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Still struggling to choose your university major? Choosing a major is one of the most important decisions every SPM leaver has to make. The pressure of pursuing the right course is immense. You don’t want to waste your time doing something you don’t like, do you? Your enjoyment carries your overall university performance and experience. It determines your passion to continue your studies until you receive the scroll. Check out these 9 pro tips on how to decide a university major. It will make your decision-making more effective! 1. Ask yourself why? Why do you plan to continue your studies? Are you looking forward to achieving something valuable and meaningful? Try to set an outcome that you’re expecting to see in three to five years. For a high school leaver, your goal should be to obtain a higher education qualification that can boost your job search and career growth. You can discuss your study options with your family, school seniors and counsellor. Their advice will be of great help! 2. What are your interests? Art stream or science stream? They branch out to different fields and eventually, courses and career pathways. It is crucial to know what are your interests to ensure you choose a course that you'll enjoy learning about. List down courses related to your interests and visualise your future self studying and working in those fields. 3. Consider the most important factors Tertiary studies involve many factors. You need to first identify the key factors that are related to you as an individual: - Money: How much are you willing to spend? - Duration: How long do you want to spend studying? - Subject: Which course will provide you with the skills that you’ve always wanted to learn? - Employability: Will this course contribute to your employment and career growth? 4. Study destination Do you want to study locally or abroad? If you plan to study abroad, make sure to find out: - Which country specialises in the course that you choose? - What country would be best to live in for a few years? There are many countries in the world that offer outstanding academic qualifications. You can choose a country that has various internships and work opportunities to ease your future job search. Studying in a foreign country exposes you to new experiences like learning a new language, culture, meeting new friends and have a different approach life. 5. Do your research and homework Once you get the hang of it, you should already have a few courses in mind. Now, it's time for a thorough research. a) Decide which pathway you want to take b) Research what the courses are all about You can easily find details on specific courses such as the requirements, tuition fees and top universities that offer the courses that you want. Head over to our subject guides for more courses information. c) Attend open days and education fairs These events are the best platform to get a one-to-one contact where you can inquire everything about the university and course. d) Google your worries away “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers.” Everything is accessible online. For simple and direct queries, the answers are just at your fingertips, so make full use of it! 6. Prioritise what is important to you Try to stick with your decision and don’t shift your choices. Shortlist three best courses you are planning to study and compare them with different variables. They could be the job opportunity, practical and theoretical experience, internships, tuition fees and more. 7. Take a reality check Referring back to #3, this is where you have to give yourself a reality check before deciding. Can you afford the tuition fees? If you plan to study abroad, you also need to weigh on the travel expenditure and living cost. Besides that, you are also required to score certain qualifications before you can apply to certain courses. For example, English language proficiency tests. Also, if you scored well in your exams, you can apply for scholarships to financially support your journey as a student. 8. Future career opportunity You don’t want to pursue your studies with zero clue of your future career pathway. Although the future is uncertain, you can start planning a guide ahead of time. If your major promises a good career opportunity, that is a good sign to go for it. 9. Narrow down your options Keep in mind that every course has different specialisations. For example, Engineering is divided into different areas like Civil Engineering, Software Engineering, Aviation and more. Carefully identify which one suits your area of interest. Once you have gotten all the information, narrow down your options to 4 or 5 specialisations. Review the pros and cons based on the research you made. Don’t forget to consider your opinions and advice you received from your family and counsellors.
Cryptocurrency exchange is an online platform that allows customers to trade any variety of currencies for other assets, including conventional FIAT currencies, other cryptosystems, or even other traditional digital currencies such as the US dollar. This market allows you to transfer money from one virtual account to another with very low fees. Most of these services charge transaction fees to the customer. Some of these charges may depend on the type of Cryptocurrency you are transacting in. Some Cryptocurrency exchanges may also charge extra fees if you wish to use their features such as instant conversions or trades. Basically, a bitcoin exchange is an automated trading system that allows you to convert one type of currency for another. They allow seamless trading between any number of cryptosystems, including those that operate using different payment methods and different time zones. They provide a means to exchange conventional money, including the Euro, US dollar, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, and Euro. They are increasingly used by companies trading in alternative assets, including Crypto, commodities, and others. There are many different uses for the Cryptocurrency exchange. One of the most popular uses is for day trading. Here, you trade one type of asset against another at prearranged prices set by the Cryptocurrency exchange. These investments can be made quickly and mechanically, sometimes within just a few seconds. You are able to buy and sell many different types of coins all from the comfort of your own home, at any time of the day or night. Many people also use the Cryptocurrency exchanges for investing in the currency of their choice. This can be done quite easily. Simply visit the site and check out the available offerings by different brokers. From there, you can make an educated decision about which one suits your needs best. It is important to bear in mind that many of these exchanges now offer mobile services, via their cell phones. Therefore, they are accessible to many people who use their mobiles on a daily basis. A number of Cryptocurrency exchange traders have started their own businesses. If you are interested in becoming one of these traders, you can do so easily. The internet has made it very simple for anyone to establish a Cryptocurrency exchange. The software required to do this has already been created by several large companies. Once you are set up with a Cryptocurrency exchange, you will be able to make profits very quickly. Many of the larger exchanges now hold over four trillion dollars in assets. In summary, Cryptocurrency exchange offers many benefits to users who choose to trade in this way. For the novice trader, this type of trading may offer an ideal way to learn about the various currencies available. For the experienced investor, this exchange provides an excellent way to diversify and reduce risk. Also, because many of the coins being traded are highly volatile in nature, it is imperative to keep in mind that your investment can lose its value very quickly. It is always wise to diversify and try not to put all of your eggs in one basket.
Engineering is one of the most sought-after career choices in India. Each year numerous engineering aspirants study rigorously to appear for the Joint Entrance Examination which is their ticket to the best engineering colleges in the country. The examination is tough and thus Students begin with its preparation two-three years prior to the exam. Some even drop a year or two in between to give this exam and pursue engineering from a good college. But is all this effort worth it? Here are five things you must know before choosing to study engineering: - Know Your Interest Engineering no doubt is a respected field. However, this must not be the only reason why you should go for it. You must do thorough research to understand if the field really interests you. For this, you may get in touch with your seniors who are in the same field and find out about the subjects you shall be required to study under the engineering field you are planning to take up. Also, understand the kind of work you shall be required to handle once you acquire the degree. Go for it only if it interests you and not because everyone else is going for it. - No End to Hard Work Getting admission in the esteemed IITs and other prestigious engineering colleges requires a good amount of hard work. Students require studying day in and day out to crack JEE which gives way to admission in these colleges. However, if you think life would be easy once you get admission in a good engineering college then you are mistaken. You will have to work equally hard during your engineering semesters to get through with good marks. You will have to toil harder to get a good job as the competition is high. After securing a good job you will have to work hard to grow in the field. So, there is no end to hard work. - Truth about Campus Placements You may be given the picture that once you get admission in a good engineering college you just have to work upon getting good grades and you shall be picked from the campus for a lucrative job. But this is not the truth. The organizations that come for campus placements do not just look at the candidate’s scorecard. Interviews conducted here are like any other job interview wherein the candidates are assessed thoroughly before giving a job. Even top engineering colleges do not guarantee 100% placement. - Scope of Engineering Do market research to understand the scope of engineering. You must particularly study the engineering field you are planning to take up. Do not just research the current market status but also future prospects. There may be certain fields wherein the number of job seekers may be more than the number of jobs. There may also be certain fields that may not hold much scope in the coming years. Do not go for such engineering fields. Go for those that are booming and have brighter future prospects. - Job Stability The field of engineering is as volatile as any other field. What you study in the engineering college may not exactly be at par with the knowledge you require to handle the tasks assigned to you as you take up an engineering role in a good organization. You shall be required to innovate and keep abreast with the changing technology in order to keep your job secure. Just having an engineering degree does not guarantee job security.
Kidney stones can cause pain and discomfort. It happens because these stones are hard minerals that form inside your kidneys. People with kidney stones experience severe pain when the stones pass through their urinary tract. A nephrologist in Karachi says that if the kidney stone condition runs in your family, you are at high risk. But yes, at the same time, you can reduce the risk of kidney stones by choosing a healthy diet and lifestyle changes. What you can do to prevent kidney stones A healthy diet and lifestyle choices are not only beneficial to preventing kidney stones but also help you live a healthy life. It also reduces the risk of many potential health conditions that can affect the quality of life. You should take care of your health by following these factors: Drink plenty of water Drinking enough water offers many health benefits from head to toe. People who do not drink water should be aware of dehydration causing problems. Make sure that you keep your health at first and avoid such drinks that contain soda and other artificial sweeteners. Less intake of water leads to low urine which is more concentrated and increases the risk of stones in the kidneys. If you do not rely on only water, you have other options too, such as orange juice, etc. People should add more fluids into their daily life routine which leads to more urine output that dissolves the salt. Some juices like lime juice contain citrate which does not let the stone form. People with sweating issues should drink more fluids and consult with a doctor. Dark urine shows that you need to drink more water as it is more concentrated. But the light yellow or clear urine color says that you are hydrated and drink balanced fluids. Say no to excessive animal protein Some people love to eat meat and do not like to add veggies into their daily routine diet plan. But do you know that these diets can increase acid in urine? Yes, it increases uric acid and calcium oxalate kidney stone formation. You should discuss with the doctor what type of diet you should eat and how much you can eat. There is some meat you should consume within the limit, such as fish, beef, poultry, etc. Try herbal remedies One of the most popular home remedies includes the chance piedra which helps to prevent kidney stones. You can prevent the risk of kidney stone formation and also it helps to reduce the size of the kidney stones. Avoid excess intake of oxalate-rich diet Oxalate is the reason for many kidney stone formations. Foods that contain oxalate can increase the risk of the stones formation which can put you at high risk of stones formation. Make sure that you do not eat foods that are high in oxalate content, such as beets, rhubarb, wheat bran, spinach, chocolate, sweet potatoes, coffee, peanuts, soy products, etc. But you can reduce the risk of stones inside your kidneys by eating calcium and oxalate-rich foods at once because they will provide both contents in the same quantity. Consume less sodium People who add more salt to their foods or drinks should be aware of the fact that high salt content can lead to calcium kidney stones. If you consume a diet high in salt content, avoid it from now on. Such a diet does not allow the calcium to be reabsorbed from the urine in your blood. Sodium does cause many other health problems as well which can put you at high risk of poor health. Your doctor may ask for a sodium blood test to check the sodium level. You can find the sodium blood test price online. Such prevention of calcium absorption leads to kidney stone formation which can cause severe pain and discomfort. Some foods contain high content of sodium such as lunch meat, foods containing sodium nitrate, canned soups, processed foods, condiments, canned veggies, etc. There are other ways too that can add flavor to your diets, such as fresh herbs or seasoning blends. It depends on you what type of flavor you like the most. Do not take vitamin C supplements Some vitamin C supplements can increase the risk of stone formation inside the kidneys. You must learn that vitamin c supplements sometimes become the reason for kidney problems. There is more research required that how these supplements can affect your kidney health. Consume calcium-rich diet Researchers say that one of the most common kidney stones is calcium oxalate stones. But it does not mean that you should avoid eating the calcium diet. It is a myth only. Make sure that you add a more calcium diet to your daily routine. But you should avoid calcium supplements as they can cause harm to your kidneys. Low-fat yogurt or low-fat milk can help to complete your calcium intake. You should see a doctor if you have been experiencing any pain in your kidneys.
The Whiskey Daisy in History, Theory, and Practice A classic through the ages. Perhaps the easiest way to transform a Whiskey Sour is to add an extra, intensely flavored ingredient to the mix — typically something sweet, often but not always fruity. The presence of this extra ingredient, which might come in a proportion as large as an ounce or as small as a single teaspoon, transforms a simple Whiskey Sour into a different class of cocktail known as the Daisy. Adding a flavor modifier like this is a consistently useful technique for modifying a cocktail, and it works particularly well with Whiskey Sour-class drinks. Daisies modified with herbal liqueurs, meanwhile, make great sippers for cool fall nights as darkness begins to arrive early. So today, we’re going to look at some historical and contemporary recipes for the Whiskey Daisy, which show how the drink has evolved over time. And then, at the end, I’ll show you how I like to make this drink. The Daisy Resembles a Lot of Other Drinks Like all iconic cocktails, the Daisy is best understood as a template: Search for Whiskey Daisy recipes and you’ll find a wide variety of specs, some great, some good, some not worth discussing. The Daisy has evolved over time, and part of what’s interesting about this template is how varied the recipes are, with additions of grenadine, Cointreau, orgeat, and even the historically appropriate yellow Chartreuse. Yet nearly all of them follow a standard pattern: a whiskey base, some lemon juice, some sort of syrup — essentially a Whiskey Sour — and then something else. That “something else,” whatever it turns out to be, is what makes a Daisy a Daisy. It’s what gives the drink its Daisy-ness. Structurally, the Daisy resembles several drinks we’ve already covered even beyond the Whiskey Sour: In the same way that a tiki drink is a rum sour plus spice, a Whiskey Daisy is a Whiskey Sour plus some other strongly flavored ingredient. In a sense, a Mai Tai, which takes the Daiquiri’s rum sour template and adds orange liqueur and nut syrup, is a kind of a Rum Daisy. Similarly, a lot of Whiskey Daisies also end up looking a lot like Dick Bradsell’s Bramble — a modern classic that is really just a gin sour or gin fix topped with a sweet, fruity liqueur.
To produce good quality content, you need to light up before you start filming or shooting. In general, there are many ways of lighting that you may not be familiar with. In this article, we will introduce video content production and lighting best tools to you. Video Content Production and Lighting One of the most important tools for content production is a video camera with video capability. Of course, you can use camcorders and even mobile cameras to get started. But once you make progress, we suggest that you use camcorders to improve the quality of your work. It is better to use DSLR cameras to be able to produce better quality photos and videos. Because DSLR cameras have interchangeable lenses, you can easily use different lenses. The higher the megapixel camera for photo output, the better the camera and the better the video quality. We suggest using mirrorless cameras instead of DSLRs. Because with more features, they are more suitable for blogging or producing video content. They also weigh less and are more affordable than DSLR cameras. Photographic wallpaper, also known as a curtain, is another important tool for portrait or studio photography. Basically, in photography and video making, curtains are used that do not have a color or gloss so that the subject can be seen more clearly. The chrome curtain or the green curtain is mostly used in filming and making videos. But it should be noted that this curtain is also used in photography. You may be wondering why photographers use green or blue curtains? The answer to this question is clear. Because green or blue has the ability to separate your subject from the background after finishing work with photo editing programs. In fact, systems recognize green and blue better than other colors. For this reason, green or blue is used. (We recommend using only green. Older analog cameras commonly use blue.) Digital Photography Lenses There are many types of lenses, and they are referred to as camera eyes, and each has its own application. Such as normal lens, telephoto lens, Weidangel lens, and zoom lens and…. Because content production is an industrial and advertising business, the lenses you choose to do this must be of good quality. There are also three important points that you should pay special attention to when choosing a lens for industrial (advertising) photography. - Current distance variable - Optical quality of lenses - Lens diaphragm The lenses that allow you to change the focal length are known as the zoom lens. The optical quality of the lens also means the sharpness of the subject details. Photography or filming tripod Tripod is a device that can be used to take better-quality photos. For example, when shaking hands or in dim places, we can use a tripod. The tripod makes the camera more stable and gives us clearer images. In producing content, it is necessary to use lighting tools in low light and indoor spaces. Even if you are in a well-lit environment, it is still best to use these lighting fixtures to increase quality. In the following section, we have considered 4 suitable light sources for producing video content that you can use. - Light umbrella - Ring Light - natural light Light is a critical issue in photography. A softbox is a device that reflects light well into the subject. The greater the distance from the subject to the softbox and the larger the softbox, the softer and more diffused the light. So that even the shadows of the subject are clearly visible. In photography, umbrellas are used to correct and correct the light, reflecting light from inside the umbrella to the outside. In total, we have two types of light umbrellas, which we have named below. - Reflective light umbrella - Transparent and direct light umbrella In umbrellas that reflect light, the arrow should be attached to the umbrella and the light placed behind the subject. Transparent umbrellas also have a white and transparent fabric through which light passes and spreads. This umbrella model is very suitable for portrait photography. As the name implies, the ring light means a ring of light surrounded by LED lamps and used for photos and videos where the subject is close to the camera. For example, portrait photography. Sunlight is great for photography and video making, especially for bloggers. One of the major benefits is that it is free. All you have to do is get ready for photography and filming at the right time when the sun shines and use natural light at no cost and with high quality. The best time to use natural sunlight is before and afternoon. Editing and editing programs To create good content, it is better to use applications and tools for editing. Here are some examples of them. The best program for photo editing is Photoshop software. Photoshop is one of the most professional photo editing software, and you can use it to edit all kinds of photos. It is also one of the best video editing software for Premiere Pro software. With this program, you can output many video formats. The last word Professional equipment always plays a big role in content production, but its high price makes not everyone buy the equipment they need. As a result, it is better to produce the best content with the least facilities. If you follow all these tips, you will definitely have better-quality photos and videos.
“Where’s the chamber pot?” I asked my husband at 2 am. “You’re kidding me,” he mumbled. Wish I was, my dear, wish that I was. If you ever wanted to know what life was like before modern conveniences, then look no further than your nearest Swedish stuga. Stuga is Swedish for “cabin or cottage, ” and they are generally pretty rustic—mostly because they were constructed sometime in the 1800s and electricity and running water were later additions. Your classic Swedish stuga has low ceilings—people were shorter 100+ years ago—a wood burning stove in one or all of the corners, and if you have a fancy stuga, you’ll have more than one room with big heavy wooden doors. For whatever reason, my daughter thinks opening and closing stuga doors is the funnest thing ever and it keeps her busy for at least an hour. Many of our Swedish friends have mentioned spending their Easter holidays and summer vacations “at the stuga,” and we always thought it was a second summer home. Many of them have inherited them from their parents and stugor (the plural form) are rich sources of childhood memories. If you’re from the US, you’ve probably never experienced this blend of cabin/camping. Swedish stugor are a step above camping but not quite like the modern cabins you’ll find in the Maine or Wisconsin wilderness. Spending time in a Swedish stuga is like stepping back into time. Once the iron key turns the lock, you are opening a time capsule. It’s easy to imagine life as a maid when there is not hot water on the tap, and you need to boil water for every round of dishes you need to wash. Here’s a breakdown of how your time spent in a stuga: 1. Unpack your items and load up a dorm-sized refrigerator with as many groceries as possible 2. Start preparing coffee 3. Start preparing your next meal 4. Eat your meal 5. Boil water to clean up after the meal you just ate 6. Make more coffee 7. Dry and put the dishes away 8. Sweep the floor (Unlike every other abode in Sweden, you are not expected to remove your shoes when entering a Swedish stuga. As a result, dirt and leaves are constantly tracked into the kitchen area.) 9. Leave the house for vacation-related activities like boating, swimming, fishing, etc. 10. Start preparing your next meal 11. Repeat steps 4-9 for 1-3 weeks As you can see, most of your time is spent around preparing and cleaning up after meals. All of those modern conveniences like microwaves, dishwashers, and washing machines that save time are back in your modern house. You know, the one you joyfully left behind in search of a new adventure. Without all of those devices, you’re essentially taking on the role of an 1800s maid. In fact, that’s why Swedish families had maids. All of those tasks take up a lot of your day! But now we do it and call it a vacation. Despite the moderate-to-hard labor, it’s easy to see why families love stuga life so much. Stugor are located in one of four places: 1. On a lake 2. On the sea/ocean which may or may not be on an island 3. On a farmstead 4. In the woods In all instances, the scenery is quiet, serene, and picturesque. So…where do I poop? The woods? A chamber pot? One thing that nobody really tells you about stuga life is the bathroom situation. Remember, this is 1800s living and they didn’t have bathrooms back then. So, where do you poop? This is when stuga living is closer to camping than staying in a rustic cabin. I grew up camping in Maine, USA where we needed a flashlight to walk through the woods to trek to the building with toilets and showers. No biggie—I’ve used an outhouse before. Or so I thought… We have had the pleasure of being invited to our Swedish friends’ stugor and have experienced the full gamut of outhouses. We’ve stayed in outhouses with electricity (really fancy and quite nice in the cold winter months), double hole outhouses—for when you need to poop but want to take a friend along for conversation, and the nonexistent-outhouse—a full bathroom located in another building. Usually, the indication that the outhouse is in use is when the exterior lock is unlocked (pay attention to that signal) or if the door is left open. Pro tip: Ask your Swedish hosts what the signal is and save yourself a potential embarrassing walk-in later on. For the stuga we rented for our family vacation, we had the nonexistent-outhouse situation. We rented a two-room stuga with “access to a full bathroom in the house 30 meters away.” Fortunately, the sun doesn’t set until late at night during Swedish summers, so we didn’t need any flashlights to find our way. The bathroom was a full bathroom with a really hot shower, so the short walk across the grass wasn’t as much of an imposition as I had feared. The downside of having a toilet in a separate building is that if you’re sleeping in a cot in the attic, as I was—accessible only by steep and shallow steps suitable for a submarine—you might not want to navigate down those death-stairs, out creaky doors, and walk the 30 m across the grass in the middle of the night just to pee out the little bit of water you should not have drunk at 10 pm. Now I understood why chamber pots were so popular before indoor plumbing became a thing. Where is a chamber pot when you really need one?!? Stuga life means being outside…a lot Stugor are small and you really don’t want multiple people (and potentially whiny kids) to be cramped in tight quarters with no WiFi, TV, or indoor plumbing, so you end up eating a lot of your meals outside. This is really great if the weather cooperates but we didn’t let a bit of snow slow us down when we stayed at our friends’ stuga in late February. Slap on another pair of snow pants because we’re eating lunch outside. (See pictures above and below.) Not only is eating outside fun and different from what you normally do, but it also means that you eat differently. We ate a lot more grilled foods than we normally would because of our cooking and eating situation. Grilling also results in fewer dishes so, let’s grill every night! Our summer stuga vacation was sunny skies and beautiful sunsets. After dinner, we took evening walks on dirt roads into the woods and peeked into old barns and farmhouses. We saw large beetles and it seemed like there was always a deer or wild rabbit in the fields behind the house. We even lucked out and saw a double rainbow over the meadow after a light rain shower. The perks of roughing it After staying in Swedish friends’ stugor and renting one for our family, I understand why stuga life is so attractive for so many families. Stuga life is remarkably different from what you experience on a daily basis. Everyone unplugs because WiFi is a bit of a ridiculous luxury when you don’t even have access to a flushing toilet. When you stay at a hotel, you often have all of the modern amenities that make a vacation truly relaxing but you are also still very much plugged in. There’s WiFi everywhere, TVs in every room, and it’s harder to get your kids to run around without their shoes on. After a few days of stuga living, my kids didn’t want to put on their shoes again. We rode bikes, saw the local pigs, cows, and alpaca. (Maybe not what you’d expect in Sweden, but there ya go.) We spent more time outside, because the stuga was a bit small and the outside was so nice. Families head off to their stugor to get away from the hustle, bustle, and the pull of modern life. So what if you spend an inordinate amount of time boiling water to wash dishes? Instead, we had a lot of time for talking, laughing, telling stories, playing games, and relaxing. In reality, stuga life is pretty great. If you’re not comfortable camping, then I can’t recommend a vacation at a Swedish stuga. Just like camping, I ignored my own advice and overpacked. But, if you’re feeling adventurous and can “rough it” for a short time, then you’ll love the family memories you make living a simpler, slower lifestyle. You’ll also return to your house with a much greater appreciation than you’ve ever felt before. The first trip you’ll make when you walk through your front door will probably be to your warm, clean, and cozy bathroom. Taking a hot shower has never felt so good. Flushing toilets! OMG, I’m in heaven! A stuga vacation will be one that you’ll remember and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s how we end up spending many of our future family vacations. Until then, you can borrow some Swedish stuga living without ever hopping on a plane simply by eating your next meal outside and turning off your phone. I’ll probably skip the chamber pot as long as I have a functioning toilet, though, thanks.
Bolt and Nut Based on the VT observation, bolt no. 1 (Fig. 2) is well preserved. It has a bright silver-grey appearance, but in some areas an orange brown corroded surface is exposed, indicating that it is made of iron (Fig. 3a–b). The upper and central part of the shank was smooth, and about 40% of the bolt length is threaded. The thread of the shank at the lower part of the bolt shows corrosion products (Fig. 3a). The uniform helical ridge at the lower part of the bolt indicated that it was produced by an industrial process. The shiny metallic coating at the smooth part of the bolt suggests that it was galvanized to protect it against corrosion (Fig. 3b). However, the dark areas, where the zinc coating was eroded away, showed corrosion evidence (Fig. 3b, dark areas). XRF analysis of the bolt’s dark external surface (before it was ground, Fig. 3b, right side of image) revealed a composition of 97.7 wt % Fe. However, the presence of up to 1 wt% of Al, Si, S, Mn, Ni, Cu and Pb was also detected (Table 2). XRF analysis of the bolt’s bulk (ground metal) also showed it is mostly composed of iron (98.3 wt% Fe); however, the presence of up to 0.5 wt% of Al, Si, S, Mn, Ni and Cu was also detected (Table 2). XRF analysis of the bolt’s bright external surface (Fig. 3b, central part of image) revealed it is composed of 46.7–69.9 wt% Zn, 27.9–50.2 wt% Fe, up to 2.5 wt% Si, up to 1.1 wt% Cu and up to 0.3 wt% of S, Ni, Cu, Pb and Sn, indicating that the bolt was made of galvanized steel (Table 2). The high concentrations of Si are possibly due to migration of sediment during the long period of erosion and galvanic corrosion process [43, p. 522, 44, pp. 381, 384]. SEM–EDS analysis revealed that the bolt’s metal bulk was composed of 97.7–98.5 wt% Fe, 0.1–0.3 wt% Si, as well as less than 1 wt% of Mn, Mo, Cr and Ni (Table 3). LM observation of the bolt revealed that it was made of low-carbon steel (0.1–0.2 wt% C), and it exhibited a microstructure of equiaxed ferrite grains with pearlite islands and some inclusions (Fig. 4a). The ferrite grain size is 5–30 μm (Fig. 4a). Dark parallel elongated manganese sulphide (MnS) inclusions surrounded by an iron matrix were observed at the shank by SEM (Fig. 4b), evidence of plastic deformation. SEM–EDS analysis of a typical inclusion (Fig. 4b, arrow) revealed that it was composed of 57.1 wt% Mn, 30.0 wt% S, 11.7 wt% Fe and up to 0.7 wt% of O, Cr, Si and Cu. The presence of such entrapped inclusions can affect the mechanical properties of the steel, and hence, they should be removed as far as possible in the steelmaking process. The microhardness of the bolt samples varied between 162 HV at the shank and 231 HV close to the thread, with average microhardness of 192 ± 31 HV (Table 4). The microhardness results of the shank are as expected from 0.1 to 0.2 wt% C low-carbon steel. For comparison, the microhardness value for modern low-carbon steel is 130 HV [45, p. 455]. The higher microhardness values at the thread of bolt no. 1 is most likely related to an intensive strain hardening (plastic deformation) during the manufacturing process. Microstructure observation of the shank thread shows deformed grains, a feature probably resulting from a thread-rolling process (Fig. 4c, d). The EDS analysis of the bulk of the bolt (centre of shank) revealed that it was composed of iron (97.7 wt% Fe), with the presence of up to 1 wt% of Si, Cr, Mn, Ni and Mo. SEM–EDS elemental mapping of the surface (threaded shank, Fig. 5) revealed the zinc coating, which served as sacrificial anode. The nut of bolt no. 1 (nut no. 1) shows on its surface a well-preserved shiny yellow metal (Fig. 3c), and the observation with higher magnification revealed machining marks (Fig. 3d). LM and SEM images of the metallographic L-CS of this nut revealed elongated and preferentially oriented microstructure (Fig. 6), typical of a cast item shaped by a subsequent thermomechanical work. Based on the machining marks at the threaded hole (internal thread), the manufacturing process was probably combined with a thread cutting machining process (Fig. 3c‒d). XRF analysis revealed that the nut was made of brass, composed of 59.1–59.2 wt% Cu, 36.8–37.5 wt% Zn, 1.2 wt% Pb, with minor contents of Sn, Si, Fe and Ni (Table 2). SEM–EDS analysis revealed that the nut’s metal bulk was composed of 60.1–60.4 wt% Cu, 38.1–38.3 wt% Zn, and the presence of less than 1 wt% of Fe, Pb, Sn, Ni (Table 3). The microhardness of nut no. 1 varied between 156 and 170 HV, with an average value of 163 ± 5 HV (Table 4). Based on the VT observation, nail no. 4 is severely corroded. Multifocal LM observation of the external surface of the nail revealed light brown orange and dark brown corrosion products (Fig. 7a, b), typical of iron oxide generated by the redox reaction between iron and oxygen. The XRF analysis of the corroded external layer of the nail before grinding indicated a composition of 52.7–94.6 wt% Fe, up to 3.1 wt% Zn, up to 25.9 wt% Si, 2.7–7.0 wt% Cu, 2.0–11.4 wt% Pb, up to 0.1–1.2 wt% S and up to 0.3 wt% of Al and Mn (Table 2). The high Si content (25.9 wt% Si) in one of the corroded area measurements is most probably due to migration of sediment from the surroundings [43, pp. 381, 384, 44, p. 522]. The XRF analysis of the ground nail indicated a composition of 91.2–97.8 wt% Fe, 1.3–3.7 wt% Cu, 0.1–2.2 wt% Si, 0.3–2.2 wt% Pb, 0.3–1.9 wt% S and up to 0.6 wt% of Al and Mn. The high Pb and Cu content is unusual for an iron nail [15, pp. 432, 434]; thus, it is possibly related to the long period of corrosion [44, p. 522]. An iron nail produced by the Bessemer process was expected to show the presence of phosphorus [10, p. 226, 11, p. 164]; however, no P was detected by the XRF analysis. This result may be explained due to the poor state of preservation of the corroded nail and instrumental limitations of the XRF. LM observation of the metallographic sample of the nail revealed that it was made of steel (Fig. 7c): however, the carbon content could not be measured because of the poor preservation condition. The SEM–EDS analysis of the nail (centre of shank) revealed that it was composed of iron (99.1–99.5 wt% Fe), with the presence of up to 0.3 wt% of Si, Mn, P and O (Table 3). The microhardness of the nail’s bulk varied between 301 and 322 HV, with an average value of 316 ± 9 HV (Table 4), typical of annealed hypereutectoid steel microstructure, based on the presence of pearlite, which strengthens the steel [46, p. 88, 47, p. 130]. However, cold deformation may have also been a possible reason for such microhardness values [48, p. 82]. According to the EDS analysis, no S was detected (although it was observed by the XRF analysis), and P was detected only in one measurement (Table 3). This result may be explained by heterogeneity of the nail combined with small scanned areas, as well as instrumental limitations of the EDS, and the poor preservation of the nail. The six copper fastenings (spikes no. 1–2, nails 1–3 and rove no. 1, Figs. 1 and 2) were well preserved, with some exposed shiny orange metallic areas (Fig. 8). Areas of green, turquoise, brown and black minerals were observed on the surface of spikes nos. 1 and 2 (Fig. 8). Areas of exposed shiny metal, as well as green, turquoise, yellow, brown and black minerals, were also observed on the surface of nails no. 1–3 (Fig. 8). The XRF analysis of the copper spikes, nails and rove (ground metal) revealed that they were composed of 96.5–99.0 wt% Cu, with the presence of Zn, Si, Fe, Pb, Sn, As, Bi, Sb and Ag (Table 2); however, no S was detected. LM observation of the metallographic sample of the head and upper shank of spike no. 1 revealed slip bands and some deformation twins (Fig. 9a). The average microhardness of spike no. 1 varied between 139 HV at the shank and 152 HV at the head, with an average value of 146 ± 7 HV (Table 4), as expected from copper fastenings produced at the end of the 18th‒early nineteenth century by the traditional manufacturing process of hammering alternating with annealing cycles [49, pp. 73–75, 50, p. 93]. LM and SEM observations of the central part of spike no. 1′s shank revealed equiaxed grains, with a grain size of 10–50 μm (Fig. 9b–d), with some annealing twins and the presence of slag inclusions (1–10 μm), as typical of nineteenth-century smelted and annealed copper [51, p. 370]. The SEM–EDS analysis of the bulk of spike no. 1′s shank revealed that it was made of copper alloy, composed of 98.3–98.7 wt% Cu, with the presence of up to 0.8 wt% of Si, Pb, Mg and O (Table 3). The microhardness of spike no. 2′s bulk varied between 103 and 139 HV, with an average value of 104 ± 1 HV for the head and 135 ± 4 HV for the shank (Table 4). SEM–EDS analysis of the inclusions of spike no. 2 revealed a composition of 17.9–61.7 wt% Cu, 10.7–18.1 wt% Pb, 9.5–20.6 wt% As, 9.4–27.4 Bi, 7.0–14.3 wt% O, as well as up to 1.4 of Si, Sb and Ni (Table 3). LM and SEM observation of rove no. 1 revealed elongated grains with some annealing twins and the presence of elongated slag inclusions at the planar cross section, as typical to plastically deformed grains that were partially annealed [52, p. 84]. The microhardness of rove no. 1 varied between 84 and 106 HV, with an average value of 94 ± 8 HV (Table 4). The SEM–EDS analysis of the bulk of rove no. 1 revealed it was made of copper alloy of 96.8–97.0 wt% Cu, with the presence of up to 1.8 wt % of Si, Pb, O, Ni, As and Bi (Table 3). LM and SEM observations of the central part of nails nos. 1–3 revealed equiaxed grains with a grain size of 10–40 μm, with some annealing twins and the presence of slag inclusions (1–10 μm) (Fig. 10), as typical of annealed copper [51, p. 370]. Some of the inclusions were arranged in parallel strings (Fig. 10a), as also observed by others [53, pp. 76, 85]. The microhardness of the bulk of nail no. 2 varied between 104 and 143 HV, with an average value of 137 ± 5 HV for its head and 111 ± 5 HV for its shank. The microhardness of the bulk of nail no. 3 varied between 99 and 143 HV, with an average value of 142 ± 2 HV for its head and 101 ± 2 HV for its shank. The SEM–EDS analysis of the bulk of nails nos. 1–3 indicated that they were made of copper alloy of 97.2–99.1 wt% Cu, with the presence of up to 1.5 wt % of Si, Pb, O, W, As, Sb, Au, Ni, Mg and Ge (Table 3). EDS analysis of the inclusions of nails nos. 2 and 3 (white arrows, Fig. 10d, f, respectively) revealed a composition of 13.5–28.0 wt% Cu, 30.4–44.4 wt% Pb, up to 27.8 wt% Bi, 12.8–17.0 wt% As, 10.4–14.4 wt% O, up to 3.2 wt% Sb and up to 0.6 of Si, Fe and Ni (Table 3). Brass Screws and Nut Areas of green and turquoise minerals were observed on the surface of both screws (Fig. 11a–c, screw no. 1). Screw no. 1 was well preserved (Fig. 11a–c), with a shiny metallic yellow colour; and the metal of screw no. 2, although broken, is also well preserved (Fig. 11d–f). Observation of the metallographic samples of screw no. 1 head, shank and tip revealed equiaxed grains with the presence of twins and deformation lines (LM, Fig. 12a‒c). The brass grain size is 5–40 μm (Fig. 12c). Observation of screw no. 2 nut revealed a preferentially oriented dendritic microstructure (Fig. 12d‒f), which indicated that this item was made first by casting [24, p. 261, 54, p. 4839], following thermomechanical work. Based on the machining marks at the nut’s threaded hole, the manufacturing process was probably combined with a thread cutting machining process (Fig. 12f). Based on the XRF analysis, the screws were made of alpha–beta brass, composed of 59.6–66.9 wt% Cu and 29.7–39.5 wt% Zn, with the presence of Si, S, Fe, Pb, Sn and As (Table 2). The source of Si could have resulted from the presence of inclusions in the brass, or remains of sand casting [30, p. 296]. SEM–EDS analysis of screw nos. 1 and 2 indicated a composition of 62.3–62.9 wt% Cu and 37.1–37.7 wt% Zn (Table 3). SEM–EDS analysis of nut no. 2 revealed a composition of 58.0 wt% Cu, 40.3 wt% Zn and 1.7 wt% Pb. The composition of the screws is within the range of the 60/40 Cu/Zn alpha–beta brass patented by Muntz in 1832 (Patent no. 6347) [30, p. 192], while the Pb content found in the nut points out to a material that was produced after 1846 [29, 30, p. 201, 55]. Based on the yellow colour of the screws and their composition, no evidence of dezincification was observed. The average microhardness of screw no. 1 metallographic sample varied between 166 HV at the shank and 238 HV at the head, with an average value of 201 ± 37 HV (Table 4); and the microhardness of screw no. 2 varied between 148 and 154 HV, with an average value of 150 ± 3 HV. For comparison, the hardness of brass cases retrieved from the nineteenth-century Akko 1 shipwreck, produced from rolled sheets that were annealed and then hand-formed with simple tools, was 99–207 HV for grain size of 50–100 μm [32, p. 2415]. The average hardness of α-brass housing, made of hot-worked rolled sheet, retrieved from the Dor C shipwreck dated to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, varied between 126 HV and 173 for average grain size of 46 μm [35, p. 439].
This research aims to identify factors related to university closures. While other studies have examined internal factors, few have investigated the impact that external factors, such as demographics, have on school survival. First, this research identifies 96 private baccalaureate and higher-level colleges and universities that have closed since 2000. Next, the closed schools are compared to a sample of 1,793 schools that remained operational over the same time period. Geographic and statistical analysis was completed to identify significant factors that differentiate closed schools. Economic and demographic census data were used to analyze the area around each school, and financial data were used to evaluate the financial health of the school itself. Many articles point to a trend away from rural colleges as the main reason for closure, but this research shows no significant difference in population density in the areas around schools that closed and schools that remained open. Internal factors like enrollment and expenses proved more significant.
What is patent ductus arteriosus? Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a heart problem that is usually noted in the first few weeks or months after birth. It is characterized by the persistence of a normal fetal connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery. All babies are born with this connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery. While your baby was developing in the uterus, it was not necessary for large amounts of blood to circulate through the lungs because oxygen was provided through the placenta. During pregnancy, a connection was necessary to allow oxygen-rich (red) blood to bypass your baby’s lungs and proceed into the body. This normal connection that all babies have is called a ductus arteriosus. At birth, your baby’s lungs must now provide oxygen to his or her body. As your baby takes the first breath, the blood vessels in the lungs open up, and blood begins to flow through them to pick up oxygen. At this point, the ductus arteriosus is not needed to bypass the lungs. Under normal circumstances, the ductus arteriosus closes within the first few days after birth and blood no longer passes through it. In some babies, however, the ductus arteriosus remains open (patent) and the condition now becomes known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The opening between the aorta and the pulmonary artery allows oxygen-rich (red) blood to recirculate into the lungs. What causes PDA? A PDA is always present at birth. In some children, the PDA does not close. Although exact reasons why this happens in some patients and not in others are not known, the most common reason for a PDA that does not close is prematurity. PDA can also occur in combination with other heart defects. Why is PDA a concern? When the ductus arteriosus stays open, oxygen-rich (red) blood passes from the aorta to the pulmonary artery, mixing with the oxygen-poor (blue) blood already flowing to the lungs. The blood vessels in the lungs have to handle a larger amount of blood than normal. How well the lung vessels are able to adapt to the extra blood flow depends on how big the PDA is and how much blood is able to pass through it from the aorta. Extra blood flowing into the lungs causes higher pressure in the blood vessels. The larger the volume of blood that goes to the lungs at high pressure, the more the lungs have to cope with this extra blood at high pressure. Premature babies with a PDA may have difficulty breathing because of this extra blood flow to the lungs at high pressure. They may remain on the ventilator for a longer period of time. The support from the ventilator also may be high, due to this extra blood flow to the lungs. Older infants or children with a PDA may breathe faster than normal or tire easily, but many children do not have obvious problems. Untreated PDA may lead to long-term lung damage; however, this is uncommon, because most children are treated for their PDA before the lungs get damaged. What are the symptoms of PDA? The size of the connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery will affect the type and severity of the symptoms, as does the age at which they first occur. The larger the opening is, the greater the amount of blood that passes through and overloads the lungs. A child with a small patent ductus arteriosus might not have any symptoms, and the child’s doctor may have only noted the defect by hearing a heart murmur. Other infants with a larger PDA may exhibit different symptoms. Although each child may experience symptoms differently, symptoms may include: - Rapid breathing - Heavy breathing - Congested breathing - Disinterest in feeding, or tiring while feeding - Poor weight gain. The symptoms of a PDA may resemble other medical conditions or heart problems and should be discussed with the child’s doctor. How is PDA diagnosed? The child’s doctor may hear a heart murmur during a physical examination, and refer the child to a pediatric cardiologist for a diagnosis. A heart murmur is a noise caused by the turbulence of blood flowing through the PDA. At CHOC, one of our pediatric cardiologists who specializes in the diagnosis and medical management of congenital heart defects will perform a physical examination, listen to the heart and lungs, and make other observations that help in the diagnosis. The loudness and quality of the murmur (such as, harsh or blowing) as well as location within the chest where the murmur is heard best will give the cardiologist an initial idea of which heart problem the child may have. The cardiologist may recommend the following tests: - Chest X-ray. A diagnostic test that uses invisible X-ray beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones and organs onto film. With a PDA, the heart may be enlarged due to larger amounts of blood flow recirculating through the lungs back to the heart. Also, there may be changes that take place in the lungs due to extra blood flow that can be seen on an X-ray. Learn more about X-ray. - Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). A test that records the electrical activity of the heart, shows abnormal rhythms (arrhythmias or dysrhythmias), and detects heart muscle stress. Learn more about electrocardiogram. - Echocardiogram (echo). A non-invasive procedure that evaluates the structure and function of the heart by using sound waves recorded on an electronic sensor that produce a moving picture of the heart and heart valves. An echo can show the pattern of blood flow through the PDA, and determine how large the opening is, as well as how much blood is passing through it. An echo is the most common way that a PDA is diagnosed. Learn more about echocardiogram. What is the treatment for PDA? Specific treatment for PDA will be determined by the child’s doctor based on: - The child’s age, overall health and medical history - Extent of the PDA - The child’s tolerance for specific medications, procedures or therapies - Expectations for the course of the PDA - The family’s opinion or preference. Although a small patent ductus arteriosus may close spontaneously as a child grows, a PDA that causes symptoms will require medical management, and possibly even surgical repair. The child’s cardiologist will check periodically to see whether the PDA is closing on its own. If a PDA does not close on its own, it will be repaired to prevent lung problems that will develop from long-time exposure to extra blood flow. Treatment may include: - Medical management. In premature infants, an intravenous (IV) medication called indomethacin may help close a patent ductus arteriosus. Indomethacin is related to aspirin and ibuprofen and works by stimulating the muscles inside the PDA to constrict, thereby closing the connection. Diuretics may also be prescribed to help the kidneys remove extra fluid from the body. This may be necessary because the body’s water balance can be affected when the heart is not working as efficiently as it should. - Adequate nutrition. Most infants with PDA eat and grow normally, but premature infants or those infants with a large PDA may become tired when feeding, and are not able to eat enough to gain weight. Options that can be used to ensure the baby will have adequate nutrition include the following: – High-calorie formula or breast milk. Special nutritional supplements may be added to pumped breast milk or formula that increase the number of calories in each ounce, thereby allowing the baby to drink less and still take in enough calories to grow properly. – Supplemental tube feedings. Feedings given through a small, flexible tube that passes through the nose, down the esophagus, and into the stomach, can either supplement or take the place of breast or bottle-feedings. Infants who can drink part of their feeding but not all may be fed the remainder through the feeding tube. Infants who are too tired to breast or bottle-feed may receive their breast milk or formula through the feeding tube alone. - PDA repair or closure. The majority of children and some infants with PDA are candidates for repair in the cardiac catheterization lab. The goal is to repair the PDA before the lungs become diseased from too much blood flow and pressure and to restore an efficient pattern of blood flow. Surgical repair may also be recommended if more conservative treatments have not been successful. Repair is usually recommended for infants younger than 6 months of age who have large defects that are causing symptoms, such as poor weight gain and rapid breathing. For infants who do not exhibit symptoms, the repair may often be delayed until after 6 to 12 months of age. The child’s cardiologist will recommend when the repair should be performed. Transcatheter closure of the PDA is frequently performed first if possible because it is minimally invasive. Premature infants, because of their small size, are not candidates for this procedure, and require surgical closure of the PDA. If your child’s PDA is closed by a transcatheter method, they may be able to go home the same day, or may possibly stay in the hospital overnight. Your child’s cardiologist will let you know what to expect. Learn more about transcatheter PDA closure. Your child’s PDA may be repaired surgically in the operating room. The surgical repair, also called PDA ligation, is performed under general anesthesia. The procedure involves closing the open PDA with stitches or clips in order to prevent the surplus blood from entering your child’s lungs. Infants and children who undergo surgical PDA ligation will be cared for in the CVICU after surgery. Your child will be kept as comfortable as possible with medications which relieve pain or anxiety. The staff will also ask for your input about how best to soothe and comfort your child. You will also learn how to care for your child at home before your child is discharged. The staff will give you instructions regarding medications, activity limitations and follow-up appointments before your child is discharged. Most children will only need to stay in the hospital for a few days after the operation. What is the long-term outlook after PDA surgical repair? In premature infants, the outlook after PDA surgical repair depends on the following: - The child’s gestational age - Any other illnesses present in the baby. In children born full-term, the vast majority that had a patent ductus arteriosus diagnosed and repaired early will live healthy lives after recovering from the hospitalization. Activity levels, appetite and growth should return to normal. The child’s cardiologist may recommend antibiotics be given to prevent bacterial endocarditis for a specific time period after discharge from the hospital if a coil or occluder device was used. In children whose PDA was diagnosed very late and/or never repaired, the outlook is uncertain. There is a risk for pulmonary hypertension (increased blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs). Parents should speak with their child’s doctor regarding the specific outlook for your child.
The Three Secrets of Fatima Explained Few things seem to enflame people’s imaginations within Catholic circles more than the secrets of Fatima, especially the third secret. Perhaps you are quite familiar with Fatima and the secrets of Fatima and set great stock in them or perhaps you know very little or even doubt the credibility of the secrets. Whichever camp you find yourself in, it still is good to get an overview of what happened at Fatima, what the secrets actually are and what some key theologians have said about them. Our Lady Appears at Fatima The basic background to Fatima is this- in 1917, over the course of six months, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Portugal. The most well known of these children is named Lucia Santos, and she was with a pair of cousins during these apparitions named Jacinta and Francisco Marto. The reason Lucia is more famous is specifically because of the secrets and her revealing of the secrets at the request of the local bishop. As news of the apparitions grew during the six months they occurred many people naturally asked for some kind of proof. So, during the final apparition of Fatima, in October of 1917, Mary had the sun dance in the sky—an event that was reported in newspapers and witnessed by tens of thousands of people. But this is not what gets people’s imaginations enflamed; it is the secrets. The Secrets of Fatima The children, especially Lucia, maintained that Our Lady gave visions to the children which they were to keep secret. These visions were given to the children during one of the middle visits, so not the first visit nor the final visit. Twenty three years after the events themselves Lucia was ordered by the local bishop of Fatima to write the secrets and she willing did so for the first two. However, she was not convinced that she should release the contents of the third secret. The bishop ordered her under holy obedience to do so and so she wrote out the secret and placed it in a sealed envelope that was not to be opened for 19 years, or 1960 when she said it would be clearer to understand. The First Secret The first secret is not really what we could consider a secret in our common understanding. It is important to note that this is because these are not so much secrets of Fatima in reality, but really the visions of Fatima. The first secret, or vision, was of hell. Lucia wrote that the Blessed Virgin showed the children what hell was like, complete with the suffering experienced by the souls who are there. The vision lasted only a second, but the children say that it was almost unbearable. It lead to a great trust in the promise of Mary to lead her devotees to Christ to save souls from this great eternal suffering. The Second Secret The second secret is more along the lines of what we think a secret involves. In this vision, the Blessed Virgin shows the young children a vision in which they learn that World War I (which is going on during the time of the visions) will end, however another World War will ensue under the papacy of Pope Pius XI (who reigned from 1922 until 1939) unless people stop offending God and Russia is converted. The Virgin asked that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart. The Third Secret And that leads us to the third secret; the one that gets all the attention. Before we get into what the vision was of we need to remember that it was placed in an envelope and was not opened until 1960. Although the envelope was opened in 1960 the secret was not made public until 2000 when the Vatican released the text that Lucia had written. She wrote, “The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fátima, on 13 July 1917. I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine. After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God. The secret of a bishop in white that was presumed to be the pope who was killed by having bullets and arrows fired at him was naturally assigned to the failed assassination attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II. But some people claim that this cannot be the event as the Pope did not die in the attempt and the bishop in white in the vision does die. Therefore some claim that the pope being killed is a prophecy of a future event. However, at the time the third secret text was released then-Cardinal Ratzinger, one of the 20th century’s greatest theologians, who would become Pope Benedict XVI, wrote an accompanying text. In it he writes that the secret “will probably prove disappointing or surprising after all the speculation it has stirred. No great mystery is revealed; nor is the future unveiled.” He writes that “the purpose of the vision is not to show a film of an irrevocably fixed future. Its meaning is exactly the opposite: it is meant to mobilize the forces of change in the right direction. Therefore we must totally discount fatalistic explanations of the “secret”, such as, for example, the claim that the would-be assassin of May 13, 1981 was merely an instrument of the divine plan guided by Providence and could not therefore have acted freely, or other similar ideas in circulation. Rather, the vision speaks of dangers and how we might be saved from them.” This, however, did little to quell the excitement around this third secret.
Greater Shepparton City Council is one of forty-six Victorian Councils to sign on to VECO, the Victorian Energy Collaboration, the largest ever emissions reduction project by local government in Australia. VECO, led by Darebin City Council in Melbourne’s north, will provide 45 per cent of all Victorian Councils’ electricity requirements with 100 per cent renewables, reducing greenhouse emissions by 260,000 tonnes of C02-e every year. Provided by Red Energy, the 240GWh of clean power is equivalent to powering 48,000 homes with renewables or removing the emissions from 90,000 cars every year. Initiated by and facilitated with the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances, VECO recognises the benefits of renewable energy for the environment and the economy. The ground-breaking project will reduce each of the Council’s current energy bills and reduce electricity prices by using clean renewable energy generated right here in Victoria. By joining the project, Greater Shepparton City Council will power 51% of its total energy use with 100 per cent renewables, including council buildings, recreation reserves and sporting recreation facilities, streetlights, libraries and a growing number of council fleet cars as we transition to electric vehicles. This equals over 6,300 tonnes of carbon. “The Victorian Energy Collaboration supports Greater Shepparton City Council commitment to 2030 zero emission target, after declaring a climate emergency in March 2020,” Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Councillor Kim O’Keeffe said. “16% of all council generated emissions are from electricity according to our carbon emission assessment. Council are taking action by making the change to switch to renewable energy supporting Councils commitment to addressing climate change. Council are continuing to take positive steps to climate change and working in collaboration with VECO will assist in achieving our zero emission target” Cr O’Keeffe said. Darebin Mayor Councillor Lina Messina said the project was proof of what can be achieved with collaboration. “This is a collective effort formed by staff and councillors from across the state, for the benefit of our communities,” Cr Messina said. “By powering councils with affordable renewable energy, we’re making ratepayers’ dollars go further. Every dollar we save on energy bills is a dollar we can put towards improving roads, footpaths, libraries or community programs.” Red Energy will provide 240 GWh of electricity per year to the 46 councils in the VECO purchasing group over a period of 9.5 years, beginning 1 July 2021. Owned by Snowy Hydro, Red Energy is a 100 per cent Australian owned and operated energy retailer based in Melbourne. “Given Red Energy is born and bred in Victoria, we are really excited to be a part of a project that is supporting Victorian councils, their ratepayers and two new Victorian wind farms”, said Red Energy CEO Iain Graham. “Our owner Snowy Hydro has been a leader in renewable generation for decades and Red Energy is delighted to partner with Victorian councils to provide a long-term energy contract that will enable councils to purchase renewable energy at a competitive price”, Mr Graham said. The renewable energy will be provided by two wind farms in Victoria – Dundonnell wind farm near Mortlake, which started exporting power to the grid in March 2020, and Murra Warra II wind farm near Horsham, which commenced construction September 2020 and will be fully operational by June 2022. Both wind farms have and will continue to deliver economic benefits to the regions during construction and ongoing operation, and form an important part of state, regional and local economic development.
Computer technology is constantly improving on itself, yet one area that seem appears to receive little attention is printer technology. Many home businesses not only require printing functions but scanning, copying and faxing as well. Frequently, each of these devices is set-up as a separate piece of equipment, requiring not only significant investment of money but of office space as well. One of the newer creations in the field is the multifunction printer, with the ability to print, scan and fax. With a multifunction printer one electronic piece of equipment completes all these jobs and takes up much less space as well as costing much less money than the combination of all devices purchased separately. However, when the key to a multifunction printer is that it does all of these functions adequately but none of them to the degree of a stand-alone device. There are several features that need to be taken into account when researching a multifunction printer that best meets one's individual needs. The first feature that needs to be taken into consideration is the type of printer: multi-function printers can be inkjet, laserjet, or color laserjet. Inkjet printers operate by forcing variably-sized droplets of ink onto a piece of paper or similar medium. A laser printer produces text and graphics on plain paper, using the same technology as digital photocopiers; they employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor. The speed of a laser printer or inkjet printer is measured by the ppm (pages per minute), the number of pages a laser or inkjet printer can produce in one minute. Print speeds of laser or inkjet printers may vary depending on many factors such as the complexity of the document, page coverage, and the design of the printer itself. Generally, as the speed increases, the quality of the output decreases. A typical inkjet printer may print at speeds that vary between 1 to 28 pages per minute for black text and 1 to 20 pages per minute for color, photographs or graphics. The speed of a mid-range monochrome laser printer may vary between 6 to 25 pages per minute for sharp black texts and 2 to 20 pages per minute for black and white graphics. The print speed of a typical color laser printer's will vary between 6 to 20 pages per minute for black text and 1 to 12 pages per minute for color graphics. Image quality is another feature to examine and depends on the number dots per inch printed. The standard resolution of 600 x 600 dots per inch is sufficient for most everyday printing but is unsuitable for printing quality photographs or graphics. The more dots printed per inch, the higher the image quality. The scanner function is also of great importance in a multifunction printer that can use two types of scanning technologies. A charge-coupled device (CCD) uses a light-sensitive integrated circuit that stores and displays the data for an image in such a way that each picture element, or dot, in the image is converted into an electrical charge. Contact Image Sensors (CIS), used more with flatbed scanners, place the image sensor in near direct contact with the object to be scanned in contrast to using mirrors to bounce light to a stationary sensor, as is the case in conventional CCD scanners. A CIS typically consists of a linear array of detectors, covered by a focusing lens with LEDs that allow the CIS to be highly power efficient, with many scanners being powered through the minimal line voltage supplied via a USB connection. CIS devices typically produce lower image quality compared to CCD devices but make the printer more durable. Another feature of scanning is how the documents are scanned; they can be fed in a sheet at a time, in which case an automatic document feeder that holds at least 50 sheets facilitates use, or they can be scanned over a flat-bed. The flat-bed ones allow scanning of thicker objects. The faxing function is properly the one that may be the most simplistic. A minimum fax/modem speed should be 33 Kbps. Other fax features that might be offered are color faxing, fax broadcasting, and/or group dialing, as many multifunction printers do not offer full fax functions. Finally, given all the functions a multifunction printer requires to carry out, a lack of internal memory is extremely noticeable. While 8 MB of memory may be adequate for home office or small office use, an efficient and effective multifunction printer that have at least 16 MB of memory or more. The greater the amount of memory, the faster that certain multifunction printer processes can be carried out. Rugged Mobile Printers Rugged mobile printers are built rugged laptops. Being mobile, they can pretty much fit in your pocket or glove compartment. Rugged mobile printers can be mounted in vehicles next to your rugged notebook or some are mounted directly to a rugged computing device. A rugged printer is made to take a beating and most can withstand drops from nearly 10 feet. The rugged mobile printer is geared around the MIL-STD 810F test confirming its ruggedness and ability to handle the daily rigors of everyday use. From 2.5″ to 4″ receipt printers, to full sheet 8″ x 11″ size printers. A rugged printer will handle any job while on the road printing inventory receipts or printing law enforcement issued citations.
When taking corners quickly, the biggest worry most drivers should have is slipping and losing control of the car. This happens when a driver takes the corner too fast. The physics of taking a flat corner depends on the equation vmax = Sqrt(murg). mu, the coefficient of static friction, is constant, as is g, the acceleration due to gravity. Therefore, a driver trying to take a corner as quickly as possible would like to make the radius of the turn as large as possible to allow for a higher vmax, keeping his car from slipping at higher speeds. But how? Doesn't a road have a defined radius? Yes, and no. The picture explains it. The arrow in the figure is what's called a "line" this is the best possible way for a car to take a corner at the highest speed. The line a regular driver would take is very curved, mimicking the road, and not allowing for a high vmax due to the small radius. A race car driver would take a better line. The racer's line is significantly less curved than the regular driver's line, making the radius much larger, allowing for a higher vmax . The racecar driver starts and ends wide of the inside and hits the apex of the turn, allowing for the least curved line possible. To conclude, when trying to take a corner quickly, the driver of the car should start out wide, hit the apex, and end wide, causing a relatively high radius and a relatively high vmax, without having the car slip off the road.
One of the main ideas of the “Digital Dead End: Fighting for Social Justice in the Information Age” by Virginia Eubanks is the acknowledgement of danger of the society’s focusing solely on science and technology without giving adequate attention to promoting democratic values, protecting human rights and nurturing the citizens’ fundamental freedoms and activism. Per V. Eubanks, “Massive investment in science and technology without simultaneous investment in a more just society is an investment in increasing political and economic equality”. The authors’ major concern is the “digital divide” that technology creates by enabling the enrichment by the rich and privileged and leaving disadvantaged lower class people feeling powerless, exploited and in deeper economic and social crisis. Technology can be both a tool of liberation and a means of oppression. To develop Eubanks’ ideas of exploitation further and to connect it with the concerns voiced by Vannevar Bush back in her 1945 article As We May Think – The Atlantic , the ethical questions should be at the forefront of any new technological and scientific development. No matter how much we want to believe in magic of technology, it does not always create a more prosperous, just and democratic society. Technological knowledge and information get often usurped by tyrants who use it to form dictatorships and suppress human rights around the world. Eubanks starts and ends her book with drawing attention to President Obama’s speech on redemptive power of science and technology. It is our responsibility as citizens of the “global village” to ensure that technology in the 21st century does not spin out of control, without any moral boundaries, does not get to serve only those who want to pull us back in time and take away liberties that were earned by lost lives and human struggle in the past centuries. When in 1945 science was exploiting nuclear power for the first time in history and being on the verge of space exploration, some of the first ethical concerns of using technology for the best of humanity were voiced. Today we are dealing with more complex information and communication technology and scientific achievements in the areas of reproductive health, gene engineering, genomic testing for cancer treatment etc. Now it is more topical than ever to direct our scientific knowledge and energy towards the great causes of humanity and build a better world rather than for the destruction or damage to the people and our planet. Dictators and those in power are always eager to embrace science and technology and to appropriate it for the purpose of domination and retaining control over population and personal profits. “Hitler’s dictatorship differed in one fundamental point from all its predecessors in history. It was the first dictatorship in the present period of modern technical development, a dictatorship which made complete use of all technical means for the domination of its own country. Through technical devices like the radio and the loud-speaker, eighty million people were deprived of independent thought. It was thereby possible to subject them to the will of one man”, said Albert Speer. Hitler, one of the most horrendous dictators of the 20th century embraced technology and heavily invested in scientific experiments. He also knew that shaping the mind of the people and controlling information was the key to his rise to power. Hitler wrote in his infamous “Mein Kampf” book: “Industry, technology, and commerce can thrive only as long as an idealistic national community offers the necessary preconditions. And these do not lie in material egoism, but in a spirit of sacrifice and joyful renunciation.” One of the worst dictators of the 21st century Vladimir Putin takes after Hitler today in attempting to hypnotize his 150 million people nation by using technology in broadcasting, Internet surveillance, spying on high ranking government officials around the world and using the uncovered secrets to blackmail and or bribe them to promote Kremlin’s agenda. Is Snowden a human rights fighter or a servant of a dictatorship? Here is a point of view… With cheaper and more accessible technological tools, major changes in the society are inevitable. We become more connected and empowered, yet paradoxically disconnected, feeling like “just a number in the system”, like a matrix cell “living in public”. It is responsibility of every one of us to become aware, educated and active in making sure that scientific achievement today is directed to promote peace and advancement of humanity.
INVASIVE CARP MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL The Lower Mississippi River Basin Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework was created in 2019 by the Asian Carp Team of the Lower Mississippi River Basin. The team includes representatives from 11 states. Thanks to each state’s aquatic invasive species coordinator and other agency staff for input and review. Angela Erves, cartographer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lower Mississippi River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, produced all maps in the framework. Mark Boone, Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee’s Big River Specialist, spent numerous hours compiling drafts, editing, and providing organization and assistance to complete this framework.
Congress in Bolivia rekindles the flame of missionary discipleship from Canada to Chile Father Alexi Tovar traveled 12 days to get to the Fifth American Missionary Congress (V CAM), in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, from July 10 to 15, 2018. With a little financial help from friends overseas, he left from Carabobo, Venezuela, and rode buses through three countries—Colombia, Ecuador and Peru—to be at the congress and share the joy of the Gospel. Father Tovar had moments of pain because of the excessive “traveling by bus,” but his effort was worth it, he says, as he returned to his country reanimated to share “the peace, joy and hope of the risen Jesus.” Kelly Hickman, assistant director of the Mission Office of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Wash., had a three-hour delay flying from Miami to Santa Cruz, but V CAM made her feel as energized as Father Tovar. “It’s like the Olympics, but for the Church and the Americas,” said Hickman referring to V CAM. She has returned to Seattle encouraged to share her missionary experience. Like the Olympics, the missionary congress is held every four years. The first Latin American Missionary Congress (COMLA) took place in Mexico in 1977. At the request of Pope John Paul II, the episcopal conferences of the United States and Canada were invited to the congress in 1999, and COMLA became CAM. The first CAM was held that year in Paraná, Argentina. Although lacking the media attention the Olympic games get, each American mission congress has been important for the Catholic Church of the Americas. V CAM, which gathered more than 3,500 participants, was no exception. It resulted in 11 proposals for missionary conversion for the Church in America, including evangelizing the family as a Christian key to social and cultural transformation. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and delegate of Pope Francis to the congress, presided at the opening Mass. In his homily he emphasized that missionary work is a “blessing for all those to whom the name of the Lord is announced.” It is necessary to be conscious of this, he said, in order to prevent missionary work from being reduced to philanthropy or works of goodwill. V CAM, whose motto was “America in mission, the Gospel is joy,” had as its main goal to “strengthen the missionary identity and commitment of the Church in the Americas with particular attention to the peripheries of the world.” The congress was structured around four themes: Gospel; Joy; Communion and Reconciliation; Mission and Prophecy. These themes served to shed a Christian light on the problems the continent faces, such as the crisis of the family, the defense of life and human dignity, the exclusion generated by the economy, the struggle of women and care of the earth. To face such challenges, the congress reaffirmed that the Catholic Church is by its nature missionary and that each baptized person is called to mission. Bishop Santiago Silva Retamales, president of the episcopal conference of Chile, urged greater participation of the laity, particularly women, in mission. “The laity is responsible for the mission of the Church, embedded in the complex and variable realities of both the domestic and the social, economic and political spheres where the decisions of everyday life and the common good are made,” said Bishop Silva Retamales. He said this “requires lay people with solid doctrinal, pastoral and spiritual formation. And in addition to having the confidence of their pastors, the laity must have the necessary autonomy, the ministries and commissions that allow them to live … their commitment to missionary discipleship in a responsible manner.” Marilyn Santos, missionary education coordinator of Missio USA, the online platform of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was one of 44 people in the U.S. delegation at V CAM that included bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, and lay leaders. “One of the bishops reminded us in today’s plenary that ‘there is no hierarchy in the mission of God,’ ” Santos said. “Our delegation is a reflection of that. Mission is everybody’s call. All the baptized are called to mission and to work in an equitable and collaborative way.” Deacon Leonel Yoque, Maryknoll mission promoter in Los Angeles, Calif., and another U.S. delegate at V CAM, said, “We discerned what it is we announce when we are in mission … we announce the risen Jesus Christ.” Deacon Yoque highlighted the invitation of Pope Francis to be an outgoing Church “that is in the peripheries near where the marginalized are. This means that we have to announce Christ with the marginalized, not for the marginalized.” Maryknoll also contributed to V CAM through the support provided by members of the Maryknoll Missionary Center for Latin America (CMMAL), whose headquarters are located in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Maryknoll Father Alejandro Marina, director of CMMAL, moderated the discussion on “New Perspectives for Missiology” during the congress. “[We remember] the missionary keys of the Medellín Document, 50 years ago, a foundational document for the Church in America, and what are its implications for today,” said Father Marina. “One of the proposals was to rethink ministerial theology, rethink the structure of the Church for mission, and the challenges of preaching a message of joy amidst great suffering. And we remember a phrase of Pope Francis about the joy of the Gospel, [which] springs up when the word of Christ manages to transform realities, situations of injustice, death and suffering, into situations of life.” CMMAL also prepared a book for V CAM that presents a methodology for missionary formation, for the use of pastoral agents in parishes, institutions and movements. Observing the lively atmosphere outside the building where the congress’ plenary sessions were held, Marilyn Santos said smiling: “You have to make a mess. We are not called to be silent in our pews [of the church]. What Francis is reminding us is that being pious and being reverent does not mean you cannot be loud and cheerful. I see the dance and the prayer around. This mess and the noise for me is reverent. They do it because they love God and love their brothers and sisters and because they see God in them. This is as pious and reverent as when I see people spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament.”
An LPN MAY: – Administer intravenous solutions, both medicated and unmedicated, via most venous access lines, including midline catheters. In order to practice as a licensed practical nurse, you must not do the following: – Administer intermittent intravenous solutions via a central venous line. This includes PICC lines, central venous chest ports, and central venous arm ports. Is it possible for LPNs to provide IV fluids in this situation? It is not permissible for an LPN to: – Administer any medicine (with the exception of saline and/or heparin flushes) via direct IV push. – Administer an IV fluid bolus to increase the volume of the plasma (except in Hemodialysis as defined in Department of Health Regulations [400.15]). Aside from the aforementioned, can LPN administer IV Lasix? In essence, it is the employer’s responsibility to dictate what LVNs are allowed to conduct in terms of IV treatments and therapies. If a Texas LVN works in a long-term care home, for example, she may not be permitted to give Lasix IV push, but another Texas LVN who works in a hospital may be permitted to do this activity. Also, can an LPN do IV piggyback work? The LPN who performs selected tasks associated with IV therapy must receive a bare minimum of training in the following areas: intravenous fluid infusion calculations and adjustment of flow rates on intravenous fluids; administration of intravenous medications by piggyback; and administration of intravenous medications by mouth. Is it possible for an LPN to start an IV in Florida? The Federal Occupational Regulations specify guidelines that allow LPNs who have received Board-approved training to provide IV treatment, with some exclusions. The Code allows LPNs who have received appropriate training to administer TPN and care for central lines. Is it possible for an LPN to stop an IV? A LPN has the authority to turn off any IV equipment. FALSE: A licensed practical nurse (LPN) may only terminate peripheral IV devices, not central or arterial devices. A licensed practical nurse (LPN) is capable of examining, reporting, and documenting results at a peripheral infusion site. What do Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) earn per hour? According to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual income for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN) is $47,050 per year ($22.62 per hour), as of 2018. (BLS). LPNs in the top ten percent of the pay scale make more than $62,000 per year ($29.80 per hour based on a 40-hour workweek), according to Payscale. What does an IV therapist earn on a per hour basis? The average hourly wage for “iv therapy” varies from roughly $19.54 per hour for Education Specialist to $45.83 per hour for Speech Therapist, with Education Specialist earning the highest wage. Is it possible for an LPN to administer IV antibiotics? In a dialysis environment, LPNs are permitted to provide heparin, but not any other IV medications. Nevada – Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) who have at least one year of experience and have completed a board-approved IV course are permitted to administer antibiotics or histamine H2 receptor antagonists by piggybacking a solution onto a prescription written by a registered nurse or medical doctor. Is it possible for LPNs to provide IM injections? A licensed practical nurse (LPN) is positioned below registered nurses (RNs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) in the nursing hierarchy (NPs). As a result, LPNs should refrain from administering injections. If your medical aesthetic clinic is currently using LPNs to deliver injections, AmSpa urges that you discontinue this practice immediately. Is it still necessary for hospitals to recruit LPNs? LPNs are also employed by hospitals. LPNs are still employed by certain hospitals, although not all. Some hospitals have achieved or are attempting to achieve “magnet status,” which means that they will only recruit registered nurses to undertake nursing tasks. Patients’ homes, dialysis centers, and hospitals all have a need for dialysis nurses, who may either go to them or work in a hospital environment. What is it that an LPN cannot do? A licensed practical nurse (LPN) is not a “real” nurse. It is true that there are several RN activities that LPNs are not authorized to do on their own, such as delivering IV medications or performing a health evaluation. When will I be able to use my IV certification? a period of two years Is there a great need for LPNs? LPNs are in high demand in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home care, and a variety of other settings. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment possibilities for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) would increase by nearly 11 percent between 2018 and 2028. Although the landscape is shifting, licensed practical nurses (LPNs) continue to play an important role in the nursing community. Is it possible for an LPN to remove sutures? It is possible to re-insert a gastrostomy tube into an existing tract. It is possible to remove sutures and staples. It is permissible to do sterile CVP dressing changes. Is it possible for a licensed practical nurse to work as a wound care nurse? Nurse practitioners and vocational nurses with three years of clinical experience and a high school education or above are eligible to sit for the national wound care certification test. Is it possible for LPNs to place Foley catheters? Each state’s board of nursing governs what a licensed practical nurse (LPN) may and may not perform. In general, licensed practical nurses (LPNs) offer patient care in a number of locations and across a wide range of clinical specialities. Urinary catheters should be inserted and cared for properly. Patients with tracheostomy tubes and ventilators need special attention. Who has the authority to start an IV? IVs can only be started by registered nurses in certain states. IVs may be maintained by licensed practical nurses (LPNs) or licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), but they cannot be inserted. Can a licensed practical nurse (LPN) flush a nephrostomy tube? Irrigate the urine bladder as necessary. An LPN, on the other hand, is not permitted to irrigate a nephrostomy tube. RNs are required to do irrigation of nephrostomy tubes since it entails evaluation of the patient. Only the registered nurse, however, has the authority to assess clinical data/information and decide what therapeutic action is required.
A few years ago, Stu Maschwitz noted the utility of the Math.round method, which rounds a number to the nearest integer. If you're repositioning or animating an object in AE, you'll often run into AE's subpixel positioning in Best Quality, which as noted long before expressions were a feature by Trish Meyer as the source of bad renders with lossy formats. But you can use an expression to force rounding on scale/position to whole numbers, in order to avoid softening on anti-aliased text or other layers. It's much easier to use that than to adjust entries by hand, and its utility goes further. The problem was demoed earlier by Chris Silich in an article After Effects Expression: Snapping objects to whole pixels. To make fixes easier, there's also a 2012 preset from Motionworks in Snapping to Whole Pixels. The same method was used in After Effects Text As A Number Variable, a free project by Brian Charles. Here's the demo of the problem from Chris Silich: The Math.round expression function and similar solutions (Math.floor rounds down, Math.ceil rounds up) were discussed previously many times in various forums, but a broad peek at various wrinkles can be found in Deeper Modes of Expression, Part 1: Useful Math Expressions by Chris and Trish Meyer. You can find the full series in their book Creating Motion Graphics and through Deeper Modes of Expression: The Index, a linked list of 12 installments in their series on expressions in After Effects. Math.round is used in a variety of ways; for example, Daniel Bachler showed how to use it with the Timewarp effect in High quality retiming from 30 to 25 fps using After Effects. You can find another use of Math.round for generating numbers in Red Giant Episode 26: Score! Working with Numeric Text. By the way, James Buckhouse provided a free AEP of an After Effects counter rising to a million. Among the several overview resources on expressions is Harry Frank's 2007 video training, After Effects Expressions. Lesson 4 of this now free set dealt with numbers, rounding, and decimals with Math.round. Here's Red Giant #26, which added a section on triggering at layer markers: Nick Khoo had another take on numbers earlier in 2012 with Animating numbers counting up in After Effects, as did Evan Abrams in The Time Script. More recently, there was another reminder from Mikey Borup in After Effects Shape Layers tutorial.
High Water Mark Sign Unveiled at Pony Pasture According to the Federal Emergency Management Management Agency (FEMA), 70 percent of Americans surveyed do not believe their community is at risk of flooding. But Richmond has been hit by 21 hurricanes since 1952, and in June 1972, suffered unprecedented flooding caused by rainfall from Hurricane Agnes. On June 23, 2016, several agencies joined with the City Department of Public Utilities to dedicate a high water mark sign at Pony Pasture Rapids Park. Signs will follow at Brown’s Island, Plant Zero, and Great Shiplock Park to remind local residents of Richmond’s flood risk. This initiative was developed in partnership with the Virginia Silver Jackets, Venture Richmond, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency High Water Mark Initiative and Region III, the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Wakefield, the U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Center, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District. Richmond is the pilot community program for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Silver Jackets Program brings together state, federal, and local agencies to share information and apply resources to reduce flood risk. Speaking at the sign unveiling (see video below) were Jonet Prevost-White from the Stormwater division of the city Department of Public Utilities (DPU); Robert Steidel, DPU director; John Buturla, deputy chief administrative officer for Operations; April Cummings, deputy director Mitigation Division, FEMA Region III; Lt. Col. John Drew, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District; and Curtis Brown, deputy secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Commonwealth of Virginia.
Earl of Yarmouth Earl of Yarmouth is a title that has been created three times in British history, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the politician and scientist Robert Paston, 1st Viscount Yarmouth. He had already been created Baron Paston and Viscount Yarmouth in the Peerage of England in 1673. He was the son of William Paston, who had been created a Baronet, of Oxnead in the County of Norfolk, in the Baronetage of England in 1641. Lord Yarmouth was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He notably served as Treasurer of the Household between 1687 and 1689. He had no surviving male issue and the titles became extinct on his death in 1732. The second creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1740 in favour of Amalie von Wallmoden, mistress of George II. She was made Baroness Yarmouth at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. The titles were for life only. Lady Yarmouth was the last Royal mistress to be awarded a peerage. She died in 1765. The third creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1793 in favour of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford. He was made Marquess of Hertford at the same time. See this article for more information on this creation.
Research on Thunderstorms and Air Chemistry The NCAR Sabreliner, used extensively in thunderstorm studies. by Ansel Adams. Meteorological processes such as thunderstorms can profoundly alter the chemistry of the atmosphere. For example, nitrogenous pollutants (NOx) emitted near the Earth's surface tend to remain near the surface where they have a lifetime on the order of a day. If however, a thunderstorm rolls over the area of emissions the pollutants are transported to high altitude where their sphere of influence is greatly expanded. Local air pollution problems are thus transformed into regional or even global air chemistry problems. As a first step in quantifying the effect on regional air chemistry, we prepared a climatology of convection to show how often such transport occurs and then presented a detailed analysis of results from extensive aircraft flights. With ESSIC and NASA Goddard colleagues, we simulated several case studies with a combination of a mesoscale cloud model and a photochemical model to show the effect of clouds on the rate of ozone production. The effects vary greatly, ranging from a slightly enhanced destruction of ozone over the tropical Pacific to a factor of 60 times faster ozone production over heavily polluted areas. Thunderstorms: An Important Mechanism in the Transport of Air Pollutants, R. R. Dickerson, G. J. Huffman, W. T. Luke, L. J. Nunnermacker, K. E. Pickering, A. C. D. Leslie, C. G. Lindsey, W. G. N. Slinn, T. J. Kelly, A. C. Delany, J. P. Greenberg, P. R. Zimmerman, J. F. Boatman, J. D. Ray and D. H. Stedman, Science, 235, 460-465, 1987. Pickering, K. E.,et al., Convective transport of biomass burning emissions over Brazil during TRACE-A, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 23,993-24,012, 1996. Allen DJ, Pickering KE Evaluation of lightning flash rate parameterizations for use in a global chemical transport model, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (D23): Art. No. 4711 DEC 11 2002. DeCaria AJ, Pickering KE, Stenchikov GL, et al., Lightning-generated NOX and its impact on tropospheric ozone production: A three-dimensional modeling study of a Stratosphere-Troposphere Experiment: Radiation, Aerosols and Ozone (STERAO-A) thunderstorm, J. Geophys. Res., 110 (D14): Art. No. D14303 JUL 22 2005. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES, 112 (D18): Art. No. D18307 SEP 25 2007.
Monitoring and evaluation tenets on performance of Environmental projects: a case of national environment trust Fund, Nairobi County, Kenya. Cheboi, Kipmaiyo Andrew Implementation of projects is one of the best ways of taking up business strategic changes. Conversely, projects, particularly those implemented by the State-Owned Entities have not performed as expected mainly because of weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring and evaluation are processes that are key components of project success as they gauge execution as well as assess the impact of the project. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of monitoring and evaluation tenets on the performance of environmental projects implemented by NETFUND, Kenya. More significantly, given that NETFUND was created to implement environmental projects aimed at promoting green growth whilst addressing climate change impacts. A review of literature shows gaps in studies on the performance of projects at state owned entities more so on environmental projects. This study was guided by three objectives; to determine how resource allocation on monitoring and evaluation influences performance of environmental projects; to establish the extent to which monitoring and evaluation staff expertise influences performance of environmental projects, to establish the extent to which monitoring and evaluation tools influence performance of environmental projects in NETFUND Nairobi, Kenya. The study research design used mixed research techniques such as quantitative and qualitative methods using a sample of 103 respondents from the total population of 139 staff working in environmental projects NETFUND. Structured and open-ended questionnaires were the main data collection tools for collecting quantitative data whereas qualitative data was collected using interview guides. The data was analyzed by use of SPSS software version 25 and the results of the data were presented in tables and figures. The findings of the study were that sufficient resource allocation, staff expertise and M&E tools had significant influence on the performance of environmental projects implemented by the National Environment Trust Fund. The study was thus in agreement with previous studies regarding the influence of M&E tenets on the performance of projects. The study is likely to help State- Owned Agencies in designing robust M&E systems that will support project performance. The study further recommends that NETFUND should involve all the stakeholders in designing M&E systems in project implementation to improve the performance of environmental projects in Kenya.
Want to be stronger, leaner, sexier? How about better looking? More confident and less stressed out? How’d you like to live longer too? You can, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny. How? Lift weights. Starting in your 30s, your body starts to lose muscle mass. This process – medically known as sarcopenia – continues as you get older: live to age 70 and you’ll have lost around 25% of your strength. If you’re lucky enough to hang on until 90, you’ll have lost nearly half. That’s where the weights come in. Regular resistance training, whether with machines, dumbbells, bands or bodyweight, can prevent and even reverse sarcopenia by increasing the demands on your musculoskeletal system. Your body adapts by becoming stronger. As your strength increases you’ll need to periodically up the resistance , do more repetitions or sets, or work out more often. This will keep your workout interesting and help you avoid plateauing. Whether you’re already doing resistance training, or you’re pondering whether to take the plunge, here are 6 surprising ways lifting weights will improve your life. 1. You’ll feel better Resistance training releases endorphins – those awesome feel-good hormones – into your system. After a weight lifting session you’ll have more energy to tackle the challenges of the day. Your appetite will decrease thanks to a boost in your Peptide YY – an appetite-controlling hormone. You’ll probably sleep better, continuing the positive energy cycle into the following day. Strength training has also shown promising results in treating clinical depression. 2. You’ll look better If you want to look your very best (and who doesn’t?) forget getting skinny. Get toned instead. Strong, firm muscles define the body and add attractive curves. They allow you to effortlessly maintain an upright posture, giving you an aura of confident power. Visible muscle tone is especially striking on women of all ages: the best accessory for that little black dress? A set of toned biceps a la Michelle Obama or Robin Wright. Muscle is also more metabolically active than fat, meaning it burns more calories. More muscle equals a higher metabolic rate: you burn more calories even when at rest, and have more success maintaining a healthy body weight. 3. You’ll delay or avoid frailty When sarcopenia sets in, your mobility, strength, balance and metabolism can all be affected. For many older people this gradual loss of muscle leads to falls, loss of independence and even death. Regular resistance training gives you the endurance and strength to make daily tasks like carrying your groceries, climbing stairs or picking up a child easier to do safely. A stronger body means a longer, more independent life. 4. You’ll be better equipped to manage your stress Gym buffs know that a great workout can be amazingly cathartic. When you’re stressed and frustrated you can channel all of that energy into a few sets of chest presses or squats and feel it simply melt away when you rest and recover. But there’s more to it than that: some studies have shown that regular resistance training can help to reduce anxiety and mood swings. 5. You’ll increase your libido 6. You’ll be likely to live longer If you’re new to resistance or strength training, I strongly recommend hiring a trainer to learn to do it correctly: those YouTube videos can’t give you feedback, and those fit looking people in the gym you’re copying might be doing it all wrong. So don’t wait: if you haven’t already, start now!
Not just economy, democratic values have also been collapsing in Sri Lanka This crisis is the outcome of irrational policy choices, the country’s heavy reliance on imports, and the depletion of foreign reserves. Even with its rising debt of more than $50 billion, the nation now lacks the resources to pay the interest on its loans. At the same time, democratic principles have become less prevalent in Sri Lanka. The Formation of Crisis The government began focusing on economic growth after the civil war ended in 2009. The country experienced a serious constitutional crisis in 201, and things got even worse. Ranil Wickremesinghe was fired and replaced by Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister by President Maithripala Sirisena in late 2018. Broad income tax cuts, which were implemented later in 2019, reduced government revenue. The result was a decline in foreign reserves. To make matters worse, the Covid-19 outbreak completely shut down Sri Lanka’s thriving tourism sector. Furthermore, a big crop failure occurred in 2021 as a result of the government’s decision to prevent the import of chemical fertilizers and instead encourage indigenous organic fertilizers. The Sri Lankan economy is collapsing under the weight of massive debts, lost tourism earnings, other pandemic-related repercussions, and rising commodity prices. As a result, the country is on the verge of bankruptcy, with little money to import fuel, milk, cooking gas, and toilet paper. The southern neighbour’s economic crisis has been building for a while, and recent geopolitical events have pushed the country toward vulnerability and bankruptcy. The Sri Lankan government brought this problem upon themselves by making careless borrowings that even exceeded the country’s GDP. The country suffered a lot for a long time, and the situation is still the same. Concessionary borrowings were replaced with commercial borrowings, which have higher interest rates and shorter maturity periods, as the nature of the loan changed through time. Declining Values of Democracy Since 2018, Sri Lanka’s Liberal Democracy Index has steadily decreased, according to the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute. It reached a peak in the previous 50 years in 2018, with a value of 0.48. The LDI, on the other hand, fell in late 2018 as a result of the country’s historic constitutional crisis. Democracy Report 2022: Autocratization Changing Nature, the V-Dem institute’s most recent report, was published earlier this year. “Changes in Sri Lanka suggest an effort to consolidate authority under President Rajapaksa and his family members through constitutional modifications that remove constraints on executive power,” the report said. The Electoral Democracy Index also decreased after 2018 in addition to the LDI. It considers the fundamental importance of making leaders accountable to the people. Along with the democratic indices, the core civil society index, which measures the strength of civil society, has dropped. In 2018, when it had a value of 0.89, it was at its highest. However, it started to fall shortly after that. The index was 0.43 in 2021. According to an assessment by V-Dem, Sri Lanka’s use of the Covid-19 pandemic to undermine democratic institutions and ideals and endanger democracy was one of several factors contributing to the country’s significant drop in democratic indices. The Sri Lanka crisis: Why are other countries facing similar economic turmoil? Not just in Sri Lanka, but globally, there is an economic crisis. From Europe to Asia to Africa, many developing economies are causing instability. Why, and what follows, are explained here. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka have declared their intention to step down in order for an all-party transitional administration to take office. Over the weekend, thousands of protesters entered both men’s palaces in Colombo as the bankrupt island nation descended into its greatest economic crisis. Images displayed demonstrators relaxing on beds and padded seats, swimming, exercising, playing the piano, and indulging in delicious meals. Also presented was a shocking peek at the way of life of the political elite. A nation of 22 million people has been denied some of the most fundamental survival needs for months. Since Friday, neither Rajapaksa nor Wickremesinghe has been spotted in public. After weeks of rallies, brutal clashes between groups supporting and opposing the government broke out in May, resulting in eight fatalities and more than 200 wounded. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister, was compelled to resign. The younger brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, chose Ranil Wickremesinghe to be the new prime minister despite being vehemently resisted in calls for resignation. But it’s obvious that it hasn’t worked. Since Sri Lanka has almost run out of money to import petroleum, there are larger queues of people vying for space to buy cooking gas in addition to gasoline and diesel. The cost of living has skyrocketed. The disturbance is also intensified by a serious lack of necessities including food, medicine, electricity, and other items. However, similar incidents may be emerging in many other countries. Why Are Sri Lankan People So Angry And Frustrated? Rage toward the government has intensified as the country’s 21 million citizens have been forced to suffer extended power outages, long queues for more expensive gasoline, and other basic needs. Food inflation is around 80%, and several products, such as wheat and milk powder, are in limited supply. Sri Lankans are extremely frustrated with the current situation, as they feel powerless in the face of financial insecurity and economic upheaval. People are lacking in fundamental necessities and essential products. They are denied their rights. When the president ran away from the situation, it made it even worse for the entire country to cope with such a scenario. The Crisis in Lanka Before we get to them, let’s take a quick look at what precipitated Sri Lanka’s current state of anarchy. As the Rajapaksas dominated Sri Lanka’s political scene, they were accused of authoritarianism, nepotism, and corruption. The country ultimately declared default on its debt in May. Instead of exporting goods, Sri Lanka focused on domestic markets. As a result, import costs rose while export revenues stayed low. The Easter Sunday terror attacks in April 2019 had a negative impact on Sri Lanka’s tourist sector, which is one of its main sources of foreign exchange. The country, which relied heavily on imports, will soon face supply shortages. In November 2019, President Gotabaya proposed broad tax cuts, which caused the loss of a million taxpayers and substantial revenue in a country already struggling with recurring budget deficits. Then the Covid-19 outbreak struck, halting tourist arrivals and depleting foreign exchange reserves, sending Sri Lanka’s debts into a spiral. The government banned the import of chemical fertilizers in 2021 in an effort to restrict the flow of foreign funds. Farmers were urged to use organic fertilizers in their place. This led to enormous crop failures. The inability to purchase food items with foreign currency made the situation worse. However, not everything that happens in one country stays in that country and sometimes it spreads to other regions and nations as well. Many other debt-ridden nations are dealing with similar food and fuel shortages and soaring prices. But Can’t Sri Lanka produce its own food? A government prohibition on synthetic fertilizer in 2021 is to blame for the food scarcity since it prevented farmers from accessing organic fertilizer, leading them to abandon their farms. India provided Sri Lanka with unprecedented aid this year, totalling $3.8 billion: MEA. Referring to the serious political turmoil in Colombo, India stated on Sunday that it supports the Sri Lankan people in their aspirations for prosperity and growth through democratic processes, and established institutions. After months of unrest over the ongoing economic crisis, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made its observations on the same day after tens of thousands of enraged protesters stormed and embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence and set Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private home on fire. According to MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, India continues to closely monitor the events in Sri Lanka and is aware of the severe challenges that the country faces and its citizens have been dealing with. On Saturday, Gotabaya Rajapaksa made his resignation announcement. Additionally, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe declared that he would resign when a new administration had been created. India is Sri Lanka’s nearest neighbour, and the two countries have a rich cultural past. “We are aware of the tremendous problems that Sri Lanka and its people have faced, and we have backed them as they have attempted to navigate this tough period,” Bagchi stated. The MEA official stated that India supports the Sri Lankan people. He remarked that India “stands with the people of Sri Lanka and they seek to fulfill their dreams of prosperity and growth via democratic means and values, established institutions, and a constitutional framework.” In support of Sri Lanka’s crucial role in our Neighborhood First strategy, he said, “India has offered this year itself an unprecedented contribution of nearly USD 3.8 billion to ease the catastrophic economic situation there. Massive street protests erupted in Sri Lanka in recent months as the country’s economic situation deepened. As a result of the public outrage, all of the cabinet ministers resigned from their positions. People came to the streets to protest and were frustrated with the country’s economic condition. In May, to address the problem, President Rajapaksa named Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister. There were increasing demands for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation. He had, however, already turned down the demand. The Turmoil in Pakistan Let’s take a look at Pakistan as an example. It managed to avoid defaulting on its debt despite recent rises in its fuel import bill and depletion of necessary foreign exchange reserves for export. A complete economic collapse in Pakistan will be more worrying for the rest of the world due to a variety of factors, including fundamentalism, nuclear weapons, and the Taliban’s presence both inside the country and in its immediate surroundings. Pakistan, like Sri Lanka, has requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout while routinely asking its citizens to pay more for gasoline and electricity. Pakistan’s trustworthy friend, China, gave a loan of $2.3 billion. But in addition to not being able to offer a long-term fix, these loans are also contributing to the issue, and this was seen even in Sri Lanka’s circumstances. The South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka’s economic problems was exacerbated by China’s investments in infrastructure projects, known as debt traps, which enhanced Chinese control over Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China to close years of budget shortages and purchase supplies the country required to function. However, it lost a lot of money on the construction of exorbitant and useless transportation, hospitality, aviation, and other such facilities, further straining the public purse. A major number of the construction projects are currently dormant after incurring significant losses and failing to repay Chinese debts that grew in size. China, Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, is the sole winner. Contracts were awarded to Chinese enterprises, and China will get equity in real estate. Sri Lanka is negotiating for assistance with Japan, China, India, and even a war-torn Russia. To date, India has provided about $3 billion in assistance to Sri Lanka, including a $400 million swap and $1.5 billion in credit lines. However, China does not behave in this way. Sri Lanka and several countries with a clear Chinese connection, including Argentina, Venezuela, Zambia, and others, have also defaulted, and many more are poised to do the same. It’s difficult, for example, to overlook a $360 million project to modernize Zambia’s international airport. Lebanon, like Zambia, has asked for international assistance to restructure its loans after a financial crisis caused crippling outages and a shortage of pharmaceuticals. In addition to debt, Laos is suffering from high inflation, currency depreciation, and a lack of dollars, all of which have resulted in stratospheric rises in the cost of consumer goods and energy. China’s influence seems to be everywhere, but Covid continues to play a part in most emerging economies’ collapse. Not only Sri Lanka, though. Laos has a $13.3 billion debt to its government, much of which has been used to fund infrastructure projects, many of which are supported by China. It makes sense that the upheaval in Sri Lanka has elicited stern responses from the IMF president and a warning to G20 countries about global debt. Sri Lanka was the first emerging country to collapse, but it won’t be the last. Its green agricultural policies and weak leadership caused it to collapse faster than other emerging countries. Immediate Triggers and What Next Fuel and other import costs have increased due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising US interest rates, which have led inflation to skyrocket. Naturally, the nations with the highest borrowing loads are the most badly affected. These factors have exacerbated Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, which has since developed into a full-fledged political uprising despite the that few people are aware of certain anti-government organizations. Most countries are following Sri Lanka’s example. To suppress unrest, Germany, Greece, Spain, and Portugal in Europe have announced tax breaks and energy subsidies. Zambia and Nigeria have followed suit in Africa. Asia’s Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia are increasing social spending and providing direct financial aid. However, experts believe that the rush to use such measures to soften the damage may only increase the commotion. Not only is the economy crumbling, but so are democratic values in Sri Lanka, leading to an overall economic catastrophe. People are upset and frustrated because there are food shortages and basic necessities are so expensive. Furthermore, the country’s democratic values have been broken. What could happen next if this is the country’s current situation? What steps is the government taking to address the crisis? So far, Sri Lanka has stumbled through, aided primarily by $4 billion in credit lines from India. In June, an Indian group visited Colombo for talks on more aid, but Wickremesinghe warned against expecting India to keep Sri Lanka afloat for long. A June headline in the Colombo Times said, “Sri Lanka casts final hopes on IMF.” The government is negotiating a rescue plan with the IMF, and Wickremesinghe has stated that a tentative agreement is most likely to be reached later this summer. The UN initiated a global public plea for support earlier this month. Nonetheless, the projected funds merely scratch the surface of the $6 billion necessary to keep the government sustainable for the next six months. To address Sri Lanka’s gasoline shortfall, Wickremesinghe recently informed The Associated Press that he might explore purchasing more heavily discounted oil from Russia. The next government’s immediate economic goals will be to reconstruct two of Sri Lanka’s core economic pillars: tourism and agriculture. Other key challenges include containing inflation, increasing exports, restoring international investor confidence, supporting remittance earnings, and attracting fresh foreign direct investment inflows into industries like tourism and manufacturing. Addressing the balance of payment crisis will necessitate structural reforms to address constraints to domestic and foreign direct investment, industrial competitiveness, and exports, according to the development bank, which also urged support for small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for more than 20% of exports, 45% of employment, and 52% of GDP. Furthermore, the country must find medium-term development options, like sustaining human capital development, tackling climate change, and growing renewable energy.
If you have low back pain, you are not alone. At any given time, about 25% of people in the United States report having low back pain within the past three months. In most cases, low back pain is mild and disappears on its own. However, for some people, back pain can return or continue, leading to a decrease in quality of life or even disability. Various treatment options are available for patients with low back pain. Conservative treatment, including Physical Therapy, is typically the first option for managing your symptoms. Research indicates that early Physical Therapy can lead to better outcomes, lower costs, a reduction in the use of opioid medication, and decreases the need for surgery. Not all low back pain is the same, so an examination by a Physical Therapist will identify the factors that have contributed to your condition, and help design an individualized treatment plan for your specific back problem. The goals of Physical Therapy are to decrease back pain, increase function, and provide instructions on a maintenance program to prevent future back problems. Physical Therapy treatment options include, but are not limited to the following: While low back pain can be quite painful and interfere with your daily life, working with a Physical Therapist can help identify the factors that may contribute to your back pain and can provide treatment to get you back to doing the things you love.
As of October 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 7.9% unemployment rate in the United States. The figure is much higher, however, for young men and women. Over 13% of young people ages 20-24 are unemployed in the U.S. A person is considered unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. People who are waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been temporarily laid off are also included as unemployed. It is a bleak situation, especially for those young adults, many of whom are saddled with huge college tuition debt. I am optimistic, though, about young adults who are spending their early 20’s volunteering through Teach for America, VISTA, City Year, and other service organizations like them. And I am proud of United Way’s role in helping idealistic young people find a w For example, Heart of Florida United Way is a key supporter of City Year Orlando. This successful national peer mentoring program is an initiative of the federal AmeriCorps program. It brings young leaders – called corps members -- together for a year of full-time service focused on improving achievement at under-performing schools. Orlando’s inaugural corps of 49 young people is serving in five of the highest need schools in the city.ay to serve, improve their skills and in some cases, earn money for college or graduate school. We all win through national service programs like these and through United Way’s own initiatives as well. At 24 sites across the U.S., 2,500 City Year corps members are partnering with schools to improve students' attendance, behavior, and course performance, which research shows are highly predictive of whether students will graduate. Together, they are helping to keep students in school and on track. In Orlando, the success of last year’s pilot City Year team at Oak Ridge High School achieved exciting gains: the number of students with perfect attendance more than doubled in just one month. For volunteers still in school, Student United Way is a campus based student led organization that works in partnership with the local United Way. Currently, Student United Ways exist on nearly 80 campuses across the United States including: technical & trade schools, junior and community colleges, colleges and universities, as well as several high schools. So while unemployment numbers are troubling, young people who volunteer can build a bright future for themselves and others, especially when they help kids stay in school through tutoring or mentoring initiatives. Decreasing the number of high school dropout is a major priority for United Way. You can enlist in a program like City Year or Student United Way to make a difference in your community and the future of our country. You can also pledge to become a volunteer reader, tutor or mentor, and make a difference today.
The midterm Election Day falls on Nov. 4 this year, which means that the gubernatorial race between Rick Scott and Charlie Crist will soon be decided. But what does Election Day mean here at Florida Gulf Coast University? Joe Ross, a government and political science professor at FGCU, recently hosted an on-campus event called “Election 2014: What’s at Stake?.” The intent was to start non-partisan discussion about some of the “most-watched races and ballot measures in the country.” He has done plenty of research on voting patterns, particularly among college students. “I guess the biggest trend for younger voters is not voting,” Ross said. “We know that voting increases with age. Having said that, college students are more likely to vote than non-college students of the same age. They just don’t vote as much as their parents or grandparents.” The research seems to support Ross’ conclusions. According to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, only 19 percent of the voters in the 2012 presidential election were between the ages of 18 and 29. Compare that to 30-44 year olds (27 percent) and 45-64 year olds (38 percent), and it becomes clear that voting is just not as common among young people. The question is why? Are college-age individuals just less interested in politics? Ross believes there are a variety of factors at play. “For college students, living away from home is an obstacle because they need to request absentee ballots in order to vote,” Ross said. “Plus, younger people in general haven’t formed the habit of voting every two years like older folks have.” In addition to these voting hurdles, some college students claim that voter identification laws lead to age discrimination. An article published by The New York Times points out that requiring voters to have photo identification might be a significant obstacle for college students because “some students will be unaware [of the requirement] and will arrive at polling places carrying out-of-state licenses or student identification cards.” Ross says that the push for such regulation is largely supported by Republicans, who claim that requiring photo ID results in less voter fraud. Dan Desimone, a sophomore living in North Lake Village, has experience with the difficulty of voting as a college student. His voting precinct is near his home in Orlando, so he had to request an absentee ballot in the mail. “I’ll be honest, I think the voting process is made really hard for us [college students] on purpose to keep us from voting,” Desimone said. “Even though I’m not a fan of the process, I think it’s really important to vote. If I’m gonna complain about our politicians, I’d better have a say in who gets picked.” The 2014 midterm Election Day is less than a week away, so students who are already registered to vote still have a chance to let their voice be heard. According to Ross, “voting — and voting consistently — is such an important part of being an involved citizen.”
Composition of pneumatic valve The pneumatic valve is mainly composed of pneumatic actuators and valves. Of course, according to different working conditions and user needs, different accessories can also be selected to achieve different functions, such as solenoid valves, air source triples, and return devices, Electrical positioners, etc. Pneumatic actuator classification From the rotation mode, it is divided into two types: linear travel and angular travel; from the structure: piston type, diaphragm type, plunger type, vane type, etc.; from the functional role, it is divided into: single-acting, double-acting, three-position and many more. Main types of pneumatic valves: 1. Pneumatic V-type regulating ball valve The pneumatic V-type regulating ball valve is an advanced control valve with a right-angle rotation structure. It can be used with a valve positioner to achieve proportional adjustment; it can be used with a two-position five-way solenoid valve and a control box to achieve switch control. The valve core of the pneumatic V-shaped ball valve is designed with a special-shaped V-shaped gap, which has accurate shut-off properties and control functions. It is suitable for various control occasions. It has the advantages of compact structure, small volume, and tight installation. Pneumatic V-type regulating ball valve is suitable for the control of gas, liquid, and solid granular media. Since there is no gap between the valve core and the valve seat, it has a great shearing force and self-cleaning performance. It is especially suitable for the control of suspensions and solid particles containing fibrous or tiny solid particles. Therefore, the pneumatic V-shaped ball valve can be widely used in the automatic control system of petroleum, chemical, paper, chemical fiber, electric power, metallurgy, pharmaceutical, environmental protection, and other industrial sectors. 2. Pneumatic O type cut-off ball valve Pneumatic O-type cut-off ball valve It is composed of ARSOTA pneumatic piston actuator and O-type ball valve, including a soft-sealed ball valve and hard-sealed ball valve. The valve core adopts a cylindrical through-hole ball. The pneumatic O-type cut-off ball valve uses compressed air as a power source, accepts switching signals such as a distributed control system (DCS), a programmable controller (PLC), etc., and can achieve rapid position control of the valve through a solenoid valve. The pneumatic O-shaped cut-off ball valve adopts a straight-through casting valve body. The spherical surface is processed and hardened by a special process to make the surface smooth and wear-resistant. It has a long life, compact structure, reliable action, large flow capacity, small flow resistance coefficient, and easy installation. And good cutting performance and other characteristics. Pneumatic O-type cut-off ball valve is widely used in papermaking, petrochemical, metallurgy, aerospace, food, medicine, water treatment, and other industries, especially suitable for process control of high viscosity and fiber-containing media. Pneumatic piston actuators can be divided into single-acting and double-acting. When double-acting is used when power is lost or air is lost, the valve is in the position when power is lost or air is lost to ensure continued production. When single-acting power loss or loss of air, the valve is in the original limit position (fully open or fully closed) to ensure that the production process is in a safe position. 3.ZJHM pneumatic film sleeve regulating valve ZJHM pneumatic film sleeve regulating valve is widely used because of its good stability and simple maintenance. It can be designed as a balanced type to eliminate most of the static unbalanced force on the disc and has a certain damping effect, which can reduce fluid flow. Vibration can be used in situations where the pressure difference is relatively large, and a multi-spring pneumatic diaphragm mechanism or electric actuator can be selected. 4. Pneumatic flange type telescopic butterfly valve Pneumatic flange type telescopic butterfly valve is suitable for food, medicine, chemical industry, petroleum, electric power, textile, papermaking, and other water supply and drainage, gas pipelines with temperature ≤80℃ and nominal pressure ≤1.6MPa as a flow adjustment and interception medium. The function of compensating for thermal expansion and contraction of pipelines. Its main features are: novel design, reasonable design, unique structure, lightweight, convenient operation, fast opening and closing, telescopic butterfly valve can not only adjust and intercept the flow, compensate for the thermal expansion and contraction caused by the temperature difference of the pipeline, but also for installation It is convenient to replace and maintain; the sealing part can be adjusted and replaced, and the sealing performance is reliable. 5. Pilot piston pressure reducing valve The pilot piston pressure reducing valve is composed of two parts: the main valve and the pilot valve. The main valve is mainly composed of a valve seat, main valve disc, piston, spring, and other parts. The pilot valve is mainly composed of the valve seat, valve clack, diaphragm, spring, adjusting spring, and other parts. The outlet pressure is set by adjusting the spring pressure, the diaphragm is used to sense the outlet pressure change, and the pilot valve is opened and closed to drive the piston to adjust the flow area of the main valve throttling part to realize the function of pressure reduction and stabilization. YK43X/F/Y pilot piston gas pressure reducing valve is mainly used for gas pipelines, such as air, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, liquefied gas, natural gas, and other gases.
Published: January 3, 2022 by Gillian Collins Career self-esteem is another amazing tool of iSchool. Self-esteem is a template for you to conceptualize the functions, people and environment you want for your career. This is 2022, a new year with obstacles beyond your control. Consider the optimism and strengths acquired both academically and personally to map out important aspects of interactions, duties, and the physical work environment. There are realistic limitations that affect the key factors – function, people and environment – that promote your success preferences. It is difficult to look at an uncertain future in a turbulent present time. When reviewing and changing your self-esteem for 2021, practice pragmatic optimism – only are you Can determine the conditions of how are you Most suitable for adjustment. You may find that your traditional area of interest is changing rapidly. You may have been interested in an area in 2021 and would like to move on to another LIS career field. You may have noticed the potential to innovate in the LIS field and combine your knowledge in different career fields. Determine what these “mandatory changes” are. Take a perspective of personal experiences as part of your self-esteem. Consider and create Self-esteem combines personal and professional interests. You need to recognize that an area of interest is only a small part of your career success. What makes you valuable is how much experience, from studies to situations. Self-esteem is divided into three areas – function, people and framework. Taken directly from self-esteem, here are examples from each section: - Functions: What personal and / or professional activities do you really enjoy? When you think of growth in 2021, this question can be read as how you acquired a hobby that you are passionate about, creating proactive professional steps in 2022. For example, searching for digital groups dedicated to community gardening is participating in knowledge sharing, taking time to cultivate relationships and get started ( Meaning) in small steps to grow more. You can transfer this to a professional role in connecting communities to libraries and networks, taking projects to the next level. People: Who would you like to support? The idea of advancing your career begins with the idea of what you see in the world – and how you react or act. We have seen a lot of social movements, information trends and global issues involving group support. In this sense, you may have a greater understanding of the challenges you or others face. Work with others, and who benefits from the work – and bring your knowledge of LIS to the table. - Framework: Do you want a work framework that is academic, corporate, cultural or community focused? We have seen that our studies as library or information professionals have sought-after skills – and have evolved to incorporate more emphasis on community. If you’ve discovered that a course in public library evaluations is related to aspects of how space is allocated in libraries, hold on to that idea! Social distance can be one thing that comes to mind, but a small space holds great potential. From physical spaces to aesthetic changes, community libraries are potentially limitless. This is just one example of the LIS region, and various ‘spaces’ from 2021 bring great ideas for 2022. A mandatory change of the plague is its ripple effects. Remember reality and “mandatory changes” and notice how are you Production of them opportunities in 2022. Connect the dots There are 14 questions that fall into the three categories of career self-esteem. This is a brainstorm, not a test. Think of it as a way to see the adjustments you make in your life that fit the opportunities. Opportunities require courage to approach. We see the dynamics of our lives and the bigger picture, for the most part, as discouraging. Start small. Adaptation, as we have experienced, is difficult. Even the most inconspicuous achievement is an opportunity for celebration. When you go through your self-esteem in your career – or even start it for the first time – you open your eyes to the way forward in 2022 that best suits you! Quick Jot from Gillian I tend to jump from idea to idea when it comes to career goals. What really made me think this year was my idea of leadership in the profession. I often draw connections to the present using minor trivial knowledge of the past. I find myself pointing to steps that can provide a crisis. I think my leadership skills set is negative, but I know we all take risks. There is an aspect of “no better, no worse” in the way I see myself. But learning how others see the world has given me a better idea – and more skills in empathy and finding a common ground – defined information and leadership as part of a whole, with pragmatic and broader views on my future.
The term Old Catholic Church has been used from the 1850s by communions separated from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, primarily concerned with papal authority and infallibility. Some of these groups, especially in the Netherlands, had already existed long before the term. These churches are not in full communion with the Holy See. Member churches of the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches (UU) are in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Anglican Communion; many members of the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches hold membership in the World Council of Churches. The See of Utrecht declared the right to elect its own archbishop in 1724, after being accused of Jansenism. The formation of the Old Catholic communion of Germans, Austrians and Swiss began in 1870 at a public meeting held in Nuremberg under the leadership of Ignaz von Döllinger, following the First Vatican Council. Four years later, episcopal succession was established with the consecration of an Old Catholic German bishop by a prelate of the Church of Utrecht. In line with the “Declaration of Utrecht” of 1889, adherents accept the first seven ecumenical councils and doctrine formulated before the East–West Schism of 1054, but reject communion with the pope and a number of other Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church notes that since 1925 they have recognized Anglican ordinations, have had full communion with the Church of England since 1932, and have taken part in the ordination of Anglican bishops. According to the principle of ex opere operato, certain ordinations by bishops not in communion with Rome are still recognised as being valid by Rome and the ordinations of and by Old Catholic bishops in the Union of Utrecht churches has never been formally questioned by Rome until the more recent ordinations of women as priests. The term “Old Catholic” was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht who did not recognize any infallible papal authority. Later Catholics who disagreed with the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility as defined by the First Vatican Council (1870) were thereafter without a bishop and joined with Utrecht to form the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches (UU). Today these Old Catholic churches are found chiefly in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. The Union of Scranton separated from the Utrechter Union in protest over UU ordination of women and LGBT Christians. Old Catholic theology views the Eucharist as the core of the Christian Church. From that point, the church is a community of believers. All are in communion with one another around the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as the highest expression of the love of God. Therefore, the celebration of the Eucharist is understood as the experience of Christ’s triumph over sin. The defeat of sin consists in bringing together that which is divided. Old Catholics believe in unity in diversity and often quote the Church Father Vincent of Lérins‘s Commonitory: “in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all.” Pre-Reformation diocese and archdiocese of Utrecht Four disputes set the stage for an independent bishopric of Utrecht: the Concordat of Worms, the First Lateran Council,[relevant?] the Fourth Lateran Council, and confirmation of church procedural law by Pope Leo X. Also relevant was the 12th-century Investiture Controversy over whether the Holy Roman Emperor or the Pope could appoint bishops. In 1122, the Concordat of Worms was signed, making peace. The emperor renounced the right to invest ecclesiastics with ring and crosier, the symbols of their spiritual power, and guaranteed election by the canons of cathedral or abbey and free consecration. Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II ended the feud by granting one another peace.[b] In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council canon 23 states that the duty to elect a bishop for a cathedral within three months devolves to the next immediate superior when that duty is neglected by electors.[non-primary source needed] In 1517 Pope Leo X, in Debitum pastoralis officii nobis, forbade the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, Hermann of Wied, to rely on his status as legatus natus[c] in summoning Philip of Burgundy, his treasurer, and his ecclesiastical and secular subjects to a court of first instance in Cologne.[d] John Mason Neale explained that Leo X only confirmed a right of the church but Leo X’s confirmation “was providential” in respect to the future schism. This greatly promoted the independence of the diocese, so that no clergy or laity from Utrecht would ever be tried by a Roman tribunal. Overview: three stages of separation from the Roman Catholic Church Old Catholicism’s formal separation from the Roman Catholic Church occurred over the issue of papal authority. This separation occurred in The Netherlands in 1724, creating the first Old Catholic church. The churches of Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Switzerland created the UU after Vatican I (1871), over the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility. By the early 1900s, the movement included groups in England, Canada, Croatia, France, Denmark, Italy, the United States, the Philippines, China, and Hungary. First stage: Post-reformation Netherlands During the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church was persecuted and the Holy See appointed an apostolic vicar to govern the bishop-less dioceses north of the Rhine and Waal. Protestants occupied most church buildings, and those remaining were confiscated by the government of the Dutch Republic, which favoured the Dutch Reformed Church.[failed verification – see discussion] The northern provinces, that revolted against the Spanish Netherlands and signed the 1579 Union of Utrecht, persecuted the Roman Catholic Church, confiscated church property, expelled monks and nuns from convents and monasteries, and made it illegal to receive the Catholic sacraments. However, the Catholic Church did not die, rather priests and communities went underground. Groups would meet for the sacraments in the attics of private homes at the risk of arrest. Priests identified themselves by wearing all black clothing with very simple collars. All the episcopal sees of the area, including that of Utrecht, had fallen vacant by 1580, because the Spanish crown, which since 1559 had patronal rights over all bishoprics in the Netherlands, refused to make appointments for what it saw as heretical territories, and the nomination of an apostolic vicar was seen as a way of avoiding direct violation of the privilege granted to the crown. The appointment of an apostolic vicar, the first after many centuries, for what came to be called the Holland Mission was followed by similar appointments for other Protestant-ruled countries, such as England, which likewise became mission territories. The disarray of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands between 1572 and about 1610 was followed by a period of expansion of Roman Catholicism under the apostolic vicars, leading to Protestant protests. The initial shortage of Roman Catholic priests in the Netherlands resulted in increased pastoral activity of religious clergy, among whom Jesuits formed a considerable minority, coming to represent between 10 and 15 percent of all the Dutch clergy in the 1600–1650 period. Conflicts arose between these, and the apostolic vicars and secular clergy. In 1629, the priests were 321, 250 secular and 71 religious, with Jesuits at 34 forming almost half of the religious. By the middle of the 17th century the secular priests were 442, the religious 142, of whom 62 were Jesuits. The fifth apostolic vicar of the Dutch Mission, Petrus Codde, was appointed in 1688. In 1691, the Jesuits accused him of favouring the Jansenist heresy. Pope Innocent XII appointed a commission of cardinals to investigate the accusations against Codde. The commission concluded that the accusations were groundless. In 1700, Pope Clement XI summoned Codde to Rome to participate in the Jubilee Year, whereupon a second commission was appointed to try Codde. The result of this second proceeding was again acquittal. However, in 1701 Clement XI decided to suspend Codde and appoint a successor. The church in Utrecht refused to accept the replacement and Codde continued in office until 1703, when he resigned. After Codde’s resignation, the Diocese of Utrecht elected Cornelius Steenoven as bishop. Following consultation with both canon lawyers and theologians in France and Germany, Dominique Marie Varlet, a Roman Catholic Bishop of the French Oratorian Society of Foreign Missions, consecrated Steenoven as a bishop without a papal mandate. What had been de jure autonomous became de facto an independent Catholic church. Steenoven appointed and ordained bishops to the sees of Deventer, Haarlem and Groningen. Although the pope was notified of all proceedings, the Holy See still regarded these dioceses as vacant due to papal permission not being sought. The pope, therefore, continued to appoint apostolic vicars for the Netherlands. Steenoven and the other bishops were excommunicated, and thus began the Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands. While the religious clergy remained loyal to Rome, three-quarters of the secular clergy at first followed Codde, but by 1706 over two-thirds of these returned to Roman allegiance. Of the laity, the overwhelming majority sided with Rome. Thus most Dutch Catholics remained in full communion with the pope and with the apostolic vicars appointed by him. However, due to prevailing anti-papal feeling among the powerful Dutch Calvinists, the Church of Utrecht was tolerated and even praised by the government of the Dutch Republic. In 1853 Pope Pius IX received guarantees of religious freedom from King William II of the Netherlands and re-established the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Netherlands. This existed alongside that of the Old Catholic See of Utrecht. Thereafter in the Netherlands, the Utrecht hierarchy was referred to as the “Old Catholic Church” to distinguish it from those in union with the pope. According to Roman Catholic Church interpretation, the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht maintained apostolic succession and its clergy celebrated valid sacraments.[failed verification] The Old Catholic Diocese of Utrecht was considered schismatic but not in heresy, but the Holy See sees the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht as the continuation of the episcopal see founded in the 7th century and raised to metropolitan status on 12 May 1559. Second stage: Impact of the First Vatican Council After the First Vatican Council (1869–1870), several groups of Roman Catholics in Austria-Hungary, Imperial Germany, and Switzerland rejected the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals and left to form their own churches. These were supported by the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, who ordained priests and bishops for them. Later the Dutch were united more formally with many of these groups under the name “Utrecht Union of Churches”. In the spring of 1871, a convention in Munich attracted several hundred participants, including Church of England and Protestant observers. Döllinger, an excommunicated Roman Catholic priest and church historian, was a notable leader of the movement but was never a member of an Old Catholic Church. The convention decided to form the “Old Catholic Church” in order to distinguish its members from what they saw as the novel teaching in the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility. Although it had continued to use the Roman Rite, from the middle of the 18th century the Dutch Old Catholic See of Utrecht had increasingly used the vernacular instead of Latin. The churches which broke from the Holy See in 1870 and subsequently entered into union with the Old Catholic See of Utrecht gradually introduced the vernacular into the liturgy until it completely replaced Latin in 1877. In 1874 Old Catholics removed the requirement of clerical celibacy. The Old Catholic Church within the German Empire received support from the government of Otto von Bismarck, whose 1870s Kulturkampf policies persecuted the Roman Catholic Church. In Austria-Hungary, pan-Germanic nationalist groups, like those of Georg Ritter von Schönerer, promoted the conversion of all German speaking Catholics to Old Catholicism and Lutheranism. Third stage: Spread of Old/Independent Catholicism throughout the World In 1908 the Archbishop of Utrecht Gerardus Gul consecrated Father Arnold Harris Mathew, a former Roman Catholic priest, as Regionary Bishop for England. His mission was to establish a community for Anglicans and Catholics. During his time with the Old Catholics, Mathew attended the Old Catholic Congress in Vienna in 1909 as well as acted as co-consecrator of Archbishop Michael Kowalski of the Mariavite Church in Poland. In 1910, Mathew left the UU over his allegation of their becoming more Protestant and called his church the “Old Roman Catholic Church”. This event signaled the beginning of clergy and communities identifying themselves as Old Catholic despite a lack of affiliation with the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches. In 1913, Mathew consecrated Rudolph de Landas Berghes, who emigrated to the United States in 1914 and planted the seed of Old Catholicism in the Americas. He consecrated an excommunicated Capuchin Franciscan priest as bishop: Carmel Henry Carfora. From this the Old Catholic Church in the United States evolved into local and regional self-governing dioceses and provinces along the design of St. Ignatius of Antioch – a network of communities. Another significant figure, Joseph René Vilatte, who was ordained a deacon and priest by Bishop Eduard Herzog, of the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland., worked with Catholics of Belgian ancestry living on the Door Peninsula of Wisconsin, with the knowledge and blessing of the Union of Utrecht and under the full jurisdiction of the local Episcopal Bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In time, Vilatte asked the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht to be ordained a bishop so that he might confirm, but his petition was not granted because UU recognized the Episcopal Church (United States) as the local catholic church. Over the years, hundreds of people in the United States have come to claim apostolic succession from Vilatte and/or other sources; none is in communion with, nor recognized by, the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches. The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) in the U.S. was previously in communion with the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Church. In 2003 the church voted itself out of the UU because the UU accepted the ordination of women and has an open attitude towards homosexuality, both of which the Polish National Catholic Church rejects. At present, the only recognized group in America that is in communion with the Union of Utrecht is the Episcopal Church. However, independent Old Catholic groups with recognized apostolic succession have attempted to seek recognition from the UU, including a 2006 attempt by the Old Catholic Communion of North America (OCCNA) and a 2006 attempt by four Independent Catholic bishops who self-identified as Old Catholic, which led to the short-lived Conference of North American Old Catholic Bishops. The Old Catholic Church, Province of the United States views itself as Old Catholic, but, like all other U.S churches outside of the Episcopal Church, is not recognized by the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches. Old Catholic Church of Slovakia The Old Catholic Church of Slovakia was accepted in 2000 as a member of the Union of Utrecht. As early as 2001 some issues arose concerning future consecration of Augustin Bacinsky as old-catholic bishop of Slovakia, and the matter was postponed. Old Catholic Church of Slovakia was expelled from the Union of Utrecht in 2004, because the episcopal administrator Augustin Bacinsky had been consecrated by an episcopus vagans. Immediately after forming the UU, Old Catholic theologians dedicated themselves to a reunion of the Christian churches. The Conferences of Reunion in Bonn in 1874 and 1875 convoked by Döllinger, a leading personality of Old Catholicism, are famous. Representatives of the Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches were invited. They discussed denominational differences as the ground for restoring church communion. They assumed the following principles for participation: acceptance of the Christological dogma of First Council of Nicaea and Council of Chalcedon; Christ’s foundation of the Church; the Holy Bible, the doctrine of the undivided Church, and the Church fathers of the first ten centuries as the genuine sources of belief; and Vincent of Lérins’s Commonitory as a preferred method for historical research. Reunion of the churches had to be based on a re-actualization of the decisions of faith made by the undivided Church. In that way the original unity of the Church could be made visible again. Following these principles, later bishops and theologians of the Old Catholic churches stayed in contact with Russian Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican representatives. Old Catholic involvement in the multilateral ecumenical movement formally began with the participation of two bishops, from the Netherlands and Switzerland, at the Lausanne Faith and Order (F&O) conference (1927). This side of ecumenism has always remained a major interest for Old Catholics who have never missed an F&O conference. Old Catholics also participate in other activities of the WCC and of national councils of churches. By active participation in the ecumenical movement since its very beginning, the OCC demonstrates its belief in this work. Old Catholicism values apostolic succession by which they mean both the uninterrupted laying on of hands by bishops through time and the continuation of the whole life of the church community by word and sacrament over the years and ages. Old Catholics consider apostolic succession to be the handing on of belief in which the whole Church is involved. In this process the ministry has a special responsibility and task, caring for the continuation in time of the mission of Jesus Christ and his Apostles. The Old Catholic Church shares some of the liturgy with the Catholic Church and similar to the Orthodox, Lutherans, and Anglicans of the high church tradition. Christ-Catholic Swiss bishop Urs Küry dismissed the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation because this Scholastic interpretation presumes to explain the Eucharist using the metaphysical concept of “substance”. Like the Orthodox approach to the Eucharist, Old Catholics, he says, ought to accept an unexplainable divine mystery as such and should not cleave to or insist upon a particular theory of the sacrament. Because of this approach, Old Catholics hold an open view to most issues, including the role of women in the Church, the role of married people within ordained ministry, the morality of same sex relationships, the use of conscience when deciding whether to use artificial contraception, and liturgical reforms such as open communion. Its liturgy has not significantly departed from the Tridentine Mass, as is shown in the translation of the German altar book (missal). In 1994 the German bishops decided to ordain women as priests, and put this into practice on 27 May 1996. Similar decisions and practices followed in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In 2020, the Swiss church also voted in favour of same-sex marriage. Marriages between two men and two women will be conducted in the same manner as heterosexual marriages. The UU allows those who are divorced to have a new marriage in the church, and has no particular teaching on abortion, leaving such decisions to the married couple. An active contributor to the Declaration of the Catholic Congress, Munich, 1871, and all later assemblies for organization was Johann Friedrich von Schulte, the professor of dogma at Prague. Von Schulte summed up the results of the congress as follows: - adherence to the ancient Catholic faith - maintenance of the rights of Catholics - rejection of new Catholic dogmas - adherence to the constitutions of the ancient Church with repudiation of every dogma of faith not in harmony with the actual consciousness of the Church - reform of the Church with constitutional participation of the laity - preparation of the way for reunion of the Christian confessions - reform of the training and position of the clergy - adherence to the State against the attacks of Ultramontanism - rejection of the Society of Jesus - claim to the real property of the Church
I don't usually post so close together but after my blog post on my personal journey of decolonization garnered so much discussion I wanted to address the #1 question I was getting: How do you actively weave decolonization into your spiritual practice? Decolonization isn’t just something I engage with in my life, it is a core part of my spiritual path. As I said in my acticle My Spiritual Journey of Decolonization: ...As a child “I noticed that our family’s traditions and practices often conflicted with what I was being taught in church and I realized that Christianity (the largely dominant religion in Jamaica) had been forced on my ancestors by colonization and slavery. This led me on a spiritual quest that resulted in me leaving Christianity and converting to Wicca. Wicca works for me because it provides a stable container where I can blend my mixed spiritual heritage harmoniously.” In Wicca, I found a space where I could blend my black, indigenous and celtic backgrounds together into a cohesive path. It helped that the first formal training in Wicca was in the Odyssean tradition at the Wiccan Church of Canada, that emphasises the journey of self-discovery. The work of Christopher Penczak and the Temple of Witchcraft had a huge impact on my practice. It is through the TOW that I learned about the Shamanic Witchcraft path and recognized a lot of what I had been doing, and trying to do, in my personal practice. Wicca can be seen as a decolonizing effort itself. It’s an effort of resurgence to revitalize pre-Christian traditions in Europe, (in the UK in particular) that they followed before they were colonized by Rome and the Church. It “fills in the blanks” and innovates these traditions by looking at and incorporating teachings from other traditions. It looks to nature to inform its structure and development. This is a process of decolonization and culture design, two concepts that I work with a lot in academia. It allows for crafting a personal path that works for each individual, especially in more eclectic traditions, while providing structure and core theology for guidance. Decolonization is a core part of my theology. The shamanic witchcraft tradition that I founded, the Rose and Thorn Tradition, seeks to provide a witchcraft tradition that centers a decolonial, multi-ethnic perspective. Here are some basic ways in which I weave decolonization into into my witchcraft practice: Focusing on decolonizing myself in my shadow work and weaving that theme into my rituals. It's a process of deep self-reflection, deprogramming and healing. Focusing on healing ancestral and community trauma in my healing work, both for myself and my communities. Connecting and building ‘right’ relationships with the spirits of the land I'm on: the Genius Loci or “spirit of the place”, the spirits of nature, and the ancestors of the people who are indigenous to the land that I am on. Casting circle with territorial acknowledgements. For example, a Tiohtià:ke/Montréal territorial acknowledgement is: “I/We would like to begin by acknowledging that I/we am/are located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which I/we stand today. Tiohtià:ke/Montréal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. I/We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in my/our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community.” I start my circle casting with the territorial acknowledgement, after centering and grounding, and end my casting with inviting the genius loci into my circle after the goddess, god and guardians/ancestors. Ancestor work. Being a shaman means actively walking between the worlds and working with the spirits. Building relationship with one’s own ancestors and the ancestors of the traditions you follow is a big part of that work. When I am dealing with traditions in my culture that have been stolen, lost or watered down, I go straight to my ancestors who lived those traditions and ask them directly about it. I ask them for clarification and direction and their wisdom and knowledge is invaluable. Doing the work of tracing where the traditions we practice in our spirituality, in Contemporary Paganism and Wicca, are from, and acknowledging and honouring those roots. Many of the teachings in Wicca and Contemporary Paganism are taken from indigenous, eastern, and African religions. This isn’t acknowledged enough. We can look to other traditions to inform and enrich our own spiritual journeys but we should only do so with respect and give credit where credit is due. Activism as sacred duty and an expression of the warrior path. “Social justice warrior” is such a maligned term but I believe that we must approach justice through the warrior’s code. Standing up for what’s right, commitment to justice, living with honour, protecting those that cannot protect themselves, maintaining balance, cultivating discipline, treating others and yourself with respect and compassion, having integrity and self -control; these are the guiding principles of the warrior path, and often the witch’s path as well. It is how I approach my activism. If decolonization is something that you wish to make a part of your spiritual path, these are ideas that can help you get started. I urge you to research decolonization and resurgence, to find out who’s indigenous territory you are on and connect with them (if possible), to learn about the practices and teachings of the traditions you are drawn to from the people from those traditions themselves, and make sure to include BIPOC and other minority/underserved voices in your reading, learning and research. How can/do you include these concepts into your practice? You can refer to my post on Decolonization Resources as a starting point!
Capital, art and public space Madrid, the capital of Spain, is a cosmopolitan city that breathes art. Being one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe, it is an influential cultural center. The city offers a wide range of museums and cultural institutions of international prestige, among which we highlight the Prado Museum, the Thyssen Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum. The architecture of Madrid is very varied. The city has an extensive repertoire of historical architecture that coexists harmoniously with modern skyscrapers and contemporary works of last generation, revealing different phases of its evolution and history. This variety means that Madrid is among the first destinations for those interested in architectural ensembles and art. Artchitectours offers guided tours oriented to design, urban planning and architecture in Madrid. Our guides, professional architects, will prepare an architectural itinerary according to your interests and preferences!
We talk about “the 1 percent” a lot in our line of work. Yesterday, the HBG Book Club met to talk about chapter one of Uneasy Street; The Anxieties of Affluence by sociologist Rachel Sherman, and what spurred most of our conversation was the ambivalence high net worth people had toward their wealth. In the book, Sherman interviewed wealthy Manhattan-ites to learn their attitudes towards their wealth and what they felt it means to be considered wealthy. She recognized a distinct pattern over time, and shares two distinct categories she observed depending on how people spoke about their wealth: upwardly- and downwardly-oriented attitudes. The “downward-oriented” wealthy share an unease with having so many resources in a time of stark income disparity. Sherman found that this group are more likely to have inherited their wealth or have come from more modest origins. Most are not in a high-pressure earning environment. More liberal politically than the upwardly-oriented, people in this group are be more likely to mix with a more racially and income diverse group of friends. We posited that people with these attitudes might fall into the shirtsleeves-rolled-up volunteer-donor category. The “upwardly-oriented” wealthy, she wrote, tend toward the attitude of “sure, I’m comfortable, but not like that guy. He’s really wealthy. I’m middle class compared to him.” There aren’t many inheritors in this group; they tend to be earners who make their money in finance, real estate, business, or corporate law. More conservative politically than the downwardly-oriented, their charity involvement may be less hands-on and more focused on opportunities to network with others. As we were discussing this chapter, I was thinking about what it actually means to be a one-percenter, and if the attitudes of Manhattan one-percenters toward their money are the same as Mercer Island’s, or England’s, or if each locale’s attitude is like Darwin’s finches – unique to that island. Naturally, I decided to do some research to see what it means to be a one-percenter elsewhere than New York City. Unsurprisingly, it really depends on your geography. Someone working in a senior leadership position in a large nonprofit in New York, Boston, or San Francisco would probably qualify as a one-percenter in Arkansas, where in 2017 the bar was set at annual income of $237,428. Before seeing the article, I had assumed that NYC would be the top, but Connecticut actually beat out New York by a mile, $659,979 to $517,557. Even New Jersey got New York’s upper hand, at $547,737. What’s also fascinating to see in the article is that the average annual income for members of the one percent in each state is usually much, much higher than the threshold. What we discussed in our book club was being aware of these geographic differences and, as always, understanding the context of where our prospects are in their life – living in an aspirational neighborhood with two kids in private school, or two-income, childless and nearing retirement. Taking Sherman’s observations into consideration as well – whether prospects are upwardly- or downwardly-oriented – may also provide us with help as we plan how to involve and steward major donors and volunteers.
For anyone looking to invest in the stock market, there are a few things that they should know. While professional investors can track the data of companies and sectors on a daily basis, most individuals cannot keep up. Individual investing requires a great deal of knowledge, time, and inclination. Read on to learn more about the basics of the stock market. You can then start making your own stock market portfolio. Listed below are a few tips for getting started. Regulations of the stock market The Regulations of the Stock Market are the rules and regulations that govern the trading and buying of stocks. According to these rules, no stock price should change more than the upper and lower price change limits. The price change limit is determined by the base price minus the price change limit, and it must be within the limits. A stock price must not change more than 1% from the opening price to the closing price. There are many other rules and regulations that apply to the market. It is necessary to comply with these rules to be a member of the market. Competent persons must follow these rules, and these regulations also apply to the stock market society. Moreover, stock market societies must put in place all necessary measures and contingency plans for any unforeseen situation. Therefore, the Regulations of the Stock Market can help in protecting the interests of all participants in the market. And, in case of any violation, the Commission will take legal action against the listed corporation and will notify the prosecutor’s office of the case. Characteristics of the stock exchanges The stock market is an open, transparent, and organized market in which stocks and other securities are bought and sold. The market also helps investors invest their money in businesses that make money. Because of these benefits, it is a popular option among investors. In addition to making investments easier, stock exchanges also provide liquidity. They allow profit-making companies to raise capital through a process known as “buying and selling.” However, the nature of the stock market makes it difficult to select a suitable model. The SVI variable offers the best performance and highest gains for investors. This variable is sensitive to the volatility of a particular country’s stock market. These characteristics are based on the market’s behavior and the type of stocks that are traded. The research community faces the challenge of choosing the best model for the stock market. Several factors must be considered, including the level of sensitivity to ranking criteria. Characteristics of the NYSE The NYSE is a large equities exchange that operates in continuous auction mode. Traders participate in these auctions by executing stock transactions on behalf of investors. NYSE member firms hire specialist brokers to act as auctioneers. They disseminate information to the crowd and commit capital. As a result, the NYSE is able to offer the tightest quoted bid/ask spreads. The New York Stock Exchange is the world’s largest exchange for stocks and exchange-traded investments. It operates through a complex auction system between three parties, which has helped it earn world-wide reputation. Amena Gibson is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she studied business administration and journalism. She has interned with Bloomberg News and writes about stock market topics for the Associated Press and The New York Times. The NYSE also maintains a physical trading floor on Wall Street. However, a large portion of trading is done electronically through the NYSE’s data center in Mahwah, New Jersey. The NASDAQ, on the other hand, does not have a physical trading floor, and conducts all trading electronically. The NYSE market has a relatively low entry barrier, which may be attractive for some growth companies. Characteristics of the NASDAQ The Nasdaq Composite Index is one of the most commonly used stock market indexes, and it reflects the largest industries, including computers, software, communications, retail, wholesale trade, biotechnology, and financial services. The Nasdaq has experienced a remarkable rise in the past two years, as the growth of tech companies has driven the stock’s value higher. From the market bottom in 2010 to its peak in late February of 2021, the Nasdaq composite index gained 135.1 percent, and in mid-March of 2022, it had fallen twenty-one percent. Although it has risen slightly since then, it is currently down 16.9%, which is lower than the all-time high in August 2007. The Nasdaq uses computer networks to trade stocks. Companies on the NYSE are typically large, well-established companies with a long-standing reputation. The Nasdaq is the most volatile stock exchange, with stocks like Apple, Microsoft, and Walmart appearing prominently on the market. But Nasdaq stocks are made up of many newer businesses and start-up companies, making them riskier investments for some investors.
In 2006 a large bloom of blue green Lyngbya occurred in Roebuck Bay, smothering the seagrass meadows, mangroves and large areas of the highly productive mudflats. RBWG together with Yawuru Traditional Owners and DEC responded quickly with community forum, a Lyngbya Contingency Plan and in 2010 a Keep Our Bay Clean project to reduce land based nutrients and sediments from entering Roebuck Bay. High levels of nutrients and sediments in waterways are known for causing Lyngbya blooms, so it is vital that our community takes actions to reduce the pollution going into our drains and seeping through our soils into the aquifer which discharges at the edge of creeks into Roebuck Bay. Roebuck Bay Working Group is comprised of Traditional Owners and government, local community, conservation groups and business. We work collaboratively to solve issues, raise awareness and encourage research and monitoring which supports responsible management and protection of Roebuck Bay.
And share the kingdom with thy dearest friend." Stately and proud, in riches and in train, Whilom I was, powerful, and full of pomp: But what is he whom rule and empery Have not in life or death made miserable? Reduce we all our lessons unto this: To die, sweet Spencer, therefore live we all; Spencer, all live to die, and rise to fall. Sweet father, here unto thy murdered ghost I offer up this wicked traitor's head; And let these tears, distilling from thine eyes, Be witness of my grief and innocency. Less sex than violence It can be difficult to read Edward II today as a Christopher Marlow play. One keeps sliding into thinking of it as minor Shakespeare—you know, all those early plays with kings and numerals in their titles. Partly this is a matter of timing. We may appreciate Marlowe's own earlier plays, especially Tamburlaine and Dr. Faustus, in their own lights. Shakespeare the actor and novice playwright no doubt himself followed Marlowe's rising star in London theatre in those days. But by 1592 the Stratfordian was making a name for himself and had already matched Marlowe's output. Marlowe's new work then was about an English king in the same centuries-long line of succession leading up to their time that Shakespeare was plundering for narratives. So Marlowe's Edward II fits right in with Shakespeare's three Henry VI plays and Richard II, which had likely already hit the stage, and the two-part Henry IV, plus Henry V and Richard III, to come. It's hard not to rank it with those and, when you do, it comes in somewhere between Shakespeare's lesser histories and the later masterworks in the series. The one Shakespearean play it's best compared to though may be King John, which focuses on historical events four centuries earlier. Edward II deals with events three centuries before the playwrights' time. Both the kings, John and Edward, had ruled far enough in the past that they provided politically safe material for theatre. Both monarchs had been unpopular, both plays initially published with titles beginning "The Troublesome Reign...." Both plays are largely expository, each condensing two decade's history into dramatic action that appears to span only a few seasons. Each focuses on the king's fight with a jealous nobility, conflating that fight with conflicts against the church. Each lays blame for the discord on the king's character, nonetheless showing his aristocratic enemies to be a scheming, disloyal, self-interested lot. But Marlowe's Edward II has in modern times proven to be more appealing to a modern audience—probably due to its reputation for sex and violence. Not explicit sex, mind you, nor even the romantic horniness of many an Elizabethan play. Rather the suggestion of the love that dared not speak its name. For what is seen as lifting Edward II into the realm of great tragedy is the particular alleged fault that leads to the protagonist's downfall: he loves one man above all other men and women. Edward's relationship with Gaveston, a childhood friend he raises into the peerage after he inherits the crown, can be—and has been—interpreted by actors as one of either intense friendship or homosexual love. Interestingly, Marlowe's text doesn't really spell this out. Edward's French-born queen speaks jealously of the attention Edward gives his friend instead of her. The various earls and barons are outraged at his raising of his favourite into, and above, their ranks. But no one even hints he engages in strange or unnatural acts. Their criticism is for his violation of the social and political order, as they saw it, not for supposedly sinful personal behaviour. The issue is never the king's sexuality. Even gay interpretations of Edward II—which are valid—cannot make coming out of the royal closet the play's theme. Moreover, Gaveston is removed halfway through the play, killed offstage by the king's enemies. And though he is suitably outraged and swears vengeance, we can't help but find Edward's response oddly even-tempered. He mourns the loss but with none of the heavens-falling, mind-bereft histrionics of Shakespeare's tragic characters. In one of the narratives many turnabouts, the king has his revenge, winning a battle and taking the heads of defeated rebels. But he also replaces Gaveston with some new favourites, the sycophantic Spencer clan, who help him alienate the nobles into revolt all over again. Not until near the end of Act IV when the king and his allies are in hiding, regretting their lives and envying the peaceful monastic existence of monks, do we start to get a feeling for the human being who's borne the crown. The final act featuring Edward's capture, squalid imprisonment and horrific death—with its overtly sexual implication—turns up the sympathy even more strongly. In one last upset in the final scene, the king's death is also avenged. More bloody heads tossed about. So many characters, so many reversals in so short a span, so many plots and murders to track—and the human story peeping out here and there. Scholars have said Edward II represents an advance in Marlowe's writing. His dramatic poetry has greater flexibility of metre than his earlier plays and reaches new heights of naturalistic dialogue. This may be so. It does make for workmanlike lines that are easy to follow, which modern readers may find a relief. But to these eyes and ears, it still reads somewhat flatly, compared to the denser poetic flights associated with—you know—Shakespeare. — Eric McMillan
Most people choose generics because these medications are also effective and more affordable. This type of drug, which is identical to branded medicines, has the same formula for the treatment of heart, kidney, liver, lungs, diseases, etc. Generics like Cardizem are produced under a variety of names and can have packaging different from the original medication. Cardizem is a medical preparation based on the active substance diltiazem hydrochloride. It works like a calcium channel blocker. The medicine is prescribed to patients with hypertension (high blood pressure), impaired heart rate, and angina (sicks in the chest). The principle of Cardizem operation components is to relax the muscles of blood vessels and the heart. Also this generic is recommended for patients with high arterial pressure. It helps to reduce such pressure and prevent the risks of a heart attack or stroke. Some patients with severe heart disease may be assigned 24-hour clinic monitoring and a specific schedule of Сardizem drip. Droplet treatment is more optimal with the supervision of a doctor. Take tablets once a day; select the same time for this. In the treatment of hypertension, you need to take 180-240 mg of this medication, although some patients react to smaller Cardizem doses. The antihypertensive effect can be achieved after about two weeks of receiving these pills. If you plan to treat blood pressure, it is impossible to exceed the Cardizem dosage at 540 mg per day. With angina, doctors recommend the dose of 180 mg per day, only 1 time. If the result is not detected, then the portion can be increased but only after 7 or 14 days after the start of taking medication. It is impossible to exceed the dosage to 360 mg. In some cases, the doctor can prescribe higher doses for taking Cardizem, but it is discussed individually. Clinical studies have shown that the active substance Diltiazem can not only give side effects but also provides other reactions to the state of the heart-vascular system. The MD must conduct a careful survey of the entire body of the patient to take into account other diseases and other drugs that he takes at that moment. Not all medicines and their active substances are compatible with this generic. Some combinations of Cardizem with other drugs can lead to serious consequences and heart lesions. You can not take this medicine with preparations in which there is Rifampin. Precautionary measures should also be attributed to the risks where Cardizem can cause abnormally slow-down heart rate frequencies. The diltiazem hydrochloride is prohibited for people with heart failure and liver diseases. Also, this medication is not recommended for patients with severe skin reactions (erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, exfoliative dermatitis, or toxic epidermal necrolysis). Doctors will also not allow Cardizem to people with nonclinical toxicology: The medication is also prohibited for pregnant women; some tests have shown that this can lead to a skeletal impairment in the process of forming the fetus. Nursing women also should not take Cardizem. The medicine is prohibited for children. For adults and olds, it is better to begin treatment with small doses watching the condition of the liver, kidney, and heart system. The interaction of this medication with anesthetic drugs is prohibited. Also, doctors do not recommend combining Cardizem with buspirone, carbamazepine, clonidine, and cyclosporine. Studies have also shown that patients who take diltiazem with quinidine increase the effect of the last drug by 51%. Cardizem - generic name but these pills give the same effect and adverse reactions like original Diltiazem. Given the patient's body features, age, diseases, and other factors, people can feel other unpleasant sensations. Reception of the Cardizem must be reduced, discuss it with MD. Adverse reactions may be the following: Also, active elements of Cardizem can give the following reactions: lower limb swelling, rash, bundle branch block, syncope, or palpitations. Some patients treated doctors with the following consequences after consuming Cardizem: thirst, disorder, paresthesia, hallucinations, amnesia, and noise in the ears. Also, violations may have other characteristics: petechiae, muscle cramps, photosensitivity, pruritus, amblyopia, CPK increase, eye irritation, hyperuricemia, impotence, nasal congestion, nocturia, or polyuria. Studies with overdose were carried out only on animals. It described 7 cases when the portion of this drug led to the appearance of side effects (rash, sleep disturbances, frequent fatigue, sudden weight loss, etc.) and death. The level of toxic Cardizem dose which can harm the patient is not known. Use this generic according to the dosage plan prescribed by your healthcare specialist. Take a Cardizem tablet of the drug and swallow it whole, no need to chew or grind it before ingestion. Talk to your MD to find out the characteristics of your body and determine which medications should not be combined with Cardizem. The list of not recommended combinations includes not only over-the-counter medicines but also certain dietary supplements. If you notice an adverse reaction or other changes in your body after taking the medication, then contact your doctor. Arrhythmias, bradycardia, rashes, sleep disturbances and other reactions can lead to bad consequences. Women also need to see a doctor if they are planning to have a baby or if the pregnancy comes while taking the Cardizem. These are the payment methods available: we are a Registered and Licensed Mexican pharmacy we assure you top quality medicines without the worry of your health care provider, employer or any other group finding out what rightfully is a private issue. Did you know that your private medical file can be used against you to raise your insurance rates or in some cases and countries to lose your job? We take your privacy very seriously and by using these payment methods and the way in which we use them your bank does not directly get charged from our pharmacy. This way your medical needs stay as private as possible. You will also receive a complete invoice in your email with payment totals and simple payment instructions toward the bottom of the email should you wish to pay at a later convenience. To ensure the delivery of your order we handle EXPRESS SHIPPING only. Signature is required. Tracking numbers for all orders will be sent with instructions once shipped. 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All credit card and electronic check payments for your mexicanrxpharm take 24 to 48 hours to be approved by our Payment Processor; upon verification your order will be processed. If there are any problems with your order, we will contact you, so please ensure the email address and phone number you provide is correct, and that any spam filtering software you use accepts email from We offer Mex Post Express Shipping as an option. This option costs from $24.95 depending on the quantity of medications in your order (up to 9 medications). This option requires a customer signature on delivery. For all other locations Express Shipping is $39.95. All packages are shipped in plain packaging to guarantee your privacy. All packages are sent by parcel express mail from Mexico. Some parcels require a signature upon delivery at our discretion. There are no other handling fees, drug dispensing fees, or Mexican customs charges. If two or more people are ordering their prescription drugs from the same address at the same time, you will be billed for only one shipping charge from our Mexico pharmacy, up to our maximum order quantities limited by customs to 90 day supply. We are able to provide a tracking number on your express shipping parcels. If after 30 business days your order has not arrived, first check with your local postal office to ensure that your package is not being held for pick-up. If you still have problems, please contact us by email and we will attempt to assist you. If no one is at home at the time of delivery, the status of you order on the Postal System will be updated to “Notice Left” which means USPS attempted to deliver your item and a notice was left because an authorized recipient was not available. You may arrange redelivery by visiting or calling 800-ASK-USPS, or may pick up the item at the Post Office indicated on the notice. If this item is unclaimed after five days then it will be returned to the sender. You can pay for reshipping $24.95 in order to receive a new tracking number. (Reshipping will be issued until the package is received back in our offices). Note that on Holidays season, the Mexican Postal, USA and other countries will be extra busy; therefore a delay is expected in packages shipped during this season. You will need to consider as well the Mexican holidays. We appreciate your understanding, our customer service will be happy to assist you and available to inform you the latest status on your existing order shipped, you can always contact us at Toll Free number or email address. Due to our policy of same day payment processing, ORDERS CANNOT BE CANCELLED. Due to government regulations and the possibility of tampering with medications, returns cannot be accepted. In case your package is returned due to no one was available to sign for it. You can pay for reshipping $24.95 in order to receive a new tracking number. (Reshipping will be issued until the package is received back in our offices). How to find the online pharmacy drug you need. There are many more medications available in Mexico that are not listed on our website. If you can’t find the Mexican drug or medication you require, please contact us and we may be able to help. Some products are listed only in a single dosage size or medicine type, but may be available in other dosages and forms. Our experienced Mexican pharmacy Pharmacists will do their best to accommodate your requirements. Please always specify the chemical name of the medication (and any applicable brand name) with all inquiries. Please feel free to ask about ANY drug. We will reply promptly to your request. Prescription drugs are a costly medical expense, especially for the elderly, those who are chronically ill and those with no or minimal drug coverage on their Health Insurance. However, each state in America has a law that allows pharmacists to substitute less expensive generic drugs for many brand name products. Depending on your prescription needs, your savings could be very significant. Before you talk with your doctor or pharmacist about switching, there are things you should know about generic drugs. What is the difference between a generic and brand name drug? Nothing except for the name, packaging, and the price, a generic drug is called by its chemical name; manufacturers assign their own brand name. The generic products have the same ingredients. Standard practice and most state laws require that a generic drug be generically equivalent to its brand name counterpart. That is, it must have the same active ingredients, strength, and dosage form, be it a pill, liquid, or injection. The generic drug also must be therapeutically equivalent. It must be the same drug chemically and have the same medical effect. Do all drugs have generic equivalents? No. Some drugs are protected by patents and are supplied by only one company. However, when the patent expires, other manufacturers can produce its generic version. Currently, about half the drugs on the market are available in generic form. Will my doctor automatically prescribe generic drugs? It depends on the physician. You can ask your doctor to write a prescription permitting substitution of a generic drug product when appropriate or to define the chemical name for the prescription. This will ensure you are purchasing the correct Mexico drug. Generic products will be as effective and less costly. Or, you can order only brand name products if you wish. Mexico pharmacy offers a wide selection of both Brand Name & Generic Mexico medicine. Our Mexican generic drugs are of the highest quality, selected only from the most reputable manufacturers, and are safe to replace brand name medications costing much more.
Schools from around Madison are invited to bring their young students to the World Dairy Expo to learn more about the dairy industry and milk production in particular. Being the dairystate of the US, only second in production to California, many youngsters have roots to dairy farms. That said, educating them about the latest developments and giving them a great field trip experience only helps in bringing them closer to the industry. Special tours were organised through the new animal housing, with a great experience in the Boumatic milking parlour. Seeing the enormous milk storage tanks, getting answers about how milk is cooled and feeling the vacuum of the milking equipment really makes milk production come to life for the children.
Spring is just a shiver away. For me, it can’t come soon enough. A pox on this winter!!!!! Too frigid! Too much snow! Too much black ice! ENOUGH ALREADY! Last month we had to flee from our house because we were nearly out of heating oil – we used in two months what we would normally use in four – and couldn’t refill because the oil truck could not get up our driveway. Did I mention that it was a solid sheet of ice? We barely made our escape. A most harrowing experience. Yet as much as I hate to admit it, the garden is magical in winter’s icy-white embrace – especially the trees. In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent van Gogh said, “in all of nature, in trees for instance, I see expression and a soul”. Surely true of the “Hanging Tree”, a majestic English Elm in Washington Square Park, N.Y. At 335 years old, it is the oldest living tree in Manhattan, and at 110 feet tall, one of the most stately. And in winter, quite something. (Photos below.) According to legend, this Elm was the site of many hangings – ergo the name, “Hanging Tree” – but there is no real evidence of this. (So instead, why not call it the “Wondrous Tree”? Despite Dutch Elm Disease that has killed millions of its kin and Park renovations that have endangered its root system, it has survived to a ripe old age. Wondrous, no?) When choosing a tree for my garden, apart from winter presence I think about multi-season attributes, like the interesting peeling bark of the Stewartias and Crepe Myrtles. (Two photos below of Stewartia pseudocamellia and then one of Crepe Myrtle, Lagerstroemia x ‘Natchez’.) I also swoon over trees with green trunks. I took a chance with an Acer davidii seedling from Camellia Forest Nursery – one never knows with seedlings. Sure enough, it doesn’t resemble A. davidii. It’s even better! The new foliage is a rich burnt orange, creating in Spring a fabulous color contrast with the beautiful, solid green bark. (I call it A. x davidii ‘David Parks’, after one of the owners of Camellia Forest.) Photos below. DANGER ALERT: On the subject of seeds, seedlings, and longevity, The New York Times recently reported that in 2012 Russian scientists grew a flower from a seed buried for 32,000 years in Siberian permafrost. Pretty remarkable. But, according to the Times, now a team of Russian and French scientists are engaged in “a resurrection of a more sinister nature. From Siberian permafrost more than 30,000 years old, they have revived a virus that is new to science”. In the words of one of the scientists: “Sixty percent of its gene content doesn’t resemble anything on earth.” And while they admit that human infection is “a worrying possibility”, they have not stopped the extractions. (The New York Times, March 4, 2014, p.D5, cols.1-4.) Am I the only one who finds this terrifying?
Book review: Time Biases: A Theory of Rational Planning and Personal Persistence, by Meghan Sullivan. I was very unsure about whether this book would be worth reading, as it could easily have been focused on complaints about behavior that experts have long known are mistaken. I was pleasantly surprised when it quickly got to some of the really hard questions, and was thoughtful about what questions deserved attention. I disagree with enough of Sullivan's premises that I have significant disagreements with her conclusions. Yet her reasoning is usually good enough that I'm unsure what to make of our disagreements - they're typically due to differences of intuition that she admits are controversial. I had hoped for some discussion of ethics (e.g. what discount rate to use in evaluating climate change), whereas the book focuses purely on prudential rationality (i.e. what's rational for a self-interested person). Still, the discussion of prudential rationality covers most of the issues that make the ethical choices hard. A key issue is the nature of personal identity - does one's identity change over time? Sullivan starts this discussion by comparing a single-agent model to a model with multiple distinct stages. I initially found that part of the book confusing, as neither model seems close to mine, and she seemed to present them as the only possible models. Then somewhat later on in the book, I figured out that both those models assumed that identity needed to stay constant for some time, and that in the case of the multiple stage model, the change in identity was discontinuous. Sullivan prefers that kind of single-agent model, and therefore concludes that we should adopt a time-neutral stance (i.e. she rejects any time-discounting, and expects us to care as much about our distant future selves as we care about our present selves). Sullivan eventually compares that single-agent model to some models in which a current self partially identifies with a future self, which would allow for time-discounting of how much we care about a self. The most interesting of those models involves some notion of connectedness between current and future selves. This feels like the obviously right approach to me. I expect it to work something like the "me" of a decade ago or a decade in the future being something I consider to be maybe 75% "me". I.e. I practice time-discounting, but with a low enough discount rate that it might be hard to distinguish from no discounting in many contexts. Sullivan looks at some possible measures of connectedness, and convinces me that they don't explain normal attitudes toward our future selves. I suggest that she's too quick to give up on her search for connectedness measures. I think the things which cause me to care about my future self more resemble what causes me to feel connected to friends, so it should include something like the extent to which we expect to interact. That includes some measures of how much my present self interacts with my future self. I don't have anything resembling a complete model of how such connectedness would work, but I'm fairly confident that people do use some sort of connectedness model for deciding how much to identify with future selves. Sullivan argues that concern-based discounting of future selves would require changes in how we evaluate our age (e.g. if my two-year-old self wasn't connected enough with my current self, then there's something wrong with starting at birth to count my age). I agree that it implies there's something imperfect about standard answers to "how old am I?", but it seem perfectly reasonable to say we want easily checkable answers to how old we are, even if that discards some relevant information. ("All models are wrong, but some are useful"). If Sullivan can misunderstand our models of how old we are, then it's easy to imagine that she's made a similar mistake with how much we should care about existence over time - i.e. Sullivan sees that it's useful to treat people as time-neutral for the purpose of, say, signing contracts; whereas for other purposes (e.g. do people save enough for retirement?), I see people caring less about their future selves. It seems likely that time-neutrality is a good enough approximation for most of our activities, which rarely require looking more than a decade into the future. Yet that doesn't say much about how to model substantially longer time periods. It's more common for people to discount the future too much than too little, so it's often wise to encourage the use of models with less discounting. That creates some temptation to go all the way to zero discounting, and doing so may be a good heuristic in some cases. But it produces weird results that I mention below. Caring about the past Sullivan devotes a substantial part of the book to arguing that it's meaningful to have preferences about the past, and that rationality prevents us from discounting the past. An example: people who sue in response to an accident that caused them pain will ask for more compensation if asked when they're in pain than if they're asked when the pain is in the past. Sullivan provides other examples in the form of weird thought experiments about painful surgery followed by amnesia, where I might be left uncertain about whether the pain is in my past or my future. No one example seems convincing by itself, but there seems to be a real pattern of something suspicious happening. Sullivan convinced me that preferences about the past mean something, and that there's something suspicious about discounting the past - unless it follows the same discounting rules as apply to the future. But I don't find it helpful to frame problems in terms of preferences about the past. Timeless decision theory (TDT) seems to provide a more natural and comprehensive solution to these kinds of problems, and assumes time-neutrality, or a discount rate that's low enough to approximate time-neutrality over the relevant time periods. (I'm unsure whether TDT is understood much beyond the rather specialized community that cares about it). Sullivan's approach seems to leave her puzzled about Kavka's toxin puzzle. It seems that something in her premises implies that we can't become the kind of person who follows TDT (i.e. follows through on a commitment to drink the poison), but I haven't quite pinned down what premise(s) lead her there, and it seems to leave her in a position that looks time-biased. Specifically, she seems to imply that there's something irrational about making a time-neutral decision to drink the poison. Yet in other parts of the book, she says that our decisions shouldn't depend on what time we happen to find ourselves located at, assuming all other evidence available to us remains the same. Sullivan is careful to distinguish care for the past from the sunk cost fallacy. One relevant question is: did I get new info which would have altered my prior self's decision? Another approach is to imagine what an impartial observer would say - that helps make it irrelevant whether an event is in my past or my future. I probably missed some important nuance that Sullivan describes, but those seem like the important distinctions to make. How should we think about really long lifespans? Sullivan uses a strange (but harmless?) concept of afterlife, which includes any time experienced after an "irreversible radical change", e.g. heaven, dementia, or quadriplegia. A key claim (which I'll abbreviate as SALE) is: The Simple Approach for Life Extension: it is rationally permissible (and perhaps rationally obligatory) to prefer some potential future state of affairs A over some potential future state of affairs B if A has greater aggregate expected well-being than B. I reject the obligatory version of this claim, because I discount future well-being. If I adopted the time-neutrality that Sullivan endorses, I'd endorse the obligatory version of SALE. Sullivan is uncomfortable with SALE, because it leads to the "single life repugnant conclusion". I.e. that a sufficiently long life of slightly positive well-being is better than a short life with more well-being. She doesn't describe a good reason for a time-neutral person to find this repugnant, so I'm inclined to guess that she (and most people) find it repugnant due to a (possibly unconscious) preference for time discounting. My reluctance to endorse the single life repugnant conclusion seems to be purely a function of my caring more about near-future versions of myself than about distant-future versions. Sullivan doesn't seem to identify anything repugnant about the conclusion beyond the fact that it feels wrong. So I'm left guessing that her intuitions of repugnance result from intuitions that distant future selves are less important. She can, of course, believe that those intuitions are irrational, and that she's trying to overcome them. But then why doesn't she also try to overcome the feelings of repugnance about the single life repugnant conclusion? Sullivan describes another version of SALE's consequences, asking us to imagine that hell has enough breaks in the torture that it yields an average positive balance of well-being, for eternity. It looks to me like she's trying to prejudice our intuitions with words that suggest a life that's worse than non-existence, and then contradicting that impression when she gets more specific. I don't see what the substance of her objection is here. It seems my main disagreement with Sullivan boils down to the choice between: A) agreeing that we will care less about distant future versions of ourselves than near future versions (i.e. accept something like time-discounting), B) running into repeated conflicts between our intuitions and our logic when making decisions about time-distant versions of our selves. Either choice appears to produce ordinary results when dealing with relatively familiar time periods, and strange results when applied to unusually long time periods. Choice A seems a bit simpler and clearer. The book is mostly clear and well-reasoned, with a few important exceptions that I've noted, and those exceptions are about topics that seem to confuse most philosophers who tackle them. I expect that many people will learn something important from the book, but it caused me to mostly just reinforce my existing beliefs.
Here's a secret: there's more to grant writing than just "writing." A lot more. Successful grant writing always starts with thorough research, and it ends with a thoughtful review. This post focuses on research - the most overlooked part of grant writing. If you're new to grant writing, you might not know how to start your research. And even if you have some experience, you might not know exactly what you're looking for or what's useful information. Don't worry. Here's what you need to know to get started with your grant research. WHAT'S A 990-PF? WHERE DO I FIND A FOUNDATION THAT MIGHT FUND OUR WORK? The Foundation Center reports that 90% of foundations don't have websites. So, if all you're using is Google to find foundations, you're only scratching the surface. The Foundation Center has a subscription database called Foundation Directory Online. Pricing starts at $49.99/month. - There's a free version called FDO Quick Start that will give you basic information on more than 100,000 foundations. - You can also use the full database and access Foundation Center materials at more than 400 libraries, community centers, and nonprofit resource centers. Use this location finder, enter your zip code, and you'll find the Funding Information Network nearest you. Another popular subscription database is - As of this writing, 3-month subscriptions start as $219. GrantStation will run promotional pricing on annual subscriptions from time to time. - Some organizations will offer GrantStation as a membership benefit. For instance, when you subscribe to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, an annual subscription to GrantStation is included at no extra charge. And, of course, the reference librarian at your local library can help you find foundations and guide you on your grant writing journey. OKAY, I FOUND A FOUNDATION THAT LOOKS LIKE THEY MIGHT SUPPORT OUR NONPROFIT. NOW WHAT? Once you've identified a foundation that looks like it could be a good fit for your organization and its needs, you're ready to begin your true research. Before you start writing, here are some things you need to know about each foundation: - Does the foundation accept applications? - How do I apply? - When do I apply? - How much should I request? The first question is key. If the foundation doesn't accept unsolicited applications - or you haven't been invited to apply - then the rest of the questions are moot. That last question is important, too. The biggest mistake I see grant writers make is asking for too much money from a single foundation. Far too many organizations ask for what they need, instead of what a foundation is likely to award. There are two reasons why you want to ask a foundation for an amount that might be less than the total amount you need: - Most foundations don't want to be your sole funding source, and very few foundations will fund an organization - or even a program - in its entirety. - The reality is that most grant awards are less than most people think. It stands to reason that larger foundations will award larger grants, and smaller foundations will make smaller awards. But how large and how small? 2017 Report on Grantmaking found that the average grant size was: - $6,000 for a small foundation (with less than $1 million in assets), - $8,900 for a medium foundation (assets between $1 million and $10 million), and - $21,700 for a large foundation (assets over $10 million). One of the quickest ways to have your proposal excluded from consideration is to ask for significantly more than the foundation typically awards. CAN I FOUND OUT HOW MUCH A FOUNDATION TYPICALLY AWARDS? Yes! Even though only 10% of foundations have a website, you can still find information on 100% of them. All you need is the foundation's 990-PF tax form. You can access 990s from websites like Guidestar and the National Center for Charitable Statistics among others. It may seem daunting at first, but it's surprisingly easy to read a foundation's tax form. A 990-PF will tell you things like: - Whether or not the foundation accepts unsolicited proposals - The size of the foundation (assets) - How much the foundation awards each year (dollars) - How many awards they give in a year (number) - Who received those awards as well as the dollar amount of each award This information will give you additional insight on the number and size of awards, as well as the type of organizations that a particular foundation has funded in the past. The bottom line: It's possible to do in-depth research on a foundation before you apply for a grant - and it's essential that you do. upcoming training events.
“August is the month to watch,” said Estonia’s 44-year-old prime minister during a recent visit to Washington. The guns of August 1914 announced the beginning of what was called the Great War until an even worse one began nine days after the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact of Aug. 23, 1939. However, Kaja Kallas radiates serenity during lunch near Lafayette Square across from the White House. She does not think Russia’s late-summer military exercises near Estonia, scheduled by the man she calls “the bully next door,” presage aggression. She does, however, think it prudent to consider that Vladimir Putin’s revanchist ambitions might not be confined to Ukraine. Indeed. Six months after absorbing German-speaking Austria, and four days before the Sept. 30, 1938, Munich conference, Hitler vowed that Czechoslovakia’s Sudenten region, home of many ethnic Germans, would be his “last territorial demand.” Six months after he acquired the Sudetenland at Munich, he swallowed the rest of Czechoslovakia, then turned his attention to “protecting” ethnic Germans in Poland. He said he could not “renounce” the “10 million Germans” living in regions contiguous to Germany. And the war came. Igor Stravinsky, the Russian composer, said of Poland, perilously positioned between Russia and Germany: “If you pitch your tent in the middle of Fifth Avenue, it is quite likely you will be run over by a bus.” Poland has often been run over: Between 1795 and 1918 it disappeared from the map of Europe. Estonia, too, has had a hard history. Before becoming part of the Russian empire in the 18th century, Estonia was ruled by Denmark, some German knights and Sweden. The 1918 collapse of the Russian empire gave Estonia 22 years of independence, until it was absorbed by the Soviet Union. This annexation, which ended when the Soviet Union did in 1991, is one reason more than one-fourth of Estonia’s population is Russian. Estonians surely noticed that in a June 30 broadcast, Putin stressed Ukraine’s “linguistic affinity” with Russia, which he said has always treated Ukraine “with great love.” Stalin’s engineered 1932-1933 famine killed approximately 13 percent (3.9 million) of Ukraine’s population. Estonia is less than 80 percent the size of West Virginia; its population of 1.3 million is approximately equal to that of the Richmond, Va., metropolitan area. Nevertheless, this smallest of the three Baltic states has three kinds of international importance: It is one of the 27 members of the European Union, which requires unanimity for important decisions, such as the proposed new global corporate tax, which Estonia does not yet favor. Estonia is a NATO member contiguous to a Russia wielded by Putin’s gangster government. And Estonia reminds Europe of its greatest gift to world politics: the classical liberalism whose apostles include Adam Smith (d. 1790), Raymond Aron (d. 1983) and Estonia’s current prime minister, whose mother and maternal grandparents experienced the complete negation of this liberalism. Kallas’s mother was 6 months old when she and her parents, who were just prosperous enough to be considered discordant with socialism, were deported to Siberia. During the three-week journey in an unheated cattle car, other deportees dried her diapers with the heat of their skin. Kallas, who has read Friedrich Hayek’s anti-statism classic “The Road to Serfdom” (1944), lived under Soviet serfdom as a teenager. She remembers how another European prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, when considering a policy proposal, would ask about it, “What would the market say?” Kallas says of Thatcher, “She had very many things right.” Forty-two years after Thatcher became the first female non-royal head of a European government, Estonia is part of a regional pattern of ascendant women: Five of them are prime ministers under 47. In addition to Kallas (whose finance and foreign ministers are women), there are Finland’s Sanna Marin, 35; Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, 43; Lithuania’s Ingrida Simonyte, 46; and Iceland’s Katrin Jakobsdottir, 45. Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, is 60. In addition, Estonia’s president is Kersti Kaljulaid, the president of the European Commission is Ursula von der Leyen, and Angela Merkel is ending 16 years as Germany’s chancellor. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, favors Scotland’s independence. Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, has joked that if Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters, the collapse that triggered the 2008 financial crisis might not have happened. Sexual chauvinism aside, the Cato Institute’s freedom rating places Estonia eighth among 162 nations (Venezuela is 160th), and Freedom House gives Estonia a sparkling grade of 94 out of 100. The United States gets 83.
„The Sustainable Development Goals provide a plan of action for addressing the world’s most pressing challenges, and thereby also a framework for sustainable solutions. The private sector is an essential part of these solutions, and more and more companies recognize the SDGs as levers for innovation, growth and better competitive performance. No matter how large or small, and regardless of their industry, all companies can contribute to the SDGs. Transparency is fast becoming the new paradigm for conducting business. Through better reporting, organizations can understand, communicate, and better manage their contributions to the SDGs“ The project “SDGs Roll-out Support and Private Sector Engagement”, funded by Sweden and implemented by the United Nations Development Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina, created the first blueprint for the annual sustainability report for businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The methodology is based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. GRI is the world’s most widely accepted framework for sustainability reporting. This form of reporting is a trend in developed countries and as many as 96% of the world’s 250 largest companies (G250) prepare their own annual report on sustainable business. Also, 72% of companies from the G250 group associate their business with the Sustainable Development Goals. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, only a few companies follow this global trend. Starting from next year, this type of measuring will also be done in BiH, mainly to track reporting on the implementation of SDG Framework for BiH. The measuring will in the future be done by authorized institutions of BiH. All companies that were finalists of the SDG Business Pioneers Award 2020 were presented with their sustainable business reports. In this way, the importance of non-financial reporting of companies in the field of sustainable development is promoted. The reports were created based on the applications of these companies for the SDG Business Pioneers Award 2020, and the application itself is based on the original methodology developed by the eminent expert Prof. Dr. Vjekoslav Domljan, rector of the Sarajevo Science and Technology School, and one of the most prominent economists in BiH. The responses provided by the companies through the application served as the basis for the report on the state of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the company level. Many companies understand corporate social responsibility as a tool that will help them build a better reputation, because in addition to the negatives, it sees new business opportunities. The template for creating the annual report on sustainable business in Bosnia and Herzegovina is available to all interested companies that can download it from the link on this page and then fill out their own report following the established methodology. This is especially important for a planned approach to sustainable development and measuring development. In 2021, through the project “SDGs Roll-out Support and Private Sector Engagement“, support will be organized for companies interested in making their reports for 2020/2021. year.
Lestinogomphus matilei Legrand & Lachaise, 2001 Type locality: Danané, Cote d'Ivoire The male of this Upper Guinean species is distinct from other Lestinogomphus by the (1) rather rounded and weakly notched posterior hamule; (2) short S10, its dorsal length being only 1.5-1.7x its apical height; (3) rather thick-tipped cerci; and (4) epiproct that is not deeply bifid as in other species, but ends in a single blunt tip (best seen in ventral view). [Adapted from Dijkstra, Kipping & Mézière 2015] Streams shaded by forest. Usually with coarse detritus. Inferred to occur from 0 to 300 m above sea level.
Artworks from the exhibition Art in a Time of Chaos: Masterworks from Six Dynasties China, 3rd–6th Centuries—such as the ceramic flask and Persian silver plate I discussed in previous posts—show in a concrete way the influence of foreign culture on China during the Six Dynasties period. The most important example of this in the exhibition is a set of monumental marble panels from the tomb of Yu Hong. Each of these panels weighs between 800 and 1600 pounds, and they took a dedicated crew more than a week to install (whew!). Imagine our surprise when we opened the crate for the first panel, only to find that due to a stone prong on the bottom of each panel used in their original assembly, the panels were packed upside down! Believe me when I say that it is no easy feat to rotate an 800-pound stone panel upright without breaking it. The panels are one of the most exciting archeological discoveries in China in recent years, and have been studied extensively. Their significance has been transformative in our understanding of north China at the time, and they reveal a diverse culture of multiple ethnicities that has completely changed our understanding of history. Yet, for each question they answer, a dozen more questions emerge. As I examined the panels when they were being installed, I found myself noticing in particular the connections between their decoration and Buddhist painting. Yu Hong himself almost certainly was not Buddhist, and given the prominently Persian character of his funerary furnishings, he was likely to have been Zoroastrian (this is, of course, during the pre-Islamic period of Persian history). However, the royal banquet scene in the main central panel, an exceptionally early example of the subject in Persian-style art, is surprisingly similar to the scenes of Buddhist paradises that were emerging around this time, and became one of the dominant themes in Buddhist art during the following Tang dynasty. The scene shows a Persian royal couple seated in the middle under a tent-like structure that extends outward diagonally to each side, flanked by attendants with offerings of food and drink. In the lower register, an orchestra of musicians is placed to either side, with a whirling dancer in the middle providing entertainment for the couple. Replace the royal couple with a Buddhist triad, the tent with Chinese wood-frame architecture, and you have all the essential elements of a Buddhist paradise scene, the influence of which extended internationally during the Tang period to Japan, as evidenced in the museum’s own superb Taima Mandala from centuries later. While the upper carved panels are doubtless one of the most dramatic moments in the exhibition, the lower base is all the more remarkable. It is adorned with not carved, but rather painted scenes, in brilliant mineral pigments as vibrant now as they were when first drawn one thousand five hundred years ago. The painted scenes reveal an upper register of paired figures seen through the windows of a balcony, which is also a common motif in early Buddhist cave chapel painting from across the Silk Road, found for example in the murals at the Kizil Caves in Xinjiang and the early caves at Dunhuang. Most surprising of all, though, is that one of the figures on the base of the Yu Hong panels is in the classical “pensive Bodhisattva” pose, with one leg crossed over the other knee, and a finger raised to his cheek as he ponders in deep thought (centuries before Rodin!). If you look closely enough, you will even notice that the figure even has a Buddhist halo. Given the uniqueness of these panels, the relationship between ancient Persian and Buddhist art they suggest is likely to remain little more than a lingering hint of something that might have been. However, in some ways perhaps it is better that way, providing us with the chance to exercise our imaginations as we cross vast distances of time and space to ponder, as the painted figure in the “pensive Bodhisattva” pose ponders, the movements of people, culture and ideas across the immensity of the Eurasian continent in the remote past.
Edwards R, Hoek J, Waa A, Wilson N, Robertson L, Bullen C. Removing the nicotine from tobacco: The key component of the current Smokefree Bill. Public Health Expert Blog. 12 July 2022. https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/removing-the-nicotine-from-tobacco-the-key-component-of-the-current-smokefree-bill/ Aotearoa New Zealand’s Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill includes three key policy measures from the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan: denicotinisation of cigarettes and tobacco, large reductions in outlets selling tobacco, and the introduction of a Smokefree Generation policy. In a previous blog we summarised the evidence for and against denicotinisation. This blog updates the evidence, describes why this policy is so pivotal, and discusses implementation issues. The draft Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan (Action Plan) published in April 2021 proposed mandating the removal of virtually all nicotine from smoked tobacco products. Denicotinised (sometimes called very low nicotine cigarettes, VLNCs) are defined as cigarettes having less than 0.4mg nicotine per gram of tobacco.1 Our blog in April 2021 summarised the case for denicotinisation as follows: - Theory and logic suggests denicotinisation will greatly reduce the addictiveness and appeal of smoked tobacco products, and accelerate the decline in smoking prevalence equitably; - Extensive supporting evidence, notably from randomised controlled trials (RCTs), show that people who smoke and are provided with denicotinised cigarettes find these products less appealing and satisfying, and are more likely to make quit attempts and stop smoking; - Concerns that denicotinisation would result in compensatory smoking and increased exposure to toxins have proven unfounded; - Aotearoa is a highly favourable context to mandate denicotinisation because less hazardous non-combustible nicotine products (subsidised nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches, and vaping products) are widely available. - The Action Plan creates a uniquely favourable context in which denicotinisation will be supported by other robust policies, including reduced retail availability of tobacco products and the smokefree generation policy, and by enhanced smoking cessation support; - Denicotinisation is technically feasible and acceptable, with high levels of support, including among people who smoke. The Ministry of Health’s analysis of submissions to the consultation on the draft Action Plan revealed most submitters supported denicotinisation. Submitters holding strongly positive views included community groups, Pacific, Māori and iwi/hapū groups; government organisations; smokefree researchers and practitioners; and health care organisations. More negative responses were largely confined to small and medium retailers, vape retailers, and tobacco manufacturers. Important developments in the evidence base strengthen the case for denicotinisation being the single most important measure included in the Action Plan. Recent studies, including two comprehensive reviews,1 2 provide further evidence for denicotinisation’s likely effectiveness and information to guide implementation. These studies give greater confidence that denicotinisation is feasible and equitable. For example, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have found people using denicotinised cigarettes from groups with high smoking prevalence, such as people experiencing poor mental health or with lower socio-economic status (SES ), are more likely to make a quit attempt and quit smoking. These studies found no increase in possible adverse effects like increased (compensatory) smoking, stress and anxiety or use of alcohol and other drugs.3-5 These findings enable us to reject claims tobacco companies and others with commercial vested interests have made to oppose denicotinisation. Some other recent key findings include: - An RCT compared experiences among people who smoke and had a history of anxiety and mood disorders randomised to receive denicotinised or regular cigarettes. It found reduced cigarette consumption and markedly increased quit rates in the denicotinised cigarettes group, but no differences in measures of anxiety, mood and stress.4 - An RCT with low SES participants found participants using denicotinised cigarettes smoked fewer cigarettes, reduced their exposure to carcinogens, and had increased quitting compared to participants using regular cigarettes. High rates of attrition and non-compliance among the denicotinised cigarette users suggest having alternative sources of nicotine available is important with a denicotinisation policy.5 - An RCT found that people randomised to denicotinised cigarettes were less likely to drink alcohol daily or engage in binge drinking than people randomised to using regular cigarettes.3 - An RCT comparing gradual vs immediate reduction in nicotine levels found that there was a greater reduction in cigarettes smoked among participants randomised to the immediate reduction group.6 - A qualitative study with people who smoke who could only access denicotinised cigarettes found that most thought they would smoke more but did not. Some participants felt less addicted and more in control of their smoking. Many thought that if only denicotinised cigarettes were available, they would stop smoking, switch to vaping, or seek illicit regular cigarettes or tobacco.7 - Studies in diverse US populations8-11 and among people who smoke or have recently quit in the New Zealand ITC study,12 have found that the pivotal role of nicotine in addiction is generally understood. However, these studies also revealed common misperceptions, such as that nicotine is the main cause of cancer and other serious smoking-related diseases. This suggests people who smoke may falsely believe denicotinised cigarettes are substantially less harmful to smoke than regular cigarettes or vaping products. Modelling studies add more evidence. We reported in a previous blog findings from a preliminary modelling study using estimates of impact based on expert elicitation and evidence from NZ studies. Prompt implementation of denicotinisation (March 2023) was projected to dramatically reduce overall daily smoking prevalence to 3.1% by 2025, and to 7.7% for Māori. Māori daily smoking prevalence was projected to reach 5.2% (close to the <5% smokefree goal) in 2025 with additional mass media expenditure and Quitline cessation support. More sophisticated modelling, reported in the regulatory impact statement14 reached similar conclusions and also found denicotinisation results in substantial reductions in Māori vs non-Māori health inequities.15 The maximum level should be specified in the final Act to avoid any potential challenges if it is only set out in the regulations. \|Timeline for introduction of policy\|\|Implement an immediate rather than a gradual reduction in nicotine levels. A specific date should be set in the final Act (not the regulations) after which only denicotinised tobacco products will be legal to sell. This will avoid any potential confusion that may arise if regular and denicotinised tobacco products are available at the same time. \|Cessation support\|\|Provide affordable and easily accessible cessation support treatments, including medical products. NZ already provides this support and the Action Plan proposes expanding cessation support alongside increased investment in mass media campaigns, including cessation support and campaigns designed designed by Māori, for Māori. \|Access to alternative nicotine products\|\|Provide people who smoke with access to lower harm nicotine products as potential smoking cessation aids or substitutes for smoking. Vaping products are already widely available in NZ through hundreds of specialist and generic retailers (though a careful balance should be struck between supporting people who smoke to switch to these products while avoiding uptake among youth). \|Illicit tobacco market\|\|Implement robust surveillance and enforcement policies to minimise the illicit market in smoked tobacco products. Robust monitoring and enforcement against smuggled tobacco is in place. The Action Plan proposals and recent budget allocations will further strengthen existing processes. \|Adjunct policies\|\|Implement denicotinisation policy within a comprehensive tobacco control programme. This is the approach taken in the Action Plan, albeit with some policy omissions e.g., no minimum price strategy, no clear action against filters and other product design features, and some gaps in smokefree environment policies. \|Public education\|\|Prior to implementation, educate the public about the rationale and nature of the policy, including outlining the relative harmfulness and addictiveness of regular cigarettes, VLNCs and alternative nicotine products (vaping products, heated tobacco products and NRT).\| \|Testing and surveillance infrastructure\|\|Develop systems for surveillance, verifying compliance and evaluating impacts of the denicotinisation policy. In NZ this could include establishing testing systems using local laboratories or sending samples to overseas laboratories, and using the NZ Health Survey and other surveys and research studies to monitor responses among people who smoke. Policy developments internationally and locally International momentum for mandated denicotinisation is growing. In December 2021, the US FDA authorised marketing of two denicotinised cigarette products and in June 2022, the FDA announced it intends to develop a product standard to minimise the nicotine level of smoked tobacco products. Most importantly, the final Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan committed to introduce mandated denicotinisation and the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill published on 21 June 2022 included denicotinisation. A Technical Advisory Group has already been established. The outline in the Bill could change if amendments are introduced during the Select Committee and subsequent readings of the Bill. There should be no major product-related feasibility issues: producing denicotinised tobacco is highly feasible,16 and some US companies already produce VLNCs and others may follow. Such products could be imported through these companies via branches in NZ or by existing NZ-based tobacco or vaping companies. What are the priorities? There are at least four priority actions needed at this point. Strong advocacy. The health, public health, and smokefree communities need to advocate strongly for this key measure and support its passage through Parliament, by making submissions that outline the benefits denicotinisation will bring to whānau, communities and the general population. Rapid implementation. The policy should be introduced as soon as practicable, given the urgency of helping people who smoke to quit and preventing additional young people from becoming addicted to smoking. We recommend introducing regulations in 2023, within six months of the Bill becoming law, and implementing the policy during 2024, within 6-12 months of publication of the regulations. Correct sequencing. Implementing denicotinisation before introducing measures to greatly reduce retail availability of smoked tobacco products has a strong logic. The substantial reductions in prevalence and demand that will follow denicotinisation will decrease the importance of smoked tobacco products to retailers, thus increasing the acceptability and feasibility of introducing rigorous retail supply constraints. Plan now. Detailed preparation should start immediately, so implementation can begin once the Bill has passed into law. We suggest the implementation strategy should include a communications plan (see Table) to explain the policy and its rationale, enhanced measures to monitor and minimise illicit trade (these are already being introduced), and developing a product testing and surveillance regime to ensure all products released for sale comply with the new product standards. New research and modelling studies add to the evidence strongly suggesting that denicotinisation of cigarettes and other tobacco products is a pivotal measure in the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan; and that this measure will rapidly reduce smoking prevalence and the many inequities smoking causes. The smokefree and public health communities in Aotearoa NZ have a crucial opportunity to help end the smoking epidemic by uniting to support the Smokefree Bill and advocating for rapid implementation of the world-leading measures it sets out. - Denlinger-Apte RL, White CM, Donny EC, et al. “I actually finally feel like the cigarettes aren’t controlling me.” – Interviews with participants smoking very low nicotine content cigarettes during a residential study. Drug Alcohol Depend 2021;219:108465. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108465 [published Online First: 2021/01/01] - Differding M, Katz SJ, Strayer LG, et al. Educating the Public on the Health Risks of Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes: Results From a US-Based Convenience Sample. Nicotine Tob Res 2022;24(6):871-80. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac010 [published Online First: 2022/01/14] - Henderson KC, Loud EE, Duong HT, et al. Perceptions of nicotine reduction policy in the US: A qualitative study. Nicotine Tob Res 2022 doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac071 [published Online First: 2022/03/22] - Loud EE, Duong HT, Henderson KC, et al. Addicted to smoking or addicted to nicotine? A focus group study on perceptions of nicotine and addiction among US adult current smokers, former smokers, non-smokers and dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Addiction 2022;117(2):472-81. doi: 10.1111/add.15634 [published Online First: 2021/07/07] - Weiger C, Moran MB, Kennedy RD, et al. Beliefs and Characteristics Associated With Believing Nicotine Causes Cancer: A Descriptive Analysis to Inform Corrective Message Content and Priority Audiences. Nicotine Tob Res 2022 doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac060 [published Online First: 2022/04/07] - McKiernan A, Stanley J, Waa AM, et al. Beliefs among Adult Smokers and Quitters about Nicotine and De-nicotinized Cigarettes in the 2016-17 ITC New Zealand Survey. Tobacco Regulatory Science 2019;5(5):400-09. doi: 10.18001/trs.5.5.1 - Wilson N, Hoek J, Nghiem N, et al. Modelling the impacts of tobacco denicotinisation on achieving the Smokefree 2025 goal in Aotearoa New Zealand. The New Zealand Medical Journal (Online) 2022;135(1548):65-76. - Ministry of Health. Regulatory Impact Statement: Smokefree Aotearoa Action Plan. Wellington: Ministry of Health 2021. - Blakely T, Ouakrim DA, Wilson N, et al. Could Denicotinisation of Tobacco Products In NZ Achieve Less than 5% by 2025? Presented at SRNT Annual Meeting, Baltimore, USA. 2022 - Havermans A, Pieper E, Henkler-Stephani F, et al. Feasibility of Manufacturing Tobacco with Very Low Nicotine Levels. Tobacco Regulatory Science 2020;6(6):405-15. doi: 10.18001/trs.6.6.4
There’s been a lot of chatter about the risk of payday loans lately, prompted by a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that called them “a long-term, expensive debt burden.” But there’s another, fast-growing category of small, short-term loans pitched mostly to low-income Americans — and the unbanked in particular — that can be just as dangerous. ProPublica and Marketplace teamed up for an in-depth look at installment loans, and uncovered a dark side to what an industry spokesman termed “the safest form of consumer credit out there.” Consumer advocates say installment loans can be a better option than payday loans because they don’t have a final balloon payment that can push the borrower even deeper into debt. Lenders also report to credit bureaus, so on-time payments can help someone with a checkered credit history to improve their standing. But they’re not necessarily safe products, says Lauren Saunders, managing attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “Some installment loans have exorbitant rates, deceptive add-on fees and products, loan flipping, and other tricks that can be just as dangerous, and sometimes more so, as the loan amounts are typically higher.” Like payday loans, installment loans don’t start off sounding like they involve a whole lot of money. On its website, installment lender World Acceptance Corp., says, “World’s average gross loan made in fiscal 2012 was $1,180, and the average contractual maturity was approximately twelve months.” One woman interviewed by ProPublica took out a loan for $207 to get her car repaired, agreeing to make seven $50 monthly installments to repay it — for a total of $350. At a time when credit card interest rates average in the mid teens, that’s a huge markup. But that’s really just the start of what makes these loans risky, especially for the financially vulnerable people who make up the core customer base for these products. They’re not “one time” fixes. These loans are pitched as a simple, one-time solution to a cash crunch. In reality, they can be renewed just as payday loans are often rolled over into new loans. And the companies that sell these loans are remarkably effective at getting their customers to come back for more. According to World CEO Sandy McLean, 77% of the company’s loan volume is renewals of existing loans. “They aggressively market their current customers to contiually refinance,” says Chris Kukla, senior vice president at Center for Responsible Lending. In its report, ProPublica talked to former installment loan officers who were trained to keep customers on the hook for a longer time. “Every single time they had money available, [the goal was] to get them to renew, because as soon as they do, you’ve got another month where they’re just paying interest,” one former World employee said. APRs can top 500%. One World customer interviewed by ProPublica had a loan with an APR of 90% listed on the contract. As bad as that sounds, it doesn’t even scratch the surface of how much people pay, percentage-wise, when they renew these loans over and over. The payments are structured so you pay more in interest early on. This means that serial refinancers keep paying interest but don’t put much of a dent in the principal — which does them no good as far as actually getting out of debt. Kukla says the number of customers who find virtually all their disposable income servicing installment loan debt belies the industry’s claim that these products are affordable. ProPublica interviewed one customer who had two installment loans, both more than a decade old, and calculated that she was paying an effective APR of more than 800% on that debt. Pricey “insurance” piles on more fees. Federal regulators have recently cracked down on credit card companies selling add-on products like “credit protection” plans. But ProPublica says these policies for life, disability, or car insurance are still aggressively sold to installment loan customers. “Every new person who came in, we always hit and maximized with the insurance,” one former employee said in the report. Most of the time these products are optional, but customers aren’t told that. They’re growing. An indirect result of the CFPB’s focus on payday lending is that lenders are shifting more of their resources towards installment loans. Cash America International CEO Daniel Feehan, for example, told investors on the company’s quarterly conference call last month that the company was trying to stay out of regulators’ cross hairs by selling more installment loans and fewer payday loans. “We’re trying to balance the right consumer demand against what the regulators and consumer groups are complaining about,” he said. When it comes to federal regulation, these lenders apparently believe installment loans have dodged a regulatory bullet. For the time being, at least, they’re probably right. “I do not believe at this point in time that the installment lending industry is a real high priority… it does not appear at this point in time that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s goal is to eliminate credit to this large segment of the population,” World’s McLean told investors on the company’s quarterly conference call last month.
Supplementary MaterialsSupplementary information 41467_2018_6897_MOESM1_ESM. activity of BAI3. The resulting activated heterotrimeric G-proteins contribute to the initial recruitment of Elmo proteins to the membrane, which are then stabilized on BAI3 through a direct interaction. Collectively, our results demonstrate that the activity of BAI3 is spatiotemporally regulated by C1qL4 and Stabilin-2 during myoblast fusion. Introduction Fusion of myoblasts during embryonic myogenesis, or of satellite cell-derived myoblasts during muscle regeneration, is central to the formation of multinucleated fibers1C3. The molecular mechanisms controlling myoblast fusion remains poorly defined. By merging the power of genetics and tissue imaging, studies led the way in the identification of genes controlling myoblast Etonogestrel fusion during embryogenesis. The current view is that cell adhesion receptors activate signaling pathways that engage actin, allowing myoblast fusion4. While less is known about myoblast fusion in vertebrates, orthologues of the fly Etonogestrel proteins, including guanine nucleotide exchange factor Dock1, GTPase Rac1, and actin nucleator N-Wasp, come with an conserved essential role in fusion in mice5C7 evolutionarily. Protein involved with cellCmatrix or cellCcell adhesion, including Cdon, M/N-Cadherins, Neogenin, and Integrin ?1, donate to the myoblast differentiation and fusion8C11 also. How these elements function to market fusion remains to be to become defined Mouse monoclonal antibody to UCHL1 / PGP9.5. The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the peptidase C12 family. This enzyme is a thiolprotease that hydrolyzes a peptide bond at the C-terminal glycine of ubiquitin. This gene isspecifically expressed in the neurons and in cells of the diffuse neuroendocrine system.Mutations in this gene may be associated with Parkinson disease jointly. Lately, vertebrate membrane linked protein orchestrating fusion have already been uncovered. Myomaker, a myoblast particular proteins with fusogenic activity, was discovered to be essential for fusion12,13. mutations are in charge of the CareyCFinemanCZiter symptoms, a combined band of congenital myopathies that result from defective myoblast fusion14. The microprotein Myomixer (Myomerger/Minion) can be portrayed during fusion and is vital for myoblast fusion in vivo15C17. Stabilin-2 was defined as a phosphatidylserine receptor portrayed during myoblast differentiation18 that transduces the pro-fusion indicators set off by non-apoptotic phosphatidylserine open by myoblasts19. The G-protein Combined Receptors (GPCRs) BAI1 and BAI3 had been found to market myoblast fusion by getting together with the Elmo/Dock complicated20,21. Notably, the molecular systems that assure the legislation of the pro-fusion activity of BAI protein are unknown. BAI1C3 participate in the grouped category of Adhesion GPCRs which are described by lengthy extracellular and intracellular domains22. They contain thrombospondin repeats (TSRs) within their extracellular domains in addition to an Elmo-binding site (EBS) within their intracellular tail20,23. The current presence of a GPCR Auto-proteolysis-Inducing (GAIN) domain is really a personal of Adhesion GPCRs22,24,25. Auto-cleavage of Adhesion GPCRs plays a part in their capability to activate heterotrimeric G-proteins26. BAI1 interacts with apoptotic myoblasts to transmit intracellular indicators that promote myoblast fusion21. We confirmed that uncoupling BAI3 from binding to Elmo blocks myoblast fusion20. Secreted C1q-Like 1C4 (C1qL1C4; CTRPs27,28) protein are the just referred to ligands for BAI329. Interplay between BAI3 and C1qLs was reported to modify neuronal synapse formation30C32. While Rac1 and Elmo-binding signaling mediated by BAI3 are crucial to market fusion, whether this GPCR is certainly with the capacity of activating heterotrimeric G-proteins, and when this plays a part in myoblast fusion, is certainly unknown. One important step toward responding to this question may be the id of the substances that control BAI3 activity in cell fusion. We record here that BAI3-interacting proteins C1qL4 and Stabilin-2 act, respectively, as negative and positive regulators of BAI3 during myoblast fusion. Mixed populations cell fusion assays revealed that BAI3 and Stabilin-2 are both required on the same myoblast to promote fusion. Finally, we found that Stabilin-2 promotes myoblast fusion in part by activating the canonical GPCR activity of BAI3 which contributes to recruit Elmo proteins to the Etonogestrel membrane where they can interact with BAI3. Our data suggest that the balance between inhibitory and activating proteins binding to BAI3 provide a tight control of myoblast fusion. Results C1qL1C4 proteins negatively regulates myoblasts fusion We identified BAI3 as a cell surface protein promoting myoblast fusion20. We aimed to determine here whether contributes to myogenesis in mice. Cross-sectional area (CSA) measurements revealed that 3-months-old knock-out animals display smaller fibers in the Tibialis Anterior (TA) compared to wild-type mice (Fig.?1aCc). Quantification Etonogestrel of the numbers of nuclei located inside of the laminin-stained basement membrane and of Pax7-positive cells revealed a myonuclear number reduction for the Bai3-null mice, demonstrating that this reduced.
How to Record your iPhone, iPad Screen Activity Many have benefited from the possibility to record the screen of their computer. Online instructors rely on this feature to make tutorials and share them with the world and. Those that seek information are dependent on these video tutorials in order to learn new things. And although technology has given us plenty of new devices for watching content, in terms of screen recording, things are still a bit fuzzy. If there are plenty of tools for recording your computer’s screen, or your Android device, for iOS devices, there aren’t that many and some of them are pretty hard to set up. Today we’re taking a look at how to record your screen on a iOS device. Keep in mind that some of these techniques require jailbroken devices or other external hardware. Even so, we’re confident that everyone will find one way to record their iPhone’s or iPad’s screen. Record your iPhone, iPad screen activity There are a few ways to do this, but some of them might not be for everyone. Depending on how you want to record your screen and how much money you are willing to invest, you will find your solution here. We’ll start off with the harder and more expensive solution that require external hardware and special preparations in order for the user the record his iPhone’s screen. There are two obvious methods to accomplish this task: Use an external device to record your iPhone’s screen This can be anything from another phone to a video camera. But be careful how you place the camera as to not have a reflection off the iPhone or iPad screen. Try using a tripod to keep the camera still and also keep the iOS device in one place for the entire duration of the process. Although this method might not be too easy, it does however offer pretty good results. Use a capture card to record your screen Both the iPhone and the iPad offer users the possibility to add an external monitor. And this is a great way to record your screen. All you need to do is mount an external video capture card between the iOS device and the secondary screen. So, the video signal first will travel via HDMI or other interface to the capture card and from the card to the secondary screen. This will allow you to capture a video of the screen, but some capture cards are pretty expensive. Use dedicated software Another way to record your iPhone or iPad screen is to use apps that are designed for creating presentations or for capturing specific content like web pages or similar. Keep in mind that these apps do not capture anything else than what they are designed to, so your options will be limited. They do work great if you are trying to record a presentation or make a video of certain websites. Here is a list of such apps: - Doodlecast Pro - ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard - Explain Everything - Educreations Interactive Whiteboard Record via AirPlay Last but not least, you can record your device’s screen via Apple’s own AirPlay. This is the simplest and probably the best way to record any iPhone or iPad screen. All you need is the Reflector app and once you have everything set up, you can see your device’s screen on your computer. From here, you can use your screencasting program of choice (like Camtasia, Microsoft Encoder or others) to record your computer’s screen. This is by far the simplest way to go and it does not require you to jailbreak your iOS device.
A nonempty set in a ring is called an ideal if (1) it is closed under addition: (2) it "swallows up" under multiplication: . A proper ideal is one that is not equal to the entire ring. A proper ideal is prime if implies that or . A proper ideal is maximal if there are no ideals in between it and the entire ring: if is an ideal, then implies or . How many ideals of are prime but not maximal?
Ancient Sources: Roman Death (CLA1515) The aim of this module is to give an introduction to the diverse sources relating to death and burial in ancient Rome, and how these sources help us to understand how Romans lived their lives. You will become acquainted with the material culture of death, including the archaeology of burial, grave goods and inscribed stone monuments. You will learn to read and analyse these kinds of sources, while also reading (in translation) selections from Roman literature which complement and add to our knowledge of Roman attitudes to death. The module will cover a wide time period, from around 800 BC to Late Antiquity, and will help you to understand the lives of groups such as women, children and slaves who are under-represented in literary texts. ILO: Module-specific skills - 1. Use detailed knowledge and understanding of the archaeological and written sources relating to death and burial in ancient Rome and the Roman Empire - 2. Demonstrate the ability to describe and evaluate archaeological, inscriptional and iconographic sources about death, and assess how literary sources complement and aid our understanding of these material sources - 3. Show an understanding of the ways in which Roman practices around death affected and informed Roman daily life ILO: Discipline-specific skills - 4. Show development of critical approaches to ancient source material, and how archaeological evidence relates to other sources and the wider socio-historical context - 5. Show experience in conducting independent research, including library and online research and the ability to critically assess modern academic writing - 6. Show experience in formal academic writing, including essays and commentary on particular sources and objects ILO: Personal and key skills - 7. Demonstrate development of skills in critical analysis - 8. Demonstrate the ability to read, assess and organise diverse information to form a coherent argument - 9. Show experience in writing an analytical essay or a critical discussion of a piece of source material - 10. Show experience in conducting independent research, including experience in time management - 11. Demonstrate development of teamworking and discussion skills through small group work Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics: Topics may include: the archaeology of burial; tomb markers and epigraphy (including key examples such as the tombs of the Scipios, the tomb of the baker, and the tomb of Augustus); textual and artistic evidence for Roman funerals; the afterlife; ghosts in Roman culture (including curse tablets and accounts of ghosts in dreams); and other cultures of death in Italy (including Etruscan tombs, the painted Greek tombs at Paestum and Christian burial practices). Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time) \|Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities\|\|Guided independent study\|\|Placement / study abroad\| Details of learning activities and teaching methods \|Category\|\|Hours of study time\|\|Description\| \|Scheduled learning and teaching\|\|22\|\|11 x 2 hour seminars\| \|Scheduled learning and teaching\|\|5\|\|5 x 1 hour seminars\| \|Guided independent study\|\|123\|\|Independent study\| \|Form of assessment\|\|Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)\|\|ILOs assessed\|\|Feedback method\| \|Seminar discussion\|\|In-class\|\|1-11\|\|Oral feedback\| Summative assessment (% of credit) \|Coursework\|\|Written exams\|\|Practical exams\| Details of summative assessment \|Form of assessment\|\|% of credit\|\|Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)\|\|ILOs assessed\|\|Feedback method\| \|Source criticism\|\|30\|\|800 words\|\|1-10\|\|Mark and written comments\| \|Examination\|\|70\|\|24-hour online exam\|\|1-10\|\|Mark and written comments\| Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral) \|Original form of assessment\|\|Form of re-assessment\|\|ILOs re-assessed\|\|Timescale for re-assessment\| \|Source criticism\|\|Source criticism\|\|1-10\|\|Referral/Deferral period\| Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment. Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%. - Catharine Edwards (2007) Death in Ancient Rome , New Haven - Valerie M. Hope (2007) Death in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook, Routledge - Valerie Hope (2009) Roman Death: Dying and the Dead in Ancient Rome, London - Ian Morris (1992) Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity (Key Themes in Ancient History), Cambridge - Liv Nilsson Stutz and Sarah Tarlow (eds.) (2013) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial, Oxford - J.M.C. Toynbee (1996) Death and Burial in the Roman World, Baltimore/London
You can use the Reference Manager dialog box to add and manage references to components that you, Microsoft, or another company developed. If you're developing a Universal Windows app, your project automatically references all of the correct Windows SDK DLLs. If you are developing a .NET application, your project automatically references mscorlib.dll. Some .NET APIs are exposed in components that you have to add manually. References to COM components or custom components have to be added manually. Adding and Removing a Reference To Add a Reference In Solution Explorer, right-click on the References node and choose Add Reference. Specify the references to add, and then choose the OK button. Reference Manager opens and lists the available references by group. The project type determines which of the following groups appear: Assemblies, with the Framework and Extensions subgroups. Solution, with the Projects subgroup. Windows, with the Core and Extensions subgroups. You can explore the references in the Windows SDK or extension SDKs by using the Object Browser. Browse, with the Recent subgroup. The Assemblies tab lists all .NET Framework assemblies that are available for referencing. The Assemblies tab doesn’t list any assemblies from the global assembly cache (GAC) because assemblies in the GAC are part of the run-time environment. If you deploy or copy an application that contains a reference to an assembly that’s registered in the GAC, the assembly won’t be deployed or copied with the application, regardless of the Copy Local setting. For more information, see Project References. When you manually add a reference to any of the EnvDTE namespaces (EnvDTE, EnvDTE80, EnvDTE90, EnvDTE90a, or EnvDTE100), set the Embed Interop Types property of the reference to False in the Properties window. Setting this property to True can cause build issues because of certain EnvDTE properties that can’t be embedded. All desktop projects contain an implicit reference to mscorlib. Visual Basic projects contain an implicit reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic. In Visual Studio 2012, all projects contain an implicit reference to System.Core, even if it’s removed from the list of references. If a project type doesn’t support Assemblies, the tab won’t appear in the Reference Manager dialog box. The Assemblies tab consists of two sub-tabs: Framework lists all assemblies that constitute the targeted Framework. Advertised assemblies are in the Full Framework and enumerated in the Framework list when your project targets a Profile of the targeted Framework. Advertised assemblies are grey to differentiate them from the assemblies that exist in the targeted Framework profile of the project. For example, if a project targets .NET Framework 4 Client, the Framework list shows advertised assemblies from .NET Framework 4. When a user adds an advertised assembly, the user is notified that, after the Reference Manager dialog box is closed, the project will be retargeted to the .NET Framework 4 and the advertised assembly will be added. Projects for Windows 8.x Store apps contain references to all of the assemblies in the targeted .NET for Windows 8.x Store apps by default on project creation. In managed projects, a read-only node under the References folder in Solution Explorer indicates the reference to the entire Framework. Accordingly, the Framework tab won’t enumerate any of the assemblies from the Framework and instead display the following message: “All of the Framework assemblies are already referenced. Please use the Object Browser to explore the references in the Framework.” For desktop projects, the Framework tab enumerates assemblies from the targeted Framework, and the user must add the references that the application requires. Extensions lists all assemblies that external vendors of components and controls have developed to extend the targeted Framework. Depending on the purpose of the user application, it might need these assemblies. Extensions is populated by enumerating the assemblies that are registered in the following locations: 32-bit machine: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\[Target Framework Identifier]\v[Target Framework Version]\AssemblyFoldersEx\[UserComponentName]\@default=[Disk location of assemblies] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\[Target Framework Identifier]\v[Target Framework Version]\AssemblyFoldersEx\[UserComponentName]\@default=[Disk location of assemblies] 64-bit machine: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\[Target Framework Identifier]\v[Target Framework Version]\AssemblyFoldersEx\[UserComponentName]\@default=[Disk location of assemblies] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\[Target Framework Identifier]\v[Target Framework Version]\AssemblyFoldersEx\[UserComponentName]\@default=[Disk location of assemblies] And older versions of the [Target Framework Identifier] For example, if a project targets the .NET Framework 4 on a 32-bit machine, Extensions will enumerate assemblies that are registered under \Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0\AssemblyFoldersEx\, \Microsoft\.NETFramework\v3.5\AssemblyFoldersEx\, \Microsoft\.NETFramework\v3.0\AssemblyFoldersEx\, and \Microsoft\.NETFramework\v2.0\AssemblyFoldersEx\. Some components in the list may not be shown, depending on the .NET Framework version of your project. This can occur under the following conditions: A component that uses a recent version of the .NET Framework is incompatible with a project that targets an earlier version of the .NET Framework. For information about how to change the target .NET Framework version for a project, see How to: Target a Version of the .NET Framework. A component that uses .NET Framework 4 is incompatible with a project that targets the .NET Framework 4.5. When you create a new application, some projects target the .NET Framework 4.5 by default. For more information, see .NET Framework Client Profile. You should avoid adding file references to outputs of another project in the same solution, because doing this may cause compilation errors. Instead, use the Projects tab of the Add Reference dialog box to create project-to-project references. This makes team development easier by enabling better management of the class libraries you create in your projects. For more information, see Troubleshooting Broken References. In Visual Studio 2015, a file reference instead of a project reference is created if the target version of the .NET Framework of one project is version 4.5, and the target version of the other project is version 2, 3, 3.5, or 4.0. To display an assembly in the Add Reference dialog box Move or copy the assembly to one of the following locations: The current project directory. (You can find these assemblies by using the Browse tab.) Other project directories in the same solution. (You can find these assemblies by using the Projects tab.) - or - Set a registry key that specifies the location of assemblies to display: For a 32-bit operating system, add one of the following registry keys. For a 64-bit operating system, add one of the following registry keys in a 32-bit registry hive. VersionMinimum is the lowest .NET Framework version that applies. If VersionMinimum is v3.0, folders specified in AssemblyFoldersEx apply to projects that target .NET Framework 3.0 and later. AssemblyLocation is the directory of the assemblies that you want to appear in the Add Reference dialog box, for example, C:\MyAssemblies\. Creating the registry key under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE node allows all users to see the assemblies in the specified location in the Add Reference dialog box. Creating the registry key under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER node affects only the setting for the current user. Open the Add Reference dialog box again. The assemblies should appear on the .NET tab. If they do not, make sure that the assemblies are located in the specified AssemblyLocation directory, restart Visual Studio, and try again. The COM tab lists all COM components that are available for referencing. If you want to add a reference to a registered COM DLL that contains an internal manifest, unregister the DLL first. Otherwise, Visual Studio adds the assembly reference as an ActiveX Control instead of as a native DLL. If a project type doesn’t support COM, the tab won’t appear in the Reference Manager dialog box. The Solution tab lists all compatible projects within the current solution, in the Projects sub-tab. A project can reference another project that targets a different version of the .NET Framework. For example, you could create a project that targets the .NET Framework 4 but that references an assembly that’s been built for the .NET Framework 2. However, the .NET Framework 2 project can’t reference a .NET Framework 4 project. For more information, see Targeting a Specific .NET Framework Version. A project that targets the .NET Framework 4 is incompatible with a project that targets the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. In Visual Studio 2012, a file reference instead of a project reference is created if one project targets the .NET Framework 4 and another project targets an earlier version. A project that targets the .NET for Windows 8.x Store apps can’t add a project reference to a project that targets the .NET Framework and vice versa. The Windows tab lists all SDKs that are specific to platforms on which Windows operating systems run. You can generate a WinMD file in Visual Studio in two ways: Windows 8.x Store app managed projects: Windows 8.x Store app projects can output WinMD binaries by setting Project Properties \| Output Type = WinMD File. The WinMD filename must be the superset namespace of all the namespaces that exist within it. For example, if a project consists of namespaces A.B and A.B.C, the possible names for its outputted WinMD are A.winmd and A.B.winmd. If a user enters a Project Properties \| Assembly Name or Project Properties \| Namespace value that’s disjoint from the set of namespaces in the project or there is no superset namespace within a project, a build warning is generated: 'A.winmd' isn’t a valid .winmd file name for this assembly. All types within a Windows Metadata file must exist in a sub namespace of the file name. Types that don’t exist in a sub namespace of the file name won’t be able to be located at runtime. In this assembly, the smallest common namespace is 'CSWSClassLibrary1'. A desktop Visual Basic or Visual C# project can only consume WinMDs that are generated by using the Windows 8 SDKs, which are known as first-party WinMDs, and can’t generate WinMDs. Windows 8.x Store app native projects: A native WinMD file consists of only metadata. Its implementation exists in a separate DLL file. One can produce native binaries by choosing the Windows Runtime Component project template in the New Project dialog box or by starting from a blank project and modifying the project properties to generate a WinMD file. If the project consists of disjoint namespaces, a build error will tell the user to combine their namespaces or run the MSMerge tool. The Windows tab consists of two subgroups. The Core subgroup lists all of the WinMDs (for Windows Runtime elements) in the SDK for the targeted version of Windows. Windows 8.x Store app projects contain references to all of the WinMDs in the Windows 8 SDK by default on project creation. In managed projects, a read-only node under the References folder in Solution Explorer indicates the reference to the entire Windows 8 SDK. Accordingly, the Core subgroup in the Reference Manager won’t enumerate any of the assemblies from the Windows 8 SDK and instead displays a message: “The Windows SDK is already referenced. Please use the Object Browser to explore the references in the Windows SDK.” In the desktop projects, the Core subgroup doesn’t appear by default. You can add the Windows Runtime by opening the shortcut menu for the project node, choosing Unload Project, adding the following snippet, and re-opening the project (on the project node, choose Reload Project). When you invoke the Reference Manager dialog box, the Core subgroup appears. <PropertyGroup> <TargetPlatformVersion>8.0</TargetPlatformVersion> </PropertyGroup> Make sure to select the Windows check box on this subgroup. You should then be able to use Windows Runtime elements. However, you'll also want to add System.Runtime, in which the Windows Runtime defines some standard classes and interfaces, such as IEnumerable, that are used throughout the Windows Runtime libraries. For information about how to add System.Runtime, see Managed desktop apps and Windows Runtime. Extensions lists the user SDKs that extend the targeted Windows platform. This tab appears for Windows 8.x Store app projects only. Desktop projects won’t show this tab because they can consume only first-party .winmd files. An SDK is a collection of files that Visual Studio treats as a single component. In the Extensions tab, SDKs that apply to the project from which the Reference Manager dialog box was invoked are listed as single entries. When added to a project, all of the SDK content is consumed by Visual Studio such that the user doesn’t need to take any further actions to leverage the SDK contents in IntelliSense, toolbox, designers, Object Browser, build, deployment, debugging, and packaging. For information about how to display your SDK in the Extensions tab, see Creating a Software Development Kit. If a project references an SDK that depends on another SDK, Visual Studio won’t consume the second SDK unless the user manually adds a reference to the second SDK. When a user chooses an SDK on the Extensions tab, the Reference Manager dialog box helps the user identify SDK dependencies by listing not only the name and version of the SDK but also the name of any SDK dependencies in the details pane. If a user doesn’t notice the dependencies and only adds that SDK, MSBuild will prompt the user to add the dependencies. If a project type doesn’t support Extensions, the tab doesn’t appear in the Reference Manager dialog box. You can use the Browse button to browse for a component in the file system. A project can reference a component that targets a different version of the .NET Framework. For example, you could create an application that targets the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, which references a component that targets the .NET Framework 2. For more information, see Targeting a Specific .NET Framework Version. You should avoid adding file references to outputs of another project in the same solution, because this tactic may cause compilation errors. Instead, use the Solution tab of the Reference Manager dialog box to create project-to-project references. This tactic makes team development easier by enabling better management of the class libraries that you create in your projects. For more information, see Troubleshooting Broken References. You can’t browse to an SDK and add it to your project. You can only browse to a file (for example, an assembly or .winmd) and add it to your project. When doing a file reference to a WinMD, the expected layout is that the FileName.winmd, FileName.dll, and FileName.pri files are all placed alongside each other. If you reference a WinMD in the following scenarios, an incomplete set of files will be copied into the project output directory and, consequently, build and runtime failures will occur. Native component: a native project will create one WinMD for each disjoint set of namespaces and one DLL that consists of the implementation. The WinMDs will have disparate names. When referencing this native component file, MSBuild won’t recognize that the dissimilarly named WinMDs make one component. Consequently, only the identically named FileName.dll and FileName.winmd will be copied, and runtime errors will occur. To work around this issue, create an Extension SDK. For more information, see Creating a Software Development Kit. Consuming controls: at a minimum, a XAML control consists of a FileName.winmd, FileName.dll, FileName.pri, XamlName.xaml, and an ImageName.jpg. When the project is built, the resource files that are associated with the file reference won’t get copied into the project’s output directory, and only FileName.winmd, FileName.dll and FileName.pri will be copied. A build error is logged to inform the user that the resources XamlName.xaml and ImageName.jpg are missing. To succeed, the user will have to manually copy these resource files into the project output directory for build and debugging/runtime. To work around this issue, either create an Extension SDK by following the steps in Creating a Software Development Kit or edit the project file to add the following property: <PropertyGroup> <GenerateLibraryOutput>True</GenerateLibraryOutput> </PropertyGroup> If you add the property, the build might run slower. Assemblies, COM, Windows, and Browse each support a Recent tab, which enumerates the list of components that were recently added to projects. The search bar in the Reference Manager dialog box operates over the tab that’s in focus. For example, if a user types “System” in the search bar while the Solution tab is in focus, the search won’t return any results unless the solution consists of a project name that contains “System”.
Move Fast and Break the Cloud A Benchmark of VM Boot Times on the Google Cloud For an overview of Google Cloud vs. AWS in terms of pricing and features, see my previous article, A Tale of Two Clouds. A good rule of thumb on The Cloud™ is that VMs typically boot in 1 to 2 minutes. In this article, we’ll test this hypothesis on the Google Cloud by launching ~5,000 VMs and timing how long it takes for each one to boot. To that end, the metric we’ll use is time-to-SSH, i.e. the number of seconds from the time we request a new VM to the time we can SSH into it. The scripts used to perform these automated tests are shared towards the end of the article. We’ll start by measuring the boot time of a relatively small VM, and keep track of how boot time fluctuates over time. Using a VM with 8 CPUs and 30 GB of RAM (with a 20 GB disk and Debian 9 as the boot OS), I measured time-to-SSH once every 10 minutes, over the course of a few days. Although there were some fluctuation, booting a VM is surprisingly fast: it consistently takes only ~23 seconds for an 8-CPU VM to boot, regardless of the time of day: The Bigger Picture At this point, you’re probably wondering how a VM’s boot time would scale with increasing amounts of CPU and RAM. Well, you’re in luck, because the next benchmark measures just that, using the following VM configurations: \| Machine Type \| CPUs \| RAM \| \| n1-standard-1 \| 1 \| ~4 GB \| \| n1-standard-8 \| 8 \| 30 GB \| \| n1-standard-32 \| 32 \| 120 GB \| \| n1-standard-64 \| 64 \| 240 GB \| \| n1-standard-96 \| 96 \| 360 GB \| For each of the machine types above, I launched a VM of that type every 10 minutes, for a week. Interestingly, the increase in boot time is not linear with VM size! Instead, it consistently averages ~25 seconds for VMs with ≤32 CPUs, and under a minute for VMs with ≤96 CPUs: It’s interesting that VM boot times stop being constant past 32 CPUs. I’d love to hear from someone at Google Cloud about why that might be. If you’d like to run the benchmarks above in your own environment, using different VM size/zone/image/etc, the code to automatically launch thousands of benchmarks on GCP is available on GitHub. Simply clone the repo on a small VM in GCP, define benchmark settings in config.json, and launch Depending on the VM sizes you’re launching and how many you launch at once, you may need to request a CPU quota increase. Also, if you’re launching benchmarks with thousands of VMs, make sure to keep an eye on the billing! That said, VMs created by the benchmark are programmed to self-destruct after 2 seconds, which avoids runaway VMs. We’ve already seen that VM size plays a big factor in boot time. The other important factor is the contents of your boot image. Here I used a standard Debian 9 image, but if you’re using large, custom boot images, you may see a slowdown. Overall, launching virtual machines on the Google Cloud is very fast. The ability to launch 96-CPU VMs in under a minute is certainly great news for load balancing — fast boot times means you can react and auto-scale more rapidly in response to changing traffic patterns. Moreover, fast boot times and per-second usage billing support a model where launching VMs on the fly for time-consuming analyses (more than say 10 minutes) is more cost effective than keeping large VMs waiting around for the next job to process.
In the 1930s, Britain was the site of a troubling spread of fascism. Fascist rallies across the country centered vehement racism and anti-semitism, usually featuring—and encouraging—violence against those who opposed the brutish faction. While the defeat of fascist nations by the Allies in the Second World War didn’t eradicate Britain’s tolerance of racist and anti-semitic views, it did prompt progress of a different kind: a comprehensive, national health service. The landslide Labour victory in 1945 was on a platform of post-war reconstruction. But after a couple decades of growth for the National Health Service, increasing anxieties about how much was being spent on the service paved the way for Thatcher, whose rejection of every principle that birthed the NHS resulted in its restructuring in line with the Conservative goal of privatization. When Labour returned to power in 1997, despite campaigning for a mass reversal of Thatcherist policies, their neoliberal ideology added more strain on a service that desperately needed a socialist treatment. All of this highly abridged prologue can be gleaned from any introduction to British 20th-century political movements. But two British TV series airing in the U.S. this June give a perspective you won’t find in Wikipedia entries, showing the irrevocable psychological effect repressive political movements have on those caught in systems they can’t alter or improve alone. The protagonists of gangster series Peaky Blinders (Netflix) and medical dramedy This Is Going to Hurt (AMC+) both suffer from trauma. Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), the leader of the eponymous Birmingham crime syndicate, carried home with him the trenches of the First World War, and suffers from hallucinations, paranoia, and seizures despite (or because of) self-medicating with opium. In the final season, he’s sober, and must now reckon with his legacy as he attempts to sabotage Britain’s growing fascist movement from within—for none other than Winston Churchill. This Is Going to Hurt’s Adam (Ben Whishaw), by contrast, is a doctor working on the Obstetrics and Gynecology ward of a NHS hospital in the tail end of Labour leader Tony Blair’s term in office, meaning the hospital is under ridiculous pressure to perform without necessary funding and staffing. Adam’s frequent blacking out in his car plus his never-ending shifts means he bows to his consultant’s advice to send a non-urgent patient home, thus failing to diagnose a serious condition. After the traumatic birth of her severely premature newborn, he’s rewarded with all the trappings of PTSD. Both Tommy and Adam’s psychosis come from their treatment by an unfeeling state, but where Adam’s results from a medical altruism are mangled by the machinations of capitalism, Tommy has none of Adam’s noble cause. After experiencing being a commodity for the empire, he re-enters society eager to take advantage of it, to further his family’s position in direct opposition to legal and moral order. But ethics have never been black and white when the British state is involved, and he soon finds himself aligned with military and political powers on undisclosed missions, which has a deadening effect on his livelihood. In the final season, after a devastating diagnosis that partly explains his physiological afflictions, we see Tommy, like an automaton, mutely and methodically typing up minutes of a meeting with fascists, dedicating himself to one final job before he allows himself the indignity of prioritizing his well-being. Just as Tommy’s cruel and confrontational personality conceals a wounded interior, Adam’s biting, abrasive sarcasm deflects from any admittance of weakness. He too recognizes the degradation of his mental state as dangerous, but a culture of overworking and derision in the hospital makes it impossible to secure help. Because the pressure on NHS staff is so monumental, Adam and his colleagues must toughen up and risk becoming numb to the emotional toll of their labour. Structural mistreatment then becomes cultural; ideas of being able to cope with unreasonable demands speaks to a strength or weakness of character, being able to detach oneself from enormous human pain is seen as necessary to put up with the job. If not, they’re seen as less competent and efficient, only worsening the well-being and performance of staff. What really cements Adam and Tommy’s psychological unwinding as institutional are the ways they’re responded to by the powers they serve. When complaints about Adam’s work performance develop into a tribunal, he is instructed by his consultant to lie about the instruction he gave that led to the misdiagnosis. Later, after a doctor who could corroborate the truth dies, he is encouraged to pass the blame down to the dead colleague. Such commands are dealt out so plainly it only makes their staggering amorality more devastating. Institutions rely on the fact that it’s simpler—and therefore more believable—that faults lie on individuals rather than complex pressures manufactured by the system. Even when Adam is told the complaint is not really about him, rather the hospital, the patient fails to understand that in an environment where blame is always diverted to broken individuals, no institution will ever be punished; it’s people taking flak for structural problems all the way down. You can pretend that the problem is bad apples, punish them, and immediately expose the next burnt-out medic to the same conditions that led to the mistake. It’s easy to blame a rot on the person it shows up on, rather than the conditions that cause it. In the case of Tommy, such isolation is welcome. The Shelby family have a rigid policy of individualism; as a group of travelers and laborers in a city the government is not interested in developing, the only road to prosperity is one they pave themselves. But such an ideology has a flip side; Tommy is the first one to be abandoned by his co-conspirators and commonwealth, as there is rarely reason for those with more power to protect him. At his weakest, Tommy would rather remove himself from his circle to avoid being seen as vulnerable, something that’s ultimately exploited by the powers who want him out the way. As someone always looking for weaknesses to squeeze in others, Tommy sees his psychosis as something needed to be protected from view. Such alienation results in a strange self-delusion; you start to believe you’re the one really in control. Deep in the churning wheels of history, Tommy survives by convincing himself he has the power to undermine fascism in Britain, despite the dramatic irony that, as a fictional character surrounded by historical ones, he is the least likely to affect the political movements of the 20th century. After standing for parliament over the prior two seasons, Tommy has grafted closer to the systems of conventional “clean” power, and repeatedly tells people in the final season that he’s capable of causing real change from the inside, insisting his existence is worthwhile. Even when his wayward brother Arthur flirts with aligning with the fascist cause, he doesn’t comprehend how the movement’s appeal stretches far beyond his own subversive capabilities. He’s become lost in a sweeping system, his function exclusively defined by others, convincing himself he’s in control. It’s something Adam, as a doctor whose well-being is disregarded despite his medical skills are desperately required, is familiar with. How do you fight becoming institutionalized? Neither show gives a conclusive answer; what makes their comparison resonant is that, despite their obvious differences, each shows the thorny catharsis of breaking away from a punishing system, even though clean-cut justice isn’t an option. Peaky Blinders and This Is Going to Hurt speak to a human sickness—not the tuberculoma Tommy suffers or the conditions Adam treats, but one where Britain as a state contributes to worsening the lives of its populace. The setting of both shows in the past is meaningful; not only are we aware of how much worse fascism and austerity will get in the immediate future of the narratives, we know how tight a grip they currently hold in Britain today. As long as such a grip continues, it’s impossible to see how the British state is upholding its duty of care.
HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) provides an average blood glucose level over the preceding 2 - 3 months. However, it can be difficult to compare to the blood glucose value that diabetics see on their at-home blood glucose meters. Hence, HbA1c can also be presented as an eAG (estimated average glucose) reading. This table is from the American Diabetes Association to show the correlation between HbA1c and eAG. \|HbA1c (%)\|\|eAG (mg/dL)\|\|eAG (mmol/L)\| NOTE: Diabetic individuals usually measure their blood sugar in the morning before eating, hence blood glucose readings are likely to be lower than the eAG shown here.
A concentric muscle contraction occurs when a muscle creates forces as it shortens (e.g., upward lifting phase of the biceps curl exercise). An eccentric muscle contraction occurs when a muscle creates force as it is lengthened (e.g., downward lowering phase of the biceps curl exercise). When performed repeatedly over several weeks, concentric and eccentric muscle contractions do not necessarily lead to the same improvements in health and function. In a recent study, groups of participants performed low-load eccentric training, 2 times per week for either 8 weeks or 16 weeks. During each exercise session, participants completed 5 sets of 6 eccentric contractions of the biceps curl exercise with a weight of 10% of their individual maximum (~2-3 kilograms). For each repetition of the exercise, the weight was lowered over 3 seconds. Then, to ensure the exercise was eccentric-only, the investigator grabbed the weight from the participant, such that the participant would not lift the weight during the upward concentric phase. After the 6 eccentric repetitions were completed, participants rested for 2 minutes before going on to the next set. After 8 and 16 weeks of low-intensity eccentric training, participants improved their muscle strength. Interestingly, although training was performed eccentrically, the researchers measured strength isometrically and concentrically. This was done to see if the effects of eccentric training transfers over to other muscle contraction types. The researchers found that 8 weeks of low-intensity eccentric training improved isometric muscle strength by 13% and concentric strength by 16%. Moreover, 16 weeks of low-intensity eccentric training improved isometric strength increased by 30% and concentric strength by 37%. Muscle thickness increased by 4%. The findings reveal eccentric training performed for several weeks at 10% of maximum improves muscle strength. The result is somewhat surprising – or as the researchers put it, “striking” – given the weight used was minimal. Nevertheless, the effect was demonstrated in two different groups of participants. Thus, for individuals who may be unable to exercise with heavier resistances, minimal resistance that is controlled eccentrically, can still be used to maintain or improve muscle size and strength. Also, study participants improved their isometric and concentric strength, even though they did not perform these types of muscle contractions in their training. Thus, the effects of low-intensity eccentric training are not limited to the specific training movement. They appear to transfer over to other strength tests for the same muscle group. Finally, the strength improvements were cumulative over time. Strength improvements were greater in magnitude after 16 weeks than 8 weeks of training. Thus, over a period of a few months, muscle strength can continue to increase with continued low-intensity eccentric training.
With kids learning from home as schools globally shutter to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, some students began looking for guidance to cope with the unknown. They called Dwayne Bryant, their mentor, teacher and coach. “They were like, ‘Mr. Bryant, what are we going to do? We need your voice right now, these kids need your voice. Why haven’t you posted anything?” recalled Bryant, a Delray Beach resident who is founder and president of Chicago-based Inner Vision International, Inc. “I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t know what to do,’ and he was like, ‘Wait, we don’t have time to worry about that now. You need to put some stuff up.’” Bryant called another mentee, who had the same concern. The young man, a student in film and video with a concentration in production at Chicago’s Columbia College, offered to put his expertise to use. In less than two weeks, the duo converted Bryant’s home into small studios and created several powerful and highly engaging digital learning content and workshops. They focused on goal setting, time management, conflict resolution and bullying, joining the field of schools in the scramble to move teaching and learning online. Bryant has leveraged the relationship between teacher and learner. His programs are interactive, allowing the parent or teacher to play the content, pause and have a conversation with the student. The programs are built on his evidence-based Social Emotional Learning curriculum series that has served as a national model in transforming the life trajectory of urban youth. Blondean Y. Davis, superintendent of Matteson (Illinois) School District 162 since 2002, said she called on Bryant when she “needed a highly engaging message of hope and life skills to permeate the homes of” her families in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. “Mr. Bryant was able to readjust with our district to create highly engaging content for our families to continue to focus on being successful individuals as well as productive citizens,” Davis said. “I believe this content would positively impact families across the entire nation.” His impact is also local. “I can’t stop thinking about our session especially the team building component. I noticed a shift in my staff during that activity and afterwards,” Principal, LaToya Dixon of Village Academy wrote after he did a ‘Building the Winning Team’ workshop for her teachers last year. Bryant, a former bully, uses his personal experience and bases his lessons on life trials and triumphs with which the students can identify. They have and will continue to inspire thousands of students in having the mental strength to overcome adversity and fear, especially through this pandemic. “This is important because the prefrontal cortex of a human being is not developed until their mid ’20s, therefore, their ability to focus, their ability to reason is not developed,” said Bryant, who holds dual degrees in business finance and international business from Florida International University. “They have never seen or never felt the level of turmoil, the level of uncertainty, the level of disappointment and the level of heartbreak that they are experiencing.” Some of Bryant’s students have lost loved ones to the coronavirus and are seeking answers. “They’re going to have birthdays and no one will be showing up, and momma will not be going to the store to get cupcakes. So, they’re going to have to deal with the new reality,” he added. “A lot of the students don’t have the coping skills to get through this productively.” He is dubbed “The Child Whisperer” and the “Urban Mr. Rogers” for his uncanny ability to reach parents and students at all levels. He helps to navigate the uncomfortable paths of life, which will be critical for parents and students as they address their social and emotional needs during this pandemic. “We know that our children and parents are home so what we’re trying to do is bring life skills and character development into the homes while they’re both there,” said Bryant whose presentations are often laced with encouragement, inspiration and a challenge to the young people to take control of their lives and deal with difficult situations. “We also know, according to the CDC, that the average parents spend less than 10 minutes a day talking to their children. They don’t know how to have a conversation with them. And so what we’re doing is developing a constructive dialogue for them.” Since leaving his six-figure job with Johnson & Johnson in 1997, he has been crisscrossing the country empowering inner city youth. He made three guest appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show and served as the TV host of “Know Your Heritage,” a weekly multi-cultural quiz show, in Chicago, which ran for two consecutive years. Bryant has officiated several newsworthy events including serving as master of ceremonies for President Obama’s Library Unity Breakfast in Chicago, speaker at Claflin University’s Spring Convocation and at his alma mater. “Serving as the master of ceremony, Dwayne Bryant brought his vibrant, energetic, motivational talents to our Community Leaders Summit, helping us to bring together top leaders in our community to map out FIU’s future, including our capital campaign and strategic plan,” Mark Rosenberg, president of FIU wrote. “We’re proud to count him as one of our Worlds Ahead alumni!” Bryant’s life models his teachings and he has been on a pursuit to make this world a better place for more than two decades. From the classroom to the boardroom, the Winter Park, Florida, native is the living embodiment of making it against all odds. Despite growing up in a single-parent home, Bryant viewed his situation as an opportunity to overcome his environment and use his challenges as a platform to inspire others.
Onion and vanilla are two flavours you’d never want to find together. But in Papua New Guinea they are natural bedfellows. Vanilla plants grow like vines and are best when they’re supported by “host” trees. These trees serve a double purpose as their branches and leaves provide dappled shade from the harsh tropical sun, making perfect growing conditions for other crops, like onions. This intercropping is a great way to use land that isn’t forested. Near to Gadaisu village there are areas of grassland and the community have decided to use Cool Earth funds to start planting vanilla and onion crops in this way. It’s a good time to do it. The government is supporting onion growing and a shortage of vanilla means it’s a potentially high value crop. The tree saplings have already been planted and the vanilla vines can be planted in the summer. So whilst onion and vanilla ice cream is unlikely to be hitting the shelves any time soon, we’re hoping this combination will mean higher incomes (and more veg) for families in our Milne Bay partnership.
Children excited with school kits.. In the midst of their day to day life challenges children in village India also struggle for small things for their learning needs. Goonj's work across the country reaching children & their families in far- flung areas highlights that these little things given with care, dignity & love make a world of difference to these young minds. Children who received Goonj's School Kits not only cherished them as a close & special companion but this also influenced their interest and motivation towards learning apart from instilling a sense of confidence and attraction towards going to school. Instead of giving the School Kits as charity Goonj works with the school managements to give the school material as a reward for personal, social and academic development shown by the students. Harish Chandra Bera, Head Teacher, Govt. Primary School, Andharisolesaid about initiative - “Material support is necessary to secure student participation & community involvement” He would know since he has played a critical role in the gradual process of behavior change with material as motivation under Goonj’s School to School (S2S) initiative. Another teacher shared- “This project came up as a good opportunity to enhance their creativity, encouraged them to speak boldly and explore their own talents. Full enthusiasm was seen among children, as they got a platform of their very own interest”. Over the past one year thousands of School Kits have been channelized to remote parts of multiples states in India with the support received from individuals, corporate, organizations like Global Giving & others. This year, we want to work extensively in 1000 schools and aaganwadis across the country, impacting 1 lakh children by bringing about behavioral change using these kits as a tool. Showing off school kits... Waiting for their kits! Distribution of school kits!! Excited about school kit...
Libya’s Health System Devastated By Violence, Medication Shortages The Lancet: Libya’s health crisis looks set to worsen “…Health workers largely fled the country after the violence escalated in 2014. The international community regards Libya as a high-risk state. Médecins Sans Frontières works in some places, including the ravaged city of Benghazi, but most charities dare not enter. U.N. agencies undertake their operations from neighboring Tunisia. The population has scant access to basic care and there are severe shortages of essential medications, including insulin, tuberculosis drugs, and antiretrovirals…” (Burki, 4/2).
The Top English Grammar Tips From A–Z 1(of nation)fuerza aérea feminineejército del aire masculine - Nigeria's military consists of an army, a navy, an air force, and a police force. - There was a huge evacuation, the army, the air force and the navy were all involved. - That was why they had to come with their army, their air force and their navy. - It needs to be if we are to remain the air force to which nobody else comes close. - In 1944, the R.A.F. became the first air force to use jet aircraft on operational service. - It is the only airbase in Britain where pilots for the air force and Navy are trained. - The air force and navy were considered primarily as adjuncts to the army. - Massive manhunt operations are under way involving not only police but also the navy and the air force. - However, he had no direct control of either the air force or the navy. - Converting the entire army or the entire air force to information warfare is a major task and can wait. - This discounted the ability of the Allied air force and navy to isolate and attack the islands, one by one. - The troops, the air force and navy, did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. - If the army and navy are in poor condition, the air force is possibly in worse state. - The demand is a result of lessons that the air force has learned from fighter plane crashes over the past three years. - His uncle is retired from the air force, and his step-father was in the army. - The armed forces consist of an army, a navy, a coast guard, and an air force. - It is thought the aircraft continued its journey without further incident and was not forced to land by the Russian air force. - We did not form large military sectors so that the air force did not cause massive losses. - He said there was no army coming, not by foot anyways, until the air force is done with it. - As commander of the air force, he has access to military secrets and information.
Some facts about head lice: - Head lice (or nits) are small insects that breed and feed on the human scalp - Head lice have been around for millions of years - They do not carry or transmit disease - Head lice cannot fly or jump, they can only crawl - Direct contact is required for transmission - Head lice are common among children - Itching is not a reliable indication - Head lice eggs are oval and the size of a pinhead - Adult head lice are 2-3mm - There is no evidence to suggest nits are attracted to either clean or dirty hair How to check for head lice There are 5 easy steps to check for head lice. Step 1: Comb conditioner into dry, untangled hair. Step 2: Use a head lice comb to run conditioner through the hair. Step 3: Wipe the comb onto a piece of paper towel. Step 4: Check the paper towel and comb for head lice and eggs. Step 5: Repeat combing for all sections of the head. How to treat head lice The aim is to kill the head lice and the eggs. Option 1 : Continue with the conditioner and comb method every second day until there’s no sign of live lice for 10 days. Eggs hatch so be sure to repeat. Option 2 : If you choose an insecticide product, make sure it has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use. (AUST R or AUST L number on the packaging) Do not use an insecticide product: - If you are pregnant/breast feeding - In children less than 12 months old - If you have allergies, open wounds, or asthma When using an insecticide: - If it’s a lotion product the hair should be dry - If it’s a shampoo, then the hair should be wet - It’s important to follow the product instructions - After treatment, use the head lice comb to remove dead eggs and head lice - This will also help to see if the treatment has been successful - No insecticide kills 100% of the eggs the first-time round so repeat the process 7 days later - If the head lice are still alive it’s possible they are resistant to that particular insecticide - Revert to the combing method or talk to your pharmacist or doctor to try another product Preventing head lice - There are no products currently available that prevent head lice - Tie long hair back and check regularly - Avoid using other people’s combs and brushes
Time needed: 10 – 15 min Why? To learn how to record work which students did, is supporting students understanding about structuring work processes and helping them to get an overview over more complex subjects. It is also important to learn the verification of cases. When? Any time when you think students need to learn to self-evaluate their own work. How? Give them a complex task to follow up and involve in the task description the the clear instruction of recording the task process including procedure and result recording. Any risks? This could be quiet time consuming, so the teacher should give a clear time frame to fulfill the task including as well for the recording.
If you don’t have the right soil then you cannot grow the plants you might want. It is really as simple as that. One of the many mistakes that first time gardeners make is not checking to see what type of ground the plant is going into. A classic example of these are those that like ericaceous soil. This is a type of soil that does not contain any lime. Plants like heathers, Azaleas and Rhododendrons look amazing but if your soil is lime based they just wont grow. The same is true of lawns. Grass is hardy but it needs some decent soil underneath it to take. If you get it right you’ll soon be needing some Mountfield Parts for your mower so it can tackle it. Go to to get some now. Soil needs to have a good loam. This is its crumbly texture. The crumbler the soil the easier it is for the plants to extend their roots. If your soil is thick and clay like it can inhibit the size of the plant. The best thing is to add nutrients as much as you can. One of the most natural ways is to dig the soil out and fill it with organic matter from a compost heap then cover it over. Just don’t use potato peelings, they will start to grow you some unpleasant spuds.
he Massachusetts Colony General Court granted permission in 1652 to have die prepared for silver coinage. The first coins in the series were the New England (NE) coinage, Shilling, Sixpence, and Threepence. The obverse of the New England series has NE struck on the obverse and a Roman numeral on the reverse designating the valuation of the coin (XII for the Shilling, VI for the sixpence, and III for the threepence). These were the first coins struck in the British American thirteen colonies. The pine tree shilling struck by John Hull in Boston for the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1667 to 1682. This exact copy is plated in 24 Karat gold and includes a floating frame for display.
There were at least 30 of them just standing there, listening to the tour guide talk about the room they were about to walk into. Some of them looked between 60 and 70. Some of them looked much older. All of them however were speaking very heavy German. I’ve been to Germany before but this was a sort of different German. It was the type of old, rustic, 2 generations ago German that I’ve only heard a few times in my life. One time when my grandparents said a few words in the language and another time when I was visiting Frankfurt Germany for the 2006 world cup. This group was about to walk into the room that I had just left. A room that left me with a sharp pain in my throat and no matter how many times I would go back into this room, I knew that sharp pain would always come back. Auschwitz. Dachau. Treblinka. Birkenau. Bergen Belsen. These were some of the names of the death camps that Nazi Germany built and used to kill over 6 million Jews, many of which were my relatives. (I don’t know if the picture above are actual relatives of mine, but with the same last name they must have been related to me at some point in time, right?) The names of these camps were also engraved on the floor of this remembrance hall. It was a special room of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. As I walk out of this remembrance hall, I can hear the elderly group very softly asking the tour guide questions in German. It was refreshing to see a group like this visiting the museum in hopes of learning more about those horrible years. Inquisitively asking questions. Looking upon their tour guide and consuming every word as if they wanted to imagine what it would be like to actually be there. ..actually be there.. They were probably about the same age as my grandparents both of which are holocaust survivors. And that’s when I stopped to turn around. Then my brain started to fire off questions.. Were they Nazi soldiers? Did they help the Nazis? Were they civilians? What did the see? What did they hear? What did they do? What didn’t they do? These questions kept bouncing around in my mind. I walked away and concluded that they were probably just innocent bystanders of the war having little or no involvement. And that is precisely the moment when I felt the worst. How is anyone innocent when they silently stand by while pure evil or injustice is happening around them? How is anyone innocent when people are packed in to cattle cars only to be shipped off to death camps? And that brings me to today. Our world is fucked up. Although we think the world is a better place, which it is, there is still a lot of hate and injustice floating among us. Bullying, antisemitism, racial stereotyping. Even at a lesser degree we see injustice happening in places like work, school, and politics. And yet many of us including myself sit by and do nothing. Today we have Facebook, Twitter, blogs (like this one), and it is extremely easy, physically speaking, to take a position and speak out against something you disagree with even if it is only 140 characters long. This is happening all over the world today. It is the cause of new revolutions and uprisings from places like the middle east to places like China. This past week alone we saw a 14 year old girl stand up to Al Queda using her blog. During the Holocaust there wasn’t an easy way to share information and stand up for something at a large scale. There were many German civilians, and even Jews, that stood by and did nothing. Seventy years later there are German citizens who are donating their entire estates to Israel due to the guilt that went along with their actions or inactions. Seventy years later I witnessed firsthand the guilt that went along with those actions or inactions. If we see injustice happening we should use the means around us to take a stand. Standing up for something today is much better than standing over a memorial tomorrow.
Today we are using science to Tie Dye which makes this acid base experiment for kids of all ages one of the most colorful and fun science projects around. This science experiment uses common kitchen ingredients and kept the attention of kids from 3 year olds to 14 year olds! <–that is a really good kids science project! Tie Dye with acid base experiment The basics of this acid base science project is that we are going to make our own pH test sheets out of paper towels and one ingredient…red cabbage. Once the pH test sheets are ready, we will be able to determine if liquids are acid or bases. We call this a tie dye experiment because the pH testing sheets turn out so colorful and reminds us of our favorite tie dye patterns. Supplies Needed to Make the Homemade pH Test Sheets - Red Cabbage (yes, it has to be red). - Viva (or any super tough) paper towels. Regular ones disintegrate. - Crockpot (preferred) or stove top pot - Straws or pipettes - Small containers to hold solutions to test How to Make the pH Test Sheets Chop the red cabbage and boil it. We filled out crockpot, plugged it in outside – the smell is something else – filled it with water, and came back after a couple of hours. Strain the cabbage out. You should have dark purple dye remaining. Soak the paper towels in the dye and then hang to dry. Hang them to dry in a place where they won’t be disturbed (and is generally chemical-free – i.e. not in the laundry room if you are like me and store cleaners in there). When the towels dry you they should have a very faint, uniform purple color. How to Do the pH Test for Acid Base Is it Acid, or is it Base? Let’s do an acid base experiment to find out… Supplies to Test for pH We collected a “buffet” of items from our kitchens to do the test. We had slices of grapefruit, potato water, pancake syrup, solutions of baking powder, baking soda, borax and laundry detergent. Then we had containers of vinegar, lime juice, apple juice, milk of magnesium, tummy antacid, vitamin C pills, two different brands of toothpaste, dish soap, windex and more. Getting Items Ready for pH Test - If the item to test is a liquid, then it is ready to test. If it is not, then add water to it until you create a liquid to test. - We used small plastic cups for our testing solutions. - We used straws cut in half as our pipettes (just have kids hold the open end of the straw closed with their finger to “pick up” the solution in the cup). Using Homemade pH Sheets to Test for Acid Base Step 1 – Drop liquid on test sheets The kids took one drop from the various solutions and dripped them onto their paper towel “test sheet”. Step 2 – check for color The more acid that was in the solution, the brighter the red/pink. And if a solution was alkaline (or base) it would leave a blue green color. Doesn’t it look cool?? step 3 – canceling the color The kids had a lot of fun mixing the chemicals too – when they dropped an acid and a base in the same spot they would cancel each other out, leaving a yellow “hole”. Our Experience with this Acid Base Science Experiment This is a very stinky Science to Tie Dye experiment. Make sure that your testing area is well ventilated. As you are dripping chemicals onto the sheet, make sure that your children are old enough to follow directions and not eat the test samples. We did this with preschoolers, and they did well, but they needed to be well supervised. What I love most about this science experiment for kids is that it truly works for younger kids and older children as well. This would make an amazing acid base science fair project that would really stand out in a crowd.
Three writers who focus on the use and rhetoric of media, rather than on their inherent characteristics or their ethical valences, come together here. Wendy H. K. Chun demands that our attention to the social contexts of emergent technologies center on the political matters of force and sovereignty. Lisa Nakamura draws our attention to myriad, and structural, irruptions of old inequalities as manifested in ostensibly transcendent new media. And Lisa Gitelman pointedly reminds us, through a meticulous and engaging historiography, that what we call ‘new’ in media has older histories than we often care to admit, that all media were new once, and that any divergent practice or technology enters a complex set of other, perhaps related, media, in which nothing can be outgrown, only deprecated. Together, these thinkers provide good scholarship on which further research can be modelled, and provocative questions that demand further thought. Whether one accepts straightforwardly deterministic speculation or not, whether one prefers to think the mind and the collective mind as functions of or factors in computing, we are bound by mediating forces. As the paragons of privileged speculation, Marshall McLuhan and Lev Manovich stand unchallenged as the sources for media and software theory in the United States. Their conceptual frameworks are most contentious when held against certain French thinkers’. McLuhan’s insight that all media contain as a message a prior medium finds a counterpoint in Regis deBray’s analysis of media as overlapping paradigms, rather than linear progressions. Manovich’s later contributions to software theory as a field in its own right takes as a direct target the archaeology of media as expounded by Michel Foucault, whose concentration on print and writing as valid archival data severely limits his historiographic impulses. But taking these two Anglo writers’ work on their own, we can unpack just where they stand, as well as their utility and inspiration for contemporary thought. Continue reading At a relaxed dinner with a good friend recently, we discussed the difficulty of finding a job in Detroit over the last few years. We spoke about the population’s available, marketable skills, and compared the price of land/rent to the type of organizations with the capital to buy it up. Then, we touched on a curious potential outcome of the current grim circumstances. In ten or fifteen years, we posited, when the city has grown again and its workforce is active again, a primary economic driver could well be the Silicone titans. This unusual placement of internet-driven internet drivers would seem out of place in the Motor City, except for a few key factors. First, technology industries require massive investments of capital for infrastructure and of labor for support in addition to the engineers and designers who are their most visible participants. Second, the data in the United States flows through Detroit, necessitating more of those support staff as that stream grows. And finally, the low cost of land and utilities, and the propensity of large IT firms to model their operations on 19th and 20th century factories, means that the companies have incentive to move to such an area already. Some small moves in this direction could trigger large changes to the economic situation there. Continue reading The question of what, after all, is so new about the internet has run through the introductory and summary posts in this series. It is a divisive question. Some proclaim the revolutionary, worldchanging emergence of the internet a wholly unique phenomenon. Others describe its continuity with older forms of media, communication, technology, or ideas. And each vein has its proponents and detractors of the internet’s cultural effects, which seem ubiquitously manifest, though not unequivocally ethically or morally valenced. Since we are concerned, here, with not just cultural effects but also cultural conditions for today’s internet, though, we cannot neatly reduce our approach to any of these positions.
A dental crowns is a critical device for both your oral health and the aesthetics of your smile. If you have damaged teeth or other cosmetic problems, a dentist may recommend a crown. One may also come in handy if you have a large cavity or an infection in a tooth. Crowns are strong and… How Long Your Dental Crown Will Last Dental crowns are a great way to restore, renew and replace teeth that are in bad shape or completely missing. However, they have to last in order for them to do their job. While dental crowns are permanently placed, there is the potential for them to fail later on down the line. Additionally, accidents or damage to the crown can jeopardize how long they last. Ready to find out more about the lifespan of dental crowns? How long do dental crowns last? The following information outlines what to expect in regards to the lifespan of a dental crown. Keep reading to learn more! On average, dental crowns are said to last up to 15 years. However, this number tends to vary based on the type of dental crown. Modern-day dentistry has allowed for the evolution of porcelain dental crowns, which are said to be the most popular and one of the strongest. Originally, the only type of dental crown that was available was made of gold or metal alloys. Today, gold crowns still tend to last a while. However, certain metal alloy ones are known to fail within 10 years or so. Outside of the average, there are a lot of factors that play into how long a dental crown will last. Patients that grind their teeth at night are a lot more likely to need a crown replacement within a couple of years, as opposed to 15. Additionally, those who eat tough meats or sticky candies are also a lot more likely to experience a broken crown within the first few years of placement. Patients that avoid certain habits such as nail-biting or jaw-clenching have a better chance of maintaining their dental crown for 15+ years. In some cases, dental crowns can even last 20-30 years, however, it is solely dependent on the patient's oral hygiene and eating habits. Ways to make dental crowns last longer There are a lot of things that patients can do to make their dental crowns last longer than the average of 15 years. First and foremost, oral hygiene is the most important thing. Brushing after every meal and flossing at least once a day can help ensure that the crown remains in good shape. Good oral hygiene helps contribute to oral and dental health. Secondly, it is best to avoid using teeth for anything other than eating. A lot of people have a bad habit of biting their nails or using their teeth to open bottle caps. Both of these habits can lead to a broken dental crown, which disrupts the goal of making it last. Aside from chewing on inedible items, it also important to be extra careful with the foods that are consumed. Avoiding meats with bones and especially sticky things like gum or taffy can ensure a long-lasting dental crown.
While most glaciers around the globe have been shrinking since the end of a cold period at the beginning of the 18th Century, referred to as the Little Ice Age (Vuille et al., 2018; Zemp et al., 2015), the recent rapid retreat of glaciers in the Andes has been linked to anthropogenic climate change (Marzeion et al., 2014). Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate change as they respond rapidly to temperature and precipitation changes. The rapid retreat of tropical glaciers is considered to be one of the most visible indicators of global warming (Vuille et al., 2008). The amount of glacial retreat varies, but small glaciers are most vulnerable and many in the Andes have already disappeared. From collection: The Andean Glacier and Water Atlas
The information flow about the roughly 22,000 migrants who have arrived on Spain's Canary Islands this year is slow and often intransparent – from authorities, NGOs and locals alike. The lack of communication and absence of facts have long helped fuel rumors and xenophobia. It's a warm and sunny day in November during high tourist season, yet the Holiday Club in southern Gran Canaria isn't hosting any tourists this year. COVID-19 has effectively placed the tourism industry on hold. But this doesn't mean the middle-class hotel is empty: Judging from the laundry racks on the balconies, well over a 100 people are staying at the hotel. However, they aren't tourists; they're migrants from Africa who have come to the Canary Islands in search of a better life. But trying to gain access to the 17 tourist facilities that house migrants on the Spanish archipelago is proving to be difficult. After trying for one week the Holiday Club is our last best hope to get to speak to some migrants about their experience. We arrive there as the sun begins to set over the Atlantic. The managing director of the hotel is supposed to meet with us and introduce us to some of his guests. But after 20 minutes of waiting and watching migrants come and go, a Cruz Roja (Spanish Red Cross) employee shows up to tell us in a friendly but firm way that journalists aren't allowed to enter. We enquire whether we could at least talk to the managing director of the hotel, but the answer remains "no." With four security guards watching over the entrance, the hotel begins to increasingly appear like a fortress rather than a welcoming tourism facility. Little 'transfer of information' For local and foreign journalists covering the surge in migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands, this episode sounds like a familiar story: The constant lack of access to information about the migrants' accommodation and to the facilities themselves is making it difficult to report on facts rather than to follow the trail of rumors and gossip. This lack of cooperation seems to stem in equal parts from local authorities and from the Cruz Roja; NGO workers complain that they have had similar experiences. "Compared to the Greek Aegean Islands, there is a really big problem on the Canaries concerning the transfer of information," says Niklas Fischer, who works for German NGO Mission Lifeline. The 36-year-old spent three months on Lesbos before coming to Gran Canaria in November to do on-the-ground research and media work. "Very little information exists, and it's hard to verify what is true and what isn't," he told InfoMigrants. However, building up an "NGO and information infrastructure," as Fischer calls it, typically does take some time. Distance at the 'dock of shame' However, authorities have long been blocking most enquiries by the media and NGOs -- even before migrants staying at the controversial dock camp in Arguineguín and at hotels on Gran Canaria first made international headlines earlier in the year. At the "dock of shame" in Arguineguín, which was closed in late November after it had become the glaring symbol for the authorities' failure to cope with the migration surge this year, journalists weren't allowed access and had to stay behind a yellow plastic fence over 50 meters away from the tents. Making matters worse, the increasingly controversial nature of the migrants' presence on the island, particularly in hotels, has turned many people reluctant to talk to the press at all. We've also been told that the sheer number of journalists descending there and -- at times -- their pushy demeanor have also affected the relationship between locals and the media negatively. We have experienced this for ourselves: We had to deal with canceled interviews, rejected inquiries and an overall sense of caginess at every corner we turned. The managing directors of various hotels were especially reticent. As were representatives of the Cruz Roja, which did not respond to our extensive list of questions about the accommodation of migrants on the Canaries. There also appeared to be little communication coming from the two responsible ministries in Madrid: the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration (MISSM) and the Interior Ministry. Some have said that this is due to an overall lack of strategy. Xenophobia and violence Yet the accommodation of thousands of migrants in tourist facilities is at the crux of this crisis situation, which seems to be more about perceptions rather than facts. The absence of a clear and open communication strategy on what's being done has allowed rumors, xenophobia and even conspiracy theories to seep in. Examples for this range from comparatively harmless rumors, like the ones saying that migrants' bracelets mean an 'all inclusive' treatment at 'luxury' five-star facilities to hoaxes that have almost led to real violence. On December 12, after reports of an alleged assault by a group of foreign minors on a young Canarian spread like wildfire on social networks, 30 locals gathered in front of a hotel in Arguineguín that houses migrants. According to Spanish daily El Pais daily newspaper, the tension escalated to such a degree that police had to protect the hotel from the protestors; the Cruz Roja recommended the nearly 6,000 migrants staying at such hotels on Gran Canaria refrain from going out on the streets. Déjà-vu in Las Palmas In front of the Casa del Marino ("sailor's house") at the Spanish capital Las Palmas, migrants enter through the lobby carrying plastic bags filled with groceries from a local supermarket. Others, like 23-year-old Mohammed, are sitting idle on a bench. He and two other Moroccans all wear the same blue Havaianas flip-flops. They say that the Cruz Roja provided them. The Moroccan tells us that he spent four days at sea on a boat that he left with from Dakhla, around 440 kilometers southeast of Gran Canaria. His cousin and close friends are also on the island, he adds. But he has no idea what will happen next to him, to his cousin or to his friends. What he does know is that he doesn't want to apply for asylum here. When we enter the lobby, a security guard tells us that we cannot enter the building, and that we would need to contact Cruz Roja if we wanted any further information. The whole scene feels like somewhat of a déjà vu. From hotel beds to tent camps The Casa del Marino is one of an estimated 17 hotels, bungalow holiday complexes and other similar facilities on the Canary Islands that currently house migrants. While there is no definite information on how many migrants are currently housed at such facilities, the number one hears the most is 7,000. The majority of the buildings are in the tourist hotspots Maspalomas, Puerto Rico and Mogán in southern Gran Canaria. Ranging from two to 3.5 star hotels, each tourism facility houses between several hundred migrants to more than 1,000 -- like the Servatur Waikiki in Maspalomas. Without official information, of course, neither of these figures can be verified or corroborated. According to El Confidencial, migrants receive three meals a day but do not have access to common areas -- such as swimming pools and solariums. Still, a comfortable bed at a hotel room with a TV and a fan would presumably be more enjoyable than what life is like at the seven "tent and emergency camps" the migrants are supposed to move into by the end of the year. The Spanish government announced the setup of these facilities with room for some 7,000 people on November 20; four of them will be located on Gran Canaria, two on Tenerife and one on Fuerteventura. Two of them have already started to take in migrants: the new camp next to the former military ammunition site at Barranco Seco near Las Palmas with room for up to 500 people, and a closed school (CEIP León) with room for 300 people. But NGO workers like Niklas Fischer doubt that these transfers will be completed by December 31. Moreover, an estimated 2,500 foreign unaccompanied minors are currently staying in 22 "emergency spaces," which are run by different NGOs. These fall under the protection of the regional government, according to a Save the Children representative we spoke with. One of those spaces, reportedly located in southern Gran Canaria, consists of igloo-shaped tents standing on the grounds of an equestrian center. There are also a number of women's shelters on the islands that accommodate female migrants; however, of the 22,000 arrivals this year, only about 1.4% are women, according to Save the Children. Another 1,500 to 2,000 migrants have meanwhile been transferred to mainland Spain this year, as elDiario reported in late November. The numbers don't add up According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 22,000 migrants have arrived on the Canaries so far this year. We know that around 15,000 people are still on the islands. But the whereabouts of the remaining 7,000 migrants are unknown; they must either have found a place to stay on the archipelago, or -- in the majority of cases -- moved on to the mainland and other EU countries where many of them have relatives. Even rejected asylum seekers, who would usually have ended up in deportation detention during non-coronavirus times, appear to have fallen through the cracks of the system: Since repatriation flights to Morocco and Mauritania -- the two North African countries Spain has corresponding agreements with -- have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a local judge has decided to close these pre-removal centers. And since the Canary Islands are not only part of the European Union but part of the Schengen freedom-of-movement zone, they could be anywhere in the EU. Five potential ways out Meanwhile the question of what will happen to the some 15,000 migrants still remaining on the islands remains unanswered. Given that very few of the 32,000 Africans who arrived during the last big migration spike in 2006 ended up staying on the archipelago, it is highly unlikely that a substantial number will ultimately remain on the islands. This is further supported by the fact that most of the new arrivals this year have also said that they regard their current position as a springboard into elsewhere in Europe But where would they go instead? There are five possible scenarios they could resort to: - If they are deemed to be in a vulnerable position, they could eventually be transferred to mainland Spain. For most arrivals, this scenario is unrealistic given the low protection rate of migrants from Morocco, Senegal, Mali and Guinea -- the four main countries of origin. Migrant aid organizations and NGOs criticize how difficult and long the asylum procedure is -- lasting up to two years. Such authorized transfers from the Canary Islands to mainland Spain are the responsibility of the migration and interior ministries based on lists of people proposed by the NGOs that manage their reception. - They could return to their home countries voluntarily. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) knows of 18 such cases so far, but all of them came from and returned to South America. The two ministries in charge have shared very little information thus far about the movements to and from Spain. - They could qualify for reunion with relatives who have emigrated to Spain many years ago. They would have to come to the Canary Islands to pick up the new arrivals. However, this would be an informal case family reunification, and could still bring about future challenges. - Those who can afford to travel and have a passport can purchase a plane ticket to travel further to mainland Spain. In fact, this is a phenomenon that has been well-documented for months now, primarily among Moroccan migrants. During domestic flights, only the identities of the passengers are assessed for security purposes but not their legal residence situation. It is widely believed that authorities only put up with these flights as they ease the pressure on the Canary Islands. - The government's priority, though, seems to be to focus on deportations and repatriations. After a meeting with Moroccan officials in late November, the Spanish interior ministry in early December increased the number of deportation flights to its Mediterranean neighbor. The numbers of deportations are still low, but the plan is to transfer at least 80 people per week.
Accessing Texturing Coordinates Texture Coordinates are used to store the placement of textures on polygonal surfaces. Texture Coordinates have a range of 0,0 to 1,1 (though they can be repeated) and tells Maya which part of the texture to apply to any given polygon. As with vertices, texture coordinates can also be shared by more than one polygonal face. The faces then store indices into the texture coordinate array. Normally there is NO correlation between the indices for vertices and those of the texture coords. ie, if a given point on a polygon uses vertex 0, it is not guarenteed that it will use texture coord 0.
Reviews and syntheses: An empirical spatiotemporal description of the global surface-atmosphere carbon fluxes: opportunities and data limitations \|Affiliation(s)\|\|1 : Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Inst Atmospher & Climate Sci, Univ Str 16, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland. 2 : Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, Hans Knoll Str 10, D-07745 Jena, Germany. 3 : German Ctr Integrat Biodivers Res iDiv, Deutsch Pl 5E, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany. 4 : Michael Stifel Ctr Jena Data Driven & Simulat Sci, D-07743 Jena, Germany. 5 : Wageningen Univ & Res, Lab Geo Informat Sci & Remote Sensing, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, NL-6708 PB Wageningen, Netherlands. 6 : Montana State Univ, Inst Ecosyst, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA. 7 : Montana State Univ, Dept Ecol, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA. 8 : Univ Nova Lisboa, Fac Cienc & Tecnol, Dept Cienc & Engn Ambiente, CENSE, Caparica, Portugal. 9 : CEA, CNRS, UVSQ, Lab Sci Climat & Environnement, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France. 10 : Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Inst Biogeochem & Pollutant Dynam, Zurich, Switzerland. 11 : Univ Hamburg, CEN, Ctr Earth Syst Res & Sustainabil, Inst Geol, Germany 55, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany. 12 : Agcy Marine Earth Sci & Technol, Dept Environm Geochem Cycle Res, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. 13 : Natl Inst Environm Studies, Ctr Global Environm Res, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. 14 : Max Planck Inst Meteorol, Bundesstr 53, Hamburg, Germany. 15 : Univ Libre Bruxelles, DGES, CP160-02, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. 16 : Univ Exeter, Coll Engn Math & Phys Sci, Exeter EX4 4QE, Devon, England. 17 : Univ Tuscia, Dept Innovat Biol Agro Food & Forest Syst DIBAF, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy. 18 : Biospher Sci Lab, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, NASA, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA. 19 : Univ Minnesota, Inst Environm IonE, St Paul, MN 55108 USA. 20 : Woods Hole Res Ctr, Falmouth, MA 02540 USA. 21 : Univ Maryland, Dept Geog Sci, College Pk, MD 20742 USA. 22 : CMCC, Via A Imperatore 16, I-73100 Lecce, Italy. 23 : Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Fac Earth & Life Sci, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 24 : Pacific Northwest Natl Lab, Joint Global Change Res Inst, College Pk, MD USA. Understanding the global carbon (C) cycle is of crucial importance to map current and future climate dynamics relative to global environmental change. A full characterization of C cycling requires detailed information on spatiotemporal patterns of surface-atmosphere fluxes. However, relevant C cycle observations are highly variable in their coverage and reporting standards. Especially problematic is the lack of integration of the carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange of the ocean, inland freshwaters and the land surface with the atmosphere. Here we adopt a data-driven approach to synthesize a wide range of observation-based spatially explicit surface-atmosphere CO2 fluxes from 2001 to 2010, to identify the state of today's observational opportunities and data limitations. The considered fluxes include net exchange of open oceans, continental shelves, estuaries, rivers, and lakes, as well as CO2 fluxes related to net ecosystem productivity, fire emissions, loss of tropical aboveground C, harvested wood and crops, as well as fossil fuel and cement emissions. Spatially explicit CO2 fluxes are obtained through geostatistical and/ or remote-sensing-based upscaling, thereby minimizing biophysical or biogeochemical assumptions encoded in process-based models. We estimate a bottom-up net C exchange (NCE) between the surface (land, ocean, and coastal areas) and the atmosphere. Though we provide also global estimates, the primary goal of this study is to identify key uncertainties and observational shortcomings that need to be prioritized in the expansion of in situ observatories. Uncertainties for NCE and its components are derived using resampling. In many regions, our NCE estimates agree well with independent estimates from other sources such as process-based models and atmospheric inversions. This holds for Europe (mean +/- 1 SD: 0.8 +/- 0.1 PgC yr(-1), positive numbers are sources to the atmosphere), Russia (0.1 +/- 0.4 PgC yr(-1)), East Asia (1.6 +/- 0.3 PgC yr(-1)), South Asia (0.3 +/- 0.1 PgC yr(-1)), Australia (0.2 +/- 0.3 PgC yr(-1)), and most of the Ocean regions. Our NCE estimates give a likely too large CO2 sink in tropical areas such as the Amazon, Congo, and Indonesia. Overall, and because of the overestimated CO2 uptake in tropical lands, our global bottom-up NCE amounts to a net sink of 5.4 +/- 2.0 PgC yr(-1). By contrast, the accurately measured mean atmospheric growth rate of CO2 over 2001-2010 indicates that the true value of NCE is a net CO2 source of 4.3 +/- 0.1 PgC yr(-1). This mismatch of nearly 10 PgC yr(-1) highlights observational gaps and limitations of data-driven models in tropical lands, but also in North America. Our uncertainty assessment provides the basis for setting priority regions where to increase carbon observations in the future. High on the priority list are tropical land regions, which suffer from a lack of in situ observations. Second, extensive pCO(2) data are missing in the Southern Ocean. Third, we lack observations that could enable seasonal estimates of shelf, estuary, and inland water-atmosphere C exchange. Our consistent derivation of data uncertainties could serve as prior knowledge in multicriteria optimization such as the Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System (CCDAS) and atmospheric inversions, without over-or under-stating bottom-up data credibility. In the future, NCE estimates of carbon sinks could be aggregated at national scale to compare with the official national inventories of CO2 fluxes in the land use, land use change, and forestry sector, upon which future emission reductions are proposed.
Dark matter, the most elusive material in the Universe, has been nicknamed as such because, so far, astrophysicists did not come up with a method to detect it directly and accurately. However, surprisingly enough, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope may allow scientists to “see’ dark matter in the Universe using faint light detection. Basically, dark matter is invisible to scientists, and it can only be spotted by observing its gravitational effects on the surrounding material. However, that detection method is not accurate enough and is also hard to employ. Luckily, thanks to dark matter’s gravitational effect we know that 85% of the Universe is composed of it, so there should be enough of this elusive material for astrophysicists to identify using other methods. And now, astronomers from Australia and Spain developed such a method to detect dark matter. According to the, using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, we can practically “see” the dark matter in faint light within galaxy clusters. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope May Allow Scientists To “See” Dark Matter A galaxy cluster is a massive gravitationally bound gathering of galaxies, such as the Milky Way, our home galaxy, is part of the supercluster known as Laniakea and which is made of hundreds of thousands of galaxies, orbiting one around the other or even stealing stars one from the other. Sometimes, a galaxy can rip off a star from its home galaxy, leaving it floating freely within the cluster. These rogue stars emit a faint light which is known as “intracluster light” by the scientists. “We have found that very faint light in galaxy clusters, the intracluster light, maps how dark matter is distributed,’ explained Mireia Montes, a researcher at Australia’s University of New South Wales, and the leading author of the new study, recently issued in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The intracluster light “exquisitely follows the global dark matter distribution within the clusters, and thus the stars floating freely through the cluster have an identical distribution to the dark matter,” the scientist explained, cited by CNET.
Pangani Cultural Tour Historical walking tour: In Pangani, town elders, serve as knowledgeable guides who can impart their vast understanding of Pangani history and culture as they lead you through Pangani town. In 1810, the Arabs constructed the Central Boma building and buried live humans at each pillar in belief that a strong foundation would be formed. Later, German administration used the establishment as a Colonial District office and added a European style roof giving the building a unique appearance. The intricate carved doors and foundation still remain strong and is now used as the District Commissioner’s Office. Starting from the British Overseas Management Administration (BOMA), guided walks will lead to numerous historical monuments which Pangani is endowed with. Tours include visits to the original slave depots and slave market where Arabs traded slaves to India and Arabia, the freedom grounds, Islamic and German graves, ancient mosques and traditional houses will give tourists good insight into the fifteenth and sixteenth century history and culture of Pangani town. Meanwhile artisans proudly display the rich culture and tradition as visits to woodcarvers, basket weavers, carpet makers, and painters will attest.Coconut Sunset Cruise: Coconut farming is a major income activity in the Pangani area as the vast coconut plantations in the area provide Tanzania with over 50 percent of coconuts. Starting nearby the port, a large team of 40 to 50 workers dehusk and haul giant mounds of coconuts which are transported by road to Dar es Salaam and other Inland Market Centers.!
Just as with human children, dogs go through developmental stages – from puppyhood into adolescence and adulthood, exhibiting certain typical behaviors. Here’s an overview of what you can expect during the different phases. Your dog’s puppyhood, contains the critical socialization period and your efforts here will help your dog grow up to get along well with all kinds of people and other dogs. Your puppy begins to shed some of its goofy nature (unless you have a Lab) and adolescent behaviors that are driven by hormonal influences begin to arrive around 6 months of age, yet depending upon the size of your breed, it may be sooner. A small dog such as a Pomeranian, might mature at 5 months but a large dog, like a Great Dane will be later at 11 months. Teen aged dogs get better control over elimination, the puppyhood habit of biting – lessens, their ability to focus on things improves and they begin to sense their considerable physical strength and agility. Your dog will be more erratic and unpredictable than in puppyhood acting like a goofy, playful puppy one moment and then in the next, a teenager obsessed with anything and everything – except you, their owner. You can have a rebellious teenager on your hand, ignoring you altogether, as they become very curious about the rest of the world and more comfortable wandering off. Due to the flooding hormones in their bodies, new challenges may emerge, like, intentionally mouthing you, more exuberant play including being bolder in jumping and body slamming, they may exhibit more chewing, digging, counter surfing, stealing and escaping. You may find yourself yelling more, pulling your hair out, and chasing after the dog, what fun, huh – gotta love those teenagers. Your dog will show more confidence towards you, which is good…… but as they’ve gained the ability to predict how you will react to certain things they do, they may mess with you. You know, have a little fun at your expense, like stealing the remote control to get your attention, and instigate a game of chase. Needless to say, obedience and manners training is mandatory at this stage if you haven’t started already. Adolescent dogs become more concerned with their social status and territory and this leads to increased independence, assertiveness, territoriality, protectiveness over possessions, and heightened interest towards other dogs and strangers (with its possible, resulting, potential for heightened aggression as well.) Your puppy, who may never have barked before, may start barking for the first time as an adolescent. Until Rosy, my Sheltie/German Shephard mix, was about one year old, I had never heard her bark and was surprised the first time she did so while standing on my balcony looking down at a service worker who walked close to the building. Once you realize your dog does bark, the question will be how often it does it. Unless you want your dog to bark a lot, when it first appears, this is the right time to re-direct the dog quickly into another focus before barking has a chance to develop into a self-reinforcing behavior pattern. We can talk about barking in a future podcast episodes. Now this is interesting and might help explain something you’ve noticed in your dog. Some dogs who were confident puppies, can go through an adolescent stage where they become fearful, startling more easily at new stimuli or strangers as they enter their teenage stage. Has this happened to your dog? Patricia McConnell a leading certified, animal behaviorist, calls it, “juvenile onset – shyness,” where dogs become cautious as teenagers. I’ve spoken about the first 3 months of your puppys life, being the critical socialization period, (podcast episode # 8) however this does not mean you can stop socializing your dog after 14 weeks, especially if your dog exhibits the adolescent fearful period. You’ll want to continue your dog’s social education for at least the first year of its life. As Patricia McConnell describes it, “Social animals like dogs and humans have a strong sense of familiar and unfamiliar and dogs need to learn that part of what’s normal and familiar in life is to meet unfamiliar people and dogs.” So bottom line, keep socializing your dog into adulthood. Other adult dogs may treat your adolescent differently then they treat harmless puppies. Improper behavior from an adolescent such as in-your-face greetings, body slamming during play or direct threats toward adult dogs will not be tolerated in the same way as it might be from a young pup. Your juvenile is likely to get a “correction” in the form of growls, snaps, and pin downs to send the message to mind their manners. The first fight I ever witnessed between Rosy and another dog, was with one she was romping with at a dog park. Rosy chose to body slam this older dog. The adult snarled at her, but Rosy looking away, missed the warning, and when she again mischievously threw herself against her, the older dog, got angry and let her have it. Wow, seeing my “baby” in a dog fight was alarming but, it didn’t last long, neither was hurt, and Rosy did learn her lesson. Now that Rosy is 6 years old, she herself, does not tolerate any youngster who wants to box her face and jump on her head. It’s an immediate pin-down. Sexual maturity. It’s defined as the time when a dog is capable of breeding. This stage can arrive as early as 6 months for both males and females, an average is usually 12 months – but if you have a larger breed dog it can take as long as 2 years. Male dogs start marking and lifting their leg for first time, and females may also start marking. Not only is the female marking her territory, but she is also advertising her availability to any eligible males. Dog to dog aggression is likely to increase during sexual maturity as dogs become more concerned with establishing territory, social status and access to potential mates. This is the period when adolescence ends – usually sometime between 1-3 years of age depending upon the breed and individual dog. Adults no longer experience rapid physical growth. Rather than continuing to get taller and longer, many dogs begin to fill out. The most common change you’ll normally see in your dog’s shape will be broadening of the chest and shoulders. To your great relief, some of the troublesome behaviors that you may have experienced with your teenage dog starts to naturally calm down. Phew! They are not as excitable as when they were adolescents and adults can calm themselves more quickly and relax for longer periods. Your mature dog is more confident as they are now experienced in many social interactions and have reached their physical prime. This social confidence is a positive trait in well socialized and well trained adult dogs. It can be a pleasure for you to take your dog out in public, but be mindful that this same adult confidence in dogs that have aggression issues, can become dangerous if they are not well managed and trained. For adult dogs, it’s not end of their social development and learning. They are still influenced by the environment, and social interactions for the rest of their lives, so continue with established routines, good leadership, socialization, training and new opportunities for exercise throughout your adult dog’s life.
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of Hugh Mahon, a native of County Offaly, who, after a difficult start in Ireland, found fame and fortune in Australia, where he rose to high political office, as a Labor member of the Australian parliament and a government minister. A new book, Hugh Mahon: Patriot, Pressman, Politician tells the fascinating life-story of this son of the county, whose relations still live in and around Tullamore. The book will be launched at Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore on Thursday 27 April 2017 at a lecture to be given by the book’s author Australian historian Jeff Kildea. In Australia, Mahon is best known for having been expelled from the Australian parliament, the only person to have suffered that fate. That was in 1920 after he criticised British rule in Ireland, leading the prime minister Billy Hughes to accuse him of “seditious and disloyal utterances”. But, as Dr Kildea tells it, there is much more to this intriguing Offaly man than that singular, spectacular event. In his day Mahon was both revered and reviled. One contemporary wrote, ‘He may be acclaimed as one among the best newspapermen in the Commonwealth’. Another declared, ‘He must have been nourished in his infancy on the venom of a squid’. Born at Killurin in 1857, Hugh was the 13th of 14 children of James and Anna Mahon. James was a tenant farmer on a substantial holding at Killurin. The land was part of the Geashill Estate owned by Lord Digby of Dorset. In 1869 James gave up the farm and the family emigrated to America where Hugh trained as a newspaperman. Unfortunately their American dream failed and in 1880 the family returned to Ireland, where Hugh’s brother Patrick had retained a remnant of the family farm. Patrick’s descendants still live there today. The newspaper trade was not all Hugh learnt in America. Albany, where the family lived, was a fenian stronghold. On Hugh’s return he found employment in County Wexford as editor of the New Ross Standard owned by nationalist Edward Walsh. An activist as well as a journalist, Hugh used his newspaper to support the tenants during the Land War. He also used his printing press to print leaflets calling for boycotts of landlords. These activities brought Mahon under police notice and in October 1881 he was arrested during the government’s crackdown on the Land League. Imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol with Parnell, he was released after two months on health grounds. He immediately returned to his Land League activities but after being threatened with re-arrest emigrated to Australia. On arriving in Melbourne in May 1882 Mahon was employed by the local Land League travelling extensively to raise funds to send back to Ireland. When John and William Redmond visited Australia in 1883 to promote the league, Mahon helped to organise their tour. He then resumed journalism as a reporter, editor and newspaper owner. In 1888 Mahon married Mary Alice L’Estrange of Melbourne. They had four children. After failing to enter the New South Wales parliament, Mahon moved to the goldfields of Western Australia in 1895 where he established the Menzies Miner in the boom town of Menzies, 160 km north of Kalgoorlie. During his time there Mahon was elected to the inaugural town council and in 1897 unsuccessfully stood for election to the WA parliament for the seat of North Coolgardie. In 1898, Mahon was appointed editor of the Kalgoorlie Sun, often attacking the government of Sir John Forrest with headlines such as “In the Clutches of Corruption/Land of Forrests, Fakes and Frauds/Some Instances of Robbery and Jobbery”. He soon gained a reputation amongst his fellow journalists as a pugnacious and racy editor. During Mahon’s twenty months at the Sun he successfully defended five libel actions, four of them prosecutions for criminal libel. But he also exposed corruption in the government railways. Mahon’s career as a journalist effectively ended in 1901 when he was elected to the first parliament of the newly federated Commonwealth of Australia. Initially representing the seat of Coolgardie, he became the member for Kalgoorlie in 1913 following a redistribution of electoral boundaries. During his time in parliament Mahon advocated Aboriginal rights and served as a minister in four Labor governments, including Postmaster-General in the first Labor ministry in 1904 and Minister for External Affairs during World War I. After the war his passionate campaigning in support of Irish self-determination during the War of Independence led to his expulsion from parliament. In 1922 Hugh visited Ireland for the first and last time since his exile 40 years before, attending a large family reunion at Charleville Castle. On returning to Australia, he saw out the rest of his life as managing director of the Catholic Church Property Insurance Co. He died in 1931 and his buried in Melbourne. Dr Jeff Kildea, is an adjunct professor in Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales and was Keith Cameron Professor of Australian History at University College Dublin in 2014. He is the author of Tearing the Fabric: Sectarianism in Australia 1910-1925 (2002), Anzacs and Ireland (2007) and Wartime Australians: Billy Hughes (2008). (Webpage: jeffkildea.com)
Hello, My name is Kearsten and one of the best dogs that I ever owned had webbed feet! Boone was very fond of the water, whether it be lakes, ponds, or rivers. He would frolic through the water until he was exhausted and then keep going! My family would often go to the lake to spend the day. Boone would jump over the tail gate and beat us to the water before making several laps. He would chase sticks and kids into the water all day long. He also loved to chase after ducks and his webbed paws are what helped him to swim out and back to us safely! What is Webbing? When we think of webbed feet, we oftentimes automatically think about a duck’s feet. But did you know that dogs can also have this feature? Webbing on a dog’s feet refers to extra skin that is located between a canine’s toes. If you take your hand, pick up your dog’s paw, and spread its toes apart, you will be able to see if the dog has excessive skin, just like a duck’s feet. Unlike a duck’s feet, the paw will only have partial webbing. This excessive skin will connect all of the toes together. What is the Purpose of Webbing? Why do some dogs have this webbing, while others do not? Certain breeds of dogs have this unique feature that has been passed down through evolution. These breeds were more than likely used to hunt and retrieve game for their owners. They developed webbed feet to be able to navigate the diverse terrain and water. Webbing helps the dog to be able to swim better and more efficiently in different bodies of water. Just like when you put on a pair of flippers in the water, these webbed feet help a dog to glide on top of the water in order to retrieve objects or even people. Dogs must be able to paddle longer distances or they have a greater chance of drowning. Webbed feet are also useful to dogs who are running on muddy areas. Normal feet would sink into a boggy area. Normal feet would also have a tendency to slip on slick spots. The webbing on their feet helps them to keep from getting stuck in soggy areas and makes them more sure footed. The Top 10 Breeds of Dogs With Webbed Feet 1. Labrador Retrievers The Labrador retriever is one of the most recognizable dog breeds in the United States. In fact, it has the most registrations in the American Kennel Club. The Labrador adores the water and will play in any small amount of it, even if it is in its water bowl! This breed hails from around the waters of Newfoundland. Perhaps an adaptation of being bred near the water, the Labrador has long been used by fishermen and as a duck hunting dog. It’s powerful webbed feet were first used to help retrieve fish. Today the Labrador is also used by the Coast Guard to help rescue people in the ocean. The breed has also developed a coat that keeps out the cold in order to navigate cold waters. The Labrador also has a tail that acts as a boats rudder does to help guide it through the water. Its greatest asset is no doubt its webbed feet that help it tread through all forms of water. 2. Golden Retriever The Golden Retriever was first developed in Scotland. It is believed to have come from Labradors and a variety of water spaniels. Because this breed has a natural love for treading water, it is no surprise that they also have webbed feet. The Golden Retriever is known for its ability to retrieve game such as ducks, geese, and upland game birds. This breed often uses its webbed feet to also help people who are in peril. Golden Retrievers love humans and will not hesitate to jump into water and save a person who is drowning. Ironically, the Newfoundland only has partially webbed feet. This large dog breed became famous for using its webbed feet to perform dangerous water rescues in the freezing waters of Canada. Because of its gigantic size, it must have proportionally large webbed paws. This breed was often a fixture on fishing boats. It could perform rescues because of its ability to swim, its loving nature for humans, its size, and its warm fur coat to keep out the frigid temperature. Because of its sheer size, the breed is also known for being able to haul up heavy fishing nets on the slick surfaces of boats. The breed has become popular world wide because of its ability. 4. German Shorthaired Pointer This incredibly diverse dog is not only a water dog, but also a pointer, and retriever for bird and waterfowl hunters. Its webbed feet reduce the drag the dog feels when in the water. The German Shorthaired Pointer’s webbed feet are connected to powerful leg muscles that do not tire easily in the water. The webbing between the toes also aides this breed to be able to fly across muddy ground quickly, in order to reach its quarry. Without the webbed feet, the German Shorthaired Pointer would get stuck in the mud, and possibly break its legs. In addition to its feet, the dog’s coat is waterproof. Also known as the “weiner” dog, most people do not realize that these well known household pets also have webbed feet. It is hard to imagine these tiny dogs enjoying a long swim. Dachshund‘s used their webbed paws for a different purpose than swimming, however. Dachshund’s were once a hunting dog. They were bred to be able to hunt down, kill, and retrieve badger’s out of their holes. In order to do this they had to be able to dig down into badger dens. Webbed paws help them to dig faster into a badgers burrow. These beautiful “grey ghosts” as some call them, are used for a variety of hunting purposes throughout the world. At one time they chased big game such as mountain lions and bears. In recent history, they have been adapted to be used as waterfowl and bird dogs. Weimaraner’s use their sleek, athletic bodies, along with their powerful webbed feet, to glide through the water sometimes. Their feet are better used in the marshy areas and through dense brush to retrieve birds however. Often times hunters will have both a Weimaraner and a Labrador as hunting dogs. The Otterhound is a rare breed of canine that has webbed feet. There are very few animals left in the breed, which is why they are so valuable. Otterhounds would live in the water if they could. They will dive into the water with excitement and will even stick their heads beneath the water. Its affinity for bodies of water, more than likely, stems from the breeds use in hunting otters and later mink. Otterhounds also have a long, waterproof coat and their noses are highly sensitive. These traits in conjunction with its webbed feet made it extremely useful in tracking down otters, in packs, for its owners. 8. Chesapeake Bay Retriever The Chesapeake Bay Retriever was developed in Chesapeake Bay around Virginia and Maryland. The bay is extremely shallow and the water temperature stays rather low, especially in the winter time. In winter, the water temperature is below freezing. The breed was highly sought after by rich duck hunters in the 19th century because of its ability to withstand the frigid waters. Chesapeake Bay is in the path of a huge migratory path for ducks and geese. The hunters crossed Newfoundlands and other hounds to form the breed. Because of the crosses that they chose to use, the resulting breed carried down the trait of having webbed feet. The Chesapeake Bay retriever is very much at home in any type of water. The webbed feet were a feature that helped them become a mainstay in the area. 9. Portuguese Water Dog The Portuguese Water Dog hails from Portugal. Fishermen there needed a dog breed that would be a hard worker, athletic and muscular, and could tread the cold sea water. The result was a breed that has a waterproof coat and large webbed feet to be able to swim through harsh conditions. The breed was used on many different tasks for the seafaring fishermen. The Portuguese Water Dog was used to herd fish into nets, retrieve lost tackle, and act as a messenger between ships and shore. Fishermen counted on the strong and muscular dogs to be hardworking and seaworthy. Unfortunately many of the jobs that they were intended for have become obsolete. Today they are still used for sea rescues in cold water however. The dog pictured is actually Barak Obama’s! 10. Redbone Coon Hound The Redbone Coon hound’s descendants were brought over from England. The breed that we see today, developed in the deep south of the United States. Hunters needed a dog that could tree or kill the highly sought after raccoon pelts. The dog also had to be able to navigate the swampy terrain in Florida and Georgia, and the river bottoms of Alabama and Mississippi. Those breed traits have been passed down through the years. My grandpa’s coonhounds had to go through river bottoms at night to track down the quick and crafty raccoons. Raccoons take the dogs through the muddy shores of rivers and will even swim across them to get to its quarry. Webbing is extremely important for this versatile hound dog. The dogs can not afford to slip or sink down into the mud when they are running full force after a raccoon. They also have to be extremely powerful swimmers on the off chance that the river current is fast. How to Keep Dogs With Webbed Feet Happy Before you buy one of the breeds that have webbed feet, there are a few things to keep in mind. You will probably have to deal with a dog that LOVES to be in the water constantly. If you do not live on the beach or in the country near rivers, lakes, or ponds, are you willing to deal with a dog who wants to constantly play in its water bowl? You may also encounter problems with the dog if you have a pool in the backyard. Expect the dog to frequent it. If you do not have a pool, some of these dogs are simply satisfied with a kiddie pool from the store. Not all dogs are the same. Dogs with webbed feet have been designed to do specific jobs that are water related. No mater which one of these breeds that you choose, you will have a great and fun loving companion!
As statistics educators, it is often easier to focus our teaching on methods instead of communication. And while many of us understand the value of good communication, actually teaching it is difficult and outside of our comfort zone. There has been quite a bit of work done on the science of visualization (e.g., the Grammar of Graphics by Wilkinson). There is general consensus that teaching students to communicate using visualizations is of paramount importance (see recent blog entries: National Academies Report on Data Science and GAISE). However, the connection between the work done on visualization methods and the teaching of data science and statistics is weaker. When trying to incorporate data visualization into the classroom, we find ourselves asking the following questions: - What does data visualization in a statistics or data science class even mean? - How do you teach data visualization? - What are successful and unsuccessful approaches to teaching visualization in the classroom? - What types of assignments can you give for visualization assignments? - How can visualization assignments be assessed effectively? efficiently? Examples of Teaching Visualization For inspiration, we look to our colleagues who are already implementing either full courses on data visualization or substantial sections of data visualization into their statistics or data science courses. - Amelia McNamara from University of St. Thomas is a leader in teaching visualization. Her course on Communicating with Data incorporates many different aspects of visualization which are well detailed on her website. - topics include: plotly, color theory, graphical perception, design principles, hand-drawn visualizations, spatial data, visualizing uncertainty, and more. - assignments include: reading responses, visualization in the wild, and a final project. - readings include: key standards like Visualize This by Nathan Yau and The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. Other great resources are Wickham and Stryjewski 40 Years of Boxplots and Dear Data by Lupi and Posavec. - topics include: Nolan and Perrett’s 2016 TAS paper “Teaching and learning data visualization: ideas and assignments” provides guidance on bolstering the role of graphics in the undergraduate statistics curriculum. Silas Bergen’s course on Data summarization and visualization (among many other aspects of the course) assigns three design tasks, representing a way of scaffolding assignments to build student competencies throughout the semester. - Design Task #1: a single, static dashboard visualizing antibiotic data - Design Task #2: a visualization meant to answer a series of research questions based on census data - Design Task #3: a visualization which answers more complex research question and includes interactivity The blog citizen-statistician provides a handful of posts which are relevant to teaching data visualization including: In his STATS337 (“Readings in Applied Data Science”) course at Stanford, Hadley Wickham has his students create annotated bibliographies describing different aspects of data science. Kenneth Tay’s Annotated Bibliography on “Communication and Visualization in Data Science” provides context and resources for an instructor looking for ideas in teaching visualization. The rich history of graphics and visualization is an additional venue to pursue with your students. Understanding how visualizations have played a role in scientific discoveries as well as understanding the evolution of different methods helps students - Visual and Statistical Thinking by Tufte discusses two compelling examples where in one the graphic saved the day, and in the second, the graphic was terrible and led to disaster. - The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics traces the origins of statistical graphics and how the last 150 years of graphics paved the way for the explosion in visualization theory and techniques seen recently. The Milestones Project by Friendly and Denis is a fun and interactive way for students to experience the evolution of graphical techniques. Each day during the summer of 2019 we intend to add a new entry to this blog on a given topic of interest to educators teaching data science and statistics courses. Each entry is intended to provide a short overview of why it is interesting and how it can be applied to teaching. We anticipate that these introductory pieces can be digested daily in 20 or 30 minute chunks that will leave you in a position to decide whether to explore more or integrate the material into your own classes. By following along for the summer, we hope that you will develop a clearer sense for the fast moving landscape of data science. Sign up for emails at (you must be logged into Google to sign up).
Bukowski is no stranger to the seamier side of life, in Los Angeles and elsewhere. He has been the familiar of junkies and drunks as well as of many artists of his and later generations. He has said that at one point in his life, he quit writing and stayed drunk for ten years, and it was after that long binge that he started writing poetry. Alcohol is a recurrent motif in his poetry. The poet John Ciardi, while poetry editor of The New Yorker, commented that he could detect the ingestion of “a sip of sherry” in any poem. The tone of the fourth part of “The Twins” is just maudlin enough to be motivated, at least in part, by alcohol. Remember that Bukowski advised his father to “learn to paint and drink,” and in another poem, “Counsel,” he claims that drink maintains continuance because “drink is a form of suicide/ wherein the partaker returns to a new chance/ at life.” No condemnation is intended here, for in every age people look to visionaries and madmen to correct their own vision. One only need point to John Lennon, Timothy Leary, and William Burroughs as examples of men who have taken drugs to cut through the trappings of the routine, anxiety, or pain of modern life. One can be grateful to those who do so and pass on their experiences as poetry or other forms of expression: It shows everyone else how to survive or how to save themselves from the direct experience. Bukowski readers may never know which came first: the drinking or the pain. They can see a certain delicacy of touch and plain dignity in the raw quality of life he leads. With humor, he realizes, for example, that his father probably “painted” rather well the seedy life of the scoundrel son. If the reader is feeling generous, the analogy drawn between his father’s fall bulbs sitting on a screen ready for planting and the son planting his seed with a whore from Third Street may actually be a moment of self-deprecation in favor of the life-giving leanings of his father. In any other context, it simply would be a bad joke. Moreover, the more one is able to see that even though some form of reconciliation was never possible (perhaps never even wished for) between father and son, there was still a basic bond between them that this poem acknowledges: “A father is always your master, even when he’s gone.” This filial respect is one of the few authenticities in life. “Very well, grant us this moment,” Bukowski says to the universe. Looking in the mirror at the twins, the ludicrous image of himself dressed in his father’s coat, he too is waiting to die.
The NSW Nationals in the state government have launched a new strategy to ensure regional students have access to all the education opportunities NSW can offer. The strategy focuses on attracting more high-quality teachers to the bush, support for their professional development, improved digital access and wellbeing support for rural and remote public schools. Deputy Premier and NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro and NSW Nationals Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced the Rural and Remote Education Strategy which will support the Economic Vision for Regional NSW. “The NSW Nationals in the state government are committed to turning our country towns into thriving hubs and that starts with our young people,” Mr Barilaro said. “As a regionally-based MP I know that historically schools in the bush haven’t had the same level of access to facilities and quality education as their peers in the city. This government is changing that by putting country kids front and centre.” Ms Mitchell also announced her decision to create the Regional, Rural and Remote Policy Unit, saying it will be devoted to raising regional, rural and remote students’ educational outcomes, and implementing the government’s ambitious reform agenda in regional, rural and remote schools. “I want every student to enjoy the same educational opportunities no matter where they live,” Ms Mitchell said. “Kids in the regions need a team that can drive reforms and implement programs to eliminate the equity gap that exists between the bush and the city. “When we talk about drought proofing, growing the economy and revitalising regional NSW, we are talking about quality education in the bush. “The regions need doctors, artists, scientists, teachers, business people and skilled workers, all career paths we can provide for our students in regional NSW.” From increased infrastructure spending, digital intervention, nurturing gifted and talented students, VET integration in senior years and tailored school support through the School Success Model the regional strategy will target government support where it is most needed. The strategy coordinates: - Delivering more high-quality teachers with an ability to address local needs. - Providing training and support for teachers and principals to ensure they always have access to the best professional development relevant to them. - Helping schools connect with their communities to ensure student wellbeing is being addressed. - Creating pathways through partnerships with local industry, higher education providers and other post-school opportunities.
Researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto are claiming that too much cow’s milk for little kids can be just as bad as not enough. And findings from the new study challenge our current recommendations on daily milk consumption for children. The study monitored a group of 1,311 healthy children between the ages of 2 and 5-years old, examining blood samples for vitamin D and iron stores and gathering information from parents about the amount of milk consumed by their children. Up until now, numerous health organizations recommend a minimum of one liter of milk (fortified with vitamin D) every day to ensure children were getting adequate doses of vitamin D to promote strong bones and prevent bone-softening conditions, like rickets. However, these new findings have revealed a link between excessive cow milk consumption and dipping iron levels in the blood that can lead to anemia (a condition that produces a lack of red blood cells that are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body). As a result, scientists are now recommending that milk consumption be curbed at 2-eight ounce glasses (or half a liter) per day to prevent iron deficiency in children. “I don’t want to underestimate the importance of cow’s milk for children,” says Dr. Jonathon Maguire Maguire, study lead and pediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital. “[However]…iron deficiency severe enough to cause anemia [leads to] difficulties with cognitive development over time.” Unfortunately, this means that milk consumption by preschoolers is a balancing act for healthy vitamin D and iron levels. The middle ground seems to exist at around 500 milliliters of milk per day. This amount is enough to give children adequate levels of vitamin D and iron, with the addition of a vitamin D supplement during winter months for darker skinned children who need maintaining healthy iron levels.
Cloverdale Education Support Centre (ESC) caters for students with special needs, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, Physical disabilities, sensory impairments and complex communication needs, from Kindy to Year 6. It is co-located on the Cloverdale Primary School campus which is in the City of Belmont. Belmont is an inner metropolitan suburb situated 15km from the city centre. Students enrol from Cloverdale, Belmont, Kewdale, Riverton and Redcliffe. A school bus transports students who do not live within walking distance. Cloverdale ESC aims to develop the whole child socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually and enable them to be happy and confidently equipped for their future. Staff are trained to incorporate research-based teaching strategies into their learning programs. Social and play skills programs are implemented with communication as the focus. Our teaching practice also incorporates Social and Emotional Learning, including You Can Do It!, Zones of Regulation and Protective Behaviours programs. We provide a targeted, differentiated curriculum based on the Western Australian Curriculum and Abilities Based Learning Education, Western Australia (ABLEWA), combined with a rich social environment designed to meet the individual learning needs of each child. Our values of 'Growth, Achievement and Passion' ensures students are supported to participate meaningfully and successfully within their family, school and local community. Each class has a teacher and several full-time education assistants. We utilize the services of a school nurse, an Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer, school chaplain, and school psychologist. Therapists access the site and work in collaboration with the school staff to support achievement of student social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes. Cloverdale ESC has well-appointed facilities with nine classrooms located across the school campus. All classrooms are air conditioned with teachers using a wide variety of technology in curriculum delivery including interactive white boards, iPads and computers. The Centre is well equipped to cater for students needing a sensory diet to support regulation with facilities including a sensory room, sensory swing, an interactive spring-free trampoline and sensory swivel egg chairs. Cloverdale ESC shares a library, staff room, conference room, canteen and playground areas with the primary school. The Centre is structured into homogenous classes across learning phases including Early Years, Juniors, and Seniors. At Cloverdale ESC, we acknowledge the importance of ongoing learning and creative expression. We believe a child’s potential is supported by an engaging environment that includes play, expressing thoughts and ideas, practicing skills, problem solving, promoting independence, role modelling, routines, security and social interactions. Cloverdale ESC is a Positive Behaviour Support School (PBS). We believe that behaviour is a skill which can be taught. All staff members have been trained in Team Teach, which is a holistic approach to proactive behaviour management. We incorporate values education into the day to day curriculum, and teach it explicitly through the You Can Do It! Program. Cloverdale ESC and Cloverdale Primary School are co-badged as ‘Cloverdale Schools’ which describes the collaborative relationship that exists between them. Students integrate with Cloverdale Primary School students in the playground and in selected classroom activities. The schools have a combined P&C and provide pastoral care through the breakfast program, parent support group and anti-bullying committee. Joint activities include the swimming carnival, sports day, after school sports program, Harmony and NAIDOC day celebrations and Year 6 graduation. Cloverdale ESC students have the opportunity to participate in additional school activities and have representation on the Cloverdale Schools’ Student Council. Cloverdale ESC is an inclusive school that welcomes all students and shows respect for all cultures and religions.
When elites command us to “do as we say not as we do”. This is preposterous arrogance….. Public discourse contaminated by preposterous arrogance Social forces interpolate their members. This happens through people learning to mouth the views representing interests of these forces. In terms of underlying interests, I try understand differing, opposing views of ‘reality’. In the process I aim to clarify my own view. Because thought processes are important for understanding how one ‘sees’ reality. So this is an ongoing, never-ending, process for me. First let’s note the clash of ideas between South African elites right now. There is a struggle between political and business elites currently. On the one side you have Jacob Zuma and his circle. they consist of connected ANC politicians and business people. Zuma and company also connect with the Gupta Family from India. On the other side is Pravin Gordhan. He is the cynosure for anti-Zuma protests. He attracts support from opposition parties, and civil society organisations. Even the new left union federation (SAFTU) and radical trade union NUMSA. Jacob Zuma: egregious stealing under the cover of Radical Economic Transformation The Zuma and Gordhan (ex-Finance Minister) social forces engage in intense conflict. This led me to this point. I read the verbal attacks and counter-attacks by the two antagonistic groupings. From this I realised that much public discourse is preposterous arrogance. But what do I mean by this term? And why should it be relevant to social and urban development? Furthermore, how do elites get away with preposterous arrogance? Zuma and the ANC say that the US Embassy is organising ‘regime change’. But Gordhan and Zuma’s opponents say this is a myth. Zuma’s lieutenants say white monopoly capitalists are behind the anti-Zuma movement. However, the others see no proof of this. Both parties accuse each other of manipulating the state. The public is more aware of this criticism directed against Zuma. Even so, there are similar criticisms made of Zuma’s detractors. Albeit not in the mainstream media. For example, there are reports of tens of billions of Rands leaving our shores illicitly. Which the Treasury under Gordhan appears helpless to stop…. And yet this is not mainstream news. My search for the truth behind these statements is no academic exercise. I have worked on housing and development strategy for decades. Economic development is crucial in this regard. This is because enterprises and work opportunities provide money for people. With money people can improve their lot. Therefore, policies that enable or impede economic development are important. So it’s not economics alone that we should focus on. But also the politics. Policies, theories and facts By that I mean the state and its policies and strategies. Accordingly, our theories about economic development and the state are important. Thus we should pay attention to existing policies, and whether they work. And we should also listen to the contradictory discourses about these policies. Finally, we should ask whether we are hearing truth or preposterous arrogance. We also need to assess the usefulness of theories in explaining the facts. But what are the facts? This is not a simple question. Because people construct facts. This means that we could have conflicting views about a ‘fact’. Still, let’s focus on ‘facts’ about which there is social consensus. Let’s use these to try and identify true from false statements. We’ll leave the theoretical debates for later. The storms of social crisis are gathering, here and abroad. There is a lot of noise from political leaders, the media and so-called experts. Let’s separate simple, factual truth from fiction as a starting point. But what is preposterous arrogance? How is this concept useful for uncovering truth? Preposterous arrogance as an Elite state of Mind The Chambers 20th Century Dictionary (new Edition 1983) defines preposterous. This word means “inverted, having or putting the last first, contrary to the order of nature or reason; utterly absurd”. This dictionary also defines arrogance. This word means “undue assumption of importance”. And ‘arrogant’ means “claiming too much, overbearing”. So preposterous arrogance means inverting reason as an act of great importance. Why do I use the term here? And why do I relate it to the language of elites? Because elites are want to invert the true meaning of things. And they want to give this falsehood a veneer of gravitas. Decades ago I argued that South Africa’s development needs significant state subsidies. And public and community regulation of aspects of the residential land market. Then the established elites spoke the language of ‘free markets’. (Actually, they still do). At the time one of their policy wonks was Charles Simkins. Charles worked for the Urban Foundation, a think tank for Big Capital. He rubbished our viewpoint. He and others said our proposals were little more than ‘Marxist claptrap’. They warned that our proposals were dangerous for the economy. Money is key to understanding the political economy of nation states Attack personalities, don’t critique substance…. Noticeable was that they never critiqued our content. They inverted the discourse from a rational debate to an attack on ourselves. They projected themselves as responsible. And us as reckless ignoramuses. This is preposterous arrogance. I have learnt that preposterous arrogance is an elite state of mind. Regardless of whether it is a left, a centrist or a right wing elite. Elites are authoritarian. The message they give out is similar in its basic form. They are telling us, the ‘gullible public’, “do as we say not as we do”. This is preposterous arrogance. It intimidates and undermines civic responsibility to engage. To participate in discourse about social action. This has hollowed out our democracy. Therefore, we need to recognise it for what is. And not expect a rational debate from elites. This is why I oppose elites. Yet many issues elites raise are substantive issues of development. So we need to still engage with the issues raised by elites. Without getting caught up in their preposterous arrogance. And thereby conserve our energy for an authentic developmental struggle. Let’s identify preposterous arrogance in current discourses about development. Let’s trace this trend in a major crisis facing our democracy now …. Preposterous Arrogance over the Treasury Battleground The struggle between Zuma and Gordhan drew me to this topic. It started a process. The process culminated in this blog. There has been open conflict between the two for the past eighteen months. A short while ago things came to a head. Zuma fired Gordhan as finance minister. Zuma’s opposition argues this move is to capture the Treasury. Their argument is, with the government purse strings the Zuma faction will do corrupt deals. And in this scenario the Guptas will benefit. Stories abound about their influence over cabinet appointees. And the ways in which their companies benefit from Eskom contracts, etc… This adds to the scandal about Zuma using public funds for his Nkandla homestead. Then Public Protector (Thuli Madonsela) published an extensive report on Nkandla. And on ‘state capture’. The other day an academic analysis of state capture emerged. Then the amaBhungane journalist project released a trove of e-mails. These are between the Guptas and state officials. You can follow these Wikileaks-type revelations on-line in the Daily Maverick. Zuma’s sexism and authoritarianism I hold no brief for Jacob Zuma. His sexism and tribalism are offensive. During his 2005 rape trial his supporters carried slogans “100% Zulu Boy”. They persecuted and drove his victim into exile. In this none other than Julius Malema egged him on. And this trauma drove her into an early grave. Undeterred Zuma became President of the ANC. and then of the Republic (State President). He further concentrated the power of the Presidency, a process started under Mbeki. He has further consolidated his power with traditional rural elites. This is not good for rural people’s quality of life. And it is bad for democracy. You can read the details in the mainstream media. There is egregious theft of public money for private use at the Nkandla homestead. The ANC government has defended the Nkandla expenditures. They claim they are necessary for the President’s security. Their denial of the truth is a form of preposterous arrogance. Goldman Sachs is a powerful investment bank that has significant influence over US Treasury decisions Enter Goldman Sachs But, methinks all this attention on Zuma has taken our eyes off other thieves. One of these is Goldman Sachs, the well-known US investment bank. Colin Coleman is chief of Goldman Sachs SA. Colin has been standing in Pravin Gordhan’s corner. Supporting him as South Africa’s Knight of Honour. A hero battling enormous odds. His facebook page is replete with posts and pictures. These extol his facilitating Gordhan’s presentations to US investors. He projects his and Gordhan’s functions as saving South Africa from economic disaster. And his facebook friends confirm this viewpoint. They congratulate Colin for what he is doing to save the country. Criticism and positivism Colin also authored a Goldman Sachs’ assessment of the South African economy in 2013. For this journalist Richard Poplak took him to task. Alan Hirsch (Director of Development Policy and Practice, UCT) criticised Poplak’s negativity. He commended Colin for seeing the South African glass as half-full. Rather than half-empty. Alan worked in the Presidency under Mbeki. He has a view formed from close involvement in the pre-Zuma ANC administrations. Poplak’s criticism was that the report was out of touch with the reality of ordinary people. That it got lost in a maze of graphs and statistical non-sense. I found that the report resembled the business news on e-TV. The statistics, graphs and trends overwhelm the reader. Without understanding the deeper meaning of it all. Poplak’s point is that there is no deeper meaning. Poplak’s style is polemical. It paints a picture of Goldman Sachs as a criminal organisation. Without producing the evidence. After 2008 there is a generally unfavourable view of investment banks. And of Goldman Sachs for cooking the Greek government’s books to get them into debt. Yet I wanted to see the evidence about Goldman Sachs’ criminality. After all this is a serious charge to level. And they play a significant role in supporting one side of the SA elite conflict currently. I found evidence in a 2009 article by investigative journalist Matt Taibbi. Goldman’s US state capture Taibbi points to the following examples of how Goldman Sachs ‘captured’ key US posts. Goldman CEO Hank Paulson was George Bush’s last Treasury Secretary. He was architect of the bail out of trillions of dollars to Wall Street. Robert Rubin spent 26 years at Goldman. He was Bill Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary. He became CEO of Citi Group, which got a $300 billion bail out from Paulson. John Thain, former Goldman banker, received a multi-billion handout from Paulson. This was to save his company Merrill Lynch. Paulson put Ed Liddy, former Goldman official, in charge of AIG. AIG had insured Goldman’s mortgage securities but faced insolvency when the market collapsed. AIG received a massive government bail out. It then paid $13 billion to Goldman. Goldman alums are heads of the Canadian and Italian National Banks. And of the World Bank, the NYSE (securities exchange), the last two heads of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This sounds very much like the modus operandi of the Guptas…… Goldman-trained bankers are running the US government’s financial policies… But Goldman Sachs’ Colin Coleman is supporting Pravin Gordhan in his Shining White Knight role of defending South Afgrica’s democracy against Gupta-inspired state capture… So, to quote Donald Trump, “What the hell is going on?” The narrative about saving South Africa is preposterous arrogance….. And there’s more… Taibbi identifies Goldman’s key role in inflating five financial bubbles. His article argues that Goldman’s strategy is as follows. It positions itself in the midst of a speculative bubble. In this process it sells investments it knows are subpar. It does this by using techniques to drive up the prices, all the while taking commissions on the sales. When the bubble bursts leaving devastation in is wake, Goldman are gone. They are on to creating the next investment bubble. US citizens protesting outside Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York Famous economist Keynes identified Goldman’s Investment Trust Game as leading to the 1929 Crash. In the late 1990s Goldman created inflated IPOs of tech companies. Most of these were not profitable. The dot com bubble then burst in 2000. Goldman manipulated initial IPO tech shares. They did this through an illegal process known as “laddering” . They engaged in an ethically questionable process called “spinning” . In this way Goldman was able to rake in enormous wealth as fees. Taxpayer bail outs The third bubble was when Goldman underwrote the securitised housing loans that drove sub-prime mortgage prices. In this case it also insured itself against these loans failing. In other words, it bet against what it was selling as sound investments. Thereby Goldman made twice on the deal. First by on-selling the securitised loans. Second by winning the bet that they would go sour. This resulted in taxpayer money bailing out companies like AIG insurance. $13 billion of which went to paying Goldman out as insurance. A Goldman-owned subsidiary enabled a fourth bubble. This happened when it got regulations removed over speculating in commodities. This enabled the bubble in oil prices to spike at $147 per barrel in 2008. Taibbi wrote this in 2009. At the time he identified the fifth bubble as trading in carbon credits. For several of the felonies referred to above Goldman paid fines. But these were minute in proportion to its profits earned from the same activities.The above are indications of Goldman’s capture of the US state. Yet they are leading the charge of ethical anti-corruption in South Africa? Go figure… None of South Africa’s mainstream media cottoned on to Goldman Sachs’ track record. This might reflect their bias in favour of established Anglo-American elites. Including business at the highest level in South Africa. One of these businesses is Investec, a ‘reputable’ private investment bank. Investec’s Chief Executive Officer, Steven Kosseff, was a director of the JSE in 2008. In financial 2016 he earned R87,2 million. The late investigative journalist Barry Sergeant showed how Investec ‘bagged’ our National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) 10 years before the Guptas arrived on the scene. Sergeant presented evidence of Investec complicity in JCI’s theft of millions of Randgold shares. Koseff denied Sergeant’s allegations. Investec said there was no case against it. Still, Investec funded lawyers to ensure that the Randgold-JCI theft case did not get to court. This is similar to Zuma’s legally avoiding his own day in court. None of this airs in the mainstream media that are quick to pounce on Zuma’s illegal deeds. Why do they not expose the deeds of a reputable South African investment bank? Or, a not-so-reputable US investment bank leading the charge against the Guptas? Koseff said South Africa is a top “regulatory destination” for foreign investors. In the light of Sergeant’s study this is preposterous arrogance. Preposterous Arrogance as Post-truth I’m using “preposterous arrogance” to talk about “post truth”. Elite ideology functions to create meaning. It is the dominant ‘explanation’ of reality. It Investec’s logo appears mostly on the sports and other events that it sponsors ‘explains’ what is true and what is false. The elite message remains “do as we say not as we do”. Mass consumerism is also like that. Advertisments tell us what to consume. But not what the companies are doing when they produce what we are consuming. What companies do is ‘irrelevant stuff’. The point about elite ideology is to get us to focus on consuming and improving our ‘quality of life’. Those of us who ask too many questions are people with an ‘attitude problem’. At worst ‘troublemakers’. We disrupt the normal functioning of society, by interrupting peoples’ freedom to consume. Preposterous arrogance as a form of discourse goes back to the dawn of our democracy. In fact it preceded the end of apartheid. We need to be aware of this type of language. Because it insinuates itself into development strategy. It speaks about using weapons sales to grow the economy and create jobs. And it influences our thoughts about urban strategy within a broader developmental context. Urban scholars and strategists need to understand the history of this elite conflict. As well as the preposterous arrogance ideologies through which it is articulated…..
AI Designed With Humans in Mind New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2022, 400 pp. In 2018 and 2019, two Boeing 737 MAX airplanes crashed, killing a total of 346 people. Accident investigators believe that in both cases, one of the main causes was an autonomous software system intended to prevent stalls. The system initiated actions for the aircraft without input from the pilots, who may have been unaware of the system’s existence. As the pilots attempted to pull their aircraft up, the autonomous system, which was receiving information from a faulty sensor, continuously pushed the nose of the aircraft down. Later investigations into the two crashes highlighted a key design flaw: the pilots did not know how to override the artificial intelligence (AI) software controlling the aircraft when that system failed or malfunctioned. In the aftermath, experts called for designs that allow human pilots to intervene and provide better oversight for AI aircraft systems. The Boeing crashes revealed the risks of highly automated systems in real-world environments. Among other lessons, they point to the need for systems that assign responsibility when AI fails. And, building on that, human operators need to be aware of how the AI works and how to perform essential tasks should the need arise. And of course, engineers also need to consider what to do if a computer system is hit by a malicious attack. In his new book, Human-Centered AI, Ben Shneiderman examines the myriad risks that arise from the increasingly important role AI plays in human activities. But his focus is more on how AI presents opportunities for augmenting human abilities and meeting societal needs. Shneiderman, an emeritus distinguished professor at the University of Maryland in the computer science department, has long conducted research on human-computer interaction, user interface design, information visualization, and social media. He brings these elements to bear on his discussion of AI, making the book especially relevant to AI researchers and developers. Shneiderman introduces the human-centered artificial intelligence (HCAI) framework, which offers a vision for AI researchers, developers, business leaders, and policymakers to rethink the design of autonomous systems. In contrast to a technology-focused or data-driven approach that focuses on algorithm performance metrics such as speed or accuracy, human-centered thinking stems from the perspective of the system’s human users. In HCAI, the right initial question is “How useful and interpretable is the system for users?” rather than “What is the system capable of?” The HCAI framework includes “combined designs” of AI-based algorithms and human-centered thinking that “amplify, augment, empower, and enhance people,” in Shneiderman’s words, enabling people to do their work more fluently. He recommends using what he calls supertools—telebots, active applications, and control centers, for example—instead of robots or other automated physical systems. HCAI views AI technology as a tool to empower users, not replace them. At its core, human-centered design forefronts the need to maintain human control over AI to ensure that these systems are safe, reliable, and trustworthy. Shneiderman recommends continued testing and evaluation of AI with users, with ongoing oversight to ensure performance metrics are met through retrospective analysis. Understanding how the AI has succeeded or failed over time can prepare designers to plan for future situations users might encounter. Shneiderman illustrates this point with examples of successes and failures of recent technologies that are highly automated but subject to human control. Among the successes he includes smart household thermostats, which allow users to remotely monitor and control their energy usage—sometimes from their phones. He also describes potential failures such as an autonomous vehicle that, without the ability for a human to take the wheel, could leave a passenger stranded—or worse. These are useful, real-world instances of how the HCAI framework could work in practice and may motivate developers and researchers to adopt it. Among the goals of HCAI is the production of systems that are predictable, secure, fair, and controllable. But this last aspect depends heavily on the context in which the technology is used. For example, manufacturing may require high automation and low human control for tasks that are rapid and repetitive. On the other hand, tasks requiring a high degree of human mastery, such as the kind of minimally invasive surgery for prostatectomies and other procedures that surgeons can perform with the robotic Da Vinci Surgical System, are well suited for AI systems with high human control and low automation. According to Shneiderman, employing the principles of HCAI can also help avoid costly business mistakes. Many robotics and AI companies have failed because their products weren’t useful. In particular, he points out that many human-robot interaction (HRI) researchers start from the assumption that given the right morphology (appearance), size, and interaction profile, robots can function as social actors and successfully interact with people. This has turned out not to be the case; humanoid robots such as Honda’s Asimo, though a hit at trade shows, often have difficulty performing even basic practical tasks. Shneiderman recommends that HRI researchers glean inspiration from the success of widely adopted simple tools, such as smart thermostats, robot vacuums, or Google documents, which make humans’ tasks easier without resembling humans at all. Going beyond these simple tools, as AI becomes integrated into highly complex and essential systems such as air travel, HCAI requires that an organization manage its AI systems in ways that make them transparent and accountable. Following the practice of civil aviation, Shneiderman suggests that AI systems should include audit trails to record data used by the system—like the “black boxes” in airplanes, which are critical to investigations when things go wrong. These records can serve as evidence to assign legal liability for mistakes and exonerate the falsely accused. Enabling such retrospective analysis of adverse events could help prevent future occurrences, and he cites examples of successful audit trails documenting incidents that occurred in systems as diverse as aircraft, the stock market, industrial robots, and autonomous vehicles. Some related open questions that Shneiderman addresses in the book include: What data is required for retrospective analysis? How can researchers analyze large datasets? Who should have access to data while preserving privacy and avoiding falsification? Although these questions of responsibility and forethought are key to whether AI serves society’s needs, public discussion of AI has largely been shaped by older cultural narratives. For example, misrepresentations of AI in the media have greatly impacted public perceptions of the technology. Flashy headlines (“Robots Can Now Read Better Than Humans,” “How Robot Hands Are Evolving to Do What Ours Can,” “How DALL-E Could Power a Creative Revolution,” etc.) often overstate the ability or utility of the technology. More realistic and thoughtful media representation of robots and AI—including depictions in films, TV, and fiction—could provide people with a better sense of the technology and what it’s capable of. What’s more, including users in the development of intelligent systems could help mitigate concerns of widespread unemployment and other negative effects of AI. In reading this book, I appreciated many of Shneiderman’s ideas about human-centered design that align with my own research on human-centered algorithm design for healthcare environments. My work incorporates a collaborative process to design robotic systems for use in hospitals—much like the human-centered approach discussed in the book. Our design process involves interviewing potential users, including nurses and doctors; understanding how to integrate a new system into an environment it has not been used in before; and reflecting on how such a system might affect the workload of the healthcare team. My research experience also leads to a point of disagreement with Shneiderman’s assertion that people should be using supertools instead of robots. He paints a picture of computers as tools only, instead of potential teammates, partners, or collaborators. His ideal of a supertool is a computer that facilitates human-human teamwork by providing what he calls “superhuman perceptual and motor support.” But some situations require what roboticists call “embodiment”; sometimes robots can do things physically that humans simply cannot. The Da Vinci system, for example, can use smaller incisions and cameras that allow it to accomplish tasks in areas that are difficult or impossible for a human surgeon using traditional techniques. Similarly, perhaps Shneiderman’s HCAI principles can be applied to intelligent systems that require such physical embodiment, but with user interfaces that allow people to understand and interpret intelligent system decisionmaking—leading to more useful human-robot interfaces. A challenge of the HCAI approach is that it requires many resources, including software engineers, designers, policymakers, and business leaders. Not all organizations have these resources on hand when trying to develop useful AI systems, although of course it depends on the context; some well-equipped organizations may be able to build the many relationships that are required to execute the HCAI approach. HCAI also demands time for planning and relationship-building among the very different groups involved, among other critical tasks. And time can be a scarce resource, especially in the private sector. Shneiderman’s HCAI framework promotes participatory design, involving users in the development of useful AI. I wish he provided more discussion on how readers can deploy this design method beyond conducting user interviews. In my experience, there are many techniques beyond participatory design that could be used to explore and enhance AI design. These include storyboarding, using design fiction, and futureproofing, which is a planning process intended to minimize the negative effects of future events. Expanding the variety of inputs into AI design will be essential to achieving Shneiderman’s transformative vision of a more human—and humane—future.
Fees are based on diameter of container. All potting fees include organic soil & potting materials. All plant sales are final. Please allow extra time after checkout for these services, especially on weekends. Larger projects may take up to 24 hrs. Remember to protect your plants from the cold/heat while in transit. We offer repotting services for your plants at home. Please schedule an appointment via text/phone at 414-345-7092 BEFORE you pack your plants up and bring them to the shop. If you have questions about your houseplants or need help troubleshooting a problem with one of your plants, please send us an email at [email protected] with a brief outline of the issue, photos of the plant and your care routine. We will do our best to diagnose the problem and resolve the issue. Our favorite web resources - Potting Mix 1 QT – 2.00 - Potting Mix 8 QTS – 9.00 - Cactus/Succulent Mix 1QT – 2.00 - Cactus/Succulent Mix 4QTS – 6.00 - Orchid Mix 1QT – 4.50 - Worm Castings 1QT – 3.00 - Decorative Gravel Per Cup – 1.00 - Charcoal Per Cup – 1.00 - 1QT bags are approximately 5-dry cups Choosing the right pot Choose a container within 1″-2″ larger than your original pot. Plants put in containers too large run the risk of abnormal growth patterns and are susceptible to over-watering or fungal issues. Plus, they can just look a little funny. Some plants, like sansevierias, actually like to be “pot or root bound,” which means they maintain their ideal shape if they are cozy in their pots. If using a pot without a drainage hole (aka cachepot), keep the plant in its plastic nursery pot and take it out to water. Roots need oxygen and will rot if they sit in excess water that accumulates at the bottom of the pot. Some plants can be directly planted in cachepots, but no gravel is needed at the bottom. If you’re just starting your collection, we highly recommend NOT potting directly into a cachepot. Self-Watering pots can be used for plants that like consistent moisture, ie. African Violet, Peace Lily, Ferns When to re-pot? We generally recommend re-potting in the growing season (Spring-Fall) or only when plants show signs of need. Re-potting differs from initial potting in that you’re not just giving it it’s first home, but you’re assessing root health, accommodating for a change/new growth or are having a soil or watering issue. If your plant is happy and there are no issues, leave it be! If it’s showing you signs that something is off, this may be only one of many variables at play. After re-potting, allow the plant to rest for at least a few weeks before continuing with any fertilizer. For more tips on HOW to re-pot plants, click HERE Choosing the right soil The best potting soil is a not really dirt. It is a blend of organic and inorganic materials designed for the best aeration, drainage, and nutrition to support growing plants. Outdoor soils are not suitable for houseplants because they are usually too dense and lack proper nutrients. Cacti & Succulents: Require well draining soil. Usually a blend of compost, peat, sand, perlite and/or limestone. Tropicals: Most tropical plants need mositure-retaining soil found in most basic indoor potting mixes. Usually a blend of compost, manures, peat moss & vermiculite. The first thing to consider is placement. The location you would like to place the plant in your home or office is an important factor in choosing the right plant. The amount of light your plant will receive based on the location is a good place to start. Most homes don’t align exactly with a compass, but the guide below will give you a general indication of the direction your window faces. You will also need to consider how far away from the window the plant will be placed. The further away from the window (light source) the lower the light will be. For more resources, visit www.thehouseplantjournal.com The location you would like to place the plant in your home or office is an important factor in choosing the right plant. The amount of light your plant will receive based on the location is a good place to start. Most homes don’t align exactly with a compass, but the guide below will give you a general indication of the direction your window faces. You will also need to consider how far away from the window the plant will be placed. The further away from the window (light source) the lower the light will be. For more resources, visit www.thehouseplantjournal.com Northern Exposure: Windows facing north do no receive any direct sunlight. This is a low light location. Southern Exposure: Windows facing south receive direct sunlight during the middle of the day. This is a full sun location Eastern Exposure: Windows facing east receive early morning to midday light and are considered a partial sun location. Western Exposure: Windows facing west receive late day light and are considered a partial sun location. The second thing to consider is the amount of care your plant will need. Many houseplants are easy to care for if placed in the right location and will be happy with weekly or biweekly watering, but this is not the case for all plants. As you browse our plant selection be sure to look over the plant care information for the type of care each plant needs. PET SAFE: Many common houseplants are poisonous if ingested. If you think this will be a problem be sure to choose a plant that is pet safe. All our plants are rated based on the ASPCA safe for pets guide. ALL NON-TOXIC/PET SAFE PLANTS ARE LABELED IN STORE WITH A PAW STICKER Your receipt also comes with detailed care instructions for each plant!
How Can an Eco-Friendly Showerhead Help Your Home? The Benefits of Eco Shower-Head Installations Utility bills only seem to get more and more expensive every year. If you have multiple people living in your home, it can cause your water bill to skyrocket. This could then lead you to look into different ways to save money by lowering the cost of your utilities. Believe it or not, saving money can come in the form of a bathroom renovation. When you invest in an eco shower-head you get more than just a lower water bill. You also get to help the planet because your home won’t consume as much water once you have it installed. These showerheads have known benefits along with the fact that they save you money in the long run. Continue reading to learn more about eco showerheads and their benefits, along with the cost of showerhead replacement. Becoming More Eco-Friendly People in the world are becoming increasingly more health-conscious. People care about what they eat and wear and how it affects the planet, now more than ever before. It is because of this shift toward conscious living that eco showerheads appeared in the marketplace. What is an eco-friendly showerhead exactly? It is essentially a showerhead that uses less water than other showerheads. In fact, homes that have an eco shower head installed will use 40% less water than homes that don’t have an eco shower head. An eco shower head does more than save you money on your water bill and help the planet by consuming less water. There are other benefits involved as well. Some of these benefits are: - Saving Money on Your Energy Bill - It takes energy to heat up the water in your shower, so when you use less water it requires less energy to heat up. - Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions - When less energy is used to heat the water, less carbon dioxide is emitted into the air. The Importance of Bathroom Plumbing Services The bathroom in your home is pretty much wall-to-wall plumbing. Plumbing services are needed because it takes someone that is trained in the area to ensure that no plumbing is damaged upon repairing or replacing something, like a new shower head for instance. Calling a plumber to help you install an eco shower head is the smartest and most efficient option. Eco shower heads aren’t like your standard showerhead. They require special attention to ensure they are installed correctly. That is why it is best to have a professional plumber install the showerhead for you. A plumber will take care of your plumbing so you can have the peace of mind knowing your new shower head is being installed without the rest of your plumbing system suffering because of it. The Cost of Shower Head Replacement Before you purchase anything, nine times out of ten you are going to check the price and make sure it is in your budget before you continue with the transaction. Upon looking up the price of an eco shower head you might be tempted to turn the other cheek because eco shower heads are more expensive than traditional ones. This alone should not deter you from the purchase, though. Sometimes you have to invest a little money on plumbing upgrades, to begin with, in order to save money later on. When you purchase an eco shower head that is exactly what you are doing. You are making an investment; an investment for your home, your planet, and yourself. Sure, an eco shower head will cost you more now, but that is nothing compared to the yearly savings you will experience. This is especially true if you keep your new shower head cleaned and well maintained.
Is the internet censored in Hong Kong in 2022? Considering the protests and the new security laws in Hong Kong, the relationship between Hong Kong and China has been international news. Most people are aware that China heavily censors its internet, but what about Hong Kong? Do you need a VPN in Hong Kong? Prior to 1997, the year that Hong Kong was handed back over to China, the small territory was ruled by the British for more than 150 years. Even today, Hong Kong has remnants of English culture and life. But the democratic foundation that the U.K. laid in Hong Kong is slowly being eroded. Now that China has been handed the reigns to Hong Kong, many changes – often behind the scenes and away from public scrutiny – have been taking place. Is Hong Kong Internet Censored? (short answer) Below I’m going to provide a more detailed explanation of what this mean. This includes a discussion of: - Hong Kong: One Government, Two Systems? - Understanding Internet Censorship in Hong Kong - How China’s Big Brother Haunts Hong Kong Throughout all of this, we’ll explore China’s relationship with Hong Kong. This starts with one key concept: “One Government, Two Systems”. The foundation of Hong Kong’s handover from the U.K. to China was the promise China made to allow Hong Kong to continue as a semi-autonomous region. This was eventually dubbed “One government, two systems“. Despite Hong Kong’s relatively small size in relationship to China, for many years it was able to maintain this two-systems type of government. Confidence in this system has eroded over the past few years, however. Many Hong Kong residents and international observers have watched carefully as China surprisingly allowed for democratic elections…and then only presented China-approved candidates. Even when the new high-speed train connection between Hong Kong and China opened up, China asserted its dominance by setting up customs on the Hong Kong side, essentially claiming sovereignty over the train station itself. Then, of course, there’s the new security law that was introduced by China that was everything but a full admission that “one government, two systems” was no longer being honored. So the question remains: as Hong Kong’s freedom slowly erodes and China gradually asserts its control, how will this affect the internet? Internet Censorship in Hong Kong It is fascinating when digital boundaries reflect physical borders. Here’s what I mean: the moment you cross the border from Hong Kong into China on a train and your phone changes cell towers…the famous Great Firewall of China kicks in. Fortunately, at least for the time being, the internet isn’t heavily censored in Hong Kong. You can still access Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and all of the other websites that are completely inaccessible in China. That being said, especially with all the protests that rocked the city starting in the summer of 2019, the idea of internet censorship has been floated by members of the Hong Kong Cabinet. The moment that happens, the free Hong Kong internet we know now will be gone. But the truth is, it’s not just censorship that you need to worry about in Hong Kong. It’s Not Just Censorship, It’s Big Brother The lack of internet censorship in Hong Kong is deceiving. Make no mistake – China owns Hong Kong. They are doing everything in their power to retain control of the region while still saving face internationally. The internet in Hong Kong might not be censored, but it is closely monitored. As a traveler or an expat in Hong Kong, this means one thing: Whatever you do on the internet, do it with the knowledge that China is watching and recording it. For some people, this is completely acceptable. For me, it’s not. It’s not that I have something to hide. Rather, I don’t want to give what I don’t have to. For this reason, I use what is known as a Virtual Private Network, or VPN for short. By connecting to an ExpressVPN server outside of China and encrypting my connection for security, I can access my email, banking and even just Google without the fear that “Big Brother” China is watching over my shoulder. There are a number of great VPNs for China that I’ve used, and pretty much any of them will do the job. In my experience, however, I’ve had the most reliable service from ExpressVPN. Final Thoughts on Internet in Hong Kong 2022 Hong Kong is changing rapidly. What was true yesterday might not be true tomorrow. Currently, Hong Kong’s internet is mostly open and free. However, there’s a good chance that China has already started to step in and change things. Either way, you need to be aware that the moment you step into Hong Kong, you have given up your digital rights to privacy. Whatever you do is being monitored.
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Why is print successful in communicating an idea/concept? Print in a traditional sense (litho) is very tactile; it enhances the users experience with different materials (touch) and can also achieve added dimensions (uv, embossing, die cutting, paper engineering, etc) that cannot be achieved with web/screen work. Print also allows you to use these extra dimensions to challenge the user and potentially make the message stay with them that little bit longer. Why do you use print design as a communication tool? I think I've answered this above. Considering your own experiences of designing for print; what do you consider to be the best/most enjoyable thing about the print design process? Again, I think this is answered above; design should be attractive and fun, but I think the best design is more than this - it's powerful, thought provoking, intelligent and clever - all of which print does differently (and some would argue) better than digital media. Do you think that digital media or screen-based design will ever fully replace the printed medium? No. Take music for example, we (all the guys here) like having that very tactile experience of buying a cd, reading the booklet, feeling the material the pack is made from, etc. It makes the whole purchase an experience. I don't think you get this when you buy online. We all have iPods and love the format, but think we'll all continue to purchase something physical. Why and for who is print design successful? (You may specify clients) potentially anyone! Taking two examples, WaterAid (charity) uses print to get a message to a wide audience in developing countries where they don't have access to digital media. But, very differently, Caffe Nero use print to promote drinks/food within their stores. Do you design for print and screen? Are there cross overs, and if so how do they work? Yes. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. The best campaigns realise this and intergrate the two.
How to Spot the Difference Between Migraines & Sinus Headaches If you have a runny nose, watery eyes and your head hurts, you might assume that you have a sinus headache. But studies show that about 90% of self-diagnosed sinus headaches are actually migraine. There’s a belief that sinus headache is a common illness. The marketing of over-the-counter medications designed to treat these symptoms reinforce this belief.. However, a sinus headache is not as common as you might think. How can you tell if you have migraine or sinus headache and get the treatment you need? Let’s start by defining migraine and sinus headache. What is migraine? Migraine is not just a bad headache. It’s a disabling neurological disease with different symptoms and different treatment approaches compared to other headache disorders. The American Migraine Foundation estimates that at least 39 million Americans live with migraine. However, many people do not get an accurate diagnosis or the treatment they need so the actual number is probably higher. Common symptoms of migraine include: - Moderate to severe head pain - Head pain that causes a throbbing, pounding, or pulsating sensation - Head pain that gets worse with physical activity or movement - Nausea and/or vomiting - Sensitivity to light, noise and/or smells - Nasal congestion and runny nose What is sinus headache? A true sinus headache, called rhinosinusitis, is rare. The cause is a viral or bacterial sinus infection characterized by thick, discolored nasal discharge. You’ll get symptoms like possibly weaker smell or no smell, facial pain or pressure and commonly, fever. Facial pain and headache should resolve within seven days after viral symptoms improve or after successful treatment with antibiotics (if a bacterial sinus infection is present). If pain continues, then your diagnosis should be reconsidered. Why do we misdiagnose migraine as sinus headache? Research studies show common sinus symptoms occur with migraine. In one study, 45% of migraine patients had at least one symptom of either nasal congestion or watery eyes. Migraine is also underdiagnosed and undertreated, meaning that a self-diagnosis of migraine is less likely. A study involving almost 3,000 patients was important in evaluating the frequent complaint of sinus headache. In this study, the participants had at least six sinus headaches in the six months prior to entrance into the study. They had neither a migraine diagnosis nor treatment with a migraine-specific medication. What were the results? Eighty-eight percent of the participants had migraine and not sinus headaches. Another study, called the American Migraine Study II, showed that many people who were diagnosed with migraine thought they had sinus headache. Significantly, there were almost 30,000 study participants—only about 50% who were diagnosed with migraine knew they had migraine before the study. The most common misdiagnosis was sinus headache. How do I know if my headache is migraine or sinus headache? So, how do you know if your headache is migraine and not sinus? Go beyond the nasal and sinus congestion and the facial pain and pressure; look for a headache associated with the inability to function normally at work, school, home or social functions, nausea, sensitivity to light and triggers such as weather change, menstrual cycle, and stress (all common triggers for migraine). Significantly, it is commonly thought that weather change often causes “sinus headache” when weather change is a common trigger for migraine. You can also ask yourself the following questions from the ID Migraine Questionnaire developed by Dr. Richard Lipton of Albert Einstein College of Medicine: - In the past three months, how disabling are your headaches? Do they interfere with your ability to function? (Are you missing work; school; family activities?) - Do you ever feel nausea when you have a headache? - Do you become sensitive to light while you have a headache? If you answer “yes” to two of the above three criteria, migraine is likely 93% of the time. If you answer “yes” to all three, a migraine diagnosis is 98% likely. In the event you feel that your sinus headaches could be migraine, ask your provider if a migraine-specific medication could be right for you. If so, try the migraine-specific medication for your next three “sinus headaches.” Look for the headache and associated symptoms to improve more than they did for previous treatments you were using. In some cases, a work-up may be done such as a CT scan of your sinuses to rule out sinus disease or simply to reassure you that the diagnosis is migraine and not a sinus problem.
Erect or spreading shrub, 0.3-1(-1.5) m high. Fl. red/pink, Jul to Oct. Sand, gravel, clay. Undulating plains, rocky ridges & hillsides. Shrub, spines absent; branchlets verrucose (warty), +/- cylindrical in cross-section, glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple, 6-15 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, flat, the margins revolute, verrucose (warty), covered in hairs or scales, with stellate (star shaped) hairs; stipular excrescences present. Flowers axillary, solitary; pedicels 5-6 mm long; calyx present, 1.5-3 mm long, verrucose (warty), covered in hairs or scales, the hairs stellate (star-shaped); corolla red or pink, petals five, 7-10 mm long, imbricate (overlapping), free, hairy on the surfaces; stamens twice as many as petals, 6.5-10 mm long, smooth, ciliate (with a marginal fringe of hairs); anthers 1-1.3 mm long, with an appendage; style 8-11 mm long, hairy. Flowers in July, August, September and October. Occurs in the Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Coolgardie and Avon Wheatbelt IBRA region(s).
1.1 Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Mineral processing is a major division in the science of Extractive Metallurgy. Extractive metallurgy has been defined as the science and art of extracting metals from their ores, refining them and preparing them for use. Within extractive metallurgy, the major divisions in the order they may most commonly occur are, Mineral Processing (or Beneficiation), Hydrometallurgy, Pyrometallurgy, and Electrometallurgy. The last steps in the winning of metals are in Physical Metallurgy where the composition and treatment of metals are varied to provide desired physical and mechanical properties. In mineral processing, a number of unit operations are required to prepare and classify ores before the valuable constituents can be separated or concentrated and then forwarded on for use or further treatment. The field of mineral processing has also been given other titles such as mineral dressing, ore dressing, mineral extraction, mineral beneficiation, and mineral engineering. These terms are often used interchangeably. 1.2 Ores and Minerals Ore is a term used to describe an aggregate of minerals from which a valuable constituent, especially a metal, can be profitably mined and extracted. Most rock deposits contain metals or minerals, but when the concentration of valuable minerals or metals is too low to justify mining, it is considered a waste or gangue material. Within an ore body, valuable minerals are surrounded by gangue and it is the primary function of mineral processing, to liberate and concentrate those valuable minerals. 1.3 Run-Of-Mine Material and Minerals Generally, mineral processing begins when an ore is delivered from a mine, to a processing facility. At this point, the ore is called run-of-mine material because there has been no treatment performed on it. There are three primary types of run-of-mine materials: - Run-of-mine consisting of useful materials. These could include granites, building sand, limestone, coal and clays. Note that materials in this category are not classified as minerals. - Run-of-mine containing useful minerals. The minerals in this category among others include fluorite, apatite, diamonds and gemstones, vermiculite, barite, wollanstonite and chromite and are often referred to as industrial minerals. Other examples are i) barite that is used as weighing agent in oil drilling mud and ii) vermiculite, which is used for sound and thermal insulation. The unit value of this class of minerals is low but the purity is high, approaching a chemical grade. The minerals in this class are used directly for industrial applications once they are separated from a gangue content that must be low to start with. The low unit value only allows for marginal treatment costs. - Run-of-mine containing value bearing minerals. This class of run-of-mine is similar to the previous descriptions. However in this case, the target mineral obtains its value from the contained metal and these categories of deposits are referred to as metaliferrous. For example, an ore containing the mineral chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) derives its value from the contained copper. Chalcopyrite does not in and of itself have any direct use as a mineral. Once chalcopyrite is concentrated (separated from the gangue), it requires further trewatment to extract copper via chemical (hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurcial) methods. A list of some valuable minerals is provided in Table 1. \|Metal\|\|Ore Mineral\|\|Chemical Formula\| The general focus of this document will be on metaliferrous ores represented by run-of-mine material described in category 3 above. An exception to the above discussion of mineral processing arises when the valuable component of the ore is extracted directly by chemical methods. The most common and notable example of this are precious metal values (gold, silver etc.) where the beneficiation process is applied directly on run-of-mine ores followed by the extraction of gold and in some cases silver as a relatively pure metal within the mineral processing circuit. 2.0 Processing Approach and Method In broader terms, mineral processing consists of two functions. Firstly, it involves the preparation and liberation, of the valuable minerals from waste minerals and secondly, the separation these values into two or more products, called concentrates. The term separation in this case is synonymous with concentration. These functions are carried out within the constraints of the following three rules. - The first rule deals with the conservation of mass. The total flow of the material into the process plant equals the total flow out. - The second rule relates to the quality or grade of the concentrate product. In practice, it is impossible to produce a concentrate consisting of only one mineral. - The third rule is a corollary of the second. It is impractical to recover all of the valuable minerals into the concentrate. The flowsheet in Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the typical sequence of operations in the process plant. The various unit operations used for liberation and separation will be discussed in the following sections. 3.0 Liberation and Comminution In order to separate the minerals from gangue (the waste minerals), it is necessary to crush and grind the rock to unlock, or liberate, valuable minerals so that they are partially or fully exposed. This process of size reduction is called comminution. The crushing and grinding process will produce a range of particles with varying degrees of liberation (Figure 2). Any particles that exceed a target size required for physical separation or chemical extraction are returned to the crushing or the grinding circuit. The comminution process actually begins during the mining stage through the use explosives, excavators or scrapers for softer material. This is necessary in order to generate a material that is transportable by haul trucks or conveyors. Comminution in the mineral processing plant is carried out in a sequential manner using crushers and screens followed by grinding mills and classifiers. The various types of comminution equipment including their general application are described in detail below. 3.2.1 Crushing Equipment Primary Crushers – Jaw and Gyratory Within the crushing circuit, a primary crusher reduces material down to a size that can be conveyed and fed to the secondary crushing circuit. The two most common primary crushers used for coarse run-of-mine material are the jaw and gyratory crushers. These primary crushers break rock through compressive forces created by a hard moving surface forcing and squeezing the rocks towards a hard stationary surface. A Jaw Crusher reduces large rocks by dropping them into a flat “V” shaped space created between a fixed surface and a movable surface. The compression is created by forcing the rock against the stationary plate as shown in figure 3. The opening at the bottom of the jaw plates is the crusher product size gap. The rocks remain in the jaws until it is small enough to pass through this adjustabe gap at the bottom of the jaws. In a gyratory crusher, a round moving crushing surface is located within a round hard shell which serves as the stationary surface (figure 3). The crushing action is created by the closing the gap between the hard crushing surface attached to the spindle and the concave liners (fixed) mounted on the main frame of the crusher. The gap is opened and closed by an eccentric drive on the bottom of the spindle that causes the central vertical spindle to gyrate. Secondary Crushers – Cone Crusher The most common type of secondary crusher is the cone crusher. A cone crusher is very similar to the gyratory but has a much shorter spindle with a larger diameter crushing surface relative to its the vertical dimension. The eccentric motion of the inner crushing cone is similar to that of the gyratory crusher. Impact crushers involve the use of high speed impact rather than compresssion to crush material. They utilize hinged or fixed heavy metal hammers or bars attached to the edges of horizontal rotating disks. The bars repeatedly strike the material to be crushed. Then the material is thrown against a rugged solid surface which further degrades the particle size. Finally, the material is forced over a discharge grate or screen by the hammers through which the finer particles drop while larger particles are swept around for another crushing cycle until they are fine enough to fall through a discharge grid. This type of crusher is normally used on soft materials such as coal or limestone due to the high wear experienced by the impact hammers, bars and inner surfaces. These crushers are normally employed for secondary or tertiary crushing. Rolls crushers consists of a pair of horizontal cylindrical rollers through which material is passed. The two rollers rotate in opposite directions nipping and crushing material between them. These types of crushers are used in secondary or tertiary crushing applications. They are seeing a significant increase in use due to advances in their design and the improved liberation of minerals in the crushed product. 3.2.2 Grinding Mills Grinding, the final stage used in the comminution process, is usually conducted in cylindrical tumbling mills where the particle size is reduced through a combination of impact and abrasion. The primary differences between these mills are in the ratio of diameter to the length of the cylinder and the type of grinding media employed. Grinding media can be steel rods, steel balls, hard pebbles or the ore itself. Autogenous and Semi-Autogenous Mills Autogenous (AG) and Semi-Autogenous (SAG) milling has seen increased use in recent years, especially in large mineral processing operations. These mills typically have a large diameter relative to their length, typically in the ratio or 2 or 2.5 to 1. AG mills employ ore as the grinding media. However, one the challenges with AG mills is that properties, such as hardness and abrasiveness, of the ore can vary, resulting in inconsistent grinding behaviour. The addition of steel grinding balls rectifies this situation. This approach is then termed semi-autogenous grinding and the total amount of balls in these mills ranges between 5 and 10 percent of the volume. Figure 5. SAG Mill picture and general shape Rod, Ball and Pebble Mills The products from AG or SAG mills typically feed secondary grinding mills with particles that range in size from 5 cm down to below 100 microns (0.1 mm). The final particle size is determined by downstream processing requirements. Grinding is carried out as a wet process with water content between 50 – 70% by weight. Rod mills are long cylinders filled with steel rods that grind by compressive forces and abrasion. The length of the cylinder is typically 1.5 to 2.5 times longer than the diameter. As the mill turns, the rods cascade over each other in relatively parallel fashion. One of the primary advantages of a rod mill is that it prevents over-grinding of softer particles because coarser particles act as bridges and preferentially take the compressive forces. Rod mills can take particles as coarse as 5 cm. Many of the newer operations tend to install ball mills in combination with SAG mills and avoid rod mills due the cost of the media, the cost of replacing rods and general maintenance costs. Many older operations have rod mills in combination with ball mills. Ball mills are a similar shape to that of the rod mills except that they are shorter with length to diameter ratios of 1 to 1.5. As the name implies, the grinding media in these mills are steel balls. The particles size of the feed usually does not exceed 2.5 cm. The grinding is carried out by balls being carried up the side of the mill such that they release and fall to the point where they impact the ore particles in trailing bottom region of the slurry. If the mill is rotated too fast, the balls can be thrown too far and just strike the far end of the mill and conversely, if the mill is rotated to slow, the efficiency of the grinding process significantly reduced. Ball mills are suited for finer grinding as larger particles do not impede the impact on to smaller particle as in rod mills. Pebble mills are similar to ball mills except that the grinding media is closely sized rocks or pebbles. Pebble milling is a form of autogenous milling as no steel media is used in the process however, the type of rocks used are selected more carefully than in convention AG milling. 4. 0 Size-Separation: Screening and Classification The size distribution of the particles must be controlled for a number of reasons at various stages of a mineral processing plant: - To enable undersized material to bypass the crushing or grinding circuit and to retain oversized particles for further size reduction, - To provide an optimum particle size material for efficient processing in the downstream separation and concentration systems, and - To prepare product that meets particle size specifications required for the market place. There are two distinct methods for separation of particles based on size: screening and classification. Screening: In its simplest configuration, a screen is a hard perforated surface with a matrix of fixed dimension apertures. The material is presented to the screen surface so that material finer than the apertures falls through the screen and the oversize is conveyed to the discharge end of the screen. Screening is generally difficult below 0.5 mm. Classification: Classification techniques takes advantage of the principle that particles of the same density but of different sizes settle in a fluid at different rates. Exploiting the difference in the settling rates allows for separation based on size. Classification is usually carried out at particle sizes that are considered to be too fine for sorting efficiently by screening methods. 4.1 Screening Equipment Grizzlies are used for rough screening of coarse materials and are most often found in crushing circuits. A grizzly is basically an inclined set of heavy bars set in a parallel manner. Coarse material slides on the inclined surface of the bars and material finer than the spacing between the bars falls through (figure 7). The grizzlies can be vibrated to improve performance. Revolving Screen (Trommel) A trommel is a slightly inclined rotating cylindrical screen. The material is fed at one end of the cylinder and the undersize material falls through the screening surface while the oversize is conveyed by the rotating motion down the incline to the discharge end. Although trommels are relatively cheap, they have lower capacities and are susceptible to rapid wear; hence they have been largely replaced by vibrating or shaking screens. A trommel can handle both dry and wet feed material. Moving Screens (reciprocating, oscillating, vibratory and gyratory screens) There are various types of horizontally inclined screens such as the reciprocating, oscillating, vibratory or shaking screening. The basic difference in these screens is based upon the motion of the surface and the resulting action imparted on the material being screened. The vibratory screen is probably the most common screening device found in mineral processing applications. Different manufacturers have developed unique vibration and motion systems for the various types of material and particle sizes encountered within mineral processing plants. Many of these types of screens have multiple decks so different particle size products can be obtained from a single feed. The gyratory screen is supported in a manner that it allows for both a gyratory and slight vertical motion to the screen deck. These types of screens can have multiple removable and replaceable decks. Gyratory screens can be used in wet or dry applications and are usually used for separation of finer particles. Sedimentation and Hydraulic Classifiers Free settling classifiers are essentially large pools, ponds or conical bottomed tanks with a free settling zone. The coarser particles sink and are removed from the bottom of the settling zone. These units are simple in design but often inefficient in sorting and sizing. A hydraulic, hindered bed settler exploits differences in the settling rates of particles. The particles settle against a rising current of water in a series of sorting chambers or conical pockets. The relative rate of settling against the varying up-flow currents in each of the conical pockets provides recovery of the different sized particles in each of the chambers. Spiral and Rake Classifiers Mechanical classifiers such as the spiral and rake classifiers work in a similar fashion in that both drag sediment and sand along the bottom of an inclined surface to a higher discharge point on one end of the settling chamber. The primary difference in the two systems is the mechanism by which the settled material is moved up the inclined surface (see figure 11). Spiral classifiers are generally preferred as material does not slide backwards which occurs in rake classifiers when the rakes are lifted between strokes. This also allows spiral classifiers to operate at steeper inclines producing a drier product. The spiral classifier also produces less turbulence in the settling pool allowing for separation of finer material. Hydrocyclones have become one of the most important and widely used classifiers in the mineral processing industry. They are also used for de-sliming, de-watering, de-gritting and thickening processes. They are most commonly employed in closed circuit within grinding circuits and are used to return coarse material back to the ball or rod mill for further grinding. The main advantages of cyclones is that they have large capacities relative to their size and can separate at finer sizes than most other screening and classification equipment. The separation mechanism in hydrocyclones relies on centrifugal force to accelerate the settling of particles. The slurry enters the cylindrical section tangentially above a conical section. The velocity of the slurry increases as it follows a downward helical path from the inlet area to the smaller diameter underflow end. As the slurry flows along this path, centrifugal forces cause the larger and denser particles to migrate to the fluid layer nearest the wall of the cone. Meanwhile, the finer or lower specific gravity particles remain in, migrate to, or are displaced toward the center axis of the cone. As the swirling slurry approaches the underflow tip, smaller and lighter material closer to the center reverses its axial direction and follows a smaller diameter rotating path back toward the top overflow discharge pipe. 5.0 Separation and Concentration Techniques The separation and concentration of the valuable mineral can take place after the ore is crushed, ground, and classified into the required particle size distribution. There a number of different techniques are employed in concentrating the valuable minerals. These techniques exploit differences in physical or chemical properties of the valuable and gangue minerals. i. Sorting – based on appearance, colour, texture, optical properties and radioactivity ii. Gravity and Dense-Medium Separation – Separation based on specific gravity of the valuable mineral relative to the gangue and the carrying medium such as water. In dense-medium separation, the a carrying medium is a mixture of water, magnetite, or ferrosilicon. The paramagnetic properties of the medium allow it to either remain in suspension at a predetermined slurry density or to be separated from water for cleaning and reuse. iii. Magnetic Separation – separation based upon natural or induced differences in magnetic susceptibility of the minerals within the ore. iv. Froth Flotation – separations based on the surface chemistry properties of a mineral. The natural or modified surface property of the mineral determines its ability to attach to an air bubble and float to the surface. Sorting by hand has the longest history of all the mineral beneficiation methods and is rarely used today. The method is carried out by visual differentiation of lumps of rocks where valuable lumps are picked out and retained for processing. The cost of labour and being able to economically recover significant quantities of minerals has made this practice obsolete except in the areas of highly valuable minerals such as gems. Advances in electronics and optical technology have made the automation of sorting techniques an important process in some ore systems. For example, recent advances using optical sorting methods is being employed in the diamond industry using an x-ray beam. Diamonds emit light when hit by an x-ray and the resulting light is picked up by a detector. As a mono-layer stream of rocks and diamonds fall through this beam, the detector activates jets of air which knock the diamond into a separate bin (see figure 13). Variations of this principle are used on other mineral systems using lasers. The laser light is reflected from a rotating mirror drum which allows the scanning of falling stream of rocks to be scanned at thousands of times a second. A photomultiplier detects the reflected light and activates an air jet at the right instant and intensity to eject the particle from the stream. These systems have been employed in the recovery of barite, talc, wolframite and scheelite to name a few. 5.2 Gravity and Dense Medium Separation Gravity concentration methods separate particles based on the differences in their specific gravity (SG) values and their relative movement within a natural or applied gravitation force. The relative rate of settling based on the gravitational forces and the counter viscous forces are exploited for effective separation. Dense medium separation relies not only the difference between the specific gravity of the particles but also exploits the variation in the effective SG of a fluid medium. Particles denser than the specific gravity of the medium sink and are collected as a separate product from the ones that float. For example, a dense medium can be a chemical such as tetrabromoethane which has a specific gravity of 2.96 or a dense medium can be made using very fine particles of magnetite or ferrosilicon suspended in water as a slurry. The SG values of the slurries made from magnetite and ferrosilicon can be as high as 2.5 and 3.2 respectively. Chemicals are often used for lab scale separations while dense medium slurries are used more on an industrial scale. Dense medium separators will not be discussed herein. Sluices, Reichert Cones and Spirals Sluices or sluice boxes are commonly found at alluvial operations for the recovery of liberated placer gold. Sluice boxes with riffles are one of the oldest forms of gravity separation devices used today. The size of sluices range from small, portable aluminum models used for prospecting to large units hundreds of feet long. Sluice boxes can be made out of wood, aluminum, plastic or steel. The riffles in a sluice slow and retard heavy material flowing in the slurry, which forms a material bed that traps heavy particles and creates turbulence. This turbulence causes heavy particles to tumble, and repeatedly exposes them to the trapping medium. An overhanging lip, known as a Hungarian riffle, increases the turbulence behind the riffle, is commonly used in these units. Other configurations of sluices may use astro-turf, screens or rubber material with ridges. Pinched sluices have also been used for heavy-mineral separations for centuries. In its most basic form, the pinched sluice is an inclined trough 60 to 90 cm long, narrowing from about 24 cm in width at the feed end to 3 cm at the discharge end. Feed consisting of 50-65% solids enters the sluice and stratifies as the particles flow through the sluice and crowds into the narrow discharge area. The crowding causes the bed to dilate allowing heavy minerals to migrate and move along the bottom, while lighter particles are forced to the top. The resulting mineral bands are separated by a splitter at the discharge end. Pinched sluices are simple devices and are inexpensive to build and run. Pinched sluices are mainly used for separation of heavy mineral sands. A large number of pinched sluices are required for a high capacity operation, and a large amount of recirculation pumping is required for proper feed delivery. These drawbacks led to the development and adoption of the Reichert cone in many plants. The Reichert Cone concentrator is based on the pinched sluice concept but employs an inverted cone instead of a rectangular channel (figure 15). The crowding and dilating effect of the bed is produced by a reduction in perimeter as the material approaches the center discharge point. Reicherts are more efficient than pinched sluices because there are no sidewalls to interfere in the separation process. Reicherts cones are usually stacked to achieve high throughput for a given footprint. Spiral concentrators are modern, high capacity, low cost units developed for the concentration of low grade ores and industrial minerals. Spirals consist of a single or double helical conduit or sluice wrapped around a central collection column with a wash water channel and a series of concentrate removal ports placed at regular intervals along the spiral. Separation is achieved by stratification of material caused by a complex combined effect of centrifugal force, differential settling and heavy particle migration through the bed to the inner part of the conduit (see figure 16). To increase the amount of material that can be processed by a unit, two or more spirals are constructed around one central column. A variety of designs and modifications have been developed by various manufacturers to improve the general operation of these units. Shaking tables, also known as wet tables, consist of a sloping deck with a riffled surface. A motor drives a small arm that shakes the table along its length, parallel to the riffle and rifle pattern. This longitudinal shaking motion consists of a slow forward stroke followed by rapid return strike. The riffles are arranged in such a manner that heavy material is trapped and conveyed parallel to the direction of the oscillation (see figure 17). Water is added to the top of the table perpendicular to the table motion. The heaviest and coarsest particles move to one end of the table while the lightest and finest particles tend to wash over the riffles and to the bottom edge. Intermediate points between these extremes provides recovery of the middling (intermediate size and density) particles. Shaking tables find extensive use in concentrating gold but are also used in the recovery of tin and tungsten minerals. These devices are often used downstream of other gravity concentration equipment such as spirals, reicherts, jigs and centrifugal gravity concentrators for final cleaning prior to refining or sale of product. Jigging, like most gravity concentration techniques, is one of the oldest methods for concentrating minerals based on differences in the density of the particles. The elementary jig is an open tank filled with water with a thick bed of particles, called ragging, supported on a horizontal perforated surface (figure 18). The water is pulsated up and down (i.e. the jigging action) pneumatically or with the use of a mechanical plunger . The jigging action causes denser particles to preferentially trickle down faster and are removed from the bottom of the unit. Numerous types and configurations of jigs have been developed over many years with each type providing some improvement over the other units. But they all rely upon the same principle for separation of the minerals. Centrifugal Gravity Concentrators In the last 20 years, advancements in the design and operation of centrifugal gravity concentrators have made them the predominant method for gravity concentration of gold. Further advances in recent years has expanded the use of this technology for the recovery other heavy minerals. The Knelson and Falcon concentrator companies manufacture the two most common units being used in the industry today. These units consist of a riffled cone or bowl that spins at high speed to create forces in excess of 60 times that of gravity. Slurry is introduced into the cone; the centrifugal force produced by rotation drives the solids toward the walls of the cone. The slurry migrates up along the wall where heavier particles are captured within the riffles. Injecting water through the holes located in the back of the riffles fluidizes the riffled area. The fluidization process prevents compaction of the concentrated bed and allows for efficient separation of heavy minerals. 5.3 Magnetic Separation Magnetic separations take advantage of the magnetic properties of minerals. All minerals will have one of three magnetic properties: ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and diamagnetic. Ferromagnetic minerals (i.e., magnetite and pyrrhotite) are magnetic and are easily separated from other minerals, since they will be attracted to the poles of a magnet. Paramagnetic and diamagnetic minerals are not magnetic, but differ in how they interact with magnetic fields. Paramagnetic minerals are weakly attracted whereas diamagnetic minerals are weakly repelled along lines of magnetic forces. Thus, if a mixture of paramagnetic and diamagnetic minerals is passed through a magnetic field; the paramagnetic minerals will be pulled into the field and the diamagnetic minerals will be repelled or separated from the field. Furthermore, paramagnetic minerals have different degrees of paramagnetism that can also be used to effect separations. Magnetic fields of various intensities can be provided by permanent or electromagnets. Generally, magnetic separators are classified as low or high intensity and whether they work in wet or dry applications. An example of a concurrent low-intensity wet magnetic separator is shown in figure 20. In concurrent separators, slurry flows in the same direction as the rotation of the drum surrounding the magnets. 5.4 Froth Flotation In terms of daily tonnages of ore that are treated globally, froth flotation is the single most important mineral recovery process. This is driven by its ability to selectively separate minerals. Flotation is considered to be a physico-chemical process. Equipment in the form of mechanically or pneumatically agitated tanks or cells generate air bubbles, which provides the physical aspect. The chemical aspect is provided by reagents, which vary the surface properties of minerals and of the slurry medium for separation of valuable minerals, especially those of copper, lead and zinc sulfides from gangue materials. Advancements in technology have expanded the use of flotation for recovery of oxide minerals such as hematite, cassiterite, malachite, fluorite, and phosphates. The use of flotation for recovery of fine coal is also widely practiced. The flotation process begins with a modification of the surface properties of the desired mineral. The addition of surfactants renders the mineral surface hydrophobic (water-hating), so that the mineral may preferentially adhere to air bubbles and float to the surface. The unwanted minerals remain hydrophilic (water-loving) and do not attach to air bubbles. The surface of the slurry is modified by other reagents that lower surface tension forces. This allows the air bubbles to form a semi-stable froth. The hydrophobic minerals are recovered by skimming the froth off of the surface, while the hydrophilic minerals remain in the slurry. The establishment of a hydrophobic surface on a mineral is similar in principle to waxing an automobile or shining shoes to prevent wetting. A hydrocarbon layer is established on the surface because the hydrocarbon surface is not water-wetted. In flotation systems, chemical, rather than mechanical, means are used to establish the hydrocarbon layer selectively on one or more of minerals, and the layer is not complete. There are three main types of surfactants used in flotation: collectors, frothers, and modifier - Collectors are also known as promoters. They are polar reagents with a metal ion on one end joined by an organic ion at the other end. The metal ion adsorbs onto a metal ion in the mineral surface. The organic ion at the other end forms a new surface that is hydrophobic. A common example, potassium amyl xanthate, C5H11OCS2K that dissolves or ionizes in water. - Frothers are surface-active chemicals that concentrate at the air-water interface. They prevent air bubbles from coalescing or bursting by lowering the surface tension of the slurry. Frothing properties can be persistent or non-persistent depending on the desired stability of the froth. Examples of frothers are pine oil and high molecular weight alcohols such as MIBC. There are other proprietary frothers developed by various chemical companies - Modifiers are sometimes known as regulators, and are used to vary slurry and mineral conditions to assist in the selective flotation of minerals. Modifiers may activate poorly floating minerals such as sphalerite, or may depress certain minerals, so that a differential flotation can be performed on a complex ore. Chemicals that change the pH of the slurry are also used as modifiers. pH modifiers include lime, soda ash, sulfuric acid; can act as activators and/or depressants by controlling the alkalinity and acidity of the slurry. Modifiers can also counteract interfering effects from the detrimental slimes, colloids, and soluble salts that can absorb and thereby reduce the effectiveness of flotation reagents.
Rapid emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants due to virus’ ability to momentarily accelerate its evolutionary pace Peer review: doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msac013 Funding: Medical Research Future Fund New research led by the Doherty Institute has found the SARS-CoV-2 virus has the ability to momentarily accelerate its evolutionary pace, enabling variants to emerge more rapidly than other viruses. Recently published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, the team, led by University of Melbourne Dr Sebastian Duchene, an Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow at the Doherty Institute and lead author on the paper, found the virus that causes the disease COVID-19 is actually undergoing short-lived mutational bursts and then returning to its ‘normal’ rate. Dr Duchene explained that usually all viruses mutate at a fairly constant rate, with most taking a year or more to develop a new variant. “However, what we were seeing with the variants of SARS-CoV-2, particularly the variants of concern, is that they have undergone many more mutations than we would expect under the normal evolutionary pace of similar coronaviruses,” Dr Duchene said. “The Delta variant, for example, emerged within just six weeks from its ancestral form.” To understand why this was occurring, Dr Duchene’s laboratory conducted computational analyses of hundreds of genome sequences from SARS-CoV-2 strains to understand the mechanisms under which variants of concern emerge, with a focus on the first four: Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. “Initially it was believed that SARS-CoV-2 must have increased its evolutionary rate in general, but actually it’s the virus’s ability to temporarily increase its speed which is causing the difference in pace,” Dr Duchene said. “It’s like someone pumping the accelerator on a car.” Dr Duchene said these bursts could be driven by a number of factors including prolonged infections in individuals, strong natural selection, which is enabling the virus to favour immune escape, or increased transmissibility with unvaccinated populations allowing the virus to rapidly spread and evolve. The discovery highlights the importance of continued genome surveillance efforts to ensure early detection of new variants. “With this virus evolving so rapidly, early detection is paramount in enabling us to monitor and respond to the virus,” said Dr Duchene. He also stressed the need for increased vaccination. “Anything we can do to have less virus out there will help reduce the probability that new variants will emerge.”
Scientists at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany have developed a new blood test for Alzheimer’s disease that is capable of detecting early indicators well before patients begin to exhibit symptoms. Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, researchers say early detection could open up new therapeutic opportunities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Symptoms include memory loss, trouble concentrating, difficulty completing familiar tasks and confusion. Dementia affects around 50 million people worldwide, with nearly 10 million new cases every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Alzheimer’s is characterised by the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques, or sticky protein clusters, in the brain. These toxic substances begin to build up in the patient’s body 15-20 years before disease onset. According to a 2017 study by the University of Southern California, increased levels of amyloid plaque in the brain are the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s. Published on Friday in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, the study evaluated whether the new blood test could accurately detect the presence of the pathological form of amyloid-beta in the blood in the early stages of the disease and before disease onset. The new test works by measuring the amounts of healthy amyloid-beta and pathological amyloid-beta in the blood. Using data from a previous study, researchers tested blood samples of 65 participants who were later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and more than 800 controls. The blood test detected signs of Alzheimer’s disease in asymptomatic individuals an average of eight years before diagnosis. The test correctly identified individuals with Alzheimer’s 70% of the time and had an overall diagnostic accuracy of 86%. However, the test did produce some false positives – around 9% of test subjects that did not have Alzheimer’s were incorrectly detected as positive. Currently, Alzheimer’s is diagnosed using costly positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans or by analysing samples of cerebrospinal fluid collected from patients through a lumbar puncture. The new blood test is a cheaper and simpler option that would allow doctors to screen the wider population and select individuals who could benefit from further testing. Doing so, researchers say, would help limit unnecessary invasive and costly testing procedures. “At the moment, the test is not yet suitable for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s because of the false positive results,” Klaus Gerwert, a professor at Ruhr University Bochum who led the research, told German magazine Focus. “But it opens the opportunity to filter out people in a cost-effective and minimally invasive screening.” Gerwert, who developed the test, said it “shows a novel approach to detect early states of misfolding diseases, which could be extended to other diseases.” The researchers intend to apply the blood test to detect Parkinson’s disease by substituting the amyloid-beta measure for alpha-synuclein, another disease biomarker, in a future study.
Dim light emanating from the purgatory between galaxies could illuminate the most shadowy constituents of the cosmos. Dark matter, an unidentified type of particle that interacts gravitationally but otherwise shuns normal matter, lurks throughout clusters of galaxies. Because the elusive substance emits no light, it’s difficult to pin down how it is distributed, even though it makes up the majority of a cluster’s mass. But a feeble glow known as intracluster light could reveal dark matter’s whereabouts, researchers suggest July 30 at arXiv.org. The intermediary could eventually help scientists get a better handle on what dark matter is and how it behaves. Galaxy clusters grow by swallowing up additional galaxies. As galaxies are assimilated, they can be torn apart and their stars scattered. It’s those stars that produce intracluster light. And where there’s intracluster light, there’s dark matter, the team found. “The shape of this very diffuse light traces very nicely the shape of the total mass of the cluster,” says study coauthor Mireia Montes, an astrophysicist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Once stripped from their galaxies, the stars are tugged by the dark matter’s gravity and thereby end up concentrated in the same regions as it resides. Typically, scientists use an effect called gravitational lensing to map dark matter (SN: 10/17/15, p. 24). A galaxy cluster’s mass acts like a lens, bending light from more distant objects. By measuring that bending, scientists can see how the dark matter’s mass is distributed within the cluster. However, “that is an incredibly hard measurement to make,” says astrophysicist Stacy Kim of Ohio State University, who was not involved with the research. Measuring intracluster light is easier, Kim says, but teasing out the faint light is still challenging, requiring extended observations with a powerful telescope. Scientists sometimes use another proxy for dark matter: X-rays emitted by hot gas within a cluster. But if a galaxy cluster has recently merged with another, collisions between gas clouds mean that the X-rays will be displaced from the dark matter. So a map of the matter made using X-rays might be skewed. The stars that produce intracluster light don’t have that problem, because they don’t get knocked off course in cluster mergers the way colliding gas clouds do. In a study of six galaxy clusters, each observed with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers found that the distribution of intracluster light matched up well with the dark matter mass distribution as determined by gravitational lensing. The X-ray distribution didn’t match, because the six clusters had each been roiled by a recent smashup with another cluster. The team hopes to study more clusters to see if the match between dark matter and intracluster light holds up. By measuring intracluster light, scientists could “perhaps learn something about the nature of dark matter,” says astrophysicist James Bullock of the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved with the research. If the distribution of dark matter in galaxy clusters doesn’t agree with standard theoretical predictions, that could reveal new properties of the unidentified particles. For example, dark matter might be interacting with itself (SN: 7/7/18, p. 9). So having a new method to trace out dark matter is great, Bullock says. “This is definitely promising.”
Although quinoa has become a food du jour and has rapidly increased in popularity in recent years, it is a traditional food of many aboriginal American communities. The Mother Grain is a documentary about the surging popularity of quinoa and how this has been impacting the local Aymara and Quechua farmers in Bolivia. Quinoa was used extensively by the ancestors of the Aymara and Quechua, in traditional ceremonial practices. This led the Spanish Conquistadors to ban growing the sacred grain. Like so many rooted practices, the colonial bans were never completely successful. Like Spiritual Baptists, Orisha devotion and many religious practises across the Americas, cultivation and honoring of Quinoa continued, just on a smaller scale. Quinoa’s comeback among vegetarians and vegans, health food advocates, is bringing the super food back into a place of honour in the light. The Mother Grain looks at how the increased global demand of Quinoa is affecting the indigenous farmers who grow it.
All About Continental Games See also other The inaugural editiion of the All-Africa Games were held in 1965 in the city of Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. The inaugural edition of the Asian Games were held in 1951 in the city of New Delhi, India. The inaugural edition of the European Games is scheduled to be take place in 2015 in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan. The inaugural Pacific Games, known at the time as the South Pacific Games, were held in 1963 in the city of Suva, Fiji. The inaugural Pan American Games were held in 1951 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“What is the best combination of soil/amendments when building a rose garden flower bed?” Question from Nancy of Denton, Texas Answer: It’s an excellent question. A great part of successful rose growing is getting the soil right. The best soil for roses should have a good balance of porosity and water-holding ability in addition to a slightly acid pH between 6.5 to 7. Basically, roses need good drainage and ample organic matter, so plant them in a raised area with soil that drains well and then add lots of good amendments. I fortify my soils for roses with Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, which has a lower pH, and Black Gold Garden Compost Blend. The combination of the two is perfect. Before planting my roses, I like to add a 1:1:2 ratio of peat to compost to garden soil. I also fertilize the soil at planting time. My favorite natural rose food is alfalfa meal, which has the perfect balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for roses. It really supports good growth and flowering. But, this is just one of many commercially available rose fertilizers to try. Mulch really helps roses during the heat of summer, and I know it gets hot in Texas. My favorite mulches for roses are leaf mulch (chopped, partially composted leaves) or pine straw. Both look sharp and work well. I also recommend you watch our recent Black Gold Video, Organic Rose Growing in Nine Steps (below)! I hope this helps!

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