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by Gerry Everding St. Louis MO (SPX) Feb 12, 2013 Nominated early this year for recognition on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which includes such famous cultural sites as the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu and Stonehenge, the earthen works at Poverty Point, La., have been described as one of the world's greatest feats of construction by an archaic civilization of hunters and gatherers. Now, new research in the current issue of the journal Geoarchaeology, offers compelling evidence that one of the massive earthen mounds at Poverty Point was constructed in less than 90 days, and perhaps as quickly as 30 days - an incredible accomplishment for what was thought to be a loosely organized society consisting of small, widely scattered bands of foragers. "What's extraordinary about these findings is that it provides some of the first evidence that early American hunter-gatherers were not as simplistic as we've tended to imagine," says study co-author T.R. Kidder, PhD, professor and chair of anthropology in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. "Our findings go against what has long been considered the academic consensus on hunter-gather societies - that they lack the political organization necessary to bring together so many people to complete a labor-intensive project in such a short period." Co-authored by Anthony Ortmann, PhD, assistant professor of geosciences at Murray State University in Kentucky, the study offers a detailed analysis of how the massive mound was constructed some 3,200 years ago along a Mississippi River bayou in northeastern Louisiana. Based on more than a decade of excavations, core samplings and sophisticated sedimentary analysis, the study's key assertion is that Mound A at Poverty Point had to have been built in a very short period because an exhaustive examination reveals no signs of rainfall or erosion during its construction. "We're talking about an area of northern Louisiana that now tends to receive a great deal of rainfall," Kidder says. "Even in a very dry year, it would seem very unlikely that this location could go more than 90 days without experiencing some significant level of rainfall. Yet, the soil in these mounds shows no sign of erosion taking place during the construction period. There is no evidence from the region of an epic drought at this time, either." Part of a much larger complex of earthen works at Poverty Point, Mound A is believed to be the final and crowning addition to the sprawling 700-acre site, which includes five smaller mounds and a series of six concentric C-shaped embankments that rise in parallel formation surrounding a small flat plaza along the river. At the time of construction, Poverty Point was the largest earthworks in North America. Built on the western edge of the complex, Mound A covers about 538,000 square feet [roughly 50,000 square meters] at its base and rises 72 feet above the river. Its construction required an estimated 238,500 cubic meters - about eight million bushel baskets - of soil to be brought in from various locations near the site. Kidder figures it would take a modern, 10-wheel dump truck about 31,217 loads to move that much dirt today. "The Poverty Point mounds were built by people who had no access to domesticated draft animals, no wheelbarrows, no sophisticated tools for moving earth," Kidder explains. "It's likely that these mounds were built using a simple 'bucket brigade' system, with thousands of people passing soil along from one to another using some form of crude container, such as a woven basket, a hide sack or a wooden platter." To complete such a task within 90 days, the study estimates it would require the full attention of some 3,000 laborers. Assuming that each worker may have been accompanied by at least two other family members, say a wife and a child, the community gathered for the build must have included as many as 9,000 people, the study suggests. "Given that a band of 25-30 people is considered quite large for most hunter-gatherer communities, it's truly amazing that this ancient society could bring together a group of nearly 10,000 people, find some way to feed them and get this mound built in a matter of months," Kidder says. Soil testing indicates that the mound is located on top of land that was once low-lying swamp or marsh land - evidence of ancient tree roots and swamp life still exists in undisturbed soils at the base of the mound. Tests confirm that the site was first cleared for construction by burning and quickly covered with a layer of fine silt soil. A mix of other heavier soils then were brought in and dumped in small adjacent piles, gradually building the mound layer upon layer. As Kidder notes, previous theories about the construction of most of the world's ancient earthen mounds have suggested that they were laid down slowly over a period of hundreds of years involving small contributions of material from many different people spanning generations of a society. While this may be the case for other earthen structures at Poverty Point, the evidence from Mound A offers a sharp departure from this accretional theory. Kidder's home base in St. Louis is just across the Mississippi River from one of America's best known ancient earthen structures, the Monk Mound at Cahokia, Ill. He notes that the Monk Mound was built many centuries later than the mounds at Poverty Point by a civilization that was much more reliant on agriculture, a far cry from the hunter-gatherer group that built Poverty Point. Even so, Mound A at Poverty Point is much larger than almost any other mound found in North America; only Monk's Mound at Cahokia is larger. "We've come to realize that the social fabric of these socieites must have been much stronger and more complex that we might previously have given them credit. These results contradict the popular notion that pre-agricultural people were socially, politically, and economically simple and unable to organize themselves into large groups that could build elaborate architecture or engage in so-called complex social behavior," Kidder says. "The prevailing model of hunter-gatherers living a life 'nasty, brutish and short' is contradicted and our work indicates these people were practicing a sophisticated ritual/religious life that involved building these monumental mounds." Washington University in St. Louis All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here |The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement|

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It's one of our worst nightmares: being awake during surgery. But anesthesia doesn't work for everybody. The people this has happened to say the pain isn't the worst part, although that can be excruciating. It's the horror of being paralyzed and unable to talk to the surgeon, while being completely aware of what he's doing to you. Some patients describe it as like being buried alive. It's not all that rare: it happens in about one out of every thousand operations. Rachel Nowak writes in New Scientist that a simple device called a BIS monitor can cut the number of these cases by 80%--but most anesthetists don't use it because they underestimate the possibility of a patient remaining awake. Even when anesthesia works, many patients have fleeting memories of their operations. Because of this, doctors have been cautioned not to tell dirty jokes or make personal comments about the patient during the operation, as these are sometimes remembered. The BIS monitor will soon become a standard part of operating room procedure because insurance companies will insist on it, to ward off potential lawsuits. On this week's Dreamland, learn about the mysterious Cross in the town of Hendaye which reveals information about the changes we face right now and where and how to survive them. NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.

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First identified in a group of children in Lyme, Connecticut, Lyme disease has now been found in nearly all states and 18 other countries. Most cases -- more than 90% -- are reported in three regions of the U.S.: Northeast, from Massachusetts to Maryland North Central States, mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin West Coast, particularly Northern California Because the symptoms are random and vague (aside from a bull's-eye rash), Lyme disease can be hard to diagnose. Unfortunately, unless Lyme disease is treated promptly, it can also be difficult to cure. For these reasons, people living in high-risk areas can have considerable anxiety about Lyme disease, and doctors tend to over-diagnose and over-treat it. The bull's-eye rash of Lyme disease is distinctive. If you have been exposed to a tick and have the rash, this is enough to make the diagnosis. But if you have no such rash, Lyme disease is hard to diagnose. It mimics other diseases, such as the flu and arthritis, and there is often a long time lapse between symptoms. Your doctor will check for flu-like symptoms and take a sample of blood to check for a high antibody response to Lyme disease. However, blood testing is not completely reliable. It... Lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of the tiny black-legged, or deer, tick found in the Eastern and Central U.S. and the western black-legged tick in the Pacific West. The riskiest months for Lyme disease are from May through September, when young ticks are likely to be biting. In humans, the bacteria may cause flu-like symptoms. It invades many tissues -- including the heart and nervous system -- and triggers an immune response that leads to Lyme arthritis.

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Bison roaming on mixed grass prairie - a type of grassland - at Wind Cave National Park (U.S.) Click on image for full size National Park Service Do you know what grassland looks like? You're right, it looks like fields of grass! But there are many different types of grass. Some look a lot different than the grass in your yard! Grassland makes up a lot of the Earth's surface. There is grassland in every continent but Antarctica. Many different animals live in the grasslands of the world. Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store! Our online store includes issues of NESTA's quarterly journal, The Earth Scientist , full of classroom activities on different topics in Earth and space science, as well as books on science education! You might also be interested in: Biomes are large areas of the world where there are similar plants, animals, and other living things. The living things are adapted to the climate. Explore the links below to learn more about different...more Temperate forests are found all over the world, but they are not all the same. Some forests have trees that lose their leaves in the winter. These trees are called deciduous. Other forests have trees that...more This picture was taken from high above our planet. Looking at the Earth from very far away like this we can see that some parts of our planet look light in color, and some parts look dark. The color of...more Did you know that many species of birds live in the desert? You have probably heard of the roadrunner or seen the cartoon. The roadrunner is a real bird that lives in the desert! It prefers to run rather...more Deserts are very hot and dry places. Deserts get very little rain each year. So how do plants and animals live here? This section on the desert ecosystem will explain how! Do you know what a desert looks...more There are all kinds of insects in the desert! Some of them cause a lot of problems. The locusts fly from place to place, eating all the plants they see. But not all desert bugs are bad. There isn't a...more There are many species of mammals in the desert! Many of them dig holes in the ground to live in. These holes are called burrows. Rats and hamsters live in burrows. Bigger mammals, like the wild horse,...more

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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia - n. A sea-duck of the subfamily Fuligulinœ and genus Clangula; a garrot. The common goldeneye is C. glaucion or C. clangula of Europe and Americn. Barrow's goldeneye is the Rocky Mountain garrot, C. barrovi. See cut under - n. A fish, Hyodon chrysopsis, having a large eye with yellow iris. — - n. One of various neuropterous insects of the genus Chrysopa: so called in allusion to their golden or bronze-colored eyes. The larvæ are often called aphis-lions. Also called golden-eyed fly. - n. Melithreptus lunulatus, a small species of honey-eater. GNU Webster's 1913 - n. (Zoöl.) A duck (Glaucionetta clangula), found in Northern Europe, Asia, and America. The American variety (var. Americana) is larger. Called whistler, garrot, gowdy, pied widgeon, whiteside, curre, and doucker. Barrow's golden-eye of America (Glaucionetta Islandica) is less common. - n. a variety of green lacewing - n. large-headed swift-flying diving duck of Arctic regions “One winter day, in prowling along the beach, I approached the spot where a day or two before I had been shooting whistlers (golden-eye ducks) over decoys.” “The software can also automatically detect and remove red - and golden-eye defects.” “OptiML Red-Eye uses embedded image processing automatically detects and corrects red- and golden-eye imperfections without the need for a PC or editing software.” “The CMC golden-eye team comprises 15 people who look primarily at HD services and evaluate video quality in six categories of digital defects on a scale of one to five (one being unwatchable and five being spectacular).” “In addition, Comcast is working to establish local golden-eye programs in at least two markets.” “My two dogs are part wolf … they have that golden-eye of the wolf and the sharp nose … those animals look very much like two of my best friends … plwalsh: I'm glad it wasn't just us who saw the poor editing.” ‘golden-eye’ hasn't been added to any lists yet. Looking for tweets for golden-eye.

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Mathematics-filter: If there are seven funds with various charges, how can I work out the allocation to these funds of a fixed amount so that the weighted mean charge is below a certain level and the allocations are of similar sizes? [more inside] posted by djgh on Dec 31, 2012 - Can you cite any examples where a technological breakthrough wasn't possible until there was some sort of mathematical breakthrough? [more inside] posted by Brian Puccio on Apr 6, 2011 - Best books, websites, lecture series on game theory and its applications for smart people who understand mathematics but can't stand trawling through pages of unnecessary complex formulae? posted by vizsla on Jan 26, 2009 - Applied Math Filter: Help me use math! I'd like to learn more about mathematics and it's practical applications - particularly in Computer Science [more inside] posted by dcbarker on Aug 1, 2008 - Why is it that when I solve the inequality 0 ≤ arccos(x) <> cos(π/4)? Why do the operators switch direction?> [more inside] posted by PuGZ on Oct 19, 2007 - Imagine a cube-shaped building, with ten cube-shaped rooms along each side (10 rooms long, 10 high & 10 deep). Each cubular room has 4 walls, 1 ceiling and 1 floor. Each of the 6 interior surfaces in all 1000 cubular rooms is decorated with a different piece of art. The rooms can be moved around the building, as if it were an enormous Rubik's cube, but they can also be spun on their axes, so all 6 walls of all 1000 cubes is capable of touching all the others (if the cube is so arranged). How many combinations of art within the 'Cube Gallery' are possible? If you can run me through the workings of the maths I would be extra grateful. Also, what technical words/phrases/language are useful/interesting in expressing this concept? [more inside] posted by 0bvious on Apr 24, 2007 - Mathematical imbecile question: what's the simplest, most universal way to add a list of vectors? [more inside] posted by Jimbob on Feb 19, 2005 - How can a major key sound confident and happy, while a minor key can sound sinister or sad? Is it just centuries of musical brainwashing, or is there a real mathematical explanation? posted by Pretty_Generic on May 7, 2004 -

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Maurice Sendak, children’s author and illustrator, died today. For those who loved his books it’s a great loss. You may be wondering what this has to do with Asian Art. Granted, not a lot. But it has to do with how we think about children, and what we share with them. Sendak’s work is dark, exploring some of the grimmest topics a child could be exposed to. He didn’t believe in sheltering children from the real world. He had a deep respect for the ability of children to deal with complex and challenging themes. For an insight into Sendak’s work, check out this recent interview from The Colbert Report. Phantoms of Asia, which opens on May 18, is in many ways a challenging show. As a parent, I am wondering how my three-year-old will react to the images. I wonder if he should even be exposed to some of them. I have been speaking with other parents here at the museum about how we plan to address some of the questions that could come up: about death, about violence, about sex. We will all have different ways of dealing with these questions, depending on the age of our kids, our own experience, our parenting styles. But we’re all bringing our children to see the show. We all feel there’s something in it that will be enriching for them. And I can’t speak for the others, but for me I know that Maurice Sendak is part of the reason that I feel prepared to engage with this material: not just as a parent, but as a person. Vale, Mr. Sendak. Leave a Reply

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This series of articles is intended for the beginning writer. It is filled with advice, exercises and pointers designed to help you take the raw clay of your imagination and shape it until not only do you know what your story elements are, but you have written a five paragraph, then a one paragraph, then a one sentence summary of your piece. This article gives a roadmap to where we're going and why we want to get there. We begin to get to know our characters, what they want, what they fear, what they do for a living, what their dreams are and, most importantly, what their goal is. Here we go deeper into our characters and start transforming our knowledge into a narrative. We hone what we know about our characters until it can be expressed in five paragraphs that summarize our hero's journey. A continuation of the ideas in (3). A continuation of the ideas in (4). In this, the final installment of The Starburst Method, we will distill the essence of our story down to a one sentence description that communicates who the protagonist is, what she wants, and what the central conflict is.

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Although many Europeans associate it with political turmoil, the Basque Country is the only Spanish region where the economic outlooks is mild. Tuesday 13 March 2012 In the summer months, the beachside cafés in the Sagües quarter of San Sebastián (Basque Country, Spain) are bustling. The surfers take their morning session, while tourists, local youth and middle-aged clientele take their mid-afternoon cañas, or small beers. Walking through the parte vieja – old quarter of the city – a sign reads: “Tourists beware you are not in Spain, nor France, you are in the Basque Country”. Something seems very different here. You get the impression that the financial crisis has not taken hold here. Nevertheless, the winter months are hard for the service sector. Juan Ramon, a local taxi driver, confirms the difficulties of keeping one’s head above water in the ‘off-season’. Elena, one of the owners of La Consentida, a pintxos bar along the normally thriving coastal avenue, La Zurriola, notes the effects of the now four-year crisis. “Every day we are worried about business, but winter is always especially difficult,” she says. Although things may be bad in the Basque Country, the situation is worse in the rest of Spain, especially in the south where mass tourism plays a huge role. But the Basque Country has a different background. Its research centres and traditional industries are still fairing well in the financial storm. Amid soaring unemployment and fears of a double-dip recession in Spain, the Basque Country offers a contrasting picture. The Spanish situation is grim, with 5.3 million unemployed at the end of 2011, the Bank of Spain predicts that the country’s economy will fall into another recession, contracting by 1.5% in 2012, which would exacerbate the 22.9% unemployment rate reported at the end of 2011, according to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE). Meanwhile, the Basque Country has the lowest unemployment rate of all the Spanish regions, known as Autonomous Communities, and has maintained comparatively lower levels for decades. With a population of 2.16 million, the Basque Country’s unemployed is 159,667. That’s just 7.4% unemployment, way below the Spanish average. But why is the Basque country weathering the financial storm better than the rest of Spain? It goes back to basic economic drivers… industry and production. Iron mining and steel manufacturing helped build this region and, unlike the UK and other struggling European economies, the Basque Country is not letting go of them without a fight. Heavy mining at the turn of the 19th and well into the 20th century gave the Basque region a solid economic base and provided steady employment for skilled and unskilled workers, including economic migrants. Today, the Basque Country’s level of industrialisation is greater than the EU average. The Basques have also been able to reinvent themselves, with EU backing and opportunities. Through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the EU has €241 million in co-funding destined for the Basque Country under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment programme (2007-2013). The funds are devoted to areas that are already highly developed in the Basque Country, including science and technology, research and development, environment, energy resources, and transport. The tiny Basque Country punches above its weight politically as well, offering its expertise to the EU in such fields as taxation policy, health, the environment, transportation, e-democracy, agriculture, language and culture, and even fishing policy. According to one MEP from the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), “The Basque Government is in continual contact with the European Commission in formal and informal settings.” But does all this direct contact between the EU and the Basque region create greater tension with Madrid? Yes and no. In considering the absence of a Spanish central state-sponsored representation mechanism, an official from the Spanish Permanent representation to the EU notes, “It is a weakness of the system that the Autonomous Communities do not have the capacity to be able to negotiate and be represented here in Brussels,” at least through the central state. As an autonomous region you would expect some, well, ‘autonomy’ in its dealings with the EU, but Spain can’t help but be envious of the Basque Country’s clout and strong ties to the EU. For the Basques, though, it is pure logic: why wait for Madrid – or negotiate a shared position with the other Autonomous Communities – when you can act directly at the EU level? This thinking applies on many levels, including how the Basques fund their research. Tortuero Martin, a government expert, explains that funding is arranged through an agreement between the management agency or authority and those in charge of employment policy in the Autonomous Communities. “There is regional source of funding, and it doesn’t come from the budget of the state in Spain,” he stresses. Moreover, the Basques have the means and institutions in place to lobby the EU directly, which is arguably a more robust form of negotiating than the sclerotic traditional power structures. This nimble, somewhat informal, approach could well be the Basques regions secret weapon, helping it weather the financial storm and defy the dire predictions for the Spanish economy. Facebook comments (Chronikler comments below) Tags: basque country, brussels, business, economy, employment, eu, europe, financial crisis, france, industry, research, spain, technology, tourism

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Find a Restaurant Welcome to comvietnam.com ! Vietnam is an agricultural country belongs to a tropical monsoon tropics. Also Vietnamese territory is divided into three distinct regions, North, Central and South. The main characteristics of geography, culture, ethnicity, climate regulations specific characteristics of each cuisine - region. Each domain has a characteristic sharp taste. That contribute to Vietnamese cuisine rich and diverse. This is a dining culture uses a lot of vegetables (boiled, fried, pickled, raw); many countries especially sour soup, while the number of dishes of animal nutrition often less. The most common meat used is pork, beef, chicken, geese, duck, shrimp, fish, crabs, snails, mussels, clams, oysters, etc. These dishes from the less common meats such as dog meat, goat meat, turtle, snake meat, turtle meat ... often not the main source of meat, sometimes considered special and is only used in a certain festival occasions to drink wine together. The Vietnamese also have a number of Buddhist vegetarian dishes made from plants, no food from animal sources. However, in the community, very few vegetarian, only the monks in the temple / monastery or serious illness forced dieting. Vietnamese cuisine also features the middle of mixing ingredients is not too spicy, too sweet or too fatty. Additional material (spices) to Vietnamese cooking is very rich, including many aromatic herbs such as basil, shiso, marjoram, onion, dill, smell etc ship; vegetable spices such as chilli , pepper, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemon fruit or leaves; fermented condiments such as addiction, shrimp sauce, wine, vinegar or bitter candy bar, coconut etc. The spices typical of the tropical Southeast Asian nation above used a life in harmony with each other and often upon the principle of "yin and yang coordinate development", as likely to cause stomach cold food must have accompanying spicy hot. Hydrophobic dishes together can not be combined in a dish or not eat at the same time because there is no good, or have the potential to cause adverse health folk also come up with a lot of experience handed down through generations. When enjoying the food, the mixed nature of a synthetic material above becomes clearer: people rarely separate foods to eat, enjoy each dish, a meal usually Synchronization dishes from the beginning to the end of the meal. Another special feature of Vietnamese cuisine that other countries, especially in Western countries do not have is the "sauce". Fish sauce is used most often in Vietnamese cuisine. There are also all kinds of sauce, like black (soy). Shared sauce bowl on a tray of rice, from ancient times until now do taste much thicker, more dishes taste and shows the close-knit community of Vietnamese. A more or less distinguished features Vietnamese cuisine with a number of other countries: Vietnam focused on eating delicious food but sometimes do not set goals is a leading food supplements. Thus in the system of Vietnamese cuisine at very sophisticated dishes, function as well as food security of China, also not in favor of furnished aesthetic of Japanese cuisine, which tend to spice blend subtly delicious dishes, or use the material elastic, brittle and enjoy very interesting though not actually add fat (eg cement dishes, chicken wings feet, viscera of animals etc.). In fact many people have noticed, a sentiment, Vietnamese culinary featured good road in the match with other culinary cultures of the world: Chinese food friendly foods, delicious Vietnamese dishes mouth, Japanese food look like eyes. However, this feature is increasingly fading blur and become less identity during integration. Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved Best viewed with FireFox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, IE 8 at resolution of 1024x768

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The Time Period section in this metadata record represents the dates when the data and information were collected to prepare the GIS products and atlases. Hence, the actual observation of the resource status was completed on, or most likely before, this date. See the atlas-specific metadata for actual survey and data publication dates. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Hazardous Materials Response Division (HAZMAT), and other federal, regional, state, and local agencies, varying by atlas., 200005, ESI-PR02, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map): National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Hazardous Materials Response Division (HAZMAT), Seattle, Washington, Seattle, WA. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Hazardous Materials Response Division (HAZMAT), Seattle, Washington, 200005, Puerto Rico Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Atlas: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Hazardous Materials Response Division (HAZMAT), Seattle, Washington, Seattle, WA. Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.00005. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.00005. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal Degrees. The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927. The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866. The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.4. The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.98. Animals, plants, and habitats potentially at risk from oil spills are segmented into seven elements based on major taxonomic and functional groupings. Each element is further divided into groups of species or sub-elements with similar taxonomy, morphology, life history, and/or behavior relative to oil spill vulnerability and sensitivity. Attribute data include: species names (common and scientific), the legal status of each species (state and/or federal threatened, endangered, and special concern listings), concentration/abundance, seasonal presence by month, and special life-history time-periods (e.g. spawning, nesting). Human-use resources can be subdivided into four major components: high-use recreational and shoreline access locations, management areas, resource extraction locations, and archaeological and historical cultural resource locations. Each of these elements is further subdivided based upon types of use. This project was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), Hazardous Materials Response Division (HAZMAT), Seattle, Washington, and other federal, regional, state, and local agencies, varying by atlas. The ESI data were collected, mapped, and digitized to provide environmental data for oil spill planning and response. The Clean Water Act, with amendments by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, requires response plans for immediate and effective protection of sensitive resources. Oil spill planning and response remains the primary use of these maps, however they are finding ever-widening use in such areas as coastal resource inventories and assessments, coastal planning, and recreational planning. SHORELINE CLASSIFICATION - ESI maps include a shoreline ranking, based on a scale relating sensitivity, natural persistence of oil, and ease of cleanup. The shoreline classification scheme combines an understanding of the physical and biological character of the shoreline environment, as well as the substrate type and grain size. Relationships among physical processes, substrate type, and associated biota produce specific geomorphic/ecological shoreline types, sediment transport patterns, and predictable oil behaviors and biological impacts. The sensitivity ranking (Rank 1 - Rank 10) is dictated by the following factors: relative exposure to wave and tidal energy, shoreline slope, substrate type (grain size, mobility, penetration and/or burial, and trafficability), and biological productivity and sensitivity. Methods for classifying shorelines include review of existing maps, literature, and remote imagery, incorporated with observations from low-altitude aerial surveys and ground observations. Base maps, shoreline, wetland boundaries, and aerial photographs are gathered prior to a survey. Using this information, along with any previous studies of the area, the geologist completes a preliminary shoreline classification. This classification is modified during the fieldwork process. Fieldwork consists of two parts: aerial surveys and ground verifications. During the overflight phase, the geologist annotates the shoreline base map with ESI Rankings, carefully noting transitions in habitats. Shorelines with more than one ESI type in the intertidal zone are annotated on the map in order from landward to seaward ESI classification. A segment of coastline may be assigned up to three ESI shoreline types. In areas where the coastline has changed significantly from the base map (either through natural or artificial processes), the geologist modifies the base map by hand. In addition to classifying the shoreline, the observer takes representative low-altitude, oblique photographs for each ESI habitat. Ground verification consists of spot-checking to confirm aerial observations. Ideally, an example of each habitat is visited and photographed from the ground. At a minimum, ground verification concentrates on confirming grain-size classification for sedimentary substrates, since this can be difficult to recognize from the air. If a portion of the coast is identified during the overflights as problematic or difficult to classify, that segment is ground checked and maps are updated according to the ground observations. Once the field component of the project is complete, the maps are scanned and the digital shoreline arcs are updated with the ESI attributes noted in the field. The shape and position of the digital shoreline may also be modified at this time to reflect field observations. After the information from the field map has been incorporated into the digital database, the ESI shoreline is color-coded and replotted at the same scale as the original base maps. The geologist then compares the classified shoreline plots to the original field-annotated base maps and any errors in shoreline attributes, as recorded in the GIS database, are corrected. SENSITIVE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES - ESI maps depict oil-sensitive animals and rare plants, as well as habitats that are used by oil-sensitive species. Some habitats, such as submersed aquatic vegetation and coral reefs, that are themselves sensitive to oil spills may also be depicted. Biological resource information is gathered from local officials who provide expert knowledge and suggest relevant source materials for biological resources in the study area. When the data have been collected and reviewed, the biologist plans how each resource will be mapped throughout the entire study area. During this process, it may be necessary to prioritize the species to be mapped in order to avoid excess clutter, which makes the final product difficult to read or interpret. Considerations may include species that are rare or listed as protected or endangered, or those species that have a particular commercial, recreational, or cultural value in the area. It may also be appropriate to limit some species-mapping to particularly critical life stages, such as nesting or spawning. Biological features are mapped as points, polygons, and lines, and are given unique numbers corresponding to associated data tables, for easy identification and editing. HUMAN-USE RESOURCES - ESI maps also include human-use areas that could be impacted by an oil spill, or that could provide access for spill response operations. They include areas that have added sensitivity and value because of their use, such as beaches, parks, and marine sanctuaries; water intakes; and archaeological sites. Human-use resources are divided into four major components: high-use recreational and shoreline access locations, management areas, resource extraction locations, and archaeological and historical cultural resource locations. Each human-use resource is assigned a feature type and feature code. Management areas are typically mapped as polygons, while the remaining socioeconomic resources are generally depicted as points. For more information about the data sources and process for a particular resource, refer to the metadata record for the desired resource in the ESI atlas of interest. Person who carried out this activity: A multi-stage error checking process is used to verify both attribute accuracy and logical consistency throughout data production. The process includes a standardized data entry methodology, hardcopy data review by in-house and external resource experts, a final Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) process, and multiple automated logical consistency checks. Quantitative data (such as densities, counts, abundances, or concentrations) provided by resource experts for inclusion in the data set may vary widely in attribute accuracy, depending upon the methodology used to collect and compile such data. For a more detailed evaluation of source data attribute accuracy, contact the sources listed in the Lineage section of the metadata record for the desired resource (e.g., BIRDS) in the ESI atlas of interest. As a rule, the positional accuracy is based on the source data which, for the lower contiguous states, is generally the 1:24,000 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) quads. In Alaska, the source data are a combination of the 1:63,360 and 1:250,000 USGS quads, and may vary elsewhere. For more information about the original source data and how these data were integrated or manipulated to create the final data set, see the Lineage and Process_Description sections of the metadata record for the appropriate resource (e.g., BIRDS). These data represent coastal shorelines and habitats classified according to the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) classification system; sensitive biological resources; and human-use resources. A multi-stage error checking process, described in the above Attribute_Accuracy_Report, is used to verify both attribute accuracy and logical consistency throughout data production. This process includes multiple automated logical consistency checks that test the files for missing or duplicate data, rules for proper coding, GIS topological consistencies (such as dangles, unnecessary nodes, etc.), and ORACLE(r) to ARC/INFO(r) consistencies. A final review is made by the GIS Manager, where the data are written to CD-ROM and the metadata are written. After the data are delivered to NOAA, they are again subjected to a number of quality and consistency checks. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data? - Access_Constraints: None. - DO NOT USE ESI MAPS FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES. Besides the above warning, there are no use constraints on these data. Note that the ESI maps should not be used to the exclusion of other pertinent data or information held by state or federal agencies or other organizations. Likewise, information contained in the maps cannot be used in place of consultations with environmental, natural resource, and cultural resource agencies, or in place of field surveys. Recognize that the information contained in the ESI maps represents known concentration areas or occurrences of natural, cultural, and human-use resources, but does not necessarily represent the full distribution or range of each species or resource. This is particularly important to recognize when considering potential impacts to protected resources, such as endangered species, wetlands, etc. Acknowledgment of the originators, publishers, contributors, and sources listed would be appreciated in products derived from these data. Static Map Images NOAA makes no warranty regarding these data, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to function on a particular system. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. NOAA warrants the delivery of this product in computer-readable format, and will offer a replacement copy of the product when the product is determined unreadable by computer-input peripherals, or when the physical medium is delivered in damaged condition. |Media you can order:|| (format ISO 9660) Contact Distributor. ESI data are processed into multiple display formats to make them useful to a wider community of GIS/mapping users. Distribution formats include ARC export, MOSS and Shape files, and MARPLOT map folders. An ArcView 3.X ESI project and an ESI_Viewer product are also included on the distribution CDs for ease of use of the data. The database files are distributed both in the NOAA standard relational database format (see NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 115) and in a simplified desktop flat file format.

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1. a rod, inscribed with the name of Aaron, that miraculously blossomed and yielded almonds. Num. 17:8. Previously, the rod had changed into a serpent. Ex. 7:10. 2. any of various plants having a tall, flowering stem, as the goldenrod or mullein. 3. a smooth-stemmed herb, Thermopsis caroliniana, found from North Carolina to Georgia, having yellow flowers in stiffly erect clusters and hoary pods. 4. Archit.a convex molding having regularly spaced representations of leaves or scrollwork. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

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It is written by sailors that all objects of beauty are called "she". Especially sailing ships. And the USS Constitution is no exception. USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. Launched in 1797, Constitution was one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed. Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so Constitution and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. Built in Boston, Massachusetts, at Edmund Hartt's shipyard, her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.She was berthed at Pier 1 of the former Charlestown Navy Yard. Now she is at sea once more. Celebrating her victory over a British ship 200 years ago. Constitution is most famous for her actions during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships: HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane and Levant. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname of "Old Ironsides" and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to actively serve the nation as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and circled the world in the 1840s. During the American Civil War she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy and carried artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878. Retired from active service in 1881, she served as a receiving ship until designated a museum ship in 1907. In 1931 she started a three-year, 90-port tour of the nation, and in 1997 she finally sailed again under her own power for her 200th birthday. On August 19, 2012, she sailed again under her own power in Boston Harbor to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her defeat of the Guerriere. Constitution's stated mission today is to promote understanding of the Navy’s role in war and peace through educational outreach, historic demonstration, and active participation in public events. As a fully commissioned US Navy ship, her crew of 60 officers and sailors participate in ceremonies, educational programs, and special events while keeping the ship open to visitors year round and providing free tours. The officers and crew are all active-duty US Navy personnel and the assignment is considered special duty in the Navy. Traditionally, command of the vessel is assigned to a Navy Commander. She is berthed at Pier 1 of the former Charlestown Navy Yard, at one end of Boston's Freedom Trail. At 215 years old, the USS Constitution is the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship afloat. But it's not too old to take a quick sail. For 17 minutes on Sunday, the ship cruised west across Boston Harbor, reaching a maximum speed of 3.1 knots. It was its first sail under its own power since turning 200 in 1997. The short trip -- a distance of 1,100 yards -- was to commemorate the Constitution's victory over a British warship of a similar size in a fierce battle during the War of 1812. The victory earned the ship its nickname, "Old Ironsides." Chief Petty Officer Frank Neely, a Constitution spokesman and crew member, said he was among the 285 lucky people who were aboard on Sunday. It was a warn day with a few clouds, but still perfect for the sail, he said. "This was really terrific," Neely said. "It couldn't have been more memorable." The trip marked the day two centuries ago when the Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812. The Guerriere proved no match for the Constitution, which was heavier and longer. The vessels blasted away at each other at close range, even colliding at one point, during the 35-minute battle. "I cannot think of a better way to honor those who fought in the war as well as celebrate Constitution's successes during the War of 1812 than for the ship to be under sail," Constitution Cmdr. Matt Bonner said in a statement. Following the sail, tugs took the vessel to Fort Independence on nearby Castle Island where a huge crowd had gathered, and the Constitution fired a 21-gun salute, Neely said. The ship, which was first launched in 1797, is stationed in Charlestown, and periodically is tugged into the harbor for historical display. Its primary mission today is to provide teach people about its history. Each year, about 500,000 people tour the ship, Neely said. She looks wonderful for a 215 year old lady. Her guns are still workable and she is the oldest commissioned vessel in the world. Wouldn't you want to be one of the lucky people aboard this wonderful ship?

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DyslexiaFEATURE ARTICLE OF MONTH Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a personís ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence. Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are difficulty with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds) and/or rapid visual-verbal responding. More... - The Alphabet War: A Story About Dyslexia - My Name Is Brain Brian - The Don'T-Give-Up Kid and Learning Differences

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It was 64 years ago today that Mohandas Gandhi (known as Mahatma, the great soul) was murdered by a Hindu extremist, who believed Gandhi had been too sympathetic to the Muslim cause during the British withdrawal from India. Delhi has two Gandhi memorials, one the site of his cremation at Raj Ghat, in a park on the banks of the Yamuna river where several other Indian leaders have since been commemorated, and the other at Birla House, in New Delhi, where he was shot. I visited both places with friends last week, seeking to commemorate Gandhi quietly and away from the grand ceremonies that today will mark the anniversary of his death. The site at Raj Ghat (literally the riverbank of the king or leader) was designed by Vanu G. Bhuta, an American-trained Indian architect who won the Government-sponsored competition to create a suitable memorial to Gandhi. His was a stark, modernist solution, intended to reflect the profound austerity of Gandhi’s life. The design, which was completed around 1956, is a square, sunken garden, surrounded by walls that serve as viewing platforms. In the centre of the garden is a raised, black marble slab, decorated solely with an engraving of the phrase “He Ram” [Oh God], supposedly Gandhi’s last words, and an eternal flame burning in a large lantern. Originally the surrounding garden was red earth, but it has been changed several times since its installation and is now British-style grass punctuated with trees planted by visiting foreign dignitaries (from Queen Elizabeth II and Dwight Eisenhower to Ho Chi Minh). When we visited last week, we admired the proportions and scale of the garden, and the way it can be experienced first in a broad sweep from above, and then intimately (and barefoot) at the memorial itself. The bright marigold petals add a typically Hindu touch (and on occasions the whole memorial is smothered in patterns of flower petals). For me, however, the dignity and repose of the space were somewhat spoilt by the bright green matting laid for mysterious reasons over many of the stone paths, and by the retractable barriers that discouraged visitors from getting too close to the memorial. The second Gandhi memorial in Delhi is at Birla House, where Gandhi was shot. It is now a national museum, known as the Gandhi Smriti. I had read of the footprints cast in stone marking his final walk from the house to a planned prayer meeting. But the reality was disappointing: the footprints were not, as I had imagined, gently sunken into the earth, as if preserving the exact tread of his final few steps. Instead, they are oddly raised and too numerous to bring much poignancy to the site - and apparently any child who sees them as an invitation to walk in Gandhi’s footsteps is quickly disabused of the idea by the museum guards. The whole site seemed to me slightly dispiriting: I’ve written elsewhere about its surfeit of information boards, and the much-trumpeted interactive displays in the house were one of the strangest museum experiences I have had. For me, the memorial garden at Raj Ghat, ideally shorn of its bright matting and barriers, is a far finer way to commemorate the founder of the Indian nation.

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Testicular cancer is a disease in which cancer cells grow in one or both testicles. The testicles (or testes) are a pair of male sex glands that produce sperm and male hormones. They are located under the penis in a sac-like pouch called the scrotum. At the top of each testis is a bunch of tiny tubules that collect and store sperm. This structure is called the epididymis. The sperm travel from the epididymis through the spermatic cord (or vas deferens) and out through the urethra during ejaculation. Cancer occurs when cells in the body (in this case, testicular cells) divide without control or order. Normally, cells divide in a regulated manner. If cells keep dividing uncontrollably when new cells are not needed, a mass of tissue forms, called a growth or tumor. The term "cancer" refers to malignant tumors, which can invade nearby tissues and can spread to other parts of the body. A benign tumor does not invade or spread. Undescended testes (also called cryptorchidism) and testicular atrophy are associated with testicular cancer. The link between undescended testes and testicular cancer is high. Other risk factors, such as maternal estrogen use, testicular trauma, or infection have not clearly demonstrated a correlative relationship. Normally the testes, which are inside the abdomen before birth, migrate into the scrotum by the time of birth. Occasionally though, boys are born with testes that are still in the abdomen or in the groin, not having completed their journey to the scrotum. This is called undescended testes. These testes are at high risk of cancer and should be moved into the scrotum or removed entirely as early as possible. Testicular atrophy describes testicles that are smaller than normal in size and occurs as a result of trauma or infection. Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in young men between ages 20 and 35. The peak annual incidence ranges from 8 to 14 per 100,000 men between ages 20 and 35, with a smaller peak in early childhood. The incidence in black men is less than one-fifth that of white men. Currently, over 90% of testicular cancers are cured.What are the risk factors for testicular cancer?What are the symptoms of testicular cancer?How is testicular cancer diagnosed?What are the treatments for testicular cancer?Are there screening tests for testicular cancer?How can I reduce my risk of testicular cancer?What questions should I ask my doctor?What is it like to live with testicular cancer?Where can I get more information about testicular cancer? - Reviewer: Igor Puzanov, MD - Review Date: 09/2012 - - Update Date: 00/92/2012 -

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Why geomagnetic storms affect telegraphs, telephones, power grids and piplines The Space Environment Center website has information on solar conditions and the effects of the solar wind, under the headings of Geomagnetic Storms, Solar Radiation and Radio Blackouts. A surprising number of things are affected by solar weather. Solar Radation is just that, ionizing particles that can be a hazard to high flying. Radio Blackouts are apparently the result of an intensification of the lower ionospheric layers that strongly absorb radio waves on the sunlit side. Geomagnetic Storms are fluctuations in the geomagnetic field, which induce electrical currents affecting various activities. Information from the site told me that geomagnetic fluctuations are reported by a number called Kp, which ranges from 0 to 9 depending on the strength of the fluctuations in the last three-hour period. Kp has to reach about 5 before minor disturbances are possible. The larger the value of Kp, the further south the aurora can be seen. For Kp = 3 or less, the aurora is restricted to Canada, but for Kp = 9, it can be observed further south than Colorado. Numbers G1-G5 are assigned to various intensities of geomagnetic disturbance from minor to extreme, with similar indexes S1-S5 and R1-R5 for the solar and radio disturbances. All these numbers and indices make it seem quite scientific and give people something to talk about, however small the information content. I was unable to find the current values of these indices on the website, but they must be there somewhere. A steady magnetic field is almost without effect. It turns the compass needle, but that is about it. Most of the geomagnetic field, of about a gauss, is steady and changes very slowly with time. This part is due to currents deep within the earth, and can be described as due to a dipole not quite at the center of the earth and not quite aligned with the axis of rotation. The magnetic "pole" in Canada is a south pole--the flux enters here--and the north poles of compass needles point roughly towards it. The intensity of this field decreases as the cube of the distance from the center of the earth, and interacts with the interplanetary magnetic fields to guide the charged particles of the solar wind as they approach the earth, deflecting them so that they do not reach the surface. There is a strong electric current in the upper atmosphere circling the magnetic pole called the auroral electrojet, with a strength of millions of amperes. The strength and position of this jet are affected by incoming solar radiation. The variation in these factors causes a change in the magnetic field produced by the electrojet, and this is at least one source of geomagnetic field variations. A change in magnetic field produces an electric field, which permeates all nonconducting materials and penetrates deeply into poorly conducting materials, such as the earth's crust. This means that different points are at different electric potentials. If these points are connected by a conducting path, an electric current will flow. A telegraph line was a conductor grounded at its ends, a perfect device for detecting earth currents. There may be actual earth currents, if the earth has a finite conductivity, but the currents in the telegraph wire are really not earth currents, but a current induced in the line itself. Nevertheless, the phenomenon was called "earth currents" and proved bothersome. However, it was often possible to operate a telegraph line on these earth currents, without a battery, quite successfully. Sometimes the voltages were high enough to cause severe damage to the apparatus or danger to the operator. Such high voltages were bypassed by "protectors" than offered a path to ground. These protectors were sometime called "lightning arrestors" when the high voltages were thought due to lightning. Of course, a nearby lightning stroke, or one to a wire, does indeed cause a voltage spike, but the results are often disastrous in this case, and rather rarer than earth currents. The earth currents are greatest at the times of rapid geomagnetic fluctuations, of course. Telephone circuits are also susceptible to these effects, and must be provided with protectors. With a two-wire circuit, the earth currents are common mode, it should be noticed. The currents are called GIC by the acronym-lovers, geomagnetically induced currents. It really should be geomagnetically induced electric fields. There is a strong vertical electrical field near the surface of the earth, of some 100V/m, but the very low conductivity of the atmosphere means that the currents are very small. Near thunderstorms, this field can become quite large, eventually causing an electrical discharge as the air breaks down electrically. Electric current is a response to an electric field by a conducting medium. One can also picture the changing magnetic field directly inducing a current in a wire. This actually requires a magnetic field linking a loop, a fully metallic loop or one with an earth return. In the previous picture, the wire and the earth were merely parts of one conductor in the electric field produced by the magnetic disturbance. It might be interesting to investigate some actual cases to find out the relative importance of the two points of view. There is little doubt that both occur. These days, geomagnetic storms appear to be a major hazard to power distribution systems. On 13 March 1989, at the peak of the 11-year solar activity (sunspot) cycle 23 that began in 1986, the entire Hydro Québec power grid went down during a severe geomagnetic storm. The hazards of high winds, ice loading and lightning to transmission lines was well-known, but the geomagnetic hazard seemed to have been overlooked. It appears that high currents between grounding points caused protective devices to operate, and transformers to fail. The large direct currents through transformers would saturate the cores, and the reduced impedance would allow excessive currents that would burn out the transformers (I deduce that this is the explanation). A power system that goes totally down is subject to extreme stress on restarting. All thermostatically controlled load is switched on at once, and the load on the system at restoration can be 600% of the normal load. The author of the paper on the effects of geomagnetic storms on power systems in the website said that the effects are particulary strong in regions underlain with igneous rocks, which have a low electrical conductivity. He says that the "high resistivity causes more of the current to flow through the wires," an explanation that I doubt, even if the effect is real. Canada is largely on a shield of old igneous rock. I think the current in each conductor would depend on its resistance, the potential between grounding points being the same. This may be the old concept of "earth currents" again. Pipelines are low-conductivity paths buried in the ground, and indeed earth currents of hundreds of amperes have been observed in them. Should these currents cause a problem, it would seem easy to prevent it by insulated joints. The pipes are continuously grounded, unless the protective coating of the pipe is insulating. Pipelines are affected by such a number of interesting phenomena from widely different fields (see, for example Hydrates) that this might make a good topic for a paper. Composed by J. B. Calvert Created 25 November 2000

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Right Whales were regarded by Nineteenth century whalers as the 'right' whales for their industry. By the 1860's their numbers were so severely depleted that whalers could no longer hunt them profitably. From an estimated world population of 100,000 whales, 30,000 were taken from Australian and New Zealand waters alone. Today the world population numbers about 2,000 of which 500 visit southern Australian waters to mate and breed. It is feared that the eastern American stock, now less than 300, is in great danger of extinction due to the accidental deaths of right whales involved in shipping accidents. All Right whales are protected internationally under the convention for the regulation of whaling and have not been actively hunted since 1935. Right Whales are slow, skimmer-feeders. Their baleen plates, up to 2 metres long, filter out plankton and krill (small shrimp-like crustaceans) as they cruise along the surface. They seldom reach a speed of 9km/hr. and take over a month to swim the 5000 km or so distance from the sub-Antarctic waters. The whales migrate to warmer temperate waters to give birth and mate. They also teach their young how to swim in the warm sheltered waters. The new-born calves have virtually no blubber to insulate them from the cold. They are fattened on rich whale milk which has a 40% fat content. This produces spectacular results and whale calves may double their weight within a week. However, there is no food here for the mothers, who must fast while they raise their young. Most births occur in early winter, after which the adults begin their courtship displays of breaching, tail splashing, jostling and caressing. Calves stay close to their mothers, suckling for a year or less and playing together. Calves learn skills they need to survive in one of our planet's great wilderness areas, the Ocean. Length:15-18 metres (60-72 feet) Life-span: 40 years Northern and Southern Hemisphere species are identical externally and probably should not have separate specific status (the northern species is know as Balaena glacialis). The body is robust and narrows rapidly in front of the huge tail flukes. Its colour is black (occasionally brown) and sometimes mottled, with white patches on the chin and belly. The head is large comprising 30% of the length of the body. The area around the blowholes, head and jaws have several large white, grey or yellowish skin callosites. There are numerous hairs on the chin and upper jaw. A long narrow rostrum suspends the baleen plates on each side of the upper jaw. The baleen is usually dark brown, dark grey or black but may be pale grey or white in younger animals. The Right whale has a broad back with no fin. It has broad smooth flukes deeply notched with a concave trailing edge and pointed tips. The flippers are large and spatulate with an angular outer edge. The blow is wide and V-shaped due to the wide separation of the two blowholes. It can reach 5m (16ft) high and may appear as one jet from the side or in the wind. Breathing sequence involves 5 to 10 minutes at the surface, blowing once every minute, followed by a dive for 10-20 minutes sometimes longer. The Right whale is a slow, lumbering swimmer, but is often acrobatic. It often breaches, sometimes up to 10 times or more in a row. The splash can be heard from up to 1km (3/4 mile) away. It may also wave a flipper above the surface, flipper-slap, lobtail and head-stand. Sometimes raised flukes in the air are used as sails, allowing the wind to push it through the water. This appears to be a playful activity as animals have often been seen swimming back to do it again. The Right whale is an inquisitive and playful whale and has been observed poking, bumping or pushing objects around that are in the water. During breeding season and mostly at night the Right whale often bellows and moans loudly. source "Whales in Danger"

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for National Geographic News At a glance, it is nearly impossible to identify an individual penguin in a colony of several thousand. That's a serious problem for researchers who want to identify and track individual birds as part of their efforts to protect them. To overcome the problem, many researchers attach stainless steel identification tags to the penguins' flippers (wings), but some long-term studies suggest these tags rub at the birds' insulating feathers and slow the birds down as they swim through the water. "There's quite a bit of controversy about it," said Peter Barham, a polymer physicist with Bristol University in the United Kingdom. Barham, who is not a biologist by training but passionate about penguins, is designing a new identification tag made out of silicone rubber. He hopes the new tags will be less harmful to the birds. Dee Boersma, a conservation biologist and penguin expert at the University of Washington in Seattle, said that determining whether the new silicone rubber tags are an improvement will require several years of tests. "It's always a good idea to develop new bands, but the real question is will these new bands be better?" she said. "We won't know until someone tests them and sees." The new tags are designed to be flexible enough to prevent wear on the birds' feathers yet fit snuggly around the wing, thus reducing any tag drag that may slow the birds as they swim. The first generation of Barham's silicone rubber tags fit like an airfoil on the flipper but proved too cumbersome when tested on wild penguins in South Africa. A second-generation prototype, designed more like a ring, is currently being developed. Preliminary results from tests of the new prototype on captive penguins suggest an improvement over conventional stainless steel tags. She says but "whether it will work in practice has yet to be seen," Barham said. Boersma is currently preparing a manuscript describing results from a ten-year study on a variety of tagging techniques, researchers will need at least five years of data before any conclusions can be made concerning the efficiency of the silicone rubber tags. SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES

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Individual differences | Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology | Situated along the perimeter of the adrenal gland, the adrenal cortex mediates the stress response through the production of mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, including aldosterone and cortisol respectively. It is also a secondary site of androgen synthesis. All adrenocortical hormones are synthesised from cholesterol. Cholesterol is transported into the inner mitochondrial membrane by steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), where it is converted into pregnenolone by the enzyme CYP11A. Accordingly, production of hormones in all three layers of the adrenal cortex is limited by the transportation of cholesterol into the mitochondria and by its conversion into pregnenolone. Pregnenolone can be either dehydrogenated to progesterone or hydroxylated to 17-alpha-hydroxypregnenolone. The steps up to this point occur in many steroid-producing tissues. Subsequent steps, however, only occur in the adrenal cortex. - Progesterone ->(hydroxylation at C21)-> Deoxycorticosterone ->(two further hydroxylations)-> Aldosterone - Progesterone -> (hydroxylation at C17)-> 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone ->(hydroxylation)-> Deoxycortisol ->(hydroxylation)-> Cortisol The cortex can be divided into three distinct layers of tissue based on their organization. The most superficial cortical layer is the zona glomerulosa, which produces mineralocorticoids (eg, aldosterone). Beneath the glomerulosa are the zonae fasciculata and reticularis, which produce glucocorticoids (eg, cortisol) and weak androgens (eg, dehydroepiandrosterone). The layers of the cortex can be remembered with the mnemonic GFR: G - glomerulosa, F - fasciculata, R - reticularis. Another mnemonic that is used is Go Find Rex, Make Good Sex: G - glomerulosa, F - fasciculata, R - reticularis, M - mineralcorticoids, G - glucocorticoids, S - sex hormones. The zona glomerulosa is the most superficial layer of the adrenal cortex, lying directly beneath the adrenal gland's capsule. Its cells are ovoid in shape and are arranged in clusters or arches (glomus is Latin for "ball"). In response to increased potassium levels or decreased blood flow to the kidneys, cells of the zona glomerulosa secrete the mineralocorticoid aldosterone into the blood as part of the renin-angiotensin system. Aldosterone regulates the body's concentration of electrolytes, primarily sodium and potassium, by acting on the distal convoluted tubule of kidney nephrons to: - increase sodium reabsorption - increase potassium excretion - increase water reabsorption through osmosis Cells of the zona fasciculata sit directly beneath the zona glomerulosa and are organized in bundles (or fascicles). The zona chiefly produces glucocorticoids (eg, cortisol) and a small amount of weak androgens (eg, dehydroepiandrosterone). Cortical cells responsible for the production of glucocorticoids are the primary effectors of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The hypothalamus secretes corticotropin-releasing hormone which stimulates the anterior pituitary gland to release ACTH; another hypothalamic hormone, arginine vasopressin augments ACTH secretion, with the two together stimulating larger release than ACTH in isolation. ACTH acts on the adrenal cortex to stimulate the release of glucocorticoids. This three-organ endocrine system is commonly called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. - stimulating the release of amino acids from the body - stimulating lipolysis, the breakdown of fat - stimulating gluconeogenesis, the production of glucose from newly-released amino acids and lipids - conserving glucose by inhibiting uptake into muscle and fat cells In addition to glucocorticoid production, the fasciculata is a secondary source of androgens such as testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). These enhance muscle mass, stimulate cell growth, and aid in the development of the secondary sex characteristics. The innermost layer of the adrenal cortex, the zona reticularis sits beneath the zona fasciculata and atop the adrenal medulla. Its cells are arranged in a network of cords (a reticulum) and have the same functions as cells of the zona fasciculata. It is thought that the zona reticularis is the principal source of glucocorticoids and adrenal androgens, with the zona fasciculata activating only after prolonged stimulation. - Adrenal insufficiency (e.g. due to Addison's disease) - Cushing's syndrome - Congenital adrenal hyperplasia - Conn's syndrome |This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|

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Survey Fact Sheet 094-96 Online version 1.0 REDUCING EARTHQUAKE LOSSES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES |The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake is the most powerful in Northern California's recorded history. New studies of this earthquake are yielding important clues about how and when such events occur. With this improved knowledge we can better prepare for future strong temblors.| |The upper photograph, taken from a tethered balloon five weeks after the great earthquake of April 18, 1906, shows the devastation wrought on the city of San Francisco by the quake and subsequent fire. In the city and surrounding region, at least 700 people were killed and losses totaled more than $400 million (1906 dollars). The lower view of San Francisco, taken from a similar vantage point atop a tall residential apartment building in 1996, shows the development of the densely populated city since the great quake. If a similar earthquake occurred in Northern California today, after many decades of rapid urban growth, thousands of people would likely be killed, and economic losses might be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.| On April 18, 1906, a powerful earthquake (magnitude 7.8) struck Northern California. During the minute of violent ground shaking, San Francisco and many smaller cities were devastated. At least 700 people were killed (the actual death toll probably was 3 to 4 times greater), and losses totaled more than $400 million (1906 dollars). The ground broke along the San Andreas Fault over nearly half the length of California (about 300 miles). Analysis by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists shows that ground movement along the fault (slippage) locally exceeded 25 feet near both Point Reyes and Shelter Cove, 150 miles apart on the coast north of San Francisco. |In this trench dug across the San Andreas Fault near Loma Prieta, California, U.S. Geological Survey scientists identified soil layers disrupted by the last giant earthquake before the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Radiocarbon dating of plant remains from the layers in the trench indicates that this quake occurred about A.D. 1600, before written historical records were kept in California.| The "Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake" is one of the strongest ever recorded on the North American continent. If a similar earthquake occurred in Northern California today, after many decades of rapid urban growth, thousands of people would likely be killed and economic losses might be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Such an event would easily be the worst natural disaster in the Nation's history. How soon is such an event likely to happen? Recent research offers some answers by providing new insights into the 1906 quake and the San Andreas Fault system. For example, geologists have dug trenches across the San Andreas Fault to find out how often very powerful temblors occur in Northern California. In these trenches, they have identified soil layers disrupted by a great earthquake before 1906. Charcoal in these layers has been shown to be about 400 years old. These and similar studies in Southern California, as well as thousands of years of historical records from China and Japan, tell us that giant earthquakes on faults like the San Andreas tend to occur every few hundred years. All this evidence suggests that another shock as powerful as the 1906 earthquake is not likely to strike Northern California soon, probably not for at least 100 years. |In the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, the ground broke along the San Andreas Fault over nearly half the length of California (about 300 miles). Ground movement along the fault (slippage) locally exceeded 25 feet near both Point Reyes andShelter Cove. Scientists believe that future giant earthquakes will occur only after the slow and steady (about 3/4 inch per year) relative motion (red arrows) of the Pacific and North America Plates has built up stress along the fault to 1906 levels. This "recharge"of stress should take from 130 to 400 years at different sites along the fault. The photo at right shows a fence near Bolinas, about 20 miles southeast of Point Reyes, that was offset 8 1/2 feet by slippage in the 1906 quake.|| Unfortunately, this reassuring result is balanced by other, more somber findings. Although a great earthquake is not expected soon, stress on the San Andreas Fault system has built up again after having been relieved by slippage in the 1906 shock. Seven decades of low seismic activity in Northern California ended with the occurrence between 1979 and 1984 of three quakes with magnitudes of about 6 and the occurrence in 1989 of the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake (magnitude 6.9). In the 70 years prior to the great 1906 quake, moderate earthquakes were common in the region, and shocks of magnitude 6 to 7 occurred every 10 to 15 years. Scientists believe that a similar period of strong quake activity may now be underway. Because of extensive urban development in Northern California since 1906, the strong earthquakes expected in the coming decades may be very destructive. For example, a magnitude 7 earthquake occurring today on the Hayward Fault (a part of the San Andreas Fault system, along the densely populated eastern side of San Francisco Bay) would likely cause hundreds of deaths and almost $100 billion of damage. In 1999, the USGS reported that there is a 70% chance that one or more quakes of about magnitude 6.7 or larger will occur in the San Francisco Bay area before the year 2030. |Between 1836 and 1911, moderate earthquakes were common in Northern California, and shocks of magnitude 6.5 to 7 occurred every 10 to 15 years. However, from 1911 to 1979, no temblors of even moderate magnitude occurred. In 1979, a new period of high earthquake activity, similar to the period prior to 1911, appears to have begun. The magnitude and year of each quake are shown. (Some magnitudes are recent updates based on the latest U.S. Geological Survey data.)| Future strong temblors in Northern California are inevitable, but the damage they cause can be reduced significantly with adequate preparation. Studies of earthquake shaking, active faults, and the response of structures to shaking have already led to improved building codes and a better understanding of how to reduce the threat posed by earthquakes. In 1990, the USGS, in close cooperation with the Red Cross, United Way, and many other contributors, created a magazine titled The Next Big Earthquake in the Bay Area May Come Sooner Than You ThinkAre You Prepared? This magazine was distributed as a public service by 41 San Francisco Bay area newspapers to more than 2.5 million households. In addition to describing the earthquake risk, the publication advised residents on how to strengthen their homes and protect their families against earthquake shaking. By studying quakes like the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, scientists and engineers gain the knowledge and understanding necessary to assess the risk from future shocks and to reduce the vulnerability of buildings and other structures to damage in these inevitable and terrifying events. In this way they help to protect the lives and property of citizens of the United States. Wayne R. Thatcher, Peter L. Ward, David J. Wald, James W. Hendley II, and Peter H. Stauffer Susan Mayfield and Sara Boore Web design by Carolyn Donlin California Institute of Technology California State Division of Mines and Geology Geomatrix Consultants Inc. Harlan Tait Associates Inc. Earthquake Information Hotline (650) 329-4085 U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 977 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 There is a USGS website where you can learn more about earthquakes and how to prepare for them. Download a PDF version of this two-page fact sheet (2.2 MB) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader For questions about the content of this report, contact Wayne Thatcher URL of this page: Maintained by: Michael Diggles Created: March 23, 2001 Last modified: March 1, 2005 (mfd)

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According to Wikipedia, “a wiki is a website that allows for the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include community websites, corporate intranets, knowledge management systems, and note services. The software can also be used for personal notetaking.” TiddlyWiki is a wiki with a twist: it uses the tiddler, a name given to a unit of microcontent. Tiddlers are special in that they are created from multiple words (usually two) run together, then become links to that particular interest. The word TiddlyWiki is a tiddler, as is MainMenu and UserGuide. Not only does TiddlyWiki have the coolest name, but it is also supremely useful as a notetaking platform. TiddlyWiki is open-source software that is normally downloaded to one’s hard drive and then opened and edited in a web browser. The resulting file is stored locally. I have used TiddlyWiki for some time now for my research notes and am generally pretty pleased with it, with one exception: I would like to be able to store my notes in the “cloud”, both for security and for convenience. TiddlySpot exists for that purpose and allows you to download your TiddlyWiki, edit it, and then upload it back to Tiddlyspot. Recently another way of implementing TiddlyWiki online has appeared. With TiddlySpace, there is no need for my notes to travel back-and-forth between my living room and the Cumulus: - Organise your stuff with links and tags- Link and tag your tiddlers to help you organise them. Tiddlers live on the web and each one has a cool URI making sharing easy. - Tailor your space with apps- TiddlySpace comes with a set of apps for creating and managing your tiddlers. You can create or reuse new apps for new experiences. - Collaborate and Share with Others- With a simple model for sharing, distributing and adapting your content TiddlySpace makes it easy to collaborate with others. - An evolution of TiddlyWiki- TiddlySpace builds on the tried and tested tiddler model introduced by TiddlyWiki by moving tiddlers to the web. - Simple API for Developers- Developers can customise, integrate and extend TiddlySpace by using its extensive and well-designed set of APIs. - Free and Open Source- The source code of TiddlySpace is available under an open source license so anyone can use it and improve it. TiddlySpace is somewhat Beta, very much a work in progress. Still, it has a lot of potential as a method of maintaining one’s research notes and could thus become an essential part of the genealogical research toolbox.

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Traumatic Brain Injury and Helmet Design AP/Petr David Josek According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, from 10 to 20 percent of Iraq war vets, or between 150,000 and 300,000 soldiers, have suffered a traumatic brain injury. TBI does not necessarily leave a visible wound; rather, the force of an explosion can bruise the brain, causing a variety of symptoms than may be difficult to distinguish from other psychological injuries prevalent in combat zones. Developing better ways to diagnose and treat TBI is important, but preventing it in the first place would be even better. Recent research from scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory investigates the mechanics of how blasts affect the brain and may provide an answer. Traditionally, armor design, including helmets, focused on minimizing the force of impacts–either from objects striking the soldier or from the soldier being thrown against hard surfaces. But the new study investigates how shock waves from explosions can flex and deform the skull itself, creating internal pressure on the soft brain tissue. Some current helmet designs that maintain a gap between the skull and the helmet wall actually amplify the pressure from blast waves. The research could lead to improved helmet design that protects from projectiles, impacts, and blast waves. The abstract from “Skull Flexure from Blast Waves: A New Mechanism for Brain Injury with Implications for Helmet Design”: Traumatic brain injury [TBI] has become the signature injury of current military conflicts. The debilitating effects of TBI on society are long-lasting and costly. Although the mechanisms by which impacts cause TBI have been well researched, the mechanisms by which blasts cause TBI are not understood. Various mechanisms, including impacts caused by the blast, have been investigated, but blast-induced deformation of the skull has been neglected. Through the use of hydrodynamical numerical simulations, we have discovered that non-lethal blasts can induce sufficient flexure of the skull to generate potentially damaging loads in the brain, even if no impact occurs. This mechanism has implications for the diagnosis of TBI in soldiers and the design of protective equipment such as helmets. (Hat tip: VSL: Science) Comments on this article

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Exploring and Explaining Determinants of Supply and Demand: Utilizing the Think-Pair-Share Technique and is replicated here as part of the SERC Pedagogic Service. This activity is an extension of the Think-Pair-Share cooperative learning technique. Students are put into pairs and then each pair is assigned one of the determinants of supply or demand. Each pair then concentrates on understanding this determinant by first creating hypothetical examples and then identifying real world examples. Each pair is responsible for presenting and explaining one of these hypothetical and real world examples to the rest of the class. Which student within a pair makes each presentation is determined by a coin toss immediately prior to the presentation. Students are required to submit a clear written explanation and a graphical analysis of their examples. The content objective is for students to describe, locate and interpret the determinants of supply and demand by creating and identifying hypothetical and real world examples. Context for Use Description and Teaching Materials For the first part of this activity, the students are told to create a hypothetical example of their assigned determinant. They should generate a scenario where supply or demand shifts in some direction, and then illustrate the resulting effect on price and quantity in the relevant market. Students should first be given a few minutes to think and create their own example. Then they should pair with their partner and share their examples with each other. Within the pair, one student should initially share his or her example with the other student, while the other student listens and then reflects on the example. A subsequent discussion should follow where the listener asks for clarification or makes suggestions for improving the example until both students are confident that the example is clear and accurate. Next, the roles are reversed and the other student's hypothetical example is shared and refined. The students should prepare a clear written explanation and a graphical analysis of their revised examples to be collected at the end of class. Finally, each pair of students should select one of the two examples that they will present to the rest of the class. A coin toss will be used to determine which one of the students in a pair will present the example. Since it is random who will actually present the example, each student in the pair needs to be knowledgeable of this example and prepared to present. For the second part of this activity, the students are instructed to find real world examples of their assigned determinant. This could be found in a newspaper article, magazine, or through interviewing a business owner or consumer. The students have one week to locate this real world example before bringing it to class to share with their partners. Each pair should follow the same process as described above, with each student taking turns sharing his or her example and then refining the analysis of each example. Again, each pair should select one of the two examples to present to the rest of the class, and who presents the example will be determined by a coin toss. However, all students should prepare a clear written explanation and a graphical analysis of their revised examples to be collected at the end of the activity. A list of supply and demand determinants and a student handout with detailed instructions for both parts of this activity are included here. List of supply and demand determinants (Microsoft Word 27kB Mar30 09) Student handout with instructions for examples (Microsoft Word 33kB Mar30 09) Teaching Notes and Tips This activity is also flexible in terms of how you decide to select student pairs. You may allow them to pair up with a student sitting nearby as described, or you may decide to use another method such as arbitrarily counting off in class or pre-assigning pairs using an alphabetized class roster. Before the students begin, you may wish to provide a hypothetical and/or real world example and walk them through how to do the graphical analysis (see Student handout with instructions for examples). You may have students who bring in articles that do not deal with a change in one of the supply or demand determinants in a market. This may happen if, for example, students search for the word income and then find an article about gross national income. Use this as a teachable moment to illustrate that identifying the correct context in an article is as important as finding the assigned term. If your class time is limited, you can choose only a few of the pairs to present their examples to the class rather than having every pair present. You should choose the determinants that tend to be more difficult for the student presentations. Tell students that it is random who will present so they will all prepare. If some pairs finish before the rest of the pairs are ready, have them add an extension to their example using another determinant of supply or demand. For example, if a pair assigned the demand determinant of income finishes early you can instruct these students to add a change in one of the determinants of supply to their example. This allows them to continue the learning process rather than simply waiting for the others to finish. Further, the examples presented by the students (or variations of these examples) can be incorporated into regular exams/quizzes. This ensures that students realize that they will be assessed on their understanding of all the determinants of supply and demand (not only their assigned determinant).

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Deep in the mountains, beyond where the trails end, one can find collossal stairways and long, cliffside roads, massive arched bridges and huge vaulted tunnels, spanning thousands of miles. These roads, though seemingly deserted, are closely watched by their creators, the reclusive and strange Iothun (“yoh-thoon”). Iothun average around 12 to 15 feet tall. They are somewhat human-like in stature, though they also share a posture not unlike that of a gorilla, with a hunched appearance given by huge shoulders and thick bull neck, and rather long arms. Their bodies are covered in a thick pelt of hair which covers all but the face, neck, chest, and palms. Their hands and feet are large, with thick, sturdy digits. Their faces are also gorilla-like in appearance, with flat, long-nostrilled noses, slightly protruding muzzles, and small, squinting eyes. Their faces, though, have a strange human capacity about them that cannot be denied. Iothun life is organized into tribes (called Societies) of several families each. Each family has an ancestor who is regarded as divine, and who is said to have sprung from the Origin Caves in the Heart of the World fully-formed and armed with the family’s holy items. Each family keeps these ancestors in high regard, and keep intricate and breathtaking family histories of deeds and ancestors in what is sometimes called Iothun heraldry, though this is a misnomer. These incredibly intricate patterns can only be interpreted truly by an Iothun, for their complexity rivals even the most labyrinthine of Celtic knots. Each Society (tribe) has a totem-stone. There are Quartz Societies, Granite Societies, Jade Societies, Redstone Societies, Basalt Societies, Flint Societies- Societies for all kinds of stone near which Iothun live. The Iothun revere their Society’s totem-stone as a holy substance. They craft their ancestral plaques of this stone, and, seeking to emulate the holy mountains from which they were born, they carve Giant’s Faces from the totem-stone. These are roughly-carven facemasks, chipped from the Society’s chosen stone, which are worn by all Iothun of a given Society, except in informal occasions. These masks are carved so that from many angles, the Iothun’s face is a mass of granite, a geode of quartz, a wind-carved knob of sandstone. They are somewhat disturbing to look upon in this state, but careful examination can assure that these Giant’s Faces are merely cunning stone (These have given rise to a myth that Iothun are made of stone). The Iothun hang these family histories as stone insets upon their armor, the famed Giant’s Mail, created by Iothun smiths in their hidden cities. The Giant’s Mail are tunics of metal scales or discs into which are sewn stone insets in the Society’s totem-stone, which are carved with the individual Iothun’s ancestral heraldry. Giant’s Mail, adorned with these heraldic plaques and embellished with tiny toolings upon the scales, is both strong and beautiful. The Iothun cities have been seen by very few, and fewer still have lived to tell the tale. At the hub of the long mountain roads and stairs, there lie entire mountains, carved with artificial cliffs, walks, paths, and stairs, all leading to and fro across the face of the peaks, from one great stone-carven portico to the next. These porticos lie open at all times, roofed entrance-platforms to the vaulted burrow-houses of the Iothun, hewn from living rock and warmed by meager fires, for the Iothun are a most hardy folk. Any given city will hold from 2 to 6 tribes/Societies of Iothun. Below ever Iothun city is the holiest spot of all, called the Heart of the Mountain. This miles-long vault is the location of all a tribe’s dead. The honored predecessors, upon death, are inducted into the ranks of the holy ancestors, and are carried on a long funeral procession down the endless stairs to the Heart of the Mountain. They are arrayed in a small (for a Iothun) cell carved from the mountain’s rock, where they are dressed in their finest Mail and their Society Mask. Their favored belongings are placed all about them, as well as a pot containing the spiritual food necessary for the departed to survive the journey to their Ancestors at the Heart of the World. Their bodies, sealed into the cells with walls which are carved with their personal heraldry, are slowly mummified. The Iothun revere their ancestors as holy beings who have become one with the Earth, who are present in all the stones and mountains around them. OTHER RANDOM NOTE The artsy style that I was going for was sort of Maya-ish in appearance- stylized, formal, with lots of glyphs, and ritual poses, and curling borders and such. Additional Ideas (5) I think this is more than a new species rather than a simple rework of the Giant (which has always been more of a monster rather than a society/ race). The society reminds me of Polynesian society. So we have a clan grouping which is not a strict clan. We have legendary ancestors, who form the loa.. or spirit of the clan. These First One serve as the Archetypes for these people. Each clan will try to emulate that first one. Most of their individual homesteads are probably similar to a nordic Long House, One giant place where they exist, around a central cooking fire. There might be small outer rooms, that enter/ exit the main room. Cities, how will they work given the society nature? I like the Mayan Imagry. It adds to a Bourrough-esk lost world feel. They should have a clerical magic based upon these masked (we can borrow from Africa for a moment). Magic is enhanced by wearing the correct kind of mask. The mountains paths should be filled giant heads. Each society marking its territory with a representation of its First One. (I might add that they have a different ideal on how to get around. There may be giant size "monkey bars" for them to climb up or cross chasams. Poles are used as ladders. Their idea of stairs might be an artistic waterfall of stacked cubes (ala Quebert). They might be more acrobatic, despite their mass and part of their build. This makes them more than just another large humanoid). I also find it interesting that the Iothunl live on the outside of the mountains the Dwarves live under. (Well they live mostly outside the mountain... I am sure they dig into it a small bit). There is probably some conflict between the two. Especially since the Dwarves live inside (like parasites) their holy mountains. Human explorers enter Iothun territory and are confronted with huge, glaring stone heads, facing them down. Passing them by, the explorers are confounded by the gigantic sets of monkey-bars set into the stone! The cube-waterfall stairway thing is interesting, but how would they do it? The Q-Bert levels are somewhat strange to build and such. I can imagine it, I guess- it would be cool. A- "ah" or "uh" B- As normal. C- Only the hard sound (as in 'cat') D- As normal. F- As normal. G- As normal. I- "ee". When paired with an O ("io"), it makes a Y sound (As in Iothun, "yoh-thoon") L- As normal. M- As normal. N- As normal. O- As normal, but see letter I. R- As normal. S- Present but aspirated, as in Castilian Spanish (makes a soft "th" noise). SH- As normal. T- As normal. TH- As normal. W- As normal. Yes- Sha ('shuh') No- Tsha ('t'shuh') Examples of Verbs: To be- Ioti ('yoh-tee') To work (work with stone)- Ionana ('yoh-nah-nuh') To bury/worship/revere- Iothurge ('yoh-thoor-geh') To carve- Ionashid ('yoh-nah-sheed') To go/enter/leave- Ioca ('yoh-cuh') To talk/speak- Iothuwac ('yoh-thoo-wahc') To live- Iombaga ('yohm-bah-gah') To conceal- Iowuthid ('yoh-woo-theed') Examples of Nouns: The People (Giants)- Iothun ('yoh-thoon'; singular, Ioth, 'yohth') Ancestors- Iotithurgem ('yoh-tee-thoor-gehm'; literally 'those who are buried' or 'those who are worshipped'; singular, Iotithurge, 'yoh-tee-thoor-geh') Heart of the World- Gemanana Ioftec ('geh-mah-nah-nuh yohf-tec') Mountain- Cofawa ('coh-fuh-wah') Hill-City- Cofathera ('coh-fuh-theh-rah') Society- Iombage ('yohm-bah-geh') Granite- Agucuma ('ah-goo-coo-muh') Sandstone- Wicanana ('wee-cah-nah-nuh') Redstone- Shathoiona ('shah-thoh-yoh-nuh') Shale- Desthinuna ('dehth-thee-noo-nuh') Thinking about the people a bit, perhaps having an Incan look to their places would be better. The Incans built in the hills/ mountains. Their architecture and works would be a good templates for their rockwork. The Incans were expert stone masons. They could craft stones together without morter that you can not fit a piece of paper between... several centuries later. I guess living with the rocks will give you that kind of empathy with the stones. Maybe the artwork can look Mayan, but the architecture should look Incan. Can you say manchu-pichu?

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Mac Basics: Applications, files, and folders (OS X Lion) Learn about applications and how files and folders are accessed and organized in Finder. Also, learn about getting applications from the App Store. An application is a computer program that gives you the tools to accomplish specific tasks. For example, you're probably using the application Safari right now to read this webpage. Other applications include Mail, iTunes, Pages, TextEdit, and many more. Accessing an application To open an application, click the Launchpad icon in Dock or click the application's icon in Dock (if it's there). Depending on the application, it may display an interface window, palettes, tool bar, or other interface components, or it could display nothing at all until you open a file or create a new one. Your Mac's applications can be accessed from the Launchpad icon in the Dock To quit an application, choose Quit from the application menu or press Command-Q. Keep in mind that closing a window (by clicking the round, red button) will typically not quit the application. Getting more applications You can purchase and install applications for your Mac from App Store, which is included with OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6.6 and later. To start browsing software from App Store, click the App Store icon in the Dock. You can use the search field in the upper-right corner of the App Store window to search for applications. You can use App Store to find, install, update, and view purchased applications - Featured - Click to browse new and noteworthy applications. - Top Charts - Click to browse the most popular applications. - Categories - Click to browse applications in specific categories, such as Photography. You can browse applications in a particular category by choosing an item from the All Categories pop-up menu in the Quick Links section. The Quick Links sections is located in the upper-right part of the window displayed when you click Categories. - Purchases - Click to browse applications you have purchased. - Updates - Click to browse updates to applications you have installed on your Mac. - Search Field - Enter a name or type of application your looking for and press Return. To use App Store, you need to sign up for an Apple ID. If you already have an iTunes Store account or other Apple account, you can use that Apple ID. To access your files on your Mac, you use Finder. Finder allows you to see all files and folders on your Mac and search for them using the search field in the top-right corner of the Finder window. Once you find a file you want to open, simply double-click the file, it will open in the application that supports its file format. To close a file, just click the round, red button in the upper-left corner of its window. Keep in mind that closing a file will not necessarily quit the application too. To quit an application, choose Quit from the application menu or press Command-Q. Folders on your Mac are used to organize your file and applications. File appearances may differ a little from each other depending on what type of file they are and what they contain Your Documents folder (in the Finder sidebar under Favorites) will contain all documents that you create. The Finder sidebar includes several other folders, such as Movies, Music, and Pictures, to help keep all your files organized by type. The Applications folder contains all your applications and the Desktop folder contains all the stuff that's currently on your desktop. Organizing files and folders If you want to add more folders to set up an organizational scheme, here's how to create a new folder: - Make the Finder active (click the desktop, click inside any Finder window, or click the Finder icon in the Dock). - From the File menu, choose New Folder; a new "untitled folder" icon appears in the active Finder window. - Name your folder by simply typing a name in the highlighted text box next to the folder icon. Or, you can simply press the Shift-Command-N key combination. To organize your files and folders, drag any file, folder, or application that you want into your new folder, or drag the folder into any other folder to establish an organized hierarchy.

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Mr. Bryant's Web Site |Home | 7th Grade Expectations | English 7 | 9th Grade Expectations | English 9 | 7th and 9th grade lists of readings and novels | Grammar | Outside Reading | 9th grade Root Words | 9th grade Topic Discussion | Proof Paragraphs | Spelleing Lessons | Spelling Strategees | MLA Style Guide | Emailing Homework | Theories of Moral Development | Critical Thinking | How to get an A | Doctrine of Completed Work | Write-ups on Writing | Issues in GATE | General Weekly Schedule | Photos/Docs | FAQs | Teacher | Most Dangerous Game Proof | Tone Outline | Erikson's Theory of Psych Development | To Kill a Mockingbird | Two Kinds and Erikson | Persuasive Composition | Aristotelian Argument | Beowulf | Hero's Journey | Antigone | Response to Lit - Poetry | Jack London's Influences | Will to Power Proof | Branding Project | Email Mr. Bryant| Beowulf Brag Story Write a fictional, narrative “brag story” in the style of Beowulf in which you, the hero, describe how you have overcome challenges and obstacles in order to resolve a conflict that has been presented. Your actions should be rooted in upholding at least three of the Ten Commandments of Chivalry by Leon Gautier. The story must have the following general elements: · Central conflict · Character development · Complications to overcome · Development of detail · Resolution of problem at hand Additionally, your brag story should make use of the following Beowulf styles of writing: · Caesurian stanzas (essentially, each line is broken into two parts that mirror each other) o Ex: Greetings to Hrothgar. I am Hygelac’s kinsmen, one of his hall-troop. When I was younger, I had great triumphs. Then news of Grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home: · Exaggerated events, hyperbole · Alliterative verse · Refer to Beowulf text for modeling of poetic style. · It should be clear which of the Commandments from Gautier you are presenting (see in class handout) · You may type your poem in any font as long as it can be read clearly · Poem must be double spaced. The brag story is due Tuesday, November 18.

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Part 3 of my series on the Pequot War, where we look at its causes. We’ve seen how the Puritans in Massachusetts and Connecticut were worried about being attacked from many sides: the French to the north, the Dutch to the west, and their own Parliament in England. They were not really focused on a Native American danger until 1634, when the Pequots killed an Englishman, John Stone, on the Connecticut River. The Pequots were a powerful nation that had recently taken control of the territory that is now eastern New York and Connecticut. The Narragansetts, Niantics, Mohegans, and other groups in Connecticut paid tribute to the Pequots, who controlled the important wampum trade (the best wampum coming from Long Island, to the south). As with any ruling group, the Pequots faced a mixture of consent and rebellion toward their government. The Narragansetts and Mohegans in particular were looking for ways to overthrow the Pequots in Connecticut. Before the arrival of Europeans, the Pequots were beginning to lose their grip on Connecticut. The arrival of Europeans speeded up that process. When the Dutch established themselves on Manhattan, they were on the fringes of Pequot territory. When the Dutch set up a trading post on the Connecticut River, on the south shore of Connecticut, the Pequots were directly challenged for control of the area. The local peoples began trading with the Dutch, and the Pequots struck back, killing a group of Native Americans on their way to the Dutch trading house. And, in 1634, Captain John Stone, lately of Massachusetts Bay Colony, was killed as he put in for the night on the banks of the Connecticut River on his journey to Virginia. Stone had been unloved by the Puritans in Massachusetts. He was a drunk and a lawbreaker, and had been on the edge of banishment from Massachusetts Bay Colony when he decided to leave for Virginia. When the MBC first heard of his death, in January 1634, at the hands of the Pequots (as it was reported), they “agreed to write the governor of Virginia (because Stone was one of that colony) to move him to revenge it.” (Winthrop diary, 21 January 1634). The odds of the governor of Virginia taking any action at all on this matter were slim, to say the least. In short, the Puritans were glad Stone was gone, and had no interest in avenging his death. In fact, the MBC officers received a Pequot ambassador and his party in September 1634. The Pequots were asked about Stone’s death. According to MBC Governor John Winthrop’s account of the conversation, the Pequots said Stone had attacked them first, and was justly killed in revenge. Winthrop records that this seemed believable and the Puritans accepted it. “The reason why the Pequots desired so much our friendship,” Winthrop continued, ”was because they were now in war with the Narragansetts whom till this year they had kept under [their control], and likewise with the Dutch who had killed their old sachem and some other of their men, for that the Pequots had killed some Indians who came to trade with the Dutch at Connecticut; and by these occasions they could [now] not trade safely anywhere… They agreed to deliver us the 2 men who were guilty of Stone’s death, to yield up Connecticut, to give us 400 fathom of wampum, and to peaceful trading”. So the MBC had a treaty proposal for the Pequots to take back to their sachem. It specifically did not include the Puritans pledging to defend the Pequots against other Native Americans. But when the Puritans heard that 200-300 Narragansetts were coming to kill the Pequot ambassador and his party, they sent out a party of militia to stop the attack. It turned out to be only about 20 Narragansetts on an annual hunt, but the Puritans told the Narragansetts about the peace treaty, asked them to honor it, and promised to give the Narragansetts some of the wampum they would receive from the Pequots in return. For a year, nothing else happened. Although the Pequots did not accept the treaty, their sachem realizing there was no way he could hand over all of Connecticut, all sides—Puritan, Narragansett, and Pequot—stayed mostly out of each other’s hair. This peace was broken in July 1636, when John Oldham was found dead on Block Island. Oldham had a trading post at Wethersfield, Connecticut, and had sailed to Block Island to trade. He and all but two boys in his party were killed. The Puritans heard about this from the Narragansetts; their sachem Canonicus sent messengers with a letter from Puritan settler Roger Williams, who had founded Rhode Island in Narragansett territory, saying that the Narragansett leader was very sorry for the death of Oldham. Winthrop wrote Canonicus back saying that until the two boys taken prisoner by the Narragansetts were returned, and the killers of Oldham killed by the Narragansetts and their bodies brought to Boston, the MBC would be “suspicious” of Canonicus and his people. Miantonomi, the nephew of Canonicus, fulfilled these two requests. How does this help start the Pequot War? When the Narragansetts set out to find Oldham’s killers, those men fled to the Pequots. Because all the suspected killers could not be found by the Narragansetts, the Puritans sent a party of militia to Block Island to finish the job. The plan was to kill the men on Block Island, then sail to Connecticut to confront the Pequots about the refugees they were harboring. But the militia found Block Island seemingly deserted, and assumed all the people there had fled to the Pequots in Connecticut. The militia men burned down many villages on Block Island, then went to Connecticut, only to be kept waiting for hours to see the Pequot sachem, who never appeared. Furious, the Puritans spent the day burning Pequot villages, then left for Boston. The Pequots had now been doubly insulted, first by the Narragansetts, then by the Puritans. They wasted no time in attacking Saybrook, an English settlement in their Connecticut territory on October 8. So as 1636 comes to a close, the war is about to begin in earnest. In part four, we’ll go through the battles and the diplomatic maneuvering of the war.Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 5 so far )

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Parmigiano-Romano may have begun in ancient Rome as a cheese called La Luna. Photo courtesy Fanticini.com. Last Updated March 2010 The History Of Cheese Page 2: The Romans Master Cheese-Making This is Page 2 of a six-page article on the history of cheese. Click on the black links below to visit other pages. The Romans Master Cheese-Making It was the Roman culture that developed the art of cheesemaking as we know it today. Roman cheesemakers were skilled artisans, and the Roman culture developed many varieties of cheese that resemble those we enjoy today. The Romans are credited with the first aging of cheese, or cheese storage. They were aware of the affects of various ripening techniques upon the taste and character of a particular cheese. Photo courtesy of VRoma.org. It is likely that the Romans brought cheese and the art of cheesemaking with them as they conquered Gaul—what we now know as France and England—where it was embraced enthusiastically. The ancestors of today’s French cheesemakers did their job by perfecting the art of cheese aging, which today is known by the French term, l’affinage. The larger Roman houses had a separate cheese kitchen, the caseale, and special areas where cheeses could be matured. In larger towns, homemade cheeses could be taken to a special center to be smoked. Some written notes on cheesemaking survive: - Homer, circa 1184 B.C.E., refers to cheese being made in the mountain caves of Greece from the milk of sheep and goats, specifying a variety called Cynthos sold by the Greeks to the Romans (perhaps the Feta cheese of today). - Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 B.C.E., commented on cheese made from the milk of mares and asses. Russian koumiss is made from mare’s milk and is fermented to provide an alcoholic content of up to 3%. - Varro, circa 127 B.C.E., noted the difference in cheeses made from a number of locations and commented on their digestibility. By this time the use of rennet was commonplace, providing the cheesemaker with far greater control over the types of curd produced. Cheese had started to move from subsistence food, produced for home consumption, to a commercial product. - Columella, circa 50 C.E., wrote about how to make cheese in considerable detail. Cheesemakers today would be perfectly at home with many of the principles he set out so clearly more than 1900 years ago. The First Cheese Exporter? By 300 C.E., cheese was being regularly exported by Rome to countries along the Mediterranean seaboard. Trade had developed to such an extent that the emperor Diocletian had to fix maximum prices for a range of cheeses, including an apple-smoked cheese highly popular with Romans. Another cheese was stamped and sold under the brand name of La Luna, possibly the precursor of today’s Parmigiano-Romano, the name of which first appeared in 1579. Like other areas of knowledge, Roman cheesemaking expertise spread with their empire throughout Europe. Roman soldiers who had completed their military service and intermarried with the local populace, set up coloniae farms in retirement, where they may well have passed on their skills in cheesemaking. With the collapse of the Roman Empire around 410, cheesemaking spread slowly via the Mediterranean, Aegean and Adriatic seas to Southern and Central Europe. The river valleys provided easy access and methods adopted for production were adapted to suit the different terrain and climatic conditions. Goats and sheep provided plenty of milk. Continue To Page 3: Stylistic Differences Evolve Go To The Article Index Above © Copyright 2005- Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.

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Audubon made some excursions out West where he hoped to record Western species he had missed, but his health began to fail. In 1848, he manifested signs of senility, his "noble mind in ruins." He died at his family home on January 27, 1851. Audubon was buried at the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery and Mausoleum at 155th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. There is an imposing monument in his honor at the cemetery. Audubon's final work was on mammals, the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, prepared in collaboration with his good friend Rev. John Bachman of Charleston, South Carolina. Bachman supplied much of the scientific text. The work was completed by Audubon's sons and son-in-law and published posthumously. His son John did most of the drawings.

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Jellyfish threaten to 'dominate' oceans Giant jelly fish are taking over parts of the world's oceans due to overfishing and other human activities, say researchers. "We need to take management action to avert the marine systems of the world flipping over to being jellyfish dominated," says Richardson, who is also a marine biologist at the University of Queensland. Richardson says jellyfish numbers are increasing, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Black Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea. He says the Japanese have a real problem with giant jellyfish that burst through fishing nets. "[They're] a jelly fish called Nomura, which is the biggest jellyfish in the world. It can weigh 200 kilograms, as big as a sumo wrestler and is 2 metres in diameter," says Richardson. Overfishing and eutrophication Richardson and colleagues reviewed literature linking jellyfish blooms with overfishing and eutrophication - high levels of nutrients. Jellyfish are normally kept in check by fish, which eat small jellyfish and compete for jellyfish food such as zooplankton, he says. But, with overfishing, jellyfish numbers are increasing. Jellyfish feed on fish eggs and larvae, further impacting on fish numbers. To add insult to injury, nitrogen and phosphorous in run-off cause red phytoplankton blooms, which create low-oxygen dead zones where jellyfish survive, but fish can't. "You can think of them like a protected area for jellyfish," says Richardson. Richardson and colleagues say climate change may also encourage more jellyfish. They have postulated for the first time that these conditions can lead to what they call a "jellyfish stable state", in which jellyfish rule the oceans. Richardson and colleagues recommend a number of actions in their paper, to coincide with World Oceans Day. They say it's important to reduce overfishing, especially of small pelagic fish, like sardines, and to reduce run-off. They also say it's important to control the transport of jellyfish around the world in ballast water and aquariums. Richardson says researchers are experimenting with different ways of controlling jellyfish. Some methods involve sound waves to explode jellyfish, while others use special nets to try and cut them up. Jellyfish are considered simple jelly-like sea animals, which are related to the microscopic animals that form coral. They generally start their life as a plant-like polyp on the sea bed before budding off into the well-known bell-shaped medusa. Jellyfish have tentacles containing pneumatocyst cells, which act like little harpoons that lodge in prey to sting and kill them. The location and number of pneumatocysts dictate whether jellyfish are processed for human consumption. While dried jellyfish with soya sauce is a delicacy served in Chinese weddings and banquets, not all kinds of jellyfish can be eaten, says Richardson. According to Richardson, the species increasing in number aren't generally eaten.

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Mobile Telephones and Data Theft Most of us now are in possession of a mobile telephone which we use for more than just making telephone calls. Although these mobile telephones were initially designed so that we could communicate with each other over large distances they have now taken on a more administrative dimension and see us using them for storing personal information as well as producing complex word processing and spreadsheet documents. The Modern Office on the MoveMobile technology has progressed to such an extent these days that many individuals can conduct business using their mobile telephones. In saying this of course we are excluding the making of telephone calls and are referring in no small part to the use of emails, spreadsheets, word processing documents and also the use of our telephones as dictation and camera devices. Wi-Fi TechnologyWi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is one of the newest ways of using both mobile telephones and computer technology to access the Internet. The basic principle of Wi-Fi is that it can pick up the Internet in so-called 'hot spots' using a built in wireless modem. This wireless signal is relayed and used to transmit and receive data and calls in the same way as mobile telephones transmit and receive calls. The Dangers of Data TheftUsing mobile telephones on the move - especially whilst using so-called Wi-Fi technology - can lead to a whole host of problems, the main one being the very real danger of data theft. Some mobile and wireless devices are not securely protected and as a result they are left open to hacking by individuals who scour these 'hot spots' looking for unprotected devices. If a telephone or wireless laptop is not correctly protected then once it is 'seen' in a 'hot spot' then it can be accessed by another mobile telephone or laptop and at this point information can be downloaded or accessed whilst the individual is within that area. Indeed many often are unaware that this is actually occurring and may never find out until such times as they find their identity is being used for purposes other than those it was originally intended or if their computers or telephones have been accessing sites that a user would not normally visit. Protecting Your DataOne of the easiest and most common ways of securing your data on a mobile telephone or laptop - especially if they are accessing the Internet - is to encrypt your wireless connection. Most mobile telephones - Blackberry devices included - along with laptop wireless devices will allow you to provide what is known as a WPA or WEP key. These alpha-numeric and numeric strings of digits allow for encryption of any data you send or receive and also make it difficult for any would-be identity thieves to get access to your device in a 'hot spot'. It is also worth removing any data from your mobile telephone's memory card as soon as you return home or to your office. Save this information to a desktop PC and delete it from your memory card. If you mobile telephone is lost or stolen then the memory card is one of the first places an identity thief will look in order to try and establish what they can about you.

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- How is non-small cell lung cancer treated? - Surgery for non-small cell lung cancer - Radiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer - Other local treatments for non-small cell lung cancer - Chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer - Targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer - Clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer - Complementary and alternative therapies for non-small cell lung cancer - Treatment choices by stage for non-small cell lung cancer - More treatment information about non-small cell lung cancer Radiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays (such as x-rays) or particles to kill cancer cells. There are 2 main types of radiation therapy – external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy). External beam radiation therapy External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) focuses radiation delivered from outside the body on the cancer. This is the type of radiation therapy most often used to treat a primary lung cancer or its metastases to other organs. Before your treatments start, the radiation team will take careful measurements to determine the correct angles for aiming the radiation beams and the proper dose of radiation. Radiation therapy is much like getting an x-ray, but the radiation is stronger. The procedure itself is painless. Each treatment lasts only a few minutes, although the setup time – getting you into place for treatment – usually takes longer. Most often, radiation treatments to the lungs are given 5 days a week for 4 to 7 weeks. Standard (conventional) EBRT is used much less often than in the past. Newer techniques help doctors treat lung cancers more accurately while lowering the radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissues. These techniques may offer better chances of increasing the success rate and reducing side effects. Most doctors now recommend using these newer techniques when they are available. Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT): 3D-CRT uses special computers to precisely map the location of the tumor(s). Radiation beams are shaped and aimed at the tumor(s) from several directions, which makes it less likely to damage normal tissues. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): IMRT is an advanced form of 3D therapy. It uses a computer-driven machine that moves around the patient as it delivers radiation. Along with shaping the beams and aiming them at the tumor from several angles, the intensity (strength) of the beams can be adjusted to minimize the dose reaching the most sensitive normal tissues. This technique is used most often if tumors are near important structures such as the spinal cord. Many major hospitals and cancer centers are now able to provide IMRT. Stereotactic radiation therapy: A newer form of treatment, known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), is sometimes used to treat very early stage lung cancers when surgery isn't an option due to issues with the patient’s health. Instead of giving small doses of radiation each day for several weeks, SBRT uses very focused beams of high-dose radiation given on one or a few days. Several beams are aimed at the tumor from different angles. To target the radiation precisely, the person is put in a specially designed body frame for each treatment. This reduces the movement of the lung tumor during breathing. Like other forms of external radiation, the treatment itself is painless. Early results with SBRT have been very promising, and it seems to have a low risk of complications. But because it is still a fairly new technique, there isn't much long-term data on its use. Another type of stereotactic radiation therapy can sometimes be used instead of surgery for single tumors that have spread to the brain. This is sometimes called stereotactic radiosurgery or SRS. In one version of stereotactic radiation therapy, a machine called a Gamma Knife® focuses about 200 beams of radiation on the tumor from different angles over a few minutes to hours. The head is kept in the same position by placing it in a rigid frame. In another version, a linear accelerator (a machine that creates radiation) that is controlled by a computer moves around the head to deliver radiation to the tumor from many different angles. Brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) Brachytherapy is used most often to shrink tumors to relieve symptoms caused by lung cancer in an airway, although in some cases it may be part of a larger treatment regimen trying to cure the cancer. For this type of treatment, the doctor places a small source of radioactive material (often in the form of pellets) directly into the cancer or into the airway next to the cancer. This is usually done through a bronchoscope, but it may also be done during surgery. The radiation travels only a short distance from the source, limiting the effects on surrounding healthy tissues. The radiation source is usually removed after a short time. Less often, small radioactive "seeds" are left in place permanently, and the radiation gets weaker over several weeks. When is radiation therapy used? External beam radiation therapy is sometimes used as the main treatment of lung cancer (sometimes along with chemotherapy), especially if the lung tumor cannot be removed by surgery because of its size or location, or if a person's health is too poor for surgery. After surgery, radiation therapy can be used (alone or along with chemotherapy) to try to kill very small deposits of cancer that surgery may have missed. In some cases, radiation therapy may be used before surgery (usually along with chemotherapy) to try to shrink a lung tumor to make it easier to operate on. Radiation therapy can also be used to relieve (palliate) symptoms of advanced lung cancer such as pain, bleeding, trouble swallowing, cough, and problems caused by brain metastases. For example, brachytherapy is most often used to help relieve blockage of large airways by cancer. In some cases, doctors may recommend giving lower doses of radiation to the whole brain, even if there are no visible signs the cancer has spread there. The goal of this treatment, known as prophylactic cranial irradiation, is to try to prevent tumors from forming in the brain. Many doctors don't agree that the potential benefits of this treatment outweigh the possible side effects, however. If it is used, it is usually given 5 days a week over 2 weeks. Possible side effects of radiation therapy Common side effects of external radiation therapy include - Sunburn-like skin problems - Hair loss where the radiation enters the body - Nausea and vomiting - Loss of appetite and weight loss Often these go away after treatment. When radiation is given with chemotherapy, the side effects are often worse. Chest radiation therapy may damage your lungs and cause a cough, problems breathing, and shortness of breath. These usually improve after treatment is over, although in some cases the symptoms may not go away completely. Your esophagus, which is in the middle of your chest, may be exposed to radiation, which could cause a sore throat and trouble swallowing during treatment. This may make it hard to eat anything other than soft foods or liquids for a while. Radiation therapy to large areas of the brain can sometimes cause memory loss, headache, trouble thinking, or reduced sexual desire. Usually these symptoms are minor compared with those caused by a brain tumor, but they can reduce your quality of life. Side effects of radiation therapy to the brain usually become most serious 1 or 2 years after treatment. For more information about radiation therapy, please see our document, Understanding Radiation Therapy: A Guide for Patients and Families. Last Medical Review: 02/17/2012 Last Revised: 01/17/2013

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To use all functions of this page, please activate cookies in your browser. With an accout for my.chemeurope.com you can always see everything at a glance – and you can configure your own website and individual newsletter. - My watch list - My saved searches - My saved topics - My newsletter The reaction rate or rate of reaction for a reactant or product in a particular reaction is intuitively defined as how fast a reaction takes place. For example, the oxidation of iron under the atmosphere is a slow reaction which can take many years, but the combustion of butane in a fire is a reaction that takes place in fractions of a second. Chemical kinetics is the part of physical chemistry that studies reaction rates. The concepts of chemical kinetics are applied in many disciplines, such as chemical engineering, enzymology and environmental engineering. Formal definition of reaction rate Consider a typical chemical reaction: The lowercase letters (a, b, p, and q) represent stoichiometric coefficients, while the capital letters represent the reactants (A and B) and the products (P and Q). According to IUPAC's Gold Book definition the reaction rate v (also r or R) for a chemical reaction occurring in a closed system under constant-volume conditions, without a build-up of reaction intermediates, is defined as: The IUPAC recommends that the unit of time should always be the second. In such a case the rate of reaction differs from the rate of increase of concentration of a product P by a constant factor (the reciprocal of its stoichiometric number) and for a reactant A by minus the reciprocal of the stoichiometric number. Reaction rate usually has the units of mol dm-3 s-1. It is important to bear in mind that the previous definition is only valid for a single reaction, in a closed system of constant volume. This most usually implicit assumption must be stated explicitly, otherwise the definition is incorrect: If water is added to a pot containing salty water, the concentration of salt decreases, although there is no chemical reaction. For any system in general the full mass balance must be taken into account: IN - OUT + GENERATION = ACCUMULATION When applied to the simple case stated previously this equation reduces to: For a single reaction in a closed system of varying volume the so called rate of conversion can be is used, in order to avoid handling concentrations. It is defined as the derivative of the extent of reaction with respect to time. is the stoichiometric coefficient for substance i, is the volume of reaction and is the concentration of substance i. When side products or reaction intermediates are formed, the IUPAC recommends the use of the terms rate of appearance and rate of disappearance for products and reactants, respectively. Reaction rates may also be defined on a basis that is not the volume of the reactor. When a catalyst is used the reaction rate may be stated on a catalyst weight (mol g-1 s-1) or surface area (mol m-2 s-1) basis. If the basis is a specific catalyst site that may be rigorously counted by a specified method, the rate is given in units of s-1 and is called a turnover frequency. Factors influencing rate of reaction Factors that affect the rate of reaction: For example, coal burns in a fireplace in the presence of oxygen but it doesn't when it is stored at room temperature. The reaction is spontaneous at low and high temperatures but at room temperature its rate is so slow that it is negligible. The increase in temperature, as created by a match, allows the reaction to start and then it heats itself, because it is exothermic. That is valid for many other fuels, such as methane, butane, hydrogen... For example when methane reacts with chlorine in the dark, the reaction rate is very slow. It can be sped up when the mixture is put under diffused light. In bright sunlight, the reaction is explosive. For example, platinum catalyzes the combustion of hydrogen with oxygen at room temperature. All the factors that affect a reaction rate are taken into account in the rate equation of the reaction. For a chemical reaction n A + m B → C + D, the rate equation or rate law is a mathematical expression used in chemical kinetics to link the rate of a reaction to the concentration of each reactant. It is of the kind: In this equation k(T) is the reaction rate coefficient or rate constant, although it is not really a constant, because it includes all the parameters that affect reaction rate, except for concentration, which is explicitly taken into account. Of all the parameters described before, temperature is normally the most important one. Stoichiometry, molecularity (the actual number of molecules colliding) and reaction order only coincide necessarily in elementary reactions, that is, those reactions that take place in just one step. The reaction equation for elementary reactions coincides with the process taking place at the atomic level, i.e. n molecules of type A are colliding with m molecules of type B (n plus m is the molecularity). For gases the rate law can also be expressed in pressure units using e.g. the ideal gas law. By combining the rate law with a mass balance for the system in which the reaction occurs, an expression for the rate of change in concentration can be derived. For a closed system with constant volume such an expression can look like Each reaction rate coefficient k has a temperature dependency, which is usually given by the Arrhenius equation: Ea is the activation energy and R is the gas constant. Since at temperature T the molecules have energies given by a Boltzmann distribution, one can expect the number of collisions with energy greater than Ea to be proportional to . A is the pre-exponential factor or frequency factor. The values for A and Ea are dependent on the reaction. There are also more complex equations possible, which describe temperature dependence of other rate constants which do not follow this pattern. The pressure dependence of the rate constant for condensed-phase reactions (i.e., when reactants and products are solids or liquid) is usually suffficiently weak in the range of pressures normally encountered in industry that it is neglected in practice. The pressure dependence of the rate constant is associated with the activation volume. For the reaction proceeding through an activation-state complex: the activation volume, , is: where denote the partial molar volumes of the reactants and products, and indicates the activation-state complex. For the above reaction, one can expect the change of the reaction rate constant (based either on mole-fraction or molal-concentration) with pressure at constant temperature to be: In practice, the matter can be complicated because the partial molar volumes and the activation volume can themselves be a function of pressure. Reactions can increase or decrease their rates with pressure, depeding on the value of . As an example of the possible magnitude of the pressure effect, some organic reactions were shown to double the reaction rate when the pressure was increased from atomospheric (0.1 MPa) to 50 MPa (which gives =-0.025 L/mol). For the reaction The rate equation is: The rate equation does not simply reflect the reactants stoichiometric coefficients in the overall reaction: it is first order in H2, although the stoichiometric coefficient is 2 and it is second order in NO. In chemical kinetics the overall reaction is usually proposed to occur through a number of elementary steps. Not all of these steps affect the rate of reaction; normally it is only the slowest elementary step that affect the reation rate. For example, in: Reactions 1 and 3 are very rapid compared to the second, so it is the slowest reaction that is reflected in the rate equation. The slow step is considered the rate determining step. The orders of the rate equation are those from the rate determining step. |This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Reaction_rate". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.|

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15th EditionAppendix A : Design and Production—Basic Procedures and Key Terms Principle of offset printing. A plate is wrapped around and fastened to the plate cylinder. Water applied by the dampening rollers adheres only to the background area of the plate; ink applied by the inking rollers adheres only to the dry image of the type on the plate. As the plate cylinder revolves, it transfers the ink to the rubber blanket of the blanket cylinder, which in turn transfers (or offsets) it onto the paper, which is held in place by the impression cylinder.

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The Process Paradigm "A paradigm is the fundamental lens through which we view our environment. The paradigm that governs our thinking about a given system is the theory that determines the invariant features that shape the system and defines how to succeed within the system. Usually a paradigm is so ingrained, so rooted in our familiar sense of the way things are, that we hold it unconsciously, without either choice or deliberation." A paradigm is a framework of perceiving, thinking and acting. It is a cognitive structure composed of aggregated concepts, values, beliefs and assumptions that organizes how we perceive, how we think and how we act — by, consciously or unconsciously, supporting rule-governed behavior. Cultural-social institutions utilize and promote paradigms in endeavors as diverse as science & technology, economics & commerce, business & multi-national corporations, organized religion & personal spirituality, family & marriage, government & citizenship. Each of these examples use a framework of unwritten rules to direct behavior and establish social expectations. The word "paradigm" was described by a CNN survey as one of the most overused words of 2004. This is because of the tremendous rush of cultural, social and technological change, and emergent transformations taking place. We have so little language to adequately describe, or become self-aware of the cultural forces which are driving us. If our assumptions, beliefs and values are unconscious, then a paradigm will function like superstition: a mind-set, or way of perceiving, that anchors a rigid view of the world, and thus fixates rigidity in our thinking and behavior. It can create an illusion/delusion that there is only one "right way" to perceive, think or act. However, if we are conscious of our concepts, assumptions, beliefs and values, then we can apply a paradigm as a mental tool: a set of rules or mental models that we use so long as they adequately express truth, value, and integrity. They are rules, models, frames of perception and mind-sets that are to be surrendered when they no longer serve us. A mental model which serves us well at one developmental stage can be an obstacle in another stage if no revision, updating, reframing or cognitive maintenace occurs. Some of the best examples of paradigms are found in science, where a paradigm is used as a framework of ideas applied to a particular topic for explanation, prediction, problem-solving or methodology. In the constantly evolving fields of science everyone understands that these rules of explanation and method are transient and subject to ongoing revision and improvement. Joel Barker has defined paradigm this way: "A paradigm is a set of rules and regulations (written or unwritten) that does two things: (1) it establishes or defines boundaries; and (2) it tells you how to behave inside the boundaries in order to be successful." Joel Barker, Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future (1992), p 32. Barker further points to the following terms, which he arranged on a spectrum from "challengeable to unchallengeable." He believes these are subsets of the concept of paradigm: "Theory, model, methodology, principles, standards, protocol, routines, assumptions, conventions, patterns, habits, common sense, conventional wisdom, mind-set, values, frames of reference, tradition, customs, prejudices, ideology, inhibitions, superstitions, rituals, compulsions, addictions, doctrine, dogma" (ibid., pp 35-36). The idea behind a paradigm shift is that the rules of a "game" change as a new mental model becomes available. With a new mental model comes a consequent, often dramatic, transformation of perception, thinking and action. A Three-Part Process The Cognitive Design Process is offered as a mental model for planning and evaluation of the instructional design process. The heuristic device has three parts: - Performance Environment Principles - Design Element Principles - Cognitive Learning Principles Each part involves analysis leading to problem-identification, and instructional decisions leading to solution design — strategy, tactics, and methods. Here is a graphic portrayal of the model: This model provides an integrated framing of instructional development requirements: - Define the goal & content of instruction, - Design the instruction & learning process — appropriate to audience, resources and environment, - Develop the needed media elements to optimize communication and learner interaction, and - Deliver instruction effectively using appropriate technology infrastructure and environmental controls. Design of Performance Improvement Environments Performance problems are not always "training" problems. - Many problems are due to lack of timely information and communication. - Other performance problems are due to motivational issues. - There may be hidden organizational dynamics or history which establish structural barriers or impediments to, or sabbatoge of, the desired performance. - Many task learning problems cannot be abstracted away from the performance environment into a classroom — you simply cannot learn the skill in a classroom. You must learn it on the job in the context of relationships, demands and tools of workflow. A comprehensive approach to solving performance solutions — that seeks to address all of these learning needs — has been described as "building a Learning Organization." This is a model of organizational learning that addresses individual, team, and enterprise learning needs in a dynamic and unified way. We believe that the roadmap to achieve this goal is through design of Knowledge Management, E-Learning and Performance Support as structurally integrated performance environments through technical infrastructure, and enterprise culture and best practices. A performance problem may be the result of a knowledge deficit, a skill deficit, a motivational deficit, environmental barriers, or a combination of those factors. While learning may be an essential component of a solution, traditional classroom training may not be an adequate delivery system or a sufficient strategy to deal with these deficits or barriers. Learner needs analysis must be carried out within the context of the performance environment. Environmental analysis (behavioral & cognitive) is an essential component of learner or audience analysis. There are three distinct performance improvement environments that deliver learning solutions in the modern enterprise: Knowledge Management, E-Learning, and Performance Support. These are structures of technology infrastructure, enterprise culture and best practices dissemination. Knowledge Management provides an information-rich environment that allows information access, information-on-demand, knowledge capture and transfer, and establishment of a collaborative knowledge-sharing community. The technology infrastructure includes internet, intranet, email, workgroup networks, relational databases, document management systems, content management systems, customer management systems, workgroup collaboration software & environments, audio-video phone conferencing, etc. New technology is constantly evolving to strengthen the data, information, and knowledge sharing components of KM. The keynote of these Knowledge Management solutions is "information" — that is, to provide the right information, at the right time, to the right people. Collaboration is a major premise of Knowledge Management solutions. Both E-Learning and Performance Support build on this collaborative technology infrastructure. E-Learning provides a "blended learning" solution — that unites traditional classroom training with numerous other delivery formats, such as self-paced Web-based Training, online virtual classroom, simulation, peer-to-peer mentoring, etc. The keynote is "instruction" — meaning not just information presentation, but interactivity, guidance, reinforcement, demonstration and practice that strengthen learning. The technology infrastructure includes all technology-based training tools — whether in a classroom, at a workstation, or online multimedia. E-Learning infrastructure includes Learning Management Systems and Learning Content Management Systems (software), classroom technology-based instruction, Internet, intranet, and CD-ROM/DVD delivery systems. Human resource development is a major premise of E-Learning performance solutions. Performance Support provides task support in the performance environment in order to strengthen transfer-of-learning. The keynote here is "guidance". Historically this area of "guidance" has been the domain of team managers — who provide mentoring, role-modeling, inspiration and leadership as part of their management-supervisory role. These techniques have often lacked an understanding of the principles of learning or instruction, or an understanding of the core competencies (skill, knowledge and attitudes) that are essential for the worker's duties. Performance Systems (PS) include management skills such as coaching, mentoring, staff selection, and design of incentive systems; and metacognitive skill training (related to motivation, attitude and task monitoring), and software supported task guidance (such as EPSS, Wizards, Help Desk Resources). The technology infrastructure of PS utilizes the collaborative environment established by KM, and the personalized learning environment used by E-Learning, and then adds tools for direct performance support and guidance. Empowerment of the individual is a major premise of Performance Support solutions. The paradigm shift that PS offers the traditional team manager is a move from "productivity" to "performance," from "worker" to "continuous learner," from "supervisor/manager" to "coach," and from "activity" to "learning opportunity." Motivational deficits relate to intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation. Motivation analysis and design takes into account emotional states and attitudes that effect learning. It emphasizes metacognitive skill development as an intervention strategy that can take place in any one of the three performance environments. Engineering performance improvement solutions requires a combination of delivery systems to Inform, Instruct and Guide. Each of these performance improvement environments link people, organization and knowledge together. These delivery system environments when integrated provide the essential infrastructure for building a "learning organization" — the big picture definition of organizational learning needs: enterprise, team, individual. Analysis and Design of Learning Structures There are four design elements that compose an E-Learning product or activity: information, instruction, media and delivery system. The integration of these elements allows a viable and balanced E-Learning experience to be provided. An E-Learning project begins with an overall sense of how a learning need is supported by the gestalt of the design elements. Consideration of one element immediately triggers consideration of the other three design elements. An E-Learning project can fail if there is weakness in any one of the design areas because it undermines the integrity of the learning structure being created. One way of understanding how an E-Learning product can achieve structural integrity is to see the design elements as nested within each other. Each succeeding layer becomes the instrumental carrier of the preceding learning structure. - Delivery System provides the physical or virtual mechanism of presentation. It defines a realistic and appropriate physical environment & technology implementation. The system supports asynchronous and synchronous events, and physical or virtual events (in order to overcome time and place limitations). Delivery system infrastructure determines which technology options are available for instructional media and instructional method. By establishing a physical and virtual space for learning experiences, a "blended" learning approach can be used to integrate a wide variety of learning activities and media. - Media provides the graphic and text packaging for message presentation. It is only effective if it serves as a carrier of the instructional method, and is functionally appropriate to the technology environment. Aesthetic enjoyment is an important aspect of perception and communication. The production of media elements (whether graphic, text, animation, audio, video, etc.) each require substantial technical skill and attention to detail. - Instruction is accomplished only if events of instruction are presented effectively. Appropriate instructional methods are selected based on the audience, the objectives to be achieved, and the technology options which are available. Instructional message and method drives the choice of appropriate media. - Information refers to the unique content of the communication message. The information architecture organizes access, meaningfulness and usability for the audience. As we use this planning paradigm, we ask the following key questions to more fully define the desired learning process: Information is learning structure based on content definition. - What does the learner desire to learn? - What does the enterprise need for the learner to learn? The process begins with an informal sense of the needed subject-matter topics and an inquiry for the appropriate Delivery System and Instructional methods that can present that information to the learner. The earlier the Delivery System requirement is clarified, the better it is for the content definition process. The decision about Delivery System will impact the process of content preparation and writing style: whether for traditional classroom, self-paced WBT tutorials, virtual classroom, CD-ROM/DVD, print — or some combination of all these modes as "blended learning." Maturing the content definition proceeds through task analysis (identification and validation of the subject matter), leading to the preliminary definition of instructional objectives. This work validates the needed content to come from the subject matter experts (SMEs). Usually the instructional designer conducts task analysis with collaborative input from the SMEs. This process of content analysis enables the instructional designer to gain sufficient understanding of the subject matter to engage in the later steps of instructional design and development. Content definition in the early stage is finalized through the work of SMEs getting content drafts ready to hand to instructional designers and developers. Job analysis and competencies specification may also play an important role in the content specification, as these may ultimately relate to the success of transfer-of-learning. The content definition is fully matured when the instructional designer completes an information architecture treatment that differentiates the content layer from presentation, navigation, and meta-tag layers. Information architecture defines content structural organization in topic hierarchy; identifies content types, navigation and presentation formats; selects naming conventions and content meta-tags. The identification of content types includes: procedures, concepts, facts, processes, and principles. Preliminary instructional objectives are written in a way that takes these content distinctions into account. Instruction is learning structure based on the pedagogy definition — it includes instructional decisions related to strategy, methods, and materials. - How can the subject-matter best be taught? - How can the most meaningful and efficient learning experience be designed? The process begins with long-range goals, the content portfolio (ideally with an information architecture treatment), and the preliminary instructional objectives, and submits these to the instructional design process — particularly Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction. Clark's Four Learning Architectures (Receptive, Directive, Guided Discovery, and Exploratory) provide a learning theory rationale for composing a "blended learning" strategy. The different architectures suggest different ways to organize lesson content, whether and what kind of practice is included, the value of making mistakes during learning, and the opportunities for the learner to control the learning process. The different Delivery Systems modalities which constitute a "blended" or "hybrid" learning approach reflect the kind of instructional choices that the designer believes is appropriate (most effective and efficient) for a particular audience. Merrill's Five Star Instruction has identified five phases of instruction and optimum learner experience: problem, activation, demonstration, application and integration. This format provides a comprehensive design model for instructional strategy definition. Specific instructional methods or technique are crafted to achieve each of these broad instructional strategies. Once instructional method has been defined, then the optimum instructional media can be selected as instruments for these methods. Finalization of instructional objectives reflects the iterative process of refining instructional methods and the selection of instructional media. The instructional designer envisions the terminal behavior (performance) that demonstrates learning to mastery. Pre- and Post-test measures are defined which give the learning objective specificity. The interactive components, challenge questions, demonstrations, practice and quizzes are defined which give the learner an environment of active responding. The instructional designer places the E-Learning experience within the context of Knowledge Management and Performance Support, and will use these resources as part of the instructional plan. The instructional designer understands that the adult learner brings valuable meaningful past learning to the new learning task, and will return to a performance setting where transfer-of-learning must occur (i.e., work, school, home, etc.). A primary purpose in establishing a relationship to KM and PS resources is to have the learner experience the s/he is part of a learning community and to engage the learner in participatory, interactive, and collaborative communication within this community. Media is the learning structure based on the definition of text, graphics, audio and video elements that support the learning objectives. - How are the five senses to be optimally engaged in the learner's experience? - What is the production process (manpower, expertise, tools and resources) required to develop these media? Mayer's Six Principles of Multimedia Learning (multimedia, contiguity, coherence, modality, redundancy and personalization) are used as technical criteria for proper construction and presentation of media. The instructional designer holds to Mayer's "less is more" observation established by research on cognitive load. Media are developed appropriate to the instructional objective and content type (i.e., procedures, concepts, facts, processes, or principles). Ideally key media will be related to demonstration and practice instructional strategies. The Media production process is crafted in relation to the Instructional methods and the Delivery System infrastructure. Delivery System is learning structure based on technology infrastructure definition. - What will it take to present E-Learning content, instructional methods and media to the learner? - What are the Delivery System requirements that will achieve the instructional objectives and be viable within resource constraints and project scope? If the Delivery System infrastructure is not viable then the content objective must be re-evaluated. The development process may become so involved with Delivery System technology issues that resources for instructional development may be undermined. Too much emphasis on technology is a common, but troubling, imbalance. Defining the viability of the technical infrastructure has an immediate positive impact on the Instruction and Media design elements. Once the workflow cycle has moved through Instructional development and media production stages, Delivery System issues become the central concern. The workflow task, then, is to complete all the Delivery System components needed for delivery of the instructional experience. During the implementation phase of project workflow, Delivery System logistics and quality assurance are the primary issues. Cognitive Learning Analysis and Design The principles of Cognitive Learning are applied to the Performance Improvement Environments, the key Design Elements, and the project management workflow in order stay "Learner-centric" — focused operationally and continuously on the cognitive issues of the learner. The principles of Multimedia Learning are focused on planning and evaluation of text, graphic, animation, audio, and video elements of instruction to ensure they exhibit sensible presentation technique. The principles of Cognitive Load Management are concerned with planning and evaluation of each unit of instruction (event, page, lesson, module, course or curriculum) to ensure that the learner's capacity to engage attention, retention, responsiveness, and transfer are not undermined by problems with Cognitive Load. The principles of Interactive Engagement are deal with planning and evaluation of an active learning environment — to optimize information processing (encoding and retrieval) and interactivity, as well as learner control and motivation (metacognition). The principles of Problem-based Instruction are particularly focused on planning and evaluation of units of instruction (lessons, modules and courses) to ensure that the learner is presented with meaningful and relevant learning challenges, and that the four phases of instruction (activation, demonstration, application and integration) are present. Building Integrated Solutions: "Learning Organization" Roadmap The goal of working with this Process Paradigm is not only to address the needs of the individual, but also to address team and enterprise learning needs. Cognitive Design provides a roadmap for building a "learning organization" — that is, building an enterprise skilled in the ability to create, acquire, and transfer knowledge, and to modify organizational behavior to reflect new knowledge and insight. This is achieved by the following process paradigm: First, by designing Knowledge Management, E-Learning and Performance Support environments to interface together and work synergistically. Through integration, a comprehensive enterprise solution can be built to improve learning, motivation and performance at every level of the enterprise. Second, by clarifying learning delivery goals and methods. Informing, Instructing, and Guiding are distinct cognitive design challenges — that uniquely impact individual, team and enterprise dimensions of learning. Third, by emphasizing that the highest value is based on "collaborate, develop and empower." - Knowledge Management — establishes a collaborative knowledge-sharing community - E-Learning — catalyzes human resource development through a variety of "blended learning" solutions, and - Performance Support — empowers individual learners to monitor their own performance and access guidance systems in order to achieve higher degrees of productivity, task accomplishment and job satisfaction. In this way, Cognitive Design Solutions provides a new paradigm of environmental design and delivery — attains new levels of individual and team learning — and achieves new levels of enterprise productivity and innovation. ©2003 Cognitive Design Solutions, Inc.

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A little sugar, a little salt and a healthy dose of electrolytes make sports drinks an efficient way to rehydrate. Find out how they work. Posted Tuesday, 23 September, 1997 In 1958, a salty-sweet beverage named Bengal Punch made its debut at Louisiana State University as the first sports drink (followed seven years later by Gatorade). Since then, a booming industry has sprung from this modest beginning. The drinks are everywhere, and there's no escape from their hyperactive advertising. Putting aside for a moment the pitchmen's implied promises of superhuman athletic ability after just a few sips, it turns out that sports drinks do in fact offer the everyday runner some real benefits. Everyone's belly is different, though, and all bellies react differently to different drinks. To avoid any unpleasant suprises, be sure to experiment gradually with sports drinks during training and especially before using it during a flat-out race. What do they do? Among the chief benefits of sports drinks are the carbohydrates they provide to help the body replace the energy-producing glycogen a runner expends during exercise. In the days before sports drinks, some runners created their own kind of sports drink, carrying defizzed soda with them to get the same type of energy boost, a technique still practiced by many. The trouble with these makeshift energy drinks is simply that they often have too many carbohydrates. Drinks that have a concentration of more than eight percent carbos (and some sports drinks fall into this category) are more likely to cause upset stomachs than those with lower concentrations. Those same carbohydrates, when in appropriate concentrations of six to eight percent, also help the body absorb the sports drink up to 30 percent faster than water. This, of course, is great when you have been pushing hard and need to rehydrate in a hurry. Beware, though, that the concentration of carbohydrates is not too high. Some sports drinks, as well as some sodas and juices, have a sugar content that actually slows absorption. Finally, sports drinks contain electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, that are lost with sweat. Sodium in particular is helpful in speeding absorption of the drink. While it is not at all clear that your body actually loses very many electrolytes during running, studies have shown that electrolyte-replacement drinks do cause the body to retain more fluid than plain water. On balance, sports drinks do provide an energy boost and slightly faster fluid absorption than water (again, provided that the drink has the proper concentration of carbohydrates). They are most useful during or after long or unusually hard workouts. For runs and races under an hour, however, it matters little whether you have a sports drink or plain, old-fashioned water (except that water has no calories). While there's no question that it's difficult to duplicate the fancy electrolyte engineering that you'll find in many commercial drinks, these simple home-brewed sports-drink recipes from Cool Running can give you a similar carbo and energy boost. Dilute these to taste and stomach comfort: 1 cup water 1 tsp. lemon juice 1/4 tsp. salt 4 tsp. sugar 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup cranberry juice 1/4 tsp. salt

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Most of you have heard the song written by Lee Hays and Peter Seeger, “If I had a Hammer.” However, many of you may not know it was originally performed in 1949 in support of the communist party leaders in America who were on trial in Federal Court. It was later made famous by the trio of Peter, Paul, and Mary in the 1960s as a theme song for the American Civil Rights movement. The hammer song states that if I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning, evening, and all over this land. I’d hammer out danger, warning and love between brothers and sisters. (I know the grammar and logic of the song doesn’t quite fit, but the poetic message comes through loud and clear.) The song implies, if what I do best is ring a bell or sing a song, then I’d ring my bell or sing my song morning and evening all over the land. In our new member class at Oakland, I share how God intends every member to be a minister, how every ministry is important and necessary, and everyone is a “10” in some specific area. We all have a unique contribution to make. If you and I had only one thing we could do, what would it be? How are we making our unique contribution to this life on earth? Paul, the missionary evangelist and the human author of half of the books of the New Testament, wrote, “But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13). Paul’s one thing was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, the non-Jews. Paul had a past. He persecuted the church with such zeal that he arrested Christians and had Christians put to death. But at his conversion on the Damascus Road and immediately following, God called him to proclaim to the Gentiles the very message and faith he sought to destroy. God said of Paul, “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Paul did this one thing with great intensity. He forgot his past and pressed forward to do what God called him to do. Paul spent the rest of his life, traveling the known world preaching Jesus as the Son of God and planting churches. He was stoned (with rocks) and left for dead only to get up and return to the city to preach some more. “They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city” (Acts 14:19-20). They imprisoned him in Jerusalem, he appealed to Caesar and took his case to Rome and preached to governors, kings, soldiers and fellow prisoners along the way. Nothing stopped Paul from doing his one thing. If you only had one note to play in the symphony, one line to give in the play, or one event to compete in the Olympics of life, what would that be? If you and I don’t give our unique contribution, someone else may step in and fill the gap, but there will be a void in your family, your church, and the world. Paul said, “This one thing I do.” One goal for our lives should be to discover our one thing and give it back to God as an offering of love. Randy Bain is the Senior Pastor of Oakland UM Church located at 1504 Bedford Street in Johnstown. You may reach him through the church website www.oaklandumc.com. Doing One Thing "But one thing I do." - Philippians 3:13 Randy Bain (Submitted Photo / March 28, 2012)

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Universal Screening for MRSA in Hospitals Made Little Difference TUESDAY March 11, 2008 -- Universal screening for a common antibiotic-resistant bacteria is no better than standard infection control at reducing the rate of hospital-acquired infections in surgical patients, new Swiss research shows. The bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is an increasing public health concern. But there is still hope, said study author Dr. Stephan Harbarth, attending physician in infectious diseases and associate hospital epidemiologist at University of Geneva Hospitals and Medical School in Geneva, noting that there has been an "unprecedented" decline of MRSA rates in several European countries and a stable, relatively low rate in others. "Clearly, these recent findings suggest that MRSA spread can be curbed in hospitals, provided that active control programs are implemented," he continued. "For instance, following the introduction of specific programs for limiting cross-transmission, first at regional level and subsequently at national level, MRSA infection rates decreased by almost 50 percent between 1993 and 2006 in hospitals of the Paris region, and by 20 percent since 2001 in more than 50 hospitals across France." Still, Harbarth cautioned, "this needs strong public health action, something not to be expected under the current federal administration of the U.S." The findings are in the March 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Hospital-acquired and community-acquired MRSA infections have become a major public health challenge. The bacterium can lead to skin and blood infections and pneumonia. According to a related editorial in the same issue of the journal, one-quarter of U.S. hospitals reported at least one MRSA outbreak in the prior year. And an estimated 18,000 or more deaths could be attributable to invasive MRSA infections in the United States in 2005. More than 4 million individuals in the United States may be carriers of the pathogen, and as many as 1.2 million U.S. hospital patients may be infected each year with MRSA. Although medical experts and policymakers have called for universal screening at hospitals, no trial has looked into the matter. This study, conducted between July 2004 and May 2006, involved 21,754 surgical patients at a Swiss teaching hospital. Researchers compared two control strategies for MRSA: rapid screening upon hospital admission plus standard infection control measures versus standard infection control measures only. Patients on 12 surgical wards with different specialties were assigned to one group for nine months then switched to the other for another nine months. The rate of surgical-site infections and hospital-acquired infections did not differ drastically between the two groups. The authors estimated that 30 patients would have to be screened at admission to detect one previously unidentified MRSA carrier. One future option might be to target screening to surgical patients undergoing elective procedures with a higher risk of MRSA infection, the authors stated. The study raises another important issue about the distinction between community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection, and whether universal screening might be more effective in the future. "If you do screening on admission in the future, will it start to make a difference to MRSA transmission in the medical setting if the distinction continues to break down?" asked Philip Alcabes, an associate professor of urban public health at Hunter College School of Health Sciences in New York City. "That remains a question worth asking." And existing procedures are nothing to scoff at in terms of effectiveness. "Standard infection control procedures do seem to work," said Alcabes. "It's a good idea, and that, in some ways, may be the most fundamental message. Don't forget routine infection control." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on MRSA. Posted: March 2008

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Climate change to take heavy toll on Bangladesh: U.N. By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Disaster-prone Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, which could worsen water scarcity and force mass displacement, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The U.N. Development Programme in its latest report warned that climate change will hit the world's poorest countries by breaking down agricultural systems, worsening water scarcity, increasing risks of diseases and triggering mass displacement due to recurring floods and storms. The report said more than 70 million Bangladeshis, 22 million Vietnamese, and 6 million Egyptians could be affected by global warming-related flooding. "The near-term vulnerabilities are not concentrated in lower Manhattan and London, but in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh and drought-prone parts of sub-Saharan Africa," said Kevin Watkins, the lead author of the Human Development Report. Dhaka has proposed setting up of an International Centre for Adaptation to study countries most at risk from climate change, C.S.Karim, a government adviser said. British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdury said on Wednesday his government welcomed the proposal, and plans to organize a conference in Dhaka early next year on climate change. Bangladesh has suffered a double blow in the last few months, first from devastating floods in July and then two weeks ago when the worst cyclone since 1991 killed some 3,500 people and displaced millions. "Bangladesh faces several vulnerabilities from climate change during this century," K.B. Sajjadur Rasheed, a Bangladeshi environment specialist, told Reuters. "The sea-level rise of even by 40 cm (16 inches) in the Bay of Bengal would submerge 11 percent of the country's land area in the coastal zone, displacing 7 to 10 million people." Secondly, the frequency, extent, depth and duration of floods could increase because of more monsoon rains triggered by climate change, he said. That would cause a significant decrease in crops, and food security. This century should also see the flow of water decreasing in the Ganges, one of the major river systems in riverine Bangladesh, due to glacial retreat from global warming, he said. It would force millions to seek shelter further inland in the densely populated country of more than 140 million people. "The implication is that, while Bangladesh could be subjected to increased flooding in the next two to four decades, the country could face drought-like conditions from low flows in the rivers during the latter half of the century," Rasheed said. (Additional reporting by Masud Karim; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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By Pauline Hammerbeck It's been a doozy of a wildfire season (Colorado's most destructive ever), leaving homeowners wondering what safety measures they can put in place to stave off flames in the event of a fire in their own neighborhood. Landscaping, it turns out, can be an important measure in wildfire protection. But fire-wise landscaping isn't just something for those dwelling on remote Western hilltops. Brush, grass and forest fires occur nearly everywhere in the United States, says the National Fire Protection Association. Here's how your landscaping can help keep you safe. Create 'defensible' space Most homes that burn during a wildfire are ignited by embers landing on the roof, gutters, and on decks and porches. So your first point of action should be creating a defensible space, a buffer zone around your home, to reduce sources of fuel. Start by keeping the first 3 to 5 feet around your home free of all flammable materials and vegetation: plants, shrubs, trees and grasses, as well as bark and other organic mulches should all be eliminated (a neat perimeter of rock mulch or a rock garden can be a beautiful thing). Maintenance is also important: - Clear leaves, pine needles and other debris from roofs, gutters and eaves - Cut back tree branches that overhang the roof - Clear debris from under decks, porches and other structures Moving farther from the house, you might consider adding hardscaping - driveways, patios, walkways, gravel paths, etc. These features add visual interest, but they also maintain a break between vegetation and your home in the event of a fire. Some additional tasks to consider in the first 100 feet surrounding your home: - Thin out trees and shrubs (particularly evergreens) within 30 feet - Trim low tree branches so they're a minimum of 6 feet off the ground - Mow lawn regularly and dispose of clippings and other debris promptly - Move woodpiles to a space at least 30 feet from your home Use fire-resistant plants Populating your landscape with plants that are resistant to fire can also be an important tactic. Look for low-growing plants that have thick leaves (a sign that they hold water), extensive root systems and the ability to withstand drought. This isn't as limiting as it sounds. Commonly used hostas, butterfly bushes and roses are all good choices. And there are plenty of fire-resistant plant lists to give you ideas on what to pick. Where and how you plant can also have a dramatic effect on fire behavior. The plants nearest your home should be smaller and more widely spaced than those farther away. Be sure to use a variety of plant types, which reduces disease and keeps the landscape healthy and green. Plant in small clusters - create a garden island, for instance, by surrounding a group of plantings with a rock perimeter - and use rock mulch to conserve moisture. Maintain accessible water sources Wildfires present a special challenge to local fire departments, so it's in your interest to be able to access or maintain an emergency water supply - particularly if you're in a remote location. At a minimum, keep 100 feet of garden hose attached to a spigot (if your water comes from a well, consider an emergency generator to operate the pump during a power failure). But better protection can come from the installation of a small pond, cistern or, if budget allows, a swimming pool. Good planning and a bit of elbow grease have a big hand in wildfire safety. In a year with record heat and drought, looking over your landscape with a firefighter's eye can offer significant peace of mind. - Are You Properly Insured for Your Real Estate? - The Ins and Outs of Homeowner's Insurance - Tips for Fire Safety in Your Home Guest blogger Pauline Hammerbeck is an editor for the Allstate Blog, which helps people prepare for the unpredictability of life. Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Zillow.

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Long Term Player Development What is LTPD? Long Term Player Development (LTPD) is a systemic approach being developed and adopted by Golf Canada in partnership with the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association to maximize a participant's potential and involvement in our sport. The LTPD framework aims to define optimal training, competition and recovery throughout an athlete's career to enable him / her to reach his / her full potential in golf and as an athlete. Tailoring a child's sports development program to suit basic principles of growth and maturation, especially during the 'critical' early years of their development, enables him / her to: - Reach full potential - Increase lifelong participation in golf and other physical activities The LTPD model is split into stages in which a player will move from simple to more complex skills and from general to golf related skills. For example, a beginner may start by learning basic swinging actions and then once this has been mastered he / she will progress onto more advanced skills. This framework will set out recommended training sequences and skills developments for the participant from the Active Start stage (6 and under) to the Active for Live Stage (adult recreational). It will address the physical, mental, emotional and technical needs of the athlete as they pass through each stage of development. Where has it come from? A combination of recent research and the knowledge of coaches from around the world are being used to write the LTPD model. The program will be sport-science supported and based on the best data and research available. Our work will be based on the work of Canadian sport scientists, such as Istvan Bayyi, and focuses on key, common principles of individual development, which many sports organizations consider good practice in long-term planning for athletes. Many leading sports stars have also attributed part of their success to participating in different sports and activities at a young age by giving them a wider base of sports skills. Our goal will be to develop our players to their maximum potential by training and enhancing all the athletic skills that contribute to their success. What will this mean for your child? During your child's first few years of golf, the emphasis will be on physical literacy. Time should be spent learning the ABC's of athleticism (Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed) to teach them how to control his / her own bodies. For this reason, your child may take part in exercises that do not look relevant to golf but are supporting their development. Games and other sports will teach your child to throw the ball (basic hitting actions), catch it (hand-eye coordination), and run properly. At each stage the child will be trained in the optimal systems and programs to maximize his / her potential as a golfer and as a long-term participant in sport. What has this got to do with golf? It is thought that taking part in golf-specific training too early can lead to an early drop out rate, create muscle imbalances and also neglect teaching the fundamental skills needed for most sports. In fact, research shows that early specialization in most late maturing sports results in these outcomes. Research has also shown that it is during childhood that people are best at learning physical skills. For this reason we are advising coaches and parents to teach transferable skills first that will allow your child to become proficient in a number of different sports and therefore increase their chances of being physically active throughout their lifetime. Who else is using LTPD? The Council of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers responsible for Sport have endorsed and established the goal of the implementation of a Long Term Athlete Development program throughout the sport community in Canada. Sport Canada has been working with National Sport Organizations to development sport-specific programs according to an overall framework established by an expert group of sport scientists. To date, over 57 sports in Canada have started the process of designing and putting into place LTAD programs. There has been a sharing of best practices among resource personnel and National bodies and the overall program is gaining momentum. Golf Canada is in the second wave of sports to start the LTPD process and is following closely the work of such groups as Rowing Canada, Athletics Canada, Speedskating Canada and Soccer to create the best opportunities for all children. Various national sporting groups in the UK and Ireland are approximately 18 months ahead of their Canadian counterparts in the development of LTPD programs and we are using their experiences and best practices in process development to ensure we have the most comprehensive and effective system possible. Where will Golf's LTPD model come from? We will be consulting with a wide range of coaches, sports scientists and experienced volunteers from across Canada to represent the views of the whole golf community. Their knowledge and expertise will be used as input to form the LTPD framework for golf in Canada. We will be assisted in this process by the LTPD Resource paper and research of the expert group, in particular Stephen Norris (see www.ltad.ca for resource paper). In developing this model and framework, Golf Canada is currently in the process of reviewing our programs in line with LTPD principles. Our competition program, coach education system, elite play structure and development initiatives will all evolve to be consistent with the principles established within this underpinning model. One of the principles to be adopted will be a continuous improvement regime where the system will be benchmarked against the most current developmental principles and upgraded regularly. It will be a living document that provides a planning framework to enable us to always deliver the most appropriate training. Golf Canada LTPD resources Golf Canada will continually update this section to provide access to the most current materials and programs as they are developed. We will add a range of LTPD resources designed to help all Coaches, Teachers, Players and Parents understand the stages that each player goes through and also the training principles and activities at each stage. Please click here to download complete LTPD Guide (2.13 MB)

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Photo #: NH 50459 Burning of USS Philadelphia, 16 February 1804 19th Century painting depicting the Philadelphia aflame in Tripoli harbor, after she had been captured and set afire by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur's boarding party. Courtesy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 127KB; 740 x 570 pixels Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image. If you want higher resolution reproductions than this digital image, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." 14 November 2002

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The Church played a much larger part in the lives of all people in the C17th than it does today. “The thinking of all English people was dominated by the Church.” (C Hill) Why did the era from 1603 to 1640 witness a challenge to the power and to the very existence of the Established Church? The early C17th saw intellectuals questioning what was perceived as being the ‘norm’. This included the role of the Church. These ideas were only understood by a very small minority of the population, but they had great importance, as it was the intellectuals that fuelled Puritan ideology. They also influenced the men who sat as Members of Parliament. “The great physician William Harvey told a bishop during the Interregnum that he had met more diseases generated from the mind than from any other cause.” (Hill) The Puritans wanted the laity to rely on their own senses and consciences, and for the Bible to be interpreted with reference to social needs. The Church could not allow this to happen as it threatened certain vested interests. The state church wanted the populace to assume “that it is the ‘safest to do in religion as most do’ – hardly a belief conducive to spiritual zeal”. (N Stone) Among the faithful, “confidence in doctrine declined, to be compensated for by a rise in loyalty to the independent Church.” (Hill) In 1625, it was noted that “certainly there’s scarce one found that now knows what to approve or what to disallow.” In the 1630’s it was still believed that only the state church run by corrupt men stood in the way of an acceptable agreement between the King, Charles I, and Parliament. As a contemporary writer recorded, “The state church hamstrings human effort.” Such was the standing of the church, that improvements that were made in the living standards of the clergy were overshadowed by its deficiencies, scandals and the fact that the Bible gave it no right to interfere in politics. Dissenting groups were bound to form. Yet in 1604, it had appeared as if the major religious problems of the day would have been cleared. In 1604, there was a strong possibility that any religious quarrels between the Puritans and the State Church would be ended. This potentially good start ended but not without some success. While James had a tendency to irritate people, he did not do anything that would make people outright opponents of monarchy. After all, religious issues had been a problem for a number of decades in Tudor England – they did not suddenly start in 1603 when Elizabeth died and James ascended the throne. Ironically, it was these ‘good times’ that people remembered most when Charles was king. Compared to what was occurring in the reign of Charles, religious issues linked to government from 1603 to 1625 seemed almost acceptable. James had initially become involved in religious issues at the start of his reign – as the Millenary Petition and the Hampton Court conference illustrated. The 1603 Millenary Petition that was presented to him listed many grievances against the state church. Principal among these grievances were absenteeism of preachers, pluralism and services that were too complicated for the congregation to understand. James grasp this problem and ordered that there should be “a resident Moyses in everye parishe.” The historian M Curtis wrote: “He (James) was readier than the bishops to acknowledge that the abuses in the Church were a serious matter.” As a result of the petition, James established the Hampton Court conference in 1604 but this served only to highlight the differences between the State Church and the Puritans. By agreeing that the State Church and the Puritans should meet as equals at Hampton Court, James set up a dangerous precedence. Being treated as equal was a status that the Puritans were not willing to give up. “He induced the hope which he had neither the intention nor the power of fulfilling.” (Hill) Some theoretical good did come out of the conference. An attempt was made to make the lives of parish preachers more comfortable so that a career in the Church would attract more learned men. Only “men of high honour” were allowed in the High Commission; preachers of ability were to be put in areas considered to be ‘popish’; the Book of Common Prayer was to be slightly reformed and excommunication was curtailed. James left the introduction of such reforms to the bishops who ensured most of it was not carried out (though the Prayer Book was slightly reformed) as they believed that any changes to the State Church would endanger their privileged position. As was typical of James, he saw no reason why he himself should have to oversee such issues. The lack of any real reform angered the Puritans and drove an even bigger gulf between them. “They (the bishops) generated among the Puritans a new distrust of ecclesiastical authority. Whitgift and Cranfield hastened the formation of what can only be called an organised Puritan party in the Parliament of 1604.” (Curtis) The official write-up regarding the conference also served to anger the Puritans. Done by William Barlow, Dean of Chester, and titled “The Summe and Substance” it portrayed the Puritans as “bemused, if not silly men (belonging to) a confused and muddled party.” The bishops were portrayed as Godly and righteous men. The attempt to improve the standard of clergy did meet with the Puritans approval but when the bishops attempted to increase and make independent the legislative power of the Convocation, this was flatly refused by Parliament. In 1606, Parliament made its position clear when it issued a bill “for the more sure establishing and assurance of true religion (which) required that no alteration should be of any substantial point of religion but by Parliament with the advice and consent of the clergy in Convocation.” The bill failed in the House of Lords where the Lords Spiritual were influential but the words set a marker for where they stood. In July 1610, the Commons presented a Petition of Religion to the king. This listed all the religious failings identified by the Commons in the previous six years. It pointed out that 150 ministers had been deprived of their benefices because they would not conform to the Church. The Commons titled these men the “silenced ministers” and they wanted the king to give his approval for those who had been effectively sacked to have a right of appeal. The lack of any direct action to reform the State Church angered the Puritans in Parliament and also increased their numbers. The growth in lecturers who travelled the country served their cause. In 1622, James issued his ‘Direction to Preachers’, which gave the bishops more control over the lecturers. James also ordered that “no preacher of whatever denomination should fall into bitter invectives and indecent railing speeches against the persons of Papists.” This seeming support of Popery further worried the Puritans. Their fears that Catholicism was going to replace the State Church was a long way from the truth – but to the Puritans, it was a real fear. James spent a great deal of time at the start of his reign addressing religious issues. But as his reign progressed, his interest in religious issues waned and other things occupied his mind, such as hunting and advancing the careers of his favourites. By the end of his reign in 1625, it would be wrong to assume that there was an impenetrable gulf between the State Church and Puritans, but there was little trust between the two and this only got worse when Charles was crowned king.

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, the French revision of Verdi’s fourth opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata , was produced in 1847, and Liszt made his elaboration of Giselda’s aria Salve Maria! the following year. This prayer appears in both versions of the opera, and was rightly recognized by Liszt as a high point in the score. His first transcription of the piece begins reverently enough, but allows the second verse to expand over florid arpeggios, giving a grand and fervent sweep to the whole. When Liszt revised the work towards the end of his life, his approach differed radically: the second verse takes on an ethereal quality, and many other subtle changes are made to ensure that the work emerges as a much more intimate and devout piece. Like the reissue of the transcription of the Agnus Dei from Verdi’s Requiem , the second version of Salve Maria (significantly without the exclamation mark) contains alternative passages for use with Ricordi’s piano avec la pédale à vibrations prolongées (piano with a tremolo pedal), a device which automatically arranged for all held notes to be repeated by means of a revolving drum which reactivated all the raised hammers—an instrument which Liszt cautiously recommended. from notes by Leslie Howard © 1996

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Republic of Ireland Ireland became the first country to enact a comprehensive nation-wide smoke-free law in 2004. The ITC project has been able to monitor the effects of that law on reactions and perceptions of smokers, and will continue to report on the effectiveness of new tobacco control policies as they are implemented. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was signed and ratified on September 16, 2003, and November 7, 2005, respectively. |Population (2006 estimate)||4,062,235| |Life expectancy (2002 estimate)||Males: 75 years, Females: 81 years| |Healthy life expectancy (2002 estimate)||Males: 68.1 years, Females: 71.5 years| |Ethnic groups||Celtic, English| |GDP per capita (2004)||$36, 371| |Median age||34 years| Smoking Prevalence and Associated Costs: - Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use in Ireland. - Smoking prevalence for both sexes have been declining since the 1980s, and stood in 2004 at 24%. This is down from 29% in 1994, which was already brought down from 35% in 1980. - In 2000, smoking accounted for 18% of all deaths in Ireland. - Ireland is the first country in the world to ban smoking in enclosed workplaces that included bars and restaurants. - Ireland has no legislation in place that restricts the sale of tobacco in vending machines and self-service displays. - The minimum age for purchasing tobacco in Ireland is 18 years old. Shawn Allwright (Principal Investigator) ITC Affiliated Institutions: Sources: World Health Organization, CIA World Factbook, Ireland Office of Tobacco Control, Tobacco Control. (14): 73 - 74. 2005. The ITC Scotland Project launched its first wave in 2004 (along with ITC Ireland) and completed its final wave of surveys in 2007. |Population (2006 estimate)||5,116,900| |Life expectancy (2006 estimate)||Males: 74.8 years, Females: 79.7 years| |Healthy life expectancy (2006 estimate)||Males: 64.6 years, Females: 67.2 years| |Ethnic groups||White Scottish 88.09%, toher white British 7.38%, Indian 0.3%, Pakistani 0.63%, Bangladeshi 0.04%, Chinese 0.32%, other South Asian 0.12%, Caribbean 0.04%, African 0.1%, Black Scottish/any other Black background 0.02%, Any mixed background 0.25%, Any other background 0.19%| |GDP per capita (2001)||$23,632| |Median age (2004)||39.8 years| Smoking Prevalence and Related Costs: - 25% of the Scottish populations smokes - smoking is most common among 25 to 34 year old men (34%) and this is also the age gruop where there is the alrgest differences between men and women. Smoking increases among males between the ages of 16-24 and 25-34 but the same pattern is not seen in women - in 2004, 1403 men and 1504 women in Scotland died from chronic obstructive and lower respiratory diseases - in 2005, 2151 mena dn 1772 women in Scotland died from lung cancer - in 2005, just over a third of all accidental dwelling fire deaths in the UK were caused by smokers' materials (i.e. cigarettes, cigars or pipe tobacco) - taxation on tobacco is currently 63% of the retail price - direct advertising is banned on nationa (but not international) TV and radio and local magazines and newspapers - all healthcare facilities, educational facilities, governmental facilities, and indoor offices and workplaces are smoke-free - all pubs, bars and restaurants are also smoke-free - on October 1, 2008, the UK government will require pictoral warnings on cigarette packages (currently require text warnings that cover 30% of display area) Ireland/Scotland Contact Information Mary McNally,Project Manager. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org Sources: Registrar General's Review of Scotland's Population, Scottish Publish Health Observatory website, Scottish Government website, Tobacco Information Scotland website, WHO MPower Report 2008

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FATIMIDS, Shi'ite Muslim dynasty which ruled in *Egypt (969–1171), and in other parts of North Africa (*Tunisia, 909–1051), The establishment of the Fatimid dynasty resulted from the efforts of the Ismāʿīli branch of the Shi'a, which sought to restore the caliphate to the direct descendants of the Prophet and to reconcile Islamic religion, based on divine revelation, with Greek philosophy, in order that the ideas of other religions could merge with their own. Hence, the members of this Islamic sect were inclined to be tolerant. Their liberal attitude toward non-Muslim subjects also stemmed from the fact that the great majority of their Muslim subjects remained faithful to orthodox Sunni Islam and hostile to the Shi'ite caliphs who therefore were forced to appoint Christian and Jewish intellectuals as officials and ministers. Christians could build new churches without difficulty and celebrate their holidays with solemn processions, sometimes attended by the caliphs themselves. The second Fatimid caliph of Egypt, al-ʿAzīz (975–996), appointed two brothers of his Christian wife to the posts of patriarch of *Jerusalem and *Alexandria respectively. While Jews did not attain such exalted positions, they mostly enjoyed religious freedom and their civil rights were not curtailed. Usually the authorities did not enforce the repressive laws of the Covenant of *Omar, which demanded that distinctive signs be worn by non-Muslims, and the duties of Jewish merchants were less than those required by Islamic law. Recent research on *genizah documents has revealed considerable data on non-Jews, some from Christian countries, who went to Egypt in the 11th century in order to convert to Judaism (see N. Golb, in Sefunot, 8 (1964), 85ff.; E. Ashtor, in Zion, 30 (1965), 69ff.) The third caliph, al-Ḥākim (996–1020), however, persecuted non-Muslims during the latter part of his reign. In 1012, he took decisive action to humiliate non-Muslims and segregate them from the "true believers" – the two aims of the Covenant of Omar. Jews and Christians were forbidden to ride horses and to keep Muslim servants. Christian sources indicate that many churches were destroyed, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Many Christians and some Jews embraced Islam or left the country to escape the persecutions. Al-Ḥākim's measures served as the model for Muslim zealots in the future. His successor al-Ẓāhir (1020–34) and the later Fatimids returned to the traditional policy of tolerance. But genizah documents show that on occasion Jews were vic-tims of the hatred of viziers and other dignitaries. Some were Christians who attempted to harass the Jews and bring about their dismissal from government posts. The Jewish officials, called sar ("commander") in Hebrew documents, protected their coreligionists, appointed them to various posts, and gave them government commissariat orders. They never rose to the position of vizier, as some Christians did, but some held important posts at court, thus enhancing the social standing of the community. The first of these dignitaries was the Jewish court physician of Caliph al-Muʿizz, the first Fatimid of Egypt. Some scholars have identified him with the general Jawhar or with Yaʿqūb *Ibn Killis, a Jewish convert to Islam, who became vizier in Cairo. However, B. *Lewis has proved that the Italian Jew Paltiel of Oria who appears in Megillat Aḥima'aẓ was Mūsā b. Eleazar, the court physician of al-Muʿizz. In about 994, Manasseh b. Ibrāhīm al-Qazzāz, praised as a benefactor of Syrian Jewry in Hebrew poems found in the genizah, became head of the administration in Syria when the Christian ʿĪsā b. Nestorius was appointed vizier of the caliph al-ʿAzīz. The brothers Abū Saʿd and Abū Naṣr (Hebr. Abraham and Ḥesed) b. Sahl (Yashar; possibly Karaites) who were merchants from *Tustar, southwestern Persia, and influential at the court in *Cairo in the second quarter of the 11th century, were murdered in 1047. In the early 12th century, the Jew Abu al-Munajjā Shaʿyā, chief minister of agriculture, ordered the digging of a canal which still bears his name. For various reasons, the economic policy of the Fatimids was very advantageous for the Jews. The caliphs' interest in increasing trade between Egypt and other countries stemmed partly from a belief that they could thus win converts to their religious persuasion. They succeeded in diverting the trade between India and the Near East from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea which became the main artery of a great international trade. Many Jewish merchants, of varying degrees of wealth, participated in the India trade, as the Fatimids neither created monopolies nor harassed small merchants and industrialists in other ways in the manner of other Muslim rulers. The Jewish communities of Egypt and Syria were headed by a nagid, who was appointed by the Fatimid caliph (see *Nagid). Medieval Jewish tradition ascribes the creation of this position to the Fatimids' desire to remove the influence of the *exilarch on Egyptian Jewry. This view has been accepted by modern scholars. S.D. *Goitein, however, holds that the office of the nagid developed independent of the aspirations and the policies of the Fatimids. Apparently the first of the negidim was Paltiel of Oria. Later on other court physicians held this post, including Judah b. Saadiah (1065–79), his brother Mevorakh (1079–1110), and *Samuel b. Hananiah (c. 1140–59). Mann, Egypt; Fischel, Islam, 44ff.; S.D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 1 (1967), index; idem, in: JQR, 53 (1962/63), 117ff.; E. Ashtor, in: Zion, 30 (1965), 143ff.; B. Lewis, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 30 (1967), 177–81. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Gil, A History of Palestine (634 – 1099) (1992); M.R. Cohen, Jewish Self-Government in Medieval Egypt (1980). Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.

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The Rescue of the Danish Jews During World War II By Emmy E. Werner (212 Pages)Publisher: Westview Press, 2002 The people of Denmark managed to save almost their country's entire Jewish population from extermination in a spontaneous act of humanity one of the most compelling stories of moral courage in the history of World War II. Drawing on many personal accounts, Emmy Werner tells the story of the rescue of the Danish Jews from the vantage point of living eyewitnesses the last survivors of an extraordinary conspiracy of decency that triumphed in the midst of the horrors of the Holocaust. A Conspiracy of Decency chronicles the acts of people of good will from several nationalities. Among them were the German Georg F. Duckwitz, who warned the Jews of their impending deportation, the Danes who hid them and ferried them across the Oresund, and the Swedes who gave them asylum. Regardless of their social class, education, and religious and political persuasion, the rescuers all shared one important characteristic: they defined their humanity by their ability to act with great compassion. These people never considered themselves heroes they simply felt that they were doing the right thing. Photos

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Upland Bird Regional Forecast When considering upland game population levels during the fall hunting season, two important factors impact population change. First is the number of adult birds that survived the previous fall and winter and are considered viable breeders in the spring. The second is the reproductive success of this breeding population. Reproductive success consists of nest success (the number of nests that successfully hatched) and chick survival (the number of chicks recruited into the fall population). For pheasant and quail, annual population turnover is relatively high; therefore, the fall population is more dependent on reproductive success than breeding population levels. For grouse (prairie chickens), annual population turnover is not as rapid although reproductive success is still the major population regulator and important for good hunting. In the following forecast, breeding population and reproductive success of pheasants, quail, and prairie chickens will be discussed. Breeding population data were gathered during spring breeding surveys for pheasants (crow counts), quail (whistle counts), and prairie chickens (lek counts). Data for reproductive success were collected during late summer roadside surveys for pheasants and quail. Reproductive success of prairie chickens cannot be easily assessed using the same methods because they generally do not associate with roads like the other game birds. Kansas experienced extreme drought this past year. Winter weather was mild, but winter precipitation is important for spring vegetation, which can impact reproductive success, and most of Kansas did not get enough winter precipitation. Pheasant breeding populations showed significant reductions in 2012, especially in primary pheasant range in western Kansas. Spring came early and hot this year, but also included fair spring moisture until early May, when the precipitation stopped, and Kansas experienced record heat and drought through the rest of the reproductive season. Early nesting conditions were generally good for prairie chickens and pheasants. However, the primary nesting habitat for pheasants in western Kansas is winter wheat, and in 2012, Kansas had one of the earliest wheat harvests on record. Wheat harvest can destroy nests and very young broods. The early harvest likely lowered pheasant nest and early brood success. The intense heat and lack of rain in June and July resulted in a decrease in brooding cover and insect populations, causing lower chick survival for all upland game birds. Because of drought, all counties in Kansas were opened to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) emergency haying or grazing. CRP emergency haying requires fields that are hayed to leave at least 50 percent of the field in standing grass cover. CRP emergency grazing requires 25 percent of the field (or contiguous fields) to be left ungrazed or grazing at 75-percent normal stocking rates across the entire field. Many CRP fields, including Walk In Hunting Areas (WIHA), may be affected across the state. WIHA property is privately-owned land open to the public for hunting access. Kansas has more than one million acres of WIHA. Often, older stands of CRP grass are in need of disturbance, and haying and grazing can improve habitat for the upcoming breeding season, and may ultimately be beneficial if weather is favorable. Due to continued drought, Kansas will likely experience a below-average upland game season this fall. For those willing to hunt hard, there will still be pockets of decent bird numbers, especially in the northern Flint Hills and northcentral and northwestern parts of the state. Kansas has approximately 1.5 million acres open to public hunting (wildlife areas and WIHA combined). The regular opening date for the pheasant and quail seasons will be Nov. 10 for the entire state. The previous weekend will be designated for the special youth pheasant and quail season. Youth participating in the special season must be 16 years old or younger and accompanied by a non-hunting adult who is 18 or older. All public wildlife areas and WIHA tracts will be open for public access during the special youth season. Please consider taking a young person hunting this fall, so they might have the opportunity to develop a passion for the outdoors that we all enjoy. PHEASANT – Drought in 2011 and 2012 has taken its toll on pheasant populations in Kansas. Pheasant breeding populations dropped by nearly 50 percent or more across pheasant range from 2011 to 2012 resulting in fewer adult hens in the population to start the 2012 nesting season. The lack of precipitation has resulted in less cover and insects needed for good pheasant reproduction. Additionally, winter wheat serves as a major nesting habitat for pheasants in western Kansas, and a record early wheat harvest this summer likely destroyed many nests and young broods. Then the hot, dry weather set in from May to August, the primary brood-rearing period for pheasants. Pheasant chicks need good grass and weed cover and robust insect populations to survive. Insufficient precipitation and lack of habitat and insects throughout the state’s primary pheasant range resulted in limited production. This will reduce hunting prospects compared to recent years. However, some good opportunities still exist to harvest roosters in the sunflower state, especially for those willing to work for their birds. Though the drought has taken its toll, Kansas still contains a pheasant population that will produce a harvest in the top three or four major pheasant states this year. The best areas this year will likely be pockets of northwest and northcentral Kansas. Populations in southwest Kansas were hit hardest by the 2011-2012 drought (72 percent decline in breeding population), and a very limited amount of production occurred this season due to continued drought and limited breeding populations. QUAIL – The bobwhite breeding population in 2012 was generally stable or improved compared to 2011. Areas in the northern Flint Hills and parts of northeast Kansas showed much improved productivity this year. Much of eastern Kansas has seen consistent declines in quail populations in recent decades. After many years of depressed populations, this year’s rebound in quail reproduction in eastern Kansas is welcomed, but overall populations are still below historic averages. The best quail hunting will be found throughout the northern Flint Hills and parts of central Kansas. Prolonged drought undoubtedly impacted production in central and western Kansas. PRAIRIE CHICKEN – Kansas is home to greater and lesser prairie chickens. Both species require a landscape of predominately native grass. Lesser prairie chickens are found in westcentral and southwestern Kansas in native prairie and nearby stands of native grass within the conservation reserve program (CRP). Greater prairie chickens are found primarily in the tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in the eastern one-third and northern one-half of the state. The spring prairie chicken lek survey indicated that most populations remained stable or declined from last year. Declines were likely due to extreme drought throughout 2011. Areas of northcentral and northwest Kansas fared the best, while areas in southcentral and southwest Kansas experienced the sharpest declines where drought was most severe. Many areas in the Flint Hills were not burned this spring due to drought. This resulted in far more residual grass cover for much improved nesting conditions compared to recent years. There have been some reports of prairie chickens broods in these areas, and hunting will likely be somewhat improved compared to recent years. Because of recent increases in prairie chicken (both species) populations in northwest Kansas, regulations have been revised this year. The early prairie chicken season (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) and two-bird bag limit has been extended into northwest Kansas. The northwest unit boundary has also been revised to include areas north of U.S. Highway 96 and west of U.S. Highway 281. Additionally, all prairie chicken hunters are now required to purchase a $2.50 prairie chicken permit. This permit will allow KDWPT to better track hunters and harvest, which will improve management activities. Both species of prairie chicken are of conservation concern and the lesser prairie chicken is a candidate species for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. This region has 11,809 acres of public land and 339,729 acres of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – Spring breeding populations declined almost 50 percent from 2011 to 2012, reducing fall population potential. Early nesting conditions were decent due to good winter wheat growth, but early wheat harvest and severe heat and drought through the summer reduced populations. While this resulted in a significant drop in pheasant numbers, the area will still have the highest densities of pheasants this fall compared to other areas in the state. Some counties — such as Graham, Rawlins, Decatur, and Sherman — showed the relatively-highest densities of pheasants during summer brood surveys. Much of the cover will be reduced compared to previous years due to drought and resulting emergency haying and grazing in CRP fields. Good hunting opportunities will also be reduced compared to recent years, and harvest will likely be below average. Quail – Populations in this region have been increasing in recent years although the breeding population had a slight decline. This area is at the extreme northwestern edge of bobwhite range in Kansas, and densities are relatively low compared to central Kansas. Some counties — such as Graham, Rawlins, and Decatur — will provide hunting opportunities for quail. Prairie Chicken – Prairie chicken populations have expanded in both numbers and range within the region over the past 20 years. The better hunting opportunities will be found in the central and southeastern portions of the region in native prairies and nearby CRP grasslands. Spring lek counts in that portion of the region were slightly depressed from last year and nesting conditions were only fair this year. Extreme drought likely impaired chick survival. This region has 75,576 acres of public land and 311,182 acres of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – The Smoky Hills breeding population dropped about 40 percent from 2011 to 2012, reducing overall fall population potential. While nesting conditions were fair due to good winter wheat growth, the drought and early wheat harvest impacted the number of young recruited into the fall population. Certain areas had decent brood production, including portions of Mitchell, Rush, Rice, and Cloud counties. Across the region, hunting opportunities will likely be below average and definitely reduced from recent years. CRP was opened to emergency haying and grazing, reducing available cover. Quail – Breeding populations increased nearly 60 percent from 2011 to 2012, increasing fall population potential. However, drought conditions were severe, likely impairing nesting and brood success. There are reports of fair quail numbers in certain areas throughout the region. Quail populations in northcentral Kansas are naturally spotty due to habitat characteristics. Some areas, such as Cloud County, showed good potential while other areas in the more western edges of the region did not fare as well. Prairie Chicken – Greater prairie chickens occur throughout the Smoky Hills in large areas of native rangeland and some CRP. This region includes some of the highest densities and greatest hunting opportunities in the state for greater prairie chickens. Spring counts indicated that numbers were stable or slightly reduce from last year. Much of the rangeland cover is significantly reduced due to drought, which likely impaired production, resulting in reduced fall hunting opportunities.. This region has 60,559 acres of public land and 54,170 of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – Spring crow counts this year showed a significant increase in breeding populations of pheasants. While this increase is welcome, this region was nearing all-time lows in 2011. Pheasant densities across the region are still low, especially compared to other areas in western Kansas. Good hunting opportunities will exist in only a few pockets of good habitat. Quail – Breeding populations stayed relatively the same as last year, and some quail were detected during the summer brood survey. The long-term trend for this region has been declining, largely due to unfavorable weather and degrading habitat. This year saw an increase in populations. Hunting opportunities for quail will be improved this fall compared to recent years in this region. The best areas will likely be in Marshall and Jefferson counties. Prairie Chickens – Very little prairie chicken range occurs in this region, and opportunities are limited. The best areas are in the western edges of the region, in large areas of native rangeland. This region has 80,759 acres of public land and 28,047 acres of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – This region is outside the primary pheasant range and has very limited hunting. A few birds can be found in the northwestern portion of the region. Quail – Breeding populations were relatively stable from 2011 to 2012 for this region although long term trends have been declining. In the last couple years, the quail populations throughout much of the region have been on the increase. Specific counties that showed relatively higher numbers are Coffey, Osage, and Wilson. However, populations remain far below historic levels across the bulk of the region due to extreme habitat degradation. Prairie Chicken – Greater prairie chickens occur in the central and northwest parts of this region in large areas of native rangeland. Breeding population densities were up nearly 40 percent from last year, and opportunities may increase accordingly. However, populations have been in consistent decline over the long term. Infrequent fire frequency has resulted in woody encroachment of native grasslands in the area, gradually reducing the amount of suitable habitat. This region has 128,371 acres of public land and 63,069 acres of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – This region is on the eastern edge of pheasant range in Kansas and well outside the primary range. Pheasant densities have always been relatively low throughout the Flint Hills. Spring breeding populations were down nearly 50 percent, and reproduction was limited this summer. The best pheasant hunting will be in the northwestern edge of this region in Marion and Dickinson counties. Quail – This region contains some of the highest densities of bobwhite in Kansas. The breeding population in this region increased 25 percent compared to 2011, and the long-term trend (since 1998) has been stable do to steadily increasing populations over the last four or five years. High reproductive success was reported in the northern half of this region, and some of the best opportunities for quail hunting will be found in the northern Flint Hills this year. In the south, Cowley County showed good numbers of quail this summer. Prairie Chickens – The Flint Hills is the largest intact tallgrass prairie left in North America. It has served as a core habitat for greater prairie chickens for many years. Since the early 1980s, inadequate range burning frequencies have consistently reduced nest success in the area, and prairie chicken numbers have been declining as a result. Because of the drought this spring, many areas that are normally burned annually were left unburned this year. This left more residual grass cover for nesting and brood rearing. There are some good reports of prairie chicken broods, and hunting opportunities will likely increase throughout the region this year. This region has 19,534 acres of public land and 73,341 acres of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – The breeding population declined about 40 percent from 2011 to 2012. Prolonged drought for two years now and very poor vegetation conditions resulted in poor reproductive success this year. All summer indices showed a depressed pheasant population in this region, especially compared to other regions. Some of the relatively better counties in this area will be Reno, Pawnee, and Pratt although these counties have not been immune to recent declines. There will likely few good hunting opportunities this fall. Quail – The breeding population dropped over 30 percent this year from 2011 although long term trends (since 1998) have been stable in this region. This region generally has some of the highest quail densities in Kansas, but prolonged drought and reduced vegetation have caused significant declines in recent years. Counties such as Reno, Pratt, and Stafford will likely have the best opportunities in the region. While populations may be down compared to recent years, this region will continue to provide fair hunting opportunities for quail. Prairie Chicken – This region is almost entirely occupied by lesser prairie chickens. The breeding population declined nearly 50 percent from 2011 to 2012. Reproductive conditions were not good for the region due to extreme drought and heat for the last two years, and production was limited. The best hunting opportunities will likely be in the sand prairies south of the Arkansas River. This region has 2,904 acres of public land and 186,943 acres of WIHA open to hunters this fall. Pheasant – The breeding population plummeted more than 70 percent in this region from 2011 to 2012. Last year was one of the worst on record for pheasant reproduction. However, last fall there was some carry-over rooster (second-year) from a record high season in 2010. Those carry-over birds are mostly gone now, which will hurt hunting opportunities this fall. Although reproduction was slightly improved from 2011, chick recruitment was still fair to below average this summer due to continued extreme drought conditions. Moreover, there were not enough adult hens in the population yet to make a significant rebound. Generally, hunting opportunity will remain well below average in this region. Haskell and Seward counties showed some improved reproductive success, especially compared to other counties in the region. Quail – The breeding population in this region tends to be highly variable depending on available moisture and resulting vegetation. The region experienced an increase in breeding populations from 2011 to 2012 although 2011 was a record low for the region. While drought likely held back production, the weather was better than last year, and some reproduction occurred. Indices are still well below average for the region. There will be some quail hunting opportunities in the region although good areas will be sparse. Prairie Chicken – While breeding populations in the eastern parts of this region were generally stable or increasing, areas of extreme western and southwest portions (Cimarron National Grasslands) saw nearly 30-percent declines last year and 65 percent declines this year. Drought remained extreme in this region, and reproductive success was likely very low. Hunting opportunities in this region will be extremely limited this fall.

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Ocean Recreation; Sailboards Prohibits operators of sailboards from approaching within 200 feet of a swimmer or surfer in the ocean. TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SAILBOARDS. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. The legislature finds that surfers and swimmers using Hawaii's oceans for recreation face a danger from operators of sailboards and kiteboards. Sailboarders and kiteboarders often operate their craft at high speeds in areas crowded with surfers and swimmers. Kiteboards and sailboards are much heavier and faster and could cause serious injury if they were to collide with a swimmer or surfer. The purpose of this Act is to ensure water safety by prohibiting the operator of a sailboard or kiteboard from approaching within two hundred feet of a swimmer or surfer in the water. SECTION 2. Chapter 200, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part II to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§200- Operation of sailboards and kiteboards. No person shall operate a sailboard or kiteboard within two hundred feet of another person swimming or using a surfboard within the waters of the State. For the purposes of this section, "sailboard or kiteboard" means any type of board that is propelled by a detachable sail or kite apparatus. For the purposes of this section, "surfboard" means any type of board that is used for the sport of surf-riding and includes boards commonly known as "body boards"." SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date. SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

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Posted: Feb 18, 2013 10:06 AM by Suzanne Philippus - MTN News Updated: Feb 18, 2013 10:07 AM BOZEMAN - Several Montana State University scientists recently returned from the summer research season in Antarctica. MTN reporter Suzanne Philippus has a rare glimpse of what takes place on the ice at the bottom of the world. A group left Bozeman right before Thanksgiving and we're in Antarctica until the middle of February. After 37 hours in the air, traveling over 10,000 miles, the ski-equipped military cargo plane landed on the southern-most continent in the world. "In the broadest sense, Antarctica is the place to come to study global climate change because it's the end member environment, because it's the coldest place," explained Reed Scherer a scientist on the Wissard Project. Scientists from across the world descend upon this vast continent during the Antarctic summer, for a chance to work in one of the most unique and minimally disturbed laboratories on earth. From ancient geologic microbes to climate change, scientists are conducting more than 120 research projects; none of which can be conducted anywhere else on earth. "The science we think is really exciting and so...a ...we're ready to go and get into action here," said Ross Powell, who's working on the Wissard Project During the Austral summer, which ranges from October to February, scientists take advantage of 24 hours of sunlight in a race against a mandatory, late-February departure off the ice.

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Key events in Hugo Chavez's life: Feb. 4, 1992 — Army paratroop commander Lt. Col. Chavez leads botched coup against President Carlos Andres Perez. Faces possible 30-year prison term, but case never goes to trial. Nov. 27, 1992 — Military officers with close ties to Chavez make second coup attempt, which is quashed. March 26, 1994 — After two years in jail awaiting trial, Chavez and fellow plotters set free when President Rafael Caldera dismisses charges on condition they retire from the military. Dec. 13, 1994 — Chavez visits Cuba, where he has long talks with President Fidel Castro and is honored with ceremony at University of Havana. Dec. 6, 1998 — Wins come-from-behind presidential election victory, promising to seek "third way" between socialism and capitalism. Jan. 16, 1999 — Travels to Cuba for private talks with Fidel Castro and Colombian President Andres Pastrana on attempts to bring peace to Colombia. Feb. 2, 1999 — Hours after being sworn in, decrees referendum on whether to rewrite constitution. April 25, 1999 — Venezuelans overwhelmingly approve Chavez's proposal to draft a new constitution. July 25, 1999 — Allies of Chavez win 122 of 128 seats in constitutional assembly, allowing them to draft document tailored to his wishes. Dec. 15, 1999 — Venezuelans vote to accept Chavez-backed constitution. It eliminates Senate, changes country's name to Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and lengthens presidential term from five years to six, clearing the way for Chavez to stay in office as long as 13 years. July 30, 2000 — In presidential election, Chavez elected to six-year term. April 11, 2002 — Gunfire erupts as protesters demanding president's resignation march toward presidential palace; 19 people killed. That spurs revolt by dissident generals who arrest Chavez and usher in interim government. April 12, 2002 — Business leader Pedro Carmona takes presidential oath, throws out constitution and dissolves National Assembly. April 13, 2002 — Tens of thousands of Chavez supporters take to streets demanding his return. April 14, 2002 — Loyal army officers rescue Chavez, restore him to power. Dec. 3, 2002 — Business organizations, labor unions, political parties and executives from state-run oil company call strike demanding that Chavez agree to nonbinding referendum on his rule. Strike fizzles after two months, government regains control of oil industry. April 7, 2003 — Chavez fires seven top executives at state oil company for joining strike. Within weeks, 18,000 employees are fired for participating in the strike. Aug. 15, 2004 — Venezuelans overwhelmingly vote "no" in referendum asking if Chavez should leave office immediately. Dec. 14, 2004 — Chavez and Castro sign agreement deepening cooperation between Venezuela and Cuba. Pact evolves into leftist ALBA bloc as other Latin American and Caribbean nations join. Sept. 7, 2005 — Chavez creates Petrocaribe agreement that sells oil on preferential credit terms to more than dozen countries. Oct. 31, 2005 — Telesur, Caracas-based television network launched by Chavez, begins broadcasting as alternative to corporate media outlets. Telesur financed mainly by Venezuela with help from Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay. Dec. 4, 2005 — Chavez's allies win all 167 seats in National Assembly as major opposition parties boycott election. Sept. 20, 2006 — Chavez calls U.S. President George W. Bush "the devil" in speech at United Nations General Assembly, raising tensions with Washington. Dec. 3, 2006 — Wins re-election to six-year term, capturing 63 percent of vote. Dec. 5, 2006 — Emboldened by victory, tells countrymen his political movement aims to transform Venezuela into socialist state. Jan. 8, 2007 — Announces plans to nationalize Venezuela's electrical and telecommunications companies. Jan. 31, 2007 — Pro-government lawmakers grant Chavez sweeping powers to legislate by decree for 18 months. Feb. 8, 2007 — Government nationalizes Venezuela's largest private electric company, signing agreement to buy controlling stake in Electricidad de Caracas from U.S.-based AES Corp. Feb. 12, 2007 — Officials sign agreement to purchase Verizon Communications Inc.'s stake in Venezuela's largest telecommunications company. Feb. 27, 2007 — Chavez orders takeover of oil projects run by foreign companies in Orinoco River region, giving government majority stake in the joint ventures. May 28, 2007 — Radio Caracas Television, country's oldest private network, goes off air after Chavez refuses to renew its broadcasting license. Oct. 14, 2007 — Ailing Fidel Castro calls Chavez's radio show, making his first live appearance on Cuban airwaves since falling ill 14 months earlier, in example of how close the two men have become. Dec. 2, 2007 — Voters reject amendments proposed by Chavez to make more sweeping changes to constitution, a setback for his drive to transform Venezuela into socialist state. April 3, 2008 — Chavez orders nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry. April 9, 2008 — Government announces it will nationalize country's largest steel maker. July 31, 2008 — Chavez announces plans to nationalize Bank of Venezuela, owned by Santander Central Hispano banking group of Spain. Sept. 12, 2008 — Orders U.S. ambassador to leave Venezuela, accusing him of conspiring against government. Patrick Duddy later returns to finish his assignment, but Venezuelan and U.S. officials fail to agree on replacement. Nov. 23, 2008 — Chavez's party wins 17 of 24 gubernatorial races, while opposition candidates triumph in Venezuela's most populous states and cities. Feb. 15, 2009 — Chavez wins voter approval to eliminate term limits, allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely; he vows to remain in power for at least another decade. Sept. 26, 2009 — Chavez, along with allies including Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, sets up regional development lender called Bank of the South. It's billed as Latin American alternative to institutions such as International Monetary Fund. Sept. 27, 2010 — In congressional elections, Chavez's allies lose two-thirds majority that has allowed them to ignore opponents in rewriting fundamental laws and appointing key officials such as Supreme Court justices. Chavez's allies still retain a majority. Dec. 17, 2010 — Outgoing congress grants Chavez power to enact laws by decree for 18 months. June 10, 2011 — Chavez undergoes surgery in Cuba for pelvic abscess. June 12, 2011 — Telephones state television in Venezuela from Cuba, saying he is recovering from surgery, but his silence and seclusion following call prompts speculation he could be suffering severe illness. June 28, 2011 — New videos and photos of Chavez appear on Venezuelan state television, showing him on his feet and talking with Fidel Castro. June 30, 2011 — Chavez appears on television to confirm he had a cancerous tumor removed. He later says tumor extracted was the size of baseball. July 4, 2011 — Returns to Venezuela, but later travels to Cuba periodically for chemotherapy and medical tests. Sept. 23, 2011 — Says he has completed chemotherapy and calls the treatment successful. Says subsequently that tests show no reappearance of cancerous cells. Feb. 21, 2012 — Says his doctors found new lesion in same place where tumor was previously removed, and announces plans to return to Cuba for surgery. Feb. 26, 2012 — Undergoes operation that removes tumor from same location in pelvic region. Says later that follow-up tests showed tumor was "recurrence of the initially diagnosed cancer." March 24, 2012 — Travels to Cuba to begin first round of radiation therapy. July 9, 2012 — Says at a news conference that tests have shown he is "totally free" of cancer. Oct. 7, 2012 — Wins another six-year term, beating challenger Henrique Capriles by an 11-point margin. Dec. 9, 2012 — Announces that his cancer has returned and that he needs surgery again. Also says for the first time that if he is unable to stay on as president, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should take his place and should be elected president. Dec. 11, 2012 — Undergoes his fourth cancer-related operation in Cuba. Officials describe it as a complicated six-hour surgery. Dec. 16, 2012 — Chavez's allies sweep gubernatorial elections, winning in 20 of 23 states. Dec. 18, 2012 — Venezuelan government reports that Chavez has a respiratory infection but says it has been controlled. He is said to be in stable condition. March 5, 2013 — Government announces the death of Hugo Chavez.

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Historical Statistics of the United States Where can you find statistical information on topics as varied as life insurance, copyright, immigration, motor vehicle traffic fatalities, or the Selective Service, to name just a few? Just go to Historical Statistics of the United States, one of the many research databases you can access from the library's research databases page. Historical Statistics of the United States provides historical statistical information covering virtually every quantifiable aspect of American history, with coverage from the 1700's to the present. You can access the information by either browsing the indexes or by keyword searching. Statistical tables can be downloaded individually or as a group, and you can create custom tables that can be downloaded, printed, or graphed. Each general topic also includes an introductory essay that reviews the quantitative history of the topic, provides a guide to the sources, and offers expert advice on the reliability of the data and the limits that might be placed on their interpretation. So the next time you need statistical information, whether from the country's colonial period all the way up to current times, take a look at this database to see if it includes what you are looking for.

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For many teens, academic success can seem daunting. However, acing the test and getting good grades is not hard to do with a bit of time management and some other useful skills. Start at the beginning. Good notes equal good study. Creating a good study habit starts the moment you enter the classroom. Taking good notes in class will help you tremendously when you sit down to start prepping for the test! Some tips on note-taking: - Jot down facts when the teacher mentions them or writes them on the board. - If you miss something, don’t be afraid to ask the teacher to repeat it. - Visit with your teacher after class if you need help understanding something. - Keep your notes organized by subject. - Make sure you write clearly so you can read it later. Use your time wisely. Waiting until the last minute may seem like the thing to do when you’d rather hang out with friends, but studying ahead of time can help build confidence and reduce test-day stress. Try studying in small chunks of time or reviewing different subjects on certain days of the week. If it’s math you’re studying, make sure to complete plenty of practice problems well before test day. Organize, Organize, Organize! If you can’t find last week’s algebra assignment or that writing prompt was shoved to the bottom of your backpack, get things straightened out! If you can find it, you’ll be more likely to use it. Follow these guidelines to stay organized: - Take notes on index cards and keep them separated by subject. - Use a wall calendar to mark and plan for test days. - Keep your syllabi together in one place for easy access to class information and schedules. - Use a different notebook for every subject or class. Getting ready for the SAT or ACT? Use your resources. You might be surprised by the wealth of resources you can find at your own high school. Visit student affairs or your guidance counselor to see what free publications are available. You school should have copies of Taking the SAT, which features test-taking tips and a sample test, the answers, an answer sheet and instructions for scoring. For more in-depth preparation, try signing up for a practice SAT or buying a test-prep study guide from your local bookstore. Creating a plan for how you study can help you in the long run and can even free up more time for you to do the things you love—like play soccer or hang out with your friends. For more ideas about setting goals and achieving them, check out LiveFree! We are a community-focused organization that is dedicated to educating people about and ending substance abuse. Study Skills for Teens (National Center for Learning Disabilities) Studying for Tests (TeensHealth.org) Preparing for the SAT/ACT (FastWeb)

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Resolved: That the United States should substantially change its federal agricultural policy. |home||online coaching||research articles||research links||definitions||workshop information||plan ideas| |Source: American Journal of Agricultural Economics, August 2000 v82 i3 Title: WHAT HAS THE GATT/WTO AGRICULTURAL AGREEMENT ACTUALLY DONE?: Full Text COPYRIGHT 2000 American Agricultural Economics Association The two papers presented in this session address an extremely important question and make a substantial contribution to our knowledge. A great deal of ex-ante work was done on evaluating the impact of impacts of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA), and now, after more than five years, it is surely time that we began to assess what was actually achieved. An important contribution of the papers is their discussion of the subtleties of the policy changes that were introduced as a consequence of the Round. They make clear that many of the provisions of the Uruguay Round have not had the consequences that might have been predicted for them on the basis of the professed objectives of the reforms, and highlight the need for care and sophistication in interpreting the consequences of trade agreements. Another contribution of the papers is initial attempts at ex-post quantification of the consequences of the reforms, a quantification that proves more difficult than might be expected given the nature of the policy reforms. After all, the policy reforms being considered are traditional reforms of the market-opening type, not the newer and more difficult reforms designed to restrict the use of standards as protection, or to ensure consistency between trade and environmental policies. The case studies of rice and wheat provided in the two papers highlight a number of features of the URAA that both complicate its evaluation and reduce its effectiveness relative to a reform that improved economic efficiency and brought agriculture fully into consistency with GATT rules. This was, after all, a major reform which, at face value, reduced protection levels for agriculture by 36% in developed countries and 24% in developing countries. The authors of the two well-chosen case studies in this session highlight at least five weaknesses in the Uruguay Round agreements of relevance to agricultural trade: 1. Universal tariffication did not result in low and stable tariffs for agricultural products. Many tariff bindings agreed in the Uruguay Round are well above the levels that countries would choose to apply, leaving opportunities for countries to vary their tariff rates. This does not mean that the introduction of bindings is unimportant--but does make it much harder to evaluate the consequences of reform than in the textbook case of a fixed tariff (Martin and Francois). 2. Restraints on internal support measures do not limit spending by restraining support prices relative to the economic value of agricultural products (given by world market prices). 3. Tariff rate quotas introduced in the Round did not necessarily increase imports above levels that would otherwise have prevailed. In many cases, these imports have merely re-labelled imports that would previously have come in under other quotas. Rice imports to Japan and Korea are, however, solely a consequence of the URAA and the creation of sizeable imports to these markets was identified by Hathaway and Ingco as a key gain from the URAA. 4. The benefits of eliminating variable import levies were undermined by allowing continuing use of tariffs linked to domestic support prices. 5. The new rules on state trading have not greatly strengthened the disciplines on state trading enterprises. As Sumner and Lee point out, they allow Japan to buy rice but largely keep it isolated from the domestic market. In addition, the case studies illustrate another problem both for policy and for evaluation -- the difficulty of knowing what is, in reality, a decoupled policy. Sumner and Lee conclude that procurement prices in Korea have essentially zero impact because they are infra-marginal. While these subsidies do not affect the marginal price received by a farmer, they are relevant to the marginal decision of staying in agriculture or leaving the sector and so can be expected to influence the long run supply of resources to the sector. When they turn to formal testing, I feel that Sumner and Lee's t-test approach is too pessimistic in its assessment of the difficulties involved in identifying impacts of the Uruguay Round. Their numerical example is based on the unconditional variance of prices, when what is relevant for a what-if question of this type is the conditional variances. The unconditional variance of prices includes variation due to shocks to exogenous variables that can, in principle, be removed to allow an evaluation of the impacts of the Uruguay Round alone. Further, the prices of commodities are subject to secular changes resulting from changes in technology and changes in global factor endowments that could potentially make simple before-and-after price comparisons extremely misleading. The empirical evaluation of impacts on rice prices provided by Sumner and Lee deals neatly with these concerns by focusing on the differential behavior of indica and japonica rice prices. Technological change in the production of these two types of rice seems likely to proceed at similar rates, and weather and other shocks to the two markets seem likely to affect them in similar ways. If this is indeed the case, then taking the ratio of their prices should help reduce the spurious variation and allow us to focus on changes in levels, and in variability, that are more directly conditional on the sizeable market change of interest. [Graphic omitted]Deepening of the reforms begun in the Uruguay Round could clearly contribute substantially to policy transparency and our ability to identify the impacts of reform. If we view the political economy process that generates protection as generating a distribution of protection outcomes such as that presented in figure 1, then the introduction of a tariff binding can be shown to reduce both the mean and the variance of protection (Francois and Martin) by mapping the protection outcomes above the binding, B onto the point B, and reducing the mean tariff from [[mu].sub.0] to [[mu].sub.1]. If the Uruguay Round tariff bindings are reduced from their current high levels, both average protection rates and the variance of protection will fall. Eventually, reductions in tariff bindings will be effectively one for one with reductions in tariff bindings and protection levels will be effectively fixed. Clearly policy transparency is greater in this situation, and economists' ability to distinguish policy impacts is much gr eater. The message is, of course, clear. The process of reform must be continued as quickly as possible both to yield real economic benefits to the world economy, and to save economists the embarrassment -- evident in this session -- of finding it difficult to evaluate the consequences of reforms even five years after the event. Will Martin is acting research manager, trade, The World Bank, Washington, D.C. Francois, J., and W. Martin. "Multilateral Trade Rules and the Expected Cost of Protection." Discussion paper 1214. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 1995. Hathaway, D., and M. Ingco. "Agricultural liberalization and the Uruguay Round." The Uruguay Round and the Developing Countries. W. Martin and L. A. Winters, eds. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Martin, W., and J. Francois. "Bindings and Rules as Trade Liberalization." Quiet Pioneering: Robert M. Stern and His International Economic Legacy. K. Maskus, P. Hooper, E. Leamer, and J. D. Richardson, eds. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press, 1997.

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The adding of sugar to the must to achieve the right alcohol level. The process of adding sugar to fermenting grapes in order to increase alcohol. The process of adding sugar to the fermenting wine to raise the final alcohol level. Because the sugar is converted to alcohol, it does not add sweetness to the finished wine, but the process is forbidden in some regions. Procedure of adding sugar to the grape juice before fermentation to increase the alcohol content of wines. Prohibited by law in California and Italy. The addition of sugar during fermentation to increase a wine's alcoholic strength. Addition of sugar during fermentation to increase the alcohol level. A French invention. The process of adding sugar to the must to increase potential alcohol and thus, the body of a wine. Chaptalization is not allowed in Prädikat wines, but can often be used to good effect in an estate's basic wine (QbA). addition of sugar to the must before fermentation to increase the alcohol level Adding sugar to fermenting grape juice in order to pump up the alcohol level of the resulting wine. This is sometimes done in cool climates or poor years where grapes don't ripen quite enough to develop high amounts of sugar. Different places have different laws regarding this kind of thing. The addition of sugar to wine. An illegal practice in Australia. common cool climate winemaking procedure which compensates for underripe grapes by adding sugar to the fermentation vat in order to produce a more alcoholic wine. Named after French statesman Jean Antoine Chaptal and usually strictly controlled. adding sugar to unfermented grape juice to increase the final alcohol level. A common enough practice in much of the world, but one that is often not openly discussed. The adding of sugar during fermentation, particularly common in Northern Europe where grapes may struggle to ripen fully, it isn't done to make the wine sweet but to raise the alcoholic strength as all the sugar turns to alcohol. Whilst both legal and widespread in France it is forbidden in California. The addition of sugar to juice before and/or during fermentation, used to boost sugar levels in under-ripe grapes and alcohol levels in the subsequent wines. Common in northern European countries, where the cold climates may keep grapes from ripening, but forbidden in southern Europe (including southern France and all of Italy) and California. The addition of sugars to the wine before fermentation. The purpose is to raise the alcohol level of a wine when the grapes are not ripened adequately. It is illegal in certain wine regions. Named after its "inventor" Jean-Antoine Chaptal who suggested adding sugar to under-ripe juice before FERMENTATION so that more ALCOHOL could be produced. The process of adding sugar to grape juice deficient in it, to make sure the resulting wine has sufficient alcohol. Illegal in California. A winemaking process where sugar is added to the must to increase the alcohol content in the fermented wine. This is often done when grapes have not ripened adequately. is the addition of "foreign" sugars (beet or cane) to a must in order to raise the final alcoholic content of the wine. The process of adding sugar to the fermenting wine to raise the final alcohol level. Often used in France to raise low alcohol levels by 1 to 2 percent. Because the sugar is converted to alcohol, it does not add sweetness to the finished wine. (shap-it-al-iz'-ae-shun) The practice of adding sugar to the juice prior to fermentation to increase the potential alcohol and quality of the wine. Illegal in many regions, and tightly controlled in others. In some cooler wine regions it would not be possible to make wine in some years with out chapitalizing. The addition of sugar to the must before or during fermentation in order to raise the level of alcohol in a wine. To add sugar during the fermentation process when the grapes have not ripened adequately, for the purpose of raising the alcohol level of the wine. It is not done to make the wine sweet, as the sugar is fermented into alcohol. Chaptalization is common in northern Europe, where grapes have to struggle to fully ripen. It is legal in some regions (Burgundy) and not allowed in others (California). Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented wine must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation.

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Monet’s series paintings of the 1890s—multiple variations of a single motif conceived, executed, and exhibited as a group—are among his most inventive and remarkable works. In the winter of 1892 the artist spent several months studying and painting the façade of Rouen Cathedral in his native Normandy. From rooms facing the cathedral across a square, Monet concentrated on the analysis of light and its effects on the forms of the façade, changing from one canvas to another as the day progressed. Later he extensively reworked the thirty paintings of the cathedral series in his studio at Giverny. Their encrusted surfaces of dry, thickly layered paint evoke the rough texture of weathered stone, absorbing and reflecting light like the walls of the cathedral itself. Rouen Cathedral Façade and Tour d'Albane (Morning Effect) - Claude Monet, French, 1840–1926 - 106.1 x 73.9 cm (41 3/4 x 29 1/8 in.) - Medium or Technique - Oil on canvas - Accession Number - Not on view

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Oil & Natural Gas Projects Transmission, Distribution, & Refining Multispectral and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Techniques for Natural Gas Transmission Infrastructure Systems The goal is to help maintain the nation's natural gas transmission infrastructure through the timely and effective detection of natural gas leaks through evaluation of geobotanical stress signatures. The remote sensing techniques being developed employ advanced spectrometer systems that produce visible and near infrared reflected light images with spatial resolution of 1 to 3 meters in 128 wavelength bands. This allows for the discrimination of individual species of plants as well as geological and man-made objects, and permits the detection of biological impacts of methane leaks or seepages in large complicated areas. The techniques employed do not require before-and-after imagery because they use the spatial patterns of plant species and health variations present in a single image to distinguish leaks. Also, these techniques should allow discrimination between the effects of small leaks and the damage caused by human incursion or natural factors such as storm run off, landslides and earthquakes. Because plants in an area can accumulate doses of leaked materials, species spatial patterns can record time-integrated effects of leaked methane. This can be important in finding leaks that would otherwise be hard to detect by direct observation of methane concentrations in the air. This project is developing remote sensing methods of detecting, discriminating, and mapping the effects of natural gas leaks from underground pipelines. The current focus is on the effects that the increased methane soil concentrations, created by the leaks, will have on plants. These effects will be associated with extreme soil CH4 concentrations, plant sickness, and even death. Similar circumstances have been observed and studied in the effects of excessive CO2soil concentrations at Mammoth Mountain near Mammoth Lakes California, USA. At the Mammoth Mountain site, the large CO2 soil concentrations are due to the volcanic rumblings of the magma still active below Mammoth Mountain. At more subtle levels this research has been able to map, using hyperspectral air borne imagery, the tree plant stress over all of the Mammoth Mountain. These plant stress maps match, and greatly extend into surrounding regions, the on-ground CO2 emission mapping done by the USGS in Menlo Park, California. In addition, vegetation health mapping along with altered mineralization mapping at Mammoth Mountain does reveal subtle hidden faults. These hidden faults are pathways for potential CO2 leaks, at least near the surface, over the entire region. The methods being developed use airborne hyperspectral and multi-spectral high-resolution imagery and very high resolution (0.6 meter) satellite imagery. The team has identified and worked with commercial providers of both airborne hyperspectral imagery acquisitions and high resolution satellite imagery acquisitions. Both offer competent image data post processing, so that eventually, the ongoing surveillance of pipeline corridors can be contracted for commercially. Current work under this project is focused on detecting and quantifying natural gas pipeline leaks using hyperspectral imagery from airborne or satellite based platforms through evaluation of plant stress. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) – project management and research products NASA – Ames – Development of UAV platform used to carry hyperspectral payload HyVista Corporation– Development and operation of the HyMap hyperspectral sensor Livermore, CA 94511 The use of geobotanical plant stress signatures from hyperspectral imagery potential offers a unique means of detecting and quantifying the existence of natural gas leaks from the U.S. pipeline infrastructure. The method holds the potential to cover large expanses of pipeline with minimal man effort thus reducing the potential likelihood that a leak would go undetected. By increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of leak detection, the amount of gas leaked from a site can be reduced resulting in decreased environmental impact from fugitive emissions of gas, increased safety and reliability of gas delivery and increase in overall available gas; as less product is lost from the lines. The method chosen for testing these techniques was to image the area surrounding known gas pipeline leaks. After receiving notice and location information for a newly discovered leak from research collaborator Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), researchers determined the area above the buried pipeline to be scanned, including some surrounding areas thought to be outside the influence of any methane that might percolate to within root depth of the surface. Flight lines were designed for the airborne acquisition program and researchers used a geographic positioning system (GPS) and digital cameras to visually record the soils, plants, minerals, waters, and manmade objects in the area while the airborne imagery was acquired. After the airborne imagery set for all flight lines was received (including raw data, data corrected to reflectance including atmospheric absorptions, and georectification control files), the data was analyzed using commercial computer software (ENVI) by a team of researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and one of the acquisition contractors. - Created an advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) that will be able provide dynamic integration of airborne imagery, satellite imagery, and other GIS information to monitor pipelines for geobotanical leak signatures. - Used the software to integrate hyperspectral imagery, high resolution satellite imagery, and digital elevation models of the area around a known gas leak to determine if evidence of the leak could be resolved. - Helped develop hyperspectral imagery payload for use on an unmanned aerial vehicle developed by NASA-Ames. - Participated in DOE-NETL sponsored natural gas pipeline leak detection demonstration in Casper, Wyoming on September 13-17, 2004. Using both the UAV hyperspectral payload (~1000 ft), and Hyvista hyperspectral platform (~5000 ft) to survey for plant stress. Researchers used several different routines available within the ENVI program suite to produce “maps” of plant species types, plant health within species types, soil types, soil conditions, water bodies, water contents such as algae or sediments, mineralogy of exposed formations, and manmade objects. These maps were then studied for relative plant health patterns, altered mineral distributions, and other categories. The researchers then returned to the field to verify and further understand the mappings, fine-tune the results, and produce more accurate maps. Since the maps are georectified and the pixel size is 3 meters, individual objects can all be located using the maps and a handheld GPS. These detailed maps show areas of existing anomalous conditions such as plant kills and linear species modifications caused by subtle hidden faults, modifications of the terrain due to pipeline work or encroachment. They are also the “baseline” that can be used to chart any future changes by re-imaging the area routinely to monitor and document any effects caused by significant methane leakage. The sensors used for image acquisition are hyperspectral scanners, one of which provides 126 bands across the reflective solar wavelength region of 0.45 – 2.5 nm with contiguous spectral coverage (except in the atmospheric water vapor bands) and bandwidths between 15 – 20 nm. This sensor operates on a 3-axis gyro-stabilized platform to minimize image distortion due to aircraft motion and provides a signal to noise ratio >500:1. Geo-location and image geo-coding is achieved with an-on board Differential GPS (DGPS) and an integrated IMU (inertial monitoring unit). During a DOE – NETL sponsored natural gas leak detection demonstration at the National Petroleum Reserve 3 (NPR3) site of the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) outside of Casper, Wyoming, the project utilized hyperspectral imaging of vegetation to sense plant stress related to the presence of natural gas on a simulated pipeline using actual natural gas releases. The spectral signature of sunlight reflected from vegetation was used to determine vegetation health. Two different platforms were used for imaging the virtual pipeline path: a Twin Otter aircraft flying at an altitude of about 5,000 feet above ground level that imaged the entire site in strips, and an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) flying at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet above ground level that imaged an area surrounding the virtual pipeline. The manned hyperspectral imaging took place on two days. Wednesday, September 9 and Wednesday, September 15. The underground leaks were started on August 30. This was done to allow time for the methane from the leaks to saturate the soils and produce plant stress by excluding oxygen from the plant root systems. On both days, the entire NPR3-RMOTC site was successfully imaged. At that time of year, the vegetation at NPR3-RMOTC was largely in hibernation. The exception was in the gullies where there was some moisture. Therefore, the survey looked for unusually stressed plant “patches” in the gullies as possible leak points. Several spots were found in the hyperspectral imagery that had the spectral signature typical of sick vegetation that were several pixels in diameter in locations in the gullies or ravines along the virtual pipeline route. Due to the limited vegetation along the test route the successful detection of natural gas leaks through imaging of plant stress was limited in success. The technique did demonstrate an ability to show plant stress in areas near leak sites but was less successful in determining general leak severity based on those results. In areas with much denser vegetation coverage and less dormant plant life the method still shows promise. | Airborne hyperspectral imagery unit - close-up || Airborne hyperspectral imagery unit - on plane Overall results from the DOE-NETL sponsored natural gas leak detection demonstration can be found in the demonstration final report [PDF-7370KB] . Current Status and Remaining Tasks: All work under this project has been completed. Project Start: August 13, 2001 Project End: December 31, 2005 DOE Contribution: $966,900 Performer Contribution: $0 NETL – Richard Baker (email@example.com or 304-285-4714) LLNL – Dr. William L. Pickles (firstname.lastname@example.org or 925-422-7812) DOE Leak Detection Technology Demonstration Final Report [PDF-7370KB] DOE Fossil Energy Techline: National Labs to Strengthen Natural Gas Pipelines' Integrity, Reliability Status Assessment [PDF-26KB]

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AEM target detection in geological noise Andy Green and Don Hunter ASEG Extended Abstracts 2004(1) 1 - 4 Target selection and ranking is a critical aspect of mineral exploration that is complicated when the host geology either masks or mimics the responses from targets of interest. The approach described here uses statistical signal processing techniques, specifically matched filtering, to help recognise targets in the presence of such confusing effects. The essence of this approach is to assume that the data are composed of noise, generated by the background geology, and signals generated by targets of exploration interest. It is this recognition of the geology as a noise source, which allows traditional signal processing strategies to be applied to the problem. The critical step, absolutely necessary to success, involves pre-whitening the data so that those characteristics of the target that are as different as possible from this ``geological noise' are emphasised. Matched filtering is a well-established technique in fields other than mineral exploration. Work here has shown that, in many instances, it can also be applied successfully to AEM data. It provides a useful way of highlighting targets for further investigation by simplifying the interpretation process and filtering out many complex anomalies that are not feasible targets. This paper presents some of the necessary theory and the results of a number of case studies where the technique has been applied. Full text doi:10.1071/ASEG2004ab055 © ASEG 2004

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Flora & Fauna Cyprus Cyprus is a fascinating place for nature lovers With approximately 1,800 species of flowering plants, Cyprus is a fascinating place for nature lovers. Being an island it is sufficiently isolated to allow the evolution of a strong endemic flowering element. At the same time, being surrounded by big continents, it incorporates botanical elements of the neighbouring land masses. About 8% of the indigenous plants of the island, 125 different species and sub-species are endemic. The island's great variety of habitats, attributed to a varied microclimate, and geology, is the main reason contributing to this high number of endemics. A great book to help you identify the flora of Cyprus is ‘Wild Flowers of Cyprus’ by George Sfikas. The present day fauna of Cyprus includes seven species of land mammals, 26 species of amphibians and reptiles, 357 species of birds, a great variety of insects and mites, while the coastal waters of the island give shelter to 197 fish species and various species of crabs, sponges and echinodermata. The Moufflon can only be found in Cyprus The largest wild animal that still lives on the island is the Cyprus Moufflon (Ovis orientalis ophion), a rare type of wild sheep that can only be found in Cyprus. They can be found at Stavros tis Psokas – either at the nature reserve or if you’re really lucky - by the river. Snakes are comatose in the heat of high summer and spend the winter in hibernation. Without exception, they are frightened of human beings and only attack to defend themselves. Most snakes on the island are non-venomous. A villa holiday is an ideal way to enjoy seeing the flora and fauna in Cyprus. Spend your days in the countryside, then enjoy a barbecue in the garden in the evening.

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22. "Astropollution Hits Home" Although it no longer makes headlines nor the six o'clock news, about twice a month somebody launches something into space. NASA's current agenda alone calls for domestic communications satellites, weather satellites, new military communications and surveillance satellites, a satellite to test the magnetosphere, one to study propulsion principles, experimental TV broadcast satellites, ocean surface monitoring satellites, one to measure the shape of the earth, some to study atmospheric radiation, and at least one satellite to study satellites. And this is only for So what's the problem? The problem, very simply, is that, as Newton found, what goes up must come down. That issue has never been publicly raised until 1978 with the Skylab discussion. The objects that we, and others, continue to shoot into space are slowly sinking to earth, as the NASA officials have known. The smaller ones do disintegrate as they fall through the earth's atmosphere, but the larger ones do not: As of 1978, there were over 4,600 objects up there. There also is concern over the crowding of communications satellites in desirable orbits. Not only is there physical danger and optical obstructions as these pieces of junk get in each other's way, but transmitters already are up there that jam the radio frequencies of other satellites. The space pollution problem is further aggravated by U.S. and Soviet Union military aspirations. The first acknowledged rift came in 1976 when a Soviet fragmentation bomb rendered a U.S. satellite's communications system inoperative. In 1977, the Soviets managed to make shards of four U.S. communications satellites. America's allegedly peaceful project, the Space Shuttle, is designed to play a key part in space militarization. It is scheduled to launch most of the Pentagon's satellite systems in the decade following its The failure of the mass media to inform the public of the dangers of space "fall-out" and the militarization of space qualifies this story for nomination as one of the "best censored" stories of 1978. Chicken Little might have been right but the media aren't telling us about it. Co-Evolutionary Quarterly, Summer 1978, p. 35, "Astropollution," by David Thompson. Progressive, November 1978, p. 16, "The Junk in Outer Space," by Michael Harris.

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, , at sacred-texts.com Now the word of the Lord - , literally, "And, ..." This is the way in which the several inspired writers of the Old Testament mark that what it was given them to write was united onto those sacred books which God had given to others to write, and it formed with them one continuous whole. The word, "And," implies this. It would do so in any language, and it does so in Hebrew as much as in any other. As neither we, nor any other people, would, without any meaning, use the word, And, so neither did the Hebrews. It joins the four first books of Moses together; it carries on the history through Joshua, Judges, the Books of Samuel and of the Kings. After the captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah begin again where the histories before left off; the break of the captivity is bridged over; and Ezra, going back in mind to the history of God's people before the captivity, resumes the history, as if it had been of yesterday, "And in the first year of Cyrus." It joins in the story of the Book of Ruth before the captivity, and that of Esther afterward. At times, even prophets employ it, in using the narrative form of themselves, as Ezekiel, "and it was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, and I was in the captivity by the river of Chebar, the heavens opened and I saw." If a prophet or historian wishes to detach his prophecy or his history, he does so; as Ezra probably began the Book of Chronicles anew from Adam, or as Daniel makes his prophecy a whole by itself. But then it is the more obvious that a Hebrew prophet or historian, when he does begin with the word, "And," has an object in so beginning; he uses an universal word of all languages in its uniform meaning in all language, to join things together. And yet more precisely; this form, "and the word of the Lord came to - saying," occurs over and over again, stringing together the pearls of great price of God's revelations, and uniting this new revelation to all those which had preceded it. The word, "And," then joins on histories with histories, revelations with revelations, uniting in one the histories of God's works and words, and blending the books of Holy Scripture into one divine book. But the form of words must have suggested to the Jews another thought, which is part of our thankfulness and of our being Act 11:18, "then to the Gentiles also hath God given repentance unto life." The words are the self-same familiar words with which some fresh revelation of God's will to His people had so often been announced. Now they are prefixed to God's message to the pagan, and so as to join on that message to all the other messages to Israel. Would then God deal thenceforth with the pagan as with the Jews? Would they have their prophets? Would they be included in the one family of God? The mission of Jonah in itself was an earnest that they would, for God. Who does nothing fitfully or capriciously, in that He had begun, gave an earnest that He would carry on what He had begun. And so thereafter, the great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, were prophets to the nations also; Daniel was a prophet among them, to them as well as to their captives. But the mission of Jonah might, so far, have been something exceptional. The enrolling his book, as an integral part of the Scriptures, joining on that prophecy to the other prophecies to Israel, was an earnest that they were to be parts of one system. But then it would be significant also, that the records of God's prophecies to the Jews, all embodied the accounts of their impenitence. Here is inserted among them an account of God's revelation to the pagan, and their repentance. "So many prophets had been sent, so many miracles performed, so often had captivity been foreannounced to them for the multitude of their sins. and they never repented. Not for the reign of one king did they cease from the worship of the calves; not one of the kings of the ten tribes departed from the sins of Jeroboam? Elijah, sent in the Word and Spirit of the Lord, had done many miracles, yet obtained no abandonment of the calves. His miracles effected this only, that the people knew that Baal was no god, and cried out, "the Lord He is the God." Elisha his disciple followed him, who asked for a double portion of the Spirit of Elijah, that he might work more miracles, to bring back the people. He died, and, after his death as before it, the worship of the calves continued in Israel. The Lord marveled and was weary of Israel, knowing that if He sent to the pagan they would bear, as he saith to Ezekiel. To make trial of this, Jonah was chosen, of whom it is recorded in the Book of Kings that he prophesied the restoration of the border of Israel. When then he begins by saying, "And the word of the Lord came to Jonah," prefixing the word "And," he refers us back to those former things, in this meaning. The children have not hearkened to what the Lord commanded, sending to them by His servants the prophets, but have hardened their necks and given themselves up to do evil before the Lord and provoke Him to anger; "and" therefore "the word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying, Arise and go to Nineveh that great city, and preach unto her," that so Israel may be shewn, in comparison with the pagan, to be the more guilty, when the Ninevites should repent, the children of Israel persevered in unrepentance." Jonah the son of Amittai - Both names occur here only in the Old Testament, Jonah signifies "Dove," Amittai, "the truth of God." Some of the names of the Hebrew prophets so suit in with their times, that they must either have been given them propheticly, or assumed by themselves, as a sort of watchword, analogous to the prophetic names, given to the sons of Hosea and Isaiah. Such were the names of Elijah and Elisha, "The Lord is my God," "my God is salvation." Such too seems to be that of Jonah. The "dove" is everywhere the symbol of "mourning love." The side of his character which Jonah records is that of his defect, his want of trust in God, and so his unloving zeal against those, who were to be the instruments of God against his people. His name perhaps preserves that character by which he willed to be known among his people, one who moaned or mourned over them. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city - The Assyrian history, as far as it has yet been discovered, is very bare of events in regard to this period. We have as yet the names of three kings only for 150 years. But Assyria, as far as we know its history, was in its meridian. Just before the time of Jonah, perhaps ending in it, were the victorious reigns of Shalmanubar and Shamasiva; after him was that of Ivalush or Pul, the first aggressor upon Israel. It is clear that this was a time Of Assyrian greatness: since God calls it "that great city," not in relation to its extent only, but its power. A large weak city would not have been called a "great city unto God" Jon 3:3. And cry against it - The substance of that cry is recorded afterward, but God told to Jonah now, what message he was to cry aloud to it. For Jonah relates afterward, how he expostulated now with God, and that his expostulation was founded on this, that God was so merciful that He would not fulfill the judgment which He threatened. Faith was strong in Jonah, while, like Apostles "the sons of thunder," before the Day of Pentecost, he knew not" what spirit he was of." Zeal for the people and, as he doubtless thought, for the glory of God, narrowed love in him. He did not, like Moses, pray Exo 32:32, "or else blot me also out of Thy book," or like Paul, desire even to be "an anathema from Christ" Rom 9:3 for his people's sake, so that there might be more to love his Lord. His zeal was directed, like that of the rebuked Apostles, against others, and so it too was rebuked. But his faith was strong. He shrank back from the office, as believing, not as doubting, the might of God. He thought nothing of preaching, amid that multitude of wild warriors, the stern message of God. He was willing, alone, to confront the violence of a city of 600,000, whose characteristic was violence. He was ready, at God's bidding, to enter what Nahum speaks of as a den of lions Nah 2:11-12; "The dwelling of the lions and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses." He feared not the fierceness of their lion-nature, but God's tenderness, and lest that tenderness should be the destruction of his own people. Their wickedness is come up before Me - So God said to Cain, Gen 4:10. "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground:" and of Sodom Gen 18:20 :21, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, because their sin is very grievous; the cry of it is come up unto Me." The "wickedness" is not the mere mass of human sin, of which it is said Jo1 5:19, "the whole world lieth in wickedness," but evil-doing toward others. This was the cause of the final sentence on Nineveh, with which Nahum closes his prophecy, "upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?" It bad been assigned as the ground of the judgment on Israel through Nineveh Hos 10:14-15. "So shall Bethel do unto you, on account of the wickedness of your wickedness." It was the ground of the destruction by the flood Gen 6:5. "God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth." God represents Himself, the Great Judge, as sitting on His Throne in heaven, Unseen but All-seeing, to whom the wickedness and oppressiveness of man against man "goes up," appealing for His sentence against the oppressor. The cause seems ofttimes long in pleading. God is long-suffering with the oppressor too, that if so be, he may repent. So would a greater good come to the oppressed also, if the wolf became a lamb. But meanwhile, " every iniquity has its own voice at the hidden judgment seat of God." Mercy itself calls for vengeance on the unmerciful. But (And) Jonah rose up to flee ... from the presence of the Lord - literally "from being before the Lord." Jonah knew well, that man could not escape from the presence of God, whom he knew as the Self-existing One, He who alone is, the Maker of heaven, earth and sea. He did not "flee" then "from His presence," knowing well what David said Psa 139:7, Psa 139:9-10, "whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me." Jonah fled, not from God's presence, but from standing before him, as His servant and minister. He refused God's service, because, as he himself tells God afterward Jon 4:2, he knew what it would end in, and he misliked it. So he acted, as people often do, who dislike God's commands. He set about removing himself as far as possible from being under the influence of God, and from the place where he "could" fulfill them. God commanded him to go to Nineveh, which lay northeast from his home; and he instantly set himself to flee to the then furthermost west. Holy Scripture sets the rebellion before us in its full nakedness. "The word of the Lord came unto Jonah, go to Nineveh, and Jonah rose up;" he did something instantly, as the consequence of God's command. He "rose up," not as other prophets, to obey, but to disobey; and that, not slowly nor irresolutely, but "to flee, from" standing "before the Lord." He renounced his office. So when our Lord came in the flesh, those who found what He said to be "hard sayings," went away from Him, "and walked no more with Him" Joh 6:66. So the rich "young man went away sorrowful Mat 19:22, for he had great possessions." They were perhaps afraid of trusting themselves in His presence; or they were ashamed of staying there, and not doing what He said. So men, when God secretly calls them to prayer, go and immerse themselves in business; when, in solitude, He says to their souls something which they do not like, they escape His Voice in a throng. If He calls them to make sacrifices for His poor, they order themselves a new dress or some fresh sumptuousness or self-indulgence; if to celibacy, they engage themselves to marry immediately; or, contrariwise, if He calls them not to do a thing, they do it at once, to make an end of their struggle and their obedience; to put obedience out of their power; to enter themselves on a course of disobedience. Jonah, then, in this part of his history, is the image of those who, when God calls them, disobey His call, and how He deals with them, when he does not abandon them. He lets them have their way for a time, encompasses them with difficulties, so that they shall "flee back from God displeased to God appeased." "The whole wisdom, the whole bliss, the whole of man lies in this, to learn what God wills him to do, in what state of life, calling, duties, profession, employment, He wills him to serve Him." God sent each one of us into the world, to fulfill his own definite duties, and, through His grace, to attain to our own perfection in and through fulfilling them. He did not create us at random, to pass through the world, doing whatever self-will or our own pleasure leads us to, but to fulfill His will. This will of His, if we obey His earlier calls, and seek Him by prayer, in obedience, self-subdual, humility, thoughtfulness, He makes known to each by His own secret drawings, and, in absence of these, at times by His Providence or human means. And then , "to follow Him is a token of predestination." It is to place ourselves in that order of things, that pathway to our eternal mansion, for which God created us, and which God created for us. So Jesus says Joh 10:27-28, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Hand." In these ways, God has foreordained for us all the graces which we need; in these, we shall be free from all temptations which might be too hard for us, in which our own special weakness would be most exposed. Those ways, which people choose out of mere natural taste or fancy, are mostly those which expose them to the greatest peril of sin and damnation. For they choose them, just because such pursuits flatter most their own inclinations, and give scope to their natural strength and their moral weakness. So Jonah, disliking a duty, which God gave him to fulfill, separated himself from His service, forfeited his past calling, lost, as far as in him lay, his place among "the goodly fellowship of the prophets," and, but for God's overtaking grace, would have ended his days among the disobedient. As in Holy Scripture, David stands alone of saints, who had been after their calling, bloodstained; as the penitent robber stands alone converted in death; as Peter stands singly, recalled after denying his Lord; so Jonah stands, the one prophet, who, having obeyed and then rebelled, was constrained by the overpowering providence and love of God, to return and serve Him. "Being a prophet, Jonah could not be ignorant of the mind of God, that, according to His great Wisdom and His unsearchable judgments and His untraceable and incomprehensible ways, He, through the threat, was providing for the Ninevites that they should not suffer the things threatened. To think that Jonah hoped to hide himself in the sea and elude by flight the great Eye of God, were altogether absurd and ignorant, which should not be believed, I say not of a prophet, but of no other sensible person who had any moderate knowledge of God and His supreme power. Jonah knew all this better than anyone, that, planning his flight, he changed his place, but did not flee God. For this could no man do, either by hiding himself in the bosom of the earth or depths of the sea or ascending (if possible) with wings into the air, or entering the lowest hell, or encircled with thick clouds, or taking any other counsel to secure his flight. This, above all things and alone, can neither be escaped nor resisted, God. When He willeth to hold and grasp in His Hand, He overtaketh the swift, baffleth the intelligent, overthroweth the strong, boweth the lofty, tameth rashness, subdueth might. He who threatened to others the mighty Hand of God, was not himself ignorant of nor thought to flee, God. Let us not believe this. But since he saw the fall of Israel and perceived that the prophetic grace would pass over to the Gentiles, he withdrew himself from the office of preaching, and put off the command." "The prophet knoweth, the Holy Spirit teaching him, that the repentance of the Gentiles is the ruin of the Jews. A lover then of his country, he does not so much envy the deliverance of Nineveh, as will that his own country should not perish. - Seeing too that his fellow-prophets are sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to excite the people to repentance, and that Balaam the soothsayer too prophesied of the salvation of Israel, he grieveth that he alone is chosen to be sent to the Assyrians, the enemies of Israel, and to that greatest city of the enemies where was idolatry and ignorance of God. Yet more he feared lest they, on occasion of his preaching, being converted to repentance, Israel should be wholly forsaken. For he knew by the same Spirit whereby the preaching to the Gentiles was entrusted to him, that the house of Israel would then perish; and he feared that what was at one time to be, should take place in his own time." "The flight of the prophet may also be referred to that of man in general who, despising the commands of God, departed from Him and gave himself to the world, where subsequently, through the storms of ill and the wreck of the whole world raging against him, he was compelled to feel the presence of God, and to return to Him whom he had fled. Whence we understand, that those things also which men think for their good, when against the will of God, are turned to destruction; and help not only does not benefit those to whom it is given, but those too who give it, are alike crushed. As we read that Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians, because it helped Israel against the will of God. The ship is emperiled which had received the emperiled; a tempest arises in a calm; nothing is secure, when God is against us." Tarshish - , named after one of the sons of Javan, Gen 10:4. was an ancient merchant city of Spain, once proverbial for its wealth (Psa 72:10. Strabo iii. 2. 14), which supplied Judaea with silver Jer 10:9, Tyre with "all manner of riches," with iron also, tin, lead. Eze 27:12, Eze 27:25. It was known to the Greeks and Romans, as (with a harder pronunciation) Tartessus; but in our first century, it had either ceased to be, or was known under some other name. Ships destined for a voyage, at that time, so long, and built for carrying merchandise, were naturally among the largest then constructed. "Ships of Tarshish" corresponded to the "East-Indiamen" which some of us remember. The breaking of "ships of Tarshish by the East Wind" Psa 48:7 is, on account of their size and general safety, instanced as a special token of the interposition of God. And went down to Joppa - Joppa, now Jaffa (Haifa), was the one well-known port of Israel on the Mediterranean. There the cedars were brought from Lebanon for both the first and second temple Ch2 3:16; Ezr 2:7. Simon the Maccabee (1 Macc. 14:5) "took it again for a haven, and made an entrance to the isles of the sea." It was subsequently destroyed by the Romans, as a pirate-haven. (Josephus, B. J. iii. 9. 3, and Strabo xvi. 2. 28.) At a later time, all describe it as an unsafe haven. Perhaps the shore changed, since the rings, to which Andromeda was tabled to have been fastened, and which probably were once used to moor vessels, were high above the sea. Perhaps, like the Channel Islands, the navigation was safe to those who knew the coast, unsafe to others. To this port Jonah "went down" from his native country, the mountain district of Zabulon. Perhaps it was not at this time in the hands of Israel. At least, the sailors were pagan. He "went down," as the man who fell among the thieves, is said to "have gone down from Jerusalem to Jericho." Luk 10:30. He "went down" from the place which God honored by His presence and protection. And he paid the fare thereof - Jonah describes circumstantially, how he took every step to his end. He went down, found a strongly built ship going where he wished, paid his fare, embarked. He seemed now to have done all. He had severed himself from the country where his office lay. He had no further step to take. Winds and waves would do the rest. He had but to be still. He went, only to be brought back again. "Sin brings our soul into much senselessness. For as those overtaken by heaviness of head and drunkenness, are borne on simply and at random, and, be there pit or precipice or whatever else below them, they fall into it unawares; so too, they who fall into sin, intoxicated by their desire of the object, know not what they do, see nothing before them, present or future. Tell me, Fleest thou the Lord? Wait then a little, and thou shalt learn from the event, that thou canst not escape the hands of His servant, the sea. For as soon as he embarked, it too roused its waves and raised them up on high; and as a faithful servant, finding her fellow-slave stealing some of his master's property, ceases not from giving endless trouble to those who take him in, until she recover him, so too the sea, finding and recognizing her fellow-servant, harasses the sailors unceasingly, raging, roaring, not dragging them to a tribunal but threatening to sink the vessel with all its unless they restore to her, her fellow-servant." "The sinner "arises," because, will he, nill he, toil he must. If he shrinks from the way of God, because it is hard, he may not yet be idle. There is the way of ambition, of covetousness, of pleasure, to be trodden, which certainly are far harder. 'We wearied ourselves (Wisdom 5:7),' say the wicked, 'in the way of wickedness and destruction, yea, we have gone through deserts where there lay no way; but the way of the Lord we have not known.' Jonah would not arise, to go to Nineveh at God's command; yet he must needs arise, to flee to Tarshish from before the presence of God. What good can he have who fleeth the Good? what light, who willingly forsaketh the Light? "He goes down to Joppa." Wherever thou turnest, if thou depart from the will of God, thou goest down. Whatever glory, riches, power, honors, thou gainest, thou risest not a whit; the more thou advancest, while turned from God, the deeper and deeper thou goest down. Yet all these things are not had, without paying the price. At a price and with toil, he obtains what he desires; he receives nothing gratis, but, at great price purchases to himself storms, griefs, peril. There arises a great tempest in the sea, when various contradictory passions arise in the heart of the sinner, which take from him all tranquility and joy. There is a tempest in the sea, when God sends strong and dangerous disease, whereby the frame is in peril of being broken. There is a tempest in the sea, when, thro' rivals or competitors for the same pleasures, or the injured, or the civil magistrate, his guilt is discovered, he is laden with infamy and odium, punished, withheld from his wonted pleasures. Psa 107:23-27. "They who go down to the sea of this world, and do business in mighty waters - their soul melteth away because of trouble; they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up." But (And) the Lord sent out - (literally 'cast along'). Jonah had done his all. Now God's part began. This He expresses by the word, "And." Jonah took "his" measures, "and" now God takes "His." He had let him have his way, as He often deals with those who rebel against Him. He lets them have their way up to a certain point. He waits, in the tranquility of His Almightiness, until they have completed their preparations; and then, when man has ended, He begins, that man may see the more that it is His doing . "He takes those who flee from Him in their flight, the wise in their counsels, sinners in their conceits and sins, and draws them back to Himself and compels them to return. Jonah thought to find rest in the sea, and lo! a tempest." Probably, God summoned back Jonah, as soon as he had completed all on his part, and sent the tempest, soon after he left the shore. At least, such tempests often swept along that shore, and were known by their own special name, like the Euroclydon off Crete. Jonah too alone had gone down below deck to sleep, and, when the storm came, the mariners thought it possible to put back. Josephus says of that shore, "Joppa having by nature no haven, for it ends in a rough shore, mostly abrupt, but for a short space having projections, i. e., deep rocks and cliffs advancing into the sea, inclining on either side toward each other (where the traces of the chains of Andromeda yet shown accredit the antiquity of the fable,) and the north wind beating right on the shore, and dashing the high waves against the rocks which receive them, makes the station there a harborless sea. As those from Joppa were tossing here, a strong wind (called by those who sail here, the black north wind) falls upon them at daybreak, dashing straightway some of the ships against each other, some against the rocks, and some, forcing their way against the waves to the open sea, (for they fear the rocky shore ...) the breakers towering above them, sank." The ship was like - (literally 'thought') To be broken Perhaps Jonah means by this very vivid image to exhibit the more his own dullness. He ascribes, as it were, to the ship a sense of its own danger, as she heaved and rolled and creaked and quivered under the weight of the storm which lay on her, and her masts groaned, and her yard-arms shivered. To the awakened conscience everything seems to have been alive to God's displeasure, except itself. And cried, every man unto his God - They did what they could. "Not knowing the truth, they yet know of a Providence, and, amid religious error, know that there is an Object of reverence." In ignorance they had received one who offended God. And now God, "whom they ignorantly worshiped" Act 17:23, while they cried to the gods, who, they thought, disposed of them, heard them. They escaped with the loss of their wares, but God saved their lives and revealed Himself to them. God hears ignorant prayer, when ignorance is not willful and sin. To lighten it of them - , literally "to lighten from against them, to lighten" what was so much "against them," what so oppressed them. "They thought that the ship was weighed down by its wonted lading, and they knew not that the whole weight was that of the fugitive prophet." "The sailors cast forth their wares," but the ship was not lightened. For the whole weight still remained, the body of the prophet, that heavy burden, not from the nature of the body, but from the burden of sin. For nothing is so onerous and heavy as sin and disobedience. Whence also Zechariah Zac 5:7 represented it under the image of lead. And David, describing its nature, said Psa 38:4, "my wickednesses are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me." And Christ cried aloud to those who lived in many sins, Mat 11:28. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will refresh you." Jonah was gone down - , probably before the beginning of the storm, not simply before the lightening of the vessel. He could hardly have fallen asleep "then." A pagan ship was a strange place for a prophet of God, not as a prophet, but as a fugitive; and so, probably, ashamed of what he had completed, he had withdrawn from sight and notice. He did not embolden himself in his sin, but shrank into himself. The conscience most commonly awakes, when the sin is done. It stands aghast as itself; but Satan, if he can, cuts off its retreat. Jonah had no retreat now, unless God had made one. And was fast asleep - The journey to Joppa had been long and hurried; he had "fled." Sorrow and remorse completed what fatigue began. Perhaps he had given himself up to sleep, to dull his conscience. For it is said, "he lay down and was fast asleep." Grief produces sleep; from where it is said of the apostles in the night before the Lord's Passion, when Jesus "rose up from prayer and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow" Luk 22:45 . "Jonah slept heavily. Deep was the sleep, but it was not of pleasure but of grief; not of heartlessness, but of heavy-heartedness. For well-disposed servants soon feel their sins, as did he. For when the sin has been done, then he knows its frightfulness. For such is sin. When born, it awakens pangs in the soul which bare it, contrary to the law of our nature. For so soon as we are born, we end the travail-pangs; but sin, so soon as born, rends with pangs the thoughts which conceived it." Jonah was in a deep sleep, a sleep by which he was fast held and bound; a sleep as deep as that from which Sisera never woke. Had God allowed the ship to sink, the memory of Jonah would have been that of the fugitive prophet. As it is, his deep sleep stands as an image of the lethargy of sin . "This most deep sleep of Jonah signifies a man torpid and slumbering in error, to whom it sufficed not to flee from the face of God, but his mind, drowned in a stupor and not knowing the displeasure of God, lies asleep, steeped in security." What meanest thou? - or rather, "what aileth thee?" (literally "what is to thee?") The shipmaster speaks of it (as it was) as a sort of disease, that he should be thus asleep in the common peril. "The shipmaster," charged, as he by office was, with the common weal of those on board, would, in the common peril, have one common prayer. It was the prophet's office to call the pagan to prayers and to calling upon God. God reproved the Scribes and Pharisees by the mouth of the children who "cried Hosanna" Mat 21:15; Jonah by the shipmaster; David by Abigail; Sa1 25:32-34; Naaman by his servants. Now too he reproves worldly priests by the devotion of laymen, sceptic intellect by the simplicity of faith. If so be that God will think upon us - , (literally "for us") i. e., for good; as David says, Psa 40:17. "I am poor and needy, the Lord thinketh upon" (literally "for") "me." Their calling upon their own gods had failed them. Perhaps the shipmaster had seen something special about Jonah, his manner, or his prophet's garb. He does not only call Jonah's God, "thy" God, as Darius says to Daniel "thy God" Dan 6:20, but also "the God," acknowledging the God whom Jonah worshiped, to be "the God." It is not any pagan prayer which he asks Jonah to offer. It is the prayer of the creature in its need to God who can help; but knowing its own ill-desert, and the separation between itself and God, it knows not whether He will help it. So David says Psa 25:7, "Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions; according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord." "The shipmaster knew from experience, that it was no common storm, that the surges were an infliction borne down from God, and above human skill, and that there was no good in the master's skill. For the state of things needed another Master who ordereth the heavens, and craved the guidance from on high. So then they too left oars, sails, cables, gave their hands rest from rowing, and stretched them to heaven and called on God." Come, and let us cast lots - Jonah too had probably prayed, and his prayers too were not heard. Probably, too, the storm had some unusual character about it, the suddenness with which it burst upon them, its violence, the quarter from where it came, its whirlwind force . "They knew the nature of the sea, and, as experienced sailors, were acquainted with the character of wind and storm, and had these waves been such as they had known before, they would never have sought by lot for the author of the threatened wreck, or, by a thing uncertain, sought to escape certain peril." God, who sent the storm to arrest Jonah and to cause him to be cast into the sea, provided that its character should set the mariners on divining, why it came. Even when working great miracles, God brings about, through man, all the forerunning events, all but the last act, in which He puts forth His might. As, in His people, he directed the lot to fall upon Achan or upon Jonathan, so here He overruled the lots of the pagan sailors to accomplish His end. " We must not, on this precedent, immediately trust in lots, or unite with this testimony that from the Acts of the Apostles, when Matthias was by lot elected to the apostolate, since the privileges of individuals cannot form a common law." "Lots," according to the ends for which they were cast, were for: i) The lot for dividing is not wrong if not used, 1) "without any necessity, for this would be to tempt God:" 2) "if in case of necessity, not without reverence of God, as if Holy Scripture were used for an earthly end," as in determining any secular matter by opening the Bible: 3) for objects which ought to be decided otherwise, (as, an office ought to be given to the fittest:) 4) in dependence upon any other than God Pro 16:33. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is the Lord's." So then they are lawful "in secular things which cannot otherwise be conveniently distributed," or when there is no apparent reason why, in any advantage or disadvantage, one should be preferred to another." Augustine even allows that, in a time of plague or persecution, the lot might be cast to decide who should remain to administer the sacraments to the people, lest, on the one side, all should be taken away, or, on the other, the Church be deserted. ii.) The lot for consulting, i. e., to decide what one should do, is wrong, unless in a matter of mere indifference, or under inspiration of God, or in some extreme necessity where all human means fail. iii.) The lot for divining, i. e., to learn truth, whether of things present or future, of which we can have no human knowledge, is wrong, except by direct inspiration of God. For it is either to tempt God who has not promised so to reveal things, or, against God, to seek superhuman knowledge by ways unsanctioned by Him. Satan may readily mix himself unknown in such inquiries, as in mesmerism. Forbidden ground is his own province. God overruled the lot in the case of Jonah, as He did the sign which the Philistines sought . "He made the heifers take the way to Bethshemesh, that the Philistines might know that the plague came to them, not by chance, but from Hilmself" . "The fugitive (Jonah) was taken by lot, not by any virtue of the lots, especially the lots of pagan, but by the will of Him who guided the uncertain lots" "The lot betrayed the culprit. Yet not even thus did they cast him over; but, even while such a tumult and storm lay on them, they held, as it were, a court in the vessel, as though in entire peace, and allowed him a hearing and defense, and sifted everything accurately, as men who were to give account of their judgment. Hear them sifting all as in a court - The roaring sea accused him; the lot convicted and witnessed against him, yet not even thus did they pronounce against him - until the accused should be the accuser of his own sin. The sailors, uneducated, untaught, imitated the good order of courts. When the sea scarcely allowed them to breathe, whence such forethought about the prophet? By the disposal of God. For God by all this instructed the prophet to be humane and mild, all but saying aloud to him; 'Imitate these uninstructed sailors. They think not lightly of one soul, nor are unsparing as to one body, thine own. But thou, for thy part, gavest up a whole city with so many myriads. They, discovering thee to be the cause of the evils which befell them, did not even thus hurry to condemn thee. Thou, having nothing whereof to accuse the Ninevites, didst sink and destroy them. Thou, when I bade thee go and by thy preaching call them to repentance, obeyedst not; these, untaught, do all, compass all, in order to recover thee, already condemned, from punishment.'" Tell us, for whose cause - Literally "for what to whom." It may be that they thought that Jonah had been guilty toward some other. The lot had pointed him out. The mariners, still fearing to do wrong, ask him thronged questions, to know why the anger of God followed him; "what" hast thou done "to whom?" "what thine occupation?" i. e., either his ordinary occupation, whether it was displeasing to God? or this particular business in which he was engaged, and for which he had come on board. Questions so thronged have been admired in human poetry, Jerome says. For it is true to nature. They think that some one of them will draw forth the answer which they wish. It may be that they thought that his country, or people, or parents, were under the displeasure of God. But perhaps, more naturally, they wished to "know all about him," as people say. These questions must have gone home to Jonah's conscience. "What is thy business?" The office of prophet which he had left. "Whence comest thou?" From standing before God, as His minister. "What thy country? of what people art thou?" The people of God, whom he had quitted for pagan; not to win them to God, as He commanded; but, not knowing what they did, to abet him in his flight. What is thine occupation? - They should ask themselves, who have Jonah's office to speak in the name of God, and preach repentance . "What should be thy business, who hast consecrated thyself wholly to God, whom God has loaded with daily benefits? who approachest to Him as to a Friend? "What is thy business?" To live for God, to despise the things of earth, to behold the things of heaven," to lead others heavenward. Jonah answers simply the central point to which all these questions tended: I am an Hebrew - This was the name by which Israel was known to foreigners. It is used in the Old Testament, only when they are spoken of by foreigners, or speak of themselves to foreigners, or when the sacred writers mention them in contrast with foreigners . So Joseph spoke of his land Gen 40:15, and the Hebrew midwives Exo 1:19, and Moses' sister Exo 2:7, and God in His commission to Moses Exo 3:18; Exo 7:16; Exo 9:1 as to Pharaoh, and Moses in fulfilling it Exo 5:3. They had the name, as having passed the River Euphrates, "emigrants." The title might serve to remind themselves, that they were "strangers" and "pilgrims," Heb 11:13. whose fathers had left their home at God's command and for God , "passers by, through this world to death, and through death to immortality." And I fear the Lord - , i. e., I am a worshiper of Him, most commonly, one who habitually stands in awe of Him, and so one who stands in awe of sin too. For none really fear God, none fear Him as sons, who do not fear Him in act. To be afraid of God is not to fear Him. To be afraid of God keeps men away from God; to fear God draws them to Him. Here, however, Jonah probably meant to tell them, that the Object of his fear and worship was the One Self-existing God, He who alone is, who made all things, in whose hands are all things. He had told them before, that he had fled "from being before Yahweh." They had not thought anything of this, for they thought of Yahweh, only as the God of the Jews. Now he adds, that He, Whose service he had thus forsaken, was "the God of heaven, Who made the sea and dry land," that sea, whose raging terrified them and threatened their lives. The title, "the God of heaven," asserts the doctrine of the creation of the heavens by God, and His supremacy. Hence, Abraham uses it to his servant Gen 24:7, and Jonah to the pagan mariners, and Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar Dan 2:37, Dan 2:44; and Cyrus in acknowledging God in his proclamation Ch2 36:23; Ezr 1:2. After his example, it is used in the decrees of Darius Ezr 6:9-10 and Artaxerxes Ezr 7:12, Ezr 7:21, Ezr 7:23, and the returned exiles use it in giving account of their building the temple to the Governor Ezr 5:11-12. Perhaps, from the habit of contact with the pagan, it is used once by Daniel Dan 2:18 and by Nehemiah Neh 1:4-5; Neh 2:4, Neh 2:20. Melchizedek, not perhaps being acquainted with the special name, Yahweh, blessed Abraham in the name of "God, the Possessor" or "Creator of heaven and earth" Gen 14:19, i. e., of all that is. Jonah, by using it, at once taught the sailors that there is One Lord of all, and why this evil had fallen on them, because they had himself with them, the renegade servant of God. "When Jonah said this, he indeed feared God and repented of his sin. If he lost filial fear by fleeing and disobeying, he recovered it by repentance." Then were the men exceedingly afraid - Before, they had feared the tempest and the loss of their lives. Now they feared God. They feared, not the creature but the Creator. They knew that what they had feared was the doing of His Almightiness. They felt how awesome a thing it was to be in His Hands. Such fear is the beginning of conversion, when people turn from dwelling on the distresses which surround them, to God who sent them. Why hast thou done this? - They are words of amazement and wonder. Why hast thou not obeyed so great a God, and how thoughtest thou to escape the hand of the Creator ? "What is the mystery of thy flight? Why did one, who feared God and had revelations from God, flee, sooner than go to fulfill them? Why did the worshiper of the One true God depart from his God?" "A servant flee from his Lord, a son from his father, man from his God!" The inconsistency of believers is the marvel of the young Christian, the repulsion of those without, the hardening of the unbeliever. If people really believed in eternity, how could they be thus immersed in things of time? If they believed in hell, how could they so hurry there? If they believed that God died for them, how could they so requite Him? Faith without love, knowledge without obedience, conscious dependence and rebellion, to be favored by God yet to despise His favor, are the strangest marvels of this mysterious world. All nature seems to cry out to and against the unfaithful Christian, "why hast thou done this?" And what a why it is! A scoffer has recently said so truthfully : "Avowed scepticism cannot do a tenth part of the injury to practical faith, that the constant spectacle of the huge mass of worldly unreal belief does." It is nothing strange, that the world or unsanctified intellect should reject the Gospel. It is a thing of course, unless it be converted. But, to know, to believe, and to DISOBEY! To disobey God, in the name of God. To propose to halve the living Gospel, as the woman who had killed her child Kg1 3:26, and to think that the poor quivering remnants would be the living Gospel anymore! As though the will of God might, like those lower forms of His animal creation, be divided endlessly, and, keep what fragments we will, it would still be a living whole, a vessel of His Spirit! Such unrealities and inconsistencies would be a sore trial of faith, had not Jesus, who (cf. Joh 2:25), "knew what is in man," forewarned us that it should be so. The scandals against the Gospel, so contrary to all human opinion, are only all the more a testimony to the divine knowledge of the Redeemer. What shall we do unto thee? - They knew him to be a prophet; they ask him the mind of his God. The lots had marked out Jonah as the cause of the storm; Jonah had himself admitted it, and that the storm was for "his" cause, and came from "his" God . "Great was he who fled, greater He who required him. They dare not give him up; they cannot conceal him. They blame the fault; they confess their fear; they ask "him" the remedy, who was the author of the sin. If it was faulty to receive thee, what can we do, that God should not be angered? It is thine to direct; ours, to obey." The sea wrought and was tempestuous - , literally "was going and whirling." It was not only increasingly tempestuous, but, like a thing alive and obeying its Master's will, it was holding on its course, its wild waves tossing themselves, and marching on like battalions, marshalled, arrayed for the end for which they were sent, pursuing and demanding the runaway slave of God . "It was going, as it was bidden; it was going to avenge its Lord; it was going, pursuing the fugitive prophet. It was swelling every moment, and, as though the sailors were too tardy, was rising in yet greater surges, shewing that the vengeance of the Creator admitted not of delay." Take me up, and cast me into the sea - Neither might Jonah have said this, nor might the sailors have obeyed it, without the command of God. Jonah might will alone to perish, who had alone offended; but, without the command of God, the Giver of life, neither Jonah nor the sailors might dispose of the life of Jonah. But God willed that Jonah should be cast into the sea - where he had gone for refuge - that (Wisdom 11:16) wherewithal he had "sinned, by the same also he might be punished" as a man; and, as a prophet, that he might, in his three days' burial, prefigure Him who, after His Resurrection, should convert, not Nineveh, but the world, the cry of whose wickedness went up to God. For I know that for my sake - o "In that he says, "I know," he marks that he had a revelation; in that he says, "this great storm," he marks the need which lay on those who cast him into the sea." The men rowed hard - , literally "dug." The word, like our "plowed the main," describes the great efforts which they made. Amid the violence of the storm, they had furled their sails. These were worse than useless. The wind was off shore, since by rowing alpine they hoped to get back to it. They put their oars well and firmly in the sea, and turned up the water, as men turn up earth by digging. But in vain! God willed it not. The sea went on its way, as before. In the description of the deluge, it is repeated Gen 7:17-18, "the waters increased and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth; the waters increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters." The waters raged and swelled, drowned the whole world, yet only bore up the ark, as a steed bears its rider: man was still, the waters obeyed. In this tempest, on the contrary, man strove, but, instead of the peace of the ark, the burden is, the violence of the tempest; "the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them" . "The prophet had pronounced sentence against himself, but they would not lay hands upon him, striving hard to get back to land, and escape the risk of bloodshed, willing to lose life rather than cause its loss. O what a change was there. The people who had served God, said, Crucify Him, Crucify Him! These are bidden to put to death; the sea rageth; the tempest commandeth; and they are careless its to their own safety, while anxious about another's." Wherefore (And) they cried unto the Lord - "They cried" no more "each man to his god," but to the one God, whom Jonah had made known to them; and to Him they cried with an earnest submissive, cry, repeating the words of beseeching, as men, do in great earnestness; "we beseech Thee, O Lord, let us not, we beseech Thee, perish for the life of this man" (i. e., as a penalty for taking it, as it is said, Sa2 14:7. "we will slay him for the life of his brother," and, Deu 19:21. "life for life.") They seem to have known what is said, Gen 9:5-6. "your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made He man" , "Do not these words of the sailors seem to us to be the confession of Pilate, who washed his hands, and said, 'I am clean from the blood of this Man?' The Gentiles would not that Christ should perish; they protest that His Blood is innocent." And lay not upon us innocent blood - innocent as to them, although, as to this thing, guilty before God, and yet, as to God also, more innocent, they would think, than they. For, strange as this was, one disobedience, their whole life, they now knew, was disobedience to God; His life was but one act in a life of obedience. If God so punishes one sin of the holy Pe1 4:18, "where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" Terrible to the awakened conscience are God's chastenings on some (as it seems) single offence of those whom He loves. For Thou, Lord, (Who knowest the hearts of all men,) hast done, as it pleased Thee - Wonderful, concise, confession of faith in these new converts! Psalmists said it, Psa 135:6; Psa 115:3. "Whatsoever God willeth, that doeth He in heaven and in earth, in the sea and in all deep places." But these had but just known God, and they resolve the whole mystery of man's agency and God's Providence into the three simple words , as (Thou) "willedst" (Thou) "didst." "That we took him aboard, that the storm ariseth, that the winds rage, that the billows lift themselves, that the fugitive is betrayed by the lot, that he points out what is to be done, it is of Thy will, O Lord" . "The tempest itself speaketh, that 'Thou, Lord, hast done as Thou willedst.' Thy will is fulfilled by our hands." "Observe the counsel of God, that, of his own will, not by violence or by necessity, should he be cast into the sea. For the casting of Jonah into the sea signified the entrance of Christ into the bitterness of the Passion, which He took upon Himself of His own will, not of necessity. Isa 53:7. "He was offered up, and He willingly submitted Himself." And as those who sailed with Jonah were delivered, so the faithful in the Passion of Christ. Joh 18:8-9. "If ye seek Me, let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which" Jesus spake, 'Of them which Thou gavest Me, I have lost none. '" They took up Jonah - o "He does not say, 'laid hold on him', nor 'came upon him' but 'lifted' him; as it were, bearing him with respect and honor, they cast him into the sea, not resisting, but yielding himself to their will." The sea ceased (literally "stood") from his raging - Ordinarily, the waves still swell, when the wind has ceased. The sea, when it had received Jonah, was hushed at once, to show that God alone raised and quelled it. It "stood" still, like a servant, when it had accomplished its mission. God, who at all times saith to it Job 38:11, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed," now unseen, as afterward in the flesh Mat 8:26, "rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm" . "If we consider the errors of the world before the Passion of Christ, and the conflicting blasts of diverse doctrines, and the vessel, and the whole race of man, i. e., the creature of the Lord, imperiled, and, after His Passion, the tranquility of faith and the peace of the world and the security of all things and the conversion to God, we shall see how, after Jonah was cast in, the sea stood from its raging" . "Jonah, in the sea, a fugitive, shipwrecked, dead, sayeth the tempest-tossed vessel; he sayeth the pagan, aforetime tossed to and fro by the error of the world into divers opinions. And Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, Joel, who prophesied at the same time, could not amend the people in Judaea; whence it appeared that the breakers could not be calmed, save by the death of (Him typified by) the fugitive." And the men feared the Lord with a great fear - because, from the tranquility of the sea and the ceasing of the tempest, they saw that the prophet's words were true. This great miracle completed the conversion of the mariners. God had removed all human cause of fear; and yet, in the same words as before, he says, "they feared a great fear;" but he adds, "the Lord." It was the great fear, with which even the disciples of Jesus feared, when they saw the miracles which He did, which made even Peter say, Luk 5:8. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Events full of wonder had thronged upon them; things beyond nature, and contrary to nature; tidings which betokened His presence, Who had all things in His hands. They had seen "wind and storm fulfilling His word" Psa 148:8, and, forerunners of the fishermen of Galilee, knowing full well from their own experience that this was above nature, they felt a great awe of God. So He commanded His people, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God Deu 6:13, for thy good always" Deu 6:24. And offered a sacrifice - Doubtless, as it was a large decked vessel and bound on a long voyage, they had live creatures on board, which they could offer in sacrifice. But this was not enough for their thankfulness; "they vowed vows." They promised that they would do thereafter what they could not do then ; "that they would never depart from Him whom they had begun to worship." This was true love, not to be content with aught which they could do, but to stretch forward in thought to an abiding and enlarged obedience, as God should enable them. And so they were doubtless enrolled among the people of God, firstfruits from among the pagan, won to God Who overrules all things, through the disobedience and repentance of His prophet. Perhaps, they were the first preachers among the pagan, and their account of their own wonderful deliverance prepared the way for Jonah's mission to Nineveh. Now the Lord had (literally "And the Lord") prepared - Jonah (as appears from his thanksgiving) was not swallowed at once, but sank to the bottom of the sea, God preserving him in life there by miracle, as he did in the fish's belly. Then, when the seaweed was twined around his head, and he seemed to be already buried until the sea should give up her dead, "God prepared the fish to swallow Jonah" . "God could as easily have kept Jonah alive in the sea as in the fish's belly, but, in order to prefigure the burial of the Lord, He willed him to be within the fish whose belly was as a grave." Jonah, does not say what fish it was; and our Lord too used a name, signifying only one of the very largest fish. Yet it was no greater miracle to create a fish which should swallow Jonah, than to preserve him alive when swallowed . "The infant is buried, as it were, in the womb of its mother; it cannot breathe, and yet, thus too, it liveth and is preserved, wonderfully nurtured by the will of God." He who preserves the embryo in its living grave can maintain the life of man as easily without the outward air as with it. The same Divine Will preserves in being the whole creation, or creates it. The same will of God keeps us in life by breathing this outward air, which preserved Jonah without it. How long will men think of God, as if He were man, of the Creator as if He were a creature, as though creation were but one intricate piece of machinery, which is to go on, ringing its regular changes until it shall be worn out, and God were shut up, as a sort of mainspring within it, who might be allowed to be a primal Force, to set it in motion, but must not be allowed to vary what He has once made? "We must admit of the agency of God," say these men when they would not in name be atheists, "once in the beginning of things, but must allow of His interference as sparingly as may be." Most wise arrangement of the creature, if it were indeed the god of its God! Most considerate provision for the non-interference of its Maker, if it could but secure that He would not interfere with it for ever! Acute physical philosophy, which, by its omnipotent word, would undo the acts of God! Heartless, senseless, sightless world, which exists in God, is upheld by God, whose every breath is an effluence of God's love, and which yet sees Him not, thanks Him not, thinks it a greater thing to hold its own frail existence from some imagined law, than to be the object of the tender personal care of the Infinite God who is Love! Poor hoodwinked souls, which would extinguish for themselves the Light of the world, in order that it may not eclipse the rushlight of their own theory! And Jonah was in the belly of the fish - The time that Jonah was in the fish's belly was a hidden prophecy. Jonah does not explain nor point it. He tells the fact, as Scripture is accustomed to do so. Then he singles out one, the turning point in it. Doubtless in those three days and nights of darkness, Jonah (like him who after his conversion became Paul), meditated much, repented much, sorrowed much, for the love of God, that he had ever offended God, purposed future obedience, adored God with wondering awe for His judgment and mercy. It was a narrow home, in which Jonah, by miracle, was not consumed; by miracle, breathed; by miracle, retained his senses in that fetid place. Jonah doubtless, repented, marveled, adored, loved God. But, of all, God has singled out this one point, how, out of such a place, Jonah thanked God. As He delivered Paul and Silas from the prison, when they prayed with a loud voice to Him, so when Jonah, by inspiration of His Spirit, thanked Him, He delivered him. To thank God, only in order to obtain fresh gifts from Him, would be but a refined, hypocritical form of selfishness. Such a formal act would not be thanks at all. We thank God, because we love Him, because He is so infinitely good, and so good to us, unworthy. Thanklessness shuts the door to His personal mercies to us, because it makes them the occasion of fresh sins of our's. Thankfulness sets God's essential goodness free (so to speak) to be good to us. He can do what He delights in doing, be good to us, without our making His Goodness a source of harm to us. Thanking Him through His grace, we become fit vessels for larger graces . "Blessed he who, at every gift of grace, returns to Him in whom is all fullness of graces; to whom when we show ourselves not ungrateful for gifts received, we make room in ourselves for grace, and become meet for receiving yet more." But Jonah's was that special character of thankfulness, which thanks God in the midst of calamities from which there was no human exit; and God set His seal on this sort of thankfulness, by annexing this deliverance, which has consecrated Jonah as an image of our Lord, to his wonderful act of thanksgiving.

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Learning Assistance Center Disability Services and Accessibility Webliography for Disability Issues - Ability Hub (Directory of adaptive, assistive technology) - ADA Hotlinks - Advocating Change Together (ACT) Training and support for self-advocacy for the developmentally disabled. - American Council for the Blind An organization of blind and visually impaired people. Links to resource information and an on-line journal "The Braille Forum." - Americans with Disabilities Act - Assistance Animals - Assistive Media Listen to audio readings of selected articles from popular periodicals such as the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Atlantic Monthly – all at the click of a mouse. - Association on Higher Ed and Disability (AHEAD) An international, multicultural organization of professionals committed to full participation in higher education for persons with disabilities. - Blindness Resource Center - Braille Book Announcements The braille-books list is a moderated email list to announce the availability of newly-brailled leisure-reading books produced according to BANA standards for braille readers in the U.S. - Center on Disabilities California State University – Northridge (CSUN) – hosts annual conference "Technology and Persons with Disabilities" – Informative conference proceedings available online. - Computer Access Solutions For the motor impaired. - Deaf Linx - Deaf Resource Library - Deaf Sign - Disability Resources - Disability Resource Monthly (DRM) Disability Resources, inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established to promote and improve awareness, availability and accessibility of information that can help people with disabilities live, learn, love, work and play independently. - Dyslexia, the gift - Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI) A resource for the education community that provides information and guidance in the area of access-to-information technologies for individuals with disabilities. EASI maintains and disseminates information on the latest advancements within the adaptive computer technology field for colleges, universities, K-12 schools, libraries and the workplace. This web site is a project of the Teaching, Learning and Technology Group, an AAHE affiliation. - Google Directory of Disability Studies - Guide to Wheelchairs & Assistive Technology - IBM Accessibility Web PageResources and products for individuals with disabilities include legal and technical information for HR professionals regarding accessibility issues. - LD Online Web site for the learning disabled. Information for parents and children as well as for LD adults. - Librarians Index to the Internet, disabilities resources - Michigan Electronic Library, Adaptive Technology Resources - Michigan Rehabilitation Services - National Association of the Deaf Links to resources for the hearing impaired and an E-zine with articles of interest. - National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities - National Federation of the Blind Information and resources for blind and visually impaired people - ReadPlease Free Text-to-Speech Software Free ReadPlease 2000 – Just imagine having web pages and e-mail read aloud to you. If you are finding there is just too much on-screen reading with all of this technology, then you will love using ReadPlease. This is the original free version released June 1999. - Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf - Screen Magnifiers Screen magnification products and links to web sites for visually impaired. - Sign Language Dictionaries - University/Education Disability Resources - We Media A web site for people with disabilities. - Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) The Web Accessibility Initiative promotes accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education & outreach, and research & development. The web site includes guidelines for making web sites more accessible to individuals with disabilities.

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Oct. 12, 1999 SEATTLE -- Researchers say they have discovered a reversible lipid imbalance that may be responsible for the common symptoms of cystic fibrosis. The discovery, in mice carrying the genetic defect that causes cystic fibrosis, could lead to a treatment for a disease that affects an estimated 30,000 people in this country, according to Juan Alvarez MD PhD and Steven Freedman MD PhD of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Alvarez and Freedman reported their findings today at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's annual scientific conference in Seattle. The researchers are working with the foundation and the biotechnology company Genzyme General, of Cambridge, Mass., to develop a treatment for cystic fibrosis. To date, research on treatments for cystic fibrosis has focused on gene and protein therapies and antibiotic drugs. The discovery reported by Alvarez and Freedman points toward a new approach to treating the disease--one that relies on correcting a fatty-acid imbalance in the membranes of cells affected by cystic fibrosis. The researchers propose that the imbalance is the source of the chronic lung inflammation, excess mucus, and other symptoms of the disease. "They've made some tantalizing observations in an animal model," said Peter Durie MD, director of cystic fibrosis research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where the cystic fibrosis gene was discovered 10 years ago. "No current therapy for cystic fibrosis deals with the underlying problem. Potentially, this is something closer to the fundamental problem." In the study reported today, Alvarez and Freedman examined differences in the relationship between levels of two fatty acids in normal mice and mice that had the genetic defect responsible for cystic fibrosis. They found that the cystic fibrosis mice had abnormally high levels of arachidonic acid (AA) and abnormally low levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) compared to normal mice. The lipid imbalance was confined to organs most affected by cystic fibrosis, including the lungs, pancreas, and intestine. To test whether the imbalance between AA and DHA was responsible for the expression of the disease, large doses of DHA were fed to the cystic fibrosis mice for one week. The researchers found that administration of DHA not only corrected the lipid imbalance in affected organs but also reversed the signs of cystic fibrosis in the pancreas, intestine, and lungs of the mice. Alvarez and Freedman said that preliminary evidence shows that a similar imbalance between AA and DHA exists in people with cystic fibrosis. They are continuing to study the relationship between AA and DHA in cystic fibrosis patients, under a research agreement with Genzyme established in June. Under a concurrent agreement with Beth Israel Deaconess, Genzyme has been granted an exclusive license to intellectual property related to DHA therapy. Patent applications have been filed on the discovery. DHA is a fatty acid found in sources such as fish oils and breast milk and is available in over-the-counter nutritional supplements. The researchers caution that current formulations of these supplements will not be effective at the recommended doses or well tolerated at the high doses that may be required to achieve clinical effect. In previous studies of low doses of fish oil supplements to control lung inflammation, people with cystic fibrosis have shown no statistically significant clinical improvements compared to control subjects. Also, the main component of fish oil supplements is another fatty acid that may block the DHA action. Genzyme General is collaborating with the BI-Deaconess researchers to develop a therapeutically effective formulation for a DHA-based product. Genzyme will also sponsor clinical trials of this potential therapy. The trials are expected to begin within a year. "We are very encouraged by the results reported today by our partners at Beth Israel Deaconess," said Alan E. Smith PhD, chief scientific officer of Genzyme Corp. "Genzyme has a long-standing commitment to patients with cystic fibrosis. This collaboration expands the range of potential treatments we are exploring for this disease." Genzyme has been at the forefront of cystic fibrosis research for nearly a decade. It has conducted eight gene therapy clinical trials in patients with cystic fibrosis and has also begun research to identify potential small-molecule drugs to treat the disease under a grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Genzyme expects to conduct its clinical trials of a DHA-based product in collaboration with the foundation, which has established a specialized network of seven clinical trial centers to expedite the early phases of clinical trials. "Although a number of steps remain before the benefit of DHA to patients is known, this exciting research represents an entirely new strategy to correct and possibly even prevent some of the ravages of this disease," said Robert J. Beall PhD, president and chief executive officer of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. "The discovery also illustrates a true partnership in action--as industry, academia and a private non-profit health organization come together to translate science in the laboratory into innovative new treatments for our patients. We are truly gratified that we could play a significant role in this discovery." Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal hereditary disease among Caucasians in the United States. The median life expectancy of patients with cystic fibrosis is 32 years. Cystic fibrosis is caused by a defective gene that affects multiple aspects of cellular function. The most debilitating consequence of the disease occurs in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, where abnormally thick, sticky mucus clogs the airways, leading to fatal lung infections. Alvarez and Freedman are also exploring the relationship between AA and DHA levels and idiopathic pancreatitis, a disease that may also be due to mutations in the cystic fibrosis gene. Dr. Freedman expects to test the DHA-based product in patients with pancreatitis. Beth Israel Deaconess is a major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School and a founding member of CareGroup. Dr. Alvarez is research director for the obstetrics and gynecology department at Beth Israel Deaconess and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Freedman is director of The Pancreas Center at Beth Israel Deaconess and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. The research of Drs. Alvarez and Freedman was supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, BI-Deaconess OB/GYN Foundation (Rosenfeld Fund), and the National Institutes of Health. Genzyme General develops and markets therapeutic products and diagnostic products and services. Genzyme General has three therapeutic products on the market and a strong pipeline of therapeutic products in development focused on the treatment of rare genetic diseases. A division of the biotechnology company Genzyme Corporation, Genzyme General has its own common stock (Nasdaq: GENZ) intended to reflect its value and track its economic performance. This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements concerning the estimated U.S. cystic fibrosis patient population and the planned initiation of clinical trials. Actual results may materially differ due to numerous factors, including, among others, the accuracy of the parties' information about the incidence of cystic fibrosis in the United States, the results of the study concerning the relationship of AA and DHA in people with cystic fibrosis, the results of efforts to develop a therapeutically effective formulation for a DHA-based product, the timing and content of submissions to and decisions by regulatory authorities, and the enrollment rate for clinical trials. Information for cystic fibrosis patients, including a summary of the presentation and Q&A, is available on the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's web site at http://www.cff.org . Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above. Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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Skeptical Science Educates My Students Posted on 21 May 2011 by ProfMandia A guest post by Professor Scott Mandia, reposted from Global Warming: Man or Myth? I teach MET295 – Global Climate Change to first and second year community college students. MET295 is a three credit lecture course that serves as a science elective for the general student population. Basic high school algebra is the only prerequisite. (See the course outline.) I used John Cook’s SkepticalScience.com as the student resource for this semester’s research papers. As you will see from the four example papers highlighted on this blog, information found at SkepticalScience.com is accessible to the typical college student and likely to the general public. Each student was randomly assigned a topic from Skeptic Arguments & What The Science Says. Students were asked to carefully study all the information appearing in the Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced tabs. Students were required to summarize, in their own words, the information learned from researching the topic. Students were also encouraged to use other resources, especially course notes, to help them complete the paper. Students were to use proper APA Citation Style formatting within the content (parenthetical citing) and in a Works Cited page appearing as the last page. I asked all students to please refer to the Term Paper Grading Rubric to maximize their final paper grades. Sample of Four Student Papers Debunking Skeptic Arguments: Note: Each of these students gave me permission to post their papers and names on this blog.

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Why India's Massive Power Outages Get Fixed More Quickly Than D.C.'s In India, a massive power outage has left an estimated 670 million people – 10 percent of the world's population – without power. It's the second outage affecting hundreds of millions of people within just two days, events that are far and away the largest power outages ever seen. And yet, within hours, the problems had mostly been solved. When the first outage hit on Monday, it was being called the biggest power outage to occur in India in about a decade. Not history. Not the last 50 years. But just over the last 10 years or so. That a cataclysmic power outage could happen so frequently is a pretty damning reality for the public utilities of India. And, indeed, power outages are common in India, though they're typically much smaller. On Tuesday, the northern grid collapsed, cutting power for hundreds of millions of people, grinding to a halt activity in places as densely populated as New Delhi. But despite the relative frequency of such large-scale outages, it's also interesting to note how relatively quickly these problems have also been resolved – especially so close on the heels of recent power outages in the U.S. that left many people without power for more than a week. More than 2 million people were left without power when storms struck the Mid-Atlantic region in late June. Though several utility companies took heat for the prolonged outages, Washington, D.C.'s Potomac Electric Power Company, or Pepco, felt the brunt of the outrage. The storms hit on June 29, but Pepco wasn't able to restore power to all of its nearly 450,000 customers until 10 days later, on July 8. That's 10 days for less than half a million people compared to about 6 hours for most of the power to be restored to the roughly 350 million affected by the outage Monday, or compared to the 6 hours it's taken Tuesday to restore power to 75 percent of the more than 670 million people affected by this latest outage. The Times of India notes that the last major outage – in 2001, affecting a region home to 230 million people – was resolved in 16 hours. The difference here is mainly that the Mid-Atlantic blackouts were caused by physical destruction as a result of strong storms, while India's problems are associated with surges in demand. Lifting broken trees off power lines takes more effort than (to grossly simplify) replacing a blown fuse. And, to be clear, a blown fuse affecting more than half a billion people is a pretty big deal. But, according to The New York Times, it's still not entirely clear what exactly caused the two major outages in India. While massive storms and falling trees may not happen all that often, the surging electricity demands of a fast-urbanizing country are likely to recur. Some are hopeful that opportunity will be found in this crisis; high-profile problems like these major outages could put pressure on the government and the state-owned power utility to make improvements to the country's infrastructure, as Jeff Glekin at Reuters suggests. In the meantime, it would not be too surprising to see more of these large-scale outages in the near future. Maybe even tomorrow.

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By Julie Mollins LONDON (AlertNet) - Global development goals due to replace current anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire in 2015 could be unified by a concept that calls for an integrated view of economic growth and development, said Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The concept -- the water-energy-food nexus -- aims to create a sustainable economy and a healthy environment by considering how each of the three elements interrelate and are affected by decision-making. “It’s a more holistic approach -- without water you can’t farm, without clean water you can’t be healthy, without ways of allocating and looking after the water supply there won’t be enough to meet our needs -- it’s got many dimensions,” Clark said. “Water is such a cross-cutting issue -- it has economic, social and environmental aspects to it -- it’s very compelling for inclusion,” she told AlertNet after speaking at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in southeast London on Tuesday. In her talk, she reported on the status of consultations involving policymakers, government officials and contributors from a range of sectors on drawing up new sustainable targets aimed at eradicating poverty. The eight MDGs, which have met with varying degrees of success, were established by U.N. member states in 2000. The replacement targets are widely referred to as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “The world needs to buy into a collective responsibility . . . to act in a way that is consistent with not breaching planetary boundaries and conserving nature’s resources for future generations,” Clark said. “The MDGs were very clearly goals that set benchmarks for developing countries -- the SDGs will be a bit more encompassing and obviously stronger on the environmental sustainability strand of sustainable development.” Globally, almost 1 billion people go hungry, 2.5 billion people lack adequate sanitation and about 783 million people lack access to safe water, according to U.N. agencies. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda must submit recommendations to the United Nations in May. It is co-chaired by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Clark said the major themes were putting in place ways to improve governance, build resilience and sustain the progress countries made, even when times were hard. Discussions on what subjects to set targets for have looked at workers’ rights, women’s rights, universal health coverage, education and governance, she said. A U.N. team representing more than 60 agencies, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has proposed building the future framework around four pillars: inclusive social development; inclusive economic development; environmental sustainability; and peace and security, Clark said. Hopes are high among the development community that there will be a sharper focus on collecting reliable data to better measure progress towards meeting the new goals. Competing interests must also be taken into account, said Barbara Frost, charity WaterAid’s chief executive. “Goals need to be specific, but also politically attractive to governments, so that they can say they will contribute,” Frost said. “The trouble with too overarching goals is that then they are too hard to show any progress against and then people can actually ignore them, so I think that dilemma that they’re trying to tackle is to get something that’s measurable and specific.” Attempts to create an inclusive process are impressive and should focus not just on aid, but on all mechanisms countries can use for the wider development agenda, said Penny Lawrence, international programmes director at Oxfam GB. “You’ve got to be very careful with indicators that they drive the right behaviours,” Lawrence said. “Don’t choose an indicator that is easy to measure and looks like it’s right, but inadvertently drives the wrong behaviours.”

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Data reported by the weather station: 39160 Latitude: 55.18 | Longitude: -6.16 | Altitude: 156 |Main||Year 1988 climate||Select a month| To calculate annual averages, we analyzed data of 357 days (97.54% of year). If in the average or annual total of some data is missing information of 10 or more days, this is not displayed. The total rainfall value 0 (zero) may indicate that there has been no such measurement and / or the weather station does not broadcast. |Annual average temperature:||8.3°C||357| |Annual average maximum temperature:||10.8°C||357| |Annual average minimum temperature:||5.9°C||357| |Annual average humidity:||-||-| |Annual total precipitation:||1716.87 mm||357| |Annual average visibility:||-||-| |Annual average wind speed:||18.5 km/h||357| Number of days with extraordinary phenomena. |Total days with rain:||0| |Total days with snow:||0| |Total days with thunderstorm:||0| |Total days with fog:||0| |Total days with tornado or funnel cloud:||0| |Total days with hail:||0| Days of extreme historical values in 1988 The highest temperature recorded was 19.3°C on May 15. The lowest temperature recorded was -2°C on March 17. The maximum wind speed recorded was 111.1 km/h on February 9.

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First seen in an upstate New York cave in 2006, white nose syndrome spreads among closely-clustered hibernating bats, killing more than 90% of them in some afflicted caves. A deadly fungal infection that has killed millions of bats has been confirmed for the first time in Georgia and South Carolina, report federal officials, raising the syndrome's spread to 22 states. First seen in an upstate New York cave in 2006, white-nose syndrome spreads among closely-clustered hibernating bats, sapping their winter reserves. It has led to the deaths of more than 5.4 million bats since then, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates. Nine bats species are affected by the syndrome, including two endangered ones "We've been expecting the discovery of WNS in Georgia after it was confirmed in Tennessee and Alabama counties last season," said Georgia Department of Natural Resources biologist Trina Morris, in a statement. In Georgia, state and federal officials reported on Tuesday that the syndrome has affected tri-colored bats at Lookout Mountain Cave at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Sittons Cave at Cloudland Canyon State Park. And in South Carolina, state biologists on Monday reported that a dead bat discovered at Table Rock State Park in northern Pickens County was confirmed to have been infected. There is no treatment for the syndrome, which has killed more than 90% of bats in some afflicted caves. Biologists are experimenting with altering cave conditions to make them less hospitable to the fungus responsible for the syndrome, but they expect it to spread to caves nationwide at some point.

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The launch of a new GVP website is scheduled for Monday, May 20, 2013. A photograph is not available for this volcano. |Subregion Name:||Austral Islands| |Volcano Type:||Submarine volcano| |Last Known Eruption:||1989| |Summit Elevation:||-39 m||- 128 feet| |Discovered by the detection of teleseismic waves in 1967, Macdonald seamount (also known as Tamarii seamount) rises from a depth of about 1800 m to within 27 m of the sea surface at the eastern end of the Austral Islands. The alkali-basaltic submarine volcano marks the site of a hotspot that was the source of the Austral-Cook island chain. The summit of the seamount, named after volcanologist Gordon Macdonald, consists of a flat plateau about 100 x 150 m wide with an average depth of about 40 m. The summit plateau is capped with spatter cones that form steep-sided pinnacles. Most eruptions of Macdonald have been seismically detected, but in 1987 and 1989 pumice emission was observed from research vessels. Pumice rafts observed in the South Pacific in 1928 and 1936 may also have originated from Macdonald seamount.|

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When rodents come to mind, it’s usually not beavers, woodchucks or prairie dogs. While there are hundreds of different kinds of rodents, the most common we encounter in our homes are rats and mice, called commensal rodents, or those found living in close contact with humans. Rats and mice frequently find their way into our homes, especially when the weather gets cooler and they begin to seek warmth. Roof rats, Norway rats, and house mice are the most common, but any rodent will find your house very comfortable. Making your home uninviting for the little critters, sealing it up and removing all possible food sources and shelter sources work well for preventative measures, but if you have an existing rat or mice problem there are many methods and products available to control rodents. Norway rats, roof rats and house mice are nocturnal and breed all year round. Since these animals mature very quickly, it takes only a few months for a few rats or mice to multiply into hundreds. These two factors make rats and mice difficult to control if you aren’t sure what you’re up against. Rats and mice are extremely destructive pests. They eat basically anything they can find. They gnaw and chew on corners, walls and doors and eat insulation. Rats and mice can enter your home and living space through extremely small spaces; rats can fit through two-inch gaps, and mice through one and a half inch gaps. They often contaminate food in your home, as they can chew through virtually any plastic or paper package. Rats and mice can spread diseases and parasites, so always wear gloves when handling them. While sanitation efforts will not eliminate your existing rodent problem, it will make your yard and home less attractive to rats and mice in the future and will keep them from getting inside. Here are some steps to keep in mind: 1. Make sure you are practicing proper food handling techniques - always sweep crumbs and put food away every day. 2. Remove heavy vegetation and any organic debris away from your home’s foundation, which reduces cover and makes your yard void of shelter. 3. Seal all gaps, focusing on windows, doors and any entry point of cables and pipes. Use strong materials that resist gnawing, like concrete, sheet metal and hardware cloth. Once you have cleaned your home thoroughly, removing all possible food and water sources and clearing debris, you can begin your control method. Toxicants with bait systems and trapping are the most commonly used and successful methods of rodent control, but they are very different. Choose your method carefully, considering whether pets or children may encounter the poison or traps, and what would work best in your home. Poison baits (toxicants) are very powerful tools against rats and mice. Anticoagulants are the most commonly used and now most humane. You can purchase ready-to-use baits and these can be placed in wall voids and burrows. Bait stations help increase the effectiveness of baits and keep them in an enclosed space for greater safety. Be aware that this type of bait does not instantly kill the rodents. They may die inside walls or other hard-to-reach places and if not found quickly may start to decompose. Trapping is a good choice if you do not want to use baits in your home. Trapping allows you to monitor your control method, since the animals will die in the open, which allows easy detection, clean up and disposal. * Mice are very curious and are not wary about new items in their habitat, so they will readily take the bait. Rats, however, are much more cautious. Pre-baiting (or putting food on the trap without setting it) will help the rats get used to the trap in their territory, and once they are used to a constant food source, you can set the trap and easily catch them. * Nutmeats, chocolate, dried fruit, bacon and marshmallows work well as bait. Peanut butter works great as well, but goes bad quickly and needs to be changed often. * Traps should be set under cabinets, close to walls, behind objects and in the travel lanes.

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Maulana Shaukat Ali was an Indian Muslim nationalist and leader of the Khilafat movement. He was the brother of Maulana Mohammad Ali. Shaukat Ali was born in 1873 in Rampur state in what is today Uttar Pradesh. He was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University. He was extremely fond of playing cricket, captaining the university team. Ali served in the civil service of United Provinces of Oudh and Agra from 1896 to 1913. Shaukat Ali helped his brother Mohammed Ali publish the Urdu weekly Hamdard and the English weekly Comrade. In 1919, while jailed for publishing what the British charged as seditious materials and organizing protests, he was elected as the first president of the Khilafat conference.He was re-arrested and imprisoned from 1921 to 1923 for his support to Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress during the Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-1922). His fans accorded him and his brother the title of Maulana. Along with his brother, Shaukat Ali grew disilliusioned with the Congress and Gandhi's leadership. He opposed the 1928 Nehru Report, demanding separate electorates for Muslims, and attended the first and second Round Table Conferences in London. His brother died in 1931, and Ali continued on and organized the World Muslim Conference in Jerusalem. In 1936, Ali joined the All India Muslim League and became a close political ally of and campaigner for Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan. He served as member of the Central Assembly from 1934 to 1938. He travelled over the Middle East, building support for India's Muslims and the freedom struggle. Shaukat Ali died in 1938.

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Programs that provide information that improves the public's understanding of living and working conditions and other factors that safeguard their health and prevent or reduce the risk of injury, disease, disability and premature death. Health education programs help people make informed decisions about matters which affect their personal health and the health of others. They inform the public of health and safety hazards, help people modify behaviors that compromise their health, encourage people to take advantage of early detection programs and provide information about treatment and rehabilitation options for people who have an illness, injury or disability. They also provide anticipatory information or guidance to help people deal with and understand specific medical procedures, being hospitalized or other necessary interfaces with the health care system. Taxonomy Code: LH-270

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Copper causes Alzheimer`s in people over 50: Study London: Copper pipes should not be used as water supply lines as a new study has found that it leads to build up of metal in body, increasing the risk of Alzheimer`s, heart diseases and diabetes in people over 50. Researchers at University of Michigan in US found that traces of copper from pipes mix with tap water, which is then consumed by people. As our body cannot process the metal, it gets accumulated and over a period of time leads to major health problems like Alzheimer`s in later age, according to the study that appeared in the American Chemical Society`s Toxicology journal. Pointing out that Alzheimer`s and heart diseases are made worse by excess copper and iron, lead researcher George J Brewer said, "the toxicities are so general that they are a looming public health problem in diseases of ageing and in the ageing process itself." Brewer also warned that those people, whose copper intake is high, lose their brain function at over three times the normal rate if they also eat a relatively high fat diet. The researchers suggested that people over 50 should avoid vitamin and mineral pills that contain cooper and iron, reduce meat intake and avoid drinking water from copper pipes. They should also donate blood regularly to reduce iron levels and take zinc supplements to lower copper levels, the Daily Mail reported. First Published: Saturday, January 23, 2010, 00:00 Post your Comments

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Question: Is it true that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has side effects such as memory loss and brain damage? Answer: Electroconvulsive therapy is a treatment for depression that has been around for many years. And despite people's fears about the treatment, it is in fact the safest and most effective treatment we have for severe depressions. Occasionally people do experience temporary forgetfulness as a result of the treatment, and doctors will modify the treatment to deal with that side effect. Often it's short-term memory that's affected, and no study to my knowledge has ever shown that you can get permanent brain damage from this treatment if it's used safely.

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If every aspect of a person’s DNA is known, would it be possible to predict the diseases in that person’s future? And could that knowledge be used to forestall the otherwise inevitable?People need to stop imagining that reading our genetic code will result in some sort of scientific revolution. The answer, according to a new study of twins, is, for the most part, “no.” . . . Since identical twins share all of their genes, the investigators could ask to what extent genes predict an increased chance of getting a disease. Using a mathematical model, they reached an answer: not much. Most people will be at average risk for most of the 24 diseases. Monday, April 2, 2012 Heredity is Not Medical Destiny The latest on the alleged wonder of personalized genetic medicine:

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Project Will Bring Reclaimed Water to Clearwater Residents A project funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City of Clearwater will bring reclaimed water to residents who live in the Skycrest area of Clearwater. The project includes the design and construction of a high-service pump station, more than 63,500 linear feet of reclaimed water transmission lines, distribution piping, and a five-million-gallon storage tank. The project will interconnect reclaimed water supplies from the city's three waste water treatment plants, which will provide the ability to move reclaimed water to areas of high demand, and provide for the pumping and storage necessary to service additional customers in central Clearwater. This project is expected to provide approximately 410,000 gallons per day (gpd) of reclaimed water to nearly 500 residential and commercial reclaimed water customers in central Clearwater. The project will offset 250,000 gpd of groundwater. This cooperatively funded effort between the District's Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board and Clearwater is estimated to cost $10.8 million. The District will contribute 50 percent of the costs. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2008 and is expected to be complete by December 2010. Reclaimed water is wastewater that has received at least secondary treatment and is used for a beneficial purpose, such as irrigation. By offsetting demand for ground water and surface water, this alternative, non-traditional water source reduces stress on environmental systems, provides economic benefits by delaying costly water system expansions, and eliminates the need to discharge wastewater effluent to surface waters. Return to Current Edition

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DEET is recommended by top experts and organizations such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Department of Defense and by the thousands of professionals who use it in their work and leisure activities. It has been available for consumer use since 1957. Click here for “what experts say” | Annual Use | There are more than 400 million uses of DEET annually every year in the U.S. Worldwide, there are billions of uses each year. Scientists have studied DEET extensively starting even before its introduction to the U.S. consumer market in 1957. No other personal insect repellent has been studied and tested as rigorously and extensively as DEET. Today, it is still the “gold standard” for efficacy in repelling biting insects and ticks.

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Date of this Version At the first Vertebrate Pest Control Conference in 1964, I traced the history of plague control in California and outlined a revised approach, based on newer concepts of plague ecology. In our state of relative ignorance, this required a number of unproved assumptions about plague occurrence in California that verged on crystal ball gazing. These were principally that (1) plague persists in relatively resistant rodent species in certain favorable locations, (2) ground squirrels and chipmunks experience periodic epizootics, but are not permanent reservoirs, (3) plague "foci" of the past were merely sites of conspicuous epizootics, they did not necessarily correspond to permanent foci, and could result from epizootic migrations over considerable distances, and (4) a number of assumptions about areas of greatest epizootic potential can be made by analyzing the pattern of recurrent plague outbreaks in the past. Since then the validity of these assumptions has been tested by the largest outbreak of plague since the early 1940's. We believe that the results have proved the crystal ball largely correct, resulting in much more precise and efficient epizootic surveillance and deployment of control measures than in the past. The outbreak was for us an administrative emergency that exceeded the capacities of the State Health Department. We greatly appreciated the vital help and cooperation of other agencies and individuals. The U.S, Public Health Service accepted a heavy burden of laboratory testing through its San Francisco Field Station, and provided emergency field personnel. The contributions of State Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Weed and Vertebrate Pest Control; U.S. Parks, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management; local health and agriculture department; and State Division of Parks personnel were essential in accomplishing control work, as well as epizootic surveillance.

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BANKING - INTRODUCTION there are unavoidable circumstances in which there is an adverse impact to a wetland, such as filling or draining in order to further development. Due to the valuable functions of wetlands in sediment and nutrient filtering, flood water storage, and habitat for endangered and threatened species it is important to replace these wetlands to ensure there is no loss of the benefits they provide. With passage of the Interagency Wetlands Policy Act in 1989, Illinois became only the second state in the nation to consider the functions and values of wetlands to be important enough to adopt a state goal of no net loss of wetlands or their functional values. Federal Executive Order 11990 adopted this same standard as a national goal. banking is one tool that can be used to help reach the goal of no net loss. Mitigation banks provide for the compensation of unavoidable adverse wetland losses, by restoring chemical, physical, and biological functions of wetlands and/or other aquatic resources prior to an adverse impact. Wetland mitigation banks are typically large blocks of wetlands whose values and functions are summed and assigned a value that is translated into "credits". These credits are deposited, just as a deposit is made into a regular checking account. As approved wetland losses occur, these credits are withdrawn to compensate for the losses. Mitigation banks can be developed by private individuals, public agencies, or a combination of these entities and the credits sold in order to compensate for adverse wetland impacts. credits can be achieved through creation, restoration, enhancement, or in some rare circumstances preservation of wetland areas of high value. As with on-site mitigation, a bank site is to be managed and preserved in perpetuity.

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The one important task that only embedders (as opposed to extension writers) of the Python interpreter have to worry about is the initialization, and possibly the finalization, of the Python interpreter. Most functionality of the interpreter can only be used after the interpreter has been initialized. The basic initialization function is This initializes the table of loaded modules, and creates the fundamental modules __builtin__ sys It also initializes the module search path ( Py_Initialize() does not set the ``script argument list'' sys.argv). If this variable is needed by Python code that will be executed later, it must be set explicitly with a call to argv) subsequent to the call to On most systems (in particular, on Unix and Windows, although the details are slightly different), Py_Initialize() calculates the module search path based upon its best guess for the location of the standard Python interpreter executable, assuming that the Python library is found in a fixed location relative to the Python interpreter executable. In particular, it looks for a directory named lib/python2.1 relative to the parent directory where the executable named python is found on the shell command search path (the environment variable PATH). For instance, if the Python executable is found in /usr/local/bin/python, it will assume that the libraries are in /usr/local/lib/python2.1. (In fact, this particular path is also the ``fallback'' location, used when no executable file named python is found along PATH.) The user can override this behavior by setting the environment variable PYTHONHOME, or insert additional directories in front of the standard path by setting PYTHONPATH. The embedding application can steer the search by calling Py_SetProgramName(file) before calling Py_Initialize(). Note that PYTHONHOME still overrides this and PYTHONPATH is still inserted in front of the standard path. An application that requires total control has to provide its own implementation of defined in Modules/getpath.c). Sometimes, it is desirable to ``uninitialize'' Python. For instance, the application may want to start over (make another call to Py_Initialize()) or the application is simply done with its use of Python and wants to free all memory allocated by Python. This can be accomplished by calling Py_Finalize(). The function Py_IsInitialized() returns true if Python is currently in the initialized state. More information about these functions is given in a later chapter. See About this document... for information on suggesting changes.

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Gallium Arsenide - A compound used to make certain types of solar photovoltaic cells. Gasification - The process in which a solid fuel is converted into a gas; also known as pyrolitic distillation or pyrolysis. Production of a clean fuel gas makes a wide variety of power options available. Gasifier - A device for converting a solid fuel to a gaseous fuel. Gasket/Seal - A seal used to prevent the leakage of fluids, and also maintain the pressure in an enclosure. Gasohol - A registered trademark of an agency of the state of Nebraska, for an automotive fuel containing a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. Gasoline - A refined petroleum product suitable for use as a fuel in internal combustion engines. Gas Turbine - A type of turbine in which combusted, pressurized gas is directed against a series of blades connected to a shaft, which forces the shaft to turn to produce mechanical energy. Gauss - The unit of magnetic field intensity equal to 1 dyne per unit pole. Generator - A device for converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. Geopressurized Brines - These brines are hot (300 F to 400 F) (149 C to 204 C) pressurized waters that contain dissolved methane and lie at depths of 10,000 ft (3048 m) to more than 20,000 ft (6096 m) below the earth's surface. The best known geopressured reservoirs lie along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. At least three types of energy could be obtained: thermal energy from high-temperature fluids; hydraulic energy from the high pressure; and chemical energy from burning the dissolved methane gas. Geothermal Energy - Energy produced by the internal heat of the earth; geothermal heat sources include: hydrothermal convective systems; pressurized water reservoirs; hot dry rocks; manual gradients; and magma. Geothermal energy can be used directly for heating or to produce electric power. Geothermal Heat Pump - A type of heat pump that uses the ground, ground water, or ponds as a heat source and heat sink, rather than outside air. Ground or water temperatures are more constant and are warmer in winter and cooler in summer than air temperatures. Geothermal heat pumps operate more efficiently than "conventional" or "air source" heat pumps. Geothermal Power Station - An electricity generating facility that uses geothermal energy. Gigawatt (GW) - A unit of power equal to 1 billion Watts; 1 million kilowatts, or 1,000 Megawatts. Gin Pole - A pole used to assist in raising a tower. Glare - The discomfort or interference with visual perception when viewing a bright object against a dark background. Glazing - A term used for the transparent or translucent material in a window. This material (i.e. glass, plastic films, coated glass) is used for admitting solar energy and light through windows. Glauber's Salt - A salt, sodium sulfate decahydrate, that melts at 90 degrees Fahrenheit; a component of eutetic salts that can be used for storing heat. Glazing - Transparent or translucent material (glass or plastic) used to admit light and/or to reduce heat loss; used for building windows, skylights, or greenhouses, or for covering the aperture of a solar collector. Global Insolation (or Solar Radiation) - The total diffuse and direct insolation on a horizontal surface, averaged over a specified period of time. Global Warming - A popular term used to describe the increase in average global temperatures due to the greenhouse effect. Governor - A device used to regulate motor speed, or, in a wind energy conversion system, to control the rotational speed of the rotor. Grain Alcohol - Ethanol. Greenhouse Effect - A popular term used to describe the heating effect due to the trapping of long wave (length) radiation by greenhouse gases produced from natural and human sources. Greenhouse Gases - Those gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, tropospheric ozone, methane, and low level ozone that are transparent to solar radiation, but opaque to long wave radiation, and which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Greenwood - Freshly cut, unseasoned, wood. Greenpower - A popular term for energy produced from renewable energy resources. Green Pricing and Marketing - To price and sell greenpower/electricity higher than that produced from fossil or nuclear power plants, supposedly because some buyers are willing to pay a premium for greenpower. Greywater - Waste water from a household source other than a toilet. This water can be used for landscape irrigation depending upon the source of the greywater. Grid - A commmon term refering to an electricity transmission and distribution system. Gross Calorific Value - The heat produced by combusting a specific quantity and volume of fuel in an oxygen-bomb colorimeter under specific conditions. Gross Generation - The total amount of electricity produced by a power plant. Ground - A device used to protect the user of any electrical system or appliance from shock. Ground Reflection - Solar radiation reflected from the ground onto a solar collector. Ground-Source Heat Pump (see geothermal systems) Electro Industries, Inc., 2150 West River Street, PO Box 538, Monticello, MN 55362 (Map) Copyright © 2013 Electro Industries, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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Rivne region invites you to touch one of the facts of Ukrainian history proving heroic spirit of people of Ukraine who spent all his life on struggling for its freedom. Here you will move in 1651, a year of culmination battle of Liberation War of the Ukrainian people. This is a place of Berestechko battle (situated on the bank of the Styr river, not far from Plyashev village) where more than 200 hundreds people took part. In full swing of the battle Cossacks were betrayed by Tatars who helped them to resist an army of Polish king Jan Kazimierz. Although a course of action was predetermined Cossacks heroically fought to the death. Archeological researches conducted on this very place gave a birth to the National Historical and Cultural reserve “the Cossack graves” combining all relics. Currently you can visit St. Michael’s Church, a unique St. George’s temple-vault where a sarcophagus with findings of the perished can be found (its architecture decision has no analog in Ukraine), a monument to Cossacks and peasants and many other objects. Touch one of the pages of history of Ukrainian people giving an understanding that no tragedies can break heroic spirit of nation whose individual is ready to sacrifice himself to justice and common wealth without a second thought. Nature of Ukraine National Historical and Memorial reserve Beneficial - Stomatology Articles about tourism in Ukraine Coordinates of points : X=51.041, Y=26.807

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GNU TeXmacs is a free wysiwyw (what you see is what you want) editing platform with special features for scientists. The software aims to provide a unified and user friendly framework for editing structured documents with different types of content: text, mathematics, graphics, interactive content. TeXmacs can also be used as an interface to many external systems for computer algebra, numerical analysis, and statistics. New presentation styles can be written by the user and new features can be added to the editor using Scheme. make_faq is an HTML generator that builds chunks/chapters/questions-and-answers or whatever, and builds indexes to hold it all together. It's a fairly general purpose tool for creating a set of indexed pages, but it's common usage is to build FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) HTML from text documents. See the examples for a better understanding. PhpWiki is a WikiWikiWeb clone written in PHP. A Wiki is a Web site where anyone can edit or create the pages through the Web browser, with no authentication. PhpWiki works right out of the box with zero configuration, and comes with a set of default pages. It's useful for collaborating on documentation on a project, having freeform discussions, and easy editing and searching. PyleWiki is a WikiClone written entirely in Python that allows a group of people to collaboratively edit a tree of webpages using nothing but their browser and a simple, text-based markup language. This particular WikiClone has a few extensions to the original: attachments to pages, user authentication (primitive), and the use of templates for page styling among others. Rute (Rute Users Tutorial and Exposition) is a book on GNU/Linux that aims to be the definitive guide for new users as well as sufficing as training course material, covering both the RHCE and LPI requirements. It covers essential theory to UNIX as well as giving practical tutorials on all fundamental aspects of Unix administration, from basic commands, the theory of TCP/IP, the Linux filesystem, through to configuration of mail, DNS, and other servers, through hardware configuration and package management. It is not Unix-specific but tends to give examples suited to Debian and RedHat-like systems. Rute comes in HTML and PDF formats. Site Index is a simple script which generates HTML pages showing a site index for all of your local domains. It uses the natural hierarchy of your filesystem, so if you've organized your pages well, the job is fully automated. It breaks the index into multiple pages to respect a links-per-page limit, and can do some sorting/management of the results according to domain/page "importance". TrinityOS is a step-by-step, example-driven HOWTO on building a very functional Linux box with strong security in mind. TrinityOS is well known for its strong packet firewall ruleset, Chrooted and Split DNS (v9 and v8), secured Sendmail (8.x), Linux PPTP, Serial consoles and Reverse TELNET, DHCPd, SSHd, UPSes, system performance tuning, the automated TrinityOS-Security implementation scripts, and much more. Txt2tags converts a text file with minimal markup to HTML, XHTML, SGML, DocBook, LaTeX, Lout, Man page, Creole, Wikipedia, Google Code Wiki, PmWiki, DokuWiki, MoinMoin, MagicPoint, PageMaker, AsciiDoc, or ASCII Art. It is simple and fast and features automatic TOC, macros, filters, include, tools, GUI, CLI, and Web interfaces, translations, and extensive documentation.

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History and Explanation of the Devotion The Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) follows the course of Jesus' passion, death, and burial; it is observed by the devotion to the Stations of the Cross, a collection of 14 images which are to be found in virtually all Catholic churches. The Way of Light (Via Lucis) celebrates the most joyful time in the Christian liturgical year, the fifty days from Easter (the resurrection) to Pentecost (descent of the Holy Spirit). The idea for depicting the Way of Light was inspired by an ancient inscription found on a wall of the San Callisto Catacombs on the Appian Way in Rome. This cemetery is named for Saint Callistus, a slave who eventually became the 16th pope (217-222). The inscription found at Saint Callistus comes from the first letter St. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth (around 56 A.D.), in response to the report that some members were denying the Resurrection. The full statement in the letter is (1 Corinthians 15:3-8): I delivered to you as of first importance what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. Last of all, he appeared to me, too, as though I was born when no one expected it. In the 1990s, Father Sabino Palumbieri, a Salesian priest in Rome, helped develop the idea to combine the events mentioned in the Saint Callistus inscription with other post-Resurrection events to create a new set of stations, the Stations of the Resurrection. These new stations emphasize the positive, hopeful aspect of the Christian story that is not absent from the Way of the Cross, but is not as evident because of its tortuous side. This Way of Light, as it was called, thus serves as a complement to the Way of the Cross, and was fashioned of fourteen stations paralleling the fourteen Stations of the Cross. This devotion has received formal recognition by the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Via Lucis was listed (#153) in its Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (December 2001): A pious exercise called the Via Lucis has developed and spread to many regions in recent years. Following the model of the Via Crucis, the faithful process while meditating on the various appearances of Jesus-from his Resurrection to his Ascension-in which he showed his glory to the disciples who awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14, 26; 16, 13-15; Luke: 24, 49), strengthened their faith, brought to completion his teaching on the Kingdom and more closely defined the sacramental and hierarchical structure of the Church. Through the Via Lucis, the faithful recall the central event of the faith-the resurrection of Christ-and their discipleship in virtue of Baptism, the paschal sacrament by which they have passed from the darkness of sin to the bright radiance of the light of grace (cf. Colossians 1, 13; Ephesians 5, 8). For centuries the Via Crucis involved the faithful in the first moment of the Easter event, namely the Passion, and helped to fixed its most important aspects in their consciousness. Analogously, the Via Lucis, when celebrated in fidelity to the Gospel text, can effectively convey a living understanding to the faithful of the second moment of the Pascal event, namely the Lord's Resurrection. The Via Lucis is potentially an excellent pedagogy of the faith, since "per crucem ad lucem." Using the metaphor of a journey, the Via Lucis moves from the experience of suffering, which in God's plan is part of life, to the hope of arriving at man's true end: liberation, joy, and peace, which are essentially paschal values. The Via Lucis is a potential stimulus for the restoration of a "culture of life" which is open to the hope and certitude offered by faith, in a society often characterized by a "culture of death", despair, and nihilism.

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en

(Water on the Brain) |Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.| - An excess of CSF is produced (rare) - A blockage that doesn't allow CSF to drain properly (more commonly) - Brain tumors - Cancer in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) - Swelling in the CSF (such as sarcoidosis) - Cysts in the brain - Malformations of the brain, such as: - Brain injuries - Infections of the brain or the meninges can be caused by a number of agents including bacteria, mycobacteria, fungus, viruses, and parasites, such as: - Problems with the blood vessel in the brain - Bleeding into the brain or CSF space - Headache (often worse when lying down or upon first awakening in the morning or with straining) - Nausea / Vomiting - Problems with balance - Difficulty walking - Poor coordination - Personality changes - Memory problems - Dementia in the elderly - Coma and death - Slow development - Loss of developmental milestones—no longer able to do activities they once could do - Bulging fontanelle (soft spot on the head) - Large head circumference - Shunt placement (ventriculoperitoneal shunt)—a shunt (a tube placed into the brain) allows excess CSF to drain into another area, usually the abdomen. Sometimes a temporary extraventricular drain (EVD) is placed. - Third ventriculostomy—a hole is created in an area of the brain. It allows the CSF to flow out of the area where it is building up. - Removal of the obstruction of CSF flow. For example: removal of tumor or cyst - Lumbar puncture (spinal tap)—This involves the insertion of a needle between the back bones in the back to remove excess CSF. - Medicines—In some cases, medicines, such as acetazolamide (Diamox) and furosemide (Lasix), may decrease the production of CSF. - Other medicines such as steroids or mannitol may decrease swelling around lesions that are causing obstruction of CSF flow. - Get regular prenatal care. - Keep your child’s vaccines up to date. - Protect yourself or your child from head injuries. Toxoplasmosis—foodborne illness that may be prevented by: - Carefully cook meat and vegetables. - Correctly clean contaminated knives and cutting surfaces. - Avoid handling cat litter, or wear gloves when cleaning the litter box. - Cytomegalovirus (CMV)—talk to your doctor about identifying CMV in pregnancy - Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCV) from pet rodents (mice, rats, hamsters)—avoid rodent contact during pregnancy - Viruses that cause chickenpox or mumps—can be prevented with vaccinations American Neurological Association http://www.aneuroa.org/ Hydrocephalus Foundation, Inc. http://www.hydrocephalus.org/ National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke http://www.ninds.nih.gov/ Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada http://www.sbhac.ca/ Goetz CG. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 2007. Hydrocephalus in adults. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php . Updated May 25, 2012. Accessed September 20, 2012. Hydrocephalus in children. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php . Updated May 21, 2012. Accessed September 20, 2012. Hydrocephalus fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website. Available at: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/hydrocephalus/detail%5Fhydrocephalus.htm . Updated December 16, 2011. Accessed September 20, 2012. Kliegman R, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 2007. - Reviewer: Rimas Lukas, MD - Review Date: 09/2012 - - Update Date: 00/93/2012 - This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition. Copyright © EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved.

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en

Why is New York City Called The Big Apple? New York City has been called many things—“The Great American Melting Pot,” “Gotham,” “The City that Never Sleeps”—but its most famous nickname, without a doubt, is “The Big Apple.” But where did this now ubiquitous moniker come from? Making A Big Apple There have been many ideas about how New York came to be called “The Big Apple.” Some say it comes from the former well-to-do families that sold apples on New York City streets to make ends meet during the Great Depression. Another account says that the term comes from a famous nineteenth century brothel madam named Eve whose girls were cheekily referred to as her “Big Apples.” But the nickname actually springs from a catchphrase used in the 1920s by New York Morning Telegraph sports writer John J. Fitz Gerald in his horse racing column, “Around the Big Apple.” Starting on February 18, 1924, he began the every column with the header, “The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There's only one Big Apple. That's New York.” At the time, the jockeys and trainers of smaller horses were said to want to make a “Big Apple," their name for the big money prizes at larger races in and around New York City. Allegedly, Fitz Gerald first heard "The Big Apple" used to describe New York's racetracks by two African-American stable hands at the famed New Orleans Fair Grounds, as he explained in his inaugural "Around the Big Apple" column: “Two dusky stable hands were leading a pair of thoroughbreds around the ‘cooling rings’ of adjoining stables at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans and engaging in desultory conversation. ‘Where y'all goin' from here?’ queried one. ‘From here we're headin' for The Big Apple,’ proudly replied the other. ‘Well, you'd better fatten up them skinners or all you'll get from the apple will be the core,’ was the quick rejoinder.” Fitz Gerald nabbed the colloquialism for his column, where it took off. Once the term entered the vocabularies of society up north, its popularity slowly spread outside of the horseracing context, and everything from nightclubs in Harlem to hit songs and dances about the city were named after “The Big Apple.” Most notably, New York jazz musicians in the 1930s, whose habits of using the nickname to reference their hometown in their songs, made the name spread outside the northeast. Throughout the mid-20th century, it remained New York City's nickname until it was officially adopted by the city in the 1970s. The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau hoped that using the moniker would brighten the image of an economically downtrodden and crime-ridden city in decline and revive the tourist economy. In 1997, to give Fitz Gerald his—somewhat unjust—due, Mayor Rudy Giuliani signed legislation naming the corner where Fitz Gerald and his family lived at West 54th Street and Broadway between 1934 and 1963 “Big Apple Corner.”

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Malheur Cave, 13 miles east of Princeton, is 3,000 feet long, and the height varies from 8 feet near the entrance to a maximum of 20 feet far back in the cave. An underground lake fills the lower end of the cave, and fluctuation can cause the water to raise within 1,000 feet of the entrance. The Masons, Robert Burns Masonic Lodge No. 97, used this cave extensively for ceremonies and other functions. The curious come on a year-round basic, the kids for fun, the scientists for answers to long-time questions, and the cavers, just to meet or visit an old friend. The Masons own the cave, but have left it open to whoever wishes to cool off on a hot summer day, explore its many wonders and paddle its waters, just as it was done decades ago After passing under the low, arching entrance, the passage opens to a wide expanse of level dirt floor. The walking passage eventually reaches two rows of wooden beachers used by the Masons. After passing the cement platform, the passage begins to get more muddy and filled with boulders of breakdown from the ceiling. The point where the passage turns to water depends on the time of year and the level of the adjacent reservoir. Beneath the waters is a submerged boat and soon the waters reach to the ceiling of the passage. Divers have plumbed to the end of the cave.

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What is a doula? A doula is a woman, trained and/or experienced in childbirth, who supports women during the childbearing year. A doula offers her mind, her heart, and her hands, for the well-being of the mother. A doula does not provide any clinical or medical care, and is different from a midwife, doctor, or nurse. A doula "mothers the mother", in a knowledgable, supportive, compassionate, and non-judgemental way. (Definition courtesy of Sarah Strogryn, Embrace Birth Doula Care) What can a doula do? Studies show that a trained birth doula can provide many benefits, such as: - 50% reduction in cesarean rate - 25% shorter labor - 60% reduction in epidural requests - 40% reduce in oxytocin use *Information obtained from Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have an Easier, Shorter, and Healthier Birth, Klaus, Kennel, and Klaus

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Exotic life beyond Earth? Looking for life as we don't know it Scientists at a new interdisciplinary research institute in Austria are working to uncover how life might evolve with "exotic" biochemistry and solvents, such as sulphuric acid instead of water. Their research ... USF Study Shows First Direct Evidence of Ocean Acidification (PhysOrg.com) -- Seawater in a vast and deep section of the northeastern Pacific Ocean shows signs of increased acidity brought on by manmade carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- a phenomenon that carries with ... More asteroids could have made life's ingredients (PhysOrg.com) -- A wider range of asteroids were capable of creating the kind of amino acids used by life on Earth, according to new NASA research. One Sponge-Like Material, Three Different Applications (PhysOrg.com) -- A new sponge-like material that is black, brittle and freeze-dried (just like the ice cream astronauts eat) can pull off some pretty impressive feats. Designed by Northwestern University chemists, it can ... Scientists sound acid alarm for plankton The microscopic organisms on which almost all life in the oceans depends could be even more vulnerable to increasingly acidic waters than scientists realised, according to a new study. Scientists sound alarm at Arctic Ocean's rapid acidification Scientists expressed alarm on Monday over the rapid acidification of the Arctic Ocean caused by carbon dioxide emissions, which could have dire consequences on the region's fragile ecosystem. Arctic studies show dire effect of ocean acidity The icy Arctic waters around Norway's archipelago of Svalbard may seem pristine and clear, but like the rest of the world's oceans they are facing the threat of growing acidity. One sponge-like material, three different applications A new sponge-like material that is black, brittle and freeze-dried (just like the ice cream astronauts eat) can pull off some pretty impressive feats. Designed by Northwestern University chemists, it can remove mercury from ... Team identifies proton pathway in photosynthesis (Phys.org) —A Purdue University-led team has revealed the proton transfer pathway responsible for a majority of energy storage in photosynthesis. Through photosynthesis, plants, algae and bacteria convert sunlight, carbon ... Geographic isolation drives the evolution of a hot springs microbe Sulfolobus islandicus, a microbe that can live in boiling acid, is offering up its secrets to researchers hardy enough to capture it from the volcanic hot springs where it thrives. In a new study, researchers report that p ... Earth is having a bad acid trip, study finds Earth may be overdosing on acid - not the "turn on, tune in, drop out" kind, but the "kill fish, kill coral, kill crops" kind. And it's shaping up to be a very bad trip. Molecules wrestle for supremacy in creation of superstructures (PhysOrg.com) -- Research at the University of Liverpool has found how mirror-image molecules gain control over each other and dictate the physical state of superstructures. Key piece of puzzle sheds light on function of ribosomes (PhysOrg.com) -- When ribosomes produce protein in all living cells, they do so through a chemical reaction that happens so fast that scientists have been puzzled. Using large quantum mechanical calculations of the reaction ... Pharmaceutical substances found in waters of Donana Researchers from the University of Seville (US) have detected active pharmaceutical substances for the first time in the waters of the Doñana National Park and its surrounding areas. The results suggest eco-toxicological ...

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en

Using Command Line using Visual C++ 2008 - Select Start >> All Programs >> Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition >> Visual Studio Tools >> Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt (Run with administrator privileges) - Once you are in the command line, you can use any editor such as edit to write a C program. C:> edit myprogram.c - After written the program, to compile it, issue the command cl C:> cl myprogram.c - During the compilation and linking, myprogram.obj and myprogram.exe will be created. - To run the program: Using Visual C++ 2008 IDE - Create an empty project by select File >> New >> Project. Select General >> Empty Project and type in the project name. - Under folder Source, right-click Select Add >> New Item. - Under Code, Select C++ File (.cpp), however, when you type in the name use a program name with extension .c, such as myprog.c and click Add - You can program to type your C program. Click Save icon to save your file. - To compile the program select Build >> Compile (Ctrl+F7). - Please note that you cannot run the program until you have build solution. - To build solution select Build >> Build Solution (F7) - Running the program: - Select Debug >> Start without debugging (Ctrl+F5) - For any runtime error, you can debug the program as follows: - Select Debug >> Start debugging (F5) - Please note that during debugging, the program will show and close the console display immediately. - To see the console display, you must run without debugging. - The problem using Visual Studio is that many files will be created even for a simple program. All files are created inside the project folder. - Under the project name of your program, the source code and object file is located at sub folder similar to your project name, the executable file is under sub folder debug. Using Borland C++ Compiler Command Line Tools - Installing and running the Command Line Tools - Run freecommandlinetools.exe; choose the drive and folder into which you want to install the free C++Builder 5 command line tool development system. - From the bin directory of your installation: Add “c:\Borland\Bcc55\bin” to the existing path - Create a bcc32.cfg file which will set the compiler options for the Include and Lib paths (-I and –L switches to compiler) by adding these lines: - Create an ilink32.cfg file which will set the linker option for the Lib path by adding this line: - Compiling the program:

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The Constitution of the United States: Fourteenth Amendment, Section 4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. Twenty-Seventh Amendment: No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. In the debate over whether the president should simply pay bills owed by the United States, missing is the key aspect of whether the Courts would back him up. The bill passed in the House Wednesday, set for passage in the Senate, delays the debt ceiling for four months but ties the action to House and Senate salaries. The courts, including the Supreme Court, would likely confirm the president’s Constitutional obligation to pay the U.S. debts and would declare unconstitutional the link to issuing congressional paychecks. The congressional leadership insisted on reading the full Constitution aloud at the beginning of the session. We do not believe they skipped the relevant sections. Under contract law, entities must pay bills for expenses they obligate. So must the U.S. government. The 14th Amendment, Section 4 states: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." The “inclusion” is to emphasize those are a part of what must be paid, not the sole items. The latest House bill “holding salaries of Members of Congress in escrow upon failure to agree to budget resolution” directly flies in the face of the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which states: “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.” A court ruling affirming presidential power under Amendment XIV of the Constitution would remove congressional leverage for another “fiscal cliff” and end stop the now-regular debt ceiling games. It would give teeth to President Obama’s statement that paying the country’s debt is “not a bargaining chip” despite congressional demands that debt be used as leverage to make cuts in Social Security and Medicare. Court approval would stop the congressional fiscal cliff insanity. The White House should institute or support this move. Congressional legislation on the debt is not needed and has only been passed since 1917. Prior to 1917 Congress simply “authorized” the funding — which it still separately does in “authorization” bills. The new Republican strategies are “a reflection of the same kind of politics of that 112th Congress, which reflected political gamesmanship rather than substantive policy," Steny Hoyer, the House Democratic Whip, said. In four months, Republicans will continue to try to use the debt ceiling as leverage. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said that she would use the 14th amendment to pay US debt "in a second." House Democratic Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn (D-N.C.) told us, "The president should just use the Constitution." Former President Bill Clinton, who Obama says should be "Secretary of Explaining Stuff," stated he would use the 14th amendment "without hesitation." Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) asserted the debt ceiling is "frankly a dead loser” because “the whole national financial system is going to say, ‘The entire economy of the world will collapse,’” and Congress “will cave.” Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee and the second longest serving Member of Congress, argued, “It’s my belief that the courts would support the president if he cited the 14th Amendment and instructed our executive agencies to pay the nation’s debts.” He told us that the new salary tie “is not constitutional” and “shows how superficial” the legislation is. Top constitutional authorities Michael Dorf, former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy and law professor at Cornell University, and Neil Buchanan, law professor at George Washington University, wrote in the Columbia Law Review in October, “Given the balance of constitutional, practical, and prudential considerations,” the most constitutional choice “would be for the president to continue to issue debt, in the amounts authorized by the duly enacted budget of the United States.” President Obama has been reluctant so far to say he will invoke the 14th Amendment. The president is by experience a state and federal legislator who has worked by successful compromise and consensus. The White House may not realize the likely Court support for paying the nation's bills. If President Obama wants his 2nd term agenda not to be handcuffed by ongoing debt ceiling games, he could seek Court support against the constant threats to throw our economy under the bus.

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British Steam tug |Completed||1938 - Cochrane & Sons Ltd, Selby| |Owner||Overseas Towage & Salvage Co Ltd, London| |Date of attack||13 Sep 1939||Nationality: British| |Fate||Sunk by U-29 (Otto Schuhart)| |Position||49.20N, 14.40W - Grid BE 3471| |Complement||21 (0 dead and 21 survivors).| |Route||Falmouth (12 Sep) - salvage work| |History||Completed in August 1938 | |Notes on loss| At 15.30 hours on 13 Sep, 1939, U-29 tried to stop the unescorted Neptunia (Master Joseph Cordery) about 270 miles west-southwest of Cape Clear by a shot across her bow, but the tug did not stop and used its radio. She was en route to assist HMS Walker (D 27) (Cdr W.J.C. Robertson, RN), which had been badly damaged in a collision with HMS Vanquisher (D 54) (LtCdr K.H. Fraser, RN) while escorting the convoy OB-2 southwest of Ireland on 11 September. After the first hits, the crew immediately abandoned ship in a motor boat. The Germans questioned the master and then sent the boat with a boarding party to the ship. However, the U-boat recalled the men shortly after they went aboard in order to sink the vessel quickly by a torpedo, but was forced to sink the tug by gunfire after firing two torpedoes that detonated prematurely. On 15 September, the survivors were picked up by the Brinkburn. |Crewlists||We have listing of 1 people who were on this vessel| If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us.

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We all know about the demise of the dinosaurs, but since that happened millions of years ago, the import of occasion seems a bit removed to our daily lives. Fast forward to 1989 when we said goodbye to the Golden Toad. (Photo: Charles H. Smith / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) In 1996 we said farewell to the Zanzibar Leopard. (Photo: Helle V. Goldman and Jon Winther-Hansen) In 2000 it was the Pyrenean Ibex. (Photo: A. Cabrera via Wikimedia Commons) Spix's Macaw's last year was 2004. (Photo: M. Stafford / www.parrotsinternational.org) Also in 04, we said goodbye to the Po'ouli as well. (Photo: Paul E. Baker / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) The last of the West African Black Rhinoceros were seen in 2006. (Photo: Sideog / Flickr) The Madeiran Large White departed from existence in 2007. (Photo: A. E. Holt-White via Wikimedia Commons) For more information about these creatures, including reasons for their extinction, visit The Daily Green.

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Art & Design Fri June 22, 2012 A Trailblazing Black Architect Who Helped Shape L.A. Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 8:37 pm Paul Revere Williams began designing homes and commercial buildings in the early 1920s. By the time he died in 1980, he had created some 2,500 buildings, most of them in and around Los Angeles, but also around the globe. And he did it as a pioneer: Paul Williams was African-American. He was the first black architect to become a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1923, and in 1957 he was inducted as the AIA's first black fellow. His granddaughter, Karen E. Hudson, has been chronicling Williams' life and work for the past two decades. Her latest book, Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style, focuses on some of the homes of his celebrity clients. They feature many characteristics that were innovative when he used them in the 1920s through the '70s and are considered common practice now — like the patio as an extension of the house, and hidden, retractable screens. When Paul Williams began his career, he could find no black architects to be his role models or mentors. Born in downtown Los Angeles in 1894, Williams became orphaned before he turned 4 when his parents, Chester and Lila, died of tuberculosis. A family friend raised him and told him he was so bright, he could do anything he wanted. And what he wanted was to design homes for families — perhaps because he lost his own so early in his life. Despite warnings from those who thought he was being impractical ("Your own people can't afford you, and white clients won't hire you," was one such warning), Williams became an architect. His work has come to signify glamorous Southern California to the rest of the country — and to the world. One of his hallmarks — a luxuriantly curving staircase — has captivated many a potential owner. Retired financial services magnate Peter Mullin remembers how he felt when he saw his 1925 Colonial, the first one Williams built in L.A.'s posh Brentwood neighborhood. "The first time I saw it, I didn't think I could afford the house, but if I could afford the staircase, I wanted to take it with me!" Mullin laughs. He bought the house — once inhabited by producer Ingwald Preminger, brother of director Otto — and has enjoyed it for 35 years. "Every now and then, I think about leaving," Mullin admits. "Then I look around ... and I can't. I just love this place." That sentiment may explain why Williams' homes don't come on the market very often. Bret Parsons is head of the architectural division of John Aaroe Group, a Beverly Hills real estate brokerage handling multimillion-dollar properties. He says when Williams homes come up for sale, real estate agents scramble to get the listing. "They're gobbled up in seconds," he says. "They're an absolute pedigree for someone to have in their arsenal." Parsons says Williams homes posses grace, design and elegant proportions, which attracted people with money and taste. Several of them were celebrities from Hollywood's heyday. Williams built an elegant bachelor pad for Frank Sinatra when the singer was between marriages. Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz were clients. So was Cary Grant. Danny Thomas was both client and friend — Williams designed St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis gratis, as a favor to Thomas (and made Thomas promise not to tell, so he wasn't deluged with similar requests). In recent years, Denzel Washington, Ellen DeGeneres and Andy Garcia all have lived in Williams homes. At the Beverly Hills Hotel, Williams designed the iconic Polo Lounge, the Crescent Wing and the Pink Palace's signature loopy signage. He also chose the colors — pink and green — that would signify the ultimate in service to its pampered guests for a century. Actor-philanthropist Bill Cosby recalls seeing a Williams home when he and wife Camille went house-hunting. The TV series I Spy made Cosby famous — and rich. He and Camille wanted to live in Beverly Hills, and they wanted a brick home. "Brick is not conducive to the desert heat that is Los Angeles," Cosby chuckles, "but we were looking for brick." To the East Coast Cosbys, brick symbolized a certain kind of moneyed refinement. "Back home, stucco was for poorer people — and in the winter, it was cold," he recalls. So when they were shown a 1932 brick Colonial Revival floating on rolling lawns, they were intrigued. When they walked inside, they were sold. "The entry was grand," Cosby says, drawing the swirl of the staircase in the air with one finger, "but once one entered the house, it became a home." That innate ability to make grand spaces cozy is another Williams signature. Sitting in the 1951 home Williams designed for himself, his granddaughter says her grandfather made many pragmatic adjustments to the reality of racism in his day. "He taught himself to draw upside down so white clients wouldn't be uncomfortable sitting next to him." And, Hudson says with a smile, "it became one of the things he was known for." Williams toured construction sites with hands clasped behind his back, like an English royal, because he wasn't sure every person would want to shake a black man's hand. So he gave them the option of extending their hand first. Many of the neighborhoods in which his homes were located were closed to him because of his race. That's something California had in common with several other American states — not all of them in the South. Hudson notes that there were also restrictive covenants in greater Los Angeles. "By law, he could not live in some of the places [where he designed homes]. Particularly in Flintridge, where he designed his first home in his own office, the land deed said a black person could not even spend the night." She says Williams found a way to work around such barriers because he had an ultimate goal in mind. "He believed that for every home and every commercial building that he could not buy and that he could not live in, he was opening doors for the next generation." In a 1937 essay for American Magazine called "I Am a Negro," Williams shared some of his own philosophy. "Virtually everything pertaining to my professional life during those early years was influenced by my need to offset race prejudice, by my effort to force white people to consider me as an individual rather than a member of a race," he wrote. "I encountered irreconcilables who simply refused to give me a hearing, but on the whole, I have been treated with amazing fairness."

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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- Their dinner had just arrived as the two college professors watched their guests, a group of singers from the Georgia coast, unexpectedly turn saying grace into an outburst of song, rhythm and shouted praises that soon had other diners in the restaurant joining in with the impromptu performance. "Before you know it, they're out of their chairs and the beat is getting played on a table and you had all the children in the restaurant shouting praises with them," said Mary Ellen Junda, a music professor at the University of Connecticut. The dinner at a restaurant in Richmond, Va., last year with the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters of Darien, Ga., turned into another lesson for Junda and fellow music professor Robert Stephens, who have spent years studying the art and traditions of the Gullah, descendants of slaves who live in coastal communities from North Carolina to northern Florida. Scholars say their culture, long isolated from the mainland, has clung to its African roots and traditions more than any in America. Now Junda and Stephens are preparing to share their firsthand research next year with 80 classroom teachers from elementary and high schools across the U.S., who will spend a week visiting Gullah communities in coastal Georgia and South Carolina. It's an effort to spread word of a distinct American culture that's rapidly giving way to assimilation as younger generations leave small island communities for life on the mainland. Last summer, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Junda and Stephens a grant worth $180,000 to develop the teacher workshops, which will take place over two weeks next July. For Stephens, a Savannah native, introducing school teachers to the Gullah people, their distinctive creole language and rich history is one way to combat the stereotypes he recalls from his childhood in the South. "It gives voice to the fact that this is a legitimate, viable cultural tradition," Stephens said. "When I was growing up in Savannah attending high school, people sort of pooh-poohed the Gullah. They were not looked upon as being well informed." It's not surprising two music professors -- Stephens specializes in world music while Junda focuses on folk traditions -- would end up studying the Gullah. The slave descendants of the Southern sea islands have largely passed down their history and traditions orally, through stories and songs. Prior researchers traced a song sung by Gullah on the Georgia coast to the West African nation of Sierra Leone, where the tune was sung as a funeral dirge. The Connecticut professors will share not only their findings but also the firsthand sources of their research to the visiting teachers next summer. Teachers selected for the workshop after applying by March 3 will join Stephens and Junda in Savannah for tours of African-American landmarks in Georgia's oldest city. They'll also take a field trip to St. Helena Island, S.C., to visit the Penn Center, formerly a school established in 1862 that educated freed slaves that's now home to a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Gullah history and traditions. Back in Georgia the group will cross the water from the mainland to Sapelo Island, where about 50 slave descendants still live in the tiny community of Hog Hammock. Sapelo native Cornelia Bailey, who was born on the island in 1945, has become Hog Hammock's pre-eminent storyteller and keeper of the community's oral history. The professors have tapped her to share that history with the visiting teachers next summer. "The teaching aspect of it I love because the more you spread the word the more respect there is for a culture that's endangered," Bailey said. "And teachers are the best people to spread the word." Emory Shaw Campbell of Hilton Head Island, S.C., agrees. He'll be working with the group in South Carolina, where Campbell is a former Penn Center director. He recently headed a commission designated by Congress to study ways to promote and preserve Gullah culture in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. Campbell said he hopes the teachers visiting next summer will take lessons about Gullah history and traditions far beyond the Southeast coast to schools in other regions where children may otherwise never learn of them. "Not enough grade school and high school teachers know about Gullah culture, which is the root of African-American culture," Campbell said. "People say that unless you know yourself, you really find it difficult to function in this world. I think it's important for kids to know their history, know their origin, know why they look the way they do and speak the way they do." Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Something unusual: Acupuncture for ailing sea turtles. (Photos) Can you guess why this pigeon is the world's most expensive? Check out the most expensive home for sale in the U.S. (Video) This fox plays like a cat when he gets his paws on a golf ball. (Video)

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Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than being in hibernation or a coma. Sleep Apnea Linked to Higher Cancer Death Risk Sleep apnea has already been linked to a host of adverse health problems, such as high blood pressure and heart disease... Madison > USA

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Every year, dozens of Palestinian prisoners and detainees are held in solitary confinement, as a disciplinary measure, or in isolation, for reasons of state, prison or prisoner’s security. An unknown number of detainees who pass through interrogation facilities are held at any given time in isolation. With regards to persons in prison custody, at the end of September 2012, there were approximately 60 prisoners held in isolation, including 2 that were held in isolation for reasons of state or prison security. A main demand of Palestinian prisoners’ mass hunger strike in April 2012 was for Israel to end its policy of long-term isolation for “security” reasons. Following the conclusion of the hunger strike, Israel agreed to remove 18 out of 19 prisoners from long-term isolation, though one prisoner was kept in isolation and an additional prisoner received a new isolation order. Although rules exist under Israeli and international law to closely govern the use of solitary confinement and isolation, both measures are often used impermissibly and at great cost to Palestinian prisoners and detainees. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 'SOLITARY CONFINEMENT’ AND 'ISOLATION’ Solitary confinement and isolation are both measures imposed during a prisoner’s detention or prison sentence. Solitary confinement is facially used by Israel as a disciplinary measure and is also common practice during interrogation, typically employed immediately following arrest. Solitary confinement combined with a monetary fine is the most common punishment taken against Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Detainees and prisoners held in solitary confinement are completely cut off from the world. They are held in an empty cell containing only a mattress and a blanket. Other than their clothes, they are not allowed to take anything with them into solitary confinement, including reading materials, a television or radio set. The detainee or prisoner is held in their solitary confinement cell, which does not contain a toilet, 24 hours a day. When the detainee or prisoner wishes to use the toilet he or she must call out for a guard and wait until one agrees to take the prisoner out. Article 56 of the Israeli Prisons Ordinance (New Version), 1971 (Ordinance), lists 41 disciplinary offenses for which solitary confinement may be imposed on prisoners and detainees, and establishes who among the prison officials may order such measures. According to the Ordinance, the Commissioner, the Prison Director, and prison officers of the rank of Captain or higher who have been so authorized by the Commissioner each have the power to take disciplinary action against a prisoner by imposing a punishment of up to seven days in solitary confinement. The Prison Director is authorized to sentence a prisoner to a maximum of 14 days in solitary confinement; each successive confinement period may not exceed 7 days. Article 56 also includes a number of broadly-defined offenses that may engender solitary confinement, such as “made noise unnecessarily” or “any action, behavior, disorder or neglect that disrupts good order or discipline, even if not detailed in the preceding clauses”. These open provisions establish no restrictions on what may be considered 'disruption of order’, and therefore leave the imposition of solitary confinement vulnerable to abuse. By comparison, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) uses, or claims to use, isolation as a preventive measure. The Ordinance provides five general categories that warrant the isolation of a prisoner: - State security; - Prison security; - Protecting the well-being and health of the prisoner or other prisoners; - Preventing significant harm to discipline and the proper prison routine; and, - Preventing violent offenses, offenses included in the Law to Combat Organized Crime, or drug transaction offenses. As with solitary confinement, broad definitions of “harm” to state security, prison security, discipline, or proper prison routine leave considerable liberty for authorities to claim that there are grounds for isolation. Prisoners held in isolation are held in a cell alone or with one other prisoner for 23 hours a day. They are allowed to leave their cell for a daily one hour solitary walk; on the way to their walk, the prisoners’ hands and feet are typically shackled. Handcuffs may sometimes be removed, but prisoners report that, in many cases, they remained handcuffed and sometimes even leg shackled during the walk. During every transfer from the isolation cell, including for attorney visits, the prisoner’s hands and feet are shackled, and he or she is accompanied by a prison officer. Isolation cells in the various Israeli prisons are similar in size – typically from 1.5 by 2 meters to 3 by 3.5 meters. Each cell usually has one window measuring about 50cm by 100cm, which in most cases does not allow in sufficient light or air from the outside. Isolation cells also include a toilet and shower; prisoners typically hang a curtain to separate the toilet and shower area from the rest of the cell. The cell usually has an iron door, which includes an opening at its lower part, through which guards insert food trays. Prisoners held in these cells are thus prevented from having any eye contact with other prisoners in the isolation wing or even with guards. In a few prisons only, the doors of isolation cells are made of iron grid, allowing eye contact to be maintained. Isolated prisoners are generally allowed to keep a television set, radio, electric hotplate, and electric kettle in their cells. These appliances may be bought at the prisoners’ own expense in the canteen and are sometimes taken away as a punitive measure. Isolated Palestinian prisoners may receive books from the ICRC and their families during visits, but the prisons impose restrictions as to the kinds and number of books prisoners are allowed to receive. Prisoners also receive newspapers in Arabic free of charge, such as the Jerusalem Arabic daily Al Quds, but other newspapers in Hebrew or English are distributed only to those holding a subscription. The newspapers are always distributed after a delay and are typically not current. Although Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons are allowed to study via correspondence at the Open University of Israel, prisoners who are held in isolation are not allowed to do so. (1) Prisoners and detainees are typically reliant on canteens for food, clothes, personal hygiene items and most cleaning products, as the IPS does not provide many essential items. Sometimes, prison authorities close an isolated prisoner’s canteen account, as has occurred to dozens of prisoners, especially those who have been associated with Hamas. When this occurs, the prisoners receive from prison authorities essential personal hygiene products and cleaning products for their cells, but may be forced to go without other basic items. Isolation can be ordered by the courts, and by security authorities such as the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), but is most frequently levied by prison officials. The length of time in isolation that prison officials may order depends entirely on their rank, and can extend from 12 hours to longer periods of six to 12 months, with approval of the court. The courts may order that a prisoner be isolated for up to 12 month renewable periods, and the ISA may order isolation for similar long periods as well when citing security concerns. Under Article 19D of the Ordinance, prisoners subjected to isolation have the right to a court hearing if the duration of isolation exceeds 96 hours (2). The hearing must be conducted in the presence of the prisoner and his or her attorney, though broad provisions disable any protections engendered for the prisoner by enabling the courts to use confidential material not disclosed to the prisoner or his or her counsel. The court’s decision at this hearing may be challenged on appeal to the Israeli High Court. LACK OF LEGAL CHALLENGES TO ISOLATION ORDERS Difficulties inherent in legal challenges to isolation orders Both the Prisons Ordinance (New Version), 1971, and the Commissions Ordinance provide isolated prisoners with the right to a hearing. However, most Palestinian prisoners do not receive legal representation during court proceedings on isolation. The proceedings are conducted in Hebrew with poor or ineffective translation. Isolation orders on state security grounds are typically based on undisclosed information to which neither the prisoner nor his attorney is privy. Thus, prisoners and detainees subjected to isolation have no effective recourse to challenge the conditions of their detention under the law. Degenerating Israeli laws regarding the imposition of isolation In 2000, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Ordinance, which established internal and external mechanisms for review of isolation. The amendment stipulated that isolation be employed as a last resort only, that a judge’s ruling be required in order to extend individual isolation beyond six months and joint isolation beyond twelve months, and that prisoners had a right to a hearing during isolation proceedings. This amendment resulted in a significant decline in the number of prisoners held in isolation. In 2006, however, the law was amended again, producing many of the provisions detailed above. The criteria for isolating a prisoner were expanded, as were the powers of those authorized to order isolation, and additional controlling mechanisms were canceled. The amendment also broadens the ability of the detaining authorities to use confidential material in justifying isolation, critically limiting the prisoner’s ability to challenge their detention conditions and nullifying the effectiveness of court proceedings. EFFECTS OF ISOLATION ON PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AND DETAINEES Any use of solitary confinement or isolation exacerbates underlying structural isolation. The use of solitary confinement and isolation against Palestinian prisoners and detainees further exacerbates the underlying structural isolation imposed on all Palestinian prisoners resulting from their illegal imprisonment inside Israel. In 1995, Israel transferred all Palestinian prisoners from the OPT to facilities inside Israel, in direct violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an Occupying Power must detain residents of occupied territory in prisons inside the occupied territory. This violation of international humanitarian law effectively isolates prisoners from their families, community and the outside world. This isolation is only exacerbated by additional restrictions imposed by the IPS and other security authorities such as: the prohibition of telephone communication between prisoners and their families and friends; restrictions on the receipt of letters, newspapers and books; the requirement to coordinate attorney visits, and most importantly the requirement to coordinate family visits. Solitary confinement and isolation during interrogation Following the September 1999 Israeli High Court of Justice decision in The Public Committee Against Torture v. The Government of Israel, in which the Court ruled that some of the interrogation methods used by the General Security Service against Palestinian detainees were illegal, alternative, non-physical methods of interrogation – not necessarily in accordance with the Court’s decision –, began to be used more frequently. One of such methods is solitary confinement. According to Israeli military law, security authorities may hold a detainee for interrogation without charge for up to 188 days, and may prohibit a detainee from meeting with a lawyer for up to 90 days. Delayed access may also apply to meetings with ICRC representatives, who are authorized by international agreements to visit Palestinian detainees who are under interrogation. The detainee is thus completely disconnected from the outside world for a prolonged duration. Solitary confinement is thus often used as a means of pressure and coercion into forced confessions. Isolation of political leaders In addition to the use of isolation as a punishment for offence in prison, for health considerations typically in cases of mental illness and, occasionally, at the detainee or prisoner’s request, isolation is also used to silence prominent Palestinian political figures, as a form of punishment, as a method to push prisoners to collaborate and as a means of vindictive long-term treatment. The reason behind the isolation of prominent political detainees and prisoners is to keep them from contributing to internal facility and external community political discourse. At the same time, isolation is almost often applied against Palestinian prisoners who are act as leaders in organizing hunger strikes. Most recently, the Israeli Prison Service commonly used isolation as a way to break up unity in the general hunger strike of 2004 which was joined by approximately 2,900 prisoners and supported by all Palestinian political factions. The strike lasted from 15 August until 31 August 2004, a total of seventeen days. The case of Ahmad Sa’adat, the former Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and an elected Palestinian Legislative Council member, also illustrates the trend of isolation as a means to silence prominent political figures. Now serving a 30-year prison sentence following his conviction in December 2008 for offenses arising from his leadership of the PFLP, Sa’adat has been moved repeatedly, from Hadarim prison to Nafha and back, then to Ashkelon and finally Rimonim, where he remains at present. Beginning with his abduction by Israeli authorities from Jericho jail on 14 March 2006, he has been held in solitary confinement or isolation for long periods. On 16 March 2009, Sa’adat was ordered into isolation until June 2009; this isolation was consistently renewed until he was removed from isolation in May 2012 as a result of Palestinian prisoners' mass hunger strike. Sa’adat’s isolation extended further than his confinement to a particular cell: he suffers from cervical neck pain, high blood pressure and asthma and has reportedly not been examined by a medical doctor. For the first seven months of his detention, he received no family visits. When Sa’adat went on a nine day hunger strike in June 2009 in protest of his ongoing isolation, Ashkelon prison administration imposed further restrictions on him, including denial of family visits, a ban on visits to the prison canteen and on smoking, a fine of 200 shekels and an order to serve an additional week in isolation. Resulting health toll on those subjected to isolation Research demonstrates that the use of long-term isolation and solitary confinement can lead to severe mental damages ranging from sleep disturbances, through depression and anxiety, to psychotic reactions, such as visual and auditory hallucinations, paranoid states, disorientation with regards to time and space, states of acute confusion, and thought disorders. While confinement is difficult enough for mentally healthy detainees and prisoners, it can create further damage to those that suffer from mental illnesses. This becomes a complicated problem, as mental health services in Israeli prisons are wholly inadequate. Services are typically limited to medication only and do not include accompanying supportive therapy sessions, and, in most cases, prison psychiatrists do not speak Arabic but rather must interact with patients through a prison staff translator. Prison mental health personnel are generally unfamiliar with the culture and social codes of the Palestinian population, which creates additional barriers to the provision of optimal mental health treatment. In addition, research has also shown that prolonged isolation can have physiological effects such as intestinal problems, cardiovascular, and genito-urinary symptoms. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND ISOLATION UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW Treaties and international agreements that address prisoners’ rights prohibit the use of solitary confinement as a punitive measure or attempt to limit its use significantly. For example, article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides that all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners clearly express that solitary confinement, as a form of punishment, should be used infrequently and exceptionally. It also stipulates in article 31 that corporal punishment or punishment by holding a prisoner in a dark cell and any other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment are prohibited as a disciplinary measure. The Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (1990), a UN General Assembly resolution, encourages the restriction or abolition of solitary confinement as a punishment. In addition, in certain cases and in specific circumstances, solitary confinement and isolation can rise to the level of torture and ill-treatment and are therefore prohibited by international law. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has stated that “[s]olitary confinement can, in certain circumstances, amount to inhuman and degrading treatment; in any event, all forms of solitary confinement should be as short as possible.” Similarly, in its general comment on article 7 of the ICCPR, the Human Rights Committee stated that, “[e]ven such a measure as solitary confinement may, according to circumstances, and especially when the person is kept incommunicado, be contrary to this article.” It therefore becomes a question of fact whether a particular form or incident of solitary confinement or isolation amounts to torture or ill-treatment in violation of article 7 of the ICCPR. Factors to be considered in this assessment may include: the duration of the solitary or isolated confinement; whether the use of solitary confinement or isolation is more extreme than necessary to achieve reasonable disciplinary objectives or the protection of the prisoner from other inmates; and, whether the decision to institute solitary confinement or isolation was made following a controlled decision making process or whether it was the result of arbitrary or vindictive behavior by the prison administration. (1) Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons are allowed to study only at the Open University of Israel, and may not continue their studies at any other institution, even if they were enrolled there prior to their incarceration or if the university so approves. The IPS claims that prisoners are barred from participating in study programs in conjunction with Arab universities for security reasons. (2) Commission Ordinance 04.03.00, Article 6, states that extending individual or joint isolation beyond the initial 96 hours requires holding an oral hearing before the person who made the decision. Article 7 of the Commission Ordinance indicates that the hearing is to take place only prior to the first extension; subsequently the prisoner may make his or her arguments in writing against the decision to extend isolation. Article 7E stipulates that the IPS has the authority to order isolation even after the court has denied the IPS’s request to isolate, if grounds for isolation continue to exist after the decision

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E. Coli and raw spinach Even though the mystery of E. Coli in raw spinach has not been solved, many scientists believe the culprits are the dairy and farm industries. The shipper implicated in the outbreak, Natural Selection Foods, that packages salad greens under more than two dozen brands, including Earthbound Farm, O Organic and the Farmer’s Market, seemed to have used proper handling methods. The threat of the virulent E. Coli strain O57:H7 might come from waste lagoons which are likely to contaminate the soil and water and thus spread the bacteria in vegetables such as spinach. Usually, grass-fed cattle do not carry the virulent strain in their intestinal tracts. It is the grain-fed cattle which does, so a solution to decrease the spread of E. Coli o57:H7 is to stop feeding grain to cattle and let them graze on grass. To read the full article please visit By raising animals in a humane way in accord with God’s ideal, the negative consequences as a result of our abuse and exploitation of God’s creatures, are likely to decrease. By being good stewards of all of God’s creation, animals and humans could live a healthier, fuller and more joyful live. Your question and comments are welcome

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How Global Warming Will Make Hurricanes Like Irene Worse Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Climate science suggests that global warming will make hurricanes like Irene more destructive in three ways (all things being equal): On the third point, warming also extends the range of warm SSTs, which can help sustain the strength of a hurricane as it steers on a northerly track. As meteorologist and former hurricane hunter Dr. Jeff Masters has explained: … this year sea surface temperatures 1 – 3°F warmer than average extend along the East Coast from North Carolina to New York. Waters of at least 26°C extend all the way to Southern New Jersey, which will make it easier for Irene to maintain its strength much farther to the north than a hurricane usually can. During the month of July, ocean temperature off the mid-Atlantic coast (35°N – 40°N, 75°W – 70°W) averaged 2.6°F (1.45°C) above average, the second highest July ocean temperatures since record keeping began over a century ago (the record was 3.8°F above average, set in 2010.) These warm ocean temperatures will also make Irene a much wetter hurricane than is typical, since much more water vapor can evaporate into the air from record-warm ocean surfaces. Also, hurricanes tend to be self-limiting, in that they churn up deeper (usually cooler) water, that can stop them from gaining strength and also weaken them. So since global warming also warms the deeper ocean, it further helps hurricanes stay stronger longer. One says, “all things being equal,” because, among other things, it is possible that global warming will increase wind shear, which can disrupt hurricanes. The media prefer to ask the wrong question — as Politico did Friday with its piece, “Was Hurricane Irene caused by global warming?” But they do have a good quote from perhaps the leading expert on the subject: “I think the evidence is fairly compelling that we’re seeing a climate change signal in the Atlantic, ” said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Citing other recent trends of extreme weather, including hailstorms and catastrophic tornadoes, “one begins to wonder, if you add all those up, maybe you are seeing a global warming effect.” Still, he adds, “I would be reluctant myself to say anything about global warming and Irene” — but again, that I think is a function of asking the wrong question. That’s a point Climate Central makes in its post on this subject, “ Irene’s Potential for Destruction Made Worse by Global Warming, Sea Level Rise“: At the moment, the immediate question for anyone in the path of the storm is — or should be — “how can I keep myself and my loved ones safe?” But another question may be lingering in the background. It’s the same question that came up in April, when a series of killer tornadoes tore up the South in April, and in May, when floods ravaged the entire Mississippi River basin, and in July, when killer heat waves seared the Midwest and Northeast, and in August, when Texas officially completed its worst one-year drought on record — a drought that isn’t over by a long shot.

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