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Guadeloupe, in the West Indies about 300 mi (483 km) southeast of Puerto Rico, was explored by Columbus in 1493. It consists of the twin islands of Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre and five dependencies—Marie-Galante, Les Saintes, La Désirade, St. Barthélemy, and the northern three-fifths of St. Martin. The volcano Soufrière (4,813 ft; 1,467 m), also called La Grande Soufrière, is the highest point on Guadeloupe.
French colonization began in 1635, and in 1674 Guadeloupe became part of the domain of France. In 1946, it became an overseas department of France.
See also Encyclopedia: Guadeloupe .
| 3.569236 |
(AP) Many Brazilians cast their country as racial democracy where people of different groups long have intermarried, resulting in a large mixed-race population. But you need only turn on the TV, open the newspaper or stroll down the street to see clear evidence of segregation.
In Brazil, whites are at the top of the social pyramid, dominating professions of wealth, prestige and power. Dark-skinned people are at the bottom of the heap, left to clean up after others and take care of their children and the elderly.
The 2010 census marked the first time in which black and mixed-race people officially outnumbered whites, weighing in at just over 50 percent, compared with 47 percent for whites. Researchers suggest that Brazil actually may have been a majority-nonwhite country for some time, with the latest statistics reflecting a decreased social stigma that makes it easier for nonwhites to report their actual race.
It is a mix of anomalies in Brazil that offers lessons to a United States now in transition to a "majority-minority" nation: how racial integration in social life does not always translate to economic equality, and how centuries of racial mixing are no guaranteed route to a colorblind society.
Nearly all TV news anchors in Brazil are white, as are the vast majority of doctors, dentists, fashion models and lawyers. Most maids and doormen, street cleaners and garbage collectors are black. There is only one black senator and there never has been a black president, though a woman, Dilma Rousseff, leads the country now.
A decade of booming economic growth and wealth-redistribution schemes has narrowed the income gap between blacks and whites, but it remains pronounced. In 2011, the average black or mixed-race worker earned just 60 percent what the average white worker made. That was up from 2001, when black workers earned 50.5 percent what white workers made, according to Brazil's national statistics agency.
Brazil recently instituted affirmative action programs to help boost the numbers of black and mixed-race college students, though both groups continue to be proportionally underrepresented at the nation's universities. They made up just 10 percent of college students in 2001, and now account for 35 percent. Those numbers probably will continue to rise because of a new law that reserves half the spots in federal universities for high school graduates of public schools and distributes them according to states' racial makeup.
Still, black faces remain the exception at elite colleges.
Nubia de Lima, a 29-year-old black producer for Globo television network, said she experiences racism on a daily basis, in the reactions and comments of strangers who are constantly taking her for a maid, a nanny or a cook, despite her flair for fashion and pricey wardrobe.
"People aren't used to seeing black people in positions of power," she said. "It doesn't exist. They see you are black and naturally assume that you live in a favela (hillside slum) and you work as a housekeeper."
She added that upper middle-class black people like herself are in a kind of limbo, too affluent and educated to live in favelas but still largely excluded from high-rent white neighborhoods.
"Here it's a racism of exclusion," de Lima said.
| 3.182988 |
As 2012 nears its end, one thing stands out as the major theme in human evolution research this year: Our hominid ancestors were more diverse than scientists had ever imagined. Over the past 12 months, researchers have found clues indicating that throughout most of hominids’ seven-million-year history, numerous species with a range of adaptations lived at any given time. Here are my top picks for the most important discoveries this year.
1. Fossil foot reveals Lucy wasn’t alone: Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis, lived roughly 3.0 million to 3.9 million years ago. So when researchers unearthed eight 3.4-million-year-old hominid foot bones in Ethiopia, they expected the fossils to belong to Lucy’s kind. The bones do indicate the creature walked upright on two legs, but the foot had an opposable big toe useful for grasping and climbing. That’s not something you see in A. afarensis feet. The researchers who analyzed the foot say it does resemble that of the 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus, suggesting that some type of Ardipithecus species may have been Lucy’s neighbor. But based on such few bones, it’s too soon to know what to call this species.
2. Multiple species of early Homo lived in Africa: Since the 1970s, anthropologists have debated how many species of Homo lived about two million years ago after the genus appeared in Africa. Some researchers think there were two species: Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis; others say there was just H. habilis, a species with a lot of physical variation. It’s been a hard question to address because there’s only one well-preserved fossil, a partial skull, of the proposed species H. rudolfensis. In August, researchers working in Kenya announced they had found a lower jaw that fits with the previously found partial skull of H. rudolfensis. The new jaw doesn’t match the jaws of H. habilis, so the team concluded there must have been at least two species of Homo present.
The London Olympics are a great excuse to talk about England’s hominid history. Current evidence suggests that hominids reached Great Britain by at least 800,000 years ago, when the island was connected to mainland Europe. Since then, as many as four different hominid species have lived there. Coming and going in response to climate change, hominids probably fled England during extreme cold times when glacial ice covered the area. Sometime between 450,000 and 200,000 years ago, catastrophic flooding of a glacial lake eroded the land bridge connecting Great Britain and Europe and changed the drainage patterns of the region’s rivers. As a consequence, during warm periods when polar ice sheets melted and sea levels rose, the land bridge was transformed into a channel. This barrier probably explains why hominids are absent from the fossil record 180,000 to 60,000 years ago. It wasn’t until 12,000 years ago that the ancestors of modern Brits finally arrived on the island and stayed for good.
With that mini-review in mind, here are five of England’s most important human evolution discoveries.
| 3.487757 |
The Bible indicates that Adam and Eve's first son, Cain, slew his younger brother Abel because of jealousy over the acceptance of his brother's offering over his own. Immediately after being banished to the east in the land of Nod, Cain found a wife and raised a family and founded a "city" called Enoch. If Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Abel the second, then how could Cain have found a wife and built a city?
Creation of humanity
The Bible describes the creation of humanity in Genesis, the first book. According to the chapter one account, God created male and female human beings in His image.1 Chapter two of Genesis goes into more detail about the creation of mankind. According to the narrative, God created Adam, the first man,2 then, some time later, created Eve.3 Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from Eden.4 They produced two sons, Cain and Abel.5 Both Cain and Abel presented sacrifices to God, but Cain's was rejected,6 because he expended a half-hearted effort.7 So, Cain became angry and murdered his brother in a fit of jealousy.8
Cain is exiled
God confronted Cain about the murder of Abel and banished him to the east of Eden. The problem arises in the next verse, where suddenly Cain is married and builds a city:
- Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Genesis 4:16)
- Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. (Genesis 4:17)
The assumption seems to be that Cain and Abel were the first two children of Adam and Eve. Although Cain does seem to be the firstborn, the text is not clear that Abel was the second born, but only that he was the second son.5 Later, the narrative indicates that Adam and Eve produced "other sons and daughters."9 So, it is possible that Adam and Eve produced daughters between the births of Cain and Abel. It is also likely that others sons and daughters were produced after the birth of Abel. We don't know how old Cain and Abel were when Cain murdered his brother, but they seem to be at least young adults, since they are both engage in a trade for their living.5 The second thing one notices is Cain's seeming paranoia about being found and revenge being taken against his for killing Abel.10 The only way this makes sense is if the brothers and sisters of Abel were upset that Cain had killed their brother. Although the period of time between the birth of Cain and the death of Abel is not given in the Bible, it would seem that this period was probably over 100 years, since the birth of Adam's next son, Seth is said to have occurred when Adam was 130 years old.11 Adam and Eve could have produced many daughters during that period of time.
Cain builds a "city"
So, the Genesis narrative suggests that Cain had other brothers and sisters when he was exiled by God. One of those sisters married Cain (or more likely had already been married to Cain when he killed his brother), became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch somewhere east of Eden. The next problem that arises is the claim that Cain "built a city." To us, in the 21st century, this evokes images of skyscrapers and high density housing. However, the original Hebrew word, translated "city," merely had the meaning of a place that was guarded by a watch or with a wall.12 At its minimum, the Hebrew root referred to an encampment or post. So, it is entirely possible that Cain could have built such a "city."
Skeptics have pointed out that the only viable solution to the problem of Cain's wife (Cain marrying his sister) suffers from theological problems, since close relations were not allowed to marry according to Jewish law.13 However, all of these events happened before the law was given. According to the Apostle Paul, when there is no law, there can be no violation of the law or sin.14 So, since the law against incest was not given until thousands of years later, there was no theological problem with Cain marrying his sister.
Many skeptics object to the idea that Cain married his sister from a scientific viewpoint, since inbreeding leads to the expression of detrimental recessive mutations. This is why punctuated equilibrium does not represent a viable evolutionary mechanism, since species sorting does not really lead to the formation of new species, but to the extinction of the current species.15 However, scientists have developed completely inbred strains of mice whose individuals are all genetically identical. The process involves selecting out the defects. The resulting strains of mice are regularly interbred and do not suffer from any defects (although scientists also raise strains of inbred mice that possess a single genetic defect, for study). In the same way, I believe that the first two humans were created without genetic defects. Inbreeding among their offspring did not lead to defects until many generations later as spontaneous mutations accumulated. At that point, God instituted laws against incest to minimize the expression of genetic mutations that had developed within our species.
Is has been shown that the Bible's claim that Cain, the first offspring of Adam and Eve, could have found a wife is found to be plausible if he had chosen among one of his sisters (and he probably had already done so before he murdered Abel). Since there seems to have been at least 100 years between the birth of Cain and the death of Abel, Adam and Eve would have had plenty of time to produce daughters for Cain to choose from. Brothers and sisters marrying seems to be a theological problem, since the Bible is quite clear that one should not marry a close relative. However, the Jewish laws were not instituted until thousands of years later, so there would have been no prohibition against such marriages at that time. Skeptics also say that such interbreeding would have produced a genetically crippled population. However, if God had created human beings, as the Bible says, then it would be expected that they would have been created without genetic defects. The accumulation of detrimental mutations would taken many generations, at which time God instituted the laws against incest to protect against the majority of these defects.
- Doesn't Genesis One Contradict Genesis Two?
- Answers to Biblical "Contradictions"
- Eye for an Eye or Love Thy Neighbor? Are the Messages of the Old and New Testaments Different?
- The Biblical Design for Human Sexuality
- General Rebuttal to the Theory of Evolution
- Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)
- Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:7-8)
- Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:18-22)
- Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
- Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. (Genesis 4:1-2)
- So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an
offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part
also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but
for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very
angry and his countenance fell. (Genesis 4:3-5)
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. (Hebrews 11:4)
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. (1 John 3:11-12)
- Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:6-7)
- Cain called Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. (Genesis 4:8)
- Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:4)
- "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." (Genesis 4:14)
- When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. (Genesis 5:3)
- Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions:
‛ı̂yr/‛âr/‛âyar עיר/ער/עיר (Strong's H5892)
- excitement, anguish
- of terror
- city, town (a place of waking, guarded)
- city, town
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H5782 a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1587a, 1615
- excitement, anguish
- Incest (sexual relations with close family members, including
your mother, sister, niece, aunt, daughter-in-law, and
sister-in-law) is prohibited:
- "'No one is to approach any close relative to have
sexual relations. I am the LORD. Do not dishonor
your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your
mother; do not have relations with her. Do not
have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your
father. Do not have sexual relations with your
sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether
she was born in the same home or elsewhere. Do not
have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's
daughter; that would dishonor you. Do not have
sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your
father; she is your sister. Do not have sexual
relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative.
Do not have sexual relations with your mother's
sister, because she is your mother's close relative. Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to
have sexual relations; she is your aunt. Do not
have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife;
do not have relations with her. Do not have
sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your
brother. Do not have sexual relations with both a
woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's
daughter or her daughter's daughter; they are her close relatives. That is
wickedness. Do not take your wife's sister as a
rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.'"
"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" Cursed is the man who sleeps with his mother-in-law." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" (Deuteronomy 27:22-23)
- "'No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD. Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your father. Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; that would dishonor you. Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father; she is your sister. Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative. Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister, because she is your mother's close relative. Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt. Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not have relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother. Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness. Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.'" (Leviticus 18:6-18)
- There is no sin when there is no law:
- For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; (Romans 2:12)
- for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. (Romans 4:15)
- for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)
- See General Rebuttal to the Theory of Evolution.
Last Modified August 15, 2009
| 3.140486 |
The Stockholm Syndrome
when they receive good from whence they expected evil, feel the more indebted
to their benefactor.”
“Men, when they receive good from whence they expected evil, feel the more indebted to their benefactor.” – Machiavelli
What is the Stockholm syndrome?
How did the expression Stockholm syndrome originate?
What other situations does this syndrome cover?
Slavery and Bondage
An interesting aside
is the Stockholm syndrome?
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological state in which the victims of a
kidnapping, or persons detained against their free will, develop an emotional
attachment, a bond of interdependence with their captors.
This is enhanced when the captive is placed in a life-threatening
situation and is then spared. The
relief that results from the removal of the threat generates intense feelings of
gratitude which, combined with the fear, makes the victim reluctant subsequently
to cooperate with those seeking to prosecute the oppressor.
defining characteristic of Stockholm syndrome is the tendency to react to
threatening circumstances not with the usual fight-or-flight response, but by
"freezing," as some animals do by playing dead in order to fool
predators. Stockholm syndrome is a position of passivity and acquiescence that
works in a similar way as a strategy for survival.
This situation was summed up well by one of the hostages of the TWA Flight 847 hi-jack in June 1985: “They weren’t bad people. They let me eat, they let me sleep, they gave me my life.”
did the expression Stockholm Syndrome originate?
In August 1973, a 32 year old named Jan-Erik Olsson, having escaped from prison, attempted to rob a Stockholm bank. His attempt went awry and, in the best Hollywood tradition, he held four employees hostage in a vault for six days. Despite Olsson’s threats to kill them, the four bank workers bonded so thoroughly with him that they refused to denounce him and, indeed, criticized their rescuers.
here for The Name is Bond, a detailed
description of the event.
other situations does this syndrome cover?
is now accepted that there are a number of situations where people, held in
thrall by forces they feel helpless to resist, seek to appease those forces and
work with them. This is no more than a basic survival instinct.
It applies, for example, to “battered women” who display a strange
need to be loyal to their husbands or partners and often resist appeals to
escape or take other defensive action.
Both hostages and battered women share psychological and emotional responses to their victimizers. Hostages are overwhelmingly grateful to their captors for giving them life; battered women are inordinately grateful to their abusers for giving them love. Each focuses on the victimizer's kindnesses not their acts of brutality. Both feel fear, as well as love, compassion and empathy toward someone who has shown them any kindness. Such acts of kindness help to ease the emotional distress that has been created and sets the stage for emotional dependency. Battered women may assume that the abuser is a good man whose actions stem from problems that she can help him solve.
Against Domestic Violence (WADV) states that: "battering is a pattern of
behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear
and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. Battering
happens when one person believes they are entitled to control another. Assault,
battering and domestic violence are crimes.
may include emotional abuse, economic abuse, sexual abuse, using children,
threats, using male privilege, intimidation, isolation, and a variety of other
behaviors used to maintain fear, intimidation and power. In all cultures, the
perpetrators are most commonly the men of the family. Women are most commonly
the victims of violence. Elder and child abuse are also prevalent.
of domestic violence generally fall into one or more of the following
Battering - The abuser’s physical attacks or aggressive behavior can range
from bruising to murder. It often begins with what is excused as trivial
contacts which escalate into more frequent and serious attacks. Sexual Abuse -
Physical attack by the abuser is often accompanied by, or culminates in, sexual
violence wherein the woman is forced to have sexual intercourse with her abuser
or take part in unwanted sexual activity.
"Psychological Battering -The abuser’s psychological or mental violence can include constant verbal abuse, harassment, excessive possessiveness, isolating the woman from friends and family, deprivation of physical and economic resources, and destruction of personal property. Battering escalates. It often begins with behaviors like threats, name calling, violence in her presence (such as punching a fist through a wall), and/or damage to objects or pets. It may escalate to restraining, pushing, slapping, and/or pinching. The battering may include punching, kicking, biting, sexual assault, tripping, throwing. Finally, it may become life-threatening with serious behaviors such as choking, breaking bones, or the use of weapons."
Differences between hostages and battered women *
|Typically male||Typically female|
|Involuntary initiation of relationship||Voluntary initiation of relationship|
|Emotional attachment to captor begins after abuse begins||Love for abuser begins before abuse begins|
|Short period of victimization: days, weeks or months.||Long term victimization. Can last for decades.|
|Public authorities sympathetic to plight, seeing them as having little control over their situation. Media attention.||Victim-blaming: "They like/want/cause and/or deserve abuse. All they need to do is leave.|
|Outsiders likely to negotiate for release. Hostages generally released from captivity or rescued by authorities.||Battered women negotiate with abuser on own and their children's behalf. Victim thrown on own devices for leaving.|
|Negotiations for release not dependent on proving they are targets of physical violence nor wanted or provoked it.||Outsiders reluctant to intervene unless a battered woman can prove she was subject to life-threatening violence.|
|Authorities attempt to capture and punish hostage-takers.||Abusers rarely punished unless women or children killed.|
|Hostages who kill captors are regarded as heroes.||Most battered women who killed their abuser have been convicted and punished.|
|Hostages are known to visit imprisoned captors and refuse to testify against them.||Victims will often drop charges and/or return to their abuser after having left.|
|Hostages report feeling that their captors, even those who are jailed, will return to capture them again.||Battered women who return often report doing so from fear they will be killed, or believe abuser has or can be reformed.|
(a) Patty Hearst
Patricia (Patty) Hearst was a millionaire’s daughter, granddaughter of the American publishing baron William Randolph Hearst, who was kidnapped and tortured by a group called the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA).
In February 1974 she was abducted from her Berkeley, California apartment and extortionate demands from the SLA led to donations by the Hearst family of six million dollars-worth of food to the poor of the San Francisco Bay Area. But of, or from, Miss Hearst there was no word.
April 1974, however, she was photographed wielding an assault rifle during the
course of a robbery of the Sunset branch of the Hibernia Bank.
Later communications from her revealed that she had changed her name to Tania and was committed to the goals of the SLA. A warrant was issued for her arrest and in September 1975 she was arrested in an apartment with other SLA members.
At her trial, which started in 1976, Hearst claimed she had been locked blindfolded in a closet and physically and sexually abused, which caused her to become a convert to the SLA, A clear analogy exists here between the case of Patty Hearst and the bonding that had occurred in the Stockholm bank incident of two years earlier, albeit that this was a rather more extreme example of the syndrome.
(b) Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Ann Smart was kidnapped in June 2002 from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was five months short of her 15th birthday.
Nine months after her abduction Elizabeth was found with two homeless adults, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, in Sandy, Utah, when they were stopped by police. At that time she refused to reveal her true identity, nor had she earlier run for help when the opportunity had been available to her. Mitchell had earlier done handyman work at the Smart house.
The case inevitably provoked comparison with Patty Hearst and evoked references to the Stockholm syndrome, although the generally expressed opinion of her family and friends was that she must have been brainwashed by her captors.
Mitchell's lawyer has told a television station that his client considers the 15-year-old his wife and "still loves her". He added that he did not consider Elizabeth's disappearance a kidnapping, but a "call from God."
"He wanted me to tell the world that she is his wife, and he still loves her and knows that she still loves him, that no harm came to her during their relationship and the adventure that went on,"
Mitchell, an excommunicated Mormon and self-style prophet, wrote a rambling manifesto last year espousing the virtues of polygamy. The Mormon church has long distanced itself from polygamy and excommunicates those who practice it. His lawyer suggested that giving a light sentence to his client could send a signal to kidnappers that they should keep their captives alive.
"As a doctor, it's amazing to me that you can become so brainwashed that you identify with your captor," grandfather Charles Smart said. During her time with her abductors, "Elizabeth had the chance of escaping. One day she was completely by herself, but she didn't try to run away," he added. He did not elaborate on circumstances in which the girl was left alone.
SLAVERY AND BONDAGE
applies also to the reluctance or refusal to escape from political or economic
bondage. In the area of racial,
ethnic or geographical slavery, the oppressed usually appear blind to the
reality of their enslavement after long periods (sometimes generations) of
subjugation to political and economic forces.
They may complain or agitate, but seem strangely incapable of
comprehending the precise nature of their situation in order to escape.
Slavery, it has been said, has been the fate of almost everyone during the whole history of human political activity. If you think that you are not caught up in some form of slavery (in particular, slavery to implanted beliefs) then you are either captivated and blinded by your situation and the deceit of your oppressors, or you have had a life of miraculous good luck. If the latter then you must feel quite lonely and frustrated at not being able to convey the truth of their situation to others.”
This may be a time to recall the wisdom of Thomas Szasz:
"Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.
“It is so difficult to face the sacrifice of ideas to which we have adapted our lives. But it may become possible, even easy, if we understand that it is our human ability to self-sacrifice that creates the food of wisdom and a healthy mind. Self-sacrifice (of belief to better information) is the fuel of our intellectual progress.”
could be postulated that the willingness of many people to accept the abuse of
goods and service providers is merely a variant on the Stockholm syndrome, akin
to that of battered wives. In order
to justify bad choices, people will often rationalize and defend their
decisions. Mobile telephone
companies, TV satellite suppliers, internet service providers . . . no matter
how much we may complain directly to them, we tend to defend them when speaking
to others. To denounce them would
be to admit to our own insufficiency.
Here’s an interesting variation on the theme.
Helen Smith, in her TCS essay on the book by David Frum and Richard Perle, An
End to Evil: (Random House, 2004) writes:
. . some Americans seem to believe that if we can "feel our enemies'
pain," then we will be on the path to enlightenment and peace. This belief
could not be further from the truth. In my private practice, I don't work with
terrorists but I do work with violent people. I used to believe (as many of my
colleagues still do) that empathizing with my patients and increasing their
self-esteem would help them on the path to self-actualization.
course, for some anxiety-ridden patients who need faith in themselves, the
technique of empathy and support works. However, for
those patients with serious violent tendencies, just the opposite is true.
With those patients, I've found that setting clear boundaries and making
judgments about their immoral behavior works like a charm.
“Those patients who threatened me backed down only when I got up
in their face and told them forcefully to stop -- the slightest hint of
fear or intimidation (or sympathy!) on my part was met with increased
threats. In the real world of private practice,
confronting real murderers, I learned to act in ways that were different from
what I had been taught in graduate school.
there are still those in the ivory tower who have not learned this valuable
lesson. They continue to believe that to humanize and to empathize with violent
students, professors, and terrorists is the only way to treat those who wish to
do them harm. In fact, however, the old saw "give them an inch and they'll
take a mile" applies. Without clear boundaries, and a sense of
consequences, their behavior will spiral out of control until they injure
themselves and others.”
“In our attempt to be
overly-tolerant and empathetic, we start to identify too much with the enemy
(very much like those suffering from Stockholm
and start to dehumanize
the victims of terror.”
Thomas Strentz spend 20 years as a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit. He was a former marine, an expert in hostage situations, negotiation and survival, and stress management in correctional environments. Also, as a crime scene assessor and profiler, he conducted worldwide research for the FBI on terrorist activities, and was responsible for much of the original research on the Stockholm syndrome.
In 1980 he commented that "the victim's need to survive is stronger than his impulse to hat the person who has created his dilemma." The victim comes to see the captor as a "good guy", even a saviour. This situation occurs in response to four specific conditions:
1. A person threatens to kill another and is perceived as having the capability to do so.
2. The other cannot escape, so her or his life depends on the threatening person.
3. The threatened person is isolated from outsiders to that the only other perspective available to him or her is that of the threatening person.
4. The threatening person is perceived as showing some degree of kindness to the one being threatened.
For example, battered women assume that the abuser is a good man whose actions stem from problems that she can help him solve. Hostages are overwhelmingly grateful to terrorists for permitting them to live; they focus on the captors' kindnesses, not their acts of brutality.
* Based on details provided by the site of Women Helping Battered Women (WHBW)
LINKS TO SITES OF INTEREST
http://www.knut.com/english/stockhs.htm#eng - English translation of Swedish knut.com website.
http://familyrightsassociation.com/info/stockholm/syndrome.html - From the website of AFRA (American Family Rights Association)
http://www.nodo50.org/mujeresred/violencia-am-i.html - Domestic Stockholm Syndrome in Violence Against Women - English version from a Spanish university site .
http://strangerbox.topcities.com/disorders.html - Post-trauma page from The Real Dark Side site.
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By the early 1920s, AT&T engineers recognized that the open wire and cable in use at the time would be unable to carry the high frequencies needed for the broadband systems of the future. So Espenschied and Affel developed a new kind of wire system that could transmit a continuous range of high frequencies over long distances.
This revolutionary transmission system was based on the use of a coaxial conductor: two concentric cylinders of conducting material separated mainly by air. This structure reduced frequency losses and provided freedom from outside interference.
Espenschied and Affel were granted a patent in 1931. And in November 1936, the first voice transmission was made over coaxial cable installed between New York and Philadelphia.
The introduction of broadband coaxial cable made possible not only higher-capacity long distance circuits, but also intercity transmission of moving images, which paved the way for television.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 18:30 in Earth & Climate
WUDA, China, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say a 300 million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash, Pompeii-like, when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China.
- Penn researcher helps discover and characterize a 300-million-year-old forestMon, 20 Feb 2012, 21:31:15 EST
- Rare rhino fossil preserved by prehistoric volcanic eruptionWed, 21 Nov 2012, 23:03:32 EST
- Ancient forest emerges mummified from the ArcticWed, 15 Dec 2010, 11:52:02 EST
- Where the wild things go… when there's nowhere elseThu, 28 Feb 2013, 21:36:02 EST
- Small family farms in tropics can feed the hungry and preserve biodiversityMon, 22 Feb 2010, 15:39:14 EST
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The Geologic Timescale
Part of the Geology For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Geologists organize the 4.6 billion years of earth's history into sections based on important changes seen in the geologic record. The largest intervals are eons, with each eon composed of many millions of years. Within the eons are eras, which begin and end with dramatic changes in the types of plants and animals living on earth. Within each era are multiple periods, and within each period are multiple shorter epochs.
Because the intervals of the geologic timescale are based on observed changes in fossilized remains on life on earth, the span of time within each interval varies. While the divisions may be confusing at first, learning about the events in earth's history goes hand-in-hand with learning the geologic timescale, shown below. (The numbers on the right side reflect the absolute age, expressed in millions of years ago, of the earth at each interval.)
The geologic timescale is continually being revised by new research and more accurate dating methods. When changes are proposed, the International Commission on Stratigraphy determines if an official change to the timescale should be made. For the most recent version, check out the Commission's website at http://stratigraphy.org.
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Good, clean and fair
Three words: good, clean and fair. What do they mean?
In the context of Slow Food, they underpin everything that the movement stands for, namely food that’s GOOD, in other words food that is fresh, in season, and locally grown; CLEAN, is food that is produced and consumed in a way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and FAIR, means fair market conditions and pay for small-scale producers (and their workers) and reasonable prices for consumers.
Slow Food sees the role of the consumer (that’s you and me) differently. At Slow Food, we consider ourselves co-producers, not consumers, because by being informed about the food we eat, where it comes from and how our choices affect the rest of the world – we become a part of the production process.
As co-producers, our choices can change how our food is cultivated and produced. It’s up to us to seek out and support, in some cases even demand, food production that’s good, clean and fair.
To do this, we need to know who’s producing our food. Slow Food encourages co-producers to develop relationships with producers whenever possible by purchasing from them, and asking for product advice and information, and giving them feedback. Direct contact between local consumers and producers increases our understanding of what is seasonally available in our region, and confidence in the provenance of our food.
It’s a win-win relationship. Co-producers are better informed and rewarded with healthy, tasty, sustainably produced food, and farmers are motivated to safeguard food quality, biodiversity, and the environment.
Read more about food that’s GOOD, CLEAN, and FAIR
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Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Egotism means that you think the world revolves around you, and that you believe you are more important then you really are.
Egotism is the opposite of humility.
Egotism is not to be confused with high self-esteem, in which one views oneself favorably for whatever reason.
It is closely related to narcissism, or "loving one's self," and the possible tendency to speak or write of oneself boastfully and at great length. Egotism may coexist with delusions of one's own importance, at the denial of others. This conceit is a character trait describing a person who acts to gain values in an amount excessively greater than that which he/she gives to others. Egotism is often accomplished by exploiting the altruism, irrationality and ignorance of others, as well as utilizing coercive force and/or fraud.
Egotism differs from both altruism, or acting to gain fewer values than are being given, and egoism, a determination to gain and give an equal amount or degree of values. Various forms of "empirical egoism" can be consistent with egotism, as long as the value of one's own self-benefit is entirely individual.
Egotism is not to be confused with selfishness. Egotism is likely to cause selfishness, but a person can be egotistical without being selfish, and a person can be relatively selfish without being egotistical.
- Dominance (biology)
- Emotional superiority
- Vicarious autotheism
- Ethical egoism
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|
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New Jersey is called the crossroads of the American Revolution, because it held a key geographical position at the center of the new nation, and the armies were in or crossing it throughout the war. It was heavily involved in the fighting, due to the troop movements through the state, and its key geographic position between New York City and Philadelphia. New Jersey had more engagements than any other state during the war, closely followed by South Carolina.
Major actions in the state include:
Washington's troops crossed NJ from NY in 1776, chased by the British after the fall of NY to the British . In late Dec, 1776 to mid Jan 1777, he in turn chased the British out of most of NJ. See THE BATTLES OF TRENTON and PRINCETON, and the NJ Militia during the Revolution. November through December, 1776, is called the Crisis of the Revolution because it seemed the American army could not stand against the British, and the support for the Revolution came to a low ebb, until Washington reversed the military and political situation by the victories in Trenton and Princeton. During the Crisis, NJ, like many states, did not always perform well. The militia in large part refused to turn out to fight with Washington, many began to refuse to accept Continental paper money, and hundreds a day went to the British to sign allegiance papers. Much of this was caused by the poor showing of the Army, which had performed sometimes poorly in the Battles for New York. All the states at that time found support for the revolution decreasing. Still, some militia men resisted the British, such as the ones who ambushed Cornet Geary and his dragoons, south of Flemington, in mid Dec. of 1776. After these battles, the militia came out strong and defended the state well-see The Battle of Millstone for an example of what they did after the Battle of Princeton.
Many people at the time in NJ were "disaffected" as they called it- Tories and loyalist who supported the King. The revolution was actually a civil war, neighbor against neighbor, and it took years after the war to settle the old hatreds. The patriots looted the Tories, raided their strongholds, confiscated their lands, homes and businesses under the treason acts. The Loyalists returned the treatment whenever possible,and paid them back with interest, and passed information to the British about the rebels. Sometimes a father would have one son in one army and an other in the opposing camp in an effort to play both sides and keep his property no matter what the outcome of the war.
The British and their Hessian troops who entered the state to crush the rebellion were brutal in their habits, stealing, looting and raping, both patriots and loyalist. This later worked against them, since it seemed to many Jerseyians better to have local leaders than to trust to British protection after that horrible experience.
In the fall of 1777, the Lower Delaware River was held for a time against the British fleet from the Jersey shore, in the Delaware River Defense at Forts Mifflin and Mercer. In 1778 when the British abandoned Philadelphia, they crossed through NJ again, and Washington engaged them, and won, at Monmouth Court House.
The American army spent two winters at Morristown (see the Morristown site)(see the NPS site:Jockey Hollow National Park) in 1777, and again in 1779-80. Washington passed the winter of '78-'79 in MIDDLEBROOK, between Somerville and Bound Brook. In the winter of '81-82, some units were again posted at Morristown, and the lack of pay and supplies lead to two mutinies, one by the Pennsylvania troops there, and one by the NJ troops in Elizabethtown. Many times various armies passed through the state, on the way to New York, or Philadelphia, or upstate New York. The French allies marched through with the American forces on the way to Yorktown, and again on the way to New England to ship home.
In an attempt to open the route to Washington in the Watchung mountains in July of 1780, The British attacked the Americans around Springfield twice, the 2nd being one of the larger, but least mentioned battles of the war. The British were stopped at the foothills, and the Americans never understood what they hoped to accomplish. At this battle the militia came out strongly to support Washington's troops and were an important factor in the British withdrawal. This was the last of the battles between the armies in NJ. Raids continued throughout the war, especially by Loyalists from British held Staten Island and New York City.
Raids by loyalist units and from British held Staten Island, and against them in return, were common throughout the war. See Poor Twist- the death of a soldier. After the battle of Yorktown in Virginia, the regular troops just watched each other, but the bitter struggle between loyalist and patriot groups continued, and the hatred between sides remained high even after the war.
NJ made important contributions of war material such as raw iron and worked iron, including field pieces, muskets, and shot, salt, gunpowder, and cloth. Manufacturing had been prohibited by the British, and these were new and vital industries that were started.
New Jersey has a long sea coast with many small bays and small ports. During the Revolution they became important points for shipping since NYC was held by the British, and Philadelphia was held for a time. Both commercial shipping and privateers out to capture British shipping based themselves in NJ, and British losses to NJ privateers was a constant sore spot. Occasionally, the British would raid a small port, or supply loyalist units from one. Ships were built along the ocean and Delaware rivers for use against the British. The fighting force of the United States fleet, and State ships was small, but the effect of the commerce raiding on British merchantmen was an important factor in winning the war. Many sea battles were fought in N.J. ocean waters. The small towns along the shore were raided much like the Neutral Ground. They were accessible by water, provided various materials to the revolution, such as salt, and raided the British, so were targeted.
Through the war, with New York City held by the British, the surrounding areas near water were "The Neutral Ground", a no-mans land held by neither side and raided by both. The Americans could only patrol the area and post sentries to warn of attacks by British and Tory troops. They could not prevent the enemy excursions. The civil war in these areas- along the Hudson River and coast to Sandy Hook-were brutal, with neighbor raiding neighbor, assisted by the armed forces of both sides. Both sides thought of the other as little better than murderous thieves. See an example from south Jersey- The Pine Tree Robbers.
In June of 1780, with the troops at Jockey Hollow in very low morale, the British launched an attack towards Morristown, and were held first at Connecticut Farms, (now Union) and then at Springfield. This was the last major action in the north during the war. See The Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield
The last local fighting of the war was done by raiding Tories from New York City against the Americans in the surrounding areas, especially in NJ. The British finally stopped supporting the raiders when they murdered an American prisoner taken from a NYC prison, a Captain Joshua Huddy of Monmouth County. Washington ordered a lottery of British Captains to chose one to hang in return, and a Capt. Asgill was selected. Congress supported and reinforced the decision. Washington bargained for the murderers for Asgill, but the British refused to turn them over. They held a trial of the officer responsible, who was found Not Guilty, as he was under orders of the Loyalist Council, a group of high ranking loyalist in New York. The British broke up the Loyalist group and sent most to England. Washington, the war almost over, had no reason or desire to hang Asgill, but could not get Congress to order his release. Finally Lady Asgill, the Captains mother, wrote to King Louis XVI of France and begged for her sons life. The French minister sent a request to Washington to release the boy, and Washington was able to push Congress into acting to release him.
Finally the war petered out to an end. On April 14th, 1783 Governor William Livingston announced the End of the War. No offical hostilities occured after this, but Loyalist were still a problem, even after the war, and the militia still had to keep an eye on the British in New York City until late Novemeber, 1783 when the British handed over first Manhattan, then Staten Island, and took ship for Britian.
See The sufferings of a Continental soldier to understand the difficulties, and hardships faced by the American soldiers of the Revolution.
REVWAR '75 has several articles by John Rees on the NJ Continental Line, and has many other online resources. John Rees also has a HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY LINE .
The New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, Geographic section, sells a map of NJ battles during the Revolution, $5.00, which is helpful. Also see my History links page.
My own pages: New Jersey during the Revolution:
The Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Princeton.
The Whaleboat Wars- crossing the water
More on whaleboats
Those seeking New Jersey hair replacement advice should visit this pages sponsor, New Jersey hair restoration surgeon Dr. Greg Pistone, to learn how a hair transplant might help them regain their confidence.
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Organized music lessons appear to benefit children’s IQ and academic performance–and the longer the instruction continues, the larger the effect. Music lessons may boost IQ and grades through technologically advanced online guitar lessons websites.
Leading researchers say the recent study builds on work published in 2004, in which 6-year-olds given a year of guitar lessons saw a significantly larger increase in IQ than a control group that waited a year for musical instruction.
Considering that study’s results, the natural question posed to himself is, “Would the effect get bigger with more than a year of lessons?”
“There is lesson amount-response association, that in general, the longer a child takes lessons, the higher the IQ and the better the performance in school.
In the recent work, Scientists and fellow researchers studied two groups of students: children 6 to 11 years old and college freshmen.
The younger group received an IQ test, an evaluation of their school grades and a measure of academic achievement. More than half of the group had taken music lessons, either online guitar lessons, in private or group instruction.
The older students surveyed in a second study received an IQ test and supplied their high school grade point average. They also described how many years of music instruction they had received and how many years they had regularly played a musical instrument.
The study involving the younger children found that each additional month of music lessons was accompanied by an increase in IQ of one-sixth of a point, such that six years of lessons was associated with an increase in IQ of 7.5 points, compared with children who did not have the same amount of beginner guitar instruction.
For the college students, six years of playing music regularly as a child predicted an increase of two points in IQ over their peers.
Overall, the study found that taking video guitar lessons in childhood was a reliable predictor of a higher IQ in young adulthood and a history of better high school grades. For the younger children, the study found a positive association between music lessons and higher school grades and higher scores on achievement testing in mathematics, spelling and reading.
For the college student, a history of playing music regularly as children and teenagers had “small but significant” associations with IQ, perceptual organization, working memory and average high school grades, with the associations remaining significant after controlling for differences in family income, parents’ education levels and gender.
Researchers are not exactly sure why music lessons, the guitar in particular are associated with higher IQ and stronger academic performance, but he has several theories: Children with higher IQs have more cognitive ability to handle the mental challenges of music lessons and school, so music instruction probably exaggerate that advantage. School itself boosts IQ, so the school-like features of online music lessons such as learning to read music might also lead to improved intellectual functioning.
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When evaluating the tangent function, to find values of the tangent function at different angles, we first identify the reference angle formed by the terminal side and the x-axis. Then, we find the tangent of this reference angle and, based on which quadrant the terminal side is in, decide if tangent is positive or negative. Tangent is positive in the first and third quadrants, where both sine and cosine are positive and both are negative.
Okay, we just learned some basic values of the tangent function in the first quadrant. And I want to show you how to find values of tangent in other quadrants. For example find the tangent of 3 pi over 4.
The first step is to draw a diagram. Done. The second step is to identify the reference angle. Now the reference angle is the angle between the terminal side and the x axis. In this case, pi over 4. Once you've identified the reference angle then you want to take, oops. Sorry. You want to take the tangent, the tangent of that angle. That's our first quadrant angle and its tangent is 1. Once you've got that, the tangent of 3 pi over 4 is either plus or minus this value. It's plus or minus depending on which quadrant you're in. And you have to remember the mnemonic all students take calculus. We're in the second quadrant right now, where only sine is positive. the others are negative. So tangent's negative here and that means tangent of root 3 over 4 is -1.
So just remember draw a diagram, identify the reference angle, find the tangent of that reference angle and then use the quadrant to decide whether the tangent's positive or negative.
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Engligh 2.2 Analyse specified aspect(s) of studied visual or oral text(s), supported by evidence
- Use exemplars or examples of student work as a model for your own answers.
- Make sure the writing is your own. You may not use or repeat material from exemplars or samples, or work written by other students.
- View or listen to the text several times from beginning to end.
- Practise planning and writing essays of 350–400 words within the time limit.
- Choose a question that suits your text and that you understand fully.
- Answer the question by applying your knowledge rather than memorising essays.
- Use keywords in the question to help focus your answer and to link back to the question at the end of each paragraph.
- Plan your answer and select appropriate evidence to support your points.
- Use the correct terminology to help analyse ideas.
- Answer all parts of the question.
- Memorise quotations so they are accurate.
- Respond to the question by explaining what the text made you think about.
- Demonstrate a wider knowledge of the text by showing how each feature of the text relates, connects, and influences the other.
- Make sure you use the correct answer booklet for your text.
- To help make your meaning clear it is important to aim for quality writing and to check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Back to top
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American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having the shape of the Greek letter lambda.
- adj. Anatomy Relating to the deeply serrated suture in the skull between the parietal bones and the occipital bone.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having the shape of the Greek capital lambda (
Λ): specifically applied in anatomy to the suture between the supraoccipital and the two parietal bones of the skull, which has this form in man. See cut under cranium.
- adj. Shaped like the Greek letter lambda:
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Shaped like the Greek letter lambda (Λ).
- from the Greek letter λάμδα (lambda) (Wiktionary)
“In one section, Ms. Falk declares: "Dart had mistakenly identified the lambdoid suture of the skull that had been imprinted on Taung's endocast as the lunate sulcus!”
“So: nine glass and paper lambdoid forms stand clustered, as ciphers and as semblances.”
“Nine glass and paper lambdoid forms stand in a cluster.”
“One on each temporal bone and two side by side just above the lambdoid suture.”
“_Entry_ (Mauser), through the lambdoid suture on the right side of the mid line.”
“Behind the wound of exit comminution of the parietal bone, extending back to the lambdoid suture, existed.”
“The point of junction of the sagittal and coronal suture is named the bregma, that of the sagittal and lambdoid sutures, the lambda; they indicate respectively the positions of the anterior and posterior fontanelles in the fetal skull.”
“G. Schwalbe has recently used the glabella-inion line (glabella, the central point between the arches of the eyebrows; inion, the protuberance of the occiput at the median line) for the comparison of the brainpans at the sagittal sutures, while H. Klaatsch has returned to the glabella - lambda line formerly proposed by Hamy (lambda, the point of union of the lambdoid and sagittal sutures).”
“Donne 13.85 describes an athletic laborer of twenty-five who received a wound from a rifle-ball penetrating the cranial parietes immediately in the posterior superior angle of the parietal bone, and a few lines from the lambdoid suture.”
“Donne describes an athletic laborer of twenty-five who received a wound from a rifle-ball penetrating the cranial parietes immediately in the posterior superior angle of the parietal bone, and a few lines from the lambdoid suture.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lambdoid’.
List of adjectives such as everduring that do not frequent common speech and writing. A continuation of my list Adjectival Arcana, which had grown to over 7700 words and had become far too cumbersome.
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...
I can use these.
Looking for tweets for lambdoid.
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About the Study
| How Does this Affect You?
You've certainly heard of antioxidants. They are a favorite term of health marketers everywhere, toted as a powerful element with numerous health benefits. Antioxidants are believed to protect our cells from damage by blocking harmful free radicals. These antioxidants are abundant in our foods such as fruits and vegetables. They are also sold as supplements or "healthy" additives to many foods. Unfortunately, most studies in humans have not shown a clear link between antioxidants and our overall health benefits or disease prevention.
Researchers in Australia wanted to investigate the effect of eating fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, or taking a antioxidant supplements (lycopene), in adults with asthma. The randomized trial, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that a diet high in fruits and vegetables was associated with fewer asthma exacerbations in adults.
About the Study
The randomized trial included 137 adults with an average age of 56 years who had asthma. The participants were randomized to one of two groups:
- High-antioxidant diet (5 servings vegetables and 2 servings fruit daily)
- Low-antioxidant diet (≤ 2 servings vegetables and 1 serving fruit daily)
After 14 days, an antioxidant supplement (lycopene) was added to half of the participants in the low-antioxidant diet group. The other half received placebo (sugar pill). The participants in the high-antioxidant group received a placebo pill also.
The participants were followed for 14 weeks and assessed for any exacerbation of their asthma symptoms. Exacerbation events were noted in:
- 19.6% of participants who had high fruit and vegetable diet vs. 27.5% of participants who had low fruit and vegetable diet
In the low-antioxidant group, there was no difference in inflammation of airways in participants that had the antioxidant supplement compared to those that had placebo.
How Does this Affect You?
A randomized trial is considered one of the most reliable methods of research. However, problems during the study that can effect the reliability of the results. In this study there was a high drop out rate. In this trial it means that the participants did not continue to be followed due to the diet not being suitable or for other reasons. The researchers did make statistical changes to account for the lost participants but this step does decrease the reliability of the results. It may mean the effect of the diet was over- or under-estimated. An additional factor to consider is that fruits and vegetables have many health benefits besides antioxidants. There may be other factors or a combination of factors that provided the asthma benefits.
Whole fruits and vegetables showed benefit but a supplement version of antioxidants didn't. Although one study can't provide a definitive link you may consider whole foods over supplements when possible. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is often linked to many health benefits and no harmful side effects. Unfortunately, most Americans do not meet minimum standards of at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. To increase your intake, gradually add fruits and vegetables into your diet. They should be a significant part of your meals, but be careful about adding fats on your vegetables like salad dressing or butter. Use fruit or vegetables for snacks instead of processed snacks. The good news is that most fruits and vegetables are low in calories and fat so feel free to fill up. It won't only satisfy your hunger but may also keep you breathing a little easier.
Wood LG, Garg ML, Smart JM, et al.
Manipulating antioxidant intake in asthma: a randomized controlled trial.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Sep;96(3):534.
Last reviewed December 2012 by Brian Randall, MD
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © EBSCO Publishing. All rights reserved.
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FRIDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Many of the greatest pieces
of music sound highly complex but can be reduced to simple patterns
by the brain, a new study shows.
The brain does this in much the same way that "lossless" music
compression formats reduce audio files to a smaller size -- by
removing redundant data and identifying patterns, explained study
author Nicholas Hudson.
It's believed that the subconscious mind recognizes patterns
within complex data and that our brains are hardwired to find
simple patterns pleasurable, he noted.
In this study, Hudson used lossless music compression programs
to mimic the brain's ability to compress audio information. He
compared the compressibility of random noise to a wide range of
music, including classical, techno, rock and pop.
Hudson found that random noise could only be compressed to 86
percent of its original "file size," compared with about 60 percent
for techno, rock and pop, and 40 percent for Beethoven's 3rd
Symphony, which is considered a highly complex piece of music.
The study appears in the journal
BMC Research Notes.
"Enduring musical masterpieces, despite apparent complexity, possess high compressibility," and it is this compressibility that appeals to listeners, Hudson concluded.
His advice for composers? "If you want immortality, write music
which sounds complex but that, in terms of its data, is reducible
to simple patterns."
The American Music Therapy Association explains how
is used to heal.
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On this day in 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. For most of us, the Pledge was part of the daily school ritual. But today, schools across the country either modify the Pledge to remove “potentially offensive” words or ban the recitation all together.
Instead of writing about the Pledge, I recently came across this article by iconic entertainer, Red Skelton, which sums it up so nicely.
Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance
by Red Skelton
As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton’s teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.
I - – Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge - – Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance - – My love and my devotion.
To the Flag - – Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody’s job.
United - – That means that we have all come together.
States - – Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. Read more
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American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- interj. Used to express sorrow, regret, grief, compassion, or apprehension of danger or evil.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow, grief, pity, concern, or apprehension of evil: in old writers sometimes followed by the day or the while: as, alas the day, alas the while. See alackaday.
GNU Webster's 1913
- interj. An exclamation expressive of sorrow, pity, or apprehension of evil; -- in old writers, sometimes followed by
dayor white; alas the day, like alack a day, or alas the white.
- adv. by bad luck
- From Old French a las (French hélas), from a ("ah") + las, from Latin lassus ("weary"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French a las, helas, ah (I am) miserable, from Latin lassus, weary; see lē- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
“About the time Carver was recovering from rejection of that story, Samuel Vaughn at Doubleday returned a manuscript of stories.53 Ray asked Lish to take a look at it, noting that he was sticking with his title alas, he does not say what it was after rejecting “for instance, ‘Bad Check, His Mama, and Beautiful Songs.’””
“This, alas, is going to end up throwing off the "contest," because if I declare myself done at 60,000 or 65,000 words, that's not fair to Kelly would will surely write exactly as many words as required.”
“This, alas, is not a reasonable way to write a novel.”
“This cup, alas, is unuseable, because it has a longitudinal crack inside.”
“Cameron, alas, is merely reflecting the primitive state of the British debate on the EU.”
“That sort of thinking, alas, is why most of the population has such a hard time connecting with the tech world, and why many view computers and kindred devices with fear and suspicion.”
“The only other nonwhite face on tap, alas, is the unguided missile Michael Steele, its new national chairman.”
“My mother, alas, is still with us, I say alas because passed a certain point prolongation approaches uncivility ( 'un' - is also valid, I looked it up.)”
“The same, alas, is rarely true of technology, where things going wrong are the order of the day.”
“Equally foolish, alas, is the strategy of over-compensating, of putting everything out there as free and legal MP3s.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘alas’.
Good for poetry, or just artistic on their own.
Words with the prefix "a"
All words of the poem
by Gerard Nolst Trenité
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse <...
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more...
words to reference while writing something
My big word list.
because wordsmith is not a verb.
An assortment of words, which, when used, should inject some vibrancy into your day, hopefully expunging any ennui!
Looking for tweets for alas.
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|Home > Facts > Folate|
...folate masks vitamin B12 deficiency allowing prog
...folate and potassium, as well as fibre. Meat, fis
...folate (folic acid); excess blood loss from menst
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
...folate, vitamins such as B12, A, and E), and prot
...folate reductase; an enzyme that regulates folic
...folate): helps make new cells; important in devel
Nutrition and Mental Health
...folate or folic acid and Depression and that thos
...folate/folic acid (B9), and cobalamin (B12). Esse
...folate are associated with high homocysteine leve
...folate essential fatty acids; and far less: sugar
Highlight any text in the article to look up more information!
Folate is a naturally occurring water-soluble vitamin that the body needs to remain healthy. Folic acid is a stable synthetic form of folate that is found in dietary supplements and is added to fortified foods such as flour and cereal. Humans cannot make folate or folic acid, so they must get it from foods in their diet or as a dietary supplement Folic acid and folate are both converted into an active form in that the body can use, although folic acid is more easily used (more bioavail-able) in the body. Folic acid is also called vitamin B9
Folate is necessary to create new DNA (genetic material) and RNA when cells divide. It plays a critical role in developing healthy red blood cells. Folate also helps protect DNA from damage that may lead to diseases such as cancer. Along with vitamins B6 and
(Illustration by GGS Information Services/Thomson Gale.)
B12, folate helps regulate the level of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine regulation is related to cardiovascular health. In the fetus, folate is necessary for the proper development of the brain and spinal cord.
Folate is one of eight B-complex vitamins. Its function is closely intertwined with that of vitamins B6 and B12. Folate, from the Latin word folium meaning leaf, was discovered in the late 1930s in yeast and later found in spinach and other green leafy vegetables and in liver. Starting in 1998, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required certain foods, such as flour, corn meal, bread, cereal, rice, and pasta, to be fortified with a folic acid. In Canada and Chile fortification of flour is mandatory.
Folate’s role in health
Folate is essential for the normal development of the neural tube in the fetus. The neural tube develops into the brain and spinal cord. It closes between the third and fourth week after conception. Too little folate at this time can lead to serious malformations of the spine (spina bifida) and the brain (anencephaly). Because many women do not realize that they are pregnant so soon after conception, the United States has included folic acid in its fortified foods program. Adding folic acid to common foods made with grains has substantially reduced the number of babies born with neural tube defects in the United States.
The body also needs folate to produce healthy red blood cells. When not enough folate is present, the red blood cells do not divide; instead they grow abnormally large. These malformed cells have a reduced ability to carry oxygen to other cells in the body. This condition is called megaloblastic anemia. It is identical to the condition of the same name caused by too little vitamin B12. Folate also aids in the production of other new cells. Adequate supplies of folate are especially important in fetuses and infants because they are growing rapidly. However, since the lifespan of a red blood is only about four months, the body needs a continuous supply of folate throughout life to create healthy new replacement blood cells.
Folate acts together with vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 to lower the level of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine is an amino acid that is naturally produced when the body breaks down protein. Moderate to high levels of homocysteine in the blood are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g. atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke). The trio of folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 lower homocysteine levels. However, it is not clear whether taking large doses of these vitamins, either alone or in combination, will prevent heart disease from developing in healthy individuals. The official position of the American Heart Association stated in its Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations Revision 2006 is that “Available evidence is inadequate to recommend folic acid and other B vitamin supplements as a means to reduce CVD [cardiovascular disease] risk at this time.’
Damage to DNA appears to contribute to the development of many different cancers. Because folate helps protect against DNA damage, researchers have looked at whether it can reduce the risk of developing cancer. Results are mixed, with benefits seen for some cancers, but not for others. The American Cancer Society in its 2006 Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention states: “Folate deficiency may increase the risk of cancers of the color-ectal and breast, especially in people who consume alcoholic beverages. Current evidence suggests that to reduce cancer risk, folate is best obtained through consumption of vegetables, fruits, and enriched grain
products.” The American Cancer Society does not endorse taking megadoses of folic acid to prevent cancer.
Clinical trials are underway to determine safety and effectiveness of folate/folic acid both alone and in combination with other vitamins in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. Cognitive decline and some forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, are associated with lower folate levels, which is common amongst older people in some countries. Individuals interested in participating in a clinical trial at no charge can find a list of open trials at <http://www.clinicaltrials.gov>
Normal folate requirements
The United States Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences has developed values called Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for vitamins and minerals. The DRIs consist of three sets of numbers. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) defines the average daily amount of the nutrient needed to meet the health needs of 97-98% of the population. The Adequate Intake (AI) is an estimate set when there is not enough information to determine an RDA. The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) is the average maximum amount that can be taken daily without risking negative side effects. The DRIs are calculated for children, adult men, adult women, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women.
The IOM has not set RDAs for folate in children under one year old because of incomplete scientific information. Instead, it has set AI levels for this age group. RDAs and ULs for folate are measured in micrograms (mcg). Unlike the UL for many vitamins, the UL for folate/folic acid refers only to folic acid that comes from fortified food or that is in folic acid dietary supplements, multivitamins, or B-complex vitamins. There is no UL for folate found in natural plant and animal foods. Dietary supplements containing more than 1,000 mcg (1 mg) of folic acid require a prescription. 1 mcg of folate from natural food sources is equal in biological activity in humans to 0.6 mcg of folic acid from supplements or fortified food.
The following are the daily RDAs and IAs and ULs for folic aside for healthy individuals:
Sources of folate
The following list gives the approximate folate/ folic acid content for some common foods:
Most healthy people in the United States get enough folate in their diet because folate is added to many common foods such as bread; however, this is not the case elsewhere.In Europe, low intakes are commonly reported particularly in teenage girls and older people. Causes of folate deficiency include inadequate intake, impaired absorption, (celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, certain medications), inability of the body to use folate (enzyme deficiencies), increased folate needs (pregnancy, cancer), or increased loss or excretion (kidney dialysis, alcoholism). As a group, the elderly are the largest group at risk to develop folate deficiency.
The major symptom of folate deficiency in pregnant women is having a baby born with a brain or spinal cord abnormality. Other symptoms of folate deficiency include slow growth in infants and children, megaloblastic anemia, digestive problems such as diarrhea, sore tongue, irritability, forgetfulness and changes in mental state. These changes can also have other causes and should be evaluated by a healthcare professional.
Since many pregnancies are unplanned and unrecognized until after the critical period for brain and spinal cord formation, any woman who may become pregnant should be careful to include enough folate in her diet and folic acid supplements should be taken before and in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Folic acid may mask vitamin B12 deficiency. Folic acid supplements will reverse anemia symptoms, but they do not stop nerve damage caused by B12 deficiency. Permanent nerve damage may result. People with suspected folate deficiency who begin taking folic acid supplements should also be evaluated for vitamin B12 deficiency.
The following medications may interfere with the ability of the body to absorb and use folate. Individuals taking these medications should check with their physician about the effects they may have on folate/ folic acid levels in the body:
No complications are expected when folate/folic acid is taken within recommended levels. Complications related to deficiencies are discussed above. Complications of excess folic acid intake at levels above 1,000 mcg daily over an extended period can include seizures in individuals taking anticonvulsant medications and general irritability, and restlessness in otherwise healthy individuals.
Parents need to be aware that infants and rapidly growing children are at higher risk for folate deficiency. Parents of children with digestive disorders or allergies to wheat products should discuss the need for a folic acid supplement with their pediatrician.
Berkson, Burt and Arthur J. Berkson. Basic Health Publications User’s Guide to the B-complex Vitamins. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, 2006.
Fragakis, Allison. The Health Professional’s Guide to Popular Dietary Supplements Chicago: American Dietetic Association, 2003
Gaby, Alan R., ed. A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: Improve Your Health and Avoid Side Effects When Using Common Medications and Natural Supplements Together New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006.
Lieberman, Shari and Nancy Bruning. The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book: The Definitive Guide to Designing Your Personal Supplement Program. 4th ed. New York: Avery, 2007.
Pressman, Alan H. and Sheila Buff. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vitamins and Minerals 3rd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books, 2007.
Rucker, Robert B., ed. Handbook of Vitamins. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis, 2007.
Department of Health Folic Acid and the Prevention of Disease. Report on Health and Social Subject. London, The Stationery Office, 2000.
Kushi, Lawrence H., Tim Byers, Colleen Doyle, et al.
“American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention.’ CA: Cancer Journal for Clinicians., 56 (2006):254-281. <http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/56/5/254>
American Cancer Society. 1599 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta GA 30329-4251. Telephone: 800 ACS-2345. Website: <http://www.cancer.org>
American Heart Association. 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231. Telephone: (800) 242-8721. Website: <http://www.americanheart.org>
British Nutrition Foundation. 52-54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ telephone: 0207 404 6504, fax: 0207 404 6757. Website: <http://www.nutrition.org.uk>
Linus Pauling Institute. Oregon State University, 571 Weniger Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-6512. Telephone: (541) 717-5075. Fax: (541) 737-5077. Website: <http://lpi.oregonstate.edu>
Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. 6100 Executive Blvd., Room 3B01, MSC 7517, Bethesda, MD 20892-7517 Telephone: (301)435-2920. Fax: (301)480-1845. Website: <http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov> .
Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition Folate and Disease Prevention. <http://www.sacn.gov.uk>
American Cancer Society “Vitamin B Complex.’ American Cancer Society, October 6, 2005. <http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Vitamin_B6.asp?sitearea=ETO>
American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. “Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations Revision 2006.’ American Heart Association, June 19, 2006.<http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3040741>
Gentilli, Angela. “Folic Acid Deficiency.’ emedicine.com, May 22, 2006. <http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic802.htm>
Higdon, Jane. “Vitamin A.’Linus Pauling Institute-Oregon State University, April 2, 2002. <http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/VitaminA>
Maryland Medical Center Programs Center for Integrative Medicine. “Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid).’ University of Maryland Medical Center, April 2002. <http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/VitaminB9FolicAcidcs>
Medline Plus. “’ U. S. National Library of Medicine, August 1, 2006. <http://www.nlm.nih/gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-folate.html>
Office of Dietary Supplements. ’Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D.“National Institutes of Health, August 22, 2005. <http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate_pf.asp>
Tish Davidson, A.M.
Folic acid see Folate
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Pub. date: 2006 | Online Pub. Date: September 15, 2007 | DOI: 10.4135/9781412952453 | Print ISBN: 9780761930297 | Online ISBN: 9781412952453 | Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this encyclopedia
Neandertals made their appearance midway through the 19th century, at a critical moment in intellectual history, when old but comfortable ideas about the human past were beginning to fall apart and new but shocking ideas (such as evolution) were coming in. The old ideas did not explain Neandertals. The new ones, which could, were generally poorly understood. Therefore, no one was prepared for the sight of a primitive-looking skeleton in the human closet. But when such a skeleton appeared in Germany in 1856, in the Neander Valley (or Neandertal in old German), it brought on a sense of denial to its connection to Homo sapiens . The workmen, who had blasted open a small cave in their search for limestone, never realized the significance of their find. Neandertals and present-day Homo sapiens , although they have many similarities, have significant anatomical differences. Neandertals lived 100,000 to 35,000 years ago and ...
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Leach’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa
Leach’s storm petrel is silent at sea, but it makes a high-pitched purring sound, interrupted by sharp whistles, in and near its nest. Unlike Wilson’s storm petrel, this species breeds in the Northern Hemisphere. It migrates southward in late summer, roaming throughout the north Pacific and much of the Atlantic. Small and brownish black, with a sharply forked tail, it flies rapidly, changing direction frequently as it scans the water’s surface for food. It feeds on planktonic animals and small fish, pattering on the surface with its feet and occasionally settling on the water to rest. Leach’s storm petrels breed in colonies, laying a single egg and returning to their burrows at night with food for their hatched young. In the far north, some birds delay nesting until August to avoid the 24-hour daylight of the Arctic summer, during which they would be more vulnerable to predators.
- Order Procellariiformes
- Length 7–8 in (19–22 cm)
- Weight 1–1 oz (40–50 g)
- Habitat Coasts, islands (breeding); open ocean
- Distribution North Pacific, north Atlantic, coastal North America and Aleutian Islands
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includes daily Core French
Parents can enroll their children in the English Program or the French
Immersion Program. The English Program is exclusively in English and
includes a Core French component. French Immersion provides a balance
of English and French instruction.
In Rainbow Schools, Core French is offered daily beginning in Grade 4. Through the study of French, students will communicate and interact purposefully and with confidence while developing the necessary skills to be intercultural citizens of Canada and the world. The Core French program emphasizes the development of oral competence skills while focusing on authentic learning related to real-life experiences and interests. The value of learning French, one of Canada's two official languages, is reinforced in an inclusive classroom environment. The Core French program offers students the opportunity to develop a basic usable command of the French language that can be expanded through further study at the secondary school level.
For more information about Core French, contact the Rainbow School near you.
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Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
A microscope (Greek: micron = small and scopos = aim) is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy, and the term microscopic means minute or very small, not easily visible with the unaided eye. In other words, requiring a microscope to examine.
The most common type of microscope—and the first to be invented—is the optical microscope. This is an optical instrument containing one or more lenses that produce an enlarged image of an object placed in the focal plane of the lens(es).
See also: Microscopy.
Simple optical microscope
A simple microscope, as opposed to a standard compound microscope (see below) with multiple lenses, is a microscope that uses only one lens for magnification. Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes consisted of a single, small, convex lens mounted on a plate with a mechanism to hold the material to be examined (the sample or specimen). This use of a single, convex lens to magnify objects for viewing is still found in the magnifying glass, the hand-lens , and the loupe.
Compound optical microscope
The diagrams below show compound microscopes. In its simplest form—as used by Robert Hooke, for example—the compound microscope would have a single glass lens of short focal length for the objective, and another single glass lens for the eyepiece or ocular. Modern microscopes of this kind are usually more complex, with multiple lens components in both objective and eyepiece assemblies. These multi-component lenses are designed to reduce aberrations, particularly chromatic aberration and spherical aberration. In modern microscopes the mirror is replaced by a lamp unit providing stable, controllable illumination.
Compound optical microscopes can magnify an image up to 1000× and are used to study thin specimens as they have a very limited depth of field. Typically they are used to examine a smear, a squash preparation, or a thinly sectioned slice of some material. With a few exceptions, they utilize light passing through the sample from below and special techniques are usually necessary to increase the contrast in the image to useful levels (see contrast methods). Typically, on a standard compound optical microscope, there are three objective lenses: a scanning lens (4×), low power lens (10×), and high power lens (40×). Advanced microscopes often have a fourth objective lens, called an oil immersion lens. To use this lens, a drop of oil is placed on top of the cover slip, and the lens moved into place where it is immersed in the oil. An oil immersion lens usually has a power of 100×. The actual power of magnification is the product of the powers of the ocular (usually 10×) and the objective lenses being used.
To study the thin structure of metals (see metallography ) and minerals, another type of microscope is used, where the light is reflected from the examined surface. The light is fed through the same objective using a semi-transparent mirror.
The stereo, binocular or dissecting microscope is designed differently from the diagrams above, and serves a different purpose. It uses two eyepieces (or sometimes two complete microscopes) to provide slightly different viewing angles to the left and right eyes. In this way it produces a three-dimensional (3-D) visualisation of the sample being examined.
The stereo microscope is often used to study the surfaces of solid specimens or to carry out close work such as sorting, dissection, microsurgery, watch-making, small circuit board manufacture or inspection, and the like. Great working distance and depth of field here are important qualities for this type of microscope. Both qualities are inversely correlated with resolution: the higher the resolution (i.e., magnification), the smaller the depth of field and working distance. A stereo microscope has a useful magnification up to 100×. The resolution is maximally in the order of an average 10× objective in a compound microscope, and often way lower.
Other types of optical microscope include:
- the inverted microscope for studying samples from below; useful for cell cultures in liquid;
- the student microscope designed for low cost, durability, and ease of use; and
- the research microscope which is an expensive tool with many enhancements.
A lens magnifies by bending light (see refraction). Optical microscopes are restricted in their ability to resolve features by a phenomenon called diffraction which, based on the numerical aperture (NA or AN) of the optical system and the wavelengths of light used (λ), sets a definite limit (d) to the optical resolution . Assuming that optical aberrations are negligible, the resolution (d) is given by:
Due to diffraction, even the best optical microscope is limited to a resolution of 0.2 micrometres.
History of the microscope
It is impossible to say who invented the compound microscope. Dutch spectacle-makers, Hans Janssen and his son Zacharias Janssen, are often said to have invented the first compound microscope in 1590, but this was a declaration by Zacharias Janssen himself halfway the 17th century. The date is certainly not likely, as it has been shown that Zacharias Janssen actually was just about born in 1590. Another favorite for the title of 'inventor of the microscope' was Galileo Galilei. He developed an occhiolino or compound microscope with a convex and a concave lens in 1609. Christiaan Huygens, another Dutchman, developed a simple 2-lens ocular system in the late 1600's that was achromatically corrected and therefore a huge step forward in microscope development. The Huygens ocular is still being produced to this day, but suffers from a small field size, and the eye relief is uncomfortably close compared to modern widefield oculars.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) is generally credited with bringing the microscope to the attention of biologists, even though simple magnifying lenses were already being produced in the 1500's, and the magnifying principle of water-filled glass bowls had been described by the Romans (Seneca). Van Leeuwenhoek's home-made microscopes were actually very small simple instruments with a single very strong lens. They were awkard in use but enabled van Leeuwenhoek to see highly detailed images, mainly because a single lens does not suffer the lens faults that are doubled or even multiplied when using several lenses in combination as in a compound microscope. It actually took about 150 years of optical development before the compound microscope was able to provide the same quality image as van Leeuwenhoek's simple microscopes. So although he was certainly a great microscopist, van Leeuwenhoek is, contrary to widespread claims, certainly not the inventor of the microscope.
Other types of microscopes
See also microscopy
- Atom probe
- Atomic force microscope
- Electron microscope
- Field ion microscope
- Field emission microscope
- Phase contrast microscope , see Frits Zernike
- Scanning tunneling microscope
- Virtual microscope
- X-ray microscope
- Total internal reflection fluorescence microscope
- Confocal laser scanning microscopy
- Angular resolution
- How to prepare an onion cell slide
- Microscope image processing
- Microscope slide
- Microscopy laboratory in: A Study Guide to the Science of Botany at Wikibooks
- Micscape - a monthly magazine directed towards the amateur microscopist
- Microscope Directory
- Royal Microscopical Society
- The Microscope - quarterly journal
- virtual microscope on plankton
- A virtual polarization microscope (requires Java)
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
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Common Expressions for ReportViewer Reports
Some expressions are commonly used in reports. These include expressions to change the appearance of data in a report, calculate totals, and change properties of report items. This topic describes some expressions that can be used for common tasks within a report.
Many expressions within a report contain functions. You can write expressions that use functions from the Microsoft.VisualBasic, System.Convert, and System.Math namespaces, or you can add references to other assemblies or custom code. You can also use classes from the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK. For more information, see the .NET Framework SDK Class Library documentation.
Most functions within a report are either Microsoft Visual Basic or built-in report functions. You can format data, apply logic, and access report metadata using these functions.
Visual Basic Functions
You can use Visual Basic functions to manipulate the data that is displayed in text boxes or that is used for parameters, properties, or other areas of the report. This section provides examples demonstrating a few of these functions. For more information about Visual Basic functions, see the Visual Basic documentation.
You can use Visual Basic functions to provide date information in your report.
The following expression contains the Today function, which provides the current date. This expression can be used in a text box to display the date on the report, or in a parameter to filter data based on the current date:
The DateAdd function is useful for supplying a range of dates based on a single parameter. The following expression provides a date that is six months after the date from a parameter named StartDate:
=DateAdd(DateInterval.Month, 6, Parameters!StartDate.Value)
The following expression contains the Year function, which displays the year for a particular date. You can use this to group dates together or to display the year as a label for a set of dates. This expression provides the year for a given group of order dates:
The Month function and other functions can also be used to manipulate dates. For more information, see the Visual Basic documentation.
You can use Visual Basic functions to manipulate strings in your report.
You can format dates and numbers within a string with the Format function. The following expression displays values of the StartDate and EndDate parameters in long date format:
=Format(Parameters!StartDate.Value, "D") & " through " & Format(Parameters!EndDate.Value, "D")
If the text box contains only a date or number, you should use the Format property of the text box to apply formatting rather than the Format function within the text box.
The Right, Len, and InStr functions are useful for returning a substring, for example, trimming DOMAIN\username to just the user name. The following expression returns a portion of a string to the right of a backslash (\) character from a parameter named User:
=Right(Parameters!User.Value, Len(Parameters!User.Value) - InStr(Parameters!User.Value, "\"))
The following expression results in the same value as the previous one, using members of the .NET Framework String class instead of Visual Basic functions:
You can use Visual Basic functions to evaluate an input value and return another value depending on the result.
The Iif function returns one of two values depending on whether the expression evaluated is true or not. The following expression uses the Iif function to return a Boolean value of True if the value of LineTotal exceeds 100. Otherwise it returns False:
=Iif(Fields!LineTotal.Value > 100, True, False)
The following expression uses multiple Iif functions (also known as "nested Iifs") to return one of three values depending on the value of PctComplete.
=Iif(Fields!PctComplete.Value >= .8, "Green", Iif(Fields!PctComplete.Value >= .5, "Amber", "Red"))
The following expression also returns one of three values based on the value of PctComplete, but uses the Switch function instead, which returns the value associated with the first expression in a series that evaluates to true:
=Switch(Fields!PctComplete.Value >= .8, "Green", Fields!PctComplete.Value >= .5, "Amber", Fields!PctComplete.Value < .5, "Red")
Reporting Services provides additional report functions that you can use to manipulate data within a report. This section provides examples for two of these functions. For more information about report functions and examples, see Built-in Functions for ReportViewer Reports.
The Sum function can total the values in a grouping or data region. This function can be useful in the header or footer of a table group. The following expression displays the sum of data in the Order grouping or data region:
An expression containing the RowNumber function, when used in a text box within a data region, displays the row number for each instance of the text box in which the expression appears. This function can be useful to number rows in a table. It can also be useful for more complex tasks, like providing page breaks based on number of rows. For more information, see "Page Breaks" later in this topic.
The following expression displays the row number from the first row in the outermost data region to the last. The Nothing keyword indicates that the function will begin counting at the first row in the outermost data region. To begin counting within child data regions, use the name of the data region.
Appearance of Report Data
You can use expressions to manipulate how data appears on a report. For example, you can display the values of two fields in a single text box, display information about the report, or affect how page breaks are inserted in the report.
Page Headers and Footers
When designing a report, you may want to display the name of the report and page number in the report footer. To do this, you can use the following expressions:
The following expression provides the name of the report and the time it was run. It can be placed in a text box in the report footer or in the body of the report. The time is formatted with the .NET Framework formatting string for short date:
=Globals.ReportName & ", dated " & Format(Globals.ExecutionTime, "d")
The following expression, placed in a text box in the footer of a report, provides page number and total pages in the report:
=Globals.PageNumber & " of " & Globals.TotalPages
You can also refer in the report header or footer to report items from the body of the report. The following examples describe how to display the first and last values from a page in the page header, similar to what you might find in a directory listing. The example assumes a data region that contains a text box named LastName.
The following expression, placed in a text box on the left side of the page header, provides the first value of the LastName text box on the page:
The following expression, placed in a textbox on the right side of the page header, provides the last value of the LastName text box on the page:
You can apply aggregates to a report item reference in a page header or footer. (You cannot apply an aggregate to a report item reference in the report body, however.) The following example describes how to display a page total. The example assumes a data region that contains a text box named Cost.
The following expression, placed in the page header or footer, provides the sum of the values in the Cost text box for the page:
You can refer to only one report item per expression in a page header or footer.
In some reports, you may want to place a page break at the end of a specified number of rows instead of, or in addition to, on groups or report items. To do this, create a group in a data region (typically a group immediately outside the detail), add a page break to the group, and then add a group expression to group by a specified number of rows.
The following expression, when placed in the group expression, assigns a number to each set of 25 rows. When a page break is defined for the group, this results in a page break every 25 rows.
Expressions are not only used to display data in text boxes. They can be used to change how properties are applied to report items. You can change style information for a report item, or alter its visibility.
You can use expressions to vary the appearance of report items in a report.
The following expression, when used in the Color property of a text box, changes the color of the text depending on the value of the Profit field:
=Iif(Fields!Profit.Value < 0, "Red", "Black")
The following expression, when used in the BackgroundColor property of a report item in a data region, alternates the background color of each row between pale green and white:
=Iif(RowNumber(Nothing) Mod 2, "PaleGreen", "White")
You can show and hide items in a report using the visibility properties for the report item. In a data region such as a table, you can initially hide detail rows based on the value in an expression.
The following expression, when used for initial visibility of detail rows in a group, shows the detail rows for all sales exceeding 90 percent in the PctQuota field:
=Iif(Fields!PctQuota.Value>.9, False, True)
You can use expressions in a parameter to vary the default value for the parameter. For example, you could use a parameter to filter data to a particular user based on the user ID that is used to run the report.
The following expression, when used as the default value for a parameter, collects the user ID of the person running the report:
You can use custom code within a report. Custom code is either embedded within a report or stored in a custom assembly which is used in the report. For more information about custom code, see Adding Custom Code to a ReportViewer Report.
The following example calls the embedded code method ToUSD, which converts the StandardCost field value to a dollar value:
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Oshakati, the capital of Oshana Region in north-central Namibia, was widely flooded during the annual rainy season that takes places each year in southern Africa. The city sits in a flat area of meandering, ephemeral stream channels and salt pans that fill with water when Namibia’s northern neighbor, Angola, experiences heavy rains.
This pair of images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’ Terra satellite shows the city in its flooded state on March 28, 2009 (top), compared to normal conditions on April 29, 2000. The images combine infrared and visible light, a technique that makes water (dark blue or blue-green) stand out distinctly from vegetation (red) and bare or developed areas (beige and white). Water that is deep and clear is dark blue, while muddy or shallow water is blue-green. Flood waters fill low spots and channels throughout the city on March 28. A section of the major highway in the area, C-46, is underwater southeast of Ongwediva.
Oshakati is Namibia’s second-largest city, with a population of around 42,000 people. Since the beginning of 2009, the region has been experiencing torrential rains and repeated floods. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the repeated episodes of flooding have made it difficult for Namibians to repair the damages to bridges, roads, buildings, and houses. Combined with crop damages, the devastation set the stage for food shortages and suffering in coming months. In response, the President declared a state of emergency and appealed for international aid to provide food, sanitation, clean water, and temporary shelter for people displaced by floods.
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i want to
Moles, or nevi, are very common. Moles are areas of the skin where there are more cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes are the cells in the body that produce pigment, or color. Moles can be many colors including skin-tone, pink, tan, brown and very dark brown to black. Moles can be raised or flat. Moles can have hair. Moles can grow on any skin surface, including the scalp, hands and feet.
When someone is born with a mole, or develops one in the first months of life, the mole is called a congenital, or birthmark mole. About 1 in 100 people are born with one or more moles. Most people develop their moles later in childhood or adulthood. These are called acquired moles. They are most common on sun exposed areas of skin such as the face, neck, upper body, arms and legs.
Most moles are harmless, but in rare cases moles may become cancerous. Checking moles and looking for changes is an important step in helping to catch worrisome changes early.
Some changes to look for are asymmetry (moles that do not look the same on each half), irregular shapes or borders, uneven color or large size. Also look for any moles that bleed, itch or become painful. Looking at your child’s skin regularly can help you recognize moles that are more at risk for becoming cancerous.
Your doctor may send you to see a dermatologist (a doctor who specializes in treating skin problems) if your child’s moles change or have any of the features mentioned above.
Call your doctor if you see any of the following changes in a mole:
Often a dermatologist may be able to simply look at your child’s moles and tell you if they look worrisome. If the dermatologist is not concerned about the look of your child’s moles at the appointment, he or she may measure some moles and take some photos that will allow the moles to be watched for future changes.
If a mole is getting irritated frequently, bleeding, difficult to watch due to location or dark color, atypical in appearance or worrisome, the dermatologist may perform a skin biopsy. A skin biopsy is a procedure that involves removing the mole so that it can be looked at under a microscope.
There are many ways used to remove moles. The method your doctor will choose depends on the age of your child, the location of the mole, the size of the mole and the amount of concern for skin cancer. Generally, removing moles in the dermatologist’s office is a simple and safe procedure that can be done with local anesthesia.
You can do some things to prevent moles from becoming cancerous:
HH-I-199 4/99 Revised 1/12 Copyright 1999-2012, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
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Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Japanese Encephalitis
Hepatitis A: Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis A is found throughout the world and is transmitted primarily when tiny amounts of human waste are inadvertently swallowed. The disease is caused by a virus that attacks the liver.
Infection is common throughout the developing world. In developed countries, including the United States, community outbreaks still occur.
Food that is handled by infected workers can transmit the disease to unwary tourists, as can vegetables or fruit grown in human night soil. Risk for infection increases with a longer duration of travel. The risk is higher for those traveling to rural areas and for those who eat and drink in settings with poor sanitation. To decrease this risk, it is important to wash hands frequently and observe food and water precautions.
Symptoms don't appear immediately. It takes about a month before the sudden onset of fever, fatigue, nausea, and a yellowing of the skin called jaundice. Full recovery may take weeks. Death is rare but does occur. Unlike some other types of viral hepatitis, hepatitis A goes away completely and does not cause chronic disease.
Protection against hepatitis A is recommended for all those traveling to developing countries. The vaccine is especially important for those who will visit rural areas or eat in local restaurants. Three options exist to protect the traveler from hepatitis A:
A single dose of the inactivated vaccine in adults is 94-100% effective in preventing disease and provides protection for at least one year. Frequent travelers or those with prolonged stays should get a booster dose at least six months after the first shot. Estimates suggest that the booster shot may protect against hepatitis A for 20 years. The vaccine is not approved for children younger than 2 years.
Immune globulin, also known as gamma globulin, is about 85% effective in preventing hepatitis A. Unfortunately, the protection lasts only two to five months (depending on the dose). Those traveling with children under 2 years of age and those who are allergic to a vaccine component should consider immune globulin.
A combined vaccination protecting against both hepatitis A and hepatitis B is available for adults. This vaccination is given in three doses, the same as the regular hepatitis B vaccine schedule.
Hepatitis B: Like hepatitis A, hepatitis B is caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The two diseases have significant differences, however.
Hepatitis B is transmitted through sexual intercourse, dirty needles used to inject drugs, and contaminated blood transfusions. In addition, the virus can be transmitted when having medical, dental, or cosmetic procedures (including tattooing or body piercing) with needles or contaminated equipment. Hepatitis B is not transmitted through more casual contact such as shaking hands, eating, or drinking.
Hepatitis B infection occurs throughout the world. The areas with the highest number of people with chronic infection include Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Pacific Islands, Amazon regions, and certain parts of the Caribbean.
Once the virus enters the body, the virus begins to attack the liver. It takes an average of four months for symptoms to develop. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. The hallmark of the disease is the yellowing of the skin called jaundice. Death is rare, but does occur.
Most people can clear their body of the virus after a few weeks, but about 6-10% of adults and 30-90% of infants and children fail to clear the virus and become chronic carriers of the disease. Chronic carriers may develop cirrhosis (irreversible scarring of the liver) or primary cancer of the liver.
Effective vaccines are available to prevent hepatitis B. The vaccine is recommended for those traveling to areas with increased levels of transmission, especially travelers contemplating sexual intercourse abroad, those likely to seek medical and dental care in local facilities, and those providing health care. All unvaccinated children and adolescents in the United States should receive the vaccine. The vaccine is safe and is actually recommended as one of the routine childhood vaccines for U.S. children. Complete protection requires three shots over six months, but even one or two shots offer significant protection. In addition, a combined vaccination is available that offers protection against both the hepatitis A and hepatitis B virus.
Japanese encephalitis: Japanese encephalitis is caused by a virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes. This rare disease exists in much of Asia, but it is very unusual for travelers to contract it. Transmission is more marked in rural areas, in flooded rice paddies, and during wet seasons. Even where the disease is common, only 1-3% of mosquitoes are infected. The risk to the average traveler is less than one case per million per year. The risk is increased by prolonged stays in infected areas.
Symptoms include fever, lethargy, and coma. Up to one in five infected people die, and the remainder often have nerve or brain damage.
An effective vaccine is given as a three-shot series over two to four weeks. The vaccine can cause side effects including arm pain, fever, and even serious allergic reactions. Vaccination should be reserved for long-term (usually more than one month in duration) travelers to Asia with significant exposure to infected areas during appropriate seasons (often May through October). The CDC has listed the important areas and seasons for transmission on their Web site.
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If asked about Andrew Jackson, most of us would vaguely remember snippets from history classes of good and bad about the seventh president. He was "Old Hickory" in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, beating the British, and he expanded the idea of democracy. But his policy on Indians was directly responsible for the genocidal "Trail of Tears."
He was "the most contradictory of men," lauded by some, dismissed by others. Some thought him a wild man, a bumpkin, and then were surprised to find him genteel and kind when they met him. He was loyal, stubborn and complicated.
After serving as Tennessee attorney general, U.S. representative then senator, federal judge and major general of the state militia, Jackson was president from 1829 to 1837. He was the first to champion the idea that more power should be in the hands of the people, even as he expanded the powers of the presidency.
Jackson came from a poor background; his siblings and both parents were dead by the time he was 14. He was relatively uneducated and therefore scorned by the cluster of men who expected they would keep the presidency among themselves. They didn't see much more to him than the crusty (and successful) soldier. As if to support that theory, Jackson, tall and lean with penetrating blue eyes and silver hair, challenged at least 13 men to duels and killed one.
Jon Meacham, author of the new "American Lion," describes Jackson as "a figure who could be at once so brilliant and yet so bloody-minded, so tender yet so cold," and says, "the complexities of his character and the consequences of his public life will always invite fresh scrutiny."
Jackson and his beloved wife, Rachel, had no children of their own but adopted his wife's nephew, Andrew Jackson Donelson, and Lyncoya, an Indian orphan, whom he planned to send to West Point, but the boy died from tuberculosis at age 16. Jackson seemed to crave family. Meacham proposes the view that family was his lifelong theme and that he thought of himself as a father to his country.
Right before Jackson's inauguration, Rachel died of a heart attack. She had worried that he would let power and adulation of the people be placed above his family. Even had she lived, her words probably wouldn't have moved him. Meacham says, "He lived for power. And he loved Rachel a bit more than he listened to her."
Although Jackson had been steeped in the Bible, a contemporary said that in his youth, "He was the most roaring, rollicking, game-cocking, card- playing, mischievous fellow. . ." Those who knew him early on were stunned to find out he would be president.
In our most recent election, some were disgusted with the hurling of insults, lies and innuendo, but in comparison to Jackson's first election, they almost seem benign. His wife was called a bigamist (true), and his mother was called a whore. That was apparently standard stuff during that time, but Jackson believed the insults killed his wife.
Without Rachel, faced with living alone in the White House, Jackson brought Rachel's niece Emily (who had married Andrew, her first cousin) up from Tennessee. Emily was apparently born understanding the thrust and parry of politics. At 21, she knew how to run the huge home, to make her uncle feel comfortable and loved, and she was ready with excellent advice for her husband in his role as personal secretary to Jackson.
For his part, Jackson considered the couple his closest family and loved them without
Jackson became enraged when the wife of his vice president, John C. Calhoun, snubbed Margaret Eaton, the stunning and flirtatious wife of the secretary of war, who always had sexual rumors swirling about her. The secretary, John Eaton, was a good friend of Jackson's. All the gossip reminded Jackson of the attacks on his wife, and he demanded that everyone accept Margaret socially. But the vice president's wife snubbed her, Emily sided with her and the infighting was on. As one woman said: "Ladies wars are always fierce and hot." If you sided with Margaret, you were for Jackson; if not, you were against him.
An amazing amount of energy was spent on this "problem," even though huge ones faced Jackson, from South Carolina being on the verge of seceding from the union (and Jackson believed in the union above all) to problems with the national bank. His stubborn stand about Margaret resulted in Emily, someone he loved, being sent home several times and brought back again. Many readers will find the focus on this situation ridiculous, but perhaps not so different from what goes on today.
Jackson lived to be 78 — which was amazing after his painful life. As a prisoner of the British, he had to walk 45 miles with no shoes. A British soldier slashed his head and hand with a sword because he refused to clean the soldier's boots. During one of the 13 duels, he let the other man shoot first; he took a bullet in the chest, and then killed the other man. That wound caused him pain his whole life. Two assassination attempts were made on his life. In the second one, when the assailant's pistol misfired, Jackson went after him with his cane.
There's certainly much to be learned here about men (and women) in power, and about how things don't change very much. But readers may not be thrilled with the minutiae and the tiny details of political skirmishes.
Still, Meacham, editor of Newsweek, has an informal and readable style — this book is preceded by New York Times best sellers "Franklin and Winston" and "American Gospel."
"American Lion" is a good study of the times, when America had only 24 states, when the scope of government was changing and when the country began moving from agrarian to industrial. It's been suggested that reading this is a nice way to rest and recuperate after our election and see America from a different perspective.
Diane Hartman is a freelance writer and editor.
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham, $30
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Dental emergencies are common in children and it can refer to pain, bleeding and other kinds of trauma to kid’s teeth. A serious dental emergency can be caused by falls, accidents and fights resulting in a knocked out, broken, chipped or cracked teeth. Milder to severe forms of dental emergencies include dental pain, swelling and bleeding caused by various kinds of bacterial diseases such as pulpitis, painful caries, pericoronitis and abscess.
Dental trauma is very common in children (especially between 5 to 12 yrs old). Up to one-third of five year olds lose one or more baby teeth due to trauma. Up to one-fourth of twelve year olds lose or damage one or more permanent teeth due to trauma. Different types of dental trauma include: knocked out teeth (called "avulsion"), cracked, chipped or broken teeth, and loose teeth.
1. Knocked out teeth
If the child’s permanent tooth is knocked out, parents should ensure that they preserve the tooth. First, the tooth should be rinsed gently in water. It should not be cleaned with soap or any other liquid. It should not be rubbed or touched in order to prevent removal of ligament fibers required for successful re-implantation. If possible (and if the child cooperates) the tooth should be placed back in the socket. If this is not possible, the tooth should be placed in milk, water with a little salt, or simply a moist cloth. The child (plus the tooth) should be taken to the pediatric dentist’s office or the emergency room immediately. The quicker this is done, the higher the chances for saving the child’s tooth.
In the case of a knocked out baby tooth, the child should be evaluated by a pediatric dentist. However, the child’s baby tooth will not be replanted due to the potential damage caused to the developing permanent teeth.
2. Cracked or chipped or broken teeth
In case of cracked or chipped tooth, parents should ensure that they find the tooth fragment(s) and place them in cold milk, water or in a wet cloth. The child’s mouth should be rinsed with warm water and made sure that no fragments are caught between the other teeth or gums. Cold compression can be applied to reduce swelling if the lip is injured as well. Often teeth fractures like chipped or cracked teeth, limited to enamel and dentine damage may not require admission to ED. However, it is recommended that the child be evaluated by a dentist to make sure that the pulp of the tooth (centre of the tooth) is not affected and for verifying the viability of fixing the cracked or chipped tooth.
If the tooth is broken badly affecting the centre or the pulp, it may require immediate action to prevent infection and to ease severe pain. The child’s (plus the preserved tooth) should be taken to the pediatric dentist office or the emergency room immediately for tooth extraction and for the possibility of fixing the broken tooth.
3. Loose teeth
Sometimes dental traumas may result in loose or displaced teeth. In cases where the tooth is extremely loose affecting normal chewing, then it may require extraction or repositioning. This should be discussed with the child's dentist
Cavities or tooth decay (dental caries) is a bacterial disease of the teeth which when worsens becomes dental reversible pulpitis (mild inflammation) affecting the center of the teeth. Signs of dental caries may appear as opaque white areas in centre of the tooth while signs of pulpitis are severe plagues and cavities. Usually pulpitis is not considered a dental emergency for pain emerges only when exposed to hot or cold liquids or sweet stimulants and often resolves on its own. However, if reversible pulpitis is left untreated it may develop into irreversible pulpitis causing severe inflammation of the pulp and persistant pain. Irreversible pulpitis is a dental emergency requiring tooth extraction or root canal treatment.
Periodontitis is a disease which affects tissues surrounding the teeth such as gums, gum line, bone and ligament. Irreversible pulpitis sometimes lead to periodontitis affecting the roots of the teeth. Periodontitis is severe inflammation causing excruciating pain which is constant and spontaneous. Immediate treatment is root canal treatment and tooth extraction.
When a bacterial infection develops between the root of the teeth and the gum line, it results in abscessed teeth. Abscessed teeth cause swelling in the gums and gum line with or without pus formation. If the pus drains a little on its own, pain may be mild. Other symptoms include redness and irritation of the gums, swollen neck glands, general feeling of illness and bad breadth. Immediate treatment would require draining of the pus along with root canal treatment and tooth extraction.
Preventing dental diseases and trauma
Dental diseases and dental trauma can be prevented in children by following certain guidelines:-
Dental disease prevention
- Parents should develop the habit of brushing teeth in children with fluoride toothpaste.
- Children should be limited soft drinks or fruit juices which are high in sugar
- The milk children drink should be high in calcium and low in fat and sugar
- Regular dental checkups for kids is essential
Dental trauma prevention
Parents should ensure that children use mouth guards and face shields when indulging in sports activities like rugby, baseball, football, etc. Parents should also make sure that children wear helmets when riding bikes. Many falls while riding bikes or skates result in dental trauma which can be serious. Wearing seat belts in cars is a must for kids.
A note for parents
If the child has a cavity, gum problem or other kind of dental problem, seeing a pediatric dentist is essential. Early dental evaluation is better than delayed treatment. The pediatric dentist will determine the treatment plan based on the child’s age, extent of the disease and other medical history. The child’s tolerance for treatment, therapy and medication will also be considered before arriving at the treatment plan.
Parents should not hesitate seeing a pediatric dentist assuming that their child is too young for dental treatment. Regular dental checkups and following the treatment plan as suggested by the pediatric dentist is best for the child’s oral health and overall well-being.
Written by: Irene J
Edited by: Michael K. Davis, MD
1. American Academy of Family Physicians, 2003, Common Dental Emergencies,
2. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, 2010, Emergency Care
Last Updated (Monday, 08 November 2010 16:07)
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How do we find the balance in managing natural resources to meet the needs of both people and nature?
With the 9 billion people expected on this planet by 2050, food production will have to keep up—while at the same time we need to make food better available to people, particularly to the poor. In order to make the best decisions on how to develop agriculture and achieve food security, we need to be able to see a much better picture of agriculture’s impact on the environment as well as on people.
Unfortunately, the information necessary to look at agriculture from this joint perspective hasn’t been available. For too long, people working to grow food have had a different language from those who work to preserve the natural resources of the earth. This is funny, since agriculture needs those natural resources and a healthy environment in order to prosper.
An ambitious and innovative new project aims to address this by providing the tools to see the whole picture, for the very first time. The foundation has recently awarded a grant to Conservation International. This group will work with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa, the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and a wider group of scientists to create a monitoring system for agriculture, the environment, and human well-being in sub-Saharan Africa. Why is this necessary?
First, agriculture is extractive. It takes natural resources from the earth and turns them into food. We need food—and more of it—but when we intensify agriculture, we have to make decisions about acceptable environmental tradeoffs.
We also want to ensure that farmers can take advantage of opportunities for additional environmental benefits from their agricultural practices. Since we haven’t had the right information to make informed choices to balance these goals, examples of unintended consequences unfortunately abound.
Second, the majority of people living on less than $2 a day are farmers. They, together with all of humanity, don’t only depend on natural resources for growing food, but also need clean water, clean air, and animal feed. Therefore, we also need better information to understand the tradeoffs rural households make facing competing needs for their limited resources so that agricultural policies can better serve them.
With this new information, African policymakers and the farmers they serve will be able to take actions that lead to sustainable agricultural production: agriculture that balances food production, sustains natural resources, and reduces poverty.
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Essay Format – Rules That Can Make or Break Your Essay!Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
Follow This Essay Format to Achieve Maximum Readability
Everyone writes essays. Every Tom, Dick and Harry writes essays on something or the other since childhood. But do we know how to define an essay? Well, it is nothing but a short piece of writing that is usually written from the author’s own point of view. It is normally written by students who attend schools and colleges. You must have the capacity to write a good essay because people judge you based on the essays that you write. There are many educational institutions where you are asked to write an essay for the purpose of assessment. At this juncture most students find it a bit difficult to write impressive College Entrance Essays. Good vocabulary is essential for writing any essay. Well, your job is not done just by having a good vocabulary. You must also know to present it in such a way that it reaches your readers efficiently. Hence, being aware of the college essay format is very important.
An essay usually has three main parts.
The introduction is of primary concern because here is where the writer introduces the topic. The reader glances through the introduction to know what the essay is all about. Therefore one must know how to write an essay introduction. The introduction must make the readers aware of the subject that you are going to talk about in the main body. Avoid vague usage of sentences. Avoid redundancy. Use simple words so that everyone can understand.
The Main Body
The name “main body” conveys everything there is to convey! The body of the essay revolves around the core matters of the subject that you are talking about. This is where you prove or disprove something or express your opinions and so on. Here also, it is important that you use simple but effective language to reach the different audiences. This is one of the main parts of the essay format. Avoid repetition of ideas and words. Otherwise, people will only get bored. You can repeat something only when you want to stress on its importance. Otherwise avoid repetition as much as possible. There must be a flow in your essay. You must not jump from one topic to the other without establishing a connection. Finally, make the essay interesting so that readers do not get diverted. Try to write the essay in such a way that your readers do not lose interest from the beginning till the end.
The essay conclusion is a summary of the entire essay. This is where you reinforce your opinions or ideas. You can state the main points that are related to the essay. This is where you also tie loose ends, if there are any. Here is where you answer the readers’ Famous Question “So what?”! The conclusion is therefore another area of primary concern. Make it brief and simple and very clear.
These are some tips to write an essay effectively. This is a fundamental college essay format that everyone who writes an essay must know. Any essay should have all these parts. Depending on your way of writing, the content and style may differ but it is essential that you follow this format to achieve maximum readability.
Tags: buy essay, college essay writing, English essay, essay format, essay introduction, essay topics, essay writers, essay writing tips, essays, good essay writing, how to write an essay introduction, student essay
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Change comes hard to Western water policy. The Prior Appropriation Doctrine, interstate compacts, groundwater law, the "law of the river" -- all of these seem set in stone in the minds of the region's policymakers. Of course, the West's rivers aren't bound by such a static existence. Indeed, they are changing in fundamental ways, opening a wide chasm between our water policy and our water sources. This is particularly true for the Colorado River Basin.
Climate scientists are predicting a 10-to-30 percent reduction in flow for the Colorado -- a stark contrast to the rosy assumptions that underlay the Colorado River Compact when it was signed 88 years ago. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography recently predicted that Lakes Mead and Powell have a 50 percent chance of going dry by 2021. These days, Lake Mead is at 45 percent capacity and Lake Powell is at 57 percent capacity.
Farther south, water shortages are predicted for northern Arizona communities, including Flagstaff, by 2050. The Central Arizona Project, which provides water to Phoenix and Tucson, may run short of water as early as 2012.
And farther downstream, Mexico is looking at a disaster along its stretch of the river due to inadequate flows, prompting one Mexican official to declare, "We are clearly on a collision course with a catastrophe," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Then there are the numerous environmental problems in the basin. Six aquatic species are threatened or endangered, though the invasive quagga mussels are doing just fine. The river corridor in the Grand Canyon, deprived of sediment and choked with tamarisk, is dying; the river's delta is already on its deathbed. The Colorado is plagued by water quality problems, especially salinity, perchlorate rocket fuel, runoff from agriculture and inadequate sewage treatment.
The shortage of surface water has pushed some communities to mine groundwater. Communities as diverse as Tucson, Ariz., Las Vegas, Nev., and Cedar City, Utah, are experiencing subsidence because of their excessive withdrawals of groundwater.
The sediment that once was the lifeblood of the river now forms a giant plug at the junction of Cataract Canyon and Glen Canyon. It is simply a matter of time before Lake Powell becomes the world's largest mud catchment, rendering the 710-foot-tall dam useless.
Water shortages in the Lower Basin will be greatly exacerbated by proposals to build giant pipelines. Las Vegas, which gets 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead, wants to build a $4 billion pipeline to central Nevada to pump groundwater from beneath several valleys in the Great Basin. This 300-mile pipeline is likely to lower groundwater levels, threatening a national park, national wildlife refuges, an Indian reservation, and local ranchers and farmers. The resulting loss of surface flora is not just a cosmetic problem; it could result in huge dust storms that blanket Salt Lake City.
St. George, Utah, sort of a Las Vegas wannabe in terms of growth rate (but without the sinful fun), wants to build a billion-dollar pipeline that sucks water out of Lake Powell -- despite the imminent demise of the lake. In the Upper Basin, Aaron Million, with dreams to match his name, wants to build a 560-mile pipeline from the Green River to Colorado's Front Range and divert 250,000 acre-feet. In addition to these proposed pipelines, the city of Denver wants to dramatically increase the water it pumps out of the Colorado River Basin, and the state of Wyoming recently created a new state "Dam and Reservoir Section" to investigate the feasibility of new diversions on the Green River.
These grandiose schemes for new diversions are not "the way of the future," but rather the last gasp of a dying water ethos. The myriad problems of the Colorado River point to one inescapable conclusion: Western water policy is hopelessly, irrevocably unsustainable. Policies that once created stability are now an albatross, preventing the West from making fundamental changes in the way it allocates and uses its water.
It is time for a new era in water management. The first step requires dispensing with the absurd notion that infinite growth can take place in a region with severely constrained resources.
The second step is to realize that agriculture, which uses the lion's share of the river, is going to take a big hit. Many of the crops grown in the basin are low value, such as hay, or are commodity crops that are already over-produced in the United States.
And the third step requires improving the quality of the water by forcing all polluters to clean up their mess. That includes agriculture, mining and municipalities with inadequate urban treatment. These changes will not be easy -- it's like prescribing a root canal for an entire region without offering nitrous oxide. But the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to make the transition to a policy that meets the reasonable needs of cities, a service economy and the age of limits.
Dan McCool is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He is a political science professor and director of environmental studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
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|abamp the cgs unit of current in the electromagnetic system; the constant current that, when flowing through two parallel straight infinitely long conductors 1 centimetre apart, will produce a force between them of 2 dynes per centimetre: equivalent to 10 amperes|
|a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.|
|an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.|
abampere ab·am·pere (āb-ām'pēr')
The centimeter-gram-second electromagnetic unit of current equal to ten amperes.
|abampere (āb-ām'pîr') Pronunciation Key
The unit of electromagnetic current in the centimeter-gram-second system, equal to ten amperes.
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By Pure Matters
Your bones are constantly changing. Old bone continuously breaks down and is replaced by new. When you're young, your body makes bone fast enough to replace what's lost. This helps you reach your peak bone mass, the point at which your bones are strongest.
At about age 30 (if you're a woman; later, if you're a man), you start to lose bone mass faster than your body can replace it, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This increases your risk for osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to become less dense. This makes them weak and more vulnerable to breaks. The disease affects 10 million Americans, 8 million of whom are women.
Men begin to catch up to women in rate of bone loss as they age. By ages 65 to 70, men and women lose bone at the same rate, the NIH says. And the ability to absorb calcium, which is important for bone health, decreases for both men and women. Women's bone loss is tied to menopause and the lack of estrogen; for men, osteoporosis is often caused by medications used to treat asthma and rheumatoid arthritis; low levels of testosterone; alcohol abuse; smoking; gastrointestinal diseases that interfere with the body's ability to absorb nutrients; losing too much calcium through the urine; or lack of mobility.
Helping your bones
You can help prevent osteoporosis by including enough calcium in your diet and exercising regularly. Like muscles, bones are living tissue, and exercise makes them stronger. In fact, studies have shown that exercise even may help generate new bone in older adults. Two types of exercise can help build bones:
• Weight-bearing exercises. When your feet and legs bear all of your weight -- as they do when you're walking -- your muscles and bones become stronger because they're working against gravity. Jogging, climbing stairs, dancing, hiking and sports such as tennis, basketball and soccer can benefit your bones, too. Swimming and bicycling are good ways to exercise your heart and lungs, but they don't strengthen your bones because they're not weight-bearing exercises.
• Resistance exercises. Also known as strength training, these types of activities use your muscles to pull or push against something to build bone and muscle strength. Free-weights, weight machines and other fitness tools such as elastic bands, or weights designed to be used in a pool are often used for strength training. To avoid possible injury, be sure to learn the proper techniques for the activity you're doing. Many gyms offer classes, or you can work with a trainer.
In addition to exercise, men and women should make sure they get adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D; avoid smoking; use alcohol moderately; and talk to their health care provider to find out if any prescribed medications increase bone loss.
Tips to get started
Talk with your health care provider before beginning any exercise program. This is especially important if you have a chronic condition such as heart disease. If you're a woman older than age 65, your provider may recommend a bone mineral density test to screen for osteoporosis. You may need to be tested earlier if you have other risk factors. If you have osteoporosis, your provider may advise you to avoid certain activities and suggest medication to help slow bone loss.
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World's leggiest millipede put under microscope
The anatomical secrets of the world's leggiest creature, a millipede with 750 legs, have been revealed by scientists.
The species, called Illacme plenipes, was first seen 80 years ago but was recently rediscovered in California.
Now researchers have found that as well as bearing an extreme number of legs, the creature may have more in common with millipedes that lived millions of years ago than today's species.
The study is published in the journal ZooKeys.
"It's a kind of mythical creature in the millipede world," said Dr Paul Marek, an entomologist from the University of Arizona and the lead author of the paper.
In 2005, Dr Marek and his brother discovered some of the leggy arthropods lurking under boulders in the mountains of California. Until then, I.plenipes had not been glimpsed since 1926.
A paper published in the journal Nature outlined the rediscovery and described the creature's basic biology, but the new research looked at the creature's anatomy in much more detail.
Despite the name - most millipedes have far fewer than 1,000 feet. Most species belonging to the most common order Polydesmida have an average of just 62.
But Dr Marek confirmed that I.plenipes safely holds the record for the leggiest creature: females can have up to 750 legs, while males have up to 562.
"It seems like these legs evolved for their subterranean lifestyle," he explained.
"They live deep underground: we found them about 10-15cm (4-6in) below the soil's surface.
"They are typically found clinging onto sandstone boulders. Based on functional morphology of closely related species, it seems like all of these legs evolved to burrow under the ground and to cling onto these large boulders."
Though they have many limbs, the creatures are small, measuring about about 3cm-long (1in).
Close examination of the creature revealed that it had some ancient features.
End Quote Dr Paul Marek University of Arizona
Its anatomy retains a number of primitive characteristics”
Most millipedes chew leaves and decaying vegetation with grinding mouth parts.
But the scientists found that this species had a more rudimentary anatomy. Its jaws are fused to its head, and Dr Marek believes that it pierces and then sucks up plant and fungal tissues to satisfy its appetite.
The creature's body segments were also more similar to ancient millipedes than to most other species found today.
Dr Marek said that millions of years ago creatures like I.plenipes would have been widespread, but now it was one of the last of its kind.
He explained: "It is a relict species. Its most closely related lineages are in South Africa and there is nothing related to this species in the entire North America region. Its anatomy retains a number of primitive characteristics."
The animal, which also has a number of other unusual features such as body hairs that secrete silk, is thought to be extremely rare and only found in a small area close to San Francisco.
Dr Marek said: "Based on our search of the area, it seem like it is known in three spots - and these spots are about 4.5km (3 miles) away from one and other.
"It does seem that this creature is restricted both in terms of geography and also evolutionarily."
Dr Marek, a self-confessed millipede enthusiast, said that rediscovering the record breaking creature was a staggering experience, but that it would be "awesome" if someone unearthed an even leggier creature.
He said: "The name millipede would no longer be a misnomer - it would only need to add a few more segments to get an even 1,000 (legs), which would be fantastic."
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Field Trip Planner
Activities for Students
From the History Center
Contact Us: [email protected]
Many historical sites, including Civil War sites, will provide field trip guidelines and procedures to help you during the field trip planning process. The following general guidelines will also help you plan a memorable learning experience for your students.
1.) Select a Civil War site.
Civil War sites range from plantation homes to cemeteries, from stops on the Underground Railroad to battlefield parks.
The Civil War Trust has a list of more than 500 sites across the nation that are part of our Civil War Discovery Trail.
Find a Civil War site near you »
2.) Scout the site.
Take a trip to the site on your own to make certain that it is appropriate for your students and your curriculum. Many sites will waive entrance fees if you let them know that you are a teacher scouting for a field trip.
3.) Contact the site to make arrangements for your group.
Some sites offer their own programs for school groups or will tailor their programs based on your curriculum. Have all the details of your trip on hand, such as the number of students, your length of stay, and so on. Discuss any special needs you and your students might have. Don't forget to ask if the site has restrooms and lunch facilities. Ask the site if it has any special rules of its own concerning fees, number of chaperones, etc.
4.) Make arrangements with your school administration.
Follow your school district's procedures concerning the following:
- - Health and safety;
- - Permission slips;
- - Transportation arrangements;
- - Hiring substitutes;
- - Finding chaperones
(education students from a local college may be available to assist);
- - Any special policies and procedures outlined by your school district.
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Mukat and his people lived in one big house. Animals were human then. They were all very happy here. Moon taught the people many games and they loved her very much. Every morning she took her people far away to the water, and here they played all day long, returning to Mukat’s house late in the evening.
She taught them how to make things. “Cat’s cradle” was one of the games she taught them. It was a game played by making figures by means of string twined around the fingers. There were many figures they had to know. Later when they died and went to Telmekish, they had to know how to make these figures and tell Montakwet, the guardian. If they could not do this, they were not admitted.
Moon taught them that they would be getting married after a while, and explained to them what this meant. She said they would have children; that they must name their children and have songs for them. She said these children should be instructed in the right way to live; that the old people were the best instructors.
Rattlesnake was the only one that remained at home all day with Mukat. He stayed at the door of Mukat’s house all day long. When the people returned at night, there was one man among them who always danced on and around the snake. This was To, the funny man whom they all loved; he was very tiny. To made fun of Rattlesnake and made his head flat, by dancing on him; it is still flat. Rattlesnake complained to Mukat and asked him what to do.
At this time Rattlesnake was not poisonous, for he had no teeth. Mukat decided that Rattlesnake should have teeth. He tried many ways of making them for him, but none succeeded until he pulled some of his whiskers out and used them for teeth. He then made the teeth poisonous and told Rattlesnake to bite To when To came home that night and danced on him, and then he must run away to the rocks so that no one could find him. Accordingly, when the people returned that night, very happy as usual, To began dancing on Rattlesnake, but Rattlesnake bit him and then ran away. Rattlesnake was the first to leave the big house and not return.
Moon was very beautiful. One night Mukat seemed to notice this for the first time, and desired her as his wife. He did not tell her, but she knew it, and it made her feel very sad, for he was her father. She decided to leave, and told her people. She told them that there were a great many games she had not yet taught them, but that it was now too late. She said she would never die or have diseases as other people had, for Tamaioit had helped to create her. She told the women how to care for themselves during menstruation and pregnancy; they must not eat salt, meat, or fat, or drink cold water. She showed them certain herbs to use if they became ill.
That night she left and got beetles and ants to crawl over her tracks so that no one would follow her. Everyone felt very badly and tried to find her. Coyote went to the water where they always bathed to look for her. He saw her reflection in the water and thought it was she. He jumped in after her but couldn’t find her. When he climbed out and looked in again, he was sure he saw her and again he jumped in, with the same result. As he came out this time, Moon, who had gone to the sky, spat on him. He looked up to see where the spit had come from, and he saw her. He begged her to return but she would not talk, only smiled. He then returned to the others to tell them where their beloved playmate and teacher had gone. He felt very sad, so he hung his head as he said, “Here she is, here she is.” The people looked down where he was looking, but of course could not see. Finally someone happened to look up and there saw Moon in the sky. She seemed very far away and they all wept. Each night, for a long time, she went higher up, until she was where we now see her.3
Soon Mukat decided he want for have a little more fun with his people. For several days he thought about it. Then one day Sun rose out of the east. As soon as it was fully light, the people all talked in different languages and could not understand each other. Sun made them hot and many ran in search of shade. Many turned into trees or animals or birds. This probably was meant to happen from the beginning. Those that looked for water and found water, turned into sea animals. Those that looked for shade turned into trees. The people who stayed with Mukat remained human.
Mukat taught them how to make bows and arrows; just what kind of material to use, how to dry it, and how to make arrowheads out of rock. When the people put them down, after making them, the arrows made a queer noise. It frightened the people and they would not touch them. Mukat had showed them how to use these arrows and had promised that the arrows would not hurt them, but they were afraid when they heard this sound. One among them, Takwich, picked up an arrow, and said, “Why be afraid of this? It will not hurt you.” He put one right through his stomach and then pulled it out and it left no opening. When they saw this, the others were afraid no longer.
Mukat lined them up on two sides and they shot at each other, as he had shown them how to do. The dust became very thick, so they stopped, and then they saw that several of their number were dead. They wept, for they could not bring them to life. Mukat told them not to worry; that the dead would return.
At night the people heard them return, but it was only their spirits. These spirits could not find their abiding place; they had hunted in all directions. Finally they thought of Tamaioit. They started down into the earth to find him. Tamaioit heard them coming and stopped them before they got there. He told them that he was sorry for them, that he had wanted the people to live always, but that he saw now why Mukat had made them as he did. It was so there would be sorrow in the world. Tamaioit said that, since they were not his people, he could do nothing for them. He said his people were all happy and he did not want any other kind down there. However, he could tell them something that might bring them back to life. They should go to the water and smear mud all over themselves and twine brush around their bodies. They did as he advised them, but it did no good.
The spirits then returned to Mukat and asked him where to go. He told them about Telmekish and that there was no sickness or sorrow there. He said this world was just to raise children in; Telmekish, the next world, would last forever.
At the time Sun came the people turned different colors. The Negroes are those who stayed close to Sun. White people ran farther away than anyone else. Indians went only a short distance, so they are brown.
3 Formerly, the Cahuilla would not look at the full moon, for fear of disease. If they ate during an eclipse, they were likely to eat a “moon spirit.” Whoever died during an eclipse was thought to have eaten one of these moon spirits.
|© Agua Caliente Cultural Museum. All rights reserved.|
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July 29, 1999 LEXINGTON, KY (July 26, 1999) - Spinal cord injuries result from damage to cells during the weeks following the injury as well as at the time of the trauma. In the August issue of Nature Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine researchers report the discovery of the molecular signals that lead to apoptosis, or programmed cell death, following spinal cord injury.
"This work represents a major advancement in our understanding of how and why cells in the spinal cord die following injury," said Joe Springer, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UK College of Medicine, and lead author of the paper. "This study will be important in directing future research efforts, including the development of drugs to limit the consequences of spinal cord injury."
About 250,000 Americans have spinal cord injuries, and about 10,000 new cases occur each year. In Kentucky, about 1,100 people suffer from spinal cord injuries with about 200 new cases each year.
People between the ages of 16 and 30 account for more than half of all spinal cord injuries, and spinal cord injuries are three times more prevalent in males than females.
The incidence of spinal cord injuries is rare compared to other health problems, such as heart disease, cancer or stroke. However, the total financial burden of spinal cord injuries is disproportionately high. The estimated cost of spinal cord injuries in the United States was $7.7 billion in 1995, and a 27-year-old with complete quadriplegia will incur lifetime costs of about $1 million.
Apoptosis is a "suicide" process. The dying cell activates internal biochemical reactions, such as fragmentation of the DNA, to disassemble itself systematically. One cell type that undergoes apoptosis after the injury is the oligodendroglia, which provides myelin to the nerves controlling motor function. Myelin acts as an essential insulator of nerves, and without myelin, the nerves do not function properly, contributing to paralysis.
"Through molecular signals, the injury spreads throughout the spinal cord," said Pamela Knapp, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UK College of Medicine, and co-author of the paper. "The oligodendroglia, although undamaged by the original injury, can die in the weeks following the trauma. By developing therapeutic strategies that can prevent the death of the oligodendroglia by inhibiting the apoptotic molecular pathway, we hope to promote nerve function and improve recovery from spinal cord injury."
The caspase family of proteases, enzymes that destroy proteins by breaking them into individual amino acids, regulates apoptosis in humans and other mammals. This research clearly shows that in cells that are damaged by spinal cord injuries, the release of a protein called cytochrome c from the mitochondria causes the proteins Apaf-1 and procaspase-9 to bind together. This, in turn, activates caspase-3 which then cleaves several proteins (gelsolin, PAK2, fodrin, and DFF40/CAD), resulting in DNA fragmentation and destruction of the cellular structure. These molecular signals then spread to surrounding areas of the spinal cord.
This research project was one of the first supported by the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust (KSCHIRT). Established by the 1994 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, KSCHIRT allocates funds to support spinal cord and head injury research at UK and the University of Louisville with the major goals of understanding how cells die following head or spinal cord injury and identifying effective therapeutic treatments.
"The UK Chandler Medical Center has several established clinical and basic scientists investigating spinal cord and head injury," Springer said. "With continued support from KSCHIRT and other funding organizations, the UK Chandler Medical Center clearly has the potential to become an internationally-recognized leader in discovering effective ways to treat people suffering from these devastating injuries."
Robert Azbill, a graduate student in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UK College of Medicine, also contributed to the paper.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University Of Kentucky Medical Center.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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RIM-8 Talos was a long-range high-altitude cruise missile designed to give the fleet stand-off protection against enemy aircraft and the ability to attack distant surface targets. It could attack aircraft, missiles, ships, radar installations and other shore facilities with either conventional or nuclear warheads. Talos had an effective range of about 100 miles and could engage airborne targets from 50 feet to 70,000 feet altitude.
Talos was the first surface-to-air and surface-to-surface guided missile developed by the U.S. Navy. It was a product of the Bumblebee program that started during World War II, along with the other "Ts", RIM-2 Terrier and RIM-24 Tartar. Damage inflicted by Japanese Kamikaze aircraft and German guided air to surface missiles and glide bombs during World War II brought light to the need for more effective fleet air defense. The three "Ts" were the first fleet missile defenses against the rapidly developing aircraft and missile threats.
Talos was the first operational beam riding missile and the first with semi-active homing. It was supposed to be the first antiaircraft missile deployed to the fleet, but because of the complexity of the Talos system and a series of performance improving design changes, the missile wasn't actually deployed until after the Terrier system was deployed. Originally intended for deployment in 1949, the missile didn't become operational until the commissioning of the USS Galveston CLG-3 in 1959.
The Talos missile relied upon guidance information from the firing ship. This limited the number of missiles a single ship could control at the same time. The guidance system transmitted a signal to direct the desired flight path. The missile followed this guidance signal to the target. A significant advantage of this beam riding control method was that the missile did not end up in a long, circuitous, fuel consuming tail chase as it approached the target. Instead the missile was guided to an altitude where it operated efficiently, and it was then flown to a predicted intercept point ahead of the target. This gave the missile a very long effective range. The ship illuminated the target with a signal from guidance radars and the missile homed in on the signal reflected from the target - this is called "semi-active homing." In the final phase of the intercept the missile dove on the target from above.
The Talos missile success rate was better than 80% but the overall system effectiveness was less than that. The Talos system occupied a huge amount of shipboard space and required a great deal of maintenance. Each missile had to be tested every 30 days. In addition, the Talos system could track only six targets, and engage only two of these at a time. This made it vulnerable to saturation attacks by large numbers of aircraft. A relatively slow response time and long minimum intercept distance limited its effectiveness for countering low flying short range "pop up" targets. The last versions of Talos were introduced in the late 1960s. The anti-radiation RIM-8H missile carried additional electronics that allowed it to actively home on transmitting radars, and the RIM-8J used a high energy fuel that extended the range to 130 nautical miles. More than 2400 Talos missiles were built and about 1350 were fired in practice exercises and combat between 1958 and 1979. Unit cost has been reported as $386,000, or almost a billion dollars for all.
The Talos launching system was was too large and expensive for most post World War II ship construction. Only one new ship was designed to carry it, the USS Long Beach CGN-9. Eventually Terrier was developed into the Navy's Standard missile, and Talos was retired from the fleet by 1979. The missiles continued to be used as land launched supersonic targets in the MQM-8 Vandal supersonic target program until 2005. For this use the missile was modified to allow it to fly in a surface-skimming cruise mode in addition to the normal high altitude mode. The Vandal targets contributed to the development of advanced Standard missiles. They were very challenging targets that were difficult to shoot down. Talos booster rockets were used to launch a variety of high altitude sounding rockets.
The Talos system was complex. Descriptions of various parts and operations can be found at these links:
- Talos RIM-8 guided missile
- Talos Mk 7 Guided Missile Launching System
- Talos Mk 77 Guided Missile Fire Control System
- Talos missile firing operations
- Additional Talos information
- History of the Talos missile
1. The Bumblebee Project, Evan D. Nau, 1998
2. Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, RIM-8, Andreas Parsch, 2005
3. Evolution of the Talos Missile, William Garten, Jr. and Frank A. Dean, Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Vol 3 No 2, 1982, p 117.
4. The First Forty Years, Chapter 3, The Missile Age, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Schneidereith & Sons, Baltimore Md, 1983, page 19.
5. Gunner's Mate Missile 3 & 2, Rate Training Manual NAVTRA 10199-B, Naval Training Command
6. Gunner's Mate Missile 1 & C, Rate Training Manual NAVTRA 10200-B, Naval Training Command
7. History of Ramjet and Scramjet Propulsion Development for U. S. Navy Missiles, Waltrup, P.J. et al, Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Vol. 18, No. 2, 1997
8. Talos Missile Handling, Cruiser Installation, Technical Training Film Bulletin No. 45, Part II, Defense Atomic Support Agency
9. The Unified Talos, Frank A. Dean, Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest Vol. 3, No. 2, 1982, page 123.
10. US Naval Weapons, Norman Friedman, Naval Institute Press, 1985.
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A frame check sequence (FCS) refers to the extra checksum characters added to a frame in a communication protocol for error detection and correction. A checksum is a form of Redundancy check, a simple way to protect the integrity of data by detecting errors in data that are sent through space ( Telecommunications In Computer networking, a frame is a Data packet of fixed or variable length which has been encoded by a Data link layer communications protocol for digital In the field of Telecommunications, a communications protocol is the set of standard rules for data representation signaling authentication and error detection required to In Mathematics, Computer science, Telecommunication, and Information theory, error detection and correction has great practical importance in
The sending host computes a checksum on the entire frame and appends this as a trailer to the data. In Information technology, trailer refers to supplemental Data placed at the end of a block of data being stored or transmitted which may contain information The receiving host computes the checksum on the frame using the same algorithm, and compares it to the received FCS. This way it can detect whether any data was lost or altered in transit. It may then discard the data, and request retransmission of the faulty frame.
The FCS is often transmitted in such a way that the receiver can compute a running sum over the entire frame, including the trailing FCS, and expect to see a fixed result (such as zero) when it is correct. Such an FCS generally appears immediately before the frame-ending delimiter.
By far the most popular popular FCS algorithm is a cyclic redundancy check, used in the Ethernet, X.25, HDLC, Frame Relay, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) and other data link layer protocols. A cyclic redundancy check (CRC is a type of function that takes as input a data stream of any length and produces as output a value of a certain space commonly a 32-bit integer Ethernet is a family of frame -based Computer networking technologies for Local area networks (LANs X25 is an ITU-T standard Network layer protocol for packet switched Wide area network (WAN communication High-Level Data Link Control ( HDLC) is a bit-oriented Synchronous Data link layer protocol developed by the International Organization In the context of Computer networking, frame relay consists of an efficient Data transmission technique used to send digital information In networking, the Point-to-Point Protocol, or PPP, is a data link protocol commonly used to establish a direct connection between two nodes The Data Link Layer is Layer 2 of the seven-layer OSI model. It responds to service requests from the Network Layer and issues service requests to the In the field of Telecommunications, a communications protocol is the set of standard rules for data representation signaling authentication and error detection required to
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Interactive whiteboards are a great way for teachers to engage classrooms in learning. These tools are also cost effective. The Internet has tons of free sources to help teachers learn about and use IWBs with students. Here is a list of 20 interactive whiteboard resources and activities guaranteed to stimulate learning:
TeacherLED – TeacherLED is a site dedicated to making the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) easier and more productive. This comprehensive site features resources to use with IWBs in math, English, and geometry.
SMART – This SMART Board interactive whiteboard site provides several lesson plans and activities for teachers to use in the classroom. SMART lessons are available for a variety of ages and subjects.
Topmarks – With some of the best free educational materials for IWBs, Topmarks is a great resource for finding IWB lesson plans and activities. This educational site also features teacher resources, educational sites for classroom, and homework help.
Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom – This site for whiteboard users features tutorials, interactive websites, and software.
Eduscapes – This guide to interactive whiteboards explains different activities and resources that can be used with IWBs. Eduscapes is a good starting place for teachers who are just beginning to use this technology in the classroom.
Games and Activities
PBS – PBS provides a collection of fun, interactive SMART Board games. All of the games featured on this site are age appropriate and screened by educators.
MathFrame.co.uk – This site, created by a school teacher, houses several interactive math games specifically designed for IWBs. All activities are aimed at reinforcing mathematical concepts and skills.
BBC History Game – BBC offers several interactive activities that can be used with interactive whiteboards. This Famous People history game is a great way to teach elementary children about historical figures.
Scholastic – Scholastic provides interactive whiteboard lessons for phonics, math, science, and history. This site also features a search engine for finding more lessons across North America.
Crickweb.co.uk – Crickweb.co.uk provides 15 free resources for use with interactive whiteboards. These math activities are designed to teach elementary students the basics of math.
Math Playground – The Math Playground offers interactive math activities for middle schoolers. These games and activities work well for teachers who want to engage the entire class.
Classbrain – This game site features several interactive math games that work with IWBs. A fun game worth trying with students is Regrouping.
Funbrain – Funbrain offers several interactive educational games for use with IWBs. These fun games cover a range of subjects and grades.
Kerpoof – Kerpoof is an educational interactive website from the Walt Disney Company that can be used with IWBs. This site is a great way for children to create, discover, and learn.
Skeleton of the Beast – This interactive game from Discovery Education is a useful learning tool for IWBs. Skeleton of the Beast features four skill level timed games that teach children about prehistoric animals.
Xpeditions – Xpeditions from National Geographic provides an atlas that can be used on interactive whiteboards. This atlas explores every region of the world.
Periodic Table – This interactive periodic table site was designed for educational use by elementary to high school students. The site works with interactive whiteboards to introduce and engage children in learning the element table.
Archiving Early America – Archiving Early America features a range of short videos on American history that are perfect for use on IWBs.
Memorial Hall Museum – This free online museum features a complete interactive website for teachers. IWB teachers can view collections, online exhibits, and games.
Place the State – Place the State is an interactive geography game from Bensguide.gpo.gov. This resource can be used with IWBs to teach students about U.S. states.
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Wabi-sabi (侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The phrase comes from the two words wabi and sabi. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". It is a concept derived from the Buddhist assertion of the Three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin ), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō ). Note also that the Japanese word for rust, 錆 is also pronounced sabi (the borrowed Chinese character is different, but the word itself is of assumed common etymology), and there is an obvious semantic connection between these concepts.
Wabi-sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of traditional Japanese beauty and it "occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West." "if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi." "It (wabi-sabi) nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."
The words wabi and sabi do not translate easily. Wabi originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, remote from society; sabi meant "chill", "lean" or "withered". Around the 14th century these meanings began to change, taking on more positive connotations. Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.
From an engineering or design point of view, "wabi" may be interpreted as the imperfect quality of any object, due to inevitable limitations in design and construction/manufacture especially with respect to unpredictable or changing usage conditions; then "sabi" could be interpreted as the aspect of imperfect reliability, or limited mortality of any object, hence the etymological connection with the Japanese word sabi, to rust.
A good example of this embodiment may be seen in certain styles of Japanese pottery. In the Japanese tea ceremony, the pottery items used are often rustic and simple-looking, e.g. Hagi ware, with shapes that are not quite symmetrical, and colors or textures that appear to emphasize an unrefined or simple style. In reality, these items can be quite expensive and in fact, it is up to the knowledge and observational ability of the participant to notice and discern the hidden signs of a truly excellent design or glaze (akin to the appearance of a diamond in the rough). This may be interpreted as a kind of wabi-sabi aesthetic, further confirmed by the way the colour of glazed items is known to change over time as hot water is repeatedly poured into them (sabi) and the fact that tea bowls are often deliberately chipped or nicked at the bottom (wabi), which serves as a kind of signature of the Hagi-yaki style.
Wabi and sabi both suggest sentiments of desolation and solitude. In the Mahayana Buddhist view of the universe, these may be viewed as positive characteristics, representing liberation from a material world and transcendence to a simpler life. Mahayana philosophy itself, however, warns that genuine understanding cannot be achieved through words or language, so accepting wabi-sabi on nonverbal terms may be the most appropriate approach. Simon Brown notes that wabi sabi describes a means where students can learn to live life through the sense and better engage in life as it happens rather than caught up in unnecessary thoughts. In this sense wabi sabi is the material representation of Zen Buddhism. The idea being that being surrounded by natural, changing, unique objects helps us connect to our real world and escape potentially stressful distractions.
In one sense wabi sabi is a training where the student of wabi sabi learns to find the most simple objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful. Fading autumn leaves would be an example. Wabi sabi can change our perception of our world to the extent that a chip or crack in a vase makes it more interesting and give the object greater meditative value. Similarly materials that age such as bare wood, paper and fabric become more interesting as they exhibit changes that can be observed over time.
The wabi and sabi concepts are religious in origin, but actual usage of the words in Japanese is often quite casual. The syncretic nature of Japanese belief systems should be noted.
Many Japanese arts over the past thousand years have been influenced by Zen and Mahayana philosophy, particularly acceptance and contemplation of the imperfection, constant flux, and impermanence of all things. Such arts can exemplify a wabi-sabi aesthetic. Here is an incomplete list:
During the 1990s the concept was borrowed by computer software developers and employed in Agile programming and Wiki to describe acceptance of the state of ongoing imperfection that is the product of these methods.
On 16 March 2009, Marcel Theroux presented In Search of Wabi-sabi on BBC Four as part of the channel's "Hidden Japan" season of programming. Marcel travelled throughout Japan trying to understand the aesthetic tastes of Japan and its people.
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A study in 1985 “On the Brain of a Scientist: Albert Einstein” found that Einstein’s brain was actually not significantly different from others. As an Organization Development blogger put it:
===> what made Einstein different was his mind. <===
His thinking and passion for learning were the basis of his genius. His brain was the same, but his intellect was markedly different. He was often humble about his intellect, and instead said that learning relied on working hard and imagining the impossible. So what made his learning so different? What can we learn from Einstein?
Read more, very interesting, a MUST:
Via Ana Cristina Pratas, Gust MEES, Les Howard, Mary Perfitt-Nelson
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The Digital Legal Landscape in South America: Government Transparency and Access to Information
Teresa M. Miguel
Yale Law School - Lillian Goldman Law Library
June 16, 2011
The governments of ten South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) vary widely in the quantity and quality of free legal information each offers to its citizens. Each country has made a significant effort in providing basic legal texts, such as codes, laws and decrees, in a systematic, searchable, and reliable database. Jurisprudence of the courts, whose significance varies widely among these countries steeped in the civil law tradition, is often less accessible. Some countries have more means and better infrastructure than others which, naturally, is reflected in the quality of the databases, search engines, and archives.
Most of these countries have enacted transparency laws to which all government entities are subjected. Countries with laws pertaining to transparency in order of strength of law are: Chile (2008), Peru (2002), Ecuador (2004), Uruguay (2008), Colombia (1985), Argentina (2003 decree), and Bolivia (2005 decree). These transparency laws do not only pertain to budget, fiscal responsibility, and political accountability, but also to free public access to legal information. The transparency laws from both Peru and Ecuador, for example, are entitled, Law of Transparency and Access to Information, and obligate government entities to be proactive in making legal information freely accessible.
In the following report, the transparency laws are briefly discussed at the beginning of each country report. The focus of this overall project, however, is not specifically on whether a country has laws governing transparency and access to information, but rather, whether a country is indeed making available to its citizens free, current, reliable, official, and authentic legal information in a way that is easy to find, access, obtain, and read. Supplementary information is also provided about how non-profit legal databases and commercial providers of legal information fit into each country’s digital legal landscape. Please note that unless otherwise indicated, all websites and documents are in the vernacular language, i.e. Spanish or Portuguese for Brazil.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 81
Keywords: Government Transparency, Access To Information, Latin America, South America, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
JEL Classification: K33, D83working papers series
Date posted: June 18, 2011
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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