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Some relationships are doomed from the beginning, and the same can be said of some planetary systems. Scientists using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have identified a star and its planet that are locked in a mutually volatile relationship. Located 880 light-years away, the star CoRoT-2a is ruthlessly pummeling a closely-orbiting planet with powerful X-rays, blasting an estimated 5 million tons of material off of it every second! The planet, dubbed CoRoT-2b, orbits its star at a distance of about 3 percent the distance between the Earth and the sun — only around 2.8 million miles — and receives a hundred thousand times the X-ray radiation that Earth receives. In turn, the planet’s close proximity may be responsible for keeping up the high rotation rate of its star, increasing its magnetic activity and thus its X-ray output. Talk about negative reinforcement! A nearby companion star to CoRoT-2a does not exhibit this level of X-ray activity, possibly due to a lack of a similar closely orbiting planet. The image above is an artist’s illustration of the system, showing a very magnetically active star blowing clouds of material off a hapless planet. Seen right, is an image made of X-ray data from Chandra and optical and infrared data from the Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes (PROMPT) and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), showing the star CoRoT-2a in the center. Its purple glow indicates it as an X-ray source. The nearby star is the dimmer object just to the bottom right of CoRot-2a. (The planet itself cannot be seen in this image.) Discoveries like this are a testament to the many types of extreme and exotic conditions that exoplanets may exist in. One can’t help but realize what a cozy spot our own planet has, considering the possible alternatives! Want more dirt on the CoRoT-2a couple? Read more about their rather abusive relationship on the Chandra site here. CoRoT-2b, was discovered by the French Space Agency’s Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits (CoRoT) satellite in 2008. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Hamburg/S.Schröter et al; Optical: NASA/NSF/IPAC-Caltech/UMass/2MASS, UNC/CTIO/PROMPT; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss.

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"I already had a sense that something was different about this sand than other materials we have studied," Hunt said. Several times each summer, Huntwith her research colleague, mechanical engineering professor Chris Brennen, and her undergraduate studentshas made the long drive to one of four sand dunes in the California and Nevada desert. The most recent trip took them to Dumont Dunes, north of Baker, California. There, the primary dune extends for a mile (1.6 kilometers), with smaller dunes scattered around it. The main dune is up to 400 feet (120 meters) high. The team uses a combination of regular microphones and "geophones" (microphones placed underground) to record the vibrations both acoustically and seismically. Then, Hunt and her students slide down the sand dune. "We know from the geophone measurements that we can pick up the vibrations a good ways from where we have made the avalanching of the sand," she said. "It seems to be able to travel through the dune, and persist for up to a minute after we slide." Hunt says the sound has a really pure frequency that one would associate with a musical instrument. "The question is, what sets up that frequency?" she said. Until now the only explanation has been the rubbing of grains over each other. At the Kelso Dunes there is even a sign that informs people that the rubbing of the grain causes the booming sound they hear from the dunes. But that didn't seem to fit Hunt's observations. "You can feel these vibrations even where there is no shearing of the sand," she said. "And the frequency [of the vibrations] seem to change with the time of the year." So what else is happening within the dune? Using radar, Hunt and her students have confirmed the existence of a band of wet, hard sand some two meters (6.6 feet) below the surface. This is caused by rainfall percolating into the sand dune over a period. "If you have some water at depth within this dune that reflects the radar signal, maybe it also reflects the acoustics signal," Hunt said. "Maybe what you're really having is this reverberation within the dune that's affected by a harder or wetter layer below that causes a reflection in the dry sand in the upper part of the dune." Since the seasons affect how much moisture is in the sand, the wet-layer theory would also explain why the sound varies by the season. "The sound is low and very discreet in frequency, and it's that discreetness that can really only come about as a result of some kind of resonance within the dune," Brennen, Hunt's research colleague, said. The testing of the dunes may sound a little offbeat, but it ties into Hunt's research on the flow of particulates and granular materials, including the natural environment of both sand and debris flows. A better understanding of the way granular material moves could lead to advances in industrial uses. It could also help scientists in predicting the paths of landslide flows, for example. To Hunt, it's also a chance to solve an age-old mystery. "People have reported this phenomenon for hundreds of years," she said. "This is about understanding better what happens in nature." Brennan says the beauty of the sand dunes is part of the allure. "It's a special experience to go out there on a summer morning and climb to the top of [a] 400-foot [120-meter] sand dune and start the sand moving and hear this incredible sound," he said. "It has a kind of ethereal wonder to it." Don't Miss a Discovery Sign up for the free Inside National Geographic newsletter. Every two weeks we'll send you our top news stories by e-mail. For more natural-phenomena stories, scroll to bottom. SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES

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WASHINGTON, D.C.--The oldest galaxies ever seen and a black hole on a diet were two of the highlights here today at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Sifting through images taken by the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted seven galaxies that date back to a mere 600 million to 800 million years after the big bang--the earliest galaxies found so far by 200 million years. That takes researchers close to the primordial stage of cosmic evolution, when the first galaxies were coming to life. Astronomers have already learned a few things about the newly discovered galaxies. One is that they are tiny compared with contemporary galaxies--barely 5% the size of the Milky Way and less than 1% its mass. "These are the seeds of the great galaxies of today," says Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Illingworth led the survey team that took the new images using Wide Field Camera 3, one of two new instruments mounted on the Hubble in a servicing mission last year. The other striking fact about the galaxies is that they are populated by stars that formed 300 million years prior to the time stamp of the galaxies themselves. That pushes back the earliest star-forming days of the universe to within a few hundred million years of the big bang--a blink of an eye in astronomical time. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy is a fully developed modern entity--and today we learned a bit more about it as well. Black holes are monsters that supposedly consume everything that comes close to them, yet the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way has been known to eat up only a tiny fraction of the gas and dust blowing in from massive young stars nearby. Astronomers have estimated that this fraction ought to be about 1% of the total fuel that lies within reach of the black hole. But in the case of the Milky Way's central black hole--known as Sagittarius (Sgr) A*--that fraction turns out to be even smaller: a tiny 1% of 1%. Why does Sgr A* eat so little? A possible answer comes from a new model of the black hole's feeding behavior, presented by a team led by Roman Shcherbakov, an x-ray astronomer at Harvard University. Based on data taken by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the model takes into account how energy flows between two regions around the black hole--an inner core close to the boundary beyond which light cannot escape (the event horizon) and an outer ring that extends far out and includes the massive young stars lurking near the black hole. Energy released from the collisions of particles within the hot core travels to the outer part through conduction, causing pressure that drives much of the gas in the outer region beyond the reach of the black hole. One way to validate the model is to predict how the x-ray brightness of gas around the black hole would vary as one travels outward from the center. Shcherbakov says the model has passed this test swimmingly.

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<< Back to Feature Page Death on the Nile By A. R. Williams Princess Idut didn't live to adulthood. The limestone reliefs that line her mortuary chapel show her only as a child. Finely modeled scenes celebrating the abundance of the Nile River Valley surround her—fish and waterfowl, a crocodile snapping at a newborn hippo, cows with their calves, gaggles of geese—all normal decoration for a royal Egyptian burial. But something isn't right. "Idut has replaced someone else," says Naguib Kanawati, professor of Egyptology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. "Look here," he continues, pointing to a rough patch by Idut's knee in a boating scene. "A foot has been erased, chiseled out and sanded over. And a man's kilt too." I can just make out the hint of a strapping male, standing tall, hovering behind the demure girl. Princess Idut died around 2330 b.c. She was interred beneath her mortuary chapel, which stands near the pyramid tombs of her grandfather King Unas, and her father, King Teti, at the place now known as Saqqara. Site of Egypt's first monumental stone tombs, Saqqara was one of the most revered royal cemeteries of ancient Egypt—roughly equivalent to Arlington National Cemetery in the United States today. When Idut's tomb was discovered in the mid-1920s, no one paid much attention to the altered reliefs. But recently Kanawati took a closer look and found traces of unexpected intrigue. "I've reread the hieroglyphs and identified the tomb's original owner," he says. "It was Ihy, a vizier, or prime minister, of King Unas." Like most wealthy, well-positioned Egyptians of his time, Ihy had spent years preparing his final resting place. So how did Princess Idut end up with it? Kanawati's answer involves a tantalizing new theory about a palace coup and the mysterious circumstances surrounding King Teti's accession. "We don't know where Teti came from. We just know he married a daughter of Unas and became king when his father-in-law died. I think he came to the throne by force and Ihy opposed him, unsuccessfully." As an enduring punishment, Teti gave Ihy's tomb to a daughter. This dynastic succession that once seemed so simple is one of many episodes acquiring a new spin at Saqqara, where burials span the entire 3,000 years and 31 dynasties of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Focusing on periods when the site was most heavily used by the rich and powerful, archaeologists are discovering evidence for the kind of cloak-and-dagger dramas that would make headlines today—conspiracies, assassinations, acts of revenge, scheming queens, ambitious politicians, and religious extremes. West of the emerald alfalfa fields and dusty green palm groves that flank the Nile, Saqqara rests atop a rocky escarpment the color of ripe wheat. Here the wind-rippled desert sand begins its sweep toward Libya. And here on the sunset bank of the Nile, the ancient Egyptians believed, was as close as mortal remains could get to the great beyond. In their view of the world, when the sun slipped beneath the desert horizon each evening, it traveled through the underworld ruled by Osiris, the god of the afterlife, until being reborn in the morning on the opposite side of the great river. Saqqara was part of an immense burial ground that stretched for 45 miles (72 kilometers) along the Nile. "The cemeteries start at Abu Rawash in the north and continue on through Giza, Abusir, Saqqara, Dahshur, and Maidum," explains Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, running down the modern names of sites for me in a quick tutorial. This area just south of the Nile Delta has great strategic value because the river narrows here to form a natural gateway. To control river traffic, and with it the rest of the country, kings of the very first dynasties fortified both riverbanks. They soon began to build palaces above the fertile floodplain—the beginning of Memphis, Egypt's early capital—and staked out their gravesites in the neighboring desert, where relatives and officials would surround them in death as they had in life. Early tombs were cut into the bedrock and capped with a low mud-brick building known as a mastaba. Some survive as dark smudges in the ever encroaching sand, almost in the shadow of the 4,630-year-old tomb that elevated their form and changed the shape of royal burials: the Step Pyramid. Rising skyward in six sand-dusted tiers, this tomb of King Djoser is the centerpiece of Saqqara. "This is the world's very first pyramid," says Hawass. "Imhotep, the architect, imitated the mud-brick prototype, but he stacked the mastabas on top of each other. And he built in stone." This monumental experiment inspired the construction of a hundred royal pyramid tombs along the Nile, almost two dozen of which have been discovered at Saqqara itself. A pair of rival queens buried at Saqqara have captured Hawass's attention recently. Both were married to King Teti, and each surely schemed against the other. Their names were Iput and Khuit. Hawass's work in the area around their tombs has uncovered hints that Teti's reign very likely ended the way it began—in upheaval. Hawass guides me down a slope of scree and into his excavation site just northeast of Teti's own pyramid. Walking briskly through the stone courtyards and passages of side-by-side mortuary complexes, we stop between two rough hills of umber blocks and rubble. Stripped of their white limestone casing by workers building later tombs, these pyramids were buried by more than 20 feet (6 meters) of sand and forgotten. But Hawass is restoring both to their proper place in history. "Iput's pyramid was found in the 1890s," he says, nodding to the mound on our left. "Everyone assumed she was the main wife of Teti because her son Pepi became king. But look what I found under a big pile of sand—Khuit's pyramid!" I follow his gaze to our right. "Khuit's was built first, so she must have come before Iput." Glancing around to get my bearings, I realize we're traversing the bottom of a huge bowl that is still being dug out. Several feet above the top of Khuit's pyramid, young men in dark pants and sweatshirts swing their hoes and fill woven baskets with sand, rocks, and coarse red potsherds. Other workers hoist the bulging baskets to their shoulders and stagger off in a steady line to a spoil heap. Hawass marches across a narrow ledge between a wall and a tomb shaft that plunges into darkness. I scurry across without looking into the abyss, and a quick turn brings us into the ruins of a mortuary chapel. The reliefs on the walls show lines of servants presenting the tomb owner with baskets of produce, jars of beer, legs of beef, loaves of bread. Some of the reliefs still have traces of paint. "I found this burial complex too. It belongs to Tetiankh-Kem, Tetiankh the Black," says Hawass, reading the hieroglyphs on a sculpted door as easily as if they were yesterday's newspaper—which to him they are. "He was Khuit's son and King Teti's heir. We x-rayed his mummy and discovered that he died around age 25." By now I'm lost: Teti's oldest son died young. Pepi, the son of second wife Iput, inherited the throne instead. Right? Maybe. Or maybe not. The plot turns sinister here. "This is a dark period," Hawass concedes when we meet in his book-filled office the next day. The ancient king lists are inconclusive. Some skip straight from Teti to Pepi I. But two insert a ruler—the mysterious Userkare—between father and son. Adding his recent discoveries to the fragments of written evidence, Hawass constructs a plausible chain of events. "I think Khuit's son Tetiankh-Kem was killed with his father, King Teti. Maybe Userkare was even involved in the conspiracy, but he ruled only until Queen Iput managed to get her son Pepi on the throne." More evidence that a conspiracy brought down Teti has come to light in the tombs of his officials, which hug the streets of a small neighborhood of the dead beside the pyramid of the king. As a bitter winter wind whips across the desert one morning, Naguib Kanawati and I take shelter in another mortuary chapel that was prepared by one person and used by someone else. "The original name was chiseled off and another was substituted—Seshemnefer," Kanawati says, directing me to a line of hieroglyphs in the depression left by the erasure. "He was a very minor official, and he says the tomb was assigned to him by the king." "Now, look above the doorway." I see nothing, blinded by the sun streaming in. Kanawati takes off his wide gray scarf and blocks as much of the light as he can. Immediately, hieroglyphs pop out across the stone. "It's the name of the original owner of the tomb—Hezi, vizier of King Teti. Whoever was in charge of changing the reliefs probably missed this one." Just as I did. I feel like I'm visiting a crime scene with a first-rate detective. Outside there's more. A series of gouges scars the two pillars of a portico and the boating scenes that flank the door. I had dismissed the damage as vandalism. Wrong again. "Hezi was depicted in those places, but he was chiseled out very meticulously," says Kanawati. "The figures in these tombs are not just art. They're functional. The deceased lives through them. So to punish someone in the afterlife, you have to mutilate every figure." A man in Hezi's position likely understood that after death his ka, or life force, could return to this world through the figures in his tomb. He hoped relatives and priests would bring fresh offerings to sustain his ka, but in case they forgot or slacked off, he had his tomb filled with scenes that the ka could use. Provided with this magic in stone—food and drink, the support of servants, the company of singers and dancers, and opportunities to fish and hunt—the ka could continue to experience all the pleasures of the here and now. By destroying Hezi's tomb figures, someone permanently severed his access to the world of the living. What had the vizier done to be punished so severely? Plotted against King Teti, Kanawati believes. The surviving heir, Pepi I, would then have taken everlasting revenge, altering and reassigning Hezi's tomb. "I can't say for sure that Teti was assassinated, but something catastrophic happened," Kanawati says. "The more we look, the more evidence we find that there was a huge conspiracy. Many people were punished." Hezi was most likely one of the ringleaders. So were Teti's chief physician and the overseer of the armory, who received the same punishment. The official in charge of the palace guard seems to have played a lesser role. Only his nose and feet were chiseled from the reliefs in his chapel. Kanawati takes me from tomb to tomb, showing me the evidence he has collected and building his case. "For me," he says with a satisfied smile, "it's like Agatha Christie." Excavations near Pepi I's pyramid in the southern section of Saqqara have provided enough intrigue for at least another chapter in his family's saga—and new characters for me to keep straight. Audran Labrousse, director of the French Archaeological Mission, has uncovered seven new pyramids here. Three belong to wives of Pepi I, including Ankhesenpepi II, the most important woman of her time. "She was one of two sisters from Abydos who married Pepi I," Labrousse begins over strong coffee in the French excavation house, which overlooks the Nile Valley from a cliff at the desert's edge. "Her name means 'she lives for Pepi.' Her sister's son Merenre became king when Pepi I died, but he ruled for only a few years. Then Ankhesenpepi's own son, Pepi II, came to the throne. He was about six, we think, so his mother became regent. She had real power, and you can see it in her tomb." To get to her pyramid, we bounce into the desert in a Peugeot station wagon, pulling up between the pyramids of Pepi I and Merenre, both now hummocks of tumbled stones. Workers enlarging an already huge arena of tombs and temples load sand into rusty carts that roll on tracks to the dumps. We follow the faint scratch of a path to the bottom of the excavation and approach a jagged stone wall that holds back a heap of rock and sand. "This was a pyramid," says Labrousse, striding toward an opening at the base. "You'll have to trust me." Skirting slabs of red granite that were once a portcullis, we climb down a ladder and crouch through a low sloping corridor. "She was not a king, but she was so close," Labrousse says, stepping into Ankhesenpepi's burial chamber. Taking a flashlight from the woven excavation basket he uses as a briefcase, he shows me the sarcophagus, placed to the west near the dying sun. Then he traces the hieroglyphs that rain down the stone walls, column after incised column painted green, color of rebirth. "This queen is the first female to be buried with a text like this," he explains, amazement coloring his voice. "Before her, the sacred incantations known as Pyramid Texts were for kings only. The deceased ruler had to pass through death to become immortal, and he did it with the help of these texts. He called out the words to make his body function again in the afterlife." Or, in this case, she did. Ankhesenpepi must have been a remarkable woman. Royal wives before her had existed quietly in the background. Suddenly she stepped forward and claimed the strongest of the kings' magic spells. And that's not all. Exiting the pyramid, Labrousse leads me through the ruins of her mortuary temple to an inscribed block of white limestone. "We once thought Merenre was Pepi II's half brother, but we threw out that theory when we found this," he says. "It clearly states that Ankhesenpepi was the wife of Pepi I, and the wife of Merenre, and the mother of Pepi II." The genealogy is too complicated. I shake my head, unable to work it out. Labrousse tries again. "The widow of a king was no one. After the death of Pepi I, Ankhesenpepi would have gone back to the harem, but we think she managed to seduce her nephew Merenre. And fortunately, she had a son, Pepi II." Now it makes sense. This woman was an early Cleopatra—alluring, savvy, ruthless. Labrousse is trying to reconstruct the plan of her mortuary temple. So far he has a 17-ton (15-metric ton) red granite lintel, part of a limestone obelisk, and scattered stones from the walls. "She's buried near Pepi I, but her tomb is turned toward Merenre's. So where was the door?" he wonders. "The queen's whole situation is complicated for us—imagine how it must have been for her." Including his mother's regency, Pepi II may have reigned for more than 90 years—longer than any other king in Egyptian history. By the time he died in about 2175 b.c., the central government was close to collapse, and within the next two decades governors had seized control of their individual provinces. A lingering drought probably aggravated the political turmoil. Without rain there was no water for irrigation, crops failed, and hunger racked the entire population. The era known today as the Old Kingdom came to an end. Subsequent kings reunified the country and moved the capital several times, but Memphis continued as a vital urban and religious center. "It was sort of like New York City, which was once the capital of the United States," says David Silverman, a professor of Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania, where I visit him during a day of classes. "The capital moved, but somehow New York has always remained important." Tied to the city, activity at Saqqara ebbed and flowed with the politics. Kings were buried elsewhere now, but the old royal burials still had the power to attract the faithful. Silverman has been studying the tombs of two Middle Kingdom priests of the cult of King Teti, long departed but still worshiped as a god. From a file he extracts an inked cutaway view of the two mortuary complexes, which sit across the street from Teti's pyramid. But there's a twist. After plunging straight down, the tomb shafts sneak under the street, putting the burials beneath Teti's own sacred space. The priests, it seems, were cozying up to the big man in the great beyond. Other kings were not nearly so beloved. Officials of New Kingdom maverick Akhenaten may even have deliberately tried to keep their distance in the afterlife, and with good reason. Several years into his reign, in about 1348 b.c., Akhenaten banned worship of the traditional gods and formed a new religion around Aten, the sun disk. He also founded a new capital, Akhetaten (modern Amarna), in the desert far to the south of Saqqara. "He behaved like a maniac," says Maarten Raven, curator of the Egyptian collection in the Netherlands' National Museum of Antiquities. "It was a shock to his contemporaries." Raven has recently uncovered the tomb of one contemporary, a high priest at the temple of Aten in Memphis. Edging into the desert south of the Step Pyramid, the complex includes a burial shaft set in a courtyard once forested with papyrus-shaped columns. Four barrel-vaulted mud-brick chapels mark the corners of the courtyard, and limestone reliefs decorate its walls. The owner of the tomb was named Meryneith, or at least that's how he started out. In what seems to have been a continuing scramble for political survival, Meryneith changed his name twice—first to Meryre, then back to Meryneith. His tomb, built in three stages over the course of his career, holds the proof. In the oldest section, carved before Akhenaten's revolution, doorjambs to a chapel were inscribed with the official's original name. "Meryneith means 'beloved of the goddess Neith,'" Raven explains, tracing his index finger above the bracket of two hunting bows, tips crossed at each end, that symbolizes the deity. The sign was altered, however, in the second building phase. A circle, the symbol of the sun, was carved over the bodies of the bows, and plaster was smoothed over their tips. "We can see here that he changed his name to Meryre, 'beloved of the sun,'" Raven says. "It looks as if Meryneith felt it would further his career to drop the reference to the old goddess and take a new name that was politically correct." We move to a fragment of a wall relief that once depicted the tomb owner and his wife. All that remains of Meryneith is an arm, painted ruddy brown, but the hieroglyphs are clear—two bows, tips crossed, cleanly cut into the stone. "This was done during the third stage of decoration," Raven concludes. "Meryneith reverted to his old identity as a polytheist as soon as Akhenaten was dead." Was Meryneith attempting another career move, distancing himself from the heretic king who was reviled in death? If so, he probably blew it. He never finished his tomb—maybe he couldn't escape his old connections and was booted out of this prime burial site. The tomb next door was built by a man named Horemheb, who maneuvered successfully through the politics of Akhenaten's time. He ultimately became king, prepared a royal burial, and gave this gravesite to one of his wives. If Horemheb knew Meryneith, "What did he think of him—that he was a man without backbone?" muses Raven. "On the other hand, Horemheb was very quiet about what he did during the Akhenaten period." Clues about the relationship between these two men may still lie hidden under the space that separates their mortuary complexes. Raven plans to dig there next spring. Sorting through what he finds won't be easy, though. As with the rest of Saqqara this area is riddled with the burials of unknown officials and commoners from other eras, and looters have tunneled between the tomb shafts. "It's like Swiss cheese underground," says Raven. "That makes a very complex puzzle—but if it were straightforward it would be boring, wouldn't it?" The long parade of Egyptian kings ended with Alexander the Great's conquest of 332 b.c. Foreign ways eroded the civilization that had risen to greatness along the Nile, but the monuments in the desert endured, and daily life continued much as it had for millennia. Late one afternoon I climb the weathered stump of a mud-brick palace built in Memphis during the last years of native rule. From the top I look over the modern village of Mit Rahina, where wash hangs from the windows of two-story red-brick houses and children run laughing down streets of dirt. Farmers on donkeys start home from the surrounding fields, and herders walk their cattle in from distant pastures. Along the western horizon I see what the ancient Egyptians did—the pyramids of Abusir, Saqqara, Dahshur. Finally, just beside the Step Pyramid, the sun slips away to join Osiris for the night.

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Copyright © University of Cambridge. All rights reserved. Why do this problem? This problem offers an introduction to gradients within a simple environment that allows students to explore all the important aspects of gradient. This is a suitable preparation for students to move on to: Share with the class the definition of gradient given at the start of the problem. Resist the temptation to give a 'rule' for working out gradients, as methods should emerge in the discussions Display a copy of the grid below (a larger version can be Some of the following questions could be used to get students thinking about different gradients: "I'm picturing a line with a gradient of 2 which goes through H. What other point does it go through?" "Identify another line with a gradient of 2. How many can you "Identify a line which is steeper/less steep. Can you find "Can you find any lines with gradients between 1 and 2?" "What is the gradient of the line going through G and "Can you find a steeper/less steep (negative) line? Can you find another one?" "Why might it be problematic to work out the gradient of the line going through R and M?" Use these questions as an opportunity to share different strategies for working out the gradients. Hand out copies of this sheet students to work in pairs on the main problem: "How many different gradients can you find? Can you find them "Arrange them in order of steepness and list the points each line Expect students to work systematically so that they are in a good position to justify their findings. Circulate while students are discussing the problem, and towards the end of the session invite pairs with interesting approaches to share their conclusions with the rest of the group. What does it mean for a line to have positive or negative What can be said about lines with positive gradients greater than or less than 1 (or negative gradients greater than or less A standard method for working out gradients is to divide the vertical displacement by the horizontal displacement. What is the connection between this algorithm and the definition of gradient given at the start of the problem? Students could move on to At Right Angles to consider the gradients of perpendicular lines, or on to to investigate the relationship between the equations of parallel and perpendicular lines on a co-ordinate Students who are struggling to work systematically could be given the prompt, explained in the Hint, to fix one end of their ruler at an extreme point on the grid, and slowly move the other end to create lines with different gradients.

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In this video, professional horticulturist Mitch Baker shows how plant fall bulbs. Tags:planting fall bulbs,monkey see,american plant,mitch baker,monkeysee,winterize garden Grab video code: Hi! I am Mitch Baker with the American Plant in Bethesda. And we are talking about winterizing your ornamental garden and this is the spot we have chosen to plant some bulbs. But first we need to get this tropical elephant ear out of the ground and store it for the winter. So, we will start by cutting it back, again so we can see what we’re working with. Then we can gently dig this out of the soil and it will be stored in a dormant state over the winter, so we don’t have to be real careful about this. This is really just a giant tuber that stores a great deal of moisture, so over the winter in a dormant state we will store it in perlite or vermiculite or peat moss in a pot, down in the basement. Now that we have removed and stored the elephant ear for winter, our soil is ready to be prepared for the bulbs. And we’re going to do the same sort of soil preparation that we did for the fern using the same composted soil amendment. So we are going to work in a generous amount of the composted soil amendment to our soil because bulbs just like any other plant need to develop a good root system and they do that in a loose friable biologically active soil and create that by adding generous portion of the humic matter to the soil. All right, now we’ve added the composted soil amendment to our soil and then we’ve moved that amended soil up around the parameter of the hole and we’re checking the depth for our bulbs and the depth is determined by the type of bulb. Typically, we’re planting bulbs two to three times the depth of the bulb. Today we’re just going to be putting in some small corms, some crocus and they’re rather small and can be shallow but we still like to plant them a bit deeper than called for because it helps with root development, it also helps prevent squirrels from digging them up the next day after you have planted them. All right, now these crocuses are a corm, we talk about bulbs collectively. Bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes, divisions, collectively, we just refer to them as bulbs, but they are different. So as a corm, there is a top and there is a bottom; we’re going to make sure that that bottom where the roots develop comes into contact with the soil. So the broader, flatter portion of the bulb often with some dried roots to it, that’s coming into contact with the soil. So we’re just going to space these bulbs up in this hole in a random fashion, not too symmetrical, more random. Just the way you would find them in nature. You don’t find bulbs or flowers in perfect circles or straight lines in nature, so we’re trying to mimic the results of nature. All right, so now we have our crocus at the proper depth and the proper spacing, we know that, that bulb is coming into contact with the soil. We’re going to partially backfill it gently now, so we’re not disturbing those bulbs and after it’s partially backfilled, we’re going to go ahead and apply some fertilizer, very important to fertilize these bulbs at the time of planting. And again, we’re using a low fertility, organic fertilizer, getting it right into the soil profile at the time of planting. Now we can finish the backfill process. So, why am I digging a hole to plant bulbs and not using the typical bulb planter like this? Now I’m going to be putting quite a few crocus in a small space, so I’m concentrating and rather than trying to dig small individual holes. This way, I can amend the soil improve the soil and then place the bulbs at the proper depth and the proper spacing, much easier that way. When you’re using a bulb planter like this, first of all, you’re really going to give yourself a workout just trying to get this into unbroken soil and if you can imagine that core of soil that you pull out, look at the large bulb like a narcissus, a daffodil. It really doesn’t create a hole that’s going to allow this bulb to be deep enough from the soil, first of all, to come into contact with the bottom and that’s where the bottom of the bulb needs to be in contact with soil for root development. So if you got a bulb that’s suspended in a hole, you’re not going to get good root development. So I’m not certain that these types of bulb planters really do the job that they’re designed to do, that’s why, we’re digging a hole today so that we can see the bulbs in the proper spacing, at the proper depth, we know we’re going to get good results that way. Okay, well now that we have the bulbs in the ground, if you like, now that the soil is nice and loose, we can come back again and over plant, plant something right on the top of the bulbs. Pansies or violas, that will give us some color through the fall and winter and then be in place in spring as those bulbs begin to emerge. So we’ve already done our soil preparation, it is very easy now just to come in by hand, tuck in a few of these violas that will give us some color now for the remainder of fall and winter. They’ll be there in spring as the bulbs begin to emerge, so we get twice as much color. Again, what you do in the garden in the fall can make a big difference in how your garden performs in the spring. So, that about wraps up all of our chores for the fall, hope this has been helpful. Enjoy your garden.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Snow As Seen From Space In time for the 2012 winter solstice, a storm dropped snow over most of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. On December 20, the National Weather Service reported snow depths exceeding 100 centimeters (39 inches) in some places--the result of the recent snowfall plus accumulation from earlier storms. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on December 19, 2012. Clouds had mostly cleared from the region, though some cloud cover lingered over parts of the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. Showing more distinct contours than the clouds, the snow cover stretched across the Rocky Mountains and the surrounding region, from Idaho to Arizona and from California to Colorado. Snowfall did not stop in Colorado, as the storm continued moving eastward across the Midwest. By December 20, 2012, a combination of heavy snow and strong winds had closed schools, iced roads, and delayed flights, complicating plans for holiday travelers. Though troublesome for travel, the snow brought much-needed moisture; multiple cities had set new records for consecutive days without measurable snow, CBS news reported. As of December 18, the U.S. Drought Monitor stated that a substantial portion of the continental United States continued to suffer from drought, and "exceptional" drought conditions extended from South Dakota to southern Texas. CBS News. (2012, December 20) Snowstorm blows out of Rockies, into Midwest. Accessed December 20, 2012. National Weather Service. (2012, December 20) National Snow Analyses. Accessed December 20, 2012. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. (2012, December 18) U.S. Drought Monitor. Accessed December 20, 2012. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Aqua - MODIS. Larger images

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Early Paleolithic Phase I: Early Acheulian & Developed Oldowan B (c. 1.4 MYA to 1.0 MYA). The "Early Paleolithic" (also called "Lower Paleolithic") is a simplifying term OriginsNet uses for the era between the Oldowan and the Middle Paleolithic. The Early Paleolithic (EP) period saw the emergence of Homo ergaster and Homo erectus and the invention of Mode II Acheulian technology. In Africa, it is called the "Early Stone Age" and some sites have prepared core technologies, which do not appear in Europe until the subsequent Middle Paleolithic. Mode II Acheulian industry. Mode II technology is characterized by bifaces (also called 'handaxes'). Assemblages are known from 1.4 MYA at Peninj and Konso-Gardula and appear to have spread out of Africa into the Middle East, China and eventually Europe. Based originally on numerous bifaces found at the site of St. Acheul, France, the term is applied to stone assemblages with large bifacially flaked tools, including bifacial 'handaxes', cleavers and picks. The evolution appears to move from Oldowan core choppers to Early Acheulian 2-dimensional bifaces to elegantly 3-D symmetrical handaxes in later Acheulian periods. In step with the Developed Oldowan B, the Early Acheulian stone tool technology emerged out of the Evolved Oldowan and Developed Oldowan A technologies around 1.5 million years ago. Early Acheulian sites include Peninj MHS and RHS, West Natron, Tanzania (c. 1.4-1.7 MYA) and Olduvai Gorge EF-HR, Tanzania (c. 1.3-1.5 MYA). Images below are from these and similar sites. I propose a decoding of the spiritual analogues for the Early Acheulian technology: Notes Toward an Early Acheulian Stone Tools Logic Model: Constitutive Operations and Analogies of the Soul. The charts and images below find elaboration in this interpretation. Based on some seven cognitive operations involved in making these Early Acheulian bifaces, I suggest that these Early Acheulian artifacts could have been used to express the idea of renewal, re-presencing, restoration, and reparation of the sustaining core-essence, of its wholeness as an orientatio of the core, upright and balanced, with an internal, inward reference point, arrived at through circumambulating the core and establishing symmetry, both mirror and opposites and acknowledging and working with the residue of the irreparable. The form of the Olduvai Gorge biface slide '#n' [below] could well have expressed such an idea, as could any of the other bifaces in this series. Photographer © as noted

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2013-05-24T16:37:51Z

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What lessons can be drawn from the anti-apartheid struggle to overcome the siege on Gaza? Much attention has been paid to Israel’s “easing” of its siege of Gaza in early July 2010. Palestinians in Gaza now have access to previously banned items like pasta and chocolate. However, there is no freedom of movement for people and goods. In other words, Gaza remains under siege as it has since 2006, almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Haidar Eid reflects on the extent to which the apartheid analogy applies to the situation in Gaza. He draws telling comparisons with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and argues that the Palestinian national movement has ignored those lessons to its own detriment. Israeli-Apartheid in Gaza? The Palestinian national movement has overlooked this question: Does the Gaza Strip resemble the racist Bantustans of apartheid South Africa? During the apartheid-era, South Africa’s black population was kept in isolation and without political and civil rights. Is Gaza similar? The answer is yes and no. What is apartheid? As defined by the 1973 United Nations convention, apartheid is a policy of racial or ethnic segregation founded on a set of discriminatory practices that favor a specific group in order to ensure its racial supremacy over another group.1 In Israel, institutionalized racial discrimination is unequivocally founded on ensuring the primacy of a group of Jewish settlers over the Palestinian Arabs. When comparing the applications of the apartheid policy, it is difficult to identify any differences between white rule in South Africa and its Israeli counterpart in Palestine in terms of the segregation and designation of certain areas to Israeli Jews and others to the Arabs, the delineation of certain laws and privileges for Jews and a discriminatory set of laws that apply only to Palestinians. Currently, in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) there are two road systems, two housing systems, two educational systems, and different legal and administrative systems for Jews and non-Jews. Every law enacted during the South African apartheid system has a corresponding law in Israel. This includes the Group areas act, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, the Law on Movement and Permits, the Public Safety Act, the Population Registration Act, the Immorality Act, the Land Act and, of course, the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act. The corresponding Israeli laws are the Law of Return, the 2003 “temporary” laws prohibiting mixed marriages, the Population Registry Law, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, the Israeli Nationality Law, and land and property laws. Like South Africa. Israel’s brand of apartheid is mixed with settler colonialism. As in the United States and Australia, settler colonialism in Israel and South Africa has also involved the ethnic cleansing or genocide of the indigenous people influenced by a racist and/or religious ideology of supremacy. When evaluated along these lines, the term apartheid clearly applies to Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are isolated from the rest of the population in historical Palestine, and do not enjoy minimum political rights and basic living conditions available to Jewish residents because they were born to mothers from the “wrong” religion. In this context, it should be recalled that 80% of the population in the Strip were ethnically cleansed in 1948 and are barred from returning to the villages and cities from which they were driven. The Bantustans were part of the apartheid regime’s racist formula to separate the black population and preserve “white supremacy.” Although the Bantustans were called “independent homelands,” their inhabitants were not granted equal rights or even independent political decision-making power -- a harbinger of what is planned for the so-called independent Palestinian state within the June 1967 borders. In South Africa, the debate was about 11 states that could live side by side in peace. In spite of Pretoria’s best efforts, the Bantustans gained no international recognition save from Israel. Gaza is deprived of even this racist formula. Israel appears to have learned a lesson from South Africa. It did not appoint local leaders to provide "limited self-government" over the West Bank and Gaza. Rather, in coordination with the United States and shielded by the international community, Israel allowed "free" elections to take place so that the Bantustanization process could gain "legitimacy” and international approval with the consent of the indigenous people. Although hailed internationally, the elections which took place under occupation were a Palestinian tragedy. Israel succeeded in enticing the indigenous people in Palestine to promote the illusion of potential "independence" for segments of 22% of historical Palestine. These parcels of land without sovereignty would be sold to the world as an independent Palestinian state. Gaza Under Siege At the same time, the answer to the question of whether “apartheid” applies to Gaza is also no. The Gaza Strip has devolved from being a Bantustan between the Oslo accord years (1993-2002) into a large concentration camp. Several South African anti-apartheid activists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said during their visits to the OPT that what they saw was far worse than what South Africans witnessed during apartheid. The difference between the two kindred regimes – Israel and apartheid South Africa – is the difference between inferiority and dehumanization. As Saree Makdisi has explained it is a difference between exploitation and genocide.2 Never, throughout the history of apartheid in South Africa, did racist forces use the full force of their military against the civilian population in townships. In contrast, since the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada in September 2000 and culminating in the 2008-2009 winter invasion, Gaza has been attacked by F-16s, Apache helicopter gunships, warships, Merkava Tanks and internationally prohibited phosphorus bombs. Israel’s siege on Gaza was imposed after Palestinians elected Hamas in internationally sanctioned and observed elections in 2006. It was tightened after Hamas defeated forces loyal to the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007. Since then, the list of items banned from entering Gaza covered more than 200 articles including cement, paper, cancer medications and even pasta and chocolate! According to the Israeli organization Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Israel granted access to only 97 articles, compared to 4,000 before the blockade. About 80% of the Gaza Strip’s population survive on humanitarian aid. More than 90% of Gaza's factories have been shut down. When the 18-month old siege was unable to break the will of Palestinians in Gaza, Israel launched its deadly invasion at the end of 2008. According to the human rights organizations and the UN sanctioned Goldstone Report, over 1,400 Palestinians, including over 300 children, were killed and thousands wounded. Israel destroyed at least 11,000 homes, 105 factories, 20 hospitals and clinics as well as 159 schools, universities and technical institutes. Furthermore, it resulted in the displacement of 51,800 persons of whom 20,000 remain homeless. Commenting on this situation, Karen Abu Zayd, former Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) said: “Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution with the knowledge, acquiescence and — some would say — encouragement of the international community." Learning from South Africa There is an urgent need, at this historic moment after Israel’s 2008-2009 winter invasion of Gaza, to reshape international public opinion that is supportive of the Palestinian cause with emphasis on the multiple similarities between Zionism and the apartheid regime in South Africa. This can be accomplished by focusing on the common suffering of the indigenous black population and the Palestinians today, not only in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip but also in the Palestinian Diaspora and inside Israel. It is unfortunate that the “official” Palestinian leadership has not studied and learned lessons from the South African experience. On the contrary, they almost unanimously accepted the creation of a type of bantustan-based system that the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa rejected. One wonders about the real reason behind this deliberate disregard of a very rich experience. Does it derive from the same misguided notion as that of the Bantustan leaders who claimed African racial nationalism? Does it involve chauvinism and lack of openness to other people's experiences? Is our cause really so exceptional from a historical point of view that we must exceptionally accept racist solutions promoted as an “autonomous" solution? Unfortunately, the struggle for liberation has been reduced to one for Bantustans. In other words, the consciousness of the Palestinian struggle has split as a result of fetishizing the concept of state at the expense of liberation, nullifying the right of return without saying so, and the tiresome reiteration of the “Palestinian national project.” This stands in conflict with the aspirations of the vast majority of the Palestinian people who are refugees guaranteed the right of return under international law. The option of an independent Palestinian state has become impossible for several reasons, including Israel’s endeavors to transform settlements into cities, increase the number of settlers to more than half a million, build the apartheid wall in the occupied West Bank, expand Greater Jerusalem and cleanse it of its Palestinian inhabitants, and systematically turn Gaza into the largest detention center on the face of the earth. It is obvious that the Palestinian national movement as a whole has been infected with the virus of Oslo. The Oslo virus creates false consciousness that transforms the struggle for liberation, the return of refugees, human rights, and full equality, into a struggle for “independence" with limited sovereignty: a flag, a national anthem, and a small piece of land on which to exercise municipal sovereignty and establish ministries, all with the permission of the occupier. 3 It is not very surprising, then, that first former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman no longer oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state. The other side of the Palestinian leadership frequently proposes 10-year and 20-year truces, arguing that the truce is an "alternative" to the demise of the two-state solution. Although there are no significant differences in terms of the principle of accepting a pure nationalist solution to the Palestinian cause between these two sides, this minor disagreement has gained greater prominence and has been employed to serve the racist solution. The so-called "alternative” of a 20-year truce bets that the pragmatic nature of this call will "persuade" the international community. In fact, it lacks a clear strategic vision to resolve the conflict in a way that ensures the return of refugees. What does a 20-year truce mean? Isn’t this a message to the refugees to endure another 20 years until the balance of power shifts? What happens if it does not shift? The two-state solution has unfortunately become the prevailing political discourse over the past two decades. Some traditionally leftist intellectuals, having been transformed into a socially and politically rightwing or “neo-liberal” left, defend this solution as the only one available given the prevailing balance of power. They also defended it as a transitional - i.e., an interim - scheme. They occasionally threaten to espouse the one-state settlement, using this as a scarecrow not only to frighten Israel but also against us, the indigenous population. These attempts reveal an ideological decline and a lack of faith in the ability of the Palestinian people and the broader international solidarity movements to make revolutionary changes like those that took place against the apartheid regime. In a short story entitled “The Music of the Violin,” South African writer Njabulo Ndebele, one of the characters comments on the "concessions" made by the apartheid regime to indigenous people: ""That's how it is planned. That we be given a little of everything, and so prize the little we have that we forget about freedom." In that same story, a black revolutionary intellectual says that ""[he'd] rather be a hungry dog that runs freely in the streets , than a fat, chained dog burdened with itself and the weight of the chain."4 These two examples from South Africa summarize the lessons we should learn from Gaza 2009. There was no potential for coexistence with apartheid in South Africa, and we must accept no less. I am Ayman Qwaider. I'm a Palestinian born and raised in Gaza. I'm 25 years old. I have a bachelor degree in English Language and Education. I have worked in several different fields’ pre and post of my university studies for almost 4 years. I have worked as volunteer in civil societies where I practiced tasks to help people and educate children. i always try to bring the suffering of Palestinian to the whole world.I Do Love Gaza and its people, its land, its the breezes. i believe that justice and freedom should prevail one day.

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Return to Mattioli "As we passed through this district [on the road from Adrianople to Constantinople] we everywhere came across quantities of flowers—narcissi, hyacinths, and tulipans, as the Turks call them. We were surprised to find them flowering in mid-winter, scarcely a favourable season....The tulip has little or no scent, but it is admired for its beauty and the variety of its colours. The Turks are very fond of flowers, and, though they are otherwise anything but extravagant, they do not hesitate to pay several aspres for a fine blossom. These flowers, although they were gifts, cost me a good deal; for I had always to pay several aspres in return for them." (Fifty such Turkish coins, says Busbecq, were equal to a crown.) Busbecq, Turkish Letters (I, pp.24-25) Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522-1592) served as ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor to the court of Süleyman I (the Magnificent), sent to Constantinople in late 1554 and serving there until 1562. He recounted his experiences in a series of entertaining letters supposedly written at the time but actually composed decades later (the letter above, for example, is dated September 1, 1555). It may be that Busbecq has confused his first journey, which had been made in November, with a second one in March 1558, when the tulips about which he writes would have been in bloom. The picture is that of Süleyman the Magnificent, who ruled the Ottoman empire from 1520 to 1566 at the height of its power. During his reign, the tulip becomes an integral part of Ottoman culture. Called lale by the Turks, Busbecq may have mistaken the name of the tulip for its description, which does looks like a turban (tulband). In 1553, the French botanist Pierre Belon had observed that the Turks placed tulips in the folds of their turbans, and it may be that Busbecq, inquiring about the flower, instead was told the name of the turban. (Belon, in fact, may have been the first westerner to see a tulip, which he described as a red lily.) Using the same characters as the name of Allah, lale often was both a religious motif and an emblem of the Ottoman emperors. Celebrated by the Turks since the eleventh century, the most favored tulips had a tall and thin body with narrow dagger-shaped petals ending in needle-like points, as can be seen in the Iznik glazed ceramic plate (right). It dates from the last quarter of the sixteenth century and is in the Çinili Pavilion, which is part of the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. As did the Dutch, the most favored flowers were given names—"Star of Felicity," "Beloved's Face," "One That Burns the Heart." Later, as the tulip became known throughout Europe, there was increased interest in growing the plant for show, the rarer variegated flowers becoming a sign of prestige and status in the gardens of the wealthy. The illustration of these flowers were made all the more inviting by the use of copperplate for engraving, rather than woodblock. The picture (top) comes from the Hortus Eystettensis (1613), which preserves a record of the garden at Willibaldsburg Palace near Eichstätt. Engraved on copperplates (most of which have been preserved) and, in a later edition, colored by hand, the Hortus Eystettensis is regarded as a masterpiece of botanical illustration. References: The Turkish Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq Imperial Ambassador at Constantinople 1554 - 1562 (1927) translated by Edward Seymour Forster and F. H. Blackburne Daniell; The Tulip (1999) by Anna Pavord; Tulipomania (1999) by Mike Dash; The Tulip Anthology (2010) edited by Billie Lythberg. The illustration come from Ein Garten Eden (2001) by H. Walter Lack and translated by Martin Walters. Return to Top of Page

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The term "floating water bridge" may sound nonsensical, but it's the most logical name for a phenomenon that occurs when two beakers of water set slightly apart are zapped with high-voltage electricity and the water molecules jump across the gap to connect and form a thin thread of water. The molecular structure that suspends this liquid bridge has stumped scientists for over a century. Now, a team of scientists has peered into floating water bridges with high-energy x-rays using the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. Their work, "Floating water bridges and the structure of water in an electric field," was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Chelsea Whyte spoke with Brookhaven National Laboratory chemist John Parise, who worked with the team at APS to explore this unexplained phenomenon. Q: For this experiment, you set up a floating water bridge and used the APS to shine a beam of x-rays through the water. What exactly were you looking for? A: We were looking specifically for alignments in the water molecules that were different from alignments of the molecules in liquid water. We've recently finished a study where we'd gathered some of the best data ever taken on liquid water, so we had those data to compare with directly. That's one of the things this paper on floating water bridges does—it looks for small differences between liquid water and the water in this water bridge. Q: What were you expecting to find? A: We started out thinking, gosh, there's got to be some structure in this. If it's not collapsing under the influence of gravity, there must be some alignment of the molecules. When you fire a beam of high energy x-rays through it, you'll get a diffuse ring of x-rays on the other side, and you can detect these using an x-ray sensitive detector. But you should see modulation of the intensity around the ring that tells you that instead of the water molecules being randomly oriented that there's a predominant orientation. Theoretical calculations tell us that the alignment, if it exists, should be along the bridge direction. Q: How did the APS help you test for that alignment? A: One of the powerful things about high-energy x-ray scattering is that you can take a lot of images vertically across the floating bridge or horizontally along the bridge very rapidly. Synchrotron radiation is so bright that you can take large numbers of images while the bridge is still stable. Plus, you can image the temperature—so you can take images of the part of the bridge that's hot, the part that's cold, the skin, and that type of thing. Q: So, what did you find? A: As soon as we took our first shot, I said, "That looks awfully even. It just shouldn't be like that." The result is that there's just no quantitative difference between the liquid water and the water in this floating bridge. I was very surprised. It turns out that you need an awful lot of high voltage to align a significant number of water molecules, and that's not happening with these water bridges. But we only know that now, after we've done the experiment. The conclusion is that this water bridge must be stabilized by a very thin layer of water, and it's basically surface tension holding it together—the surface tension across the top and bottom of that bridge. Q: Did you think your findings were wrong? A: Well yeah! But we did many, many tests and they all revealed the same thing. Of course, then we started to think that this was a sheath, that in fact the voltage was affecting only the molecules at the surface. Q: What does this experiment and your research into the nature of water tell us? A: Well, we wouldn't be able to exist without water having the properties that it has. Life on Earth wouldn't exist. And it's all up to something as simple as the fact that water is a very peculiar sort of liquid, in many ways. These water bridges are a result of the geometry of the molecules and hydrogen bonding. It's fascinating behavior and understanding the phenomenon at a deep level tells us something fundamental about liquid water. One aim of our research is to look at things under extreme conditions and see whether extreme conditions can be used to manipulate those materials. Anything that tells you about how you can manipulate matter, especially liquid matter, and how you can direct it to go in this direction rather than that direction is potentially useful fundamental knowledge. Q: What more do you hope to learn about floating water bridges? The next thing to do is to look very carefully at the surface and try to use more surface-sensitive techniques. That would be potentially a great thing to look at with the National Synchrotron Light Source II at Brookhaven National Laboratory, which will have much finer beams than the APS. At APS and especially at NSLS-II, we can do some small angle x-ray scattering studies to see if there's any organization in the skin. Water is a quantum liquid, the universal solvent, and it is essential to biology. The arrangement of water molecules in electric fields and at charged surfaces has important implications in electrochemistry, mineralogy and biology. And once we understand this phenomenon in water, the obvious thing is to move on to other solvents. You can form bridges with other materials that are quite different from water and have much lower surface tension–the most likely explanation of the water bridge stability at this stage–but they all seem to have one thing in common: hydrogen bonding. Water's many unusual properties depend on its unique molecular interactions, and its structure has long been a matter of debate. Understanding the "how" of the water bridge stability may allow us to manipulate liquids, including water, with electric fields. Explore further: How highway bridges sing—or groan—in the rain to reveal their health

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Posted: May 28, 2008 Filed under: links, musing, nerdism Laurent Schneider sent me a link to an interesting discussion in AskTom. How do we calculate Cumulative Normal Distribution? This means calculating the probability that a random variable from a normal distribution, will end up equal to or less than X. I’d love to know why the OP needed that. While Normal Distribution is very popular, most realistic statistical applications would use Student’s T distribution. This is so common that Oracle contains a built in T Test function. Maybe this would be useful to the OP? Regardless of Tom’s flippant reply, it is actually a difficult question. Knowing the cumulative normal distribution means integrating the normal (Gaussian) function. Which is impossible. So in a way, the correct answer to the OP’s question is “you can’t”. But thats not correct either, while there is no “general” function for the integral of the normal distribution, you can manually calculate the integral for any specific value on the function. Lucky for us, Gauss had grad students who did this hard work, and until very recently statisticians referred to books with tables containing these results whenever they needed to know the probabilities. Which brings us to another good answer – find a website with this table, load the table into Oracle, and use it as much as you want. No PL/SQL needed. Another interesting way to calculate the cumulative normal distribution in Oracle would be to use Oracle’s dbms_random.normal to generate an approximation of the normal distribution and calculate the cumulative distribution on the result. Of course it is not very accurate, but it is a lot of fun: select n,cume_dist ( ) over (order by n) cume_dist from (select dbms_random.normal n from dual connect by level<=100); In the AskTom thread, Georg from Germany linked to a function that approximates the cumulative normal distribution, and that site contained link to a paper with even better approximation. This is probably how statistics software (SPSS and its friends) calculates probabilities. Interesting question, many good answers. Frits Hoogland also managed to write a long post about a short question with a short answer: How an ASM diskgroup is found by the database.

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French and Australian scientists resume measurements of Antarctic waters south of Australia this week to assess their capacity as a massive oceanic sponge to absorb greenhouse gases and store them away for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. France and Australia have a joint research program taking measurements from the Antarctic supply ship L'Astrolabe during its voyages between Hobart and the French base at Dumont D'Urville. L'Astrolabe, equipped with a full sampling laboratory, sails from Hobart on Tuesday 19 October in the first voyage of the season. Professor Alain Poisson from the University of Paris and Dr Bronte Tilbrook from CSIRO oversee the research. Later in the year the ice breaker Aurora Australis will head south from Fremantle to make a similar set of measurements and to extend the work to the west of the Astrolabe track. "The Southern Ocean is so important for controlling the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," Dr Tilbrook says. "The Astrolabe work is helping us obtain a much clearer picture of the interaction between ecosystems and mixing that drives the carbon dioxide exchange between the ocean and atmosphere." Dr Tilbrook was a co-author on new research published earlier this year in the journal Science examining the role of the world's oceans in the global carbon cycle. "The results show the oceans contain about 48 per cent of fossil fuel emissions and more than half of the storage occurs in the Southern Hemisphere," Dr Tilbrook says. "Before now we had to rely on models to understand ocean carbon storage. Now we have values based on carbon measurements. "This is a big step forward in understanding how the earth system has responded to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and is helping to work out what might happen in future." Prof Alain Poisson, from the University of Paris, has been working in the Southern Ocean alongside CSIRO scientists for the past 10 years. "We have to know the evolution of the oceans and atmosphere," he says. "This area is crucial because if something happens here it will react on the global climate." The 65-metre L'Astrolabe, has become a key platform in this international project. Safely stowed below deck on the former oil-rig tender, Australian and French scientists work in a converted container measure gases above and below the ocean surface. With only limited shipping entering the Southern Ocean results from the joint monitoring program are being watched closely by climate scientists. Just two years old, the joint French and Australian research project involves constant sampling of the Southern Ocean along the 1000km route south. Dr Tilbrook said the results show that the region around Australia has a fairly significant impact on the ocean capacity for uptake and storage. "Most of the Southern Hemisphere storage occurs in the sub-Antarctic region, which includes the waters along Australia's southern shores," he says. "Deep water with low anthropogenic carbon concentrations upwells off Antarctica and the ocean circulation carries the water north. The surface waters absorb anthropogenic carbon dioxide as they move north. In the sub-Antarctic region the waters become dense enough to sink below the surface and carry the anthropogenic carbon dioxide away from contact with the atmosphere. "The circulation pattern is like a giant conveyor belt and helps drive the ocean capacity to take up carbon dioxide." A new series of internationally coordinated research expeditions which includes the Astrolabe and Aurora Australis work are planned through the major oceans to identify how the storage is changing with time. Greenhouse 2005, the most significant climate change conference in Australia - http://www.greenhouse2005.com/ Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009 Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved. In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. -- Albert Camus

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2013-05-24T16:30:49Z

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Asteroid makes near-miss fly-by An asteroid hurtled past the Earth on Friday in something of a cosmic near-miss, making its closest approach at about 1600 GMT.The asteroid, estimated to be about 11m (36ft) in diameter, was first detected on Wednesday. At its closest, the space rock – named 2012 BX34 – passed within about 60,000km of Earth – less than a fifth of the distance to the Moon. Astronomers stressed that there had been no cause for concern. “It’s one of the closest approaches recorded,” said Gareth Williams, associate director of the US-based Minor Planet Center. “It makes it in to the top 20 closest approaches, but it’s sufficiently far away… that there’s absolutely no chance of it hitting us,” he told the BBC. The asteroid’s path made it the closest space-rock to pass by the Earth since object 2011 MD in June 2011. Earlier estimates had put the asteroid’s closest distance at as little as 20,000km, but studies by observatories overnight into Friday showed it would pass at a more comfortable distance. Although the asteroid was not visible to the naked eye, Dr Williams said that keen backyard astronomers had been busy getting a look. “We’ve had three sets of observations in the last few hours from amateur observers in the UK,” he said. Source: bbc [January 27, 2012]

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← earth science test #1 Export Options Alphabetize Word-Def Delimiter Tab Comma Custom Def-Word Delimiter New Line Semicolon Custom Data Copy and paste the text below. It is read-only. Select All earth science study of the earth geology study of the solid earth meteorology study of the climate oceanography study of the oceans of the earth astronomy study of all things outside of the earth temperature measured on 3 scales = -Celsius , Kelvin, and Fahrenhheit what are the 4 layers of the atmosphere(earth up)? troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, what is between the troposphere and the stratosphere tropopause what is between the stratosphere and the mesosphere stratopause what is between the mesosphere and the thermosphere mesopause what are the layers of the earth from the center out? inner core, outer core, mantel, and crust atmosphere the gasphere hydrosphere the water sphere lithosphere The solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle moho the boundary between the earth's mantle and crust observation the act of observing, Use of one or more of the senses to gather information inference a conclusion one draws (infers) based on premises or evidence interface (chemistry) a surface forming a common boundary between two things (two objects or liquids or chemical phases) density the amount per unit size formula D=mass/volume What two things can change the density? 1. Heat 2. Pressure *they can change the density because it changes the VOLUME. What will happen to the volume and density when you add heat? The volume increases and it becomes less dense. What will happen to the volume when you cool a substance? the volume will decrease and the substance will become more dense. What will happen when there is added pressure? It will compact the substance - decreasing the volume - making the substance more dense. What unit is energy measured in? Joules KHDDCM Kilo, Hecto, Deka, Deci, Centi, Milli Hydrosphere Liquid Earth - meaning the oceans, seas, lakes, etc. Tropsphere lowest, thinnest layer where we live and most weather occurs Tropopause Boundary layer where trend if temperature changes direction Stratosphere Ozone layer Stratopause boundary layer where trend of temperature changes direction. Mesopause boundary layer where trend of temp changes direction Thermosphere Topmost layer, atmosphere gets thinner and thinner as it blends into outerr space.

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2013-05-24T16:39:25Z

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After the successful merger of several large utilities last year, a new energy landscape formed. Today, the nation has three large independent power producers with a combined capacity of approximately 108,000 megawatts (108 billion watts). While electricity is a fungible commodity, the three major producers use their assets to produce power in unique ways. When it comes to power production capacity, NRG is the leader. After completing its merger with GenOn Energy, NRG now owns 45,940 megawatts of production capacity in 17 states. Under construction is another 1,780 megawatts. After completing a merger with Constellation Energy Group, Exelon became the nation's second-largest power producer. It owns 34,731 megawatts of production capacity in 22 states. The third-largest producer by capacity is Calpine. It owns 27,321 megawatts in 20 states. While these rankings are by generating capacity, total production may be much different. The reason is that not all capacity is alike. Some capacity is too costly to operate and other capacity is not always available. So a critical success factor is not necessarily the accounting of capacity, but production costs and geographical strategies (I'll address geographical strategies in a separate article). Production costs vary by the type of capacity used. While a company may own a lot of capacity, that does not mean that all their capacity is used or is profitable. A critical success factor is production costs. From a power market perspective, allocation of gross margins is determined by relative production costs. So cost leadership is critically important. To provide perspective, energy efficiency is the new cost leader. Marketed as demand-response, megawatts and megawatt-hours, power markets reward wholesale power providers to drop load. One of the nation's leaders in this segment is EnerNOC (ENOC). But Exelon and NRG are also active in this business. The next cost leader is solar and wind. Production costs for solar and wind approach zero. This is because the power markets are indifferent towards maintenance, capital, interest and other non-production costs. Next in the competitive lineup is hydroelectric. While the source of energy is almost free, hydroelectric plants need to mobilize staff to operate and monitor facilities. Following hydroelectric are the traditional sources of power. Natural gas, nuclear, coal and fuel oil provide the bulk of the nation's power. But the competitive positions among these sources vary as fuel prices, regulations and production efficiencies change. Today, natural gas is a cost leader among this group. A couple of years ago, nuclear power was the cost leader, with coal a close second. Ten years ago, coal was the cost leader with nuclear a close second. Cost leadership positions will likely change in the future. One driver will be production efficiency as power producers cull out old, inefficient plants from the fleet. With this in mind, investors should look carefully at NRG, Exelon and Calpine's generating assets. As can be seen in the accompanying graph, each company has a very different strategy. Most of Calpine's capacity depends on natural gas. This suggests that knowledgeable investors are betting on Calpine's management and the strategic positioning of the company's assets. They are also betting big on natural gas remaining as the cost leading fuel. Most of NRG's capacity is tied to natural gas, coal and oil. Because the nation's electric grid is essentially oil free, most of NRG's oil assets are idle and they do not produce much electricity. As such, NRG should be seen as a play on coal. NRG's investors are betting big on coal as a cost-leading fuel. Their coal bet is hedged against NRG's strong position with natural gas. Most of Exelon's capacity is nuclear. While the company owns significant investment in other sources, Exelon's investors are gambling on the future of legacy nuclear power plants. For Exelon, it may be worth the gamble. It turns out that nuclear production costs may be much lower than many believe. Until 2015, it will likely be a rough ride for these power producers. In their most recent 10-Ks, each company attempts to help shareholders guess what that change will mean. They don't agree. Investors should pay close attention to their company's cash flows. Of course, earnings are important, but as fuel prices change, cash flows will also change. Each company has a different fuel strategy. Therefore, a change in one company's cash flows will not necessarily be correlated to a competitor's fuel costs. Cash will be king. To see Part 2 of this article, please click here.

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2013-05-24T16:19:00Z

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There are several current painting methods whose practitioners claim that they are working just like early Flemish painters did. In the early 1400’s, Flemish and Netherlandish painters (Jan van Eyck, Robert Campin, Rogier van der Weyden, and so on) invented oil painting as it is practiced today. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, art historians spent a lot of time speculating about how the first oil painters practiced their art. Unfortunately, they could only look at paintings and read old manuscripts. As it turns out, looking at paintings doesn’t tell you a whole lot about the methods by which they were made. And the early oil painters didn’t, so far as we know, write down their valuable trade secrets for scholars hundereds of years later to study. So most of what you will see about “Flemish” painting methods, although sometimes used by very skilled artists, is basically what some 19th century German academics erroneously thought Northern European painting was. There is one school that alternates layers of egg-oil emulsion white with layers of oil glazes in primary colors. Another school calls for each painting to be made in seven layers, each of which dries for seven weeks (are we artists or numerologists?). The reason why people are so fascinated by early Flemish paintings is that they are so remarkable. First, although they are very, very old, they are often in much better shape than oil paintings that are hundreds of years younger (many early 20th century paintings have deteriorated more than paintings from the 15th century). Second, the paintings glow with a sense of vitality that is seldom seen in more recent paintings. They have a quality that is often described as “jewel-like.” This is especially evident if you see them in person; it’s easy to pick out the Flemish paintings from those done in other periods, or those from the same period done in other places. The precise detail and gorgeous colors are marvelous to look at. The thing is, we now know a lot more about early Flemish painting methods than we used to, because modern technical analysis provides a lot more information. So I can, with reasonable authority, describe actual “Flemish” painting methods, which were generally much simpler than those taught in special classes where the “Secrets of the Old Masters” are revealed. The Northern European paintings we have are almost entirely done on panel, not because canvas wasn’t used, but because panel paintings are the ones that have lasted. The panels were made of local hardwoods such as oak. They are often quite small; the large ones were made with several planks fastened together. The panels were planed to a smooth finish and then seasoned (usually for several years). They were then coated in hide glue, which is a gelatin that becomes liquid when heated. Then an initial priming was applied that consisted of warm hide glue mixed with chalk (calcium carbonate). This priming was applied in several layers, allowed to dry, then sanded or scraped smooth. The modern word for a priming layer like this is “gesso,” although technically gesso was the Italian version, made from hide glue mixed with gypsum (calcium sulfate). Modern acrylic primer is often labelled “gesso,” but that’s totally incorrect. Anyone caught referring to acrylic primer as gesso will be required to stay after school and write “gesso is not made with plastic” 1000 times on the chalkboard. There were very few pigments available at the time to make paint with, although that limitation is not obvious from looking at old master paintings. The available colors included ultramarine blue (very expensive as it had to be imported from Afghanistan and then laboriously refined), azurite blue (sort of like a cobalt blue), red lake (similar to alizarin crimson), lead tin yellow (similar to Naples yellow), vermillion (similar to cadmium red), bone black (similar to what is now, incorrectly, called “ivory” black), flake white, copper green (similar to viridian), and various earth colors (similar to modern ochres, siennas, and green earths). Paint was made by hand, usually that morning or the day before, by apprentices and studio assistants. If you haven’t tried oil paint made fresh by hand, it is more fluid than the stuff you get today in tubes. In the early 15th century, oil painters probably didn’t use solvents such as spirits of turpentine or oil of spike. This demostrates that it is quite possible to apply oil paint with very fine precision without having to thin it down. It’s easier to do this kind of work with handmade paint than with tube oil colors. This method involves multiple layers that are allowed to dry in between applications. In some cases, lower layers were done in egg tempera, switching to oil later on in the sequence. Flesh tones were painted very thinly, in one or two layers. The modern oil painting approach (mostly developed in Florence in the early 16th century) emphasizes thin, transparent darks and thick, opaque lights. By comparison, early Northern European painting was primarily a glazing method in which darks were established with thick layers of transparent paint. This allows the darks to have a sense of depth and color that is not possible in direct (single layer) painting. Glazing is typically done over a layer of opaque paint of similar color; red lake over vermillion, for example. Black, since it tends to produce dull mixtures, is not used except to darken earth colors (most artists think that the idea of avoiding black was invented by the impressionists, but no). Instead, darks are created by thick glazes and by what we would today recognize as complementary color mixtures (red lake could be darkened with ultramarine, for example). Here’s one possible reconstruction of the painting sequence: - Make a detailed drawing on paper and transfer it to a gessoed panel. Reinforce and elaborate the drawing with ink or dark paint. Northern European artists usually made very detailed underdrawings. - The initial layer of paint, called the primuersel, is used to define the dark areas of the painting. The primuersel color is made by mixing black with earth tones such as red or yellow ochre; it is therefore similar to the verdaccio used for flesh tones in the traditional Italian egg tempera method (but without a green earth underpainting and not just in flesh tones). This layer was probably often done in egg tempera or tempera grassa. Either way, this layer should be used to define form, edges, shadows, and other darks throughout the painting. - Now apply the basic colors to each area of the painting, starting to work up modeling of forms with opaque colors but avoiding fine detail. This stage is called “dead coloring.” As with primuersel, some artists used egg tempera or tempera grassa for this layer. Flesh tones can be begun with mixed tones using appropriate brown or pink mixtures of white, vermillion, and earth colors. In light areas, keep the paint as thin as you can; you want the white of the gesso to show through. X-ray scans show that lead white was often used only to emphasize the brightest highlights of flesh tones, with a very thin toning of the gesso used for most light areas of flesh. This approach keeps light areas bright and avoids later yellowing by minimizing the amount of oil. In shadow areas, don’t worry so much about paint thickness, but keep the surface of the paint smooth. In areas that will later be glazed, keep light areas lighter than the intended final effect, since glazes will darken what they cover. When you have taken this stage as far as you can, let the paint dry once again. - If you began the painting in egg tempera or tempera grassa, you will switch to pure oil paint no later than when dead coloring is completed. Use paints ground in linseed oil. When switching from tempera to oil paint, you may choose to apply a very thin layer of oil to prevent excessive absorption by the tempera underlayers. From now on, you will let each layer dry thoroughly before further painting. If the layers are thin, this will take up to several days each time, depending on the pigments you use and whether the paint contains siccatives. It may be helpful to wet sand in between layers as needed to maintain a surface that is thin and smooth. - You will now work each area of the painting toward the intended final finish. Where desired, you can either thin the paint slightly with medium (oil mixed with a varnish or balsam) or put a very thin layer of medium onto the surface and paint onto that. Apply fine detail to light areas. Areas of dark or bright colors, especially those around the main areas of interest, can be glazed. So, for example, a red robe, after a primuersel of black mixed with red ochre and then initial opaque modeling with vermillion and white, could then be glazed with a transparent red lake, using fingers, a rag, or a soft brush to make the glaze very thin over the lights and thicker over the darks. A little ultramarine or indigo could be glazed in to neutralize and reinforce the darker shadows. Multiple glazes can be applied (allow the paint to dry and wet sand in between layers) until a clear sense of three-dimensional depth has been achieved, generally with inky darks, intense midtones, and bright lights. This process can be very time consuming, especially if you are not using siccatives, but it produces a striking effect that is immediately noticeable when comparing Flemish oil paintings to other work of the period. - The final stages would be used primarily for detail work and to apply thin scumbles of opaque color mixed with white where needed over lighter areas of glazed color. Again, sand between coats. It is possible that some fine details were applied with egg tempera, worked into wet oil paint. This development of detail would continue until a very high degree of finish was obtained.

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Titan’s Lake District, One Season Later October 16, 2012 These images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show Titan's stable northern lake district. Cassini's radar instrument obtained the recent images on May 22, 2012. It observed some previously unseen regions but also some regions containing lakes that were last observed about six years—nearly one Titan season--ago. This marks the longest time interval between lake observations in the northern hemisphere. The top image here shows part of the radar swath from May 22, 2012, centered near 79 degrees north latitude, 58 degrees west longitude, and about 220 by 47 miles (350 by 75 kilometers) in dimension. At the bottom, parts of this image are compared with those obtained in 2006. (The images appear slightly different from previous releases because they use a new filtering technique). In 2006, it was winter in the northern hemisphere and the lakes were in the dark. Although Titan spring began in 2009 and the sun has now risen over the lakes, there is no apparent change in lake levels since the 2006 flybys, consistent with climate models that predict stability of liquid lakes over several years. This shows that the northern lakes are not transient weather events, in contrast to the temporary darkening of parts of the equator after a rainstorm in 2010 (PIA 12819). Changes in lake levels may still be detected later in the mission as Cassini continues to observe these high northern latitudes into the beginning of summer in 2017. At that point, the sun may cause evaporation. However, the lack of significant change over six years sets important constraints for climate models and the stability of liquids on Titan. Illumination is coming from the bottom. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries.

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Seal colonies are well established white shark aggregation areas, but a new study shows that inshore coastal areas (not associated with seals) can be equally as important for white sharks and that use of aggregation areas can differ between the sexes, which has important management implications. The researchers described their findings in a paper published online January 28 in PLOS ONE (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055048). The study was conducted in False Bay, South Africa where the scientists tracked 56 tagged white sharks of both sexes ranging in size from 1.7 to 5 meters over a period of 32 months. “We found that white sharks showed high levels of residency to the seal colony over autumn and winter as expected, but we were very surprised to learn that female sharks showed equally high residency at inshore areas during spring and summer and that males were notably absent,” said Alison Kock, who led the study as part of her PhD research at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Kock explains that “the shift from the island in autumn and winter to the inshore region in spring and summer by female sharks mirrors the seasonal peaks in prey abundance including juvenile seals at the island in winter and a range of migratory fish along the inshore during the warmer months”. White sharks are threatened apex predators and despite South Africa enacting protective legislation in 1991, there is limited knowledge available on how best to make such protection effective. Currently no critical area conservation plans exist for False Bay, or anywhere in South Africa. This study confirms False Bay as a critical area for white shark conservation and identifies that females are particularly at risk, due to their frequent use of the inshore areas of the Bay, which are impacted by fishing, pollution, and damage to natural habitat from coastal development. Furthermore, the finding that female sharks frequent the inshore regions during spring and summer when recreational use peaks highlights the need for ongoing shark-human conflict mitigation strategies such as the Shark Spotter program in Cape Town, for which Kock serves as the research manager. The Shark Spotters aim to improve public safety while simultaneously conserving this vulnerable shark population. Although the study focused locally, its findings have broad conservation and management implications because it highlights the need for understanding how behavioural patterns differ between sexes of the same population as this can influence a particular sex’s susceptibility to threats. Co-author, Justin O’Riain, Associate Professor of behavioural ecology at UCT welcomed the findings as an important contribution to the broad field of predator spatial ecology, “We have a wealth of such information for land predators and these results provide an important step in narrowing the knowledge gap between marine and terrestrial systems and assessing the extent of our generalities”. In addition to Kock and O’Riain, the co-authors of the paper are Katya Mauff, a statistics professional at UCT, Michael Meÿer and Deon Kotze from the Department of Environmental Affairs, Oceans and Coasts Branch and Charles Griffiths, Professor of marine biology at UCT. This research was funded by the Save Our Seas Foundation and the Department of Environmental Affairs provided research equipment and ship time. The National Research Foundation (SA) provided bursary funding for Alison Kock.

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2013-05-24T16:46:11Z

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Digital Time Machines & the Future of Learning 3D experiences are pushing their way into the classroom as media-savvy students move from textbooks to digital experiences and the technologies they’ve grown up with. As the ultimate time machine, 3D environments can literally transport students to any point in time to make history come to life. Using Egyptology classes at Harvard University as an example, this presentation will explore how 3D experiences transform the way we learn, and how 3D technology is applied to cultural awareness, virtual archaeology and museum-going. In Harvard’s Visualization Lab, students experience a virtual reconstruction of the Giza Plateau and its ancient necropolis that was painstakingly and realistically created using archaeological data unearthed over the past century. Attendees will see how this innovative approach was initially developed, is now being crowdsourced globally, and welcomed by students as a unique way to better understand ancient Egypt and become actively engaged in the classroom.

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2013-05-24T16:30:10Z

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Saturn's large, smog-enshrouded moon Titan greets Cassini in full colour as the spacecraft makes its third close pass on 15 February 2005. This view has been rotated so that north on Titan is up. There is a slight difference in brightness from north to south, a seasonal effect that was noted in NASA's Voyager spacecraft images, and is clearly visible in some infrared images from Cassini. The northern polar region is largely in darkness at this time. This image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera through using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural colour view. The image was acquired at a distance of approximately 229 000 kilometres from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 20 degrees. Resolution in the image is about 14 kilometres per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

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http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=36555

2013-05-24T16:38:35Z

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International Ultraviolet Explorer Launch Date: January 26, 1978 Mission Project Home Page - http://archive.stsci.edu/iue/ The IUE satellite was launched on January 26, 1978. It had an expected lifetime of 3 years, with a goal of 5 years, but exceeded that beyond anyone's wildest dreams. When it was shut down on September 30, 1996, it had been in continuous operation for 18 years and 9 months. IUE was an international collaboration between three groups: NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the United Kingdom's Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC; now Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, or PPARC ). NASA provided the launch, spacecraft engineering support and software. ESA provided the solar panels and a satellite command station outside of Madrid, Spain, and the UK provided the Vidicon cameras. Observing time was split between two spacecraft command stations. NASA operated the spacecraft for 16 hours a day from Goddard Space Flight Center, and VILSPA (the Villafranca satellite control station) operated it for 8 hours a day. IUE Short Wavelength spectra of the Jupiter southern aurora on 17 July 1994 The two pictures show the spatially resolved spectrum of the south aurora of Jupiter on July 17 1994 after the impacts with the SL-9 comet fragments have started. The spectra were obtained with the SWP camera (1100-2000 A) using the large aperture which was centered at -60 degrees latitude on the Jovian central meridian. The signature of the aurora are the emission-like features at the top edge of the spectra near the center of the image and those close to the Lyman alpha line (on the left) which fills in the whole aperture. These are the Werner and Lyman bands produced by H2. The change of these features is apparent between the two spectra taken four hours apart. This shows the temporal and spatial evolution of the auroral emission. IUE's geosynchronous orbit allowed for real-time operation, which made IUE very flexible. Astronomers came to the spacecraft command stations to direct their observations and inspect the data as they were collected, much as they do at ground-based observatories. Two on-board spectrographs covered ultraviolet wavelengths from 1200 to 3350 Å. Observers from around the world took advantage of this workhorse observatory, gathering data from a wide variety of astronomical sources. Short and long wavelength spectrographic cameras covered ultraviolet wavelengths from about 120 to 340 nanometers. These wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are obscured from the ground by the Earth's protective ozone layer. Objects observed by IUE include virtually every type of object in the universe, from planets and stars to galaxies. One of IUE's strengths was the ability to rapidly respond to targets of opportunity such as comets, novae, and supernovae. IUE obtained the only ultraviolet data of the outburst of Supernova 1987a in the Large Magellanic Cloud. By tracking on the nucleus of fast-moving Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock, IUE was able to obtain the first detection of molecular sulfur in a comet. During July 1994, IUE (along with the rest of the globe) spent a good deal of time observing Jupiter when Comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with the planet. Astronomers study multiple wavelengths in order to learn more about the objects of the universe. Simultaneous data acquisition is essential in order to gain the most knowledge of certain transient events. Thus, very often IUE was used in conjunction with other telescopes from around the world. These collaborations have involved spacecraft such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the ROSAT, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Voyager probes, the Space Shuttle's ASTRO-1 and ASTRO-2 missions, the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, Japan's ASCA satellite, as well as numerous ground-based observatories. Last updated: March 30, 2012 - ESA IUE Website - http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=22

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http://science1.nasa.gov/missions/iue/

2013-05-24T16:38:43Z

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This story begins with an insight: The cells of a vascular system (veins, arteries, capillaries) – called endothelial cells – do more than make up the tissue that transports blood; they also play a role in maintaining blood (hematopoietic) stem cells by producing novel stem-cell-growth factors. A research team at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute at Weill Cornell Medical Collage (New York, USA) discovered that by culturing stem cells together with adult endothelial cells, the stem cells would continue propagating and remain alive far longer than with any other technique – weeks, instead of days. This opens a door to producing stem cells in quantity. The use of endothelial cells built on work by Dr. Shahin Rafii, which produced genetically modified endothelial cells so they would stay in a long-term survival state. (Otherwise endothelial cells require difficult maintenance with specific growth factors to keep them alive.) The genetic modification inserted a gene from a recently discovered adenovirus, one that does not promote cancer forming transformation of human cells – an obviously important qualification. “This study will have a major impact on the treatment of any blood-related disorder that requires a stem cell transplant,” says the study’s senior author, Dr. Shahin Rafii, the Arthur B. Belfer Professor in Genetic Medicine, co-director of the Ansary Stem Cell Institute and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, at Weill Cornell Medical College. Currently, stem cells derived from bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are used to treat patients who require bone marrow transplants. Most stem cell transplants are successful, but because of the shortage of genetically matched bone marrow and umbilical cord blood cells, many patients cannot benefit from the procedure. “Over the last few decades, substantial funding has been spent to develop platforms to expand adult stem cell cultures, but these efforts have never been able to coax an authentic adult stem cell to self-renew beyond a few days,” continues Dr. Rafii. “Most stem cells, even in the presence of multiple growth factors, serum, and support from generic non-endothelial stromal cells, die after a few days. Now, employing our endothelial stem cell co-cultures, we can propagate bona fide adult stem cells in the absence of external factors and serum beyond 21 days with an expansion index of more than 400-fold.” This study also shed new light on the functions of endothelial cells, well beyond their fundamental use as the basic tissue of the vascular system, and even beyond their (now demonstrated) role in production of adult blood stem cells. It appears that endothelial cells contribute control factors for the production of a number of adult (that is, differentiated) stem cells for other organs such as the brain, liver, and lungs. The PR announcement for this study is almost breathless from uttering superlatives like ‘breakthrough’ and ‘innovative.’ Probably so, but it also mentions that the results are pending verification – that is, reproduction of the experiments and results by other scientists. That would also include unexpected behaviors like side effects that could result from producing adult stem cells in this fashion. Nevertheless, this seems to be an important step in the direction of producing sufficient quantities of non-embryonic, long-lasting stem cells for medical and laboratory purposes.

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http://scitechstory.com/2010/03/07/finally%E2%80%A6artificially-making-blood-stem-cells-in-quantity/

2013-05-24T16:44:45Z

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One hundred years after the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912, experts are still debating what caused the tragedy. Now, new research by British historian Tom Maltin points to an unusual optical illusion that may have hidden the iceberg that caused the Titanic’s deadly crash. Maltin read weather records, testimony from survivors, and the ship’s logs to research his theory. The Titanic, he says, sailed from warm Gulf Stream waters into the freezing Labrador Current. There, the air column was cooling from the bottom up, creating layers of cold air below layers of warmer air. This is called a thermal inversion. The thermal inversion, Maltin says, caused light to refract, or bend, abnormally downward. The refraction created mirages: Objects appeared higher—and therefore nearer—than they actually were, before a false horizon. The area between the false horizon and the real horizon appeared as haze. The iceberg was hidden in the haze, so those aboard the Titanic didn’t see it until the ship was about to collide with it. As Titanic First Officer William McMaster Murdoch recalled, “That iceberg came right out of the haze.” But by that time, the Titanic was too close to avoid hitting it. Shortly before the Titanic hit the iceberg, it sailed into the view of another ship, the Californian. But the refraction of the light made it appear too near and too small to be the Titanic—the largest ship in the world at the time. The Californian signaled the Titanic by Morse lamp, which uses flashes of light to send signals. The Titanic, now in trouble, also signaled the Californian by Morse lamp. But the thermal inversion disrupted the signals and the distress rockets the Titanic shot into the air. The Titanic finally sank at 2:20 a.m. local time on April 15. Although some experts agree with Maltin’s theory, others say the Titanic sank simply because it ignored several warnings of heavy ice and because it was going too fast in dangerous waters. Whatever the cause, people remain fascinated with the Titanic, and researchers and historians will likely come up with new theories for years to come.

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http://sni.scholastic.com/news/2012/04/What-Really-Happened-to-the-Titanic

2013-05-24T16:17:26Z

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Firefly lanterns inspire efficient LEDs A published study has revealed that light-emitting diodes inspired by the glow of fireflies can increase light extraction by more than 50 percent. The more efficient light sources take their inspiration from the jagged scales found inside fireflies, which enhance the glow coming from the creatures. An overlayer mimics the action of the scales and reduces the amount of energy needed by the LED. “The most important aspect of this work is that it shows how much we can learn by carefully observing nature,” said Annick Bay, a PhD student at the University of Namur in Belgium. In the fireflies (members of the genus Photuris) a certain amount of light is reflected back into the lantern by the insect’s cuticle — a part of the exoskeleton. But in some fireflies the reflection can be reduced by an arrangement of jagged scales, meaning more light escapes and the firefly appears brighter. In the LEDs, an overlayer composed of a light-sensitive material which has been lasered into shape mimics the action of these scales, improving efficiency and reducing the energy demand of the light. “We refer to the edge structures as having a factory roof shape,” says Bay. “The tips of the scales protrude and have a tilted slope, like a factory roof.” As an added bonus, the efficiency enhancing coating can be applied retrospectively to existing LEDs. Two studies, published yesterday in Optics Express, describe the shape of scales on the abdomen of fireflies, and an experiment that placed similar structures on LEDs, brightening their output by 55 percent. “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” Bumblebee Flight Paths Could Inspire Faster Computers Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have found that bumblebees are capable of complex problem solving that could ultimately lead to faster computer networks and microchips. The researchers discovered that bumblebees find the shortest route among landmarks, in this case flowers, through a simple but effective method. The researchers set up five fake flowers in a field, each with a little bit of sucrose to entice the bees, and outfitted with motion-triggered web cams. They tracked the bees’ flight paths with tiny bumblebee-mounted radar transponders to see how long it took them to find the fastest route starting from the nest, visiting all five flowers and then back to the nest. The team then modeled the flight paths and found that, amazingly, the bees were able to find the quickest route after trying just 20 out of the 120 possible routes. And the researchers were more surprised that it seemed that the bees were using trial and error, which is a more complex behavior typically seen only in larger-brained animals. The key, it seems, to their quickly find the shortest route was a simple system where after discovering all five flowers, the bees would start trying new routes. If a new route between flowers was the fastest yet, it would increase the probability that it would be tried again — essentially the bees were committing the fastest routes to memory and eliminating the slower ones until finally an optimal route was found. Head of Computational and Systems Biology at Rothamsted Research, Professor Chris Rawlings said,”This is an exciting result because it shows that seemingly complex behaviours can be described by relatively simple rules which can be described mathematically.” The mathematics is what could eventually be used to build faster computer networks, sequence DNA or help delivery companies find the most efficient routes among cities. And just as important, it could help to protect the bumblebees themselves. The researchers found that when a flower was moved or removed, the bees would keep visiting that location for an extended period of time, but then eventually find its new location or a new flower. “This means we can now use mathematics to inform us when bee behaviour might be affected by their environment and to assess, for example, the impact of changes in the landscape,” Rawlings said. Self-filling water bottle mimics Namib beetle’s water-trapping wings A US startup is developing a self-filling water bottle that sucks moisture from the atmosphere to create condensation, in the same way the humble Namib desert beetle does. The beetle, endemic to Africa’s Namib desert — where there is just 1.3cm of rainfall a year — has inspired a fair few proof-of-concepts in the academic community, but this is the first time a self-filling water bottle has been proposed. The beetle survives by collecting condensation from the ocean breeze on the hardened shell of its wings. The shell is covered in tiny bumps that are water attracting (hydrophilic) at their tips and water-repelling (hydrophobic) at their sides. The beetle extends and aims the wings at incoming sea breezes to catch humid air; tiny droplets 15 to 20 microns in diameter eventually accumulate on its back and run straight down towards its mouth. NBD Nano, made up of two biologists, an organic chemist and a mechanical engineer, is building on past studies that constructed structurally superior synthetic copies of the shell. An earlier incarnation of the material was first constructed in 2006 by an MIT team — they dipped glass or plastic substrates into solutions of charged polymer chains over and over again to manipulate the surface make-up. Silica nanoparticles were then added to create a rougher, water-trapping texture, and a Teflon-like substance sealed it. Charged polymers and nanoparticles were then layered in patterns to create a contrast between rough and porous surfaces. NBD Nano says it has achieved proof of concept with its dual water-attracting (superhydrophilic) and water-repelling (superhydrophobic) bottle design, and is currently working on a prototype and seeking funding. Incredibly, the team predicts that the bottle could collect between half a litre and three litres of water per hour, depending on the local environment. “Dry places like the Atacama Desert or Gobi Desert don’t have access to a lot of sources of water,” cofounder Miguel Galvez told the BBC. “So if we’re creating [several] litres per day in a cost-effective manner, you can get this to a community of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and other dry regions of the world. And if you can do it cheaply enough, then you can really create an impact on the local environment.” “Everything you can imagine, nature has already created.” Alan Turing’s Patterns in Nature, and Beyond Near the end of his life, the great mathematician Alan Turing wrote his first and last paper on biology and chemistry, about how a certain type of chemical reaction ought to produce many patterns seen in nature. Called “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis,” it was an entirely theoretical work. But in following decades, long after Turing tragically took his own life in 1954, scientists found his speculations to be reality. First found in chemicals in dishes, then in the stripes and spirals and whorls of animals, so-called Turing patterns abounded. Some think that Turing patterns may actually extend to ecosystems, even to galaxies. That’s still speculation — but a proof published Feb. 11 in Science of Turing patterns in a controlled three-dimensional chemical system are even more suggestion of just how complex the patterns can be. How Turing Patterns Work At the heart of any Turing pattern is a so-called reaction-diffusion system. It consists of an “activator,” a chemical that can make more of itself; an “inhibitor,” that slows production of the activator; and a mechanism for diffusing the chemicals. Many combinations of chemicals can fit this system: What matters isn’t their individual identity, but how they interact, with concentrations oscillating between high and low and spreading across an area. These simple units then suffice to produce very complex patterns. Proving Their Existence Even though what appeared to be Turing patterns were immediately evident in nature, it wasn’t easy to be sure they were produced by reaction-diffusion systems, rather than some other mechanism. The breakthrough came during the 1980s, when chemists were able to produce Turing patterns in the laboratory, on thin slabs of gel. In these controlled systems, the reactions could be closely followed, simulated on computers and unambiguously demonstrated as true Turing patterns. At left in each photograph is a real seashell. At right is a computer-generated image of a pattern produced by a Turing pattern simulation. At left in each photograph is the eye of a popper fish. At right is a computer-generated image of a pattern generated by a Turing pattern simulation. Brent Constantz builds cement like corals do Biomineralization expert Brent Constantz of Stanford University was inspired to make a new type of cement for buildings by the way corals build reefs. The process of making this cement actually removes carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas, thought to cause global warming – from the air. The company Constantz founded, called Calera, has a demonstration plant on California’s Monterrey Bay. The installation takes waste CO2 gas from a local power plant and dissolves it into seawater to form carbonate, which mixes with calcium in the seawater and creates a solid. It’s how corals form their skeletons, and how Constantz creates cement. Ray Baughman creates artificial muscles Nature has been developing her technologies for many hundreds of millions of years, said Ray Baughman. “By looking at the way in which nature has solved problems like muscles, we can advance our own technologies.” Baughman is director of the NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas. His lab creates very tiny artificial muscles by spinning filaments of invisibly small carbon nanotubes into an extraordinary yarn. Pound for pound, this nano-yarn is stronger than steel – yet is so light it almost floats in air. “The thorny devil, a tiny highly specialised lizard from the central Australian desert which lives entirely on ants has each scale enlarged and drawn out to a point in the centre. Few birds could relish such a thorny mouthful and to that extent, they must be a very effective defence, but the shape of the scales also serves another and most unusual function. Each is scored with very thin grooves radiating from the central peak. During cold nights, dew condenses on them and is drawn by capillary action along the grooves and eventually down to the tiny creature’s mouth.” (Attenborough 1979:164) The Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) can gather all the water it needs directly from rain, standing water, or from soil moisture, against gravity without using energy or a pumping device. Water is conveyed to this desert lizard’s mouth by capillary action through a circulatory system on the surface of its skin, comprised of semi-enclosed channels 5-150 µm wide running between cutaneous scales. Channel surfaces are heavily convoluted, greatly increasing the effective surface area to which water can hydrogen-bond and hence capillary action force. Passive collection and distribution systems of naturally distilled water could help provide clean water supplies to the 1 billion people estimated to lack this vital resource, reduce the energy consumption required in collecting and transporting water by pump action (e.g., to the tops of buildings), and provide a variety of other inexpensive technological solutions such as managing heat through evaporative cooling systems, protecting structures from fire through on-demand water barriers, etc. A robot that flies like a bird Plenty of robots can fly, but none can fly like a real bird. That is, until Markus Fischer and his team at Festo built SmartBird, a large, lightweight robot, modeled on a seagull, that flies by flapping its wings. A soaring demo fresh from TEDGlobal 2011.

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http://stefanomerlo.tumblr.com/

2013-05-24T16:45:49Z

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Esophagus is a long and muscular tube that moves food from the mouth to the stomach. Esophagus carries food you swallow to your stomach to be digested. Esophageal cancer is a cancer that occurs in the esophagus.Esophageal cancer usually begins in the cells that line the inside of the esophagus. Esophageal cancer is classified into two major types: squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, depending on the type of cells that are malignant or cancerous. 1. Squamous cell carcinomas: It is usually occur in the upper and middle division of the esophagus. 2. Adenocarcinomas: It is generally develops in the glandular tissue in the lower part of the esophagus. The treatment for both types of esophageal cancer is similar Symptoms of Esophageal Cancer There are many signs and symptoms of esophageal cancer. At early stage, esophageal cancer may not cause symptoms. As the cancer grows, the most common symptoms are: • Food gets stuck in the esophagus and food may come back up • Pain when swallowing • Pain in the chest or back • Weight loss • A hoarse voice or cough Esophageal Cancer Prognosis/Life Expectancy Life expectancy of the patient suffering from esophagus cancer depends upon the stage in which the disease is caught and the aggressiveness of the cancer. The 5 year survival rate for the patients with esophagus cancer 1st stage will be between 50-80%. There are two kinds of 2nd stage esophagus cancer. In the case of 2nd stage A of cancer, the 5 year survival rate of the patient is between 30-40% and with 2nd stage B, the survival rate is between 10-30%. When the patient is diagnosed with esophageal cancer 3rd Stage, then the 5 year survival rate will be between 10-15%. During the stage IV of esophagus cancer, the cancer would have started to spread to all the other parts of the body. In the 4th stage of cancer, the five year survival rate goes down to less than 5%. Listed below are some clinical trials investigating new treatments for Esophageal Cancer. - Studies on Tumors of the Thyroid - Continuing Care and Treatment for Patients With Cancer/AIDS/Skin Disease - Studies of Inherited Diseases of Metabolism - Evaluation and Follow-up of Patients With Cryptococcosis

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2013-05-24T16:38:05Z

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The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on NASA’s Terra spacecraft captured these images revealing the wind field in the western half of Hurricane Earl at 11 a.m. EDT on August 30, 2010, when it was a category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The hurricane's eye is just visible on the right edge of the MISR image swath. The lengths of the arrows indicate wind speeds, and their orientation shows wind direction. The altitude of a given wind vector is shown in color. Low clouds, less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in altitude (shown in purple), follow the cyclonic (counter-clockwise) flow of air into the hurricane. This warm, moist air is the power source for the hurricane. Mid- and high-level clouds (green and yellow-orange, respectively) move in an anti-cyclonic (clockwise) direction as they flow out from the top of the storm. The very highest clouds, with altitudes around 17 kilometers (10.6 miles), are flowing directly away from the eye of the hurricane. Winds at various altitudes were obtained by processing the data from five of MISR's nine cameras to produce the display shown on the right. The image (left panel) extends approximately 1,110 kilometers (690 miles) in the north-south direction and 380 kilometers (236 miles) in the east-west direction. - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (2010, September 1). NASA Images Dissect Hurricane Earl. Accessed September 1, 2010.

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2013-05-24T16:17:53Z

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Today, December 7th, 2010 is declared Pearl Harbor Day. Pearl Harbor Day commemorates the unprovoked attack in 1941 of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by Japanese forces. The attack marked the US entry into World War II. The attack took place on Sunday morning at 7:55 AM. It lasted just over an hour. The harbor was the homeport for the US Pacific fleet. Most of the ships in the harbor were damaged or destroyed. 2,400 Americans were killed and nearly 1,200 wounded. The greatest tragedy was the loss of the Battleship USS Arizona with its crew of nearly 1,200 men. At the dawn on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the naval aviation forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet center at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and other military targets. The goal of this attack was to sufficiently cripple the US Fleet so that Japan could then attack and capture the Phillipines and Indo-China and so secure access to the raw materials needed to maintain its position as a global military and economic power. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii on the morning of Sunday, 7 December 1941, which brought the U.S. into World War II. Aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyed five U.S. Navy battleships, along with 188 aircraft, one minelayer, and three destroyers and inflicting over 4,000 casualties. The Japanese losses were minimal at 29 aircraft and five midget submarines with 65 Japanese servicemen killed or wounded. The 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy’s battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire’s southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant. The intent of the pre-emptive strike was to protect Imperial Japan’s advance into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies — for their natural resources such as oil and rubber — by neutralizing the U.S. Pacific Fleet (in the fashion of War Plan Orange as practiced by both sides). This would enable Japan to further extend the empire to include Australia, New Zealand, and India (the ultimate boundaries planned for the so-called “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere”). The prevailing belief within the Japanese military and political establishment was that eventually, with the then expected German defeat of Great Britain and Soviet Russia, the United States’ non-involvement in the European war, and Japan’s control of the Pacific, that the world power structure would stabilize into three major spheres of influence: 1.) The Empire of Japan controlling East, Southeast, and South Asia and the entire Pacific Ocean. 2.) The combined powers of Germany and Italy controlling Great Britain, all of Europe, Western and central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. 3.) The United States, controlling North and South America. The Japanese high command was (mistakenly) certain any attack on Britain’s colonies would inevitably thrust the U.S. into the war. By contrast, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had moved the fleet to Hawaii, and ordered a buildup in the Philippines, to deter Japanese aggression against China, or European colonies in Asia. The attack was one of the most important engagements of World War II. Occurring before a formal declaration of war, it spurred the U.S. into World War Two against Japan and then Germany which declared war on the U.S. a few days later, creating a conflict that encircled the world. Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy”. And that it has… To all of you that have perished under this surprise attack, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families. When I visited the memorial just the sight of seeing so many names on that wall, just is jaw dropping. It is really amazing that you can hear the distant noises from shore during the boat ride over, but once you are upon the memorial, it is so soothingly quiet. It is deafening quiet. If you ever visit Hawaii, you must stop by and visit the memorial. It is so amazing. Thank you to all who have protected our freedom both past and present. It is because of you that I get the freedom to write this blog. Thanks for reading,

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2013-05-24T16:26:31Z

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HISTORY OF IMMIGRATION Just what does it mean to become an "American" and how has that meaning changed over time? In this week-long institute, we explored this question from a variety of angles including immigration policy, immigration waves, the "first" immigrants and cultural contact, slavery (those who had no choice), specific groups including French-Canadians, Asian-Americans, the Portuguese, and Somalians, and also showcase multiple teaching strategies (visual, local history, oral history, and so on). Mastering the Document Based Question Download lesson plan

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2013-05-24T16:23:20Z

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SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE – THE FIGHT FOR FREE TIBET: I am not surprised to read about this confrontation between China and India about national boundaries along the Himalayan frontier. India won its political freedom in 1947 and had to give attention to the problems of people and could not take decisive action to defend its northern frontier. India faced a much stronger threat from the west and was constantly put under pressure by Pakistan which has scant respect for India’s chosen secular traditions. The Communist revolution in China is the most important historical event in Asia and it has become the most significant threat to Freedom, Democracy, and Justice in this part of the world. Harry S. Truman(1884 – 1972), 33rd President of the US(1949-1952) is generally blamed for the “loss” of China to the Communists. Chiang Kai-Shek(1888-1975), and the Nationalists were ousted(1949) from mainland China by the Communists. However, the US recognized that the Communist expansion must be resisted and had helped the ‘Kuomintang’, Nationalist Party to establish the Republic of China in Taiwan(Portuguese Formosa) and has given it consistent support and has prevented Communist China from using military force to occupy Taiwan. Tibetans are not very fortunate as Tibet pursued a policy of political ‘isolationism’ and had failed to seek active US intervention in their Land to stop Communist China’s military expansion. During 1950, China occupied Tibet as the resistance was minimal and as Tibetan leaders believed that China could be appeased by agreeing to their demands. When Tibetans recognized that they made a fatal error in their political calculation, it wasn’t easy to the US to intervene directly. The military threat posed by China’s military occupation of Tibet was duly recognized by India and the United States. Dwight David Eisenhower(1890-1969), 34th President of the US(1953-1961) who had continued President Truman administration’s policy of containing Communism gave sanction to support the Tibetan Resistance Movement with active collaboration of India, and Tibet from 1958. The National Uprising of Tibetans on March 10, 1959 was brutally crushed by China, and the Tibetan Head of State, the 14th Dalai Lama was forced to take asylum in India. Since its independence in 1947, India never had an opportunity to establish strong relationship with Tibet and define its northern frontier. At the same time, it must not be ignored that India, and Tibet had signed the 1914 Simla Agreement and had ratified McMahon Treaty that established the McMahon Line as the official and legitimate boundary between these two countries. The 13th Dalai Lama had agreed that McMahon Line determines the Indo-Tibetan border. China’s military occupation of Tibet will not alter the reality of an agreement made by the two sovereign nations. Communist China lost no time and had retaliated against India by its War of Aggression during October-November 1962. John Fitzgerald Kennedy(1917-1963), 35th President of the US(1961-1963) with his intervention and the threat to “NUKE” China had forced the Communists to declare unilateral ceasefire on November 21, 1962 and China withdrew from the captured territory while retaining Aksai Chin region of Ladakh. Mao Tse-tung or Mao Zedong(1893-1976), founder of the People’s Republic of China and its Chairman from 1949 to 1959 had established China’s policy of military expansionism and there is no change in that policy. China has been very aggressively pursuing its policy of territorial expansion using its superior military strength and intelligence capabilities. India, and Tibet have no choice other than that of resisting Communist expansion and seek help, encouragement, and support from the US to fight this challenge as best possible with the limited resources that they can muster. I would make the following recommendations to resist the military threat posed by China’s incursion into Ladakh: 1. Expel all Chinese nationals from India. This task is easier and can be effectively implemented without firing a bullet and without any direct combat at the Himalayan frontier. 2. Cancel all visits, meetings, and diplomatic exchanges until China voluntarily withdraws its troops from Ladakh. 3. Reduce the size of China’s diplomatic staff and other support personnel present in India until China commits itself not to use its military power to discuss the boundary demarcation issue. 4. Insist upon the inclusion of Tibetan Government-in-Exile in any talks that concern the border between India, and Tibet. Rudra N Rebbapragada Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162, USA R. Rudra Narasimham, B.Sc., M.B.B.S., Personal Numbers:MS-8466/MR-03277K. Rank:Lieutenant/Captain/Major. Branch:Army Medical Corps/Short Service Regular Commission(1969-1972); Direct Permanent Commission(1973-1984). Unit:Establishment No.22(1971-1974)/South Column,Operation Eagle(1971-1972). Organization: Special Frontier Force. India tested, found wanting By Bharat Karnad 03rd May 2013: Chinese military move seriously to test India’s resolve has been on the cards for a long time now. But, this is only a gambit by Beijing to see what level of provocation will get the Indian government to act, and a means to establish a baseline for future actions. Alas, the Chinese planners misjudged how much soft tissue there is in India’s China policy, and foreign and defence policies generally, where spine should be. From the first, the China Study Group (CSG) headed by the National Security Adviser and old China-hand, Shivshankar Menon, which fuels the Ministry of External Affairs’ thinking on the subject and dictates the government’s response whenever China heaves into view, decreed that the brazen armed intrusion be soft-pedalled. Thus, the depth of penetration in the Depsang Valley in Ladakh by People’s Liberation Army troops was initially stated as 8 km, before this figure was revised to 10 km and later 19 km. Now, 19 km is not a distance that small military units “stray across” as much as it is ground covered in a directed mission and yet, the junior minister in the Home Ministry managing the Chinese border with some miserable paramilitary maintained it was a mere “incursion”, not armed “intrusion”. By such hair-splitting is the Manmohan Singh government determined to do nothing? China, in the meantime, adopted its standard stance when disrupting peace on undemarcated land and sea borders. It refused to acknowledge there was any such intrusion. When the PLA presence at Raki Nullah could no longer be denied, it stood the incident on its head by accusing the Indian Army of “aggressive patrolling”, and followed up by offering a fantastical trade-off: India ceases construction of necessary border military infrastructure and mothballs the advanced landing fields in the area in return for the status quo ante. All the while, Beijing took its cues from excuses the MEA offered for the Chinese outrage, saying it arose from “differing perceptions” of where the LAC lay. The MEA minister, Salman Khurshid, revealing his cosmetological skills, then referred to the Chinese ingress as acne that can be cured with “ointment”. With the offensively disposed Chinese military units inside Indian territory, it was again the CSG-MEA that offered Beijing a reason to stay put, saying the Chinese should be provided a “face-saving” way out of the mess they created by repairing to the negotiating table, whereupon the Chinese government promptly called for talks to restore peace. It is little wonder China sees India as a punching bag, an easy target to bully and badger. The conclusion cannot any longer be avoided that either the China Study Group constitutes a Chinese fifth column at the heart of the Indian government, or is staffed by idiot savants. The classic illustration of an idiot savant is a mentally challenged person who can memorize the numbers on the wagons in a freight train rattling past his house, but does not know how to tie his shoelaces or, in this case, can read Confucius’ Analects in the original but is unable to see a straightforward land-grab for what it is — loss of national territory. The mostly Mandarin-speaking diplomats and experts in CSG seem so overawed by China they cannot resist acting as Beijing’s B Team. At heart, the problem is that the 1962 war so institutionally rattled the MEA they still act groggy from that blow fifty years after the event and cannot recall just how military success was gained against the Chinese PLA, most recently in the 1986 Somdurong Chu incident. Having espied a PLA unit on the Indian side of LAC, General K. Sundarji airlifted troops, surrounded the Chinese encampment, placed artillery on the nearby heights ready to reduce the Chinese position to rubble, and tented a unit just 10 metres from the Chinese camp (not 500 metres as was bandied about in official circles). It was an initiative, incidentally, the then army chief took disregarding procedure and not consulting the MEA or anyone else in government, hence its success. It unnerved the Chinese who sued for peace. In contrast, the present army chief, General Bikram Singh who, by repeatedly parroting the government assertion over the past year that China poses no threat and all’s well on that front, in fact, preempted any action that Headquarters Northern Army or Leh-based 14 Corps could have instantly taken to vacate the presence of the Chinese troops, and imposed costs on PLA for this little adventure. But subordinate commanders taking their cue from the chief did nothing. The Prime Minister then compounded the trouble by reiterating the MEA-CSG line that this is but a “localised” incident. Nineteen days into this affair, General Bikram reportedly briefed the Cabinet Committee on Security about prospective actions, such as severing supply links, etc. Except, has he planned on what he’ll do when PLA helicopters or logistics truck convoys turn up to replenish the food and water stocks? Shoot down the ’çopters and destroy the trucks. Fine. Then, is the army prepared for a bigger fight? 14 Corps can mount a divisional-level action easily, but will require immediate airlifting of another division as reserve. Moreover, half a brigade’s worth of army units should forthwith descend on the PLA-occupied site, raze their camp, and physically push the PLA soldiers back on to their side, and no-nonsense about it. If this is not done, a permanent realignment of LAC is on the cards in this strategically important tri-junction area. Much worse, instead of showing self-respect and brio, and making the new Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s proposed Delhi visit in end-May conditional on immediate PLA pullback, Khurshid is planning to fly to Beijing to ensure Li keeps his date in Delhi and to ask the Chinese to withdraw, pretty please! It is as if China is the aggrieved party and needs placation. Appeasement never pays; it only emboldens belligerent states to become more demanding. China has proved this time and again, but it is doubtful the CSG-MEA and the Indian government even know what the national interest is, or where it lies. Bharat Karnad is professor at Centre for Policy Research and blogs at www.bharatkarnad.com - Special Frontier Force – the War on Communism (bhavanajagat.com) - Special Frontier Force – the Future of Tibet (bhavanajagat.com) - Special Frontier Force – Freedom in Tibet (bhavanajagat.com) - Special Frontier Force – Military Conflict With China (bhavanajagat.com) - Whole Dude – Whole Fight (wholedude.com) - Whole Dude – Whole Liberty (wholedude.com) - Whole Dude – Whole Justice (wholedude.com) - Whole Dude – Whole Democracy (wholedude.com)

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|This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. A mirror image is a mirror based duplicate of a single image. In two dimensions In geometry, the Mirror Image of an object or two-dimensional figure is the virtual image formed by reflection in a plane mirror; it is of the same size as the original object, yet different, unless the object or figure has reflection symmetry (also known as a P-symmetry). If a point of an object has coordinates (x, y,z) then the image of this point (as reflected from the mirror in y, z plane) has coordinates (-x, y,z) - so mirror reflection is a reversal of the coordinate axis perpendicular to the mirror's surface. Thus, a mirror image does not have reversed right and left (or up and down), but rather reversed front and back. Two-dimensional mirror images can be seen in the reflections of mirrors or other reflecting surfaces, or on a printed surface seen inside out. In three dimensions The concept of mirror image can be extended to three-dimensional objects, including the inside parts, even if they are not transparent. The term then relates to structural as well as visual aspects. This is also called enantiomer or enantiomorph. A mirror image appears three-dimensional if the observer moves. This is because the relative position of objects changes as the observer's perspective changes. Looking through a mirror from different positions (but necessarily with the point of observation restricted to the halfspace on one side of the mirror) is like looking at the 3D mirror image of space; without further mirrors only the mirror image of the halfspace before the mirror is relevant; if there is another mirror, the mirror image of the other halfspace is too. A text is sometimes deliberately displayed in mirror image, in order to be read through a mirror. Emergency vehicles such as ambulances or fire engines use mirror images in order to be read from a driver's rear-view mirror. Some movie theaters also use a Rear Window Captioning System to assist individuals with hearing impairments watching the film. Systems of mirrors In the case of two mirrors, in planes at an angle α, looking through both from the sector which is the intersection of the two halfspaces, is like looking at a version of the world rotated by an angle of 2α; the points of observations and directions of looking for which this applies correspond to those for looking through a frame like that of the first mirror, and a frame at the mirror image with respect to the first plane, of the second mirror. If the mirrors have vertical edges then the left edge of the field of view is the plane through the right edge of the first mirror and the edge of the second mirror which is on the right when looked at directly, but on the left in the mirror image. In the case of two parallel mirrors, looking through both once is like looking at a version of the world which is translated by twice the distance between the mirrors, in the direction perpendicular to them, away from the observer. Since the plane of the mirror in which one looks directly is beyond that of the other mirror, one always looks at an oblique angle, and the translation just mentioned has not only a component away from the observer, but also one in a perpendicular direction. The translated view can also be described by a translation of the observer in opposite direction. For example, with a vertical periscope, the shift of the world is away from the observer and down, both by the length of the periscope, but it is more practical to consider the equivalent shift of the observer: up, and backward. - ↑ Adams, Cecil (1985-09-27). Are dogs unable to see 2-D images (mirrors, photos, TV)?. The Straight Dope. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. - Why do mirrors reverse images left to right? Why not up and down? - The same question explained a little differently, with exampleseo:Spegula bildo There is no pharmaceutical or device industry support for this site and we need your viewer supported Donations | Editorial Board | Governance | Licensing | Disclaimers | Avoid Plagiarism | Policies

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Traffic Signals and Signal Coordination (Timing) Traffic Signals are a vital tool used to safely and efficiently manage vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic on state highways. To achieve optimum efficiency, traffic signals must be monitored and adjusted to serve changing traffic patterns. Traffic engineers collect detailed information about: - traffic patterns Once this data is analyzed, new timing plans are developed and field adjustments are implemented as required. To maximize traffic flow on arterials and along corridors, closely spaced signals are inter-connected, creating coordinated signal systems. Using traffic signals in coordinated systems may benefit travelers by: - reducing time delay - providing improved safety - efficient use of fossil fuels - reduced air pollution Frequently Asked Questions for Traffic Signals and Signal Coordination (Timing): What does it take to get a new traffic signal installed? Traffic counts and accident statistics are the primary considerations for installing traffic signals. When they are installed, traffic signals provide a solution to specific operational challenges, such as stopping heavy flow of traffic on a major roadway to permit crossing movements from intersecting minor streets. When programmed for optimum timing efficiency, signals can increase the traffic handling capacity of an intersection, and can reduce the occurrence of angle, or 'broadside' collisions. However, they are not the solution to all traffic woes. Most people don't realize that rear-end accidents can increase when a traffic signal is installed. Traffic signals cause accidents? Rear-end collisions usually increase when a signal is installed. Normally, traffic engineers are willing to trade off an increase in rear-end collisions for a decrease in the more severe angle-type accidents. However, when there is no angle-type accident problem at an intersection, a traffic signal may actually raise the number of accidents in a given area. Is it true that traffic signals always make traffic flow smoother and safer? No. They only make traffic flow smoother and safer when used in proper situations. Traffic signals cause traffic to stop where it may not have had to stop before. When used at an intersection where not justified, signals can cause frustration in drivers, who then seek alternate routes. These routes usually are not built to handle increased traffic flow. In addition, drivers frustrated by unnecessarily long waits at signals may begin to disobey the law. Traffic control devices are most effective when perceived as reasonable by the motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians that use them. When do traffic engineers decide signals are justified? Usually after lesser forms of control, such as stop signs or yield signs have proven to be ineffective. Then traffic engineers follow specific, uniform guidelines to determine whether a traffic signal is necessary. What about intersections that don't meet this engineering criteria? Problems can occur. Signals almost always create overall delay to drivers. In fact, minor side street traffic may experience excessive delay, particularly during off-peak hours. Because of this, drivers may actually avoid the signalized intersection and switch to alternate routes or, to residential streets not designed to handle through traffic. People also seldom consider the cost of signals, both in public funds and out of their own pockets. Out of pocket costs to me? It costs the taxpayer $250,000 to $500,000 to purchase and install a traffic signal. Electric bills and routine maintenance amount to about $8,000 a year. Drivers also have increased costs for fuel, time delay, and accidents. This adds to the reasons for installing signals only where clearly justified. If I think a signal may be needed at an intersection, what should I do? Contact the appropriate public agency: WSDOT for state highways, or your city or county public works department for local roadways. Ask the traffic engineers to review available data on the intersection, and to consider initiating a more detailed study to see if a serious problem indeed exists. Talk to them about the possibility of trying lesser forms of traffic control, such as improved signing and pavement markings, or minor intersection improvements to see if that alleviates the problem. Working together on the safest, most appropriate solutions is the best approach to keeping traffic flowing safely and smoothly in our communities What is traffic signal coordination? Traffic signal coordination occurs when a group of two or more traffic signals are working together so that cars moving through the group will make the least number of stops possible. In order for this to happen, each traffic signal in the group must allow a green light for all directions of travel during a fixed time period. In addition, that fixed time period must be the same for each traffic signal in the group. Since each traffic signal in a group runs through all its directions in the same time period, it then becomes possible to "line up" the green lights for one direction. The way the green lights "line up" depends on the distance between traffic signals and the speed of the traffic. Does this mean I will never have to stop for a red light? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is "No." There are many reasons why, even when traffic signals are coordinated, you will still have to stop at red lights. Each of the reasons has to do with the amount of time available for the green light in your direction. In order to operate traffic signals safely, several things must be considered. Because of the fixed amount of time for the "coordinated" traffic signal to provide a green light for all of the traffic movements, each of the following has a direct relationship to the amount of time available for the green light at each traffic signal within a coordinated group along a roadway. - Pedestrian Crossing: For safety, enough time must be allowed for a pedestrian to cross the street from curb-to-curb walking at a pace of four (4) feet per second*. This is called the pedestrian clearance interval and is represented by the flashing "DON'T WALK" or upraised hand symbol. The wider the street, the more time needed to cross and the less time available for the green light in the opposite direction. (* Four feet per second is a "rule of thumb." Other variable such as railroad preemption and/or a higher population of elderly pedestrians may effect the values used in this calculation.) - Cross Traffic: Like pedestrian crossing, enough time should be allocated to clear the waiting traffic on the cross street. The heavier the cross traffic, such as experienced near schools, businesses, and other heavy traffic generators, the more time needed to clear them through the intersection and the less time available for the green light in the "coordinated" direction. - Left-Turn Signals: Where left-turning traffic is especially heavy and/or the amount of opposing traffic is so heavy that there are not enough gaps in the traffic to safely complete a left-turn; left-turn signals are usually installed. The amount of time for left-turning traffic also limits the time permitted for the "through" traffic flow in the opposite direction. Each of the above factors limit the amount of time for the green light in the "coordinated" direction. - Two-Way Traffic Flow: Another thing that limits the amount of time for the green light in one direction is the need for "coordination" in the other direction as well. The distance between traffic signals and the speed of the traffic determine the way in which the green lights at the next traffic signal "line up." If the spacing is not equal between traffic signals, the green lights may only "line up" well in one direction. When this happens, the green lights will normally "line up" better in the direction with the most traffic. The traffic in the other direction may have to stop. - Off-Peak Traffic Periods: Another reason that you may have to stop is that the traffic signals are not coordinated. During times when traffic is light, traffic signals often are allowed to run independently. Traffic signals are most often coordinated during the "peak" travel times when traffic is heaviest. These times are usually between 7:00-9:00 a.m. and 4:00-6:00 p.m. Why do I have to wait so long on a side street? Remember that in order to have "coordinated" traffic signals, each traffic signal in the group must be able to allow the green light for all movements during a common fixed time period. The time period chosen is usually determined by the largest intersection with the most different movements. This will most often be an intersection that has left-turn arrows for all directions and wide cross streets. For that reason, the time period that is fixed for each traffic signal may be rather long. So, if you are waiting for a green light to cross the "coordinated" street where there are no left-turns arrows and very light traffic on the side street, chances are very good that you will feel like you are waiting for a very long time. Actually, you should rarely have to wait any longer than about two minutes. This can sometimes seem like a very long time.

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The political system of Belgium is based on a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with King Albert II as head of state. As a long process of devolution the country attained its federal status in the year 1995. Under the political system of Belgium, the government is divided into the federal government, the regional governments and the community councils. In addition to this, there are three regional government areas in Belgium- Dutch speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and the bilingual capital, Brussels. The 3 regions have authority over 10 policy areas (economy, energy, employment, transport, public works, science, regional development, environment, agriculture, housing, and water). The three linguistic communities are in charge of education, culture and language. The Flemish community and Flemish region are combined and fall under a single administrative level. The executive powers are held by King Albert II, the constitutional head, in collaboration with the Prime Minister, head of Government and his Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party or coalition who is generally appointed by the Monarch and further approved by the parliament.

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Drugs from Duckbills? The venom from the unique Australian Platypus may one day be used to make drugs for treating human disease. Dr Allan Torres from the University of Sydney has for the first time described a three-dimensional molecular structure derived from the venom, which comes from a spur on the male's hind leg. The discovery is particularly exciting because it may provide clues to designing therapeutic drugs for a range of health problems. The research showed that platypus venom is far more complex than previously thought, and contains compounds not previously known from the venom of other species such as snakes. "Many of the peptides and proteins we discovered in the venom are quite unique - but this makes sense when you think about how many unique features the platypus has," he said. The molecular shape is similar to beta defensin, a peptide found in white blood cells which has anti-microbial properties. But Dr Torres and colleagues have also found two other compounds in the venom, one which can cause muscles to contract, the other makes muscles relax and may also reduce blood pressure. "We believe platypus venom could be important in designing potent drugs," he said. Studies on platypus venom are very rare. Recently however, another Sydney University researcher isolated a nerve growth factor in the venom which directly stimulates pain receptor cells. The pain from platypus venom, which is used to deter rival males, is reportedly quite excrutiating, and while not fatal to humans, can kill dogs.

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Moon a chip off the earth block The moon probably formed after a Mars-sized object collided with a fully-formed earth, new computer simulations suggest. The calculations, presented by Robin Canup of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas and Erik Asphaug of the University of California at Santa Cruz, provide the most sophisticated scenario yet of the Moon's birth. They appear in today's issue of the journal Nature. The idea that the Moon formed as a by-product of a collision between Earth and another object, first proposed in the mid-1970s, is well accepted. But the best previous models have assumed that the impact occurred when the Earth was only partly formed. According to Ross Taylor, formerly of the Australian National University, the new Canup-Asphaug model removes the problems of the previous model by showing that the Earth was "pretty well formed" by the time of impact. Professor Taylor, who is credited with the first geochemical analysis of a Moon rock, explains that if the collision occurred earlier as previously thought, both the Earth and the Moon would have accumulated the second half of their masses after the impact. But this would have resulted in the Moon gaining more iron-rich material than is found in the Moon today. The new model was achieved by improving the accuracy of a technique used in computer simulations of large planetary impacts, called 'smooth particle hydrodynamics'. This involves splitting the Earth and the object it collided with into many small computational lumps, or 'particles'. Canup and Asphaug used 20,000 particles, compared to the 300 used in the best previous simulation. They show that an oblique impact by an object with 10 per cent of the mass of the Earth can eject sufficient iron-free material into Earth-orbit to yield the Moon, while also leaving the Earth with its final mass and correct initial rotation rate. The question that remains, says Taylor, is whether the Moon's formation was crucial to the development of life on Earth. The Moon "stabilises the tilt of the Earth", he says, therefore playing a vital role in producing conditions on Earth that can sustain life.

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Watch Can We Help in high quality on iViewwatch on iView How do you pronounce Asphalt, is it ‘As-fault’ or ‘Ash-felt’? Francis, WA The word came into English in the 17th century from Latin ‘asphalton, -tum’. It is true, people often now remodel the expression and change the pronunciation from something like ‘as-fault’ to ‘ash-felt’. This is an example of what is called folk etymology. It all stems from our desire to make more familiar a word or an expression that for some reason has become unfamiliar to us — it’s a kind of cleaning-up operation. Usually there is some sort of meaning connection too; in other words, there’s an added semantic motivation. Basically what we’re doing here is getting rid of the meaningless bits of language. It can happen when words are foreign in origin or when they no longer exist in ordinary language — and so they seem weird to us. Many examples of folk etymology are now quite standard; e.g. ‘hangnail’ from ‘angnail’ and ‘crayfish’ from ‘crevice’ were both originally corrupted forms. It will be interesting to see whether ‘ashfelt’ catches on in the same way. Where does the term ‘A Baker’s dozen’ come from? Mike, Email The expression ‘baker’s dozen’ may well have mongrel origins (multiple sources that coincide). However, it seems to me that dodgy baking practices provide one of the most likely sources (I found the most convincing evidence for this origin). In the 13th century, bakers had a bad reputation for selling underweight loaves (and also stealing dough from oven-less housewives, who would take their dough to the local baker). Strict regulations were introduced in 1266 to fix standard weights and pricing. The punishment for selling underweight loaves was public, some time in the pillory. So bakers might include an extra loaf called a vantage loaf (or in-bread) with each order of twelve to make sure they were within the law.

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Choline is not a vitamin or a mineral, but it is an essential nutrient. Although the body can create choline in small amounts, it cannot make enough to maintain health. Choline must be consumed in the diet. Choline is a component of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is involved in functions such as muscle movement, and memory formation. Most of the body's choline is found in phospholipids, which are fat molecules. The most common of these is phosphatidylcholine, better known as lecithin. Choline's functions include: - Helping to maintain the structure of the cell membrane - Aiding in the transmission of nerve impulses Playing a role in the conversion of to methionine (elevated levels of homocysteine have been associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease) - Helping to transport fat and cholesterol out of the liver |0-6 months||125 mg||125 mg | |7-12 months||150 mg||150 mg| |1-3 years||200 mg||200 mg| |4-8 years||250 mg||250 mg| |9-13 years||375 mg||375 mg| |14-18 years||400 mg||550 mg| |19 and older||425 mg||550 mg| |Pregnant, all ages||450 mg||n/a| |Lactating, all ages||550 mg||n/a| Although the body can make choline, it cannot make enough to maintain proper health and functioning. Therefore, it is possible for your choline levels to become too low if your diet does not contain enough. Because choline is essential for the transport of fat from the liver, deficiency symptoms include: - Fatty accumulation in the liver, called "fatty" liver - Liver damage The tolerable upper intake level (UL) for choline from dietary sources and supplements combined is: |0-6 months||Undetermined||Undetermined | |1-3 years||1000 mg||1000 mg| |4-8 years||1000 mg||1000 mg| |9-13 years||2000 mg||2000 mg| |14-18 years||3000 mg||3000 mg| |19 and older||3500 mg||3500 mg| Symptoms of choline toxicity include: - Fishy body odor - Increased salivation - Increased sweating - Hypotensive effect (lowering blood pressure) Very little information is available on the choline content of foods; however, some good sources of choline include: - Beef liver - Wheat germ - Atlantic cod - Brussels sprouts - Peanut butter - Milk chocolate The following populations may be at risk for a choline deficiency and may benefit from a supplement: - Strict vegetarians—A choline deficiency may result if you do not eat animal products, including milk or eggs. - Endurance athletes—Studies have shown that some choline may be lost during intense training. Because choline is a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is important in learning and memory, it has been studied for a possible role in Alzheimer's disease. Studies have been conducted, but a review of clinical trials found no benefit of supplementation with lecithin in the treatment of people with dementia. To help increase your intake of choline: - At breakfast, spread a little peanut butter on your bagel or toast in place of butter or cream cheese. - Hard boil an egg and grate it onto a salad at lunchtime. - For dinner, drink a glass of milk instead of soda. - Try sprinkling granular lecithin on top of your cereal, oatmeal, salad, or stir-fry. Just a few teaspoons is all you need. - If you are taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement, make sure that it contains choline or lecithin. Complementary Therapies. March 2002. Dietary Reference Intakes for Folate, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Panthothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline. Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Sciences USA. Washington DC: National Academy Press; 1998. Dietary reference intakes: vitamins. Institute of Medicine website. Available at: . Accessed September 17, 2012. Lecithin for dementia and cognitive impairment. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2000. Micronutrient Information Center: choline. Oregon State University, The Linus Pauling Institute website. Available at: . Updated August 18, 2009. Accessed September 17, 2012. Ralf J, Purpura M, et al. Phospholipids and sports performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007;4:5. Zeisel SH. Choline: Needed for Normal Development of Memory. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2000;19(5suppl):528S-531S. Last reviewed September 2012 by Brian Randall, MD Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Copyright © EBSCO Publishing. All rights reserved.

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"Pooh," said Rabbit kindly, "you haven't any brain." "I know," said Pooh humbly. — from The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne About 300 years before Winnie-the-Pooh’s impossible reply to Rabbit, French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes sat in his study in Holland and pondered the truth. He thought about dreams, consciousness, and his five senses. Suddenly he realized there was one, undeniable and absolute truth about the universe — if he was thinking, he must exist. For Descartes, knowing our own mental states proves our existence. Or, as he put it, “I think, therefore I am.” Pooh’s statement is silly, of course, because the mere fact that he heard, understood, and answered Rabbit proved that he had a brain. The contradiction between Pooh’s statement and reality is what makes this passage — and so much of Milne’s work — brilliant and funny. (The fact that stuffed animals are talking makes it that much funnier.) If thinking proves our existence, then perhaps no question is more significant than: How do humans develop this ability? For some answers, we turn to four studies on our list of the twenty most revolutionary studies in child development. From Clams to Kids Swiss biologist Jean Piaget wrote his doctoral thesis on the classification of mollusks. How he went from that point to becoming the world’s preeminent child psychologist is nothing short of incredible. After completing his Ph.D., he studied psychoanalysis at the University of Zurich and then landed a job in Paris standardizing intelligence tests for psychologist Alfred Binet. (Binet was an inventor of I.Q. tests.) Piaget found most of this work dull, but he was fascinated by children’s incorrect answers to test questions. Unlike Binet, Piaget came to believe that the key to understanding children’s cognitive development was not which questions children got wrong, but how they got them wrong. Piaget realized that the way children think was not simply a lesser version of adult thinking. It was qualitatively different. When he died in 1980, at the age of eighty-four, Piaget had written more than ninety books and five hundred articles on these differences. All of Piaget’s work was revolutionary because it transformed our thinking about cognitive development. One of his books — The Origins of Intelligence in Children — stands out as particularly influential. First published in 1936, it was most widely appreciated after 1952, when it was translated to English. The book contains exceptionally detailed observations of his three children — Jacqueline, Lucienne, and Laurent — from birth to about age two. Each set of observations is followed by Piaget’s theoretical explanation for different behaviors. For example, Piaget writes: “Observation 113 — Jacqueline, (at 8 months; 16 days), looks at me while my lips imitate the mewing of a cat. She holds a little bell suspended from the hood of her bassinet . . . . In order to make me continue, she shakes the little bell she holds. I answer by meowing. As soon as I stop, she again shakes the little bell, and so forth. After a few moments I definitely stop my meowings. She shakes the bell two or three times more and, confronted by failure, she changes means.” (p. 203) Piaget explains little Jacqueline’s behavior like this: From birth to about two years, children are in the “sensorimotor stage” of cognitive development. They understand the world through sensory and motor interactions with their environment. Many motor skills, such as reaching and grasping, are genetically programmed. With experience, children associate certain movements with certain outcomes. Jacqueline associated her ringing the bell with her father’s meowing. She then adapted her behavior based on the effect it had on the environment. So long as her ringing the bell had the intended outcome, she continued. When the desired effect disappeared, she eventually stopped ringing the bell. The ability to make this kind of adaptation, said Piaget, is what intelligence is. According to Piaget, intelligence grows as we add to and revise our ideas of how the world works. He called these dual processes “assimilation” and “accommodation.” Each time that Jacqueline rings the bell and her father meows, she is assimilating. She’s adding familiar information to an organized idea about how the world works. When her father stops meowing, this new information requires her to revise her idea about whether her ringing the bell always results in her father’s meowing. She is accommodating. Every day, we assimilate familiar information into our organized ideas about the world, and we accommodate fresh information by revising old ideas or creating new ones. Again, Piaget’s work was revolutionary because he showed how children’s organized ideas — or “schemas” — about how the world works were different from adults’ ideas. For example, compare your schema for objects to Jacqueline’s schema for objects. Your schema includes mental representations. You understand that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see it. If you saw me put your issue of Camping Magazine under a blanket, you would know it still exists. You could picture it in your mind and you would naturally look for it under that blanket. Jacqueline probably would not. So, if her father hid her favorite toy under a blanket, she might look momentarily miffed, but she would not search for the toy. For a child that age, the toy isn’t hidden. It’s gone. Yet over time, said Piaget, Jacqueline’s biological growth and experiences with the world would allow her to hold mental representations of objects in her mind, use deductive reasoning, see the world from another person’s perspective, and think abstractly. Kids These Days Piaget’s work has spawned thousands of studies, many concerned with validating the observations he made of his three children. Most of these studies support Piaget’s basic theory, but others suggest cognitive development is smoother and less “step-like” than Piaget proposed. Some studies — such as the revolutionary work published by Renée Baillargeon in 1987 — suggest that children are capable of certain cognitive tasks at an earlier age than Piaget claimed. Recall that Piaget claimed children younger than nine months do not understand that objects out of sight continue to exist. In Piagetian terms, young infants do not have a sense of “object permanence.” However, Baillargeon’s clever test of object permanence proved that infants as young as three and a half months have a sense of object permanence. First Baillargeon showed infants a piece of cardboard the size of a paperback book. The cardboard was hinged to the table on one side so that it could flap forward toward the infant, and then all the way back, away from the infant. The infants were allowed to see the cardboard flap back and forth, through its full 180-degree arc. Then, Baillargeon placed a colorful Mr. Potato Head toy behind the hinge and showed the infants two events — one possible and one impossible. In the possible condition, the cardboard flap swung up, blocked the toy from the infant’s view, and then stopped at a 112-degree angle, presumably because it had hit the toy. In the impossible condition, the cardboard flap swung up, occluded the toy, and then kept going through its full 180-degree arc. (The toy had disappeared under a little trap door, allowing the cardboard flap to keep going.) Remarkably, infants gazed longer at the impossible event than at the possible event, which Baillargeon and others have interpreted to mean one thing: three-and-a-half-month-old infants had some basic understanding that the toy, even though out of sight, still existed. It therefore should have stopped the cardboard flap from swinging all the way back. And you thought Mr. Potato Head was just a toy! A Revolutionary Revolutionary Born in 1896 — the same year as Piaget — Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky earned a law degree from Moscow University in 1917, during that country’s bloody revolution. In 1925, he earned a doctorate in psychology and, until his death from tuberculosis in 1934, he wrote many influential essays on cognitive development. Like Piaget, he believed intelligence was a process of adaptation. Unlike other animals, he said, humans have the capacity to alter the environment for their own purposes. The book Mind in Society is an anthology of Vygotsky’s best work. It contains some manuscripts that he published in the early 1930s, and some that were discovered and translated posthumously. There are interesting Marxist influences in Vygotsky’s writing, especially when he talks about how people’s work shapes their environment or how children’s “mastery in the use of tools” is a key to their intellectual development. Vygotsky also admired the way Marx analyzed economic and social change by looking at essential components, such as “value” and “capital.” Vygotsky was not a political revolutionary, but he revolutionized psychological thought by challenging people to think about what the essential components of cognitive development were. Get in the Zone For Vygotsky, two key tools for a child’s adaptive learning were social contact and language. He wrote, “Signs and words serve children first and foremost as a means of social contact with other people. The cognitive and communicative functions of language then become the basis of a new and superior form of activity in children, distinguishing them from animals.” (p. 28-29) Vygotsky noticed that children used language to express themselves, but also to direct their own behavior and solicit help from others. The mere fact that a child asked a question about a problem (“Can you reach those cookies for me?”) suggested to Vygotsky that the child had “formulated a plan to solve the task . . . but [was] unable to perform all the necessary operations.” But it was not simply socializing and talking that fertilized children’s intellect, it was being in what Vygotsky called the “zone of proximal development.” Like Piaget, Vygotsky was not intrigued by children’s intellectual level, as measured by an intelligence test. But unlike Piaget — who focused on how children made mistakes — Vygotsky focused on what children could accomplish with the assistance of another person. That was the zone of proximal development. As Vygotsky put it: “ . . . the zone of proximal development . . . is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.” (p. 86) The key to hearty intellectual growth, argued Vygotsky, was for children to be supported in this zone. That way, learning could actually shape development. So, You Think You’re Special? Even before Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859, scientists and philosophers had sought to distinguish that which was uniquely human from that which we had in common with animals. Piaget and Vygotsky were no exception. They both used the phrase “uniquely human” to describe certain cognitive abilities, such as language fluency and representational thought. And so in 1978, when University of Pennsylvania psychologists David Premack and Guy Woodruff described their experiments with a chimpanzee named Sarah, their results were met with a great deal of controversy. Premack and Woodruff had trained and tested fourteen-year-old Sarah since she arrived at the Penn primate facility when she was less than a year old. She had even learned a simplified visual language and could sign for things she wanted, such as a banana or a hug. Now the researchers were interested to know whether Sarah had a “theory of mind” — whether she could infer what others were thinking. Most animals can respond to another animal’s behavior, but perhaps only humans understand that other members of our species have thoughts. For example, when Ana says, “Byron believes in ghosts, but I don’t,” we infer that Ana has a theory of mind. She has imputed a mental state to Byron and distinguished it from her own. Is this ability uniquely human? To answer that question, Premack and Woodruff showed Sarah eight different video vignettes depicting a human being in a jam. In one vignette, for example, the human actor struggled to get out of a cage. Sarah was then shown four still photographs depicting possible solutions: a key, a match, a spigot and hose, and a cord plugged to an outlet. Premack and Woodruff reasoned that Sarah had to understand the human’s intentions and beliefs (mental states) in order to select the right solution (the key). For each of the eight vignettes, Sarah pointed most often to the photograph that depicted the correct solution. Premack and Woodruff argued that Sarah understood the human actor’s purpose in each of the vignettes, thus supporting the notion that chimpanzees have a theory of mind. Some twenty-five years later, lively debate — and much research — is still directed at this question. What to Pack for Camp The authors discussed in this article have revolutionized child psychology by suggesting: - children do not think less than adults, they think differently from adults; - physical and sensory exploration boost cognitive development; - intelligence is an adaptive process whereby children constantly append and reorganize their ideas about the world; - cognitive development is promoted, and perhaps best measured, by what children can accomplish with the assistance of a more capable teacher; - the foundations for abstract thinking are present at a very young age; and - nonhuman primates may also have the ability to think about thinking. How can you use these findings at camp? - Pay special attention to how campers make mistakes — both in activities and in relationships — because it reveals how they think. Knowing this will help you be a better teacher. - Provide opportunities for challenge and exploration. Most cognitive growth occurs when campers are faced with new, somewhat difficult circumstances. - Encourage effort without putting a premium on winning or perfection. Help campers understand that the process of learning involves more failing than succeeding. Teach staff to value the process, not the product. - Be sensitive to younger camper’s concrete ways of thinking. It takes years to learn to think hypothetically and abstractly. This is one reason why younger children are impulsive and why they take what adults say so literally. - Teach age-appropriate skills. Although it may be trendy to create precocity, Piaget cautioned, “Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves.” - Allow campers to be self-directed in some activities. Like many animals, children can be trained to perform. A nobler goal is to teach them to think for themselves and act responsibly. Some self-directed play helps nurture children’s independence. - Pair challenge with support. Push campers’ skill limits while exposing them to expert instructors and peers. This practice promotes development by keeping children in the zone of proximal development. - Design an environment where campers experience some mastery, not just constant challenge or constant hollow praise. A genuine sense of accomplishment, after some real effort and failure, is the only thing that increases self-esteem. There is no evidence to suggest that simply telling a child she is special will make her feel special. - Appreciate each camper’s potential, not just his or her existing skills. A true measure of your camp’s success is how well each child’s potential is tapped during the session, not how much the campers’ existing skills are showcased. - Explain the goals of activities to campers in advance. Then, at the end of some activities, discuss whether and how those goals were met. Play is your most powerful teaching tool. If Piaget, Vygotsky, Baillargeon, Premack, and Woodruff were to design an ideal learning environment, it would need to have developmentally appropriate and challenging activities, nurturing experts, plenty of social interaction, and opportunities for both problem-solving and thoughtful reflection. Of course, it would also need to be fun, or no one would go. I think I know just what that ideal place is. Baillargeon, R. (1987). Object permanence in 3½- and 4½-month-old infants. Developmental Psychology, 23, 655-664. Piaget, J. (1936/1952). The Origins of Intelligence in Children. New York: International Universities Press. Premack, D. & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 4, 515-526. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Christopher A. Thurber, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who divides his time among Phillips Exeter Academy, corporate and camp consultation, and co-parenting his infant son, Danilo. He is the co-author of the Summer Camp Handbook. For information about staff training at your camp, send e-mail to: [email protected]

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Andrew Jackson on Nullification December 1832 In 1828 John Calhoun of South Carolina (who was then Vice President of the United States) wrote an Exposition and Protest on the high protective tariff of that year. When another high tariff was passed in 1832, South Carolina decided not to obey it and issued a formal Ordinance of Nullification in November, 1832. Andrew Jackson regarded the South Carolina Ordinance as a clear threat to the federal union and to national authority. He reacted by submitting to Congress a Force Bill authorizing the use of federal troops in South Carolina, and by asking Secretary of State Edward Livingston to draw up the following "Proclamation to the People of South Carolina.” Jackson's proclamation, delivered December 10, 1832, evoked a defiant response from South Carolina in the resolutions of December 20 that appear below. But support from other Southern states was not forthcoming, and this, coupled with Jackson's determination to employ military force if necessary, ultimately forced South Carolina to retreat. With the help of Henry Clay, a moderate tariff bill more acceptable to South Carolina was passed in 1833. However, the episode had established a strategy the South would employ on the slavery issue, under weaker presidents, until the outbreak of the Civil War. Source: Richardson, II, pp. 640-656. The Statutes at Large of South Carolina, Thomas Cooper, ed., Vol. 1, Columbia, 1836, pp. 356-357, as published in The Annals of America, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., Volume 5, 1968, pp. 585-592. ANDREW JACKSON: Proclamation to the People of South Carolina Whereas, a convention assembled in the state of South Carolina have passed an ordinance by which they declare "that the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities and now having actual operation and effect within the United States, and more especially" two acts for the same purposes passed on the 29th of May, 1829, and on the 14th of July, 1832, are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void and no law, nor binding on the citizens of that state or its officers; and by the said ordinance it is further declared to be unlawful for any of the constituted authorities of the state or of the United States to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same state, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to give full effect to the said ordinance; and Whereas, by the said ordinance it is further ordained that in no case of law or equity decided in the courts of said state wherein shall be drawn in question the validity of the said ordinance, or of the acts of the legislature that may be passed to give it effect, or of the said laws of the United States, no appeal shall be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States, nor shall any copy of the record be permitted or allowed for that purpose, and that any person attempting to take such appeal shall be punished as for contempt of court; and, finally, the said ordinance declares that the people of South Carolina will maintain the said ordinance at every hazard, and that they will consider the passage of any act by Congress abolishing or closing the ports of the said state or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress of vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of the federal government to coerce the state, shut up her ports, destroy or harass her commerce, or to enforce the said acts, otherwise than through the civil tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union, and that the people of the said state will thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the other states, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate government and do all other acts and things which sovereign and independent states may of right do; and Whereas, the said ordinance prescribes to the people of South Carolina a course of conduct in direct violation of their duty as citizens of the United States, contrary to the laws of their country, subversive of its Constitution, and having for its object the destruction of the Union . . . to preserve this bond of our political existence from destruction, to maintain inviolate this state of national honor and prosperity, and to justify the confidence my fellow citizens have reposed in me, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, have thought proper to issue this my proclamation, stating my views of the Constitution and laws applicable to the measures adopted by the convention of South Carolina and to the reasons they have put forth to sustain them, declaring the course which duty will require me to pursue, and appealing to the understanding and patriotism of the people, warn them of the consequences that must inevitably result from an observance of the dictates of the convention. Strict duty would require of me nothing more than the exercise of those powers with which I am now or may hereafter be invested for preserving the peace of the Union and for the execution of the laws; but the imposing aspect which opposition has assumed in this case, by clothing itself with state authority and the deep interest which the people of the United States must all feel in preventing a resort to stronger measures while there is a hope that anything will be yielded to reasoning and remonstrance, perhaps demand, and will certainly justify, a full exposition to South Carolina and the nation of the views I entertain of this important question, as well as a distinct enunciation of the course which my sense of duty will require me to pursue. The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional and too oppressive to be endured but on the strange position that any one state may not only declare an act of Congress void but prohibit its execution; that they may do this consistently with the Constitution; that the true construction of that instrument permits a state to retain its place in the Union and yet be bound by no other of its laws than those it may choose to consider as constitutional. It is true, they add, that to justify this abrogation of a law it must be palpably contrary to the Constitution; but it is evident that to give the right of resisting laws of that description, coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws deserve that character, is to give the power of resisting all laws; for as by the theory there is no appeal, the reasons alleged by the state, good or bad, must prevail. If it should be said that public opinion is a sufficient check against the abuse of this power, it may be asked why it is not deemed a sufficient guard against the passage of an unconstitutional act by Congress? There is, however, a restraint in this last case which makes the assumed power of a state more indefensible, and which does not exist in the other. There are two appeals from an unconstitutional act passed by Congress-one to the judiciary, the other to the people and the states. There is no appeal from the state decision in theory, and the practical illustration shows that the courts are closed against an application to review it, both judges and jurors being sworn to decide in its favor. But reasoning on this subject is superfluous when our social compact, in express terms, declares that the laws of the United States, its Constitution, and treaties made under it are the supreme law of the land, and, for greater caution, adds "that the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding." And it may be asserted without fear of refutation that no federative government could exist without a similar provision. Look for a moment to the consequence. If South Carolina considers the revenue laws unconstitutional and has a right to prevent their execution in the port of Charleston, there would be a clear constitutional objection to their collection in every other port; and no revenue could be collected anywhere, for all imposts must be equal. It is no answer to repeat that an unconstitutional law is no law so long as the question of its legality is to be decided by the state itself, for every law operating injuriously upon any local interest will be perhaps thought, and certainly represented, as unconstitutional, and, as has been shown, there is no appeal. If this doctrine had been established at an earlier day, the Union would have been dissolved in its infancy. The excise law in Pennsylvania, the embargo and nonintercourse law in the Eastern states, the carriage tax in Virginia were all deemed unconstitutional, and were more unequal in their operation than any of the laws now complained of; but, fortunately, none of those states discovered that they had the right now claimed by South Carolina. The war into which we were forced to support the dignity of the nation and the rights of our citizens might have ended in defeat and disgrace, instead of victory and honor, if the states who supposed it a ruinous and unconstitutional measure had thought they possessed the right of nullifying the act by which it was declared and denying supplies for its prosecution. Hardly and unequally as those measures bore upon several members of the Union, to the legislatures of none did this efficient and peaceable remedy, as it is called, suggest itself. The discovery of this important feature in our Constitution was reserved to the present day. To the statesmen of South Carolina belongs the invention, and upon the citizens of that state will unfortunately fall the evils of reducing it to practice. If the doctrine of a state veto upon the laws of the Union carries with it internal evidence of its impracticable absurdity, our constitutional history will also afford abundant proof that it would have been repudiated with indignation had it been proposed to form a feature in our government. . . . Under the Confederation, then, no state could legally annul a decision of the Congress or refuse to submit to its execution; but no provision was made to enforce these decisions. Congress made requisitions, but they were not complied with. The government could not operate on individuals. They had no judiciary, no means of collecting revenue. But the defects of the Confederation need not be detailed. Under its operation we could scarcely be called a nation. We had neither prosperity at home nor consideration abroad. This state of things could not be endured, and our present happy Constitution was formed but formed in vain if this fatal doctrine prevails. It was formed for important objects that are announced in the Preamble, made in the name and by the authority of the people of the United States, whose delegates framed and whose conventions approved it. The most important among these objects-that which is placed first in rank, on which all the others rest-is "to form a more perfect union." Now, is it possible that even if there were no express provision giving supremacy to the Constitution and laws of the United States over those of the states, can it be conceived that an instrument made for the purpose of "forming a more perfect union" than that of the Confederation could be so constructed by the assembled wisdom of our country as to substitute for that Confederation a form of government dependent for its existence on the local interest, the party spirit of a state or of a prevailing faction in a state? Even man of plain, unsophisticated understanding who hears the question will give such an answer as will preserve the Union. . . . I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed. After this general view of the leading principle, we must examine the particular application of it which is made in the ordinance. The Preamble rests its justification on these grounds: It assumes as a fact that the obnoxious laws, although they purport to be laws for raising revenue, were in reality intended for the protection of manufactures, which purpose it asserts to be unconstitutional; that the operation of these laws is unequal; that the amount raised by them is greater than is required by the wants of the government; and, finally, that the proceeds are to be applied to objects unauthorized by the Constitution. These are the only causes alleged to justify an open opposition to the laws of the country and a threat of seceding from the Union if any attempt should be made to enforce them. The first virtually acknowledges that the law in question was passed under a power expressly given by the Constitution to lay and collect imposts; but its constitutionality is drawn in question from the motives of those who passed it. However apparent this purpose may he in the present case, nothing can be more dangerous than to admit the position that an unconstitutional purpose entertained by the members who assent to a law enacted under a constitutional power shall make that law void. For how is that purpose to be ascertained? Who is to make the scrutiny? How often may bad purposes be falsely imputed, in how many cases are they concealed by false professions, in how many is no declaration of motive made? Admit this doctrine and you give to the states an uncontrolled right to decide; and every law may be annulled under this pretext. If, therefore, the absurd and dangerous doctrine should be admitted that a state may annul an unconstitutional law, or one that it deems such, it will not apply to the present case. The next objection is that the laws in question operate unequally. This objection may be made with truth to every law that has been or can be passed. The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality. If the unequal operation of a law makes it unconstitutional, and if all laws of that description may be abrogated by any state for that cause, then indeed is the federal Constitution unworthy of the slightest effort for its presentation. We have hitherto relied on it as the perpetual bond of our Union; we have received it as the work of the assembled wisdom of the nation; we have trusted to it as to the sheet anchor of our safety in the stormy times of conflict with a foreign or domestic foe; we have looked to it with sacred awe as the palladium of our liberties; and with all the solemnities of religion have pledged to each other our lives and fortunes here and our hopes of happiness hereafter in its defense and support. Were we mistaken, my countrymen, in attaching this importance to the Constitution of our country? . . . Our Constitution does not contain the absurdity of giving power to make laws and another to resist them. The sages whose memory will always be reverenced have given us a practical and, as they hoped, a permanent constitutional compact. The father of his country did not affix his revered name to so palpable an absurdity. Nor did the states, when they severally ratified it, do so under the impression that a veto on the laws of the United States was reserved to them or that they could exercise it by implication. Search the debates in all their conventions, examine the speeches of the most zealous opposers of federal authority, look at the amendments that were proposed; they are, all silent-not a syllable uttered, not a vote given, not a motion made to correct the explicit supremacy given to the laws of the Union over those of the states, or to show that implication, as is now contended, could defeat it. No; we have not erred. The Constitution is still the object of our reverence, the bond of our Union, our defense in danger, the source of our prosperity in peace. It shall descend, as we have received it, uncorrupted by sophistical construction, to our posterity; and the sacrifices of local interests, of state prejudices, of personal animosities that were made to bring it into existence will again be patriotically offered for its support. The two remaining objections made by the ordinance to these laws are that the sums intended to be raised by them are greater than are required, and that the proceeds will be unconstitutionally employed. . . . The ordinance, with the same knowledge of the future that characterizes a former objection, tells you that the proceeds of the tax will be unconstitutionally applied. If this could be ascertained with certainty, the objection would with more propriety be reserved for the law so applying the proceeds, but surely cannot be urged against the laws levying the duty. These are the allegations contained in the ordinance. Examine them seriously, my fellow citizens; judge for yourselves. I appeal to you to determine whether they are so clear, so convincing, as to leave no doubt of their correctness; and even if you should come to this conclusion, how far they justify the reckless, destructive course which you am directed to pursue. Review these objections and the conclusions drawn from them once more. What are they? Every law, then, for raising revenue, according to the South Carolina ordinance, may be rightfully annulled unless it be so framed as no law ever will or can be framed. Congress have a right to pass laws for raising revenue and each state has a right to oppose their execution-two rights directly opposed to each other; and yet is this absurdity supposed to be contained in an instrument drawn for the express purpose of avoiding collisions between the states and the general government by an assembly of the most enlightened statesmen and purest patriots ever embodied for a similar purpose. In vain have these sages declared that Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; in vain have they provided that they shall have power to pass laws which shall be necessary and proper to carry those powers into execution, that those laws and that Constitution shall be the "supreme law of the land, and that the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding"; in vain have the people of the several states solemnly sanctioned these provisions, made them their paramount law, and individually sworn to support them whenever they were called on to execute any office. Vain provisions! Ineffectual restrictions! Vile profanation of oaths! Miserable mockery of legislation!-if a bare majority of the voters in any one state may, on a real or supposed knowledge of the intent with which a law has been passed, declare themselves free from its operation; say, here it gives too little; there, too much, and operates unequally; here it suffers articles to be free that ought to be taxed; there it taxes those that ought to be free; in this case the proceeds are intended to be applied to purposes which we do not approve; in that, the amount raised is more than is wanted. Congress, it is true, are invested by the Constitution with the right of deciding these questions according to their sound discretion. Congress is composed of the representatives of all the states and of all the people of all the states. But we, part of the people of one state, to whom the Constitution has given no power on the subject, from whom it has expressly taken it away; we, who have solemnly agreed that this Constitution shall be our law; we, most of whom have sworn to support it-we now abrogate this law and swear, and force others to swear, that it shall not be obeyed; and we do this not because Congress have no right to pass such laws-this we do not allege-but because they have passed them with improper views. They are unconstitutional from the motives of those who passed them, which we can never with certainty know; from their unequal operation, although it is impossible, from the nature of things, that they should be equal; and from the disposition which we presume may be made of their proceeds, although that disposition has not been declared. This is the plain meaning of the ordinance in relation to laws which it abrogates for alleged unconstitutionality. But it does not stop there. It repeals in express terms an important part of the Constitution itself and of laws passed to give it effect which have never been alleged to be unconstitutional. The Constitution declares that the judicial powers of the United States extend to cases arising under the laws of the United States, and that such laws, the Constitution, and treaties shall be paramount to the state constitutions and laws. The judiciary act prescribes the mode by which the case may be brought before a court of the United States by appeal when a state tribunal shall decide against this provision of the Constitution. The ordinance declares there shall be no appeal-makes the state law paramount to the Constitution and laws of the United States, forces judges and jurors to swear that they will disregard their provisions, and even makes it penal in a suitor to attempt relief by appeal. It further declares that it shall not be lawful for the authorities of the United States or of that state to enforce the payment of duties imposed by the revenue laws within its limits. Here is a law of the United States, not even pretended to be unconstitutional, repealed by the authority of a small majority of the voters of a single state. Here is a provision of the Constitution which is solemnly abrogated by the same authority. On such expositions and reasonings the ordinance grounds not only an assertion of the right to annul the laws of which it complains but to enforce it by a threat of seceding from the Union if any attempt is made to execute them. This right to secede is deduced from the nature of the Constitution, which, they say, is a compact between sovereign states who have preserved their whole sovereignty and therefore are subject to no superior; that because they made the compact they can break it when in their opinion it has been departed from by the other states. Fallacious as this course of reasoning is, it enlists state pride and finds advocates in the honest prejudices of those who have not studied the nature of our government sufficiently to see the radical error on which it rests. . . . The Constitution of the United States, then, forms a government, not a league; and whether it be formed by compact between the states or in any other manner, its character is the same. It is a government in which all the people are represented, which operates directly on the people individually, not upon the states; they retained all the power they did not grant. But each state, having expressly parted with so many powers as to constitute, jointly with the other states, a single nation, cannot, from that period, possess any right to secede, because such secession does not break a league but destroys the unity of a nation; and any injury to that unity is not only a breach which would result from the contravention of a compact but it is an offense against the whole Union. To say that any state may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation, because it would be a solecism to contend that any part of a nation might dissolve its connection with the other parts, to their injury or ruin, without committing any offense. Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may be morally justified by the extremity of oppression; but to call it a constitutional right is confounding the meaning of terms, and can only be done through gross error or to deceive those who are willing to assert a right, but would pause before they made a revolution or incur the penalties consequent on a failure. Because the Union was formed by a compact, it is said the parties to that compact may, when they feel themselves aggrieved, depart from it; but it is precisely because it is a compact that they cannot. A compact is an agreement or binding obligation. It may by its terms have a sanction or penalty for its breach, or it may not. If it contains no sanction, it may be broken with no other consequence than moral guilt; if it have a sanction, then the breach incurs the designated or implied penalty. A league between independent nations generally has no sanction other than a moral one; or if it should contain a penalty, as there is no common superior it cannot be enforced. A government, on the contrary, always has a sanction, express or implied; and in our case it is both necessarily implied and expressly given. An attempt by force of arms to destroy a government is an offense, by whatever means the constitutional compact may have been formed; and such government has the right by the law of self-defense to pass acts for punishing the offender, unless that right is modified, restrained, or resumed by the constitutional act. In our system, although it is modified in the case of treason, yet authority is expressly given to pass all laws necessary to carry its powers into effect, and under this grant provision has been made for punishing acts which obstruct the due administration of the laws. It would seem superfluous to add anything to show the nature of that Union which connects us, but as erroneous opinions on this subject are the foundation of doctrines the most destructive to our peace, I must give some further development to my views on this subject. No one, fellow citizens, has a higher reverence for the reserved rights of the states than the magistrate who now addresses you. No one would make greater personal sacrifices or official exertions to defend them from violation; but equal care must be taken to prevent, on their part, an improper interference with or resumption of the rights they have vested in the nation. The line has not been so distinctly drawn as to avoid doubts in some cases of the exercise of power. Men of the best intentions and soundest views may differ in their construction of some parts of the Constitution; but there are others on which dispassionate reflection can leave no doubt. Of this nature appears to be the assumed right of secession. It rests, as we have seen, on the alleged undivided sovereignty of the states and on their having formed in this sovereign capacity a compact which is called the Constitution, from which, because they made it, they have the right to secede. Both of these positions are erroneous, and some of the arguments to prove them so have been anticipated. The states severally have not retained their entire sovereignty. It has been shown that in becoming parts of a nation, not members of a league, they surrendered many of their essential parts of sovereignty. The right to make treaties, declare war, levy taxes, exercise exclusive judicial and legislative powers were all of them functions of sovereign power. The states, then, for all these important purposes, were no longer sovereign. The allegiance of their citizens was transferred, in the first instance, to the government of the United States; they became American citizens and owed obedience to the Constitution of the United States and to laws made in conformity with the powers it vested in Congress. . . . This, then, is the position in which we stand. A small majority of the citizens of one state in the Union have elected delegates to a state convention; that convention has ordained that all the revenue laws of the United States must be repealed, or that they are no longer a member of the Union. The governor of that state has recommended to the legislature the raising of an army to carry the secession into effect, and that he may be empowered to give clearances to vessels in the name of the state. No act of violent opposition to the laws has yet been committed, but such a state of things is hourly apprehended. And it is the intent of this instrument to proclaim, not only that the duty imposed on me by the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed" shall be performed to the extent of the powers already vested in me by law, or of such others as the wisdom of Congress shall devise and intrust to me for that purpose, but to warn the citizens of South Carolina who have been deluded into an opposition to the laws of the danger they will incur by obedience to the illegal and disorganizing ordinance of the convention; to exhort those who have refused to support it to persevere in their determination to uphold the Constitution and laws of their country; and to point out to all the perilous situation into which the good people of that state have been led, and that the course they am urged to pursue is one of ruin and disgrace to the very state whose rights they affect to support. . . . Disunion by armed force is treason. Are you really ready to incur its guilt? If you are, on the heads of the instigators of the act be the dreadful consequences; on their heads be the dishonor, but on yours may fall the punishment. On your unhappy state will inevitably fall all the evils of the conflict you force upon the government of your country. It cannot accede to the mad project of disunion, of which you would be the first victims. Its first magistrate cannot, if he would, avoid the performance of his duty. . . . Fellow citizens of the United States, the threat of unhallowed disunion, the names of those once respected by whom it is uttered, the array of military force to support it, denote the approach of a crisis in our affairs on which the continuance of our unexampled prosperity, our political existence, and perhaps that of all free governments may depend. The conjuncture demanded a free, a full and explicit enunciation, not only of my intentions, but of my principles of action; and as the claim was asserted of a right by a state to annul the laws of the Union, and even to secede from it at pleasure, a frank exposition of my opinions in relation to the origin and form of our government and the construction I give to the instrument by which it was created seemed to be proper. Having the fullest confidence in the justness of the legal and constitutional opinion of my duties which has been expressed, I rely with equal confidence on your undivided support in my determination to execute the laws, to preserve the Union by all constitutional means, to arrest, if possible, by moderate and firm measures the necessity of a recourse to force; and if it be the will of Heaven that the recurrence of its primeval curse on man for the shedding of a brother's blood should fall upon our land, that it be not called down by any offensive act on the part of the United States. Fellow citizens, the momentous case is before you. On your undivided support of your government depends the decision of the great question it involves-whether your sacred Union will be preserved and the blessing it secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated.

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The study isn’t quite done yet (and researchers won’t comment on the ongoing work), but the research could lead to a test that can accurately predict who will get sick and who won’t. Once the scientists hone in the genetic difference between those slightly negatively impacted and those severely impacted, a test could be developed within a year. What might be helpful to an expedition team is a big deal to the military, which is backing the study in hopes of finding a way around the current trial-and-error method, sending troops into high mountain regions of, say, Afghanistan, only to find that they fall acutely ill. Or giving all soldiers Diamox, which is an expensive solution to a problem that might afflict some troops but not others. The lab work is far from complete, which is why Dr. Robert Roach, who heads the ARC lab, says it’s too soon to report with certainty on what they’ve learned, though he suggests there might be a report in fall. Until then, there are a few logical questions we’d ask: Will this result in a specific test anyone could get before going on a climb of a Rainier or just a ski trip to Vail? What happens when we go even higher? The simulated and actual tests were at an equivalent of 14,000-16,000 feet. But if you go to 20,000 feet would you find marker genes (and more symptoms) for those who are asymptomatic lower? We all know that climbing slowly can help anyone acclimate to altitude more easily, but will knowing about genetic markers change the protocols for anyone visiting the mountains, or only for those who are most prone to falling ill? And how does the DNA of Sherpas compared to low-altitude dwellers? One thing we do know; as with so much genetic research, this study isn’t likely to lead to a simple “cure” for hypoxia. The lower barometric pressure at altitude lets you access less oxygen, and your heart, lungs, and muscles all have to work harder to function. That’s basic physiology, and even acclimatization cannot make living at 8,000 meters safe for human beings. Photo by Vadim Petrakov/Shutterstock

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"Nimrod": The Extraordinary Story of Shackleton's First Expedition On New Year's Day 1908, the ship Nimrod set off for the mysterious regions of the Antarctic. The leader of the small expedition was Ernest Shackleton ... Show synopsis On New Year's Day 1908, the ship Nimrod set off for the mysterious regions of the Antarctic. The leader of the small expedition was Ernest Shackleton who, in the next year and a quarter would record some of the greatest achievements of his career and would then, together with his companions, return home as a hero. Shackleton and his party battled against extreme cold, hunger, danger and psychological trauma in their attempt to reach the South Pole and to return alive. They climbed the active volcano of Mount Erebus, planted the Union Jack at the previously unattained South Magnetic Pole, and struggled to within 97 miles of the South Geographic Pole. Beau Riffenburgh has written the definitive account of what Shackleton grandly called the British Antarctic Expedition. The story features an extraordinary cast of characters including Scott, Douglas Mawson, who would become one of the greatest Antarctic explorers, and the Antarctic pioneers Nansen and Amundsen. Nimrod is a story of an adventure which was a source of huge pride and fascination to both the leaders and subjects of the British Empire, and a journey almost too incredible even for Shackleton.

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Unusual methods yield valuable data for cattle producers When I was told that someone put GPS collars on cows and I’d be writing about it, I wasn’t sure what was in store. Having grown up on a farm, I’ve seen how global positioning systems are used in planting, spraying and harvesting. I’ve even used it to find new restaurants, but cattle? Iowa State animal science professor and researcher Jim Russell has a long history of collaboration with the Leopold Center. His work covers rotational grazing, factors that contribute to successful management and profitability, as well how to maintain water quality in pasture-based production systems. His most recent competitive grant project looked at cattle movements and preferences in a pasture, and GPS collars were the best way to keep track of them. The experiment called for recorded data on movements of two or three cows in eight different pastures on five cow-calf farms in the Rathbun Lake watershed area. Each cow wore a GPS collar for two weeks during the spring, summer and fall of 2007, 2008 and 2009. Temperature and humidity also were recorded. “We wanted to find out how much time cattle really were spending near waterways and if they were, why,” said Russell. “After three years, we noticed that they don’t spend nearly as much time in or near the water as people generally think.” The location of the cattle in relation to creeks or other sources of water is very important information for the Leopold Center’s grazing research program. It has been assumed that cattle in pasture-based systems are large contributors to the levels of sediment, nutrients and pathogens found in surface water. Having only a limited amount of experience with cattle as a child (does riling my dad’s Charolais bulls count as experience?), I had to ask how they got the collars on the animals in the first place. It really wasn’t that different from most cattle handling,” said Doug Bear, graduate research assistant on the project. He is from southern Iowa near the research sites, and had prior relationships with some of the producers, all of which helped the project run smoothly. The producers did most of the handling as that was their major concern about the project,” Bear said. “We put the cows into a chute and fastened on the collar. We tried to avoid any cattle that might jump the chute." I also was interested in learning about the biggest obstacles for getting farmer cooperators for this project. I’ve known a few cattle and pork producers (probably related to me) and one thing I’ve noticed is that telemarketers and researchers don’t often make it to the top of the priority list. They were a little hesitant because of the amount of handling,” Russell said. “We were limited by the two-week battery life on the GPS receivers in that respect. Several producers told us they would love to do it if we could put the collars on in May and take them off in September.” But the effort paid off. Findings showed that the amount of time cattle spend in water varies by a specific pasture conditions. For example, size and shape are most important and smaller pastures generally mean more time in the water. But if all pastures are the same size, the shape will determine how long animals stay in the water. If all pastures are similar in size and shape, then shade placement becomes the variable that influences more or less time in the water. It seems pretty obvious, but with the different-sized pastures we had to begin with, we didn’t see any differences,” said Russell. “When we controlled for different variables, it was pretty easy to see that size and shape of the pasture can greatly reduce the risk of water contamination.” When asked what he had learned that producers could use right now, Russell’s answer was so direct that I thought for a second my dad had stepped into the room. Creating buffer strips between pastures, providing off-stream water sources or stable crossing points, and using rotational grazing are good places to start,” he said. The size and shape of pastures does matter, and cattle don’t spend as much time in the water as we hypothesized so other factors may be contributing to the water quality, such as wildlife or even septic tank leakage. Sediment in the water is caused more by the hydrology than by cattle kicking it around.” Recommendations for cattle producers An example of a stabilized water source access. Although cattle don’t spend as much time in the water as previously thought, they do tend to spend more time in water when temperatures rise. These suggestions are based on Russell’s previous research, summarized in a three-part series, Guide to Managing Pasture Water. Following these recommendations (and considering specific characteristics of the pasture) can greatly reduce the risk of stream pollution. •Provide access to water away from the stream. This gives cattle an option and can reduce the amount of time they spend in the stream. •Shade in the pasture’s uplands, away from the stream, will help cool cattle and reduce time spent around the water source. •Supplements such as mineral blocks should be placed far from the stream because nutrients can build up and get into the stream via runoff. •Stabilized water source access sites with exclusion fencing will control where cattle may congregate to get water, and also provide crossings for animals and truck or machinery traffic. •Riparian buffers (areas of grasses, shrubbery and trees fenced from fields and pastures) also can reduce pollution risks as well as provide wildlife habitat. By RUSSELL HINKELDEY, Leopold Center Communications Intern For more information: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/nwl/2010/2010-1-leoletter/grazing.html

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, April 27, 2009 – The American Public Health Association (APHA) urges the public to use the current swine flu outbreak as an opportunity to ensure that they and their families are prepared for potential pandemics, disasters or any other health emergencies that may arise. “Although it is far too early to know the degree to which the current swine flu outbreak warrants alarm, the number of cases and the speed with which the virus has spread around the globe serves as an opportunity to spread the message of the critical nature of preparedness,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of the APHA. APHA’s Get Ready campaign helps all Americans prepare themselves, their families and their communities for all disasters and hazards, including pandemic flu, infectious disease, natural disasters and other emergencies. Along with a wealth of pandemic flu resources, visitors to the site will also find fact sheets, blog entries, handouts, podcasts, Q&As and a variety of other resources to help their families get ready for any type of emergency. Some of the preparedness tips for a potential pandemic include: - Staying healthy and keeping others from getting sick by washing your hands frequently, avoiding close contact with people who are sick, covering your nose and mouth when you sneeze and staying home from work or school if sick; - Creating an emergency preparedness kit with food, water, medical supplies and anything else you might need if you had to stay at home for an extended period of time; and - Talking to your employer about their contingency plan for a potential situation where many employees are unable to work or must work from home. “While investing in our nation’s public health infrastructure is an essential component of pandemic preparedness, it is also up to each of us to take steps as individuals and as members of a family and community to ensure we are well prepared when a public health emergency occurs,” Benjamin said. Visit the Get Ready Web site at www.aphagetready.org to learn more about how to prepare for a pandemic or other emergency.

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Historical Marker Program Alabama Corps of Cadets Defends Tuscaloosa Early on the morning of 4 April 1865, Union Gen John T. Croxton's Cavalry Brigade of 1500 veteran troopers entered the town after fighting the home guard and capturing the covered bridge connecting Northport and Tuscaloosa across the Warrior River. While a detachment of Federals proceeded to capture two pieces of artillery stored at the Broad St. livery stable, Pat Kehoe of the Alabama Insane Hospital hurried to the University of Alabama to warn of the soldiers' approach. University president Landon C. Garland ordered the guardhouse drummers to "beat the long roll" to awaken the 300 sleeping cadets. Quickly forming into ranks, the three companies began their march from campus into town. A platoon from Co. C, under Capt John H. Murfee, formed as skirmishers and forged ahead to the corner of Greensboro Ave. and Broad St. (University Blvd.) where they encountered the enemy from the 6th Ky Cav Regt. In the ensuing firefight, Capt Murfee was wounded along with three cadets, W.R. May, Aaron T. Kendrick and William M. King. The Union pickets then retreated down the hill back toward the bridge. Alabama Corps of Cadets Defends Tuscaloosa The bloodied cadet platoon rejoined the main body of the Corps which had advanced at the sound of fighting. Together they proceeded one block north to the brow of River Hill and took up positions, firing several volleys down on the Union enemy by the river. Learning from a Confederate officer who had been captured and temporarily released by Croxton that the Yankee force included 1500 arms and the two captured cannons, President Garland and Commandant of Cadets Colonel James T. Murfee decided that an attack with teen-aged boys would be a useless sacrifice. The Corps marched the 1˝ miles back to the campus, fortified themselves with what provisions were available, and continued east on Huntsville Rd. Crossing Hurricane Creek some eight miles from town, they unplanked the bridge and entrenched themselves on the east bank. Croxton did not pursue, instead exploding the University's ammunition supplies and setting the campus ablaze. After witnessing the destruction from afar, the cadets marched east, then south to Marion. There, the Corps disbanded with orders to re-form in one month's time; the war ended in the interval. [2007: University Blvd., Tuscaloosa] Alpha Delta Pi Organized May 15, 1851 Eta Chapter March 21, 1907 Alpha Delta Pi, the first college secret sisterhood, was organized at Wesleyan Female College, Macon, Georgia, the first women's college to grant academic degrees. Originally identified as Adelpheans, the group had three thousand alumnae and sixty active members in 1905 when it changed its name to Alpha Delta Phi (Pi in 1913) and began to expand nationally. Eta Chapter at the University of Alabama was the first chapter established in the state. Pi Kappa Kappa, the first local sorority at the University, had organized February 6, 1904 and became affiliated with Alpha Delta Phi (Pi) as the Eta Chapter on March 21,1907. Installation ceremonies were held in the rooms of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Eta Chapter went into inactive status in 1909-10 because of the scarcity of eligible women students. Reactivation followed on February 14, 1931. [1996: University of Alabama campus] Bethany Baptist Church Constituted 28 Dec. 1832 by Elders Thomas Baines (ancestor of President Lyndon B. Johnson), Holland W. Middleton and Medey White, first Pastor. First Deacons were Henry Fox, Thomas Fox, and David Denton. One of 13 churches organizing Tuscaloosa Baptists Asso. in 1834. Bethabera Church was organized as a mission in 1843. Rev. Basil Manley, Second President of the University of Ala., often filled the pulpit. He donated a Bible and a set of hymn books in 1851. First two buildings were of log, on land donated by Jesse Hughes in 1838. Present site acquired 1883. Present building constructed 1953. Bethel Baptist Church Organized May 10, 1834, as Buck Creek Baptist Church. Presiding Clergy: Robert Marsh, Medey White, Thomas Norris and Job Wilson. Building erected in 1836 and renamed Bethel Baptist Church. Larger structure erected 1907. Destroyed by lightning and rebuilt in 1877. In 1890 Mary Jane Thornton from Bethel was the first Baptist missionary from Tuscaloosa County. Served with Lottie Moon in the China Mission. Gov. Lurleen Burns Wallace, as a youth, attended Bethel Church. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morgan Burns, are buried in the Bethel Cemetery. Marker unveiled April 29, 1984. Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Organized in 1881 with Rev. Delaware Jackson first pastor. Building at Fifth St., now University Boulevard, near Sixth Ave., East. Another site purchased August 1, 1903, and building erected on Sixth Ave., East, at Eleventh St. during pastorate of Rev. McDaniel. In 1948-49 church was rebuilt of brick in same Castle Hill area. In January, 1965, church moved to present site. During church's first 100 years, Bro. Jefferson Davis Jackson served as Sunday School Superintendent for 35 years and Rev. O. S. Harvey served as pastor for 43 years. Bethel Presbyterian Church Originally organized (1818) as Bethel Baptist Church by three ministers-Nathan Roberts, James Baines and Thomas Baines-at home of Jeremiah Jeffery near falls of Black Warrior River. Log building erected at this site (1822) as first church house. Later moved to present site and frame building erected. Church discontinued (1870) because of membership loss. Bethel Presbyterian Church established on same site (1901) by evangelist D. N. Yarbro. Present structure erected 1948; educational building added 1958. Big Creek Cemetery William Prude, 15 October 1774-8 January 1833, was the earliest marked burial. Nancy George, died March 26, 1834, was the earliest female burial. Nancy Doughty, March 14, 1747- November 15, 1834, had the earliest marked birth date in the cemetery and probably of all females buried in the county. 24 persons with markers were buried before 1852. 253 persons were buried with markers and 47 unmarked graves as of March 16, 1995. The "Alabama Stone" was found at the mouth of Big Creek 3 miles from this site in 1817, a 204-lb. sandstone rock with carved inscription "HISPAN AT IND REX 1232," presently at AL Dept. of Achieves and History. Big Creek Cemetery Cemetery of Big Creek Baptist Church, the county's third oldest Baptist Church. Organized in 1820. First meeting house at this site adjacent to Bluff Branch School on land donated by James Hendricks. July 1861, "Tuscaloosa Plough-boys" Co. (later Co. "G" 38th Tenn. Regt.), under command of James J. Mayfield (father of AL Supreme Court justice of the same name), met, received uniforms, and entered service here. 10 Civil War, 1 Spanish-American War veterans buried here. Final resting place for many noble men and virtuous women of God. Dedication of markers in July 1995 commemorates 175th Anniversary of this hallowed ground. [1995: Camp Oliver Rd., Adger] Big Hurricane Missionary Baptist Church Church meetings were first held on this site sometime between 1827 and 1832, and oral tradition holds that meetings began in 1831. Named for nearby Big Hurricane Creek, the church was officially constituted in September 1838 by 24 members of the Sardis Baptist Church. The church was admitted to the Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association in 1839 and joined the Pleasant Grove Baptist Association in 1941. Through its history, the church has built several buildings in this vicinity to serve the Lord and people of the Brookwood community. Current sanctuary dedicated September 15, 2002 The Black Warrior River Plied for thousands of years by Indians, then by early explorers and American settlers, this river extends 169 miles from the Sipsey and Mulberry Forks near Birmingham to its confluence with the Tombigbee at Demopolis. It drains 6228 square miles of one of the world's most ancient watersheds and has 130 species of fish and many rare plants and animals. Part of a navigable waterway system, this point is 339 river miles above Mobile. About 5 billion gallons of water flow past here each day. In the past it was designated as two rivers, the "Black Warrior" upstream and the "Warrior" downstream since Federal funds were appropriated on a per river basis. In the Choctaw language "Tuscaloosa" means Black Warrior. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Black Warrior's Town One-half mile north was the Creek Indian village known as Black Warrior's Town, of which Oce-Oche-Motla was chief. After Tecumseh's visit in 1811, these Indians became hostile to white settlers. In 1812 Little Warrior brought Mrs. Martha C. Crawley of Tennessee to this Indian Village as a captive. She was rescued by Tandy Walker, a blacksmith, and taken to St. Stephens. This was one of the incidents which led to the Creek War. The village was destroyed in October 1813 by Colonel John Coffee and his Tennessee Volunteers, one of whom was Davy Crockett. Bridging the Black Warrior River On this site in 1834, John Godwin and Horace King built the first river bridge utilizing a wooden lattice truss designed by Ithiel Town. It was damaged by a tornado in 1842, rebuilt in 1852, and destroyed by Union troops in 1865. Horace King built a new wooden bridge in 1872 that was replaced with a 3-span iron bridge in 1882. A higher bridge with a swing span was built in 1895 to allow river traffic. A drawbridge was built in 1922. All of these bridges were approximately 600-feet long and utilized the original 1834 brick piers. In 1974 the Hugh Thomas Bridge was built slightly downstream. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church Oldest existing Black Presbyterian Church in Alabama. Organized by Dr. Charles A. Stillman as Salem Church in December, 1880. First church building erected 9th Street and 30th Avenue in 1882. First pastors were Reverend B. M. Wilkinson (1889-90) and Reverend I. C. H. Champney (1894-98). In 1915 relocated at 11th Street and 25th Avenue. In 1931 moved to present site. Name changed to Brown Memorial (1932) honoring Dr. R. A. Brown, Superintendent of Home Mission Work, PCUS. Present sanctuary built 1959 under leadership of Reverend Charles H. Williams. Earlier structure converted to Educational Building in 1961. Alabama State hospitals inspired by Dorothea Dix in 1849. Opened 1861. Peter Bryce, J. T. Searcy, and W. D. Partlow were the superintendents during the next 87 years. [Before 1965: Tuscaloosa] The remains of Burns' Shoals now lie nearly 40 feet underwater. This rock outcropping was the first of the shoals known as the "Falls of Tuscaloosa" and represents the "Fall Line" or contact point of the Coastal Plain and the Appalachian Plateau, which extends nearly 2000 miles to Canada. From here upstream the riverbed is primarily rock while downstream it is sand, silt and gravel. It was head of navigation on the river and thus a primary reason for the founding of Tuscaloosa. It was used as an early ford and bathing site, and later provided a solid foundation for a succession of bridges. During construction of Old Locks One, Two and Three (1888-1895), it was channelized to allow the passage of river traffic. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] One-half mile east is a portion of the original Byler Road. Legislation authorizing construction signed into law December 1819, by Alabama's first governor, William Wyatt Bibb. Built by John Byler, it was Alabama's first public road. Opened November 1822, operated as a toll road until 1834. Twelve feet wide, it connected Northwest Alabama and the Tennessee River to the Warrior River at Northport. Used by early settlers and military forces during War Between the States, it was a factor in the development of many Alabama communities. Calvary Baptist Church Organized January 1, 1911, 77 of its 79 charter members came from the First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa. The church was originally named Sage A. Monnish Memorial Baptist Church in memory of the son of charter member F.W. Monnish, who donated the lot and first building adjacent to the northwest corner of the Evergreen Cemetery. A new building was begun in 1925 just west of the old church on lots given by Mrs. F.W. Monnish, who asked that the church be renamed Calvary Baptist. Nearly completed, the new structure burned on December 5, 1925, along with most of the old church. A new, rebuilt sanctuary was dedicated exactly one year later. The church had strong outreach to university students and experienced unprecedented growth under the leadership of Dr. Horace G. Williams (1933-1960) and Dr. Allan R. Watson (1960-1984). First Fellowship of Christian Athletes for Alabama organized at Calvary in 1964. Calvary sponsored missions which became churches in the area: South Highlands, 1953; Skyland, 1967, and Lakewood, 1986. [2011: Paul Bryant Drive, Tuscaloosa] Canaan Baptist Church Jefferson County's oldest Baptist Church-Organized September 5, 1818 in home of Isaac Brown 3 miles west of Elyton. Met in homes and schoolhouse near Old Jonesboro until 1824. First building erected on site now the 14th Street entrance to Cedar Hill Cemetery. Canaan Association (now Birmingham Baptist Association) was organized there in 1833. Hosea Holcombe, pioneer preacher and historian, was pastor 1822-41. The congregation has worshiped at this present location since 1856. Captain Benjamin F. Eddins Born in South Carolina in 1813, Benjamin Farrar Eddins raised and led a company of volunteers that served in the 41st Alabama Infantry Regiment. Retired due to ill health, he returned to lead the Home Guards, a militia made up of old men and young boys. While trying to render the covered bridge impassable to Federal troops on the night of April 3, 1865, he and 15-year-old John Carson were wounded in a skirmish with Croxton's Raiders. Later that evening, Mayor Obediah Berry and Catholic priest William McDonough surrendered the city on this site. Carson was disabled for life. On April 10, 1865, Capt. Eddins became the only local citizen to die defending the city. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Chabannes - Sealy House The Chabannes - Sealy House was built in 1847 by Hollis C. Kidder. The house passed through several owners until it was sold in 1920 to Julia Nuzon Morris. Her daughter, Julia Morris, married Norbert Chabannes. That family lived here until the house was sold in 2003. Restored in 2005, the house exemplifies the Creole cottage style rarely seen as far north in Alabama as Tuscaloosa. It is distinguished by its gable roof sloping in an unbroken plane from front to back to accommodate a full-length gallery inset into the main body of the house. Chabannes - Sealy House The roof shelters an attic story. This house has the subtle changes that characterized inland examples of the Creole cottage where the roof pitch is less pronounced than in such cottages on the Gulf Coast. When Tuscaloosa fell to Federal troops under General John Croxton in April 1865, horses were quartered in the front hall while soldiers searched the town for food and for Confederate Senator Robert Jemison, who eluded capture. Mounted in the front yard is a cast iron bell forty inches in diameter manufactured by the C.S. Bell Company in Ohio. For decades the bell remained buried upside down in the side yard, with only the bottom rim of the bell visible. The dates of its manufacture and its burial are unknown. Castle Hill-Daly Bottom Community In 1883 the Castle Hill Real Estate and Manufacturing Company began the first eastern expansion of the original 1821 Tuscaloosa city limits. Hoping to stimulate development in the area, the company created a popular amusement park centered around an artificial lake. Portions of this property had belonged to Delaware Jackson, a freed slave who had been given the land for courage and loyalty. In 1881 Jackson organized the Bethel Baptist Church and, in 1917, he donated nearby land for the Baptist Academy, a community school. The name was changed to the Tuscaloosa County Training School for Negroes and later to the Castle Hill Elementary School. "Daly Bottom," the area at the base of the hill closest to the University of Alabama was named for landowner Rafe A. Daly. The Castle Hill/Daly Bottom neighborhood gave birth to Bethel Baptist, Tenth Street Baptist, and two Methodist churches including Tabernacle AME Zion. Many of its residents later distinguished themselves in many walks of life. Christ Episcopal Church Organized January 7, 1828 The second oldest Episcopal Church in Alabama. Construction begun 1829, completed 1830 at cost of $1700. Enlarged and remodeled in 1880 from original Greek Revival design to present Gothic lines. First pews sold to highest bidder; made free in 1849. Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, first Episcopal Bishop of Alabama, served as rector, 1846-1851. Church bell installed 1830, is still used. A Rectory built 1844, was located where Chapel now stands. Charter ceremonies for University of Alabama held in this church and Reverend Alva Woods installed as first President, University of Alabama, April 12, 1831. Erected in 1840's Built by James Shirley, early Tuscaloosa County builder who in the 1850's erected first brick commercial buildings in Northport. Home of William L. Christian (1824-1899), Confederate soldier and local merchant, George W. and Lula Rice Christian, community and church leaders. Federal raised cottage of handmade brick, hand hewn beams and wooden pegs, it is listed in National Register of Historic Places. Coker Baptist Church Constituted as Big Creek Baptist Church on July 22, 1820 by Daniel Brown and Thomas Baines (ancestor of President Lyndon B. Johnson) with Phillip May as first pastor, Joseph Barrett and Charles Pate as first deacons. As the third oldest church in the county, it was one of the 13 organizing the Tuscaloosa Baptist Association in 1834. Prior to 1864 church records show 148 slaves as members. First located adjacent to Bluff Branch School and Meetinghouse, next to Big Creek Cemetery; moved to its present site in 1944. The name changed to Coker Baptist in 1956. Setting of the marker in July 1995 commemorates the 175th Anniversary of the Church. [1995: Romulus Rd., Coker] Delta Kappa Epsilon Psi Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity first Greek letter fraternity at the University of Alabama. Organized by Louis J. DuPré, chapter installed June 20, 1847. First members initiated at Indian Queen Hotel by Charles Foote of Phi Chapter at Yale College. D.K.E. house built 1916. Because of its location is known as "The Mansion on the Hill." Delta Kappa Epsilon Psi Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity installed at The University of Alabama June 20, 1847. The charer members were: Edward G. Baptist, James I. Bonner, Louis DuPré, Charles F. Henry, Edward L. Jones, John H. Lee, Richard B. Owen, Charles A. Pegues, Thaddeus H. Perry, George W. F. Price, Peyton W. Reynolds, Milford F. Woodruff. This tower which has been a symbol for The University of Alabama was built to honor longtime University President George H. Denny who served as president from 1911 to 1936 and again briefly in 1942. Funds for this project were provided through a student subscription program chartered by a student, Jerry Britchey. The tower was constructed by Skinner, Maxwell and Co. and dedicated May 27, 1929. Governor Bibb Graves presided. This marker was provided by Delta Chi Fraternity in commemorating the 50th year of Denny Chimes. [1979: University of Alabama campus] Druid City Hospital School of Nursing Constructed in 1923 through gift of J. T. Horne, this building occupied by Druid City School of Nursing from 1923 to 1947. Used by University of Alabama from 1951 to 1954 to house first state supported collegiate school of nursing in Alabama. First African Baptist Church Organized November 1866, with 144 members. The Reverend Prince Murrell, first pastor, served until 1885. A church building located at corner of 4th Street and 24th Avenue was purchased and became place of worship during pastorate of the Rev. James Maston, 1885-1891. Resolution passed in this church 1873 resulted in establishment of Selma University, Selma, Ala. Present structure erected 1907 under leadership of the Rev. J. H. Smith. Church annex completed and adjoining property purchased during pastorate of the Rev. W. B. Shealey, 1952-1957. Education building and new parsonage constructed during term of the Rev. T. Y. Rogers Jr., 1963-1971. First Baptist Church Organized 1818, oldest church in Tuscaloosa County. First building was of logs. A brick structure completed 1830 and larger one at this site 1884. Educational building erected 1924 and present sanctuary 1958. Sunday School organized here 1830. Influenced by the leadership of the first two presidents University of Alabama: Dr. Alva Wood, 1831; Dr. Basil Manly, 1837, who often filled pulpit. A resolution from this church, 1844, resulted in formation of Northern and Southern Baptist Conventions. Sponsored other churches: Hopewell, 1830; Southside, 1889; Holt, 1903; Calvary, 1910; Westend, 1910; Forest Lake, 1936; and Circlewood, 1948. First Presbyterian Church of Tuscaloosa Organized 1820. Moved to this site 1830. Present structure erected 1921. Under the leadership of Dr. Charles A. Stillman, minister 1869-1895, it sponsored the founding of Stillman College in 1876. Its bell was the subject of a poem by Samuel Minturn Peck, poet laureate of Alabama. Friedman Civic and Agricultural Center Built 1835 by Alfred Battle; purchased 1875 by Bernard Friedman; willed to City of Tuscaloosa 1965 by Hugo Friedman. Traditionally a social and cultural center in Tuscaloosa, it was the residence of Virginia Tunstall Clay-Clopton, author of "Belle of the Fifties" and of the poet Robert Loveman. Geological Survey of Alabama Established by legislative mandate in 1848, the Geological Survey of Alabama is the oldest scientific agency of the State. In fulfillment of its mission to evaluate the State's mineral, energy, water, and biological resources, the scientists and staff of the Survey document the distribution, abundance, and importance of these resources for the people of Alabama. State Geologists of Alabama Seven geologists have served Alabama as State Geologist during the Survery's 150-year history. Michael Tuorney [1805-1857] served from 1848 to 1857; Eugene Allen Smith [1841-1927], 1873 to 1927; Walter Bryan Jones [1895-1977], 1927 to 1961; Philip E. LaMoreaux, 1961 to 1976; Thomas J. Joiner, 1977 to 1981; Ernest A. Mancini, 1982 to 1996; and Donald F. Oltz, 1996 to present. Beginning in 1939 with Walter B. Jones, all State Geologists served concurrently as Oil and Gas Supervisor for the State Oil and Gas Board. Built 1829 as University dining hall-Remodeled as a residence in 1840-Occupied by Gorgas family 1879-1953. Gorgas House-Preserved as memorial to: General Josiah Gorgas (1818-1883) Chief of Ordnance Confederacy 1861-1865. President of University 1878-1879. Mrs. Amelia Gayle Gorgas (1826-1913)-University Librarian 1879-1906. General William Crawford Gorgas (1854-1920) Surgeon General of U.S. Army-Sanitary Engineer whose work assured Panama Canal construction through elimination of Yellow Fever. (Located in Tuscaloosa at Gorgas House) Gorgas-Manly Historic District Twelve acres of the campus on the University of Alabama including eight buildings designated in the National Register of Historic Places as the Gorgas-Manly District. The Gorgas-Manly Historic District includes: The Gorgas House (1829), first structure built on the original campus; The Round House (1860), used by cadets on guard duty, another of the four buildings to survive the fires set by Federal troops in 1865; Woods Hall (1868), first building constructed after the Civil War and serving for the next sixteen years as the University; Manly (1886), Clark (1886), Garland (1888) Halls, built as the state began to recover from the Reconstruction Era; Toumey and Barnard Halls (1888), which completed the nineteenth-century University of Alabama campus. Grant's Creek Baptist Church Grant's Creek Baptist Church was constituted April 5, 1828, with Rev. Medey White and Robert Marsh (the first pastor) as presbytery. Lewis Stovall was first Church clerk, and James Foster was ordained as the first deacon. The Grant's Creek Sunday School Union was organized Dec. 1827, as the oldest Sunday school in Alabama. In 1832, a building was constructed by member John W. Bealle for $500 which served the Church until 1968, when the present building replaced it. In August 1833, the Baptist State Convention met here and took action leading to the founding of Howard (now Samford) and Judson Colleges. Four sons of Col. John and Elizabeth Savidge Foster-James, Hardy, Robert S., and John L.S.-settled here beginning in 1818, with their mother and sisters Martha and Elizabeth following. Their families formed the nucleus of a model community in the new state, nurtured and influenced primarily by this church. John Collier Foster was pastor from 1845 to his 1892 death. Martha Foster Crawford (1830-1909) was a missionary to China for 50 years. Home Guard Defended Covered Bridge 3 April 1865 - Brig Gen John T. Croxton's Cavalry Brigade departed camp at Johnson's Ferry (Old Lock 17 area) to the Watermelon Road ending in Northport. As the Union troops entered Northport, the Methodist Church bell was rung as a prearranged warning alarm. Armed with 7-shot carbines, 150 troopers of the 2nd Michigan Cav Regt rushed the covered bridge which was defended by about a dozen old men and young boys led by 53-year-old Capt Benjamin F. Eddins. This Home Guard removed 30 feet of the bridge's flooring in a delaying action as they retreated, returning fire with their single-shot weapons. Capt Eddins was seriously wounded and died a week later; 15-year-old John Carson was crippled for life by a bullet. Union casualties of the 2nd Mich Cav Regt numbered 23. 4 April - Croxton's raiders skirmished with the Alabama Corps of Cadets near Greensboro Ave and University Blvd and the brow of River Hill. After the mayor, accompanied by a Catholic priest, surrendered the town, the Union troops burned the main buildings of the State University, the foundry, factories, warehouses and over 2,000 bales of cotton. 5 April - Burning the covered bridge and destroying two captured cannon, Croxton's cavalry departed Tuscaloosa and Northport by way of the Columbus Road (old Highway 82 W). Bridging the Black Warrior River At this junction for all roads converging from the north, east, and west, seven bridges in succession have connected Northport and Tuscaloosa across the Black Warrior River. The first was built in 1834 by then-slave Horace King. Damaged by a tornado in 1842, it was replaced in 1852 by a second bridge - the one defended by the Tuscaloosa Home Guard before its destruction in April 1865. In 1872 a new wooden span was erected, again engineered by King, who had been freed in 1846 and who had become famous as a bridge builder in Alabama and Georgia. A 3-span iron bridge was built in 1882, then replaced in 1895 with a swing-span type to allow the passage of river traffic. A drawbridge was constructed in 1922, standing until the Hugh Thomas Bridge was built slightly downstream in 1974. Home of Hudson & Therese Strode Dr. Hudson Strode (1892-1976)-author, scholar, teacher, and world traveler-and his beloved wife, Therese (1900-1986) lived here from 1941 until their deaths. Professor of English at the University of Alabama (1916-1961): he was renowned for his courses in Shakespeare and Creative Writing, his students publishing 59 novels and innumerable short stories; his authoring of 13 books including a 3-volume biography of Jefferson Davis and editing a volume of Mr. Davis' letters. Dr. Strode received numerous honors and awards including being knighted by King Gustav VI of Sweden. Famous for their hospitality, the Strodes entertained students, friends and world figures in this house which they bequeathed with its gardens and a generous educational endowment to the University which they loved and served so faithfully. Hopewell Baptist Church Constituted October 22, 1830 under leadership of Thomas Baines, Medley White and Robert Marsh of Ebenezer (First) Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa. Robert Marsh served as first pastor 1830-1833. John Meek was first minister ordained December 23, 1838. First met at Liberty in log meeting house on this site. Wooden structure built in 1860. Replaced by present building in 1960. Tuscaloosa Baptist Association organized here March 28, 1834. Born a slave in South Carolina in 1807, Horace King became a master bridge builder while working with John Godwin. With the aid of Tuscaloosan Robert Jemison, King was freed by act of the Alabama legislature in 1846. He went on to build many bridges and other structures across the South. Revered and respected for his organizational abilities, building skills and personal integrity, he formed the King Brothers Bridge Company with his family after the Civil War. After serving two terms in the Alabama legislature during Reconstruction, he died at LaGrange, GA in 1885. John Godwin and Horace King built the first bridge across the Black Warrior River on this site in 1834. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Organized 1866, the first Black Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa. First house of worship, a rented building, was located where Denny Stadium now stands. First structure built by the church completed 1878. Present structure erected 1881, exterior brick added 1910. This church, often called the "father" of Negro education in Tuscaloosa, included a school for children of freed slaves during Reconstruction Era of 1870's. Church named for Rev. E. H. Hunter, who served with distinction as pastor during 1880's. Rev. Felix Sylvester Anderson, pastor, 1933-1936, elected 1960, to office of Bishop, A M E Zion Churches of America and served until retirement, 1972. "The Indian Fires Are Going Out" The Trail of Tears led thousands of Creek Indians through Tuscaloosa, capital of Alabama in 1836. Chief Eufaula addressed the legislature with these words: I come here, brothers, to see the great house of Alabama and the men who make laws and to say farewell in brotherly kindness before I go to the far west, where my people are now going. In time gone by I have thought that the white men wanted to bring burden and ache of heart among my people in driving them from their homes and yoking them with laws they do not understand. But I have now become satisfied that they are not unfriendly toward us, but that they wish us well. In these lands of Alabama, which have belonged to my forefathers and where their bones lie buried, I see that the Indian fires are going out. Soon they will be cold. New fires are lighting in the west for us, they say, and we will go there. I do not believe our great Father means to harm his red children, but that he wishes us well. We leave behind our good will to the people of Alabama who build the great houses and to the men who make the laws. This is all I have to say. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Jennings Chapel United Methodist Church Organized 1847 as first and only Methodist Protestant Church established in Tuscaloosa Co. On this site were first two structures used by Jennings Chapel. The first, a log house built circa 1850 and a clapboard building erected November 1890. Brick structure completed 1956. John H. Harper, Sr. organized this church, serving as its first pastor for over 30 years. Named for Dr. Samuel K. Jennings, a physician and minister of national note, in early years of Methodist Protestant Church. First trustees were: Dr. Samuel K. Jennings, John H. Harper, Sr., John C. Hamner, Turner P. Hamner, and Richard H. Hamner. Zeta Chapter of Kappa Delta first national Greek letter sorority at the University of Alabama. Chapter installed March 12, 1904. First members initiated in the Sigma Nu Hall by Katherine Lovejoy of Theta Chapter at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. First sorority to have Chapter in State of Alabama. Now oldest continuous Kappa Delta Chapter. First national Greek letter sorority at the University of Alabama. Zeta Chapter installed March 12, 1904. Charter members were: Alice Ashley, Pear Bogles, Mary Cockrell, Louise Crawford, Nell Hopkins, Elta Lamont, Bessie Leach, Eleanor McCorvey, Myrtle Merill, Anna Moody, Mary Moody, Katherine Nickolls, and Mary Parker. The M & O Railroad Trestle This wooden and steel truss bridge was constructed for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1898 by civil engineer Benjamin Hardaway, an 1887 graduate of The University of Alabama and former Tuscaloosa City Engineer. Originally 135-feet high with a 110-foot clearance, it was once considered by many to be the country's longest trestle at 3600 feet. This bridge, along with Old Locks One, Two and Three, greatly improved transportation in West Alabama and heralded an era of economic development in the early 20th century. In later years the M&O Railroad became successively the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; the Illinois Central Gulf; and the Kansas City Southern. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Located on original land grant to the State of Alabama 1819 to establish a University of Alabama. Named for William M. Marr, Marr's Spring was the water supply for the University for over 75 years. Restored in 1972 by Chi Omega Sorority, in association with the University of Alabama. Part of Marr’s Field, on farmland owned by William Marr, this spring was a major factor in the selection of this site for the University of Alabama campus in 1827. From its opening in 1831 well into the 20th century, the institution relied upon Marr’s Spring as its principal water source. Water flowing from hillside crevices was collected in these brick cisterns and hauled in buckets to the rooms of students and throughout the campus. A dam for a swimming pond and bathhouse was constructed, supported by the spring and cisterns. By the mid-1880s, as the cisterns began to deteriorate, the University considered repairs until deciding, as the 1889 trustees’ minutes recorded, “it has always been considered doubtful whether the plunging and swimming in the very cold water so directly from the spring is conducive to health.” A 1955 survey found that Marr’s Spring yielded 100 gallons of good, clear odorless water per minute. The cisterns were renovated in 2010 in an effort to restore the original beauty of this University of Alabama historical landmark. [2011: University of Alabama] Navigation and Shipbuilding On the Black Warrior River Navigation improvements to the Black Warrior River (1888-1895) spurred marine commerce throughout the 20th century. Local shipbuilders included the Perkins Brothers, Herman & Son, Corps of Engineers Boatyard, and Baker Towboat. Vessel types included barges, government workboats and towboats. Some of the boats built here were the Black Warrior, Dixie, Gold Bug, Mary, Nelma and R.G. Parker. Numerous navigation companies served the area, six had terminals on the river between Tuscaloosa and Holt in the 1930s. Companies based here included Findlay Towing, Perkins Towboat and Parker Towing. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Northport Baptist Church Organized 1838 with 41 charter members. The first minister was the Rev. A. K. Atkins. First deacons were J. S. Reynolds, A. R. Pool, and N. Lloyd. Originally named North Tuscaloosa Baptist, changed 1854, to Northport Baptist. A wooden structure erected at this site 1858, the present brick building 1923 and education annex 1969. Ministers serving this church have been: A. K. Atkins, Robert Adams, Reuben Dodson, T. M. Barbour, John T. Yerby, John Brown, J. H. Foster, J. H. Curry, F. D. Hale, A. J. Battle, A. A. Spiller, H. G. Smith, Samuel H. Henderson, W. M. Blackwelder, W. L. White, J. R. Magill, A. T. Camp, H. D. Wilson, A. H. Mahaffery, J. H. Wallace, B. F. Atkins, James L. Knight, Dr. John P. Oakes, J. Stanley Kelley, Clinton N. Wood. Northport First United Methodist Church Organized 1837, moved to present location, 1849, where churches have been rebuilt in 1855 and 1913. The bell of this church sounded the tocsin at the approach of Gen. John T. Croxton's Union Troops in their raid in Tuscaloosa, April 3, 1865. Northport's first public school located on the site one-half block west. Original structure of wood, built in cruciform shape in 1901 by Arthur Laycock. Served grades 1-11 until 1922 when two-story brick school erected three blocks north. Original school property and building purchased by Dr. Sam Cooper in 1922 and converted into two residences. The Snider House at 2309 Ninth St. is part of original structure. Old Lock One The remains of Old Lock One are now submerged. Authorized by Congress in 1884, the Army Corps of Engineers began work on one of Alabama's first locks in 1888. It was built upon Peg Leg Shoals, second of the "Falls of Tuscaloosa," using local sandstone at a cost of $233,234. It was part of a 1.2-mile, 3-lock system that allowed passage over a series of shoals or waterfalls The opening of Old Lock One allowed access to the Warrior coalfields and shipment of coal, stone, iron, steel, lumber, cotton, and other products to distant markets. Also it was the site of a government boatyard. In later years it was renamed Lock Ten and remained in service until replaced by Oliver Lock and Dam in 1939. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Built in 1827 three blocks east on Broad Street. Stage stop and inn frequented by many political leaders while Tuscaloosa was State Capital. Moved to Capitol Park, 1966. Partlow State School and Hospital Established 1919 as the Alabama Home for Mental Deficients; opened 1923; renamed the Partlow School for Mental Deficients, 1927, to honor the institution's founder Dr. William Dempsey Partlow (1877-1953) head of all mental facilities in Alabama from 1919 to 1949. Running Skirmish at Romulus 5 April 1865 - Croxton's brigade left Northport by way of the (old) Columbus Road to Coker, then camped for the night on the old Eutaw Road toward Romulus. Confederate Gen. Wirt Adams's 1500-man cavalry brigade, traveling from Columbus Miss to reinforce Gen. Forrest at Marion Ala, learned of Croxton's presence in the area. 6 April - Croxton's brigade traveled southward across the swollen Sipsey River toward Lanier's Mill near Pleasant Ridge. After looting and burning the mill, they reversed direction to move back toward Northport, stopping along the way to feed horses and eat provisions taken at Lanier's Mill. As the brigade resumed its march near noon, Adams's brigade launched a vigorous assault on the Federals' rear guard, the 6th Ky. Cav. Regt. A running skirmish began as the 6th Ky. Cav. broke until reinforced by 4 companies of the better-armed 2nd Mich. Cav. The brisk engagement continued through a heavy rain until complete darkness overtook the combatants. Both sides then encamped near Romulus, some 13 miles from Northport. Gen. Croxton reported 34 casualties and the loss of a number of horses and ambulance wagons (one of which carried his personal papers). Confederate losses were not reported. Running Skirmish at Romulus 7 April 1865 - Adams's Confederates returned westward toward Columbus Miss in the belief that Croxton was headed that way. Croxton continued on to Northport. 8 April - Croxton, determined to rendezvous with the main Union force sweeping from Selma towards Ga, departed Northport. He followed a route to the northeast dictated by flooded creeks and the Black Warrior, traveling 23 miles north on the old Byler Rd. (US 43N). 9 - 11 April - While encamped in the area, Federal foraging parties stripped the countryside of provisions and its citizens of valuables. War of 1812-veteran John Prewett lost $26,000 in gold when one of these bands forced his slave to reveal its whereabouts in a nearby cave. 12 April - Traveling via Crabbe Rd. (old Jasper Rd.) to Windham Springs, the brigade departed Tuscaloosa County into the area of Wolf Creek in Walker County. Croxton's "Lost Brigade" eventually rejoined Gen. Wilson's Cavalry Corps on May 1 in Macon Ga, some 3 weeks after Gen. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church Erected 1845, tower and bell added 1888-1900. The first meeting of Catholics in Tuscaloosa was held in 1819. The first parochial school was opened in 1863. St. Paul's Church, Birmingham, dedicated 1872, and churches in Selma, Blocton and Reform began as missions of this church; also originating from this church: St. Francis Chapel and Holy Spirit Church and School. James Shirley, 1835, built the first wooden covered bridge at this site. Bridges here were part of first road connecting Columbus, Miss. and Northport. A Tuscaloosa Co. company of Confederate Army, "The Plow Boys," en route to Columbus, July 1861, crossed bridge here. Union Gen. John T. Croxton, April 1865, after capturing Tuscaloosa, crossed bridge here. Republican Legislator, M. T. Crossland, on way to capitol at Montgomery, Nov. 1868 was assassinated near the bridge. A section of the 1882 steel, single span bridge once used for crossing Black Warrior River at Tuscaloosa was re-erected here in 1922. Sigma Alpha Epsilon-First Chapter, Alabama Mu and DeVotie Memorial Founded in Tuscaloosa on the campus of the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Its chapter designation, Alabama Mu, identified it as the mother chapter of the national collegiate fraternity. Founding members: Noble Leslie DeVotie, Wade H. Foster, John Barratt Rudulph, Thomas Chappel Cook, John Webb Kerr, Samuel Marion Dennis, Nathan Elams Cockrell, Abner Edwin Patton. (Located on University of Alabama campus at Tuscaloosa) Site of Alabama State Capitol 1826-1846 Tuscaloosa designated as State Capital by Legislature at Cahaba December 6, 1825. Building designed by State Architect, William Nichols, in the form of a Grecian Cross, employing both Grecian and Roman architecture in the interior. Construction began 1827. Governor John Murphy convened first session of State Legislature in this building December 13, 1829. Property deeded to University of Alabama in 1852; leased to Baptist Convention of Alabama, which operated Alabama Female College. Destroyed by fire, April 1923. Site of Franklin Hall Franklin Hall, an early University dormitory designed by Capt. William Nichols, was erected on this site in 1835. Was one of the buildings destroyed by the Union raid on April 4, 1865. After Civil War the remains of structure were shaped into present mound. By early 20th century this mound had become traditional site for honorary tappings by The University. Marker donated by Phi Mu Sorority in commemoration of its 50th anniversary at the University of Alabama. Site of Queen City Park Softball Field Built on this site in 1936, Queen City Park Softball Field served as the cornerstone for the first successful community effort to promote the organized play of amateur softball in Tuscaloosa County. Its construction followed nationwide efforts to organize softball in 1933. Soon thereafter, Tuscaloosa men's and women's softball teams emerged as state and national powers, and the sport itself gained recognition as true wholesome family recreation. [1998: Tuscaloosa, 33.21567N 87.5625066W] Founded as Tuscaloosa Institute 1876 by Presbyterian Church U.S. under leadership of Dr. Charles Allan Stillman pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Tuscaloosa, to train Black ministers. Renamed Stillman Institute 1894 for Dr. Stillman, first superintendent. Became coeducational 1899. Past programs included seminary, high school, vocational school, junior college, school of nursing and hospital services for Blacks. Four year program begun, renamed Stillman College 1948. Accredited senior college 1953. The Jemison Home Built by Robert Jemison, Jr. Completed 1862, the 26 room Italian Villa style mansion is distinguished by its octagonal cupola and delicate carved fretwork. Jemison, a member of Alabama Legislature for 20 years (1840-1863), Secession Convention 1861 (he voted against secession), Confederate States Senate (1863-65), helped establish Alabama Insane Hospital. Boyhood home Robert Jemison Van de Graff, inventor of generator used in splitting the atom and of William "Bully" Van de Graff, first All-American Athlete from University of Alabama. Hugo Friedman in 1955 acquired this mansion for Tuscaloosa County as a library. The Mildred Warner House Residence of many prominent Alabama families. Originally built by James Jenkins in 1822 as a two-room "cabin." David Scott, prominent merchant and church leader, purchased the property in 1832 and added the four-story brick structure. Occupied by the Burwell Boykin Lewis family in 1886. Rose Garland Lewis was daughter of the president of the University of Alabama and the window of a U.S. Congressman who was the first alumnus of the University to become its president. Noted historian of Tuscaloosa, Dr. George Little lived here with his family at the turn of the century. The Washington Moodys came into possession in 1919. Mrs. Moody lived in the house, after her husband's death in 1924, until 1960. Listed in the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1934, the first Tuscaloosa home to be so honored. Purchased and restored in 1976 by The David Warner Foundation under the direction of Jack W. Warner and named for his mother, Mildred Westervelt Warner. [1992: 30th Ave. East, Tuscaloosa] The University of Alabama Endowed by Congress 1819. Ordained by State Constitution 1819 and established by General Assembly 1820. Instruction begun 1831. Unofficial training school for Confederate officers 1861-65. Destroyed by Federal Army April 5, 1865. Rebuilding began 1867 and reopened 1868. [Original marker before 1965; replacement marker donated by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity 1981] Tuscaloosa City Hall Constructed in 1909 as U.S. Post Office. First occupied April 1910 with Mrs. Maggie Miller as Postmistress. Federal courtroom, now City Council Chamber, with magnificent design and detail, on second floor, 1910-1968. Thomas A. Jones, first Federal presiding judge. Acquired by City of Tuscaloosa in 1968 and renovated as City Hall with George M. Van Tassel, Mayor, C. Snow Hinton and George K. Ryan, Commissioners. Tuscaloosa First United Methodist Church Organized 1818 by Ebenezer Hearn. First building on this site erected in 1834, including a church bell molded in Boston by coppersmiths Paul Revere and Sons. Present structure with marble Ionic columns was constructed 1922; Education Annex in 1953; Chitwood Hall in 1964. Edward Sims, a member and prominent local leader, in 1926 built and donated to this church, Tuscaloosa Female College. William W. Brandon, Alabama governor (1923-1927) was a member. Served by outstanding ministers; four becoming Methodist bishops; Robert Paine, John C. Keener, James H. McCoy, and Clare Purcell. This church has and continues faithfully to proclaim the compassion of Christ. Tuscaloosa's first port developed on the south side of the river just downstream of the present bridge. In 1816 John Click brought goods upriver to this landing while Isaac Cannon made a 36-day trip to Mobile in a 40-foot dugout canoe. Commercial barges built by Col. Gabriel Penn in 1817 made trips to St. Stephens, the territorial capital. In 1818 Hiram Cochrane began building keelboats. In 1821 the "Cotton Plant" was the first steamboat arrival. A number of early industries including a tannery, cotton factories and a foundry were located in the general area. These pioneers laid a foundation for the development of Tuscaloosa and West Alabama. Construction of Oliver Lock and Dam flooded this landing in 1939. [2002: Tuscaloosa Riverwalk] Skirmish at Trion On 31 March 1865, Union Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton's Cavalry of some 1500 troops entered Tuscaloosa County with orders to destroy the State University (military school) and anything else of value to the rebel cause. Near Bucksville they destroyed Saunders Iron Works and William's Tannery (now Tannehill State Park). Learning that Confederate cavalry units under Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and Brig. Gen. W.H. (Red) Jackson were traveling near Trion, some 10-miles distant, Croxton's Brigade rode to intercept. The Union forces camped that night on the farm of Squire John White, and were attacked by Jackson's Cavalry Division as they broke camp at daybreak, 1 April. The skirmish, the first in Tuscaloosa County, occurred about a half-mile south of present-day Vance. Union losses were heavy in the running fight: some 30 killed or wounded, another 30 captured, and 150 horses lost. Croxton was forced away from his original line of march, retreating to the northeast before turning west towards the Black Warrior River some 40 miles above Tuscaloosa. Crossing to the west bank at Johnson's Ferry or Black Rock Shoals (near old Lock 17 area), the Union raiders resumed their advance on Northport and Tuscaloosa on 3 April. Jackson's Confederate forces suffered several casualties in the skirmish. One soldier from Tennessee, who died several days later in the Squire John White home, was buried nearby by Trion-area citizens. Built 1834 by James Dearling. Purchased by Arthur P. Bagby who occupied the house 1837-41 while Governor of Alabama and since known as the Governor's Mansion. Presented to the University of Alabama 1944 by Herbert David Warner and Mildred Westervelt Warner. The Warrior-Tombigbe Waterway From 1887-1915, seventeen locks and dams were constructed on the Warrior-Tombigbee Rivers. The first 3 were built on the fall line in Tuscaloosa. This was the site of #3, later #12. The Warrior-Tombigbee Development Association, founded in Tuscaloosa 1950 by leaders from Birmingham, Mobile, and Tuscaloosa, led the effort to modernize the waterway. Six modern locks and dams, replacing the original 17, have been built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between Mobile and Port Birmingham, providing efficient navigation, flood control, recreation and hydropower. As a result of the Association's efforts barge tow travel time was cut in half and the size of payloads tripled. Erected May 19, 2000, as the Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association celebrated its 50th anniversary. Zeta Tau Alpha Nu chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha was installed as the second sorority at the University of Alabama. On April 11, 1910 the chapter’s first nine women were initiated in the Sigma Nu hall. In 1925, Zeta Tau Alpha built the first sorority house on the campus. The original house had only three rooms and was located on Thomas Street, just off University Boulevard. This house was erected in 1962, preserving the large columns from the original house on Thomas Street. Nu chapter celebrated its Centennial Anniversary on April 11, 2010. [2012: 912 Magnolia Drive, Tuscaloosa] Other Tuscaloosa County pages: Back to Historical Marker Index Updated: January 7, 2013

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Purple darter (Diplacodes lefebvrii) |Also known as:||black percher| |French:||Diplacodes de Lefebvre| |Size||Prothorax length: 2.5 - 4 mm (2)| Hindwing length: 20 - 28 mm (2) The purple darter is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1). Giving off an iridescent dark-purplish sheen as it flies across its freshwater habitat, it is not hard to see how the purple darter (Diplacodes lefebvrii) got its name. This small dragonfly is also called the black percher, due to the male being almost entirely black, and to the species’ habit of perching often. In contrast to the male, the female is more of a vibrant yellowish-green, with the only black present as small stripes across the thorax (3). The wings of the purple darter are very clear, although they turn slightly amber towards the base of the hindwing. This amber patch is bigger and darker in females. Both the male and female purple darter have a greyish-brown cell, known as the pterostigma, near the tip of the wing (3). The purple darter has a widespread distribution, primarily occurring in Africa, outside of forested areas. This species can also be found on several islands in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as across the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula, and through Asia as far as the Indian subcontinent (1). The purple darter can be found in a diverse range of well-vegetated freshwater habitats, such as swamps and marshes (1). It can also inhabit small stretches of river, provided there is an abundance of tall grasses either side (4). As in other dragonflies, the larva of the purple darter is aquatic and is probably a ferocious hunter (4), opportunistically taking a variety of prey from aquatic invertebrates to small fish. Adults dragonflies tend to be generalised feeders, congregating where flying insect prey are abundant (5). Adult purple darters can be seen year-round, although are less common in winter (3). Like all dragonflies, the purple darter copulates when flying in tandem. The male will grab a receptive female at the back of the abdomen, pulling the pair into a wheel shape and allowing copulation to occur (4). Female darters typically lay eggs nearby immediately after copulation by repeatedly dipping the abdomen into the water, or by laying the eggs onto the water surface or floating vegetation (5). The main threat to the purple darter is the drainage of swamp land and marshes for agricultural use or for housing in highly populated areas (1). There are currently no specific conservation efforts directed at the purple darter due to its stable population and widespread range (1). To find out more about the conservation of dragonflies and damselflies see: Moore, N.W. (Ed.) (1997) Dragonflies - Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Odonata Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. Available at: Zoological Society of London – Odonata: This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: - Abdomen: in arthropods (crustaceans, insects and arachnids) the abdomen is the hind region of the body, which is usually segmented to a degree (but not visibly in most spiders). In crustacea (such as crabs), some of the limbs attach to the abdomen; in insects the limbs are attached to the thorax (the part of the body nearest to the head) and not the abdomen. - Invertebrates: animals with no backbone, such as insects, crustaceans, worms, molluscs, spiders, cnidarians (jellyfish, corals, sea anemones) and echinoderms. - Larva: stage in an animal’s lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce. - Thorax: part of the body located between the head and the abdomen in animals. In insects, the three segments between the head and the abdomen, each of which has a pair of legs. In vertebrates the thorax contains the heart and the lungs. IUCN Red List (December, 2010) - Dijkstra, K-D.B. (2006) African Diplacodes: the status of the small species and the genus Philonomon (Odonata: Libellulidae). International Journal of Odonatology, 9(2): 119-132. - Samways, M.J. (2008) Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa. Pensoft Publishers, Bulgaria. - Brooks, S. (2003) Dragonflies. Life Series, The Natural History Museum, London. - O' Toole, C. (2002) The New Encyclopedia of Iinsects and their Allies. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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Sunday 19 May Shoveler (Anas clypeata) What’s the World’s Favourite Species?Find out here. Shoveler fact file - Find out more - Print factsheet The shoveler (Anas clypeata) is named for its extraordinary oversized bill, which has a broad spatula-shaped tip. Both sexes have this feature, but the drake (male) shoveler, in his flamboyant breeding plumage, is easily distinguishable from the female. He has a bottle-green head (rather like the drake mallard), a white chest, chestnut flanks and black primary wing feathers and tail. The upper shoulder of the wing has a prominent sapphire blue flash. In the late summer, the drake loses his finery, and goes into 'eclipse plumage' after moulting. Both sexes then appear mottled brown, although the drake can be identified by a white streak just in front of the eye. Immature birds are similar in appearance to birds in this eclipse phase but look somewhat darker. Shovelers belong to the family Anatidae or dabbling ducks, and this describes their feeding behaviour exactly. Shovelers rarely 'up-end' like mallard and other surface-feeding ducks. However, they will dive if disturbed. - Also known as - Northern shoveler. - Canard souchet. - Length: 44 - 52cm - Wingspan: 73 - 82cm - The act of incubating eggs, that is, keeping them warm so that development is possible. - Animals with no backbone, such as insects, crustaceans, worms, molluscs, spiders, cnidarians (jellyfish, corals, sea anemones), echinoderms, and others. IUCN Red List (March, 2011) - view the contents of, and Material on, the website; In common with most other ducks, after mating the drake shoveler plays no further part in the incubation of the eggs and rearing of the ducklings. In April or May, the female constructs a nest on dry ground, often concealed in a grass tussock, and lines it with down from her own breast. There may be as many as 12 buff-coloured eggs and incubation takes 24 days. The female leads them away from the nest as soon as the clutch has hatched. The ducklings feed on small insects and other invertebrates, as well as plant seeds and buds. They can fly after about six weeks, and by the end of October, most British birds have migrated to southern Europe.Top Shovelers are resident across most of Britain although those in the north migrate south to avoid harsh northern winters. The largest UK populations are found in East Anglia and central England. The birds range across most of southern and central Europe, Finland and Russia including Siberia, and are also found in central and western parts of the USA and Canada. Most of the birds that breed in northern latitudes migrate south during the winter.Top Shovelers prefer areas of shallow fresh water surrounded by rich vegetation, although they can be found on fens and marshes with plenty of open water.Top The shoveler is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1). Receives general protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (as amended) in the UK. Included in the Birds of Conservation Concern Amber List (medium conservation concern).Top The shoveler does not appear to be a threatened species, although the north-west European population is believed to have been in decline for some years. Between the late 1960s and the early 1990s, there was a 39 percent reduction in the number of 10 kilometre squares where breeding was recorded in the UK. Some of this decline is thought to be through the loss of wetland in several parts of the country, and the British breeding population (currently estimated at about 1000 pairs) is concentrated at a relatively small number of sites. The species receives general protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (as amended), the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order and the EC Birds Directive.Top The single most important UK site for the shoveler is the Ouse Washes in Cambridgeshire, thought to support over 150 pairs, some two percent of the international population. The Ouse Washes hold significant numbers of many breeding waterfowl and have been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA). This site is specially managed for wildfowl, being allowed to flood during the winter, and grazed to encourage suitable conditions for breeding birds. In addition to the breeding population, shoveler numbers are swelled in winter by migratory birds from northern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine, and (possibly) Iceland. Shoveler migration is a complex affair, with British birds leaving for southern Europe and northern European birds arriving to overwinter. All this makes assessing population sizes rather difficult, so the current estimate of 10,000 UK birds may be less than the actual number. In addition to the designated SPA for breeding shovelers, there are 26 non-breeding SPAs, where the birds' importance qualifies the sites for special protection.Top Find out more For more information on the shoveler and other bird species:Top This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to: Additional use of flagged material Green flagged material Creative commons material Any other use Listen to the Shoveler Shoveler recordings by William W. H. Gunn © Cornell Lab of Ornithology Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road New York 14850 United States of America Tel: +1 (607) 254-2404 Fax: +1 (607) 254-2439

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Tuesday 21 May Southern tuco-tuco (Ctenomys australis) What’s the World’s Favourite Species?Find out here. Southern tuco-tuco fact file - Find out more - Print factsheet Southern tuco-tuco description The southern tuco-tuco (Ctenomys australis) is a rodent typical of the genus Ctenomys, with a large head, no distinguishable neck, short legs and big incisors. Coat color in the genus Ctenomys varies from black to light grey, and the southern tuco-tuco is usually dark brown to almost black, with pale grey underparts. The tail is hairless (3).Top Southern tuco-tuco biology The southern tuco-tuco is solitary and highly territorial, building large burrow systems in sand dunes (7). Further information on the southern tuco-tuco’s behavior is scarce; however, members of the genus Ctenomys are typically diurnal, alternating periods of activity and rest throughout the day (6). Little is known about the courtship and mating of tuco-tucos, as these behaviours take place inside the burrows. The male is known to take an aggressive posture, and both the male and female probably exchange chemical or acoustic signals, but further details are unknown. The southern tuco-tuco is polygynous, meaning that a male may mate with several females (8). The gestation period of the southern tuco-tuco is approximately 100 days. After this time, the female gives birth to between two and six pups, with lactation lasting around two months. The southern tuco-tuco has two reproductive periods per year (8).Top Southern tuco-tuco range The southern tuco-tuco is found in Argentina, in the southeast of the Buenos Aires Province (3).Top Southern tuco-tuco habitat The southern tuco-tuco lives in sand dunes in coastal areas. Its range is very narrow, within just 50 metres of the coast, where the plants it feeds on are found and the soil conditions are ideal for digging burrows (1) (5).Top Southern tuco-tuco status The southern tuco-tuco is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1).Top Southern tuco-tuco threats The main threat to the southern tuco-tuco is the loss of its costal habitat, a consequence of both the development of tourist resorts and the creation of pine plantations (1).Top Southern tuco-tuco conservation There are currently no known specific conservation measures in place to protect the southern tuco-tuco (1).Top Find out more Find out about wildlife conservation in Argentina: WWF - Argentina: Wildlife Conservation Society - Argentina: The Nature Conservancy - Argentina: - Active during the day. - A category used in taxonomy, which is below ‘family’ and above ‘species’. A genus tends to contain species that have characteristics in common. The genus forms the first part of a ‘binomial’ Latin species name; the second part is the specific name. - The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth. - Having a diet that comprises only vegetable matter. - A mating system in which males have more than one female partner. - Describes an animal, a pair of animals or a group that occupies and defends an area. IUCN Red List (February, 2012) - Luna, F. and Antinuchi, C. (2006) Energy and distribution in subterranean rodents: Sympatry between two species of the genus Ctenomys. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 147(4): 948-954. - Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (2005) Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. - Francescoli, G. (2011) Tuco-tucos’ vocalization output varies seasonally (Ctenomys pearsoni; Rodentia, Ctenomyidae): implications for reproductive signaling. Acta ethologica, 14(1): 1-6. - Comparatorve, M. and Busch, C. (1992) Habitat relations in sympatric populations of Ctenomys australis and Ctenomys talarum (Rodentia, Octodontidae) in natural grassland. Zeitschrift fiir Saugertierkunde, 57: 47-55. - Parada, A., Bidau, C. and Lessa, E.P. (2011) Species groups and the evolutionary diversification of tuco-tucos, genus Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 92(3): 671–682. - Mora, M.S., Mapelli, F.J., Gaggiotti, O.E., Kittlein, M.J. and Lessa, E.P. (2010) Dispersal and population structure at different spatial scales in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys australis. BMC Genetics, 11: 9. - Mora, M.S., Lessa, E.P., Kittlein, M.J. and Vassallo, A.I. (2006) Phylogeography of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys australis in sand-dune habitats: evidence of population expansion. Journal of Mammalogy, 87(6): 1192–1203. Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to: - view the contents of, and Material on, the website; Additional use of flagged material Green flagged material Creative commons material Any other use

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Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonological Processes What are speech sound disorders? Most children make some mistakes as they learn to say new words. A speech sound disorder occurs when mistakes continue past a certain age. Every sound has a different range of ages when the child should make the sound correctly. Speech sound disorders include problems with articulation (making sounds) and phonological processes (sound patterns). To learn more about typical speech sound development, see How Does Your Child Hear and Talk? and Literacy and Communication: Expectations From Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade. Can adults have speech sound disorders? Adults can also have speech sound disorders. Some adults continue to have problems from childhood, while others may develop speech problems after a stroke or head injury. To learn more about adult speech disorders, see apraxia of speech and dysarthria. What are some signs of an articulation disorder? An articulation disorder involves problems making sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left off, added or changed. These errors may make it hard for people to understand you. Young children often make speech errors. For instance, many young children sound like they are making a "w" sound for an "r" sound (e.g., "wabbit" for "rabbit") or may leave sounds out of words, such as "nana" for "banana." The child may have an articulation disorder if these errors continue past the expected age. Not all sound substitutions and omissions are speech errors. Instead, they may be related to a feature of a dialect or accent. For example, speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) may use a "d" sound for a "th" sound (e.g., "dis" for "this"). This is not a speech sound disorder, but rather one of the phonological features of AAVE. To see the age range during which most children develop each sound, visit Talking Child's speech chart. What are some signs of a phonological disorder? A phonological process disorder involves patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all sounds made in the back of the mouth like "k" and "g" for those in the front of the mouth like "t" and "d" (e.g., saying "tup" for "cup" or "das" for "gas"). Another rule of speech is that some words start with two consonants, such as broken or spoon. When children don't follow this rule and say only one of the sounds ("boken" for broken or "poon" for spoon), it is more difficult for the listener to understand the child. While it is common for young children learning speech to leave one of the sounds out of the word, it is not expected as a child gets older. If a child continues to demonstrate such cluster reduction, he or she may have a phonological process disorder. To see the ages at which phonological processes should disappear, go to Elimination of Phonological Processes, and for descriptions of the common processes see Phonological Processes. How are speech sound disorders diagnosed? A speech-language pathologist (SLP) is the professional that evaluates children or adults with speech and language difficulties. The SLP listens to the person and may use a formal articulation test to record sound errors. An oral mechanism examination is also done to determine whether the muscles of the mouth are working correctly. The SLP may recommend speech treatment if the sound is not appropriate for the child's age or if it is not a feature of a dialect or accent. For children, the SLP often also evaluates their language development to determine overall communication functioning. What if I speak more than one language? Is my accent a speech sound disorder? An accent is the unique way that speech is pronounced by a group of people speaking the same language. Accents are a natural part of spoken languages. It is important to realize that no accent is better than another. Accents are NOT a speech or language disorder. An SLP can work on accent modification services if a client wishes to reduce or modify his or her accent. What treatments are available for people with speech sound disorders? SLPs provide treatment to improve articulation of individual sounds or reduce errors in production of sound patterns. Articulation treatment may involve demonstrating how to produce the sound correctly, learning to recognize which sounds are correct and incorrect, and practicing sounds in different words. Phonological process treatment may involve teaching the rules of speech to individuals to help them say words correctly. Learn more: Child speech intervention index What causes speech sound disorders? Many speech sound disorders occur without a known cause. A child may not learn how to produce sounds correctly or may not learn the rules of speech sounds on his or her own. These children may have a problem with speech development, which does not always mean that they will simply outgrow it by themselves. Many children do develop speech sounds over time but those who do not often need the services of an SLP to learn correct speech sounds. Some speech sound errors can result from physical problems, such as: - developmental disorders (e.g.,autism) - genetic syndromes (e.g., Down syndrome) - hearing loss - neurological disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy) Children who experience frequent ear infections when they were young are at risk for speech sound disorders if the ear infections were accompanied by hearing loss. Speaking with an accent and/or dialect is not a speech sound disorder. How common are speech sound disorders? In young children learning to speak, speech sound errors are quite common. In fact, very few children develop speech without producing errors early on. By the age of 8, children should be able to produce all sounds in English correctly. Information about how many children have speech sound disorders is available in the ASHA report, Incidence and Prevalence of Communication Disorders and Hearing Loss in Children - 2007 Edition. How effective are treatments for speech sound disorders? The following information on treatment efficacy for phonological process disorders is available at: What do SLPs do when working with individuals with speech sound disorders? The Preferred Practice Patterns for the Profession of Speech-Language Pathology includes sections on speech sound assessment (section 15) and speech sound intervention (section 16). These sections describe the typical clinical process followed by an SLP in these areas.

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http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/SpeechSoundDisorders/

2013-05-24T16:31:23Z

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"This Grave / contains all that was Mortal / of a / Young English Poet / Who / on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart / at the Malicious Power of his Enemies / Desired / these Words to be / engraven on his Tomb Stone: / Here lies One / Whose Name was writ in Water. 24 February 1821" -Epitaph on Keats' gravestone The house at Piazza di Spagna 26 was the last home of John Keats, and now hosts the Keats-Shelley Memorial House. The museum and memorial is dedicated to the famed poet as well as to his contemporary, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Keats met his tragic and early end when he was taken from this earth by tuberculosis at the tender age of 25. Keats died in this house on February 23, 1821, and the room that contained his death bed has been preserved as a shrine to the tortured writer. While all of the furniture and wallpaper was removed and burned to cleanse the room of remnants of his illness, it has been re-created to resemble the very room in which the young man was bled and starved by his worried physicians, and begged to die when his caregivers feared suicide, refusing him pain relief through opium or laudanum. The house was bought in 1906 by interested parties connected with the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association, and dedicated in 1909 after a facelift. Except for a two-year period during WWII when artifacts were removed and hidden from the Nazis for safekeeping, the museum has been going strong ever since. The museum hosts a variety of memorabilia from both poets, John Keats because of his obvious connection to the house, and P.B. Shelley because of his relationship with the city of Rome. Its extensive collection from the Romantic era poets includes a library with over 8,000 examples of Romantic literature and a small cinema room showing an introductory film. The house is a natural historic landmark, and sits at the base of the world-famous landmark The Spanish Steps, the museum itself being in existence since 1909. Ghost hunters, always keen on a good tragic story and anxious to find signs of the afterlife, have honed in on the house, insisting it hosts the ghost of Mr. Keats himself. According to legend, voice of the doomed poet can still be heard inside the house, along with other strange noises in the night and mysterious phenomena such as unexplained lights or cold spots.

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http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/keats-shelley-memorial-house

2013-05-24T16:39:44Z

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en

Animal Species:Ant-raiding Ant Ants belonging to the Cerapachys group are specialist predators of other ant species. Ant-raiding ants are found throughout Australia Ant-raiding ants live in urban areas, forests and woodlands, and coastal habitats. Feeding and Diet Ant-raiding ants eat other ant species. Other behaviours and adaptations Ants belonging to the Ceraphachys group are specialist predators of other ant species. They conduct raids on other ant nests, overpowering and killing workers to get to the larvae and pupae of the colony. On finding their targets, the raiding workers sting the young ants and carry them back to their own nests. Although the sting of a Ceraphachys ant is quite capable of killing the larvae, the ant raiders subtly modify the injection of venom so that it paralyses and preserves the larvae rather than harms them. In this way the larvae stay fresh much longer than they would otherwise and can be stored in the raider ants' nest, to be consumed over a period of time. When the food store runs low, the raiders go and find another nest to attack. Danger to humans and first aid Ant-raiding ants can sting. An ice pack or commercially available spray may be used to relieve the pain of the sting. If there is evidence of an allergic reaction, medical attention should be sought.

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http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/Ant-raiding-Ant

2013-05-24T16:27:06Z

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Why Our Food Is Dangerous To Our Health By Sandy Powers The National Marine Fisheries Service lists China as supplying 70 percent of America’s tilapia. China and Thailand are the largest suppliers of imported shrimp. After traveling over two thousand miles throughout Mainland China and spending five days on the Yangtze River, I have become alarmed at the condition of our imported seafood from Asia. The waterways of China and Hong Kong are so polluted with industrial chemicals, farm effluents, and human waste that seafood exporters must rely on antibiotic treatment just to keep the fish alive. I witnessed several bloated and decaying bodies, both human and animal, floating down the Yangtze. The Yangtze River empties into the waterways from which much of the exported seafood is fished. Seafood from Asian Fish Farms is no healthier than seafood caught in the wild. Thai and Chinese fishponds are notoriously filthy and pumped full of antibiotics. The FDA discovered the presence of the powerful antibiotic, chloramphenicol, in the imported Asian shrimp. Studies link the antibiotic chloramphenicol, a carcinogen, to anemia and leukemia, especially in children. In a recently published article, CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews quotes food safety expert Caroline Smith DeWaal, "Chloramphenciol is a serious problem in the human food supply," she said. "It’s like taking a drug that’s not prescribed." Catfish imports from China are another serious concern for the presence of antibiotics. Flouoroquinolone antibiotics, which the FDA has banned for use in food, are showing up in tests conducted on catfish imported from China. "Aside from the threats to health, the imports have also been a threat to the economy of the Mississippi Delta, which provides more than three-fourths of the catfish eaten in the United States," emphasized a report aired on National Public Radio. An influx of cheap imports from Asia is putting the American catfish farmers out of business. Since only about one percent of our imported seafood is monitored by the FDA, most of the contaminated seafood ends up on our dinner tables. Our imported fruits and vegetables are not fairing any better. According to an Associated Press analysis of FDA records, border inspectors consistently reject Mexican peppers and chilies. Ten percent of the rejected peppers and chilies were infected with salmonella. Since the FDA inspects less than one percent of all foreign food entering the country, ten percent of one percent is alarming. Mexican imports are disturbing sources of concern, not only from salmonella and E. coli, but also from the heavy pesticides the Mexican Agricultural Industry use in growing produce. It is referred to as "the circle of poison." Chemical companies sell Mexican Agrifarms pesticides that are banned in this county. There are no regulations in the United States for the exportation of banned or unregistered pesticides. Little, if any, oversight exists for the use of these pesticides on the fruits and vegetables grown by the Mexican agricultural farms. With fifty percent of the imported fruits and vegetables in the United States coming from Mexico, we have an intolerable problem of polluted food. Because the FDA is underfunded and undermanned, it rests on the consumer to force change. First, don’t buy any fresh or frozen seafood from Asia. Support your local fisheries and fishermen. Fish farms in the United States typically use clean water, no antibiotics and no chemicals. If your local grocery store only carries Asian imports, request fish and seafood from the United States, or safer imports from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for example. World trade is not going away. Just make sure you buy the safer imports. Second, limit any fruits and vegetables from Mexico to reduce pesticide ingestion. Buy locally, if possible. Shop your local farmers and farm markets. Buy organic fruits and vegetables. Plant your own garden. You are the author of your own health. Protect your well being with wholesome safe foods. Don’t permit the source of a food to become a danger to your health.

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http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=78032&id=41650

2013-05-24T16:13:38Z

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en

The origin of the term atlas is a common source of misconception, perhaps because two different mythical figures named 'Atlas' are associated with map making. King Atlas, a mythical King of Mauretania, was also known as Aparajit in Hindusim , according to legend, a wise philosopher, mathematician and astronomer who supposedly made the first celestial globe. It was this Atlas that Mercator was referring to when he first used the name 'Atlas', and he included a depiction of the King on the title-page. However, the more widely known Atlas is a figure from Greek mythology. He is the son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene (or Asia), and brother of Prometheus. Atlas was punished by Zeus and made to bear the weight of the heavens (the idea of Atlas carrying the Earth isn't correct according to the original myth) on his back. From Behingthename.com (a great resource for parents and anyone else looking for name meanings): Usage: Greek Mythology Other Scripts: Ατλας (Ancient Greek) Pronounced: AT-ləs (English) [key] Means "not enduring" from the Greek negative prefix α combined with τλαω (tlao) "to endure". In Greek mythology he was a Titan punished by Zeus by being forced to support the heavens on his shoulders My son's name is Atlas. I found a story that stated that he was the God of the heaven's which I thought sounded much nicer then held the world on his shoulders. My mother passed away when I was 18 and when I got married 2 yrs ago on the beach.. We had 3 rainbows surrounding us... I got pregnant a month later and thought that story and name would honor my mother. I love the name and hope it stays hidden from people!!

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http://www.babycenter.com/viewComments.htm?artifactSite=preg&artifactZone=name_finder&intcmp=Babynamepage_Seeallcomments&ccContentType=BABY_NAME&ccContentId=491455&ccOwnerId=

2013-05-24T16:26:14Z

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“As the twig is bent so is the tree inclined” is an old parenting proverb to the effect that, when applied to parenting, means that what your child experiences in the first years of life sets the course for the whole life cycle. This e-book takes you inside your child’s world to help you better understand how children develop and what they experience – allowing you to adapt your parenting to their unique abilities, needs and interests. The single most important fact about infants and children is they are constantly growing and changing. As parents this means that we have to grow and change along with them. When your baby starts to crawl and walk, for example, you have to “babyproof” his or her living space. The challenge is to set limits and allow freedoms in keeping with the child’s maturing abilities, needs and interests. We do this best if we start from where the child is in his or her development, not from some abstract rule or principle. Adapting flexibly to the needs of thegrowing child is what nourishes our development as loving and effective parents. Decades of research shows that infants and children who receive age appropriate, loving child rearing develop a sense of trust, of autonomy, of initiative, and of industry that will serve them well in their progress towards maturity. That is why understanding the stages of children’s emotional, language, intellectual and social development is critical to effective and successful parenting. “Decades of research shows that infants and children who receive age appropriate, loving childrearing develop a sense of trust, of autonomy, of initiative, and of industry that will serve them well in their progress towards maturity.” It is important to make clear; however, that although we as adults can separate emotional, language, intellectual and social development, the infant makes no such divisions. Infants operate as functioning wholes and all the facets of their developing personalities are closely entwined. For example, a baby’s cries are at once a means of communication, an expression of an unpleasant emotion, and a need for social interaction. Accordingly, when interacting with your baby, it is important to realize that you are responding at many different levels at once. Understanding Your Child’s Developing Emotions At birth, your infant has a few basic feelings such as pleasure, pain and fear. With age and experience, these become more elaborate and combine to form more complex emotions. Even a young infant can tell you what she feels through her body language and cries. For example, a baby who is relaxed and comfortable presents a very different picture from one who is tense and irritable. By watching your infant’s emotional reactions you can tell what pleases her and what makes her unhappy. In this respect, as in many others, babies are quite different from one another. An otherwise easy going baby, for example, may really hate being changed even though she is not uncomfortable. It is just the act of changing that she dislikes. Other infants may not like hats and may take them off as soon as they can. If we are alert to the kinds of actions or objects that make the baby uncomfortable, we can anticipate the reaction and try to lessen it through calming words and gentle touches. “When your baby is upset and cranky, it really helps if you remain calm, keep your voice low and soothing and make your actions slow and comforting.” From an early age infants also respond to our emotions, and are quick to respond to our feelings of happiness or distress. If you find yourself experiencing these feelings during the day, while you should not try and hide your emotions from the infant but you might try and avoid being with your infant, if possible, until your emotions are more settled and under control. Likewise, when your baby is upset and cranky, it really helps if you remain calm, keep your voice low and soothing and make your actions slow and comforting. As your baby begins to widen her emotional spectrum, you can help her by labeling emotions for her. For example, “I can tell you really like that apple sauce, don’t you?” Understanding Your Child’s Developing Communication Skills As your infant matures, his ability to communicate increases and he can use his body language, as well as his vocalizations, to express his wants, pleasures and dislikes. It is very important for parents to learn to read this non-verbal communication. When you appreciate your baby’s signs when, for example, he needs a hug, this helps him to feel understood and contributes to his sense of trust. Your infant is responsive to your voice even before he leaves the womb. As a newborn, he already prefers the sound of his mother’s voice to other sounds. Maintaining a language rich environment throughout the first year is a major contributor to healthy language development, and you can help your child along by doing a few simple things. These include talking, singing or cooing while you feed, change or bathe your baby, and telling or reading him stories – even during the first few months of life. Understanding Your Child’s Physical and Social Development Your baby also gains a better understanding of the physical and social world around her as she grows. This comes about through active exploration of her environment by means of her actions and her senses. For example, no infant is born knowing the difference between red and green, soft and hard, sweet and sour, loud and quiet, rough and smooth. All of these distinctions have to be learned through time-consuming and effortful exploration and trial and error. “Simple toys such as a mobile hung over the crib, a rattle or a plush toy give infants the opportunity to explore objects and start to learn their different properties.” The good news is that it’s very easy for you to help your baby understand the physical and social world around her. And you don’t need the latest toys and games. Simple toys such as a mobile hung over the crib, a rattle, or a plush toy give her the opportunity to explore objects and to learn their different properties. This helps her to attain a sense of control over her world by being able to impose an order upon it. As your baby matures and her motor coordination improves, she will begin to coordinate what she sees with what she touches and hears. These co ordinations all take time and repetition to learn, but they are very important attainments. Eventually your baby will be able to construct a mental image of an object, such as a ball, and will, for example, be able to point to it in a book when you say its name. This is another example of how language, motor coordination and sensory discrimination work together give your baby a sense of a stable, trustworthy world. Because the world is so new to your baby, the only way she can learn about it is through her own interaction with objects. That is why it is so important to resist the temptation to give your baby high-tech toys; it is a little bit like asking your baby to run before she can walk. There will be plenty of time for your infant to engage with high tech toys when she is older. The important thing is for her to learn about the real world before learning about the virtual one. Frederich Froebel, the inventor of the kindergarten, put it well when he said, “Children need to learn the language of things before they learn the language of words.” If we keep the world of the infant simple, yet rich in basic toys and abundant language, we provide the best environment for healthy mental development. “There will be plenty of time for infants to engage with high tech toys when they are older. The important thing is for them to learn about the real world first before they explore the Your child’s social development is part and parcel of all of the other developments described above. For example, your baby is near-sighted at birth and does not focus very well. By the end of the first month, however, vision has improved and your infant can make visual eye contact with you. This is always a wonderful event as, in that moment, you get the wonderful feeling that you are dealing with a real person. From day one, your infant prefers human voices to all other sounds and responds positively when he hears your voice. Towards the end of the first year, thanks to loving care and attention, your baby is able to construct a mental image of you, which increases his attachment to you. But this same mental image and attachment, makes the infant leery of those who don’t fit that image. We see this wariness in the appearance of separation and stranger anxiety. The appearance of separation and stranger anxiety at the same time as the child has become emotionally attached to you, and can mentally represent you in her absence, is but another example of the interplay of emotional, social and intellectual processes in your child. Understanding what underlies behaviors like stranger anxiety and separation anxiety enables you to do a more effective, and more relaxed, job of parenting and supporting your child’s healthy growth and development.

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http://www.babydon.com/category/parenting/know-your-baby/

2013-05-24T16:30:19Z

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en

Usually superficial veins of the upper extremity are used. Inspect the veins, use a tourniquet if needed. Use a sytinge of a size according to the amount of blood required. Needles of gauge 21 or less should be used and be 1 to ½ inches long. Instead of a tourniquet one can use a sphygmomanometer cuff, apply pressure that is midway between systolic and diastolic pressure. Ask the patient to open and close his firs several times. Take aseptic precautions and puncture the skin and then the vein the bevel of the needle should be facing upwards. Various veins that can be used are given in diagram. Sometimes it may be difficult to obtain blood at the first instance, withdraw the needle and in many instances blood will flow back into the syringe. Having withdrawn blood, loosen the tourniquet and ask the parent to open his fist. Let the patient apply a sterile gauge piece with gentle pressure over the area. Make sure that the bleeding has stopped before the patient leaves. In infants blood may be secured form femoral or external jugular vein. Transfer blood from syringe into the appropriate container gently. This acts by chelating calcium and preserves cellular elements better than does oxalate. It is used for blood counts, ESR and PCV estimations. Smears can be made up to 3 hours after sample collection. EDTA prevents platelet adhesion and aggregations, hence, it is best for platelet counts too. Used for ESR and haematocrit Potassium and ammonium oxalate salts are uses together in 2:3 ratio respectively. While potassium oxalate causes cell shrinkage, ammonium oxalate counter acts and the cell size and shape is maintained. Oxalates act by oxalate can not be used for this purpose.

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http://www.bahoo.org/Bookdes.asp?productid=1007783&catid=7

2013-05-24T16:38:41Z

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en

Environmental art is just one of many ways we have of helping young people connect with the natural world repairing a pond is hard work, but is just one of many skills our trainers pass on Our environment centres offer thousands of young people and adults opportunities to discover and learn about the natural world every year It has never been more important for young people to have a sound understanding of the environment and wildlife. Every year up to 15,000 children participate in our exciting and eye-opening environmental education activities. From minibeast trails and pond-dipping, to day conferences, role-playing and debate. Our aim is to make environmental education available to every schoolchild. The Wildlife Trust offers environmental education and opportunities to local schools and communities across Birmingham and the Black Country. Our education work is typically just £200 for a full day or £130 for a half day. The maximum group size for any of these activities is a class (around 35 young people), but some activities require smaller groups. Activities also vary in length, so it will be possible to run several in a day - please get in touch to discuss your requirements. You can reach the Education Team on 07791 070887 or email |Primary schools and early years education offer||339.81 KB|

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http://www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/learn-discover

2013-05-24T16:10:46Z

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en

Rheumatic FeverEn Español (Spanish Version) Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory condition involving connective tissue in the body. It's most severe complication is rheumatic heart disease. This condition may permanently damage the heart valves and affect the flow of blood to and from the heart. Symptoms of valve damage often don't appear for 10 to 30 years after the initial episode of rheumatic fever. Diseased Heart Valve © 2008 Nucleus Medical Art, Inc. Rheumatic fever is a complication of group A Streptococcus pharyngitis ( strep throat ). The vast majority of people with strep throat do not develop rheumatic fever. However, in some people infected with group A strep, the body's immune system not only fights the bacteria, but also attacks its own tissue, especially heart tissue. A risk factor is something that increases your chance of getting a disease or condition. Risk factors include: - Age: 5 to 15 years old - Previous case of rheumatic fever - Overcrowded living conditions Symptoms usually appear 2 to 4 weeks after a strep infection. They may include: - Pain and swelling in large joints - Muscle aches - Shortness of breath - Chest pain - Nausea and vomiting - Hacking cough - Circular rash - Lumps under the skin - Abnormal, sudden movements of arms and legs The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history, and perform a physical exam. This will include a careful exam of your heart. The doctor may take a throat culture and perform a blood test for streptococcal antibodies. Other tests may include: - Other blood tests—such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate to measure inflammation in the body, and blood cultures to determine if bacteria is present in the blood - Electrocardiogram—a test that records the heart's activity by measuring electrical currents through the heart muscle - Echocardiogram—a sonogram which visualizes the heart valves, and measures the contractile function of the heart muscle - Chest x-rays—a test that uses radiation to take a picture of structures inside the body, in this case the heart The goals of treatment are to: - Kill the strep bacteria - Treat the inflammation caused by the rheumatic fever - Prevent future cases of rheumatic fever Treatment may include: Penicillin or other antibiotics including erythromycin and azithromycin may be given to treat the strep infection. People who have had rheumatic fever are at high risk of getting it again. To prevent another bout of rheumatic fever, you may need to take antibiotics regularly for several years after the initial infection. These may be given by mouth or by monthly injections. Aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may help with joint pain and swelling. Corticosteroids may be used if NSAIDs are not effective. If inflammation is severe, the doctor may prescribe bed rest or severe restriction of physical activity for a period of time. Promptly treating strep throat with antibiotics can prevent rheumatic fever. If you or your child has a sore throat and a fever that lasts more than 24 hours, contact your doctor. American Heart Association National Library of Medicine Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org . Mayo Clinic and Foundation for Medical Education and Research website. Available at: http://www.mayo.edu/ . The Merck Manual of Medical Information—Home Edition . Merck Research Laboratories; 1999. Nausieda PA, Grossman BJ, Koller WC: Sydenham chorea: an update. Neurology . 1980;30:331-334. Robertson KA, Volmink JA, Mayosi BM. Antibiotics for the primary prevention of acute rheumatic fever. BMC Cardiovasc Disorders . 2005; 5:11. Spagnuolo M, Pasternack B, Taranta A. Risk of rheumatic fever recurrences after streptococcal infections: prospective study of clinical and social factors. N Engl J Med . 1971;285:641-647. University of Michigan Medical Center website. Available at: http://www.med.umich.edu/ . Last reviewed February 2008 by Jill Landis, MD Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Copyright © 2011 EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved.

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http://www.beliefnet.com/healthandhealing/getcontent.aspx?cid=%0D%0A%09%09%09%09%09%0911592

2013-05-24T16:16:59Z

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The challenge of conversion of biomass – particularly lignocellulosic biomass and agricultural waste – into chemicals, materials and fuels is being approached in multiple directions and a slew of technologies are now being developed, tested and deployed in semicommercial or pilot stage. The range includes gasification, pyrolysis and fermentation, amongst others, and many involve tinkering with genes of bacteria, yeast and fungi, to produce metabolic pathways that can then go about turning cellulosc sugars and starches into chemicals or fuels. Not all of these technologies – and not all of the companies – will make it to the finish line, failing at the vulnerable stage of scale-up from a bright idea in a laboratory or a pilot plant, to a commercial project with the right techno- economics. Many will not find the traction required to convert an idea in a garage to a sound business model that can sustain ups and downs. But, as the following sections show, a host of ideas are emerging – many from Universities and research institutes – and have managed to attract the first few tranches of investments to prove concepts. Bringing back the old HCL Cleantech (USA), a California- based company founded just four years ago, is investing in reinventing a 70-year old idea, first developed in Germany around the Second World War for treating cellulosic biomass with hydrochloric acid (HCl). The process, as it then stood, was costly due to the extensive use of water to recover and dispose the acid. According to Mr. Philippe Lavielle, CEO, HCL Cleantech, the company has pioneered a low temperature version that uses HCl to hydrolyse the pre-treated cellulosic biomass, with full recycle of acid. "The process is energy positive and extracts the economically important tall oils from the biomass and yields sugars in high yield. We get two clear and refined streams of lignin and sugars." At a biomass price of US$60 per dry tonne, Mr. Lavielle claims the process can compete with alternate processes that produce sugars from corn at a price of US$4 per bushel. The sugars can then be subjected to biochemical transformations to produce plastics, fibres, surfactant raw materials, fuel additives and amino acids; or can under catalytic chemical processes to give a variety of plastics or fuels (such as jet fuel or diesel). The lignin can be used for power generation. While the technology has only been demonstrated at a scale of a few tonnes per day, Mr. Lavielle is optimistic it can leverage "serious economies of scale." The first commercial unit is planned for end-2013, somewhere in Southeast USA. Isobutanol as feedstock Gevo, headquartered in Englewood (Colorado, USA), is developing biobased alternatives to petroleum-based products using a combination of synthetic biology and chemistry. The company plans to produce isobutanol, a versatile platform chemical for liquid fuels and petrochemicals, using a novel technology that coaxes proprietary yeasts to produce the alcohol from sugars. Isobutanol has broad market applications as a solvent and a gasoline blendstock that can help refiners to meet their renewable fuel and clean air obligations. It can also be further processed using well-known chemical processes into jet fuel and for raw materials for synthetic rubber, plastics and polyesters. According to Mr. Jack Huttner, Executive Vice-President of Commercial and Public Affairs, Gevo's technology can be retrofitted to existing ethanol plants of all kinds, at a capital cost of about US$60 per gallon, and two such installations are now on the cards in the US, which has a significant corn-based ethanol industry. While the isobutanol produced in the process does inhibit the activity of the yeast, it is removed as soon it is formed, allowing the conversion to go to completion. While the process currently uses corn and sugarcane as the source of sugars, Gevo's technologists are confident it can work on cellulosic biomass, just as well. Gevo is taking the partnership route for the downstream development of the isobutanol produced. It has entered into an agreement with Sasol (South Africa) to address the opportunities in the significant solvents market; and with synthetic rubber producer (Lanxess) to produce isobutylene – a key raw material for butyl rubber – which is expected to start yielding revenues from 2013. The alcohol to jet fuel technology is expected to get a leg-up following its certification by the ASTM – a currently ongoing process. As a drop-in replacement for gasoline, isobutanol has a lower octane rating than ethanol but is Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP) is also lower. Also under development is a process to make p-xylene (PX), the key raw material for purified terephthalic acid (PTA), required for polyester resin and fibre, through an intermediate product (isooctane). "Toray has successfully made renewable fibre and sheets from Gevo's isobutanol," says Mr. Huttner. Leveraging the glut of glycerol Glycos Biotechnologies Inc. (Houston, TX, USA) is planning to take advantage of the glut of glycerine that is expected as biodiesel capacity expands. The company has developed technologies that first emerged from the laboratories at Rice University, to produce platform chemicals using proprietary strains of E. Coli. The first facility to deploy this technology on a commercial scale is being built in the Bio-Xcell Park in the southern part of Malaysia. The location is strategic, particularly from a feedstock standpoint: Malaysia is the hub of palm oil production and the biodiesel industry, and significant quantities of glycerine are expected to be available in the region. The first product planned is isoprene – the monomer for a synthetic version of natural rubber. The E. Coli bacteria – produced using standard tools of metabolic engineering, and by turning off competing pathways – will turn the glycerine into ethanol, and then isoprene. Variations on this theme will allow the production of a broad range of organic chemicals, including organic acids and 1,2-propanediol, using a variety of feedstock besides glycerine, such as glucose and fatty acids. According to Mr. Paul Cambell, CEO, the engineering plans for the Malaysian project are being finalised and start-up is planned for Q1 2013. The timing will be opportune – at least 14 new synthetic rubber plants are likely to be built between now and 2015. Designer chemicals from algae Solazyme, a biotech start-up from Palo Alto (California, USA), is pioneering development of algal strains that can produce oils that have tailored fatty acid compositions, with controlled chain lengths and unsaturation levels. Algae are amongst the most prolific producers of oils and genetic engineering has allowed creation of special strains that grow in the dark to produce oils at a scale that allows for industrial scale operation. The petroleum-type oils that are produced can be refined and processed to be 'drop-in' replacements into the existing hydrocarbon industry infrastructure. The technology is feedstock flexible – it can use a variety of sugars including sugarcane-based sucrose, corn-based dextrose and other biomass sources such as cellulosics. Mr. Harrison Dillon, President & Chief Technology Officer, Solazyme, says the economics of production of these oils was brought down to below US$1000 per tonne one year ago, and "have gone down lower since." Stacking of traits allows production of oils equivalent to palm oil, palm kernel oil or even lard. Again, these oils are drop-in replacements to their natural products in terms of functionality. The PKO equivalent, for example, can be used for manufacture of surfactants. MEtabolic Explorer, headquartered in France, has developed technologies that facilitates the production of chemical compounds used in a wide range of everyday goods (textile fibres, paints, solvents, plastics and animal feed), by optimizing the metabolic yield of nonpathogenic bacteria in a contained, controlled environment. METabolic is currently focusing on production of five compounds, of which three – Methionine (an amino acid); 1,3-Propanediol (PDO) and 1,2-Propanediol (MPG) – are at an advanced pilot or industrial stage. Two others – glycolic acid and butanol – are at a more basic stage of technology development. The company claims to be the first to produce methionine by fermentation and has an exclusive licensing arrangement for the technology with French company, Roquette. METabolic is also investing in an 8,000-tpa plant for PDO in Malaysia, using glycerine as a starting material, and if all goes well, the plans are to ramp up capacity to 50,000-tpa, mainly for application in the manufacture of polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), a speciality polyester. MPG, which is an isomer of PDO, is a chemical that finds use in manufacture of polyester resins, besides other speciality applications. The technology for this product is at a pilot stage. Waste to plastics ... Micromidas, another Californiabased start-up, has developed a technology that can magically transform municipal sewage to polyhydroxybutylvalerate (PHBV), a biologicallyderived and biodegradable plastic, using carefully constructed microorganisms. Mr. John Bissell, CEO, Micromidas justifies the choice of sewage as raw material: "The price of most carbohydrates is high as compared to the price of the target and all the more so if one looks at just the carbon price, as these products are highly oxygenated." The technology, which has been developed by the company, can use a variety of organic waste materials, including palm oil mill effluent (POME), and through a process of anaerobic digestion produce bio-plastics. "The global production of POME can support 6.5- mtpa PHBV production," he says. Micromidas is now building a demo-scale facility with a capacity of 1-tpd (tonne per day) in California. ... and to fuels Another company, Terrabon (Houston, TX, USA), is leveraging disposed organic waste and biomass to create chemicals and drop-in transportation fuels such as gasoline and jet fuel. Founded in 1995, based on research work carried out at Texas A&M University, Terrabon has invested in a 150,000- tpa demonstration unit in Bryan (TX, USA). The technology enables the company to convert any biodegradable feedstock into acids, which are then chemically converted stepwise into ketones, alcohols and drop-in fuels, through a combination of biological and chemical conversions. The first biological step is akin to the natural fermentation in the rumen of cattle and produces carboxylic acids (such as acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid), which in a conventional aneraobic fermentation system would go further to methane. According to Mr. Cesar Granda, Chief Technology Officer, the process uses no enzymes, does not need sterile/ aspetic conditions and does not employ any genetically modified organisms. "The technology is ultra-feedstockagnostic, i.e. it can process cellulose, proteins, chitins etc. and has been tested on a variety of these." While Mr. Granda claims more than 100 chemicals can be made using the technology, the current focus is on the production of acetone (a ketone) for isopropanol. This is intended for dehydration to propylene and then converted to bio-gasoline. Levulinic acid as a platform chemical Segetis, a Minnesota (USA) based technology-driven company, is developing platform technologies based on levulinic acid (LA) that the company believes can address a US$80-bn market now. LA is widely seen as a platform chemical that can be sustainably produced from biomass via thermochemical processes. Although it is not yet commercially available in large quantities, sporadic production has emerged from China. The core of the Segetis' technology development efforts is on the conversion of LA to ketals and subsequently to a host of other chemicals, using proprietary technologies. But the focus is currently on two key markets to validate the technology and these include a non-phthalate plasticiser for PVC and a cleaning agent that has already found its way into commercial products now marketed by Target, a retail chain. "We have a 120-tpa plant making ketals in a consistent manner since 2009," says Mr. Atul Thakrar, President & CEO, Segetis. The next step in the evolution is a toll manufacturing facility, with a capacity of 3-mn lbs/year, which is expected to go on-stream in January 2012. "By 2014, we are planning on a 50-100 mn lbs/year facility, but this requires assured LA supplies," he says. This is where Malaysia comes in. The empty fruit bunches of the palm tree – the part left behind after the palm fruit has been taken out for oil extraction – can be used to make LA, as can wood or even organic municipal waste. "This can be a bolt-on facility to a palm oil plant and will also produce formic acid and furfural as co-products," adds Mr. Thakrar. In China, some enterprising companies are producing LA on a small scale using corn cobs. "The technology is inefficient and production is sporadic," he adds. Ten year horizon Over the next five years, it is very likely large plants for lactic acid and succinic acid will be built. But it will probably take another five to ten years for some – not all – of the other technologies to come into play.

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http://www.bio.org/print/5028?page=show

2013-05-24T16:44:56Z

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Taking inspiration from Mother Nature, scientists are reporting an advance toward preventing the tooth sensitivity that affects millions of people around the world. Their report on development of the substance, similar to the adhesive that mussels use to attach to rocks and other surfaces in water, appears in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Quan-Li Li, Chun Hung Chu and colleagues explain that about 3 out of every 4 people have teeth that are sensitive to hot, cold, sweet or sour foods and drinks. It occurs when the hard outer enamel layer on teeth and the softer underlying dentin wear away, stimulating the nerves inside. Some sugar-free gums and special toothpastes can help reduce that tooth hyper-sensitivity. However, Li and Chu cite the need for substances that rebuild both enamel and dentin at the same time. To meet that challenge, they turned to a sticky material similar to the adhesive that mussels use to adhere to surfaces. They reasoned that it could help keep minerals in contact with dentin long enough for the rebuilding process to occur. They describe laboratory tests that involved bathing human teeth with worn-away enamel and dentin in liquid containing the sticky material and minerals. Teeth bathed in the sticky material and minerals reformed dentin and enamel. However, teeth bathed just in minerals reformed only enamel. The gooey substance "may be a simple universal technique to induce enamel and dentin remineralization simultaneously," they concluded. Source : American Chemical Society

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pyriteArticle Free Pass pyrite, also called iron pyrite or fool’s gold, a naturally occurring iron disulfide mineral. The name comes from the Greek word pyr, “fire,” because pyrite emits sparks when struck by steel. Pyrite is called fool’s gold because its colour may deceive the novice into thinking he has discovered a gold nugget. Nodules of pyrite have been found in prehistoric burial mounds, which suggests their use as a means of producing fire. Wheel-lock guns, in which a spring-driven, serrated wheel rotated against a piece of pyrite, were used before development of the flintlock. Pure pyrite (FeS2) contains 46.67 percent iron and 53.33 percent sulfur; its crystals display isometric symmetry. For detailed physical properties, see sulfide mineral. Pyrite is widely distributed and forms under extremely varied conditions. For example, it can be produced by magmatic (molten rock) segregation, by hydrothermal solutions, and as stalactitic growth. It occurs as an accessory mineral in igneous rocks, in vein deposits with quartz and sulfide minerals, and in sedimentary rocks, such as shale, coal, and limestone. Pyrite occurs in large deposits in contact metamorphic rocks. Deposits of copper-bearing pyrite are widely distributed and often of great size. They usually occur in or near the contact of eruptive rocks with schists or slates. Pyrite weathers rapidly to hydrated iron oxide, goethite, or limonite; pseudomorphs of goethite after pyrite are common. This weathering produces a characteristic yellow-brown stain or coating, such as on rusty quartz. Pyrite is used commercially as a source of sulfur, particularly for the production of sulfuric acid. Because of the availability of much better sources of iron, pyrite is not generally used as an iron ore. For many years Spain was the largest producer, the large deposits located on the Tinto River being important also for copper. Other important producers are Japan, the United States (Tennessee, Virginia, California), Canada, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia, and Peru. What made you want to look up "pyrite"? Please share what surprised you most...

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Birds of a Feather Birds of a feather: enjoy recent stories of the science of birds in today’s news roundup. Until last week, I had no idea what a murmuration was. Did you? Then this amazing video went viral. The science behind starlings flying in unison is stunning and more about physics than biology, says Wired. Each starling in a flock is connected to every other. When a flock turns in unison, it’s a phase transition. How does a hummingbird stay dry in the rain? Ask your dog. UC Berkeley researchers, using high-speed video, found that hummingbirds shake off water like dogs do, only in mid-flight, “reaching a G-Force of 34,” according to NPR. Dang! How can two birds sing a duet so synchronous that it sounds like only one bird singing? Researchers studied Andean wrens’ neurons to understand this phenomenon. They discovered that a pair of male and female wrens memorizes the entire song, coming in when only needed. The female appears to take the lead, so perhaps “the duets are a way for a female to challenge and test a male,” ponders ScienceNOW. You can take a listen here. Recent studies have shown that many animals are getting smaller as the climate warms. But research conducted by our friends at SF State and PRBO finds the opposite is true with Californian birds. Analyzing data from thousands of local birds caught and released each year over the past 40 years, the scientists discovered that the birds’ wings have grown longer and the birds are increasing in mass. Extinct birds were the subjects of two separate multimedia articles last week. Cornell University, via the New York Times, has video (the only known video or image) of the imperial woodpecker, extinct since the mid-20th century. These were beautiful birds, done in by logging in Mexico’s Sierra Madre. Listen to the audio, too. New Scientist has a gallery of “bird ghosts,” that includes drawings by Ralph Steadman and haunting music, too. Finally, have you read the ongoing “Scientist at Work” blog by the Academy’s own Jack Dumbacher in the New York Times over the past two months? Jack is researching birds in the islands of Papua New Guinea. We’ll feature a video of his work next month, so stay tuned!

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Skip to content Skip to navigation menu 04 June 2008 Sticking to three basic principles when using antimicrobial wipes in hospitals is all it could take to reduce the incidence of MRSA according to new research from the Welsh School of Pharmacy. Led by microbiologist Dr Jean-Yves Maillard, the study into the ability of antimicrobial-surface wipes to remove, kill and prevent the spread of such infections as MRSA, has revealed that current protocols utilised by hospital staff have the potential to spread pathogens after only the first use of a wipe, particularly due to the ineffectiveness of wipes to actually kill bacteria. The team is now calling for a ‘one wipe – one application – per surface’ approach to infection control in healthcare environments. Disinfectants are routinely used on hard surfaces in hospitals to kill bacteria, with antimicrobial containing wipes increasingly being employed for this purpose. Antimicrobial wipes were first introduced in 2005 in hospitals in Wales. The research, supported by a grant from the Wales Office of Research and Development for Health and Social Care, involved a surveillance programme observing hospital staff using surface wipes to decontaminate surfaces near patients, such as bed rails, and other surfaces commonly touched by staff and patients, such as monitors, tables and key pads, which were later replicated in the lab. A three-step system was also developed to test the ability of several commercially available wipes to disinfect surfaces contaminated with strains Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA and MSSA. The system tested the removal of pathogens, the transmission of them, and the anti-microbial properties of wipes. It was found that the wipes were being applied to the same surface several times and used on consecutive surfaces before being discarded. It also revealed that although some wipes can remove higher numbers of bacteria from surfaces than others, the wipes tested were unable to kill the bacteria removed. As a result, high numbers of bacteria were transferred to other surfaces when reused. Dr Gareth Williams, microbiologist at the Welsh School of Pharmacy who presented his findings at the American Society of Microbiology’s 108th General Meeting in Boston Massachusetts, said: "Our surveillance study in its own right has been highly revealing in that it has highlighted the risks associated with the way decontamination products are currently being deployed in Welsh hospitals and the need for routine observation as well as proper training in the use of these wipes in reducing risks of infection to patients. The team also believe that claims of effectiveness, such as ‘kills MRSA’, are ubiquitous on the packaging of antimicrobial-containing wipes. Dr Gareth Williams continues: "Methods currently available to test the performance of these products may be inappropriate since they do not assess the ability of wipes to actually disinfect surfaces. We have developed a simple, rapid, robust and reproducible method which will help identify best practice in the use of the wipes. "On the whole, wipes can be effective in removing, killing and preventing the transfer of pathogens such as MRSA but only if used in the right way. We found that the most effective way is to prevent the risk of MRSA spread in hospital wards is to ensure the wipe is used only once on one surface." It is anticipated the research will promote a UK and worldwide routine surveillance programme examining the effectiveness of disinfectants used in hospitals, and if applied will help assure the public that control measures are being carefully scrutinised would undoubtedly be beneficial. The EU: What’s in it for Wales? New treatment for eczema trialled New drugs in development for treatment of osteoarthritis This is an externally hosted beta service offered by Google.

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You may also download a PDF version (208K) for Adobe Acrobat Reader or a PostScript version (440K). CDC's National Physical Activity Initiative Regular physical activity offers substantial improvements in health and well-being for the majority of Americans, who are not receiving enough physical activity. Moderate physical activity performed on most days of the week can substantially reduce the risk of dying from heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, and can reduce the risk of developing colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Currently, more than 60 percent of American adults are not regularly active, and 25 percent of the adult population is not active at all. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides scientific and technical leadership and assistance to help states, national organizations, and professional groups promote physical activity. The National Physical Activity Initiative is the primary focus for these efforts and reflects CDC's continuing commitment to reduce the major risk factors for chronic disease in the United States. The initiative has seven key components: - Program research and development. - Public information and education. - Professional education. - Policy and environmental guidelines development. - Promotion of partnerships. - Coordination and leadership. - Surveillance and evaluation. EXAMPLES OF CDC ACTIVITIES - CDC released Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General in July 1996, with its collaborating partner, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. - Ten national organizations receive grants to promote the report's key messages to children, working adults, senior citizens, and other populations. - To guide public communications about physical activity, CDC has conducted extensive research among white and African American adults to determine consumer perspectives about physical activity. - CDC communicates monthly with a network of nutrition and physical activity specialists in state and territorial health departments to expand capacity to develop physical activity and cardiovascular risk reduction programs. - The Physician Assessment and Counseling for Exercise (PACE) Project has developed tools for health care providers to use in counseling patients to become more active. - The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey provide data for monitoring physical activity trends and conducting epidemiologic research on physical activity. - The Physical Activity and Nutrition Project for Adolescents (PAN Project) is setting a research agenda for promoting physical activity and nutrition among adolescents. - A resource handbook, Promoting Physical Activity: A Guide for Community Action, developed for professionals and volunteers interested in promoting physical activity in schools, worksites, and communities, will be published later this year. - The second annual Physical Activity and Public Health Research Seminar will be conducted in the fall of 1996 to encourage scientists to pursue population-based research and to encourage practitioners to develop programs. - CDC is working with the National Institutes of Health to incorporate physical activity as a component of the National Diabetes Primary Prevention trial. - CDC is supporting school physical activity and physical education through comprehensive school health programs in 13 states. - The Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant serves as a primary source of federal funding for states to support prevention activities, including activities related to the promotion of physical activity. MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, MS K-46 4770 Buford Highway, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3724 1-888-CDC-4NRG or 1-888-232-4674 (Toll Free) President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 | Top of

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Historians, secondary school teachers, architects, homeowners, and set designers are some of the many people who turn daily for both information and inspiration to the HABS/HAER/HALS collection—the records of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). They benefit from viewing images of national landmarks along with technical drawings and photographs that explain the construction of sites ranging from houses, churches, and jails to metal foundries, railroad stations, and cranberry bogs. Insights into family, cultural, and architectural history also come from ready access to documentation of structures as diverse as Indian pueblos, Spanish missions, sod houses, kitchens, and the Rose Bowl Stadium. Charles E. Peterson conceived the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) while working for the National Park Service (NPS) during the Great Depression. In late 1933, Peterson proposed a project to employ 1,000 out-of-work architects and draftsmen for 10 weeks to document "America's antique buildings" systematically before they vanished. That special project soon expanded into an ongoing program through a cooperative agreement among the Library of Congress, the American Institute of Architects, and NPS. HABS has also inspired two companion programs called the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER, formed in 1969) and the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS, formed in 2000). All three NPS initiatives continue to document new sites each year. The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division provides public access services as well as archival preservation for the resulting records. The collection is one of the most heavily used special collections in the Library of Congress. The encyclopedic coverage of America's built environment, the exceptional clarity of the visual materials, and the general lack of copyright restrictions account for thousands of online catalog searches each month. In more than 35,000 surveys, researchers can discover a comprehensive range of building types, engineering technologies, and landscape features dating from pre-Columbian times to the present day and located throughout the United States and its territories. The multiformat surveys total more than 60,000 measured drawings, 250,000 large-format black-and-white and color photographs, and numerous written historical reports. A major digital conversion initiative at the library has helped researchers explore this rich visual collection through an online catalog. Books based on HABS/HAER/HALS already fill several library shelves. The new W. W. Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks for barns, canals, lighthouses, and bridges show hundreds of HABS/HAER/HALS images. At least one murder mystery, Artifacts, uses HABS records in its plot. The library's Learning Page provides activity ideas related to gold rush and missile defense sites, motion picture palaces, and authors' homes to encourage educators and students to delve into United States history, critical thinking, and the arts and humanities. Like the Association of Research Libraries, HABS is reaching its own 75th anniversary and can look forward to a long future of stimulating exploration and discovery with new generations of researchers. Collection Profile and Overview: Helena Zinkham Illustrations: Courtesy of the Library of Congress More About This Collection

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http://www.celebratingresearch.org/libraries/loc/buildings.shtml

2013-05-24T16:11:00Z

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The “Archimedes Palimpsest” - Papyrus or parchment that was “overwritten”; the underwritings were ‘erased’ - Done to Reuse the “paper” - Archimedes Palimpsest - 10th century AD: Archimedes’ writings were copied onto parchment and bound. - 12th century AD: The book was disbound, the Archimedes text erased, the pages were separated, rotated 90°, and rebound. The “Euchologian” (a prayer book) was “overwritten” on the parchment.

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http://www.cis.rit.edu/people/faculty/easton/k-12/exercise/tsld006.htm

2013-05-24T16:17:47Z

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Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are possible sources of Carbon Monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of Carbon Monoxide. Effects of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Exposure CO replaces oxygen in the bloodstream, which leads to suffocation. Mild Exposure - Mild effects include symptoms similar to flu such as headache, nausea and vomiting. Medium Exposure - More severe symptoms include difficulty breathing, severe headache, drowsiness, confusion and an increased heart rate. Extreme Exposure - Extreme symptoms can cause unconsciousness, convulsions, cardio respiratory failure, and death. Massachusetts Law regarding Carbon Monoxide Detectors In accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 148 Section 26 Fl/2, Massachusetts Fire Prevention Code 527 CMR 31.00 regulates the placement of CO detection in dwelling units. Regulations apply "to every dwelling, building or structure occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes, that: (1) contains fossil fuel burning equipment or (2) incorporates enclosed parking within its structure." In summary, effective March 31, 2006, the regulation applies to dwellings; buildings or structures occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes that contain fossil fuel burning equipment or has enclosed parking. The owner, landlord or superintendent shall equip these dwelling buildings or structures with working listed carbon monoxide alarms. The carbon monoxide alarm shall be located in each level of a dwelling unit including finished basements and cellars but not including crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics. (Check manufacturer's requirements for installation instructions.) The types of carbon monoxide detectors allowed are: Plug in with battery back up Hard wired with battery back up Low voltage or wireless Combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms/detectors. (Note that these are required to be photoelectric smoke detectors if located within 20 ft. of a kitchen or bathroom.) Purchase only alarms listed by a qualified independent testing laboratory meeting the requirements of IAS/CAS 6.19 or UL 2034. Install, test, and maintain CO alarms as specified by the manufacturer's instructions. In compliance with Massachusetts State Law (527 CMR 31.04), a CO alarm shall be installed in the immediate vicinity of the sleeping area, not to exceed 10 ft. in any direction from any bedroom door. Call the Boston Fire Department at 911 if your CO alarm sounds. Replace the battery per the manufacturer's instructions. The BFD recommends twice a year when you change your clocks. Alternative Compliance Option Large buildings with multiple dwelling units that contain minimal or no sources of CO inside the individual units are required to install hard wired detectors. These buildings may provide protection in the following areas of the structure: 1) Areas or rooms containing centralized fossil fuel burning equipment such as boiler rooms, hot water heaters, central laundry areas and all adjacent spaces. 2) Adjacent spaces of enclosed parking. CO alarms are not substitutes for smoke alarms. Make sure the dwelling has working smoke alarms that are located in accordance with the minimum required locations. It is recommended that working smoke detectors be located on every level and directly inside all sleeping rooms. Make sure CO and Smoke alarms are tested regularly. Know the difference between the sound of smoke alarms and CO alarms. Have an escape plan for emergencies and practice the plan with all members of the dwelling (household) regularly, at least twice a year.

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2013-05-24T16:16:45Z

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Conditions of Use Dairy products are made of milk and milk comes from cows. Milk is produced in cow’s stomachs. Cows have four stomachs. The grass has to go through all four parts of the cow’s stomachs before it is fully digested. Some of the milk travels through the bloodstream then goes to the udder. In some countries they still use hand milking but machine milking is much faster than hand milking. It takes about five minutes until all the milk is removed out of the udder. Some suction cups connect to the udder and it sucks all of the milk out of the udder. Big tanker trucks come daily to collect the milk. In the dairy factory it cools the milk then makes it hot quick. That kills the germs. Then the milk and cream goes into bottles and the rest is processed to make cheese, butter, yoghurt and ice-cream. Dairy products are important to New Zealand and we send a lot overseas. Article posted September 22, 2010 at 07:33 PM • comment • Reads 369 see all articles

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The purpose of this research study is to measure how much, if any, ketamine is absorbed into the blood stream after ketamine gel is applied to the skin. The investigators expect that the topical administration will provide pain relief locally, at the site of pain, but not be absorbed into the bloodstream and thus not cause side effects. This research will help assess the safety of this drug by measuring the blood concentrations of the drug. Ketamine is a general anesthetic drug but also has excellent pain relieving qualities. It has been used to relieve chronic pain by administering intravenously, by mouth, or as an injection beneath the skin. When given these ways ketamine can occasionally cause side effects like dizziness, nausea, nightmares, agitation, hallucinations. Recently it has been used topically for patients with neuropathic pain in order to avoid the dizziness and nausea side effects. Neuropathic Pain can be partially caused by the misfiring of small nerve fibers close to the area of pain. By applying it on the skin, it is expected the drug can penetrate the skin and act directly on the small nerve fibers. The advantage is that less drug will get into the blood circulation. Up to now, it has not been carefully studied how much of the drug appears in the circulation after application on the skin.

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2013-05-24T16:39:23Z

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The hot star system known as MWC 922 appears to be imbedded in a nebula creating the shape of a square. The above image combines infrared exposures from the Hale Telescope on Mount. Palomar in California, and the Keck-2 Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The theory is that the central star or stars expelled cones of gas during a late developmental stage. Astronomers speculate that the cones viewed from another angle would appear similar to the gigantic rings of supernova 1987A, the brightest supernova of modern times, possibly indicating that a star in MWC 922 might one day explode in a similar supernova. Over time, astronomers have watched and waited for the expanding debris from this tremendous stellar explosion to crash into previously expelled material. A clear result of such a collision is demonstrated below in two frames recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994 (left) and 1997(right). While the central concentration of stellar debris has clearly evolved over this period, the yellow spot on the ring in the righthand picture announces the collision of an outward moving blast wave with the pre-existing, light-year wide ring. The collision is occurring at speeds near 60 million kilometers per hour and shock-heats the ring material causing it to glow. Astronomers are hopeful that such collisions will illuminate the interesting past of SN 1987A , and perhaps provide more clues about the origin of the mysterious rings. Image credits & copyright: Thanks to Peter Tuthill (Sydney U.) and P. Garnavich (Harvard CfA) et al., NASA

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2013-05-24T16:31:00Z

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Politicians, understand these 7 simple rules (but, of course, follow NONE!)Submitted by go213mph on Sat, 08/18/2012 - 12:21 Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties. In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit. Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office. Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands. Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest. Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.

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2013-05-24T16:40:51Z

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|Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)| Alfred Wegener, the German scientist who proposed the idea of continental drift, had always been interested in geophysics and also became fascinated with the developing fields of meteorology and climatology. During his life, Wegener made several key contributions to meteorology: he pioneered the use of balloons to track air circulation and wrote a textbook that became standard throughout Germany. But, as this site explains, it was his belief in the interdisciplinary nature of science that lead him to his greatest discovery. It goes on to explain the thought process and evidence that precipitated his book The Origin of Continents and Oceans in which he outlined his theory of continental drift. Intended for grade levels: Type of resource: No specific technical requirements, just a browser required Cost / Copyright: Copyright 1996-2000 by The Museum of Paleontology of The University of California, Berkeley; the Regents of the University of California; and The Paleontological Society. No part of the referring document residing on the server may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without prior written permission of the publisher, except for educational purposes, and in no case for profit. DLESE Catalog ID: DLESE-000-000-005-210 This resource is referenced by 'Geology: Plate Tectonics' Resource contact / Creator / Publisher:

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2013-05-24T16:37:27Z

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|Previous news story Next news story| When Neil Armstrong passed away this weekend we lost someone who was not only a a hero to millions, but also one of the most important photographers in history. Armstrong's photographs from the moon, taken during the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, are among the most iconic and images ever captured. In response to the death of Armstrong, photographer Chase Jarvis has written an article in which he examines the photos taken on the moon, all those years ago. Click through for a link to the full article. |Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface, pictured by mission commander Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.| Armstrong appeared in very few of the images taken on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, but it was his photographs of companion Buzz Aldrin that captured the imaginations of millions of people on earth. Intended essentially as little more than 'record' shots for scientific purposes, Armstrong's images from the lunar surface - taken on a modified Hasselblad 500EL - have a unique beauty. In Jarvis's words, 'Neil Armstrong went to the moon first as an explorer for mankind, second as a scientist and engineer – but with intention or not – he came back a famous photographer'.

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2013-05-24T16:32:24Z

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I think we ought to start from the beginning (although reading this backwards would be a lot more entertaining, ?kniht uoy t'nod), what is a password? Passwords are codes that only the user and the system should know, these codes let the user access the system. Most systems are not for public use, and so they often require different permissions depending on who is using the system. For example, in an automated library you would need permissions set for your username to allow you to withdraw a book. The librarian however would have access to a plethora of tasks such as adding a new book or registering new users. So a user can use any password they want? Well, not really. See, the problem is that people want to gain access to systems so if the password is something they can guess or easily crack, then it is pointless having one. Of course, it is true that a password will deter some people, but chances are all they would do is frape you. Note to frapers: Posting So how do we choose a good password? Well for a start, do not use any dictionary words (yes, that includes klingon) as if it can be found on a list then that list may well be the one that is being used to break into your account. According to Pfleeger, since there are 26 characters in the alphabet and to get the amount of possible combinations you need to exponate 26 by the amount of letters in the password, you would work out how many possible combinations there are for all password sizes less than 3 for example is: 26^1 + 26^2 + 26^3 = 18,278. This sounds like quite a few, but at a millisecond a second it would take the same amount of milliseconds to list them all. This should explain why choosing a longer password will reduce how quickly the password can be bruteforced. However, since that equation only worked out the speed of letters, it is still easier to crack a password that is "america" than "*/a". It is also harder to social engineer random gibberish than something that is meaningful, which we shall get onto soon. You know how I kinda said "soon"? Well I meant to say "right now". Social engineering is often heard in reference to identity theft, well somebody without permission gaining permission to something they have no permission to gain permission to is a form of identify theft (pretending they are you, as you have permission). Besides, this guide is system agnostic... we might be talking about someone breaking into your online banking. Or, again, just Facebook. Social engineering is about gaining trust of the person that has the permission (or The Force, could be Star Wars) and compromising that trust to work out a password. Actually, Kevin Mitnick would often gain trust of one person (all over the phone of course) such as a receptionist, get their name and a name of somebody with authority, then gain trust from somebody else by mentoining the receptionist's name and pretending to be the person with authority. The need for authority is not nessecarily that he is able to get access to that account, but rather because other people do not like to say no to people that could get them fired! So pretending to be somebody higher rank that they are would reduce the likelyhood of needing identity et cetera. How can social engineering be used? One very common way is that a lot of systems allow passwords to be reset by answering "secret" questions or directly send a new password to an email address. Now, picture a scenario: Junior Developer Joseph Tibble is working as an intern at a coorporation that you want root access to (of course, remembering that this is a scenario and not something you should be doing). You decide to Google his name and find his Facebook but it is private, you can only see that in his picture he looks pretty young and that he has a Gmail account. Obviously, you try to gain access to his account but it has sent a changing password comfirmation to an old email address. You try to gain access to the old email address but it asks "What iz me fav game".. well he cannot spell so probably not scrabble, lets try minesweeper. Nope! Hmm, three tries left. So you decide to Google the old email address... "oh look" you think, a few years ago he had an account on a World of Warcraft blackmarket forum... yes!! His favourite game was "WoW" (you got it after trying "World of Warcraft") and you now have access to two of his email accounts. You get the drift, by learning what you can about a person (especially by making contact and being trusted) you can create chaos. Back to passwords! If it is that easy to get past the password altogether, then why do we need them? Because every little layer counts (thanks Tesco), the more security layers we have... hopefully... the more secure it will be! So we now know that passwords need to be pretty long, so they cannot be instantly bruteforced, and they should also be hard to guess (nothing in lists such as dictionaries or to do with your interests) to prevent dictionary attacks as well as social engineering. How about patterns then? Probably not. Unless you can find a pattern that you can easily remember, but that no body would be able to figure out (which I am sure they could if they had a few of your passwords), then patterns probably are not your safest bet. Just imagine how many people have 1337 Sp33ch (yes, I know, I fail at life. Shhh) thinking they are ultra secure! Nu uh. Oh wait!! I just said "a few of your passwords"... we have not yet gone through that. Basically... Pitty the fool who uses one password! Yeah, I KNOW it is easier but if you do not have a password for each individual service then the cracker can easily gain access to everything. You don't want that. I would suggest using some kind of password manager. Google them, find one that you trust. And it is probably best if you don't tell anybody which one your using, if the cracker knows a vulnerbility in one then it is best if they do not know it is what you are using. If you are good with programming and encryption, you could even attempt to make your own encyrpted password list. This has the benefit in that the cracker does not know how your encryption works, however the downside is that you have no community (or professional team) to check the code for vulnerbilities and bugs. I shall not go on to discuss the kinds of encryptions (and indeed hashes) that are available to you, but that may come in a later article. One thing I shall briefly mention, though I will probably write an article for those creating the systems rather than just using them, is that usernames are as much passwords as the passwords themselves. Granted, usernames are often public... but if the cracker does not know which account belongs to who then it is harder to social engineer (though they would probably just ask you what your username is). Systems in which allow a username and a display name separately can help. A fairly big security risk is when the error message that appears when you log in says "username is wrong" or "password is wrong" rather than "The data you have entered is not correct", as that narrows it down quite a bit. But that is more about designing security features than passwords. Please feel free to ask any questions, I hope this has at least given you something to think about. This post has been edited by Shane Hudson: 12 March 2012 - 09:57 AM

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2013-05-24T16:12:21Z

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The Zone and blood types Last Updated Aug 2007 The Zone and blood types By: Dr. Barry Sears One of the more interesting topics in Zone Central is the hypothesis put forward in Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s recent book on whether or not one’s blood group determines what diet they should eat. The basic hypothesis of the book is in accord with the Zone because genetic diversity accounts for many of the differences in insulin response to the same given amount of carbohydrates. Although I have serious reservations about some parts of Dr. D’Adamo’s theories (such as lectins from plant sources reaching the bloodstream and then affecting target tissues), the fact that genetic diversity may predict what is the appropriate protein to carbohydrate ratio for a person is an exciting possibility. To test this hypothesis, we recently determined the blood types of more than 300 individuals as part of our ongoing San Antonio study on Type II diabetics. Approximately 100 individuals were Type II diabetics, whereas the other 200 served as controls. If there was a significant effect of blood types on the likelihood of developing Type II diabetes (a disease characterized by an oversecreation of insulin), then very significant differences in the two populations of blood types should appear. While there were differences, they were not as great as one would like to expect. As expected from Dr. D’Adamo’s hypothesis, Type O blood had a slighter higher representation in the Type II diabetic group than the normals. But then so did Type A, which is supposed to represent a population more attuned to eating a high-carbohydrate diet. On the other hand, Type AB and Type B had a lower representation in the Type II diabetic group than in the general population. Does this pilot study (which will be presented at the annual Barnes research conference on endocrinology in October) mean that blood group types have no diagnostic predictive value? No, it only means that further testing is required to really determine the potential of this hypothesis in predicting the most favorable dietary choices. (Boy, does that sound like the typical weasel words research scientists love to use. But sometimes it’s hard to break old habits). The key to the Zone is flexibility. Try experimenting with different ratios of protein-to-carbohydrate and keep a careful log on how you feel four hours after a meal. Using the diagnostic chart in Mastering the Zone, you can then further refine your own unique dietary needs based on how your body is responding, which in the final analysis is always the best. In other words, if you like apples and feel good after eating apples, eat them no matter what your blood type.

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How to Keep a Beehive in the Fall 7 of 10 in Series: The Essentials of Beekeeping Schedules Most nectar and pollen sources become scarce as days become shorter and weather cools in autumn. All in all, as the season slows down, so do the activities within your beehive: The queen's egg laying is dramatically reduced, drones begin to disappear from the hive, and hive population drops significantly. Your bees begin bringing in propolis, using it to chink up cracks in the hive that may leak the winter’s cold wind. The colony is hunkering down for the winter, so you must help your bees get ready. Watch out for robbing during this time (other bees would love to steal honey from your hives). Your autumn beekeeping to-do list When helping your bees prepare for the upcoming hardships of winter months, you must Inspect your bees (look inside the hive) and make certain that the queen is there. The easiest way is finding eggs. One egg per cell means the queen is present. Be sure to look for eggs, not larvae. Finding eggs means that the queen was present two days ago. Larvae, on the other hand, can be three to eight days old. Thus, merely finding larvae is no guarantee that you have a queen. When you wait too late during autumn, you discover that eggs and larvae are few and far between. In that case, actually finding the queen is the surest way to check. Be patient, and look carefully. Determine whether the bees have enough honey. Make certain that the upper deep hive body is full of honey. In cooler, northern climates, hives need about 60 pounds or more of honey as they head into winter. You’ll need less honey reserves (30 to 40 pounds) if your winters are short (or nonexistent). Feed and medicate your colony. They’ll accept a 2-to-1 sugar-syrup feeding until colder weather contracts them into a tight cluster. At that point, temperatures are too cold for them to leave the cluster, so feeding them is useless. * Consider treating your colony with either Terramycin® or Tylan® (both are anitibiotics) as a prophylactic precaution against AMB and EFD disease. Provide adequate ventilation. During winter, the temperature at the center of the cluster is maintained at 90 to 93 degrees F. Without adequate ventilation, the warm air from the cluster rises, hits the cold inner cover, and condensation drips down onto the bees as ice-cold water. Wrap the hive in black tar paper if you’re in a climate where the winter gets below freezing for more than several weeks. Make sure that you don’t cover the entrance or any upper ventilation holes. The black tar paper absorbs heat from the winter sun, and helps the colony better regulate temperatures during cold spells. It also acts as a windbreak. Provide a windbreak if your winter weather is harsh. It is hoped that you originally were able to locate your hives with a natural windbreak of shrubbery. But if not, you can erect a temporary windbreak of fence posts and burlap. Position it to block prevailing winter winds. Add a mouse guard to the front entrance of the hive.Wrapping your hive in tar paper helps protect your colony from harsh winter winds and absorb the warmth of the sun. The rock on top keeps the paper from blowing off. The metal mouse guard keeps unwanted visitors outside the hive. Your autumn time commitment for your hive Figure on spending three to five hours total to get your bees fed, medicated, and bedded down for the winter months ahead.

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2013-05-24T16:41:15Z

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Behind every supply and demand curve is an army of producers and consumers making their own decisions. For consumers, their decisions are driven, quite simply, by what they want! All consumers make decisions to maximize their utility. In this lecture, we will learn about utility, how to define it and how we represent it mathematically. Prof. Jonathan Gruber 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare) Date accessed: 2012-03-01 License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA To view the lecture material accompanying this lecture in a new window, please click the button below. If necessary, use the vertical or horizontal scrollbar in the new window to view more of the material or you can resize the window. To download the above lecture material use this link. (Right-click and select Save Target As or Save Link As.)

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2013-05-24T16:11:58Z

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Teacher Training (ELLS)TeachingBASE What are stem cells? Cells are the basic building blocks of the human body. They make up the skin, muscles, bones and all of the internal organs. They also hold many of the keys to how our bodies function. Like the body itself, cells have a finite life span; they eventually die. Most of the body's cells divide and duplicate throughout life, but some cells either don't replenish themselves or do so in such small numbers that they cannot replace themselves fast enough to combat disease. Scientists first discovered stem cells in mice in the 1970s. They soon began to recognize the amazing versatility of these primitive cells, which exist for only a short time before differentiating into the many cell types of the body. However, it wasn't until 1998 that the first human stem cells were isolated by James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin and John Gearhart at The Johns Hopkins University. Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell. Stem Cell Game Advanced subsidiary GCE and advance GCE specifications for human biology This activity can be used to review and reinforce concepts taught in the module: The developing cell Using stem cell technology Candidates should be able to: a. define the term stem cell b. explain the term differentiation c. define how stem cells are cultured and discuss the potential benefits of stem cell technology. from 16 years up

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Early Days for Royal Enfield 1851 to 1900 |1851 - 1900 | 1900 - 1930 |1931 - 1950 Bullet & Madras Motors |1951 - 1970 The legend is forged |1971 - 2010| The Bullet comes home In 1851 George Townsend built a successful needle-making mill, Givry Works, in the small village of Hunt End, England. About 30 years later, George Townsend Jr. chanced upon an invention in his neighbourhood – a bicycle saddle that only used one length of wire in its framework. The patenting and marketing of the 'Townsend Cyclists' Saddle & Spring' was the beginning of a new age for the company. As well as sewing needles and bicycle parts, Townsend slowly began to produce bicycles. The 'Townsend Cycle' was reputed for its sturdy frame, a characteristic that all Enfield bikes would follow. By 1890, the company was in financial trouble, and financiers brought in Albert Eadie and R.W. Smith. Two years later, the firm had been re-named ‘The Eadie Manufacturing Company Limited.' They soon received an order for precision rifle parts to be supplied to the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, Middlesex. To celebrate the contract, Eadie and Smith named their first new design of bicycle, the ‘Enfield.'

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2013-05-24T16:46:22Z

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Located in arid central Australia, the Simpson Desert Region is centered on one of the world’s largest endorheic, or internal, drainage basins. This region includes Lake Eyre, Australia’s largest lake and the fifth largest terminal lake in the world. The landscape is subdued, characterized by flood- and alluvial plains, ephemeral lakes and claypans, dunefields, gently undulating stony plains, and low eroded ranges and mesas. Most of the region retains native vegetation cover with relatively pristine biota. Of particular importance to biodiversity are the large number of seasonal, and often semi-saline wetlands. Many of these areas teem with birds and fish when flooded, and are recognized internationally for their important breeding and habitat for large numbers of waterbirds. Location and General Description The region is located within arid central Australia where rainfall is less than 400 millimeters (mm) per year. The northern parts of the region contrast sharply with the clay plains of the Mitchell Grass Downs to the north and the central Australian ranges and shrublands to the west. To the east the region merges into the infertile mulga shrublands. To the south the region can be distinguished from the chenopod shrublands and grasslands of the Tirari-Stuart Stony Desert. The landscape is subdued, ranging from below sea level to approximately 300 meters (m) above sea level. Vast, flat floodplains are associated with major drainage systems, particularly in the northeastern parts of the region. These are often covered by braided watercourses and referred to locally as the "Channel Country". The floodplains drain into terminal swamps, lakes, or backplains. Gently undulating plains on Cretaceous sediments surround the floodplains, often with a duricrust forming a dense gravel or rock (gibber) surface pavement. Low ranges and mesas with less than 100 meters in local relief are scattered across the region. They are found on deeply weathered substrates, sometimes made of limestone, and cover rocky skeletal soils across the region. The southern and western parts of the region are dominated by dunefields 5 m to 10 m in height, formed from Quaternary sands deposited by wind over Quaternary clay sheets. Interdune areas may be covered in sandplains, traversed by seasonal drainage lines, or contain claypans or large saline lakes. A unique type of wetland, mound springs are formed around natural outlets from the Great Artesian Basin aquifer that underlies most of the region. These cover a very small area but are have very important biodiversity value in the arid environment. The area is drained by large river systems such as the Georgina, Eyre, Cooper, Strezelecki, and Diamantina or by smaller local rivers and creeks. Many of these systems arise outside the region, but together form one of the world’s largest endorheic drainage basins, which occupies one sixth of Australia. Large floods drain into the larger lakes of the region, including Lake Eyre, Australia’s largest lake and the fifth largest terminal lake in the world. The floodplains and surrounding stony plains are mainly covered by ephemeral grass and herblands. Common dominant genera and families include Astrebla, Eragrostis, Asteracea, Sclerolaeana, and Atriplex. The watercourses of the region are lined with low open coolibah (Eucalyptus coolibah) woodlands while swamps contain Muehlenbeckia and Chenopodium shrublands, Eragrostis australasica grasslands, or ephemeral herblands. The ranges are mostly covered by Senna or Acacia sparse shrublands. The dunefields support a complex pattern of vegetation. Dune crests are held together by Zygochloa paradoxa grassland although mobile crests may be covered by red sand. Side slopes and sandy interdune areas are covered in Triodia hummock grasslands or herblands. Interdune areas may also include gidgee (Acacia geoginea) or coolibah woodlands on drainage lines. The claypans and larger saline lakes are often bare when not filled with water, although an ephemeral herbland will quickly arise after floods, regularly fringed with samphire (Halosarcia spp.) and mixed herblands. At least 34 native mammals, 231 birds, 22 amphibians, 13 fish, and 125 reptile species have been recorded from the region. The Simpson Desert has a relatively high fauna species richness compared to other arid zone regions in Australia, possibly due to the proximity of large areas of floodplains to an array of other more arid habitat types. The eucalypt woodlands, which are mostly confined to watercourses, have the highest number of species recorded compared to all other broad habitat types, particularly for bird, bat, and frog species. Spinifex grasslands also provide a rich habitat, especially for reptile species, while the herb fields on floodplains have relatively few species recorded from it. Species endemic to this ecoregion include the grey grasswren (Amytornis barbatus) and the kowari (Dasycercus byrnei), which is listed as vulnerable on the 2000 IUCN Red List. In a study on the northern parts of the region McFarland found that only 3 percent of the total number of fauna species recorded in the region were classified as rare or threatened. However a high number of mammal species, 14 percent of the total mammalian fauna, are considered regionally or globally threatened, including the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis VU), hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis hirtipes), dusky hopping mouse (Notomys fuscus VU), mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda VU), and kowari. Species abundance and distribution in the region show substantial temporal variations associated with seasonal conditions and faunal requirements for different habitat types at different times. Many other species, such as dasyurid mammals, also undergo dramatic population increases during better seasons, followed by population crashes in drier times when they possibly retreat to refuge areas. A distinctive feature of this arid region is the relatively frequent floods, caused by rainfall that occurs outside the region. These events move water through the floodplains every 2 to 3 years, and reach into the terminal lakes and swamps at longer intervals ranging from 5 to 20 years. These events create wetlands and trigger rapid vegetation growth, providing unique and important wildlife habitats. The larger lakes are normally dry, bare lakebeds, but when flooded they support large bird populations, and in the case of the larger lakes, abundant fish populations. The wetlands in this region are recognized as important breeding sites and valuable habitat for large numbers of aquatic birds. The Australian Nature Conservation Agency has listed many important wetland sites in the region, including the Coongie, Eyre, Yamma Yamma, and Bulloo Lakes and swamps associated with the floodplains of the Cooper and Strezelecki Creeks and Diamantina River. Bird species utilizing the wetlands in this region include freckled duck (Stictonetta naevosa), musk duck (Biziura lobata), black swan (Cygnus atratus), silver gulls (Larus novaehollandiae), Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), great egret (Egretta alba), glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and banded stilts (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus). The Coongie Lakes are considered one of the ecologically richest wetlands in Australia and have been listed as a wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR convention. The Mound Springs are a unique permanent wetland habitat in an otherwise arid environment. They provide habitat for several endemic plant and snail species, particularly invertebrates and fish. The springs in this region include some of the largest and most actively flowing complexes in Australia and are of global significance. The dominant industry in the region is cattle grazing with lesser areas used for other purposes such as mining and tourism. Most individual properties cover large areas, greater than 4,000 square kilometers (km2), and are run by large pastoral companies. This area is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Australia. The major towns in the region are Bedourie, Birdsville, Innaminka, Thargomindah, and Windorah. Most of the region retains native vegetation cover with relatively pristine biota. There is virtually no large-scale land clearance in the region, apart from narrow excavation for gas pipelines that traverse the area. There are very few exotic weed species present in the region. There is widespread grazing throughout the region, by both domestic stock and introduced animals, particularly rabbits, but also camels, pigs, and goats. Pasture resources of the region as a whole are in reasonable condition. The river systems have retained their natural hydrology regimes with minimal water harvesting in comparison to other regions of Australia. National Parks and major conservation areas overlapping with or contained within the ecoregion include the Simpson Desert (10,120 km2), Goneaway (250 km2), Diamantina (part of 4,700 km2), Lochern (240 km2), Bladensburg (850 km2), Welford (part of 1,240 km2), Witjira (7,770 km2), Sturt (3,100 km2), and Lake Eyre (12,280 km2) National Parks as well as the Simpson Desert Conservation Park (6,330 km2) and Innamincka (13,830 km2) and Simpson Desert (2,364,200 km2) Regional Reserves. These areas cover the range of habitat types that occur in the region under varying conservation management. However, significant wetlands in the northern part of this arid region are poorly represented in protected areas. Types and Severity of Threats Localized impacts by grazing animals, particularly on critical habitat areas such as waterholes and breeding sites, can be severe and are likely to have major impacts on wildlife. Introduced predators such as foxes and cats, are a major threat to biodiversity in the region, because they prey on and compete with native fauna. There have also been changes to natural fire regimes, particularly in spinifex sandplains and dunefields where fire frequency has been reduced. Changes in vegetation structure and composition are likely to result. The direct impacts of mining are generally confined to localized areas, although indirect impacts caused by the introduction of weed species and the utilization of underground water may be more severe. The unique mound springs are threatened by weed infestation, trampling by domestic stock and feral animals, and exotic fish species such as eastern gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki), and extraction of water from the Great Artesian Basin aquifer which leads to decline and extinction of springs. Justification of Ecoregion Delineation The Simpson Desert ecoregion comprises two IBRAs, ‘Channel Country’ and ‘Simpson-Strzelecki Dunefields’. Additional information on this ecoregion - For a shorter summary of this entry, see the WWF WildWorld profile of this ecoregion. - To see the species that live in this ecoregion, including images and threat levels, see the WWF Wildfinder description of this ecoregion. - World Wildlife Fund Homepage - Australian Nature Conservation Agency. 1996. A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia, Second Edition. ANCA, Canberra. - Ford, G. 1995. A survey and inventory of wetlands in the Channel Country, South-western Queensland. Report to Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Department of Environment and Heritage, Toowoomba. - Humphries, S.E., R.H. Groves, and D.S. Mitchell. 1991. Plant invasions of Australian ecosystems. A status review and management directions. Kowari 2:1-134. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra. - Kingsford, R.T., R. Forster Levy, and J.L. Porter. 1994. An aerial survey of wetland waterbirds in eastern Australia - October 1992. Occasional Paper Number 16. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney. - McFarland, D. 1992. Fauna of the Channel Country Biogeographic Region, South-west Queensland. Unpublished report to Department of Environment and Heritage. - Morton, S.R. 1990. The impact of European settlement on the vertebrate animals of arid Australia: a conceptual model. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia, 16:201-13. - Ponder, W.F. and G.A. Clark. 1990. A radiation of Hydrobiid snails in threatened artesian springs in western Queensland. Records of the Australian Museum. 42:301-363. - Thackway, R. and I.D. Cresswell. 1995. An Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia: A framework for establishing a national system of reserves, Version 4. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra, Australia. - Tothill, J.C. and C. Gillies. 1992. The Pasture Lands of Northern Australia: their condition, productivity, and sustainability. Tropical Grassland Society of Australia, Occasional Paper No. 5. - Wilson, B.A. 1999. Channel Country. Pages 5/1 - 5/30 in P.S. Sattler and R.D. Williams, editors. The conservation status of Queensland’s Bioregional Ecosystems. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane. Disclaimer: This article is taken wholly from, or contains information that was originally published by, the World Wildlife Fund. Topic editors and authors for the Encyclopedia of Earth may have edited its content or added new information. The use of information from the World Wildlife Fund should not be construed as support for or endorsement by that organization for any new information added by EoE personnel, or for any editing of the original content.

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Collisions with large pieces of junk can disable or even destroy a spacecraft, as happened to the French Cerise spacecraft in 1996. Smaller debris can also cause major damage or threaten a spacewalking astronaut. When the Hubble Space Telescope’s solar panels were brought back to Earth in 2002, they were peppered with impact craters up to 8 mm across. Today, telescopes and radar are monitoring more than 12,000 pieces of junk down to 10 cm in size. Many millions of pieces are too small to be recorded, such as flecks of paint and dust. Normally, these would not be a threat, but in space, debris travels at high speed. Even dust particles act like tiny bullets. ESA is tackling the debris problem in various ways. The Columbus lab on the International Space Station is protected by special shielding. The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) watches space debris very closely. It uses a 1 metre telescope in the Canary Islands and a radar system based in Germany. Microscopic debris is also monitored by ESA’s Proba-1 satellite and an ESA experiment on the International Space Station. Last update: 12 October 2011

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Social Work: The Challenging Profession Social work is a dynamic, changing and challenging profession with a vast range of career options and rich opportunities for deep personal job satisfaction. Professional social workers are experts who help people cope with complex interpersonal and social problems and obtain the resources they need to live with dignity. At the same time, the social worker is also committed to making society more responsive to people's needs. Wherever there are people, there are social workers to be found. They are in the hospitals, working from the obstetrics unit all the way to intensive care. There are social workers in the schools, helping children, teachers and parents cope with a variety of problems. They are in mental health clinics and in psychiatric hospitals, and there are social workers in public agencies, from the unemployment office to the social service unit. Every private family service agency has social workers helping with everything from counseling to finding housing or transportation. Social workers are deeply involved in child welfare, providing essential foster care and adoption services. And they are increasingly in the workplace, helping employees solve personal problems and employers resolve personnel policies. There are social workers in the universities, teaching or doing research. There are social workers in the nursing homes, helping the aged and their families. They are in the armed services assisting military personnel and their families. And they are in private practice, helping people of all ages cope with problems of daily life. Social workers are administrators of large government agencies as well as heads of philanthropic organizations. And social workers are increasingly elected to public office, from the local town council to the state legislature and even to the U.S. Congress. The Professional in the Middle A useful way to see the social worker's role is as "the professional in the middle." On the one side are the individual families with their troubles; on the other, the community and its resources. The social worker weaves back and forth between the two - assessing, understanding, developing relationships, counseling, coordinating, mobilizing and initiating - helping people to build their own lives and helping the community create and deliver the services and supports that many people sometimes need. Social work's historic mission has been helping the disadvantaged, those who have been excluded from participation in the ideal of a just and equitable society. But the contemporary social worker also assists people from all walks of life, with all kinds of problems, in all kinds of settings - rich and poor, black and white, young and old, in hospitals, in clinics or in the workplace. A good social worker always has a large repertoire of what is available to assist the client and the family. When services are not available in the community, the social worker helps to bring them about. A social worker locates a suitable nursing home for an aged parent and helps the family and the older person make the emotional adjustment sparked by such a sharp life change. An engineer in a large company that is reducing its workforce falls into a pattern of family discord and personal depression that begins to affect his job performance. The social worker helps the man and his family understand the nature of their stress and assists with concrete services to develop the necessary self-confidence to stay productive on the job or to explore other career options. A social worker helps a woman torn between keeping her infant or having it adopted decide on her best course of action; then, depending on the choice, helps her find the necessary resources to raise her child or finds the proper adoptive family. Either way, the social worker provides the psychological support and practical assistance needed during this difficult transition.

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URBANA – A high-fat diet during pregnancy may program a woman's baby for future diabetes, even if she herself is not obese or diabetic, says a new University of Illinois study published in the Journal of Physiology. "We found that exposure to a high-fat diet before birth modifies gene expression in the livers of offspring so they are more likely to overproduce glucose, which can cause early insulin resistance and diabetes," said Yuan-Xiang Pan, a U of I professor of nutrition. The high-fat diet that caused these changes was a typical Western diet that contained 45 percent fat, which is not at all unusual, he said. "In recent years, the American diet has shifted to include many high-energy, high-fat, cafeteria-type, and fast foods," he noted. Because the epigenetic marks can be easily evaluated, Pan hopes that the study will give doctors a diagnostic tool to screen newborns born with this propensity so they can help children keep their blood sugar in a normal range and give them their best chance of avoiding diabetes. In the study, Pan and doctoral student Rita Strakovsky fed obesity-resistant rats either a high-fat or a control diet from the first day of gestation. Because the animals were not obese before the study began, the scientists were able to determine that diet alone had produced these effects. "At birth, offspring in the high-fat group had blood sugar levels that were twice as high as those in the control group, even though their mothers had normal levels," Strakovsky said. The high-fat offspring also had epigenetic modifications to genes that regulate glucose metabolism. One of these modifications, the acetylation of histones, acts by loosening the DNA, making it easier for the gene to be transcribed, she said. Pan said these epigenetic marks would not be erased easily. However, if people were aware of them, they could change their diet and lifestyle to compensate for their predisposition, delaying or even preventing the development of diabetes. "We'd like to see if diet after birth could alleviate this problem that was programmed before birth," he said. Although their study points to using epigenetics as a diagnostic tool, Strakovsky stressed the importance of making dietary recommendations for pregnant women more available so they are able to prevent this health problem. "Obstetrics patients rarely see a dietitian unless they're having medical problems like gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia. Doctors now tend to focus on how much weight a woman should gain in a healthy pregnancy. Although healthy weight gain is extremely important, nutritional guidance could be invaluable for all pregnant women and their babies," she said. Pregnant women should consume a balanced diet low in saturated fats, which are usually found in fattier cuts of meat, fast foods, pastries, and desserts. But they should also consume appropriate amounts of healthy fats, including good sources of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, which are important for their baby's brain and neuron development. Cold-water fish that are low in mercury, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, soybean and cod liver oils, walnuts and winter squash are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Eggs, corn oil, whole-grain bread, poultry, and sunflower seeds and oil provide omega-6 fatty acids. "Until now we didn't realize that a mother's diet during pregnancy had a long-term effect on the metabolic pathways that affect her child's glucose production," Pan said. "Now that we know this, we urge pregnant women to eat a balanced low-fat diet that follows government guidelines. Then a woman can prime her child for a healthy life instead of future medical struggles." The article, "Gestational high-fat diet programs hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression and histone modification in neonatal offspring rats," is available pre-publication online at http://jp.physoc.org/content/early/2011/03/28/jphysiol.2010.203950.full.pdf+html. Co-authors are Rita S. Strakovsky, Xiyuan Zhang, and Dan Zhou, all of the U of I. The study was funded by the USDA. AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception that allows a person to perceive distant objects, persons, or events, including "seeing" through opaque objects. Typically such perception is reported in visual terms, but may also include auditory impressions (sometimes called clairaudience) or kinesthetic impressions. The term clairvoyance is often used broadly to refer to all forms of ESP where a person receives information through means other than those explainable by current science. Perhaps more often it is used more narrowly to refer to reception of present-time information not from another person, there being other terms to refer to other forms: telepathy referring to reception of information from another person (i.e. presumably mind-to-mind), and precognition referring to gaining information about places and events in the future. As with all psi phenomena, there is wide disagreement and controversy within the sciences and even within parapsychology as to the existence of clairvoyance and the validity or interpretation of clairvoyance related experiments (see Parapsychology There have been anecdotal reports of clairvoyance and claims of clairvoyant abilities on the part of some throughout history in most cultures. Often these have been associated with religious figures, offices, and practices. For example, ancient Hindu religious texts list clairvoyance as one of the siddhis , skills that can be acquired through appropriate meditation and personal discipline. But a large number of anecdotal accounts of clairvoyance are of the spontaneous variety among the general populace. For example, many people report instances of "knowing" in one form or another when a loved one has died or was in danger before receiving notification through normal channels that such events have taken place. While anecdotal accounts do not provide scientific proof of clairvoyance, such common experiences continue to motivate research into such phenomena. Clairvoyance was one of the phenomena reported to have been observed in the behavior of somnambulists , people who were mesmerized and in a trance state (nowadays equated with hypnosis by most people) in the time of Franz Anton Mesmer . The earliest recorded report of somnambulistic clairvoyance is credited to the Marquis de Puysegur, a follower of Mesmer, who in 1784 was treating a local dull-witted peasant named Victor Race. During treatment, Victor reportedly would go into trance and undergo a personality change, becoming fluent and articulate, and giving diagnosis and prescription for his own disease as well as those of other patients, and forgetting everything when he came out of the trance state. All this is in a manner reminiscent of the reported behaviors of the 20th century psychic Edgar Cayce . It is reported that although Puysegur used the term 'clairvoyance', he did not attribute any of this to the paranormal since he accpeted mesmerism as one of the natural sciences. Clairvoyance was in times following a reported ability of some mediums during the spiritualist period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was one of the aspects studied by members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Psychics of many descriptions have claimed clairvoyant ability up to the present day. While experimental research into clairvoyance began with SPR researchers, experimental studies became more systematic with the efforts of J. B. Rhine and his associates at Duke University, and such research efforts continue to the present day. Perhaps the most well-known studies of clairvoyance in recent times was the US government funded remote viewing project at SRI/SAIC during the 1970s through the mid-1990s. Results of some parapsychological studies, such as the remote viewing studies, suggest that clairvoyance does exist (though that interpretation is disputed strongly by critics), and that it does not in general require another person to send the information being received, i.e. it can to some extent be distinguished from telepathy. However there are as yet no satisfactory experiments designed that cleanly separate the various manifestations of ESP. Some parapsychologists have proposed that our different functional labels (clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition) all refer to one basic underlying mechanism, although there is not yet any satisfactory theory for what that mechanism would be. There is ongoing criticism and debate of all these results in the literature. See Also\nanomalous cognition , and James Randi's $1,000,000 Challenge

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Copyright © 2007 Dorling Kindersley An island is an area of land smaller than a continent and entirely surrounded by water. Islands range from single rocks to huge landmasses, such as the island of Greenland. There are two main types of island—continental islands and oceanic islands. Islands are also found in rivers and lakes. Continental islands are found in shallow seas off large landmasses. They were formed when rising seas (for example, at the end of an ice age) cut off part of the land from a continent. Great Britain is an example of a continental island. Volcanic islands are formed by volcanic activity on the seabed, often near the boundaries of the tectonic plates that form Earth’s crust. Where two plates pull apart, lava erupts to form an undersea ridge. Layers of lava build up until a ridge breaks the sea’s surface to form an island. Sometimes a whole chain of volcanic islands, called an island arc, is formed in this way. Some island arcs contain thousands of islands. In November 1963, sailors saw a plume of smoke and ash rising from the sea off Iceland during an undersea volcanic eruption. A day later, as the eruption continued, lava broke the surface to form land. The new island was named Surtsey, after the Norse god of fire. A coral reef is formed from the hard, shelly remains of coral polyps. These tiny creatures live in large colonies on rocks in shallow, sunlit water, such as the top of a seamount. When they die, their chalky, tube-shaped skeletons remain, and new, young coral grows on top. The coral skeletons build up over many years until they reach the sea’s surface, forming a reef.

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Lefebvre, Georges (zhôrzh ləfĕˈvrə) [key], 1874–1959, French historian, an authority on the French Revolutionary period. From 1937 to 1945 he held the chair of French Revolutionary history at the Sorbonne, and he founded the Institut d'histoire de la Révolution française. Lefebvre's most original contributions were the writing of history from below, particularly the French Revolution as viewed from the experiences of the peasantry, and his mastery of quantitative research. Both are evident in Les Paysans du Nord pendant la Révolution française (1924). Although influenced by Marxism, he was predominantly an empiricist and a humanist; he saw in history a complex interaction of social, economic, and political phenomena. His La Révolution française (rev. ed. 1951), considered an authoritative work, has been translated in two volumes as The French Revolution (1962–64) and The French Revolution from 1793 to 1799 (1964). Another work is Napoléon (4th ed. 1953; tr., 2 vol., 1969), a judicious study of the Napoleonic era. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on Georges Lefebvre from Fact Monster: See more Encyclopedia articles on: Historians, European: Biographies

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One World, Many Voices Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage Of the nearly 7,000 languages spoken in the world today—many of them unrecorded—up to half may disappear in this century. As languages vanish, communities lose a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment, and the human mind. The One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage program at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will highlight language diversity as a vital part of our human heritage. Cultural experts from communities around the world will demonstrate how their ancestral tongues embody cultural knowledge, identity, values, technologies, and arts. Through performances, craft demonstrations, interactive discussion sessions, community celebrations, and hands-on educational activities, highly skilled musicians, storytellers, singers, dancers, craftspeople, language educators, and other cultural practitioners will come together on the National Mall to share their artistry, knowledge, and traditions; to discuss the meaning and value of their languages to their cultural heritage and ways of life; and to address the challenges they face in maintaining the vitality of their languages in today’s world. Festival visitors will be able to talk with Kalmyk epic singers and Tuvan stone carvers from Russia, Koro rice farmers from India, Passamaquoddy basketmakers from Maine, Kallawaya medicinal healers and textile artists from Bolivia, Garifuna drummers and dancers from Los Angeles and New York, and many others. When a language disappears, unique ways of knowing, understanding, and experiencing the world are lost forever. The expert culture bearers participating in the One World, Many Voices program will richly illustrate these different ways of knowing and show how cultural and language diversity enrich the world. The One World, Many Voices program is produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with UNESCO, the National Geographic Society's Enduring Voices Project, and the Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices Initiative.

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One of a group of characters having the same width (occupying the same lateral space). Tabular characters are typically used to set material in which columns of characters must align vertically with one another, as in price lists, spreadsheets, and other financial typesetting. See also tabular width. Composition that involves setting copy in columns in which characters are vertically aligned. The width of a tabular character, including its side spaces; usually the punctuation space (punctuation width), figure space, or em space in contemporary typography. In the composition of metal type, usually the thin space, en space, or em space. See also tabular character. A short stroke extending downward in a letterform, as in K and R; also, the stroke extending from the uppercase Q. In a typographic character, a stroke ending that tapers into a teardrop shape. An end of a main stroke in a character. Some authors, however, define this term more specifically as the end of a character stroke that does not have a serif, such as the bottom stroke of a lowercase t, or the end of a stroke in a sans serif typeface. See also ball terminal, teardrop terminal. Typeset matter intended for continuous reading. A typeface created for use in extended paragraphs of copy at smaller point sizes, typically 10 to 12 (or sometimes 14 points, depending on the manufacturer). May also be used at reference sizes, typically as small as 6 to 9 points. A fixed space equal to one-third the width of the em. Some manufacturers refer to it as the 3-to-em (3-em) space. A fixed space, traditionally one-fifth of the em space in width, but also sometimes one-fourth em, depending on the type manufacturer or, in contemporary use, the software. Alternatively, the thin space is defined as the aesthetically determined width of the period (also sometimes known as the punctuation space or punctuation width). Some type manufacturers refer to this space as the 5-to-em space (5-em space) or 4-to-em space (4-em space). In composition with metal type, some manufacturers also used thin space to refer to spaces smaller than 5-to-em. The thinnest part of a character, usually connecting thicker parts such as stems and curves. When extremely thin, as in the typeface Bodoni, it is also called a hairline. See also hairline. A ligature in which two or more letters are joined by an added connecting stroke, also known as a quaint character. Some authors use tied letter to refer to any ligature. See also ligature. A display version of a typeface, containing capitals, numerals, punctuation marks, and a few related characters. Traditionally, the capitals and numerals in such a font may be designed to occupy the full height of the body, and/or other optical and aesthetic modifications may be made to character designs to make them appropriate for setting at larger sizes. In some recent titling faces the characters are closer in size to those of the original fonts. See letter spacing. A type style that evolved during the eighteenth century, in which characters are based on letterforms now classified as old style yet also contain features suggesting the modern typeface style that followed. Such typefaces usually have a more distinct difference in weight between thick and thin strokes than old-style typefaces, a vertical or near vertical curve stress, and flat (uncupped) bracketed serifs (examples: ITC and Monotype Baskerville, Monotype Perpetua, Century Schoolbook). Many serif contemporary typefaces that incorporate features of different styles fall into this classification. trial, trial letters, trial words, trial proof In contemporary usage, sometimes describes characters designed aesthetically and usually created individually (for example, small capitals), as opposed to those that are photographically reduced (scaled) or computer-generated using a mathematical formula. See also true-cut italic. An italic typeface design based on informal humanistic scripts. It differs from a sloped or obliqued typeface in that many forms are distinctly oval or parabolic in form, similar to some styles of handwriting. See also italic. Describes a letter that appears to have two basic levels or parts, such as the two-story lowercase a or g, as distinguished from the one-story a and g. In composition with metal type, an individual piece of metal with a character projecting in relief on one end, used in letterpress printing, also sometimes known as a sort. Also a collection of such pieces of metal. In contemporary usage, a collective term for typefaces. See also sort. Traditionally, a complete collection of characters (letters, numerals, punctuation marks, etc.) that have a distinct design and repeating characteristics in common and that form a visually harmonious design. May be part of a typeface family. In contemporary usage, also refers to some display collections of characters that have more varied and not necessarily harmonious designs. See also font. typeface classification system A means of grouping typefaces into categories with reference to form, origin, or application. A number of different typeface classification systems are used in the type industry, for example, the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) system, the British Standards (BSI) system, the Deutsche Industrie Normen (DIN) system. Highly specific systems are also used in computer font substitution programs, which provide a replacement font when the typeface selected for a particular document is not available, for example, the PANOSE System and the ISO/IEC [International Organization for Standardization/-International Electrotechnical Commission] 9541-1 Information Technology-Font Information Interchange Standard. Traditionally, a group of closely related typefaces that share many design characteristics, yet differ in aspects such as stroke weight, width of character designs, slope, and size. Typeface families may include from two to thirty or more design variations; they also include all the various sizes in which some typefaces are created. In a metafamily or extended family such as Rotis or ITC Stone, typefaces differ slightly in interpretation or details (for example, related seriffed and sans serif forms) but usually share a common structure and proportions. In digital typesetting, a few display typeface families include typefaces that are only loosely related in design. Describes characters designed to match the individual design features of a typeface, so that they display a unity and consistency. Some characters, such as bullets and boxes, are often not typeface sensitive and may be chosen from a pi font rather than be specifically designed to match a particular face. See also pi font. A characteristic of a typeface determined by the thickness of the strokes that make up its characters. Typeface designers and manufacturers have traditionally used terms for typeface weight mainly to differentiate the fonts within a typeface family, although some individual typefaces (especially display designs) include some of these terms in their names. The terms that denote weight are not standardized and there is no precise formula to determine the weight classification of a typeface. Individual type designers and manufacturers generally determine the weight designation for each typeface. Weight classifications include: - Ultra Bold - Extra Light - Semi Bold - Semi Bold - Ultra Black - Extra Bold See also weight. A characteristic of a typeface determined by the width of its characters in proportion to their height. Typeface designers and manufacturers have traditionally used terms for typeface width mainly to differentiate the fonts within a typeface family, although some individual typefaces (especially display designs) include some of these terms in their names. Typeface width is generally categorized as condensed, normal, and expanded, with varying levels of condensation and expansion. The terms that denote width are not standardized and there is no precise formula for determining the width classification of a typeface. Type designers and manufacturers generally determine the width classification for each typeface. Classifications include: - Semi Condensed - Semi Expanded - Extra Condensed - Extra Expanded - Ultra Condensed - Ultra Expanded The size at which a particular typeface is reproduced; also the size of a particular font, if the typeface design is created in more than one size. Usually measured in increments called points, also sometimes in millimeters. Traditionally, the size of a typeface is slightly greater than the measurement of the distance from the top of the highest ascender or capital to the bottom of the lowest descender (the kp height); this variance makes type size difficult to measure precisely in the printed piece. Different typefaces of the same size often appear to have different sizes because of variations in proportions among their letters, especially lowercase x-height letters, ascenders, and descenders. In type design, type size is equivalent to the height of the body. See also body, master size. A variety of typeface design, for example, roman or italic, serif or sans serif, old style, modern, or decorative/display. Broad categories of type styles are described in type classification systems. Many desktop-publishing applications use this term more broadly, however, to refer to other characteristics such as typeface weight, character selection (including all-cap settings and superiors and inferiors), and modifications of a selected typeface such as underlining or outlining. One of the many nonalphanumeric characters that can be used for a variety of purposes, for example, a rule, box, bullet, dingbat, flourish, flower, border, ornament, arrow, or nonprinting space. See also dingbats, flower, ornament. The art and technique of designing type and typeset materials to suit various purposes. Also, the style and arrangement of typeset materials.

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Eric Drexler is apparently at the Renaissance Weekend with the intent to speak to the assembled interesting people about how “advanced nanotechnology can address the climate change problem providing low-cost solar energy and by removing accumluated CO2 from the atmosphere.” In the same spirit, for the rest of us, here’s how I think we should go about using advanced nanotechnology to address the problem of climate change: - Develop advanced nanotechnology already! In particular, develop a self-replicating machine technology at the molecular scale. This could be done by using any or many of the approaches outlined in the Roadmap or by a direct approach I call the Feynman Path which I will be writing more about in detail in the coming weeks. But the bottom line is simple, and can be stated: “Just do it.” There isn’t any major, well-funded effort to do this, by whatever pathway. There should be, and at best, all the possibilities should be explored in parallel. - Decide what the Earth’s climate ought to be. It strains the bounds of credibility to imagine that the optimal climate is just what we happened to have in 1950 (or any other particular year). This includes how much natural variability we want to allow: In the absence of any human influence, climate ranges to the steaming jungles of the dinosaur age 100 million years ago to the ice ages of 100 thousand. Do we want to freeze any possible dinosaurs out of our future? Do we want to preclude any ice ages? (note that the apparent levelling off of temperature is due to the logarithmic scaling of the time axis — the 10,000 year holocene is the same width as the peaks in the Pleistocene or the squiggles in the Pliocene, and wouldn’t show up at all on the left side of the chart.) - Decide how much CO2 we want in the atmosphere. This is essentially independent of the question of temperature: CO2 is a relatively minor greenhouse gas, the major one being of course H2O. Greenhouses are typically kept at 1000 ppm for good plant growth (think agricultural productivity) and OSHA limits for humans allow up to 5000 ppm. Set the CO2 level to whatever we want by choking or amplifying the natural flows to and from sources and sinks: (Probably the easiest flow to interdict is rotting vegetation; nanoengineer a way to make plastic from cornstalks, hay, etc.) - If the temperature we want is higher than the equilibrium one for the level of CO2 we want, add additional greenhouse gases to the air. We are actually doing that in a fairly major way by irrigation, raising the humidity of the air in large areas (e.g. California) where it would naturally be dry. However, there are other gasses such as methane which are quite potent and could be used. - If we want it colder, we either remove some water from the air, or construct a negative GHG using nanotech — that is, a molecule or nanoballoon which reflects near-IR and is transparent to thermal IR — and administer whatever amount is necessary. - If all else fails, build a Weather Machine. Be careful, though: while natural climate variability is not an existential risk — we do fine in steaming jungles and have lived through ice ages — a Weather Machine run by the same people who ran our financial system recently could be a very dangerous toy.

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Environmentally friendly production Recycling of materials in production The costs of raw materials and energy are skyrocketing. In many industries they have long since been the determining factor in the price of the end product. A paradigm shift is needed if German companies are to continue to thrive in the global market. Instead of maximum profit from minimum capital, maximum added value must be generated from minimal resources. "One of the key tasks for the future is to increase efficiency in production," stresses Professor Fritz Klocke, chairman of the Fraunhofer Group for Production. Consequently, the Group has also been focusing its research on resource-friendly manufacturing over the past few years. Car body production as an example of increasing efficiency The researchers have demonstrated that a great deal of potential is inherent in even small process steps, for instance the adjustment process during body production. To hold body panels in place during the joining process, they are positioned by hand and fixed using clamping devices – a time-consuming task. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU are working jointly with Volkswagen, Ortlinghaus and Sibea on a strategy: "Adjustment at the push of a button". An electrohydraulic drive system enables the clamping points to be controlled and precisely adjusted. The result is increased process reliability and product quality. At the same time less rework is required, enabling resources and energy to be utilized more efficiently. Utilizing materials economically Researchers are active across a wide range of disciplines. Resources can be saved while processing metals by replacing machining manufacturing processes with forming processes. The experts aim to improve resource utilization in component manufacture by means of innovations in tool construction; they also aim to reduce emissions and manufacturing costs. Resources can be conserved very effectively through the economical use of materials, so it is important to increase process stability and produce as few rejects as possible. This is where zero-defect production comes into its own, which the researchers have implemented in areas such as the foundry. New materials and surface structures also offer a great deal of potential: The development of micro- and nanostructures not only feeds through into shorter process chains but also facilitates more energy-efficient production of engines and other powertrain components.

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Kinder Bible Study: Noah of Ark God destroyed all living things with a flood but gave chance to repent and be saved with Noah. This lesson is about the story of Noah of Ark intended for preschoolers. This worksheet is complete with illustration, coloring pages, simple puzzle, connect the dots and memory game of Genesis 9:1, all to teach youngsters about Bible stories. #Views: 3,966 | #Prints: 773 | #Downloads: 250

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Super Foods in Your Diet Research into our diets is increasingly finding that certain foods have more powerful health-boosting properties than others. And it’s not surprising that many of these foods fall into the ‘fruit’ category. These foods are packed full of antioxidants which help fight cancer-causing free radicals in our bodies and keep us healthy. What Are Free Radicals?As our bodies react with oxygen they produce molecules called free radicals. Free radicals react with other molecules within cells and can damage their proteins, membranes and genes. The damage caused can lead to the onset of disease, in particular Alzheimer’s, heart disease and cancer. It also contributes to the ageing of our bodies. The following external factors also trigger the production of free radicals in the body: What Are Antioxidants?It’s not all bad. The body produces an army of antioxidants, which fights free radicals and helps prevent premature ageing and the onset of disease. These antioxidants neutralise the free radicals and stop them attacking our healthy cells. How do Superfoods Help?Today, our bodies are exposed to more free radicals than ever before. This is due to pollution levels, our quality of diet, and the way our food is cultivated and processed. The body's own production of antioxidants is not enough to neutralise all the free radicals we are faced with on a daily basis. All types of fruit and vegetables contain plant chemicals or phytochemicals that we know as antioxidants, which boost the number of cancer-fighting molecules in our bodies. Certain foods contain more antioxidants than others. These foods are known as superfoods. These foods include: - Bananas – other benefits include potassium, which helps lower blood pressure, and vitamin B6 for healthy skin and hair - Apples – antioxidants include vitamin C for healthy skin and gums. They also contain pectin, which can help lower blood cholesterol levels and keep the digestive system healthy - Berries – these include blueberries, blackberries, cherries and raspberries. They are loaded with vitamin C, folate, fibre and phytonutrients - Citrus fruits – oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes contain many powerful substances that are important in disease protection, including carotenoids, flavonoids, terpenes, limonoids and coumarins. Superfoods You Can Grow in Your GardenBecause of the way food is cultivated and processed, many powerful antioxidants in our food are lost. This is because commercially grown fruit and vegetables are expected to perform at much higher levels than they do naturally. They are force-fed artificial fertilisers to make them grow faster and bigger, and produce greater yields. They are also sprayed with pesticides to prevent them from being attacked by pests and help them keep for longer on the supermarket shelf. These processes mean the fruit and vegetables do not contain the level of antioxidants they would have naturally. Once picked, fruit and vegetables lose their number of antioxidants at an alarming rate. The time it takes to ship them from the field to the supermarkets, therefore, means they will contain far less antioxidants than they did when they were harvested. They might even have lost them altogether. Fruit that is grown organically and eaten within an hour of being picked has a much greater number of antioxidants present than commercially grown fruit. So if you have the space in your garden or on your balcony, it’s a good idea to grow a few fruit crops to eat fresh from the bush and boost your own antioxidant levels. These fruits include: - Apples – you can now grow apple trees in pots on your balcony or patio - Blackcurrants – these delicious fruits can be made into cordial or eaten raw - Blackberries – they need minimum attention and can be made into deserts and jams - Blueberries – these attractive fruit bushes grow well in pots - Oranges – if you have a conservatory or greenhouse these fruits taste best when fresh - Raspberries – these versatile berries can be frozen for use in the winter - Goji berries – new to the UK, these berries have incredible healing properties and are expensive to buy. Just one bush in your garden will provide handfuls of fresh fruit

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en

Plant of the Week Lobaria pulmonaria (wet). The bright green color indicates that this lungwort lichen is saturated with water and pliable. Photo by Ralph Pope. Lobaria pulmonaria (dry). When lungwort dries out, it is lighter in color. Dry lichens are very brittle and sensitive to disturbance. Photo by Karen Dillman. Abundant growth of sun-tolerant lungwort. When shade lichens can grow in sunny environments, their pigment is generally darker in response to the light. Photo by Karen Dillman. Lungwort, lung lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm.) By Chantelle DeLay Lobaria pulmonaria is in the lichen family Lobariaceae (Kingdom Fungi). This species is found in North America, Europe, and Asia (no USDA PLANTS range map is available). Lungwort is usually found in humid forested areas with both conifers and hardwood trees. It can be quite common in its ideal habitat, quite literally dripping off trees and rocks. Lobaria pulmonaria occurs most often in shady environments and is an indicator for rich, healthy ecosystems such as old growth forests. Lungwort is large, bright green, leaf-like lichen that grows on tree bark and mossy rocks. It has lots of ridges and lobes, creating a lettuce leaf or lung tissue appearance. Green algae give lungwort its bright green appearance. The underside of this lichen is pale with pockets of cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) that are dark in color. Lungwort’s main method of reproducing is by granule-like masses of fungi and algae (called soredia) that form on the top surface of this lichen. These soredia break off and land on suitable surfaces, where they can grow into new lungwort lichens. Occasionally, lungwort will have spore-producing structures called apothecia that spread fungal spores. When combined with algae, these spores can grow into lungwort lichens. Although lungwort’s main photobiont is a green alga, it is also a type of cyanolichen, which means that it contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria. When these lichens fall to the ground after a storm or wind event, they decompose into the forest floor, contributing their nitrogen reserve to the soil. There is much research with L. pulmonaria and other Lobaria species on their nitrogen contribution to the forest ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest and other parts of the United States. As with many other lichen species, L. pulmonaria is sensitive to air pollution. It cannot survive in polluted areas such as cities and other developed areas. Researchers use this species to gain information about air pollution in populated areas (see United States Forest Service National Lichens & Air Quality Database and Clearinghouse). Uses for lungwort include dyes, teas, and wild animal forage. Because it resembles lung tissue, humans have used lungwort for lung ailments, such as tuberculosis and asthma. Large animals such as deer and moose, as well as small creatures like microscopic insects, use this lichen for food. Other critters like chipmunks and birds use lungwort, and other lichens, for nesting material. For More Information Abundance of lungwort in shaded, moist drainage. These lichens are “dripping” off of tree branches. Photo by Chantelle DeLay. Granule-like masses called soredia line the ridges of this lungwort. Photo by Karen Dillman.

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Explore our projects... The impact of climate change is a critical issue worldwide. Greening Australia is stepping up the scale of its work to meet the challenge. The need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity (particularly by burning fossil fuels and land clearing) to slow down global climate change is now recognised worldwide by governments, industry and the community as more urgent than ever. Climate change is caused by an increase in greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Gases can be naturally-occurring or manufactured, with carbon dioxide (C02) a major contributing gas to global warming. Trees use up carbon dioxide as they grow, converting it to wood, leaves, roots and bark. In fact, about half of the dry weight of a tree is carbon. As a result trees provide long-term stable storehouses of carbon that would otherwise contribute to the surplus of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The capacity of species to adapt to climate change is being degraded and interrupted by the same threats driving the current biodiversity extinction crisis. Since climate change is expected to exacerbate existing threats, a generally appropriate response is to improve the resilience of natural systems and their ability to adapt by abating critical threats in the usual ways. However, the scale, intensity and pace of response to many of these problems needs to be substantially increased. Increasing the viability of depleted or fragmented plant and animal populations through habitat expansion and reconnection is a key objective, as is facilitating species dispersal by increasing structural connectivity, vegetation buffers, stepping stones and mosaic habitats. For this reason, Greening Australia is actively addressing climate change through large landscape-scale plantings within our visionary projects, in addition to encouraging all Australians to reduce their ecological footprint - an equally important step in reducing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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en

Become a fan of h2g2 Radiocarbon dating is probably the most important scientific method used by archaeologists to date objects. It is also an indispensable tool to researchers in other fields such as geology, geophysics and environmental science. Carbon usually exists as 12C atoms. Radiocarbon is the unstable isotope 14C. It is produced by cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere, and quickly diffuses through the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, dissolves in the oceans and enters all living matter through photosynthesis and the food chain. As 14C is unstable it will eventually decay by emitting an electron or beta particle. It reaches an equilibrium concentration in all living matter and gives it a small natural radioactivity. The principle behind radiocarbon dating is that when a plant or animal dies, there is no more exchange of carbon with the atmosphere. As the 14C will decay exponentially, we can find the age of the lifeform from the amount of 14C it contains. This method was developed by the American scientist Willard Libby in the 1940s, and soon attracted the attention of scientists from many different subject areas. Exponential decay means that the amount of 14C, and the radioactivity it produces will drop by 50% every 'half life'. For 14C this is 5730 years. Thus the age of any material containing carbon which was once part of the biosphere can be determined by measuring its 14C content. To date a sample, it is necessary to determine the amount of 14C present. One method is to measure the activity of the sample, or the number of beta particles emitted per second. This is proportional to the number of 14C atoms and can be measured using various methods. Another method is accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), which counts a proportion of the number of 14C and 12C atoms. Applications of Radiocarbon Dating The discovery of radiocarbon dating probably had a greater influence on modern archaeology than any other technological advance, especially on prehistoric periods where without written records archaeologists could previously only speculate the age of artefacts and sites. Before it was developed artefacts were dated largely by guesswork and assuming connections with other objects, the discovery of radiocarbon dating showed that many of these assumptions were wrong. Many radiocarbon results were so unexpected that archaeologists initially questioned the accuracy of the method, however, with time, its reliability was established. The vast majority of prehistoric sites could not be dated before radiocarbon dating. There was much uncertainty over the age of Stonehenge and the many burial mounds throughout Europe. It had generally been assumed that they were younger than Mycenae1 as the technology had diffused from the Near East. Radiocarbon dating showed that they were actually several centuries older. There were many other radical results. Traditionally, the ages of prehistorical sites were estimated by studying the geology of the surroundings; sometimes archaeologists made a wild guess based of the depth a sample had been buried. Radiocarbon dating changed all this. It was shown that humans arrived in North America earlier than had been previously thought. Agriculture began later than had been supposed in the Near East, but earlier than predicted in Europe. This questioned the established idea that farming had developed in the Middle East and spread westwards. Radiocarbon dating also changed the nature of archaeology as a subject. Previously archaeologists spent a great deal of time debating the age of sites and objects, trying to develop chronologies and showing which discoveries predated others. Their work was largely collecting objects, identifying and dating them. As radiocarbon dating allowed chronologies to be established relatively easily, archaeologists started to spend their time developing theories about the culture and society of early people. The value of radiocarbon dating to geology and other earth sciences is at least as great as it is to archaeology. In the 1950s, when the accuracy of the technique had still to be proved, it was used to date organic matter in moraines (rock and sediment deposited by glaciers), showing that the ice sheets had reached their maximum extent 18,000 years ago. Radiocarbon dating was quickly established as an invaluable tool to researchers studying the Quaternary period. It was used by palaeontologists to discovery the age of plant and animal matter. For example, it was shown that the woolly mammoth became extinct in Europe 12,000 years ago, and in Siberia 10,000 years ago, but recent radiocarbon dating on tusks found frozen in the arctic ice on a remote island were found to be only 4000 years old. 14C dating is also widely used in other earth sciences including hydrology, oceanography, climatology and environmental science. Deep sea sediments can be dated from calcite shells, and groundwater from dissolved carbonates. Carbon dioxide trapped in ice cores can be dated providing atmosphere samples for various ages. Radiocarbon also has many less obvious applications. Much research has been done to see if there is any evidence for past intense cosmic ray activity in 14C levels. This could provide a record of past supernovae and other astronomical phenomena. 14C is also used as a biomedical tracer as nearly all biochemicals contain carbon. Accuracy of Radiocarbon Dating Radiocarbon dating is a reasonably reliable method for dating objects between 300 and 30,000 years old. However it is not 100% accurate, and there are many factors limiting its accuracy. Samples can be contaminated by calcium carbonate (limestone) from groundwater, and humic acids from organic matter in soil. These must be removed by pre-treatment techniques before a sample is dated. Sometimes the level of 14C in a sample when it died, is not the same as the equilibrium level in the atmosphere. For example, marine samples show lower 14C levels, as some has decayed by the time it dissolves in the sea. Also the level of 14C in the biosphere is not constant but has changed in the past, so it is necessary to calibrate radiocarbon dates to produce accurate results. This is done by comparing the dendrochronology (tree ring) and radiocarbon dates of wood samples from the bristlecone pine tree, which can live for more than 4000 years. As there is no carbon exchange between the rings, the 14C content of the centre of a tree will be less than the younger wood on the outside. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Traditional methods of measuring the 14C content of a sample work involve measuring its activity. A typical sample, however, only contains one 14C atom for every 1012 12C atoms, and only a tiny fraction of these will decay each day. Therefore in order to detect a sufficient number of disintegrations to produce a reliable result it is necessary to either use a large sample or to wait for a considerable time period. This means that the smallest samples that can be dated using these methods are about 1-10g. An alternative way of measuring the 14C content of a sample which avoids this problem, is to directly count the number of 14C atoms, or a proportion of them. This is done in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Mass spectrometry is a technique which is widely used in chemistry to measure the masses of atoms and molecules in a material. A sample is ionised and the resulting ions are accelerated into a magnetic field, which deflects their path. Lighter particles are deflected more than heavier particles, detectors positioned at different angles will detect particles of different masses, so a spectrum of the number of particles of each mass detected can be determined. Ordinary mass spectrometry cannot, however, be used to measure radiocarbon concentrations, as it cannot distinguish between 14C and 14N atoms, nor any other particles of mass 14. Therefore accelerator mass spectrometry is used, in which the ions are accelerated to great speeds allowing the carbon and nitrogen atoms to be separated using various methods. The best radiation counters can still achieve a higher precision than AMS, however as the sensitivity of AMS measurements is much greater, the minimum size of sample needed is much smaller, only 1mg or smaller for some materials. This massively increases the number of applications of radiocarbon dating. Very valuable artefacts or works of art can be dated without being damaged (eg, the Turin Shroud). Tiny samples of pigment from paintings, single microfossils in rocks or pollen grains can be dated. The development of AMS led to many discoveries in archaeology which could be done using conventional radiocarbon dating; the dating of charcoal samples confirmed that the Vikings had settled in Newfoundland, and dating Australian rock art proved humans had reached the continent 50,000 years ago. AMS also allows the study of other radionuclides - radioactive elements produced by cosmic rays. As early as 1978, it was realised that AMS could be used to detect 36Cl, as this isotope has a half life of 301,000 years it is not possible to detect it using decay counting. However, this half life is ideal for dating ground water. Hydrologists now use several different radioisotopes including 14C and 36Cl for dating water samples. Although much time and effort is spent researching these ideas, radiocarbon laboratories spend the majority of time simply dating archaeological or geological samples. Radiocarbon dating is now over 50 years old, yet it remains the single most useful dating technique available to archaeologists and it still produces fascinating and sometimes startling results.

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of the early childhood of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, chronicling the humorous trials and tribulations of growing up in Maycomb, Alabama, from 1933 to 1935. Maycomb's small-town Southern atmosphere -- in which nobody locks their doors at night and the local telephone operator can identify callers solely by their voices -- contributes to the security of Scout's world, just as pervasive forces of racism threaten to unsettle it. Scout's devotion to her older brother, Jem, and her hero-worship of her father, the defense attorney Atticus Finch, infuse this story with an uncommon intimacy and affection. An acknowledged tomboy, Scout -- along with her ubiquitous playmates Jem and Dill -- spends her days lamenting that she must attend school and her afternoons engaged in various schemes to provoke a mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, to emerge from his house. As Scout, Jem, and Dill become increasingly obsessed with luring Boo outside, they put themselves at greater risk, at one point incurring Boo's brother's gunfire. Scout and Jem's misadventures suggest an idyllic childhood, one tempered only by the rules of their beloved servant, Calpurnia; the standards imposed on them by their prudish Aunt Alexandra; and the particularities of their neighbors, Miss Maudie Atkinson and Mrs. Dubose. Over the course of the novel, both children learn to appreciate the values held by their father, whose boyhood nickname, "Ol' One-Shot," is put to the test in an episode with a mad dog. When Atticus is assigned a case defending a local black man, Tom Robinson, who has been unjustly accused of rape by Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman from a family of ill-repute, Scout explores her beliefs, her father's moral obligations, and the dynamics of her community. As the untroubled realm of her childhood collides with the adult world of the courthouse, Scout discovers that redemption -- salvation, even -- can come from unexpected sources. About the Author: - How do Scout, Jem, and Dill characterize Boo Radley at the beginning of the book? In what way did Boo's past history of violence foreshadow his method of protecting Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell? Does this repetition of aggression make him more or less of a sympathetic character? - In Scout's account of her childhood, her father Atticus reigns supreme. How would you characterize his abilities as a single parent? How would you describe his treatment of Calpurnia and Tom Robinson vis a vis his treatment of his white neighbors and colleagues? How would you typify his views on race and class in the larger context of his community and his peers? - The title of Lee's book is alluded to when Atticus gives his children air rifles and tells them that they can shoot all the bluejays they want, but "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." At the end of the novel, Scout likens the "sin" of naming Boo as Bob Ewell's killer to "shootin' a mockingbird." Do you think that Boo is the only innocent, or mockingbird, in this novel? - Scout ages two years-from six to eight-over the course of Lee's novel, which is narrated from her perspective as an adult. Did you find the account her narrator provides believable? Were there incidents or observations in the book that seemed unusually "knowing" for such a young child? What event or episode in Scout's story do you feel truly captures her personality? - To Kill a Mockingbird has been challenged repeatedly by the political left and right, who have sought to remove it from libraries for its portrayal of conflict between children and adults; ungrammatical speech; references to sex, the supernatural, and witchcraft; and unfavorable presentation of blacks. Which elements of the book-if any-do you think touch on controversial issues in our contemporary culture? Did you find any of those elements especially troubling, persuasive, or insightful? - Jem describes to Scout the four "folks" or classes of people in Maycomb County: " our kind of folks don't like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don't like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks." What do you think of the ways in which Lee explores race and class in 1930s Alabama? What significance, if any, do you think these characterizations have for people living in other parts of the world? - One of the chief criticisms of To Kill a Mockingbird is that the two central storylines -- Scout, Jem, and Dill's fascination with Boo Radley and the trial between Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson -- are not sufficiently connected in the novel. Do you think that Lee is successful in incorporating these different stories? Were you surprised at the way in which these story lines were resolved? Why or why not? - By the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, the book's first sentence: "When he was thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow," has been explained and resolved. What did you think of the events that followed the Halloween pageant? Did you think that Bob Ewell was capable of injuring Scout or Jem? How did you feel about Boo Radley's last-minute intervention? - What elements of this book did you find especially memorable, humorous, or inspiring? Are there individual characters whose beliefs, acts, or motives especially impressed or surprised you? Did any events in this book cause you to reconsider your childhood memories or experiences in a new light? Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville Alabama, which produced two world-renowned authors in the same generation. Harper Lee was the grade school classmate of the young Truman Capote, with whom she maintained a friendship well into adulthood. (In 1966 Capote dedicated In Cold Blood to her). The youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee, Harper attended Huntingdon College 1944-45, studied law at University of Alabama 1945-49, and spent a year at Oxford University. In the 1950s she moved to New York City where, after working briefly as an airline reservation clerk, she decided to focus exclusively on her writing. She moved into a cold-water flat and began writing To Kill a Mockingbird . In 1957 she submitted the manuscript to the J. B. Lippincott Company and was told that her novel read too much like a series of loosely connected short stories. She spent the next two and a half years revising the book and in 1960 it was published to widespread acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize and thousands of devoted readers. About Harper Lee

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Celery (Apium graveolens) is a member of the Apiaceae (Parsley) Family and a relative of dill and carrots. The genus name, is derived from the Latin, apis, meaning bee, as bees are attracted to its small white flowers. The species name gravelones, means "heavy scented." Our English word celery is from the Latin celer, meaing swift, as celery is considered a fast acting remedy. It is believed to native to the Mediterranean region, Ancient Greeks crowned their athletes with celery leaves to honor them. In the seventieth century celery was hybridized to be less bitter. Celery is considered blood purifying, diuretic, and tonic. It has traditionally been used as a remedy to treat acne, arthritis, asthma, canker sores, constipation, diabetes, edema, eye inflammation, gall stones, gout, headache, hypertension, insomnia, cracking joints, nervousness, obesity, pyorrhea, rheumatism, burning and blood in the urine, urethritis, and to speed the healing of wounds. Celery is cool in energy and its flavor is sweet and bitter. It is considered one of the most alkaline of foods. It has a special affinity for the stomach, kidneys, and liver and helps to neutralize acids in the body. Celery helps dry damp conditions in the body, including excess phlegm and yeast overgrowth. It is also used to cool and detoxify the liver. Chewing celery exercises the teeth and gums. It can also be eaten to calm a sensation of heat in the stomach. The seeds and stalks contain a calming compound called phthalide. Celery also contains coumarins, which are compounds believed beneficial in cancer prevention. Celery is rich in beta-carotene, folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, silica, sodium, chlorophyll, and fiber. It is about 95% water. After exercise, celery juice helps replace lost electrolytes. Use only moderate doses during pregnancy as it can promote menses. Celery is one of the most chemically altered crops, often grown in nitrate fertilizers and sometimes the leaves are blanched. Look for darker green (more nutritious) organic celery. Select undamaged stalks that are not cracked or wilted. Celery can be enjoyed in salads, soups, and as an alternative to chips for dips. Spread raw almond butter into celery stalks for an afternoon treat. Celery makes an excellent vegetable juice, especially combined with carrot and apple. Dieters and those quitting smoking would do well to eat celery stalks rather than crackers, candy, and chips. Celery is an often consumed food by gorillas.

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A biopsy is a surgical procedure to remove a small sample of brain tumor tissue for examination under a microscope. It is usually performed at the same time as the surgery to remove a brain tumor (called an open biopsy). A biopsy can be performed as a separate procedure if: - The tumor cannot be removed without damaging critical parts of the brain - The patient is not a surgical candidate A pathologist will examine the sample to determine the exact type of tumor, whether it is malignant and its severity (its grade). If doctors cannot perform a biopsy, they will diagnose the brain tumor and plan the patient's treatment based on other test results.

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Good Communication Skills Are Communication Skills The same as Interpersonal Communication Skills or Social Communication Skills? No. As discussed before, interpersonal communication skills refer to communication between 2 or 3 people, at most. Social skills, on the other hand, refer to communicating to a large group of people. It’s also good to remembering that although both skills are desirable, they are somewhat independent from each other. But How Different Are Communication skills Compared to The Other Two? Communication skills, as you can probably see, refers to something much broader than interpersonal skills or social communication skills: they mean to represent abstract ideas from your head as something concrete (music, poetry, a newspaper article, an email, and so on). The concern of communicating something to someone dates back from Greek philosopher Aristotle, when he writes about the rhetoric art (Τέχνη ρητορική, literally “The art of Rhetoric“), and about literary theory (Περί ποιητικής, roughly translated as “About Poetics”, in which Aristotle originally refers to “poetry”). In these books, dating back from around the 4th century B.C.E, Aristotle talks about the importance of dialog and persuasion – among many other things we take for granted today. Four Benefits of Having Good Communication Skills 1. Good communication skills ensure that your message will be delivered as you intended, reducing any chances of misunderstandings. Consider the following (spoken) dialog: John: Jane, I need you to write a report about the company’s income. Jane: Um… OK. (1 hour later…) Jane: Done. Here it is. John: Jane, uh… this is not right. You wrote me an MS-Word report. But see, I needed an Excel spreadsheet. And why did you get me a Form 10-Q? I need an annual report! Jane (angry): John, I’m terribly sorry, but you didn’t tell me you wanted a spreadsheet report, and you didn’t tell me you needed an annual report. I just don’t have the time to do it again. Excuse me. John: Damn… am I supposed to spell things out now? Sorry John, but you must be as crystal-clear as you can possibly be – unless, of course, that type of report was some sort of company routine. But by your conversation, it clearly wasn’t, was it? As you can see, dear reader, it’s no wonder companies lose a lot of money: vague communication like this certainly might cost companies million of dollars, as miscommunication delays the completion of critical tasks – and, of course, possibly ruining carefully-engineered projects in the process. 2. Good communication skills improve the motivation of co-workers and employees. Pretend this is an email message: From: Grumpy Boss To: Joe Employee Joe, your presentation sucks. Redo it. Now imagine, instead, the same thing said in a different way: From: Nice Boss To: Joe Employee Joe, unfortunately this presentation isn’t very clear about the company’s goals. Can you please rewrite this paragraph to make them clearer? Also, this template is really nice, but it doesn’t fit the mood of the presentation. Can you change the layout to something more modern? Can you spot the difference? The intention of the message is the same – tell Joe Employee that his report wasn’t good. However, because the second message is much more polite and clear, chances are Joe Employee won’t mind fixing the presentation; this also means he has a much better chance of getting things right now. See how a few words here and there change everything for the better? 3. Good communication skills improve work relationships. Did you just see how nice the message from “Nice Boss” was? Chances are that Joe will think of “Nice Boss” as someone great to work with – if this happens, Joe will do his tasks faster and more willingly. Again, can you see how good communication saves you time, money, and improves your reputation at little to no cost? 4. Good communication skills are impressive. If you know how to communicate well to others, there’s no need to try too hard to impress them – they’ll admire you naturally; they may admire you so much, indeed, that you may get a higher position in your company or a job that pays much better (because even your competitor will admire you!) But who knows? The only thing certain here is that if you communicate well, you’ll be in a win-win situation.

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topography (təpŏgˈrəfē) [key], description or representation of the features and configuration of land surfaces. Topographic maps use symbols and coloring, with particular attention given to the shape and elevations of terrain. Relief is portrayed by means of contour lines, hachures, shading, or coloring to represent elevations, depressions, and depths of water; natural and human-made features, such as rivers, forests, urbanized areas, bridges, roads, and power lines, are indicated by symbols and color overlays. Topography is often used incorrectly as a synonym for relief ; the submarine analogue is bathymetry. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on topography from Infoplease: See more Encyclopedia articles on: Maps and Mapping

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The Art of Elamites By: Edith Porada, with the collaboration of R. H. Dyson and contributions by C.K. Wilkinson The destruction of the great old city of Ur in Mesopotamia by the Elamites in about 2000 BCE left a deep impression on the contemporary Mesopotamians. Two Sumerian lamentations on clay tablets reflect the memory of this event: the lament over the destruction of Ur and the lament over the fate of Ibbisin, the last king of Ur, who was led away into captivity. A few lines of the latter lament describing the fate decreed by the great gods Anu and Enlil follow in translation: "... hostile Su people and Elamites will attain the inhabitants (of UR), the king [of Sumer] will have to leave the palace, Ibbisin will have [to go] to the country of Elam, (go) from the Sabu mountain, the "breast" of the mountain range, to the end of Anshan; like a bird which left its abode, like a stranger [he will not return] to his city." |Mountain goat, Proto-Elamite; Susa, Iran; Around 3100-2900 BCE Not only the king of Ur, whose dynasty had ruled over all of Mesopotamia and Elam, but also the patron goddess of Ur, Ningal, seem to have been led away into captivity. This statue was not the only one which was taken to Elam. Several centuries later an Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhunte dragged two of the greatest works of Mesopotamian art from the town of Sippar (north of Babylon on, the Euphrates) to Susa: the stele of Naramsin of the Akkad dynasty and that of Hammurabi of Babylon. The French excavators of Susa discovered these monuments, as well as others which had been brought from Eshnunna in the Diyala valley, in north-eastern Mesopotamia. The divine and royal statues of the ancient Near East were meant to assure for the king the enduring protection of the deity, well being and a long life. Reliefs which showed a military victory of a ruler or his performance of a ritual action were surely intended to eternalize the effectiveness of such deeds. In the country of their origin works of art of this type must have been considered charged with beneficial power. Hostile intruders therefore would destroy them or lead them into captivity as representative of the conquered peoples--like Ningal of Ur. Often the conqueror had the original inscription erased and his own name and even a record of his conquest engraved on the captured statue or stele. To erase the name of a person literally meant to kill his memory. With the destruction of Ur the Elamites under a king of Simash liberated themselves from Mesopotamian tutelage, but not for long. The successors of the Third Dynasty of Ur as rulers of Mesopotamia, the kings of Isin and of Larsa, continued a policy, developed earlier in relations with Elam, of "military pressures and diplomatic marriages". In the course of the second millennium BCE, however, some forceful Elamite ruler occasionally succeeded not only in establishing his independence from Mesopotamian interference but also in extending briefly his influence on regions lying on the western borders of Elam. In turn, some powerful kings of Mesopotamia like Hammurabi of Babylon claimed at least partial domination of Elam. Between these highlights in the political history of Elam and Mesopotamia there were long periods in which no major military engagement is recorded between the two countries. In some measure exchange of goods and ideas certainly must have taken place between Susa and several of the rich Mesopotamian towns, especially Lagash, Larsa and Eshnunna. But Babylonian texts from the first half of the second millennium indicate a decline in the assumed large-scale trade of earlier times, when ships are thought to have plied the Persian Gulf with timber, silver and tin from [p. 45] Susa and to have returned with agricultural products such as barely and oil. The clay tablets on which historical texts were written and on which merchants recorded their business transactions mention towns and countries of Elam, but they rarely give any indication of their geographical location. Anshan, which seems at times to have been the most important region of Iran aside from Elam, may have been situated in the Bakhtiari mountains. Susa probably dominated the entire plain irrigated by the Kerkha and Karun rivers. Strong rulers of Susa probably also reigned over the green pastures of the valleys of Luristan, which would have been of great importance for the supply of the capital with sheep--and later with horses for the army. Little is known about the internal history of Elam. The texts which contain historical information are not numerous and are not yet fully understood by modern scholars. The language, Elamite, is neither Semitic nor Indo-European, and its relation to other languages is not yet clarified. In periods of strong influence from Mesopotamia the texts, economic and legal records, were written in Sumerian and Akkadian, that is, in the languages of Mesopotamia. There are indications that the genuinely Elamite business practice was entirely oral, so that writing need not have been an integral element of Elamite culture. It is interesting to note some evidence of similarly oral business practice in the records found in the Hurrian region of northern Mesopotamia, in Nuzi near Kirkuk. Furthermore, other characteristics common to the legal documents of both Susa and Nuzi exist. This points to a relationship also manifested in the considerable proportion of Hurrian proper names found among the princes who played a role in the political history of the country. Such relations between the populations of northern Mesopotamia and Elam are also reflected in the numerous Mitannian or Hurrian-style cylinder seals found at various sites in Iran. Only at Susa and in its immediate vicinity, where local Susian seal-cutters established a distinctive Elamite tradition was there a pronounced scarcity of seals of Mitannian or Hurrian style in the excavations. |Kneeling Bull holding spouted vessel, Proto-Elamite; Susa, Iran; Around 3100-2850 BCE These cylinder seals which were found at Susa and at the neighbouring site of Tchoga Zanbil serve to establish a framework of glyptic art in Elam from the Old Elamite period of the early second millennium BCE, through the Middle Elamite period of the second half of the second millennium, to the Neo-Elamite period of the early centuries of the first millennium BCE. Occasionally this framework may serve for the classification of larger works of art which are uninscribed and undated. For this reason we begin the discussion of Elamite art with the cylinder seals.[p. 46] Cylinder seals were produced in great numbers in the Old Babylonian period, about 1900 to 1600 BCE The same is true of Susa, where we call the style of the seals Old Elamite. These Old Elamite cylinders conform to the Old Babylonian ones in the ubiquitous rendering of scenes of worship, a motif inherited from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur. But certain details characterize seals as originating in Susa: for example, a tree at the end of a scene, or the placing before the deity of an offering-table bearing a bird, or some sacrificial animal, rarely a fish. [In Babylonia the tree design is not found in seals of that period, and the deity or its image is never shown partaking of food or even receiving a food offering.] Here distinctive ritual practices of Elam manifest themselves, practices which are reflected several centuries later in Assyria. These Old Elamite cylinders are often made of the black bitumen found near the oil-fields of the region. This material can be worked very easily, and the seal-cutter could indicate the surface of an object by a series of short incisions, as in the throne and the palmtree of Figure 20. The imprint of such a cylinder seal shows ragged outlines and looks crude. A second style is smoother. The example of the latter shown here has a curious tree growing from a knoll. The branches of the tree with their leaves or blossoms not only grow upward but also point downward. This might have been a means to fill the field, but one should not rule out the representation of a candelabra-like artificial construction. Perhaps the style of this cylinder is slightly later than that of Figure 20. A Middle Elamite style of the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries BCE is here represented by a cylinder which can be dated approximately on the basis of similar imprints found on tablets of Nuzi. It shows a carefully engraved scene with several figures. One of these is marked as a deity by a horned crown and sits on a throne, the back of which ends in an animal's head. This feature can be traced to other cylinders of the group, in which the god actually sits on an animal. We encounter here the characteristic Iranian practice of decorating and enlivening inanimate objects with animal heads. Both deity and worshipper [p. 47] have narrow waists; the worshipper who carries a sacrificial goat in his arms has his hair cut 'en brosse' or swept upward, a feature often observed in renderings of Elamites. In a subsidiary scene a worshipper appears before a standing deity, and in the upper register a lion pursues a horned animal, an ancient Mesopotamian and Iranian motif which appears in many different styles until the latest periods of Iranian art. This cylinder was found in a sanctuary in Luristan where it had probably been brought from Susa. The next stage of Elamite cylinder seals became known through Ghirshman's discovery of a deposit of such seals in chapels of the sanctuary of Tchoga Zanbil. With few exceptions these cylinder seals probably belong to the latter part of the Middle Elamite period, in which King Untashgal (c. 1265-1245 BCE) built the sanctuary. A considerable number of these cylinders, of which we give one example here, resemble the early Kassite cylinders of Babylonia, dated in the fifteenth century BCE, in the use of attenuated figures carved with thin lines by means of a fine drill. However, the scene of adoration or worship shown here is characterized as typically Elamite by the servant who holds a fan behind the throne. The shelf with vessels in the upper field and the small goblin, more human than ape-like, are also long-lived Elamite motifs. This scene of worship of a deity may not have differed much from an audience with one of the great lords of Elam. Most of these cylinders of Kassite style, which are among the finest found at Tchoga Zanbil, and others of good quality were made of deep blue glass. Such use of glass may ultimately go back to Egyptian influence. The seals of a much cruder style, here called common style, were made of a related composition, namely faience. An example of the common style shows a simplified version of the scene just described. Here the worshipper has taken over the function of the servant with the fan. The seated figure, probably a deity, raises a vessel to his mouth. The action here depicted and the shape of the vessel are most characteristic of this group of cylinder seals. A later Neo-Elamite version of the scene is given in Figure 25. The smaller size of the cylinder and the proportions of the figures are comparable to those of [p. 48] Assyrian cylinders of the ninth century BCE. This dating is also suggested by the pointed headgear of the seated figure found in a Neo-Elamite relief from Susa and in a rock relief at Naqsh-i Rustem, which will be discussed later. |Elamite Worshipper (Golden); Susa, Iran; 12th century BCE Among the cylinders with religious themes we have chosen one which shows kneeling gods surrounded by streams of water that seem to issue from their shoulders and from their arms or their hands. From the fearful and destructive world of demons which can be successfully fought only with the help of the very same demons, if these are properly manipulated, comes the winged lion-headed figure of another cylinder seal. With his bird claws the demon stands on two kneeling ibexes and with each hand raises a gazelle by the hind legs. A related theme is shown in Figure 28, but there are several reasons for suggesting a later, possibly early Neo-Elamite origin for this seal. Such a date would be important for the classification of some of the Luristan bronzes which the demon resembles in abbreviation of form and in the curved slender neck. The figures are attenuated and lack the solid verticality of the preceding seal. Moreover, the wedge-shaped fillers are not found in any other seal from Tchoga Zanbil, but they are reminiscent of the single wedges of cuneiform writing occasionally scattered in the field of Assyrian cylinders of the early first millennium BCE. Lastly, the cylinder is made of bitumen and was not found in the chapels with the other cylinders, which are mostly of faience or glass.[p. 50] Faience continued as a favoured material for seals in Elam , and a cylinder from Susa which again shows the pursuit of a horned animal by a lion belongs even more certainly to the early first millennium BCE. Here, too, the vertical composition has given way to oblique inclination of the animal bodies, and plants of a type common in Assyrian cylinders of the ninth and eighth centuries BCE rise from the ground-line. Of special interest is the cross, which has branches between the arms. This motif occurs in somewhat related manner on Luristan bronzes and may still be found in Sasanian textile patterns. The next cylinder shows two griffins hovering over a creature which looks like a snake with a bull's head but which may merely present one of those curious abbreviations of animal bodies that occur in Elamite and even in Proto-Elamite art from the earliest to the latest periods. The fact that the griffins have again filled out and show more rounded forms suggests that they are to be placed in the first millennium, in the late ninth or eighth--perhaps even in the early seventh--century BCE. Two cylinders which may serve to date other works, one of faience, the other of bitumen, show horned animals flanking a tree. The simplified example in which the branches of the tree end in globules was found in one of the chapels at Tchoga Zanbil; the more elaborate version was found at Susa. It shows a tree with a crown consisting of five pointed oval leaves which remind one of the outline of date -palm blossoms. This type of tree design is typical of the late and post-Kasite [p. 51] period of Babylonia, between the thirteenth and eleventh centuries BCE, and even survived into later times. Curiously enough, there are not many examples of such a tree design at Susa, and none has so far been found at Tchoga Zanbil. However, one does find the design on bronzes from Luristan. Perhaps the frequency of the motifs should be investigated for indications of stylistic links, but this is still a task for the future. On the basis of the chronological division into Old, Middle and Neo-Elamite periods suggested for the cylinder seals, we may now discuss some other Elamite works of art. No architectural remains from the first half of the second millennium BCE were observed and described at Susa, and no traces of buildings have been preserved. It is therefore impossible to form an opinion of Elamite architecture at Susa during this period. In the minor arts, however, a definite style manifests itself, a style characterized by the use of animal bodies and animal heads on vessels and other objects. Our plate shows the foot of an object carved in bitumen with the foreparts of an ibex whose head and neck are worked in the round. Nose and beard of the animal are broken off; nevertheless, the animal sculpture is quite expressive, which is in part due to accentuation of the eyes with white shell inlays. Hair is indicated by rows of sharply engraved and short, often slightly curved lines. The style is reminiscent of the Old Elamite cylinder seals which are also made of bitumen and which show similar rows of incised lines to suggest surface patterns. The same workshop which produced the object just discussed may have also made the ram-headed bowl found in a coffin between the hands of the deceased. The sides of the bowl represent in side view the extended body of the ram whose neck and head are carved in the round at one end of the bowl. The position in which this vessel was found suggests that such vessels decorated with animal forms lent themselves well to ritual purposes. The finest example of a bowl of this type was found in the northern Mesopotamian town of Ishchali, in the Diyala valley. Three recumbent ibexes, their heads and necks turned at right angles to the rest of the body and partly worked in the round, were originally carved along the circumference of the bowl, but only one of the animals is preserved. The body is simplified to almost geometric forms, and the hair is stylized in rows of hatchings running in opposite directions like a herring-bone pattern. Although minor differences can be observed between the bowl from Ishchali and the bowl and fragmentary foot of an object [p. 52] from Susa here reproduced, the existence of a large number of such vessels in the finds excavated at Susa, as against the unique example from Ishchali, and the material of these vessels, which is typical of works of art made at Susa, offer sufficient indications on which to postulate the origin of the group in Elam. The appearance of the single piece in Ishchali can be explained by the fact that one of the trade-routes went from Susa to Mesopotamia over Kurdistan, the route nowadays crossing through Kermanshah and into Iraq over passes that lead into the Diyala valley. If our Elamite bowls are correctly dated in the time of the dynasties of Isin and Larsa in Babylonia, that is, in the twentieth and nineteenth centuries BCE, when a very naturalistic style prevailed in Babylonian art, the abstraction noted in the decoration of these bowls must correspond to a specifically Elamite taste at that period. A distinctively Elamite feature may also be the way in which the head of [p. 53] the animal decorating the bowl is turned at right angles to the body in relief and carved partly or entirely in the round. This device for enlivening the decoration of a bowl was used in Mesopotamia only in the time of the early urban development shortly before and after 3000 BCE. Perhaps its use at Susa in the Old Elamite period--and later--shows that there this early device was retained with the same tenaciousness which characterizes the retention of earlier features in the artistic production of Iran through the centuries. Two metal objects dated by the excavator of Susa, De Mecquenem, in a period corresponding to our Old Elamite period, present other features which are not Babylonian and may therefore be Elamite or generally Iranian. A small golden falcon with spread wings has its claws pulled up close to the body as if the bird were seen in flight from below. The representation of the falcon with short thick neck and short beak is a characteristic of later Iranian art, as is the position of the legs. For example, a cauldron attachment from Hasanlu, made about one thousand years later, shows a bird of the same type, similarly positioned. The wings and tail of the bird from Susa seem to have been made in two pieces, of which the lower was a flat plate while the upper one was made in open-work. Together the two pieces formed cells for an inlay of a blue composition. The technique in which cells or cloisons of gold or some other metal are made to hold inlays of some material like blue lapis lazuli, red carnelian or white shell was known quite early in Western Asia, as shown by finds from the Royal cemetery of Ur. An even earlier origin was postulated for small pieces of jewelry, decorated in the same technique, found in a child's grave at Susa, but the date of that jewelry seems somewhat uncertain. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt about the fact that the technique of decoration used for the falcon from Susa was known in Western Asia before the Old Elamite period. The blue composition used for the inlays of the falcon, however, is not attested for the early periods and may indicate that the object should not be dated before the second half of the second millennium BCE. The second object supposedly of Old Elamite date is a socketed head of a bird or reptile made of silver, perhaps the top of a standard. Within the opened mouth of the creature a pattern of scales can be seen, which makes it more likely that this is the head of a reptile, perhaps a tortoise. The 'tail' shown at the back of the head may imitate in metal the coloured cords, rolled up at the ends, used on standard-tops made of impermanent materials. No comparable work from the early second millennium BCE is known from Western Asia. The plain geometric forms, given almost demonic life by the large eye peering out from under the thick brow, are comparable rather to later Iranian renderings of animals. It is possible that the head is incorrectly dated and that it was made only after the middle of the second millennium BCE, when Mitannians and Hurrians ruled in northern Mesopotamia and Kassites in the south and the prevalent taste favoured a geometric style there and also in Elam--as shown by the large number of Mittanian or Hurrian cylinders found in Iran and by the existence of at least one fine cylinder seal in Mitannian style with an Elamite inscription. It is also possible, however, that the standard-top really belongs to a time before 1500 BCE and that it prefigures the geometric style of a later age. This would mean, however, that the geometric style had its inception with standards and similar pieces and that it originated in Persia. The Middle Elamite period is the only period of Elamite rule which has yielded [p. 54] coherent architectural remains--the sanctuary of Tchoga Zanbil a few miles from Susa. Here Ghirshman excavated a ziggurat and surrounding chapels and temples as well as a palace and various interesting installations. The ziggurat, a temple tower, rises like a massive mountain from the flat and empty plain. Once fields and gardens probably surrounded the sanctuary and supplied the priests and other employees with grain and vegetables. The fact that the soil can be made exceedingly fertile by artificial irrigation is proved by an American and Dutch project for growing sugar-cane in fields located only a few miles from Tchoga Zanbil. In Tchoga Zanbil and Susa the temperature rises to 140 degrees in the summer. But in the desert the heat is dry and bearable in the shade, and nights are even cool. The great question whether or not the ancient inhabitants of Tchoga Zanbil and Susa sought out the cool and refreshing air of the mountain valleys of Luristan during the summer months cannot be answered today because we have too little evidence. The tendency of the present-day inhabitants of the towns of Khuzistan is to seek protection from the mid-day heat in subterranean rooms and to emerge only in the evening. Only the nomads wander with their herds of sheep and goats into the mountains in summer and return in winter to the plain around Susa and Tchoga Zanbil. [p. 55] The sanctuary of Tchoga Zanbil was separated from the surrounding plain by an outer wall which measured 1200 x 800 metres. An inner wall enclosing the ziggurat and its courts measured 400 x 400 metres. It was pierced by seven gates of varying importance, all leading to the courts of the ziggurat. It is this inner wall which appears in the photograph in Plate 11; above it rise the three storeys of the ziggurat which remain of the original five-storeyed building. The single storeys look like square terraces built one above the other; in reality each storey rises directly from the ground. According to the excavator, R. Ghirshman, the two outer lowest storeys were first built around a central open court. Subsequently the higher storeys were concentrically encased in this court, with the highest storey rising in the middle. In the second storey from the base several rooms were built behind the southeastern façade. Ghirshman interprets the complex as the lower temple in which the god Inshushinak, to whom the entire Ziggurat was dedicated, was worshipped during the day. At night the god was thought to return to heaven, perhaps striding with gigantic steps up the ziggurat to the top, where a small temple is assumed to have stood. From this point the god would have ascended to heaven, and here he would have landed again in the morning. All this has been deduced from Mesopotamian parallels, however, and may or may not apply to Elamite beliefs. [p. 57] The few human beings, priests and dignitaries who were admitted to the upper storeys would have had to climb narrow stairs with very high steps, partly covered by brick vaults and partly open to provide light for the stairs. The visual impression of the ziggurat was mainly determined by the horizontal lines of the terraces and by the regular alternation of salients and niches which formed the principal decorative elements here, as in the mud-brick decoration for which no earlier prototype is known is a triple-arched niche found to have decorated a round platform which had four such niches. Two other platforms were found at Tchoga Zanbil, but they were too badly damaged to show any details. The curvature of these architectural forms contrasts strikingly with the prevalent rectangular forms employed in Babylonian architecture. The principal gate which gave access to the courts surrounding the ziggurat was situated on the south-eastern side of the complex. It was called the 'Royal Gate' by the excavator both because of its large size and because of its decoration of glazed bricks and 'nails' with pommels holding flat tiles in place. The pommels bore the name of the builder of the ziggurat, Untashgal. They were covered with blue glaze like the tiles, which also had a restrained decoration of quarter-rosettes in the angles. Other tiles were decorated with disks of white and black glass in various sizes. Some of the bricks were blue, others green; some had circles with a white or blue centre, or white lozenge shapes on a lapis-lazuli blue background. The strong colour of these glazed bricks and tiles must have given a very festive air to the 'Royal Gate' as seen from the ziggurat. A new site for rock reliefs was chosen by the Sasanian king Ardashir II [379-383] in the last quarter of the fourth century. He had a hieratically stiff scene of investiture carved in a rock in Kurdistan, at a place today called Taq-i Bustan, near Kermanshah, not far distant from the mountain of Bisutun. There also Shapur III [383-388], Ardashir's successor, had a relief made at the back of an iwan which he caused to be carved in the rock. Shapur had himself represented beside his great father Shapur II [310-379] in a pictorial documentation of the legitimacy of the son, who had had to fight for the throne. The documentary intent of these reliefs is fully compatible with their rigid composition and with the stiff rendering of the bodies, which merely provide surfaces for the decorative patterns of the material and drapery of the robes. The iwan with the relief of Shapur III was included almost a century later in plans for a monumental triple iwan, of which the left wing was never completed. In the tympanum of the large new and supposedly central iwan an investiture scene was carved which resembled in its scheme of three figures the composition of the relief of Ardashir II, but corresponded in style to the heavy block-like pair of figures made for Shapur III. Below this relief of an investiture is one of the most impressive works of Sasanian sculpture, a king in full armour on horseback. For this figure one may cite the description of Ammianus Marcellinus: 'Moreover, all the companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skillfully fitted to their heads that, since their entire bodies were covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of the eye, or where through the tips of their noses they were able to get a little breath.' In front of the entrances to the ziggurat itself stood pairs of animals of which a long-legged, slender humped bull whose head and legs were reinforced by copper rods was reconstructed by Madame Ghirshman. Before the principal entrance to the ziggurat, on the south-eastern side, two rows of sacrificial tables were made of big bricks forming low truncated pyramids. Between the last two tables there was a pit which the excavator assumes was meant to receive the blood of the sacrificial animals. Nearby he found an installation which he interpreted very convincingly as intended for liquid offerings, and facing both this installation and the pyramidal offering-tables were three large square tables made of baked brick placed against the enclosure wall; beside them was a large vessel probably intended for ablutions. We cannot judge to what extent these ritual, architectural and decorative elements so far described are typically Elamite because no Mesopotamian ziggurat of the same period is equally well preserved and shows so many details. A unique element, however, seems to be formed by the vaulted chambers found on three sides of the second storey of the ziggurat. Each chamber was accessible by a stairway, and no chamber communicated with the next. Some chambers formed a second inner row parallel to that of the rooms lying against the outside wall of the ziggurat. These inner chambers had been carefully filled up with bricks at the time when the core of the ziggurat was built in the inner court. Some of the outer chambers contained tiles and enamelled bricks as well as other materials which were doubtless used during the building of the sacred [p. 58] complex of Dur Untash, as Tchoga Zanbil was called in ancient times. The excavator doubts, however, that this was the function intended for these chambers, which are carefully finished and painted white with lime. He thinks that they were store-rooms for offerings, and he also does not rule out the possibility that they were intended for royal tombs. That they were obviously used only during the building of the sanctuary speaks for the fact that the latter was not completed. Opposite the south-western façade of the ziggurat several chapels were erected in which votive offerings were deposited, for example, more than one hundred cylinder seals. Furthermore, there were several groups of temples in the vicinity of the ziggurat, nine in all, dedicated to different gods of the Elamite pantheon. The most interesting structure aside from the ziggurat, however, is the palace, in the plan of which the position of the five tombs deep under ground level was obviously considered. The palace included a banqueting court and rooms which seem to have been pantries, to judge by the vessels which they contained. No living quarters, however, suggest themselves in the plan of this palace, which was obviously a hypogeum, perhaps comparable to the royal sepulchers at Ashur to which the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BCE) probably referred when he spoke of the 'palace of repose, the eternal abode'. The tombs at Tchoga Zanbil were vaulted with baked brick set in bitumen and a quick-setting cement-like plaster. The use of bitumen in place of lime mortar seems to have been specifically Elamite; in Mesopotamia this material was as a rule employed only for installations in which seepage of water was to be prevented, such as bathrooms and drains. This cannot have been the case here because the deceased were cremated and weapons were brought to the tombs. Yet Ghirshman has stated that in those cases where the tombs were intact the remains of two cremated persons could be distinguished. Only one skeleton was found which had not been cremated; it was lying on a bed-like platform beside the remains of two cremated corpses. Since the Elamites, like the Babylonians, were buried, not cremated, this evidence indicates that a different, perhaps western, custom prevailed in the royal house. One is reminded here of the cremation of Hittite kings and of one of the kings of Mitani. Nowhere else, however, is there evidence of the wife accompanying her husband into death--as the remains of two people in each of four instances at Tchoga Zanbil strongly suggest. We must state here, moreover, that so far no inscription has been found which would definitely identify the tombs and the cremated corpses with the kings of Elam. After the discussion of the ziggurat and the hypogeum one may view with special interest the unique model depicting a ceremony which might have taken place among surroundings resembling those of the ritual installations before the principal entrance of the ziggurat at Tchoga Zanbil. Most characteristic are the two rows of small knolls which closely resemble the pyramidal offering-tables excavated by Ghirshman. Two stepped structures in the model may be abbreviated renderings of ziggurats or large offering-tables in architectural form. The model was found at Susa, in one of two vaulted rooms which had been despoiled in antiquity but which could have been tombs like those described above. The model was completely encased in gypsum so that it appeared in the masonry of one of these vaulted rooms as a large white tile with green spots of oxidization on the surface. Subsequently the gypsum was carefully removed and the entire [p. 60] scene appeared, though the foliage of the trees and other delicate details were forever lost. According to the inscription the model represents a scene at sunrise and was made for king Shilhak-Insushinak (1165-1151 BCE). This is the only scene in Western Asiatic art preserved in three-dimensional form. It undoubtedly represents a ritual ceremony which would have been recorded in written form elsewhere in Western Asia. The execution of the model shows that attention was paid to natural proportions but that the forms were greatly simplified. The bodies of the two men, for example, are rounded but show no subtle modelling of the surface. Tentatively we shall henceforth use this simplified rounded style of the model as a criterion for dating in the time of Shilhak-Inshushinak, that is, in the twelfth century BCE. The two greatest works of Elamite sculpture, however, belong to a slightly earlier time. They are the bronze statue of Queen Napirasu, wife of Untashigal, in the Louvre and the copper head of an Elamite in the Metropolitan Museum. The upper part of the statue of Napirasu can almost be inscribed within a rectangular block, while the skirt which covers her lower body has the form of a tall, very slightly flaring bell. A pattern of small circles enclosing a dot covers the upper part of the garment; long fringes decorate the upper part of the skirt at the back and are brought forward to frame on both sides a rich pattern of columns filled with alternating strips of zigzag and hatching and bordered by zigzag lines, almost suggesting a derivation from patterns of architectural origin. All these lines run horizontally or vertically except for the softly undulating fringes at the bottom of the skirt. In the absence of the statue's head, its hands attract the viewer's attention even more than might have been the case in the original state. Even in the original state, however, these hands with their long and slender fingers, of which only one is adorned with a ring--and their quiet pose--must have imparted a certain calm and elegance to the statue. It is not known how the statue was made. All that can be said here is that teh surface details just described indicate the delicacy of the execution; at the same time the exposed parts of the bronze interior--in which rods of an armature seem to be recognizable--suggest that the metal was not poured at one time. One may therefore doubt that the figure was hollow cast and then filled up, as stated in the original publication. That this was not the practice of Iranian metal-workers is indicated also by the great head in the Metropolitan Museum, which is cast solid. The features have probably been coarsened by the disintegration of the copper. Thus the eyelids may seem heavier now than they originally were; the nose, which seems so thick as to suggest a feature characteristic of some individual, may again have been accidentally enlarged. The mouth, however, with the beautifully curved lips and the heavy moustache, can be fully appreciated even now. [p. 61] The head is distinguished from Babylonian sculptures by the rendering of the eyebrows, which do not meet over the nose but terminate on either side of it in a sharp oblique line. This sets the eyes further apart and gives a distinctive cast to the man's face. Lines on the forehead were probably intended to indicate his mature age. The patterns formed by the curls of the beard as well as the ornaments of the asymmetrical headgear, which consists of a chequered piece of cloth over which ribbons are wound, stress the contrast between the inanimate materials and the face, which thereby seems more alive, more human than it actually is. The dating of this head was much discussed. It may belong to the second half of the second millennium, but it may also have been made somewhat earlier. The head has been called 'Head of an Elamite', which raises a problem since the object is said to have been found in Azerbaijan. It is possible that there existed in Azerbaijan a centre in which workshops produced objects related to those of Elamite style, but so far no archaeological expedition has discovered sculptures of such quality outside Susa. The heads of two small figurines found at Susa, one of gold with a considerable amount of silver, occasionally called electrum, the other of silver, each carrying a sacrificial goat, somewhat resemble the 'Head of an Elamite', though they are more simplified and also show differences in detail. In the faces of the figures the eyes seem to be placed somewhat obliquely, an impression also created by the copper head. The eyebrows of the figurines meet above the nose, which differentiates them from the copper head; instead of describing semicircles as in Babylonian sculpture, however, the eyebrows of the figurines are much straighter, so that they somehow create an effect related to that of the eyebrows in the copper head. Furthermore, the straight nose of the silver figurine may resemble that originally given the copper head, while that of the gold figurine is broader. Despite minor differences, eyes, eyebrows, nose and also the generous moustache worn by the persons portrayed seem to render a related ethnic type. We can only guess that the large copper head belonged to a royal statue, but we are on more solid ground with the figurines, which surely represent a king in constant prayer and sacrifice before his deity. The dedication in a temple of a valuable statue of the ruling king was frequently used in Babylonia as an event after which the entire year was named. No text, however, unequivocally mentions the dedication of a gold and a silver statue. If we are right in assuming that an Elamite king dedicated two such images of himself, this would be a specifically Elamite practice. The two figurines and a whetstone topped by a feline head in gold were found buried near the large group of objects deposited under the temple of Insushinak, built in the twelfth century B. C. by the Elamite king Shilhak-Inshushinak. One wonders, however, whether objects of such great value were really deposited in the foundations of a temple. In general such figures of gold or silver [p. 62] representing the king as an offerer not only served a pious purpose but also had a value in ostentation that should not be underrated. This fact also speaks against De Mecquenem's later assertion that the gold statuette and the objects associated with it were originally funerary deposits. While it is therefore not certain that the place where these figures were found indicates a date before or in the time of Shilhak-Inshushinak, this is likely on stylistic grounds. The hair style and costume of the figures, the latter strewn with dots [reminiscent of the small circles which cover the garments of Napirasu] and bordered with the short fringe at the bottom, and the precious material point to a date in the latter part of the second millennium BCE rather than to the first millennium. It is possible that the large head was made about the time of the figurines; as mentioned above, however, a somewhat earlier date cannot be excluded. The golden lion's head of the whetstone, found together with the figurines and reproduced with them in Plate 12, shows greater stylization than the human figures. The formation of the leonine features, especially the large eye with the upper lid raised almost to a point and the beaded patterns of muzzle and mane, as well as the rendering of the lips by a continuous cord-like line, manifests a definite style particularly suited in its simplicity to the decoration of tools. A more rounded and naturalistic rendering of animals is found in a rein-ring with two ibexes standing on either side of a tree. This motif is found in related form in an Elamite cylinder seal, and it seems likely that the rein-ring shows a transposition of the more or less two-dimensional form of the cylinder into the three-dimensional one of the rein-ring. The shape of the rein-ring continues one which was developed in the Early Dynastic period of Mesopotamia and is documented in the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Its survival in Elamite times would not be surprising in view of the tenacity of earlier tradition in the art of Iran. The reliefs of the Middle Elamite period offer several examples of survival of earlier motifs. The most important of these reliefs is the great stele dated in the thirteenth century BCE by an inscription of Untashgal. While the king and his consort, Napirasu, and her mother appear to have been rendered in a flat and stiff manner, at least as far as the remaining parts of the figures permit one to judge, greater interest is created by the varied outline and textures of the demon with moufflon's or ram's horns, who may be derived from the demon of prehistoric Iranian stamp seals and who may be linked to demons on bronzes from Luristan discussed below. One wonders whether the demon's beaked profile with receding forehead and chin, not found in other Elamite sculptures of human figures, could have been meant to characterize an inhabitant of the mountainous regions bordering Elam. The profile of the demon seems more exaggerated than that of the water goddess of the register above. As on a cylinder seal from Tchoga Zanbil, the goddess seems to grasp streams which flow from bases but which may have been meant to originate in the fins that replace the feet of the water goddess. Like the figure of the demon, the water goddess may reflect earlier iconographic traditions, such as the rendering of the watercourses in rope-like form which can be seen on the steatite vase from Khafaje of the early third millennium BCE. In turn, much later concepts concerning a vital fluid could have been influenced by renderings like those of the stele. While the stele of Untashgal was buried in the ruins of Susa after the destruction of the town by Ashurbanipal, some rock reliefs which I would tentatively assign [p. 65] to the Middle Elamite period survived and may have preserved motifs of Elamite iconography for a later time. The best preserved of these reliefs is the one on the rock of Kurangun in the Bakhtiari mountains, several hours northwest of Shiraz on a high cliff seen from afar. In the main scene, which is enclosed in a rectangular frame, a god sits on a throne formed by the coils of a serpent which he holds by the neck. He also holds a vessel from which two streams of water flow. One stream forms a canopy over the god and a goddess behind him and is probably caught in a vessel held by an attendant. The other stream flows toward the long-robed slender worshippers approaching the deities. A large number of squat pig-tailed figures in short kilts are carved on the rock as if descending toward the principal scene. There is a considerable difference in style between these figures and those of the main scene, which has been explained by assuming that this scene was re-cut at a later time than the procession of worshippers. It is not possible to be definite about this, however, or to fix the date of the main scene with any certainty. One can merely say that a god with a flowing vase first occurs in the Akkad period (c. 2370-2230 BCE) but that the motif of the flowing vase survived in varied and extended form in the Middle Elamite period, as shown by the examples on the stele of Untashgal. It is not impossible therefore that the relief of Kurangun was made in the middle or even in the latter half of the second millennium BCE. The principal scene of the relief of Kurangun was copied several centuries later at Naqsh-i Rustrem, but this relief was almost completely eliminated by a relief of the Sasanian king Bahram II (276-293 CE). Only the two figures at either end are well preserved; they probably represent the Elamite king and the queen who had the relief made. The king wears the pointed headgear typical of the Neo-Elamite period; the queen wears the battlemented crown that is also worn by the Assyrian queens of the seventh century BCE.[p. 66] To the same Neo-Elamite period as the relief of Naqsh-i Rustem also belongs the relief of a woman spinner from Susa, here reproduced to show the survival from Early Dynastic times of female figures in a seated posture with what must have been crossed legs. Another survival is shown in the servant with a fan of the same rectangular shape as that seen on Middle Elamite cylinder seals. The rounded relief of the piece brings out fully the artistÕs delight in observation of details of dress and jewelry, of hair style and furniture. None of the reliefs, however, approach the expressiveness found in the metal sculptures. One would like to conclude from this that the Elamites were principally metal-workers who favoured more than other techniques that of modelling in wax in preparation for casting.[p. 67] Elamite work in glazed earthenware and faience is related to this technique of modelling in a soft material and was of equal if not of greater importance than metal in the decoration of Elamite palaces, temples, and probably also more modest homes. Unfortunately, most of the earthenware and faience objects have lost their brightly coloured glaze and therefore look dull. Painted and glazed earthenware tiles, objects of faience, and glass all appear at the same time in the Middle Elamite period. Glazed faience and glazed earthenware were widely produced throughout Western Asia around the middle of the second millennium BCE. In Nuzi, near modern Kirkuk in northern Mesopotamia, large animal sculptures were produced in the latter material, and the same was done in Tchoga Zanbil. Outside Tchoga Zanbil glass is found only rarely and glazed tiles are not found at all at this time. They appear only later in Ashur, possibly under Elamite influence. Conceivably there was in Elam a desire for and interest in production of cheap 'new' materials which had even greater brilliance and intensity of colour than the far more expensive natural stones like lapis lazuli. One may also think of the recurring indications--however slight--of direct contact by sea with Egypt, where glass was invented, probably at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and where the Elamites might have obtained formulas for producing glass. At any rate, the deep blue colour which they used for their cylinders is not used at other Western Asiatic sites. Glazed tiles began to be used in Elam in the time of Untashgal, as is shown by the excavations of Tchoga Zanbil [see p . 58 above]. The tiles are blue, green or white, or have two of these colours combined, but they are not multi-coloured, nor do they have figured representations. Tiles which show such features surely mark a later development. Fragments of such tiles were found at Susa with glazed earthenware nails inscribed with the name of King Shilhak-Inshushinak (c. 1165-1151 BCE) and also with glazed tiles of green and yellow colour which bore the name of Sutruk-Nakhunte (c. 1207-1171 BCE). This evidence shows that there was in the twelfth century BCE a further development in the decoration of glazed tiles. We therefore date to this time a tile which shows a bird-footed demon standing on two griffins and probably holding two others in his hands. The composition resembles that of a cylinder from Tchoga Zanbil, Figure 27; the colours are strong, the forms carefully defined. The second fragment represents a different style. The drawing is cursory; the forms are thin and pointed. The neck of the bull on the fragment rises sharply, [p. 68] then the line runs horizontally to the sharp bend of the horn. In contrast to this the curve in the neck of the griffin on the first fragment is smoothly rounded and terminates in the slight countercurve of the griffin's crest. Moreover, the colour of the second fragment is much duller than that of the first, although here accidental factors may have played a role in changing the original colours of the tile. The two styles represented here can scarcely belong to the same period. The cursory one is probably later and may be tentatively assigned to the tenth or ninth century BCE, which means that it would be Neo-Elamite. Another fragment from Susa which seems to belong to this later style shows a similar cursory treatment of the guilloche pattern. The rendering of the horned animal in this third fragment is interesting because it shows a curvature of the neck and an abstract division of the body which are reminiscent of the Luristan bronzes to be discussed below. The style here represented also seems to be reflected in Elamite cylinder seals, for the bull in the tile recalls the slender bulls with sharply bent horns in Figure 28. Moreover, the uncertain position of the bull's forelegs is comparable to the insecure postures of the demon and the animals in the cylinder seal. Such painstaking comparisons of small details are necessary in order to obtain some tentative outline of the development of Elamite art at the beginning of the first millennium BCE. Somewhat later works of Neo-Elamite art can be recognized in several faience vessels and objects hammered in bronze, called repouss work. The faience vessels are small jars similar to the small round boxes of ivory made in Syria in the ninth and eighth centuries BCE. One of them even has the same pattern of rosettes and double lotus-blossoms found in the diadem of an ivory head of the eighth century BCE excavated at Nimrud. These Syrian ivories probably indicate the date at which the Elamite jars were made. The jars rarely have a figured decoration, but one example has designs in flat relief and also heads worked in the round in place of the bosses seen on other jars for fastening the lid to the vessel. The reliefs show on one side a griffin and on the other a winged and bearded sphinx. The horned mitre of the sphinx has a curious shape; the horns are bent forward with the tip pointing down. At the back of the cap there is an inexplicable oblique strip, like the end of a band. Above the cap rises a globe. These three characteristics are found again on the horned mitres of bull-men seen on a bronze quiver of which the lower half is reproduced here. Again a small detail has led us from one work of art to another. The fact that we are not mistaken in assuming that the faience vessel and the bronze quiver belong to the same general style is indicated by the composition, which shows rosettes and other fillers placed in the larger intervals between the figures. In both the jar and the [p. 70] bronze, the figures are characterized by fleshy noses, large eyes and round mouths. Perhaps one may relate this striking facial type and the Syrian elements in this stylistic phase of the ninth to the seventh century BCE with the presence of many Arameans in Elam at the beginning of the first millennium BCE. A group of Neo-Elamite bronze objects which should be associated with the bronze quiver and the ivories are the so-called situlae, slender buckets of bronze with a conical base. The shape of these vessels was originally Egyptian, like the lotus pattern on the base. The style of the decoration of this group of situlae, however, is Neo-Elamite. Our example shows a winged ibex with bearded human face beside a tree. Although the heavy forms and the fleshy nose of the demon remind us of the style of the quiver, the lines of the situla are nevertheless somewhat more fluid and the space is not as tightly filled. Conceivably this [p. 71] marks a slightly later date for the situlae, but it is also possible that these variations are due merely to different workshops. The situlae and the quiver were usually dubbed 'Luristan' because no comparable object of bronze has so far been found at Susa, while many bronzes of different styles were found in the mountainous region of Luristan, north-west of Elam. The reason why no metal objects of the early second millennium were found at Susa is surely to be found in the thorough pillaging of the town by the Assyrians in about 640 BCE. It is more difficult to explain how Elamite bronzes came to Luristan. They could have been pillaged by robbers from Luristan, for the people of these mountain regions must have been as difficult to control in ancient times as they have been until very recently. It is also possible that Elamites seeking refuge in Luristan from Assyrian attacks brought some of their valuables with them. Modern tourists who know the searing heat of Susa in summer like to assume that the Elamites moved to the cool mountains in these months. Reasons against such a hypothesis are the above-mentioned custom of the modern townspeople to seek protection from the heat in subterranean chambers and, secondly, the disinclination of the inhabitants of ancient towns to venture into such dangerous regions as open and mountainous country. It is possible, however, that the Elamite rulers did not belong to the same urban tradition as their townspeople, if we are right in ascribing to the kings burial rites which involved cremation in contrast to inhumation in various types of graves for the townspeople. The royal family and the court may therefore have followed a different pattern of life from the common people and may have enjoyed hunting in the mountains during the summer. For such royal hunting parties valuable objects could have been brought to Luristan and kept there.[p. 72] Lastly, it may be suggested that there were sanctuaries in the mountains of Luristan in which Elamite works of art could have been deposited as offerings, either by Elamites themselves or by people who obtained Elamite objects for votive purposes. This possibility seems the most likely for two reasons: one, the objects which have been found, such as bronze coverings of quivers, were not objects of actual use, since it has been shown quite conclusively that bronze sheathing offers poor protection in comparison to leather and two, a sanctuary with votive objects was actually excavated near Surkh Dum in Luristan.[p. 73] - A translation with discussion of the text was given by A. Falkenstein, 'Die Ibbísìn-Klage,' Die Welt des Orients , pp. 377-384. I owe the Engish translation of the passage to D. O. Edzard. - For a discussion of the removal of the Ningal statue, see D. O. Edzard, Die 'sweite Zwischenzeit' Babylonians [Wiesbaden, 1957], p. 57. - For a discussion of these statues, see E. Strommenger, 'Das Menschenbild in der altmesopotamischen Rundplastik von Mesilim bis Hammurapi,' Baghdader Mitteilungen I , pp. 72-74. - For a summary of the relations between Elam and Mesopotamia from the end of the third millennium BCE to the beginning of the second, see Hinz, 'Persia . . .' [op. cit. in note IV/1], pp. 12-20; for the imports from Susa to Mesopotamia, see op . cit., p. 4. For the exports of barley and oil from Mesopotamia to Elam, see Leemans, op. cit. in note I/7, p. 116. The shrinking of trade can be deduced from the evidence presented by Leemans, especially p. 175. - The probable oral nature of the local business and legal practices in Susa was discussed by L. Oppenheim in a study of the legal records from Susa and their relations to records from northern Mesopotamia, from the Hurrian town of Nuzi, and from Assur; see 'Der Eid in den Rechtsurkunden aus Susa,' Wiener Zeitschrift für die kunde des Morgenlandes XLIII , pp. 242-262. - R. Labat, 'Elam, c. 1600-1200 BCE, ' CAH II/XXIX , pp. 4-6, stressed the ethnic changes which occurred in Elam toward the end of the First Dynasty of Babylon, in the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries BCE, and pointed to the likelihood of a considerable proportion of Hurrians among the newcomers. - The division into an Old, Middle, and Neo-Elamite period is based on a terminology suggested by H. H. Paper for Elamite texts; see his 'Elamite Texts from Tchogha-Zanbil,' JNES XIV , p. 44. Paper merely made this suggestion for Middle Elamite texts, suggestng the use of Old Elamite for the 'proper names and isolated words and phrases embedded in Akkadian and Sumerian texts from Susa and elsewhere' before the beginning of Elamite literature. The term Neo-Elamite is introduced here, paralleling the general use of terms Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian. - A large group of Old Elamite cylinders was published by Delaporte, Louvre I, Pl. 34:2-10, which show the motif of a worshipper before an enthroned deity, with a vessel, an offering table, or a bird between the figures; Pl. 34:11-15, 17-21, and Pl. 35:1, 2, which are also Old Elamite but different in theme. Old Elamite cylinders with various themes were also published by M. Rutten in Revue d'Assyriologie XLIV , Pl. IV: 35, Pl. V: 37, 40-51, Pl. VI: 52-54, 56. - For a discussion of imprints of Elamite style on tablets from Nuzi, see E. Porada, 'The Origin of Winnirke's Cylinder Seal,' JNES V , pp. 257-259. - The discussion of the cylinder seals from Tchoga Zanbil and the drawings of a few examples are excerpted from a manuscript on this material which I am preparing for publication at the invitatin of R. Ghirshman. Drawings of cylinders from Susa were made by Paul Lampl after impressions which I was able to make at the Louvre with the kind permissin of A. Parrot. The dates of Untashgal and other Elamite things are given according to G. G. Cameron, History of early Iran [Chicago, 1936], pp. 230-231. R. Labat in 'Elam,' CAH, II/XXIX, pp. 3-13 and inside back cover, does not commit himself to absolute dates for the length of the rulers' reigns. - The Neo-Elamite relief from Susa showing a prince wearing headgear of a pointed type is best reproduced in Encyclopédie photographique de l'art I, p. 274, where it is erroneously dated in the end of the second millennium BCE. The correct date: 653-648 BCE, for Addahamiti-Inshushinak, the king represented, is given by Debevoise in JNES I , p. 84. - That this was indeed the intention of the seal-cutter and not the representation of figures bound by the water-courses, as one might also think, is proved by the representation on a gold bowl in the Archaeological Museum, Teheran, reproduced in Archaeology 17 [Autumn 1964], p. 200. - For Proto-Elamite abbreviated animal forms, see Amiet, Glyptique, Pl. 32, Fig. 516; Pl. 35, Fig. 550. - What we call here bitumen is referred to as rock-asphalt in C. Singer et al., A History of Technology I [Oxford University Press, New York, London, 1954], p. 256, caption to Fig. 161. - The leg of an object with an ibex, Plate 8 above, was published by De Mecquenem in a drawing in MDPXXIX , p. 111, Fig. 83:4. The animal-shaped legs of a bitumen basin from Susa, Encyclopdia photographique de l'art I, p. 248 C, show how the leg here reproduced was probably attached to a vessel. The bowl, Plate 8 below, was published in MDP XXV , Pl. XII: 1. De Mecquenem said about it [op. cit., p. 211] that it was found 'A l'intérieur du sarcophage... pour l'utime purification des mains du mort . . . ' I have deduced from this statement that the object was found between the hands of the skeleton. - For a reconstruction of the vessel, see OIG 20 , p. 100, Fig. 79. - This route seems to have been used even by Babylonian merchants when political disturbances interfered with the passage of valuable goods through central Mesopotamia; see Leemans, op. cit. [in note I/7], p. 171. - The falcon was published in MDP XXV , p. 210, Fig. 53:3. The blue inlays, unfortunately, seem to have disappeared between the summer of 1960, when I saw them and photographed the object which was then still intact, and the summer of 1962 when they were no longer there. I was told that the objects in the hall had been moved about a great deal and we may presume that the inlays were lost at that time. The inlays were referred to as enamel by the the excavator, but they seemed to me to be of the powdery blue composition called 'Egyptian blue', described by F. R. Matson in Persepolis II, pp. 133-135. A small head which was found in the same group of graves as the falcon was made of the same composition; see ibid., Fig. 53:14. - See especially the rings [C. L. Wooley, The Royal Cemetary (Ur Excavations II, 1934), Pl. 138, U. 10878, U. 9778] but also a circular penant [ibid., Pl. 133, U. 8565] and even the silver hair ornaments inlaid with gold, sheel, lapis lazuli and red limestone [Pl. 136, text p. 240] which are decorated in this technique. - The jewellery was published in MDP XXIX , p. 15, Fig. 12, and dated by Le Breton in the time of Susa Cb [Iraq XIX, 1957, p. 109, Fig. 27]. This date seems to have been based on the position of the tomb rather than on its contents, which should be studied more carefully before one can be certain of their date. - Unfortunately irregular lines were scratched on our plate; the regular pattern of the original is rendered in the drawing MDPXXV , p. 210, Fig. 53:15. - Similar cords transposed into bronze are seen on bronze hammers, of which one has an inscription of King Shulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2097-2051 BCE); see J. Deshayes, 'Marteaux de bronze iraniens,' Syria XXXV , p. 287, Fig. 3, bottom. The silver head from Susa was considered by De Mecquenem to be the head of a staff; see 'Têtes de cannes susiennes en métal,' Revue de'Assyriologie XLVII , pp. 79-82. A drawing was reproduced on p. 81, Fig. 2:3. - A Cylinder of Mitannian style with an Elamite inscription is in the collectin of M. Foroughi and will be published in 1966 in Iranica Antique. - See especially the report on the excavations at Tchoga Zanbil in Arts asiatiques VIII , pp. 251-254, where the ingenious installations for a reservoir are discussed. - For a summary in English of the architecture of Tchoga Zanbil, see Labat in 'Elam...,' CAH II/XXIX , pp. 17-22. Labat writes the name of the founder of Tchoga Zanbil as Untash-[d] GAL; see ibidl, p. 9 and note 1. I have adopted this writing for the same reasons that he gives in the cited note, but have simplified the name in the text for smoother reading to Untashgal. - For the 'postament' with niches, see Ghirshman in Arts asiatiques II , p. 172, Fig. 11, and pp. 176-177. - For the description of the 'royal gate,' see Ghirshman in Arts asiatiques IV , pp. 116-119. - For the restoration of the bull by Mme. Ghirshmann, see Arts asiatiques VI , pp. 279-280. - For a description of these 'offering tables' and the other elements of the cultic installations here described, see Ghirshman in Arts asiatiques IV , pp. 120-122. - For Ghirshman's description of the tombs at Tchoga Zanbil, see Arts asiatiques VI , pp. 272-278. For the plan of the palace of Adad Nirari I with the royal sepulchres, see C. Preusser, Die Pálaste in Assur [WVDOG] 66, 1955], Pl. 4. For Sennacherib's inscription on a brick of the royal sepulchre at Assur, see D. D. Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib [OIP II, 1924], p . 151, XIII. - De Mecquenem made this suggestion in Vivre et Penser, 3éme série, which corresponds to Revue Biblique 52 , p. 141. P . Amiet kindly drew my attention to this article. - For the publication of the model by J. E. Gautier, see 'Le "Sit-Samsi" de Silhak In Susinak,' MDP XII , pp. 143-151. [Note: Accents are not correctly placed in the Title of this article.] - The statue of Napirasu was described by G. Lampre, MDP VIII , pp. 245-250. For an enlarged detail of the hands, see Parrot, Sumer, p. 323, Fig. 399. - The head of an Elamite was published as Pre-Achaemenid in Survey IV, Pls. 105, 106. I. M. Diakonov was the first to recognize that the head belonged to the early art of Iran; see 'On an Ancient Oriental Sculpture' [English summary of an article in Russian], Musée de l'Ermitage, trav. du départment oriental IV [Leningrad, 1947] [Gosudarstvennyi Ermitazh; Trudy Otdela Vostoka], pp. 117-118. Diakonov made a careful comparison of the stylization of the beard with those of other sculptures, mostly Mesopotamian, and pointed to the close relation which exists with the stylizations of the Akkad period. In view of the tendency of Iranian art to retain earlier traits over many centuries, I think that a date for the head after the Akkad period, in the middle of the second millennium BCE, is possible. - A rendering of the eyes with the lower lid rising perceptibly at the outer end, to create the impression of sightly oblique position, is also seen in the head of a bearded Elamite of clay from Susa, juxtaposed with a photograph of the bronze head by Parrot in Sumer, pp. 330, 331, Figs. 406 and 407. - The dedication of a golden statue of the king can be found amog the names of years from the reigns of the Babylonian kings Ammidiatna (c. 1684-1647 BCE) and Samsuditana (c. 1626-1595 BCE); See Unger, 'Daten-listen,' in Ebeling-Meissner, Reallexikon der Assyriologie II, p. 189: 245 [Ammiditana], and JNES XIV , p. 156: XI/21 and perhaps XI/23 [Samauditana]. The formula which mentions a statue of gold and of silver [Unger, op. cit., p. 192:288] probably was due to an error on the part of one of the modern translators of the text; see J. J. Finkelstein in Journal of Cuneiform Studies XIII , p. 47:k. - For the description of the Inshushinak deposit and of the deposit in the vicinity; the gold statuette and associated finds, see MDP VII , pp. 61-130 and 131-136. - This statement is found in the article in Vivre et Penser, cited in note V/31, p. 141. - The lion's head of the whetstone is not unlike that of the axe from Tchoga Zanbil [well reproduced in Godard, L'art de l'Iran, Fig. 14], despite the more rounded forms of the latter. - In an article entitled 'Archaische Zügelringe; zur Auflösung der Gattung "Luristanbronzen", 'to be published in the Festschrift for A. Moortgat, P. Calmeyerattempts to place all rein-rings of similar shape, including our Plate 13, in the third millennium BCE.' Without stratigraphic proof for a survival of earlier types into later periods, my argument for a later date cannot be pressed. - For the fragmentary figures of Napirasu, her mother and her consort in the upper register of the stele, see Encycopdie photographique de lÕart I, p . 270 C, also Vanden Berghe, Archéologie, Pl. 102c. - We find in the human-headed bulls of a bitumen vase from Susa, Encyclopédie photographicque de l'art I, p. 255, A, a profile related to that of the demon on the stele of Untashgal. Again inhabitants of the mountain regions may have been in the mind of the artist who carved these creatures of primeval strength recumbent among the characteristic Elamite pine-trees growing on mountains. - We can do no more here than point to the possibility of the survival of early iconograhical features in later literary concepts. Detailed comparisons, however, can be made only by scholars who have first-hand knowledge of the late literary texts. - The relief in th central panel was placed in the Guti period and the processionof figures was considered to have been made earlier by N. C. Debevoise in 'Rock Reliefs in Ancient Iran,' JNES I , p. 78. Herzfeld placed the relief in the time of Gudea; see Iran, p. 188. Some indications, however, seem to point to a later date, for example, the hair style of the enthroned god, which seems to resemble that of warriors on a bronze relief of the late second millennium BCE; see Encyclopdeie photographique de l'art I, p. 275. Though the latter relief is not inscribed, it is nevertheless probably that it was set up by Shilhak Inshushnak about 1130 BCE in the temple of Inshushinak at Susa; see R. Labat, 'Elam and Western Persia, c. 1200-1000 BCE,' CAH II/XXXII , p. 17. Vanden Berghe, who followed the dating of earlier writers in Archéologie, p. 58, states in Iranica Antiquea III/1 , p. 32 [note 3 continued from p. 31] that the central scene is much older than the procession of figures, which he tentatively dates in the eighth century BCE. - See the reference to the relief of 'Addahamiti-Inshushinak' in note V/11. - Naqia, the mother of Esharhaddon (680-669 BCE), is represented with such a crown in Parrot, Assyria, p. 118, Fig. 133. The wife of Ashurbanipal, Ashusharrat, was shown with such a crown in the so-called Garden Scene reproduced by Frankfort, Art and Architecture, Pl. 114, and on her stele; for the latter, see Andrae, Die Stelenreihen in Assur [WVDOG 24, 1913], p. 7, Fig. 3 and Pl. X, stele I. - We differentiate here between faience, a composite material consisting of a body or core 'of finely powdered quartz grains cemented together by fusion with small amounts of an alkali or lime or both,' and earthenware in which the body contains clay. Both are glazed but earthenware objects have to have a sliceous covering to which the glaze can adhere. The quotation about the composition of faience was taken from J. F. S. Stone and L. C. Thomas, 'The Use and Distribution of Faience in the Ancient East and Prehistoric Europe,' Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society N.S. XXII , pp. 37-84, especially p. 38. - Especially interesting are the doors, found at Tchoga Zanbil, which were decorated with glass rods; see Ghirshman, Arts asiatiques III , p. 169, Fig. 8. De Mecquenem found one hundred kilos of such rods without recognizng how they had been used; see MDP XXIII , Pl. B:1 and pp. 52-53, Fig. 20:1,2. - For the sculptures from Nuzi, see R. F. S. Starr, Nuzi [Cambridge, 1937], Pls. 110: A and 111; for an analysis of the glaze, see ibid., pp. 523-525. For the bull from Tchoga Zanbil, see note 28 above. - The earliest glazed bricks dated with any certainty are the orthostates of Tukulti Ninurta II (890-884 BCE); see W. Andrae, Coloured Ceramics from Ashur [Berlin, 1925], Pls. 7, 8. - It will be interesting to see whether this colour was produced by copper compounds as in Egypt or by cobalt, which was available in Persia; see A. L ucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, 4th ed. revised by Y. R. Harris [London, 1962], p. 189. - To the same time, the reign of Kutir-Nahhunte after 1160 BCE, belong the brick reliefs, conveniently reproduced by Parrot, Sumer, p . 329, Fig. 405. - The fragment of the horned animal, Fig. 44, which I believe to come from a late tile, is shown in the reproduction [MDP I , Pl. VI, upper left] with a strong yellow colour like Plate 14 below, which I consider an earlier tile. - Ivory boxes which resemble the Elamite faience jars in shape are represented among the Nimrud invories; see R. D. Barnett, a Catalogue of the Nimrud Ivories [British Museum, London, 1957], Pls. XVI-XXIV. The small ivory head with the diadem of rosettes and double lotus-blossoms was published in ILN [Aug. 16, 1952], p. 255, Figs. 8, 9. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 54.117.8. Perhaps the rosettes and the lotus-petals placed above and below a double band are derived from Hittite hieroglyphs with an auspicious meaning. This would help to explain the frequent occurence and longevity of the motif, especially its use on the crown of Darius at Bisutun, Fig. 85. - An undecorated situla was found at Hasanlu in a context of the ninth century BCE. Perhaps this means that the situlae decorated with repouss were later. Mme. Maliki, who published the finest situla so far known, gave numerous reasons for dating the piece in the twelfth to tenth centuries BCE and proposed to see in the situlae a group of objects from Luristan which extends over several centuries; see 'Situle à scène de banquet,' Iranica Antiqua I , pp. 21-41. I am inclined to call the situla Elamite and to date it in the ninth or eighth century BCE on the basis of the hair style of the principal male figure, which differs from that of King Marduknadinahhe cited by Mme. Maliki. Moreover, I do not know of another example of the empty honeycomb pattern of the figure's robe, which should be dated before the first millennium BCE. - The point that bronze shields were 'for ritual and show,' leather for use, was demonstrated by J. M. Coles in ILN [March 2, 1963], pp. 299-301.

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Illinois Learning Standards Stage F - English Language Arts Students who meet the standard can apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections. - Identify and apply appropriate word analysis and vocabulary strategies (e.g., word patterns, structural analyses) to identify unfamiliar words. - Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words to understand word - Use synonyms and antonyms to express the implied meaning of a new word. - Determine the meaning of words in context using denotation and connotation strategies. - Identify and interpret idioms, similes, analogies, and metaphors to express implied meanings of words. - Use etymologies to construct the meanings of new words. - Apply appropriate word analysis, vocabulary, and contextual clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words across a range of subjects. - Recognize literary devices (e.g., figurative language, description, dialogue) in text. 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Students who meet the standard can comprehend a broad range of reading materials. - Confirm, reject and modify questions, predictions, and hypotheses based on evidence in text. - Use relevant and accurate references, most of which are specific and fully supported to make generalizations from - Ask and respond to open-ended questions. - Compare the theme, topic, text structure, and story elements of various selections within a content area. - Interpret concepts or make connections through analysis, evaluation, inference, and/or comparison. - Select reading strategies for text appropriate to the - Recognize how reader response is related to text interpretation. - Identify the author's controlling idea/thesis. - Interpret imagery and figurative language (e.g., alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification). - Explain how illustrators use art to express their ideas. - Recognize how illustrations from various cultures reflect, interpret, and enhance the text. - Recognize the influence media (e.g., television, film) can have on the reader's point of view concerning fiction - Apply appropriate reading strategies to fiction and non-fiction texts within and across content areas. Students who meet the standard can understand how literary elements and techniques are used to convey meaning. - Read a wide range of fiction. - Identify literary elements and literary techniques (e.g., satire, characterization, narration, dialogue, figurative language) in a variety of genres and tell how they affect - Predict how the story might be different if the author changed certain literary elements or techniques (e.g., dialect, - Describe how the development of theme, character, plot, and setting contribute to the overall impact of a piece - Compare selections with similar characters, plots, and/or - Understand and use literary terms (e.g., foreshadowing, metaphor, simile, symbolism, flashback, scene, dialogue). - Transfer new vocabulary from literature into other contexts. - Identify characteristics and authors associated with various literary forms (e.g., short stories, novels, drama, fables, biographies, documentaries, poetry, science fiction). - Recognize and use cognitive strategies (e.g., analysis, synthesis, inference) to enhance understanding. - Compare ways in which different kinds of literature are organized (e.g., plays, short stories, essays, poems). Students who meet the standard can read and interpret a variety of literary works. - Respond to fiction using interpretive and evaluative processes. - Select favorite authors and genres. - Connect literary selections to historical context. - Make inferences, draw conclusions, and make connections from text to text, text to self, and text to world. - Discuss recurring themes across works in print and media. - Compare themes, conflicts, and figurative language from diverse times and cultures. - Make inferences and draw conclusions about contexts, events, character, and settings. - Discuss the impact of author's word choice on content. - Interpret nonfiction text and informational materials. - Support plausible interpretations with evidence from the Students who meet the standard can use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure. - Develop multi-paragraph compositions that include an introduction, first and second level support, and a conclusion. - Use a variety of sentence structures (e.g., simple, compound/complex) and sentence types (i.e., declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, - Use basic transition words/phrases to connect ideas. - Proofread for correct English conventions. - Demonstrate appropriate use of the eight parts of speech. Students who meet the standard can compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences. - Use pre-writing strategies (e.g., webbing, brainstorming, listing, note taking, outlining, graphic organizers). - Analyze basic audience and purpose for writing and choose the appropriate form (e.g., letters, poems, reports, narratives). - Establish and maintain focus/organization within and across - Use organizational patterns (e.g., sequence, cause/effect, - Write using organization (e.g. introduction, body, conclusion) and elaboration (second level support) that demonstrate - Use figurative language. - Use appropriate transitional words and phrases to connect and unify key ideas. - Edit and revise content. - Select effective formats for publication. - Use available technology (e.g., word processing, desktop publishing, electronic dictionary/glossary, printing). Students who meet the standard can communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes. - Use appropriate language, details, and format for a specified audience (e.g., gender, age, prior knowledge, interest). - Compose writing that supports a topic or thesis statement with evidence (e.g., newspaper article, pamphlet, report, brochure, manual, business letter). - Write a multi-paragraph narrative account (e.g., friendly letter, journal, autobiography, biographical account, memoir) that establishes a context, creates a point of view, and develops a focused impression. - Develop a multi-paragraph piece of persuasive writing. - Write creatively for a specified purpose and audience (e.g. short story, poetry, radio scripts, directions, TV - Compose a multi-paragraph persuasive piece which presents one position of an issue that offers sufficient support through multiple strategies (e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast). - Use available technology (e.g., web pages, presentations, speeches) to design, produce, and present compositions and Students who meet the standard can listen effectively in formal and informal situations. - Evaluate the situation and assume appropriate listening - Focus attention on speaker as sender of the message. - Identify and analyze factors that will impact the message (e.g., dialect, language styles, setting, word choice). - Differentiate between formal and informal purposes for - Distinguish between nonverbal and verbal messages. - Differentiate between the speaker's factual and emotional - Infer speaker's bias and purpose. - Recognize personal bias and its impact on the message. - Separate main ideas from supporting facts and details. - Anticipate information that might be forthcoming from - Formulate questions needed to gather and clarify information. - Contribute relevant and idea-inspiring comments during - Paraphrase and summarize, in both oral and written form, information in formal and informal presentations. - Modify, control, and block out distractions. - Restate a set of instructions in the order given and complete Students who meet the standard can speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience. - Analyze characteristics of one's audience and prepare - Evaluate and select details appropriate for informing, entertaining and persuading. - Align vocabulary and style to the intent of the message. - Use language that is clear, audible, and appropriate. - Use appropriate grammar, word choice, and pacing. - Incorporate appropriate nonverbal expressions that support the message (e.g., facial expressions, gestures, posture, - Use notes and outlines. - Prepare and practice a presentation to fit within a given - Use rehearsal techniques (e.g., taking deep breaths, recording or video taping presentation) to plan and practice the presentation. - Contribute meaningfully to group discussions by following accepted guidelines of verbal interaction (e.g., appropriate turn-taking behavior, respectful and engaged responses, appropriately-aligned vocabulary, appropriate rate and volume). - Identify and use discussion techniques to arrive at a consensus of opinion. Students who meet the standard can locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems, and communicate ideas. - Select a topic from a list of topics. - Formulate questions to direct research. - Gather information based on hypotheses. - Define the focus of research. - Apply criteria for determining credibility of sources. - Choose a variety of resources (e.g., newspaper, magazine, reference books, electronic information) to gain new information. - Organize and integrate information from a variety of sources (e.g., books, interviews, library reference materials, web - Arrange information in an orderly manner (e.g., outlining, - Develop a bibliography using a simple, acceptable form. - Design and prepare a project using multiple sources. Students who meet the standard can analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources. - Analyze information from primary print and non-print sources. - Evaluate sources by applying a set of criteria (e.g., accuracy, timeliness, reliability). - Use information from footnotes, illustrations, diagrams, charts, and graphs. - Evaluate and select primary and secondary sources. - Use a bibliography for a variety of purposes. - Develop a bibliography using a simple, acceptable form. - Cite the source of all direct quotations. - Cite the source of all paraphrased/summarized information. Students who meet the standard can apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety - Select and justify adaptations in format to accommodate characteristics of audiences (e.g., age, background, interest level, group size) and purposes of the presentation (e.g., inform, persuade, entertain). - Evaluate and select text, graphic materials, or visual aids to present information (e.g., charts, written reports, banners, maps, models, artifacts, student-created games). - Communicate, in an appropriate format, information that was gathered by either inquiry or research (e.g., interviews, surveys, software presentations). Return to English Language Arts Classroom Assessments and Performance Descriptors

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