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The Waste Land
The Waste Land
by T.S. Eliot
A Game of Chess Summary
Lines 77-84
The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of the sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
 - "A Game of Chess" opens with a description of a woman sitting inside a really expensive room. The "burnished throne" in line 77 is a reference to Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, which heightens the queen-like sense of the room the speaker is describing to you.
 - Line 78 mentions marble, line 79 gives us "fruited vines," line 80 describes a Cupidon (or one of those little cherub guys), and 82 talks about "sevenbranched candelabra," or a candle holder with seven holes to fit candles. Finally, the mention of "the glitter of her jewels" (84) fills out this description of luxury that seems like it could come out of an ancient Greek play. This lady's living the life. We'll see how long that lasts.
 - Also, Eliot chooses to open this section of the poem with unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, which is a pretty classic, common meter in English poetry—recognizable enough to seem stable and easy to follow.
 - It's only later in "A Game of Chess" that this fragile sense of order starts to break down. Which makes sense, because society's undergoing a bit of cultural and spiritual breakdown in the modern world. Or at least that's Eliot's take.
Lines 85-93
From satin cases poured in rich profusion.
In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
Unguent, powdered or liquid—troubled, confused
And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air
That freshened from the window, these ascended
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring a pattern on the coffered ceiling.
 - These lines continue the description of the lavish room, telling us that stinky perfumes are oozing from vials and up to the ceiling (laquearia refers to a fancy, paneled ceiling. Yeah, we watch HGTV).
 - We don't know about you, but we're starting to notice that everything sounds kind of fake and tawdry, too: "In vials of ivory and coloured glass / Unstoppered, lurked their strange synthetic perfumes, / Unguent, powdered, or liquid" (86-88).
 - Yeah, we don't like the word unguent, either. But it's the word "synthetic" that especially seems to point to the unnaturalness of modern chemicals and even modern beauty.
 - When the speaker suggests that the smell of these things "drowned the sense of odours" (89), it could mean that modern products are just too much sometimes, too overwhelming. You know what we're talking about: haven't you ever been stuck in an elevator with a dude who's wearing too much cologne?
Lines 94-96
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,
In which sad light a carvèd dolphin swam.
 - The speaker follows the smoke from the candles to the room's ceiling, and find that it is made of "sea-wood fed with copper" (94), which makes it burn green and orange. As weird as it sounds, in the wayback days, a lot of ceilings were copper, so the image isn't all that strange.
 - The speaker finds that in the room's "sad light a carvèd dolphin swam" (96). This line really shows how the room has taken the image of something natural and vibrant—a dolphin—and turned it into a dead carving. It's like the room wants to remind everyone of nature (it's trying really hard!), but it can only do this in a superficial way, not, ahem, unlike the modern world.
Lines 97-103
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
"Jug Jug" to dirty ears.
 - These lines describe some sort of painting or tapestry that's on the wall of the lavish room, which depicts the transformation of the mythical heroine Philomela into a nightingale, which takes place in a "sylvan scene." That phrase is an allusion to John Milton's Paradise Lost, where he uses the phrase in Book IV, line 140.
 - The transformation of whom into what? Here's the scoop:
 - The myth of Philomela, which is featured in the poetic Metamorphoses written by the Roman named Ovid (just one name, kind of like Cher) around the time of Christ, tells the story of Philomela, who was raped by her sister's husband, King Tereus. He then cut out her tongue so she wouldn't tell on him (yes, those ancient Greeks and Romans loved their gruesome stories).
 - As the story goes, Philomela managed to tell her sister the truth by weaving her story into a tapestry. Then the two of them iced Tereus' son and fed the boy to Tereus without the king knowing. After Tereus found out, Philomela escaped by transforming into a nightingale, which is a handy trick when you're in a bind.
 - As these lines suggest, we can still hear Philomela's voice in the songs of nightingales, but because we don't study classical stories anymore, this song just sounds like "'Jug Jug' to dirty ears" (103), a.k.a. uneducated ones.
Lines 104-110
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
Footsteps shuffled on the stair.
Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair
Spread out in fiery points
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.
 - When the poem speaks about "other withered stumps of time" (104), it's probably talking about the withered stump that was left after Tereus cut out Philomela's tongue. Much like Philomela, modern people don't know how to truly express themselves in beautiful ways, so we're all dumbly silent in our own way.
 - Or you might read it saying that these tapestries are like fragments, or "withered stumps" from the past that are "told upon the walls."
 - Whatever the case, the figures in these tapestries are leering at the lady sitting on her throne. They're surrounding her. Eliot uses personification in these lines to describe how from all around the tapestry on the wall, other objects and carvings "Lea[n] out," meaning that other stories and artifacts from our past are just dying to be heard. Too bad we don't have the classic education to hear or understand them.
 - The scene concludes with an image of the woman of the room brushing her hair into "fiery points," which seem to have something to say. They "glowed into words" after all. But then they're still, so whatever story they had to tell, we're not going to hear it, because someone's coming on the stairs.
Lines 111-114
Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak.
 What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?
I never know what you are thinking. Think."
 - Hush up, the lady's talkin'. She is clearly not happy in this room. In fact, she kind of sounds like a neurotic crazy lady as she frantically questions whomever she's speaking to.
 - Formally, here's where the structured iambics of "A Game of Chess" really start to go off the rails, which makes sense. It's not a stretch to say that this kind of neurotic behavior is way more common in modern times than it was in the past, as far as Eliot's concerned, and that neurotic behavior is reflected in the off-kilter meter of these lines.
 - In a formal way, you can even say the structure of the poem experiences a breakdown the same way the character speaking seems to have a mental breakdown. Without tradition to help us structure our lives in meaningful ways, there's nothing to save us from mental and emotional collapse, which seems to be happening to the speaker in this instance.
Lines 115-116
 I think we are in rats' alley
Where the dead men lost their bones.
 - When the speaker suddenly says, "I think we are in rats' alley," he might be referring to one of the awful trenches that soldiers


text:
Start-up Costs and The Capital Structure of Young Firms
SpeakerGuillaume Vuillemey (HEC Paris)
LocationTinbergen Institute (Gustav Mahlerplein 117), Room 1.01
Date and time
October 16, 2019
12:45 - 14:00
We show that start-up costs are a prime determinant of the capital structure of young firms. First, we document novel facts. While they are in principle more financially constrained, young firms exhibit higher leverage and raise longer-maturity debt than old firms. This holds true both across and within firms. Second, we show theoretically that fixed start-up costs can explain with these facts. Third, we estimate start-up costs at the industry-level and test novel predictions from the model in a large sample of newly-created French firms. Fourth, we use a quasi-natural experiment to study the real implications of start-up costs. Upon a negative shock to banks, there is lower firm creation in industries with higher start-up costs. Thus, we highlight a new source of heterogeneity in the transmission of financial shocks, which can help to explain slow recoveries.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
and lasts longer. Examine the craftsmanship. What type of materials were used? Is it missing pieces or parts? High-quality items, such as officially licensed products that have to pass strict quality control standards, are priced higher.
- What is its condition? Don't confuse this with "quality". Quality is how well an item was initially made. Alternatively, "condition" is how an item has aged. First, check the mechanics (i.e. does it still work; is the cord still intact). Secondly, see if there any parts/pieces missing. Thirdly, Examine its physical appearance. Is the paint original, is it chipped, scratched, or faded? Fourthly, find out if it is still in the original packaging and determine the condition of the packaging? The better the item's condition (and its packaging), the higher the value. Please note, however, that with respect to certain antiques (mainly furniture), cleaning or restoration may decrease the value.Collectors usually convey an item's condition based on a grading system specific to its category (.i.e. coins have their own grading system). However, there are some general terms that can be applied to items in every industry. They are:
- M (Mint): never used; in perfect condition.
- MIB (Mint-in-box): never used; in perfect condition; in its original packaging complete with instructions and attachments (i.e. tags).
- MNB (Mint No Box): in perfect condition but not in original packaging.
- NM (Near Mint): slightly less than perfect; used but looks new.
- HTF (Hard to Find): rare.
- EX (Excellent): barely used; no damage; minor signs of wear but hardly noticeable.
- VG (Very Good): looks very good; has minor defects (i.e. chip or light color fading).
- G (Good): used with defects; has medium defects (i.e. color loss, chips, cracks, tears, missing parts, dents, abrasions).
- P (Poor): used heavily; severely damaged; beyond repair.
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We hope you found this article interesting. Now that you know more about Valuable Collector Items you are ready to get a collection of your own going. Start by visiting our collectible shopping page.
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ing his own selfish goals. During the final arc, it is revealed he is an entity created by the merge of Thief King Bakura (盗賊王バクラ Tōzokuō Bakura?)'s soul and the soul of the dark god Zorc Necrophades. In the anime, it's said that the spirit is just Zorc Necrophades entirely.
Maximillion Pegasus[edit]
Maximillion J. Pegasus, known in Japanese versions as Pegasus J. Crawford (ペガサス・ジェイ・クロフォード Pegasasu Jei Kurofōdo?), is the eccentric American Chairman of Industrial Illusions (shortened to I²) and the creator of the game Duel Monsters (Magic & Wizards (Ｍ＆Ｗ(マジックアンドウィザーズ) Majikku ando Wizāzu?) in the Japanese manga). He is the wielder of the Millennium Eye (千年眼, ミレニアムアイ Sennen Gan, Mireniamu Ai?). In the original manga, it's his story about meeting Shadi and the supposed "evil intelligence" of the Millennium Items that prompts Dark Yugi's search for the answer of who he is and where he came from. During his final Shadow Game with Yugi/Dark Yugi, he tells them of his discovery of an ancient Egyptian Shadow Game during his travels in the Valley of the Kings, which inspired his creation of Duel Monsters and the creation of card games in general, such as tarot cards. In the anime, as the creator of the card game Duel Monsters and the discoverer of their ancient Egyptian roots, Pegasus often plays a key role due to his extensive knowledge of the game and its mysterious origins. He has a habit of calling Yugi Mutou "Yugi-boy" and Seto Kaiba "Kaiba-boy" in the Japanese and edited English versions of the anime and manga. This trend continues in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, calling Jaden Yuki "Jaden-boy." Interestingly, in Japanese versions of the manga and anime, Pegasus often uses English words interspliced with Japanese, including English words like "goodness gracious!" and "snap!" and using the English pronoun "you" instead of Japanese second-person words. His speech is also unique in terms of pronunciation. In both English and Japanese he tends to elongate vowel sounds, especially near the end of a sentence.
Pegasus quickly establishes himself as the manga's fourth main antagonist (and the second anime adaptation's first main antagonist), challenging Yugi Mutou to a Shadow Game in order to force him to come to his tournament Duelist Kingdom (決闘者の王国（デュエリストキングダム） Dyuerisuto Kingudamu?) and face him, taking the soul of his grandfather Sugoroku Mutou as a Penalty Game for losing the timed match to ensure this. In the manga, Pegasus locked Yugi's grandfather's soul into a video tape, rather than actually stealing it. Throughout the battles to get to Pegasus's castle, Yugi is seen talking to his grandfather through the use of a camcorder. In the anime, he traps Sugoroku in a Soul Prison Duel Monsters card. Pegasus also kidnaps Mokuba Kaiba to convince his brother Seto Kaiba to come as well. Through a series of flashbacks, Pegasus is revealed to have had a lover, Cyndia (シンディア Shindia?, Cecelia in the English anime), who died just after their wedding (details regarding if they were actually married vary from medium to medium). In the manga, she died after her 17th birthday, before they even had a chance to get married. Pegasus is voiced by Jiro Takasugi in the original and by Darren Dunstan in the English adaptation.
Mr. Clown[edit]
Mr. Clown (クラウンさん Kuraun-san?, misspelled as Crown in the Japanese manga), also known as Otogi's father (御伽父 Otogi-chichi?) is an antagonist exclusive to the manga. He is the owner of the Black Clown (ブラック・クラウン Burakku Kuraun?) game shop across the street from Sugoroku Mutou's Kame Game shop. Long ago, Mr. Otogi asked Sugoroku Mutou, a master gamer, to take him in as a disciple. After a while, they challenged each other for the ownership of the Millennium Puzzle in a Shadow Game called the Devil's Board Game. Mr. Otogi, who lost, aged 50 years in a single night as a Penalty Game. Since then he desired revenge through his son Ryuji (known as "Duke Devlin" in the English adaptation of the anime version). In the English Dungeon Dice Monsters video game, he is given the name Sindin the Clown.
Marik Ishtar / Dark Marik[edit]
Marik Ishtar (マリク・イシュタール Mariku Ishutāru?) in the original Japanese anime and manga, is a character in the manga Yu-Gi-Oh! and the second Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series (known in Asia as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters). The heir to a clan of tombkeepers and the younger brother of Ishizu Ishtar, Marik's hatred of the nameless Pharaoh compels him to disregard his duties and turn to a life of crime, developing a split personality during his childhood after he underwent the tombkeeper's initiation ritual (which burned a key to the Pharaoh's memory on his back with a hot dagger) and was forever destined for a confined life in the darkness. Marik is voiced by Tetsuya Iwanaga in the original version and by Jonathan Todd Ross in the English adaptation, while Akiko Kimura does his voice in flashbacks.
Priest Akhenaden[edit]
Priest Akhenaden (神官アクナディン Shinkan Akunadin?) was the guardian of the Millennium Eye and the brother of King Ahknemkhanen. As they grew up, he was secretly jealous of his brother's position as pharaoh, considering himself the true power behind the throne. Using the Shadow Alchemy inscribed in the Millennium Tome (千年魔術書 Sennen Majutsu Sho?, Millennium Spellbook in the English dubbed anime), he ordered the massacre at the village of Kul Elna, using their blood and melting their corpses into gold so he could create the Millennium Items to defend his brother's kingdom, keeping the slaughter a secret and brainwashing his soldiers in order to keep it that way. He is voiced by Hitoshi Bifu in the Japanese version of the anime. In the English adaptation, he is voiced by Pete Zarustica.
Zorc Necrophades[edit]
The Great Evil God Zorc Necrophades (大邪神 ゾーク・ネクロファデス Daijashin Zōku Nekurofadesu?) (Zorc the Dark One in the English anime) is a destroyer of worlds that was born when the Millennium Items were originally created (in the English anime, he is the creator of the Shadow Realm, and therefore likely predates the items, though they were made using his power, and in the manga he was said to be born of the darkness in humans' hearts).
He is summoned by Akhenaden by the power of the Millennium Items and attacks the kingdom, dispatching Atem's advisers. In the Memory World, an RPG-style Shadow Game that Dark Bakura has set up based on ancient Egypt, Zorc is the game's final boss and has three Ba gauges, and if Dark Yugi loses the Shadow RPG, Dark Bakura would gain the ultimate powers of darkness and Zorc would effectively be summoned once again. However, with the help of Yugi and his other dear friends, Atem defeats him and stops him from being resurrected, also freeing Ryo Bakura from the Millennium Ring once and for all. In the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, it is said that Dark Bakura was an entity made of both Zorc and Thief King Bakura's souls, while in the Duel Monsters anime, it is said that the spirit within the Millennium Ring is entirely Zorc.
Minor Antagonists[edit]
 - Death-T (DEATH-T（死のテーマパーク） Theme Park of Death?, known as Doom-T in Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler) is a deranged theme park created by Seto Kaiba in attempt to kill Yugi Mutou using deadly games, and hiring deadly opponents. These events do not happen in the second series anime.
 - The Laser Tag Assassins were three professional mercenaries hired by Kaiba. This team was composed of Johnny Gale (ジョニー・ゲイル Jonī Geiru?, known as Charlie Gale in the English DDM video game), a former Green Beret commander, who specialized in guerrilla warfare, Bob Mcguire (ボブ・マクガイア Bobu Makugaia?, known as Bickford Gage in the English DDM video game), who was a former SWAT team leader and specialized in long distance sniping, and Mysterious Assassin (謎のアサシン Nazo no Asashin?, known as Name unknown in the English manga and Snipes Crosshair in the English DDM video game), who formerly worked as a hitman that succeeded in killing of all his targets when he was hired by KaibaCorp.[4] Being offered ¥10,000 each for killing Yugi and his friends in the Shooting Stardust (シューティング・スターダスト Shūtingu Sutādasuto


Ms Word 2010 Eq editor hotkeys/shortcuts
 1. What is this?:This is a list that contains hotkeys and short cuts designed to make your time writing equations in Microsoft word quicker and hopefully less of a hassle.
 Why?: Some time recently I decided to start doing all my homework on my computer regardless of the class. This may seem difficult and many people that see my homework think its over kill but, knowing the hot keys and short cuts really cuts down on A LOT of time. The main tool here is Microsoft Word's equation editor. I don't know the full extent of the uses but I did want to share my knowledge to maybe help some one else shave a good amount of time off their report. I have looked around the internet to get help with shortcuts and hot keys but have not found very useful tools. I actually would like some help writing up a list of hot keys and short cuts to make available to every one. If you have any comments or suggestion please comment below.
 Remember: to press space where the code says, it is necessary to get Microsoft word to recognize certain parts before continuing.
 1. Common Hotkeys
 2. Basic Math Equations
 3. Greek letters and symbols
 4. Scripts
 5. Limits/logs/trig functions
 6. Common Character Accents.
 1. Common Hotkeys
 Code (Text):
 Alt+"=" open/close equation editor
 ctrl+l left align
 ctrl+e center align
 ctrl+r Right align
 ctrl+j justify
 ctrl+b bold
 ctrl+u underline
 ctrl+i italic
 ctrl+s save document
 ctrl+o open document
 ctrl+c copy
 ctrl+x cut
 ctrl+v paste
 shift+arrow select text. By letter or symbol
 ctrl+shift+arrow select text. by word or grouping
 ctrl+shift+. increase text size
 ctrl+shift+, decrease text size
 The variables x and n can be replaced with words and full equations
 2. Basic Math equations
 Code (Text):
 x^n x[SUP]n[/SUP]
 (x+x)^n (x+x)[SUP]n[/SUP]
 x^(n+n) x[SUP](n+n)[/SUP]
 x^n+n x[SUP]n[/SUP]+n
 x/n "x" divided by "n"
 (x+x)/n "x" plus "x" total divided by "n"
 x/(n+n) "x" divided by the sum of "n"+"n"
 x/n+n "x"divided by "n" total plus "n"
 [B]Integrals: be sure to type spaces as indicated[/B]
 \int x dx boundless integral over the function x
 \int _0^n x dx integral with bounds zero to n over the function x
 \int _0^(n+n) x dx integral with bounds zero to n plus n all over the function of x
 \iint x dx double integral with no bounds
 \iiint x dx triple intertal
 (I am not sure if you can add bounds to all the integrals
 I would use multiple single integrals for this as shown below)
 \int_0^2\pi \int _0^pi \int _0^r r^2 sin \phi dr d\phi d\theta
 bounds from 0 to 2(pi), 0 to pi and 0 to r
 (this is an integral for a sphere of radius r)
 3. Greek letters and symbols commonly used in equations:
 Code (Text):
 [B]Shortcuts (press space to change to symbol)[/B]
 \Alpha A
 \alpha α
 \Beta B
 \beta β
 \Delta Δ
 \delta δ
 \partial ∂
 \Gamma Γ
 \gamma γ
 \epsilon ϵ
 \Epsilon Ε
 \varepsilon ε
 \eta η
 \Eta H
 \theta θ
 \Theta Θ
 \kappa κ
 \Kappa K
 \lambda λ
 \Lambda Λ
 \pi π
 \Pi Π
 \omega ω
 \Omega Ω
 \mu μ
 \Mu M
 \infty infinity symbol
 4. Scripts
 Code (Text):
 X^n X[SUP]n[/SUP]
 X_n X[SUB]n[/SUB]
 (I am not sure how to get the ones for elements where the scripts come before)
 5. Limits/logs/trig:(type the equation as indicated, include the spaces as they are recognized by Microsoft Word.)
 Code (Text):
 lim (x->0) x limit from x to zero subscript for x
 log_x n log[SUB]x[/SUB] n
 sin x sine function
 sin^-1 x inverse sine function
 cos x cosine function
 cos^-1 x inverse cosine function
 tan x tangent function
 tan^-1 x inverse tangent function
 sinh x hyperbolic sine function
 sinh^-1 x inverse hyperbolic sine function
 cosh x hyperbolic cosine function
 cosh^-1 x inverse hyperbolic cosine function
 tanh x hyperbolic tangent function
 tanh^-1 x inverse hyperbolic tangent function
 6. Common character accents:press space two times to get the accent on said character
 Code (Text):
 x\hat x with hat on top
 x\dot x with dot on top
 x\ddot x with two dots on top
 x\dddot x with three dots on top
 x\vec x with vector on top
 x\tilde x with tilde on top
 Last edited: Feb 21, 2011
 2. jcsd
 3. Having used LyX for years due to MS Word's poor equation editor, the newest instation of word recently made me give it a try.
 At first, due to these shortcuts and the intuitive entry method, I was in love with it, it's even faster in terms of human input than LyX, once you get used to it equations fly along. It's got all the positive's of LyX equation entry (for a basic user like myself), with a few additional benefits that really speed up the process, like the ability to add spaces without \;, or the automatic adjustment of fraction bars and parenthesis when you hit the space bar. Everything was quick and smooth, I was sold.
 Then on one page I had, heaven forbid, 3 equations and all of a sudden everything came to a crawl, even normal word processing.
 I found that this is page specific, so once I managed to reach the next page it sped up a bit, but if there is even 1 equation that is too long, word becomes unbearable. I tried to live with it, but the huge delay started to give me a roaring headache and slowed down well past any benefits of using the program. Now I'm back with LyX, which is a great program (especially with its integrated LaTeX), but its too bad. Microsoft's team managed to make a fantastically inuitive equation entry method, borrowing a lot from LyX and LaTeX but also improving on it, but overall shoddy programming makes the whole thing unusable.
 It is utterly unacceptable with modern CPUs and Memory to have word processing that is not lightening fast, even with every last bell and whistle. I've had the same issue with MS Excel and VBA - hugely simple VBA code takes forever to compile and run simply because it is running inside Excel. I suspect that the issue is that at its core MS Word 2010 probably is just built on top of the same Word from '98, with features added and added and added; either that or it is just a vast array of poor programming, I'm not sure, but if I can run modern games like Left4Dead2 on intel's graphics cores in the new Sandy Bridge architecture, I'm pretty sure I should be able to do anything in terms of word processing. This is really dissappointing.
 Sorry to rant. It's the same case with Adobe Acrobat, I use Sumatra PDF and it opens any kind of PDF file I've thrown at it - password locked, encrypted, asian characters, etc. etc. - lightning fast. PDF reader? Crawls and makes


Watch a Pig Decompose Underwater
By Casey Chan on at
Pork is absolutely delicious any which way you cook it, and it seems like sea lice, which are like ocean maggots apparently, would agree too. The sea lice do most of the heavy eating, before shrimp come in to finish the job. It's disturbingly exciting.
Why did scientists throw a dead pig in the ocean? Well, they wanted to get a better idea of how bodies decompose underwater. The experiment, led by forensic scientist Gail Anderson from Simon Fraser University in Canada, shows a pig carcass inside a cage and tracks its entire progress. New Scientist says:
Shrimp come into finish the job but when the scientists retrieved the bones, they were "strangely" jet black for 48 hours. They've never seen that before and are looking at what caused the turn in colour. Watch the video, it ain't pretty. [New Scientist via BoingBoing]


The Power of Evil
This seems like an appropriate day to post this: Richard Mouw, former president of Fuller Theological Seminary and prominent evangelical philosopher and theologian, thinks about Halloween and the power of evil (in his typically nuanced way) in First Things:
My parents were Evangelicals, but they always enjoyed Halloween. My father was a pastor, and he and my mother would put on a yearly Halloween party for the young people's group at our church. They would decorate our house with witches on broomsticks, ghosts, and pumpkin faces. My dad would turn the lights down at some point and tell a story designed to frighten the partying teens. We always also had a good supply of candy in stock for the Trick-or-Treaters, and I was encouraged to go around our neighborhood collecting candy. Then we would argue about how much of it I had to share at home.
None of that would play well today in evangelical congregations, where—at the end of October, at least—a "Christ against culture" spirit takes over for a week or so. As a counter-celebration, churches often put on "harvest festivals." Kids may dress up in Pilgrim-like or patriotic garb—but none of the typical Halloween fare.
Read the whole article here.


text:
Second generation biomass is an attractive renewable feedstock for transport fuels. Its sulfur content is generally negligible and the carbon cycle is reduced from millions to tens of years. One hitherto non-valorized feedstock are so-called humins, a residual product formed in the conversion of sugars to platform chemicals, such as hydroxymethylfurfural and methoxymethylfurfural, intermediates in the production of FDCA, a building block used to produce the polyethylene furanoate (PEF) bottle by Avantium.
The focus of this study is to investigate the spray combustion behavior of humins as a renewable alternative for heavy fuel oil (HFO) under large two-stroke engine-like conditions in an optically accessible constant volume chamber. To reduce the viscosity to HFO levels of the otherwise crystalline humins, methyl levulinate (ML), another side-stream from the same sugar dehydration process, is blended to the former compound at 25 wt.-%; a ratio comparable to that actually produced in many dehydration processes.
Various fuel properties of interest, including elemental composition, heating value, density, ignition quality, acid number, flash point, pour point, carbon residue, sediment, water and ash content are measured for the resulting humins-ML blend.
The blend is injected into an optically accessible constant volume chamber, the dimensions, injector characteristics and prevailing ambient conditions of which are representative of those found in large two-stroke marine engines. Commercial HFO is used as a benchmark.
The combustion process is evaluated by means of shadow imaging and OH*-chemiluminescence. The former and latter optical techniques are used to determine the phasing and overall magnitude of the heat release event, and ignition delay/location and flame lift off length, respectively.
From the results becomes clear that the average ignition delay is comparable to that of HFO, albeit at a higher cycle-to-cycle variation. Notwithstanding a longer lift off length and more downstream ignition kernels, the overall results suggest that the proposed bio-blend is a feasible renewable alternative for HFO in terms of technical feasibility.


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One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
A device towed behind a boat at a depth regulated by its vanes or planes, so that the cable to which it is attached can cut the moorings of submerged mines.
- 'However, upon closer inspection it turned out to be a paravane, a towed device used for sweeping moored mines.'
Early 20th century: from para- 'protecting' + vane.
In this article we explore how to impress employers with a spot-on CV.


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THE HISTORY, MYSTERY AND HEALING POWER OF BELLY DANCING
Dance historians have traced the origins of dance the Egypt over 5000 years ago. Due to it's geography, Egypt was isolated for thousands of years from the influence of other civilizations. Hence, Egypt's unique art forms remained pure, and were nurtured extensively by a culture that viewed art and life as inseparable. One of the art forms of ancient Egypt was its dance. Little if anything is known for certain about the actual movements of the ancient dance. The linear representations found in temples of Ancient Egypt are typical of the drawing style of the times, but may have actually been, as well, the predecessors of the flowing form no known as Raks Sharki, Dans Orientale, or Dance Du Venture.
Raks Sharki is the Arabic title for belly dancing. The more familiar name, "Belly Dancing," is a colloquial title, and was coined when the dance was first introduced to Western audiences at the Columbian exposition at the beginning of the 19th century. The setting was an elaborate Egyptian village set up at the expo in Chicago, Illinois. "Little Egypt," a dancer from the Ghawazee tradition, mesmerized the Victorian audiences with her intricate, precise hip isolations and her liquid abdominal and body undulations.
Historically, the Egyptian dance appeared at nearly the same time as the flourishing of earth mother matriarchal goddess cultures. According to dance historian Curt Sachs in his History of World Dance, the first historical recordings of dance were in Egypt around 5500 BC. Egypt, the birthplace of civilization aptly gave birth to the world's most ancient dance. Dance was inseparable from religion in those ancient times. Veestiges of the rituals and sacred ceremonies are still in the dance today imparting a mystical quality to this dance from. The overtones of the matriarchal goddess cults and the majic of nature infuse the Dans Orientale. These nature images are found throughout its signature movements. The intricate hip articulations, the downward hip drops, hip shimmies, rib cage circles, body, hand and arm undulations, and hip figure 8's or "snake hips" are signature movements that remind one of the flowing and staccato movements seen in animal and plant movement. The serpentine motions of the dance seem to be patterned after cyclic undulating forms found in nature - e.g., the wavelike motion of water, plants, and animals. The vibrational movements remind one of the action of the wind on plant life, as well as the natural shivering response of the body on cool desert nights. The shaking movements could be also traced to ancient trance healing dances. One speculation on the dance's origins is that it has roots in the dances of trance and exorcism that still exist in Egypt and Morocco. The hip and shoulder shimmies done in today's dance, as well as the head release movements are trance inducing and do invoke an altered state of consciousness. One can also see sacred symbols embodied in the movements of today's dance. These symbols, found throughout nature (infinity signs, circles, and spirals,) are woven into the turns and body isolationslike swaying archetypes of the divine feminine. The embodiment of nature elements in the dance could have been derived from early animistic religious practices.
The movement impluse of the dance emanates from deep in the center of the body and returns to the center in a hypnotic birth and rebirth of continuous energetic flow. Because of the birth-like pelvic undulating motions, some writers have postulated that the dance has connections to fertility rites, and was used as birth support. In addition, the tomb and temple pictorals as well as the hieroglyphs provide substantial evidence that the dance was used in temple rituals and as entertainment in community celebrations and in the Pharohs' courts. The dance, as seen today, has fragments which resemble the ancient temple poses. It also has vestiges of the trance dances (which are still practiced today in the Near East), and movements from the gypsy migration originating in India, e.g. head slides. All of the above historical ponderings, though fascinating, are in face, merely speculations; this mystical dance's origins and meanings remain a mystery, buried in time.
Regardless of its origin, this dance truly expresses the energy of all life. The wave like movements of the dance are transforming and have a hypnotic effect on both dancer and audience. The movements reach deeply into the collective unconscious, merging with the personal psyche, and free the dancer to soar on the winds of timeless rhythms. Body tensions melt, thoughts fuse with pleasurable body sensations and a joy and ecstasy ensues, creating a natural body high. The dance can be so intimate that the dancer may appear to be telling her personal story and yet it is so archtypal that it merges with the universal sacred, bringing a deeply satisfying flow of life force in a most exquisite way to dancer and audience alike.
All of us afficionados and armchair historians love to speculate on the origins of this ancient dance but the fact remains that the dance has survived the ravages of time, including at present; religious suppression, widespread misunderstanding and a lack of support in its own culture. Today Belly Dancing happily survives it all and sprouts its seed of antiquity in every soil of the world. Belly Dancing is now a worldwide phenomena that knows no age, size or culture. Though most who study the dance never intend to perform, some dancers love the performance venues and perform it as an art, and entertainment, or both. Regardless of culture, history, or intent, the dance stand on its own as a lifetime satisfaction, evoking ecstatic pleasure to mover and witness alike and bringing hours of enjoyable fantasy to a work worn world. Belly Dancing nourishes the body, mind, and spirit of millions of devotees, a timeless and most enduring art. This is the greatest mystery of all!
The Healing Benefits of Belly Dancing
Belly dancing has the distinction of being a dance that has significant healing benefits that are available to even the novice dancer. In over 30 years of teaching the dance, I have repeatedly witnessed the following benefits. They include: enhanced physical conditioning, an increased body awareness, a release of chronic body tensions and body armoring, a lifting of depressed moods, a redistribution of weight, an improvement in posture, improved self esteem, a relaxation of inhibitions, a sense of grace, arthritis pain relief, a greater freedom in the body, a connection with a tribal element, an increased love for, and acceptance of one's body, an experience of emotional well being, a connection with spiritual feelings, an artistic and personal expression, an improvement of breath capacity, enhanced body image, a sense of deep inexplicable mystery, a psychological integration that cannot be explained, and an improved sex life, to name only a few.
My passion for this dance and the significant healing benefits that I have personally witnessed in my students and myself, led me to become a registered Dance-Movement Therapist, a profession I have taught and practiced for over 20 years. The healings I have seen take place in my students, especially when improvising of dancing in a group, stimulated many years of study to find out why and how that happens. (See the article on Dance-Movement Therapy and Belly Dance.)
The Dance today
The emergence of the dance in modern Western culture has added new dimensions. The cabaret and theater stage brought new sophistication and refined technique, as well as new styles. The emergence of rock and roll and Jazz brought new instrumentation and musical influences. Since the movement ideally grows out of the rhythm, the melodies and the mood of the music, dancers today enjoy a variety of styles that match the varying styles of music. Musicians like Hossam Ramsy have done a huge service by preserving the old music and dance via video and audio recordings, and experimenting as well with Western world's musical influences.
Being beloved by so many fans in the entire world may be actually an evolutionary protection, as, the dance is currently being suppressed by the religious extremism in its native lands. The people from its countries of origin, especially the men, harbor an ambivalent and even hostile attitude toward the dance. They hold a widespread attitude that only prostitutes world perform Raks Sharki. Certainly, they would never allow their wives, daughters or sisters to perform it. Dancers in the Middle East clubs, even in America, have had these bias projected on them constantly. But be reminded, this dance must be a most powerful phenomena to be able to evoke these extremes!
So, the dance today has the unusual distinction of being fed, nourished and preserved by non-natives all over the world. Looking back from having been an active participant in the explosion of the phenomenal belly dance revolution in the 1970s in America, I see that as the dance swept the country and entered every wholesome YMCA and park district, the public sang its praises and yet we teachers still had to continuously fight the stripper image, not only with Arab audiences but also with our fellow Americans! The attraction, revulsion, and confused attitudes that this earth dance can evoke is mind bending!
In the 1970's and 80's, while dancing with live music in Middle Eastern nightclubs several nights a week, I absorbed the healing benefits of the music, food and culture, and, was also bombarded simultaneously (from audiences of mostly Arab men) with the darker images of their judgements. Some say this aggressive desdain is due to a deep fear of women's power left over from the excesses of some Goddess practices long ago, the emergence of masculine religions such as Islam, and a patriarchal desire to suppress female sexuality. In my personal experience with the projections that I

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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The WISE Image Atlas is comprised of 18,_PHONE_ pix _USER_.375"/pix FITS format image sets. One image set is produced for each Atlas Tile. Each image set consists of:
WISE Atlas Images are in the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) format and follow the World Coordinate System (WCS) standard for astronomical image data.
Atlas Image products have filenames as follows:
where BAND = 1, 2, 3, or 4, and COADDID is a unique identification string pertaining to the sky footprint (see II.2.a). These are variables that match the values of keywords with the same name in FITS headers. The WISE Atlas Image FITS header content is described in II.3.b.
Several of the WISE All-Sky Release Ancillary Products provide additional information about the WISE Atlas Image sets. The Atlas Metadata Table contains much of the Atlas Image header content, as well as derived statistical and quality assessment information pertaining to both the Atlas Images and extracted source lists for each Atlas Tile. The Atlas Image Frame Cross Reference Table contains a listing of all of the individual Single-exposure image frames that were used in the construction of each Atlas Image in each band. These ancillary tables can be queried using the IRSA Gator catalog search engine.
|Figure 1 - (top row) 3.4, 4.6, 12,
22 μm intensity images, |
(center row) depth-of-coverage maps, and (bottom row) uncertainty maps for the Atlas Tile 1253m425_ab41 that contains the Puppis A supernova remnant. The color scale on the bottom of the picture refers to the depth-of-coverage maps.
Last update: 2012 March 15


text: method. (Which means you can do this, but you shouldn't.) _TAG_ depends on a rather weaker invariant: it requires that keys still be non-nil and unequal, but it doesn't require that their values or hashes be unchanged. Is there another Collection class that exposes its internal structure? Yes, MappedCollection. MappedCollection collection: c map: m in effect constructs the composition of two tabulated functions: (MappedCollection collection: c map: m) at: index = c at: (m at: index) The base collection c and the map m are not copied when you do this. Indeed, that's the point. But it leads to some very odd consequences. For example, i ~= j and: [ (mc at: j) ~= 0 and: [ mc at: i put: 0. mc at: j = 0]] can come out true. For every other keyed collection, setting the element at one key doesn't alter any elements at other keys. So don't try to sort a MappedCollection! It's also the only Collection class I can find in Squeak 3.2 where (coll contents) is not the receiver but a copy with different properties. One of the nasty things about the fact that the collection and mapping are shared with unknown numbers of other objects is that foo: aCollection bar: aBlock |index value| index := aCollection size. value := aBlock value: (aCollection at: index). aCollection at: index put: value may fail, even though aBlock value:... doesn't send any messages whatsoever to aCollection. How? aBlock could make the mapping smaller, or alter its last element so that it is no longer a valid key for the other collection, or could alter the other collection so that the key disappears, &c. Oh yes, imagine the fun when you do a := #(3 1 4 1) copy. m := MappedCollection collection: a map: a. m ==> a MappedCollection(4 3 1 3) m at: 2 put: 2. m ==> a MappedCollection(1 2 1 2) m at: 3 put: 3 m ==> a MappedCollection(1 2 3 4) a ==> #(2 1 4 3) MappedCollection tacitly assumes that the collection and mapping are different objects or that neither will be changed, but it does not say this anywhere. At the very least the class comment for MappedCollection should be changed from I represent an access mechanism for a sequenceable collection re-ordering or filtering its elements. (which is quite untrue because it doesn't in the least depend on the collections being sequenceable) to I represent the composition of two collection. (MappedCollection collection: c map: m) at: index is always the same as c at: (map at: index). The collection and map could be any combination of sequenceable collections and dictionaries as long as the elements of m all are (and remain) acceptable keys for c. My instances are sequenceable precisely when their maps are sequenceable. If you plan to use _TAG_:put: with one of my instances, the collection c and map m should be different objects. Note that the collection c and map m arenotcopied, but are shared. If you change them, the mapped collection you made from them will also change. Changes to the elements of the collection are normally safe; changes to the key space of the collection or the elements of the map may make the mapped collection invalid. Do not change the map while you are iterating over the map or the mapped collection. Hey, there's another oversight, found while writing that new class comment. There's a missing method: "in category 'testing'" isSequenceable ^map isSequenceable Alternatively, if the (otherwise pointless and unnecessary) restriction to sequenceable collections is to be preserved, then _TAG_:map: should be setCollection: aCollection map: aDictionary self assert: [aCollection isCollection]. self assert: [aDictionary isSequenceable]. domain := aCollection. map := aDictionary except that the names of the method parameters (which I have not changed) strongly suggest that the map should be allowed to be a dictionary, which is not sequenceable. But the instance creation method calls the very same parameter aSequenceableCollection. Whatever this code may be, it is not'subtle'. It's confused and confusing. Are there any other collection classes that violate this design principle? Yes, there is one that doesn't so much violate it as cut its breast off and eat half of one of its kidneys: LinkedList. Most container libraries regard a linked list as a container for general objects, with the link nodes being part of the private structure of the list. From the outside, it should not matter whether the nodes are allocated one at a time, or in chunks (a good way to combine the flexibility of lists with the space efficiency of arrays is to have a linked collection of arrays; the well known "piece table" representation used in some editors is related to this). However, Smalltalk LinkedLists are very different: all their elements must be Link nodes. This makes them utterly unlike arrays; any number of arrays may refer to the same object as an element, and an array may include an object as element any number of times. Not so LinkedLists: each Link may be an element of at most one LinkedList, and then at most once. In other words, LinkedList does not encapsulate. Serious weirdness can result. Consider c1 add: c2 first. where c1 and c2 are separate collections sharing no objects at all before this message is sent. If c1 is any other kind of collection that can support _TAG_:, this is fine. Now c1 and c2 have a common element. But if c1 and c2 are both LinkedLists, now a node is shared between the two lists. While _TAG_: is defined to be _TAG_:, it need not actually true that c2 first is now the last element of c1! (Because c2 might have had more than one element.) I could multiply examples of how easy it is to break LinkedLists without exploiting (initial) aliasing, but the main consequence is that Smalltalk programmers should never ever use LinkedList, not even after making their own subclasses of Link. Arguably, LinkedList should be outside the Collection hierarchy. (As noted in an earlier message, LinkedList is amongst the SequenceableCollections, but does not support _TAG_:, surely a defining characteristic of such collections.) Make no mistake: - I am not saying Smalltalk is unusable. - I am not saying the Collection classes are unusable. - I am not saying that the Smalltalk designers are culpable. What I am saying is that the Smalltalk designers weren't trying to produce highly polished code but were engaged in research of a completely different kind, so that they produced 'good enough for the immediate task' code which after 20-odd years outside the lab is overdue for an overhaul. The Collection classes are a means to an end, not Holy Writ, and mortals may dare to criticise and revise them.


Emergencies at Sea, Any Day Will Do
By Tom Neale, 12/23/2010
They're words you perhaps desperately need to hear but when you hear them they can be frightening—especially if you understand why you're hearing them. They're instructions from a USCG helo when it's lowering a pump or basket or other equipment to a boat in distress at sea.
The instructions include things like giving you a direction and speed to steer—if you can. They include stopping your radar, taking down antenna, fishing rigs and any other removable high appendages, securing loose items on deck, preparing for very high wind from the rotors, and not touching the device being lowered unless it (or perhaps a trailing wire) first contacts the water or the boat. This latter is because of the possibility of electrocution from the discharge of electricity from the helo via the wire to ground—not through your body.
USCG Rescue Swimmer Demonstration
So the scenario is often that you've got to let the equipment discharge, then somehow grab it or get control of it, as it dangles in the air near you or floats from a long wire, whipped by the wind. The helo is being buffeted by wind above and you're hanging on for dear life in a boat in rough seas. Maybe if you're lucky the equipment has landed onto the deck of your boat and discharged any electricity. This is usually the plan. But then there's the issue of securing and detaching it while the helo is maintaining position above you, compensating for the wind's effect on it and the wire, compensating for the heaving of your boat and the rate and direction of travel of your boat and keeping the wire just right considering the fact that the boat is rising and lowering in the seas and no one wants it to become entangled with any portion of the boat.
If everything doesn't go well at this point the equipment could be damaged, lost altogether, or it could seriously damage your boat or injure people aboard. But you've got to secure it and release it from the cable, or, if it's a rescue basket, get someone in and secured. If something goes wrong the helo may have to drop a swimmer into the water. He must make it to you, get aboard and he will do what he can to help. In many situations the helo will drop the swimmer anyway, because usually people on pleasure boats in a situation like this are going to need help handling it. These swimmers are amazing.
Just thinking about all this seems like you're envisioning the impossible, but it happens time after time. It usually goes well because of the incredible skill and care and bravery of the Coast Guard personnel involved. I've listened to these events on VHF and SSB many times and it's often been nothing short of miraculous.
You may be on the boat in distress, in which event you're probably exhausted, cold, wet and/or scared. You may also be injured, suffering from hypothermia and wet to the bone. To top it all off, you may also be seasick. Or you may be on a vessel that heard the call and that's standing by to help—hoping you don't have to but ready if needed. Either way, you probably haven't had much experience to prepare you for whatever it is that you must do.
To throw another fact into the mix, sometimes it turns out that the boat in distress really isn't in distress, even though the people aboard may think it is. Quite often they're wrong about the seriousness of the distress because they don't have basic seamanship skills or because they're exhausted and frightened. More often than you might think, people are "rescued" from boats at sea by helo crews and brave swimmers or people on boats which must save the "victims," and then the "distressed" boat continues floating for weeks or months. It turns out it wasn't the boat that was distressed, it was the people aboard. But what matters at the moment is that they've issued a distress call and the Coasties and people on other boats, ranging from law enforcement boats to commercial to pleasure boats, are trying to help. They're ready to risk not only expensive equipment but also their lives. You can't take chances when someone at sea calls out a distress. You must assume the worst and do your best—something that the Coasties do daily.
Often these situations develop when the skipper of the boat took chances himself. He made one or more of the many classic mistakes such as "riding a cold front" down the coast to warmer waters, or hitching a ride on the Gulf Stream during a northerly or running an inlet in heavy incoming sea or planning a passage without leaving enough wiggle room should the weather systems speed up or slow down. Thinking that you and the boat can "handle it" when a blow is coming is an oft repeated mistake, especially among pleasure boaters who don't have much experience and who don't have a clue about what it is they're going to have to "handle." Books and movies and magazines and talk around the bar don't begin to tell you like it really is.
And often people go out into weather in the ocean in boats that just aren't fit for the job. Thin fiberglass hulls relying on structural strength from being glassed to internal structure such as bulkheads sometimes start breaking up simply because the "glue" isn't up to the stress of the seas as the skin flexes, despite the best of design plans. When this happens bulkheads can punch right through the skin. Old wooden boats open up at the seams or keel joint. Those big spacious windows on some trawlers may be smashed by an angry sea. A seldom inspected shaft seal may spin off and the water rise so high that the skipper can't see the problem. But sometimes there's no one to blame for the impending disaster. Stuff just happens. And it seems to do that at sea far more often than you'd like to think. I've often been bitten in the backside by the irony of life on the water that no matter how hard you try to keep your boat maintained and operating well, stuff just happens.
How do you prepare yourself for something like this? You can't really, no matter how hard you try. But you should try. Attending safety at sea events helps. It's helpful to have Coast Guard personnel address your yacht club or other boating organization. Having adequate and tough crew on board when you head out on trips in the ocean can help. These days more and more of us older types are heading out. With age you can become very vulnerable very quickly. It's a fact of life, like it or not. And finally, thinking about it, going through the different scenarios in your mind, as they may pertain to your boat, may help. Every case is different, and the rescuers will have specific instructions for you, but at least you may be in a little less shock if you're somewhat mentally prepared.
Tom's Tips for Preparing Yourself for Trouble at Sea
1. Carefully store your emergency equipment so that you know where it is and can easily and quickly get it when you need it. This may involve relocating certain equipment to pre-planned spots when you go out. But you don't want to have to take time to think about where something is..
2. Emergency equipment, in addition to the obvious, which would take a book to list, should include flashlights, personal strobe lights, a modern EPIRB which is registered and updated for the trip, hand held VHF with fresh or charged batteries, lines, boat hooks, MOB equipment…
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The temperature on your thermostat screen and app is rounded to the nearest 1F. When to turn on your system is determined by the unrounded temperature on your thermostat. Before your system turns on, the temperature on your thermostat or app could change by a few degrees.
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NEPTUNE SEMINAR SERIES | Inês Carvalho | 02 Jun | 11h30
Title: Effects of dietary histidine and plant lipids on the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) health status following transfer to seawater
Name: Inês Carvalho
With the aquaculture expansion, there is great urgency in reducing the industry's dependence on finite-marine ingredients, such as fish oil. However, plant lipid-based diets might markedly deviate from fish natural feeding habits and negatively impact their health. In the particular case of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), this issue acquires major relevance during the seawater transfer, a challenging production moment often associated with great losses. To improve the overall fish health, supplementing diets with immuno-modulators, such as certain amino acids, is becoming a common approach.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether dietary lipid source and histidine supplementation could influence the non-specific immune response and antioxidant system in Atlantic salmon after seawater transfer.
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Print version ISSN 0120-4157
BOTERO, Jorge H et al. Frequency of intestinal microsporidian infections in HIV-positive patients, as diagnosis by quick hot Gram chromotrope staining and PCR. Biomédica (Bogotá) [online]. 2004, vol.24, n.4, pp. 375-384. ISSN 0120-4157.
Microsporidia are intracellular obligate parasites, today mainly associated with diarrhea in AIDS patients. Microsporidia prevalence ranges from 8% to 52% in different countries, as evaluated by several diagnostic methods, such as the stain test and PCR. In Medellin, Colombia, its frequency is unknown, and hence, a study was undertaken to determine the frequency of intestinal microsporidiosis in HIV patients, by means of the quick-hot Gram chromotrope test and the PCR. A prospective and descriptive study of an intentional population of all HIV-positive patients was sent to the Grupo Interdisciplinario para el Estudio de las Parasitosis Intestinales laboratory by institutions treating the HIV-positive patients of Medellín between August 2001 and September 2002. The clinical-epidemiological survey included a serial stool test with direct concentration and special stains for coccidiae and intestinal microsporidia. In addition, counts of lymphocytes TCD4+ and viral load were requested. One hundred and three patients with ages ranging from 2-74 years were evaluated. Seventy percent presented with diarrhea -mostly in men (83.5%). The overall frequency of intestinal microsporidiosis was 3.9% and that of other intestinal parasitic infections was 39.8%. Three of the four patients positive for microsporida were infected with Enterocytozoon bieneusi and one with Encephalitozoon intestinalis. The microsporidiosis frequency was relatively low with 3 of the 4 cases associated with protracted diarrhea, counts of LTCD4+ below 100 cel/µl and viral loads up to 100.000 copies.
Keywords : human immunodeficiency viruses; quickhot Gram chromotrope staining; PCR.


RecoverAssist builder
When a hardware or operating system failure occurs, and a server can no longer start itself, a bootable recovery media can start the system, load a recovery environment and use a System Protection bare-metal backup to recover the server. BackupAssist uses RecoverAssist to create two types of bootable media: bootable backups and standalone bootable media.
Creating a bootable recovery media
This section explains how to create a stand-alone bootable media. A standalone bootable media boots into the RecoverAssist environment and uses a System Protection bare-metal backup on separate media, to recover the server.
Launch BackupAssist and follow these steps:
 1. Select the System tab
 2. Select how you want to make the bootable media
 3. Select either Create a bootable media using the installed version of Windows or Create a bootable media using a Windows installation disk.
 4. Select or confirm the Operating System location
 5. When you make a selection in step 2, the RecoverAssist dialog will open. Confirm the Operating System or provide the location of the installation disk to be used, and click Next.
 6. Add any device drivers that you may require
 7. RecoverAssist let's you add your own drivers to the bootable media. These drivers may be required to give the recovery environment to the backup location and the local hardware. Make your selections, and click Next.
 8. Add any files / folders that you require
 9. You can add your own files and folders to the bootable media and have them available to use when you are performing the recovery. Make your selections, and click Next.
 10. Add what you want to include from the list of tools and applications available
 11. This step displays a list of useful troubleshooting and support tools that you can choose from. Make your selections and click Next.
 12. Select the type of device to be used for the bootable media
 13. RecoverAssist can use removable drives, ISO images or optical disks as bootable media. You can also make a backup media bootable using the Bootable Backup Media option. Make your selections, and click Next.
 14. Select the bootable media to be used
 15. This step allows you to select or browse to the media or location to be used. The screen and options will depend on the type of device selected. When you select Next, the bootable media creation will begin.
 A progress bar will be displayed. Once it has completed, click Finish.
 The bootable media has now been created.
After the RecoverAssist media has been successfully created, you will have an option to either create an additional RecoverAssist media with same settings or close the RecoverAssist builder.
Warning: Any bootable RecoverAssist media created during the BackupAssist trial period it will expire. The RecoverAssist media will need to be re-created once a BackupAssist license has been purchased. This must be done after you purchase a license.
Creating a bootable backup
If you create a System Protection bare-metal backup on an external USB hard disk, the media will be made into a Bootable Backup Media, which can boot a server into a recovery environment and recover the server, without a separate boot disk. When you create the backup job, the media will be made bootable by default, unless you deselect the Make media bootable with RecoverAssist tick box on the Set up destination step.
Disaster Recovery resources
BackupAssist's blog includes Disaster Recovery related articles that explain best practices and advice on how to make the most of BackupAssist in your disaster recovery process.


text:
What is a friction disc? Friction discs, sometimes also called clutch discs or brake discs, are elements of the common disc brake. Their purpose is to slow or completely stop the motion of drive shafts, so that they may in turn slow or stop the rotation of the wheels.
What does a friction disc do on a snowblower? The friction disc helps propel the snowblower forward. When the snowblower friction disc is in contact with the spinning drive wheel, the friction disc rotates and turns the axle. If the friction disc is worn or damaged, the snowblower moves slowly or erratically.
What is a friction disc used for? The friction discs are used to slow or stop the motion of drive shafts which will in turn stop the wheels from rotating. As pressure is applied to the brake pedal, the calipers cause the discs to close around the rotors.
What is a friction disc transmission? A friction drive or friction engine is a type of transmission that utilises two wheels in the transmission to transfer power from the engine to the driving wheels. The system is naturally a continuously variable transmission, by moving the two disks positions the output ratio changes continually.
What is a friction disc? – Related Questions
How long does a friction disc last?
A friction disk will last 30+ years.
What is a friction drive list examples?
Examples of friction drive: Belt drive. Rope drive.
How does a friction disc work?
As the vertical disc passes the center position and moves to the right of center, the rotational direction of the vertical disc will reverse and rotate the opposite direction. This rotation will also increase in speed as the vertical disc is moved towards the right edge.
Where is friction clutch used?
A friction clutch plate is used in vehicles to allow the transmission input shaft and engine to run at the same speed when rotating. The friction that is created between the engine and the transmission is what provides the force required to move the vehicle.
What is a friction clutch disc?
A clutch plate or disc is the main component in the Friction clutches. This disc or plate is a metallic plate with frictional surfaces on both sides of the disc. This frictional surfaces should be made up of high friction coefficient material, Which will ensure the transmitting the torque without any slipping.
What is friction clutch in purifier?
Purifier Drive: FRICTION CLUTCH ARRANGEMENT. It consist of a Friction Drum mounted on the horizontal shaft. 3 Friction Pads are mounted on the motor shaft, which are contained within the Friction Drum. Friction pads have a curved surface with Ferodo lining.
What is a friction drive motor?
A Friction-Drive (FD) is an electric bike drive system that spins a roller that's pressed against the bicycles tire. FDs have been around for over 100 years. Small gasoline engines (the size of a chainsaw) have been used to drive a roller on a bicycle tire almost as soon as small gasoline engines were invented.
What are the types friction?
There are two main types of friction, static friction and kinetic friction. Static friction operates between two surfaces that aren't moving relative to each other, while kinetic friction acts between objects in motion.
How do you adjust friction discs?
If it is a Friction Disc drive, there should be a way to adjust it closer to the center of the drive plate, as that is the slower, until you go to the other side of center, and that is your reverse. Going more to the outside from center gives you speed.
What is dry friction?
Dry friction is the force that opposes one solid surface sliding across another solid surface. Dry friction always opposes the surfaces sliding relative to one another, and it can have the effect of either opposing motion or causing motion in bodies.
What is screw friction?
The concept of an applied force in the direction of impending motion works for either (1) a force applied in the impending motion direction of a screw, or (2) a force applied to the impending motion direction of a nut.
How does a friction clutch work?
Most cars use a friction clutch operated either by fluid ( hydraulic ) or, more commonly, by a cable. When a car is moving under power, the clutch is engaged. When the clutch is disengaged (pedal depressed), an arm pushes a release bearing against the centre of the diaphragm spring which releases the clamping pressure.
What is the principle of friction clutch?
PRINCIPLE OF CLUTCH It operates on the principle of friction. When two surfaces are brought in contact and are held against each other due to friction between them, they can be used to transmit power. If one is rotated, then other also rotates.
How many types of clutches are there?
Clutches can be categorized into two main classifications: friction clutches and fluid flywheel. Friction clutches rely on the principle of friction.
What do clutches transmit?
Most automotive clutches are a dry single plate clutch with two friction surfaces. No matter the application, the function and purpose of a clutch is to transmit torque from a rotating driving motor to a transmission. Clutches require a mode of actuation in order to break the transmission of torque.
At what point is the clutch actually wearing?
The clutch only wears while the clutch disc and the flywheel are spinning at different speeds. When they are locked together, the friction material is held tightly against the flywheel, and they spin in sync. It's only when the clutch disc is slipping against the flywheel that wearing occurs.
What are the components of a friction clutch?
The numerical simulation of the friction clutch system (pressure plate, clutch disc, and flywheel) during the full engagement period (assuming no slipping between contact surfaces) is carried out using finite element method.
Why starting current is high in purifier?
6. Note the current (amps) during starting. It goes high during starting and then when the purifier bowl picks-up speed and when it reaches the rated speed, the current drawn drops to normal value.
Why is the purifier Bowl not closing?
Check the Level of Operating Water – If there is a separate operating water tank provided, check the water level in the same. If the operating water is not sufficient, the purifier bowl will not lift, resulting in the sludge ports remaining in the open position.
What is the friction between a drive wheel and the road surface?
"traction is the friction between a drive wheel and the road surface. If you lose traction, you lose road grip."
What are the 3 types of friction?
The reason we are able to control cars at all is because of friction between the car's tires and the road: more accurately, because there are three kinds of friction: rolling friction, starting friction, and sliding friction.


"Well, You Feel More Responsible When You're Unsupervised" – New Study on Children's Independent Mobility
Thank you to Dr. Negin Riazi, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences at Brock University, for providing this post.
Children's independent mobility refers to a child's freedom to travel and play in their neighbourhood without the supervision of adults. However, there has been a steep generational decline in children's independent mobility which is quite concerning as independent mobility is related to improvements in children's physical activity, as well as having social (e.g., interaction with peers) and cognitive (e.g., knowledge of local landmarks, streets, routes) benefits.
What did we do?
Our recent study investigated how children and their parents negotiated children's independent mobility within their families. We conducted interviews with 22 families (44 parents and 22 children) in the Metro Vancouver area. These 22 families were recruited from three distinct neighbourhoods including Vancouver's Grandview-Woodland, North Vancouver's Lonsdale, and Richmond's Steveston neighbourhoods, all of which varied in urbanization, population density, and number of children.
What did we find?
Our findings identified four major factors that influenced children's independent mobility.
 1. Parents' own childhood experiences: Remembering the good old days
Parents who recalled positive experiences of their own independent mobility often had positive attitudes that influenced their own children's independent mobility. Parents played a key role in helping define, support, and expand their children's independent mobility through encouragement and in helping their children develop the necessary skills (e.g., learning the neighbourhood environment, safety precautions) to stay safe when traveling freely.
 1. Children's individual characteristics: Confidence leads to competence
Children who appeared confident, could "think on their feet," had "street smarts," and displayed good decision-making skills helped alleviate parents' concerns and often had higher levels of independent mobility. However, if parents were uncertain about their child's abilities, those children had less freedom to travel freely.
 1. Communication, communication, communication
Children who communicated travel logistics with their parents (e.g., who they were going with, when they would return), had discussions around safety, and used technology as a communication tool (e.g., having a cellphone for emergencies) were more likely to have higher independent mobility. Additionally, communication allowed children to show their confidence, skills (e.g., ability to navigate the neighbourhood), or lack thereof and therefore helped parents assess how much independent mobility was appropriate for their child.
 1. The neighbourhood social environment: Good vibes in the neighbourhood
Feelings of community and safety played an important role in supporting children's independent mobility. Safety concerns by parents and children were tempered by positive perceptions of their neighbourhood environment like neighbours looking out for each other and being familiar with people in the neighbourhood.
So what?
This study highlighted the importance of communication between parent(s) and children for helping spur independent mobility forward. Through communication children could show their confidence and skills and parents could assess whether their child was ready to travel independently, as well as impart skills through safety discussions. Additionally, a friendly neighbourhood helped families feel safe, knowing that people in the neighbourhood would help a child if needed.
Especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when children's physical activity and outdoor play have plummeted due to provincial health restrictions, children's independent mobility is more important than ever. The pandemic has led to a surge in the amount of time children spend on screens. Meanwhile, outdoor time has decreased, especially when contingent on parents' schedules. Families can work toward helping children develop the skills (e.g., traffic safety), confidence (e.g., self-efficacy in navigating the neighbourhood), and competence (e.g., knowing how to ask for directions, using Google maps) to navigate their environment safely. By providing children with the opportunity to be outdoors independently, we are providing them with time in nature (which is good for their immune system and mental health), opportunities to be active (which helps with motor development, mental health, and well-being), and time away from screens.
Read the original research article here.
For tips on how to build your child's independent mobility, check out this recent article in The Conversation.
Dr. Negin Riazi is a recent PhD graduate from the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia and currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences at Brock University. Her research focuses on children's independent mobility, population-level physical activity initiatives, and policy-level interventions.


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Made in China 2025 - A Halftime Analysis
· Policy,general,review
{{{Maximilian Nadicksbernd}}}
Five years ago, China launched an ambitious plan to become a leading global technological superpower by 2049, the centennial of the founding of the Peoples' Republic of China. President Xi Jinping installed the strategy "Made in China 2025" (MIC25) as a nationwide guideline for China's future.1 The strategic plan defines ten core industries, such as robotics, power equipment, and nextgeneration IT, in which China aims to achieve breakthroughs and create globally competitive companies.
At its halftime, a series of articles appearing here, focusing on central elements of MIC2025, will take a closer look on how far this strategy has been carried out and what still needs to be done.
China is currently at a critical juncture in its endeavor to achieve the ambitious developmental targets it has set itself for 2049. Despite its remarkable economic growth over the past decades, the People's Republic still faces major challenges. With a current GDP per capita of around 10,000 USD, China is considered an upper-middle-income country according to the United Nations (UN) classification.2 Despite its remarkable success, China is still at risk of being caught in the middle-income trap. Many developing countries before had lost not only their comparative advantage due to rising wages, but also lost their ability to compete with advanced economies in terms of productivity and innovation at this stage of development.
Core industries
Figure 1: Ten core industries set the basis for Made in China 2025.
 Made in China 2025
The "Made in China 2025" (MIC25) strategy released in May 2015 was designed to help overcome precisely this challenge. The goal of this plan is to establish a strong, national innovation system. The government is deploying a set of influential industrial policy measures that constantly strive to improve capital allocation, policy coordination, and tech-related innovation. Ultimately, the Chinese government hopes to propel China through the middle-income trap and transform the nation into a globally competitive manufacturing superpower largely independent of foreign technology.
MIC25 represents an industrial policy blueprint for building a world-class innovation system and achieving global dominance in key technologies. MIC25's stated method is to pursue an innovationdriven and talent-based approach that puts quality first, promotes green development, and supports not only future-oriented but also traditional industries. In practice, the strategy sets specific market share targets for Chinese companies and defines strategic priorities (战略任务) and support mechanisms (战略支撑) that extend far beyond the ten core industries (see Figure 1). Using smart manufacturing as the backbone, the strategy strives to turn China into a global hub for high-tech industries, absorbing and localizing entire value chains.
The ten core industries of MIC25 are not all pursued with the same intensity (see Figure 2). Chinese companies from more traditional high-tech sectors like aerospace, machine tools, or software engineering face the challenge of catching up with foreign competitors. They do not prioritize the development of top-notch products and global leadership and are content to overcome existing technology gaps by building up sufficient (as opposed to state-of-the-art) domestic expertise leveraging its large domestic market to emerge as a serious global competitor. One example is the production of passenger jets: both the single-aisle C919 and wide-body CR929 are set to take market share from Airbus and Boeing. The Chinese state manufacturer Comac has commitments from 28 mostly Chinese buyers for 815 airplanes, and will become increasingly active on the global market over the next ten years.5
MIC25 policy plans
Figure 2: MIC25 policy plans prioritize digital and emerging industries - reflected in number of national-level action and development plans.4
In smart manufacturing, digitalization, and emerging technologies, China wants to leapfrog and leave its foreign competitors behind. Technology gaps in these fields are more fluid, and China sees the opportunity to assume a leading position right from the start. The tables have already started to turn. The government pushes the development of future technologies by providing financial support and by artificially increasing demand through, for instance, beneficial regulations or tax incentives to quickly turn ideas from niche industries into products that are suitable for mass consumption. China has forged ahead in fields such as next-generation IT (companies like Huawei and ZTE are set to play a major role in the deployment of 5G networks), high-speed railways and ultra-high voltage electricity transmissions. More than 530 smart manufacturing industrial parks have popped up in China. Major focus is the creation of the "Industrial Internet" enabled by deployment of technologies like AI/robotics (47 percent), big data (32 percent) and cloud computing (20 percent).
Recently, green manufacturing was given special emphasis in policy documents, underpinning President Xi Jinping's vision of creating an "ecological civilization" that thrives on sustainable development. China boasts a strong position in areas such as new energy and intelligent energy saving vehicles. The electric vehicle (EV) battery market is a powerful example of how quickly such dynamics may unfold and global value chains are absorbed. In 2017, seven of the top ten EV battery companies were Chinese, accounting for 53 percent of the global market share. The expansion of China's battery manufacturing capacities is in the pipeline and could amount to three times that planned in the rest of the world.7
However, the comprehensive and adaptive nature of MIC25 makes it inherently difficult to evaluate the strategy's efficiency and success as a whole. The dependency on foreign core components is still a major bottleneck for China's national tech ambitions. Its industry has considerable weaknesses in mastering foundational technologies essential for developing an advanced high-tech sector in certain areas, especially for the digital economy. This vulnerability is most evident in the fields of new materials, semiconductors and key components for advanced machinery and machine tools. Chinese tech firms have already experienced considerable difficulties when they were cut off from access to chips or other high-tech components from abroad, as illustrated by the US trade measures against companies like ZTE and Huawei.
Trade balance China
Figure 3: China's high-tech innovation relies on foreign components - a strong dependence results in negative trade balance (in bn USD).8
Synthesizing the core takeaways, it becomes clear that China has not at all abandoned its goal of catching up with Western industrialized countries – MIC25 serves as the backbone to overcome the middle-income trap. A plethora of individual targets set as part of MIC25 demonstrate ambition, but also indicate that not all technologies are emphasized equally: China is determined to dominate smart and emerging technologies as namely AI robotics or cloud computing. However, foreign tech dependency is China's Achilles heel.
Progress assessments of MIC25 will thus vary greatly depending on the chosen parameters and individual sectors. They are industryor tech-specific and fluctuate between highly aggregated or exceedingly detailed levels. Examples include market share targets for Chinese technology, target quotas for smart equipment usage, a certain number of patents per 100 million CNY in revenue, and the development of several quality brands. Thus, a critical in-depth analysis of each sector has to be done in order to achieve transparency on how far China's strategy can be coined a success.
Therefore, stay tuned for the following topics to be covered soon:
 - Next-generation IT-companies like Huawei and ZTE are set to play a major role in the deployment of 5G networks
 - China's 530+ smart manufacturing industrial parks - big data (21 percent), new materials (17 percent) and cloud computing (13 percent) projects to be watched
 - Green manufacturing and new energy (hydrogen)- thriving sustainability and circular economic approaches
 - "Industrial Internet" and Artificial Intelligence (AI) – delayering the broad range of interconnected fields that span virtually everything from hardware to software and tech applications such as facial recognition or interconnected vehicles
1) English translation of the official policy.
2) United Nations (2014). "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014."
3) Wang Jianing 王佳宁 (ed.) (2016). "中共中央 国务院印发《国家创新驱动发展战略纲要》 (The State Council of the CCP Central Committee releases the "Outline of the National Innovation-driven Development Strategy")." Xinhuanet. May 19. 05/19/c_1118898033.htm.
5) Bloomberg (2017)
6) Deloitte (2018). "China's smart manufacturing: a steady push for the long term"
7) MERICS (2018). "China's battery industry is powering up for global competition."
8) KONEMA, China: Science and Technology - Imports and Exports of High-tech Products
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Mouse Ethogram mousebehavior.org
Overview and Meaning
Mice are a altricial species. During the first few weeks of life they rely on their mother's milk as a source of food and as a way to learn about the food eaten by their mother. The amount of milk received can affect a pup's adult weight and aggressiveness. Therefore, weaning weight of male pups can have long term effects on their ability to become dominant adults (Latham & Mason, 2004).
If several females are housed together they build and keep their pups in a communal nest in which they may also share the nursing. Studies in the laboratory and under semi-natural conditions have shown the the pups benefit from such communal nursing in terms of increased growth and survival (Weber & Olsson, 2008).
A dam will spend the bulk of her time in the nest on top of her pups to keep them warm and to allow them to nurse at her teats.
The dam adopts a nursing posture (see variants); while the pups perform sucking movements of the jaw, while positioned at the dam's teats.
Maternal Behavior
Active Nursing
 1. Nursing - High Kyphosis
 2. Nursing - Low Kyphosis
 3. Nursing - Partial Kyphosis
 4. Nursing - Dog - Partial Kyphosis
 5. Nursing - Bear Nursing
 6. Nursing - Sit - Split Nursing
Passive Nursing
 1. Nursing - Dog Nursing
 2. Nursing - Prone Nursing
 3. Nursing - Pig Nursing
Stanford Medicine Resources:


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Points of Interest:
- Enjoy spectacular fall colors in the heart of the Kansas City area.
- View a small slice of what the north Kansas City area looked like before the city was platted.
- See and hear migrating songbirds in the spring.
- Enjoy the cool shade of the old-growth forest canopy in summer right in an urban area.
Natural History: Although surrounded by the City of Gladstone and the greater Kansas City metro area, Maple Woods is a reminder of the wildlands that once dominated this area just 200 years ago. This old-growth forest is a National Natural Landmark and contains impressive black maple (a variety of sugar maple), northern red, white and bur oaks; bitternut and shagbark hickory, red elm, basswood, black walnut, and white ash.
Because of the abundance of sugar maples the fall colors are typically outstanding. However, because sugar maples create such dense shade, as the larger oaks in this stand eventually die off this forest will eventually become dominated by just shade-tolerant trees including maples, bitternut hickory, red elm, and basswood. Oaks require more sun on the forest floor for regeneration. Pawpaws are abundant in the forest's understory. These small trees are relatives of tropical trees that produce fruits such as the cherimoya. The pawpaw is the largest tree fruit native to the U.S. The ripe fruits can be eaten or used in making a custard or pie-filling, but some people are allergic to this fruit.
In the spring time look for ephemeral spring wildflowers here such as Solomon's seal, Dutchman's breeches, bloodroot, and bellwort. These wildflowers bloom and set seed before the tree canopy fully leaves out. They capitalize on the abundant sunshine on the forest floor in early spring. By mid-summer these wildflowers have died back and are no longer visible in the dark shade of the mesic forest. Look for downy, hairy, and red-bellied woodpeckers, and the northern flicker in the winter. During spring migration keep a lookout for thrushes and warblers.
This remnant forest was almost turned into a residential development and shopping mall back in the early 1970s. Thankfully a coalition of local citizens and The Nature Conservancy worked to acquire this site. Then in 1978 the Missouri Department of Conservation purchased the site using funds from the recently approved "conservation sales tax." Today the City of Gladstone manages the property under a lease with the Conservation Department.
There are a number of small natural areas and other natural community remnants in the Kansas City metro area to explore. For more information on exploring these sites consider acquiring the book Kansas City Wildlands by Larry Rizzo (2001, published by the Missouri Department of Conservation) Volunteers are needed to work on restoring and maintaining these biological gems such as Maple Woods within the Kansas City area. Contact the Kansas City Wildlands organization (_URL_ to volunteer to help restore these special places.
From the intersection of Interstate 435 and Highway 152 take Highway 152 west for 1.8 miles. Turn left (south) onto Highway 1. Take Highway 1 for 0.5 mile then turn right (west) onto 80th Street. Look for the sign on the corner and follow this road, which becomes 76th Street, for 0.7 mile to the parking lot on the south side of 76th Street. The area has a system of hiking trails. Hunting is not permitted.


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Rainbows and Rain Before the Flood
Rainbow with dark clouds over the ocean: ID 113478365 © Hopsalka |
[Originally published as the 2nd half of No Rain?]
After the global flood, God promised Noah that He would never again destroy the entire world by water (Genesis 9:11). God used a rainbow as a sign of this promise (Genesis 9:12-17).
Some people have assumed that this was the first time a rainbow ever existed—that it was a new creation God made for Noah to institute His promise, and that no one had ever seen a rainbow before the flood. They then further conclude that there must have been no rain before the flood if there were never any rainbows.
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But this reasoning is not cogent.
The Bible does not say that the rainbow seen at the end of the global flood was the first one to exist or the first one to be seen. It is the first one mentioned in Scripture, but that proves nothing. After all, the Bible does not mention anyone ever "going to the bathroom" before the flood—but we certainly cannot conclude that they didn't!
Arguments from silence are rarely cogent.
Rainbows are a natural and inevitable result of sunlight passing through water droplets. The refraction of light within a water droplet depends on the wavelength of the light, which we perceive as color. Different wavelengths refract by different amounts, which splits the relatively white light of the sun into the beautiful spectrum we see in rainbows. You can easily produce your own rainbow by spraying a fine mist of water into the air outside on a sunny day.
Are we to believe that no one in the 1656 years between creation and the flood ever splashed some water into the air on a sunny day?
And we have already seen that there are good reasons to believe that rain did occur before the flood. So there certainly would have been rainbows before the flood from time to time.
Genesis 9:11-17 does not teach otherwise. God is not creating a new, never-before-seen object here; rather He is using a familiar object and assigning it the new meaning of being a symbol of His promise.
Indeed, the Lord often used an existing object to symbolize something new and important. God used lambs and unleavened bread at Passover to commemorate the fact that He spared the Israelites from His wrath on Egypt (Exodus 12). But notice that God did not create lambs and unleavened bread at the time of the Passover; rather, He gave a new meaning to an existing creation.
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Jesus gave new meaning to the bread and wine at the Last Supper, using these elements to represent His body and blood (Luke 22:19-20). But He didn't create the elements at that time; the Israelites had been celebrating Passover for centuries. Jesus merely gave a new symbolic meaning to the familiar elements.
Likewise, at the end of the flood, God gave a new meaning to a familiar phenomenon.
Exegesis of Genesis 2:5
What then is the meaning of Genesis 2:5, and why does the Lord mention the fact that there was no rain on that day? Of course, God is free to report whatever details He selects regarding His description of the events of the Sixth Day. But the detail regarding the lack of rain at the beginning of the sixth day is provided to explain another detail—the lack of a certain category of plants.
The first part of Genesis 2:5 states, "Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted." This may be confusing to some because plants were created on day 3 (Genesis 1:11-13), yet here we have a description of the beginning of Day Six that mentions a lack of plants. But notice that only certain types of plants were missing: namely, shrubs of the field and plants of the field. Other plants already existed because they had been supernaturally created on day 3.
The Hebrew word translated "field" in this passage is שָּׂדֶ֖ה (sadeh') and usually refers to cultivated land—land that has been worked by human beings. Hence the "plants of the field" that were lacking on Day Six were plants that were the result of human agriculture—plants that have been sown by human farmers in ground that was previously tilled. Cultivated plants require human beings to plant them, and they require rain over the course of time.
So, Genesis 2:5 explains that there were no cultivated plants on the Earth originally, and the rest of the verse explains why. Namely, "the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground." Clearly, there would be no plants that are the product of human agriculture and rainfall because there were no humans yet and rain had not yet fallen. This is the meaning of Genesis 2:5.
There was a garden in Eden of course. But it had been planted by God, and not by man (Genesis 2:8). And how did the original plants survive for three days without rain? Genesis 2:6 explains that a mist arose and was sufficient to water the ground for those first days.
Critics sometimes accuse the Bible of having contradictions between the account of Genesis 1 and that of Genesis 2. But we have seen here that a careful reading of Genesis 2 is perfectly consistent with Genesis 1 and makes logical sense. It is explaining that the original Earth did not have fields of cultivated plants like we have today, and it gives the logical reason why.
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Written by Dr. Jason Lisle
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Two men with an open Bible outdoors, one is skeptically listening to the other: Photo _PHONE_ © Kenneth Sponsler -
Pastors Should be Evolutionists?
Adam, Science, the Bible, and our Eternal Hope