appreciation to Yad Vashem for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site. This is a translation from: Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland, Volume VII, pages 13 - 38, published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions. Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited. Lublin (hereafter L), the largest town in Eastern Poland, is the main town of the region and province. It stands on the banks of the River Bystrzyca. In the 12th century it was a fortified settlement on the trade route leading to Ruthenia. In the 13th century it was destroyed several times during invasions by the Tatars, Ruthenians and Jadvingians (a Lithuanian tribe). For some time the settlement was under the ægis of the Princes of Halicz. In 1317 L was granted the Magdeburgian privileges of a town by King Wladislaw Lokietek. His son, Casimir the Great, erected a wall around the town. It was granted the privilege in 1385 of free trade with the Lithuanian Principality and in 1392 the right to store in the town goods in transit - and these advantages contributed to its rapid development. In 1474 L was the seat of the king's representative (the Woiwoda). It reached the zenith of its prosperity in the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, when its markets attracted merchants from the whole of Poland and even beyond. The same period also saw the expansion of various trades. In the 16th century L was also a political centre, where the nobility held its meetings; in 1578 it became the seat of the Crown Court and the Appeal Court of "Lesser Poland", and in 1569 there convened in L the Sejm that united Poland and Lithuania under one crown (this was the celebrated Polish-Lithuanian "Unia"). Resident in the town were writers and poets renowned at the time (Kochanowski, Rej and others), and a printing works and paper factory were established. In the 16th and 17th century the population of L was more than 10,000, and embraced some suburbs. In the period of the "deluge" (the wars in the middle of the 17th century waged in Poland by the Cossacks, the Swedes and the Muscovites) L suffered heavy damage to life and property. Repairs were not undertaken for some time, and only in 1780 did work on reconstruction begin. In 1795 L passed under the sovereignty of Austria, in 1809 it formed part of the "Principality of Warsaw", and from 1815 until the rise of independent Poland in 1918 it was included in Congress Poland. In the course of the 19th century L developed into the metropolis of the eastern part of the Polish Kingdom. Its population increased from 7,000 at the beginning of the century (during the Napoleonic Wars) to 56,000 at its conclusion. During the century it was under the "Jurisdiction of Wieniawa" (a suburban noble estate with autonomous legal status). Only late in the century did L start to develop a modern economy. After being linked to the rail network in 1877 existing industries developed and new ones were established. Concomitant with this there was cultural development and cultural and educational institutions were founded. L contained some well-known Polish writers, such as Kraszewski, Vincenty Paul and Boleslaw Prus, and many figures of the Polish national underground movement chose to settle there. The 20th century saw no radical changes in L's economic structure, and the town remained the centre of an agricultural area. World War I had a considerable stagnating effect on local industry, and its recovery between the two world wars was protracted. In the 20s and 30s new plants connected with the aviation industry were established, as were factories for pipes, screws, tobacco and chicory (coffee substitute). The town's public services (sewage, waterworks, electric power, slaughterhouse and the like) were also developed. Nevertheless, during the whole inter-war period L was in economic decline, or at best stagnant. The number of unemployed went on increasing and with it the number of demonstrations and strikes. The process of impoverishment affected broad spectra of the population. The situation was particularly bad during the crisis of 1929-33, and even in 1933 the number of unemployed (12,000) surpassed the number in employment. There was virtually no natural increase of population in the years preceding the Second World War. During the 19th and 20th centuries L was the scene of activity by political movements and youth organisations, both open and clandestine. In 1918, after Poland gained its independence, a council of Polish representatives assumed political control of the town and its environs. On the very first day of World War II L suffered heavy bombardment. During the German occupation the leading Polish intellectuals were liquidated. Many people were imprisoned in the town's fortress on political grounds. In 1941 the first batch of 160 prisoners was despatched to the concentration camp at Ravensbrück. In 1941 too, an extermination camp was established at Majdanek, near L. It served at first as a camp for 2,000 Soviet prisoners of war. In Majdanek some 360,000 beings met their death, most of them Jews from Poland, but also from other parts of occupied Europe. During the German occupation whole quarters of the town were destroyed, as was most of the infrastructure (such as roads and bridges). L became an important centre of the Polish Resistance. On July 24th, 1944, L was liberated by the Red Army, and for seven months was the capital of the new Poland. The process of recovery was rapid: ruined factories were restored and new ones built, and L again became an important cultural centre. New institutions of higher education were set up, including the University of Marie Sklodowska Curie, as were various categories of secondary schools. The Theatre and the Philharmonic Orchestra resumed their activities. The Lupaczinski Library was expanded to contain 200,000 volumes. However, in the 60s stagnation and even recession set in, as was the case in the rest of "Socialist Poland". The crisis reached its peak in the late 80s, and even continued into the beginning of the new Polish Republic that came into being in 1990-91, following the collapse of the "Polish People's Republic". The first Jews in L are mentioned in documents from the 15th century, though there may possibly have been some there earlier. A few Jews lived in the town itself, with the consent of the authorities, despite the royal edict of 1535 that forbad Jews to live in L. In the 15th and 16th centuries many Jews settled in the town and established a Jewish quarter to the north and north-east of the palace and the fortress. For the privilege of living there the Jews were obliged to pay a tax to the fortress administrators. In 1555 the boundaries of the Jewish quarter were extended; the Governor of Lublin, Stanislaw Winczinski, with the approval of the King of Poland, Sigismund August, granted the Jewish community three large plots of land, One of these was to contain the slaughterhouse and butcher shops; the second, on the palace hill near the old cemetery, was to serve as an additional burial-ground; and the third, on the slopes of the palace hill, was set aside for religious purposes. In return for these plots the community agreed to pay an annual tax of 12 marks and an annual sum for candle grease. In 1557 Governor Winczinski presented Dr. Yitzhak Maj, a well-known doctor in L, a large plot (which also had a pool) and permitted him to build on it. In 1566 a synagogue was erected there in the name of the Maharashal (Rabbi Shlomo Luria), and the following year other buildings were added, in one of which a yeshiva was opened. In 1603 the merchant Yaakov ben Aharon received from Governor Firlay a plot on which to erect buildings and shops. The Jewish quarter continued to grow, from 24 houses in 1550 to 100 at the end of the century. The main street was Sieroca Street, where the activities of the community were concentrated. In addition to the Maharashal Synagogue and the Bet Midrash, there was another prayer-house, in the name of Avraham ben Chaim, one of the leaders of the Council of the Four Lands*, and the study house of the "Seer of Lublin". A third synagogue was built in Podzamcze Street - the "Leifer", associated with the name of Shaul Wahl, of whom it was said that he ruled Poland for one day, but gave up power in favour of a Pole. In 1638 Tsvi Hirsch, an agent of the royal court and a leader of the Council of the Four Lands, built a synagogue in the name of his father, Moshe Doctor ("Doctor-Shul"), this too in Sieroca Street. In time the Jewish quarter became too restricted and some of its inhabitants tried to circumvent the rule of "de non tolerandis judais" (not to tolerate Jews within the confines of the city) implemented by watchful citizens, with a view to moving to other parts of the town. Few, however, were permitted to do so, and these only for a limited period. In 1655 a fire broke out in the Jewish quarter and most of the houses went up in flames. Reconstruction took many years. As mentioned above, after the "deluge" (the wars of 1648-60) L lost its privileged status. The Council of the Four Lands, which until then usually met in L, moved in 1680 to Jaroslaw, which was developing at the time and was an important centre of trade and markets. In the 18th and the second half of the 19th century also, the Jews continued their attempts to be allowed to live outside the Jewish quarter, but generally without success. In 1761 Jews who were there without authorisation were expelled from the centre of town and, with a few fortunate exceptions, were compelled to return to the crowded conditions of the quarter. This state of affairs continued until the Tsar's edict of 1862 annulling the restrictions on Jewish dwellings in the Kingdom of Congress Poland. Thanks to its status as an important commercial centre as early as the 15th century and its position at the crossroads of the trade route from Western Poland to the North and South-East of the country, the markets of L attracted large numbers of Jewish merchants from all corners of Poland and beyond. The Jews traded in almost all the wares bought and sold on these occasions. In 1530/31 Jewish merchants transported through the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce in L 136 barrels of wine, 503 oxen, 15,000 ells of cloth, 47 rolls of silk, 38,297 furs and hides, 5 wagons of iron, 82 stone of steel, 22,170 ells of fabrics, and other wares. In 1584 Jewish merchants from Krakow brought to the market in L 185 wagons loaded with goods. The communities of Poznan and Krakow even had in L brokers, whose task was to settle differences between the merchants during the markets. For their part, the merchants of L maintained contact with important merchants outside Poland. At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th the name of the merchant Yoska Szachnowicz of L (the father of Rabbi Shalom Shachna Hacohen) was well-known for his trading and leasing activities. Yoska was the King's excise officer and in charge of customs in Reisen and Podolia. The markets of L, where Jewish notables from all over Poland gathered, became in time the core around which the Council of the Four Lands grew. However, before they achieved commercial status the Jews of L had to overcome many difficulties. In 1518 King Sigismund I acquiesced in the request of the citizens and town council, and ordered his representative in L, Jan of Filicia, to curtail the trading rights of the local Jews. In 1521 the king issued an edict forbidding Jewish pedlars to purchase produce brought into town by the local farmers. Two years later another order was published with a view to placing the trading rights of the L Jews on an equal footing with those of Lwow, Poznan and Krakow. This order contained a set of restrictions, mainly a ban on retail trading by Jews and a curb on their wholesale activities. The Jews of L were also forbidden to have shops, and were only allowed to set up temporary booths in their own quarter. Christians were forbidden to lease shops or stalls to Jews, infringements being punishable by fines. In spite of this, the Jews managed to rent stalls and shops during the annual markets. In 1531 there was an action brought by the Municipality of L against the Jews concerning payment of tax on imports of woven goods. The king ruled that the Jews had to pay this tax, despite the fact that non-Jewish citizens were exempt. Contrariwise, there were instances where the Jews were freed of various taxes by royal order; for example, in 1530 the Jews were exempted from paying road tax. Generally speaking, the Jews strove to arrive at a compromise with their non-Jewish townsmen. The Christians in the Podzamsze quarter held a monopoly on the right to produce and market wines, beer and mead; and in 1590 the king forbad the Jews to engage in these activities. They, however, managed to circumvent this ban through an arrangement whereby, cash in advance, they could sell spirits purchased from the Christians. In return for this favour, the Jews agreed to make an annual gift of 35 ells of finest quality cloth to each member of the town council, and twice a year a pound of pepper to the town clerk and the seven members of the council. The Jews were forbidden to sell bread and flour to non-Jews. This agreement was renewed by the two parties every few years, with the approval of the king. From time to time new edicts and restrictions were imposed on the Jews. In 1650, as a result of Jesuit pressure, Jewish apothecaries were forbidden to prepare or sell medicine. And four years later, in 1654, Jewish musicians were banned from appearing in public without special permission from the town authorities. In their battle against Jewish trade the other citizens employed not only legal means, but also violence. Now and then they would burst into the Jewish quarter and kill, and loot property and wares. Such an incident occurred in 1623. There was also violence for its own sake. In 1646 pupils of the ecclesiastical "colleges" (also known as "Dzakim") fell upon the Jewish quarter. In the course of this disturbance eight Jews were killed, many injured, and 20 houses emptied of their contents. In 1598 a rumour of blood libel spread through the town; three Jews of L were accused of murdering a Christian child for ritual purposes, and the mob tried them and slaughtered them brutally. Members of the Jesuit Order in L set up a printing press and distributed leaflets with virulent accusations against the Jews. Jewish artisans too were forced to wage a hard battle against their non-Jewish competitors for the right to engage in their trade. Even before the "deluge" the Christian artisan guilds enjoyed privileges that entailed bans or restrictions on Jewish business. In 1535, for example, the Christian tailors' guild obtained from the king an order banning Jewish tailors from engaging in their trade, and in 1595 the bakers' guild obtained a similar decree from King Sigismund III forbidding Jews to bake bread or trade in flour. This devout king also granted privileges to the guilds of carpenters, glaziers and ropemakers, according to which the guilds were excluded from accepting as members unbelievers, heretics and Jews. The municipality, the official patron of the arts, also approved many measures directed against Jewish artisans. In the 17th and 18th centuries Christian artisans, with the approval of the municipality, adopted regulations designed to forbid the Jews to engage in various trades, or to restrict them to marginal activities. The Christian artisans also obtained from the authorities a ban on Jewish merchants supplying various trades with raw materials. However, in not a few cases the Christian organisations waived some of the prohibitions and restrictions in return for money; a typical example of this was the agreement of 1689 with the guild of weavers of gold and silver threads, by which three Jewish weavers were permitted to work in eight workshops, and 13 Jewish brokers and suppliers in the branch were allowed to buy and sell raw materials - apart from Christian ritual articles - exclusively to non-Jewish artisans. In return the Jews consented to pay to the guild 100 guilders four times a year and to accept supervision of their workshops by the guild. Clearly the Jewish artisans could not put up with these numerous restrictions and endeavoured to circumvent them by all means possible, both legal and illegal. In 1600 a group of Christian tailors seceded from their guild and started a separate guild in Podzamcze (a residential area open to Jews). The new guild accepted 24 Jewish tailors on payment of an annual fee. Since, however, the number of active Jewish tailors far exceeded those accepted by the guild, and since this majority also had to earn a living, many of them plied their trade illegally. This led to friction and violence. In 1781 a new agreement was signed by which the number of Jewish tailors permitted to work was increased to 42; but this new arrangement also included the old restrictions and obligations incumbent upon the Jews. In 1792 the parties concerned drew up yet another agreement, but neither did this put an end to dissension. The Christian guild continued to complain that the Jews were in arrear of payments and that they employed Jewish tailors from other towns. In 1805 the two tailoring guilds of the town amalgamated, and 15 years later the number of Jewish members had surpassed that of the Christian. One restriction though still remained: Jews were not eligible for election to the guild council. But in 1832 this disability was also removed, and two Jews were elected to this body. Similar struggles were waged by other Jewish artisans. For example, in 1595 the Christian bakers were granted by the king's representative the privilege of trading in flour and baking products - this was denied to the Jews. This right was renewed in 1611 by Sigismund III, and again several times by successive Polish kings. Yet after a difficult struggle by the Jewish bakers a breach was made; it transpired that the Jews were allowed to bake products for their own use, and they also exploited this paragraph with extra-legal activity. The attitude of the royal authorities in the town to Jewish artisanship was far more obdurate than towards Jewish trade. The reason for this was mainly fiscal: Jewish trade constituted an important source of revenue for the king and the town, and the authorities were therefore prepared to compromise and allow Jewish trade, albeit with various restrictions. Despite such difficulties and curbs, however, Jewish workshops in L increased their activity and extended into more and more branches. According to the Census of 1764/5 there were 38 artisan workshops in all, nine of which were unspecified. Over 20 years later, in 1786, there were 30 tailor-shops (only nine were Christian); 30 shoemakers (masters only, excluding journeymen and apprentices); 30 glaziers (only one Christian); an unspecified number of jewellers (nearly all Jews - only two non-Jews are mentioned); and furriers, where Jews outnumbered non-Jews by four to one. The tinsmiths and coppersmiths were all Jews, as were the bookbinders and coopers. In addition to trade and artisanship the Jews engaged in credit transactions and leased the right to collect national and municipal monies (taxes and public revenue). Some of the tax and rent collectors and lessees prospered greatly and accumulated much capital. Joska Szachnowicz, who lived at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, and was the main lessee of royal revenue in "Lesser Poland" and in Reisen, has already been mentioned. After his death in 1507 his wife Golda took over his business, and she was followed by her son, Pesach Joskowicz (his younger brother, Szachna, was known as the greatest of L's rabbis). Much business in credits was carried out in the 16th century by the doctor Yitzhak Maj and his brothers Moshe and Joel. The sum of these transactions amounted to 5,000 guilders, an enormous figure for those times. In 1604 Moshe Doktorowicz (son of a doctor), a leader of the community, leased tax collection of the Jews in 20 towns in the districts of Belz and Chelm. The struggle of the Jews to earn a living was especially difficult because of the heavy tax burden. These included royal taxes, municipal taxes, and other duties and payments, both regular and extraordinary - property taxes to estate owners (juridically included in L), and the constant need to give presents to the royal functionaries, to the artisan guilds, to priests, to the Jesuit schools, and so on and so forth. In addition to a poll-tax (one guilder for every Jew over the age of one - this was raised to three guilders in the 18th century) the Jews of L in 1640 paid to the royal treasury (via the Starustra) 700 guilders a year. To this sum was added an annual tax to the Woiwoda (300 guilders), payments for maintenance of the royal court and entourage whenever they passed through L, and a tax called "royal szos" on houses and land. The Jews of L contributed "voluntarily" to the liquidation of the kingdom's public debts - their share sometimes amounted to as much as 60,000 guilders. The Jews of L paid a whole series of direct and indirect taxes to the municipality and to the council of Podzamce, where the Jewish quarter lay. The shopkeepers, artisans, and house owners paid duties on goods, funeral tax, tax on drinks, market tax, import tax, and so forth. In addition to all these, the Jews also paid taxes to the community - a direct tax ("sum") and indirect taxes ("maintenance", "clientele", etc.). The burden of payments on each Jewish head of family was very heavy, and many could not meet the demand. In times of war taxes and duties on the Jews were doubled and redoubled. The Jews paid most of the enemy's impositions on a town under siege and the conqueror's ransom money, amounting to thousands and tens of thousands of guilders. In 1676 the Jews were required to pay 8,000 guilders for military expenses. In 1698 they contributed 4,000 guilders towards renovation of the town hall. Large sums were also demanded to finance the town's water supply and other services. Contemporary documents naturally make no mention of the sums paid to officials, to merchant guilds or to artisan guilds. The municipal taxes had no foundation in law, since the Jews were not considered citizens of the town - but the municipality and the Christian organisations took no account of this. Nor did the appeals of the Jews to the royal court help. Thus, Jewish debt grew and grew, and for many years (until the beginning of the 19th century, after the division of Poland) not only was the community unable to repay the principal - it could not even pay the interest and compound interest to be paid to its creditors (the nobility, the church, and the non-Jewish citizens). The community of L was considered the most important in Poland, by virtue of its reputation as a centre of Jewish Law and Culture. Almost all the celebrated rabbis of the time officiated for shorter or longer periods as rabbis of L. In 1475 R. Yaakov Matrident (died 1541) arrived in L, and his presence there brought added renown to the community. The most eminent rabbis of Poland throughout time graced the rabbinical chair in L. First there was R. Yaakov Halevi (died 1541). His successor, R. Shalom Shachna Hacohen, who had lived in L since 1520, was not only L's spiritual Jewish head, but also a man of wealth and responsible to the State for the public finances of the community. Nearly all the renowned authorities on Halacha (Jewish Law) in Poland in the 16th century studied at the yeshiva he established - among them the Rem”a (R. Moshe Isserles). In 1541 he was appointed by the king Chief Rabbi of all "Lesser Poland". His gravestone in L has remained untouched. After his death in 1559 he was succeeded by his son, Israel, who set up another Yeshiva, headed by R. Shlomo ben Yechiel Luria (the Maharashal). R. Luria's books "Yam shel Shlomo" (Solomon's Sea) and "Chochmat Shlomo" (The Wisdom of Solomon) are cornerstones of Talmud and Halacha. Rabbis Isserles and Luria were considered the leading exegists of their time. R. Luria was one of the founders of "Nusach Polin" (the Polish Version) of Judaism. After his death in 1574, the post of Chief Rabbi went to his son-in-law, the Principal of the Yeshiva, R. Shimon Wolf Auerbach, son of R. David Teyvele - he too renowned in his time. R. Auerbach officiated as Rabbi of Prague towards the end of his life, and died there in 1632. His successor in L was R. Mordechai Jaffe, author of the Levushim, a popular exposition of Jewish Law; he too was a renowned scholar and also the founder of the Council of the Four Lands. He died in 1612. At the turn of the century until his death in 1623 the L rabbinate was occupied by R. Yitzhak ben Nute Hacohen. Also Chief Rabbi of L was R. Yehoshua Falk, a pupil of the Maharashal. Another renowned rabbi was the Maharam of L, Meir ben Gedalia, who served as Principal of the Yeshiva and Rabbi of the town (died in 1616). Other Rabbis of L in the 17th century worthy of note are Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Eidles, the Maharasha (1614-25); Yoel Jaffe Sirkes; Naftali ben Yitzhak Hacohen; Efraim Zalman Shor the Elder, author of "Tvuot Shor" (Shor's Harvest) (died 1634); Avraham Halevi Epstein (1638); and Yaakov ben Efraim Naftali Hirsh. In the second half of the 17th century too there were many eminent rabbis, amongst them: Naftali ben Yitzhak Katz, son-in-law of the Maharal of Prague (died 1650); Heshel ( son of the former Rabbi Yaakov), whose name was a symbol of Jewish wisdom and perspicacity, and who was popularly known simply as Rabbi Heshel (died 1652); Aharon Shimon Szapira (died 1680); Moshe, son-in-law of the Maharasha and author of "Mahadura Batra" (The Last Edition), and his son Israel Isser (died 1692); Tsvi Hirsh ben Zecharia Mendel (died 1690); and Mordechai Ziskind, author of "Shu"t Hamaram Ziskind" (Responsa of R. Mordechai Ziskind). The voices of the Rabbis of Lublin within Jewish Law and Tradition echoed throughout Poland and beyond. In 1587, by special permission of King Sigismund August, there were established in L a Yeshiva and a Bet Midrash. Their first principal was R. Yitzhak Maj, who was not subject to the authority of the town rabbinate. In all matters relating to the internal affairs of the community its leaders and rabbis followed Hebrew Law. In 1631 the Woiwoida, Petro Tarlo, confirmed the right of the Jews of L to manage their affairs on the basis of their religious laws, and to try cases involving Jews only in a Jewish court. Only in cases needing clarification, or those where one of the participants was a non-Jew, was judgment made in the court of the Woiwoida (Governor) or the king. L plays an important role in the annals of the Hebrew press in Poland. As early as 1547 sacred Hebrew books were printed there at the works founded by the Shachor family. The first printer in the town, Josef, bequeathed his printing works to his daughter Chana and her husband Yitzhak. In 1559 these two were granted the royal privilege of a monopoly on the publishing and distribution of Hebrew books. Despite this privilege, however, another press was set up near L, in Konskowola. Neither of these two printers survived long. In 1566 two Jews, Eliezer ben Yitzhak and Josef, were in turn given the royal privilege of starting a printing press, but this too had a brief life. In 1578 Klonimus Jaffe, son of R. Mordechai Jaffe, obtained permission from King Stefan Batory to set up a printing press. This works was passed on by Klonimus Jaffe to his descendants, and, with short intervals, was still operating at the beginning of the 19th century. Between 1550 and 1690 it published no less than 103 books. The presence of many printing works in L is evidence of the community's status as an important Jewish cultural centre in Poland. L was the home of doctors renowned in Poland and beyond. At the beginning of the 16th century there was a Jewish doctor there called Yechezkiel who, in return for his services, was exempted by King Alexander Jagiello from all taxes. Another Jewish doctor, Yitzhak Maj, occupied a prominent position in the community. As mentioned above, in 1557 he was granted a plot of land on which to build a house of prayer and a yeshiva. One of his contemporaries in L was Dr. Moshe Doktor. His son, Tsvi Hirsz was a leader of the community and an agent at the courts of the kings Sigismund III and Wladislaw IV. At the end of the 16th century there lived in L the doctors Shlomo Luria (a relative of the Maharashal), author of the medical book "Luach Chaim" (Table of Life); Shmuel ben Matatyahu; and Moshe Montalto, the descendant of a well-known Marrano family from Portugal, bearer of the title "Medical Adviser to the King of France". He died in 1637, and his gravestone still stands in L. His father, Eliezer, returned to Judaism and served as doctor to the French kings Henri IV and Louis XIII. In the 17th century the doctor Chaim (Felix) Vitalis was renowned in L. He had studied In Padua and served as doctor to the court of King Mikael Wisnowiecki. This king invested him with the authority to test all the Jewish doctors. In the second half of the 17th century some of the members of the Jewish community of L went to study medicine in Padua. The best-known of these were Avraham Szapira and Moshe Izrael Polak ben Yitzhak. Within the community there arose organisations and commitees concerned with welfare and mutual help, as well as with education and culture. In L, as in the other Jewish communities in Poland, the foremost among these was the Chevra Kadisha. This was a closed and privileged body, not open to everybody. In its hands, and through it the community, lay the authority to impose on the Jews discipline and moral precepts. It was enough for the Chevra to threaten an offender to be placed on its black list (i.e., when his time came they would not arrange his burial) for him to repent. The offences recorded in this connection were slander, infringement of the rights of possession, contact with non-Jewish legal instances, etc. Among its other tasks the Chevra took upon itself reception of the emissaries, expounders of the Torah, preachers, writers and contractual experts from many countries who came to the community in L; and it also administered the Hospice for the Needy. In the period 1690 to 1760 the records of the Chevra name guests from Italy, Turkey, Prague, Moravia (Mahren), Belgrade and Budapest, in addition to those who came from all parts of Poland. As well as the Chevra Kadisha, documents of the 18th century mention the institutions "Ner Tamid" (Eternal Light), "Bikur Cholim" (Visiting the Sick), "Rodfei Tsedaka" (Seekers of Charity), and " 7 Kruim (The 7 Guests)". Ner Tamid was to be found in every prayer-house. The Jewish children were taught in the Cheder by private teachers. There was a Yeshiva in L, headed by the town rabbi and supported by the community council. The Yeshiva students, some of whom were not from L but who came from all parts of Poland, were supported by the "houseowners", lived in their houses, and ate daily at their tables - each day in a different house. In the 16th and 17th centuries the Council of the Four Lands convened in L, but moved in 1680 to Jaroslaw. The Rabbi of L, Yehoshua Falk-Cohen, was the leader of the Council and the author of its set of rules. L was also the seat of the Jewish Rabbinical High Court in Poland, among whose duties was granting permission for the publication of Hebrew books. One of the latter was the edition of the Babylonian Talmud (1559-80), that was published to meet the needs of the Torah schools and other Jewish schools (cheders and yeshivas) in Poland. In 1655 Lublin was attacked by the Cossack hetman, Zoltarnko, and the Muscovite Voivoda, Piotr Ivanovitch. The town was occupied after a long siege. The conquerors imposed a tribute of 10,000 guilders on the town, in return for which they promised not to inconvenience the citizens. They did not, however, honour this pledge. First of all, they burst into the Jewish quarter and slaughtered some 10,000 Jews, among them refugees from the surrounding area who had sought refuge in the fortified city, and plundered whatever they could find. A group of Jews wrapped themselves in their prayer-shawls and asked their tormentors to bury them alive in the Jewish cemetery (so that they would be sure to be interred in Jewish soil); the butchers acceded to this request. The names of the victims are engraved on the wall surrounding the cemetery. A description of these events is given in the book "Hesed Shmuel" (The Mercy of Samuel - Amsterdam 1699), written by Szmuel ben Dawid. The massacre took place during the Feast of Succot, and for many years it was the custom in L to mourn in this period. The damage wrought on L by the Cossacks was not repaired for some time, and only at the beginning of the 19th century did the population return to its former level, before the "deluge", i.e. 4,000 souls. The economic derpression that followed in the wake of the Cossack aggression continued till the middle of the 19th century, when the town began to recuperate. On the conclusion of the bloodbath, as was the custom of the times, the king promulgated a number of orders designed to alleviate the plight of the victims, and the Jews were included in these. A decree of 1669 allowed them to trade inside and outside the walls. Permission was likewise given for the Jews to acquire houses and building plots. In 1679 King Jan Sobieski replaced this decree with one that still allowed the Jews to do business within the walls, except on Christian Holydays. In 1675 the Satrusta Danilowicz issued a decree placing the Jews of L and the "little they possessed" under his protection. In 1696 the king renewed the right of the Jews to trade within the walls, like the Christian merchants. However, these days of clemency did not last. During the "Catholic Reaction" in the first half of the 18th century, the non-Jewish citizens renewed their efforts to eject the Jews from business activity, and even to expel them from the town. There were again calls for rigorous measures against them. In 1720 King August II issued an ordinance accusing the Jews for economic and religious reasons, as it were, of mocking the Christian religion, and forbad them completely to engage in commerce; he further ordered them to leave the dwellings they had rented "by guile" from the Christians of the town. The last king of the Kingdom of Poland, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, confirmed, however, in 1769, the "privileges" granted to the Jews of L in the past - only in 1780 to issue a decree forbidding them permanently to live or engage in trade in L and its suburbs. This situation prevailed until the town was occupied by the Austrians in 1795. The period under review was also marked by a decline in the internal affairs of the Jewish community in L, which was enmeshed in debts and unable to pay the interest and compound interest on the loans taken, and certainly unable to repay the principal. The status of the community declined drastically, and individuals and groups began to act with an irresponsibility that bordered on anarchy. Many stopped paying their taxes to the community and avoided payment of sums the community had undertaken to pay to the authorities. Nor did they honour the code of conduct in business and crafts, with the result that unrestrained competition was rampant, and this seriously affected the livelihood of many of their fellows. These miscreants placed their trust in the hands of the estate owners near the town, on whose land they settled. The Community Council complained to King August III about this situation; and he empowered it to exercise force and even to impound possessions in order to collect the outstanding taxes. The Chevra Kadisha issued a proclamation warning the Jews of L that it would use all its power to combat disturbers of the peace, slanderers, and Jews having recourse to non-Jewish instances. Here too, as in the past, the Chevra threatened to blacklist their names: they would not be given a Jewish burial, and the protection of the nobility would not help them. The second half of the 18th century heralded the spread of Chassidism. At its beginning the rabbis who officiated in L were "mitnagdim", like Yaakov Chaim (died in 1769), son of the great mentor R. Avraham ben Chaim, who was the leader of the Council of the Four Lands, and examined the learning abilities of the Baal Shem Tov. After R. Yaakov came R. Shaul Margules (died 1788), who was not a Chassid himself, but whose father, R. Meir Margules, belonged to the circle of the Baal Shem Tov. There is no doubt that only in the time of the latter was R. Yitzhak Horowitz, the "Seer of Lublin", able to fix his place of residence in L and to make it the "Jerusalem of Chassidism". Large numbers converged on hsi Bet-Midrash, and the whole following generation of holy men in Poland were his students. The "Seer" taught and inspired many renowned "Admorim" (Chassidic Rabbis) and Heads of Chassidic dynasties throughout Poland, among them the Heads of the Dinover dynasty, R. Tsvi Elimelech Szapira, and his son, R. David; R. Shalom Rokeach, Head of the Admorim of Belz; and many others. Opposed to the Chassidim was the Rabbi of the Community, R. Azriel Horowicz, known as “der ayzerner kop" (died in 1819). The struggle between Mitnagdim and Chassidim weakened the community. With the death of the "Seer" the position of L as a centre of Chassidism declined. In the period under review many different rulers held sway over the area which included L; but the legal and civil status of the Jews hardly changed. Neither the Austrians nor the authorities of the "Principality of Warsaw", which spoke in its constitution of equality for all its subjects, granted equal status to the Jews, or alleviated their restrictions. The period of a "decade", during which equal rights for the Jews were postponed "until they mended their ways", lasted till 1862. The regime of Congress Poland that followed made no changes in the legal status of the Jews in that kingdom, including the Jews of L. The so-called privileges granted by August II (in 1720) and Stanislaw August Poniatowski (in 1780), according to which the Jews were permitted to live permanently in the "Jewish town" of Podzamsze and in other quarters separated from the Christian sections of the city, remained in force until all restrictions on Jewish residence in Poland were annulled by the Tsarist Decree of June 1862. During the Polish uprising of 1863 Jewish inhabitants of the town sided with the insurgents. From 1765 until the 50s of the 19th century the Jewish population of L increased fivefold or more. Most of this was due to natural increase, though part was also explained by Jewish migration - legal and illegal - from nearby provincial towns. From the annulment decree of 1862 to the end of the 19th century the number of Jews in L grew from 8,747 (1857 figure) to 23,586 in 1897. An additional increase took place in the first two decades of the 20th century, numbering in 1921 37,337, or more than a third of the total population. In the second half of the 19th century the Jews of L began to settle in the "old town" within the walls. In the course of time, as the Poles preferred to move outside the walls, the Jews formed a majority and the "old town" thus became a new ghetto. During this period the Jews of L earned their living mainly by petty trade and artisanship. There were times when the number engaged in the latter surpassed that of those engaged in the former. The area around L was agricultural. Until 1864 most of the villagers were poor serfs tied to the soil, and their purchasing power was thus very limited. Most of them lived off their own produce and had little need to buy goods. One of the branches that depended on the peasants of the area was the production and sale of strong drinks, and here there was competition between the Jewish lessees and the declining nobility. The few implements needed by the peasants, mainly of iron, were not enough to warrant the establishment of industry or the development of trade. The main agricultural product was corn, and trade in it gave a living to many Jews. They bought the produce at markets, or through the middlemen and distributors of the estate owners, and sold it in Warsaw, or shipped it on rafts to the port of Danzig (Gdansk), with a view to export abroad. Other important products traded in were hides, pig bristles (for brush-making), and wood felled in the surrounding forests. These goods too were sold in Warsaw or exported abroad. The majority of Jewish merchants, however, were merely small shopkeepers or pedlars who wandered round the villages with their merchandise (haberdashery, i.e. needles, buttons, and the like, cheap cloth, etc.). In return they bought in the villages eggs, poultry, feathers, etc. The impoverished rural surroundings were the deciding factor in the miserable situation of the Jewish merchant in L and the extent of his business. No significant change took place in this situation after the emancipation of the serfs. The tiny plots of land given to the latter were insufficient to produce an agricultural surplus for sale. Under these conditions no real industry developed in L, and the share of the Jews in what little manufacture there was remained small: of the 27 larger industrial plants only three were in Jewish hands. Most of these local industries were engaged in processing the agricultural produce. In contrast, the number of Jewish artisans in L increased. Proof of this was the continued existence of craft branches begun in the preceding centuries.The most prominent, as far as numbers and organisation were concerned, were the tailors and furriers. Towards the end of the 19th century the salesmen were almost as numerous. There was considerable Jewish representation in all artisan branches; and in general non-Jews were in a minority in them. In the last two decades of the 19th century three provident funds were established in L. In 1906 they embraced 1,200 members (artisans and small traders) and their equity capital amounted to 91,000 roubles. The clerks and petty traders set up a similar organisation, called "Igud Le'ezra Hadadit shel Pekidim Usocharim Zeirim Bnei Dat Moshe" ( The Mutual Aid Society of Clerks and Small Traders of the Mosaic Faith). As stated, in the second half of the 18th century the situation of the Jewish Community Council in L deteriorated as a result of growing debt, and thus led to growing dependence on the local authorities, who were also the main creditors of the community. The interference of the Woiwoda and the Starusta in its activities was a frequent occurrence. The collection of community taxes was subject to the approval of the Woiwoda. Within the community itself conflicts erupted that often involved non-Jewish mediation. There was constant friction between the affluent merchants (who were dominant in the council) and the lesser merchants and artisans. Even the Rabbinate, which, as mentioned, was one of the most important in Poland, was not spared the animosity of these conflicts, and its incumbents were the subject of quarrels without end. The diagreements that arose out of the difficult financial situation grew even worse with the advent of Chassidism. The propagator of Chassidism in L was, as stated, the Seer of Lublin, R. Yaakov Yitzhak Horowicz. During his tenure the community split into two: to begin with the Mitnagdim were in the ascendant, under the leadership of R. Azriel Horowicz, (der ayzerner kop) (died in 1819); but after his death the Chassidim grew stronger, and they determined the choice of the Chassid R. Yehoshua Heshel, Head of the Rabbinical Court at Tarnopol, as Rabbi of L. He was not, however, well received by the Jews of the town: three brothers, prominent members of the community, and Mitnagdim, instituted a campaign against him, and in 1826 he was forced to resign. From that year until his death in 1843 the Rabbi of L was Meshulam Zalman Ashkenazi, who was a Mitnaged, but conciliatory towards the Chassidim. On his death the struggle for the rabbinate was renewed - and this time too the mitnagdim carried the day. The new Rabbi chosen was Dov Berish Ashkenazi from the faction "Noda Beshearim" (Known in the Gates). He followed in his predecessor's path, and enjoyed general support in the town. During his term of office the new "Parnas" Bet Midrash was built and its activities recorded. Upon his death in 1852, his son, Yaakov Heshel Ashkenazi was chosen as Rabbi, and he fought a bitter war against Chassidism, which had once more established itself in L with the arrival of R. Yehuda Leib Eiger, who established a new dynasty in the town. This dynasty continued until the Holocaust through his son, R. Avraham Eiger, and his grandsons, R. Azriel Meir and R. Shlomo. The last two perished under the German occupation, the former in 1940 and the latter in 1941. In 1868 the Chassidic Rabbi, Shneur Zalman Ladjer, author of "Torat Chesed" (Torah of Mercy), was appointed Rabbi of L. In 1892 he left for Palestine, and was replaced by a Mitnaged - R. Hillel Aryeh Lifszyc, who maintained good relations with the Chassidim. Two Chassidic candidates stood against him - R. Gershon Chanoch of Radzin and R. Meir Yechiel of Ostrowiec, but R. Lifszyc won; he was also a man with a more liberal educational background. During this period several Admorim settled in L, among them R. Tsadok Hacohen, who inherited some of the disciples of R. Yehuda Leib Eiger and was renowned as a great Jewish thinker; R. Moshe Mordechai Twerski, author of "Maamar Mordechai" (The Sayings of Mordechai); and many others. In 1910 R. Eliahu Klackin (the father of Professor Yaakov Klackin) was chosen Chief Rabbi. He emigrated to Palestine in 1925 and settled in Jerusalem, where he died in 1932. He wrote several important books, that are mentioned in his last work, "Dvarim Achadim" (A Few Things"). In addition to the community institutions, organisations and synagogues mentioned above, note should also be made of other institutions that arose and operated in the 19th century. In 1886 a Jewish hospital was opened, and at the end of the century it contained 90 beds. The community also had an Old Age Home and an Orphanage, and in almost every Jewish quarter there were various charitable organisations alongside the local prayer-houses. Towards the end of the century the children of the community - 800 boys and 100 girls - were studying in 43 private cheders. The community also ran a Talmud-Torah for children of the poor. During this period non-Jewish private schools also sprang up in the town, first for girls and afterwards for boys. Their language of instruction was Russian or Polish. They also had Jewish pupils. In the 1890s a government school for Jewish children was established in the Catholic Cathedral building, and the language used here was Russian. At one time it had some 300 pupils; but it closed when the Russians withdrew from the town in 1915. In 1897/8 two elementary schools were opened, with Hebrew as the language of instruction, based on the system "Hebrew through Hebrew". One of them, the Pines School, functioned until 1907; the other until the First World War. 1913 also saw the establishment of the "Yavneh" school, which closed in 1927 for lack of money, and after the headmaster, Szmuel Rotensztajn, had emigrated to Palestine. In addition to the above there were also government elementary schools for Jewish children, beginning with the Austrian occupation and continuing into the 1930s. They were closed on Sabbaths and Holydays, and were therefore known as "Szabsuvka". An important many-sided cultural institution was "Hazamir" (The Nightingale), established in 1908 with the aim of fostering a love of Hebrew songs and literature among the young. Hazamir also possessed a library of Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Polish books - the first modern Jewish public library in L; and it also boasted an orchestra, and a drama group, that gave performances of Jewish classical plays in L and the nearby provincial towns. The rooms of Hazamir were also the setting for lectures on current and Jewish subjects, with some speakers coming from as far away as Warsaw. In 1910 the organisation "Chovevei Sfat Aver" (Lovers of the Hebrew Tongue) was founded; it held Hebrew courses and published Hebrew books. During the First World War, however, this organisation folded, and its assets, including the library, passed into the hands of the "Bund". At the end of the 19th century the first groups of "Chovevei Zion" (Lovers of Zion) appeared; to begin with their activities were more social than political. At the beginning of the 20th century small groups of the "Bund" appeared on the L scene; in 1903 its first pamphlets were distributed; and in the following year a branch was officially established. In 1905, the year of revolution, the Bund attracted many members, who organized demonstrations and strikes. Activity also increased of the Jewish groups affiliated to the PPS, the Polish Socialist Party. Folders and booklets in Yiddish were distributed in the streets. A small group of Jewish anarchists also came on the scene. The activities of the Bund resulted in some of its members being exiled to Siberia. A Jewish police agent was murdered, and during his funeral disturbances ensued and the Cossacks were called upon to restore order. The outbreak of the First World War brought with it clear signs of antisemitism by the Russian rulers, who accused the Jews of treachery and aiding the enemy.The Cossacks of the garrison were permitted to plunder Jewish property and to forego payment for goods acquired from Jewish merchants. Some of the town's Jews were exiled to the depths of Russia. Another affliction that affected many Jewish families was forced military conscription. Many young Jews were mobilized, and soon messages began to arrive of their dear ones being killed or wounded in battle. As the front drew near many refugees streamed to L, the economy of the town stagnated, and many Jews were left without work or livelihood. In July 1915 the Russians withdrew from the town and gave way to the Austrians. Before the retreat the Russian commander summoned the engineer Tomorowicz, one of the leading citizens, and ordered him to organize a militia to guarantee order in the town. Tomorowicz was a known liberal, and he also saw to it that a militia was formed in the Jewish quarter ("the Sixth Commissariat"). The head of this militia was Bernard Glowinski. It numbered some 200 men aged 18 and above, and who had an unblemished record. Its members were armed with revolvers. A tribunal was also set up with judges from among reputable Jewish lawyers in the town. This militia, which consisted only of volunteers, carried out its duties impeccably and to the satisfaction of the citizens. At the end of November 1915, however, it was disbanded and replaced by professionals, but many of the Jewish militiamen joined the new body. During the Austrian occupation the existing Jewish political organisations increased their activities, and new ones were founded, including youth movements and groups. The Jewish community and the various organisations of the time opened public soup kitchens that provided warm meals and food to the needy, and especially to children. With the cessation of hostilities and the proclamation of the independent state of Poland in November 1918, the Jews of L, and Poland in general, hoped for a better future in the new nation. They set about repairing the ravages of war and looked forward to a normalisation of economic, political and social life. However, as early as 1919 events took place in the town that cast a shadow over the community. On a Thursday, which was the market day, Polish army recruits ran amok, attacked Jewish passers-by, destroyed and even looted Jewish shops. Jewish youngsters organised self-defence, and to begin with even managed to repulse the rioters; but in the afternoon there burst onto the scene in Lubartowska Street gangs of butchers and simple trouble-makers, with butchers' knives, iron bars, and other weapons, and began a pogrom that went on until evening. The police did not interfere. The leaders of the Jewish community met with the Mayor, and only then were the police ordered to stop the pogrom. The results of these disturbances were 60 injured Jews, of whom three died, and widespread damage to shops and houses. Thus was Jewish L included in the many Jewish communities in Poland that were victims of the riots of 1918-19, after Poland's resurgence. When the disturbances were over the Jews began to reconstruct their businesses and the institutions of the community. Their first concern was the wretched economic situation following the war. In 1921, after two years of rehabilitation, there was still no renewal of activity in 57 of the 1,714 Jewish-owned workshops and businesses, some of which did not employ hired labour. The units that did begin to operate, 1,657 in number, were mostly small businesses that all in all employed 4,871 persons, half of whom (2,366 - or 48.5%) were the owners and their families. The remainder were employees (2,068 Jews and 437 non-Jews). Most of these businesses made clothing (made -to-measure and ready-made), and hats (to order and for shops); there were also furriers, shoemakers, and leather workshops. Together these employed 2,444 persons, of whom 1,031 were workshop owners, 394 were members of their families, and 997 Jews and a mere 22 non-Jews were hired workers. The next largest group were 139 food businesses, employing 804 persons, more than half of them (424 Jews and 129 non-Jews) employees. The remaining plants and workshops were engaged in a variety of manufactures - timber, building, etc., with a small number of participants compared to the leading segments of clothing and food. Most of the workers in production, particularly the hired ones, were men; a few of the hired workers were children (116 Jews and 34 non-Jews). Most businesses were only active part of the year (construction work lay dormant in the winter, and the manufacture of clothing was also seasonal). In the "dead" periods the unemployed and their would-be employers waited for "better times". In the larger plants there were few Jews employed, partly because they were not welcome, and partly because the Jews themselves did not want to work in them (since work continued on the Sabbath and Jewish Holydays). Jews were not employed in government offices or the municipality, in public transport, or even in cleaning the streets. The most important sphere after crafts and minor industry were the various forms of trading - wholesale, retail, peddling, and market stallholding. Most of those involved were petty traders, who set up market stalls or peddled their wares in the streets of the town or in the surrounding villages. Their volume of goods and of course their turnover were limited. Their customers were the Polish peasants or the labourers, who were economically poorly off and also subject to unemployment. Most of the peasants had smallholdings that supplied nearly all their needs, though there were articles they had to buy outside, such as tobacco, salt, spirits and matches, all of which were state monopolies. Government policy was to squeeze Jewish traders out of this monopoly sector. One branch was a kind of Jewish monopoly: the leather industry. In the years preceding the Second World War some 95% of production and tanning of hides was in Jewish hands. In 1939 150 workers, 75 of them Jews, were employed in the large tanning plant in the town. The annual turnover of this branch amounted to 20 million zloty (about 4 million dollars). Under Jewish ownership were also a brandy distillery, a brewery, brickworks, flour mills, and a cigarette and tobacco factory, established in 1860 and at its peak employing 400 workers, all of them Jews. After the war, however, this factory was taken over by the State Monopoly and its Jewish workers dismissed. Branches employing a majority of Jews were the ones to suffer most in times of crisis. Usually it was not only Jewish apprentices and salesmen who became unemployed, but also the workshop owners, most of whom were self-employed. These latter were not entitled to unemployment benefits, nor were they registered in a sick fund, and they and their families were thus unable to receive medical treatment. In the early years of the 20s the Jews of L, as in other places, set about restoring the mutual aid societies that had existed before the war, and establishing new ones. In the inter-war period there were in L ten provident funds affiliated to the prayer-houses and the political organisations and trade unions. The largest of them was set up immediately after the war by the "Va'ad Hahatsala" (Rescue Committee), and its equity capital amounted in the 30s to 140,000 zloty, and its annual turnover to more than 11 million zloty. This fund gave loans at a low rate of interest, and sometimes at no rate of interest, mainly to workshop owners and petty merchants. These loans were often the only way in which shopkeepers and pedlars could replenish their stocks or replace workshop equipment. In this period too ten Jewish banks were established, the first of them, "Kupat Halvaa Uchisachon" (Loan and Savings Bank) at the end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century. Later there appeared "Chevra Le'ezra Hadadit Lefkidei Mischar Usocharim Ze'irim Bnei Dat Moshe" (Mutual Aid Society of Trading Clerks and Small Traders of the Mosaic Faith); "Habank Harishon Levaalei Mlacha" (First Bank for Artisans); "Bank Hasocharim" (Merchants' Bank); "Bank Baalei Batim" (Householders' Bank); and "Bank Shitufi" (Cooperative Bank). The employees too established their own mutual aid societies in conjunction with the trade unions. Other bodies were set up at the beginning of the 20th century within the framework of existing organisations. In the 20s there was widespread organized professional activity, embracing most of the Jewish workers. One of the most prominent organisations, in terms of number of members and level of activity was the Union, or Guild, of Needleworkers, founded as early as 1915. Other unions of considerable size followed, such as those of the cobblers, printing workers, tanners, carpenters, butchers, porters, and bakery workers. The largest of them, "Haigud Hameuchad shel Poalei O'r" (The United Guild of Leather Workers) counted some 500 members; while the Textile Workers' Guild numbered some 200 members. The community of L was blessed with many institutions of welfare, charity and aid. Especially renowned was the society "Achiezer" (Brotherly Aid), which on the threshold of Sabbaths and Festivals distributed food to hundreds of the needy. Money for its activities came from contributions from members of the community (at Purim, on the Eve of Yom Kippur and at weddings). The institution also ran a kitchen for the poor. The organisation "Linat Tsedek" (Hospice for the Poor) provided the sick and destitute with medical care and drugs free of charge, and its members helped their families stand watch by the bedside of the ill. In 1919 the organisation "Zichron Nes" ( Token of Miracle) was inaugurated with the aim of helping war invalids, bereaved parents, and orphans. It was financed from the sale of the privilege of being called to the Torah ("Kearot Nedava" - Collections of Charity) on the occasion of weddings etc. Members of the "Shabta Tava" (Good Sabbath) society were wont to walk through the streets on a Friday to collect chalot (Sabbath bread) for the needy. The society "Hachnasat Orchim" (Hospice) opened a lodging for indigent travellers: each night tens of them were accommodated. In addition to all these bodies other groups of community volunteers were active, for example, in visiting the vick, supporting the poor, collecting a dowry for penniless brides, and other causes. In 1923 a branch of "TOZ" (Polish initials for the Jewish Health Organisation of Poland) was established in L. Its activities were many and varied: in its clinics there were 22 doctors and X-ray and radiography facilities. TOZ ran an advice service for women and a child care centre, and even supported Jewish sports organisations and provided them with training areas. Each summer TOZ organised camps for school pupils. In 1924, the first year these took place, 300 children participated; in 1939 this number reached 1,200. Another institution the community boasted was the Jewish Hospital, opened, as stated, in 1886, but not allowed to function during the Great War. Afterwards, however, it quickly resumed and expanded its activity, with the support of former residents of L in the USA. It contained 30 beds for men and 26 for women, and had an X-ray department, a bacteriological laboratory, and a clinic for quartz radiation. In the late 30s a children's department was opened, and became known for its high professional standard; and an Institute for Hydrotherapy was also inaugurated. Every week the hospital held lectures and symposia, with the participation of doctors from L and the vicinity. The inter-war years saw increased activity by the Jewish political parties and youth movements. Prominent among the parties were the various Zionist factions. Zionist activities in L began, as stated, with the groups of "Chovevei Zion" that sprang up at the end of the preceding century. The Zionist Federation crystallised in L during the Austrian occupation (1915-18), and its activity increased following the Balfour Declaration in 1917. When the Mandate for Palestine was decided upon there was much celebration in the community, and all the Jewish shops were closed. At the same time the young people set up "Tseirei Zion" (Youth of Zion), which existed until it split into "Socialist Zionist Youth" and "Poalei Zion Smol" (Leftist Workers of Zion). In 1920 a branch of "Hechalutz" (The Pioneer) was set up. In the Zionist Federation building in L lectures and evening classes were held. The Zionists in L were active in all speheres of the political and social life, took part in elections to the Polish parliament, were represented on the Town Council, and of course in the Community Council. 1924 saw the establishment of "Haliga Lema'an Eretz-Izrael Haovedet" (The League for Labour Israel), with the participation of Socialist Poalei Zion, Hashomer Hatsair, Hechalutz Hatsair, Dror (Freedom), and Hapoel. In 1929 the organisation "Haoved" (The Worker) was launched in L, consisting of the workshop owners, and particularly those who intended to emigrate to Palestine. After the schism in "Poalei Zion" in 1921 the majority of the members of the L branch remained loyal to the left wing of the party. This party exercised much influence among students and pupils; its youth movement, "Jugent", had some 140 members in L. In the late 30s, when the atmosphere in the whole of Poland was permeated with national-fascist ideas, the party was persecuted by the authorities, who regarded members of Left Poalei Zion as clandestine communits, and in 1936-37 some of them were even arrested. Prominent among the Zionist youth movements was "Hashomer Hatsair" (The Young Watchman). The L cell was set up in 1916, and between the two world wars its membership and activity increased, and a kibbutz training farm was even established. There was also in L a large branch of "Hanoar Hazioni", the youth movement of the General Zionists. In 1927 was founded the children's organisation in the name of Borochov, called "Jungbor", which was active in the fields of education, information and scouting. The L branch of "Hamizrachi" was founded in 1903, and was reorganized at the end of the Great War. Its activities were centred on the Mizrachi Synagogue in Novorowna Street, while for its lectures and discussions it rented the "Hazamir" hall once a week. Its members opened the "Yavneh School" in L, which turned out several graduation classes. Hamizrachi's youth movement (Tseirei Mizrachi) established several training centres outside the town. In the early 20s branches of "Hapoel Hamizrachi" and "Hechalutz Hamizrachi" were also set up. The Revisionist Movement was active in L from 1925 on. The first branch to be set up was "Hashachar" (The Dawn), and a year later saw the arrival of the youth movement "Beitar" (Covenant of Josef Trumpeldor). The Revisionist movement in L and district expanded, and in 1934 had some 50 branches. In the same period one of its important fractions, called "Brit Hachayil" (Covenant of Strength), also developed. Beitar ran several amateur groups - drama, literature, etc., as well as a brass band. Each year it organised summer camps, where the young boys and girls received instruction with regard to emigrating to Palestine. To the congresses of the L branch of the Revisionists there came speakers from the national Polish and the world organisation (including Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Begin) and their meetings attracted a large audience. Nevertheless, not all the Jews of L belonged to the Zionist camp. Up to 1914 the "Bund" operated clandestinely, but renewed its public activities during the Austrian occupation of 1915-18. During the war there was a shortage of food bordering on famine, and the members of the Bund therefore opened a kitchen and set up cooperatives of consumers and a bakery, which employed ten workers. Bund members were also active in the field of culture, and among other things established a library (in the name of Groser), a choir, and a drama group. In 1917 was held the L Congress, where it was decided to sever all connection with the Bund of the Russian Empire and to maintain an independent Polish section. In November 1917, after the October Revolution in Russia, a Workers' Council was set up in L, also with the participation of the Bund. At this time there were attacks on the Jews in L, and to counter them a militia of Polish and Jewish members of the Polish Socialist Party was formed. In 1920 during the Polish-Soviet War the Polish authorities arrested some of the active leaders of the Bund in L. After the war the Bund played an influential role in the Central Committee of the Jewish trade unions in L, with five representatives; and in most of the individual unions it formed a majority, while Poalei Zion and the communists usually had only one representative. The youth and children's movements of the Bund in L - "Zukunft" (The Future) and "Sakif" ( Threshold ?? ) - had large and active branches. Some L Jews were members of the Communist Party, which operated several illegal cells in the town. These members often infiltrated the other Jewish workers' parties (Poalei Zion and Bund). They were mainly active in organising strikes and demonstration and in spreading propaganda. During the 30s some active Jewish communists were arrested and imprisoned; and the threat of imprisonment impelled others to flee abroad, particularly to France, where they continued to maintain contact and help one another. Also present in L were "Agudat Israel", its labour faction "Poalei Agudat Israel", and its youth movement "Tseirei Agudat Israel". Most members of Aguda were to be found among the various Chassidic groups; and their field of action was within the Community Council and in religious education. Up to 1932 the majority in the community council were religious representatives, and only a few came from among the "Neurim" (The Enlightened or Illuminati), as secular Jews were then called. The council consisted of the general body, or council, and the executive committee. In the inter-war period elections to the council were only partly democratic; women were not eligible to vote, and there were also restrictions with regard to age and economic status. From 1932 on the elections were held on the basis of party lists, and in that year all the parties that had branches in L participated, with the exception of the Bund, which boycotted the elections. Five representatives of Agudat Israel and the Chassidim were elected, together with two from the Artisan List, and one each from the General Zionists, Socialist Poalei Zion, Left Poalei Zion, Mizrachi, the "People's Party", and the "Assimilationists". At first the Chairman chosen was the lawyer M. Alten, but the Polish authorities withheld their approval, and his place was taken by Y. Zilber. As Chairman of the executive committee, the "assimilationist", the lawyer A. Levinsohn, was chosen. He held this post for only a year, when he resigned, and his place was taken by S, Halberstadt from Agudat Israel. In 1930 R. Meir Shapira (1886-1933), one of the leaders of Agudat Israel, was elected Chief Rabbi of L. He established the largest Yeshiva in Poland, "Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin" (The Yeshiva of the Wise Men of L). R. Shapira was a brilliant speaker, and was a member of the Polish parliament (Sejm). He initiated learning of the ”Daf Hayomi" (The Daily Page) throughout the Diaspora. On his death there were no more chief rabbis in L, and the community contented itself with dayanim (judges). The closing years of the 20s and the beginning of the 30s found the community in grave circumstances. It was weighed down with heavy debts, and its income, mainly accruing from schechita (ritual slaughtering), payment for burial plots, and direct taxes, did not cover expenditure, viz., wages in the religious sector (in the Rabbinate there were a rabbi, five dayanim, and a number of "minor" rabbis in the suburbs); allocations to various religious institutions and a Talmud-Torah, to the Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin, to the orphanage, to schools where the language was Yiddish; and so forth. Due to the economic problems these allocations were not made on time. and the institutions of the community therefore operated at a low level. The orphanage, for example, was almost without supervision, the children were neglected, and some of them became subject to bad influences, The cemetery too was neglected, and sometimes waterlogged, and there was no vacant ground for new burials. In 1932, following election to the new council, its members set about a thorough reorganisation. Hours of work and reception times for the public were scheduled; the collection of taxes came under strict control; renovations were carried out on the synagogues, especially that of the Maharashal; and the amount and times of payment for allocations to the various institutions were laid down. In the elections of 1939 members of the Bund were also represented. The community faced a crisis, when the authorities insisted on the shochtim (ritual slaughterers) being given functionary status. These schochtim exploited the situation by refusing to pay slaughtering fees to the community, and this seriously undermined its finances. One of the last decisions of the community before the Holocaust was that of August 7th, 1939 - to grant the Jewish Hospital an allocation of 6,000 zloty, and to issue bonds to the samount of 30,000 zloty to ensure normal operation of the council and its subsidised institutions. The Jews of L were represented in the town council via the party lists. In the elections of 1927 16 Jews (most of them from the Bund) were elected to the council, i.e. a third of all its members. At its meetings they put forward the claims of the Jewish institutions and of the Jews of L in general, and protested against all forms of discrimination. From earliest times there were in L cheders, where Chumesh, Mishna and Talmud were studied. Poor children went to the Talmud Torah, subsidized by the community. Older boys studied at Batei Midrash; and in the evenings, by candlelight, lessons were held in Gemara, Mishna, or the weekly passage of the Torah for adults and married men - and there were among these some veritable scholars. In the inter-war period L, as in other parts of Poland, possessed some state elementary schools for Jewish children - the Szabasuvka. After Polish independence three additional schools of this type were opened. * For explanations of these and other organisations and movements mentioned in this survey readers are kindly referred to more detailed reference works. Back Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Copyright © 1999-2013 by JewishGen, Inc. Updated 10 Apr 2004 by LA

<urn:uuid:59c60c0d-3383-4ab9-924c-398570d2d4ec>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

European History Narratives

Lycopene Is a Rising Star of Health BenefitsLycopene Protects Skin, Heart, and More f you plan to spend much time outdoors this summer, you might want to make sure that tomatoes figure prominently in your diet. So look forward to eating plenty of tomatoes and dishes made with tomato sauce, drinking some tomato juice, having a bowl of steaming hot tomato soup (better for you than the delicious cold tomato soup gazpacho), and topping it all off with a big wedge of watermelon. Why should you eat these specific foods? Well, for starters, they are loaded with lycopene. You already knew that lycopene is good for prostate health, but now there's a new and unexpected angle: according to a recent report by European researchers, lycopene protects your skin from damage caused by solar ultraviolet radiation. LYCOPENE IS A POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANT Lycopene is a natural carotenoid that has received much attention lately because of its potent antioxidant activity. Carotenoids are common in the plant world and are responsible for giving many vegetables and fruits, such as carrots and tomatoes, their characteristic colors. (You knew that a carrot is a vegetable, but did you know that a tomato is technically a fruit?) These plant compounds are important for much more than just pretty colors, however. Antioxidants such as lycopene (as well as vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A) help to neutralize rogue molecules called free radicals. Free radicals can greatly damage our bodies' tissues and have been implicated in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cataracts, Alzheimer's disease, and others. They also figure prominently in the aging process. These pesky little molecules are hard to escape, as they are all around us and are especially prominent in cigarette smoke and air pollution. To make matters worse, we produce them in our own bodies as natural metabolic byproducts. In addition, the UV rays in sunlight can induce the formation of free radicals in the cells of our skin to generate further oxidative stress. For many years now, we have understood the dangers of excessive sun exposure. And while it looks nice to have a good tan, exposure to solar UV that results in sunburn dramatically increases the risk of skin cancer. Fortunately, many people now routinely use sunscreen to protect themselves from the sun's harmful rays. Over your lifetime, however, much of the UV exposure you experience is likely to occur when your skin is not protected on the outside.1 For this reason, you should take proactive measures to ensure that your skin is protected from the inside. A good way to do that, it seems, is with lycopene. TOMATOES PROTECT SKIN FROM UV DAMAGE German and Dutch researchers have found that diets rich in tomato paste dramatically reduce UV-induced skin damage.1 In a study recently published in the Journal of Nutrition, nine volunteers consumed a diet supplemented with 40 grams (about 1.4 oz, or 3 tablespoons) of tomato paste mixed with olive oil, while ten control subjects received just olive oil (in addition to their normal diet) for ten weeks. The amount of lycopene in the tomato paste was about 16 mg. At the beginning of the study, and again four weeks and ten weeks later, all the subjects were exposed to UV radiation to induce mild erythema (or sunburn, if you prefer a less clinical term) on their shoulders. The participants, aged 26-67 years, were homogeneous in their coloring. They all had lightly pigmented skin, light-colored hair, and blue eyes, and had experienced minimal tanning. The degree of skin damage (called the a-value) caused by the repeated UV exposures was measured in both groups at the three stages of the study. After the first exposure, both groups had similar a-values (6.0 for controls and 5.6 for those consuming tomato paste), as would be expected for a random sample of individuals. Four weeks later, the a-values caused by UV exposure were slightly lower (5.4 for controls, 5.1 for the test group) but were still not significantly different. At the tenth week, however, UV exposure caused a much lower a-value (3.8) in the tomato-paste eaters than in the controls (6.3). To put this another way, those who ate 3 tablespoons of tomato paste daily for ten weeks had 40% less UV-induced skin damage than those who did not. LYCOPENE IS THE PROTECTIVE AGENT One way to explain the results of the erythema study is to look at the level of lycopene in the two groups. By the tenth week, the control group showed an 8% decrease in lycopene levels in their blood, and a whopping 51% decrease in total carotenoids in their skin. Conversely, those who consumed the tomato paste increased their blood lycopene levels by 95% and their skin carotenoid content by 15%. It is likely that the increased levels of lycopene and other carotenoids in their skin cells offered a protective benefit against the UV radiation to minimize skin damage. Additional experiments support this idea. A separate study at Tufts University revealed that lycopene levels are depleted much more than those of other carotenoids (beta-carotene, for example) in UV-damaged skin when compared to adjacent undamaged skin.2 The researchers concluded from this that lycopene is preferentially sacrificed to protect the skin when UV radiation creates free radicals in the skin cells. DO I HAVE TO EAT MY TOMATOES? Just about everyone loves tomatoes, but they were regarded with great suspicion in Europe when Spanish explorers first brought them back from their native South America. They were thought to be poisonous, in fact, because they were recognized as belonging to the Nightshade family of plants, many of which are deadly. But fear soon gave way to enthusiasm for the delectable red fruit, which came to be known as the "love apple" because of its supposed aphrodisiac properties. It was the Italians, God bless 'em, who took the tomato to its greatest culinary heights, without even knowing about the benefits of lycopene. Mangia! Lycopene intake is most strongly associated with reducing the risk of prostate, stomach, breast, and lung cancer. Based on a 1999 Canadian study of dietary habits, the average daily intake of lycopene is 25 mg, an amount that falls well short of the recommended intake of 35 mg/day.3 Individuals with a tomato-poor diet are especially susceptible to lycopene deficiency, as 80-85% of dietary lycopene is typically supplied by tomatoes. We could all eat a lot more tomatoes, but not everyone wants to do that, especially not every day. An easier and more reliable way to make up the deficit is through supplementation. But we'll still eat some tomatoes, of course, and Table 1 demonstrates that cooked, processed tomatoes are the best source of lycopene, because they have significantly higher levels than raw tomatoes. In addition, oils or fatty foods, such as cheese, eaten together with tomato products increase the amount of lycopene released into your bloodstream, making that much more of it available to the cells that need it most. Pizza, it turns out,is especially good in this regard - but don't use that as an excuse to become a pizza pig, or you'll probably die young. LYCOPENE MAY ALSO PROTECT AGAINST CANCER AND HEART DISEASE We've already seen that lycopene is a potent antioxidant. Thus it is surprising to find that the amount of lycopene in a particular food does not directly correlate to the antioxidizing power of that food. When the foods listed in Table 1 were analyzed for total antioxidant capacity, it was found, e.g., that tomato soup has at least twice as much antioxidant capacity as any of the other foods.4 This can be explained by considering that tomatoes contain multiple antioxidants in addition to lycopene, such as vitamin C, lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene (and possibly many more).7 These antioxidants likely tolerate the processing procedures differently, and consequently the foods in Table 1 have different antioxidant capacities than would be predicted based solely on lycopene content. While it is true that lycopene is an important antioxidant, it may have a host of other beneficial effects on the body as well. For example, it has been proposed that lycopene may participate in improving hormonal, immune, and metabolic processes in our bodies to improve our health and reduce the risk of certain diseases.8 Several studies indicate that tomato-enriched diets promote improved health by reducing the risk of various cancers and heart disease. For example, when the dietary habits of 1271 elderly individuals in Massachusetts were examined, it was found that a tomato-rich diet reduced the cancer death rate by 50%, whereas a diet rich in carrots or beta-carotene had no protective effect.9 Additional studies support these results and indicate that lycopene intake is most strongly associated with reducing the risk of prostate, stomach, breast, and lung cancer.10 Men with the highest concentrations of lycopene had a 48% lower risk for heart attack than those with the lowest There are also numerous studies indicating that a high intake of tomatoes reduces the risk of certain types of cardiovascular disease.11 But is it tomatoes in general, or lycopene in particular, that reduces the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease? STUDIES LARGE AND SMALL POINT TO LYCOPENE A number of studies have recently been initiated in an effort to ascertain whether lycopene, and not some other compound in tomatoes, is responsible for improved health benefits in people who consume a tomato-rich diet. Many of these studies have not yet been completed, because it takes a long time, especially with diseases such as cancer and heart disease, to establish a link between a specific compound and a reduced risk of disease. However, the results of a few studies indicate that lycopene is the specific ingredient in tomatoes that provides improved health benefits. One study showed that high lycopene intake reduced the risk of prostate cancer by 21%, whereas other antioxidants found in tomatoes, including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, and beta-cryptoxanthin, had no beneficial effect with respect to this cancer.12 Importantly, this study involved 47,894 male health professionals and is the largest study of its kind completed to date. Separate studies have been conducted to investigate the role of lycopene in cardiovascular diseases. One important study examined a group of men under the age of 70, recruited from ten European countries, who had experienced an acute myocardial infarction (death of heart cells due to lack of oxygen in the heart tissue) and compared them to an appropriate control group.13 The results indicated that men with the highest concentrations of lycopene in their adipose (fat) tissue had a 48% lower risk for myocardial infarction than those with the lowest lycopene concentrations. A small pilot study (employing only 19 healthy adults) showed that dietary supplementation with lycopene (40-75 mg/day) at least doubled the amount of lycopene in the blood and decreased the amount of lipid peroxidation, a damaging oxidative degradation of fatty molecules or molecular complexes, such as LDL.14 Reducing lipid peroxidation is important because oxidized LDL leads to the formation of artery-clogging plaque and increases the risk of heart disease. It turns out that lycopene is carried in the blood by LDL and may help to protect it from oxidation. Thus, lycopene may help reduce the risk of heart disease. It sounds like lycopene is a good deal all around. Whatever route you take, make sure you arm yourself with the natural substances that will ensure your general good health during your active, sun-drenched summer. - Stahl W, Heinrich U, Wiseman, et al. Dietary tomato past protects against ultraviolet light-induced erythema in humans. J Nutr 2001;131:1449-51. - Ribaya-Mercado JD, Garmyn M, Gilchrest BA, Russell RM. Skin lycopene is destroyed preferentially over beta-carotene during ultraviolet irradiation in humans. J Nutr 1995;125:1854-9. - Rao AV, Waseem Z, Agarwal S. Lycopene contents of tomatoes and tomato products and their contribution to dietary lycopene. Food Res Intl 1999;31:737-41. - Djuric Z, Powell LC. Antioxidant capacity of lycopene-containing foods. Intl J Food Sci Nutr 2001;52:143-9. - Agricultural Research Service. USDA-NCC Carotenoid Database for US Foods - 1998. Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, MD, 1998. - Clinton SK. Lycopene: chemistry, biology and implications for human health and disease. Nutr Rev 1998;56:35-51. - Duke JA. Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1992, pp 345-9. - Rao AV, Agarwal S. Role of antioxidant lycopene in cancer and heart disease. J Am Coll Nutr 2000;19:563-9. - Colditz GA, Branch LG, Lipnic RJ. Increased green and yellow vegetable intake and lowered cancer death in an elderly population. Am J Clin Nutr 1985;41:32-6. - Giovannucci E. Tomatoes, tomato-based products, lycopene, and cancer: review of the epidemiologic literature. J Natl Can Inst 1999;91:317-31. - Arab L, Steck S. Lycopene and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;71(Suppl):1691-5S. - Giovanucci EL, Ascherio A, Rimm EB, Stampfer MG, Colditz GA, Willett WC. Intake of carotenoids and retinol in relationship to risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1995;87:1767-76. - Kohlmeier L, Kark JD, Gomez-Garcia E, et al. Lycopene and myocardial infarction risk in the EURAMIC study. Am J Epidemiol 1997;146:618-26. - Agarwal S, Rao V. Tomato lycopene and low-density lipoprotein oxidation: a human dietary intervention study. Lipids 1998;33:981-4.

<urn:uuid:75e402f2-2bb6-46a3-9bcb-3806e511bda9>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Food Science and Safety

The North River in New Netherland Joan Vinckeboons (1617–70) was a Dutch cartographer and engraver born into a family of artists of Flemish origin. He was employed by the Dutch West India Company and for more than 30 years produced maps for use by Dutch mercantile and military shipping. He was a business partner of Joan Blaeu, one of the most important map and atlas publishers of the day. Vinckeboons drew a series of 200 manuscript maps that were used in the production of atlases, including Blaeu’s Atlas Maior. This pen-and-ink and watercolor map ...

<urn:uuid:49a5763d-3a39-4df4-a5c7-9a9c173071ce>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Historical Narratives and Artifacts

Biology exquisitely creates hierarchical structures, where initiated at nano scales, are exhibited in macro or physiological multifunctional materials to provide structural support, force generation, catalytic properties or energy conversion1 (see Figure 1). This is exemplified in a wide range of biological materials such as hair, skin, bone, spider silk or cells, which play important roles in providing key functions to biological systems2. Our research focuses on studying the mechanisms of deformation and failure of biological materials by utilizing a computational materials science approach. Our goal is to elucidate nature's design principles that facilitates the formation of materials with exceptional material properties1,3, despite typically inferior building blocks4,5. |Figure 1. Three example biological protein materials (A, intermediate filaments, B, collagenous tissues, C, amyloid proteins), revealing their hierarchical makeup. Our research focuses on the development of multiscale material models, specifically focused on their mechanical behavior at deformation and failure (figure taken from Ref. #3). These efforts are part of a broader field of investigation referred to as materiomics. Materiomics is defined as the study of the material properties of natural and synthetic materials by examining fundamental links between processes, structures and properties at multiple scales, from nano to macro, by using systematic experimental, theoretical or computational methods6,7. In order to provide a bottom-up description of materials behavior, our interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs applies an experimentally validated atomistic based multi-scale simulation approach that considers the structure-process-property paradigm of materials science and the architecture of proteins from the atomistic level up to the overall structure. This novel viewpoint links chemistry and genetics to resulting functional material properties, and provides us with a powerful foundation to ask fundamental questions about the behavior of biological materials. Moreover, the development of multi-scale, hierarchical models to explain the deformation and failure mechanisms of biological materials provides critical insight into how biological materials are made and how they derive their unique properties. This learning-from-failure-approach has already proven to be useful for engineered materials, and its application to biological materials holds the promise to transform our understanding of key material design principles that have evolved in nature8. In the following sections we review two case studies that demonstrate the application of materiomics. Hierarchical Structures are Crucial to Provide Multiple, Disparate Properties in a Single Material Our work has contributed to explain some of the most remarkable properties of biological materials, specifically their ability to provide multiple functions despite severe limitations in the quality of available building blocks, and the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions (for a review, see Ref. #3). For example, strength, robustness and adaptability are properties of fundamental importance to biological materials and structures, and are crucial to providing functional properties to living systems. Strength is defined as the maximum force (or pressure) a material can withstand before breaking. Robustness is defined as the ability of a material to tolerate flaws and defects in its structural makeup while maintaining its ability to provide functionality. Adaptability refers to the ability of a material to cope with changing environmental conditions. These properties are crucial for materials in biology (such as skin, bone, spider silk, or cells), which either provide structural support themselves (such as the skeleton formed by bone), or need to withstand mechanical deformation under normal physiologic conditions (such as cells and tissue associated with blood vessels that are exposed to the pressure of the blood). In engineering, strength and robustness are disparate properties (see Figure 2), and it remains challenging to create materials that combine these two features. Glass or ceramics, for example, are typically very strong materials. However, they are not very robust: Even a small crack in a glass, or an attempt to deform glass considerably will lead to catastrophic failure. |Figure 2. Schematic of the robustness-strength domain, comparing engineered materials and biological materials. The squares represent different hierarchical structures, designed based on more than 16,000 alpha-helical protein filaments. The analysis shows that most random arrangements (98.13%) fall on the so-called banana curve, while fewer, specifically designed structures (1.98%) fall on the inverse banana curve (figure taken from Ref. #3). In contrast, metals such as copper are very robust; however, they do typically not resist large forces. Yet, these materials allow for large deformation, and even the existence of cracks in the material does not lead to a sudden breakdown. Yet, many biological materials (such as cellular protein filaments, blood vessels, collagenous tissues such as tendon, spider silk, bone, tendon, skin) are capable of providing both properties - strength and robustness, very effectively, and are also combined with the ability to adapt to changes in the environment1,3. The key to understand these remarkable properties is the particular structural makeup of biological materials, consisting of few distinct elements (such as alpha-helices or beta-sheet protein domains), but a great diversity in structural arrangement of these elements at multiple material levels, from nano to macro1,3. Most fibers, tissues, organs and organisms found in nature show a highly hierarchical and organized structure, where features are found at all scales, ranging from protein molecules (≈50 Å), protein assemblies (≈1 to 10 nm), fibrils and fibers (≈10 to 100 µm), to cells (≈50 µm), and to tissues and organs (≈1000s and more µm). Most early studies have focused on investigations at single scales, or treated tissues or the cellular microenvironment as a continuum medium without heterogeneous structures (e.g. studies that examine isolated effects of material stiffness or the role of chemical cues alone on cell behavior). However, the cause and effect of biological material mechanics is more complex than a singular input at a specific scale, and thus, the examination of how a range of material scales and hierarchies contribute to certain biological function and dysfunction has emerged as a critical aspect in advancing our understanding of the role of materials in biology in both a physiological and pathological context. Specifically, the origin of how naturally occurring biological protein materials are capable of unifying disparate mechanical properties such as strength, robustness and adaptability is of significant interest for both biological and engineering science, and has attracted significant attention. Through the development of multiscale computational models that provide a representation of multiple material hierarchy levels in a single model, we have elucidated the key role that multiscale mechanics plays in defining a material's ultimate response at failure, and how nature's structural design principles define the hierarchical makeup of biological materials9,10. This process, likely evolutionarily driven, enables biological materials to combine disparate properties such as strength, robustness and adaptability, and may explain the existence of universal structural features observed in a variety of biological materials, across species (Figure 2)11. Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Brittle Bone Disease Materiomics can also be applied to study the catastrophic breakdown of biological materials under disease conditions. Osteogenesis imperfecta is a genetic disorder in collagen characterized by mechanically weakened tendon, fragile bones, skeletal deformities and in severe cases prenatal death12. Our work has shown that osteogenesis imperfecta mutations severely compromise the mechanical properties of collagenous tissues at multiple scales, from single molecules to collagen fibrils13,14. Mutations that lead to the most severe osteogenesis imperfecta phenotype correlate with the strongest effects, leading to weakened intermolecular adhesion, increased intermolecular spacing, reduced stiffness, as well as a reduced failure strength of collagen fibrils that compromises the ability of collagen to provide strength and toughness to connective tissue. Our work has shown that the reason for this is a change in the stress distribution inside collagen fibrils, and is due to the formation of nano-cracks where stress concentrations at the corners develop (Figure 3). |Figure 3. Effect of osteogenesis imperfecta on the stress distribution inside collagen fibrils (left), and resulting change in the stress-strain response (right)14. The formation of nanocracks at the location of mutations result in local stress concentrations (marked with red color), which reduces the overall strength of the fibril as it induces intermolecular shear at moderate applied loads. Our findings provide insight into the multi-scale mechanisms of this disease, and lead to explanations of characteristic osteogenesis imperfecta tissue features such as reduced mechanical strength, lower cross-link density and changes in the way mineral platelets are distributed. Our results for the first time explain how single point mutations at the nanoscale can lead to catastrophic tissue failure at much larger length-scales. The key to understand this dramatic change in material behavior is that failure must be understood as a multi-scale phenomenon, where the interplay of mechanisms at multiple scales defines the ultimate material response. Conventional models of failure and disease that consider only one level of the material's structure, do not capture the full range of relevant structures and mechanisms and as such remain limited in their ability to describe their behavior of intervene in material breakdown processes associated with disease. The understanding of failure in the context of defects and mutations could fundamentally change the way diseases are modeled and potentially treated. Outlook to Future Research Materiomics is a powerful tool to enhance the understanding of materials in biology, at multiple scales and in a variety of functional contexts. The long-term goal of our research is to develop a new engineering paradigm that encompasses the analysis and design of structures and materials, starting from the molecular level, in order to create new materials that mimic and exceed the properties of biological ones by utilizing material concepts discovered in biological materials. We envision that our work can lead to the development of a new set of tools that can be applied, together with synthetic biological and self-assembly methods, to select, design, and produce a new class of materials, similar to the approaches used today in computer aided design of buildings, cars and machines. The availability of multifunctional and changeable materials reduces the necessity for the use of different materials to achieve different properties, and as such, may provide significant savings in weight and cost. The utilization of abundant natural building blocks such as organic (e.g. peptides or proteins) or inorganic (e.g. minerals) constituents, combined with novel synthesis techniques based on self-assembly, could lead to new lightweight materials for structural applications in cars, airplanes, and buildings that could reduce the overall energy consumption and ecological footprint of materials. 1. Buehler, M.J. and Y.C. Yung, Deformation and failure of protein materials in physiologically extreme conditions and disease. Nature Materials, 2009. 8(3): p. 175-188. 2. Fratzl, P. and R. Weinkamer, Nature's hierarchical materials. Progress in Materials Science, 2007. 52: p. 1263-1334. 3. Buehler, M.J. and Y.C. Yung, How protein materials balance strength, robustness and adaptability. HFSP Journal, 2010: p. doi:10.2976/1.3267779. 4. Keten, S. and M.J. Buehler, Geometric Confinement Governs the Rupture Strength of H-bond Assemblies at a Critical Length Scale. Nano Letters, 2008. 8(2): p. 743 - 748. 5. Keten, S., Z. Xu, B. Ihle, and M.J. Buehler, Nanoconfinement controls stiffness, strength and mechanical toughness of beta-sheet crystals in silk. 2010. 6. Espinosa, H.D., J.E. Rim, F. Barthelat, and M.J. Buehler, Merger of structure and material in nacre and bone - Perspectives on de novo biomimetic materials. Progress in Materials Science, 2009. 54(8): p. 1059-1100 7. Buehler, M.J., S. Keten, and T. Ackbarow, Theoretical and computational hierarchical nanomechanics of protein materials: Deformation and fracture. Progress in Materials Science, 2008 53: p. 1101-1241. 8. Buchanan, M., Learning from failure. Nature Physics, 2009. 5(10): p. 705. 9. Qin, Z., L. Kreplak, and M.J. Buehler, Hierarchical structure controls nanomechanical properties of vimentin intermediate filaments. PLoS ONE, 2009. 4(10): p. e7294. 10. Ackbarow, T., D. Sen, C. Thaulow, and M.J. Buehler, Alpha-Helical Protein Networks are Self Protective and Flaw Tolerant. PLoS ONE, 2009. 4(6): p. e6015. 11. Buehler, M.J. and S. Keten, Failure of molecules, bones, and the earth itself. Rev. Mod. Phys., 2010. in press. 12. Rauch, F. and F.H. Glorieux, Osteogenesis imperfecta. Lancet, 2004. 363(9418): p. 1377-1385. 13. Gautieri, A., S. Vesentini, A. Redaelli, and M.J. Buehler, Single molecule effects of osteogenesis imperfecta mutations in tropocollagen protein domains. Protein Sci, 2009. 18(1): p. 161-8. 14. Gautieri, A., S. Uzel, S. Vesentini, A. Redaelli, and M.J. Buehler, Molecular and mesoscale mechanisms of osteogenesis imperfecta disease in collagen fibrils. Biophys J, 2009. 97(3): p. 857-65. Copyright AZoM.com, Professor Markus J. Buehler (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

<urn:uuid:38092b22-c9f7-4929-9cfa-a11eb2100f7f>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Health Initiatives

|Part of a series on| |Types of creationism| |Other religious views| The Omphalos hypothesis states that God created the universe to appear old, but that He created the universe around 6000 years ago. The idea was first proposed in the 1800s in response to the growing popularity of modern Geology and the Theory of Evolution. The idea was poorly received, as theologians felt it made God seem deceitful. |This article is a stub. You can help Christian Knowledgebase Wiki by.|

<urn:uuid:3804c652-9d23-443c-8a38-36365e80f90b>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Christianity and Religion

F. A. Hayek, “Planning, Science and Freedom”, Nature, Nov. 15, 1941, Vol. 148, pp. 580-584. The reasons why the adoption of a system of central planning necessarily produces a totalitarian system are fairly simple. Whoever controls the means must decide which ends they are to serve. As under modern conditions control of economic activity means control of the material means for practically all our ends, it means control over nearly all our activities. The nature of the detailed scale of values which must guide the planning makes it impossible that it should be determined by anything like democratic means. The director of the planned system would have to impose his scale of values, his hierarchy of ends, which, if it is to be sufficient to determine the plan, must include a definite order of rank in which the status of each person is laid down. If the plan is to succeed or the planner to appear successful, the people must be made to believe that the objectives chosen are the right ones. Every criticism of the plan or the ideology underlying it must be treated as sabotage. There can be no freedom of thought, no freedom of the Press, where it is necessary that everything should be governed by a single system of thought. In theory Socialism may wish to enhance freedom, but in practice every kind of collectivism consistently carried through must produce the characteristic features which Fascism, Nazism and Communism have in common. Totalitarianism is nothing but consistent collectivism, the ruthless execution of the principle that ‘the whole comes before the individual’ and the direction of .all members of society by a single will supposed to represent the ‘whole’.

<urn:uuid:0d1e4c44-fb5a-4e8d-8517-f07371238f61>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Literary Analysis and Summaries

Early in the 14th century the Turkish tribal chieftain Othman (Osman) founded an empire in western Anatolia (Asia Minor) that was to endure for almost six centuries. As this empire grew by conquering lands of the Byzantine Empire and beyond, it came to include at the height of its power all of Asia Minor; the countries of the Balkan Peninsula; the islands of the eastern Mediterranean; parts of Hungary and Russia; Iraq, Syria, the Caucasus, Palestine, and Egypt; part of Arabia; and all of North Africa through Algeria. The Early Empire, 1300-1481 The dynasty that Othman (1258-1326) founded was called Osmanli, meaning "sons of Osman." The name evolved in English into Ottoman. The Ottoman Empire was Islamic in religion. During the 11th century bands of nomadic Turks emerged from their home in Central Asia to raid lands to the west. The strongest of the Turkish tribes was the Seljuks. In time they established themselves in Asia Minor along with other groups of Turks. Following the defeat of the Seljuks by the Mongols in 1293, Othman emerged as the leader of local Turks in the fight against the tottering Byzantine Empire. The final conquest of the Byzantines was not achieved until 1453 with the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul), but by that date all the surrounding territory was in Ottoman hands. The initial areas of expansion under Othman I and his successors Orkhan (ruled 1326-59) and Murad I (ruled 1359-89) were western Asia Minor and southeastern Europe, primarily the Balkan Peninsula. During Orkhan's reign the practice began of exacting a tribute in children from Christian subjects. The boys were trained to become soldiers and administrators. As soldiers they filled the ranks of the infantry, called the Janizaries (also spelled Janissaries), the most fearsome military force in Europe for centuries. Murad I conquered Thrace, to the northwest of Constantinople, in 1361. He moved his capital to Adrionople (now Edirne), Thrace's capital and the second city of the Byzantine Empire. This conquest effectively cut off Constantinople from the outside world, and allowed Murad to control the principal invasion route through the Balkan Mountains, giving the Ottomans access to further expansion to the north. During Murad I last victorious battle against Balkan allies, he was killed. His successor, Beyazid I (ruled 1389-1402), was unable to make further European conquests. He was forced to devote his attention to eastern Asia Minor to deal with a growing Turkish principality, Karaman. He attacked and defeated Karaman in 1391, put down a revolt of his Balkan subjects, and returned to consolidate his gains in Asia Minor. His successes attracted the attention of Timur Lenk (Tamerlane). Encouraged by Turkish princes who had fled to his court from Beyazid I's incursions, attacked and overwhelmed him in 1402. Taken captive by Timur Lenk, Beyazid died within a year. Timur Lenk soon retired from Asia Minor, leaving Beyazid's sons to take up where their father had failed. The four sons fought for control until one of them, Mohammed I, killed the other three and took control. He reigned from 1413 to 1421 and his successor Murad II, from 1421 to 1451. Murad II suppressed Balkan resistance and eliminated all but two of the Turkish principalities in Asia Minor. The task of finishing the Balkan conquests and seizing all of Asia Minor fell to Murad II's successor, Mohammed II (ruled 1451-81). It was he who completed the siege of Constantinople in 1453 and made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The whole Balkan Peninsula south of Hungary was incorporated as well as the Crimea on the north coast of the Black Sea. Asia Minor was completely subdued. In addition to conquering a large empire, Mohammed II worked strenuously for consolidation and an adequate administrative and tax system. He was assisted by the fact that the whole Byzantine bureaucratic structure fell into his hands. Although Islamic, Ottoman sultans were not averse to using whatever talent they could attract or sometimes, capture. The Golden Age, 1481-1566 Three sultans ruled the empire at its height: Beyazid II (1481-1512), Selim I (1512-20), and Suleyman I the Magnificent (1520-66). Beyazid extended the empire in Europe, added outposts along the Black Sea, and put down revolts in Asia Minor. He also turned the Ottoman fleet into a major Mediterranean naval power. Late in life he became a religious mystic and was displaced on the throne by his more militant son, Selim I. Selim I's first task was to eliminate all competition for his position. He had his brothers, their sons, and all but one of his own sons killed. He thereby established control over the army, which had wanted to raise its own candidate to power. During his short reign the Ottomans moved south-and eastward into Syria, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Arabia, and Egypt. At Mecca, the chief shrine of Islam, he took the title of caliph, ruler of all Muslims. The Ottoman sultans were thereafter the spiritual heads of Islam thereby displacing the centuries-old caliphate of Baghdad. By acquiring the holy places of Islam, Selim I's cemented his position as the religion's most powerful ruler. This gave the Ottomans direct access to the rich cultural heritage of the Arab world. Leading Muslim intellectuals, artists, artisans, and administrators came to Constantinople from all parts of the Arab world. They made the empire much more of a traditional Islamic state than it had been. An added benefit of Selim I's efforts was control of all Middle Eastern trade routes between Europe and the Far East. The growth of the empire had for some time been an impediment to European trade. In time this led European states to seek routes around Africa to China and India. It also impelled them to face westward and led directly to the discovery of the Americas. Selim I's's surviving son, Suleyman, came to the throne in an enviable situation. New revenues from the expanded empire left him with wealth and power unparalleled in Ottoman history. In his early campaigns he captured Belgrade (1521) and Rhodes (1522) and broke the military power of Hungary. In 1529 he laid siege to Vienna, Austria, but was forced to withdraw for lack of supplies. He also waged three campaigns against Persia. Algiers in North Africa fell to his navy in 1529 and Tripoli (now Libya) in 1551. In more peaceful pursuits he adorned the chief cities of Islam with mosques, aqueducts, bridges, and other public works. In Constantinople he had several mosques built, among them the magnificent Suleymaniye Cami named for him. Imperial Decline, 1566-1807 During Suleyman's long reign the Ottoman Empire was at the height of its political power and close to its maximum geographical extent. The seeds of decline, however, were already planted. As Suleyman grew tired of campaigns and retired to his harem, his viziers, or prime ministers, took more authority. After his death the army gained control of the sultanate and was able to use it for its own benefit. Few sultans after Suleyman had the ability to exercise real power when the need arose. This weakness at home was countered by a growing power in the west. The nation-states of Europe were emerging from the Middle Ages under strong monarchies. They were building armies and navies that were powerful enough to attack a decaying Ottoman military might. In 1571 the combined fleets of Venice, Spain, and the Papal States of Italy defeated the Turks in the great naval Battle Lepanto, off the coast of Greece. This defeat, which dispelled the myth of the invincible Turk, took place during the reign of Selim II (ruled 1566-74). But the empire rebuilt its navy and continued to control the eastern Mediterranean for another century. As the central government became weaker, large parts of the empire began to act independently, retaining only nominal loyalty to the sultan. The army was still strong enough, however, to prevent provincial rebels from asserting complete control. Under Murad III (ruled 1574-95) new campaigns were undertaken. The Caucasus was conquered, and Azerbaijan was seized. This brought the empire to the peak of its territorial extent. Reform efforts undertaken by 17th-century sultans did little to deter the onset of decay. The Ottomans were driven out of the Caucasus and Azerbaijan in 1603 and out of Iraq in 1604. Iraq was retaken by Murad IV (ruled 1623-40) in 1638, but Iran remained a persistent military threat in the east. A war with Venice (1645-69) exposed Constantinople to an attack by the Venetian navy. In 1683 the last attempt to conquer Vienna failed. Russia and Austria fought the empire by direct military attack and by fomenting revolt by non-Muslim subjects of the sultan. Beginning in 1683, with the attack on Vienna, the Ottomans were at war with European enemies for 41 years. As a result, the empire lost much of its Balkan territory and all the possessions on the shores of the Black Sea. In addition, the Austrians and Russians were allowed to intervene in the empire's affairs on behalf of the sultan's Christian subjects. The weakness of the central government, as manifested by its military decline, also showed itself in a gradual loss of control over most of the provinces. Local rulers, called notables, carved for themselves permanent regions in which they ruled directly, regardless of the wishes of the sultan in Constantinople. The notables were able to build their power bases because they knew of the sultan's military weakness and because local populations preferred their rule to the corrupt administration of the faraway capital. The notables formed their own armies and collected their own taxes, sending only nominal contributions to the imperial treasury. Selim III (ruled 1789-1807) attempted to reform the empire and its army. He failed and was overthrown. When Mahmud II (ruled 1808-39) came to the throne, the empire was in desperate straits. Control of North Africa had passed to local notables. In Egypt Muhammad Ali was laying the foundation of an independent kingdom. Had the European nations cooperated, they could have destroyed the Ottoman Empire. In 1826, five years after Greece began its fight for independence, the Janizaries revolted to stop reforms. Warfare between the Turks and Greeks was fierce, and eventually a new military system in the style of European armies. He also reformed the administration and gained control over some of the provincial notables, with the exception of Egypt. By the time of Mahmud's death the empire was more consolidated and powerful, but it was still subject to European interference. Mahmud's sons, Abdulmecid I (ruled 1839-61) and Abdulaziz (ruled 1861-76) carried out further reforms, especially in education and law. Nevertheless, by mid-century it was evident that the Ottoman cause was hopeless. Czar Nicholas I of Russia commented on the Ottoman Empire in 1853: "We have on our hands a sick man, a very sick man." The "Sick Man of Europe" 1850-1922 The conflicting interests of European states propped up the Ottoman Empire until after World War I. Great Britain especially was determined to keep Russia from gaining direct access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea. Britain, France, and Sardinia helped the Ottomans during the Crimean War (1854-56) to block the Russians. The Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 brought Russia almost to Constantinople. The Ottomans were forced to sign the Treaty of San Stefano, which would have ended their rule in Europe except that the European states called the Congress of Berlin. It succeeded in propping up the old empire for a few decades more. Abdulhamid II (ruled 1876-1909) developed strong ties with Germany, and the Ottomans fought on Germany's side in World War I. Russia hoped to use the war as an excuse to gain access to the Mediterranean and perhaps capture Constantinople. This aim was frustrated by the Russian Revolution of 1917 and withdrawal from the war. Ottoman defeat in war inspired an already fervent Turkish nationalism. The postwar settlement outraged the nationalists. A new government under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, known as Ataturk (father of the Turks), emerged at Ankara. The last sultan, Mohammed VI, fled in 1922 after the sultanate had been abolished. All members of the Ottoman Dynasty were expelled from the country two years later. Turkey was proclaimed a republic, with Ataturk as its first president.

<urn:uuid:6a1a5c38-f90a-45bb-a1d4-f3b3170732bd>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Middle East History & Politics

Prehistoric mammal hair discovered in Cretaceous amberJune 16th, 2010 - 1:53 pm ICT by ANI London, June 16 (ANI): Palaeontologists have discovered two mammal hairs encased in amber that is a 100 million years old. The oldest 3D specimens, found alongside a fly pupa in amber uncovered in southwest France, are remarkably similar to hair found on modern mammals, implying that the shape and structure of mammal hair has remained unchanged over the years. They have a very similar cuticular structure to those in modern mammals. “We have 2D hair imprints as early as the Middle Jurassic,” the BBC quoted Dr Romain Vullo of the University of Rennes, France, who discovered the hair, as saying. “However, carbonised hair provides much less information about the structure than a 3D hair preserved in amber,” Vullo added. The piece of amber, which is fossilised tree resin, was found in the Font-de-Benon quarry at Archingeay-Les Nouillers in Charente-Maritime, southwest France. Above it, the team found four teeth of a primitive marsupial called Arcantiodelphys, to which the hair seems to belong, according to the team. The researchers have cited three possibilities as to why the hair was encased in amber - Either amber swamped part of an animal’s corpse, or a living animal that brushed past the resin lost the hair, or the hair was lost in a similar manner by a mammal that came to feed on insects trapped in the resin, which later fossilised into amber. The details of the discovery are published in the journal Naturwissenschaften. (ANI) - Oldest mammalian hair found in France - May 20, 2010 - Midair collision kills four in France - Oct 18, 2009 - Fossils, mineral rocks attract huge crowds at expo (With Images) - Jan 05, 2012 - Mammals running speed determines eye size - May 03, 2012 - Female mites dominated males in sex: Experts - Mar 17, 2011 - Flowering plants may have appeared 180 million years earlier than believed - Oct 05, 2009 - Dinosaur-bird 'missing link' could be egg - Jul 13, 2012 - Did Ice Age giants' ancestors originate in Tibet? - Sep 05, 2011 - 49-million years old spider now gets 3-D makeover - May 19, 2011 - Sea urchin's teeth: Key to everlasting sharp tools - Dec 26, 2010 - How snakes lost their legs - Feb 08, 2011 - Bigger brains make dogs friendlier than cats - Nov 23, 2010 - New tool shows dinosaurs lighter than thought - Jun 06, 2012 - Dino-era feathers might hold key to how dinosaurs gave rise to birds - Mar 12, 2008 - Amber Portwood is now out of hospital - Jun 20, 2011 Tags: 100 million years, amber, bbc, charente maritime, corpse, cretaceous, discovery, hairs, insects, mammal, mammals, naturwissenschaften, possibilities, pupa, quarry, rennes france, southwest france, specimens, tree resin, university of rennes

<urn:uuid:c204dae9-c943-4bc3-8421-5d536bd8b466>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Reptile and Amphibian Information

Residual Data is data that is unintentionally left behind on computer media. In forensic usage, remnant data is typically left behind after attempts have been made to delete the data, after the data has been forgotten, or after the media on which the data resides has been decomissioned. Residual data appears at all levels of modern computer systems: - Computer systems that are discarded. - Partitions in hard drives that are deleted. - Files on hard drives that are deleted but not overwritten. - Snippets of text in Microsoft Word files. - Heap variables that are freed with free() - Automatic variables left on the stack of languages like C or garbage collected in languages like Java. Byers, Simon. Scalable Exploitation of, and Responses to Information Leakage Through Hidden Data in Published Documents, AT&T Research, April 2003 Chow, J., B. Pfaff, T. Garfinkel, K. Christopher, M. Rosenblum, Understanding Data Lifetime via Whole System Simulation, Proceedings of the 13th USENIX Security Symposium, 2004. Garfinkel, S. and Shelat, A., "Remembrance of Data Passed: A Study of Disk Sanitization Practices," IEEE Security and Privacy, January/February 2003.

<urn:uuid:a64efa73-9212-44ea-9f28-9766e2478b48>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

GNU Project Tools

Henry Gray (18251861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918. and liver, and the falciform and coronary ligaments between the liver and the abdominal wall and diaphragm (Fig. 989). FIG. 987 Diagrams to illustrate two stages in the development of the digestive tube and its mesentery. The arrow indicates the entrance to the bursa omentalis. (See enlarged image) FIG. 988 Final disposition of the intestines and their vascular relations. (Jonnesco.) A. Aorta. H. Hepatic artery. M, Col. Branches of superior mesenteric artery. m, m. Branches of inferior mesenteric artery. S. Splenic artery. (See enlarged image) FIG. 989 Schematic figure of the bursa omentalis, etc. Human embryo of eight weeks. (Kollmann.) (See enlarged image) The Rectum and Anal Canal.The hind-gut is at first prolonged backward into the body-stalk as the tube of the allantois; but, with the growth and flexure of the tail-end of the embryo, the body-stalk, with its contained allantoic tube, is carried forward to the ventral aspect of the body, and consequently a bend is formed at the

<urn:uuid:87614160-0747-4188-86a6-c0f83b28419b>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Medical Topics

You are here The flaws in this chapter go deeper than merely deepening confusion over basic concepts and omitting references to work which address questions they raise. At critical points, EE quotes biologists in ways which misrepresent their views and distort the state of scientific and philosophical discourse about homology and related concepts. To present the discredited 19th century quibbles of Louis Agassiz as if they had never been addressed is ahistorical and absurd. Claiming that Brian Goodwin rejects evolution as a force which explains homology is plainly wrong. David Wake's concerns over the philosophical definition of homology does not reflect any objection to the use of biological similarity and difference to develop and test hypotheses about evolution. This merely reflects EE's needless focus on a single word, rather than the way that evolutionary biology is actually practiced in the 21st century.

<urn:uuid:14837ca1-db80-4294-ad94-4f4d81ddc240>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Conservation and Biodiversity Efforts

CONTRIBUTION OF MUSLIMS SCIENTIST IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY In the Modern Muslim world is seen as many things , but rarely is it viewed as a source of inspiration and enlightenment . Though it is a force of enlightenment and it is not only verses of the Quran that testy to that fact, but also the great body scholarship produced during the Middle Ages. While Europe was in the midst of darkness, it was the Muslims spurred on the light of their news who picked up the torch of scholarship and science .It was the Muslims who preserved the knowledge of old days , elaborate upon it and passed it to Europe . Islamic scientist in Medicine and Pharmacy was not known for many age due to many factors including a) Colonialism and lack of knowledge among Muslims generation in this modern world, other factors is b) lack of institution based facts how and when Islamic Scientists what contribution was . Although every people earn what they do pass on it generation after generation. So we the Islam of today learners should make important to look back over and make research topic selected on this issue and gain knowledge of, respected and Prized the contribution Islamic Civilization by early Muslim scholars The first Muslim physician is believed to have been Muhammad himself, as a significant number of hadiths concerning medicine are attributed to him. Several Sahaba are said to have been successfully treated of certain diseases by following the medical advice of Muhammad. The three methods of healing known to have been mentioned by him were Honey, Cupping, and Cauterization, though he was generally opposed to the use of cauterization unless it “suits the ailment.” According to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Muhammad disliked this method due to it causing “pain and menace to a patient” since there was no anesthesia in his time. Muhammad also appears to have been the first to suggest the contagious nature of leprosy, mange and sexually transmitted disease; and that there is always a cause and a cure for every disease, according to several hadiths in the Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunan Abi Dawood and Al-Muwatta attributed to Muhammad, such as: “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment. “Make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease, namely old age. “Allah has sent down both the disease and the cure, and He has appointed a cure for every disease, so treat you medically. “The one who sent down the disease sent down the remedy. The belief that there is a cure for every disease encouraged early Muslims to engage in biomedical research and seek out a cure for every disease known to them. Many early authors of Islamic medicine, however, were usually clerics rather than physicians, and were known to have advocated the traditional medical practices of prophet Muhammad’s time, such as those mentioned in the Qur’a n and Hadith. For instance, therapy did not require a patient to undergo any surgical procedures at the time. From the 9th century, Hunayn ibn Ishaq translated a number of Galen‘s works into the Arabic language, followed by translations of the Sushruta Samhita, Charaka Samhita and Middle Persian works from Gundishapur. Muslim physicians soon began making many of their own significant advances and contributions to medicine, including the fields of ALLERGOLOGY, ANATOMY, BACTERIOLOGY, BOTANY, DENTISTRY, EMBRYOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTALISM, ETIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY, OBSTETRICS, OPHTHALMOLOGY, PATHOLOGY, PEDIATRICS, PERINATOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY, PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY, PULSOLOGY AND SPHYGMOLOGY, SURGERY, THERAPY, UROLOGY, ZOOLOGY, AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES SUCH AS PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY, AMONG OTHERS. Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine Islamic medicine was initially built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical knowledge developed in Arabia, Persia, Greece, Rome, and India. Galen and Hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities, as well as the Indian physicians Sushruta and Charaka, and the Hellenistic scholars in Alexandria. Islamic scholars translated their voluminous writings from Greek and Sanskrit into Arabic and then produced new medical knowledge based on those texts. In order to make the Greek and Indian traditions more accessible, understandable, and teachable, Islamic scholars ordered and made more systematic the vast and sometimes inconsistent Greco-Roman and Indian medical knowledge by writing encyclopedias and summaries. It was through Arabic translations that the West learned of Hellenic medicine, including the works of Galen and Hippocrates. Of equal if not of greater influence in Western Europe were systematic and comprehensive works such as Avicenna‘s The Canon of Medicine, which were translated into Latin and then disseminated in manuscript and printed form throughout Europe. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries alone, The Canon of Medicine was published more than thirty-five times. Muslim physicians set up the earliest dedicated hospitals in the modern sense, known as Bimaristans, which were establishments where the ill were welcomed and cared for by qualified staff, and which were clearly distinguished from the ancient healing temples, sleep temples, hospices, assylums, lazarets and leper-houses which were more concerned with isolating the sick and the mad from society “rather than to offer them any way to a true cure. The Bimaristan hospitals later functioned as the first public hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and diploma-granting medical universities. In the medieval Islamic world, hospitals were built in all major cities; in Cairo for example, the Qalawun Hospital could care for 8,000 patients, and a staff that included physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. One could also access a dispensary, and research facility that led to advances, which included the discovery of the contagious nature of diseases, and research into optics and the mechanisms of the eye. Muslim doctors were removing cataracts with hollow needles over 1000 years before Western physicians dared attempt such a task. Hospitals were built not only for the physically sick, but for the mentally sick also. One of the first ever psychiatric hospitals that cared for the mentally ill was built in Cairo. Hospitals later spread to Europe during the Crusades, inspired by the hospitals in the Middle East. The first hospital in Paris, Les Quinze-vingts, was founded by Louis IX after his return from the Crusade between 1254-1260. Hospitals in the Islamic world featured competency tests for doctors, drug purity regulations, nurses and interns, and advanced surgical procedures. Hospitals were also created with separate wards for specific illnesses, so that people with contagious diseases could be kept away from other patients. One of the features in medieval Muslim hospitals that distinguished them from their contemporaries and predecessors was their significantly higher standards of medical ethics. Hospitals in the Islamic world treated patients of all religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds, while the hospitals themselves often employed staff from Christian, Jewish and other minority backgrounds. Muslim doctors and physicians were expected to have obligations towards their patients, regardless of their wealth or backgrounds. The ethical standards of Muslim physicians was first laid down in the 9th century by Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi, who wrote the Adab al-Tabib (Conduct of a Physician), the first treatise dedicated to medical ethics. He regarded physicians as “guardians of souls and bodies”, and wrote twenty chapters on various topics related to medical ethics. Another unique feature of medieval Muslim hospitals was the role of female staff, who were rarely employed in ancient and medieval healing temples elsewhere in the world. Medieval Muslim hospitals commonly employed female nurses, including nurses from as far as Sudan, a sign of great breakthrough. Muslim hospitals were also the first to employ female physicians, the most famous being two female physicians from the Banu Zuhr family who served the Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf Ya’qub al-Mansur in the 12th century. Later in the 15th century, female surgeons were illustrated for the first time in Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu‘s Cerrahiyyetu’l-Haniyye (Imperial Surgery) The first encyclopedia of medicine in Arabic was Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari‘s Firdous al-Hikmah (“Paradise of Wisdom”), written in seven parts, c. 860. It was the first to deal with pediatrics and child development, as well as psychology and psychotherapy. In the fields of medicine and psychotherapy, the work was primarily influenced by Islamic thought and ancient Indian physicians such as Sushruta and Charaka. Unlike earlier physicians, however, al-Tabari emphasized strong ties between psychology and medicine, and the need of psychotherapy and counseling in the therapeutic treatment of patients Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) wrote the Comprehensive Book of Medicine in the 9th century. The Large Comprehensive was the most sought after of all his compositions, in which Rhazes recorded clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various diseases. The Comprehensive Book of Medicine, with its introduction of measles and smallpox, was very influential in Europe. (HALY ABBAS)’S KITAB KAMIL AS-SINA’A AT-TIBBIYYA (“Complete Book of the Medical Art“), c. 980, became better known as the Kitab al-Maliki (“Royal Book“, Latin: Liber regalis) in honour of its royal patron ‘Adud al-Dawla. In twenty sections, ten of theory and ten of practice, it was more systematic and concise than Razi’s Hawi, but more practical than Avicenna’s Canon, by which it was superseded. With many interpolations and substitutions, it served as the basis for the Pantegni (c. 1087) of Constantinus Africanus, the founding text of the Schola Medica Salernitana in Salerno (Abulcasis), regarded as the father of modern surgery contributed greatly to the discipline of medical surgery with his Kitab al-Tasrif (“Book of Concessions“), a 30-volume medical encyclopedia published in 1000, which was later translated to Latin and used in European medical schools for centuries. He invented numerous surgical instruments and described them in his al-Tasrif. Avicenna (Ibn Sina), a Hanbali and Mu’tazili philosopher and doctor in the early 11th century, was another influential figure. He is regarded as the father of modern medicine, and one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. His medical encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine (c. 1020), remained a standard textbook in Europe for centuries, up until the renewal of the Muslim tradition of scientific medicine. He also wrote The Book of Healing (actually a more general encyclopedia of science and philosophy), which became another popular textbook in Europe. Among other things, Avicenna’s contributions to medicine include the introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology,the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases, the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, the introduction of experimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, clinical trials,randomized controlled trialsefficacy tests, clinical pharmacology, risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases,the first descriptions on bacterial and viral organisms, the distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy, the contagious nature of phthisis and tuberculosis, the distribution of diseases by water and soil, and the first careful descriptions of skin troubles, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions, and nervous ailments, as well the use of ice to treat fevers, and the separation of medicine from pharmacology, which was important to the development of the pharmaceutical sciences. Ibn al-Nafis (1213-1288) wrote Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb (The Comprehensive Book on Medicine), a voluminous medical encyclopedia that was originally planned to comprise 300 volumes, but he was only able to complete 80 volumes as a result of his death in 1288. However, even in its incomplete state, the book is one of the largest known medical encyclopedias in history, though only a small portion of The Comprehensive Book on Medicine has survived. During his lifetime, The Comprehensive Book on Medicine had eventually replaced Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine as a medical authority in the medieval Islamic world. Arabic biographers from the 13th onwards considered Ibn al-Nafis the greatest physician in history, some referring to him as “the second Ibn Sina”, and others considering him even greater than Ibn Sina In the 9th century AL-KINDI (ALKINDUS), IN DE GRADIBUS Demonstrated the application of mathematics and quantification to medicine, particularly in the field of pharmacology. This includes the development of a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of drugs, and a system that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient’s illness, based on the phases of the Moon. In the 10th century, RAZI (RHAZES) Introduced controlled experiment and clinical observation into the field of medicine, and rejected several Galenic medical theories unverified by experimentation.The earliest known medical experiment was carried out by Razi in order to find the most hygienic place to build a hospital. He hung pieces of meat in places throughout 10th century Baghdad and observed where the meat decomposed least quickly, and that was where he built the hospital. In his Comprehensive Book of Medicine, Razi recorded clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various diseases. In his Doubts about Galen, Razi was also the first to prove both Galen‘s theory of humorism and Aristotle‘s theory of classical elements false using experimentation He also introduced urinalysis and stool tests AVICENNA (IBN SINA) Is considered the father of modern medicine,for his introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology, the introduction of experimental medicine, clinical trials, risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases, in his medical encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine (c. 1020), which was also the first book dealing with evidence-based medicine, randomized controlled trials,and efficacy tests. According to Toby Huff and A. C. Crombie, the Canon contained “a set of rules that laid down the conditions for the experimental use and testing of drugs” which were “a precise guide for practical experimentation” in the process of “discovering and proving the effectiveness of medical substances. The Canon laid out the following rules and principles for testing the effectiveness of new drugs and medications, which still form the basis of clinical pharmacologyand modern clinical trials: - “The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality.” - “It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease.” - “The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases, because sometimes a drug cures one disease by Its essential qualities and another by its accidental ones.” - “The quality of the drug must correspond to the strength of the disease. For example, there are some drugs whose heat is less than the coldness of certain diseases, so that they would have no effect on them.” - “The time of action must be observed, so that essence and accident are not confused.” - “The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many cases, for if this did not happen, it was an accidental effect.” - “The experimentation must be done with the human body, for testing a drug on a lion or a horse might not prove anything about its effect on man.” IBN ZUHR (AVENZOAR) Who introduced the experimental method into surgery, for which he is considered the father of experimental surgery.Other early supporters of human dissection and autopsy include Ibn Tufail,Saladin‘s physician Ibn Jumay, Abd-el-latif,and Ibn al-Nafis The experimental method was introduced into botany, materia medica and the agricultural sciences in the 13th century by the Andalusian-Arab botanist Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, the teacher of Ibn al-Baitar. Al-Nabati introduced empirical techniques in the testing, description and identification of numerous material medica, and he separated unverified reports from those supported by actual tests and observations. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY: In anatomy and physiology, the first physician to refute Galen‘s theory of humorism was MUHAMMAD IBN ZAKARĪYA RĀZI (RHAZES) In his Doubts about Galen in the 10th century. He criticized Galen’s theory that the body possessed four separate “humors” (liquid substances), whose balance are the key to health and a natural body-temperature. Razi was the first to prove this theory wrong using an experiment. He carried out an experiment which would upset this system by inserting a liquid with a different temperature into the body resulting in an increase or decrease of bodily heat, which resembled the temperature of that particular fluid. Razi noted particularly that a warm drink would heat up the body to a degree much higher than its own natural temperature, thus the drink would trigger a response from the body, rather than transferring only its own warmth or coldness to it. This line of criticism was the first comprehensive experimental refutation of Galen’s theory of humours and Aristotle‘s theory of the four classical elements on which it was grounded. Razi’s own chemical experiments suggested other qualities of matter, such as “oiliness” and “sulfurousness“, or inflammability and salinity, which were not readily explained by the traditional fire, water, earth and air division of elements. EXPERIMENTAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY The contributions of Avicenna to physiology include the introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology in The Canon of Medicine (c. 1020). The contributions of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) to anatomy and physiology include his correct explanation of the process of sight and visual perception for the first time in his Book of Optics, Other innovations introduced by Muslim physicians to the field of physiology by this time include the use of animal testing. Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) (1091-1161) was the first physician known to have carried out human dissections and postmortem autopsy. He proved that the skin disease scabies was caused by a parasite, a discovery which upset the theory of humorism supported by Hippocrates and Galen. The removal of the parasite from the patient’s body did not involve purging, bleeding, or any other traditional treatments associated with the four humours. In the 12th century, Saladin‘s physician Ibn Jumay was also one the first to undertake human dissections, and he made an explicit appeal for other physicians to do so as well. During a famine in Egypt in 1200, Abd-el-latif observed and examined a large number of skeletons, and he discovered that Galen was incorrect regarding the formation of the bones of the lower jaw and sacrum. Circulatory anatomy and physiology: IBN AL-NAFIS The father of circulatory physiology was another early proponent of human dissection In 1242, he was the first to describe the pulmonary circulation, coronary circulation and capillary circulation, which form the basis of the circulatory system, for which he is considered the one of the greatest physiologists in history The first European descriptions of the pulmonary circulation came several centuries later, by Michael Servetus in 1553 and William Harvey in 1628. Ibn al-Nafis also described the earliest concept of metabolism, and developed new Nafisian systems of anatomy, physiology and psychology to replace the Avicennian and Galenic doctrines, while discrediting many of their erroneous theories on the four humours, pulsation, bones, muscles, intestines, sensory organs, bilious canals, esophagus, stomach, and the anatomy of almost every other part of the human body. The Arab physician Ibn al-Lubudi (1210-1267), also from Damascus, wrote the Collection of discussions relative to fifty psychological and medical questions, in which he rejects the theory of four humours supported by Galen and Hippocrates, discovers that the body and its preservation depend exclusively upon blood, rejects Galen’s idea that women can produce sperm, and discovers that the movement of arteries are not dependant upon the movement of the heart, that the heart is the first organ to form in a fetus‘ body (rather than the brain as claimed by Hippocrates), and that the bones forming the skull can grow into tumors. He also advises that in cases of extreme fever, a patient should not be released from hospital. PULSOLOGY AND SPHYGMOLOGY: Muslim physicians were pioneers in pulsology and sphygmology. In ancient times, Galen as well as Chinese physicians erroneously believed that there was a unique type of pulse for every organ of the body and for every disease. Galen also erroneously believed that “every part of an artery pulsates simultaneously” and that the motion of the pulse was due to natural motions (the arteries expanding and contracting naturally) as opposed to foced motions (the heart causing the arteries to either expand or contract). The first correct explanations of pulsation were given by Muslim physicians. “Every beat of the pulse comprises two movements and two pauses. Thus, expansion: pause: contraction: pause. The pulse is a movement in the heart and arteries … which takes the form of alternate expansion and contraction.” Avicenna also pioneered the modern approach of examining the pulse through the examination of the wrist, which is still practiced in modern times. His reasons for choosing the wrist as the ideal location is due to it being easily available and the patient not needing to be distressed at the exposure of his/her body. The Latin translation of his Canon also laid the foundations for the later invention of the sphygmograph. Ibn al-Nafis, in his Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna’s Canon, completely rejected the Galenic theory of pulsation after his discovery of the pulmonary circulation. He developed his own Nafisian theory of pulsation after discovering that pulsation is a result of both natural and forced motions, and that the “forced motion must be the contraction of the arteries caused by the expansion of the heart, and the natural motion must be the expansion of the arteries.” He notes that the “arteries and the heart do not expand and contract at the same time, but rather the one contracts while the other expands” and vice versa. He also recognized that the purpose of the pulse is to help disperse the blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Ibn al-Nafis briefly summarizes his new theory of pulsation: “The primary purpose of the expansion and contraction of the heart is to absorb the cool air and expel the wastes of the spirit and the warm air; however, the ventricle of the heart is wide. Moreover, when it expands it is not possible for it to absorb air until it is full, for that would then ruin the temperament of the spirit, its substance and texture, as well as the temperament of the heart. Thus, the heart is necessarily forced to complete its fill by absorbing the spirit.” EPIDEMIOLOGY, ETIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY: In etiology and epidemiology, Muslim physicians were responsible for the discovery of infectious disease and the immune system, advances in pathology, and early hypotheses related to bacteriology and microbiology. Their discovery of contagious disease in particular is considered revolutionary and is one of the most important discoveries in medicine. The earliest ideas on contagion can be traced back to several hadiths attributed to Muhammad in the 7th century, who is said to have understood the contagious nature of leprosy, mange, and sexually transmitted disease. These early ideas on contagion arose from the generally sympathetic attitude of Muslim physicians towards lepers (who were often seen in a negative light in other ancient and medieval societies) which can be traced back through hadiths attributed to Muhammad and to the following advice given in the Qur’an “There is no fault in the blind, and there is no fault in the lame, and there is no fault in the sick.” This eventually led to the theory of contagious disease, which was fully understood by Avicenna in the 11th century. By then, the pathology of contagion had been fully understood, and as a result, hospitals were created with separate wards for specific illnesses, so that people with contagious diseases could be kept away from other patients who do not have any contagious diseases. In The Canon of Medicine (1020), Avicenna discovered the contagious nature of infectious diseases such as phthisis and tuberculosis, the distribution of diseases by water and soil, and fully understood the contagious nature of sexually transmitted diseases. In epidemiology, he introduced the method of quarantine as a means of limiting the spread of contagious diseases, and introduced the method of risk factor analysis and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases. In order to find the most hygienic place to build a hospital, Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) carried out an experiment where he hung pieces of meat in places throughout 10th century Baghdad and observed where the meat decomposed least quickly. Razi also wrote the Comprehensive Book of Medicine in the 9th century. The Large Comprehensive was the most sought after of all his compositions, in which Razi recorded clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various diseases, as well as the discovery of measles and smallpox. The Large Comprehensive also criticized the views of Galen, after Razi had observed many clinical cases which did not follow Galen’s descriptions of fevers. For example, he stated that Galen’s descriptions of urinary ailments were inaccurate as he had only seen three cases, while Razi had studied hundreds of such cases in hospitals of Baghdad and Rayy.The Comprehensive Book of Medicine, especially with its introduction of measles and smallpox, was very influential in Europe. IBN ZUHR (AVENZOAR Was the first physician to provide a real scientific etiology for the inflammatory diseases of the ear, and the first to clearly discuss the causes of stridor. Through his dissections, he was also able to prove that the skin disease scabies was caused by a parasite, a discovery which upset the theory of humorism supported by Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna. He also gave the first accurate descriptions on neurological diseases, including meningitis, intracranial thrombophlebitis, and mediastinal germ cell tumors. Averroes suggested the existence of Parkinson’s disease and attributed photoreceptor properties to the retina. Maimonides wrote about neuropsychiatric disorders and described rabies and belladonna intoxication. ALLERGOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY: The study of allergology and immunology originate from the Islamic world. MUHAMMAD IBN ZAKARĪYA RĀZI (RHAZES) Was responsible for discovering “allergic asthma“, and was the first physician known to have written articles on allergy and the immune system. In the Sense of Smelling, he explains the occurrence of rhinitis after smelling a rose during the Spring. In the Article on the Reason Why Abou Zayd Balkhi Suffers from Rhinitis When Smelling Roses in Spring, he dicusses seasonal rhinitis, which is the same as allergic asthma or hay fever. Al-Razi was the first to realize that fever is a natural defense mechanism, the body’s way of fighting disease. The distinction between smallpox and measles also dates back to al-Razi. The medical procedure of inoculation was practiced in the medieval Islamic world in order to treat smallpox. This was later followed by the first smallpox vaccine in the form of cowpox, invented in Turkey in the early 18th century. DR. ABDIRIZAK HAJI MOHAMED Pharm-D University of Karachi-Pakistan Contribution of Muslim scientist is far-reaching topic So part two will be publish soon, please your comments and any suggestions send to firstname.lastname@example.org

<urn:uuid:74a83813-c0ea-4a61-b8cd-08f3bc45f626>

CC-MAIN-2013-20

en

Islamic and Arabic Studies