Friday, November 4, 2016
Napoléon's Hat
Napoléon's bicorne hat, worn at the battle of Waterloo. (Source)
So Joe (le vieil homme excentrique) posed the question yesterday -
"Can you explain why Napoleon wore such a goofy hat? What possible function could that shape have? Kind of like wearing a ball cap sideways."
Yes, I can explain that, Joe. (And David, I will be talking about l'Empereur and his times today. No humbugging, I assure you.)
The hat in the opening photo is known as a bicorne or cocked hat. It's predecessor was the tricorne, or three cornered hat, which you might know from our own Revolution.
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull (Source)
Check out the hats everyone is wearing, then look at the next painting.
Bataille d'Iena. 14 octobre 1806 by Horace Vernet (Source)
Notice that the Emperor is wearing the cocked hat which everyone associates with him. Note also the other two guys on horseback, they are wearing similar hats but Napoléon's looks more like those in the previous painting. So was Napoléon old fashioned? No, check out the officer on foot in the background just to the right of the Emperor's horse. His hat looks a lot like Napoléon's doesn't it?
Now the bicorne, which means a "two cornered," could be worn in one of two ways. From side-to-side (like Napoléon and the officer on foot) or fore-and-aft, like the two guys on horses (the guy with the really fancy uniform is Marshal Joachim Murat, a brilliant cavalryman who liked to design his own uniforms, pretty non-standard, but we'll get to that momentarily).
In French the two styles were known as en ligne (side-to-side or "in line") and en colonne (in column or fore-and-aft). In the early days of the Napoleonic period the majority of the French army wore bicornes. Par exemple -
Note the number of different ways the hat is worn. Some en ligne, some en colonne, some at any old angle the wearer finds comfortable. The tricorne and its descendant the bicorne were very common in those days, it wasn't just Napoléon. Heck, check out Captain Jack Sparrow -
Classic three cornered hat! All the rage in the mid to late 18th century and early 19th century! Even Admiral Nelson (another famous sailor) had a hat similar in shape to Napoléon's.
Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, _PHONE_
by Lemuel Francis Abbott (Source)
As to the practicality (or goofiness) of said chapeau, we have to remember that uniforms back in the day were not really intended to be all that practical. They were intended to boost the men's morale, give them a feeling of cohesiveness, and to help identify the unit they belonged to. Officers tended to dress better (fancier uniforms of a better cut and quality) so that they could be readily identified.
It would be relatively to pick Napoléon out, even from a distance, with that famous cocked hat, the gray redingote, and the obligatory white horse. At Waterloo the British noticed Napoléon reviewing his troops from horseback from quite a distance away. (One officer mentioned to Wellington that he might try a shot from one of his cannon to bring down the Corsican, Wellington was shocked that a gentleman would propose such a thing!)
In the cavalry, officers and trumpeters (the signalmen of their day) rode white horses while the men rode darker animals. You needed to be able to find your leaders in the churn and noise of battle and the officers needed to find their trumpeter in a hurry as well. ("Trumpeter, sound the recall!")
Now some officers, especially cavalry officers, loved to wear extraordinary, even outlandish looking, uniforms. If they were excellent cavalry leaders (men like Murat and Lasalle) they could get away with it. (Though Murat's concoctions tried the Emperor's patience on occasion.)
Joachim Murat
from a portrait by François Gérard (Source)
Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle
by Antoine-Jean Gros (Source)
Practical uniforms didn't come along until later in history when weapons became more lethal than the single shot muskets and cannon of Napoléon's time. Early in World War I the French infantry were still wearing blue coats (and now red trousers!), marching in nice (impractical) formations. And being mowed down by German machine guns.
So practicality took a back seat to style, morale, and cohesiveness in Napoléon's day. Of course, then, as now, after a few days of campaigning, everyone was covered in dirt or mud. After weeks in the field everyone started to look rather tattered. There were some attempts at practicality, for instance the French infantry tended to wear rather shapeless (practical) gray greatcoats in the field. The fancy uniforms stayed under the coat, plumes and such were kept in the knapsack and the fancy hat covered with an oilcloth. After all, all that finery cost money.
French Infantry, circa 1812 (Source)
Parade dress on the left, campaign dress on the right. (The guy in white is dressed for fatigue duties. Think digging latrines, chopping wood. or just lying about the camp smoking one's pipe. The Emperor wanted to re-clothe his troops in white - which the French Army used to wear, prior to the Revolution - as opposed to the blue uniforms which came from the old French National Guard. The white uniforms were not popular with the troops. Wounds looked a lot more nasty on a white coat and the much despised Austrian "white mice" wore white. No self-respecting Frenchman would want to look like an Austrian.)
For a couple of other things about Napoléon (he was short, not, he had a stomach problem hence the hand in the coat, negative) check this out.
I hope that answers your question Joe. (And I hope that was Napoleonic enough David.)
Until next time, here's one of my favorite French Army tunes,
And yes, I love onions fried in oil.
Le Chant de l'Oignon (The Song of the Onion)
J'aime l'oignon frît à l'huile, (I love onion fried with oil,)
J'aime l'oignon quand il est bon, (I love the onion when it's good,)
J'aime l'oignon, j'aime l'oignon. (I love onion, I love onion.)
Au pas camarade, au pas camarade, (Let's charge comrades, let's charge comrades.)
Au pas, au pas, au pas. (Let's charge, let's charge, let's charge)
Un seul oignon frît à l'huile, (One onion fried with oil,)
Un seul oignon nous change en lion, (One onion we change into a lion,)
Un seul oignon frît à l'huile (One onion fried with oil,)
Un seul oignon nous change en lion. (One onion we change into a lion,)
Mais pas d'oignons aux Autrichiens, (But no onions for the Austrians)
Non pas d'oignons à tous ces chiens, (No onions for all these dogs)
Non pas d'oignons, non pas d'oignons. (No onions, no onions)
Aimons l'oignon frît à l'huile, (Love the onion fried with oil.)
Aimons l'oignon car il est bon, (Love the onion because it's good,)
Aimons l'oignon, aimons l'oignon (Love the onion, love the onion.)
(refrain) (Source)
 1. I have read that the French foot was the equivalent of 13", so Napoleon's 5', made him 5'5". In Swords around the Throne, there is a reference to a Guardsman who was 6'6", which would make him just over 7 feet tall!
 The decoration on Nelson's hat was a great favorite of his. It was a gift from a Middle East potentate, I forget which one, but it was clockwork, and rotated!
 You were right about Swords Around the Throne. Since I can be bought for a buck on Alibris, everyone should have a copy.
 So that is what a color portrait of Joachim " Please don't shot me in the face " Murat looks like!
 1. The Emperor was a tad under 5'7" Anglais which was just about average height for that time period. I'm pretty sure Colonel Elting used English measurements throughout the book unless otherwise noted. I might be "mis-remembering" that. But there were some pretty tall Guardsmen.
 You picked up the book for a buck? Great value!
 2. Sarge, you are a veritable fount of information. Since I've never met you in person, I'm not sure I can confirm that you are


text:
versión impresa ISSN 0075-6458
VENTER, Frederik J. y GOVENDER, Navashni. A geomorphic and soil description of the long-term fire experiment in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Koedoe [online]. 2012, vol.54, n.1, pp. 44-54. ISSN 0075-6458.
In 1954, the experimental burning programme into fire research was initiated in the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. It is viewed as one of the last remaining long-term landscape fire experiments in Africa. Throughout the more than five decades of fire treatments in the experiment, numerous surveys (expanding various spatial and temporal scales), research projects (covering biotic and abiotic components) and analyses have been conducted with the aim to assess the impacts of different fire regimes on the savannah biome. The design of the experiment intended to test the effect of season and frequency of burning on vegetation within four major landscapes in the KNP. However, these effects have been partly obscured by factors not fully taken into account by the experimental design, namely, herbivory, artificial water provision and soil variation. Soil variation between replicates in the same landscape, as well as within individual replicates, has raised the issue of the representivity of the trial. This paper provided a description and ranking of the experimental burning trial according to the geomorphic and soil characteristics of each plot in comparison to the surrounding landscape. CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS: The KNP burn plots are one of the largest and longest-running fire experiments on fire ecology in African savannahs. However, studies need to consider the underlying geomorphic and soil template when designing experiments and interpreting results. This work describes the representivity of the plots across, and within, treatments.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


0 design date, and the fact that it was a part of "California Gaming Culture," might hint that Supergame itself also influenced Champions. One sees the underpinnings of Superhero 2044 is in the purchase of a character's starting attributes.
Both systems feature something that many modern gamers might consider odd. All of a character's attributes start at zero and can be increased -- this itself isn't odd to the modern gamer. What is odd is that both games have attribute levels where the character is suffering from a disability. In Superhero 2044, if a character has an Endurance of less than 20 that character is "fatigued" or worse. In Supergame, a character with an "Agony Score" of less than 15 "may either move or attack, but only one per turn." There are similar penalties for "Vigor" in Superhero 2044 and "Physical Score" in Supergame. The names of the attributes and the level of effect are different, but one can see the similarities. Most modern systems would start a character with a base number of points sufficient to not be fatigued or incapacitated, but both Superhero 2044 and Supergame allow for the possibility.
But it isn't the point based character design where Supergame bears the most similarity to its predecessor. Supergame includes rules for building specific powers -- though not as robust the later published Champions -- that are themselves an innovation over the state of gaming at that time and a step beyond what were offered in Superhero 2044.
The area where Supergame most reflects Superhero 2044 is in its ranged combat system. In Superhero 2044, ranged combat is decided by rolling a six sided die and adding/subtracting to the die total applicable modifiers. This sets the target number that must be rolled, or higher, on a second roll of a six sided die. For example a character with a 20 Dexterity (-1) shooting an opponent at point blank range (-3) with a shoulder weapon (-1) rolls a 6 on a six sided die. This gives a modified result of 1 (6-1-3-1=1) and means that the character hits if the player rolls a 1 or better on the second roll. This system, with some differences in modifier values, is the system used in Supergame.
Influence on Golden Heroes
While I was intrigued by the way that Superhero 2044 influenced the design of American super hero role playing games, I was amazed at how it had influenced a British one. In White Dwarf magazine issue 9, game designer Eamon Bloomfield reviewed Superhero 44 -- Superhero 2044's first edition -- and wrote the following:
"Each character fills out a weekly planning sheet indicating whether he is patrolling, resting, training, or researching. This...show[s] how many crimes of what type he's stopped this week and at what damage to himself; without actually having to play the event...Overall good fun and realistic and a welcome addition to any role playing fan's collection. Certainly as a postal game it has a great future."
The weekly planning sheet is one of the most intriguing aspects of the Superhero 2044 game and the most playable aspect "out of the box." The game includes weekly planning sheets that provide a number of "activity blocks" to which players assign particular tasks, like fighting crime or resting. Golden Heroes, Games Workshop's super hero role playing game, featured a campaign system that bears no small similarities to that of Superhero 2044. Games Workshop was, and still is, the publisher of White Dwarf magazine and so it is easy to believe that this game review sparked some discussion of "planning sheet" style campaign play.
Golden Heroes features a campaign system that heavily relies on something very similar to Superhero 2044's weekly planning sheet. They have a system that uses something called a "Daily Utility Phase" or DUPs. The game describes them as follows:
The scenarios played in each week occupy a certain number of DUPs for the characters involved. Any remaining DUPs can be devoted to other pursuits such as training, improving powers, developing scientific gadgets, etc.
Thus at the end of each scenario, you must inform the players how many spare DUPs their characters have. Preferably then, or at worst at the start of the next game session, the players must tell you how their characters have spent those DUPs.
The player's allocation of DUPs is compared to various campaign ratings, something vary similar to what Superhero 2044 calls "handicaps," in order to determine what events happen to the character and how much the character is able to improve over time. Both systems are dynamic and change as characters interact with the game world. The Golden Heroes system is more developed and is a part of a more complete system of mechanics, but it is unarguably a descendant of the Superhero 2044 system.
Closing Remarks
I wish I had read Superhero 2044 much sooner than I did. It is a definite diamond in the rough. While it would be difficult to play RAW, it has a large number of innovative mechanics and ideas. The fact that it contains enough ideas to influence no fewer than THREE super hero role playing games in their design is a significant achievement in and of itself. One cannot truly understand the development of the hobby without reading this game.
I think I will try to play the game itself soon, though I don't know if I will try to design a comprehensive powers system or use an existing one to supplement the game, as the campaign play system still stands out as something that has some depth and would be useful in a number of games. Given the abstract nature of the campaign planning system, one could easily adapt it to another game for use.
The game also features a detailed setting for super hero play. The setting lacks the microscopic detail of modern settings, but for the time the game was written it is quite intricate. Like the game itself, its setting is one that inspires addition and extension rather than provides a complete painting.
Donald Saxman has created something pretty special here and I'd love to see someone take this system and make a modern edition out of it. It would take some work, but it would be worth it.
It would be a dream come true for me if both Wayne Shaw and Donald Saxman would agree to work with me to run a Kickstarter of Superhero 2044 Second Edition that incorporates some of Shaw's changes while keeping the basic system as is. Such an endeavor would be a truly OSR adventure and one that I think would be worth exploring. What would a more developed version of the game look like? I hope we get to find out.
No comments:


Friday, 9 March 2012
A proun by El Lissitsky
If you're looking to enhance your experience of abstract art, you may want to consider spending some pre-gallery time watching a horror film. Kendall Eskine and his colleagues Natalie Kacinik and Jesse Prinz have investigated how different emotions, as well as physiological arousal, influence people's sublime experiences whilst viewing abstract art. Their finding is that fear, but not happiness or general arousal, makes art seem more sublime.
The art work was four paintings by the Russian abstract artist El Lissitsky, each made up of simple geometric shapes and lines. Each painting was shown for thirty seconds and participants rated their experience of the art in terms of how inspiring it was, stimulating, dull, exciting, moving, boring, uninteresting, rousing/stirring, imposing, and forgetful. These factors were intended to tap into Edmund Burke's conception of the sublime: "that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended... so entirely filled with its object."
The main result is that participants who'd watched the scary video clip tended to rate the art as more sublime than did participants in all the other conditions. By contrast, ratings given by participants in the other conditions didn't differ from each other. This suggests fear plays a special role in the sublime experience of art. Arousal may have played a lesser part - across conditions, participants' arousal scores correlated with their sublime ratings of the art.
Why should feeling afraid enhance the sublime power of art? "The capacity for a work of art to grab our interest and attention, to remove us from daily life, may stem from its ability to trigger our evolved mechanisms for coping with danger," the researchers said. "Art is not typically described as scary, but it can be surprising, elicit goose bumps, and inspire awe. Like discovering a grand vista in nature, artwork presents new horizons that pose challenges as well as opportunities." They added that future research is needed to explore the aesthetic effects of other emotions and to test emotional effects on different types of art.
Eskine, K., Kacinik, N., and Prinz, J. (2012). Stirring images: Fear, not happiness or arousal, makes art more sublime. Emotion DOI: 10.1037/a0027200
Post written by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.
 1. The caption to the image is incorrect. That's not "A pronoun", it's a Proun piece.
 1. thanks Gruff, that's now corrected.
 2. Anonymous8:23 p.m.
 Hmmmmm..... Not sure! I own a contemporary art gallery.... Come visit us the way you want! The emptiest, the better! We will help you!
 3. Makes sense to me, and it reminds me of the fact that it seems to be easier for people, who survived a trauma, accident or sickness to reach this certain understanding that you need Ideals to live a meaningful life.
 But I am not a fan of horror movies and I hope they are not necessary. But it's interesting where all the zombies and vampires come from these days. I saw a documentary called "The American Nightmare" which examines the nature of 60s and 70s American horror films and how they reflected contemporary American society. You can watch it here: Tough stuff...but very interesting. "All that bad karma, it has to go somewhere."
 4. Anonymous7:58 p.m.
 Awesome! I've been suspicious of this all of my life, specifically as it pertains to music.
 Seeing the 'One' video by Metallica while in the 3rd grade was pretty jarring for me...and opened my mind to a whole new world of music. And throughout all of my years growing up, I found myself enjoying music on a different, higher level if there was element of fear in it (whether it be the music itself, or even just the band's persona, etc).
 Perfect example: the band 'Ghost' (flavor of the month these days) plays 70's tinged rock music, nothing over the top. They do, however, sing about Satan and hide their identities behind hooded robes (save for the singer's 'dead pope' costume).
 I would credit their appeal solely to this element of darkness and fear. I think this element suspends the propsensity to judge, and opens you more to experience.
 5. This seems a little bit like cognitive dissonance to me. The people who were scared are coming down from that anxiety, and falsely attribute it to the art instead of the passage of time / removal of the aversive stimulus.


text:
For further information, including the full final version of the list, read the Wikipedia article: Swadesh list.
American linguist Morris Swadesh believed that languages changed at measurable rates and that these could be determined even for languages without written precursors. Using vocabulary lists, he sought to understand not only change over time but also the relationships of extant languages. To be able to compare languages from different cultures, he based his lists on meanings he presumed would be available in as many cultures as possible. He then used the fraction of agreeing cognates between any two related languages to compute their divergence time by some (still debated) algorithms. Starting in 1950 with 165 meanings, his list grew to 215 in 1952, which was so expansive that many languages lacked native vocabulary for some terms. Subsequently, it was reduced to 207, and reduced much further to 100 meanings in 1955. A reformulated list was published posthumously in 1971.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Khavanu, peevanu ne majha ni life jeevanu
Shelley Subawalla |autora
Edição 01, 2021
Khavanu, peevanu ne majha ni life jeevanu (eat, drink and live a happy life)". This is an age-old adage the Parsi community lives by. A religion and culture rich in history and traditions (both social and culinary), dating back to the early-10th century in India, Parsis have always prided themselves on living in harmony and integrating themselves into the local and existing ethos of the prevalent surroundings. Legend and history have it that when Parsis landed in Sanjan, Gujarat, after fleeing Iran and were presented to the king, a Parsi priest stepped forward and requested for a bowl of milk filled to the brim and some sugar. The priest mixed the sugar into the milk without spilling a drop and then promised the king that similarly, Parsis would merge into the local community and sweeten the lives of those around them. Interestingly, even then they used food as the medium to state their point!
Another Parsi egg preparation is Parsi akuri or Indian spicy scrambled eggs served with toasted brown bread
Parsis went on to thrive and spread their wings across India, all the while embracing harmony and adapting to the local culture and traditions. A perfect example of this is the way their cuisine has evolved over the centuries. While they have stayed true to their traditions while celebrating their festivals, they have also adapted themselves according to the local society and customs. This history is encapsulated in their food and general way of living. One of the most important Parsi festivals is the spring or vernal equinox, also known as Navroze. Celebrated on March 21, vernal equinox is, according to the Parsis, the dawn of a new year. The actual time when the change takes place is recorded in Iran and then the information is sent all over the world. Navroze, as all Parsi festivals, is a day of celebration, spending quality time with family and meeting friends. But no Parsi celebration is complete without food. Hence, platters full of delicious food are cooked with tables creaking under the weight. The day starts with sweets like ravo (a semolina pudding) or sev (a vermicelli dessert), both generously topped with fried dried fruits or falooda (rose-flavoured milk). Lunch is usually either a pulao daar (a Parsi version of a mutton or chicken biryani served with a spicy lentil curry) or dhun daar ne patio (rice, plain daal or lentil and a sweet-and-sour curry made with fish or shell fish). Fish is considered a sign of good luck in Parsi culture to such an extent that one would actually find sweets shaped like fish at a traditional table. Navroze is the time when Parsi housholds are filled with the delectable aromas of traditional food being cooked, doors being decorated with garlands and torans (ornamental garlands) and on the floors are drawn horse shoe, fish or flower depicting prosperity, happiness and luck.
Parsi mava cakes (slightly spiced traditional cakes made with mava or thickened milk) form a part of every Parsi celebration
A beautiful tradition practised by Parsis in India, is the laying of the Navroze table. In this tradition, a table is covered with a white table cloth, as white indicates purity, and is then loaded with food and various food items, each with a deep meaning. Among these are seven food items beginning with the letter 'S' – sirka (vinegar), sumac (spice), samanu (halwa), sib (apple), sir (garlic), senjed (berry of the sorb tree) and sabzi (herb) – along with seven food items beginning with 'SH' in Persian – sharab (wine), shakar (sugar), shir (milk), shirini (sweetmeat), shirberenj (sweet), shira (syrup) and shahad (honey). Also kept are painted eggs (much like the proverbially famous Easter eggs), fresh fruits, dried fruits, vegetables and grain (signifying abundance). The lady of the house invites her guests to look into a mirror so that they may have a year of good reflections, offers them a coin each for prosperity and sprinkles rose water on them before leading them to the table. Nothing spells happiness and contentment more than a group of friends and family, sitting around, laughing with extreme merriment and breaking bread.
A traditional Navroze table. Each object placed on the table carries a special significance – a mirror to signify a year of good reflections ahead and coins to usher in prosperity
The most common Parsi dish is dhan saak. This dish, made with a variety of lentils, vegetables, mutton and spices, has become synonymous with Parsis across the world. It is served with caramelised rice and kachumbar (an onion and tomato salad). However, dhan saak, though a staple at most Parsi Sunday lunches, is never prepared on an auspicious occasion. Served on the fourth day of a person's demise, one will never find it served on a birthday, Navjote or Navroze. A traditional festive meal will include pulao or a spicy chicken served with fried potato straws (salli ma marghi), a carrot and dry fruits pickle (lagan nu achchar), saariya (papad), thin chappatis (flatbreads)and ravo, sev or lagan nu custard (Parsi custard) for dessert. Served on Banana leaves, the entire community eats together, traditionally. Parsi cuisine is steeped in culture. Most of the dishes have a story to them. These time-honoured recipes have been passed down through centuries from one generation to another in families and modified over the years, yet their core has stayed intact. Parsis try their best to maintain their individuality and uniqueness, to teach children and inculcate in them a part of the rich cultural and culinary heritage. A heritage that is rich in spice, flavour and is a perfect blend of ancient origins and modern adaptations.


Student Thesaurus
One entry found for precise.
Entry Word: precise
Function: adjective
Text: 1 meeting the highest standard of accuracy
Synonyms accurate, close, delicate, exact, fine, hairline, mathematical, pinpoint, rigorous
Antonyms coarse, imprecise, inaccurate, inexact, rough
2 being in agreement with the truth or a fact or a standard -- see CORRECT 1
3 being neither more nor less than a certain amount, number, or extent -- see EVEN 1
4 following an original exactly -- see FAITHFUL 2
5 of a particular or exact sort -- see EXPRESS 1


text:
Rectangle inside semicircle
I have no clue what to do here......(Headbang)
A rectangle is inscribed in a semicircle of radius 5 cm. (One side of the rectangle is on the diameter of the semicircle and two of the vertices of the rectangle are on the semicircle)
1) Draw a model of this situation
2) Suppose the side of the rectangle which is on the diameter is 2 cm long. What will be the area of the rectangle?
3) Create a rule which can be used to find the length of the side of rectangle which is on the diameter of the semicircle when the area of the rectangle is known
4) Graph the function from #3 and use it to find possbiel lengths which will give an area of 24
5) Why would #4 be hard with algebra alone?


Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been in the news because he said he chews and swallows 35 sticks a day.
By Kristin Canning
January 26, 2017
Credit: Getty Images
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's gum habit went viral this week, after a strange tidbit from a 2016 interview resurfaced on social media. Back in August, Spicer told the Washington Post that he chews and swallows 35 sticks of Orbit cinnamon gum a day(!)—before noon. As the factoid picked up steam, everyone's been speculating about whether it's actually safe to chew and ingest that much gum.
The short answer is no, says Roshini Rajapaksa, MD (who goes by Dr. Raj), Health's medical editor and gastroenterologist at New York University's Langone Medical Center. The issue isn't so much swallowing the gum (more on that later), but chewing and consuming high amounts of sorbitol, an artificial sweetener found in many sugar-free gums. (Sorbitol is the first ingredient in Orbit.) "Sorbitol can work as a laxative, and cause bloating and diarrhea," says Dr. Raj.
A 2008 report on two case studies published in the journal BMJ found that ingesting high amounts of sorbitol could cause chronic diarrhea, malnutrition, and severe weight loss. One of the case study subjects was a 46-year-old man who was chewing 20 sticks of gum, and eating other foods with the sweetener.
In another small study published in the journal Gastroenterology in 1983, people began experiencing gas and bloating after consuming 10 grams of sorbitol, and cramps and diarrhea after 20 grams. (One stick of Orbit gum contains 2 grams of sorbitol.)
Poop problems aside, the sweetener does not cause any long-term damage to the intestines, says Dr. Raj. Sorbitol-related digestive issues are typically resolved when someone stops consuming the ingredient.
This doesn't mean Spicer is experiencing any gastrointestinal issues, Dr. Raj adds—sorbitol affects everyone differently. "Some people are more sensitive to it than others," she says. "It's not harmful if you're not experiencing any issues."
Whenever someone experiences unexplained gas, bloating, cramps, or diarrhea, Dr. Raj suggests cutting off sorbitol to see if it makes a difference. In addition to sugarless gum, sorbitol can be found in diet drinks, dried fruit, and sugarless candy. And, Dr. Raj says, people who are chronically bloated should avoid chewing gum altogether because it causes you to swallow extra air. "There can be a sort of double-whammy effect if you're chewing gum and it has sorbitol in it, so people who already have these issues should not be chewing gum."
There is one other relevant, though small, risk worth mentioning: If you swallow a large amount of gum every day, it could stick together and form a bezoar, which is a mass trapped in the gastrointestinal system that causes an obstruction, says Dr. Raj. But if you only swallow a stick of gum every once in a while, it's not a big concern: "It should pass around the same time as other foods, in one to three days."


text:
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
In differential geometry, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a smooth manifold equipped with a smooth, symmetric, (0,2) tensor which is nondegenerate at each point on the manifold. This tensor is called a pseudo-Riemannian metric or, simply, a (pseudo-)metric tensor.
The key difference between a Riemannian metric and a pseudo-Riemannian metric is that a pseudo-Riemannian metric need not be positive-definite, merely nondegenerate. Since every positive-definite form is also nondegenerate a Riemannian metric is a special case of a pseudo-Riemannian one. Thus pseudo-Riemannian manifolds can be considered generalizations of Riemannian manifolds.
Every nondegenerate, symmetric, bilinear form has a fixed signature (p,q). Here p and q denote the number of positive and negative eigenvalues of the form. The signature of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is just the signature of the metric (one should insist that the signature is the same on every connected component). Note that p + q = n is the dimension of the manifold. Riemannian manifolds are simply those with signature (n,0).
Pseudo-Riemannian metrics of signature (p,1) (or sometimes (1,q), see sign convention) are called Lorentzian metrics. A manifold equipped with a Lorentzian metric is naturally called a Lorentzian manifold. After Riemannian manifolds, Lorentzian manifolds form the most important subclass of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds. They are important because of their physical applications to the theory of general relativity. A principal assumption of general relativity is that spacetime can be modeled as a Lorentzian manifold of signature (3,1).
Just as Euclidean space can be thought of as the model Riemannian manifold, Minkowski space with the flat Minkowski metric is the model Lorentzian manifold. Likewise, the model space for a pseudo-Riemannian manifold of signature (p,q) is with the metric
Some basic theorems of Riemannian geometry can be generalized to the pseudo-Riemannian case. In particular, the fundamental theorem of Riemannian geometry is true of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds as well. This allows one to speak of the Levi-Civita connection on a pseudo-Riemannian manifold along with the associated curvature tensor. On the other hand, there are many theorems in Riemannian geometry which do not hold in the generalized case. For example, it is not true that every smooth manifold admits a pseudo-Riemannian metric of a given signature; there are certain topological obstructions.
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Probabilistic Modeling of Semantic Ambiguity for Scene Graph Generation
Gengcong Yang, Jingyi Zhang, Yong Zhang, Baoyuan Wu, Yujiu Yang
To generate "accurate" scene graphs, almost all existing methods predict pairwise relationships in a deterministic manner. However, we argue that visual relationships are often semantically ambiguous. Specifically, inspired by linguistic knowledge, we classify the ambiguity into three types: Synonymy Ambiguity, Hyponymy Ambiguity, and Multi-view Ambiguity. The ambiguity naturally leads to the issue of \emph{implicit multi-label}, motivating the need for diverse predictions. In this work, we propose a novel plug-and-play Probabilistic Uncertainty Modeling (PUM) module. It models each union region as a Gaussian distribution, whose variance measures the uncertainty of the corresponding visual content. Compared to the conventional deterministic methods, such uncertainty modeling brings stochasticity of feature representation, which naturally enables diverse predictions. As a byproduct, PUM also manages to cover more fine-grained relationships and thus alleviates the issue of bias towards frequent relationships. Extensive experiments on the large-scale Visual Genome benchmark show that combining PUM with newly proposed ResCAGCN can achieve state-of-the-art performances, especially under the mean recall metric. Furthermore, we prove the universal effectiveness of PUM by plugging it into some existing models and provide insightful analysis of its ability to generate diverse yet plausible visual relationships.
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text:
Candidate: Queen Square
Location: Bristol, UK
Category: The Great Place Award
1. Although the transformation of Queen Square has resulted in a magnificent public space, there is much opportunity to further develop the underutilized spaces surrounding the square
2. The redevelopment of Queen Square over the past two decades reflects the changing economic and social conditions of city living that has seen pedestrian movement re-established to create a successful public space with the capacity to adapt to different needs and expectations of the local community
3. Due to the occupation of the aesthetically pleasing Georgian style townhouses by commercial enterprises, the square is conducive to hosting events and festivals without disrupting residential tenants, making it a vibrant public space
4. Queen Square has a distinctive sense of place, and the city council is emphasizing the importance of high quality management and maintenance of the square, seeking to respect both the people and the ecology
5. The prioritization of pedestrian traffic in the square has resulted in a more sustainable environment that has contributed to the stable and efficient use and occupation of the buildings – as well as the constant daily use of the square, which has further contributed to the social, cultural and economic compatibility between the different users and their needs.
Queen Square (named after Queen Anne) is an impressive Georgian square, claimed to be one of the largest of its type in Europe and the first residential square to be developed in England outside London. The square was built between 1699 and 1720 on the old town marsh as houses for the city's merchants, providing a direct relationship between the merchants' houses and their business on the surrounding quaysides and the Square has reflected the growth and changes of the city ever since. It occupies 2.4 hectares with lawns and wide gravel paths, a statue of King William III (grade-I listed) at the centre and a perimeter of mature plane trees. It is now home to around 70 businesses and in addition to its constant daily use an estimated 40,000 people attended organised formal events in the Square last year.
The space is a splendid example of a historic square restored to its former glory, the trees (magnificent) and the architecture (glorious) combine to provide a welcoming atmosphere aided by the now much reduced traffic flow. Great care has been taken with materials and detailing to ensure that the restoration scheme is historically appropriate and built to the highest quality. The economic success of the scheme is reflected in the current 100% occupation of all the buildings at rentals 16% above average, compared with an average 33% vacancy level in the 1990's.
The space has benefited in the recent past from Bristol City Council's very clear and singular vision, published in 1990, that resulted in the removal of the inner ring road from the square. The road was driven right through the square in 1936 and finally closed in 1992. The removal of the dual carriageway was the most crucial part of the regeneration scheme which was fiercely opposed by many in the city. It took 20 years from the publication of the original concept to completion. The associated regeneration of the space included not only the restoration of the historic landscape of the main square but also the creation of entirely new urban spaces where there had previously been just roads in Thunderbolt Square and Bell Lane. It also helped to build a case for the Brunel Mile and the key pedestrian link of Pero's Bridge which is central to the Harbourside's success.
The current vision for Queen Square is centred on the management and maintenance of the public space, overlooked by the commercial residents (occasionally used for public events). The City council has a committed revenue fund to maintain the space and manage the events. The 'residents' are represented by the Queen Square Association which provides a conduit for the Council and event planners to communicate and consult with the local community. This vision is focussed on the 'inside' of the square without looking beyond the perimeter. There is an opportunity to use the space as a catalyst to regenerate adjacent neglected spaces and streets, particularly on and around Welsh Back and The Grove. Perhaps two new pedestrian bridges across the water to the east and south would provide the movement and permeability that is currently lacking on these two streets? There is a plan for improving pedestrian links with St Mary Redcliffe and Temple Meads Station by way of the provision of green pedestrian corridors alongside existing vehicular routes.
Queen Square is not only providing a significant and sustainable economic benefit by providing high quality commercial accommodation but is also providing for a large number of events that enriches the cultural diversity of the city. The Bristol City Design Group consider it would be useful to carry out research into the economic impact of the Queen Square regeneration and its contribution to cultural life of the city.


text:
Software Cost Estimation Model Based on Integration of Multi-agent and Case-Based Reasoning
- Hasan Al-Sakran
- Journal of Computer Science ico_openaccess SCOPUS
- in 2006
- Cited Count
Accurate software cost estimation is a vital task that affects the firm's software investment decisions before committing required resources to that project or bidding for a contract. This study proposes an improved Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) approach integrated with multi-agent technology to retrieve similar projects from multi-organizational distributed datasets. The study explores the possibility of building a software cost estimation model by collecting software cost data from distributed predefined project cost databases. The model applying CBR method to find similar projects in historical data derived from measured software projects developed by different organizations.
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text:
When salt is mixed with water, the salt dissolves because the covalent bonds of water are stronger than the ionic bonds in the salt molecules.
Formation of ions
At the molecular level, salt dissolves in water due to electrical charges. Both water and salt compounds are polar, with positive and negative charges on opposite sides in the molecule. The bonds in salt compounds are called ionic because they both have an electrical charge—the chloride ion is negatively charged, and the sodium ion is positively charged. Likewise, a water molecule is ionic in nature. Still, the bond is called covalent, with two hydrogen atoms both situating themselves with their positive charge on one side of the oxygen atom, which has a negative charge.
- The positively charged side of the water molecules is attracted to the negatively charged chloride ions. The negatively charged side of the water molecules is attracted to the positively charged sodium ions.
- Water molecules pull the sodium and chloride ions apart, breaking the ionic bond that held them together.
- After the salt compounds are pulled apart, the sodium and chloride atoms are surrounded by water molecules. Once this happens, the salt is dissolved, resulting in a homogeneous solution.


text: Families provide foundational contexts in which most children develop and grow. For families of children with special health care needs (CSHCN), interdisciplinary supports can build family participation capacities, beyond individualistic child supports. This single-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental study sought to determine the preliminary effects of the Healthy Families Flourish Program (HFFP), a telehealth occupation-based parent coaching intervention to promote participation, cohesion, adaptability, and communication for families of CSHCN. Eleven families, including 17 parents and 27 children, completed the 10-session intervention consisting of parent education and individualized coaching. Participants completed the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Goal Attainment Scaling, and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales pre-/post-intervention. Within-group comparisons showed improvements in family participation, cohesion, adaptability, and communication with Cohen's d effect sizes ranging from 0.55-3.32. Researchers found positive relationships between family participation and cohesion as well as participation and adaptability. Findings provide considerations for supporting families within socioecological contexts.


text:
Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Light Crude Oil and Your Health
What is light crude oil?
Light crude oil is a mix of thousands of different chemicals, but it is mostly hydrogen and carbon. It comes out of the ground as liquid petroleum.
How does light crude oil spread?
When oil is spilled in the ocean, it spreads in the water, mostly on the surface. The oil slick formed may stay together, or it may break up in rough seas. Waves, currents, and wind spread the oil over large areas. A small part of the oil may dissolve in the water. The oil also can spread in the water, join with the water to form a thick substance that is like hair mousse, sink, or form into sticky tar balls.
What are the health threats of light crude oil?
For most people brief contact with a small amount of oil will do no harm. Some people are more sensitive to chemicals, including those found in crude oil. These people may develop a rash or skin irritation or have other allergic reactions.
Skin contact with crude oil that lasts a long time can cause skin reddening, swelling, and burning. The skin effects can get worse if the skin is exposed to the sun. Skin contact can also make you more likely to develop a rash or skin infection.
Light crude oil may also be irritating if it contacts your eyes.
Swallowing small amounts (less than a coffee cup) of oil will cause upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea, but is unlikely to have long-lasting health effects.
How can I avoid the health threats of light crude oil?
Avoid skin contact with oil. If you are involved in clean-up efforts, wear gloves, eye protection, and clothing that cover your arms and legs.
If you get oil on your skin, wash with soap and water, baby oil, petroleum jelly, or a cleaning paste for hands such as those sold at auto parts stores. Do not use solvents, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, or similar products to clean oil off skin.
If you get oil in your eyes, flush them with water for 15 minutes.
If you swallow oil, do not try to vomit it, as this may get oil into your lungs.
If you inhale oil vapors, or smoke from burning oil, move to an area where the air is more clear. If you have inhaled a lot of vapor or smoke and feel short of breath, have chest pain or tightness, or dizziness, seek medical attention.
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- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Atlanta, GA 30333
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- Contact CDC-INFO


not substantially enforcing related provisions." (Emphasis added.) Paradoxically, if New Hampshire officials create an Exchange, you will be surrendering control over your health insurance markets because you would be cementing in place a federal takeover.
The fact that an Exchange is state‐run does not diminish federal control by one iota. To be clear: there is nothing that a federal Exchange can do that the federal government cannot also force a state‐run Exchange to do through regulation. The federal government will heap regulations upon state‐run Exchanges; indeed, it is already imposing greater requirements on them than the law itself does. Creating a state‐run Exchange would not prevent a federal takeover of New Hampshire's health insurance markets, it would lend manpower to that effort.
The conservative Heritage Foundation once took the position that states should set up a "defensive" Exchange to preserve a modicum of control over their Medicaid programs. After reading the administration's Exchange regulations and concluding that the federal government will allow state‐run Exchanges no such autonomy, Heritage scholars now counsel states to refuse to establish one of the law's Exchanges and to send all related grants back to Washington.
Creating an Exchange Undermines Repeal
Some opponents of the law nevertheless argue for creating an Exchange so that states can be prepared in case the law is not overturned or repealed. Yet creating an Exchange would entrench the law and make it less likely to be repealed or overturned.
 - First, creating an Exchange lends a veneer of legitimacy to the law. The Obama administration heralds the creation of each new Exchange as proof that the law is gaining acceptance, and heralds states accepting the federal grants available under the law in the same manner. The administration even cited New Hampshire as one of the states that is making steady progress toward establishing an Exchange.
 - Second, declaring the law unconstitutional but then accepting the funding it offers and setting up an Exchange undermines the credibility of state officials seeking to overturn the law and also undermines the lawsuits themselves. One federal judge who overturned the law wrote that the fact that some of the plaintiff states are themselves implementing the law "undercut" their own argument that he should order the federal government to halt implementation.
 - Third, to create an Exchange is to create a taxpayer‐funded lobbying group dedicated to fighting repeal. An Exchange's employees would owe their power and their paychecks to this law. Naturally, they would aid the fight to preserve the law.
 - Fifth, many knowledgeable observers believe few Exchanges, state or federal, will be operational by 2014. If states like New Hampshire create their own Exchanges, they will begin handing out billions of taxpayer dollars sooner than if the federal government creates them. Creating a state‐run Exchange will hasten the day when the private insurance companies who receive those subsidies plow much of the money back into fighting repeal.
 - Sixth, and perhaps most important, due to a recently discovered glitch in the statute, the law only authorizes premium subsidies in state-run Exchanges. It does not authorize these subsidies in federal Exchanges. Viewed from one perspective, this gives state governments the ability to protect themselves from penalties under the law's "employer mandate." The law imposes fines on large employers if any of their workers obtain subsidized coverage through an Exchange. If a state creates its own Exchange, it will be subject to those penalties. But if the state refuses to establish an Exchange and the federal government does instead, then the federal government will have no authority to penalize states because it will have no authority to distribute those subsidies. Viewed from another perspective, this glitch gives states the collective power to deny the federal government the legal authority to dispense more than a half‐trillion dollars in new deficit spending and to expose the full cost of the law's mandates and government price controls. All that states need do is not set up a health insurance Exchange. If New Hampshire joins other states in refusing to create an Exchange, it can essentially force Congress to reconsider the law. If New Hampshire instead creates an Exchange, it will increase the federal deficit and debt, hide the full cost of the health care law, expose New Hampshire employers to penalties and reduce the likelihood of repeal. (See the attached article for more information.)
The Obama administration is offering financial inducements to states to create Exchanges because the administration knows that every new Exchange helps it shield the law from the American people. For opponents of the law, creating an Exchange is not a hedging‐your‐bets strategy but a sabotaging‐your bets strategy.
A Free‐Market Government Bureaucracy?
Some conservatives have recommended that states create "market‐friendly" (i.e., non‐compliant) Exchanges that offer an "alternative vision" to the law.
There is no conservative rationale for doing so. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) created a health insurance Exchange in 2008. A Utah official overseeing that Exchange says, "Nearly every Exchange function already exists in the private sector." For instance, eHealthInsurance.com already enables one‐stop shopping for health insurance. One conservative group advocates government‐created Exchanges as a vehicle for enabling workers to purchase their own health plan using tax‐free dollars from their employers. Yet workers can already do that under a provision of the federal tax code known as "health reimbursement arrangements," or HRAs. Companies like Minneapolis' Bloom Health are helping employers take advantage of HRAs and giving workers that freedom, without any new government bureaucracies or regulations.
More fundamentally, there is no such thing as a market‐friendly government bureaucracy. As Thomas Jefferson explained more than 200 years ago: "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." Government bureaucracies will always seek more power because that is their nature. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) proposed a "market‐friendly" health insurance Exchange in 2006. By the time he signed it into law, it had become the very market‐unfriendly plan on which Congress modeled the federal law. When Utah politicians saw that health insurance was more expensive inside their Exchange than on the open market, they imposed a series of taxes on consumers outside of the Exchange to prop up the health plans inside it. In the process, Utah unwittingly put in place the infrastructure for a federal Exchange: if Utah's Exchange fails to comply with the health care law in 2014, the federal government will commandeer it or brush it aside.
Whatever is plaguing America's health care sector, a lack of government bureaucracies is not it. There is simply no reason for New Hampshire to create any kind of Exchange.
Conflicts of Interest
Finally, I encourage you to bear in mind that the interests of those asking the legislature to create an Exchange may not line up with the interests of patients. For instance, private insurers' pro‐Exchange lobbying efforts may be related to the fact that Exchanges are necessary for them to tap hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. The consultants who have been criss‐crossing the country encouraging states to set up Exchanges are often bidding on the contracts that result. Insurance regulators and state health care officials across the country have urged their governors and legislatures to create an Exchange, otherwise they would have to watch the federal takeover from the sidelines rather than be an active participant. Unfortunately, a state‐run Exchange cannot preserve their influence. Only repeal can do that.
The most responsible course for New Hampshire is to refuse to create an Exchange. Many governors, including Florida's Rick Scott (R), Louisiana's Bobby Jindal (R), Kansas' Sam Brownback (R), Oklahoma's Mary Fallin (R), and Wisconsin's Scott Walker (R) have already done so. New Hampshire should also send back to Washington whatever funds it has received under this law, as these and other states have done. New Hampshire can send that money back with a message that if Congress is looking to cut federal spending, a good place to start would be laws that federal courts have declared unconstitutional.
In the meantime, there are other steps New Hampshire can take to make health insurance and medical care more affordable to consumers.
First, the General Court can permit New Hampshire employers and consumers to purchase health insurance licensed by other states. Wyoming, Maine, and Georgia have already given their residents this freedom. Enabling New Hampshire residents to purchase health insurance across state lines would expand choice and competition, and would reduce premiums by letting consumers avoid unwanted regulatory costs. As important, granting New Hampshire residents this freedom would not require any new government spending or the creation of any new government bureaucracies. Domestic carriers typically object to giving consumers this freedom because they would prefer what they call a "level playing field" — i.e., where government protects them from competition, and leaves New Hampshire residents with fewer choices.
Second, the General Court can make basic medical care more affordable for the poor by broadening the scopes of practice of mid‐level clinicians such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. One promising approach, similar to letting New Hampshire residents purchase health insurance across state lines, is to let clinicians licensed by other states practice in New Hampshire under the terms of their license but subject to New Hampshire's malpractice laws. Reforms such as these would spur the growth of retail clinics and other innovations that bring quality medical care within reach for more low‐income New Hampshire residents. At a minimum, New Hampshire should emulate Tennessee and Illinois by allowing clinicians licensed by other states to provide free charitable care to New Hampshire residents under the terms


Take the 2-minute tour ×
In my app I have the following structure:
Activity A calls activity B, and finishes, removing itself from the stack; Activity B receives an intent from activity A that specifies some action to perform, when these actions are performed, the user will see a message indicating it (still in activity B).If the user presses the home button the app will go to background, calling "onPause" and then "onStop". All works as expected.
The problem is that if the user leaves the app in background for a few hours, and tries to open the app again (after a few hours) the onCreate method in activity B will be called with the exact same intent as it received some hours ago from activity A.
(if the user goes back to the app a few minutes after, he will see activity B just like when he left)
What I wanted was that in this case my app would open activity A and not activity B or, activity B but with the message that was on screen when user left.
Looking at the activity life cycle it seems that the app is killing by the OS, all of this makes sense, what I really don't understand is why activity B opens with onCreate method and the same intent as before.
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3 Answers 3
up vote 1 down vote accepted
Use onSaveInstanceState() to record the state of ActivityB. Android will call this before it kills the process. When the user returns to the application, it will recreate the process and then recreate whatever activity was on the top of the activity stack (in your case, ActivityB). When it does that, it will pass the saved instance state to the activity as a parameter in the onCreate() call. You should be able to put something in there so that your ActivityB can tell that it is being recreated after a process kill/restart. In that case, ActivityB could just show the user the message again (which it would have to save in the onSaveInstanceState() method) or it could just redirect the user back to ActivityA so that he can start all over again.
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thanks this was the solution i implemented and it worked just fine. – paulo Nov 26 '12 at 20:05
This is the expected behaviour described in the Activity lifecycle.
When an activity is started it always receives an Intent object. The intent that was used to start your activity B was preserved by the OS when your ativity was killed, and resend when the activity was returned to "live".
It's up tu your activity preserve the status and restore it as needed. Based on your problem description I would suggest to use onStop() so save to SharedPreferences the activity status and message, and onResume() to read it back. In onDestroy() you should clear the preferences to ensure a new clean cycle start.
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I ran into same problem, I DO NOT know if its the way or its right to do so, but i just changed the Intent Extra when needed.
intent.putExtra(SEARCH_EXTRA, false);
So your activity does not perform the operation, since it didn't receive what it wants.
share|improve this answer
This is off topic and not understandable. – Ixx Nov 23 '12 at 22:06
Your Answer


text:
New research shows a clear discrepancy when it comes to coronavirus infections in healthcare workers compared to the general population.
LONDON — A new study is providing further reason for everyone to appreciate and support their local nurses and doctors. Even with proper PPE (personal protective equipment), frontline healthcare workers battling the coronavirus day in and day out are still at a three times higher risk of testing positive for COVID-19 in comparison to the general population. That's the main conclusion drawn from a recent study conducted at King's College London and Harvard University.
Predictably, healthcare workers treating patients without adequate PPE are at a greater risk of coronavirus infection. Not as predictable, however, was the finding that BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) healthcare workers are at even greater risk of contracting the coronavirus while wearing proper PPE than their white counterparts.
According to researchers' calculations, BAME frontline workers are at least five times more likely to test coronavirus positive than the non-Hispanic, white general population.
"The findings of our study have tremendous impact for healthcare workers and hospitals. The data is clear in revealing that there is still an elevated risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection despite availability of PPE," explains senior study author Sebastien Ourselin, a professor at King's College London, in a release. "In particular we note that that the BAME community experience elevated risk of infection and in some cases lack access to adequate PPE, or frequently reuse equipment."
The research team analyzed a huge dataset of both American and British adults (2,035,395 individuals in general and 99,795 frontline healthcare workers). For every 100,000 healthcare workers, 2,747 tested positive for coronavirus. Meanwhile, for every 100,000 members of a general community, only 242 tests came back as COVID-19 positive.
Also, while just over 20% of healthcare workers reported feeling at least one coronavirus symptom (fatigue, loss of smell, loss of taste, etc), only 14.4% of the general population said the same.
This study indicates that PPE, while certainly important, is only a portion of the answer when it comes to protecting doctors and nurses. Besides just making sure healthcare workers have proper access to PPE, the authors say it may be time to start considering additional protection strategies. Also, equally as important as providing PPE is making sure it is used correctly and properly cleaned before reuse. It's probably a good idea for frontline workers to avoid reuse of PPE altogether, researchers say.
"The work is important in the context of the widely reported higher death rates amongst healthcare workers from BAME backgrounds. Hopefully a better understanding of the factors contributing to these disparities will inform efforts to better protect workers," says joint first study author Dr. Mark Graham.
"I'm very pleased we have now introduced masks and social distancing where possible for all interactions in hospitals – to protect ourselves and the population we serve. We need to ensure this is reinforced and sustained throughout the health service – including in health care settings outside hospitals, for example in care homes," concludes Dr. Claire Steves, lead clinical researcher. "Additional protective strategies are equally as important, such as implementing social distancing among healthcare staff. Stricter protocols for socializing among healthcare staff also need to be considered."
The study is published in Lancet Public Health.


text:
ClassTools Premium membership gives access to all templates, no advertisements, personal branding and other benefits!
Create your own "Fling the Teacher" quiz!
Share the weblink or embed the game on your own website [
view sample quizzes]
Create 15 increasingly difficult questions on separate lines, each with four possible answers, as follows:
question 1*correct answer*wrong answer 1*wrong answer 3*wrong answer 4
question 2*correct answer*wrong answer 1*wrong answer 3*wrong answer 4
Tip 1: You can generate alternative questions for each stage by inputting several batches of questions at once (30 questions generates 2 possible questions at each stage, 45 generates 3, and so on).
Tip 2: To convert an old Fling game created in Flash by ContentGenerator, simply paste the.txt file directly here!
You have 60 seconds to fling as many teachers into the hole as possible!
Fling the Teacher!
You need to answer 15 questions to 'Fling the Teacher'. You can play as many times as you like.
Your highest score will be saved onto a leaderboard so your teacher can reward your progress.
Click the following button to login to the game.
Please note: You can only access this test ONCE. Don't login until you are ready to begin!
High scores within the past 36 hours from students using the'class test' feature
CLASS CODE FOR TEST CONDITIONS
Note: Requires players to have Google accounts
How it works:
Students will be allowed to login once, and once only, from their Google Account to access the test.
Classtools will record the best score of the student and how long they spent on the game.
Teachers can obtain the results by clicking the'leaderboard' option.
Simply share the following special link with your students:
"Fling the Teacher" was originally coded by Russel Tarr and Andrew Field in 2002.
The original Flash version was replaced by this HTML5 version by Russel Tarr in 2019.
If you have any comments or feature requests, please
The expert replies:
I think the answer is:
How to use this template
"Fling the Teacher" allows you to quickly turn a factual test into an interactive game.
Students have to answer 15 questions successfully to win the chance to FLING THE TEACHER to certain doom!
Click the '
create your own game' link (bottom left) to make your own quiz now, or click'start the game' to play a sample quiz if you're unfamiliar with it!


Array to JSON conversion in PHP using json_encode
If you are reading this article, then most probably you already know about JSON and PHP array. Now I am going to show you how you can convert any PHP array into JSON formatted string. So keep reading to learn the task.
PHP already has an inbuilt function which is json_encode. Using the json_encode() PHP function we can easily convert an array into a JSON string data. Using this function, we can do the task quite easily. All you need to do is just pass the array as the parameter to the json_encode() function. Below is the simple syntax of it:
json_encode( ARRAY )
Now it is time to see the code. Below is the given PHP code snippet which shows how we can do it easily:
// Create our array
$arr = array(
// Get JSON from array
$json_data = json_encode($arr);
In the above code, we have first declared our array in PHP and store it in the variable. After that, we pass it to the json_encode function.
That's it…
Now if we print it using the inbuilt print function:
If we run our code, we will see the JSON formatted string as a result on the page as you can see below:
So you can see that we have successfully able to do our task. As you have seen that the main functionality is done just one line of code:
$json_data = json_encode($arr);
I hope, this tutorial will be going to help you with your project.
Also, read: Conversion of JSON string to PHP Array
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PyBrain Tutorial
PyBrain Tutorial
Pybrain is an open-source library for Machine learning implemented using python. The library offers you some easy to use training algorithms for networks, datasets, trainers to train and test the network.
This tutorial is designed for software programmers who want to learn the basics of Pybrain and its programming concepts in a simple and easy manner. This tutorial will give enough understanding on the various functionalities of Pybrain with suitable examples.
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should have a basic understanding of Python and Machine Learning.


text:
Saint Bernadette is remembered as the young girl who saw the Immaculate Conception at Lourdes. Vilified for her claims, Bernadette was resolute, and slowly showed her detractors what it meant to be a recipient of God's Grace. Father Steve Grunow explores the life of this unlikely messenger, and her depiction in the classic film "The Song of Bernadette," today on the Word on Fire blog.
April 16th was the feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous, whose name in religious life was Sister Mary Bernard. Saint Bernadette is popularly known as the visionary of the shrine at Lourdes. Both the saint and the shrine are held with affection and in esteem by Catholics, and Lourdes remains one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations in the world.
The shrine is situated where Saint Bernadette claimed to have seen the Mother of God. Adding to the already hallowed grounds is a spring of water reputed to have healing properties and facilitate spiritual conversion.
Lourdes, therefore, known as a place of miracles.
The story of Bernadette and of Lourdes is one of Catholicism's welland often-told tales. In this respect, both the saint and the shrine are known through a mixture of history and legend, fact and fiction. The discernment of one from the other as they pertain to Bernadette and Lourdes is in itself a literary genre.
In this regard, Ruth Harris's distillation of the events and personalities that gave rise to Lourdes as a unique cultural phenomenon in her 1999 book, "Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age," is worthy of note. And in terms of piecing together conflicting accounts and disparate testimonies, it represents an insightful and magisterial effort. Predecessors to Harris include no less a man of letters than Emile Zola, whose attempt at a critique and debunking of the phenomenon would give most pious Catholics the shudders.
Franz Werfel wrote his novel, "The Song of Bernadette," as a tribute to the saint and the shrine that he credited as providing him a sanctuary and place of refuge during the Second World War. The work is largely a response to Zola's denunciations. Werfel's novel would become the basis for a 1943 film that is itself, like Lourdes, an enduring point of reference in which the story of Bernadette and her visions is remembered and told...


text:
Professor Simplicius and the Mystery of Matter
PLOT: 4/5 WRITING: 4.5/5 LEARNING: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT: 4.5/5
""Then he sang,
"Raindrops and roses
and mustaches and kittens
They are all made of chemicals,
even if you don't know them!
Carbon and hydrogen ring set–
These are some of my favorite things! "
– Gargi Bagchi Bhattacharjee. Professor Simplicius and the mystery of matter
At first glance, the book seems like an interesting read. The author introduces the reader to the aims of the book at the beginning. Professor Simplicius is described as a person.he likes to break all myths and present the most complex scientific theories in the simplest way. " She loves to introduce children to the mysterious and exciting realm of chemistry.
The cover image is striking and has a fun and adventurous atmosphere. The little girl, who is surrounded by icons representing chemistry, is having a great time, which is enough to convince the reader that the book will be just as much fun as it is fun.
The idea behind the book
The basis of the book is to introduce children to chemicals. Professor Simplicius and the mystery of matter try to dispel myths about the general perception of chemicals. That's an attempt to say thatLook, not all chemicals are bad 'and that they are chemicalsan integral part of life and the universe'. If you look at it, everything is chemical.
Since then, today's children are tomorrow's leaders. In a small but effective way, this book aims to raise awareness of the importance of chemicals in our world so that we can better supply them to guide the future.
As the story goes for free
Lily and Sam's mother decide to take him to Professor Simplicius's lab so they can have a good time. She wants to know the wonderful and intriguing world of chemicals and their role in our daily lives. Professor Simplicius is a kind and humble man who welcomes them enthusiastically.
Upon entering the laboratory, the children learn that the Teacher has lost an important formula of his invention, which can only be recovered by decoding some cryptic traces. To solve these puzzles, children will need to learn not only about chemicals and their properties but also apply this knowledge. Only then will they be able to help the teacher recover that essential formula.
I like that Professor Simplicius is quite cheerful. I love how nice and close he is to the kids. How easy it is to get their attention and how cheerful they are in conversations. As he introduces himself to the children, he says this.
"I am Professor Simplicius! Of course, that's not my real name! But I like to simplify things as much as possible and that's why I took this name. Also, I'm pretty forgetful. When I keep things simple, I can remember them more easily. "
Isn't that humble, polite, and kind? In fact, it is.
She is also very attentive to children, makes a great effort to get to know the children, and their lives, which they like, which are not pleasant. He has a tremendous ability to feel calm immediately, especially while talking about his areas of expertise using poetry.
There is a sense of adventure created in the beginning. After all, what better way to spark a child's curiosity than through a puzzle. The importance of settings and backgrounds has not been overlooked. All of the teacher exudes an old academic atmosphere, with his shelves full of books and all sorts of academic topics. A chemical-filled closet, with a yellow sign showing a skull image, creates a feeling of being forbidden and dangerous.
All the elements that make a good read for children are present in generous doses: adventure, mystery, excitement, curiosity and danger.
What stands out?
A book that introduces children to the world of chemistry is a novelty for me. I've come across a lot of non-fiction books for kids, but one that never talks about chemistry and that too in nice, fun tones.
In the end
Professor Simplicius and the Mystery of Matter is a fun and adventurous read that tries to immerse children in the wonderful world of chemistry. With an interesting and intriguing character search, the book makes for a great read.
Can't wait to read it? Buy a copy of the book using the link below.


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February 24, 2013 in Sustainable Development
EMBARGOED until 1800 GMT on Sunday 24 February
By Alex Kirby
A United Nations scheme intended to guarantee everyone access to clean energy could help to keep global temperature rise below 2°C, researchers say, although it would not achieve this without sharp cuts in emissions of all the main greenhouse gases.
LONDON, 24 February – Eradicating poverty by making modern energy supplies available to everyone is not only compatible with measures to slow climate change, a new study says. It is a necessary condition for it.
But the authors say the scheme to provide sustainable energy worldwide will not by itself be enough to keep the global average temperature rise below the widely accepted international target level of 2°C. While the scheme can help measures to tackle climate change, it cannot achieve that by itself.
The scheme, the UN's Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4All), if it proves successful, could make a significant contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to the analysis from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and ETH Zurich.
The study, published in Nature Climate Change, shows that reaching the three energy-related goals of SE4All would cut GHG emissions and is achievable.
"Achievement of the three objectives would provide an important entry point into stringent climate protection", says Joeri Rogelj, ETH Zurich researcher and IIASA-affiliated scientist, who led the study.
It found that the short-term goals, due to be reached by 2030, would help achieve long-term climate targets. But to ensure stringent climate objectives were reached, SE4ALL would need to be matched by other measures, the researchers say.
SE4All 'necessary – but not sufficient'
SE4All's objectives include providing universal access to modern energy, doubling the share of renewable energy globally, and doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency – all by 2030.
While the objectives do not explicitly address climate change, sustainable energy is accepted as vital for cutting GHG emissions: 80% of CO2 from human activities comes from the global energy system, including transport, buildings, industry, and electricity, heat, and fuel production.
"Doing energy right will promote the Millennium Development Goals and at the same time kick-start the transition to a lower-carbon economy", says IIASA researcher David McCollum, who also worked on the study. "But the UN's objectives must be complemented by a global agreement on controlling GHG emissions."
SE4All has global goals, but the researchers say action at regional and national levels will be essential to achieving them. IIASA's energy programme leader Keywan Riahi, a co-author of the study, says: "The next step for this initiative is already under way, with a large number of national plans that underpin the global objectives."
They analysed the likelihood of the world limiting global warming to target levels if each or all of the SE4All objectives were achieved. Using a broad range of scenarios, they found that if all the objectives are met, the likelihood of keeping temperature rise below 2°C will be more than 66%.
If only the renewable energy goal is met, chances of staying below 2°C will range from 40 to 90%, they say, while achieving just the energy efficiency goal will improve the chances to between 60 and 90%.
But the researchers warn that this result depends strongly on what future economic growth is assumed. They say the likelihood of reaching climate targets within the scenarios depend on a range of other factors, including energy demand growth, economic growth, and technological innovation.
The study also found that providing universal energy access by 2030 will not hinder long-term climate goals, thanks to the marked gains in energy efficiency that will result. "Sustainable development and poverty eradication can go hand in hand with mitigating climate risks," says Rogelj.
He told the Climate News Network: "To ensure effective climate change mitigation, a global treaty on greenhouse gases should enforce a cap on global emissions which limits emissions from all sources.
"With such a cap SE4ALL can help to limit emissions from the energy sector, but other measures will have to tackle those from other sources like deforestation, or other gases, like methane from agriculture and waste, or facilitate an even quicker decarbonization of the energy sector, like carbon-capture and storage."
The new work also quantified the potential costs of reaching the SE4All objectives, which would amount to increasing energy investment by between 0.1 and 0.7% of global GDP. The authors' estimates account for the substantial savings in energy use and reduced fossil energy investment that would result from promoting more sustainable energy technologies and lifestyles. – Climate News Network


Direct cooling
A bigger lever?
Reducing emissions of CO2 and sequestering carbon is articulated widely as the main tool to mitigate climate change. But according to Australian soil microbiologist and climate scientist, Walter Jehne, CO2 only accounts for 4% of the drivers of heat dynamics.
The hydrological cycle, (the way that water moves through the environment) drives 95% of the planet's heat dynamics. This gives us a much bigger lever for mitigating climate change. And for those not convinced, a big part of the remedy for both approaches is very similar – getting atmospheric carbon back into the soil.
These pages focus on the dynamics of direct cooling. They are under construction.
1. How direct cooling works misty mountains
Some places are hotter than others. This might be because of latitude, or elevation. But often neighbouring properties can differ significantly in temperature. Walter Jehne reports that locations in Canberra with lots of trees and be 12 degrees cooler than nearby treeless landscapes. (page under construction)
2. The science of direct coolingcasimoroa
Walter Jehne outlines 10 dynamics that drive the hydrological cycle that helps to explain how we can cool the planet. Click here for the first on these 10 dynamics.
3. Greening desertsCliffs 2014
Deserts are increasing globally, but also efforts to green deserts are intensifying. more>>
4. Cooling farms pre graze Linda
Regenerative agriculture focuses on soil health and how to integrate more carbon into soils. (page under construction)
5. Urban cooling urban
While the built environment only accounts for one percent of global land cover, the places we live differ widely in their heat dynamics. (page under construction)
6. Greening the desert of the minddesert
Sometimes the human mind is more arid than the harshest desert. We become captured by other peoples' thinking and the ideologies that drive our economic and social constructions. This page explores the problem and solutions. (page under construction)
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Understanding Horizontal Cantilever Gate Trusses
What is a horizontal cantilever gate truss? It is a single plane truss very similar to a building truss. Relative to cantilever gates, it is a rigid frame made from smaller tubing. It may be integrated into the gate frame at time of fabrication or it can be a standalone truss with a complete frame that can be mechanically fastened to the gate in the field.
The illustrations below demonstrate a truss system that is integrated into the gate fabrication. If you review the 35'+ truss, it may be viewed as both a truss integrated into the gate or a standalone.
Why would you use a standalone truss?
 - The most practical reason would be for ease of transportation. More than likely, these trusses are used because it was not considered necessary initially at the time of fabrication or the gate was originally manual and ended up becoming automated.
When would you use a horizontal truss?
 - A cantilever gate requires a truss when it reaches in excess of 24' opening and is automated. Please refer to the lengths shown below in the illustrations.
Is a horizontal truss the best solution?
 - No. If a gate is to be automated and reaches the lengths below, the best application is a double track aluminum cantilever gate. These gates effectively deal with the wind load with their widened profile and the combination of the double tracks.
What is the biggest concern with a horizontal truss?
 - These trusses are not supported by ASTM 2200 as they protrude out too far from the gate frame, posing a hazard to pedestrians. Please note that none of the illustrations below show a blunt end to the truss. All are designed with an eased-sloped end so that it may cause less harm if it comes in contact with others.
Need a better solution for existing gates that won't provide for a horizontal truss? American Fence Company has your solution. Please refer to the illustration below with the opposing cable truss design. This is a cable truss system that has a very thin profile. A tube is attached to both sides of the gate at the midpoint that horizontally runs the length of the gate. The tube is a carrier for the cable. A cable is installed in each tube with the cable anchored on one end and anchored on the other end with a turnbuckle-style tightener. The cables are tensioned equally, creating an opposing force against one another. As these forces build, the gate will gain rigidity. This is very similar to the concept in post tensioned concrete. This is an exclusive American Fence Company design.
Comprehensive drawing of a cantilever gate that is utilizing trusses American Fence Company official drawings of cantilever gate trusses and how they work
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Wyspianski who also created a caroon design for a Casimir the Great stained glass window for Wawel's Royal Cathedral. In 2000, Andrzej Wajda, Poland's distinguished film maker, proposed a realization of that _PHONE_ masterpiece, which in the eyes of Wyspianski's contemporaries was too shocking to deserve a place in Wawel Cathedral - as was his design of for a Saint Stanislaus window featuring the controversial eleventh century bishop murdered by King Boleslaus the Bold. Polonia commissioned for Lwow's Cathedral, proved to be yet another unrealized stained glass window design by Wyspianski.
Casimir the Great
by Stanislaw Wyspianski,
_PHONE_, Pastel, 436 x 148 cm
National Museum, Cracow
by Stanislaw Wyspianski,
1893-94, Pastel, 436 x 148 cm
National Museum, Cracow
by Stanislaw Wyspianski,
1893-94, Pastel, 298 x 153 cm
National Museum, Cracow
|Click on image to enlarge|
History is less visible in Wyspianski's paintings and pastels than in his dramas and poems, but his representations of the "Polish Acropolis," as Wyspianski called the Wawel Hill, a the most impressive ever produced. He is but one of those artists who created history themselves. Unlike Matejko, Wyspianski was never presented a scepter. As with most great Polish artists, he was misunderstood, unappreciated, and even humiliated by his compatriots. Wronged, but aware of his greatness, he wrote a poem that began with the words:
"Ah, I love Cracow - for not from the stones
did I learn sorrow - but from the living ones."
Jacek Malczewski (_PHONE_) was also one of Matejko's numerous students. He came to Cracow from the Radom area in the Russian partition, but soon became a prominent figure of Cracow's artistic life. Later he was elected the provost of Cracow's famous Academy of Fine Arts. Being undoubtedly one of the greatest painters in the history of Polish art, he was also a highly original visionary and a committed patriot. Let us look at one of his early but best known masterpieces, Melancholy (1890) which bears the subtitle Prologue. Last Century in Poland. Surpassing Matejko's pieces in respect of color and composition, that big, weird painting definitely would not be possible without Matejko's influence.
by Jacel Malczewski,
_PHONE_, 55x95" oil on canvas, National Museum, Poznan
|Click on image for enlarged sections of the painting
A seated artist is shown in his studio, facing a blank canvas, with his back to the viewer. A black figure stands by the open window at the other side of the canvas. The title of the painting suggests its meaning. Melancholy symbolizes the artist and hence refers to his duty, which is to provide a vision of history. The subtitle, in turn, describes that artist's vision. There is a crowd of figures swirling in the studio who, let us observe, make up the shape of a cross. At the base of the cross are children symbolizing the beginning of life and at the same time of an unfortunate period in the history of Poland. In the middle are men with scythes (the traditional weapon of Polish insurgents), participants in the 19th century uprisings. The left side of the cross, that nearest to the half opened window, is filled with old men near death, prisoners and deportees to Siberia, victims of successive uprisings.
Without going into Malczewski's complex symbolism, let us point out that the image depicts the history of Poland in the 19th century, a period of struggle for independence, a struggle for independence, a struggle which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. The figure standing on the right is death as well as future deliverance. In other words, the artist suggests, independence will come in the wake of death. The form of the cross filled with figures is a reference to the sacrifice of Christ who redeemed mankind through his death. Likewise, Poland was to rise from the dead through an offering of blood. Hence the open window is a symbol of hope for the coming century, that in which the nation will be redeemed.
I have already mentioned Margrave Wielopolski, the plenipotentiary of Tsarist government in the Russian partition. Though he introduced reforms polonizing both the administration and schools, his short sighted decision to impress into the tsarist army activist young men led to the tragic events in 1863. No matter what his purposes were, he became a tragic figure, hated and despised by the majority if the Polish people. Malczewski's Polish Hamlet, painted in 1903, represents that aristocrat's dilemma: how to be a savior of the nation rather than its traitor, while remaining an obedient servant of Moscow. Other paintings by Malczewski don't refer to the Polish history as directly. According to some, however, The Poisoned Well which appears in many of his works acts as a symbol of partitioned Poland.
The Polish Hamlet by Jacek Malczewski, oil on canvas, 1903
|Flanked by two images of Poland, one old and bound, the other free, radical and revolutionary, the aristocrat, Aleksander Wielopolski, finds the choice a difficult one.
The painting symbolizes the dilemma faced by those living in partitioned Poland whether to stay with the status quo or to seek freedom by staging one more uprising, even though all the previous ones had brought defeat and repression.
Currently, there is a much acclaimed exhibition of Jacek Malczewski' s works in Paris in such an important place as Musee d'Orsay.
"Melancholy's" window opened in 1918 when Poland became an independent state. That, naturally, created quite a different reference point for artistic culture. Art no longer had to act as the treasury of the national memory or create prophetic visions to sustain the spirit. Modernist references were to satisfy the ambitions of the nascent European and democratic society; local references, often visible as those to folk art, satisfied the need for the national legitimacy of the new state, thus justifying its existence.
There are many good illustrations of the process. Few in the West, i.e Western Europe and North America, realize how rich was the country's artistic life during 1918-39 period, those twenty years of Polish independence. The names of most art movements and artists of that period, as well as their achievements, remain unknown to most people in the West. Often these achievements were precursory to American and West European avant garde ideas, particularly those of the nineteen sixties and the eighties. However, that's not the topic of my lecture. Let me, instead, present to you a very prolific woman viewed by many as a second rate decorative artist, but whose works are very representative of that period: Zofia Stryjenska. Almong her works there are several historical ones.
In Piast, one of these, two angels visit Piast the wheelwright and announce to him that his son is going to be a prince or king. The scene, based on a well known legend, was one also drawn and painted by. Matejko and Wyspianski. Still, what a difference in terms of form, colors, but, above all, the artist's attitude towards the theme. No more solemnity, drama and prophecy. Stryjenska' s is a typically optimistic painting, characteristic for the twenties and thirties, an epoch of the Art Deco style. There were many more artists and trends that dealt in some way Poland's history. (Some Formists, "Frigian Cap", "Horned Heart Tribe" groups, etc.) For obvious reasons I cannot discuss them all. Yet, I would hazard a statement that the heritage of history has been more or less present in most of the art works produced by Polish artists up to now. Even those who were strongly opposed to the traditions of the past, sooner or later come back to them consciously or subconsciously.
Piast by Zofia Stryjenska, oil on canvas, 1932
World War II put a stop to many artistic processes, especially as it caused changes in the institutional structure of the country. The implementation of a new political system, based on one party rule and a non-sovereign government (though relics of a multi-party system and sovereignty were preserved for the sake of appearances, especially during the '40s) most evidently affected the post-war art world. For the Polish nation as a whole and for people individually, the war had been primarily a traumatic experience and as such became an important element of a search for historical identity, conducted by many artists, especially those of the younger generation. Let me mention but a few.
Andrzej Wroblewski (_PHONE_). His art is a penetrating illustration of the peculiar psychological condition when the subject and the object merge in the experience of horror. His series of Executions represents the physical existence of the human body, or the existence of man, at the moment of death. Wroblewski believed that realistic art was the formula which made


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Marrriage and Midlife
To marry or not to marry? There are many pros and cons. Could marriage, and associated companionship, be a key to a longer life? According to new research, not having a permanent partner, or significant other, during midlife is linked to a higher risk of premature death during those midlife years. The work, by Dr. Ilene Siegler and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center in the US, is published online in Springer's journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
The aims of their study was to evaluate marital history and timing on mortality during midlife, test the role of pre-marital personality, and quantify the role of health risk behaviors.
The researchers analyzed data for 4,802 individuals who took part in the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS) - an ongoing study of individuals born in the 1940s. The authors were particularly interested in stability and change in patterns of marital and non-marital status during midlife, controlling for personality at college entry (average age 18), socioeconomic status and health risk behaviors.
Marital history predicts premature mortality as compared to a never married as a 2.33 times higher risk of death. Midlife marital history shows that not having a partner during midlife has the highest risk of death. Controlling for personality and health risk behaviors reduces but does not eliminate the impact of marital status.
Life expectancy has always varied based on a number of factors. Before what we call modern civilization the average person from birth had a life expectancy of the mid thirties. Life expectancy increases with age and the economic life style that is available. In the modern era a life expectancy of the seventies is considered a norm.
Economic circumstances may also affect life expectancy. For example, in the United Kingdom, life expectancy in the wealthiest areas is several years longer than in the poorest areas. This may reflect factors such as diet and lifestyle as well as access to medical care. It may also reflect a selective effect: people with chronic life-threatening illnesses are less likely to become wealthy or to reside in affluent areas.
The relationship between economic circumstance and life expectancy is not clear-cut, however. A study by José A. Tapia Granados and Ana Diez Roux at the University of Michigan found that life expectancy actually increased during the Great Depression, and during recessions and depressions in general. The authors suggest that when people are working extra hard during good economic times, they undergo more stress, exposure to pollution, and likelihood of injury among other longevity-limiting factors.
And now we have the marriage factor to consider if we wish a longer life.
For further information see Marriage,
Rings image via Wikipedia.