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Historically, water guns were made of metal and used rubber squeeze bulbs to load and propel water through the nozzle
Many small water guns work on the same principle as a spray bottle. The body of the toy is essentially a container for water, and the trigger is attached to a pump which squirts water out of a tiny hole at the muzzle or nozzle. However, many modern water guns employ more complex technologies to provide more power and water output than their predecessors.
In the U.S. and Canada, for several years, import regulations and domestic laws have required squirt guns to be made of clear or tinted transparent plastic. This is to make them harder to mistake for actual firearms.
Modern variations of the design include using compressed air, rubber chambers, springs, peristaltic pumps, or hydraulic pressure to propel the water or an electric pump powered by batteries. Some employ a combination of technologies to produce better stream performance. A more common term for larger water guns is water blasters.
Perhaps the most recognized brand of water gun is the Super Soaker brand by Larami Ltd, now taken over by Hasbro Inc. There are also other notable water gun brands such as Water Warriors by Buzz Bee Toys Inc., Total X-Stream by Lanard Inc., and Shield Blasters by Mattel Inc.
Squeeze Bulbs: Akin to water droppers, the oldest known manufactured water guns utilized a simple rubber squeeze bulb into which water could be drawn, then forcibly expelled out the nozzle by squeezing the bulb rapidly. This design has inherent limitations regarding the amount of pressure that one can achieve (fully dependent on the user's hand gripping strength) as well as the need to refill after each shot.
Trigger Pump / Spray Bottle: Many of the earlier small water guns used the same trigger based pumping mechanism as seen on spray bottles. Basically, the trigger would actuate a positive displacement pump shaft. With the aid of two check valves, often using small ball bearings, fluid could be drawn into the pump from a reservoir, then forced out the nozzle upon squeezing the trigger. The simplicity of the spraying mechanism meant these types of water guns could be manufactured rather cost-effectively and that the majority of the body could be used as the reservoir. The primary limitation with this design is the volume of water that could be effectively moved per pump. Increasing pump volume would require more user effort to push the fluid out, making larger designs impractical. However, this technology remains widely used today both in spray bottles as well as small water guns that can be found in a wide variety of shapes and colours.
Syringe / Piston: Another simple method employed in a number of water guns to push water is a syringe or piston type system. In essence, the water gun is made up primarily (sometimes exclusively) of the pumping mechanism that comprises an outer pump shaft with an inner pump-rod and water-tight seal. This allows water to be drawn into the pump as the pump is extended, then forcibly ejected out as the pump is compressed. Stream performance is dependent on the user's strength. Some models, like the Super Soaker Power Soaker Jr. and Stream Machines draw in and expel water out of their nozzles. This design means that a bucket-type filling source is needed in order to fill and refill the water gun. Other models, like the Super Soaker Power Soaker Mighty Cannon and Water Warriors Steady Stream, come with a couple of check valves and a reservoir for true portability.
Motorized: small piston: During the 1980s, the motorized water gun was perhaps at its most prolific time. Companies such as Entertech Inc. and Larami Inc. were creating replica-type water guns modeled after guns popularized in movies such as Rambo. At the heart of these blasters was a small motor and crank shaft that would convert the rotary motion into a forward-backwards pumping motion to drive a small pump akin to those found in the small spray bottle-type squirt pistols. While stream performance was often not particularly better, the fact that the motor took away the user's need to pump made for their increased popularity despite the fact that these water guns typically burned through 4 AA batteries over the course of a couple of water fights. However, their main strength and consequent reason for dismissal was their realistic styling. After some of these realistic-shaped water guns were attributed to accidental shootings by police, stricter rules regarding shapes and colouring of water guns were drafted in the United States.
Air: Pressurized Reservoir: This system was made famous by the Super Soaker brand of water guns, but actually was first employed by the Cosmic Liquidator. In this case, a pump is used to push air into a partially water-filled reservoir. The reservoir is otherwise air-tight, but has one valve to let the incoming air in from the pump as well as a manually controlled valve operated by the user, commonly activated by pulling on a trigger. As more air is pumped in, the air in the reservoir is compressed, increasing in pressure; the water is also pressurized by the now compressed air. Upon opening of the nozzle valve, the pressurized water is then pushed out through the nozzle as the air attempts to re-equilibrate with atmospheric pressure. This system allows pumping energy to be stored and used as needed. As well, unlike the methods noted above, this air pressure system allows production of a solid, continuous stream of water.
The limitation of this design is that a large number of pumps can be required to pressurize a larger reservoir. As well, poorly sealed reservoirs would render a water gun useless. Moreover, these water guns cannot be refilled unless emptied and depressurized. Opening a pressurized reservoir blaster while there is pressure remaining in the system can result in lots of local water spray or even an unexpected launch of the water gun and/or reservoir out of one's hands.
Air: Separate Pressure / Firing Chamber: The air-based separate pressure chamber or firing chamber system works on the same physical priniple as the pressurized reservoir system, but instead of pressurizing the reservoir, a separate, fixed volume chamber is included on the water gun into which water is pumped, compressing the air inside. This technology was first used on the Super Soaker SS 100. What this allows is for the reservoir to be removed/opened at any time for refilling since the reservoir is not pressurized. As well, the typically smaller size of the pressure chamber and the fact that water is typically pumped as opposed to air reduces the average number of pumps needed to achieve functional pressure. For improved performance, some users opt to pre-pressurize the firing chamber by pumping in some air first. This increases the starting pressure within the chamber, thus increases the overall average pressure experienced by the water when it is pumped into the pressure chamber.
Air: Split Air vs Water Pressure Chamber: While air based, the split air vs water pressure chamber has a sliding plunger that separates the compressed air from the water. This technology has so far only been seen on the Water Warriors Aqua Master PreCharger Series. A button is used to toggle whether the pump is priming/pre-pressurizing the pressure chamber with air or whether the pump is moving water into the pressure chamber. Akin to pre-pressurizing the Separate Pressure Chamber water guns, the split air vs water pressure chamber takes this one step further by preventing the accidental, undesired release of the pre-pressurized air by keeping it separated from the water by a sliding piston divider. After all the water is expelled from the pressure chamber, the sliding piston prevents loss of the pressurized air, thus reducing the number of times the water gun must be pumped with water in order to achieve optimal firing pressure.
Constant Pressure System: The Constant Pressure System (CPS) was first introduced by the Super Soaker CPS 2000 in 1996. Instead of relying on pressurized air to push water out the nozzle, CPS uses rubber elastic chambers to power the water gun. There are two common shapes of CPS chambers used: cylindrical and spherical. While the physics behind the system remains the same, there is a slight advantage for the cylindrical shape to push water in a linear direction since, upon expansion, it has more elastic force vectors pointing in the desired direction of flow compared to a spherical pressure chamber. However, because of how they expand, cylindrical pressure chambers also have more stress points than spherical ones. Nevertheless, use of the elastic materials typically offers improved power performance, particularly since pressure does not drop off as quickly as water is expelled from the pressure chamber as is seen in air-pressure-based systems. CPS-based water guns are perhaps some of the most sought after due to their improved performance and lack of firing angle limitations.
Rubber Diaphragm / Hydro Power: "Hydro Power" is a term coined by Buzz Bee Toys Inc., referring initially to their series of water guns that employed a elastic rubber bladder to pressurize water. Akin to the CPS system, the rubber diaphragm system can be considered basically half of a CPS-pressure chamber. A sheet of elastic material (typically rubber) is clamped against a housing unit. Water is pumped into the chamber, expanding the bladder that pressurizes the water within. However, due to the shape of the bladder, its expansion is not as uniform as in the CPS system, thus it experiences more significant pressure dropoff as the pressure chamber empties.
Springs: Another means of pressuzing or propelling water used in some water guns is the use of metal springs. The Waterball series has a spring-based catapult mechanisms for launching balls of water out of its nozzle. The Water Warriors Steady Stream uses a spring-based mechanisms as a sort of water capacitor to allow this otherwise piston-based water gun to produce a constant stream of water so long as


Edit or Delete a Mapped Device
Deleting a mapped device from the Map Devices page only deletes the icon from the selected floorplan image. To delete a device, see Edit or Delete a Device.
To edit or delete a mapped device:
 1. Click Device Mapping to display the Map Devices page.
 2. In the field to the right, begin typing the name of the location or indoor location where the device is mapped, then click to select the location. Once a location is selected, its floorplan or map image is displayed along with icons representing any previously mapped devices.
 3. To increase the size or rotate the icon on the image, click the icon, then click or to make the icon smaller or larger or click the or to rotate the icon.
 4. To reposition a device, click the Map button beside the device in the section to the left of the image, then click an area on the image to re-place the icon.
 5. To delete the icon, click the beside the device in the section to the left.


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Among its innovations, Object Matrix is showing its Process in Place (PiP) content-aware feature that aims to reduce the processing needed to index and access content.
In addition to demonstrating PiP, Object Matrix is launching its new management API software, which enables access to audit and monitoring information. It's also featuring Trashcan, which works like the trashcan on a PC, meaning that when content is accidentally deleted it can be stored on the system and recovered instead of being removed entirely.
Nicholas Pearce-Tomenius, sales and marketing director, Object Matrix, said: "We are noticing the rapid increasing of file sizes and the number of platforms for content provision. The constant changing of distribution methods means that it's more important than ever for broadcasters to be able to easily access their content and be sure that it won't be damaged or lost."

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


How do I access my hard drive connected to my router Android?
How do I access my hard drive plugged into my router?
Share a hard drive with everyone on your Wi-Fi network
 1. Step 1: Choose your drive. The drive you share can be as small as thumb drive, or as large as a 3TB external hard drive. …
 2. Step 2: Enable USB drive sharing. On any computer connected to your Wi-Fi network, launch a browser, and navigate to your router's IP address. …
 3. Step 3: Access the drive.
2 июл. 2014 г.
How do I access USB storage on Android router?
Accessing USB storage files from an Android mobile device
 1. Click on the link 'USB drives and printers' to go to the 'Applications' page. …
 2. In the 'Shared access' section click 'Add shared resource'.
 3. A window with a built-in file browser will open, prompting you to specify a folder on the USB drive that will be shared and then click on the 'Select' button.
IT IS INTERESTING: Your question: Why did my Android screen turn black and white?
4 мар. 2020 г.
How do I access a network drive on Android?
How-to Access your Network Drive from any Android Device
 1. Open the app tap on the 3 bars in the upper left of the screen and click on LAN.
 2. Select New (+)
 3. On this screen you will configure your Network Drive. …
 4. Your drive is now accessible anytime you are on the district's WiFi (at any district school or even at the district office), you will have access to your network drive.
Can I connect an external hard drive to my router?
Most modern routers have a USB port into which you can plug in a USB-compliant device to share with other devices on your network, like a printer or, in this case, an external hard drive. … With the WD My Cloud, you can connect it to your router via Gigabit Ethernet instead of a USB port.
How do you access your router?
Finding your router IP address on an Android device
 1. Navigate to Settings.
 2. Select Network & internet.
 3. Go to Wi-Fi and click on the Wi-Fi network you're using.
 4. Hit Advanced.
 5. Your router's default IP address is listed under Gateway.
4 нояб. 2020 г.
Does a NAS have to be connected to a router?
Tip: While most NAS devices require an Ethernet connection to your network router, some models offer built-in Wi-Fi wireless connectivity and don't need to be physically connected to a router. Do I need to be a computer professional to install a NAS? Not at all.
How do I access my router USB remotely?
Follow the steps below to configure remote access settings.
 2. Go to Advanced > USB Settings > Sharing Access page.
 3. Tick the FTP(via Internet) checkbox, and then click Save.
 4. Refer to the following table to access your USB disk remotely.
IT IS INTERESTING: Does among US Android have controller support?
25 нояб. 2020 г.
How do I turn my USB flash drive into a WiFi adapter?
The first thing you have to do is plug in your USB stick in the PC/Laptop. The second step is the easiest. In the system tray you find the wireless icon. Click it, then right-click your Wi-Fi network and select the Properties option.
How do I connect a USB to my phone?
Use USB storage devices
 1. Connect a USB storage device to your Android device.
 2. On your Android device, open Files by Google.
 3. At the bottom, tap Browse.. You should find a notification that says "USB available." …
 4. Tap the storage device you want to open. Allow.
 5. To find files, scroll to "Storage devices" and tap your USB storage device.
Can you access NAS from Android?
With Open-E DSS V7 and any Android phone or tablet you can easily and securely access all data on your NAS shares over SMB protocol.
How do I connect my Android phone to my home network?
To connect your Android phone or tablet to your wireless home network, just follow these steps:
 1. Swipe down from the top of your screen, then select the settings icon.
 4. Enter the network password.
 5. Select Connect.
9 дек. 2020 г.
How do I connect an external hard drive to my network?
Adding an external hard drive to your network
 1. Connect the external hard drive to the USB port of your server or computer that is always ON.
 2. Click the Start button, then click Computer.
 3. Right-click on the external drive, then select Share with.
 4. Click the Advanced Sharing…
 5. Check the Share this folder option.
IT IS INTERESTING: You asked: How do I turn my Android into a game controller?
What is the difference between a NAS and an external hard drive?
While external hard drives can hold you files, media, and other documents just as well as a network-assisted storage will, NAS is more flexible and does a whole lot more. In fact, NAS is sometimes referred to as a hard drive with a brain. NAS are more or less a computer.
How can I connect my external hard drive to my router without USB?
Step 3:If you wish to connect your hard drive without any USB connection, use the NAS-based external hard disks to connect with the Wi-Fi router. Step 4:The NAS devices are portable and can generate the Wi-Fi network to connect with the available Wi-Fi routers.
Sysadmin blog


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A new documentary rolls back the years to 1957 and the amazing but little-told story of the "traitorous eight" and how they left one of the first semiconductor companies to found the first startup of the computer age - Fairchild Semiconductor.
This is a story that wouldn't be out of place in a high power period piece like Mad Men. In 1957 we were still figuring out how to make transistors that didn't look like Rube Goldberg machines. Fairchild managed to create the first flat or planar transistor and while this might just seem to be to do with packaging it was the start of the technology need to create the silicon chip and eventually the microprocessor.
Although the first microchip was made at Fairchild, a group of engineers grew discontented with the situation and broke away to form a small startup called "Intel" - wonder whatever happened to that....
Silicon Valley premieres February 19, 2013 on PBS.
"the traitorous eight" sat below the Fairchild logo
Kenneth Appel (_PHONE_) together with Wolfgang Haken, proved the four color theorem and broke new ground in using a computer to complete the proof. For the first time a computer played a major role [... ]

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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Degree Programs in Family Science
Interested in a career related to families?
Search and filter below to find the right academic degree program, minor, or certificate for you in Family Science — the scientific study of families and close interpersonal relationships.
Scroll down to see complete program listings. Click any degree program name to open more information about that program.
You can also learn why you should earn a Family Science degree, including the unique skills you'll gain and career opportunities for Family Science graduates.
- Areas of Study in This Guide
"Area(s) of Study" is a filtering option in this guide. The area of study for a listing indicates the main curricular focus of that program. Options include:
- Child/Human Development and Family Science/Studies: includes human development and Family Science curricula
- Development (child, adolescent, human, gerontology, or family): focuses on one of more areas or stages of human development, such as the examples listed in parentheses
- Family Life Education: focuses on Family Life Education, a practice area of Family Science that equips families to develop knowledge and skills to enhance their well-being and relationships
- Family Policy: focuses on the development and evaluation of family policies, laws, and advocacy efforts
- Family Resource Management: focuses on addressing decisions families make about developing and allocating resources
- Family Science/Studies/Relations/Ecology/Services: focuses primarily on Family Science curricula. Programs may be titled with terminology other than Family Science, such as "family studies" or "family relations."
- Parent Education: focuses on the practice of parent education, one type of Family Life Education that centers on parenting practices, skills, and relationships
- Therapy/Counseling (individual, couples, marriage, or family): focuses on therapy or counseling that considers the family, couple, and/or marital relationships in which a person exists
- Youth, Family, and Community Services: focuses on development, administration, and management of family and community service organizations/programs
- Interactive Map of Degree Programs
Use NCFR's interactive map to see at a glance where Family Science programs are located in the U.S. and Canada.
Click any pin on the map to see bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs at that institution. (Minors and certificates are included in the full guide below.)
- About CFLE-Approved Programs


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Imaging Anatomy of the Human Brain 1st edition pdf
Imaging Anatomy of the Human Brain 1st edition eBook
"[A] very fine and detailed anatomic atlas… Dr. Borden et al. present an excellent atlas done basically by neuroradiologists‚Ä¶but with a very rich content, which is highly instructive also for neurologists and neurosurgeons, given the major importance of neuroradiological imaging in both practices."
–Guilherme Carvalhal Ribas, MD, University of S√£o Paulo Medical School, Neurosurgery
"[A]n outstanding anatomic reference textbook… do yourself a favor and either purchase this book for your own library or select it for your department‚Äôs library. For proof of its value, examine it at the next ASNR or RSNA. You will be convinced. The bulk of the information in the book will never be out of date."
—American Journal of Neuroradiology
"I was very happy to be able to review this wonderful resource, which is packed with information and illustrations… The illustrations in this atlas are remarkable…I believe this text would be a valuable reference for any neurodiagnostic laboratory as neurodiagnostic techs move into more collaborative roles as part of the patient care team. I would highly recommend it."
The most precise, cutting-edge images of normal cerebral anatomy available today are the centerpiece of this spectacular atlas for clinicians, trainees, and students in the neurologically-based medical and non-medical specialties. Truly an "atlas for the 21st century," this comprehensive visual reference presents a detailed overview of cerebral anatomy acquired through the use of multiple imaging modalities including advanced techniques that allow visualization of structures not possible with conventional MRI or CT. Beautiful color illustrations using 3-D modeling techniques based upon 3D MR volume data sets further enhances understanding of cerebral anatomy and spatial relationships. The anatomy in these color illustrations mirror the black and white anatomic MR images presented in this atlas.
Written by two neuroradiologists and an anatomist who are also prominent educators, along with more than a dozen contributors, the atlas begins with a brief introduction to the development, organization, and function of the human brain. What follows is more than 1,000 meticulously presented and labelled images acquired with the full complement of standard and advanced modalities currently used to visualize the human brain and adjacent structures, including MRI, CT, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with tractography, functional MRI, CTA, CTV, MRA, MRV, conventional 2-D catheter angiography, 3-D rotational catheter angiography, MR spectroscopy, and ultrasound of the neonatal brain. The vast array of data that these modes of imaging provide offers a wider window into the brain and allows the reader a unique way to integrate the complex anatomy presented. Ultimately the improved understanding you can acquire using this atlas can enhance clinical understanding and have a positive impact on patient care. Additionally, various anatomic structures can be viewed from modality to modality and from multiple planes.
- Provides detailed views of anatomic structures within and around the human brain utilizing over 1,000 high quality images across a broad range of imaging modalities
- Contains extensively labeled images of all regions of the brain and adjacent areas that can be compared and contrasted across modalities
- Includes specially created color illustrations using computer 3-D modeling techniques to aid in identifying structures and understanding relationships
- Goes beyond a typical brain atlas with detailed imaging of skull base, calvaria, facial skeleton, temporal bones, paranasal sinuses, and orbits
- Serves as an authoritative learning tool for students and trainees and practical reference for clinicians in multiple specialties
Imaging Anatomy of the Human Brain 1st edition free download


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'The importance and challenges of improving early identification of language abilities: a commentary on Gasparini et al. (2023)'
Open Access paper from the JCPP
Finding early predictors of later language skills and difficulties is fraught with challenges because of the wide developmental variation in language. Gasparini et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2023) aimed to address this issue by applying machine learning methods to parent reports taken from a large longitudinal database (Early Language in Victoria Study). Using this approach, they identify two short, straightforward item sets, taken at 24 and 36 months, that can adequately predict language difficulties when children are 11 years of age. Their work represents an exciting step towards earlier recognition and support for children with Developmental Language Disorder. This commentary highlights the advantages and challenges of identifying early predictors of language in this way, and discusses future directions that can build on this important contribution.
Authors: Nicola Botting, Helen Spicer-Cain
First published: 25 April 2023
ACAMH members should follow this link:


Pyrmin Limited
"Applying heat to unlock value"
Welcome to the website of Pyrmin Limited, part of the Enhanced Landfill Mining Group.
Pyrmin is focussed on the processing of waste organic (ie - carbon-containing) compounds using heat to produce re-usable materials that can be sold, principally into the fuels value-chain but also including other products that are produced. These materials may currently be destined for landfill or may be being re-processed in a harmful way. Materials include waste plastics of all types and ultimately biologically sourced organic materials.
Our initial focus is on the thermolysis of waste tyres since these represent a significant problem for disposal and, by their nature, provide a significant volume of already sorted material for our process.
If you would like more information, please email us at: _EMAIL_


tutorStudy Options
Vocabulary Quiz
famous • unique • dusk
foggy • rumored • look from
 1. His art is. I've never seen anything like it before.
 2. The mosquitoes come out at.
 3. Many tourists like to climb the Eiffel Tower to the top.
 4. This is a very building in this area. It is almost 150 years old.
 5. The day is really wet and today.
 6. It is that he wrote this song about his first girlfriend, but he won't tell anyone.
Comprehension Quiz
Answer the following questions about the interview.
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414 Bay Area Bridges
Todd talks about the bridges of the Bay Area.
 - Transcript
 - Audio Notes
The Golden Gate Bridge, perhaps the most famous bridge in the world, is famous for it's size and color.
Something or someone that is 'famous' is recognized by people all over the world. Notice the following:
 1. This is the most famous picture of Marilyn Monroe.
 2. He became famous as a child for the role he played in this movie.
It's unique color is officially known as "orange vermilion."
If something or someone is 'unique' it is special and different from other things like it. Notice the following:
 1. A lot of his ideas are unique, but I don't really agree with him.
 2. Those earrings are really unique. Where did you get them'
On a clear day, when the sun sets at dusk, the water turns from blue to gold.
'Dusk' is the time of day when the such is going down, but there is still a little bit of light. Notice the following:
 1. You need to arrive before dusk, because it's really dangerous to drive on this road at night.
 2. I can see just fine during the day, but at dusk things start to get a little unclear. I think I'm going to buy glasses.
San Francisco has large amounts of fog, especially in summer.
'Fog' is like a cloud close to the earth. If you are in fog, it is difficult to see in front of you. Notice the following:
 1. The fog was really bad this morning on the way to work.
 2. There is always a little fog in the valley in the morning.
When information is 'rumored' to be true we don't know if that information is correct, but that is what people believe to be true. Notice the following:
 1. That house is rumored to be haunted.
 2. It is rumored that they plan to get married next year, but no official plans have been made.
look at, look from
The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful to look at, but the Bay Bridge is a beautiful bridge to look from.
When you 'look at' something you are viewing it from a place that is a little far away, you are standing off of the bridge and viewing it. If you 'look from' a place it means that you are standing in that place at looking at the things around it. The example is saying that one bridge is beautiful, but the view from the other one is beautiful. Notice the following:
 1. Come over here and look at this sofa. What do you think?
 2. The best part of climbing the mountain is looking at the city from the top.


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UNZEN VOLCANO, Western Kyushu
(June 1, 1996)
Slow deformation of lava dome after the halt of magma supply was monitored successfully with GPS and EDM analyses by the Shimabara Earthquake and Volcano Observatory (SEVO), Kyushu University. The deformation shows the tendency that endogenous dome is flattening: the maximum subsidence and lateral movement during this one year are about 1.5 m and 1 m, respectively; the averages are 0.5 and 0.4 m, respectively. The temperature measurement of fumarolic gas at the top of the dome by SEVO showed that gas had cooled from 500-700 deg. C to 300-500 deg. C during this one year.
Several small block-and-ash flows occurred on 10, 12 and 13 February 1996, leaving one-year quiescence, though magma supply had stopped since February 1995. According to the Shimabara Earthquake and Volcano Observatory (SEVO), Kyushu University, these flows descended to SE, traveling about 1.0 km from the source; surge-like (ash-dominated) deposits were associated with the flows. These deposits were colored in reddish brown, and the temperature of lava blocks in them was measured >60 oC using the infrared camera of the Public Work Research Instiute. These flows were generated by partial collapse of old lava (lobe 7 or 8). The witness told that the ash-cloud accompanied by these flows was much similar to those of pyroclastic (block-and-ash) flows that took place frequently during 1991-94. Simple rockfalls (without ash-cloud) also occurred simultaneously and reached about 1.5 km from the source, beyond the front of block-and-ash flows!
No volcanic earthquakes occurred before and after these events. Tiltmeter close to the dome did not show any change during these events. These partial collapses may be due either to cooling shrinkage of the dome or seasonal temperature change.
Generation of pyroclastic flows and major deformation of lava dome had stopped in February 1995. Refer to Decade Page for the _PHONE_ eruption history.
(right photo) Pyroclastic flows, Unzen Volcano, on Jun. 24, 1993 (taken by S. Nakada).
To eruption menu


Passion Fruit Vine
Answered by: Richters Staff
Dorothy McLeod pleads
Several years ago, I bought a tiny passion fruit vine from you. The first year, it got eaten up by something or other and spent the next few years recovering. This year it got even and grew all over the patio and on up the the neighbour's balcony. It has about a dozen green fruits of various sizes. I had to bring it in last night as frost threatened. Most of it is wound up in a ball and takes up half the living room (well, it takes up a lot of space). My questions are:
1. Is there any chance the fruits will ripen if I provide supports for it in the living room?
2. Would it be better just to prune it to about five feet high? Will it survive?
Thank you for any advice you can provide.
We don't know if the fruits will ripen. The plants are going to suffer from the sudden change in light levels, and you probably will notice leaves turning yellow and dropping. There is no doubt that the plant will need to be cut back eventually to get it to a more manageable size for the indoors. Whether the fruits will continue to ripen will depend on many factors, few of which are working in your favour right now. We have to hope that the fruits are large enough to continue the ripening process much like tomatoes will. We recommend leaving the fruits on the vines until they either ripen or show signs of degradation. Carefully move the vines into a location getting more than four hours daily. On mild days, move the plant out when possible. After you harvest the fruits (we hope!), prune back vines to five feet as you suggest. Provide copious sunlight and when you see signs of new growth, fertilize with a balanced liquid fertilizer like 6-6-6 Lakefish fish emulsion.
Back to Growing Herbs | Q & A Index


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GRASS GIS, commonly referred to as GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System), is a free and open source Geographic Information System (GIS) software suite used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics and maps production, spatial modeling, and visualization.
GRASS GIS has limited support for Parallel GRASS jobs. Also some script examples of running several GRASS jobs in parallel are available. PyGRASS includes also ParallelModuleQueue for parallel computing, see our example about that.
If you want to use GRASS GUI, you should connect to taito-shell using -X connection or NoMachine for Windows users.
First load appropriate module. There are three options for that:
1) If you want to use GRASS GUI, you can open GRASS from NoMachine's Fluxbox menu (right-click to open): Applications -> Taito-shell -> GIS -> GRASS-GIS. This loads in the background the same modules as option 2.
2) If you want to use GRASS as stand-alone or with Python, use geo-env, which includes Python with GIS packages, GDAL, QGIS and LasTools. It does not include GRASS GIS directly, but GRASS can be easily added like this:
module load geo-env grass
3) If you want to use GRASS GIS with R, without GRASS GUI, use rspatial-env,which includes R, GDAL, GRASS and SagaGIS.
module load rspatial-env
Both of the xx-env modules unload all previously loaded modules, so they should be loaded first, if you need to load also some other modules.
* SagaGIS and GRASS GIS use different versions of wxwidgets library, which is used for the GUI. So if you would like to use both GUIs please open two sessions to Taito-shell.
Then for starting the GRASS GUI:
It is possible to also use GRASS functionality via command-line, shell scripts or Python code, see GRASS manual for details.


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Babraham epigenetics research paves the way for a better understanding of unexplained infertility
19 August 2011
BBSRC-funded scientists at the Babraham Institute have made a breakthrough in understanding how mammalian genomes are modified in the egg and sperm and are reprogrammed after fertilisation, which also has implications for better understanding fertility.
Around 15% of couples worldwide have difficulty conceiving a child and in around 5% of cases the reasons for infertility remain elusive. Attention is now turning to epigenetic changes, which are important regulators for many biological processes including the development of sperm and eggs. This research, in collaboration with the National Institute for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, may bring new understanding to cases of infertility where there is no obvious underlying cause and pave the way for improvements in diagnosis of infertility and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) in humans.
At the heart of embryonic reprogramming are chemical changes (methylation) to the genome, which influence gene expression without altering the genetic sequence, yet can be inherited. Methylation marks are one of the ways that genes get switched on or off in different places at different times, enabling different tissues to develop from a single fertilised egg. If these 'epigenetic' methylation marks are not copied correctly from the egg and sperm in the developing embryo, mistakes could be retained for the individual's lifetime, potentially leading to errors in epigenetic patterns and human disorders.
The research, reported in the August edition of the journal Nature Genetics, details for the first time a genome-wide methylation map of mammalian oocytes (eggs), which will provide scientists with a greater understanding of how we develop into healthy individuals and maintain wellbeing during ageing.
Dr Gavin Kelsey, senior author of the paper and a Group Leader at the Babraham Institute, which receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council explained, "A greater understanding of how methylation landscapes are set up has far reaching implications not only for understanding mechanisms of inheritance and development but also our susceptibility to age-related diseases since conditions like heart disease, diabetes and obesity may be associated with errors in epigenetic regulation.
"The research may also bring new insight to reproductive problems, helping to pinpoint some of the epigenetic impairments suspected to underlie infertility where there is no obvious cause. This research lays the foundations for understanding post-fertilisation reprogramming of embryos and may contribute knowledge to improve assisted reproductive technologies in humans."
This research also brings new understanding of epigenetic regulation and 'genomic imprinting' in mammals, a process where particular genes are used depending on whether they come from the mother or father. Central to this are 'epigenetic' methylation tags, which modify DNA structure and appear to give the chromosomes a'memory' of their parental origin. Major epigenetic reprogramming occurs in germ cells (eggs and sperm) to erase and reset parental imprints and in early pre-implantation development. After fertilisation, methylation is extensively reprogrammed in the developing embryo, except at imprinted genes which have to retain the methylation tags inherited from the egg or sperm.
If one copy of a gene is epigenetically 'turned off' and the remaining working gene has a mutation, problems may arise. A number of imprinting diseases have been reported in humans and animals born after the use of ART, although their incidence remains low - for example, a loss of methylation of the mother's copy of a certain gene leads to Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, an over-growth disorder with a higher risk of developing childhood cancer. Consequently understanding more about the methylation landscape of mammalian eggs and early embryos may help inform strategies for assisting with human reproduction and may lead to new possibilities in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
This landmark methylation map of germ cells and embryonic development may also have implications for the assisted reproduction of livestock. It will also be an invaluable resource for the research community, which will enable scientists to determine how much of the genome is imprinted, bringing greater understanding about the regions of the genome that are resistant or prone to methylation and the role of this in mammalian development.
This research was supported by the Babraham Institute, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council and the Centre for Trophoblast Research in Cambridge.
Notes to editors
Publication details: Nature Genetics DOI _URL_
Dynamic CpG island methylation landscape in oocytes and preimplantation embryos
Sébastien A Smallwood, Shin-ichi Tomizawa, Felix Krueger, Nico Ruf, Natasha Carli, Anne Segonds-Pichon, Shun Sato, Kenichiro Hata, Simon R Andrews & Gavin Kelsey
About the Babraham Institute
The Babraham Institute, which receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), undertakes international quality life sciences research to generate new knowledge of biological mechanisms underpinning ageing, development and the maintenance of health. The institute received £22.4M investment from BBSRC in 2010-11.The Institute's research provides greater understanding of the biological events that underlie the normal functions of cells and the implication of failure or abnormalities in these processes. Research focuses on signalling and genome regulation, particularly the interplay between the two and how epigenetic signals can influence important physiological adaptations during the lifespan of an organism. By determining how the body reacts to dietary and environmental stimuli and manages microbial and viral interactions, we aim to improve wellbeing and healthier ageing. _URL_
About the Centre for Trophoblast Research
The Centre for Trophoblast Research is an exciting inter-departmental initiative that aims to promote the study of placental biology, with special reference to the trophoblast, both within and outside Cambridge. The centre, which draws together researchers from Babraham, The Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, The Gurdon Institute and Addenbrookes Hospital, was officially launched in July 2008 and aims to facilitate interactions and collaborations between established researchers, both nationally and internationally. The Centre aims to promote research and teaching in placental biology and the developmental origins of the trophoblast within the University of Cambridge and affiliated institutes through Next Generation Research Fellowships, Graduate Studentships, seminars, workshops, and infrastructural support. One of the Centre's principal aims, however, is to encourage young investigators into the field and foster their careers. _URL_
BBSRC invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.
Funded by Government, and with an annual budget of around £445M, we support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
Dr Claire Cockcroft, Head of External Relations, Babraham Institute
tel: 01223 496260
mob: 07786 335978
Dr Gavin Kelsey, Group Leader, Epigenetics Laboratory, Babraham Institute


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You know the feeling; you've just finished ten miles walking across gruelling but breathtaking countryside and you're feeling rather pleased with yourself after having conquered that seemingly never-ending summit and finally having arrived safely back at your base-camp. Perhaps you may be sat with a sandwich and a well earned glass of beer in front of a traditional country pub's log fire, exchanging stories with locals and fellow walkers. And then, once the adrenalin wears off and you get your breath back, you begin to ask yourself the question: why do my legs and feet hurt after walking.
The initial euphoria of your hiking success dissipates as you begin to feel the inevitable aches and tightening sensations on your leg muscles. They begin to realise that you're no longer giving them the strenuous work-out you had been doing and start to contract quickly.
As the muscles relax and contract, often the build up of lactic acid that is formed when heavy exercise is undertaken, can lead to cramps, especially in those whose muscles become fatigued more quickly.
Feet can also hurt after walking because of several factors including cramp. However, one of the most common ways that feet hurt after walking is down to the dreaded blister - the walker's curse. Blisters form where there is additional friction on the skin which has been caused by repeated motion and sometimes exacerbated by ill-fitting socks and walking shoes. Blisters are actually nature's way of protecting the area that has been damaged, by providing a last ditch attempt at providing a 'pillow' of fluid beneath the skin to protect the body underneath it. However, they can be very painful if, after they've formed the person needs to continue walking and worst of all if the blister bursts.
When a blister bursts (this can be because the blister's owner has deliberately burst it or because continuous wear from further walking friction has caused it) the protective bubble disappears, and whilst blisters can be uncomfortable by making walking or wearing footwear more difficult, bursting them is many times more painful and can lead to the area becoming infected.
So, the question 'why do my legs and feet hurt after walking' could be due to these two most common reasons. However, with a little rest and some proper warming-down exercises, cramp can be avoided to some extent and if they do appear, they can pass relatively quickly. Rest and a good hot shower will often be all a walker needs to help warm up the muscles, prevent cramps and give those blisters a break by taking the weight of their legs.


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German dentists develop 'painless' plasma tooth-blaster
In-mouth light sabre to replace drilling
More news of exotic high technology benefiting the human race today, as German gnasher-boffins announce a cunning plan to replace dentists' drills with "painless, contact-free" plasma beam devices.
Rotting teeth, one of the most painful (and expensive) medical problems faced by modern humans, are caused when mouth bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus casei build up on the teeth. The dastardly micro-organisms can erode a tooth's tough enamel, coating and start to infect the "dentin" tissue beneath it, eventually destroying large parts of the tooth and - when they reach the living pulp at its centre - causing intense pain.
Normally a dentist will tackle such a cavity by drilling out all the infected tissue before putting in a filling. Such drilling often requires a local anaesthetic, meaning that the procedure is skilled and expensive work.
But now, according to boffins at the Leibniz-Institute of Surface Modifications in Leipzig and dentists from the Saarland University, there's an alternative. A rotting tooth can simply be blasted with beams of "cold plasma", which will kill off all the entrenched bacteria without any need for drilling or anaesthesia.
The German researchers have carried out tests on dentin samples from extracted human molars which had been deliberately infected with several different kinds of bacteria. Their "cold" (roughly 40°C) plasma-beam instruments apparently killed 99.99 per cent of the tooth-rotting invaders.
"Drilling is a very uncomfortable and sometimes painful experience. Cold plasma, in contrast, is a completely contact-free method that is highly effective," says Dr Stefan Rupf of Saarland Uni.
"The low temperature means they can kill the microbes while preserving the tooth. The dental pulp at the centre of the tooth, underneath the dentin, is linked to the blood supply and nerves and heat damage to it must be avoided at all costs."
According to Dr Rupf, dental plasma tools "can be expected" within 3 to 5 years. Parallel developments in non-dental medicine have lately seen US special forces trying out a portable, mini-light-sabre-esque "plasma blade" for use in field surgery.
There's a scholarly paper by Rupf and his colleagues, Killing of adherent oral microbes by a non-thermal atmospheric plasma jet, here. ®
But what about the 0.01%
"Their "cold" (roughly 40°C) plasma-beam instruments apparently killed 99.99 per cent of the tooth-rotting invaders."
Leaving 0.01% of battle hardened, plasma imune bacteria to run rampant through your teeth unless you get them drilled.
Just like those adverts that show most of the bacteria being killed with a wipe, I dont worry about the ones that got killed, they were probably wimps, and no real threat. Its the one that was left alive that scares the hell out of me.
It may work
But which self-respecting dentist would opt for a painless method? Inconceivable!
I've had two "contact free" procedures. One involved a laser up my nose (don't ask). That hurt like hell. The other involved very high frequency radio in my mouth. That was the single most painful experience of my life - all whilst the dentist was eulogising "see, it doesn't hurt a bit does it? It's amazing this thing". I was in pain for several days afterwards but unable to protest at the time due to having a large radio transmitter and the dentists hands in my mouth along with a decent quantity of bleach.
"Contact free" might be cheaper and require less training - but in my (admittedly, rather limited) experience that certainly doesn't mean pain free.


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MARION, N.C. (Sept. 6, 2012) — Breeding Eastern hellbenders in captivity isn't for the faint of heart.
For one thing, these odd-looking animals, also called "water dogs" or "snot otters," are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity. For another, they're relatively hard to find in the wild, including North Carolina where they're protected and listed as a species of special concern, so obtaining animals for captive breeding can be quite difficult.
But those factors aren't deterring biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Working cooperatively with the N.C. Zoo, the Wildlife Commission is trying to raise to sexual maturity 10 juvenile hellbenders that it received from a Texas zoo in June,with the ultimate goal of breeding them in captivity to create more hellbenders.
Biologists are not interested in propagating hellbenders to augment wild populations, but rather to meet the increasing demand for these large, aquatic salamanders as educational and display animals for qualified state agencies, universities and other facilities.
"The Wildlife Commission has no plans or intentions to breed hellbenders for release into the wild," said Lori Williams, a mountain wildlife diversity biologist with the Commission's Division of Wildlife Management. "We are simply trying to eliminate the need for any facility to yank a hellbender from the wild for display purposes.
"There is no need for that practice anymore if captive stock is available."
Currently, the 10 juvenile hellbenders are sharing two aquariums set upat the Commission's Conservation Aquaculture Center, which is located at the Marion State Fish Hatchery in McDowell County. Staff with the Divisions of Wildlife Management and Inland Fisheries are measuring, weighing and photographing the young animals twice a year. In another year or so, they will place the growing hellbenders in a secure, concrete raceway at the hatchery.
Commission staff began modifying the raceway in July to ensure that conditions will be right for hellbenders to breed and nest when they mature.
"Some of the modifications include the addition of baffles to break up line of sight," said Peter Lamb, the Commission's technology center biologist. "This will help keep the animals from feeling over crowded. We will also add a substrate similar to what is found in their natural environment with places for the animals to hide and a set of hinged lids to provide shade and protection from predators."
Because hellbenders grow more quickly in captivity than they do in their native mountain waters, Williams expects that the young animals will reach sexual maturity by 2015. A lot is riding on the next three years, Williams said. She is hopeful, yet realistic, about the captive-breeding program's long-term success.
"No one has ever successfully bred Eastern hellbenders in captivity, although many have tried for many years,"Williams said. "It was just last year that a team in the Midwest finally got it right with the Ozark hellbender, having the first-ever successful captive-breeding event with that species.
"We're hoping for similar results with the Eastern hellbender."
Their current location at the Marion facility marks a return home of sorts for the young hellbenders, which started out as an egg mass removed from a stream in the French Broad River system in North Carolina in 2010. The egg mass was taken to the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas for a research project looking at the effects of two organic chemicals found in two river systems on growth and reproductive organs. More than 200 baby hellbenders hatched from the clutch, leaving the Ft. Worth Zoo with a large stock of leftover hellbenders that needed a new home, because they couldn't be released into the wild.
Several agencies and other institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums received the leftover hellbenders, with the Commission being one of three in North Carolina that had the proper permits, expertise and equipment to care for the hellbenders. The Wildlife Commission is the only North Carolina facility attempting a captive-breeding project. The other North Carolina facilities receiving hellbenders will use them only as display and educational animals.
While the Fort Worth Zoo provided the hellbenders to start the project, the N.C. Zoological Society was instrumental in the project's initial success. John Groves, curator of amphibians and reptiles at the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro, provided Commission biologists with technical advice on hellbender reproduction and husbandry — big challenges when working with captive animals that need very specific parameters of dissolved oxygen, water flow, temperature and nesting habitat.
In addition to providing much-needed guidance, the N.C. Zoological Society paid to renovate the raceways at the conservation center.
"This project is critical since it will provide the opportunity in the future to attempt captive breeding of this important member of the aquatic ecosystem in North Carolina," Groves said. "This project will also give us a wonderful opportunity to study this salamander in captivity in a large, naturalistic enclosure where additional aspects of its behavior and ecology can be more fully understood."
The Eastern Hellbender — "An Indicator of Good Water Quality"
As its name indicates, the Eastern hellbender is found throughout the Eastern part of the United States from New York to Mississippi. It is one of North America's largest salamanders, generally reaching lengths up to 24 inches. With its wide, flat head, small, beady eyes and broad, flat tail, the hellbender can be a scary sight for those not familiar with this mostly nocturnal animal. However, the hellbender is nonvenomous and completely harmless, spending its entire life in the clean, fast-moving mountain streams and rivers of North Carolina where it eats mostly crayfish, small fish and other salamanders.
While its preferred food is crayfish, hellbenders are scavengers and will eat just about anything,including bait, or fish on a stringer, which is why anglers can catch them unintentionally.
It's these unintentional catches that lead many people to think that hellbenders are harmful to fish populations— a myth that Williams is quick to dispel.
"Hellbenders do not eat enough fish to have a negative impact on fishing," Williams said. "In fact, finding a hellbender in a stream is actually a good thing because hellbenders do well only in clear, clean water.
"So, finding one is an excellent indicator of good water quality, which also supports game fish populations, like trout and smallmouth bass."
Williams advises anglers who catch a hellbender to cut the line as close as possible to the hook and release theanimal back into the water as quickly and carefully as possible.
Surveys Determine Hellbender Abundance in Five Western North Carolina River Basins
Until recently, biologists had very little information on hellbender populations in North Carolina, although they suspected that hellbenders had declined in many streams due to the usualsuspects — poor water quality from silt, sediment and other pollutants, over-collection, human interactions, habitat disturbance, and dams and impounded waterways.
Since 2007, the N.C. Zoo and the Wildlife Commission have surveyed more than 50 waterways in five western North Carolina river basins that were known to have hellbenders at one time or have never been surveyed before.
Preliminary survey results revealed a decline in some hellbender populations while other populations have remained stable. As biologists expected, hellbenders' success is directly correlated to human density: hellbenders tended to do better in areas with fewer people and less human interactions.
Staff from the N.C. Zoo and the Commission will continue the surveys for another four or five years.
"North Carolina has one of the largest populations of hellbenders in the United States," said Groves, who has worked with Williams to conduct the surveys. "However, we are finding many populations that are declining or possibly gone. Constant monitoring is important, not only to help protect this aquatic salamander, but also to monitor our waterways."
Read more about the surveys here.
Even though surveys are ongoing, biologists still have little data on hellbenders. They are asking the public to report any hellbender sightings to _EMAIL_. For more information on hellbenders in North Carolina, download an information sheet here.
For more information on wildlife conservation in North Carolina, visit the Conserving page.
A high-resolution version of the photographs above are available for download here
Please credit Lori Williams for photo of hellbender on a blue bag and TR Russ with remaining photos. For additional photos related to this story, as well as a fact sheet suitable for printing, contact Jodie Owen, _EMAIL_.


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The closing of a central Nebraska irrigation canal should help boost the flow of water in the Platte River and improve habitat for endangered species.
The Central Platte Natural Resources District said Wednesday it is nearly done with a plan to buy water rights for the Six Mile Canal near Gothenburg. The canal is being filled in with dirt and retired after 116 years of use.
The project is expected to return an average of 2,377 acre-feet of water to the Platte River annually. An acre foot is the volume of water needed to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot.
More than 30 land owners agreed to sell their rights to water from the canal and convert their farming operations over to groundwater irrigation.


Simple steps to ensure you're taking control of your career
I've recently re-read The 100 year life, by Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott. It talks about the impacts on life span due to the advances in technology and science. Our average expected life span has been increasing by 2 years every decade since 1840.
if a child born in 2007 has a 50% life probability of living to 104, a child born a decade earlier, 1997 would have a 50% chance of reaching 101 or 102" Gratton & Scott
That's great news... if you enjoy what you are doing for the next 80+ years!
How can you take control, know what makes you spark, confidently review your career growth and be able to plan your career journey so that you can enjoy your extended life span?
Donald Super, career development theorist wrote about Career Development Theory, this identified the 5 key Life stages below:
 1. Growth ( birth to teens)
 2. Exploration ( teens to 20's) a time to explore and set on a career path
 3. Establishment ( 20-40's ) gaining work experiences
 4. Maintenance (40-60's) stretch in role
 5. Decline (60-retirement) getting ready to retire
However, with the exciting prospect of reaching a ripe old age of 104! It's clear that this theory needs to be reconsidered.
Careers by definition relates to every role that you've held throughout your life and as single 'careers or professions' for life are no longer a viable nor a sought after option, the 'now of work' is about being proactive to face the constant change and disruption, as we can expect that technology will continue to evolve at pace and the working preferences of millennials is more around work/life blend.
Most Organisations are looking for transferable skill sets, adaptability, learning curiosity, growth, collaboration and determination/grit.
Which means the new stages should look more like this:
 1. Growth ( birth to teens)
 2. Experimentation ( teens to 20's) a time to experience lots of different industries and roles
 3. Skill set development (20's to 30's) realise your strengths and interests
 4. Challenge (30's to 70+) stretch, up skilling and disruption of roles. This could include multiple changes in careers
 5. Life style selection (70+) make choices around the types of role and service you want to continue to provide
So what can you do to take back control, know what makes you spark, show your value to businesses and enjoy your extended career?
 - Don't wait until you're forced into change and only then reflect on what you like and how you add value. Be proactive and book an Annual / bi-annual check in for yourself to realise your worth
 - Consider what roles/projects you've thrived on throughout your roles?
 - Identify what you like/dislike about what you do and where you are?
 - List your Achievements and learnings
 - What new Transferable skills have you gained
 - Imagine the future, think about what you really want to do, and where your industry and profession is heading. What does it look like, and what would it take for you to get there?
 - Know where your knowledge gaps are and be creative with your learning/development solutions
 - Consider how your skills link to Job clusters below to see how you can leverage these if you want to change direction
The seven job clusters include:
1. The Generators: Occupations that require a high level of interpersonal interaction, such as those you find in retail, sales, hospitality and entertainment.
2. The Artisans: Manual tasks related to construction, production, maintenance or technical customer service.
3. The Carers: This cluster seeks to improve the mental or physical health and wellbeing of others, and includes medical, care and personal support services.
4. The Informers: The 'behind-the-scenes' types, this cluster involves administration, and the process or service tasks coordinators.
5. The Coordinators: They deploy skills and knowledge of science, mathematics and design to construct or engineer products.
6. The Designers: Professionals who provide information, education or business services.
7. The Technologists: Skilled workers with an understanding of and ability to manipulate digital technology.
Yay, life's now longer! Book a date with yourself, your manager or a career coach to reflect and take back control
_TAG_ _TAG_ _TAG_ _TAG_ _TAG_ _TAG_ _TAG_


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Fast Track Construction is more than merely building quickly or overlapping each trades' schedule, it is a construction methodology where construction begins before the design is finalized. To some building owners, that may sound reckless and it is not in the least. The key is two-fold, engaging a construction manager in the design phase (aka preconstruction) and secondly, designing the structure in phases. For example, in most cases, a building's foundation design is determined early enough to allow site preparations to begin while the rest of the structural design and aesthetics are still waiting to be finalized.
If you're familiar with the time savings derived from Design-Build over Design-Bid-Build, think of Fast Track Construction as an expedited variation of Design-Build. When using the Design-Bid-Build construction delivery method, the project works like a relay race where the architecture and engineering team completes the entire design, the building owner (or architect) bids out the project and selects a contractor, and finally, the construction team builds the structure based on the complete drawings in phase 1. The Design-Bid-Build method is safe, linear, and slow.
Design-Build integrates the construction team much earlier on in the process and they actively work with the design team to shape the design, budget, and construction schedule to provide more value engineering, fewer surprises, and a better experience for everyone involved. While the Design-Build process can expedite schedules over 30% compared to Design-Bid-Build, the shovel usually doesn't hit the ground until the design is completed and approved by the owner. That's where Fast Track Construction is different.
Fast Track Construction requires a knowledgeable construction manager, a structure that can be designed and built in phases, and a reason the expedite the timeline.
Benefits of Fast Track Construction:
- Reduce Time to Market and Accrue Profits Sooner – a faster schedule means the owner/tenant moves in faster and creates revenue sooner providing a faster ROI (Return On Investment).
- Reduce Impact of Inflation – combat potential increases in materials costs by procuring them sooner.
- Save Overall Costs of Construction – the compressed schedule usually reduces labor costs and stabilizes material costs.
- Lower Financing Risk – because of the aforementioned benefits, Fast Track Construction can reduce the cost and risk of financing these projects. In some cases, Fast Track Construction makes a project viable because of the quicker return on the investment.
Use Cases for Fast Track Construction:
- Multi-story Structures and Multi-building Complexes – Expediting the schedule for Multi-family, Hospitality, & Mixed-Use projects of this size can drastically save the real estate developer or building owner millions of dollars or generate revenue from a project sooner.
- Light Industrial – An ideal use for Fast Track Construction because of the vast amount of site preparations required and steel can be erected in most areas while designs are finalized.
- Disaster Recovery – When disaster strikes, time is of the essence for recovery efforts. Creating housing, healthcare, and public assistance quickly is more important than aesthetics.
- Government Projects – This sector may sound unlikely since many government agencies may be averse to the risks of Fast Track Construction, yet it may make a big impact to alleviate overcrowding in public housing, add hospital beds to combat a pandemic, or open a school before the school year starts.
- Pending Weather Delays – In some climates, you cannot build year-round and aspects of the structure must be completed before snow, ice, or hurricanes are expected to impede or shut down construction.
Drawbacks to Fast Track Construction:
- Requires a Partnership, Not Finger Pointers – the client, design team, and construction team need to work as a single team with one goal otherwise each hiccup can cause a serious time delay. Ideally, the architecture, engineering, and construction teams have worked together already and have a solid cultural fit.
- Good, Frequent Communication is Vital – so many aspects of the project are changing simultaneously, it requires regularly scheduled and ad hoc communication to make quick decisions and to keep everyone on the same page.
- Hard on a Novice Developer – these projects move fast and require an experienced developer/owner that can envision the final product before it is fully designed.
- Harder on the Design Team than Construction – although it is called "Fast Track Construction", the construction team is not necessarily condensing their work schedules as much as the design team is. The architects and engineers have no cushion and always have deadlines looming and can't rework designs ad nauseam like they can with Design-Bid-Build projects.
- Potentially More Work Change Orders – since some decisions are made (and in place) before the final designs are approved, things like moving a wall may need to occur after they were already built. Usually, the cost savings from utilizing the Fast Track Construction process drastically outweigh these costs, work changes are more likely to occur with Fast Track projects than with Design-Build projects.
Not every project needs to utilize the Fast Track Construction delivery method. For many real estate developers and building owners, Fast Track is an attractive option that generates revenue faster. The key is the integration of the design and construction teams. The more those two phases are separated, the longer the project takes.


Futurama Math
Sum of Two Cubes Activity Sheet
Ken Keeler has a PhD in applied math from Harvard. When he was finishing up, there were very few jobs, so he applied to both academic and TV writing jobs. After a year at Bell Labs, he decided to try TV writing. In a gotfuturama.com (CGEF) interview, when he was asked about his many years at school, Ken Keeler joked that a Futurama reference to 1729 was worth six years of grad school:
Ken Keeler:...I felt like if I didn't try writing now, I'd regret it the rest of my life. So after a year at Bell Labs, I went to Letterman. I've regretted it the rest of my life.
CGEF: Did it ever pay off to go through all these years of education?
Keeler refers to the episode Xmas Story [2ACV04] written by David X. Cohen in which Bender the robot receives a card from the machine that built him wishing "Son #1729" a Merry Christmas. Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
Question 1 Use an effective web search to find out what Ken Keeler means when he says that 1729 is "a historically significant integer to mathematicians everywhere." Your answer should include information about the mathematicians Ramanujan and Hardy and a calculation statement about the number 1729.
Question 2 Verify that the related computation statement holds, but do not prove that it is the smallest such number. Show work. Next discuss a general proof method or technique one could use to show that 1729 is the smallest such number but do not prove the statement.
Ken Keeler says that, "We didn't have the agenda of putting a mathematical reference in there, other than that we needed a number for plot reasons. We could have picked one at random, but there was no reason not to make it an interesting one, and that's how many of these references found their way in." The number 1729 also appears in many episodes of Futurama on the hull of the space ship called the Nimbus and as the reference number of the universe populated by "bobble head" characters in the episode The Farnsworth Parabox [4ACV15]. The sum of two cubes comes up again in the episode The Lesser of Two Evils [2ACV06]. Read the following and look for David X. Cohen's calculation hint.
Professor Farnsworth: This is Flexo
Hermes: Sweet llamas of the Bahamas! Except for that stylish beard, he look just like Bender!
Flexo: No duh dreadlock, we're both bending units.
Bender: Hey brobot, what's your serial number?
Flexo: _PHONE_.
Bender: No way! Mine's _PHONE_.
Fry: I don't get it.
Bender: We're both expressible as the sum of two cubes.
Flexo: Woooh!
[DVD audio commentary begins]
Matt Groening: Now whose joke was that?
David X. Cohen: Well I imagine that either me, Ken Keeler, or Jeff Westbrook, the staff mathematicians, had something to do with it, I forget who - that's true though.
Matt Groening: Wait a second, so let me see, one of you made it up and two laughed uproariously...
David X. Cohen: But I invite the zealous viewer to check that claim. It is true and there's a little trick to it so it's not as easy to figure out as it seems.
Matt Groening: Really?
David X. Cohen: Yes. It's mathematically accurate, all integers, but it's a little tricky. [The Lesser of Two Evils [2ACV06]]
Question 3 Express each of Bender and Flexo's identification numbers as the sum of two cubes. Use a successful web search to help you, and then use a computer algebra system or calculator to verify that each number is indeed expressible as the sum of the cubes of the numbers you found.
Question 4 In David X. Cohen's calculation hint (see his comments above) what did he mean when he said that "it's a little tricky"? Specifically, what kind of numbers do mathematicians usually look for when they express numbers as the sum of two cubes, and which serial number was "a little tricky" in this sense?
Question 5 Search the web to find recent results about the sum of two cubes (within the last five years) and summarize what you found.
In an interview with frontwheeldrive.com, David X. Cohen said that they try to put in as much science as possible with the hope of making die-hard fans out of those that appreciate it. Thanks to the cleverness and mathematical backgrounds of the writers, Futurama can be especially fun to watch. And David X. Cohen was correct in my case. Researching math in Futurama for an article I was asked to write did indeed make a die-hard fan out of me.
Also see Klein's Beer: Futurama Comedy and Writers in the Classroom, PRIMUS, Volume XVII, Number 1, March 2007, pp. 52-66.
Dr. Sarah J. Greenwald
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Spider legs use hydraulic pressure. When they die their legs curl because the liquid dries up!
Spiders' legs curl up is because a spider uses hydraulic pressure to push liquid into it's legs that allow it to move, and when it dies the liquid drains out making the legs curl up
If you've ever killed a spider (without completely squishing it) or come across one that is already dead, you know that their legs curl up beneath them when they die. You may be too busy being grossed out by this eight-legged creature to wonder just why this is. Human's limbs don't curl inward after they die. So what is going on with this posthumous tendency.
It turns out that spiders' legs are hydraulic. Or more specifically, two of the six joints in their legs are hydraulic. In order to straighten these joints and subsequently their legs, spiders flex their muscles and increase the pressure. When the spider dies, it obviously loses control over it's leg system and relaxes. The legs then curl upward automatically because no pressure is keeping them straightened.


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Charity begins at home
This page is about the saying "Charity begins at home".
Possible interpretation: Our first responsibility is to our own family and friends.Note: charity (noun) = the voluntary giving of money or other help to poor people or people in need
The saying "charity begins at home" suggests that
This entry is in the following categories:
Contributor: Josef Essberger


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Culture is often construed as a set of static beliefs, attitudes, and values shared by people. Intuitively appealing as it may be, this conception of culture fails to bring out its dynamic making and remaking. This paper outlines a theory of cultural dynamics that puts interpersonal processes as the engine of microgenesis of culture. Taking neo-diffusionist culture metatheory as its starting point, it regards the grounding of cultural information between people as a central mechanism of cultural evolution.
In this view, most of the cultural transmission occurs as an unintended consequence of a joint activity; culture acts as a tool for interpersonal coordination, which enables and constrains the performance of the joint activity. To make a case for this theoretical orientation, I will first argue that there is a paradox of cultural dynamics characterized by macro-level stability and micro-level fluidity, reviewing metathereotical and empirical literature, and then attempt to sketch out how the grounding model of cultural transmission can shed light on this paradox by making use of experimental investigation of cultural dynamics.


Sink or swim – experiments using tin foil
A pet peeve of mine are books on handcrafts or experiments or any kind of activity that come with drawings instead of pictures, because I always suspect that it was easier to draw whatever the author wanted to show than to take a photo of it. Which, to me, suggests that it isn't really all that easy to conduct the experiment or build the wicker basket or whatever it is you are attempting to do.
So here is an experiment that I had seen drawings of and that Martin and I went to try: on swimming and sinking.
Step 1: Take two identical pieces of tin foil.
Two identical pieces of tin foil
Step 2: Build a boat out of one of the pieces, and a ball out of the other one.
Two identical pieces of tin foil made into a boat and a ball.
Step 3: Place the boat and the ball on the water surface.
Step 4 to step 9: (And these are the steps that the nicely drawn instructions always omit) Watch the ball float on the surface. With growing annoyance, try to make the ball as compact as possible in order to make it sink.
Step 10: This is what we wanted to see after step 3 already. Even though the boat and the ball are made of identical pieces of tin foil and their mass is the same, the boat floats while the ball sinks.
A boat and a ball made of identical pieces of tin foil. Boat floats, ball sinks. Nice demonstration!
What do we learn from this? Always test experiments before using them as a demonstration, especially those that look extremely simple!
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Why are religious Jews scared of dogs? Whenever I walk mine past an observant family, all the kids hide behind their mother's skirt in terror. Is there some curse on dogs?
I know exactly how your dog feels. I often get a similar reaction from Jews. While many observant Jews are scared of dogs, many unobservant Jews are terrified of rabbis. There's something in common between dogs and rabbis that make us both objects of trepidation. And it's not the facial hair.
People fear the unfamiliar.
Most religious homes do not have pets. Perhaps because families with many kids are less likely to seek non-human companionship, perhaps because it can be tricky to care for animals on Shabbat, or perhaps it's just a cultural thing, but other than the odd goldfish, pets are rare in observant communities.
So those who are unaccustomed to canine company are often scared of dogs. People are scared of rabbis for the same reason. Both dogs and rabbis are loved by those who know them, and instill fear into those who don't.
But that's where the similarity ends. The underlying causes of these two fears are very different, almost opposite. The fear of dogs (cynophobia) comes from the fear of being bitten. Fear of rabbis (rabbinophobia) comes from the fear of being inspired.
What many Jews fear the most is that if they learn a little bit about Judaism they might like it. And if they like it they might want more. And if they want more they may have to live more Jewishly. This means change - and change, even for the better, is scary.
The cure for cynophobia is to play with a few dogs and see that there is no basis for your fear. But the cure for rabbinophobia is to look into Judaism and to actually let your greatest fear come true - you will like it, and you'll want more.


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- Study at Deakin
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Deakin University researcher Associate Professor Liz Eckermann is working to reduce the morbidity rates of mothers and infants in Lao PDR by gaining a better understanding of ancient customs called Yu Fai and Mother Roasting.
Yu Fai, literally meaning 'on fire', occurs in a number of countries throughout South East Asia when after giving birth, a mother lies on a bamboo bed either over a brazier containing hot charcoal embers or with the brazier located in the centre of the room.
Women remain on the hotbed throughout their confinement which can range from 10 to 45 days.
The hotbed is only left when the mother undertakes a cleansing ritual otherwise she remains there all day and all night, eats her meals on the bed and nurses her infant with the temperature usually exceeding 50°C.
Mother roasting is a separate activity within the Yu Fai ritual in which the mother exposes herself to high temperatures between 80-100°C generated by hot charcoal embers, either while seated on a chair, while standing crouched over the fire, or while reclining on the bed.
There are many cultural imperatives for women in South East Asia to practice Yu Fai. For them to be good mothers they must adhere to cultural beliefs and practices surrounding the new born infant.
There are also health benefits attributed to yu fai.
However, a high morbidity rate for both mothers and children also needs to be properly investigated.
"Lao PDR is well short of the 2015 targets for Millennium Development Goals in relation to maternal and infant morbidity," said Associate Professor Eckermann, a member of the Alfred Deakin Research Institute.
"It has one of the highest Maternal and Infant Mortality ratios in the Western Pacific Region.
"Furthermore the levels of maternal and infant morbidity, especially from pneumonia and other respiratory infections, are very high.
"A key likely contributor to post-parity maternal and infant deaths and morbidity is exposure, for both mothers and infants, to extreme heat, carbon monoxide and smoke pollution during the yu fai process which is practiced by over 90% of Lao families for up to 45 days after birth.
"No attempts have been made to examine the impact on the health of mothers and newborns."
So the key challenges in Associate Professor Eckermann's project are to:
1. Measure the levels of heat and smoke exposure during "yu fai" and the effects of such exposure on key indicators of health status.
2. Develop the technology to adapt the yu fai ritual such that it is smokeless and within an acceptable temperature range so that it causes no harm to mothers and babies.
3. Generate communication materials and networks to inform communities of the health advantages of smokeless and moderate heat yu fai technology which empowers women in their communities to make healthy choices for themselves and their children
4. Monitor heat and smoke levels with simple and cheap data-loggers and
5. Collate qualitative data on why yu fai is so central to postnatal care and identify what "safe" adaptations would be acceptable to communities unwilling to abandon it.
The world-class nature of Associate Professor Eckermann's research was recently recognised a when she was invited to Seattle In the United States to be among the 65 finalists in the international competition called Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development.
This challenge came about when USAID, the Government of Norway, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and Britain's Department for International Development joined together to find the tools and approaches to help the mothers and newborns during their most vulnerable hours.
It seeks ground-breaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in poor, hard-to-reach communities around the time of delivery.
This is the period when the majority of maternal and newborn deaths occur and the population that has been the most difficult to reach.
"Melinda Gates and many other funding partners were very interested in the topic," Associate Professor Eckermann said.
"Many had never heard of yu fai.
"I have been invited back again with a prototype product - an adapted rocket stove with damper to control temperature.
"Other funders have also said they will be in touch, so overall, it was a great exchange and well worth the five days of concentrated effort."


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How to Avoid Food Fraud and Be Part of the Solution
Food fraud is an age-old practice of presenting and selling misleading, adulterated, counterfeited, or unreported foods and beverages and their ingredients as authentic, genuine in source, and precisely as labeled. It's been around for a long time, as long as we've traded food and drink, and it's a growing problem.
Beyond deceiving consumers and jeopardizing users' health, the crime threatens Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and legitimate livelihoods. In addition, food fraud inflates consumer prices and compromises trust. For manufacturers and sellers of food, beverages, home & personal care products, cosmetics, and perfumes, rather than turn a blind eye, it's time to be part of the solution.
What Is Food Fraud?
Europol reports recently intercepting fraud across 77 countries, involving around 19 crime syndicates. Roughly 28,000 inspections included illicit meat, seafood, and expired food cases, 2,000 tons of illegal fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and two million liters of fraudulent beverages.
Types of food fraud include:
- Hiding defects or undesirable traits with undeclared ingredients, for example, enhancing aging fruit with food coloring to make it appear fresher.
- Selling inferior products under copied labels, known as counterfeiting or simulation.
- Short-cutting supply chain controls by diverting legitimate products to unintended markets.
- Misrepresenting product legitimacy through diversion – selling unreported produce or stealing and reselling products.
- Diluting or bulking up foods or beverages with undeclared, often toxic, ingredients.
- Intentional mislabeling, such as editing expiration dates, claiming reaction flavors as natural, or not declaring the components of reaction flavors.
- Substituting cheaper or entirely different ingredients for claimed components, for example, labeling vegetable oil as virgin olive oil or switching beef for horse meat.
- Including undeclared ingredients to add texture or improve appearance.
In assessing foods for possible fraud, investigators employ a vulnerability assessment. This type of analysis interrogates the product, its context and source, and potential contributors to fraud, such as ease of committing fraud, historical precedents, and economic incentives. The more precedent, motivation, and opportunity, the higher the risk of food fraud.
Identified risks warrant an official identification testing and mitigation approach, including specific tests related to the particular produce, such as dilution in honey and substitution in olive oil. In addition, ingredient and component analysis should be performed to confirm expected molecules and ratios, such as amino acids and sugars.
How Does Food Fraud Impact Flavor and Fragrance Ingredients?
Food fraud represents a similar, significant risk to natural flavors and fragrances.
Maintaining authenticity requires the same vulnerability questions and component testing to be conducted. These sensitive assessments can identify discrepancies in aroma chemicals with a high degree of accuracy. However, fraud is more challenging to confirm within essential oils and natural flavors, leaving these ingredients more at risk.
Full or partial substitution is a danger for flavors, usually involving synthetic alternatives. These manufactured molecules can share purity and organoleptic characteristics with the natural original. However, the authentic ingredient can cost up to a hundred times more than the substitute, leading to fraud. This price discrepancy, food fraud precedents, and ingredient traceability require frequent testing.
Natural status verification is necessary for natural flavor claims, such as with reactive flavors, with carbon-14 analysis as the industry testing benchmark. The presence and condition of this natural isotope may indicate supply chain authenticity and genuine product origin. However, although calling out ingredient fraud, this approach can't confirm processing or manufacturing deception. Hence, verifying naturalness requires more than confirming ingredients. It also needs an understanding of regulatory requirements for a comprehensive review.
In addition, flavor complexity and reactive flavors increase fraud opportunities and add to verification challenges. For example, valuable and expensive essential oils are vulnerable to substitutions thanks to their multi-layered composition and the availability of convincing synthetic alternatives. In addition, unstable components can decompose over time, resulting in fraudulent aroma masking. As a result, carbon-14 analysis and fingerprint infrared spectroscopy or gas chromatography analyses are recommended to verify natural oils.
Is Ingredient Validation Enough To Counter Flavor and Fragrance Fraud?
Using certified natural ingredients is essential to meet consumer demand for healthier ingredients and offers users peace of mind that they're consuming and paying for genuine products.
However, while available tests are often effective, many 'natural', organic, halal, and kosher claims are hard to check. So, instead, to prevent rather than discover and intercept food fraud after the fact, rely on reputable suppliers who provide third-party product certification.
Being part of the fight against food fraud means choosing reliable natural fragrance and flavor ingredient suppliers. This ingredient partner should offer certification, on-site audits, and frequent document reviews for reliable risk mitigation.
In response, for your peace of mind as a manufacturer, Advanced Biotech provides an extensive range of pure, natural flavors and fragrances. Please contact us for more information.


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Another Reason For Moderation: Overeating Affects Your Brain
Not only does overeating make you digestive system work overtime, but it also does a doozy on your brain.
American scientists recently found that overeating stimulates a usually dormant immune pathway in the brain. Once stimulated the brain then sounds the alarm for the immune system to battle invaders that aren't really there. The overactive immune system then creates an inflammation response all over the body. Chronic inflammation leads to chronic disease like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The pathway between the hypothalamus, the brain center that regulates energy, and the immune system is usually inactive — a remnant of an immune system that we have evolved beyond needing. It seems that "overnutrition," a scientific term (or euphemism?) for overeating has stimulated this vestigial immune system and the consequences are making us ill.
While scientists hope this discovery can lead to a medical intervention for obesity and obesity-related illnesses, it is just another reminder that moderation is key to a healthy lifestyle.
Latest Fitness


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Treating the teenage patient: Tattoos, piercings and tanning
According to a 2004 survey of 500 people between the ages of 18 and 50, 24 percent of respondents reported having a tattoo.
- Sixteen percent of those tattooed had their first tattoo by the age of 18.1
- No matter what type of tattoo, there are always risks and possible adverse reactions that may require treatment.
- Complications that individuals may experience after tattooing include:
- Infections including impetigo (a superficial skin infection), a staph infection, or cellulitis (a soft tissue infection).
- Bloodborne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV, although there has been no documented spread of HIV by an experienced professional tattoo artist.
- Hypersensitivity (allergies) to tattoo pigments also may develop. A chemical called para-phenylenediamine, which is applied to the skin in temporary henna tattoos, frequently causes contact dermatitis.
- Tattoo studios should use the Center for Disease Control (CDC)'s universal precautions against blood-borne infections. Look for government-issued inspection certificates to be certain.
- Tattoos can be removed, although results may vary depending on the inks used and the depth of the tattoo. Dark blue, red, some lighter blues and green inks all respond well to laser treatment, but the best candidates for tattoo removal are people with light skin who have a black ink tattoo.
- To protect the public health, the American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) encourages the strict regulation of the practice of tattooing, including requirements for those who want to provide tattoos and careful screening of those who want to receive tattoos
Read the Academy's position statement on tattooing here.
- According to the same 2004 survey, 34 percent of respondents had ear lobe piercings and 14 percent had a body piercing in a location other than the ear lobe.1
- Thirty percent of those pierced had their first body piercing by the age of 18.1
- Individuals who have piercings may experience the following complications:
- Keloids, which are the most common complication of piercing, occur when the scar from a cut or wound extends and spreads beyond the size of the original wound. They are seen frequently in African Americans.
- Vascular growths called pyogenic granuloma may bleed and must be removed.
- Cartilage piercing at the edge of the ear (pinna) increases the chance of a bacterial infection called pseudomonas.
- Abscess formations, chondritis (inflammation of cartilage) of the ears, Candida (yeast) infections, toxic shock syndrome, and sepsis (severe total body infections) may occur.
- There is risk of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV especially among amateur piercers who do not clean equipment properly.
- Embedding of jewelry (where the skin grows over the jewelry) may occur, and is often the result of studs that are too tight.
- Hypersensitivity (allergies) to the nickel in some jewelry develops as an itchy, red skin reaction (dermatitis), and can be chronic. People who are allergic to nickel should only wear stainless steel, platinum, or gold jewelry.
- Body piercing personnel should use the CDC's universal precautions against blood-borne infections. Look for government-issued inspection certificates to be certain.
- To protect the public health, the Academy discourages the performance of body piercing and encourages the regulation of the practice of body piercing.
Read the Academy's position statement about piercings here.
- Nearly 28 million people tan indoors in the United States annually. Of these, 2.3 million are teens.2,3
- A Swedish study presents strong evidence that exposure to UV radiation during indoor tanning increases the risk of melanoma, especially when exposed at an early age.
- Melanoma is the second most common form of cancer for adolescents and young adults 15-29 years old.
- Melanoma is increasing faster in females ages 15-29 than males in the same age group. The torso is the most common location for developing skin cancer which may be due to deliberate tanning.5
- Studies have demonstrated that exposure to UV radiation during indoor tanning can lead to skin aging, immune suppression, and eye damage, including cataracts and ocular melanoma.6-9
- The Academy opposes indoor tanning and supports a ban on the production and sale of indoor tanning equipment for non-medical purposes.
Read the Academy's position statement about indoor tanning here.
Common complications of treating teenage skin conditions
Teenagers are faced with a variety of dermatologic issues, such as acne and eczema, that often require some form of therapy. However, treating teenagers can be a challenge due to the following factors:
- Critical psychosocial period.
- Self-image and body image are forming.
- Period of changing emotions.
- Poor frustration tolerance.
- Poor ability to wait and delay gratification.
- Typically poor at compliance.
Speaking at the Academy's 66th Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, dermatologist Dr. Hilary Baldwin, MD, FAAD, associate professor of clinical dermatology at SUNY, Brooklyn, N.Y., estimates that 40 to 50 percent of teenagers are noncompliant on their therapy. Common reasons for noncompliance include:
- Side effects.
- "I forgot."
- "I don't want to."
- "It takes too long.
- "It's too messy.
- "It didn't work.
Dr. Baldwin recommends parents consider whether their presence in the exam room is a help or hindrance. She says teenagers are many times not completely honest about their noncompliance if a parent is present.
If teenagers are forgetting to take their medications, Dr. Baldwin recommends establishing a three-way contract between the dermatologist, teenager and parent. This contract would empower the teenager to speak up if he or she is not happy with the medication prescribed.
See your dermatologist for successful diagnosis and treatment of skin, hair and nail conditions.
1Laumann A, Derick A. Tattoos and body piercings in the United States: A national data set. J Am Acad Dermatol 2006;55:413-421
2Kwon HT, Mayer JA, Walker KK, Yu H, Lewis EC, Belch GE. Promotion of frequent tanning sessions by indoor tanning facilities: two studies. J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:700-5.
3Dellavalle RP, Parker ER, Ceronsky N, Hester EJ, Hemme B, Burkhardt DL, et al. Youth access laws: in the dark at the tanning parlor? Arch Dermatol 2003;139:443-8.
4Westerdahl J, Ingvar C, Masback A, Jonsson N, Olsson H. Risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma in relation to use of sunbeds: further evidence for UV-A carcinogenicity. Br J Cancer 2000;82:1593-9.
5Cancer Epidemiology in Older Adolescents & Young Adults. SEER AYA Monograph Pages 53-57.2007.
6Whitmore SE, Morison WL, Potten CS, Chadwick C. Tanning salon exposure and molecular alterations. J Am Acad Dermatol 2001;44:775-80.
7Piepkorn M. Melanoma genetics: an update with focus on the CDKN2A(p16)/ARF tumor suppressors. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2000 May;42(5 Pt 1):705-22; quiz 723-6.
8Vajdic CM, Kricker A, Giblin M, McKenzie J, Aitken JF, Giles GG, Armstrong BK. Artificial ultraviolet radiation and ocular melanoma in Australia. Int J Cancer. 2004 Dec 10;112(5):896-900. 9Clingen PH, Berneburg M, Petit-Frere C, Woollons A, Lowe JE, Arlett CF, Green MH. Contrasting effects of an ultraviolet B and an ultraviolet A tanning lamp on interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 expression. Br J Dermatol. 2001 Jul;145(1):54-62.
Walters BL, Kelly TM. Commercial tanning facilities:a new source of eye injury. Am J Emerg Med 1987;120:767-77.