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Wars have given us the Jeep, the computer and even the microwave.
Will the war in Iraq give us the Tiger?
Military scientists at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground hope so. The machine - its full name is the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery - combines a chute, an engine, chemical tanks and other components, giving it the appearance of a lunar rover. It's designed to turn food and waste into fuel. If it works, it could save scores of American and Iraqi lives.
Among the biggest threats that soldiers face in the war in Iraq are the roadside bombs that have killed or maimed thousands since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Because some military bases lack a landfill, transporting garbage to dumps miles away in the desert has become a potentially fatal routine for U.S. troops and military contractors.
The Tiger would attempt to solve two problems at once: It would sharply reduce those trash hauls and provide the military with an alternative source of fuel.
It is the latest in a long line of wartime innovations, from can openers to desert boots. The conflict in Iraq has produced innovations such as "warlocks," which jam electronic signals from cell phones, garage door openers and other electronic devices that insurgents use to detonate roadside bombs, according to Inventors Digest.
"In wartime, you're not worried about making a profit necessarily. You're worried about getting the latest technology on the street," said Peter Kindsvatter, a military historian at Aberdeen Proving Ground, who added that money is spent more freely for research when a nation is at war. "Basically, you find yourself in a technology race with your enemy."
The Tiger, now being tested in Baghdad, would not be the first device to turn garbage into energy - a large incinerator near Baltimore's downtown stadiums does it. But it would be among the first to attempt to do it on a small scale. Its creators say it could one day become widely used in civilian life, following the lead of other wartime innovations.
During World War II, contractors developed the Jeep to meet the military's desire for a light, all-purpose vehicle that could transport supplies.
The development of radar technology to spot Nazi planes led to the microwave, according to historians.
The World War II era also gave birth to the first electronic digital computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC. Funded by the Defense Department, the machine was built to compute ballistics tables that soldiers used to mechanically aim large guns. For years it was located at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
This decade, the Pentagon determined that garbage on military bases poses a serious logistical problem.
"When you're over in a combat area and people are shooting at you, you still have to deal with your trash," said John Spiller, project officer with the Army's Rapid Equipping Force, which is funding the Tiger project. "How would you feel if somebody was shooting at you every other time you pushed it down the curb?"
He and other Army officials said they could not recall any specific attacks against troops or contractors heading to dumpsites.For years, large incinerators have burned trash to generate power. Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Co., the waste-to-energy plant near the stadiums, consumes up to 2,250 tons of refuse a day while producing steam and electricity.
The process is so expensive that it has only made sense to do it on a large scale, scientists say.
The military has spent almost $3 million on two Tiger prototypes, each weighing nearly 5 tons and small enough to fit into a 20- to 40-foot wide container. The project is being developed by scientists from the Edgewood, Va.-based Defense Life Sciences LLC and Indiana's Purdue University.
The biggest challenge was getting the parts to work together, said Donald Kennedy, an Edgewood spokesman. Because the Tiger is a hybrid consisting of a gasifier, bioreactor and generator, much of it is built with off-the-shelf items, including a grinder.
Another big challenge: expectations.
"When we would initially talk to people about the Tiger system, a large percentage would refuse to believe it could actually work," Kennedy wrote in an e-mail. "Alternatively, a similar percentage would be so intrigued by the idea that they would demand to know when they could buy one for their neighborhood."
The Tiger works like this: A shredder rips up waste and soaks it in water. A bioreactor metabolizes the sludge into ethanol. A pelletizer compresses undigested waste into pellets that are fed into a gasification unit, which produces composite gas.
The ethanol, composite gas and a 10-percent diesel drip are injected into a diesel generator to produce electricity, according to scientists. It takes about six hours for the Tiger to power up. When it works, the device can power a 60-kilowatt generator.
The prototypes are being tested at Camp Victory in Baghdad
Initial runs proved successful. The prototypes have been used to power an office trailer. At their peak, they could power two to three trailers.
In recent weeks, the scientists suffered a setback: The above-100 degree temperatures caused a chiller device to overheat and shut off occasionally. A new chiller from Edgewood just arrived at the site, Kennedy said.
After the 90-day testing phase that ends Aug. 10, the Army will decide whether to fund the project further.
Its developers envision the device being used to respond to crises such as Hurricane Katrina, when there is no lack of garbage but a great need for electricity.
Spiller, of the Army's Rapid Equipping Force, said he is optimistic.
"The mere fact we wrote a check means we think it's got a high chance of success," Spiller said.
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Nursing a critically ill state back to health
|Indranill Basu Ray highlights the core problems that afflict Bengal's health sector and suggests a few ways to improve the situation|
Despite many technological and other achievements that have propelled India from being a developing nation to one of the top economies of the world, one field that India continues to lag behind in is health. This is why stories of babies dying in large numbers haunt newspaper headlines. India is behind Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in life expectancy at birth or under-five mortality level. India accounts for about 17 per cent of the world population, but it contribute to a fifth of the world's share of diseases. A third of all diarrhoeal diseases in the world occurs in India. The country has the second largest number of HIV/AIDS cases after South Africa. It is home to one-fifth of the world's population afflicted with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
A common excuse that I often hear is that we have limited resources to tackle the huge and burgeoning health problems. But even the richest country on earth, the United States of America, has failed to provide appropriate health services to a large section of the populace. The problem in India is quite different. Apart from being a poor nation with limited resources, it also has a sizeable population in need of basic health services. Furthermore, the lack of appropriate sanitary measures and education ensures an ever increasing presence of communicable disease that have been controlled and even eradicated in the developed nations.
India's list of woes does not stop here. Lack of foresight on the part of successive governments and selective and fragmented strategies to counter daily problems without a definite public health goal have been the mainstay of India's health policies. Resource allocation to this sector is influenced by the prevailing fiscal situation as well as by the priorities of the reigning government. Unfortunately, in Bengal — a state that faces a dismal fiscal situation — the government's priorities have been skewed as a result of political necessities. Although we have a new government at the helm, it is important to realize that gross changes at the practical level cannot be initiated without having a team with experience and knowledge define a well-thought-out strategy. It is also essential to have a government that is willing to fulfil the financial needs necessary for the strategy to work.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to paint a picture of the present state of public health in West Bengal and to suggest measures to rectify the same in a short article like this. My intention is to highlight the core problems plaguing the system and to suggest solutions based on accepted principles of public health and healthcare management. The steps that need to be taken are as follows: reducing disease burden, including infectious diseases as well as non-communicable epidemics like diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease; restructuring the existing primary healthcare system to make it more accountable; creating a skilled and professional workforce which is quality driven; financial planning to bring more investment to the health sector.
Reducing disease burden is the cornerstone of any good health policy. The factors that help reduce communicable diseases are clean drinking water, improved sanitation and an effective vaccination programme. A paradigm shift, from the prevalent curative approach to a preventive approach, including health promotion by inculcating behavioural changes, is imperative to reduce disease burden. West Bengal is one of four states that urgently needs high investment in safe drinking water and toilet facilities. It is estimated that Rs 18,000 crore is required to provide effective drinking water and sanitation facilities for the entire country. Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha would account for more than 60 per cent of the total outlay.
Similarly, a huge investment is required to provide nutritional supplements to malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers living below the poverty line. According to a report by the national commission on macroeconomics and health, West Bengal would need to harness an additional resource requirement of rupees (in crore) 1,286, 2,459, 4,693, 13,811 and 8,485 in sectors such as health, water and sanitation, nutrition, primary schooling and roads. It has been projected that in the next five years West Bengal will spend a large portion of its revenues on wages and salaries, interest payments and pensions, leaving very little for discretionary expenditure in the field of health. It is imperative that the present government rethink and strategize in collaboration with the Centre to ensure the appropriate funding necessary to make the state healthy.
Restructuring the present healthcare delivery system is also equally important. Most primary healthcare centres are old, dilapidated buildings with few or no facilities. Some do not even have basic resources like healthcare workers or pharmacists. What is required is a radical overhaul of the existing system. There are differences in health systems of different countries. A State-run health system, such as the one in Canada, suffers from delayed medical care. A privately-run health system like the one in the US provides only limited health services to its poor. India's healthcare should carve out the best of both systems. Private healthcare is thriving in India. It is uncontrolled and aimed at profit-making. Government-run hospitals are poorly managed, providing few or no facilities to those living below the poverty line.
Different models have been suggested to take care of this disparity. While private investment will always be geared towards profit-making, it is mandatory to rein in these bodies under well-defined rules. Large private hospitals in the US are non-profit bodies, which have to follow stringent rules in patient care. At the other end of the spectrum is the National Health Service in Britain in which small, medium and even a few large hospitals are making way for a more competent and accountable government-controlled health system with fewer hospitals.
Human resource management is very important in running an effective health system. One of the biggest lacunae of government health service is its poor human-resource management. Many physicians are not paid appropriate salaries or are posted in places that are not of their choice. Political intervention and favouritism play a big role in posting physicians. Consequently, dedicated physicians who want to serve the public or work in the academic setting found in government hospitals are forced to remain in private hospitals. To boost morale and efficacy, discipline needs to be instituted in the system and a transparent posting policy adopted. The doctor-population ratio needs to be improved by filling up vacancies in the West Bengal health service. It is important to free postings from the grip of bureaucrats to ensure the registration of quality candidates. Physicians failing to report to duty or indulging in indiscipline must be punished. Doctors who do sign up need to provide relevant and quality medical care. This can only be done if some form of recertification of doctors is made mandatory once every 10 years. Physicians' salaries in the state health service must be made on a par with those of the Central government to make sure that it remains a lucrative option. Senior physicians providing exemplary public service must be rewarded for the same. A commonly-held notion is that most physicians run after the lucrative salaries that are offered in private hospitals. Hence it is difficult to retain them in the government sector. This, however, is true of a minority. The majority of physicians are willing to work in a healthy, progressive and academic environment if there are appropriate non-financial incentives. Let us take the example of Christian Medical College, Vellore. Most of the faculty there are paid salaries that are much lower than those of the private sector. However, physicians are provided with other facilities such as good housing, free schools, free-to-highly-subsidized college education and, most importantly, a progressive and research oriented work environment.
West Bengal lags behind many other states when it comes to medical education. There is an urgent need to increase the number of medical colleges in the state. Private investment for the same should be welcomed but appropriate laws must be instituted so that huge capitation fees are not charged for seats. Furthermore, selection should be made through competitive examinations. A certain percentage of seats can be reserved for the economically weaker sections. Students passing out of such medical colleges must be given postings in rural hospitals. This has been true on paper for many decades now, but the rule has been poorly implemented even in government-run medical colleges.
Innovative schemes ought to be thought of to involve the cash-rich private sector to service the medical needs of the state. Private institutions using government money or land must be asked to provide free service to 20 per cent of their capacity. Appropriate punitive measures — such as temporarily withholding or cancelling licences — can be taken when a private institution fails to honour this commitment. Institutions willing to set up large hospitals, particularly around Calcutta, must be helped through the provision of low-cost land. But in return, promises to set up satellite hospitals in far-flung district headquarters have to be met.
The biggest challenge to the rejuvenation of the healthcare system is the garnering of funds. West Bengal is financially broke, thanks to the misrule of the communists. Unlike most other communist rulers, our home-grown variants failed to provide basic sanitation, good roads, a working healthcare system and appropriate nutritional supplements to women and children. The lack of social services resulted in poor health and in increased mortality among the vulnerable sections of society. Government efforts to improve basic health services must fund programmes that provide sanitation, nutritional supplements, and daily meals for school-going children. Substantial investments in these sectors can reduce mortality in children. It is popular to blame doctors for not being able to save severely ill, malnourished children. But things won't change unless determined steps are taken to root out the problems, such as poor funds, minimal resources and an incompetent workforce, that affect the West Bengal health service.
In the next five years, in collaboration with the Centre and the non-government organizations involved in public health, the state government must chalk out a definitive strategy to improve the supply of clean drinking water, provide better sanitation and one full meal to school-going children and arrange for nutritional supplements to pregnant women. Private investment should be wooed in the health sector to set up hospitals in large metropolitan areas as well as in small district towns. While government land is needed at an appropriate price to help investors build hospitals, steps must be taken to bring about the inclusion of the deprived sections in their service plans. Strong regulatory bodies that can monitor private hospitals and nursing homes must be instituted. Many of the profiteering health institutions do not provide basic facilities, lack trained nurses and paramedical staff, and some are even run by quacks without medical degrees. It is of utmost importance that a regulatory body conducts surprise checks on these institutions, registers complaints and takes remedial steps.
Many NGOs have been able to set up large projects benefiting thousands of people. They have also succeeded in bringing foreign aid to tackle malaria and HIV. The state government should help these NGOs achieve their goals while exercising control to prevent financial irregularities. Their services ought to be applauded and single-window processing of applications instituted to help them tackle bureaucratic delays. Health is a service industry and not a lucrative business. Unfortunately, in Bengal, most large hospitals are owned by corporates. Only a few are owned or run by doctors. There is thus a sustained effort to make profit. Poor consumer protection makes the man on the street vulnerable to substandard service at high prices.
These are trying times for Bengal, after years of mismanagement in the health sector. It is important for the present rulers to rectify the situation by laying down the stepping stones for a better tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Nursing a critically ill state back to health Indranill Basu Ray highlights the core problems that afflict Bengal’s health sector and suggests a few ways to improve the situation
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Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative
A national working group has begun the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative (CCCII) to develop and disseminate resources and guidelines to assist Catholic elementary and secondary schools in integrating elements of Catholic identity (Catholic values, Scripture, Church social teachings, encyclicals, etc.) into curriculum and instruction based on the Common Core State Standards.
The initial phase of CCCII focuses on K-8 English/Language Arts/ Literacy. Resources for other subjects and for 9-12 curriculum will be developed in later phases.
Forty-six states have agreed to adopt the Common Core State Standards, a set of high quality K-12 learning standards that includes rigorous content and application of knowledge using higher-order thinking skills, leading students to college and career readiness. Currently, Catholic schools are assessing what the implications of the standards and accompanying assessments may be for them.
While Catholic schools have their own local or diocesan standards, their ability to continue to provide high-quality education for their students is compelling them to consider adoption of the common core standards. Catholic schools will be impacted as curriculum resources and professional development opportunities become aligned with Common Core State Standards by producers of instructional materials, college teacher preparation programs, or regulations for participation in the federal programs that currently benefit their students and teachers. Within this environment, maintaining the uniqueness and integrity of the Catholic school will require integrating the demands of their mission and the academic expectations of their constituents and the wider education community.
To assist Catholic schools with enhancing Catholic identity integrated into the curriculum, the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative (CCCII) has been launched as a collaborative project involving Catholic universities, corporations and sponsors invested in Catholic education, and the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA).
The Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative has two goals:
- to empower Catholic schools and dioceses to design and direct the implementation of the Common Core standards within the culture and context of a Catholic school curriculum
- to infuse the Common Core standards with the faith/principles/values/social justice themes inherent in the mission and Catholic identity of the school.
The CCCII project aims to accomplish its goals by creating a process and a product:
Phase 1: Gather approximately 35 practitioners and curriculum and catechetics experts to pilot a CCCII ELA Unit development process to be shared with the larger Catholic educational community. (June 2012)
Phase 2: Revise and refine the unit development process so that it can be replicated in dioceses around the country.
Phase 3: Invite participation in development of additional CCCII ELA Units by Catholic educators around the country.
Phase 1: Utilize the expertise and strength of experienced and innovative teachers to develop complete units/exemplars that join Catholic identify with the Common Core curriculum standards. Utilize the expertise of CCCII leaders to develop supporting resources and guidelines. (June 2012)
Phase 2: Post exemplar units, guidelines, and resources developed in for the June 2012 launch for open access by Catholic educators on the Catholic School Standards Project Website www.catholicschoolsstandards.org) . (July 2012)
Phase 3: Expand exemplar units and Catholic Identity resources available for use by local Catholic schools.
Tailor the CCCII Unit development process for Catholic secondary schools.
Expand CCCII to include additional subject areas.
Meet the CCCII Leadership and Planning Teams
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Dictionary and translator for handheld
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Lettris is a curious tetris-clone game where all the bricks have the same square shape but different content. Each square carries a letter. To make squares disappear and save space for other squares you have to assemble English words (left, right, up, down) from the falling squares.
Boggle gives you 3 minutes to find as many words (3 letters or more) as you can in a grid of 16 letters. You can also try the grid of 16 letters. Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. See if you can get into the grid Hall of Fame !
Change the target language to find translations.
Tips: browse the semantic fields (see From ideas to words) in two languages to learn more.
1.the language of educated people in ancient Rome"Latin is a language as dead as dead can be. It killed the ancient Romans--and now it's killing me"
classical Latin (n.)
Latin inscription in the Colosseum
|Spoken in||Roman republic, Roman empire|
|Region||mare nostrum (Mediterranean)|
|Era||75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin|
|Writing system||Latin alphabet|
|Official language in||Roman republic, Roman empire|
|Regulated by||Schools of grammar and rhetoric|
The range of Latin, 60 AD
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it. Any unabridged Latin dictionary informs moderns that Marcus Tullius Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic while using lingua Latina and sermo Latinus to mean the Latin language as opposed to the Greek or other languages, and sermo vulgaris or sermo vulgi to refer to the vernacular of the uneducated masses, regarded the speech they valued most and in which they wrote as Latinitas, "Latinity", with the implication of good. Sometimes it is called sermo familiaris, "speech of the good families", sermo urbanus, "speech of the city" or rarely sermo nobilis, "noble speech", but mainly besides Latinitas it was Latine (adverb), "in good Latin", or Latinius (comparative degree of adjective), "good Latin."
Latinitas was spoken as well as written. Moreover, it was the language taught by the schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and where a special subject was concerned, such as poetry or rhetoric, additional rules applied as well. Now that the spoken Latinitas has become extinct (in favor of various other registers later in date) the rules of the, for the most part, polished (politus) texts may give the appearance of an artificial language, but Latinitas was a form of sermo, or spoken language and as such retains a spontaneity. No authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, except possibly the repetitious abbreviations and stock phrases of inscriptions.
Good Latin in philology is "classical" Latin literature. The term refers to the canonicity of works of literature written in Latin in the late Roman republic and the early to middle Roman empire: "that is to say, that of belonging to an exclusive group of authors (or works) that were considered to be emblematic of a certain genre." The term classicus (masculine plural classici) was devised by the Romans themselves to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες (egkrithentes), "select", referring to authors who wrote in Greek that were considered model. Before then, classis, in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society according to property ownership by the Roman constitution. The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις (klēsis) "calling", used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class.
Classicus is anything primae classis, "first class", such as the authors of the polished works of Latinitas, or sermo urbanus. It had nuances of the certified and the authentic: testis classicus, "reliable witness." It was in this sense that Marcus Cornelius Fronto (an African-Roman lawyer and language teacher) in the 2nd century AD used scriptores classici, "first-class" or "reliable authors" whose works could be relied upon as model of good Latin. This is the first known reference, possibly innovated at this time, to classical applied to authors by virtue of the authentic language of their works.
In imitation of the Greek grammarians, the Roman ones, such as Quintilian, drew up lists termed indices or ordines on the model of the Greek lists, termed pinakes, considered classical: the recepti scriptores, "select writers." Aulus Gellius includes many authors, such as Plautus, who are currently considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in the period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris. Each author (and work) in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek; for example Ennius was the Latin Homer, the Aeneid was a new Iliad, and so on. The lists of classical authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology. The topic remained at that point while interest in the classici scriptores declined in the medieval period as the best Latin yielded to medieval Latin, somewhat less than the best by classical standards.
The Renaissance brought a revival of interest in restoring as much of Roman culture as could be restored and with it the return of the concept of classic, "the best." Thomas Sebillet in 1548 (Art Poétique) referred to "les bons et classiques poètes françois", meaning Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier, which was the first modern application of the word. According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the term classical, from classicus, entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction on the continent. Governor William Bradford in 1648 referred to synods of a separatist church as "classical meetings" in his Dialogue, a report of a meeting between New-England-born "young men" and "ancient men" from Holland and England. In 1715 Laurence Echard's Classical Geographical Dictionary was published. In 1736 Robert Ainsworth's Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into "proper and classical Latin." In 1768 David Ruhnken (Critical History of the Greek Orators) recast the mold of the view of the classical by applying the word canon to the pinakes of orators, after the Biblical canon or list of authentic books of the Bible. Ruhnken had a kind of secular catechism in mind.
In 1870 Wilhelm Sigismund Teuffel in Geschichte der Römischen Literatur (A History of Roman Literature) innovated the definitive philological classification of classical Latin based on the metaphoric uses of the ancient myth of the Ages of Man, a practice then universally current: a Golden Age and a Silver Age of classical Latin were to be presumed. The practice and Teuffel's classification, with modifications, are still in use. His work was translated into English as soon as published in German by Wilhelm Wagner, who corresponded with Teuffel. Wagner published the English translation in 1873. Teuffel divides the chronology of classical Latin authors into several periods according to political events, rather than by style. Regarding the style of the literary Latin of those periods he had but few comments.
Teuffel was to go on with other editions of his history, but meanwhile it had come out in English almost as soon as it did in German and found immediate favorable reception. In 1877 Charles Thomas Cruttwell produced the first English work along the same lines. In his Preface he refers to "Teuffel's admirable history, without which many chapters in the present work could not have attained completeness" and also gives credit to Wagner.
Cruttwell adopts the same periods with minor differences; however, where Teuffel's work is mainly historical, Cruttwell's work contains detailed analyses of style. Nevertheless like Teuffel he encounters the same problem of trying to summarize the voluminous detail in a way that captures in brief the gist of a few phases of writing styles. Like Teuffel, he has trouble finding a name for the first of the three periods (the current Old Latin phase), calling it mainly "from Livius to Sulla." The language, he says, is "…marked by immaturity of art and language, by a vigorous but ill-disciplined imitation of Greek poetical models, and in prose by a dry sententiousness of style, gradually giving way to a clear and fluent strength…" These abstracts have little meaning to those not well-versed in Latin literature. In fact, Cruttwell admits "The ancients, indeed, saw a difference between Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius, but it may be questioned whether the advance would be perceptible by us."
Some of Cruttwell's ideas have become stock in Latin philology for better or for worse. While praising the application of rules to classical Latin, most intensely in the Golden Age, he says "In gaining accuracy, however, classical Latin suffered a grievous loss. It became cultivated as distinct from a natural language… Spontaneity, therefore, became impossible and soon invention also ceased… In a certain sense, therefore, Latin was studied as a dead language, while it was still a living." These views are certainly debatable; one might ask how the upper classes of late 16th century Britain, who shared the Renaissance zealousness for the classics, managed to speak spontaneous Latin to each other officially and unofficially after being taught classical Latin by tutors hired for the purpose. Latinitas in the Golden Age was in fact sermo familiaris, the spoken Latin of the Roman upper classes, who sent their children to school to learn it. The debate continues.
A second problem is the appropriateness of Teuffel's scheme to the concept of classical Latin, which Teuffel does not discuss. Cruttwell addresses the problem, however, altering the concept of the classical. As the best Latin is defined as golden Latin, the second of the three periods, the other two periods considered classical are left hanging. While on the one hand assigning to Old Latin the term pre-classical and by implication the term post-classical (or post-Augustan) to silver Latin Cruttwell realizes that this construct is not according to ancient usage and asserts "…the epithet classical is by many restricted to the authors who wrote in it [golden Latin]. It is best, however, not to narrow unnecessarily the sphere of classicity; to exclude Terence on the one hand or Tacitus and Pliny on the other, would savour of artificial restriction rather than that of a natural classification." (This from a scholar who had just been complaining that golden Latin was not a natural language.) The contradiction remains; Terence is and is not a classical author depending on context.
After defining a "First Period" of inscriptional Latin and the literature of the earliest known authors and fragments, to which he assigns no definitive name (he does use the term "Old Roman" at one point), Teuffel presents "the second period", his major, "das goldene Zeitalter der römischen Literatur", the Golden Age of Roman Literature, dated 671 – 767 AUC or 83 BC – 14 AD according to his time reckoning, between the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the death of the emperor Augustus. Of it Wagner translating Teuffel writes
The golden age of the Roman literature is that period in which the climax was reached in the perfection of form, and in most respects also in the methodical treatment of the subject-matters. It may be subdivided between the generations, in the first of which (the Ciceronian Age) prose culminated, while poetry was principally developed in the Augustan Age.
The Ciceronian Age was dated 671–711 AUC (83 BC – 43 BC), ending just after the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, and the Augustan 711–67 AUC (43 BC – 14 AD), ending with the death of Augustus. The Ciceronian Age is further divided by the consulship of Cicero in 691 AUC or 63 BC into a first and second half. Authors are assigned to these periods by years of principal achievements.
The Golden Age had already made an appearance in German philology but in a less systematic way. In Bielfeld's 1770 Elements of universal erudition the author says (in translation): "The Second Age of Latin began about the time of Caesar [his ages are different from Teuffel's], and ended with Tiberius. This is what is called the Augustan Age, which was perhaps of all others the most brilliant, a period at which it should seem as if the greatest men, and the immortal authors, had met together upon the earth, in order to write the Latin language in its utmost purity and perfection." and of Tacitus "…his conceits and sententious style is not that of the golden age…". Teuffel evidently received the ideas of a golden and silver Latin from an existing tradition and embedded them in a new system, transforming them as he thought best.
In Cruttwell's introduction, the Golden Age is dated 80 BC – 14 AD ("from Cicero to Ovid"), which is about the same as Teuffel's. Of this "Second Period" Cruttwell says that it "represents the highest excellence in prose and poetry," paraphrasing Teuffel. The Ciceronian Age is now "the Republican Period" and is dated 80–42 BC through the Battle of Philippi. Later in the book Cruttwell omits Teuffel's first half of the Ciceronian and starts the Golden Age at Cicero's consulship of 63 BC, an error perpetuated into Cruttwell's second edition as well. He must mean 80 BC as he includes Varro in Golden Latin. Teuffel's Augustan Age is Cruttwell's Augustan Epoch, 42 BC – 14 AD.
The literary histories list all authors canonical to the Ciceronian Age even though their works may be fragmentary or may not have survived at all. With the exception of a few major writers, such as Cicero, Caesar, Lucretius and Catullus, ancient accounts of Republican literature are glowing accounts of jurists and orators who wrote prolifically but who now can't be read because their works have been lost, or analyses of language and style that appear insightful but can't be verified because there are no surviving instances. In that sense the pages of literary history are peopled with shadows: Aquilius Gallus, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and many others who left a reputation but no readable works; they are to be presumed in the Golden Age by their associations. A list of some canonical authors of the period, whose works have survived in whole or in part (typically in part, some only short fragments) is as follows:
The Golden Age is divided by the assassination of Julius Caesar. In the wars that followed the Republican generation of literary men was lost, as most of them had taken the losing side; Marcus Tullius Cicero was beheaded in the street as he enquired from his litter what the disturbance was. They were replaced by a new generation that had grown up and been educated under the old and were now to make their mark under the watchful eye of the new emperor. As the demand for great orators was more or less over, the talent shifted emphasis to poetry. Other than the historian Livy, the most remarkable writers of the period were the poets Vergil, Horace, and Ovid. Although Augustus evidenced some toleration to republican sympathizers, he exiled Ovid, and imperial tolerance ended with the continuance of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty.
Augustan writers include:
In his second volume, on the Imperial Period, Teuffel initiated a slight alteration in approach, making it clearer that his terms applied to the Latin and not just to the age, and also changing his dating scheme from years AUC to modern. Although he introduces das silberne Zeitalter der römischen Literatur, "the Silver Age of Roman Literature", 14–117 AD, from the death of Augustus to the death of Trajan, he also mentions regarding a section of a work by Seneca the Elder a wenig Einfluss der silbernen Latinität, a "slight influence of silver Latin." It is clear that he had shifted in thought from golden and silver ages to golden and silver Latin, and not just Latin, but Latinitas, which must at this point be interpreted as classical Latin. He may have been influenced in that regard by one of his sources, E. Opitz, who in 1852 had published a title specimen lexilogiae argenteae latinitatis, mentioning silver Latinity. Although Teuffel's First Period was equivalent to Old Latin and his Second Period was equal to the Golden Age, his Third Period, die römische Kaiserheit, encompasses both the Silver Age and the centuries now termed Late Latin, in which the forms seemed to break loose from their foundation and float freely; that is, literary men appeared uncertain as to what "good Latin" should mean. The last of the Classical Latin is the Silver Latin. The Silver Age is the first of the Imperial Period and is divided into die Zeit der julischen Dynastie, 14–68; die Zeit der flavischen Dynastie, 69–96; and die Zeit des Nerva und Trajan, 96–117. Subsequently Teuffel goes over to a century scheme: 2nd, 3rd, etc., through 6th. His later editions (which came out in the rest of the late 19th century) divide the Imperial Age into parts: the 1st century (Silver Age), the 2nd century: Hadrian and the Antonines and the 3rd through the 6th Centuries. Of the Silver Age proper, pointing out that anything like freedom of speech had vanished with Tiberius, Teuffel says
…the continual apprehension in which men lived caused a restless versatility… Simple or natural composition was considered insipid; the aim of language was to be brilliant… Hence it was dressed up with abundant tinsel of epigrams, rhetorical figures and poetical terms… Mannerism supplanted style, and bombastic pathos took the place of quiet power.
The content of new literary works was continually proscribed by the emperor (by executing or exiling the author), who also played the role of literary man (typically badly). The talent therefore went into a repertory of new and dazzling mannerisms, which Teuffel calls "utter unreality." Crutwell picks up this theme:
The foremost of these [characteristics] is unreality, arising from the extinction of freedom… Hence arose a declamatory tone, which strove by frigid and almost hyterical exaggeration to make up for the healthy stimulus afforded by daily contact with affairs. The vein of artificial rhetoric, antithesis and epigram… owes its origin to this forced contentment with an uncongenial sphere. With the decay of freedom, taste sank…
In Crutwell's view (which had not been expressed by Teuffel), Silver Latin was a "rank, weed-grown garden", a "decline." Cruttwell had already decried what he saw as a loss of spontaneity in Golden Latin. That Teuffel should regard the Silver Age as a loss of natural language and therefore of spontaneity, implying that the Golden Age had it, is passed without comment. Instead, Tiberius brought about a "sudden collapse of letters." The idea of a decline had been dominant in English society since Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Once again, Cruttwell evidences some unease with his stock pronouncements: "The Natural History of Pliny shows how much remained to be done in fields of great interest." The idea of Pliny as a model is not consistent with any sort of decline; moreover, Pliny did his best work under emperors at least as tolerant as Augustus had been. To include some of the best writings of the Silver Age, Cruttwell found he had to extend the period through the death of Marcus Aurelius, 180 AD. The philosophic prose of that good emperor was in no way compatible with either Teuffel's view of unnatural language or Cruttwell's depiction of a decline. Having created these constructs, the two philologists found they could not entirely justify them; apparently, in the worst implications of their views, there was no classical Latin by the ancient definition at all and some of the very best writing of any period in world history was a stilted and degenerate unnatural language.
Writers of the Silver Age include the following.
Of the additional century granted by Cruttwell and others of his point of view to Silver Latin but not by Teuffel the latter says "The second century was a happy period for the Roman State, the happiest indeed during the whole Empire… But in the world of letters the lassitude and enervation, which told of Rome's decline, became unmistakeable… its forte is in imitation." Teuffel, however, excepts the jurists; others find other "exceptions," recasting Teuffels's view.
The style of language refers to repeatable features of speech that are somewhat less general than the fundamental characteristics of the language. The latter give it a unity allowing it to be referenced under a single name. Thus Old Latin, Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin, etc., are not considered different languages, but are all referenced under the name of Latin. This is an ancient practice continued by moderns rather than a philological innovation of recent times. That Latin had case endings is a fundamental feature of the language. Whether a given form of speech prefers to use prepositions such as ad, ex, de for "to", "from" and "of" rather than simple case endings is a matter of style. Latin has a large number of styles. Each and every author has a style, which typically allows his prose or poetry to be identified by experienced Latinists. The problem of comparative literature has been to group styles finding similarities by period, in which case one may speak of Old Latin, Silver Latin, Late Latin as styles or a phase of styles.
The ancient authors themselves first defined style by recognizing different kinds of sermo, or "speech." In making the value judgement that classical Latin was "first class" and that it was better to write with Latinitas they were themselves selecting the literary and upper-class language of the city as a standard style and all sermo that differed from it was a different style; thus in rhetoric Cicero was able to define sublime, intermediate and low styles (within classical Latin) and St. Augustine to recommend the low style for sermons (from sermo). Style therefore is to be defined by differences in speech from a standard. Teuffel defined that standard as Golden Latin.
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http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Classical_Latin/en-en/
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Children of substance abusers: Observations and their mothers' reports of childrearing practices
The widespread use of drugs includes women who are mothers and of childbearing age. A review of the literature shows that women who are substance abusers suffer from depression, low self-esteem, have poor health and nutrition, and histories of family violence and abuse.^ During pregnancy, addictive women often lack prenatal care. In utero exposure to drugs is associated with multiple postnatal outcomes which include prematurity, low birth weight, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Intelligence testing found that the children scored within the normal range but significantly lower than the children of drug-free controls.^ Conflicting views on the parenting of mothers who are substance abusers exist. Deprived and poorly nurtured in childhood themselves, they feel inadequate as parents. However, they love their children, are capable of learning developmental issues of childhood, and can respond with sensitivity to their needs.^ The purpose of this study was to examine the child-rearing attitudes and parental style of addicted mothers and the impact of their drug use, parental attitudes, and demographic variables on their interactions with their children. Forty-four mothers, forty-one drug users and three non-drug users, and nineteen infants participated in the study. Participants attended the Infant and Toddler Schools of the Center for Comprehensive Health Practice, Inc. Subjects completed the demographic sheet and the modified Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR). The child data was obtained from the agency and included the scores of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, the Checklist for Caregiver-Infant Observation, and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (Home-SF). Generally, greater parental control and less expression of affection were adhered to as values by the participants of the study. Correlations as a function of drug usage and demographic variables suggested that the participants held both sound and inappropriate child-rearing attitudes. Length of treatment and the age of the youngest child emerged as the demographic variables most related to the parental attitude variables. The children scored within the average range of intelligence, however, the range of variation was highly significant. ^
Health Sciences, Mental Health|Women's Studies|Psychology, Developmental
Sarai Ramona Padilla-Rafalsky,
"Children of substance abusers: Observations and their mothers' reports of childrearing practices"
(January 1, 1993).
ETD Collection for Pace University.
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http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI9406436/
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Fewer rare sea turtles will die on the swordfish industry's longlines in Hawaii under an agreement between environmental groups and the government. The agreement settles a lawsuit challenging the federal government's plans that would have dramatically increase the number of turtles that could be killed. The Turtle Island Restoration Network, Center for Biological Diversity and KAHEA sued the National Marine Fisheries Service for allowing 46 imperiled Pacific loggerhead turtles to be hooked last year. The new court-ordered settlement caps the number at 17 per year. Meanwhile the National Marine Fisheries Service is weighing whether loggerheads need more protection under the Endangered Species Act.
"It made absolutely no sense to have one arm of the National Marine Fisheries Service increasing the lethal capture of loggerheads, while the other arm is in the process of determining whether loggerheads should be uplisted from threatened to endangered," said Todd Steiner, biologist and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network. "With extinction looming, these animals need more protection, not less."
"With this decision, Hawaii's public-trust ocean resources can be better managed for our collective best interest, and not just the interests of this commercial fishery," said KAHEA program director Marti Townsend. "This is a victory not just for the turtles, but for Hawaii's people who rely on a healthy, functioning ocean ecosystem."
Conservation groups represented by Earthjustice filed a federal lawsuit challenging a 2009 rule allowing the swordfish fleet to catch nearly three times as many loggerhead sea turtles as previously permitted. This settlement freezes the number at the previous cap of 17 while the government conducts additional environmental studies and decides whether or not to classify the loggerhead as endangered, rather than its current, less-protective status of threatened. For leatherback turtles, the bycatch limit remains at 16 per year. In 2010, eight Pacific leatherbacks and seven loggerheads were caught in the longline fishery, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. There have already been 4 loggerheads captured in 2011, which has sea turtle conservationists concerned.
"Sea turtles have been swimming the oceans since the time of dinosaurs. But without a change in management, they won't survive our voracious quest for swordfish and tuna," said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "If loggerheads are going to survive in the North Pacific, we need to stop killing them in our fisheries."
"Pacific loggerhead sea turtles are nearly extinct, so this bycatch rollback helps right a serious wrong," said Teri Shore, program director at Turtle Island Restoration Network. "We can't allow these rare sea turtles to disappear for a plate of swordfish. It's tragic that it took a lawsuit to correct this fishery problem."
Swordfish longline vessels trail up to 60 miles of fishing line suspended in the water with floats, with as many as 1,000 baited hooks deployed at regular intervals. Sea turtles become hooked while trying to take bait or become entangled while swimming through the nearly invisible lines. These encounters can drown the turtles or leave them with serious injuries. Sea birds such as albatross dive for the bait and become hooked; marine mammals, including endangered humpback whales and false killer whales, also sometimes become hooked when they swim through the floating lines.
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http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2011/endangered-sea-turtles-saved-from-capture-in-hawaii-swordfish-fishery
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Data structures for manipulating (biological) sequences.
Generally supports both nucleotide and protein sequences, some functions,
like revcompl, only makes sense for nucleotides.
|A sequence is a header, sequence data itself, and optional quality data.
Sequences are type-tagged to identify them as nucleotide, amino acids,
or unknown type.
All items are lazy bytestrings. The Offset type can be used for indexing.
|A sequence consists of a header, the sequence data itself, and optional quality data.
The type parameter is a phantom type to separate nucleotide and amino acid sequences
|An offset, index, or length of a SeqData
|The basic data type used in Sequences
|Quality data is normally associated with nucleotide sequences
|Basic type for quality data. Range 0..255. Typical Phred output is in
the range 6..50, with 20 as the line in the sand separating good from bad.
|Quality data is a Qual vector, currently implemented as a ByteString.
|Read the character at the specified position in the sequence.
|Return sequence length.
|Return sequence label (first word of header)
|Return full header.
|Return the sequence data.
|Check whether the sequence has associated quality data.
|Return the quality data, or error if none exist. Use hasqual if in doubt.
|Adding information to header
|Modify the header by appending text, or by replacing
all but the sequence label (i.e. first word).
|Converting to and from [Char]
|Convert a String to SeqData
|Convert a SeqData to a String
Returns a sequence with all internal storage freshly copied and
with sequence and quality data present as a single chunk.
By freshly copying internal storage, defragSeq allows garbage
collection of the original data source whence the sequence was
read; otherwise, use of just a short sequence name can cause an
entire sequence file buffer to be retained.
By compacting sequence data into a single chunk, defragSeq avoids
linear-time traversal of sequence chunks during random access into
|map over sequences, treating them as a sequence of (char,word8) pairs.
This will work on sequences without quality, as long as the function doesn't
try to examine it.
The current implementation is not very efficient.
|Phantom type functionality, unchecked conversion between sequence types
|Nucleotide sequences contain the alphabet [A,C,G,T].
IUPAC specifies an extended nucleotide alphabet with wildcards, but
it is not supported at this point.
|Complement a single character. I.e. identify the nucleotide it
can hybridize with. Note that for multiple nucleotides, you usually
want the reverse complement (see revcompl for that).
|Calculate the reverse complement.
This is only relevant for the nucleotide alphabet,
and it leaves other characters unmodified.
|Calculate the reverse complent for SeqData only.
|For type tagging sequences (protein sequences use Amino below)
|Proteins are chains of amino acids, represented by the IUPAC alphabet.
|Translate a nucleotide sequence into the corresponding protein
sequence. This works rather blindly, with no attempt to identify ORFs
or otherwise QA the result.
|Convert a sequence in IUPAC format to a list of amino acids.
|Convert a list of amino acids to a sequence in IUPAC format.
|Display a nicely formated sequence.
|A simple function to display a sequence: we generate the sequence string and
| call putStrLn
|Returns a properly formatted and probably highlighted string
| representation of a sequence. Highlighting is done using ANSI-Escape
|Default type for sequences
|Produced by Haddock version 2.6.1|
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<urn:uuid:0811e322-860e-4f42-9263-ac9ca9ec229a>
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http://hackage.haskell.org/packages/archive/bio/0.4.5/doc/html/Bio-Sequence-SeqData.html
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en
| 0.775457
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Education and health outcomes for social minorities in India: An analysis using SUR model
AbstractThe current study analyzes the health and education outcomes of fifteen year old children in India and investigates the question of inequality of such outcomes for socio-religious categories. To study the effect of health on education, SUR estimation has been undertaken. The comparison of SUR and OLS results shows that SUR estimates have smaller standard errors than the OLS estimates. Of the three categories analyzed in the data, STs have worst outcomes for both education and health and SCs lag behind in the health field. The results have important implications for policy regarding education and health of the socio-religious minorities.
Download InfoIf you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Bibliographic InfoPaper provided by Agricultural and Applied Economics Association in its series 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington with number 124840.
Date of creation: 2012
Date of revision:
Contact details of provider:
Postal: 555 East Wells Street, Suite 1100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
Phone: (414) 918-3190
Fax: (414) 276-3349
Web page: http://www.aaea.org
More information through EDIRC
Health Economics and Policy;
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Sonalde Desai & Veena Kulkarni, 2008. "Changing educational inequalities in india in the context of affirmative action," Demography, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 245-270, May.
- Vani Borooah & Sriya Iyer, 2005.
"Vidya, Veda, and Varna: The influence of religion and caste on education in rural India,"
The Journal of Development Studies,
Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 41(8), pages 1369-1404.
- Vani K. Borooah & Sriya Iyer, 2002. "Vidya, Veda, and Varna: The Influence of Religion and Caste on Education in Rural India," ICER Working Papers 32-2002, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
- Behrman, Jere R, 1996. "The Impact of Health and Nutrition on Education," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 11(1), pages 23-37, February.
- Dreze, Jean & Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi, 2001.
"School Participation in Rural India,"
Review of Development Economics,
Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, February.
- Jean Drèze & Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 1999. "School Participation in Rural India," STICERD - Development Economics Papers - From 2008 this series has been superseded by Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers 18, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
- Jean Dreze & Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 1999. "School Participation in Rural India," Working papers 69, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
- Ashwini Deshpande, 2000. "Recasting Economic Inequality," Review of Social Economy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 58(3), pages 381-399.
- Case, Anne & Fertig, Angela & Paxson, Christina, 2005. "The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 365-389, March.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (AgEcon Search).
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Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Friday, 11 December 2009
mental ray_Adding glow to the window glass
The above image was produced whilst at GMJ Design Ltd
In our latest book, we have covered a number of ways of emulating light without the need of creating a physical light.
Production companies often adopt similar methods to reduce the rendering times and retain the overall quality.
It is worth pointing out that the usage of Ambient Occlusion(i.e. AO) as a separate pass or/and directly from Max is utterly imperative for the final shot.
The following exercise will take you through another unique methodology of achieving similar results with reduced rendering times:
Another quick way of emulating “glow”/"light" on windows, is to in fact enable the glow function on the glass panes themselves.
To do this, simply go to the main material parameters, under the "refraction" group.
1-Reduce the transparency to about 0.9 to prevent the surface from being fully transparent.
2-To add a bit of blur to the transparency, decrease the glossiness to about 0.78. Note that, these values may vary depending on one’s camera angle...and the level of transparency/blurriness intended.
3-Next,change the colour swatch from white to a warm yellow.
Also, the "fast (interpolate)" function, can be enabled for quick and fast results, as the glossiness and its samples can often slow down the renders.However,it may create artifacts.
4-Pan down to the "self illumination (glow)" parameters and enable the "self illumination (glow)" function.
5-Under the "luminance" group, change it from "unitless" to "physical units: cd/m2)". Also, pick and choose any relevant bitmap (i.e. photo) that has a prominent light source.
Note: The "unitless" function often creates artifacts on glossy reflections, therefore, to be avoided at all costs.
Depending on time in hand, one can set the glow to generate light, or not, through the FG, by checking the "illuminates the scene (when using fg)" function.
...and... “...let there be light...”!!!
The final rendered image below was achieved using this technique. I hope you like it.
I hope you have found this post interesting.
Also check this new article in this Blog:
3D Realism:Practical & Easy Workflows
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<urn:uuid:7989e71c-c55d-4ab4-b972-24001740790f>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://jamiecardoso-mentalray.blogspot.com/2009/12/mental-rayadding-glow-to-window-glass.html
| null |
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.882933
| 529
| 2.875
| 3
|
HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
|
Use of Biomedical Engineering and Music for K-12 Math/Science Education
The study proposes the use of Biomedical Engineering (BME) Ph.D. track graduate students to assist middle and high school teachers to teach math/science skills, by providing additional tools and training to optimize their use. The emphasis is on the use of disciplinary knowledge to enhance how people learn with the aid of computer technology; showing the students the importance of this knowledge to solve real world problems.
Three school districts have committed to participate in a cross-disciplinary education program (Shelby County, Shades Mountain Independent, and the Alabama School of Fine Arts). Students from UAB’s Biomedical Engineering (BME) and the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) departments will develop, implement, and evaluate the four interventions used to enhance math/science skills.
- Music education
- Math/Science kits and six-week projects
- Science Fair project development
- A technology of Fine Arts class
When the cost-effectiveness of each intervention has been determined, decisions whether to expand the intervention, within each school system will be made. Information about successful programs would be made available, on the internet or other media, to interested groups. Trained personnel from this project would serve as facilitators for these groups.
- Investigators: A. Eberhardt, R. Thompson, M. Froning, D. Kilpadi
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<urn:uuid:21551b17-525a-4ee3-a648-637e7f0b7928>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://main.uab.edu/soeng/templates/inner.aspx?pid=71768
| null |
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|
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| 290
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| 3
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
|
Deep-space communication improved with electromagnetic radiation antenna
- Robert C. Dye
- Technology Transfer
- (505) 667-3404
Electromagnetic radiation antenna has potential for deep-space communication
- Directed Energy
- Long-range communications
- Medicine (Oncology)
- RADAR imaging applications are countermeasure-resistant
- Communications can be spatially-encrypted
- 4-dimensional volumes of energy can be aimed at a single space-time point for directed energy applications
- Nonspherical decay of the cusp enables low-power communications and propagation over great distances
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) researchers have developed the Lightslinger, a completely new type of antenna that produces tightly-focused packets of electromagnetic radiation fundamentally different from the emissions of conventional transmitters. The device has potential applications in RADAR, directed-energy (non-kinetic kill), secure communications, ultra-long-range communications (e.g., deep-space), medicine (oncology) and astrophysics.
The Lightslinger functions by producing a moving polarization pattern in a ring of alumina. By careful timing of voltages applied to electrodes that surround the alumina, the polarization pattern can be made to move superluminally, i.e., faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. Nobel laureate Vitaly Ginzberg showed both that such superluminal polarization patterns do not violate the principles of special relativity and that they emit electromagnetic radiation. Once a source travels faster than the waves that it emits, it can make contributions at multiple retarded times to a signal received instantaneously at a distance. This effect is already well known in acoustics; when a supersonic airplane accelerates through the speed of sound, a violent “sonic boom” is heard many miles away, even if the airplane itself is rather quiet. The Lightslinger enables the same thing to be done with electromagnetic radiation; i.e., a relatively low-power source can make an “electromagnetic boom”, an intense concentration of radiowaves at a great distance.
The “electromagnetic boom” is due to temporal focusing, that is, focusing in the time domain. Because of this effect, part of the emitted radiation possesses an intensity that decays with distance r as 1/r rather than as the conventional inverse square law, 1/r2. These nonspherically-decaying wavepackets represent a game-changing technology in the applications of electromagnetic radiation.
Development stage: Working prototype
Patent status: Patent pending
Licensing status: Available for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing
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An Introduction To 127.0.0.1
127.0.0.1 is an IP address utilized for a looplock network connection. What does this mean? If
a user tries to connect to this IP address, they will be sent back to their computer. The address
is also known as a localhost. The localhost is the computer.
How the Localhost Works
If the command is relayed to the localhost, you would be hooked up to the system where the
commands were sent out. For instance, suppose the computer is called "Joker". If you telnet
from the Joker computer to the localhost, a message will appear. It will attempt to hook up to
The localhost is employed in lieu of the computer hostname to be linked to. This IP address is
the most wisely used localhost address. However, you can actually use any IP address
provided it starts with 127. This means 127.*.*.* can be used as a localhost.
Establishing a connection with the loopback address is similar to creating a connection with
remote network computers. The only difference is you don't have to deal with network
For this reason it is widely utilized by software developers. It is also used by system
administrators. It is often used for testing programs and apps. If the connection is IPv4, the
computer's loopback address will be the 127.*.*.*. The subnet mask is typically 255.0.0.0.
This IP addresses 127.*.*.*. are defined in RFC 330 as Special-Use IPv4 Addresses. The
127.0.0.0/8 block is defined as the Net host loopback address. If a higher level protocol sends
a datagram anywhere in the block, it will be looped in the host. This is typically implemented
with the 127.0.0.1 / 32 for looplock. However, addresses in the block must not be visible
anywhere else in the network.
There is also a localhost IPv6 version. In RFC 3513, it is defined as Internet Protocol Version
6 (IPv6) Addressing Architecture::1/128.
More Information about the Localhost
In simple terms, the localhost means the computer. It is the hostname allocated loopback
network interface address. The name is likewise a domain name. This will help prevent
confusion with the hostname definition. In IPv6, the loopback IP address is ::1. The localhost
is stated when one would usually use the computer hostname. For instance, a browser using
an HTTP server to http://localhost will show the local website home page. This will be
possible if the server is set up properly to work the loopback interface.
The loopback address can also be used for linking up to a game server. It can also be used for
the various inter-process communications. This facts about 127.0.0.1 indicate how
fundamental and basic the localhost is to a system. That's why it is so crucial for network
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OBSOLETE UNITS PACKAGE SYMBOL
As of version 9.0, unit functionality is built into Mathematica
is the fundamental CGS unit of mass.
- To use , you first need to load the Units Package using Needs["Units`"].
- is equivalent to Kilogram/1000 (SI units).
- Convert[n Gram, newunits] converts n Gram to a form involving units newunits.
- is typically abbreviated as g.
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Excerpts for Thames : The Biography
The River as Fact
It has a length of 215 miles, and is navigable for 191 miles. It is the longest river in England but not in Britain, where the Severn is longer by approximately 5 miles. Nevertheless it must be the shortest river in the world to acquire such a famous history. The Amazon and the Mississippi cover almost 4,000 miles, and the Yangtze almost 3,500 miles; but none of them has arrested the attention of the world in the manner of the Thames.
It runs along the borders of nine English counties, thus reaffirming its identity as a boundary and as a defence. It divides Wiltshire from Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire from Berkshire; as it pursues its way it divides Surrey from Middlesex (or Greater London as it is inelegantly known) and Kent from Essex. It is also a border of Buckinghamshire. It guarded these once tribal lands in the distant past, and will preserve them into the imaginable future.
There are 134 bridges along the length of the Thames, and forty-four locks above Teddington. There are approximately twenty major tributaries still flowing into the main river, while others such as the Fleet have now disappeared under the ground. Its "basin," the area from which it derives its water from rain and other natural forces, covers an area of some 5,264 square miles. And then there are the springs, many of them in the woods or close to the streams beside the Thames. There is one in the wood below Sinodun Hills in Oxfordshire, for example, which has been described as an "everlasting spring" always fresh and always renewed.
The average flow of the river at Teddington, chosen because it marks the place where the tidal and non-tidal waters touch, has been calculated at 1,145 millions of gallons (5,205 millions of litres) each day or approximately 2,000 cubic feet (56.6 cubic metres) per second. The current moves at a velocity between 1Ú2 and 23Ú4 miles per hour. The main thrust of the river flow is known to hydrologists as the "thalweg"; it does not move in a straight and forward line but, mingling with the inner flow and the variegated flow of the surface and bottom waters, takes the form of a spiral or helix. More than 95 per cent of the river's energy is lost in turbulence and friction.
The direction of the flow of the Thames is therefore quixotic. It might be assumed that it would move eastwards, but it defies any simple prediction. It flows north-west above Henley and at Teddington, west above Abingdon, south from Cookham and north above Marlow and Kingston. This has to do with the variegated curves of the river. It does not meander like the Euphrates, where according to Herodotus the voyager came upon the same village three times on three separate days, but it is circuitous. It specialises in loops. It will take the riparian traveller two or three times as long to cover the same distance as a companion on the high road. So the Thames teaches you to take time, and to view the world from a different vantage.
The average "fall" or decline of the river from its beginning to its end is approximately 17 to 21 inches (432 to 533 mm) per mile. It follows gravity, and seeks out perpetually the simplest way to the sea. It falls some 600 feet (183 m) from source to sea, with a relatively precipitous decline of 300 feet (91.5 m) in the first 9 miles; it falls 100 (30.4 m) more in the next 11 miles, with a lower average for the rest of its course. Yet averages may not be so important. They mask the changeability and idiosyncrasy of the Thames. The mean width of the river is given as 1,000 feet (305 m), and a mean depth of 30 feet (9 m); but the width varies from 1 or 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 m) at Trewsbury to 51Ú2 miles at the Nore.
The tide, in the words of Tennyson, is that which "moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam." On its flood inward it can promise benefit or danger; on its ebb seaward it suggests separation or adventure. It is one general movement but it comprises a thousand different streams and eddies; there are opposing streams, and high water is not necessarily the same thing as high tide. The water will sometimes begin to fall before the tide is over. The average speed of the tide lies between 1 and 3 knots (1.15 and 3.45 miles per hour), but at times of very high flow it can reach 7 knots (8 miles per hour). At London Bridge the flood tide runs for almost six hours, while the ebb tide endures for six hours and thirty minutes. The tides are much higher now than at other times in the history of the Thames. There can now be a difference of some 24 feet (7.3 m) between high and low tides, although the average rise in the area of London Bridge is between 15 and 22 feet (4.5 and 6.7 m). In the period of the Roman occupation, it was a little over 3 feet (0.9 m). The high tide, in other words, has risen greatly over a period of two thousand years.
The reason is simple. The south-east of England is sinking slowly into the water at the rate of approximately 12 inches (305 mm) per century. In 4000 BC the land beside the Thames was 46 feet (14 m) higher than it is now, and in 3000 BC it was some 31 feet (9.4 m) higher. When this is combined with the water issuing from the dissolution of the polar ice-caps, the tides moving up the lower reaches of the Thames are increasing at a rate of 2 feet (0.6 m) per century. That is why the recently erected Thames Barrier will not provide protection enough, and another barrier is being proposed.
The tide of course changes in relation to the alignment of earth, moon and sun. Every two weeks the high "spring" tides reach their maximum two days after a full moon, while the low "neap" tides occur at the time of the half-moon. The highest tides occur at the times of equinox; this is the period of maximum danger for those who live and work by the river. The spring tides of late autumn and early spring are also hazardous. It is no wonder that the earliest people by the Thames venerated and propitiated the river.
The general riverscape of the Thames is varied without being in any sense spectacular, the paraphernalia of life ancient and modern clustering around its banks. It is in large part now a domesticated river, having been tamed and controlled by many generations. It is in that sense a piece of artifice, with some of its landscape deliberately planned to blend with the course of the water. It would be possible to write the history of the Thames as a history of a work of art.
It is a work still in slow progress. The Thames has taken the same course for ten thousand years, after it had been nudged southward by the glaciation of the last ice age. The British and Roman earthworks by the Sinodun Hills still border the river, as they did two thousand years before. Given the destructive power of the moving waters, this is a remarkable fact. Its level has varied over the millennia--there is a sudden and unexpected rise at the time of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, for example--and the discovery of submerged forests testifies to incidents of overwhelming flood. Its appearance has of course also altered, having only recently taken the form of a relatively deep and narrow channel, but its persistence and identity through time are an aspect of its power.
Yet of course every stretch has its own character and atmosphere, and every zone has its own history. Out of oppositions comes energy, out of contrasts beauty. There is the overwhelming difference of water within it, varying from the pure freshwater of the source through the brackish zone of estuarial water to the salty water in proximity to the sea. Given the eddies of the current, in fact, there is rather more salt by the Essex shore than by the Kentish shore. There are manifest differences between the riverine landscapes of Lechlade and of Battersea, of Henley and of Gravesend; the upriver calm is in marked contrast to the turbulence of the long stretches known as River of London and then London River. After New Bridge the river becomes wider and deeper, in anticipation of its change.
The rural landscape itself changes from flat to wooded in rapid succession, and there is a great alteration in the nature of the river from the cultivated fields of Dorchester to the thick woods of Cliveden. From Godstow the river becomes a place of recreation, breezy and jaunty with the skiffs and the punts, the sports in Port Meadow and the picnic parties on the banks by Binsey. But then by some change of light it becomes dark green, surrounded by vegetation like a jungle river; and then the traveller begins to see the dwellings of Oxford, and the river changes again. Oxford is a pivotal point. From there you can look upward and consider the quiet source; or you can look downstream and contemplate the coming immensity of London.
In the reaches before Lechlade the water makes its way through isolated pastures; at Wapping and Rotherhithe the dwellings seem to drop into it, as if overwhelmed by numbers. The elements of rusticity and urbanity are nourished equally by the Thames. That is why parts of the river induce calm and forgetfulness, and others provoke anxiety and despair. It is the river of dreams, but it is also the river of suicide. It has been called liquid history because within itself it dissolves and carries all epochs and generations. They ebb and flow like water.
The River as Metaphor
The river runs through the language, and we speak of its influence in every conceivable context. It is employed to characterise life and death, time and destiny; it is used as a metaphor for continuity and dissolution, for intimacy and transitoriness, for art and history, for poetry itself. In The Principles of Psychology (1890) William James first coined the phrase "stream of consciousness" in which "every definite image of the mind is steeped . . . in the free water that flows around it." Thus "it flows" like the river itself. Yet the river is also a token of the unconscious, with its suggestion of depth and invisible life.
The river is a symbol of eternity, in its unending cycle of movement and change. It is one of the few such symbols that can readily be understood, or appreciated, and in the continuing stream the mind or soul can begin to contemplate its own possible immortality.
In the poetry of John Denham's "Cooper's Hill" (1642), the Thames is a metaphor for human life. How slight its beginning, how confident its continuing course, how ineluctable its destination within the great ocean:
Hasting to pay his tribute to the sea,
Like mortal life to meet eternity.
The poetry of the Thames has always emphasised its affiliations with human purpose and with human realities. So the personality of the river changes in the course of its journey from the purity of its origins to the broad reaches of the commercial world. The river in its infancy is undefiled, innocent and clear. By the time it is closely pent in by the city, it has become dank and foul, defiled by greed and speculation. In this regress it is the paradigm of human life and of human history. Yet the river has one great advantage over its metaphoric companions. It returns to its source, and its corruption can be reversed. That is why baptism was once instinctively associated with the river. The Thames has been an emblem of redemption and of renewal, of the hope of escaping from time itself.
When Wordsworth observed the river at low tide, with the vista of the "mighty heart" of London "lying still," he used the imagery of human circulation. It is the image of the river as blood, pulsing through the veins and arteries of its terrain, without which the life of London would seize up. Sir Walter Raleigh, contemplating the Thames from the walk by his cell in the Tower, remarked that the "blood which disperseth itself by the branches or veins through all the body, may be resembled to these waters which are carried by brooks and rivers overall the earth." He wrote his History of the World (1610) from his prison cell, and was deeply imbued with the current of the Thames as a model of human destiny. It has been used as the symbol for the unfolding of events in time, and carries the burden of past events upon its back. For Raleigh the freight of time grew ever more complex and wearisome as it proceeded from its source; human life had become darker and deeper, less pure and more susceptible to the tides of affairs. There was one difference Raleigh noticed in his history, when he declared that "for this tide of man's life, after it once turneth and declineth, ever runneth with a perpetual ebb and falling stream, but never floweth again."
The Thames has also been understood as a mirror of morality. The bending rushes and the yielding willows afford lessons in humility and forbearance; the humble weeds along its banks have been praised for their lowliness and absence of ostentation. And who has ventured upon the river without learning the value of patience, of endurance, and of vigilance? John Denham makes the Thames the subject of native discourse in a further sense:
Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull;
Strong without rage; without o'erflowing, full.
This suggests that the river represents an English measure, an aesthetic harmony to be sought or wished for, but in the same breath Denham seems to be adverting to some emblem of Englishness itself. The Thames is a metaphor for the country through which it runs. It is modest and moderate, calm and resourceful; it is powerful without being fierce. It is not flamboyantly impressive. It is large without being too vast. It eschews extremes. It weaves its own course without artificial diversions or interventions. It is useful for all manner of purposes. It is a practical river.
When Robert Menzies, an erstwhile Australian prime minister, was taken to Runnymede he was moved to comment upon the "secret springs" of the "slow English character." This identification of the land with the people, the characteristics of the earth and water with the temperament of their inhabitants, remains a poignant one. There is an inward and intimate association between the river and those who live beside it, even if that association cannot readily be understood.
From the Hardcover edition.
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SCIENCE announced that it is taking viewers further inside NASA's latest mission to Mars with the exclusive world premiere of i.am.mars: REACH FOR THE STARS tonight, September 19, 2012, at 10 PM ET/PT. The special documents the artistic and technical process behind "Reach for the Stars," will.i.am's newest single that became the first song ever to be broadcast from another planet to Earth.
In what is being hailed as "the most complex Mars mission to date," NASA's Curiosity spacecraft successfully landed on the red planet on August 6, 2012. Since then the Curiosity rover has returned stunning photographs and valuable information about the Martian surface that is helping scientists determine if it has the ability to support life.
Recently, Curiosity also returned will.i.am's new song "Reach for the Stars" as - for the first time in history - recorded music was broadcast from a planet to Earth. i.am.mars: REACH FOR THE STARS profiles will.i.am's passion for science and his belief in inspiring the next generation of scientists through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.
i.am.mars: REACH FOR THE STARS also gives viewers a window into his creative process, as well as the recording of the song with a full children's choir and orchestra. In addition, viewers also go inside the engineering challenges NASA faced in uploading the song to Curiosity, and the hard work required to make the historic 700 million mile interplanetary broadcast a reality.
"Between MARS LANDING 2012: THE NEW SEARCH FOR LIFE and i.am.mars: REACH FOR THE STARS, SCIENCE is consumed with the bold exploration of the red planet," said Debbie Myers, general manager and executive vice president of SCIENCE. "We hope our viewers are as inspired as we are by the creativity, imagination and daring of both will.i.am and NASA."
i.am.mars will be distributed to schools nationwide through Discovery Education's digital streaming services. SCIENCE and Discovery Education will also work with Affiliates to promote i.am.mars' educational resources for use in schools and with community organizations, brining the magic of Mars to life.
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By JOHN CARTER
When Abraham Lincoln died from an assassin’s bullet on April 15, 1865, Edwin Stanton remarked to those gathered around his bedside, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
One of the meanings implied in Stanton’s famous statement is that Lincoln would not only be remembered as an iconic figure of the past, but that his spirit would also play a significant role in ages to come.
The Oscar-nominated movie “Lincoln,” which chronicles the struggle to pass the 13th amendment abolishing slavery, has turned our attention again to Lincoln’s legacy and his relevance amid our nation’s present divisions and growing pains.
Here is some of the wit and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln worth pondering:
“As for being president, I feel like the man who was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. To the man who asked him how he liked it, he said, ‘If it wasn’t for the honor of the thing, I’d rather walk.’”
“I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”
“Should my administration prove to be a very wicked one, or what is more probable, a very foolish one, if you the people are true to yourselves and the Constitution, there is but little harm I can do, thank God.”
“Bad promises are better broken than kept.”
“I am not at all concerned that the Lord is on our side in this great struggle, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord’s side.”
“I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.”
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.”
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”
“The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.”
“The true rule, in determining to embrace or reject anything, is not whether it have any evil in it, but whether it have more evil than good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good.”
“Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline and subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes me rested, after a hard day’s work, if I can find some good excuse for saving a man’s life, and I go to bed happy as I think how joyful the signing of my name will make him (a deserter) and his family.”
“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
In addition, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural speech are ever relevant. And you may wish to add your own favorites to these.
Paul’s advice to us in Philippians 4:8 is to “fill your minds with those things that are good and deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.”
As we celebrate his birthday on the 12th, Lincoln’s words more than meet this standard!
John Carter is a Weatherford resident whose column, “Notes From the Journey,” is published weekly in the Weatherford Democrat.
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TAKING EVERY PRECAUTION
Japan Takes Measures to Prevent SARS (June 9, 2003)
As severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a new type
of pneumonia, rages in wide areas of Asia and other places, the Japanese government
has been busy taking measures to prevent an outbreak from occurring in Japan.
The government has urged people to take caution in traveling to affected areas,
and it has been making every effort to prevent SARS from entering Japan. In addition,
work is progressing on a system in which medical institutions, national and local
governments, and corporations will act together to prevent the spread of SARS
in the event of an outbreak in Japan. As a result of these efforts, as of June
9, there have been no confirmed or probable cases of SARS in Japan.
|Medical staff practice using an isolator. (Jiji)
Plans Already Developed for Dealing with Patients
On May 1 the government brought the heads of the relevant ministries and agencies
together for a first-ever meeting devoted to SARS in order to decide what measures
should be taken in the event that someone in Japan is found to be infected with
the virus. The group decided to call on people returning from China to stay at
home for 10 days, which is believed to be the incubation period for the disease.
Taking this into consideration, the
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare made plans for taking action in the
event of an outbreak. It decided to give local governments the authority to direct
people believed likely to be infected, or "probable patients," to hospitalize
themselves. In the event that a patient refuses, the local governments are empowered
to forcibly hospitalize the person.
Local governments are readying themselves to accept patients. According to a survey
conducted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in early May,
all of the nation's 47 prefectures had already completed action plans spelling
out what measures would be taken in the event of an outbreak. In addition, some
250 medical institutions around the country have made such preparations as setting
up "negative air-pressure rooms" to prevent the virus from spreading
within the hospital or to the outside. Local governments in such places as Kitakyushu
City, Hokkaido, and Mie Prefecture
have been purchasing capsules called isolators to be used when suspected SARS
patients are moved, and they have conducted drills on how to use them with volunteers
playing the role of patients.
In May a foreign traveler who had been to Japan was found to be infected with
SARS. When this was discovered, the government and local authorities quickly implemented
emergency measures, as a result of which no secondary infections occurred. According
to a survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun, 28 local
governments out of the 47 prefectures and 13 major cities in Japan, nearly half
the total, were rethinking their plans to cope with a potential SARS outbreak
in light of this news. Fukushima Prefecture decided to check whether visitors
from abroad have come from an area to which the World
Health Organization recommends postponing travel. It will also make use of
the local hotels association to determine the previous whereabouts of such guests.
Kagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, which had previously only planned for people who
had come in close contact with SARS patients, defined as having been within 2
meters, has created an action plan for checking on people who have had even a
low possibility of coming in contact with a carrier.
Public and Private Sectors Taking Action
The Japanese government is stepping up its efforts to take rapid, nationwide measures
to prevent SARS infection. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has accelerated
revision of the Infectious Disease Law, for example. And while local governments
are the first line of defense in tracking the path of infection and following
up on people who may have been exposed, the national government will become directly
involved in the event that infection spreads outside of a local area. Japan is
also actively engaged in international cooperation aimed at preventing the spread
The private sector has also been taking action to prevent
the spread of SARS and to reassure travelers. West
Japan Railway Co. (JR West) has set up a SARS-response headquarters and is
considering disinfecting affected carriages in the event that an infected person
is found to have been onboard a certain train at a certain time. The company also
decided to publicly release information on the time and route traveled by any
SARS patients. Orient Ferry, which runs a ferry route from Shimonoseki to China's
Qingdao, has since late April requested that all passengers and crew fill out
health questionnaires, and the company has trained staff for what to do in the
event that a passenger falls ill with SARS while onboard. The terminal in Qingdao,
the shuttle bus, and the inside of the ship are all disinfected every day.
Meanwhile, some companies have taken the step of postponing scheduled business
trips to affected areas, and, in response to requests by the government, airlines
and ship operators whose vessels operate in Japan are distributing health questionnaires
to their staff and passengers.
Japan has avoided SARS so far, and there is every reason to be confident that
the country will remain free of the disease. Even if an outbreak did occur, the
concerted efforts of local and national governments and private enterprises to
prepare for such an eventuality suggest that it would be handled quickly and efficiently.
Note: The government's "Measures upon Entry/Return to Japan" for travelers
heading to Japan can be found here. (http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/health_c/sars/measure0521.html)
Related Web Sites
the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare
World Health Organization
West Japan Railway Co. (JR West)
Copyright (c) 2004 Web Japan. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.
(November 19, 2002)
GIVE BLOOD AND ENJOY
(September 25, 2002)
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Archaeological Site of Rehman Dheri
Department of Archaeology and Museums
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party.
The archaeological site of Rehman Dheri consists of a rectangular shaped mound covering some twenty two hectares and standing 4.5 metres above the surrounding field. The final occupational phase of the site is clearly visible on the surface of the mound by eye and also through air photographs. It consisted of a large walled rectangular area with a grid iron network of streets and lanes dividing the settlement into regular blocks. Walls delineating individual buildings and street frontages are clearly visible in the early morning dew or after rain and it is also possible to identify the location of a number of small-scale industrial areas within the site marked, as they are, by eroding kilns and scatters of slag. The surface of the mound is littered with thousands of shreds and artefacts, slowly eroding out of room fills.
The archaeological sequence at the site of Rehman Dheri is over 4.5 metres deep, and covers a sequence of over 1,400 years beginning at c.3,300 BC. The site represents following periods:
I c.3300-3850 BC
II c.2850-2500 BC
III c.2500-1900 BC
It is generally accept that the settlement received its formal plan in its earliest phases and that subsequent phases replicated the plan over time. Although its excavators have cut a number of deep trenches or soundings into the lower levels, the areas exposed have been too limited to undertake a study of change in layout and the spatial distribution of craft activities. It was abandoned at the beginning of the mature Indus phase by the middle of the third millennium BC and subsequent activities, greatly reduced, are only recorded on the neighbouring archaeological mound, Hisam Dheri. The plan of the Early Harappan settlement is therefore undisturbed by later developments and, as such, represents the most exceptionally preserved example of the beginning of urbanisation in South Asia.
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Arctic meltdown not caused by nature
Rapid loss of Arctic sea ice - 80 per cent has disappeared since 1980 - is not caused by natural cycles such as changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, says Dr Karl.
The situation is getting rather messy with regard to the ice melting in the Arctic. Now the volume of the ice varies throughout the year, rising to its peak after midwinter, and falling to its minimum after midsummer, usually in the month of September.
Over most of the last 1,400 years, the volume of ice remaining each September has stayed pretty constant. But since 1980, we have lost 80 per cent of that ice.
Now one thing to appreciate is that over the last 4.7 billion years, there have been many natural cycles in the climate — both heating and cooling. What's happening today in the Arctic is not a cycle caused by nature, but something that we humans did by burning fossil fuels and dumping slightly over one trillion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere over the last century.
So what are these natural cycles? There are many many of them, but let's just look at the Milankovitch cycles. These cycles relate to the Earth and its orbit around the Sun. There are three main Milankovitch cycles. They each affect how much solar radiation lands on the Earth, and whether it lands on ice, land or water, and when it lands.
The first Milankovitch cycle is that the orbit of the Earth changes from mostly circular to slightly elliptical. It does this on a predominantly 100,000-year cycle. When the Earth is close to the Sun it receives more heat energy, and when it is further away it gets less. At the moment the orbit of the Earth is about halfway between "nearly circular" and "slightly elliptical". So the change in the distance to the Sun in each calendar year is currently about 5.1 million kilometres, which translates to about 6.8 per cent difference in incoming solar radiation. But when the orbit of the Earth is at its most elliptical, there will be a 23 per cent difference in how much solar radiation lands on the Earth.
The second Milankovitch cycle affecting the solar radiation landing on our planet is the tilt of the north-south spin axis compared to the plane of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. This tilt rocks gently between 22.1 degrees and 24.5 degrees from the vertical. This cycle has a period of about 41,000 years. At the moment we are roughly halfway in the middle — we're about 23.44 degrees from the vertical and heading down to 22.1 degrees. As we head to the minimum around the year 11,800, the trend is that the summers in each hemisphere will get less solar radiation, while the winters will get more, and there will be a slight overall cooling.
The third Milankovitch cycle that affects how much solar radiation lands on our planet is a little more tricky to understand. It's called 'precession'. As our Earth orbits the Sun, the north-south spin axis does more than just rock gently between 22.1 degrees and 24.5 degrees. It also — very slowly, just like a giant spinning top — sweeps out a complete 360 degrees circle, and it takes about 26,000 years to do this. So on January 4, when the Earth is at its closest to the Sun, it's the South Pole (yep, the Antarctic) that points towards the Sun.
So at the moment, everything else being equal, it's the southern hemisphere that has a warmer summer because it's getting more solar radiation, but six months later it will have a colder winter. And correspondingly, the northern hemisphere will have a warmer winter and a cooler summer.
But of course, "everything else" is not equal. There's more land in the northern hemisphere but more ocean in a southern hemisphere. The Arctic is ice that is floating on water and surrounded by land. The Antarctic is the opposite — ice that is sitting on land and surrounded by water. You begin to see how complicated it all is.
We have had, in this current cycle, repeated ice ages on Earth over the last three-million years. During an ice age, the ice can be three kilometres thick and cover practically all of Canada. It can spread through most of Siberia and Europe and reach almost to where London is today. Of course, the water to make this ice comes out of the ocean, and so in the past, the ocean level has dropped by some 125 metres.
From three million years ago to one million years ago, the ice advanced and retreated on a 41,000-year cycle. But from one million years ago until the present, the ice has advanced and retreated on a 100,000-year cycle.
What we are seeing in the Arctic today — the 80 per cent loss in the volume of the ice since 1980 — is an amazingly huge change in an amazingly short period of time. But it seems as though the rate of climate change is accelerating, and I'll talk more about that, next time …
Published 27 November 2012
© 2013 Karl S. Kruszelnicki Pty Ltd
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First, an object is placed on the platform of the printer upon – a petrie dish for example. Then the printer must check the height of the object to make sure everything is calibrated correctly. Mr. Carvalho placed a paper card on the platform of the 3D-Bioplotter to demonstrate how the machine works.
Mr. Carvalho then talked us through the printing process. To begin, a liquefied material – in this case a silicone paste – is pressed through a needle-like tip by applying air pressure. The needle moves in all three dimensions which means it is able to create a three dimensional object. The printer is called ‘Bioplotter’ because the unique aspect of this machine is its use of biomaterials to make implants or other objects for biomedical application.
Some of the implants which are made using the 3D Bioplotter are intended to dissolve in the body. The materials which are used in this application include PLLA, PLGA, and silicone.
Implants made with thermoplastics – as they are mostly water and CO2 – are removed by the body naturally in around a week or two. Other materials, such as ceramic paste, may also be used to print implants. The implants printed using ceramic paste do not dissolve. Instead, the body uses this material to create new bone. This actually speeds up the process of the body’s regeneration.
The 3DBioplotter also prints hydrogels – such as collagen or alginate. These materials can have human cells actually added to them. Thus human cells may be printed directly with this machine.
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has thrilled us at Adafruit with its passion and dedication to making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed that our community integrating electronics projects into 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you take considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless EL Wire and LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you have a cool project you’ve made that joins the traditions of 3D printing and electronics, be sure to send it in to be featured here!
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In preparation for Christmas, I read Stephen Nissenbaum's 1998 "The Battle for Christmas," a thorough exploration of this season.
The book's title will be deceiving, because it has nothing to do with the recent sacred-vs.-secular Christmas quarrels. Nissenbaum explores the myriad ways that Christmas has evolved in our nation. It turns out we've been jockeying for more than 300 years over what this holiday means.
In Colonial America our faith-filled ancestors banned Christmas altogether, outlawing it in some colonies. Until the 1760s, one could not even find an almanac that would print the word "Christmas" on the date Dec. 25.
This opposition was because Christmas had become a drunken spectacle where gangs of poor young men roamed the streets, making merry and engaging in acts of petty rowdyism, vaguely like today's New Year's Eve. It was customary and permissible for these gangs to knock on doors of strangers to demand gifts. ("So give us some figgy pudding....")
Our nation's first "battle" for Christmas was the movement to domesticate the holiday, a battle that Nissenbaum suggests involved merchants, the middle and upper classes and the church.
Merchants began linking Christmas and the purchase of manufactured gifts as early as the 1830s as society began to stress family celebrations in front of a tree and with Santa visiting every home. In case you think that your complaining will reverse the commercialism of this holiday, according to Nissenbaum that complaint first emerged in the 1830s. Complain if you must, but don't expect results.
Nissenbaum so thoroughly explores Clement Moore's "'Twas the Night before Christmas" that one learns why Saint Nick touches the side of his nose and why his pipe is a short one. Nissenbaum contends that the ascendance of Santa Claus, the emergence of the Christmas tree and even the giving of gifts contribute to this gradual process of making Christmas a less revolutionary, more predictable holiday. He explores Dickens and Scrooge, Christmas parties for poor children and even the complicated master-slave relationship at Christmas leading up to and immediately following the Civil War.
If you prefer to maintain that Christmas was a pure season of private devotion and public worship until Sears, Roebuck, Wal-Mart and the Supreme Court got involved, don't read this book. Ditto if you enjoy lamenting that "They've taken Christmas away from us," Nissenbaum might say that a pure, simple Christmas never existed. Rather it has evolved since the first day the Colonists set foot on our shore, an evolution showing no sign of abating.
Nissenbaum's scholarly, heavily footnoted book is enlightening and readable. But his analysis of Christmas reminds me of a scientist who thoroughly explains the rainbow but never grasps its beauty. And so as this season continues to evolve, I'll enjoy my Christmas tree, sing both "White Christmas" and "Joy to the World," and be grateful again for the mystery of Bethlehem, which properly understood, is the most revolutionary act of history.
Contact columnist minister Creede Hinshaw at Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in Savannah at email@example.com.
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Twenty Ideas for Engaging ProjectsSeptember 12, 2011 | Suzie Boss
The start of the school year offers an ideal time to introduce students to project-based learning. By starting with engaging projects, you'll grab their interest while establishing a solid foundation of important skills, such as knowing how to conduct research, engage experts, and collaborate with peers. In honor of Edutopia's 20th anniversary, here are 20 project ideas to get learning off to a good start.
1. Flat Stanley Refresh: Flat Stanley literacy projects are perennial favorites for inspiring students to communicate and connect, often across great distances. Now Flat Stanley has his own apps for iPhone and iPad, along with new online resources. Project founder Dale Hubert is recently retired from the classroom, but he's still generating fresh ideas to bring learning alive in the "flatlands."
2. PBL is No Accident: In West Virginia, project-based learning has been adopted as a statewide strategy for improving teaching and learning. Teachers don't have to look far to find good project ideas. In this CNN story about the state's educational approach, read about a project that grew out of a fender-bender in a school parking lot. When students were asked to come up with a better design for the lot, they applied their understanding of geometry, civics, law, engineering, and public speaking. Find more good ideas in West Virginia's Teach21 project library.
3. Defy Gravity: Give your students a chance to investigate what happens near zero gravity by challenging them to design an experiment for NASA to conduct at its 2.2 second drop tower in Brookpark, Ohio. Separate NASA programs are offered for middle school and high school. Or, propose a project that may land you a seat on the ultimate roller coaster (aka: the "vomit comet"), NASA aircraft that produces periods of micro and hyper gravity ranging from 0 to 2 g's. Proposal deadline is Sept. 21, and flight week takes place in February 2012.
4. Connect Across Disciplines: When students design and build kinetic sculptures, they expand their understanding of art, history, engineering, language arts, and technology. Get some interdisciplinary project insights from the Edutopia video, Kinetic Conundrum. Click on the accompanying links for more tips about how you can do it, too.
5. Honor Home Languages: English language learners can feel pressured to master English fast, with class time spent correcting errors instead of using language in meaningful ways. Digital IS, a site published by the National Writing Project, shares plans for three projects that take time to honor students' home languages and cultures, engaging them in critical thinking, collaboration, and use of digital tools. Anne Herrington and Charlie Moran curate the project collection, "English Language Learners, Digital Tools, and Authentic Audiences."
6. Rethink Lunch: Make lunch into a learning opportunity with a project that gets students thinking more critically about their mid-day meal. Center for Ecoliteracy offers materials to help you start, including informative including informative essays and downloadable planning guides. Get more ideas from this video about a middle-school nutrition project, "A Healthy School Lunch."
7. Take a Learning Expedition: Expeditionary Learning schools take students on authentic learning expeditions, often in neighborhoods close to home. Check out the gallery for project ideas about everything from the tools people use in their work to memories of the Civil Rights Movement.
8. Find a Pal: If PBL is new to you, consider joining an existing project. You'll benefit from a veteran colleague's insights, and your students will get a chance to collaborate with classmates from other communities or even other countries. Get connected at ePals, a global learning community for educators from more than 200 countries.
9. Get Minds Inquiring: What's under foot? What are things made of? Science projects that emphasize inquiry help students make sense of their world and build a solid foundation for future understanding. The Inquiry Project supports teachers in third to fifth grades as they guide students in hands-on investigations about matter. Students develop the habits of scientists as they make observations, offer predictions, and gather evidence. Companion videos show how scientists use the same methods to explore the world. Connect inquiry activities to longer-term projects, such as creating a classroom museum that showcases students' investigations.
10. Learn through Service: When cases of the West Nile virus were reported in their area, Minnesota students sprang into action with a project that focused on preventing the disease through public education. Their project demonstrates what can happen when service-learning principles are built into PBL. Find more ideas for service-learning projects from the National Youth Leadership Council.
11. Locate Experts: When students are learning through authentic projects, they often need to connect with experts from the world outside the classroom. Find the knowledgeable experts you need for STEM projects through the National Lab Network. It's an online network where K-12 educators can locate experts from the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
12. Build Empathy: Projects that help students see the world from another person's perspective build empathy along with academic outcomes. The Edutopia video, "Give Me Shelter", shows what compassionate learning looks like in action. Click on the companion links for more suggestions about how you can do it, too.
13. Investigate Climate Science: Take students on an investigation of climate science by joining the newest collaborative project hosted by GLOBE, Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment. The Student Climate Research Campaign includes three components: introductory activities to build a foundation of understanding, intensive observing periods when students around the world gather and report data, and research investigations that students design and conduct. Climate project kicks off Sept. 12.
14. Problem-Solvers Unite: Math fairs take mathematics out of the classroom and into the community, where everyone gets a chance to try their hand at problem solving. Galileo Educational Network explains how to host a math fair. In a nutshell, students set up displays of their math problems but not the solutions. Then they entice their parents and invited guests to work on solutions. Make the event even more engaging by inviting mathematicians to respond to students' problems.
15. Harvest Pennies : Can small things really add up to big results? It seems so, based on results of the Penny Harvest. Since the project started in New York in 1991, young philanthropists nationwide have raised and donated more than $8 million to charitable causes, all through penny drives. The project website explains how to organize students in philanthropy roundtables to study community issues and decide which causes they want to support.
16. Gather Stories: Instead of teaching history from textbooks, put students in the role of historian and help them make sense of the past. Learn more about how to plan oral history projects in the Edutopia story, "Living Legends." Teach students about the value of listening by having them gather stories for StoryCorps.
17. Angry Bird Physics: Here's a driving question to kickstart a science project: "What are the laws of physics in Angry Birds world?" Read how physics teachers like Frank Noschese and John Burk are using the web version of the popular mobile game in their classrooms.
18. Place-Based Projects: Make local heritage, landscapes, and culture the jumping-off point for compelling projects. That's the idea behind place-based education, which encourages students to look closely at their communities. Often, they wind up making significant contributions to their communities, as seen in the City of Stories project.
19. News They Can Use: Students don't have to wait until they're grown-ups to start publishing. Student newspapers, radio stations, and other journalism projects give them real-life experiences now. Award-winning journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki outlines the benefits this post on the New York Times Learning Network. Get more ideas about digital-age citizen journalism projects at MediaShift Idea Lab.
20. The Heroes They Know: To get acquainted with students at the start of the year and also introduce students to PBL processes, High Tech High teacher Diana Sanchez asked students to create a visual and textual representation of a hero in their own life. Their black-and-white exhibits were a source of pride to students, as Sanchez explains in her project reflection . Get more ideas from the project gallery at High Tech High, a network of 11 schools in San Diego County that emphasize PBL. To learn more, watch this Edutopia video interview with High Tech High founding principal Larry Rosenstock.
Please tell us about the projects you are planning for this school year. Questions about PBL? Draw on the wisdom of your colleagues by starting discussions or asking for help in the PBL community.
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If farmers are to increase food production and food security, they need better access to agricultural support systems, such as credit, technology, extension services and agricultural education, as well as to the rural organizations that often channel other services. Both men and women smallholders and poor farmers have frequently been cut off from these essential agricultural support systems, which seldom take into account the different responsibilities and needs of men and women farmers. In spite of their enormous potential and their crucial roles in agricultural production, women in particular have insufficient access to production inputs and support services.
This trend underlines the need to implement measures aimed at enhancing the access of small farmers, especially women, to production inputs - particularly since the working environment of development organizations has
changed as a result of market liberalization and a reduced role for the state worldwide. National agricultural extension systems are no exception to this rule, and must respond by making internal and external adjustments. Great attention is required so that the adjustments do not become detrimental to women and men small farmers. For example, FAO's field experiences over the last decade have pointed to the need for extension programmes that are more strategically planned, needs-based, participatory and problem solving.
Women's access to and use of agricultural support systems is also severely limited by the heavy burden on time and energy that results from their triple responsibilities - productive activities (such as work in the fields), reproductive activities (such as child rearing, cooking and household chores) and community management.
In order to improve production, farmers need access to financial capital. Buying seeds, fertilizer and other agricultural inputs often requires short-term loans, which are repaid when the crops are harvested. Installing major improvements, such as irrigation pumps, or acquiring new technology that increases future yields is impossible without access to long-term credit.
Smallholders, particularly women, often face difficulties in obtaining credit. This is a direct consequence of their lacking access to land, participation in development projects and extension programmes and membership in rural organizations, all of which are important channels for obtaining loans and credit information. In several countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where women and men farmers are roughly equal in number, it is estimated that women farmers receive only 10 percent of the loans granted to smallholders and less than 1 percent of the total credit advanced to the agriculture sector.
Credit delivery can be improved by setting up microfinance institutions in rural areas and reorienting the banking system to cater to the needs of small farmers, especially women. The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which first pioneered the microcredit approach in 1976, currently reaches more than 2 million people. Since it was founded, the bank has lent more than US$2.1 billion, most of it in the form of loans of a few hundred dollars for small agriculture, distribution, crafts and trading enterprises. Numerous studies have shown that women are generally more reliable and punctual in repaying their loans than men are.
A programme providing credit and nutrition for women significantly improved both the participating women's incomes and their children's nutritional status. This is the conclusion of a study that examined the impact of a credit and education programme run by the NGO Freedom from Hunger.
Men and women smallholders also suffer financially from limited access to the marketing services that would allow them to turn surplus produce into cash income. Women face particular difficulties because marketing infrastructure and organizations are rarely geared towards either small-scale producers or the crops that women grow. Although women all over the world are active as traders, hawkers and street and market vendors, little has been done to improve transport and market facilities to support this vital economic sector. Even where rural women play an important role in wholesale trade, their full membership in marketing service institutions is still difficult because they may be illiterate or lack independent legal status.
Planning for action
The FAO Gender and Development Plan of Action includes commitments by different Divisions of FAO to increasing the equality of access to a wide range of agricultural support systems, including markets, credit, technology, extension and training.
Rural finance and marketing services
Rural groups and organizations
Agricultural research and technology
Agricultural education and extension
Microcredit and education boost incomes and nutrition
Astudy examined the impact of a microcredit and educational programme implemented by the NGO Freedom from Hunger. In Ghanaian villages, women who participated in the programme used microcredit loans to launch income-generating activities such as preparing and selling palm oil, fish and cooked foods. They increased their non-farm income by $36 per month, twice as much as the women who had not taken part in the programme. Through the programme's educational component, participating women also gained valuable knowledge about their children's nutrition and heath needs.
Membership of cooperatives, farmers' organizations, trade unions and other organizations represents one of the best ways for rural men and women to gain access to resources, opportunities and decision-making. Cooperatives and farmers' associations generally make it possible for farmers to share the costs and rewards of services that they could not afford on their own. They can be an invaluable channel for obtaining technology, information, training and credit. They can also give smallholders a much louder voice in local and national decision-making. By instituting common food processing, storage and marketing activities, organizations can increase the exchange of goods and services and the access to national and regional markets.
Participation in such organizations can be especially important to smallholders and poor farmers, both men and women. But women are frequently deterred from joining because membership is often restricted to recognized landowners or heads of household. Even when women are responsible for the day-to-day management of both households and holdings, their husbands or other male relatives are often considered the official heads.
In many regions, women farmers' membership of these organizations is restricted by custom. Where they are able to belong to rural organizations, women often do not share equally in either the decision-making or the benefits, and are excluded from leadership positions. Furthermore, their many household chores may make it impossible for them to attend meetings and devote the time that is necessary for full participation. Investment in labour-saving technologies to relieve the burden of women's unpaid productive and reproductive tasks is needed in order to given them more free time.
In recent years there has been some success in reducing the obstacles to women's participation in rural organizations. At the same time, the use and establishment of traditional and new women's groups to promote women's participation in rural development has grown rapidly. However, experience has shown that women's empowerment often requires a step-by-step process to remove the barriers to their membership in organizations that are traditionally dominated by men. Furthermore, it is necessary to give them support, individually or collectively, to enable them to gain the knowledge and self-confidence needed to make choices and take greater control of their lives.
In all regions of the developing world, women typically work far longer hours than men do. Studies in Asia and Africa show that women work as much as 13 extra hours a week. As a result, they may have little available time to seek out support services, and very different priorities for the kind of support required.
Overall, the agricultural research agenda has neglected the needs of smallholders, especially women farmers, and failed to take advantage of their invaluable knowledge about traditional farming methods, indigenous plant and animal varieties and coping techniques for local conditions. Such knowledge could hold the key to developing sustainable approaches that combine modern science with the fruits of centuries of experimentation and adaptation by men and women farmers.
Most research has focused on increasing the yields of commercial crops and staple grains on high-input farms, where high-yielding varieties can be cultivated under optimal conditions. Smallholders can rarely afford these technology «packages», which are also generally ill suited to the climatic and soil conditions in areas where most of the rural poor live. The crops that farmers in such areas rely on and the conditions that they face have not featured prominently in agricultural research. Sorghum and millet, for example, have received very little research attention and funding, despite their high nutritional value and ability to tolerate difficult conditions. Similarly, relatively little research has been devoted to the secondary crops grown by women, which often provide most of their family's nutritional needs.
In addition, agricultural tools and implements are also rarely designed to fit women's physical capabilities or work, so they do not meet women's needs. The impact of new technologies is seldom evaluated from a gender perspective. The introduction of harvesting, threshing and milling machinery, for example, has very little direct effect on yields but eliminates thousands of hours of paid labour. According to one study, if all the farmers in Punjab, India, who cultivate more than 4 ha were to use combine harvesters, they would lose more than 40 million paid working days, without any increase in farm production or cropping intensity. Most of the lost labour and income would be women's.
«Schools where men and women farmers learn how to increase yields and reduce their reliance on pesticides by relying on natural predators.»
Developing technology to meet women's specific needs can yield major gains in food production and food security. In Ghana, for example, technology was introduced to improve the irrigation of women's off-season crops. Larger and more reliable harvests increased both food and economic security during the periods between major crops. In El Salvador, where women play an extremely important role in agriculture, it is estimated that as many as 60 percent of households are headed by women. One of the major goals of this country's agriculture sector reform was to improve research and extension activities by focusing on the role of women smallholders. To address women farmers' needs, the project promoted women's participation to help guide the research programme at National Agricultural Technology Centre farms.
Farmer field schools in Cambodia
In fields across Cambodia, men and women farmers gather every week to go to school. They are among the 30 000 Cambodian farmers - more than one-third of them women - who have taken part in FAO-supported farmer field schools (FFS). In the schools, farmers observe how crops develop and monitor pests throughout the growing season. They also learn how natural predators, such as wasps and spiders, can help control pests and how the heavy use of pesticides often kills them off, leaving crops even more vulnerable. These schools emphasize the active participation and empowerment of both men and women farmers. In at least six provinces in Cambodia, farmers have formed integrated pest management (IPM) groups after completing their training, and are carrying out further field studies and experiments. More than 300 farmers have completed additional training and are now organizing farmer field schools in their own areas. «;I always knew pesticides were bad for my health,» one participant said, «but now I know for sure.» After completing the school, farmers rely more on cultural practices and natural enemies to control pests, and experience fewer cases of poisoning.
Agricultural extension programmes provide farmers with a lifeline of information about new technologies, plant varieties and market opportunities. In almost all countries, however, the agricultural extension system fails to reach women farmers effectively. Among other reasons, this is because they are excluded from rural organizations. An FAO survey showed that, worldwide, female farmers receive only 5 percent of all agricultural extension services and only 15 percent of agricultural extension agents are women. In Egypt, where women make up more than half of the agricultural labour force, only 1 percent of extension officers are female.
«An FAO extension project in Honduras that focused on woman-to-woman training boosted both subsistence production and household food security.»
This reflects the lack of information and understanding about the important role played by women. Extension services usually focus on commercial rather than subsistence crops, which are grown mainly by women and which are often the key to household food security. Available data rarely reflect women's responsibility for much of the day-to-day work and decision-making on the family farm. Nor do they recognize the many other important food production and food processing activities that women commonly perform, such as home gardening, tending livestock, gathering fuel or carrying water.
Extension programmes can be tailored to address women's priority needs only when men and women farmers are listened to at the village level and when such methods as participatory rural appraisal are employed. In recent years, a number of countries have launched determined efforts to make their extension services more responsive to women's needs. In the Gambia, for example, the proportion of female agricultural extension workers has increased from 5 percent in 1989 to more than 60 percent today. Growth in the number of female extension workers has been matched by increased attention to women's involvement and priorities. A special effort has been made to encourage women's participation in small ruminant and poultry extension services.
In Nicaragua, efforts to ensure that extension services match client needs - including giving more attention to the diverse needs of men and women farmers - led to increased use of those services, by 600 percent for women and 400 percent for men.
Extension programmes that fail to take women into account also fail to address the improved technology and methods that might yield major gains in productivity and food security. Furthermore, they often schedule training times and locations that make it impossible for women to participate, in addition to existing socio-cultural reasons.
Recommended new approaches include the Strategic Extension Campaign (SEC), which was developed by FAO and introduced in Africa, the Near East, Asia and Latin America. This methodology emphasizes how important it is for field extension workers and small farmers to participate in the strategic planning, systematic management and field implementation of agricultural extension and training programmes. Its extension strategies and messages are specifically developed and tailored to the results of a participatory problem identification and needs assessment.
Training Programme for Women's Incorporation in Rural Development
Several hundred peasant women in Honduras were trained to serve as «food production liaisons». After receiving their training, the liaisons worked with grassroots women's groups. They focused on impoverished rural areas where chronic malnutrition is widespread and 70 percent of all breastfeeding mothers suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Women involved with the project increased the subsistence production of nutritious foods. Credits to develop poultry production proved an effective way of increasing motivation, nutritional levels and incomes. Some of the grassroots women's groups involved with the project sought credit through extension agencies or from the Rotating Fund for Peasant Women. The credit was used to initiate other social and productive projects, including purchasing a motorized maize mill and planting soybeans for milk.
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Let’s start with the understanding that the Federal Trade Commission states that if scrap generated in the manufacturing process is reused for manufacturing new product, it can not be calculated as post-industrial recycled content, as this reuse of scrap is a part of the typical manufacturing process. So your first question when receiving post-industrial recycled content data should be, “How did you make this calculation, and where did the recycled waste come from?”
Stakeholder demand for recycled content in building products has been largely driven by the LEED® rating system, and the points gained by contributing to the recycled content credit. Now, since scrap reused in the manufacturing process can not be calculated, many manufactures play a form of the “shell game”.
If a manufacturer has multiple facilities making products that generate scrap which can be reused in all the manufacturing processes then, to calculate post-industrial recycled content, the scrap is just moved between facilities. Now the scrap is claimed to be diverted from landfill and calculated as recycled content.
Please understand that for a recycling program to work, a manufacturer needs a continuous feedstock of waste material, so some of this moving around of scrap is legitimate. If the manufacturer is playing the shell game just “for the points,” then all that is being done is increased energy use and CO2 emissions... how sustainable is that?
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.forbo-flooring.us/Environment/truth/post-industrial-waste/
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned computer users that e-mails from scam artists pretending to be FBI agents are spreading a computer virus.
The e-mails tell recipients that the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center has monitored their Internet use and found they have accessed illegal Web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and complete a questionnaire.
This is a bogus message. The attachment contains a computer virus. DO NOT OPEN OR LAUNCH THE ATTACHMENT. You should DELETE the e-mail immediately.
As a general rule, if you receive an e-mail that you are not expecting, even if you know the sender, DO NOT OPEN IT OR LAUNCH the attachment and DO NOT FORWARD the message. If you are not sure, contact the sender to verify the e-mail. Otherwise, DELETE the e-mail.
The Information and Network Security team has put in place appropriate protections to prevent the virus from spreading. Current anti-virus definitions detect and block this virus.
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<urn:uuid:12261baa-cafe-4990-9f2a-0930a0b07f91>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.fordforums.com/f126/federal-bureau-investigation-fbi-has-warned-computer-users-e-mails-98372/
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Nearly half of about 67 million Americans with high blood pressure are not effectively treating their condition and face a high risk of a heart attack or stroke, a U.S. health official said on Tuesday.
About 36 million people have uncontrolled high blood pressure, a condition caused when too much force is exerted by blood as it is pumped through the body and moves against vessel walls, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Tuesday.
"The bottom line is ... most of those in this country who have (high blood pressure) don't have their numbers under control, and because of that we have a very high burden of disease," said Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC.
High blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, contributes to nearly 1,000 deaths a day and $131 billion in annual direct healthcare costs, Frieden said.
The condition is the second most serious public health issue. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the country, according to the CDC.
Frieden said patients with high blood pressure are either not receiving a correct combination or dosage of medication or are not keeping up with their medication.
Some doctors are not warning patients who have had multiple readings of high-blood pressure, a problem Frieden said could be solved by better systems to track patients.
Of the 36 million Americans with uncontrolled hypertension, about 14 million were not aware of their condition and about 22 million either chose not to take medication or were on inadequate treatment, according to the report, which surveyed adults between 2003 and 2010.
"I think there's clearly a lot of room for improvement," Frieden said, noting that controlling blood pressure often means taking multiple medications daily for the rest of one's life.
High blood pressure can be prevented through diet, exercise and taking drugs such as beta blockers and ACE inhibitors -- which widen arteries. Lowering blood pressure can cut the risk of stroke, heart attack, heart failure and other conditions.
Risk factors include obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and chronic difficulties such as diabetes, kidney disease and high cholesterol.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/09/05/report-millions-americans-have-uncontrolled-blood-pressure/
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A genome-wide association study appearing in PLOS Genetics that involved thousands of individuals of European ancestry identified five genetic loci that appear to be associated with facial features. Among them: variants in and around genes implicated in prior studies of conditions that are characterized by face and/or skull malformations. The researchers behind the study, members of the International Visible Trait Genetics, or VisiGen, Consortium, argue that the new findings could contribute to what's known about facial evolution and development in humans, while at once laying the foundation for forensic tools for predicting facial features based on DNA alone. For more on this study, see this story from our sister publication GenomeWeb Daily News.
Investigators from the Cleveland Clinic and elsewhere used post-mortem brain samples to look at the epigenetic and transcriptional profiles associated with autism spectrum disorder. As they reported in PLOS One, the researchers relied on arrays and bisulfite sequencing to assess genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation profiles in two brain regions — the cerebellar hemisphere cortex and the Brodmann area 19 occipital cortex — in samples from nine males with idiopathic cases of autism spectrum disorder and nine unaffected male controls in the same age range. Overall brain expression patterns varied from one individual with ASD to the next. But the team did uncover some shared features within the ASD samples, including lower-than-usual expression of genes in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and protein production pathways in the brain samples from individuals with autism and shifts in the expression of certain brain-related genes.
A PLOS Pathogens study of dengue virus by French researchers explores the basis for the pronounced conservation that's been noted in nucleotides found at the ends of the virus' RNA-based genome. Using chemical synthesis experiments, assays, and other analyses, the group determined that the virus, a representative of the Flavivirus genus, relies on an RNA end-repair process that involves the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase produced by a dengue virus gene called NS5. "Our findings provide a direct demonstration of the implication of a viral RNA polymerase in the conservation and repair of genome ends," the study's authors wrote. "Other polymerases from other RNA virus families are likely to employ similar mechanisms."
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<urn:uuid:e52c0e3f-4d18-4b99-91e5-6894e85b12b2>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.genomeweb.com/blog/week-plos-204
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SAN ANGELO, Texas — MOSCOW (AP) The head of Russia's space agency said Tuesday that cosmic radiation was the most likely cause of the failure of a Mars moon probe that crashed to Earth this month, and suggested that a low-quality imported component may have been vulnerable to the radiation. Vladimir Popovkin also said a manned launch to the International Space Station is being postponed from March 30 because of faults found in the Soyuz capsule.
The statements underline an array of trouble that has afflicted the country's vaunted space program in recent months, including the August crash of a supply ship for the space station and last month's crash of a communications satellite.
Since the end of the U.S. space shuttle program last year, Russian craft are the only means to send crew to and from the ISS.
The unmanned Phobos-Ground probe was to have gone to the Mars moon of Phobos, taken soil samples and brought them back. But it became stuck in Earth orbit soon after its launch on Nov. 9. It fell out of orbit on Jan. 15, reportedly off the coast of Chile, but no fragments have been found.
The failure was a severe embarrassment to Russia, and Popovkin initially suggested it could have been due to foreign sabotage.
But on Tuesday he said in televised remarks that an investigation showed the probable cause was "localized influence of heavily radiated space particles."
Popovkin, speaking in the city of Voronezh where the report was presented to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, said two units of the Phobos-Ground probe's onboard computer system went into an energy-saving "restart" mode, apparently due to the radiation, while the craft was in its second orbital circuit.
It was not immediately clear why the units could not be brought out of that mode.
Popovkin said that some microchips used on the craft were imported and possibly of inadequate quality to resist radiation. He did not specify where the chips were manufactured.
Yuri Koptev, a former space agency head who led the Phobos-Ground investigation, said 62 percent of the microchips used in the probe were "industrial" class, a less-sophisticated level than should be used in space flight.
Popovkin said the craft's builder, Moscow-based NPO Lavochkin, should have taken into account the possibility of radiation interfering with the operation and said Lavochkin officials would face punishment for the oversight.
Popovkin later announced that a March 30 planned launch of three astronauts to the space station will be postponed "likely until the end of April" because of problems with the capsule. He did not specify, but the state news agency RIA Novosti cited the director of Russia's cosmonaut-training program as saying leaks had been found in the capsule's seals.
It would be the second significant postponement of a manned Russian launch in the past year. The August crash of the supply ship pushed back a manned launch to the ISS because the booster rocket that failed in the crash was similar to the ones used in manned missions.
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http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/jan/31/1501lt-ap-eu-russia-falling-spacecraft0515-for/
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Take a look at this snapshot from Health Canada's website fact sheet entitled Healthy Lawn Tips.
- Although it may look untidy, leave grass clippings on your lawn when you mow it to provide nutrient recycling.
- Aerate compacted soil in the fall to help oxygen, water and nutrients reach roots.
- Over-seed patchy areas.
- In heavy traffic areas, replace grass with mulch or paving stones.
- Check your lawn for early signs of pests and other problems such as holes caused by small animals digging for insects.
- Set your mower so that your grass is seven to eight cm high to encourage deeper roots and help fend off weeds.
- Water infrequently, but when you do, make sure you allow the water to get deep into the soil (about 1.5 centimetres) to promote deep roots. Over-watering starves the soil of oxygen and invites disease. Apply at least 2.5 centimetres of water. Put a container on your lawn to measure how much you've watered. An empty tuna can is about the right height.
- Maintain good soil with ample depth and organic matter to prevent problems.
- If physical control methods fail and you use a pesticide, be sure the one you pick lists the pest you are trying to control on the label, and follow all the instructions.
More information is available online at www.healthcanada.gc.ca/pmra. Fact sheets include Starting a Lawn, Lawn Maintenance, Life of a Lawn and Common Lawn Problems.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.househunting.ca/Vacation-Homes/Helpful+tips+healthy+grass/6836611/story.html
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Salt Reduction Strategies
Tasting Success with Cutting Salt
Twenty-Five Science Based Strategies & Culinary Insights
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health & The Culinary Institute of America
Table of Contents
What portion size, produce, fresh foods, and healthy fats have to do with sodium reduction
Why a stealth health approach can help everyone cut back on salt
Which foods are highest in sodium, and how to make lower sodium choices
From the farm to the table, there are many ways to boost flavor that are light on salt
Future research can guide the way to compelling reduced sodium flavors
Download a PDF of
Read more about the creation of
The Institute of Medicine’s newly released report, Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States, focuses on big-picture strategies for reining in America’s salt habit. (1) Although the report’s recommendations represent an essential step forward, there are many things that individuals, chefs, and organizations can do right now to reduce sodium.
Consumers can use these tips when they cook at home, shop in the supermarket, or choose a meal at their favorite restaurant. Chefs and product developers can tap these ideas in the professional kitchen. Media representatives, healthcare professionals, and food marketers can mine this list for ways to promote positive and delicious nutrition messages about cutting salt.
Many of these guidelines offer a “stealth health” approach to sodium reduction—ways that sodium can be reduced with no change or minimal change to consumer food experiences or choices. Others suggest ways to rebalance and re-imagine food choices as well as introduce new foods that can easily translate into satisfying meals. These culinary insights are in addition to valuable food science research already underway on the role of salt in foods and salt substitutes. The good news is that most of these guidelines support broader diet recommendations for good health.
No sodium reduction effort will succeed if it undermines the flavor of our foods and the role that food plays in our lives. That’s why we urge a wide-ranging, innovative approach to sodium reduction on the part of all stakeholders, one that puts as much emphasis on culinary insight, taste, and flavor as on the scientific and public health imperatives.
1. Downsize your portions: You’ll scale back the sodium (and the calories).
A good rule of thumb is that the more calories a meal has, the more sodium it has. Two out of three Americans need to lose weight. So skip the supersize. Share a dish when dining out. You can cut your salt—and trim your waist.
Our bodies need more potassium than sodium. But most Americans’ diets are just the opposite, which can contribute to high blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables are naturally low in sodium, and many fruits and vegetables are good sources of potassium. Filling your plate with them will boost your potassium and shift the sodium-potassium balance in your favor. And chefs and product developers would do well to think about produce first when designing menus. The next time you are tempted to say, “I won’t like lower sodium foods” think of biting into a crunchy apple, juicy orange, or sweet strawberry. Not missing the sodium?
3. Get fresh: Choose unprocessed and minimally processed foods.
Processed foods and prepared foods are the greatest sources of sodium in the American diet (75 percent by some estimates). By choosing fresh foods, you can decide how much or how little salt to add. Processed, cured meats typically have much more sodium than fresh meats, and canned vegetables usually have more sodium than fresh vegetables. Going easy on processed foods makes sense for general good health, as processing often leads to a loss of nutrients and other benefits of whole or semi-intact foods.
4. Embrace healthy fats and oils: A savory strategy to lower sodium levels.
Unfortunately, the big low-fat and no-fat product push in the 1990’s wasn’t rooted in sound science. Many well-meaning product developers cut both the good and bad fats out of formulations, and in order to maintain consumer acceptance of their products, they were forced to increase levels of sugar and sodium. So breathe easy, and skip most fat-free salad dressings and other similar products, and you’ll be doing your blood pressure a favor. One more good news tip: Fat in the diet doesn’t make you fat! Extensive research now confirms that low-fat diets are no more effective in weight loss than moderate- to high-fat diets. Rather, it’s all about total calories and energy balance. So embrace healthy fat: It might be just the ticket to make produce-centric (and sodium-reduced) cooking more appealing. For recipes that focus on healthy fat, try:
5. Stealth health: The most delicious approach to sodium reduction.
For many foods and preparations, the average person can’t detect moderate to substantial differences in sodium levels, including reductions of up to as much as 25 percent. That’s great news. In fact, many food manufacturers and restaurant companies have already made or are in the process of making substantial cuts in sodium—some all at once and some over time—that their customers will not be able to detect.
6. Retrain your taste buds: You can learn to savor foods with less salt.
Studies have found that we can shift our sense of taste to enjoy foods with lower levels of sodium. One key to success: Make the changes gradually and consistently over a period of time, rather than trying to cut back by a large amount all at once (unless of course you find that an immediate 25 percent reduction in sodium doesn’t undermine your enjoyment of a particular food). Try this trick: Combine a reduced sodium version of a favorite product (e.g., vegetable soup) with a regular version in proportions that gradually favor the reduced sodium version. As time goes on, you won’t miss the salt.
7. Try a little romance: Sea salt and other secrets of the healthy kitchen.
Most sea salt has about the same level of sodium as other salts, but who doesn’t perk up with the mention of sea salt? It sounds like your favorite chef has taken charge of your dinner. You don’t need to spend the money on sea salt, just remember that we eat with our eyes and ears, not just our mouths—and we make decisions about how much we are likely to enjoy a given food long before it gets to our mouths. So instead of calling something “low sodium,” try language like “with a touch of sea salt,” “citrus-infused” or “garlic-scented,” and you’ll likely entice more people to taste and enjoy reduced sodium dishes. Finally, for those who think “low sodium” is the exact opposite of a compelling, positive message, remember that there is a big difference between well-prepared low-sodium foods and badly executed low-sodium foods. Bad cooking is just bad cooking, independent of sodium levels.
8. Target high-volume sodium sources: Prioritize your efforts.
Know which ingredients and individual foods are high in sodium, and eat them sparingly. Understand which categories of foods contribute the most sodium to our diets through repeated daily and weekly consumption. Salt is ubiquitous in the American diet, but this top 10 list of food sources of sodium in the U.S. diet is a good place to focus. The list is based on the combination of each item’s sodium content and the frequency of consumption. (2) Choose carefully when buying foods in these categories and/or eat less of these items:
- Meat pizza
- White bread
- Processed cheese
- Hot dogs
- Spaghetti with sauce
- Cooked rice
- White rolls
- Flour tortillas
9. Scan the label: Look for foods with less than 300 milligrams of sodium per serving.
Canned, boxed, frozen, and prepared foods can be high in sodium. Check the label for sodium amounts and choose foods that have less than 300 milligrams per serving. But pay attention to serving sizes, as they are often unrealistically small. A good rule of thumb for label reading is to look for no more than one milligram of sodium per one calorie of food. You may be surprised to find foods that are high in sodium but that don’t list “salt” in the ingredients. That’s because there are other forms of sodium used in food processing, and these all contribute to the total amount of sodium listed in the Nutrition Facts. Examples of these ingredients include monosodium glutamate, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium alginate.
10. Compare, compare, compare: Sodium levels vary widely for the same or similar grocery items.
Compare brands of processed food, including breads, cured meats, cheeses, snack foods, and other foods, choosing those with the lowest levels of sodium that still taste good. You’ll find that there’s a surprising degree of variation from brand to brand, since some food manufacturers have already made great strides toward cutting the sodium levels in their products—and others never added as much sodium in the first place.
11. Watch out for hidden sodium: Looks—and taste—can be deceiving.
“Fresh” and “natural” meats and poultry may be injected with salt solutions as part of their processing, and manufacturers are not required to list the sodium content on the label. The best way to find out whether your favorite brand has been treated with a salt solution is to ask the grocer or butcher, or to call the toll-free consumer hotline on the product’s label. Some foods that are high in sodium may not taste especially salty, such as breakfast cereals, bakery muffins, energy drinks, and sports drinks.
12. Scan the menu, speak to your server: Seek low-salt menu options when dining out.
At the upper end of the spectrum, some chain restaurant and fast-food meals can top 5,000–6,000 milligrams of sodium per serving. It is common to find sandwiches and fast-food entrées with 2,000–2,500 milligrams of sodium per serving—as much as or more than a day’s recommended sodium intake. With foodservice (or food away from home) now accounting for nearly 50 percent of the consumer food dollar, both foodservice and food manufacturing—together with consumers and home cooks—need to be part of the solution to the sodium reduction challenge. Some tips for consumers: Sodium levels can vary widely from one dish to another and from one restaurant to another. Check restaurant websites for sodium information before you head out, or ask your server to steer you to low-salt choices. Save high-salt choices for very limited special occasions. Increasingly, chain restaurants are responding to calls for sodium reduction, so watch for news about such initiatives by your favorite restaurant group.
13. Farming for flavor: A new health imperative.
We should recognize that the national conversation about salt and sodium should not be just about salty taste and sodium reduction, but about flavor in our foods in general. For much of the 20th century, our national food and agricultural focus has been on quantity and value—and quality often as a function of consistency, appearance, safety, convenience, and shelf life. If natural flavor sometimes suffered, there was always fat (often saturated fats and trans fats), sugar, and salt to take up the slack—all high-impact, low-cost flavor enhancers that most people love. But at a time when we have “over-delivered” on the promise of affordable calories, and both salt and sugar (and all refined carbohydrates) are turning out to have serious negative health consequences, we need to refocus our attention on enhancing natural flavors. As a practical matter, this means growing more flavorful tomatoes at the same time we try to reduce the sodium in tomato soup.
14. Know your seasons, and, even better, your local farmer.
Shop for raw ingredients with maximum natural flavor, thereby avoiding the need to add as much (if any) sodium. Seek out peak-of-season produce from farmers’ markets and your local supermarket.
One of the easiest ways to reduce the need for added salt is through the use of ingredients such as spices, dried and fresh herbs, roots (such as garlic and ginger), citrus, vinegars, and wine. From black pepper, cinnamon and turmeric to fresh basil, chile peppers and lemon juice, these flavor enhancers create excitement on the palate—and can do it with less sodium.
16. Go nuts for healthy fats in the kitchen.
As chefs and home cooks know, fat is a great carrier and enhancer of flavor. Using the right healthy fats—from roasted nuts and avocados to olive, canola, soybean, and other oils—can help make up for any flavor loss from using less salt. Some healthy fats contribute their own flavors (think peanut butter and extra virgin olive oil), while other fats help to juice up flavor in pan searing and frying. For creative cooks, roasted nuts ground with spices extend and leverage small amounts of salt, such as in the Middle Eastern spice mixture.
Umami (pronounced oo-MAH-me), or savoriness, is the so-called “fifth taste” that in recent years sensory scientists have brought into the mainstream of academic research. Foods that are naturally high in a compound called “L-glutamate” trigger our “umami” taste receptors. Cooked chicken, fish, beef, and soybeans are naturally high in umami, as are mushrooms, tomatoes, seaweed, carrots, and Chinese cabbage. Incorporating these foods into meals can add a delicious depth of flavor without adding salt. Some foods that are high in umami are also high in sodium, including soy sauce, fish sauce, aged cheeses, miso, and anchovy paste. The cook’s best strategy: Use these ingredients in small amounts instead of adding salt, reducing the overall sodium in the dish. Check out these two recipes from the Culinary Institute of America that boost “umami”:
Take the time to learn some simple cooking techniques that can make your cooking less reliant on sodium. Searing and sautéing foods in a pan builds flavor (try searing umami-rich mushrooms in a hot pan with oil, and now you have a double flavor-building impact!). Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of many vegetables and the savoriness of fish and chicken. Steaming and microwaving tend to dilute flavors; perk up steamed dishes with a finishing drizzle of flavorful oil and a squeeze of citrus.
19. Wait! Be careful how you spend that sodium budget.
Save your “sodium budget” to enhance the flavors of produce, whole grains, nuts and legumes, and other healthy ingredients versus “overspending” it on salty snacks, heavily processed food, high-sodium fast foods, and other foods that we should be consuming in smaller amounts. We all love treats, and most of us have to eat on the run occasionally (that’s why they call it “fast food”). But if we do this too often in a way that “blows” our sodium budget, we come up short without enough tools to enhance the flavors of healthy, everyday cooking. The best intentions to reduce sodium are definitely going to run aground when too many high-sodium ingredients are aggregated in the same dish. Rethink that double bacon cheeseburger or the breakfast special with ham and sausage.
Pickles, capers, cured meats, grated aged cheeses, mustard, catsup, soy sauce, hot sauce, smoked fish, and other condiments and specialty foods all bring added satisfaction to the table. There is no need to give up condiments, which in many cases represent culinary traditions that are centuries old. In some cases, reduced sodium versions of these are now available; in other cases, we can just use them more sparingly.
21. Go global: Discover a world of ideas for flavor development.
Look to global culinary traditions—from Europe and the Mediterranean, Latin America, Asia and Africa—for healthy ideas to transform fruits, vegetables, and other healthy ingredients into exciting flavors and meals. Because many of these world culinary traditions build up flavor in such novel, complex, and intriguing ways, cooks are under less pressure to use as much sodium. Sometimes these flavors will appear in the U.S. or their native countries in higher sodium versions, but the culinary ideas for lower sodium strategies are still there, embedded in traditional cultural approaches to flavor development that go way beyond fat, salt, and sugar (our all-too-frequent default flavor enhancers in the U.S.). Two international recipe suggestions are:
Avoid “double salting” your foods when cooking, and look for ways to pair salted flavors with unsalted or under-salted foods, especially fresh produce. If you are adding a little cheese to your salad, you don’t need much or any salt in your dressing. If you are adding a ham bone to a soup pot, lighten up on the sodium for the rest of the soup. In a sandwich, try adding sliced cucumber instead of pickles. A pot of brown rice or whole grain pasta doesn’t need to be salted if you are serving it with other adequately seasoned items or sauces. And an adequately seasoned crust or condiment may lessen the need for salting the rest of the dish.
23. Rinse, wash, and dilute: You can easily cut some of the excess sodium in processed foods with no loss of flavor.
Draining and rinsing canned foods can dramatically cut their sodium levels—in the case of canned beans, cooks can cut 40 percent of the sodium with this trick. When making soup, dilute reduced sodium chicken broth with water or wine instead of using it full strength, and float in some additional vegetables and herbs.
24. Whole grains: Beyond bread and sandwiches.
Collectively, because we eat so much of it, bread is one of the largest contributors of sodium to our diets. Even whole grain bread, while a healthier choice than white, can contain considerable sodium. But only part of the sodium in bread is for taste: Much of it is used to help the bread-making process and preserve the final results. You can skip that extra salt when you use these marvelous whole grains by themselves. Try a Mediterranean-inspired whole grain salad with chopped vegetables, nuts, and legumes, perhaps a small amount of cheese, herbs and spices, and healthy oils and vinegar or citrus. You can enjoy many of the same flavors you love in a sandwich, but in a delicious new form that has much less sodium. For breakfast, cook up steel cut oats, farro, or other intact whole grains with a generous amount of fresh or dried fruit, and you can skip the toast (and the extra sodium).
25. Kick the “auto-salt” habit: Taste before you salt.
Too many of us have the habit of reaching for the salt shaker as soon as our plates are put in front of us. Try taking the salt shaker off the table and making it available “upon request only.” Always, always taste your food before you salt: Maybe you don’t need the extra sodium. And in the kitchen, add salt late in the cooking process. Foods release their flavors (and salt, in the case of salted ingredients) during the cooking process, and “palate fatigue” on the part of the cook can cause over-salting if this is undertaken too early.
Given how vital sodium reduction is, and how embedded sodium is in our food supply, culinary techniques, flavor strategies, manufacturing methods, and marketing assumptions, it is essential that we conduct additional research to shed more light on which sodium reduction strategies are most effective. The challenges here are far more complex than they were for trans fats, which are more easily isolated and replaced in the food supply. In addition to food science and engineering fixes to the high-sodium problem, we need to engage chefs, menu developers, consumer opinion researchers, and a wide range of flavor experts in developing and pursuing key research questions. With the benefit of this research, we will be better positioned to create reduced sodium flavors and food choices that consumers find not just acceptable, but compelling.
1. Institute of Medicine.. April 20, 2010.
2. Grocery Manufacturers Association.. Washington, D.C., 2008.
© The President and Fellows of Harvard College and The Culinary Institute of America
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Hands on activityThe English designer William Morris was influenced by Indian patterns when he designed this block printed cotton fabric in 1883. Other British designers used Indian patterns, such as 'Paisley'. Using factories, British cloth makers were able to make cheaper fabrics and sell it in India in Victorian times. Indian weavers spun, wove and decorated their cloth in their own homes and this made it more expensive, so many of them went out of business. Have a look at the images below. They show some designs, cloth printing and the blocks used to print cloths.
You would need to print with your block thousands of time to decorate a large piece of cloth by hand. You can make a printing block using a potato - it's much easier to carve than wood!
You will need:
a big potato
paper for your pattern
a small knife with a pointed end or a scalpel
fabric paints or dyes - use indigo, turmeric or henna if you want to make authentic Indian colours
paper plates for mixing colours
1. Cut your potato in half and leave it to dry for a few hours. If you want, you can slice off the edges to make a square, which will be easier to line up when you print. You can also use a polystyrene ceiling tile, with the pattern drawn into it. You can buy real wood printing blocks in some Indian shops if you want to print from wood.
2. Design your printing block pattern on thin white paper, filling in the areas to be cut out. Remember to make the pattern no larger than the potato. Cut the paper 1 centimetre bigger than the design.
3. Tape your paper design onto the dry potato.
4. Get an adult to help with this part. Using the sharp knife or scalpel, cut out your design.
5. Mix your dyes or fabric paints on the paper plate. If you are using an Indian dye such as turmeric make it into quite a thick paste.
6. Paint the dye onto your potato block, or press the block into the dye on the plate.
7. Practice printing the block on some scrap paper before you try it on the fabric.
8. Print the pattern onto the fabric. It looks best when you print repeated patterns, or try different colours next to each other. Keep the patterns in line using a long ruler.
9. Leave the fabric to dry.
Need some inspiration?
Have a look at the some Victorian paisley patterns.
You can have a go at a block printing activity in this Museum Open Learning Initiative activity.
Wooden blocks are available ready made from Parrotfish.
Have a look at some William Morris designs and download some wallpaper.
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Scientists have revealed that new treatments for the incurable nerve disease known as Lou Gehrig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) could be developed via a long-used anti-cancer drug.
Their research showing how the drug prevents clumping of an enzyme linked to ALS appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Lucia Banci, Ivano Bertini and colleagues explain that ALS causes a progressive loss of muscle control as the nerves that control body movements wither and die. Patients become weak and have difficulty swallowing and breathing, and most die within three to five years of diagnosis. Although some ALS cases are hereditary and run in families, about 90 percent are "sporadic," with the cause unknown. Some research links sporadic ALS to clumping of an antioxidant enzyme called hSOD1. The authors explored whether cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug used since the 1960s that is known to interact with some of the enzyme's amino acids, has any effect on hSOD1 clusters.
The scientists found that in laboratory tests, the anti-cancer drug cisplatin bound readily to the enzyme, preventing hSOD1 from aggregating and dissolving existing bunches. Cisplatin targets sites that can form bonds between hSOD1 after the enzyme loses the atom of copper it normally carries. The scientists note that cisplatin does not prevent the enzyme from performing its normal functions. "From this work it appears that cisplatin is a promising lead compound for the rational design of ALS treatments," the authors say.
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Air pollution health alert and advisory issued through Wednesday, March 10
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air pollution health ALERT for today and tomorrow, March 8 and 9 and an air pollution health ADVISORY for Wednesday, March 10 for the Twin Cities and Rochester area. The Air Quality Index values (AQI) in the Twin Cities exceeds the level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Dense fog overnight, which aids in fine particle production, and calm winds, have allowed fine particle concentrations to build to levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Fine particle levels are expected to gradually fall this afternoon as the fog dissipates. However, calm winds and high relative humidity will continue to trap pollutants, keeping air quality conditions unhealthy for sensitive groups. Weather conditions are supposed to improve the air quality to good AQI levels by Thursday, March 11.
Those who have respiratory or cardiovascular problems, young children, the elderly, and individuals whom are physically active are considered especially sensitive to elevated levels of air pollution. Be prepared to postpone or reduce vigorous activity. Ozone and fine particles can be drawn deeply into the lungs, so reduce activities that lead to deep or accelerated breathing. Even individuals that are otherwise healthy may experience health effects when air pollutant levels increase.
How you can help:
Residents can take simple steps to help reduce emissions that create smog. Motor vehicle emissions contribute to fine particle pollution. To lower levels of air pollution, the MPCA is urging residents to use alternate modes of transportation such as mass transit, car pools, biking and walking to work or shop.
Other measures that will help reduce emissions on days when the Index reaches 100 and above include:
1. Limit driving - share a ride to work and postpone errands until the next day.
2. Don’t idle your vehicle for more than three minutes**
3. Refuel your vehicle after 6 p.m.
4. Leave your car at home and walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation whenever you can.
5. Postpone using other gasoline-powered engines, like garden and recreational equipment.
6. Postpone indoor and outdoor recreational fires.
7. To reduce the demand on power plants, turn off as many electric items as possible.
8. If you fall in the sensitive group category, arrange to work indoors for the day.
**The City of Minneapolis approved limits on vehicle idling that aim to reduce air pollution in Minneapolis. The ordinance, which was passed in 2008, limits most vehicle idling to three minutes, except in traffic. Reducing vehicle idling in Minneapolis translates into less air pollution, protecting the public health and the environment and saving money in fuel. Vehicle motors release particulate matter, dirt, nitrous oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air.
Published Mar. 8, 2010
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One possible risk factor for tuberculosis is diabetes, a condition characterized by high blood sugar levels and long-term complications involving the circulation, eyes and kidneys, and the body’s ability to fight infection. Active tuberculosis can be cured by taking a combination of several antibiotics every day for at least six months, and current control efforts [...]
Pickled dills in plastic? Turmeric is the key to freshness. Who knew that a spice used from ancient times as a coloring agent in foods could also keep plastic-packaged dill pickles fresh? Unlike glass containers, plastic jars or pouches “breathe,” allowing oxygen and other gases to seep inside over time. This can eventually lead to [...]
Scientists have found that a modified whey protein prevents breast cancer in some laboratory rats. It’s an important medical discovery, considering that 180,000 U.S. women develop breast cancer each year, and 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer over her lifetime. Breast cancer is a disease where a mutant cell in the breast forms [...]
A study by researchers at the University of Southampton has shown evidence of increased levels of hyperactivity in young children consuming mixtures of some artificial food colours (dyes) and the preservative sodium benzoate. The possibility of food colours [dyes] and preservatives affecting children’s behaviour has long been an unresolved question for parents. This significant new [...]
Since the discovery of leptin in 1994, many have hoped that the hormone would be a promising weight-loss treatment for humans. Leptin acts as a signal to help the body decide when it has eaten enough food to feel full. The amount of leptin in the blood has been directly linked to body fat.
The richest food sources of potassium are fruits and vegetables. People who eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables have a high potassium intake (8-11 grams/day). (National Academies Press; 2004:173-246). Listed below are some food sources high in potassium from the USDA National Nutrient Database. Note the potassium content in bananas compared with tomato products. [...]
Study shows substantial improvement in autism symptoms with early intervention treatment. Intensive intervention given to toddlers with autism as young as three years old can significantly raise IQ levels, potentially allowing them to benefit from mainstream education, new research has revealed. Researchers at the University of Southampton, led by Professor Bob Remington of the School [...]
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease with three diet-associated aspects. One is elevated resting energy expenditure. Another is elevated whole-body protein catabolism – a destructive form of muscle metabolism that translates to muscle wasting. And yet another is low body cell mass, which leads to increased fat mass. For some people, the benefits of [...]
Scientists at the University of Southampton, funded by the UK’s leading dementia research charity, the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, are a step closer to understanding why proteins such as ‘amyloid’ clog-up the brain in Alzheimer’s disease.
It has been widely reported that drugs that lower cholesterol may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The role of cholesterol in Alzheimer’s disease is attracting increasing attention from researchers and there are conflicting messages coming form a great deal of reports. Despite the fact that wide-spread opinion about high levels of cholesterol still remains [...]
Natural food may be one of the natural remedies for gout and arthritis pain relief. A study suggests that natural compounds in cherries may reduce painful arthritis inflammation. Cherries already have a reputation for fighting inflammation. So what’s new about the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study carried out by ARS scientists and their university colleagues. [...]
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a treatment program for prevention of relapses in depression and the treatment of anxiety disorders. Is MBCT an acceptable intervention to patients with depression and anxiety? The course exercises There was a wide range of views on the course exercises, in particular the body-scan and walking meditation. While some [...]
More fat in the diet decreases leptin levels while a diet higher in carbohydrates increases leptin levels according to a study. Leptin, made by the body’s fat cells, is thought to help contribute to satiety, a feeling of fullness.
An upcoming study should help reveal how two kinds of sugars in our foods, glucose and fructose, affect the body’s production of leptin and insulin. Agricultural Research Service chemist Nancy L. Keim, Peter J. Havel and Craig H. Warden, a genetics and pediatrics researcher at U.C. Davis, are collaborating in this leptin and insulin investigation. [...]
ARS scientists and colleagues have isolated and characterized several polyphenolic polymer compounds from cinnamon bark that could one day become natural ingredients in products aimed at lowering blood sugar levels. The newly identified chemical structures were recently named in a patent application and described in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. ARS chemist Richard [...]
Several clinical studies have shown that plant stanol esters are effective agents that lower cholesterol. The ability to lower cholesterol with dietary plant stanol ester has been shown to be sustained for periods up to 12 months, but how soon the full cholesterol lowering effect of plant stanol esters can be obtained, is still unclear. [...]
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