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Why do some coins have grooves on the edges? And why are they there?
The dollar, half-dollar, quarter, and ten-cent coin denominations were originally produced from precious metals (gold and silver). Reeded edges were eventually incorporated into the design of these denominations to deter counterfeiting and the fraudulent use of the coins, such as filing down the edges in an attempt to recover the precious metals.
The one-cent and five-cent pieces are considered "minor" coins of the United States and with the exception of the wartime nickel, produced from 1942–1945, other minor coins never contained precious metals.
Currently, none of the coins produced for circulation contain precious metals. However, the continued use of reeded edges on current circulating coinage of larger denominations is useful to the visually impaired. For example, the ten-cent and one-cent coins are similar in size; the reeding of the ten-cent coin makes it easily identifiable by touch. | <urn:uuid:cf03c32d-6304-42b2-a883-6ae92bcad9c9> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/index.cfm?action=fun_facts10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203235.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00166-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958891 | 198 | 3.953125 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on factual information about coins. It doesn't include communication scenarios, teamwork, or problem-solving opportunities, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are absent. The content is informative but limited to theoretical knowledge without practical application.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Welcome to the Birds of North America Online!
Welcome to BNA Online, the leading source of life history information for North American breeding birds. This free, courtesy preview is just the first of 14 articles that provide detailed life history information including Distribution, Migration, Habitat, Food Habits, Sounds, Behavior and Breeding. Written by acknowledged experts on each species, there is also a comprehensive bibliography of published research on the species.
A subscription is needed to access the remaining articles for this and any other species. Subscription rates start as low as $5 USD for 30 days of complete access to the resource. To subscribe, please visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology E-Store.
If you are already a current subscriber, you will need to sign in with your login information to access BNA normally.
Subscriptions are available for as little as $5 for 30 days of full access! If you would like to subscribe to BNA Online, just visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology E-Store.
The Common (or Thin-billed) Murre, a species found in cooler, continental shelf waters of the Sub-arctic–low Arctic, is one of the most numerous marine birds in the Northern Hemisphere. Its breeding numbers total 13 to 21 million birds, perhaps more, with 4.0 to 8.4 million in western North America and 1.2 million in eastern North America. Its range overlaps extensively with the congeneric Thick-billed (or Brünnich’s) Murre (Uria lomvia) in the Pacific region, less so in the Atlantic. Pacific and Atlantic forms are morphologically and genetically distinct; 2 poorly differentiated subspecies are recognized in western North America and 1 in eastern North America (2 to 4 more in Europe). Especially in poor light and with individuals in Basic plumage, this species is virtually impossible to distinguish at a distance from the Thick-billed Murre and Razorbill (Alca torda); both have much deeper bills than the Common Murre, which is known to hybridize with both.
Among the largest of the living Alcidae and a consummate diver, the Common Murre reaches depths of more than 100 meters in search of prey, mainly fish but also invertebrate s (euphausiids, cephalopods). It often forages in flocks, including multispecies assemblages. Its smallish wings, a compromise for underwater wing-propelled diving and aerial flight, require rapid beats to remain aloft. This high wing-loading, plus diving in cool waters and possessing poor insulation, contributes to an energetically costly life style.
Highly social, this species breeds on island cliff ledges, slopes, and flat surfaces, usually shoulder to shoulder, with no breeding site or territory extending beyond its individual space, which it defends fiercely. It has a unique breeding strategy, the major elements of which are high nesting density; high degree of laying and, especially, departure synchrony; and colony departure of chicks at just 3 to 4 weeks of age, with most development taking place at sea in the company of the male parent. These attributes require that adults find abundant, energy-rich prey within 60 to 70 kilometers (usually) of breeding ledges. For 1 or 2 months after departure, male parent and chick swim to where abundant prey is predictable and where intraspecific competition is less intense than near to colonies.
This is one of the most intensively studied avian species in the world and certainly the best known of the Alcidae; all aspects of its natural history have been well investigated, although information on demography in North America is rudimentary. Such a wealth of information exists owing to a long interaction with humans, dating to prehistoric times. Dependence on abundant prey brings this species into competition with commercial fisheries. All age classes in many local populations incur regular, high mortality due to oil spills and gill-netting, and in certain regions (for example, Newfoundland and Labrador), to human predation/hunting. The species’ susceptibility to oil spills drives much of its research and management, often funded by fines from pollution sources.
Ainley, David G., David N. Nettleship, Harry R. Carter and Anne E. Storey. 2002. Common Murre (Uria aalge), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/666 | <urn:uuid:c7e203ab-6374-4f0f-b8c9-e2fc4439ec97> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/666/articles/introduction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926605 | 948 | 3.125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on factual information about the Common Murre species. It provides in-depth knowledge on the species' life history, behavior, and habitat, but does not address communication, teamwork, or problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Wednesday, 31st January 2007 by Alex Turnbull
In the desert of Mali, West Africa, we find the skull of an ex-cow, which was captured as part of the National Geographic Africa Megaflyover project. By the look of those horns, I’d say the skull probably once belonged to an N’dama, a species of cattle which is indigenous to this part of world.
The term ‘cattle’ isn’t a plural, but a mass noun, so you can refer to “some cattle”, but not “three cattle”. Rarely for the modern English language, there is no singular equivalent to “cattle” other than the various gender and age-specific terms – i.e. “a cow” actually only refers to an adult female who has had more than two calves.
Which explains why “the skull of an ex-cattle” didn’t sound right…
Thanks to Felippo and googleearthhacks. | <urn:uuid:10c60c1b-bec2-4f97-9006-d288d7b8eb48> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://googlesightseeing.com/2007/01/ndama-skull/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967198 | 216 | 2.921875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on linguistic and geographical trivia. It doesn't provide opportunities for practical application, problem-solving, or cultural awareness beyond basic information. The content is limited to theoretical knowledge without depth or real-world context.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
By Dennis Thompson
FRIDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health authorities now recommend that girls and young women be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease that is a known cause of cervical cancer, but that recommendation does not extend to boys and young men.
At least for now.
A debate that's been simmering over whether males also should be vaccinated for human papillomavirus, or HPV, could come to a head in October at a meeting of a key advisory committee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner.
HPV is widespread among men. An international study published in March in The Lancet found that half of all adult males in the United States may be infected with the virus.
More than 40 strains of HPV exist, and all are passed along by skin-to-skin contact, usually during sexual relations, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The most well-known strain of HPV causes genital warts. But other strains show no obvious symptoms and clear up on their own with no medical treatment, said Dr. Jean Bonhomme, an assistant professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and president of the National Black Men's Health Network.
"Because it normally causes no symptoms, men and women can get it and pass it on without even knowing they have it," Bonhomme said.
There is an eventual price to pay for infection, even without any obvious symptoms. HPV has been shown to increase a man's chances of contracting penile and anal cancer, particularly for gay males. Men who have sex with men are about 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer than straight men, according to the CDC.
"These are relatively rare cancers," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer programs for the American Cancer Society. "However, for men who have sex with other men, their risk is significantly higher than the general population."
About 1 percent of sexually active men in the United States have genital warts at any particular time, according to the CDC. Annually, about 800 U.S. men contract HPV-related penile cancer and about 1,100 men get HPV-related anal cancer.
Because the virus spreads through skin contact, normal protections that prevent the spread of disease through body fluids won't work, Bonhomme said.
"Diseases like herpes and HPV cannot be completely prevented by condoms because they are both spread by contact with skin," Bonhomme said. "If the virus comes into contact with the scrotum or thighs, you can still be infected."
To make matters worse, men do not have the screening tools for HPV-related cancers that are available to women. A Pap test can detect cervical cancer in women, Bonhomme said, but there's no comparable test for penile or anal cancer in men. As a result, many men don't realize they have these cancers until they begin showing late-stage symptoms.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the HPV vaccine Gardasil for use in women in 2006. Three years later, the FDA approved a second HPV vaccine, Cervarix. Vaccination currently is recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls and for young women ages 13 through 26 who have not yet been vaccinated.
"The idea is to vaccinate before they become sexually active," Saslow said. "Afterward, it's much less effective."
The debate now among public health officials is whether that recommendation should extend to boys and young men. A working group of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reported in June that most of its members believe that males should be vaccinated for HPV and that the guidelines for males ought to be harmonized to match existing recommendations for females, according to slides from the meeting.
When it meets again next month, Skinner said, the committee will again take up the issue.
Saslow and Bonhomme said that beyond the direct health risks, there are other compelling reasons to extend HPV vaccinations to males.
For one thing, it would be simpler to vaccinate everyone than to have separate guidelines for boys and girls, Saslow said. There's also an argument for gender equity, in that only women are being vaccinated for a disease that affects both sexes, she added. | <urn:uuid:43d34447-df10-40d0-92e0-555ff510a762> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/womens-health/articles/2011/09/23/cdc-considers-vaccinating-boys-not-just-girls-for-hpv | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962819 | 903 | 2.703125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on informative content about HPV and vaccination recommendations. It does not include scenarios for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving, and does not address cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Bring history alive as students explore the fascinating past by making the interactive projects in History Pockets. Students store the projects in easy-to-make construction paper pockets that are wonderful portfolios for assessment and display.
History Pockets - Ancient Greece, contains nine memorable discovery pockets. The introduction pocket gives an overview of the civilization. The other pockets give a comprehensive view of life in ancient Greece.
Each of the pockets contains:
- a reproducible pocket label
- a bookmark of short, fun facts about the subject
- an art reference page
- a fact sheet of background information for teacher and students
- arts and crafts projects
- writing activities
Evaluation forms are provided at the end of the book for teacher and student assessment purposes. Grades 4-6. 96 pages. | <urn:uuid:87e2cbbb-d9d5-474b-aac1-3ff478a9a919> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://reviews.christianbook.com/2016/99904X/evan-moor-educational-publishers-history-pockets-ancient-egypt-grades-4-6-reviews/reviews.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.841203 | 161 | 3.40625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on academic content and project-based learning. While it promotes interactive learning, it doesn't explicitly address communication, teamwork, or problem-solving scenarios. The material seems to be more focused on individual student projects and assessment.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Hallyu 101: Lesson 1 – The Korean Wave
By Staff Writer | May 05, 2013 01:04 PM EDT
Okay, so you know how to dance "Gangnam Style." You remember Stephen Colbert's feud with Rain. You watched Girls' Generation on The Late Show with David Letterman. And you are interested in knowing more about K-Pop and Korean pop culture. You've come to the right place.
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Hallyu 101 is a beginner's guide to all things related to the global phenomenon that is K-Pop. It is meant as a reference guide for old and new fans so that they may more easily enjoy Korean music, movies, and television.
Lesson 1: Just what is "hallyu" and the Korean wave?
Hallyu is a Korean word that represents the idea of Korean culture spreading around the world. It is a combination of two words, 'han,' the quality of being Korean, and 'ryu' which means "to flow." Put them together and you have what is more commonly known as the "Korean Wave."
There are several elements involved in the Korean Wave including music (K-Pop), fashion, movies, animation, television (K-drama and variety shows), as well as language and food.
Author and scholar Mark Ravina described 'hallyu' as "a surge in the international visibility of Korean culture" in his Introduction: Conceptualizing the Korean Wave.
When the Korean wave really started to kick off in the late 1990's, Korean entertainment and culture primarily spread to other parts of Asia. However, in the last five years or so, it has seen a greater presence in other parts of the world as well.
After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the economy of South Korea began to move away from manufacturing and placed a lot more emphasis on the entertainment industries. A year later, the restriction on cultural imports from Japan was lifted, and worried about Japanese media flooding South Korea, the Ministry of Culture increased the budget for cultural industry departments in universities throughout the nation.
This elaborate system directly led to the thriving cultural technology industry of South Korea which today exports media and entertainment globally at an alarming rate.
During the 2000s, Korean television series began to fill the Asian markets and by the end of the decade K-Pop had pretty much dominated the Asian music scene.
The Korean Wave began to spread outside of Asia in 2009, thanks in large part to YouTube. Korean artists saw a huge rise in their international popularity through the release of their music videos on the popular website.
By the end of 2011, K-Pop videos on YouTube had amassed more than two billion views, and a year later the world was introduced to perhaps the most recognizable example of the hallyu wave, Psy's "Gangnam Style." Not only was it the first video to receive more than a billion online views, but "Gangnam Style" thrust the Korean Wave into the previously impenetrable American market.
In February 2000, Korean boy band H.O.T became the first modern K-Pop artist to perform overseas and held a sold-out concert in Beijing. Since then, there has been a steady increase in international concerts by Korean singers, and in the past two years there have been some major milestones in this aspect.
In 2011 the European market began to take notice of the Korean Wave. SM Entertainment, one of the biggest record labels in South Korea, held the first large-scale K-Pop concert in France and the event was attended by fans from all across Europe. Later that year the group Big Bang won an MTV Europe Music Award, the first major European music award given to an artist from South Korea.
And just this year, dance-pop group Super Junior became the first to hold a concert tour across South America for sold out shows in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile.
As more and more Korean artists focus their promotional activities overseas, recognition in world markets increases. The South Korean government recognizes the power of the Korean Wave in spreading other exports from the country as well.
Earlier this year, the Export-Import Bank of Korea made an astonishing decision to increase loans an credit guarantees worth over $900 million in the next few years to further spread the Korean Wave internationally. A spokesperson for the bank said that K-Pop, K-dramas, and Korean cuisine have huge growth potential worldwide and more investment and financial support was needed.
Hallyu has also contributed to the increase in tourism to South Korea.
While it seems that the Korean Wave is spreading like wild fire for the time being, some scholars have noted that it may be a short-lived fad. According to an international survey that asked people across Asia, Europe and the Americas about the future Korean culture's popularity in the world, over 66% of respondents believe that the Korean Wave will "subside in the next four years."
The US market remains the toughest for the Korean entertainment industry to crack. The popularity of K-Pop and Korean television and movies, for the time being, remains confined to large cities with thriving immigrant populations such as New York City and Los Angeles.
One American music executive suggested K-Pop will never truly succeed in the United States because music fans "would just be too critical about the lyrics and the acts' accents when singing in English."
Whatever the future of the Korean Wave may be, it is for certain that at the moment hallyu stars are rising to fame and recognition all around the world.
© 2014 KpopStarz. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tagged : Hallyu wave | <urn:uuid:56fde5bb-303d-4895-b75d-0fb72fbc6760> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/26784/20130505/hallyu-101-lesson-1-the-korean-wave.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959699 | 1,157 | 2.71875 | 3 | The extract provides a comprehensive overview of the Korean Wave, its history, and its global impact. However, it lacks discussion of soft skills, emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, and critical thinking opportunities. The content is informative but does not offer practical applications or nuanced interaction.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Beyond the Formby footprints
- Gaining a better understanding of this area of major archaeological and historical importance
- Between Liverpool and Southport
We’ve have always known that Formby is a site of major archaeological and historical importance. It's a stunning stretch of unspoiled coastline, offering visitors long sandy beaches, intermixed with attractive and unspoiled pinewoods.
But erosion of the sand here has revealed some exciting discoveries, including footprints that date back to the late Neolithic era (7000 years ago).
There is also evidence to suggest the cultivation of asparagus and we’ve discovered numerous other remains alluding to a rural, industrial and maritime past.
However, up until 2005, only the footprints had been explored in any detail. No single document or study covered the full extent of our holdings at Formby.
Historic Landscape Survey
As the site is of such significant historical importance, it was decided that further investigation was desperately needed.
In 2006, the Liverpool Museum Field Archaeology Unit was commissioned to produce an Historic Landscape Survey, allowing us to record and analyse the landscape so we can understand it better.
The aims of the project were as follows:
- Identify and record all visible sites, features and landscape elements of archaeological or historic interest
- Develop a chronological framework for the development of the landscape through time
- Collect historic maps and documentary evidence
- Write the story of the property, from the prehistoric to the present day
- Produce a report to act as a useful tool for property management
- Highlight any apparent threats to the archaeological resource
The survey revealed Formby’s fascinating, yet often hidden, past. It highlighted the prehistoric footprints, but much more information besides, including: Marram Grass and the stabilisation of the dunes, rabbit warrens, asparagus cultivation, shipping and shipwrecks, fishing and cockling, smuggling, landclaim and tree planting.
All of this information can be found in the full report.
The earliest evidence
Formby Point is part of the Sefton Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest, one of the largest complexes of sand flats and dunes in the UK.
The dune landscape is dynamic and constantly evolving. It's also particularly sensitive to changes in climate, sea-level and the impact of people.
Following the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, the environment of South-West Lancashire was considerably different. The landscape was clothed in open woodland of birch, hazel and pine, in which mobile bands of hunters and gatherers lived.
The coast actually lay much further to the west, producing a belt of land which has now been lost under water. The origin of the dunes along Sefton’s coast can probably be traced back 8,500 years.
By 5000 BC, rising sea-levels had cut Britain off from the European mainland. Over the next several thousand years, the Sefton coast moved backwards and forwards, sometimes further to the west, at other times reaching further inland than today.
Footprints out of time
By about 2500 BC, the archaeological evidence suggests that people were making many repeated visits to the area, rather than settling permanently.
We can form an incredible picture of this lifestyle from prehistoric human and wild animal footprints revealed in beach sediments at Formby Point.
There are currently more than 220 identified trails of human footprints. The animal prints include aurochs (large wild cattle), deer, wolf, and wading birds.
Unfortunately, the prints disappear quickly and a local Formby resident, Gordon Roberts, has largely been responsible for their extensive recording and interpretation.
Members of the Liverpool Museum, Reading University, Liverpool John Moores University and Oxford Archaeology North have also been involved in placing the prints in their chronological and environmental context.
Stories from the mud
By studying the footprints, with advice from the British Museum, it has been possible to reach conclusions about the physical characteristics and behaviour of the people who made them. For example:
- The average male height was 1.66m and average female height 1.45m
- Most of the prints were made by children with a smaller number of women and relatively few adult males
- Where males are present, they tend to occur in the same areas as red deer and have different stride patterns from the women and children. This suggests that the two groups were involved in different activities.
- The women and children might have been on the mudflats collecting shells or looking for nesting birds
- The adult male prints may reflect hunting or herding activities
- Radiocarbon dates from roots and animal bones tell us that the footprints were created between 5100 and 3400 years ago, from the late Neolithic to the middle Bronze Age, in intertidal muds
The footprints at Formby are very very special and we have employed a huge range of archaeological expertise and techniques to bring the story they tell alive.
The people who made the footprints were doing everyday tasks and cannot have known the importance of the tracks they left behind in the mud. Who knows what people in 4,000 years from now will make of the products we will leave behind us? | <urn:uuid:f939366b-227d-4036-bf06-a7a07022dc43> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356399690950/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95631 | 1,079 | 3.328125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on historical and archaeological information. It does not include scenarios that integrate emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, or critical thinking opportunities. Therefore, it does not meet the criteria for a high score.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Parshat Behar - Bechukotai
The Torah prohibits normal farming of the Land of Israel every seven years. This "Shabbat" for the Land is called "shemita". After every seventh shemita, the fiftieth year, yovel (jubilee) is announced with the sound of the shofar on Yom Kippur. This was also a year for the Land to lie fallow. G-d promises to provide a bumper crop prior to the shemita and yovel years. During yovel, all land is returned to its original division from the time of Joshua, and all Jewish indentured servants are freed, even if they have not completed their six years of work. A Jewish indentured servant may not be given any demeaning, unnecessary or excessively difficult work, and may not be sold in the public market. The price of his labor must be calculated according to the amount of time remaining until he will automatically become free. The price of land is similarly calculated. Should anyone sell his ancestral land, he has the right to redeem it after two years. If a house in a walled city is sold, the right of redemption is limited to the first year after the sale. The Levites' cities belong to them forever. The Jewish People are forbidden to take advantage of one another by lending or borrowing with interest. Family members should redeem any relative who was sold as an indentured servant as a result of impoverishment.
The Torah promises prosperity for the Jewish People if they follow G-d's commandments. However, if they fail to live up to the responsibility of being the Chosen People, then chilling punishments will result. The Torah details the harsh historical process that will fall upon them when Divine protection is removed. These punishments, whose purpose is to bring the Jewish People to repent, will be in seven stages, each more severe than the last. Sefer Vayikra, the book of Leviticus, concludes with the details of erachin – the process by which someone vows to give the Beit Hamikdash the equivalent monetary value of a person, an animal or property.
The Freedom Of Slavery
“For the children of Yisrael are servants to Me, they are My servants, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt…” (25:55)
Few words have as bad a reputation as slavery. Slavery conjures up backbreaking labor, injustice, misery and a whole lexicon of negative images.
The negro spirituals that grew from the Black experience of slavery in America based themselves on the story of the Exodus: “Go down, Moses, way down to Egypt land, tell old Pharaoh, to let My people go.” The prototype of all slavery is the enslavement of Egypt; the archetype of all freedom from slavery is the Exodus.
“Let my people go!” was the Torah phrase used by Civil Rights leaders in the Sixties; it was also used by the campaign to free Russian Jewry.
What is often forgotten about the quote “Let my people go!” is that the Torah didn’t say that exactly. The Torah adds a few more highly important words, “…and they will serve Me.” The freedom of the Exodus is predicated on the Jewish People becoming G-d’s servants.
If ‘slavery’ has highly negative connotations, ‘servitude’ is scarcely an improvement. Servitude sounds suspiciously like slavery. By leaving the slavery of Egypt to become the servants of G-d, did we then jump out of the frying pan into the fire?
The essence of slavery is not misery and oppression; it isn’t “All my trials, L-rd, soon be over.”The essence of slavery is that a slave is not free to express his own identity; he can only express the identity of his master. A slave is someone who is estranged from himself. A slave has no opportunity to express his essence, who he is. All he can do is to express his master’s will.
So now it all depends: if Pharaoh is your master, then your life is to express Pharaoh’s will. If G-d is your Master, then your life is to express G-d’s Will.
When we say in the Shema “Hashem Echad”, “G-d is One”, we do not mean that there is only one G-d — we mean that there is no other existence except for G-d.
Thus, nothing in the creation can have an independent purpose apart from expressing what G-d wants, for if it existed to express itself, that would mean that something could exist that was not part of G-d, that it existed in spite of G-d, as it were. By definition, this is impossible.
The Jewish People were chosen to teach the world that our entire existence it to express G-d’s Will, for in that seeming slavery is the ultimate freedom — the freedom of living a real existence.
- Based on the Maharal’s Drasha for Shabbat HaGadol | <urn:uuid:39568c0f-7692-4877-b03b-56df621b60f1> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.ohr.edu/2606/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00198-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959482 | 1,084 | 3.421875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on religious and historical concepts. It provides superficial coverage of basic communication and teamwork concepts, with limited practical application and no nuanced interaction or complex problem-solving opportunities.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
• parkour •
Pronunciation: pahr-kur • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, Verb
Meaning: Free running; running through an urban area performing gymnastic maneuvers to get past obstacles.
Notes: This is a new word little known because so few people have the opportunity to use it. Other than the videos on YouTube, which many people have watched, few can emulate the antics portrayed in them. A person who can is called a traceur or parkourist.
In Play: Parkour is definitely for the well-trained young: "Don't go jumping over any fences today, dad; you're too old for parkour." Remember this word can be—as Pogo once put it—'verbed': "Jason Rainbows was parkouring yesterday when he missed a leap from one building to another." Don't worry: Jason caught onto a gutter, which broke away from the roof and slowly lowered him to the ground.
Word History: Parkour developed in the 80s in Paris when a sneaker-clad teenage Parisian named David Belle began navigating public spaces, using obstacles as springboards and catapults. The name comes from French parcours "circuit, course, race", comprising par "through" + cours "course". This word goes back to Old French cors "a run, running, flow" from Latin cursus "a running, course, journey", from past participle of currere "to run". The root of this word appears widely in English, beginning with course itself. But we see it also in current, corridor (apparently running was once allowed), carriage, car, and curriculum, of course, a course of courses. Carpenter belongs among these. It comes from a Latin phrase carpentarius artifex "maker of carriages", from carpentum, a two-wheeled carriage. (Paul Chalfant, pankourist or not, successfully brought today's new Good Word to our attention.) | <urn:uuid:1fb9824e-3533-434f-9687-5833119fa41a> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.alphadictionary.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=37276 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609526102.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005206-00374-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942426 | 416 | 2.890625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on vocabulary and word history. It provides no opportunities for developing communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
The Perspecta Spatial 3-D Visualization Platform features a glass dome display where, inside, glowing computer images are suspended in midair. The display can render everything from molecular structures to medical images of the human body taken with an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner.
"It's a dramatically different way to visualise data," said Cameron Lewis, president and chief executive of Actuality Systems.
Inside the dome, an image coming from a workstation is manipulated and dissected into 198 "slices" using a series of complex algorithms. When combined, these slices, much like those of an orange, make up a spherical image. The image is then projected onto a paper-thin, transparent screen, and, as the image is projected, the screen rotates at 730 revolutions per minute to create the illusion of a free-floating image.
To demonstrate the capabilities of the Perspecta Spatial 3-D Visualization Platform, Actuality Systems created a military application it called "battlefield visualization". This rendered a helicopter displayed in transparent green lines. Using a joystick, a user was able to steer the helicopter through a computer-generated landscape.
The current model of the display projects an image up to 10 inches (25.4 centimetres) in diameter and is made up of 100 million "volume pixels," or "voxels," the company said. Potentially, the technology could allow for images to be displayed as large as two feet in diameter.
Actuality Systems, a start-up firm based in Massachusetts, USA, announced its first customer this week with the launch of version 1.5 of the device, the first commercially available version. The Army Research Lab in Maryland, has agreed to purchase one of four units in existence, though it would not disclose what it will use the technology for. The Lab conducts research and development for the US Army, US Department of Defense, NASA and a number of other US government agencies.
A single display ships with an integrated workstation and a companion flat-panel display and has a price tag of $40,000. Currently, the device ships with either IBM.'s IntelliStation M Pro graphics workstation or a Hewlett-Packard x2100-series workstation and can run Windows and Linux operating systems. The system can also be used with some third-party 3D rendering software used for molecular visualisation or industrial design.
Admittedly expensive, the company said that the cost has to do with the research and development costs behind building the first few units with components from some unusual sources. For instance, the glass shell that makes up the outer layer of the display was manufactured for use as a street light in Germany, Lewis said. As future generations of the display are released and hardware costs come down, Lewis said the price will decrease.
Eventually, Actuality Systems said it could use similar technology to build lightweight versions of the 3D display that could be marketed to consumers for use with video game consoles. The company already has plans to begin work on such a display, said Actuality Systems' chief technology officer Gregg Favalora.
"We've thought of that, but it will be several years before we are able to hook the device up to an XBox or PlayStation," he said. | <urn:uuid:6d86b14c-c79b-48ac-bbb7-eb64627ab935> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240046365/3D-display-puts-images-in-the-round | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609526102.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005206-00374-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939568 | 668 | 2.859375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on technical details of the Perspecta Spatial 3-D Visualization Platform. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are only superficially present through mentions of technology and international components.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
From the Brookings Institute site:
“For thousands of years, Arctic peoples have migrated in response to changing environmental conditions. But today climate change is putting unprecedented pressure on those indigenous communities. Temperatures are rising much faster in the Arctic than in the rest of the world, raising questions about the extent to which significant numbers of indigenous people will move away from their traditional habitats and whether they will be able to maintain their cultures and livelihoods. For the 400,000 indigenous people in the Arctic these are not only questions of adaptation but also of culture and survival.”
The issue of internal displacement also lead to questions of governmental and administrative responsibilities. If an Indigenous community is displaced because of rising waters, will the government set aside new lands? Where would they be? Would current subsistence and cultural needs also be considered? Some serious concerns for communities in Alaska as well as Indigenous communities around the world.
Here is the link to the articles: | <urn:uuid:7079dea6-609a-41ba-a8ee-a490fc87a426> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/brookings-institute-recent-scholarship-on-arctic-indigenous-people-internal-displacement-and-climate-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533308.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00406-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959154 | 189 | 2.96875 | 3 | The extract lacks direct discussion of soft skills, but touches on cultural awareness, raising concerns about indigenous communities' adaptation and survival. It presents a real-world scenario with complex issues, but doesn't provide opportunities for practical application or professional development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
25. Car in a Car Wash
Use the above tools to listen to the story, search for images of a word, and translate a word or a sentence into your own language.
She sits in the car. Her dad drives the car. He drives to a car wash. The car goes through the car wash. Water sprays onto the car. Soap sprays onto the car. Soft brushes scrub the car. More water sprays onto the car. The car is clean. Men dry the car with clean rags. The car is dry.
Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:13ecf193-a0b1-4c66-8650-7ff262f533de> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.rong-chang.com/easykids/ekid/easykid025.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533308.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00406-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942662 | 122 | 3.234375 | 3 | The extract provides basic vocabulary and simple sentence structures, but lacks meaningful depth, practical application, and complex problem-solving opportunities. It does not explicitly discuss soft skills, and cultural awareness and digital literacy elements are extremely basic.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
By Stephen Knapp
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu [pronounced Chaitanya] (February 27,1486 to 1534 A.D.) was born in Navadvipa, Bengal, on a full moon night during a lunar eclipse. It is typical for people to bathe in the Ganges during an eclipse and chant the Lord’s holy names for spiritual purification. So, everyone in the area was chanting the holy names when He was born. His parents, Jagannatha Misra and Sachidevi, gave Him the name of Vishvambhara, meaning the support of the universe, because astrologers had predicted His super human qualities and that He would deliver the people of the world. He was also nicknamed Nimai because He had been born under a nima tree.
During His childhood He exhibited extraordinary qualities, even having philosophical discussions with His mother. While growing, His brilliant intelligence began to become apparent. While still a child, He mastered Sanskrit and logic to the point of defeating local pundits, and established the truth of His spiritual and Vedic philosophy. He became so well known that many logicians of various religious and philosophical persuasions began to fear His presence and refused to debate with Him. Thus, Sri Caitanya established the authority of the Vaishnava tradition through the process of debate and logic.
Then, when Sri Caitanya went to Gaya on the pretext to perform ceremonies for the anniversary of His father’s death, He received Vaishnava initiation from Ishvara Puri. Thereafter, He lost all interest in debate and simply absorbed Himself in chanting and singing the names of Lord Krishna in devotional ecstasy. Upon returning to Navadvipa, He gathered a following with whom He would engage in congregational singing of the Lord’s holy names. Thus, He started the first sankirtana (congregational devotional singing) movement, and established the importance of chanting the names of God in this age as the most elevated of spiritual processes, and the prime means for liberation from material attachments.
At first, His chanting with people was for the few participants who were a part of His group, but then Sri Caitanya ordered that the ecstasy of love of God be distributed to all people of the area. He gave no recognition for the privileges of caste, or for position, or type of philosophy a person had, or yogic asceticism. He only emphasized the devotional chanting of the Lord’s holy names, using the Hare Krishna mantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) which can bring out the natural loving sentiments for God.
It was at the age of 24 when He shaved His head and took the order of sannyasa, the renounced stage of life, when He accepted the name of Krishna Caitanya from Keshava Bharati during the initiation. He then spent four years traveling through South India, and also visited Vrindavana and Varanasi. During this time he also gave special instructions to Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, who then also spread the glories of the Divine Love for Radha and Krishna. They settled in Vrindavana where they spent their years in writing many books elaborating the instructions of Lord Caitanya and the glories of bhakti for Radha and Krishna. They also revealed the places where Radha and Krishna performed many varied pastimes in that land of Vrindavana, which have remained special spots where devotees can become absorbed in the bliss of love of Radha and Krishna.
Lord Caitanya spent His remaining years in Jagannatha Puri. During this time He was absorbed in ecstatic devotion to Krishna in the loving mood of Radharani, in which He would lose all external consciousness. He freely distributed the divine nectar of this love for Krishna to everyone and anyone, day and night. Even His presence or mere touch could transform everyone that came near Him into the same devotional mood. He remained like this until He finally left our vision at the age of 48.
Lord Caitanya is considered and was established by Vedic scripture as the most recent incarnation of God. The Lord always descends to establish the codes of religion. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (4.6-8) where Lord Krishna explains that although He is unborn and the Lord of all living beings, He still descends in His spiritual form in order to re-establish the proper religious principles and annihilate the miscreants whenever there is a decline of religion and a rise in irreligious activity.
Though there are many incarnations of God, all incarnations are known and predicted in the Vedic literature. Each incarnation performs many wonderful pastimes. But in Kali-yuga, the Lord descends in the form of His own devotee as Sri Caitanya in order to show the perfect example of how devotional service should be performed, and to stress the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra for this age by inaugurating the process of the sankirtana movement (congregational chanting).
Predictions of the appearance of Lord Caitanya can be found in many Vedic texts. One of the oldest prophecies concerning Sri Caitanya’s appearance in this world is found in the Atharva-veda verse, starting as: ito ‘ham krita-sannyaso ‘vatarisyami. In this verse the Supreme states: “I will descend as a sannyasi, a tall, fair, and saintly brahmana devotee, after four to five thousand years of Kali-yuga have passed. I will appear on earth near the Ganges shore and with all the signs of an exalted person, free from material desires. I will always chant the holy names of the Lord, and, thus, taste the sweetness of My own devotional service. Only other advanced devotees will understand Me.”
Also, in a verse from the Sama-veda, starting as: tathaham krita-sannyaso bhu-girbanah avatarisye, the Supreme Being says that He will descend to earth as a brahmana-sannyasi at a place on the shore of the Ganges. Again and again He will chant the names of the Lord in the company of His associates to rescue the people who are devoured by sins in the age of Kali.
The Mundaka Upanishad (3.3) also relates the prophecy of Sri Caitanya in a different way. It states, “When one realizes the golden form of Lord Gauranga, who is the ultimate actor and the source of the Supreme Brahman, he attains the highest knowledge. He transcends both pious and impious activities, becomes free from worldly bondage, and enters the divine abode of the Lord.”
Another prophecy of the appearance of Sri Caitanya is found in two verses in the Bhavishya Purana. It states:
ajayadhvamaja yadhvam na sansayah
kalau sankirtana rambhe bhavisyami saci sutah
sarve mam eva draksyanti kalau sannyasa-rupinam
Another is from the Svetasvatara Upanishad (3.12):
mahan praburvai purushah sattvasyaisha pravartakah
sunirmalamimam praptim ishano jyotiravyayaha
"He is the most Benevolent Supreme Divinity [Mahaprabhu or the great master], as [through sankirtana] He graciously instigates [or bestows] intuitive wisdom in the jiva soul unto its fully developed cognition or purest attainment. This attainment of purest state or immortality is possible only by His grace as He is the Supreme Propeller and Imperishable Transcendental Enlightening Force."
Another is from the Vayu Purana: “In the age of Kali I shall descend as the son of Sachidevi to inaugurate the sankirtana movement.” This is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32) where it states: “In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish [like that of Lord Krishna], He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.”
The great classic Mahabharata (Vishnu-sahasra-nama-stotra, 127.92.75) confirms that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is not different from Lord Sri Krishna: “The Supreme Lord has a golden complexion [when He appears as Lord Caitanya]. Indeed, His entire body, which is very nicely constituted, is like molten gold. Sandalwood pulp is smeared all over His body. He will take the fourth order of life [sannyasa] and will be very self-controlled. He will be distinguished from Mayavadi sannyasis in that He will be fixed in devotional service and will propagate the sankirtana movement.”
The Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 3.19-20) also explains how the Supreme Lord Himself describes how He will appear as His own devotee to perform and teach devotional service by inaugurating the sankirtana movement, which is the religion for this age.
How He is the “great master” or will “bestow spiritual intelligence” is described in another Upanishad. This is one of the lesser Upanishads known as the Chaitanyopanishad, or Sri Caitanya Upanishad. This comes from the ancient Atharva Veda. In this description there is not only the prediction of His appearance but a description of His life and purpose, and the reasons why His process of spiritual enlightenment is so powerful and effective in this age of Kali. The Chaitanyopanishad is a short text with only nineteen verses. All of them are very significant.
The Sri Caitanya Upanishad (texts 5-11) explains that one day when Pippalada asked his father, Lord Brahma, how the sinful living entities will be delivered in Kali-yuga and who should be the object of their worship and what mantra should they chant to be delivered, Brahma told him to listen carefully and he would describe what will take place in the age of Kali. Brahma said that the Supreme Lord Govinda, Krishna, will appear again in Kali-yuga as His own devotee in a two-armed form with a golden complexion in the area of Navadvipa along the Ganges. He will spread the system of devotional service and the chanting of the names of Krishna, especially in the form of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Another interesting story about the prediction of the appearance of Lord Caitanya in Kali-yuga is related in a lengthy conversation between Murari Gupta and Damodara Pandita, two contemporaries of Sri Caitanya. It is found in the Sri Caitanya Mangala, a biography of Sri Caitanya by Srila Locana Dasa Thakura. Among the many things they discuss are the symptoms and difficulties found in the age of Kali, how Lord Krishna appears on earth in this age, His confidential reasons for doing so, and how He revealed to Narada Muni His form as Lord Gauranga that He would accept while appearing on earth in this age. In this form He would distribute love of God to everyone He met by chanting the holy names. This conversation is very enlightening.
Within this conversation they further relate an incident recorded as the Vishnu-Katyayani Samvada of the Padma Purana. This is a conversation between Lord Vishnu and Katyayani (Parvati), Lord Shiva's wife. The story is that one time the great sage Narada Muni acquired the maha-prasada, personal food remnants, of Lord Narayana, Vishnu, and gave a morsel to his friend Lord Shiva. Shiva tasted it and he began to dance in ecstasy, to the point of disturbing the earth. When he was approached by Parvati about why he was dancing so, he explained what happened. However, she was unhappy and angry that he did not share any with her. Being devoted to Lord Vishnu and concerned for the spiritual well-being of all conditioned souls, she then vowed that if she should get the blessings of Lord Vishnu, she would see to it that the Lord's maha-prasada was distributed to everyone. Just then Lord Vishnu Himself appeared and conversed with her. He assured her that He would appear in the world as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the age of Kali and would keep her promise and spread His mercy in the form of maha-prasada, food that has been offered to Him, and the chanting of His holy names to everyone, distributing His mercy everywhere.
Another book is the Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa by Sanatana Gosvami. Sanatana lived about 500 years ago in Vrindavana, India and was a great scholar of the Vedic scripture. A portion of the book contains an anthology of an amazing assortment of verses from the Vedic texts which predict the appearance of Lord Caitanya. Besides some of the quotes we have already cited, he includes verses from such texts as the Chandogya Upanishad, Krishna Upanishad, Narada Purana, Kurma Purana, Garuda Purana, Devi Purana, Nrisimha Purana, Padma Purana, Brahma Purana, Agni Purana, Saura Purana, Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana, Markandeya Purana, Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana, Vishnu Purana, Skanda Purana, Upapuranas, Narayana-Samhita, Krishna-yamala, Brahma-yamala, Vishnu-yamala, Yoga-vasistha, and the Tantras, such as Urdhvamnaya-tantra, Kapila Tantra, Visvasara Tantra, Kularnava Tantra, and others.
These and other predictions confirm the fact that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would appear to specifically propagate the chanting of the holy names. Furthermore, in the Fourth Chapter of the Antya-lila of the Caitanya Bhagavata, which is a biography of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu written by Sri Vrindavan dasa Thakura who is said to be an incarnation of Srila Vyasadeva, Lord Caitanya explains: “I have appeared on earth to propagate the congregational chanting of the holy names of God. In this way I will deliver the sinful material world. Those demons who never before accepted My authority and lordship will weep in joy by chanting My names. I will vigorously distribute devotional service, bhakti, which is sought after even by demigods, sages, and perfected beings, so that even the most abominable sinners will receive it. But those who, intoxicated with education, wealth, family background, and knowledge, criticize and offend My devotees, will be deprived of everything and will never know My true identity.” Then Sri Caitanya specifically states (Antya-lila 4.126): “I declare that My name will be preached in every town and village on this earth.”
This verifies the fact that the chanting of the maha-mantra is the rare and special opportunity given by God for all to be relieved from the problems of the age of Kali and of material life in general. As confirmed in the Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 3.77-78), it is Sri Krishna Caitanya who inaugurates the congregational chanting of the holy names, which is the most sublime of all spiritual sacrifices. Intelligent people will worship Him through this means, while other foolish people will continue in the cycle of repeated birth and death in this material world.
In another place of the Caitanya-caritamrita (Antya-lila, 20.8-9), Sri Caitanya specifically tells Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya that chanting the holy names is the most practical way to attain salvation from material existence in this age, and anyone who is intelligent and takes up this process of worshiping Krishna will attain the direct shelter of Krishna.
He also strongly opposed the impersonalist philosophy of Shankaracharya and established the principle of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. This specified that the Supreme and the individual soul are inconceivably and simultaneously one and different. This means that the Supreme and the jiva souls are the same in quality, being eternally spiritual, but always separate individually. The jivas are small and subject to being influenced by the material energy, while the Supreme is infinite and always above and beyond the material manifestation.
Sri Caitanya taught that the direct meaning of the Vedic shastras is that the living entities are to engage in devotional service, bhakti, to the Supreme, Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Through this practice there can develop a level of communication between God and the individual by which God will lovingly reveal Himself to those who become qualified. In this understanding the theistic philosophy of Vaishnavism reached its climax.
As previously explained, there is a system of self-realization especially recommended for each age. In the age of Kali, people are not attracted to spiritual pursuits and are often rebellious against anything that seems to restrict or stifle their freedom to do anything they want. Since in this age we are so easily distracted by so many things and our mind is always in a whirl, we need an easy path. Therefore, the Vedic shastra explains that God has given us an easy way to return to Him in this age. It is almost as if He has said, “Since you are My worst son, I give you the easiest process.” The Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 3.40) confirms this and says that the Supreme Being descends as Sri Caitanya, with a golden complexion, to simply spread the glories of chanting the holy names, which is the only religious principle in this age of Kali. In this way, God Himself has given the method of chanting His holy names as the most effective means to reach His spiritual abode.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not become much involved in writing. In fact, He only wrote eight verses, but His followers compiled extensive Sanskrit literature that documented His life and fully explained His teachings. For more complete descriptions and elaborations on His life, activities, and philosophy, as written by His close associates, these books that you can order are presently available through various outlets.
Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat
Adi Lila Chapter Three
By Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur
(You can also read the beautiful and descriptive online Prayers to Lord Caitanya. For more complete descriptions and elaborations on His life, activities, and philosophy, as written by His close associates, books that you can order are presently available through various outlets. Check our Links to Websites page.)
[This article and more information at www.stephen-knapp.com]
[Back to the "Articles" page] | <urn:uuid:d7cb96f4-1450-4327-bf99-e45a0da8d5a8> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.stephen-knapp.com/sri_caitanya_mahaprabhu.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533308.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00406-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948948 | 4,144 | 2.640625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on the life and teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It does not include scenarios for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving, and does not address cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Not too many decades ago, being a child in the western world meant having a license to roam: you spent a large chunk of your free time outside, exploring your surroundings, chasing adventure. This is the Huckleberry Finn mould of carefree childhood - even if you weren’t floating down the Mississippi on a raft, you could easily imagine that you were.
That mould has definitely been broken. A British study called One False Move, investigating the mobility of children, found that the average eight-year-old saw its ‘home habitat’ shrink to one-ninth of its size within a single generation. In 1970, 80% of British kids 7 or 8 years of age were allowed to go to school unsupervised; by 1990, this figure had dropped below 10%.
The result of this gradual shrinkage of children’s habitat, is the effective end of the outdoor childhood. This evolution, by and large underreported, is put in stark perspective by this map. Zooming in on parts of Sheffield, in the north of England, it pictures the differences in size of the stomping grounds of four generations of the Thomas family - each snapped at eight years of age:
- In 1919, George, the great-grandfather of the family, was allowed to walk six mile by himself to go fishing at Rother Valley.
- In 1950, Jack, the grandfather, was allowed to walk one mile by himself to go play in the woods nearby. Like his father, he walked to school.
- In 1979, Vicky, the mother, could walk by herself to the swimming pool, half a mile away.
- In 2007, Ed, the son, was only able to walk to the end of the street on his own - a mere 300 yards. He was driven to school, and even to a place where he could ride his bike safely.
Ironically, parental fears for their offspring's well-being have been an important factor in reducing their children’s unsupervised access to the great outdoors: fears of traffic, of predators, of being seen to have their children roam unsupervised.
But the growing list of fears, whether old or new, real or imagined, wasn’t the only factor driving the trend. George Thomas’s childhood home was overcrowded and held little attractions, while his great-grandson has a room of his own, stocked with games and toys, with access to the entertainment provided by tv and the internet.
Perhaps also to blame are the fragmentation of communities, and the concomitant increase in car-dependency. Could it be that the scrambled-egg city of today is a contributing factor to the fact that today’s is perhaps the first generation of children raised in zoo-like confinement? | <urn:uuid:56912124-21bd-4e7a-ba97-943569f6d0c6> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/571-the-great-indoors-or-childhoods-end | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537308.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00438-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977144 | 571 | 2.65625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a societal trend rather than personal development. It provides some cultural and historical context but does not offer practical applications or scenarios for improving communication, teamwork, or problem-solving.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
A Laysan albatross named Wisdom was first tagged for monitoring and identification back in 1956, and 55 years later she's the oldest known wild bird in the United States. Even more amazingly, she's still laying eggs and raising young.
When Wisdom was first banded all those years ago, she already was laying an egg. She was estimated to be at least five back then, although she might have been even older - these birds don't generally start reproducing until about 8 or 9, and there's no way to be sure that particular egg was Wisdom's first. As such, we're sure that this bird must be at least sixty, but she might be even older.
However old she is, this is one for the record books. The Laysan albatross lifespan is thought to top out at about forty years, and she blasted past that back around 1991. Wisdom has raised at least 30 to 35 chicks over her long life, although the number might be even higher than that because older mothers are more experienced and thus are able to manage more incubations periods. Indeed, if anything Wisdom is getting busier in her old age, as she previously nested in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010. It takes a full year to both incubate the egg and raise the chick to the point of self-reliance.
The monitoring technique known as bird banding has given us amazing wealths of information. Beyond revealing longevity records like Wisdom's, it's helped us better understand migratory patterns and given us a chance to manage endangered bird populations more effectively. | <urn:uuid:80bd5571-5c2d-45d1-95b4-5b4b8fdc8804> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://io9.com/5780304/americas-oldest-bird-is-still-having-babies?tag=birds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537308.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00438-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979171 | 320 | 3.390625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a scientific topic with no mention of communication, teamwork, or leadership. It provides informative content but does not offer opportunities for professional development or practical application of soft skills.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
Sericea Lespedeza Control
Sericea lespedeza is an introduced perennial legume. It has erect, herbaceous to somewhat woody stems, standing 3 to 6 feet (0.8 2 meters) high, with many erect, leafy branches which are green to ashy in color. The compound leaves are composed of three leaflets, with leaflets varying in length from 1/4 to 1 inch (0.8 to 2.5 cm). The lower leaves have petioles, but the upper leaves are nearly sessile. The leaflets are much longer than wide, tapering to the base, and wider above the middle, narrowing abruptly to a small sharp point. Flowers are in clusters of mostly two to three in upper leaf axils. The corollas measure from 1/4 to 3/8 inch (7 to 9 mm) long and are a pale creamy-yellow with conspicuous purple or pink markings. Its myriads of fruits are oval, and up to 1/8 inch (3 mm) wide.
The pale creamy-yellow flowers are smaller than those of the native species, L. capitata and L. hirta, which also have cream-colored or yellowish flowers. The base of the standard (the upper petal of the flower) of sericea lespedeza has two broad purplish-rose-colored streaks on the inside of the center portion. The flowers of L. capitata and L. hirta occur in clusters of three to many (20 to 25), and the stem hairs of these two native species are spreading rather than being appressed to the stem as in sericea lespedeza.
Sericea lespedeza is a native of eastern Asia. It was first introduced in southern United States, and has now become naturalized from Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Texas, north to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Oklahoma. The first recorded collection of sericea lespedeza in Missouri was made in 1938. It has been introduced into various areas as a soil cover for erosion control, for soil improvement, as food and cover for bobwhite quail, wild turkey and other wildlife, and to a lesser extent, for forage and hay.
Sericea lespedeza grows in woodlands, thickets, fields, prairies, disturbed open ground, borders of ponds and swamps, meadows, and especially along roadsides. It shows great resistance to summer drought and an ability to form a dense stand on sterile, steep or eroded slopes. Where it has invaded grasslands, sericea lespedeza is unpalatable compared to native species because of tannins present in its tissues.
Sericea lespedeza produces growth in the spring (mid to late April) from root crown buds at the base of last year's stems. Flowering begins in late July and can continue through October. As flowering progresses, root reserves are increased; a fact that has implications for use of translocated herbicides. Seeds are dispersed in the fall and are reported to remain viable for 20 or more years. Birds may play a role in seed dispersal, and certainly the species is spread by haying of infested fields.
Since its introduction into Missouri this century, sericea lespedeza has been widely planted and has become naturalized in most if not all Missouri counties. Numerous stands that are well established along roadways will continue to provide a source for spreading into surrounding, more natural habitats. Sericea lespedeza is designated a noxious weed in several Kansas counties.
Options available for control of sericea lespedeza include management, mechanical and chemical methods. There are no biological controls approved for sericea lespedeza at this time other than grazing.
Management: Rangelands can be managed to control sericea lespedeza by burning, grazing, and fertilization. Prescribed burning of native grass in the late spring followed by intensive grazing with mature cattle will increase utilization on sericea lespedeza. Grazing infested sites with sheep and goats will provide effective control. Pastures should be properly fertilized and grazed during April and May to reduce the occurrence of sericea lespedeza.
Fire has been used on non-rangeland infestations with some success. Late spring burns (May 15 to the end of June) may be effective if a fire will carry through the area at that time. Seed dormancy of sericea lespedeza can be broken by prescribed burning but resulting seedlings may be less viable. Breaking seed dormancy by burning may be preferable to allowing natural processes to accomplish this, since a persistent, long-lived seed bank may add new plants to the site for years to come. By forcing more seeds to germinate, following up with a mechanical or chemical treatment may have more long-term effects.
Mechanical: Root reserves of sericea lespedeza increase during flowering with a low point in the cycle at the flower bud stage. This low point provides a vulnerable stage at which to use mechanical control. Mowing in the flower bud stage for two to three consecutive years should reduce the vigor of sericea lespedeza.
- Rangeland control: Treatments containing triclopyr (e.g. Garlon 3A, Garlon 4) or metsulfuron (e.g. Ally, Escort) have been shown to be the most effective herbicides for sericea lespedeza control. Triclopyr at 1/2 pound acid equivalent per acre or metsulfuron at 0.3 ounces of product per acre can provide effective control of sericea lespedeza treated during the vegetative stage prior to branching or during flowering. Ground application of herbicides should be in 10 to 20 gallons of solution per acre to insure adequate coverage.
- Spot applications: Application of herbicides using backpack sprayers has been effective for small or scattered infestations. Foliar applications of glyphosate (tradename Roundup) have been effective at normal concentrations for foliar treatments. See herbicide label directions for appropriate concentrations. Glyphosate is effective from mid-June until seed set. When using any herbicide, precautions should be taken to avoid contacting non-target species. Do not spray so heavily that herbicide drips off the target species. The herbicide should be applied while backing away from the treated area to avoid contacting wet herbicide. By law, herbicides only may be applied as per label instructions.
Failed or Ineffective Practices
Prescribed burning alone may not be effective in controlling sericea lespedeza. Fire may actually enhance germinating of sericea lespedeza seed.
In rangeland situations, intensive, early stocking (doubling the normal stocking rate from May 1 to July 15 and then removing the livestock) with steers has not provided consistent utilization of sericea lespedeza.
2,4-D was not found to provide effective control for sericea lespedeza in rangeland applications. | <urn:uuid:c69eb355-ef08-49ca-9a43-a33b22e69db4> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://mdc.mo.gov/your-property/problem-plants-and-animals/invasive-plants/sericea-lespedeza-control | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537308.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00438-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929826 | 1,484 | 3.046875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing solely on technical information about Sericea Lespedeza control. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and no emphasis on cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
A sensational trial in Germany in 1589 saw a man accused of making a deal with the devil, shapeshifting into a wolf, and killing 128 people, among other assorted gruesome crimes.
Known as the “Werewolf of Bedburg,” Peter Stubbe (or Stumpp) was executed on October 31, 1589, along with his daughter and mistress. As an example to others tempted by the devil’s offer of magical shape shifting garments, the execution was spectacularly horrific. The story was spread throughout Europe in a pamphlet describing the trial, torture, and death with relish. Then, as now, a story with a title like A True Discourse. Declaring the Damnable Life and Death of One Stubbe Peeter, a Most Wicked Sorcerer sold like hotcakes, and the werewolf myth gained more ground in the popular mind.
After lurid accounts of his supposed crimes including assorted murders, acts of cannibalism, and the ripping of children from the wombs of their mothers, after which he “eate their hartes panting hotte and rawe,” his final execution was described thus:
…his body laide on a wheele, and with red hotte burning pincers in ten seue∣ral places to haue the flesh puld off from the bones, after that, his legges and Armes to be broken with a woodden Are or Hatchet, afterward to haue his head strook from his body, then to haue his carkasse burnde to Ashes.
Today there is debate over whether Stubbe was a spectacularly bad man — a serial killer of the day — or if perhaps the spate of deaths might in fact be blamed on actual, non-demonic, non-shifting wolves, or whether he simply found himself, like so many others, on the wrong side of an inquisitor’s political or religious agenda.
…So much more on the long, storied history of Wolves, Men, and Delicious Little Girls…
- Source atlasobscura.com | <urn:uuid:9bb0a8fc-89c1-490a-b8c9-7067c539780f> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://atlasobscura.tumblr.com/post/64731106869/of-wolves-men-and-delicious-little-girls-a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966904 | 434 | 2.53125 | 3 | This extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a historical event with no apparent connection to communication, teamwork, or professional development. The content is informative but does not provide opportunities for critical thinking, problem-solving, or cultural awareness beyond a basic historical context.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
Ian Richardson, Portable Antiquities and Treasure, British Museum
On 18 April 2011, the Coroner for Inner St Pancras (London) concluded an inquest into the ‘Hackney Hoard‘ of 80 gold American double eagle coins.
The coins had been found buried in a residential back garden and it was for the coroner to decide if they qualified as ‘Treasure‘ and were the property of the Crown.
As a group of precious metal objects deliberately hidden with the intention of being recovered at a later date, the coins met most of the criteria for Treasure, but in a surprise twist, the family of the original owner of the coins came forward to claim them successfully.
The court heard how Mr Martin Sulzbacher, a German Jew, had fled Nazi Germany with his wealth and settled in London in 1938.
When Mr Sulzbacher was interned as an ‘enemy alien’ in 1940 and sent to Australia, his family, fearing an imminent German invasion of Britain, buried his coins in the back garden of their Hackney property. Tragically, they perished in the Blitz and the property was destroyed.
When Mr Sulzbacher was allowed to return home, he was unable to locate the coins amid the rubble and destruction. 70 years later, they were found by accident as the residents dug a frog pond for their garden.
Mr Sulzbacher passed away in 1981 but his surviving relations were made aware of this recent discovery, and came forward to claim the coins. The coroner determined that the coins were not Treasure because the Sulzbacher family had sufficiently supported their claim. The Sulzbachers graciously gave permission for the coins to be displayed at the British Museum for a week following the inquest.
But how did the British Museum become involved in this historical mystery in the first place?
The answer lies with one of the newest and smallest departments in the Museum, Portable Antiquities and Treasure. The coins of the Hackney Hoard had been discovered by residents who reported them to an archaeologist working for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).
The PAS is a network of specialists called Finds Liaison Officers (FLOs) based at museums and universities throughout England and Wales who record finds of archaeological objects made by individuals in those countries.
The Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure coordinates the PAS and runs the online database where this information is stored and made accessible to researchers, students, and the general public. The department also performs much of the administration of the Treasure Act 1996 by keeping a registry of all the finds of potential Treasure made every year, and helping to ensure that the most important of those finds are acquired by public museums.
In the case of the Hackney Hoard, the Finds Liaison Officer to whom the discovery was reported worked with the Department of Coins and Medals to write a report on the coins for the coroner, and produced the information for the database record.
The hoard is a totally fascinating find. Most of the finds recorded by the PAS (over 90,000 last year) and reported as potential Treasure (850 last year) are older than 300 years old, and represent a vast array of object types and coins from prehistoric times through the period of Romano-British settlement and into the middle ages. | <urn:uuid:caff966d-9ef1-424c-b1af-10a459fdc777> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2011/04/18/unearthing-the-story-of-the-hackney-hoard/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=ca8cc7cdd9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97283 | 666 | 2.9375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical and factual information about the Hackney Hoard. While it presents a complex scenario, it does not integrate emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, or critical thinking opportunities. The text is informative, but its primary purpose is to educate about the Portable Antiquities and Treasure department, rather than develop soft skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
a Florida Migrant Child: A Social Studies Lesson
measurement, scale, number
Sunshine State Standards:
Materials for the class:
Amelia's Road by Vickie
1 large wall map of the U.S.
Materials for each group:
1 large laminated desk map
1 small ball of clay or sticky-tack
10 to 12 toothpicks with small flags attached
Cooperative groups of 2-3 students
Read Amelias Road
to students. Review with students the information they had learned
throughout research about Florida migrant families and their travels.
Distribute the desk maps,
toothpicks, and clay. Instruct the students that as you reread the
book, they are to trace the route, locate each area to which Amelias
family would have traveled as Florida migrants, and place a flag on
their map to mark that area.
Have students come up to
the wall map and place markers on it to indicate the travels.
Ask students to estimate
how far they think Amelia traveled. Discuss their estimates and estimation
strategies. Record these on the board. Using the data, have them determine
the extremes and the range of their estimates.
Now ask students to use
their maps, pipe cleaners, and markers to determine distances between
regions and the total distance traveled. The pipe cleaners are flexible
and can be bent to go around natural barriers. You might need to refer
students to the scale of miles on the map.
Other questions that could
be asked are as follows:
How many and what states
did Amelia visit on her
How long did her journey
take in days? Weeks?
How long might they
have been on the highway
How far were they able
to travel in a day?
What would have been
the cost for fuel?
Debrief by discussing student
answers and strategies used. Have them compare their actual answers
with their estimates.
Discuss and have students
compare what is shown on their desk maps and their calculations with
the information shown on the wall map. | <urn:uuid:e6db9a26-4b31-4fb0-80be-4914087c9397> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://fcit.usf.edu/math/lessons/5lessons/ssless.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91958 | 441 | 3.859375 | 4 | The extract demonstrates basic coverage of teamwork and communication concepts through cooperative group work and class discussions. However, it lacks depth in soft skills development, such as emotional intelligence, leadership, and complex problem-solving. The activities focus on fundamental skills with limited practical application, and cultural awareness is present but superficial.
Educational score: 2 | 2 |
A treasure trove of rarities, oddities and tech "firsts" has been brought together -- including an experimental 17th century mechanical calculator, a 108-year-old telephone and an incredibly rare, headline-grabbing Apple 1 computer -- to be sold at auction Friday in Cologne, Germany.
This portable copying press was devised by legendary English steam-engine inventor James Watt. The copying apparatus, consisting of metal damping box, pressure plate and special moistened copying paper, was housed in an elegant brass-bound mahogany box.
Three hundred years before the birth of Steve Jobs, the French philosopher, physicist and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, was designing the world's first mechanical calculator, the "Pascaline."
Like many experimental technologies, though, the Pascaline was expensive and rather unreliable.
This image shows a 1905 L.M. Ericsson & Co. desk telephone, known as the "coffee grinder" for its circular shape and distinctive lithographed decoration.
An 1895 Ford typewriter with filigree copper grille. The invention of typewriters in the mid-19th century changed the face of professional writing. The QWERTY keyboard is still the most common modern-day keyboard layout.
The Apple Lisa, from 1983, was produced for only one year, and was one of the world's first mouse-controlled computers. It is now extremely rare.
Basking in the limelight at the auction will be one of just six surviving functional Apple 1 computers. The original Apple was the first computer to be built by the California-based technology company.
The SCELBI-8H was built around the first Intel 8-Bit microprocessor, and fell within the budget of an average person. It was available either assembled or in kit form. It was regarded as one of the first truly "personal computers." | <urn:uuid:e5f8ae7a-9adb-4754-b257-f5a97b29a44e> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://m.ktxs.com/technology/20270042 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954212 | 381 | 2.84375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical technological artifacts and their descriptions. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and no emphasis on cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
English grammar exercises for esl/efl students, grammar rules and tables, grammar and preposition tests, vocabulary games, collocations, interactive readings, and more.. Practice your english verb tenses here - clear explanations and lots of free online and pdf exercises.. Learn english online - free exercises and explanations, tests, vocabulary, teaching materials on english as a foreign language.
English grammar - downloadable pdf worksheets , English grammar website english students interactive grammar exercises pdf worksheets. Past simple continuous tense exercises, pdf grammar rules, English tenses: simple ( worked, ) continuous tense ( working, ). free online exercises pdf grammar rules examples.. English exercises, Welcome. find hundreds exercises learn english online: vocabulary, grammar, listening, songs, . exercises english. | <urn:uuid:26743702-09b2-4bf2-b37e-a7a33cf67764> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.classicelectrics.com/english/english-tenses-exercises-pdf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.826685 | 155 | 2.9375 | 3 | The extract provides basic English language learning resources, including grammar exercises, vocabulary games, and interactive readings. However, it lacks discussion of soft skills, nuanced interaction, and complex problem-solving opportunities. The content focuses on theoretical knowledge of English grammar rules and vocabulary, with limited practical application and no emphasis on cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
|Written by John C|
Intro: To prevent climate change, you will have to do your part and learn to live a green life. Electricity, automobiles, and all carbon emissions are the main causes of climate change. Follow these steps to learn ways you can help prevent climate change, often called global warming.
Step 1: A very simple way to save some energy is by changing all of your regular incandescent light bulbs with a compact fluorescent light bulb which are more efficient.
Step 2: To prevent climate change, unplug electronics when not in use. A small amount of electricity is used even when a device is not on but still plugged in.
Step 3: Remove yourself from mailing lists to save on paper.
Step 4: Reduce emissions from your automobile by tuning up your car, inflating your tires, and taking it easy on the brake and gas while driving.
Step 5: To prevent climate change, wash your clothes in cold or warm water instead of hot water. This can save you 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
Step 6: Turn off your lights and televisions when you leave a room. In the summer keep the shades open and try not to turn on the lights until nighttime. It is now a habit of mine to not turn lights on at all during the summer days. It is reducing my electric bill and protecting the environment.
Step 7: To prevent climate change, start recycling plastic bottles instead of just throwing them away. You can also recycle paper, like newspapers. Always make sure you recycle cans and glass bottles also. Some states charge you 5 or 10 cents a bottle or can which you’ll get back with you return them.
Step 8: Use a clothesline to dry your clothes instead of a dryer. 700 pounds of carbon dioxide can be saved for half a year of air drying.
Step 9: When getting ready to buy a new car, check into any hybrids being offered. The Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids are among the most fuel efficient cars offered as of right now.
Step 10: Some small things you could do are: limit your time in the shower, plant a tree once a month, install low flow shower heads and sink faucets in your home, and wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket.
Step 11: Buying locally grown food will support your local market and reduce transportation costs to transport goods from other states and/or countries. Buy fresh foods because frozen foods take 10 times more energy to produce.
Step 12: More major steps could include switching to solar energy or wind energy.
Step 13: To prevent climate change, move your thermostat up 2 degrees in the summer and down 2 degrees in the winter. You can save 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. Programmable thermostats can lower heat at night and raise it in the morning automatically which can save you around $100 a year off of your bill.
Tips: Check out www.climitecrisis.org for more information on going green.
To prevent climate change, buy organic and avoid anything with harsh chemicals.
Preventing climate change is a world wide effort. Share your knowledge with your friends and family. Make them watch “An Inconvenient Truth” with Al Gore, which can really be an eye opener to climate change.
Warnings: Some people do not believe in climate change or do not even care but think about your children and their children. If we don’t start protecting the planet, future generations won’t have a beautiful planet to experience life on. | <urn:uuid:b51bf554-7698-4bd5-85c7-622ef2e13fe2> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.firehow.com/20090325777/how-to-prevent-climate-change.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918666 | 747 | 3.4375 | 3 | The extract provides basic information on climate change prevention with simple steps, but lacks depth in soft skills development. It does not include discussions on teamwork, leadership, or complex problem-solving, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are minimal. The content focuses on individual actions to prevent climate change, with limited opportunities for professional development or nuanced interaction.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Technology is an important tool in the classroom. It may not fit into every lesson, but you can bet students will pay closer attention when it is. Wikis and Moodles are two examples. I heard about Wiki’s and Moodles at a technology conference several years ago. I learned that they are both customizable and secure. However much of the information was geared toward students beyond 2nd grade. I set out to find just how much a 2nd grader could do with such tools.
A wiki is a site where several people can collaborate on a page of information, adding to and editing text. Beginning in the 08-09 school year, my partner teacher and I created a wiki at http://www.wikispaces.com/. The great thing about Wikispaces is educators don’t have to pay for the service. We educators do love a bargain! We introduced the wiki during our Abe Lincoln/Slavery unit. I used the smartboard to show the classes how to add/edit information to a page, and how to use the message board. (We also discussed internet safety and digital citizenship, which I will discuss in another article.) Letters were sent home to parents introducing the wiki and explaining how to access it as they would be doing this from home.
Our wiki was focused around our Core Knowledge subjects. At the time we were studying Abe Lincoln and Harriet Tubman. The kids were excited about the wiki and couldn’t wait to get home to work on it. Sure enough, that evening the kids discussed with their parents what they learned in school that day about Abe Lincoln. Parents and students worked together to add their information to the wiki. It was wonderful! This went on the rest of the year for every unit we studied. We would frequently see information appear that we had not discussed in class, so it was clear there was extra learning going on at home.
Some extra things about Wikispaces… There is a message board option where you can create one for the whole wiki, or a message board for each wiki page. I highly recommend doing only one board.
Privacy settings are customizable.
You can assign your students usernames and passwords or have their parents sign up for a Wikispaces account. I recommend assigning the names yourself.
Wikispaces was a wonderful experience for our classes. They even wanted me to make an ‘alumni’ wiki page so they could come back and ‘visit’. However, the next year we opted to try a Moodle.
According to http://www.moodle.org/, a “Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a Free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites.” Now don’t let the word FREE mislead you. The software itself is free, however the implementation and hosting of the software is difficult so you’ll probably want to pay for a hosting service.
The Moodle is incredibly customizable! There is way more available than I could ever use. Go to www.moodle.org to feast your eyes on everything available. We added wiki pages for each unit, message boards, a calendar of events, links, a collaborative story about ‘Pat’, and polls. We introduced it to the parents on Back to School Night, and to the students soon after. They loved it at first, but I think it was too much for 2nd grade and kind of died. Our eyes were bigger than our student’s attention spans. However if you have an upper grade this may be just the thing you’re looking for. It is definitely worth looking into. I’m not saying that a Moodle won’t work for lower grades, I’m sure it could. I just didn’t get it there. We are going back to Wikispaces this next year. It is a simpler interface that is better for our grade level.
Students love technology. The home-school connection provided by a wiki or moodle is valuable. We just have to find what works best for us and our students. I’m sure there are other educators with some wonderful ideas. Please share what you have, I would love to hear. | <urn:uuid:7f0134ea-c2fe-4337-86dd-3c86db202f9f> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.fortheloveofteaching.net/2010/07/wikis-and-moodles.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962881 | 894 | 3.625 | 4 | The extract scores 3 points because it discusses the integration of technology in the classroom, highlighting tools like wikis and Moodles, and their potential for enhancing student engagement and home-school connection. It provides realistic scenarios and practical applications, demonstrating emotional intelligence, leadership, and critical thinking opportunities. However, it lacks complex scenarios requiring sophisticated communication and strategic thinking across multiple contexts, and intercultural fluency is not explicitly addressed.
Educational score: 3 | 3 |
BISHOPS' COMMITTEE FOR HISPANIC AFFAIRS
BISHOPS' COMMITTEE FOR HISPANIC AFFAIRS. The Bishops' Committee for Hispanic Affairs was originally founded as the Bishops' Committee for the Spanish Speaking in January 1945 in San Antonio under the leadership of Archbishop Robert E. Lucey, to involve the Catholic Church directly in improving the social and spiritual welfare of Mexican Americans in the state. Lucey set out to establish BCSS in 1941. He first organized a "summer school of social justice" to teach priests in the Southwest about the church's role in helping workers organize for better working conditions. Then in 1943–44, he called a series of meetings for church leaders who worked with Spanish-speaking Catholics in Texas. These gatherings became the basis for BCSS, which Lucey envisioned as a means to fight for social justice for Hispanics. While these events set up a structure for BCSS, two other elements were just as significant in establishing BCSS: Lucey's reputation as a fighter for working people and the high level of unemployment, poverty, and racism that affected the Mexican Americans of San Antonio, many of whom lived on an annual income of $2,000 in houses with dirt floors and no plumbing or water.
At the time the committee was founded, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal brought federal efforts against societal ills and provided BCSS with philosophical backing. Roosevelt had sent his congratulations on the prelate's elevation to archbishop, thus indicating his acceptance of Lucey's vision. From its earliest days, the committee reflected Lucey's ideas for attaining equality, and it remained firmly under his control until his retirement in 1969.
To carry out the church's mission among Mexican Americans, the committee set up permanent headquarters in San Antonio under Lucey's executive directorship. Though its original plan called for a rotating system of regional offices throughout the Southwest, Lucey never permitted the committee hierarchy to move outside the state. Once organized, the BCSS set up religion classes for children, child-care programs, clinics, and community centers on the west side of San Antonio, where Tejanos were segregated. In El Paso the committee emphasized public housing and youth work, and in Corpus Christi it participated in the successful unionization of the city's bus drivers, 70 percent of whom were Mexican American.
All in all, activism grounded in the church's treatises on social morality was the strength of BCSS's work. Although its activities received favorable coverage in the national press, anxious San Antonio businessmen decried what appeared to be a church-sponsored social revolution taking place in their midst. But BCSS paid little attention to criticism.
Besides its work in the state's cities during its formative years, BCSS also took up the cause of migratory farm laborers, prompting some to declare that the committee was really a farmworkers' union. In 1950 BCSS became formally involved with the migrant farm laborers. The catalyst for this was Lucey's service on President Harry S. Truman's panel that investigated farmworkers' and braceros' working and living conditions. The panel held public hearings around the state, and Lucey ensured that the committee's executive secretary, Fr. Theodore Radthe, testified about the substandard salaries and exploitation suffered by farmworkers. The testimony, which was not fully endorsed by the entire BCSS, did not succeed in promoting Lucey's efforts to oppose legislation establishing the Bracero program.
This failure to persuade government authorities to provide protective legislation for farmworkers set the committee on a different course. Lucey decided to organize a voluntary effort among Catholic parishes in the dioceses along the migrant trail. Besides assisting the farmworkers in their area, the volunteers conducted regular inspections of farm labor camps and reported any mistreatment to the authorities. Despite its wholehearted efforts, BCSS was able to provide only temporary relief to the workers along the migrant trail. Indifferent church members and a lack of funds spelled doom for the project. Through the 1950s, the committee continued to fight for farmworkers and oppose the Bracero program, which Lucey condemned as a vehicle that principally served the interests of growers. BCSS charged that the program used "slave laborers" and called for an end to it.
In the 1960s, BCSS initially endorsed the efforts of farmworkers in Texas to strike and gain collective bargaining rights. But that effort mired the committee in controversy that ended only with Lucey's retirement. The conflict erupted in 1967–68 between Lucey, the authoritarian head of BCSS, who did not tolerate dissent, and young BCSS priests. Lucey's transfer of dissident or outspoken priests working with the farmworker cause prompted a call for his resignation as archbishop by some sixty-eight priests under his jurisdiction. In 1969, with Lucey at the end of his career, the committee became part of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Its official title was changed to Bishops' Committee for Hispanic Affairs to reflect a broader national involvement with all Hispanic groups in the country. The Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs was made the administrative arm of the reorganized committee. The committee continued its work in the Southwest, focusing on social-justice issues affecting Hispanics. In January 1991 the committee elected Msgr. Enrique San Pedro, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houstonqv, as its new president and organized a three-year plan of action to fulfill its mission to serve Hispanic Catholics.
Saul E. Bronder, Social Justice and Church Authority: The Public Life of Archbishop Robert E. Lucey (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1982). Texas Observer, July 26, 1957.
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Teresa Palomo Acosta, "BISHOPS' COMMITTEE FOR HISPANIC AFFAIRS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/icb05), accessed April 20, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:a09a05e0-ef67-4f8f-818c-1052bd789ef5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/icb05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539337.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00470-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969106 | 1,276 | 2.734375 | 3 | The extract provides historical information about the Bishops' Committee for Hispanic Affairs, its founding, and its activities. While it touches on social justice, leadership, and community involvement, it lacks direct discussion of soft skills, practical application, and nuanced interaction. The text is more focused on historical events and figures rather than skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Oklahoma's number one blog for natural and cultural history.
Finally, it’s Wednesday! We know you’ve been on the edge of your seat waiting for today’s #ITTB. Well, you’re in luck. Today’s artifact, submitted by the ethnology department, has quite a rich and far-reaching history. You won’t be disappointed.
Today’s Inside the Treasure Box selection comes from far across the Atlantic Ocean. This gorgeous mosaic dates to the 2nd century AD and hails from the House of Cilicia at Seleucia Pieria, the harbor of ancient Antioch in Turkey. Archaeologists from Princeton University excavated much of this ancient city in the late 1930s. This mosaic served as the flooring of a triclinium, or dining room, and it represents a personification of the Roman territory of Kilikia, or Cilicia.
Traditionally, in a triclinium, there are three couches arranged in a U-shape along three walls of the room to produce an open area in the center of the room, used for serving food to guests. The area underneath the couches would be decorated with relatively simple designs while the central area of the triclinium would often feature the most elaborate portion of the mosaic, to be the focal point of any banquet.
Want to know the best part about today’s selection? Unlike many of our other ITTB gems, which are too fragile or rare to be placed on display, this Turkish mosaic has a permanent home just outside the Brown Gallery. Coincidentally, the Brown Gallery is also the home to our newest exhibit, Masterworks of Native American Art. This exhibit features the latest chapter in Native American fine art, highlighting works from 1960 to the present.
A selection from the “Masterworks” exhibit
With such exquisite culture right around the corner, a trip to the museum is a must for you and your kin. But before you grab your keys and head on over, there’s one last thing! Don’t forget to tune in next week for part four of this eleven-week series. We’re not giving anything away, but you might want to brush up your history, starting with 310 million years ago. That should keep you busy until next week, right? Good. We’ll see you on Wednesday! | <urn:uuid:b61bd7d5-e196-401e-b63a-3d9243b50de2> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://samnoblemuseum.tumblr.com/tagged/Turkish-Mosaic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203422.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00502-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937639 | 499 | 2.734375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on cultural and historical information. It provides some basic communication scenarios, but lacks depth, practical application, and nuanced interaction.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
1961: "America's Helicopter War" in Vietnam Begins
Both Army Aviation and the helicopter came of age during the conflict in Southeast Asia. From the arrival in Vietnam of the first Army helicopter units in December 1961, until the completion of the disengagement processes in 1973, Vietnam was America’s “Helicopter War.”
The most widely used helicopter, the UH-1 Iroquois, or Huey, began to arrive in Vietnam in significant numbers in 1964. Before the end of the conflict, more than 5,000 of these versatile aircraft were introduced into Southeast Asia. They were used for medical evacuation, command and control, air assault; personnel and materiel transport; and gun ships.
The AH-1 Cobra arrived in 1967 to partially replace the Huey in its gun ship capacity. Other important helicopters in Vietnam included the CH-47 Chinook, the OH-6 Cayuse, the OH-58 Kiowa, and the CH-54 Tarhe.
Although the concept of air mobility had been developed with a mid-intensity European conflict in mind, Army Aviation and the helicopter had proven themselves during the low intensity conflict in Southeast Asia. Afterwards, the Army turned its major attention back to the threat of a mid or high intensity conflict in Europe, and doubts reemerged about the value of helicopters in that sort of arena.
Some military leaders believed that the helicopter could not survive and perform an essential role in a heavy combat environment. To gain general acceptance and ensure further success, Army Aviation continued to develop new doctrine, tactics, aircraft, equipment, and organizational structure. New or radically modified aircraft were adopted from the late 1970s into the mid-1980s. These included the UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, D-model of the CH-47 Chinook, and OH-58D version of the Kiowa.
The creation, implementation, and consolidation of the Army Aviation Branch dominated the 1980s. Prominent aviators, aswell as other Army leaders, had debated the establishment of Aviation as a separate branch since the time of the Korean conflict.
The opposition to a separate aviation branch had resulted in part from Army attitudes regarding the Army Air Corps and the U.S. Air Force. In Army circles, both of these aviation organizations were believed to have been unreliable in performing their mission of supporting the ground forces -- even after having been given resources to do so.
Since Army Aviation had demonstrated its commitment to the support of the ground battle in Vietnam, however, opposition to a separate aviation branch began to wane.
Also, Army Aviation had grown in size and technological sophistication. This growth caused increasingly complex problems in training, procurement, doctrine development, proponent responsibility, and personnel management. Many non-aviators as well as aviators became convinced that these problems could be solved more effectively by the creation of an aviation branch.
April 1983: The Birth of the Army Aviation Branch
Both Department of the Army and U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command conducted extensive studies of the separate-branch question during the 1970s through 1982. In March 1983, the Chief of Staff of the Army recommended forming a separate aviation branch. The Secretary of the Army approved that recommendation on April 12, 1983 – the date celebrated as the Branch’s birthday.
Aviation Officer Basic and Advanced Courses began at Fort Rucker in 1984, and a gradual consolidation of aviation-related activities followed. In 1986, the U.S. Army Air Traffic Control Activity became part of the branch. In the following year, a Noncommissioned Officers Academy was established at Fort Rucker. In 1988, the Army Aviation Logistics School, which had been dependent on the Transportation Center at Fort Eustis, was incorporated into the Aviation Branch.
Also in 1988, the Army Aviation Modernization Plan was given final approval and implemented. The modernization plan called for a gradual reduction in the number of Army aircraft as older models were replaced by modern ones. Aircraft that appeared during the late 1980s and early 1990s included the armed OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and the new TH-67 Creek training helicopter.
Army Aviation’s role of providing the indispensable vertical dimension to the modern battlefield has become universally recognized. For example, during operations in Grenada, Panama, and the Persian Gulf region, Army Aviation played major and decisive roles.
One of the very first blows of Operation Desert Storm was struck by Army Aviation. Apache helicopters destroyed key Iraqi early warning radar sites and thus opened the air corridors to Baghdad for the bombing campaign that preceded the ground war. Then during the 100 hours of ground combat, Army helicopters dominated nighttime operations.
The decreased military budgets following the end of the Cold War forced both the Army and Army Aviation to downsize. Army Aviation’s response was to develop the “Aviation Restructure Initiative,” a plan to decrease the size of the force while continuing to provide a capable, ready force.
By the late 1990s, continuing deficiencies and unintended results of the ARI led to a series of aviation plans as key pieces of the Army-wide modernization and transformation. In 2003, the Aviation Branch assumed overall responsibility for unmanned aerial vehicles within the Army.
Operations since Desert Storm showed the versatility and flexibility of Army Aviation. Examples were uses of AH-64 Apaches in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans as a deterrent to mobs threatening fellow citizens or paramilitary groups trying to remove weapons from agreed cantonments.
The beginning of the Global War on Terrorism in 2001 drew Army Aviation again into ongoing combat.
Events in Afghanistan and Iraq have reaffirmed the qualities that caused the creation of Organic Army Aviation in 1942. These qualities included the responsiveness to the needs of the ground commander and commitment to the Soldier in the ground fight. At the same time, Army Aviation – including Army Special Operations Aviation – has played vital and ever-expanding roles across the spectrum of Joint and Combined operations. | <urn:uuid:1df43a2b-f047-4a8b-b47a-513b509abc9f> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www-rucker.army.mil/history/history03.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203422.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00502-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964255 | 1,215 | 3.375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on historical events and technical aspects of Army Aviation. There is no mention of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are absent.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
Rabbits, like most other pest species, were introduced when Europeans first settled in Australia. Rabbits were introduced from two main sources; the domesticated rabbit which provided early settlers with a ready source of meat, and the wild rabbit introduced later for hunting.
Thomas Austin is credited with releasing 24 wild rabbits at his Barwon Park property near Geelong in Victoria in 1859. This small population exploded to cover Victoria and New South Wales by 1886. By 1900, rabbits had reached the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
In some other areas, feral domesticated rabbits also established populations. Typically, these rabbits have different colourings compared to the wild rabbits released by Thomas Austin.
The rapid spread of the rabbit led to the destruction of large tracts of vegetation, leading to the extinction of many plant species. Loss of vegetation leads to soil erosion as the exposed soil is washed or blown away, removing valuable soil nutrients required for new plants to develop. This soil is typically deposited in waterways, causing siltation and destroying aquatic ecosystems.
This wanton destruction of habitat has contributed to the demise of many native marsupial species such as the bilby and the bandicoot as their feed sources were outstripped by marauding rabbits.
Rabbits actively compete with domestic livestock and can alter pasture composition by selectively grazing on more palatable and nutritious plants. Seven to ten rabbits eat the equivalent of one adult sheep, and, during drought periods, rabbits can totally strip a landscape bare leaving no food for sheep, cattle or native animals.
In the past, rabbit populations have been reduced enormously with the introduction of biological control vectors. In 1950, the myxomatosis virus initially wiped out between 95 and 100% of rabbits in some areas. However, rabbits recovered with the development of resistance in many populations. The introduction of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease or Rabbit Calicivirus (RHDV or RCD) also helped control populations, especially in arid areas, but again, rapid resistance to RCD has left rabbits as one of Australia's most formidable pests.
The Pest Animal Control Cooperative Research Centre recently estimated the direct cost of rabbits to the Australian economy at $113.11 million; however other estimations have suggested that the costs could be much higher at closer to $600 million.
Rabbits are territorial animals with a well defined hierarchy or 'pecking order'.
Rabbit territories and areas where they feed are commonly defined by piles of scats or faeces or by a scented exudate from glands under the chin.
Rabbits will rarely feed outside these designated areas unless seasonal feed shortages force them to forage further afield. This is one of the key determinants in the success of a baiting programme, as it is crucial to lay the trail where the rabbits are feeding. This area may not be where the warrens are located.
A dominant male or 'buck' mates with most does within the group's territory. Dominant females can prevent lesser females in the group from breeding.
The gestation period of a rabbit is 28-30 days, with the average litter size between three and four kittens, depending on the age of the doe. Young does may have as few as two kittens, yet mature does may have eight or more. Five to six litters are possible in a good season.
Given excellent seasonal conditions, a mature doe is capable of mating again within hours of giving birth, while young does can start to breed at four months of age. In areas with less reliable rainfall and vegetation with poor nutritional value, breeding can be limited.
Juvenile rabbits will migrate from their parental territory to establish new territories of their own depending on seasonal conditions. The presence of unused warrens and harbour makes it easier for these rabbits to re-establish in an area.
For a rabbit control programme to be successful, an integrated approach is vital. Shooting, baiting or fumigating without follow-up warren or harbour destruction will leave ready-made homes for young migrating rabbits from surrounding areas.
Landholders should seek advice from their local government agency, licensed contractor or Landcare co-ordinator. These skilled staff can provide information about supplementary action for rabbit control including:
The aim of any rabbit control programme should be to achieve local eradication and to prevent re-infiltration. One of the best approaches to achieve this is to work with your neighbours or local Landcare group. Group programmes achieve the best results and lowest long-term costs as rabbits are removed from a wider area. The wider the area of the group programme the better the chances of limiting rabbit re-infestation.
Ripping warrens and destroying harbour assist in long term rabbit control by making it difficult for rabbits to find ready made shelter.
The success of any rabbit control programme in the long term depends on the level of control achieved at each step. Leaving just 10% of a rabbit population will result in the need to repeat the operation next season as the 10% of the initial population of rabbits will breed back to the pre-control population within 12 months if conditions are favourable.
As with most large-scale pest problems, best results will be achieved by co-ordinated approaches on neighbouring properties. Aim for 100% control and remove harbour to prevent re-establishment.
Many of the agencies below employ experienced specialists who can assist with technical information on poisoning rabbits and advise on important additional rabbit control measures such as ripping of warrens, fumigation and fencing. Consult local staff when planning a rabbit control operation. They can also assist in co-ordinating group operations, advise on best practice procedures and may have access to bait laying equipment for larger programmes.
Victoria: Department of Primary Industries
Western Australia: Agriculture WA
Queensland: Natural Resources, Mines & Energy
South Australia: Natural Resources Management Boards
Tasmania: Primary Industries
ACT: Department of Environment
New South Wales: Rural Lands Protection Boards
All States: Local Landcare co-ordinators, rural merchant agronomists or licensed pest control contractors.
Animal Control Technologies
46-50 Freight Drive
Somerton, Victoria, 3062
Telephone +61 3 9308 9688
Fax +61 3 9308 9622 | <urn:uuid:82bd22d0-d766-4420-85e3-e87786e60b9e> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/rabbit.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203422.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00502-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939407 | 1,281 | 4.09375 | 4 | The extract provides information on the introduction, impact, and control of rabbits in Australia, but lacks discussion of soft skills, emotional intelligence, leadership, and critical thinking. It focuses on factual information and technical aspects of rabbit control, with no apparent connection to teamwork, communication, or problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
also called lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. A type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which the cells make large amounts of an abnormal protein (called a macroglobulin). The lymphoma cells grow mainly in the bone marrow and crowd out normal blood cells. See also bone marrow, macroglobulinemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
see expectant management.
blood cells that help defend the body against infections. There are many types of white blood cells. Certain cancer treatments such as chemotherapy can reduce the number of these cells and make a person more likely to get infections. See also blood count, bone marrow, chemotherapy, immune system.
classification system for prostate cancer using the categories A, B, C, or D. It has largely been replaced by the TNM system. Whitmore-Jewett staging can be translated into the TNM system, or the doctor can explain how this staging system will affect treatment options. See also prostate, staging, Gleason score.
also called Wilms’ tumor or nephroblastoma. A rare type of cancer that starts in the kidney and mainly affects young children.
a method used during a surgical biopsy when the lump is hard to find or when there is an area that looks suspicious on the x-ray. A thin, hollow needle is placed in the tissue and x-rays are taken to guide the needle to the area of concern. A fine wire is put through the center of the needle. A small hook at the end of the wire keeps it in place. The hollow needle is then removed, and the surgeon uses the path of the wire as a guide to find the abnormal area to be removed. See also biopsy. | <urn:uuid:9a490ae7-d58b-4877-b478-63d58bb28f0f> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerglossary/index.aspx?letter=W | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203422.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00502-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929867 | 358 | 3.21875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing solely on medical terminology and concepts. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and no emphasis on cultural awareness or digital literacy.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
(NaturalNews) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to launch an investigation into the effects of bisphenol A (BPA) after a number of highly-publicized studies have found that the estrogen-mimicking hormone is a threat to human health. According to the EPA's report on the subject, the environment is contaminated each year with over 1 million pounds of BPA. Canada has already taken the initiative in banning BPA as a toxic chemical back in December of 2010 after it was found in 91% of Canadian citizens. The EPA's discussion of investigation is a direct response to public outcry for regulatory action, but BPA has already found its way into countless products in the U.S. and elsewhere.
BPA has been found in 18 of the 20 most popular food cans, dental fillings and sealants, most plastic water bottles, and even baby bottles. Some states have banned the presence of BPA from baby bottles due to its destructive nature. These states include Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington. Due to its estrogen-mimicking nature, it leads not only to the onset of female development, but also to a major decrease in male fertility rates. It has also been found to 'feminize' men as regular estrogen does when administered to males. By upsetting the hormonal functions of the body, feminine traits are developed in males such as the development of breasts and certain emotional changes.
"A number of concerns have been raised about the potential human health
and environmental effects of BPA," said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, according to UPI.
"The data collected under the testing the EPA
is considering would help the EPA better understand and address the potential environmental impacts of BPA," Owens finished.
Even if the EPA goes after BPA and bans it as a toxic substance, the amount of human exposure is so great that there will be repercussions for decades to come. With so many household items containing BPA
, a hormonal armageddon is already sweeping through the nation. Just as with artificial sweeteners, GMOs, and other toxic ingredients, government organizations will sit idly by until the absolute last second before intervening. BPA has also now become an environmental issue just like the genetic modification of crops worldwide. With 1 million pounds released in the environment, BPA is poisoning nature in a very eery way. Peaceful action and legislation is necessary to put an end to the extreme poisoning of the planet that is now happening on a daily basis. The EPA's possible investigation is indeed a step in the right direction as it will raise awareness about BPA's harmful effects on both humans and the environment.
About the author
Anthony Gucciardi is a health activist and wellness researcher, whose goal is centered around educating the general public as to how they may obtain optimum health. He has authored countless articles highlighting the benefits of natural health, as well as exposing the pharmaceutical industry. Anthony is the creator of Natural Society (http://www.NaturalSociety.com
), a natural health website. Anthony has been accurately interpreting national and international events for years within his numerous political articles. Anthony's articles have been seen by millions around the world, and hosted on multiple top news websites. | <urn:uuid:8e055a59-d811-45f9-9989-1e948f48c6a6> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.naturalnews.com/033330_EPA_BPA.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203422.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00502-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951736 | 675 | 2.90625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on environmental and health issues related to BPA. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are not addressed.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
It may not look like a character from the Transformer franchise, but a tiny robot made by MIT in the US is able to change shape. Built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it uses magnets to mimic molecules that fold up themselves into composite shapes. The study could lead to robots that could be reconfigured to perform many different tasks.
According to Neil Gershenfeld, head of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms It's effectively a one-dimensional robot that can be made in a continuous strip, without conventionally moving parts. It is composed of pairs of a powerful lasting magnet and a weaker magnet with a magnetic field that changes direction when an electric current is applied.
It would be challenging for such a robot to work beside artificial-intelligence machinery, but the technology could have many real-world applications.
You have read this article Astonishing Shape-shifting robot / shape shifting with the title . You can bookmark this page URL http://www.roxpolitix.blogspot.com/2012/12/astonishing-shape-shifting-robot.html. Thanks! | <urn:uuid:daa074ff-3b53-4bfe-a309-d7e79b9ab7e1> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.roxpolitix.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223203422.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032003-00502-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942104 | 225 | 3.59375 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on technological innovation without exploring communication, teamwork, or leadership concepts. It provides basic information on a scientific topic without practical application or professional development opportunities related to soft skills.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
|Part of a series on|
The Kurgan hypothesis (also theory or model) is one of the proposals about early Indo-European origins, which postulates that the people of an archaeological "Kurgan culture" (a term grouping the Yamna, or Pit Grave, culture and its predecessors) in the Pontic steppe were the most likely speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language. The term is derived from kurgan (курган), a Turkic loanword in Russian for a tumulus or burial mound. The Kurgan model is the most widely accepted scenario of Indo-European origins.
The Kurgan hypothesis was first formulated in the 1950s by Marija Gimbutas, who defined the "Kurgan culture" as composed of four successive periods, with the earliest (Kurgan I) including the Samara and Seroglazovo cultures of the Dnieper/Volga region in the Copper Age (early 4th millennium BC). The bearers of these cultures were nomadic pastoralists, who, according to the model, by the early 3rd millennium BC expanded throughout the Pontic-Caspian steppe and into Eastern Europe.
- 1 Overview
- 2 Kurgan culture
- 3 Genetics
- 4 Revisions
- 5 Criticisms
- 6 Further expansion during the Bronze Age
- 7 See also
- 8 Notes
- 9 References
When it was first proposed in 1956, in The Prehistory of Eastern Europe, Part 1, Marija Gimbutas's contribution to the search for Indo-European origins was a pioneering interdisciplinary synthesis of archaeology and linguistics. The Kurgan model of Indo-European origins identifies the Pontic-Caspian steppe as the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) Urheimat, and a variety of late PIE dialects are assumed to have been spoken across the region. According to this model, the Kurgan culture gradually expanded until it encompassed the entire Pontic-Caspian steppe, Kurgan IV being identified with the Pit Grave culture of around 3000 BC.
The mobility of the Kurgan culture facilitated its expansion over the entire Pit Grave region, and is attributed to the domestication of the horse and later the use of early chariots. The first strong archaeological evidence for the domestication of the horse comes from the Sredny Stog culture north of the Azov Sea in Ukraine, and would correspond to an early PIE or pre-PIE nucleus of the 5th millennium BC.
Subsequent expansion beyond the steppes led to hybrid, or in Gimbutas's terms "kurganized" cultures, such as the Globular Amphora culture to the west. From these kurganized cultures came the immigration of proto-Greeks to the Balkans and the nomadic Indo-Iranian cultures to the east around 2500 BC.
Gimbutas defined and introduced the term "Kurgan culture" in 1956 with the intention to introduce a "broader term" that would combine Sredny Stog II, Pit-Grave and Corded ware horizons (spanning the 4th to 3rd millennia in much of Eastern and Northern Europe). The model of a "Kurgan culture" postulates cultural similarity between the various cultures of the Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (5th to 3rd millennia BC) Pontic-Caspian steppe to justify the identification as a single archaeological culture or cultural horizon. The eponymous construction of kurgans is only one among several factors. As always in the grouping of archaeological cultures, the dividing line between one culture and the next cannot be drawn with any accuracy and will be open to debate.
Cultures that Gimbutas considered as part of the "Kurgan Culture":
- Bug-Dniester (6th millennium)
- Samara (5th millennium)
- Kvalynsk (5th millennium)
- Sredny Stog (mid-5th to mid-4th millennia)
- Dnieper-Donets (5th to 4th millennia)
- Usatovo culture (late 4th millennium)
- Maikop-Dereivka (mid-4th to mid-3rd millennia)
- Yamna (Pit Grave): This is itself a varied cultural horizon, spanning the entire Pontic-Caspian steppe from the mid-4th to the 3rd millennium BC.
David Anthony considers the term "Kurgan Culture" so lacking in precision as to be useless. He points out that "The Kurgan culture was so broadly defined that almost any culture with burial mounds, or even (like the Baden culture) without them could be included." He therefore does not use the term and discusses instead the core Yamna Culture and its relationship with other cultures. He does not include the Maikop culture among those that he considers to be IE-speaking, presuming instead that they spoke a Caucasian language.
Stages of culture and expansion
Gimbutas' original suggestion identifies four successive stages of the Kurgan culture:
- Kurgan I, Dnieper/Volga region, earlier half of the 4th millennium BC. Apparently evolving from cultures of the Volga basin, subgroups include the Samara and Seroglazovo cultures.
- Kurgan II–III, latter half of the 4th millennium BC. Includes the Sredny Stog culture and the Maykop culture of the northern Caucasus. Stone circles, early two-wheeled chariots, anthropomorphic stone stelae of deities.
- Kurgan IV or Pit Grave culture, first half of the 3rd millennium BC, encompassing the entire steppe region from the Ural to Romania.
There were three successive proposed "waves" of expansion:
- Wave 1, predating Kurgan I, expansion from the lower Volga to the Dnieper, leading to coexistence of Kurgan I and the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. Repercussions of the migrations extend as far as the Balkans and along the Danube to the Vinča culture in Serbia and Lengyel culture in Hungary.
- Wave 2, mid 4th millennium BC, originating in the Maykop culture and resulting in advances of "kurganized" hybrid cultures into northern Europe around 3000 BC (Globular Amphora culture, Baden culture, and ultimately Corded Ware culture). According to Gimbutas this corresponds to the first intrusion of Indo-European languages into western and northern Europe.
- Wave 3, 3000–2800 BC, expansion of the Pit Grave culture beyond the steppes, with the appearance of the characteristic pit graves as far as the areas of modern Romania, Bulgaria, eastern Hungary and Georgia, coincident with the end of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture and Trialeti culture in Georgia (c.2750 BC).
- 4500–4000: Early PIE. Sredny Stog, Dnieper-Donets and Samara cultures, domestication of the horse (Wave 1).
- 4000–3500: The Pit Grave culture (a.k.a. Yamna culture), the prototypical kurgan builders, emerges in the steppe, and the Maykop culture in the northern Caucasus. Indo-Hittite models postulate the separation of Proto-Anatolian before this time.
- 3500–3000: Middle PIE. The Pit Grave culture is at its peak, representing the classical reconstructed Proto-Indo-European society with stone idols, early two-wheeled proto-chariots, predominantly practicing animal husbandry in permanent settlements protected by hillforts, subsisting on agriculture, and fishing along rivers. Contact of the Pit Grave culture with late Neolithic Europe cultures results in the "kurganized" Globular Amphora and Baden cultures (Wave 2). The Maykop culture shows the earliest evidence of the beginning Bronze Age, and Bronze weapons and artifacts are introduced to Pit Grave territory. Probable early Satemization.
- 3000–2500: Late PIE. The Pit Grave culture extends over the entire Pontic steppe (Wave 3). The Corded Ware culture extends from the Rhine to the Volga, corresponding to the latest phase of Indo-European unity, the vast "kurganized" area disintegrating into various independent languages and cultures, still in loose contact enabling the spread of technology and early loans between the groups, except for the Anatolian and Tocharian branches, which are already isolated from these processes. The Centum-Satem break is probably complete, but the phonetic trends of Satemization remain active.
The term "kurganized" used by Gimbutas implied that the culture could have been spread by no more than small bands who imposed themselves on local people as an elite. This idea of the IE language and its daughter-languages diffusing east and west without mass movement has proved popular with archaeologists. However, geneticists have opened up the possibility that these languages spread with mass movement.
Geneticists have noted the correlation of a specific haplogroup R1a1a defined by the M17 (SNP marker) of the Y chromosome and speakers of Indo-European languages in Europe and Asia. The connection between Y-DNA R-M17 and the spread of Indo-European languages was first proposed by Zerjal and colleagues in 1999. and subsequently supported by other authors. Spencer Wells deduced from this correlation that R1a1a arose on the Pontic-Caspian steppe.
Subsequent studies on ancient DNA tested the hypothesis. Skeletons from the Andronovo culture horizon (strongly supposed to be culturally Indo-Iranian) of south Siberia were tested for DNA. Of the 10 males, 9 carried Y-DNA R1a1a (M17). Fairly close matches were found between the ancient DNA STR haplotypes and those in living persons in both eastern Europe and Siberia. Mummies in the Tarim Basin also proved to carry R1a1a and were presumed to be ancestors of Tocharian speakers.
A study published in 2012 states that "R1a1a7-M458 was absent in Afghanistan, suggesting that R1a1a-M17 does not support, as previously thought, expansions from the Pontic Steppe, bringing the Indo-European languages to Central Asia and India." However, this study does not in any way conflict with the hypothesis of expansions from the Pontic Steppe, since the study does not take into account the early wave of the Indo-European speaking people. Even today the R1a1a7-M458 are very rare, almost absent, in the area of the proposed Indo-European origins between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea; the R1a1a7-M458 marker first started in Poland 10,000 years ago (KYA), and arrived in the western fringes of the Pontic steppe 5,000 years ago and the eastern fringes only 2,500 years ago, while the first Indo-European wave (4500–4000 BC Early PIE) began up to 4,000 years before this.
The DNA testing of remains from kurgans also indicated a high prevalence of people with characteristics such as blue (or green) eyes, fair skin and light hair, implying an origin close to Europe for this population.
Invasionist vs. diffusionist scenarios
Gimbutas believed that the expansions of the Kurgan culture were a series of essentially hostile, military incursions where a new warrior culture imposed itself on the peaceful, matriarchal cultures of "Old Europe", replacing it with a patriarchal warrior society, a process visible in the appearance of fortified settlements and hillforts and the graves of warrior-chieftains:
- "The process of Indo-Europeanization was a cultural, not a physical, transformation. It must be understood as a military victory in terms of successfully imposing a new administrative system, language, and religion upon the indigenous groups."
In her later life, Gimbutas increasingly emphasized the violent nature of this transition from the Mediterranean cult of the Mother Goddess to a patriarchal society and the worship of the warlike Thunderer (Zeus, Dyaus), to a point of essentially formulating feminist archaeology. Many scholars who accept the general scenario of Indo-European migrations proposed, maintain that the transition was likely much more gradual and peaceful than suggested by Gimbutas. The migrations were certainly not a sudden, concerted military operation, but the expansion of disconnected tribes and cultures, spanning many generations. To what degree the indigenous cultures were peacefully amalgamated or violently displaced remains a matter of controversy among supporters of the Kurgan hypothesis.
JP Mallory (in 1989) accepted the Kurgan hypothesis as the de facto standard theory of Indo-European origins, but he recognizes valid criticism of Gimbutas' radical scenario of military invasion:
One might at first imagine that the economy of argument involved with the Kurgan solution should oblige us to accept it outright. But critics do exist and their objections can be summarized quite simply – almost all of the arguments for invasion and cultural transformations are far better explained without reference to Kurgan expansions, and most of the evidence so far presented is either totally contradicted by other evidence or is the result of gross misinterpretation of the cultural history of Eastern, Central, and Northern Europe."
Frederik Kortlandt in 1989 proposed a revision of the Kurgan model. He states the main objection which can be raised against Gimbutas' scheme (e.g., 1985: 198) is that it starts from the archaeological evidence and looks for a linguistic interpretation. Starting from the linguistic evidence and trying to fit the pieces into a coherent whole, he arrives at the following picture: The territory of the Sredny Stog culture in the eastern Ukraine he calls the most convincing candidate for the original Indo-European homeland. The Indo-Europeans who remained after the migrations to the west, east and south (as described by Mallory 1989) became speakers of Balto-Slavic, while the speakers of the other satem languages would have to be assigned to the Pit Grave horizon, and the western Indo-Europeans to the Corded Ware horizon. Returning to the Balts and the Slavs, their ancestors should be correlated to the Middle Dnieper culture. Then, following Mallory (197f) and assuming the origin of this culture to be sought in the Sredny Stog, Yamnaya and Late Tripolye cultures, he proposes the course of these events corresponds with the development of a satem language which was drawn into the western Indo-European sphere of influence.
Occurrence of horse riding in Europe
Renfrew (1999: 268) holds that mounted warriors appear in Europe only as late as 1000 BC and these could in no case have been "Gimbutas's Kurgan warriors" predating the facts by some 2,000 years. Mallory (1989, p136) enumerates linguistic evidence pointing to PIE period employment of horses in paired draught, something that would not have been possible before the invention of the spoked wheel and chariot, normally dated after about 2500 BC.
According to Krell (1998), Gimbutas' homeland theory is completely incompatible with the linguistic evidence. Krell compiles lists of items of flora, fauna, economy, and technology that archaeology has accounted for in the Kurgan culture and compares it with lists of the same categories as reconstructed by traditional historical-Indo-European linguistics. Krell finds major discrepancies between the two, and underlines the fact that we cannot presume that the reconstructed term for 'horse', for example, referred to the domesticated equid in the protoperiod just because it did in later times. It could originally have referred to a wild equid, a possibility that would "undermine the mainstay of Gimbutas's arguments that the Kurgan culture first domesticated the horse and used this new technology to spread to surrounding areas,"[dubious ]
Pastoralism vs. agriculture
Kathrin Krell (1998) finds that the terms found in the reconstructed Indo-European language are not compatible with the cultural level of the Kurgans. Krell holds that the Indo-Europeans had agriculture whereas the Kurgan people were "just at a pastoral stage" and hence might not have had sedentary agricultural terms in their language, despite the fact that such terms are part of a Proto-Indo-European core vocabulary.
Krell (1998), "Gimbutas' Kurgans-PIE homeland hypothesis: a linguistic critique", points out that the Proto-Indo-European had an agricultural vocabulary and not merely a pastoral one. As for technology, there are plausible reconstructions suggesting knowledge of navigation, a technology quite atypical of Gimbutas' steppe-centered Kurgan society. Krell concludes that Gimbutas seems to first establish a Kurgan hypothesis, based on purely archaeological observations, and then proceeds to create a picture of the PIE homeland and subsequent dispersal which fits neatly over her archaeological findings. The problem is that in order to do this, she has had to be rather selective in her use of linguistic data, as well as in her interpretation of that data.[clarification needed]
Further expansion during the Bronze Age
The Kurgan hypothesis describes the initial spread of Proto-Indo-European during the 5th and 4th millennia BC.
The question of further Indo-Europeanization of Central and Western Europe, Central Asia and Northern India during the Bronze Age is beyond its scope, and far more uncertain than the events of the Copper Age. The specifics of the Indo-Europeanization of Central and Western Europe during the 3rd to 2nd millennia (Corded Ware horizon) and Central Asia (Andronovo culture) are nevertheless subject to some controversy.
The European Funnelbeaker and Corded Ware cultures have been described as showing intrusive elements linked to Indo-Europeanization, but recent archaeological studies have described them in terms of local continuity, which has led some archaeologists to declare the Kurgan hypothesis "obsolete". However, it is generally held unrealistic to believe that a proto-historic people can be assigned to any particular group on basis of archaeological material alone.
The Corded Ware culture has always been important in locating Indo-European origins. The German archaeologist Alexander Häusler was an important proponent of archeologists that searched for homeland evidence here. He sharply criticised Gimbutas' concept of 'a' Kurgan culture that mixes several distinct cultures like the pit-grave culture. Häusler's criticism mostly stemmed from a distinctive lack of archeological evidence until 1950 from what was then the East Bloc, from which time on plenty of evidence for Gimbutas's Kurgan hypothesis was discovered for decades. He was unable to link Corded Ware to the Indo-Europeans of the Balkans, Greece or Anatolia, and neither to the Indo-Europeans in Asia. Nevertheless, establishing the correct relationship between the Corded Ware and Pontic-Caspian regions is still considered essential to solving the entire homeland problem.
- Yamna culture
- Ukrainian stone stela
- Domestication of the horse
- Animal sacrifice
- Shaft tomb
- Late Glacial Maximum
- Competing hypotheses
- Proto-Indo-European Urheimat hypotheses
- Mallory (1989:185). "The Kurgan solution is attractive and has been accepted by many archaeologists and linguists, in part or total. It is the solution one encounters in the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Grand Dictionnaire Encyclopédique Larousse."
- Strazny (2000:163). "The single most popular proposal is the Pontic steppes (see the Kurgan hypothesis)..."
- Gimbutas (1985) page 190.
- Parpola in Blench & Spriggs (1999:181). "The history of the Indo-European words for 'horse' shows that the Proto-Indo-European speakers had long lived in an area where the horse was native and/or domesticated (Mallory 1989:161–63). The first strong archaeological evidence for the domestication of the horse comes from the Ukrainian Srednij Stog culture, which flourished c. 4200–3500 BC and is likely to represent an early phase of the Proto-Indo-European culture (Anthony 1986:295f.; Mallory 1989:162, 197–210). During the Pit Grave culture (c. 3500–2800 BC) which continued the cultures related to Srednij Stog and probably represents the late phase of the Proto-Indo-European culture – full-scale pastoral technology, including the domesticated horse, wheeled vehicles, stockbreeding and limited horticulture, spread all over the Pontic steppes, and, c. 3000 BC, in practically every direction from this centre (Anthony 1986, 1991; Mallory 1989, vol. 1).
- Gimbutas (1970) page 156: "The name Kurgan culture (the Barrow culture) was introduced by the author in 1956 as a broader term to replace and Pit-Grave (Russian Yamna), names used by Soviet scholars for the culture in the eastern Ukraine and south Russia, and Corded Ware, Battle-Axe, Ochre-Grave, Single-Grave and other names given to complexes characterized by elements of Kurgan appearance that formed in various parts of Europe"
- David Anthony, The Horse, The Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world (2007), pp. 306–7: "Why not a Kurgan Culture?"
- David Anthony, The Horse, The Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world (2007), p. 297.
- T. Zerjal et al, The use of Y-chromosomal DNA variation to investigate population history: recent male spread in Asia and Europe, in S.S. Papiha, R. Deka and R. Chakraborty (eds.), Genomic Diversity: applications in human population genetics (1999), pp. 91–101.
- L. Quintana-Murci et al., Y-Chromosome lineages trace diffusion of people and languages in Southwestern Asia, American Journal of Human Genetics vol. 68 (2001), pp.537–542.
- R.S. Wells et al, The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 98 no.18 (2001), pp. 10244–10249.
- C. Bouakaze et al, First successful assay of Y-SNP typing by SNaPshot minisequencing on ancient DNA, International Journal of Legal Medicine, vol. 121 (2007), pp. 493–499; C. Keyser et al, Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people, [[Human Genetics (journal)|]], vol. 126, no. 3 (September 2009), pp. 395–410.
- Chunxiang Li etal., Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age, BMC Biology, vol. 8, no. 15(2010).
- Marc Haber et al., "Afghanistan's Ethnic Groups Share a Y-Chromosomal Heritage Structured by Historical Events", PLoS ONE 2012, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034288
- "Googles billedresultat for http://rafzen.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/sc582owianie-od-zawsze.jpg". Google.dk. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- C. Bouakaze et al., Pigment phenotype and biogeographical ancestry from ancient skeletal remains: inferences from multiplexed autosomal SNP analysis, International Journal of Legal Medicine (2009).
- W. Haak, et al., Ancient DNA, Strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the Later Stone Age, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, no. 47 (2008), pp. 18226–18231.
- Gimbutas (1982:1)
- Gimbutas, Dexter & Jones-Bley (1997:309)
- Mallory (1991:185)
- The spread of the Indo-Europeans – Frederik Kortlandt, 1989
- The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, 22:587–588
- Pre- & protohistorie van de lage landen, onder redactie van J.H.F. Bloemers & T. van Dorp 1991. De Haan/Open Universiteit. ISBN 90-269-4448-9, NUGI 644
- The Germanic Invasions, the making of Europe 400–600 AD – Lucien Musset, ISBN 1-56619-326-5, p 7
- Schmoeckel 1999
- In Search of the Indo-Europeans – J.P.Mallory, Thames and Hudson 1989, p245,ISBN 0-500-27616-1
- Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-05887-3
- Anthony, David; Vinogradov, Nikolai (1995), "Birth of the Chariot", Archaeology 48 (2): 36–41.
- Blench, Roger; Spriggs, Matthew, eds. (1999), Archaeology and Language, III: Artefacts, languages and texts, London: Routledge.
- Dexter, Miriam Robbins; Jones-Bley, Karlene, eds. (1997), The Kurgan Culture and the Indo-Europeanization of Europe: Selected Articles From 1952 to 1993, Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man, ISBN 0-941694-56-9.
- Gimbuta, Marija (1956). The Prehistory of Eastern Europe, Part 1.
- Gimbutas, Marija (1970), "Proto-Indo-European Culture: The Kurgan Culture during the Fifth, Fourth, and Third Millennia B.C.", in Cardona, George; Hoenigswald, Henry M.; Senn, Alfred, Indo-European and Indo-Europeans: Papers Presented at the Third Indo-European Conference at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 155–197, ISBN 0-8122-7574-8.
- Gimbutas, Marija (1982), "Old Europe in the Fifth Millenium B.C.: The European Situation on the Arrival of Indo-Europeans", in Polomé, Edgar C., The Indo-Europeans in the Fourth and Third Millennia, Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers, ISBN 0-89720-041-1
- Gimbutas, Marija (Spring–Summer 1985), "Primary and Secondary Homeland of the Indo-Europeans: comments on Gamkrelidze-Ivanov articles", Journal of Indo-European Studies 13 (1&2): 185–201
- Gimbutas, Marija; Dexter, Miriam Robbins; Jones-Bley, Karlene (1997), The Kurgan Culture and the Indo-Europeanization of Europe: Selected Articles from 1952 to 1993, Washington, D. C.: Institute for the Study of Man, ISBN 0-941694-56-9
- Gimbutas, Marija; Dexter, Miriam Robbins (1999), The Living Goddesses, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-22915-0
- Krell, Kathrin (1998). "Gimbutas' Kurgans-PIE homeland hypothesis: a linguistic critique". Chapter 11 in "Archaeology and Language, II", Blench and Spriggs.
- Mallory, J.P.; Adams, D.Q., eds. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London: Fitzroy Dearborn, ISBN 1-884964-98-2.
- Mallory, J.P. (1991), In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth, London: Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-27616-1.
- Mallory, J.P. (1996), Fagan, Brian M., ed., The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-507618-4
- Schmoeckel, Reinhard (1999), Die Indoeuropäer. Aufbruch aus der Vorgeschichte ("The Indo-Europeans: Rising from pre-history"), Bergisch-Gladbach (Germany): Bastei Lübbe, ISBN 3-404-64162-0
- Strazny, Philipp (Ed). (2000), Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics (1 ed.), Routledge, ISBN 978-1-57958-218-0
- Zanotti, D. G. (1982), "The Evidence for Kurgan Wave One As Reflected By the Distribution of 'Old Europe' Gold Pendants", Journal of Indo-European Studies 10: 223–234. | <urn:uuid:303bb1de-74b6-4a49-b757-0bd86099fdb6> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurgan_hypothesis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207985.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00534-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.887919 | 6,220 | 3.625 | 4 | The extract provided does not discuss soft skills or include any scenarios related to communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving. It is an academic text focused on the Kurgan hypothesis and the origins of the Indo-European language, presenting historical, archaeological, and linguistic information. Therefore, it does not meet any of the criteria for soft skills development.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
|High Tech Pen Pals|
|Writing Across Content Areas|
|What’s a Wiki?|
High Tech Pen Pals
Geography comes alive when students are partnered with a “high tech pen pal.” The first curriculum unit begins with mapping lessons so that students know where their school is located in relation to their watershed. This is the perfect opportunity for students to introduce themselves and talk about what it’s like where they live. While the re-stating of facts is important, teachers should challenge their students to make comparisons by asking questions. Does it snow where you live? How much precipitation do you get? What is the name of your river? Can you swim in it? Do boats travel on it? What kinds of pollution are in your river? It’s easy for students to stay motivated when they ask questions and get answers from their pen pal!
Partner classes come from all over the U.S. as well as several other countries. As you can imagine, the different climates and ecosystems provide an incredible opportunity for research and comparison. If you’re not from New Mexico, we’ve included a few quick facts about New Mexico’s geography, climate and our largest river, the Rio Grande.
Writing Across the Content Areas
Writing in the content areas has been a very hot topic recently, because it is a powerful tool to reinforce learning. We know that it is practically impossible to cover all the curriculum standards without integrating them somehow, and writing about science or social studies concepts is a great way to do this! We will provide writing prompts and assignment ideas for each RiverXchange activity, to help you address specific language arts standards and writing formats such as the friendly letter, the narrative, the persuasive essay, and RACE paragraphs.
The pen pal component of the project creates an “audience” which motivates students because they know their partners will be reading what they write, and they are eager to read and comment on their partners’ pages. After each guest speaker visits the classroom, students are expected to synthesize their learning into an explanation for their pen pals. Presenters notice that RiverXchange students pay close attention because they know they’ll need to use the information later! Writing about the lessons requires students not only to recall but to make connections and think in-depth about the information presented. The classes that have the most fun are the ones that write often – making a connection and comparing issues with their pen pals in a faraway place really adds to the learning experience.
As teacher Jody Schneider of Puesta del Sol Elementary says, “Writing is typically an area where most 5th graders struggle. By having an opportunity to, again, use skills in authentic situations through the use of wikis to share information with pen pals, it makes the learning process more meaningful.” Ingrid Fason of Maggie Cordova Elementary believes the project will have a lasting impact, because “My students are retaining the information they are learning about because they have the opportunity to re-learn or re-teach every time they post on their wikis.”
Our overarching goal for the program is that students understand and be able to formulate reasoned answers to The Big Water Questions – such as What is a watershed? Who are the other water users in our society? and How can I protect our water?
What’s a Wiki?
In addition to the curriculum and coordination of guest speakers and a field trip, RiverXchange integrates a technology known as a “wiki.” The word “wiki” is a Hawaiian word meaning “fast,” but it also refers to one or more web pages that can be modified by anyone who has permission to access the page(s). A wiki is simply a collection of pages known as a “workspace” or “website” that can be public or private. A well known public wiki is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. A wiki provides a way for multiple users to create and edit one or more pages. In other words, information can be written and compiled collaboratively, which is an attractive feature for internal communication for many organizations.
There are important differences between a wiki and a traditional public website. The wiki format is very simple and does not require special knowledge of HTML or website code. The wiki administrator is able to set the level of privacy so that it affects the entire wiki, or by individual page or user. The wiki also contains a blogging feature on each page. A “blog” is short for “web log” and refers to a type of website or a part of a website. The wiki blogging feature provides a way for viewers to comment on the information on a particular page.
As RiverXchange wiki administrators, we do not allow the public to access the wikis — ever! Access is limited to teachers and students. Teachers and students are allowed to edit individual wiki pages and blog, but they do not have administrative privileges to alter major wiki website components.
Prior to the mandatory RiverXchange teacher training in September, we will create one wiki for each class that contains a home page and individual student pages (about 30 pages total). See sample screen shot to the left.
We will then allow each class to view its partner’s wiki. This means all students (and their teacher) in one class will be able to read and comment on all pages of their partner’s wiki; however, we partner students one-to-one so that they will focus their attention on their own page and their pen pal’s page. In other words, the students’ job is to write about their experiences on their own student page, and then read/comment on their pen pal’s page. | <urn:uuid:1396905b-bb04-4461-96ac-ef29b2eb9622> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://riverxchange.com/teachers-2/technology-and-pen-pals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207985.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00534-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949279 | 1,190 | 3.625 | 4 | The extract scores high due to its comprehensive coverage of soft skills, including communication, teamwork, and critical thinking. It features realistic scenarios, such as the "High Tech Pen Pals" program, which integrates emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, and practical applications. The use of wikis and blogging promotes digital literacy, cultural awareness, and intercultural fluency.
Educational score: 5 | 5 |
English 313. Early Modern English Poetry
We begin with Skelton and proceed to sonnets by Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Drayton, Spenser, Shakespeare and Mary Wroth. Various theoretical perspectives will help us to consider how gender is constructed by the sonneteers as well as Jonson, Herrick, Queen Elizabeth I and Amelia Lanyer. Through our close reading, we’ll examine the literary conventions of form and meter and the divergence from such conventions made by Donne, Herbert, Marvell, Milton and Bradstreet. | <urn:uuid:fe582e4b-828b-4c01-ba1f-7bc425e565f5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://wheatoncollege.edu/catalog/eng_313/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207985.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00534-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911545 | 113 | 3.140625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on literary analysis and theoretical perspectives. It doesn't provide opportunities for practical application, problem-solving, or development of skills like communication, leadership, or teamwork. The content is limited to theoretical knowledge of English poetry.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Get 5 free worksheets per month plus activities, articles and science projects.
G is for grapes! Practice writing G in uppercase and lowercase form. Then think of two objects beginning with the letter G and draw and label them in the space provided.
For more alphabet practice, click here.
Tuition-free online school for Washington students.
Help your early reader get ahead with Education.com's new online games. | <urn:uuid:3c2ebe9c-ef30-4069-9c96-4a51dc90f861> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/alphabet-practice-g/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207985.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00534-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.828609 | 90 | 3.953125 | 4 | The extract lacks meaningful discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on basic educational resources and activities for early readers. It does not provide opportunities for complex problem-solving, leadership, or advanced communication. The content is limited to superficial coverage of basic concepts without practical application or real-world context.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
By Jane Black
Special to The Washington Post
— The slogan "Think Different" has become a mantra for a generation of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. So when high-tech-millionaire-turned-restaurateur Kimbal Musk envisioned a network of Learning Gardens for public schools, he didn't settle for the usual framed, raised beds.
Instead, he thought of swooping, curved planters made of food-grade plastic, each with an irrigation system tucked away inside: a "product" that could be replicated quickly, at relatively affordable prices.
Product is not a word usually associated with organic temples of experiential learning. But like chef-restaurateur Alice Waters, who launched the American school-garden craze 15 years ago in Berkeley, Calif., Musk, 39, says such gardens are essential to reversing obesity, which now afflicts one in three American children.
According to the Journal of American Dietetics, sixth-grade students involved in a garden-based nutrition education program increased their fruit and vegetable consumption by 2.5 servings per day, more than doubling their overall consumption. A class of fifth-graders who participated in garden-based lessons scored 15 points higher on science tests than students who learned in a traditional classroom.
"For me, there's no point unless we are reaching a critical mass of people," says Musk. "It's not that small projects aren't doing good things. If you serve four schools, you can feel very good about yourself. . . . The only way to solve the problem is to reach all of America's 100,000 schools."
Musk's first step toward mass-producing school gardens is to install 60 Learning Gardens in Chicago, 60 in his home state of Colorado and 60 more across the country over the next year. An announcement with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city's schools chief, Jean-Claude Brizard, could come as soon as Thursday, depending on the city's teachers' strike.
"Learning Gardens are great for Chicago and for students, and I'm pleased that 60 more of these gardens are coming to our schools," Emanuel said via e-mail. "These gardens teach our kids about sustainability and help them learn to make healthy food choices in an engaging way. By developing healthy lifestyles and gaining the hands-on experience of working outside, the Learning Gardens improve the lives of thousands of our students and their families."
Musk left his native South Africa in 1991 for Canada. But he soon migrated down to Silicon Valley where, with his brother Elon, he started a software company called Zip2. The brothers sold it in 1999 to computer firm Compaq. That year, Elon started a new company called PayPal in which Kimbal was an investor.
With money in the bank, Musk headed to New York to explore his interest in cooking. He enrolled at the French Culinary Institute and graduated right before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the weeks following, he cooked for firefighters and police working near Ground Zero.
"The energy I felt — that awful and incredible energy — made me want to open a restaurant," he says. "One with that sense of community I had experienced in New York."
The result was the Kitchen, which opened in 2004 in Boulder, Colo. It was a farm-to-table restaurant before the term became fashionable; supporting farmers was one way to build community. The Kitchen offered students cooking lessons and took them on farm tours. Soon, it started raising money for the Growe Foundation, a local school-garden organization.
Colorado might seem like an odd place to become radicalized about the threat of obesity. It is the leanest state in the country with an adult obesity rate of 20.7 percent. But the rate of childhood obesity is rising faster there than in any other state except Nevada, according to the National Survey of Children's Health. Musk thought school gardens could halt, and possibly reverse, those numbers. In 2011, he and his business partner, chef Hugo Matheson, established a nonprofit organization called the Kitchen Community to bring Learning Gardens to schools across the country.
The gardens are designed to fit into any school footprint, whether it has acres of surrounding fields or only a small rooftop. Designed by Musk's wife, artist Jennifer Lewin, the plastic containers come in three sizes and fit together to create an array of curves and spirals. Additional pieces create shaded areas, benches for seating and "art poles" for students to decorate.
So far, the costs are still high. A large garden and installation can cost as much as $50,000 — a huge sum for schools in challenging economic times. (Through fundraising — JP Morgan Chase has been the lead donor in Chicago — the Kitchen Community has raised $1.3 million to cover the costs.) But the modular nature of the gardens means that a small plot can cost as little as $3,000. As the program grows, Musk says, the costs will come down.
The planters are all but indestructible. And that's important, says Musk, because Learning Gardens are integrated into school playgrounds.
"I wanted a place kids could hang out," he says. "The layout is like a maze. It's easy to run around. It's easy for them to come check on their planters. It's a place that they'd like to be."
At Irma C. Ruiz Elementary in Chicago, the Learning Garden is called Playground 3. Unveiled in May, it has 19 planters, in which the students grow collard greens, peppers, Swiss chard, tomatoes and herbs. There's a metal arbor with large rocks beneath it that serve as chairs, tables and objects to climb on.
Seventh-grader Luna McWilliams says the garden is different from the playground but just as fun: "The garden constantly offers a place to work and learn in nature. I find it a lot of fun to care for the plants, and I know my classmates do as well."
Principal Dana Butler says the garden has been transformational "in the sense that beautification and things growing distract" from some ugly realities of the school's tough neighborhood.
"It's one more opportunity for authentic learning," he says. It's "an outdoor science lab. It's about health and restoration. It's a lot of wonderful things that the kids can be a part of and be connected to."
Butler applauds Musk's ambition, but he cautions that Silicon Valley timelines won't be easy to pull off in a byzantine public school system, where even conducting a simple survey, as the Kitchen Community suggested last spring, requires multiple levels of approval and translation into foreign languages. "They need to come to terms with working with [Chicago Public Schools], which doesn't work in ways that many people might think are efficient or common sense. I think they will be successful if they do it slowly, if they don't try to do too much too fast," he says.
But the challenges inherent in the country's third-largest school district are exactly what attracted Musk to Chicago. The city has alarming rates of childhood obesity: More than 20 percent of low-income 2- to 4-year-olds are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 14 percent nationally.
"If we can make it work in Chicago, with harsh demographics, the diversity, the difficult weather," says Musk, "we will prove it can be done."
- - -
Black is a former Washington Post Food section staffer now based in Brooklyn, N.Y. | <urn:uuid:34a849dc-8746-4745-9cc3-e145e1d4e1fd> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.effinghamdailynews.com/featuresfamily/x2056653791/To-teach-kids-about-food-put-planters-in-the-playground/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207985.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00534-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972364 | 1,555 | 2.6875 | 3 | The extract scores 2 points. It provides superficial coverage of basic communication and teamwork concepts, such as community building and collaboration, but lacks meaningful depth or practical application. The discussion of Kimbal Musk's initiative to bring Learning Gardens to schools highlights his vision and leadership, but the extract does not delve into nuanced interaction or complex problem-solving opportunities.
Educational score: 2 | 2 |
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Wildlife Friendly Plants: Make Your Garden A Haven For Beneficial Insects, Amphibians And Birds
Author(s): Creeser, R.; S. Wooster
Publisher: Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books
Subject: Gardening, Wildlife
Comments: From Amazon.com: Wildlife Friendly Plants is a practical guide specifically designed to help gardeners chose the best plants for encouraging and supporting wildlife. By attracting beneficial wildlife, gardeners can eliminate the use of a range of chemicals and create a healthier environment. This book is intended for any size garden from large to small in the city or country. Wildlife-Friendly Plants includes: - Beautifully photographed directory of wildlife friendly plants - Helpful step-by-step projects for planting, pruning and dividing - Extended backflap with a guide to the symbols used throughout the book. Many of these plants are perfect for use in small spaces, such as a patio, terrace or window box. With the valuable suggestions for use, planting and maintenance, anyone can create a safe haven for beneficial insects, amphibians and birds. Wildlife-Friendly Plants is the ideal book for gardening and wildlife enthusiasts everywhere.
Last Updated: 2007-01-01
Northeast Midatlantic Southeast Southwest Midwest Rocky Mountain California Northwest Hawaii Canada Mexico Texas | <urn:uuid:c6f9f95c-65e7-4af6-bf7c-a496cb90d264> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.wildflower.org/bibliography/show.php?id=966 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207985.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00534-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.85245 | 282 | 3.21875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on gardening and wildlife. It provides basic information without practical application or complex problem-solving opportunities. Cultural awareness and digital literacy are minimal.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Results 1–6 of 6 for "Psychology Topic"X related to "Origins and Development of..." Refine Your Search Refine Your Search TopicTherapy (2)Bipolar disorder (1)Children (1)Emotional health (1)Schizophrenia (1) 4 more... [+] Teens (1)Trauma (1)Violence (1)Women & men (1)Hide detailsDocument TypePsychology TopicX Results 1–6 of 6 Relevance Title A-Z Title Z-A Newest First Oldest First Sort by: 1.SchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a serious mental illness characterized by incoherent or illogical thoughts, bizarre behavior and speech, and delusions or hallucinations, such as hearing voices.Psychology Topic 2.ChildrenPsychologists can help children cope with such problems as anxiety and depression, hyperactivity, conflicts with parents and stressful events like divorce or a parent’s death.Psychology Topic 3.TeensTeens are undergoing the biological changes of puberty and experiencing cognitive changes that allow them to think more abstractly. Includes resilience tips for teens and communication tips for parents.Psychology Topic 4.Bipolar DisorderBipolar disorder is a serious mental illness in which common emotions become intensely and often unpredictably magnified, including manic episodes — abnormally elevated or irritable moods — and possibly depression.Psychology Topic 5.TraumaTrauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Reactions such as shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms.Psychology Topic 6.Intimate Partner ViolenceThis brochure utilizes psychological research to highlight the psychological consequences of intimate partner violence, the forms of psychological aggression, how to screen/recognize signs of violence, as well as safety planning information. Psychology Topic Relevance Title A-Z Title Z-A Newest First Oldest First Sort by: ADVERTISEMENT Results 1–6 of 6 for "Psychology Topic"X related to "Origins and Development of..." | <urn:uuid:23f05b03-360d-47e0-b17e-569a970f1be8> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.apa.org/related.aspx?query=PageID:7-65038-64&fq=DocumentTypeFilt:%22Psychology%20Topic%22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609526311.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005206-00046-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.879046 | 426 | 2.8125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on psychology topics without practical application or professional development opportunities. It provides basic information on mental health issues, but does not integrate communication, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Using the fundamentals of antiarmor unit employment increases the probability of destroying targets and enhances the survivability of the antiarmor elements. The fundamentals are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Because of their assigned tasks, their relative positions (with respect to each other and the enemy), and their inherent capabilities, units give mutual support to each other. Mutual support is established by employing the TOW by section and by overlapping sectors of fire between sections.
- Employing by Section. Employment of TOW by section (Figure 2-1) establishes mutual support between two squads. If one squad is attacked or forced to displace, the other squad can continue to cover the assigned sector. To achieve this, the squads position themselves so that fires directed at one squad do not suppress the other squad.
- Overlapping Sectors of Fire. Overlapping sectors of fire (Figure 2-2) is essential to mutual support. It must be accomplished with primary, alternate, or secondary sectors of fire.
Figure 2-1. Employment by section.
Antiarmor units are vulnerable to attack by dismounted infantry. To protect antiarmor units, position them near friendly infantry units. Antiarmor squads do not need to be in the same place as infantry, but the infantry should be able to cover dismounted avenues of approach to the antiarmor positions. When moving with infantry, antiarmor units provide their own local security.
Antiarmor squads and sections should be positioned to engage tanks from the flank (Figure 2-3). Frontal shots at enemy armor are less desirable because--
- A tank's armor protection is greatest in the front.
- A tank's firepower and crew are normally oriented to the front.
- Frontal engagement increases the chance of detection and suppression.
- A tank is a bigger target from the flank.
Figure 2-3. Engage from the flank.
An advantage of a TOW over a tank's main gun is its accuracy beyond 2,000 meters (main gun effective range). The accuracy of a tank's main gun decreases with increased range while that of a TOW does not. Positioning TOW to exploit its maximum range decreases vulnerability to detection and return fire. This range advantage, called standoff, is the difference between the tank's maximum effective range and the TOW's maximum range (Figure 2-4). At its maximum range of 3,750 meters, a TOW 2 has a 1,750-meter standoff advantage against a tank with maximum effective range of about 2,000 meters.
Figure 2-4. Standoff range.
|NOTE: The T-64B and T-80 Soviet main battle tank can fire ATGM through their main gun tubes. The postulated range is 4 kilometers, in which case the standoff does not exist. Threat armored vehicles can also fire HE to suppress TOW gunners at ranges greater than 2,000 meters.|
- Cover is protection from the fire of enemy weapons and from enemy observation
( Figures 2-5 and 2-6). It may be natural or man-made.
(1) Natural cover includes--
- Reverse slopes.
- Fighting positions.
(2) Man-made cover includes--
Figure 2-5. Cover.
Figure 2-6. Reverse slope.
Concealment is protection from observation (Figure 2-7). Concealment
hides a soldier, unit, or position from ground and aerial observers
and gunners. Concealment includes not only camouflage but also light,
noise, movement, and odor discipline. With recent improvements in
night vision and other detection devices, darkness alone does not
constitute concealment. Leaders must choose inconspicuous positions
that avoid skylining the launcher.
Figure 2-7. Concealment.
- Cover and concealment are critical to the survival of antiarmor weapons systems. The TOW system has several inherent weaknesses (long time of flight, slow rate of fire, distinctive signature, gunner exposed during tracking [except ITV]). The effects of the weaknesses can be reduced through cover and concealment. Leaders should look for terrain that affords good cover and concealment. Conspicuous terrain features, such as lone buildings or trees, hilltops, and other obvious positions, should be avoided. To further reduce vulnerability to enemy fire, antiarmor weapons should be dispersed laterally and in depth so that no two weapons can be suppressed at the same time by a single weapon. If possible, antiarmor squads should be at least 300 meters apart (Figure 2-8).
- These aspects of cover and concealment also apply to movement and the
selection of routes.
Figure 2-8. Dispersion between squads.
Antiarmor fire should be employed in depth. In the offense, routes and firing positions should be selected to support the forward movement of attacking units. In the defense, antiarmor squads may be either forward initially and moved to in-depth positions as the enemy closes; or, they may be positioned initially in depth.
Skillful integration of infantry, engineer, and indirect-fire assets will significantly improve the survivability and lethality of antiarmor units.
- Infantry is needed to provide local security, to emplace obstacles
(wire, mines), and to engage dismounted infantry and armor.
Engineer assets assist in shaping the engagement area by emplacing
obstacles that slow or temporarily stop the enemy. This increases the
enemy's time in the kill zone and causes him to present a flank shot
as he maneuvers around an obstacle.
- Indirect fires (artillery and mortars) are used to slow the enemy rate of advance, break up formations, cause vehicles to button up, and suppress accompanying artillery and ATGM. They are also used to help conceal friendly launch signatures and cover the movement of TOW squads from one position to another. TOW platoon leaders can request indirect fires by contacting either the battalion mortar platoon or the direct support artillery battalion. Frequencies, call signs, and priorities of fire must be coordinated.
|Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list| | <urn:uuid:6b29b51c-97e7-48f9-b9c9-977f57fadb8b> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/7-91/F791_3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609526311.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005206-00046-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918257 | 1,249 | 2.765625 | 3 | The extract provides detailed information on military tactics and strategies for antiarmor units, but lacks discussion of soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and leadership. The content is focused on technical and tactical aspects, with no apparent consideration for emotional intelligence, critical thinking, or cultural awareness.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
This is not a traditional review. In keeping with this blog’s function as my shared file cabinet, this post will be something like a précis /notes with a few of my comments in italics.
Medical anthropologists Ron Barrett and George Aremelagos argue that there have been common factors in the disease ecology that has governed all three main epidemiological transitions in human health. They argue that there is nothing fundamentally new about the driving factors of the current ecology of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. In all three transitions, human factors have created the ecology for acute infectious disease to thrive.
Concept: “syndemics: interactions between multiple diseases that exacerbate the negative effects of one or more diseases” (p. 10). Examples: co-infections of HIV, and combinations of infection and chronic respiratory disease (asthma etc).
Metaphor: “seed and soil” where the microbe is the seed and the ecology is the soil. Historically used by physicians who accepted Germ theory but practiced environmental medicine (sanitarians) especially in the gap between the beginning of germ theory and the availability of antibiotics. I really like this metaphor; it still works today.
- Important as our evolutionary context, first 100,000 years of human history. (that’s about 90% of total human history). At its peak only 8 million people globally; small, nomadic groups rarely in contact.
- Temporary shelter and carried little with them to carry vectors (or fomites?). Hunter gatherers maintained near zero population growth. More diverse nutrition but could not support large groups. Little hierarchy within the group so few inequalities (at least not consistently detectable in the osteological record.)
- Nutrition is closely tied to immunological competence. Protein deficiencies reduces competence to the level of AIDS patients. Nomads can move to find better nutrition, avoiding ‘famine foods’. Diets higher in lean meats and fiber, but low in carbohydrates.
- Too small to support acute epidemics (ran out of hosts too soon) but at an increased risk for parasites. Heirloom parasites like pin worms and lice; souvenir parasites picked up while foraging like ticks and tapeworms. Mostly chronic infections that could remain with the nomads until they could be transmitted to new groups. New zoonoses that can be passed human to human contracted from hunting would ‘flash out’ in a small group. Groups too small for diseases like measles, smallpox or influenza.
First epidemiological transition – Agricultural revolution
- The first transition comes with people settle down and form villages. Settlement and agriculture allow populations to grow large enough to support acute epidemic disease and animal domestication brings humans in prolonged contact with animals sparking some important zoonotic diseases.
- They note that agriculture and settlement begin in multiple parts of the world independently but not at the same time. It took about 9000 years for 99.99 % of the population to shift to farming and domestic animals as their primary nutrition source. Once the shift to agriculture comes, there is no going back. They debate which comes first, settlement or agriculture, but they note that in the end for heath it doesn’t matter. (The length of time here has important implications for the incomplete nature of the second transition.)
- Decrease in overall health seen in all societies that shifted to agriculture. Correlations between more/better grave goods and better health; ie. social inequity was bad for health as early as the neolithic. Very high childhood mortalities bring the overall lifespan down considerably. Settlement increased densities of humans and newly domestic animals making conditions ripe for the first acute epidemics and zoonotic transfers. Most zoonotic transfers in this period come from domestic animals.
- Nutrition suffers with settlement. Reliance on a monoculture makes them vulnerable to bad years and nutritional deficiencies of essential nutrients not found in the monoculture. There is a general reduction in stature, increase in signs of anemia, and increase in osteological signs of infection. Examples: Nubia and Dickson Mounds, IL, USA. Correlation of age with skeletal pathologies shows that is health declines are not due to the ‘osteological paradox’ (more pathologies in stronger people because they survive what would have killed others).
Second epidemiological transition – Industrial revolution
- Transition marked by decreasing deaths due to infectious disease and an increase in chronic diseases. Increasing life expectancy due in large part to decreasing childhood mortality. Total human population soars.
- Germ theory vs. Sanitation reform: Germ theory is associated with quarantine tied to power of the church and state. (??) Sanitary reform has greater success in controlling diseases like cholera and food-bourne diseases. Sanitary reformers focused on building infrastructure, improving living conditions and personal hygiene. “Germ theorists had begun a revolution in medical thinking, but in the realm of medical practice, they could do little more than agree with existing recommendations of the miasmists.” “with the exception of a few vaccines and surgical asepsis, Germ Theory offered little…until well into the 20th century”. Not surprising that germ theory didn’t make much difference until antibiotics came along.
- McKeown Thesis: “identifies nutrition as the primary determinant in the decline of infection-related mortality” Improved nutrition best explains increasing population growth in different countries in a short time period; improved agricultural methods and transport of food. Urban growth with industrialization increased crowding and decreasing sanitation leaving nutrition as the cause for decreasing infectious disease. Correlation between increasing height and decreasing infant mortality, increasing maternal height (indicating good nutrition) increased indicators of infant health so that improving nutrition improved health from generation to generation.
- McKeown’s critics: error rates in bills of mortality obscure particularly respiratory infections in the elderly. They also believe that he underestimates the significance of smallpox vaccination in decreasing death rates. Greatest criticism is that McKeown places too much emphasis on nutrition over non-medicinal factors.
- “Comparing the Agricultural Revolution with the Industrial Revolution, we find the same human determinants of infectious disease: a) subsistence, via its affects on nutritional status and immunity; b) settlement, via its effects on population densisty, living conditions, and sanitation; and c) social organization, via distributions of these resources and their differences within and between groups…. As such, the First and Second Transition could be seen as two sides of the same epidemiological coin with human actions as the basic currency.” (p. 61)
- Second transition is incomplete in many countries. Only seven nations began the transition before 1850 and 17 more by 1900 with most transitioning after World War II. “The ‘low mortality club’ consisted of richer nations whose life expectancies converged at around 75 years old at the turn of the millennium. The ‘high mortality club’ consisted of poorer nations whose life expectancies converged at the same time around 50 years of age.” (p. 66) The poorer nations have relied more heavily on vaccines and drugs as a buffer against living conditions to achieve the transition. Drug resistant pathogens removes this buffer for poorer nations. High childhood moralities continued in the poorer countries for the same reasons as in the first transition.
- Chronic diseases make people susceptible to different infections. example: diabetes + TB, infectious diseases causing cancer: HPV, H. pylori, EBV (lymphoma).
- Developed world vulnerable to “reimportation epidemics” from poorer nations with agents like smallpox (prior to eradication). Increased speed of air travel allows people to travel between high and low disease areas during the incubation period through entry ports without detection.
Third epidemiological transition (current)
- Convergence of chronic and infectious diseases in a global human disease ecology marks the Third epidemiological transition.
- Human health determinants remain subsistence, settlement and social organization.
- 335 novel pathogens discovered 1940-2004, mostly after 1980, 60% of which are zoonoses and 70% of those come from wild animals. With long exposure to zoonoses from domestic animals it makes sense for most new pathogens today to come from wild animals; also due to encroachment and habitat destruction.
- Challenges of new zoonotic pathogens: establishing animal to human transmission, then human to human transmission, and finally human population to population. Chatter is a pathogen trying to establishing the animal to human transmission but not yet getting the human to human. Chatter is often viral but can be other microbes as well. Viral chatter is a transitional moment in evolution; purely biological for the pathogen but primarily cultural for humans (human practices that help the pathogen make the transition by our behavior).
- Attenuation hypothesis: evolutionary interests favor microbes not killing their hosts too soon. Works for the first transition when population groups were widely scattered.
- Virulence hypothesis: Ewald’s concluded that evolution favors virulence for pathogens with multiple hosts. (ex. plague). We can’t take either hypothesis too far as both have contradicting examples.
- We need to shift from just looking for drugs to combat pathogens and spend more time on factors of human ecology.
- An interesting chapter on antibiotics and evolution.
Concluding focus: To dispel three myths
- Emerging infections are a new phenomenon. They are not. This is why the emerging infections page on this blog begins with emergences in Antiquity / Prehistoric.
- Emerging and re-emerging infections are a natural or spontaneous phenomena. We have a part to play in microbial co-evolution. Epidemiological transitions are intended to balance microbiology in understanding these infections.
- Determinants of disease are different today than in the past. They are not.
“The purpose of this Unnatural History is to reveal the macroscopic determinants of human infection just as the germ theorists once revealed their microscopic determinants…. our approach has been one of both seed and soil, acknowledging the importance of pathogens while stressing their evolution in response to human activities: the ways we feed ourselves, the ways we populate and live together, and the ways we relate to each other for better or worse.” (p. 111)
I’m not an anthropologist so I’m not really going to look at this like an anthropologist. Demographics shifts are what they are, facts. The underlying factors / variables - subsistence (nutrition), settlement (living conditions/infrastructure), and social inequalities –are the same under all three transitions. As these conditions vary, so do the demographics. This is very useful; a reminder of the importance of human disease ecology. The Unnatural History of the title is reference to human manipulation of the environment creating the conditions for emerging infections. Epidemics are not ‘acts of god’, or simply a natural process that we are helpless to stop. We play our part. Often drugs are the easy way out of the problem, far easier and cheaper than building infrastructure or improving living conditions.
The paradigm of epidemiological transitions is an anthropological tool. I don’t really have a practical use for labeling ‘transitions’. As both the second and third transitions are incomplete, they are not of much use to me as concepts. The shortness of these transitions makes me wonder if we are not really looking at just one transition since ca. 1800 that is yet incomplete. It is more important to me to look at these underlying variables and their outcomes at specific times and places. From my point of view, taking generalizations about epidemiological transitions as more than a guide for research or a teaching paradigm can be problematic.
This is a short book and yet I probably highlighted more than any other e-book that I’ve read. The focus here is more theory than details. Some of their plague information is a little out of date but it doesn’t really detract from their main points. It’s a valuable resource for thinking about microbe-human co-evolution. | <urn:uuid:217136e0-e122-4b7f-8853-5e1a31bf0554> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://contagions.wordpress.com/category/public-health-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533957.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00078-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928829 | 2,502 | 3.078125 | 3 | The extract lacks direct discussion of soft skills, focusing instead on epidemiological transitions and disease ecology. However, it indirectly touches on critical thinking, problem-solving, and cultural awareness through its analysis of complex health issues and historical contexts. The text does not provide straightforward communication scenarios, team dynamics, or practical applications for professional development, limiting its score.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
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For regulatory purposes, the Indiana well drilling statute defines ground water as "water occurring beneath the surface of the ground, regardless of location or form" (Indiana Code 25-39-2-10).
Many people think that ground water collects in, and is withdrawn from, underground lakes and rivers. True underground rivers-water-filled caves, for instance-are rare. Most ground water exists in small pores between rock particles and in narrow fractures in rock formations.
The well drilling statute defines an aquifer as "any underground geologic formation (consolidated or unconsolidated) that has the ability to receive, store, and transmit water in amounts sufficient for the satisfaction of any beneficial use" (Indiana Code 25-39-2-10). Consolidated aquifers exist in bedrock formations, such as sandstone, limestone, and shale. Unconsolidated aquifers consist of loose material, typically sand and gravel deposited by rivers or glaciers.
Ground water does not stay in one place. Gravity causes ground water to flow downward and outward. Porosity-the size and number of void spaces in the formation-determines how much water can be stored in an aquifer. Permeability-the ability of water to move through void spaces-indicates how quickly the water will travel through the aquifer.
Unconsolidated aquifers usually transmit water more efficiently than bedrock aquifers. Ground water flows easily through the spaces between loose sand and gravel particles. Water wells drilled into sand and gravel aquifers are often very productive.
Water flows out of pores and through fractures in consolidated bedrock aquifers. Productive water wells drilled into bedrock penetrate aquifers in fractured limestone or shale, or porous sandstone. Unfractured limestone, and non-porous formations such as shale or siltstone, are likely to be dry.
You can call the Division of Water and ask a staff geologist for assistance. When you phone our office (317-232-4160 or toll free 877-928-3755), tell the customer services representative that you need ground water information. Please be ready with information that will help the on-call geologist locate your area of interest, such as the county, address, and nearby major roads.
You can also do your own ground water investigation.
* Generalized ground water resource reports and maps are available from the Division of Water for many areas of Indiana (Publications list).
* More than 330,000 Indiana water well records are available online in the Water Well Record Database. You can search for records of existing water wells near your area of interest if you know the township, range, and section for your tract (e.g., Township 16 North, Range 3 East, Section 31). This information is in county plat books and on some local property tax bills. To learn more about using the well record database, use Database search help.
Ground Water Resource Reports and Maps may be accessed by county or by type of map or report, for example: Ground Water Atlas, Ground Water Bulletins, etc. Please refer to the Ground Water Assessment Maps and Publications (by county) page.
Another source for ground water information is the Division of Water online Publications list.
The Division of Water has compiled limited ambient ground water chemistry data for several river basins. Refer to the Division of Water Publications list, catalog #108. This data can be purchased on CDs.
There are many online sources for water quality information. The Purdue University Extension Service offers several publications about home drinking water problems, testing, and treatment. Water quality publications from Purdue Extension can be found online at:
The DNR Division of Water does not investigate water contamination reports. The Division does not have jurisdiction when ground water or surface water is contaminated. For water contamination concerns and information, please contact the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Office of Water Quality:
Phone: 800-451-6027 (toll free in Indiana) or 317-232-8603 in the Indianapolis area
Report Environmental Emergencies: 888-233-7745
Indiana's water well construction standards were established in 1988 by the Water Well Drilling Contractors act (IC 25-39) and the Water Well Drillers rules (312 IAC 13 .pdf file). Many of the standards are aimed at preventing ground water contamination.
Equipment Not Regulated-The Indiana well drilling statute and rules do not regulate pipes and electrical connections between the well and the building, or well-related equipment such as pressure tanks inside the building. Pumps must be installed at a depth to allow for drawdown caused by pumping and by seasonal water level changes, but no other aspects of pump installation and equipment are regulated.
Water well drillers are required by law (IC 25-39-4-1 and 312 IAC 13-2-6) to keep an accurate record of each well and to submit the record to the Division of Water. A landowner can ask the driller for a copy of the well record as a pre-condition to drilling the well. A well record must include the following information:
1. Method of well construction.
2. Proposed use of well-for example, residential, industrial, monitoring, or dewatering
3. Specifications for well casing and well screen, including diameter
4. Total depth of well
5. Static water level in well (feet below ground surface)
6. Pumping information, including the following:
7. Well owner name, address, and telephone number (and builder, if different from owner)
8. Drilling company name and address, and equipment operator name and license number
9. Type and thickness of formations or materials encountered, including color, hardness, and geological description
10. Type, depth, and thickness of grouting materials and method of grout installation
11. Completion date
12. Specific driving directions to well, including reference to nearest major highway or street intersection
13. Affirmation of accuracy of information on the form, signed by water well driller or driller's authorized representative
If you believe that a well driller installed your well improperly, contact the DNR Division of Water for assistance. When you phone our office (317-232-4160 or toll free 877-928-3755), tell the customer services representative that you want to speak to the Water Rights & Use Section.
Water wells installed since 1988 must have a capped extension of the casing or pitless adapter unit sticking up at least one foot above ground level. This riser (as it is also called) will be steel or white PVC and should be easy to see, unless the previous owner has hidden it with shrubbery or a lawn ornament. Many wells drilled before 1988 were also equipped with pitless adapters and had exposed risers.
Some older wells were completed in a pit or covered with dirt and are not visible at the surface. Locating these wells may require digging with a shovel or backhoe. Water well records rarely show well locations in relation to buildings. One option might be to hire a private contractor experienced in locating utility lines to trace the water service pipe from the house to the well location.
According to 312 IAC 13-3-2 (Rules for Water Well Drillers) a water well must "use every natural protection" to maintain the quality of ground water encountered during well construction. The well must also be located "as far as practicable" from any known contamination source. Neither the statute nor the rules specify separation distances between new water wells and contamination sources. Many drillers try to observe the recommended distances in Indiana State Board of Health Bulletin PWS 2 (1983). Bulletin PWS 2 recommends a 50-foot separation between a septic tank and a domestic water well, and 100 feet between an absorption field and a water well. The Indiana State Department of Health regulates on-site sewage disposal and requires a new septic tank to be located 50 feet from an existing well. DNR does not regulate the distance between a new well and an existing septic tank.
A person may not be a water well driller in Indiana without a license issued by the DNR Division of Water. To qualify for a water well drilling license, a person must
The Division of Water sends applicants a free packet that includes study materials (the Indiana drilling statute and rules), forms, and an information sheet. The Division usually offers five exams during the year - at the Indiana Ground Water Association conference in February or March and at Government Center South in Indianapolis in April, June, August, and November.
A well driller must keep an accurate record for each well drilled and submit a copy of the well record to the DNR Division of Water within 30 days after completing the well.
Most licensed well drillers install pumps in the wells they drill. However, pump installation is not regulated by the Indiana well drilling statute and rules, and pump installation is not a licensed profession.
The Division of Water can provide a list of all water well contractors with licensed drillers in your region. Always hire a licensed driller. Licensed drillers have passed a competency exam administered by the Division and are responsible for meeting Indiana well construction standards. Future well owners should compare prices and services before selecting a contractor. Make sure you have a signed contract covering matters such as charge per foot, materials, dry holes, and damage caused by drilling operations. Home improvement contracts are required by IC 24-5-11 for residential work exceeding $150.
Indiana water well drillers are required to submit a well record to the Division of Water within 30 days after completing a well. This well record is a state form and includes location, well depth and diameter, amount of water produced during the pumping test, and geologic materials encountered during drilling. Ask your water well driller for a copy of the well record and insist that the driller promptly send the required form to the Division of Water. A record of your water supply is crucial information for you and for future owners of your property.
Well drillers are required to fill out a one-page record (State Form 35680) for every well. Well records in the Division of Water are public records, and are used for water resource and environmental evaluations. They compose Indiana's largest database of shallow sub-surface geology. Information from the records is in a searchable online database. The Division retains the original paper records and stores record images on CD-ROM.
A high-capacity well is a water well capable of pumping at least 100,000 gallons of ground water per day (70 gallons per minute), regardless of how much water is actually pumped. A well with this much pumping capacity would also be classified as a significant water withdrawal facility (SWWF). SWWFs must be registered with the DNR Division of Water (at no cost), and water withdrawals from them must be reported annually.
No permit is required for a high-capacity water well; however, it may be necessary to register the well as a significant water withdrawal facility (SWWF). A SWWF includes any combination of wells, surface water intakes, and pumping apparatus that supply, or can supply, at least 100,000 gallons of water per day to a common collection or distribution point. A person who owns such a combination must register those facilities as a SWWF with the DNR Division of Water. The facility must be registered within three months after it is completed. For more information, consult the Non-rule Policy Document, Registration of Significant Water Withdrawal Facilities.
Registration forms for significant water withdrawal facilities, including general instructions, are available online-State Form 20094 (R3/8-98).
State statute IC 14-25-4 is known informally as the "water rights law." It protects owners of most small-capacity water wells from significant ground water withdrawal facilities. The law defines a significant ground water withdrawal facility as "the ground water withdrawal facility of a person that, in the aggregate from all sources and by all methods, has the capability of withdrawing at least one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons of ground water in one (1) day." One hundred thousand gallons per day equals 70 gallons per minute. High-capacity ground water users may be irrigators, public water supply operators, or quarries. To be protected from a nearby significant ground water withdrawal facility, a small-capacity well must satisfy one of the following criteria:
Indiana law does not protect one small-capacity well owner from another small-capacity well owner.
If your well no longer furnishes its normal supply of water, and if you suspect that the well is being affected by a nearby high-capacity ground water user, submit a written complaint to the director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (address below). The DNR Division of Water will make an on-site investigation. If the investigation finds evidence that nearby high-capacity pumping has substantially lowered the water level in your small-capacity well, and your well is protected by statute IC 14-25-4, the high-capacity user can be declared liable and may be required to provide you with an alternate water supply.
Send complaint letters to:
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
402 W. Washington Street, Room W256
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
If you have questions about IC 14-25-4 or 312 IAC 12, contact the Division of Water, Water Rights & Use Section (317-232-4160 or toll free 877-928-3755).
An abandoned water well is potentially a conduit between the ground surface and an underground aquifer, a water-bearing layer of sand and gravel or porous or fractured bedrock. Ground water can be contaminated if floodwater, farm wastes, or spilled chemicals are able to flow down from the surface through or around the casing of an abandoned well. To limit ground water contamination, the 1988 Indiana water well drilling statute, Indiana Code 25-39, requires abandoned wells to be sealed at the surface or plugged with impervious materials. Plugging prevents the migration of gases, liquids, and solids up or down the well. Detailed requirements for plugging are in Rule 10 of the well drilling regulations in the Indiana Administrative Code, 312 IAC 13.
Time of non-use is the usual way to define an abandoned well. If the original purpose and use of the well have been discontinued for more than five (5) years, the well is abandoned. A well is also abandoned, by definition, if it is in such a state of disrepair that using it to obtain ground water is impractical or a health hazard.
The statute requires a well to be plugged within one year after it is abandoned. Under the statute's definition of abandonment, this could be nearly six years after use of the well was discontinued. The Division of Water urges well owners who decide to discontinue use of their wells to plug them immediately (this is not necessary for temporary non-use due to real estate transactions or part-year residencies). Many well drillers offer to plug an old well after they install a replacement well.
No state law administered by the DNR Division of Water requires a well owner to abandon a water well after the property is connected to a public water supply.
Although Indiana law makes well drillers responsible for proper well construction, the owner of land upon which an abandoned well is situated is responsible for having the well plugged. If the well was abandoned after January 1, 1988, the effective date of the drilling statute, a licensed water well driller must be employed to plug the well. The driller will send a record of the abandoned well and plugging procedure to the Division of Water.
A well must be plugged with one or a combination of the following:
Neat cement is a mixture of cement and clean water in a ratio equivalent to 94 pounds of cement and no more than six gallons of water. Bentonite is a clay derived from volcanic ashfall deposits that swells when wet. It is mined in the western U.S., mainly in Wyoming, and is available in bags from well suppliers. Specific combinations and amounts of these materials are required for different types of abandoned wells (see Rule 10 of the well drilling regulations in the Indiana Administrative Code, 312 IAC 13).
The well drilling statute requires all abandoned wells to be sealed or plugged; the method depends in part on the abandonment date. Determine or estimate when use of the well was discontinued. If the well was abandoned before January 1, 1988, it may be sealed at the surface by a watertight welded or threaded cap. Old hand-dug or large-diameter wells abandoned before January 1, 1988, may be covered with a reinforced concrete slab or a reinforced, water-repelling wooden cover. Sealing of pre-1988 abandonments does not have to be done by a licensed well driller and may be done by the property owner. The Division of Water urges those who discover old wells to have them plugged in accordance with the standards for recently abandoned wells. They may employ a licensed well driller for this job or do it themselves after consulting the Division or the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. Extension Publication WQ 21 (1995), co-written with the Division of Water, is helpful for property owners who want to plug old abandoned wells.
A well that is not equipped with casing must be plugged by the driller within 72 hours (three days) after drilling is completed. Some dry holes produce so little water that no casing is installed in the borehole and no yield test is performed. Others have the pump and casing removed after an unsatisfactory yield test.
What should be done about an unusual well or cistern that is not described in Rule 10 of the well drilling regulations in the Indiana Administrative Code, 312 IAC 13)?
The Division of Water will advise property owners and well drillers on plugging methods that fit unusual circumstances and closely approach the requirements of Rule 10. Preventing ground water contamination by effective grouting and plugging of wells is one of the most important goals of the well drilling statute and rules. The Division believes that devising a workable method to close an abandoned well is better than leaving the well open.
For more information on well plugging-
DNR Division of Water
Water Rights & Use Section
402 W. Washington Street, Room W264, Indianapolis, IN 46204
The Division's phone number is (317) 232-4160 or toll-free (877) 928-3755. | <urn:uuid:a75d1521-a550-454c-8a1e-7dd22a2b0a5b> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.ai.org/dnr/water/3482.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533957.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00078-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944235 | 3,816 | 3.5 | 4 | The extract provides detailed information on Indiana's well drilling statute, ground water, and aquifers, but it lacks discussion of soft skills, communication scenarios, teamwork, emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, and critical thinking opportunities. The content is primarily focused on regulatory information, technical aspects, and procedural guidelines, with no apparent connection to soft skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Stanford-SLAC team uses X-ray imaging to observe running batteries in action
20-07-2012: Most electric cars, from the Tesla Model S to the Nissan Leaf, run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries – a pricey technology that accounts for more than half of the vehicle's total cost. One promising alternative is the lithium-sulfur battery, which can theoretically store five times more energy at a much lower cost.
But lithium-sulfur technology has a major drawback: After a few dozen cycles of charging and discharging, the battery stops working.
"The cycle life of lithium-sulfur batteries is very short," said Johanna Nelson, a postdoctoral scholar at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University. "Typically, after a few tens of cycles the battery will die, so it isn't viable for electric vehicles, which require many thousands of cycles over a 10- or 20-year lifetime."
A typical lithium-sulfur battery consists of two electrodes – a lithium metal anode and a sulfur-carbon cathode – surrounded by a conductive fluid, or electrolyte. Several studies have attributed the battery's short cycle life to chemical reactions that deplete the cathode of sulfur.
But a recent study by Nelson and her colleagues is raising doubts about the validity of previous experiments. Using high-power X-ray imaging of an actual working battery, the Stanford-SLAC team discovered that sulfur particles in the cathode largely remain intact during discharge. Their results, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), could help scientists find new ways to develop commercially viable lithium-sulfur batteries for electric vehicles.
"Based on previous experiments, we expected sulfur particles to completely disappear from the cathode when the battery discharges," said Nelson, the lead author of the JACS study. "Instead, we saw only negligible changes in the size of the particles, the exact opposite of what earlier studies found."
Nelson and her co-workers conducted their experiments at SLAC using two powerful imaging techniques: X-ray diffraction and transmission X-ray microscopy. The X-ray microscope enabled the researchers to take nanosize snapshots of individual sulfur particles before, during and after discharge – the first real-time imaging of a lithium-sulfur battery in operation.
"The standard way to do high-resolution imaging is with electron microscopes after the battery has partially discharged," Nelson said. "But electrons don't penetrate metal and plastic very well. With SLAC's X-ray microscope, we can actually see changes that are happening while the battery is running."
In lithium-sulfur batteries, an electric current is generated when lithium ions in the anode react with sulfur particles at the cathode during discharge. The byproducts of this chemical reaction are compounds known as lithium polysulfides.
Problems can arise when the polysulfides leak into the electrolyte and permanently bond with the lithium metal anode. "When that happens, all of the sulfur material in the polysulfides is lost," Nelson said. "It will never recycle. You don't want to lose active sulfur material every time the battery discharges. You want a battery that can be cycled multiple times."
Previous experiments also showed the formation of dilithium sulfide (Li2S) crystals during the discharge phase. "Crystalline Li2S and polysulfides can form a thin film that prevents the conduction of electrons and lithium ions," Nelson said. "The film acts as an insulating layer that can cause the battery to die."
Several studies using electron microscopes produced images of electrodes coated with polysulfides and crystalline Li2S, and cathodes depleted of sulfur. Those images led researchers to conclude that much of the sulfur had been chemically transformed into Li2S-polysulfide sheets that prevented the battery from operating.
But according to Nelson and her colleagues, some of the previous studies were flawed. "The approach they were using was mistaken," Nelson said. "Typically, they would cycle the battery, disassemble it, wash away the electrolyte and then analyze it with X-ray diffraction or an electron microscope. But when you do that, you also wash away all of the polysulfides that are loosely trapped on the cathode. So when you image the cathode, you don't see any sulfur species at all."
The Stanford-SLAC team took a different approach. Researchers used the transmission X-ray microscope at SLAC to take multiple images of tiny sulfur particles every five minutes while the battery discharged. Each particle was a fraction of the size of a grain of sand. The results were clear: Every particle retained its basic shape and size throughout the discharge cycle.
"We expected the sulfur to completely disappear and form polysulfides in the electrolyte," Nelson said. "Instead we found that, for the most part, the particles stayed where they were and lost very little mass. They did form polysulfides, but most of those were trapped near the carbon-sulfur cathode. We didn't have to disassemble the battery or even stop it, because we could image the sulfur content while the device was operating."
X-ray diffraction yielded an additional surprise. "Based on previous experiments, we expected that crystalline Li2S would form at the end of the discharge cycle," she said. "But we did a very deep discharge and never saw any Li2S in its crystalline state."
The Stanford-SLAC study could open new avenues of research that could improve the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, said co-author Michael Toney, head of the Materials Sciences Division at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource.
"Our study demonstrates the importance of using high-power X-ray technologies to study batteries while they are operating," Toney said. "From an engineering standpoint, it's valuable to know that relying on standard electron microscopy to test the fidelity of materials may give you deceptive results."
Several research labs are looking for new ways to trap polysulfides on the cathode. A variety of techniques have shown promise, including novel electrolytes and carbon nanotubes coated with sulfur.
But the polysulfide problem might not be as daunting as previous studies suggest.
"We found that very few of the polysulfides went into the electrolyte," Nelson said. "The carbon-sulfur cathode actually trapped them better than expected. But even a small amount of polysulfides will cause the battery to fail within 10 cycles. If scientists want to improve the cycle life of the battery, they need to prevent virtually all of the polysulfides from leaking into the electrolyte. If they really want to know what's going on inside the battery, they can't just use standard analysis. They need a technology that tells the whole story."
- 1Schleicher & Schuell has been purchased by Whatman plc
- 2Almost as sensitive as a dog's nose
- 3Three-dimensional model of bacterium
- 4Raman keeps lipstick evidence in the bag
- 5Do you want to know how much caffeine is in your drink?
- 6Breakthrough in DNA editing technology
- 73D IR images now in full color
- 8PIAB announces new Chief Executive Officer
- 9‘Forensic fingers’ for crime scene investigation
- 10Raman pixel by pixel | <urn:uuid:14c68411-cc78-4be7-b25b-8eccfcee57e6> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.analytica-world.com/en/news/138915/stanford-slac-team-uses-x-ray-imaging-to-observe-running-batteries-in-action.html?WT.mc_id=ca0181 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533957.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00078-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951897 | 1,553 | 3.453125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on technical and scientific concepts. It presents complex scientific research but does not provide opportunities for developing communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills in a practical, real-world context. The content is informative but limited in its application to soft skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
You can create printable reports for your courses and students. You can also create a progress report that contains all of the grades from a particular grading period for a defined group of students in a class, such as special-needs students or transfer students. You can print this report and hand it out to each student, parent, or guardian.
About Grade Center Reports
In reports, you can include all or a number of students, groups, and grade or calculated columns, a grading period, or all of the columns in a category.
You can customize reports in a variety of ways, including report header and footer information. You can also include a signature line, date, and course information.
When printing, only one student per page is allowed.
You can only choose students within one section to appear in a report. You must run a separate report for each section.
How to Create a Report
On the action bar, point to Reports and select Create Report.
Select information to include in the Header Information of the report and type in the appropriate fields.
Select the users to include in the report:
All Users: All students in your course are included.
All Users in Group: Select a group to include. You must create groups before creating a report.
Selected Users: Select one or more students in your course. To select multiple students, press the SHIFT key and click the first and last items. To select items out of sequence, press the CTRL key and click each item needed. For Macs, press the COMMAND key instead of the CTRL key.
Select the check box if you want to Include Hidden Users in Reports.
Select the User Information to include in the report.
Select the Columns to include in the report:
Select to include all of the Grade Center columns in the report.
All Columns in Grading Period
Select to display all of the columns of a particular grading period in the report.
All Columns in Category
Select to display all of the columns of a particular category. Select a category to display the category’s columns.
Select the columns to display in the report.
Include Hidden Columns in Reports
Click this check box to display any column that was hidden from the Grade Center view.
Select the column information to include in the report. The column name and current grade appear automatically in the report, and you cannot delete these.
Description: Select to display the column’s description in the report.
Due Date: Select to display the column’s due date in the report.
Statistics: Click and select to display the class Average, Median, or Both for each calculated column of grade column included in the report.
Select the footer information to include in the footer of the report. Choose from the following:
Custom Text: Select and provide text to appear in the footer section of the report.
Signature Line: Select to display a signature line on the report.
Date: Select to display the report creation date on the report. You can edit this.
Course Information: Select to display the course name and course ID on the report.
Click Preview to open the report in a new browser window, leaving the report creation browser open.
Click Submit. The report appears in a new browser window, but the report creation browser window will return to the Grade Center page.
Saving or Printing a Report
To save a report, use your browser's Save As function and choose the save location. The report will be saved as an HTML file, which can be opened using any compatible web browser.
To print a report, use your browser's print function. Select the appropriate options, including the printer location, paper, duplexing (if available), and so on.
For more information on how to save or print displayed content, see your browser's online help. | <urn:uuid:ede433ff-d1be-4d91-9573-b64fd2fba47b> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Instructor/080_Grade_Center/015_Working_with_Grade_Center_Reports | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533957.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00078-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.857491 | 798 | 2.640625 | 3 | The extract provides technical instructions on creating and customizing reports in a learning management system, lacking discussion of soft skills, emotional intelligence, leadership, or complex problem-solving. It focuses on basic digital literacy and technical skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Secure Culture is one in which anti-social behaviors are limited and controlled. These unwanted behaviors range from bullying, harassment, sexual assault, to murder and mayhem. A Secure Culture relies on the Security Trio of Respect, Communication, and Enforcement. The rules of behavior are clearly communicated. They are respected by the majority. When necessary, the rules are enforced. Respect is created by enforcement that is just right, neither too passive, nor too aggressive.
An Insecure Culture is characterized by the Insecurity Trio of Under-Respect, Under-Communication, Under-enforcement. They signify minimal respect for the rules of behavior. These rules are not well communicated and they are not well understood. The rules are under-enforced which leads to apathy and contempt.
A Violating Culture is one in which anti-social behaviors are the norm. These unwanted behaviors are the result of the Chaos Trio of Disrespect, Threats, and Violence. In a Violating Culture, the rules of behavior are not respected, they are violated. Communication is done by threats . Violence is commonplace. The rules of behavior are either not enforced which leads to chaos and mayhem, or they are over-enforced which leads to resentment and revenge.
Secure Cultures are created when the majority of individuals, organizations, and institutions follow the Security Trio by respecting the rules of behavior, clearly communicating the rules of behavior, and enforcing the rules of behavior via appropriate responses. Violating Cultures, by contrast, are riddled by the Chaos Trio. Individuals, organizations, and institutions are disrespectful, use threats, intimidation, and violence. Non-enforcement in the form of apathy and/or over-enforcement in the form of draconian responses are widespread. Insecure Cultures are characterized by a general lack of respect for the rules of behavior. There are many interpretations and variations of these rules. The rules are enforced in a sporadic and inconsistent manner.
A Secure Culture uses Progressive Responses in an escalating manner as a means to determine the Just Right Response or appropriate response to disrespect and violations of the rules of behavior. Government relies on the power of the institutional authority (The Institutional Fence) to command respect, communicate, and enforce the rules. Insecure Cultures are filled with entities that are powerless to enforce the rules. The typical response to unwanted behavior is passive. Violating Cultures are dominated by people and institutions that exhibit anti-social behaviors, and use violence to enforce personal desires and wishes. Fear and mayhem is commonplace.
It is the collective actions of individuals, organizations, and government that makes the difference between Secure, Insecure, and Violating Cultures. Responses that limit anti-social behaviors and control the Chaos Trio of Disrespect, Threats, and Violence are ultimately what determines the type of culture. For Secure Cultures the appropriate response arises from the Three Pillars of Respect, Communication, and Enforcement.
An Insecure Person is characterized by the Insecurity Trio of Under-Respect, Under-communication, Under-Enforcement. This person is receives minimal respect for the rules of behavior. He has trouble directly and clearly communicating these rules. Frequently, communication comes in the form of complaints, passive aggressive actions, or silence. He considers himself powerless to enforce the rules, leading to feelings of apathy, passiveness, and victimization.
A Violating Person is one in which anti-social behaviors are not controlled. These unwanted behaviors are the result of the Chaos Trio of Disrespect, Threats, and Violence. This person doesn’t respect and violates the rules of behavior. He uses threats as his means of communication. He uses violence as his means of enforcing his own personal wishes and desires.
Resource-Based Violating People use the Chaos Trio for the purpose of obtaining asocial resource goals. These goals may involve obtaining money, drugs, or other material resources. Process-Based Violating People engage in the Three Cancers because the behavioral process of these violations is the goal. Some examples of these people are serial rapists and serial killers.
Insecure People that exhibit the Three Signs of Under-respected, Under-communication, and Under-enforcement are potential targets for Violating People because of their difficulty in creating effective responses to violations.
Wheelchair User communicates society's rule to the biker.
Biker communicates to wheelchair user to F$ck-off.
The Just Right Response for the wheelchair user is to now communicate with the police.
The police are in the most appropriate position to enforce the parking rule.
Society's parking rule doesn't apply to me, or to my motorcyle.
He communicates to the Wheelchair User his own rule of "Do not bother me with the rules of society" by using threatening language.
The threat implies use of violence to enforce the Biker's behavioral rules.
The Biker is a Violating Person who combines Disrespect, Threats, and Violence as a means to establish his own behavioral paradigm.
If the Biker moved his bike, then the Wheelchair User's would have engaged in both communication and enforcement of society's rule. If the police needed to be called, then he would have engaged in only communication, and the police would have engaged in enforcement.
Whether or not the Biker moves his bike is a direct function of his respect for society's rule and his respect for the wishes of the Wheelchair User.
Once upon a time there was a young woman named Goldilocks who lived in the mountains with her family. One day, Goldilocks decided it was time for her to learn more about life and move to one of the three villages below.
The next morning Goldilocks hiked down from the mountain to visit Toolittleville also known as the Village of Fear and Submissiveness. The first thing Goldilocks noticed was how quiet it was in the village. People walked silently down the street with their eyes downcast and shoulders slumped.
No one greeted or talked to each other on the sidewalk. It was as if they were all afraid of interacting with each other. When someone appeared to need some type of help, the residents of Toolittleville would simply walk on by without acknowledging the situation or offering assistance.
When Goldilocks looked closely at the Toolittlevillers, it appeared that a few of them seemed to be hiding their true nature. These people gave Goldilocks an uneasy feeling. Even through Goldilocks had been encouraged by her parents to be confident and speak her mind, she too felt herself becoming fearful and passive as time progressed. Goldilocks was happy to leave.
The next day, Goldilocks hiked down to visit Toobigville also known as the Village of Anger and Overreaction. Toobigville was loud and noisy. Well before Goldilocks arrived at the outskirts of the village, she heard cars honking and people yelling.
The people of Toobigville walked around with aggressive facial expressions and body postures. They were quick to take offense at any provocation or perceived slight. As a result, it was common to see men and women arguing and fighting on the street. Goldilocks was happy to leave.
On the third day, Goldilocks entered Justrightville also known as the Village of Progressive Boundary Setting. She instantly realized that she had found her new home. People were either purposely going from place to place or engaging in friendly conversation. The villagers were all very clear and direct with each other. Conflicts were resolved quickly and without yelling.
If a visitor from Toolittleville seemed to be having a problem, a Justrightviller would step in and offer assistance. Goldilocks also saw visitors from Toobigville. If they resorted to their aggressive behavior, the Justrightvillers would immediately intercede and voice their disapproval.
Having been raised by her parents to be confident, to speak assertively, and to respect other people, Goldilocks felt perfectly at home in Justrightville. She vowed never to leave.
Progressive Boundary Setting is a strategy for limiting unwanted behavior. It consists of respecting, communicating and enforcing behavioral limits through progressive responses. Progressive Boundary Setting is done by individuals through visual, verbal, and physical means. It is done by society through social pressure, rules, and laws. Progressive Boundary Setting determines the “just right” response to almost all situations of interpersonal conflict.
Visual boundary setting is done primarily through the use of body language. Verbal boundary setting is done through assertive use of the voice. Physical boundary setting is done through physical actions. Therefore, the majority of conflict resolution and self-defense techniques, tips, and advice for interpersonal conflict may be viewed as a piece of Progressive Boundary Setting.
For individuals, Progressive Boundary Setting is not an instinctive reaction. It is a learned behavioral response that must be learned and practiced through trial and error in order to be effective.
WHY is Progressive Boundary Setting fundamental to both individuals and society?
Respecting behavioral limits is the defining factor the separates civilized societies from uncivilized societies. It is also the defining factor that separates social people from anti-social people. In a situation of interpersonal conflict Progressive Boundary Setting is the most effective pro-active method for determining whether a person respects the limits of civilized society and will not use violence, or is anti-social and may use violence to satisfy his or her needs.
Progressive Boundary Settingis used by the society as a whole to maintain respect and order. Every social structure whether private or public has some method of communicating and enforcing behavioral limits. Private organizations use rules, regulations, and penalties. The government communicates through legislative agencies and enforces through the police and the court system.
WHEN is Progressive Boundary Setting used?
When there is a conflict between fundamentally social people, the use of ineffective methods of conflict resolution such as passiveness or aggressiveness will most likely not lead to violence due to the adherence to behavior limits of the people involved. But these methods are ineffective and may escalate the situation towards violence when dealing with an anti-social person.
Progressive Boundary Setting has the flexibility to both handle social conflict and to provide the conviction needed to deal with the violence associated with conflict with an anti-social person.
The use of Progressive Boundary Setting provides the “just right” response during situations of interpersonal conflict.
WHO uses the concepts of Progressive Boundary Setting?
Everyone from children to adults uses the concepts of Progressive Boundary Setting in some form to limit unwanted, unacceptable, and anti-social behaviors. Progressive Boundary Setting applies to individuals, peers and bystanders, and to the policing agents. It applies to interpersonal conflicts ranging from bullying, harassment, dating and domestic violence, random violence, instances of self-defense, and to everything in between.
WHAT entities use the concepts of Progressive Boundary Setting?
All organizations and governments also use the concepts of Progressive Boundary Setting in some capacity to limit the behaviors of the people served for the common good.
Examples of Progressive Boundary Setting can be seen through the communication and enforcement of rules, regulations, and laws in every aspect of organized society.
Individuals are not born with the inherent ability to effectively use Progressive Boundary Setting during situations of conflict. Progressive Boundary Setting is a purposeful and systematic method of communicating and enforcing behavior limits through the use of
- visual means,
- verbal means,
- physical means.
Progressive Boundary Setting is a learned pro-active strategy and response. It is not an emotional or instinctive reaction.
The younger in age individuals learn to use Progressive Boundary Setting, the more effective and practiced they will be as child socialization conflicts mature in to more dangerous adult conflicts and situations.
6. The definition and use of proprietary concepts and terminology: The Progressive Fence™ The Visual Fence™ The Verbal Fence™ The Physical Fence™ The Progressive Response™ The Just Right Response™ Confirmation of Bad Intention™ The Trigger to Act™ 7. How to relate Progressive Boundary Setting to pre-existing knowledge of conflict resolution, assertiveness, and physical defense.Presentations and workshops involve instruction though demonstration, discussion, and role playing using proven techniques and tactics that adhere to the principles of Progressive Boundary Setting.
Instructors will be provided with written materials to handout to class participants that summarize and explain the use of Progressive Boundary Setting.
Instructors will be provided with core teaching points to use during workshop sessions that explain the use of Progressive Boundary Setting and that stimulate discussion.
Instructors will be provided with specific exercises and drills that illustrate the use of Progressive Boundary Setting.
Instructors will be provided with a set of specially designed multi-person progressive role playing scenarios that will illustrate how Progressive Boundary Setting is used in real life. situations.
Progressive Boundary Setting is designed to:
In this video, it is clear that the smaller boy is the Aggressor of the confrontation. He begins with verbal abuse followed quickly by a punch to the Taget's head. Despite the obvious threat, the Target maintains a passive stance. The Target's the lack of retailiation to the first punch only encourages the Aggressor to escalate his attack.
Given the nature of the attacks exhibited by the Aggressor, the Target's Physical Fence should include a shocking backward push to communicate that Aggressor needs to back off immediately and to enforce a safety zone from the Target.
Fed up with the aggression, the Target goes on the offensive and uses his superior size and strength to pick up the Aggressor and slam him to the pavement. Had the Aggressor stuck his head on the concrete or the nearby wall, the Aggressor could have easily have been seriously injured. Therefore, due to the high risk of physical injury, the Target's response was "too big".
This situation illustrates the importance of providing youth with an understanding of how to use Progressive Boundary Setting to create Just Right Responses to aggression.
Progressive Boundary Setting is a learned strategy that empowers both Targets and Bystanders with a means to deter the onset of aggression.
The problem is that the targets do not execute a strategy of progressively escalating responses designed to deter aggression. Therefore, the end result is an unwanted fight.
Here passive body language and lack of strong verbal deterrence precedes the fight.
In this second example, the target attempts to talk his way out of the impending fight.
Effective use of the Progressive Fence by both of the targets in the above videos may have de-escalated the situations and avoided the fights.
The youth of today are learning how to deal with confrontation and aggression from sources such as the Jersey Shore, The Bad Girls, and other "reality" based T.V.
The following videos provide illustrations of how conflict is dealt with on reality T.V.
The Jersey Shore
The Bad Girls Club
Progressive Boundary Setting is a learned method to limit unwanted behavior. The actions and bad behaviors exhibited in the above videos are both learned and instinctive. As a whole, they are examples of ineffective ways to deal with confrontation and aggression. These ways usually escalate to violence.
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: Why Traditional Self-defense Instruction Doesn’t Work for Most People
In theory, these two steps seem logical and make sense. But they fail to take into consideration that the primary factor for maintaining personal safety is the ability to execute good judgment and make critical decisions. These skills are developed through experience, and a process of observation, trial and error, and evaluation.
The solution is for people to see, hear, speak, and ultimately think about the fundamental concepts of self-defense in common everyday incidents and situations. Think about how these concepts apply to themselves and to others. Not just in terms of the “unthinkable”, but in terms of everyday assertiveness and personal boundary setting. This process will enable them to develop their judgment and critical thinking abilities. | <urn:uuid:6aa71725-6681-497a-aecd-cc23ab665844> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://progressiveboundarysetting.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537754.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00110-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949336 | 3,282 | 3.4375 | 3 | The extract provides a comprehensive discussion on Secure, Insecure, and Violating Cultures, emphasizing the importance of Respect, Communication, and Enforcement in creating a Secure Culture. It also introduces the concept of Progressive Boundary Setting as a strategy for limiting unwanted behavior and resolving conflicts. The material covers various aspects of soft skills, including communication, emotional intelligence, leadership, and problem-solving, with realistic scenarios and practical applications. The use of examples, such as the story of Goldilocks and the villages, helps to illustrate key concepts. The extract also highlights the importance of critical thinking, judgment, and decision-making in personal safety and self-defense.
Educational score: 5 | 5 |
The election between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams was a doozy, since each represented a political party that believed the other guys' victory would ruin the nation.
The sitting president, John Adams, was a Federalist who attacked Jefferson as a "howling atheist" whose sympathy for the French Revolution would bring chaos to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party denounced Adams' apparent love of federal power—particularly his expansion of the Army and Navy, plus new taxes and deficit spending. Jefferson described Adams as senile, vain, and driven by an "ungovernable temper."
Ultimately the Democratic-Republicans swept both houses of Congress, including a 65 to 39 majority in the House.
But the presidential election was another matter, with the electoral college tied between Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr. A month after the election—and after a week of balloting—the House finally chose Jefferson.
Despite the rancor, it was the first peaceful transition of political power between opposing parties in U.S. history and therefore had far-reaching significance. | <urn:uuid:ae6eef70-27f8-4183-a1fd-f6a806555329> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/100534126/page/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537754.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00110-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970477 | 221 | 3.546875 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical events without practical application or scenarios for emotional intelligence, leadership, or critical thinking. It provides basic information without depth or complexity, limiting professional development opportunities.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Visualizing productive nanosystems and molecular manufacturing is a major challenge in communicating the power of this technology. This film, a collaborative project of animator and engineer, John Burch, and pioneer nanotechnologist, Dr. K. Eric Drexler, depicts an animated view of a nanofactory and demonstrates key steps in a process that converts simple molecules into a billion-CPU laptop computer. Version 1.0 of the film is an 86.1 MB download.
Nanorex and the Foresight Institute established a challenge grant to fund the production of this animation from version 0.8 to 1.0. The following refers to that challenge grant.
Many thanks to the donors, who made this challenge grant a success.
Donations to be doubled $10,000 Animation Completion Challenge Grant Deadline November 15, 2004
Dear Member of the Foresight Community,
Visualizing nanotechnology and nanosystems, in particular, is a major challenge in communicating the power of this technology.
This four-minute film is a collaborative project of animator and engineer, John Burch, and pioneer nanotechnologist, Dr. K. Eric Drexler. The film depicts an animated view of a nanofactory and demonstrates key steps in a process that converts simple molecules into a billion-CPU laptop computer.
These steps include the sorting of molecules, precise atomic construction through the use of placement tools, and the assembly of smaller parts into larger parts. Scenes depicting initial tool preparation show molecular reactions based on computational quantum chemistry, and later stage manufacturing processes are based on industrial processes found in large-scale factories.
The premiered version, v0.8, of "Productive Nanosystems: from Molecules to Superproducts" received great applause and was screened, by popular request, two additional times during the conference. This film will make tremendous strides in the education of students, researchers, policy makers and members of the media in the understanding of nanosystems.
Animation Challenge Grant
Thanks to Mark Sims, President of the nano-CAD software company, Nanorex, Foresight Institute has a $10,000 challenge grant running through November 15, 2004. This means that every dollar donated by others up to this total will be doubled.
This grant will ensure completion of the project and will enable broad distribution of the final version over the Internet. All proceeds from the grant will go toward the completion and upgrade of the film.
A sample of the animation can be seen below, and the estimated completion date is early 2005.
Attendees of the conference have matched approximately half of the grant, and we're asking you to help with the other half.
Nanorex, Inc, is based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and was incorporated in April 2004. The mission of Nanorex is to develop the world's best 3-D molecular engineering software needed to realize the full potential of molecular nanotechnology. Nanorex has seven employees and is led by Mark Sims, President and J. Storrs Hall, PhD., Chief Scientist.
The tentative release of Nanorex's first product, nanoENGINEER-1® is targeted for Summer 2005. For more information about Nanorex send an email to [email protected].
The premier of "Productive Nanosystems: from Molecules to Superproducts" was so well received several attendees at the 1st Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology immediately donated toward the film's completion.
Here is a partial list of donors:
Sergio Martinez de Lahildago
Thank you for your continued support, if you have any questions about this challenge grant, please contact [email protected] | <urn:uuid:0e1e870b-7013-46ba-b676-2e8bbb503f07> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.foresight.org/animation_challenge/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537754.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00110-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908821 | 763 | 2.625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a technical project and its funding. It mentions collaboration and communication but only in the context of a specific project, without exploring deeper aspects of teamwork, leadership, or emotional intelligence.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
| A 12 meter wide acrylic vessel,
now filled with a thousand tons of heavy water, is at the core of the SNO experiment.
Surrounding the vessel, mounted on a geodesic steel support structure, are the
photomultiplier tubes which will record neutrino events.
It may look like the eye of a giant reptile, but in fact it is an ambitious scientific experiment to unravel the mysteries of one of the most common yet most elusive particles in the universethe neutrino.
Built two kilometers under solid rock in a cavity the size of a 10 story building, the
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) involves an international collaboration of 70
scientists from the U.S. (including Berkeley Lab), Canada, and Great Britain. Shielded
from interference with ubiquitous cosmic rays, the experiment will allow scientists to
observe the tiny bursts of light that take place when neutrinos collide with other | <urn:uuid:aea64032-8bd3-431a-aec1-9bc629ea7506> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Research-Review/Magazine/1998/photo/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537754.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00110-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.872332 | 200 | 3.421875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on scientific concepts and experimental details. There is no mention of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are absent. The text provides superficial coverage of a scientific topic without meaningful depth or practical application related to soft skills development.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
Open AccessThis article is
- freely available
The Ganges and the GAP: An Assessment of Efforts to Clean a Sacred River
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Saunders 109, 2424 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Penn State University, 121 Stuckeman Family Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 June 2012; in revised form: 16 July 2012 / Accepted: 18 July 2012 / Published: 27 July 2012
Abstract: For centuries, the Ganges River in India has been the locus of sacred rites for the Hindus. The religious significance of the Ganges is physically manifested in ghats (stepped landings) that form the land-water interface. Besides serving as a site for religious bathing and cremation, the ghats are also tied to people’s livelihoods and are an inseparable part of their daily lives. Today, the increasingly urbanized Ganges basin sustains more than 40 percent of India’s population. At the same time, industrialization and the pressures of a growing population along its banks have contributed to alarming levels of pollution in the river. In 1985, the federal government of India launched the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) with the primary objective of cleaning the river. However, characterized by centralized planning and control with little public participation, the GAP had limited impact. In 2011, the government launched yet another clean up program—the National Ganga River Basin Project—with support from the World Bank. In this paper, we take a closer look at the programs to highlight the tenuous relationship between the need for ‘efficient’ management of environmental problems and public participation. Can public participation fit into the technocratic model that is often adopted by environmental programs? What approaches to participation kindle authorship and empowerment among those who share a deep relationship with the river and the ghats? Can religious practices be accommodated within scientific frameworks of adaptive management and resilience? We argue that rethinking the relationship between pollution control programs and participation is crucial for any effort to clean the Ganges, restore its waterfront, and catalyze broader regeneration in the Ganges basin.
Keywords: Ganges River; Ganga Action Plan; pollution control; participation; India; riparian urbanism; sustainability
Citations to this Article
Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Das, P.; Tamminga, K.R. The Ganges and the GAP: An Assessment of Efforts to Clean a Sacred River. Sustainability 2012, 4, 1647-1668.
Das P, Tamminga KR. The Ganges and the GAP: An Assessment of Efforts to Clean a Sacred River. Sustainability. 2012; 4(8):1647-1668.
Das, Priyam; Tamminga, Kenneth R. 2012. "The Ganges and the GAP: An Assessment of Efforts to Clean a Sacred River." Sustainability 4, no. 8: 1647-1668. | <urn:uuid:1f44cb61-25b4-4ace-83bc-f2bf57c59bc2> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/4/8/1647 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537754.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00110-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91454 | 641 | 3 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on environmental issues and pollution control. It does not provide opportunities for developing communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills. The content is informative but does not integrate emotional intelligence, leadership, or critical thinking scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Robert Stephenson and Company
In 1823 George Stephenson along with four other people - his son Robert, the Quaker businessman Edward Pease, Pease's cousin Thomas Richardson and Michael Longridge who managed Bedlington Iron Works - opened the world's first purpose built locomotive factory at South Street on Forth banks, Newcastle upon Tyne. Robert, then aged 19, was the Managing Partner.
It was at these works that 'Locomotion' was built in 1825 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway. In 1829 Rocket' was built there for the Rainhill Trials. Between 1828 and 1830 Robert developed an economically viable prototype in 'Northumbrian' and 'Planet' which remained the basis for all future steam locomotive development.
Locomotives built at these works were exported to developing railways all over the world and were often the first locomotives to be seen and used in those countries. Stationary engines for collieries, marine engines, bridges and even a steam driven chain ferry were all constructed here. At Robert's death in 1859 the firm was the largest employer on Tyneside. By the early 1890s the works had expanded to occupy all available land on Forth Banks and it became necessary to seek a fresh site. Suitable land for a new and enlarged works was found at Springfield, on the north-east side of Darlington, which opened in 1902. The old works in Newcastle finally closed in 1904. | <urn:uuid:7befefd8-1c2a-453a-919f-641d44534540> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.robertstephensontrust.com/page5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537754.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00110-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978668 | 294 | 2.5625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical events and technical developments. It provides no scenarios for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving, and does not address cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. has proclaimed March 25-31, 2012, as “Tsunami Preparedness Week.” The full proclamation text follows:
PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:
Tsunami is a term of Japanese origin describing the high ocean waves that sometimes result from offshore seismic events. Over the past two hundred years, the coast of California has experienced at least two dozen tsunamis, fifteen of which have damaged our coastal communities. Most recently, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 quake near Honshu, Japan, generated a tsunami that claimed at least one life and tens of millions of dollars in property on the California coast.
While we mourn the devastation, we should also acknowledge the preparedness efforts of the California Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service, and local governments throughout California, without which the damage would have been far greater. Each year during Tsunami Preparedness Week, local, state and federal agencies work together to inform the public about the dangers of tsunamis and what to do before, during and after one occurs. I encourage all Californians to learn more about this threat and take steps, as appropriate, to secure their lives and property against future tsunamis.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim March 25-31, 2012, as “Tsunami Preparedness Week.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 26th day of March 2012.
EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
Secretary of State. | <urn:uuid:66ab4963-7db6-4674-a32a-7161dc9b7f9a> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://californianewswire.com/2012/03/27/CNW11282_115217.php/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539493.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00142-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932178 | 399 | 2.53125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a proclamation for Tsunami Preparedness Week. It provides information on tsunami risks and preparedness efforts but does not address communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Drug Policy and Harm Reduction
In Canada and other countries, illegal drug use and addiction are treated largely as criminal law concerns, rather than as public health issues.
Overreliance on criminal law and its enforcement undermines public health programs that have proven effective at improving the health of people who use drugs and reducing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. A criminal law focus inevitably leads to human rights abuses:
- Significant resources are spent on ineffective law enforcement — money that would be better spent on harm reduction measures, such as needle exchange and opiate substitution therapy programs, supervised injection facilities (see "Related Links," right), and addiction treatment services for people who use drugs.
- The illegality of the drug market means that there are no controls or standards for drugs — they are of unknown strength and composition, which may result in overdoses or other harms to people who use drugs.
- The fear of criminal sanctions may drive people who use drugs away from health or social services.
- The criminal law has a chilling effect on the provision of health and social services, such as education and needle exchange programs, to people who use drugs.
- Police undermine the important health role of needle exchanges, safer crack kit distribution and supervised injection facilities by using these programs to identify people who use drugs.
- Drug paraphernalia laws and other criminal measures may force drug users to share needles and other equipment, which contributes to the spread of infectious diseases.
We work to ensure that drug-related laws, policies and law enforcement do not compromise the health and human rights of people who use drugs or increase their vulnerability to HIV infection. | <urn:uuid:0dce9175-4d59-449d-be40-58958dee4688> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.aidslaw.ca/EN/issues/drug_policy_harm_reduction.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539493.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00142-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950706 | 329 | 2.84375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a specific social issue. It provides superficial coverage of communication and teamwork concepts, with limited practical application and no nuanced interaction or complex problem-solving opportunities.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Light bulbs are old-school energy hogs. Adoption of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) might be able to halve lighting energy consumption and cut CO2 emissions by 258 million metric tons a year. Today, LEDs are found in accent lighting and flashlights, but they're not white enough for general use. That may change, thanks to a chance discovery by Vanderbilt University chemists led by Sandra Rosenthal. The key ingredient: quantum dots -- tiny semiconductor crystals (in this case, cadmium selenide) that absorb light and generate a charge. Lab members James McBride and Michael Bowers had made nanocrystals so small they verged on the molecular. When Bowers pointed a laser at these "nano-nano" crystals, he anticipated violet or UV light but saw white. "He knew something was up," Rosenthal says, "so he mixed the batch with Minwax floor polyurethane and coated a violet LED. It glowed white!" Now the team hopes to make the LEDs brighter. "It's too early to tell whether it will be a quantum dot LED or some other approach," Rosenthal says. "But I do believe solid-state lighting will revolutionize the way we light our homes." | <urn:uuid:5d4004d1-f200-4241-a8d0-6fda01009d54> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/industry/4212848 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539493.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00142-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92622 | 256 | 3.53125 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a scientific discovery and its potential environmental impact. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios. The text is informative but does not provide opportunities for professional development or cultural awareness.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
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Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the design and construction of craft meant for air travel. Engineers in this field often earn an aerospace engineering degree that prepares them for various careers within this industry. If you decide to pursue an aerospace engineering degree, you may be able to find employment with an aircraft manufacturer, designing and building new aircraft, or you may find work designing spacecraft capable of leaving the earth's atmosphere. Weapons manufacturers will also hire aerospace engineers to design and construct various artillery and weaponry such as missiles.
Once you graduate with an aerospace engineering degree, you should be prepared for a rigorous and highly competitive job market, but you should also be prepared for a rewarding career that offers plenty of job satisfaction. As a professional working in the field, you may end up working exclusively on aircraft design or other aerospace designs, meaning you will study the theory behind flight characteristics and previous aircraft designs to come up with new ways to achieve flight. You may, in fact, end up doing research exclusively, either for a private company, a government agency, or even an educational institution.
You may decide to become more specialized after you graduate with an aerospace engineering degree. You can, for example, become an expert on thermodynamics, which is an important study as it applies to aerospace technology. Fluid dynamics is yet another scientific field in which you can study. Some job candidates who graduate with an aerospace engineering degree focus on propulsion, which is essentially the theory and practice of moving an aircraft forward or upward off the ground. This subfield requires a solid understanding of physics, chemistry, and aerodynamics at the very least.
The aerospace engineering field is quite broad, and it may include other fields of engineering such as chemical engineering or electrical engineering. It is therefore possible to enter the field with a different engineering degree than an aerospace engineering degree, though the most qualified candidates will hold credentials specific to the aerospace industry. It is likely that a candidate who possesses such a degree will work in the aircraft industry, though positions are available in other applications as well, such as watercraft engineering — particularly pertaining to submarines and other submersibles — as well as land craft such as certain types of trains. Bullet trains, for example, or high speed trains may require design and implementation from an aerospace engineer.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:ffade9d6-ba9b-4e34-8dc6-4e55284ed484> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-can-i-do-with-an-aerospace-engineering-degree.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539493.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00142-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961723 | 520 | 2.9375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on the technical aspects of aerospace engineering. It provides basic information on the field, career paths, and specializations, but does not address communication, teamwork, or problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Saethre-Chotzen syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that is closely related to Crouzon syndrome. These syndromes belong to a group of genetic disorders that are characterized by premature closure of the cranial joints or sutures between various bones of the skull.
The pressure caused by brain growth can result in a number of distinct distortions to the face and head. These include a pointed-like head, webbing or fusion of certain fingers or toes, an underdeveloped midface resulting in sunken cheekbones, prominent and/or wide-set eyes, low set hairline and drooping of the upper eyelids. Other common features include vision problems, hearing loss and in some cases, although it is less common, mild to moderate mental retardation. Your child may also experience nasal airway obstruction due to an underdeveloped midface and a high arched palate. These features may also cause speech problems and a cleft palate.
What causes Saethre-Chotzen syndrome?
Saethre-Chotzen syndrome appears to be linked to a sporadic and rare gene alteration. The parents are usually not affected and risk to future children is minimal. The offspring of an Saethre-Chotzen patient have a 50 to 60 percent chance of inheriting the syndrome due to the dominant nature of the gene.
The craniofacial team at Children's Hospital & Medical Center will develop a carefully staged plan that involves multiple surgeries to minimize the effects of the disorder. During your child's first year of life, surgery is performed to release the cranial sutures to allow for brain growth and expansion. Additional surgery may be required as indicated to allow for further brain growth later in life. Other surgeries may be required to correct the mid facial deformities as well as jaw surgery. Many children will need to have eye muscle surgery performed by a pediatric ophthalmologist to correct the imbalance of the muscular structures of the eye in addition to the drooping eyelids. | <urn:uuid:32667c77-b757-40b3-8319-3e2cfdc7f22a> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.childrensomaha.org/SaethreSyndrome | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223204388.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032004-00174-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939889 | 404 | 3.0625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing instead on medical information about Saethre-Chotzen syndrome. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and no emphasis on cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
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Genital warts and herpes are both incurable sexually transmitted infections, but they are caused by different viruses and they are managed in different ways. Learning to identify the signs and symptoms of genital warts and herpes can help people tell the difference between them and determine if they need to see a doctor for treatment. While cures are not available, treatment can increase patient comfort and may reduce the risk of passing the infection on to another person.
Genital warts are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Not all patients with this virus develop warts, but those that do find small, soft growths around the genitals. The warts can be frozen or burned off in a doctor's office if they cause discomfort, and topical creams can also be used to manage outbreaks.
By contrast, genital herpes are caused by a member of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) family. Patients infected with herpes will experience outbreaks starting with itching, burning, and tingling and progressing to sores and lesions on the genitals. Some patients only have one outbreak, while others may experience them recurrently. The virus is carried in the body and people can pass it on even if they do not have active sores.
For patients who think they might have conditions like genital warts and herpes, tests are available. A sample of cells can be taken from around the genitals to look for evidence of HPV, with this being a special concern in women because genital warts are closely linked with cervical cancer, a very serious disease. Blood tests can be used to identify HSV in the bloodstream of patients who think they might be infected.
While genital warts and herpes cannot be cured, there are steps people can take to prevent infection. This includes using barrier protection like condoms and dental dams during all sexual activity, not just penetrative intercourse. Vaccination is available for HPV in some reasons of the world to prevent infection. In addition, making a habit of getting regular testing for sexually transmitted infections and asking partners to do the same can reduce the risk of passing an infection without knowing it or having intercourse with someone who is infected without being aware. It's important to remember that STIs do not always cause symptoms, and a lack of physical symptoms of conditions such as genital warts and herpes does not necessarily mean someone is a safe sexual partner.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:6c430d57-500f-4662-ad3b-b4f2bfa6bb40> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-the-difference-between-genital-warts-and-herpes.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223204388.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032004-00174-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952125 | 534 | 3.359375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on informative content about genital warts and herpes. It provides basic health information without scenarios for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
We are our children's first picture of God. It is of utmost importance that the picture we give them is as accurate as our human selves can offer. This requires that we ourselves first have a holistic understanding of God’s character.
When reading Scripture, it is helpful to take note of the many descriptions of God’s character. These descriptions tell us how God interacts with His children, and we can use them as a model as we raise our own children in love and grace. While the details will be different for each family, an exploration of God’s character reveals a strong congruence with the underlying values of Attachment Parenting.
There are three distinct areas that support a relational, attachment-based style of parenting: God’s character, God’s design, and Christian instruction. We will explore each and its relation to Attachment Parenting below.
God answers our cries (Jonah 2:2), draws us with loving-kindness (Jeremiah 31:3), and is slow to anger and rich in love (Psalm 145:8). He comforts us “as a mother comforts her child” (Isaiah 66:13) and has compassion on us “as a father has compassion on his children” (Psalm 103:13). His kindness leads us towards repentance (Romans 2:4).
We discover more of God’s character in the parable Jesus tells about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). After the younger son squanders his wealth on wild living and prostitutes, he returns to his father, hungry and ashamed. Rather than chastise him, his father was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, kissed him, and called to the servants to prepare a celebratory feast.
The more we understand God’s character, the better we can present that picture of God to our children through our words and actions. We build their perception of God as we answer their cries, treat them with kindness, withhold our anger, lavish them with love, comfort them, have compassion on them, and celebrate them as a unique creation of God. Attachment Parenting encourages this responsive, wooing, relationship-based approach to raising our children.
God created our babies, their cues, and our instinctive response to those cues. He gave us the hormones that facilitate bonding, the ability to nourish our babies through breastfeeding, and the means to naturally space our children through lactation induced amenorrhea.
By design, babies cry to signal their needs, and their mothers respond to that cry both physically (as their milk lets down) and psychologically (by wanting to pick up and comfort or nurse the child). Our babies feel safest when sleeping near their mothers, and mothers as well often sleep easier when their children are nearby. Babies thrive on touch, and a high-touch attachment relationship offers physiological and psychological benefits to both parent and child.
Breastfeeding imagery is used extensively in Scripture (see, for example, Isaiah 60:16, Isaiah 66:11, and Psalm 22:9). There is perhaps no place that should be more encouraging of this natural, God-designed practice than the church, and yet too often it is those within the church who hide nursing mothers in back rooms, holding fast instead to a misguided and misdirected notion of modesty. Breastfeeding is a mother's first foray into learning to read, trust, and respond to her child's cues. The infant, likewise, develops a strong emotional security as he learns to trust that his needs will be quickly and appropriately responded to. The more sensitive a mother becomes to her child's cues, the better the child becomes at giving those cues. This is the beginning of communication and connection between mother and child.
As connection grows, the mother/child relationship becomes increasingly natural and instinctive. The resulting mutual trust and sensitivity is the basis of the parent/child relationship and the foundation upon which future discipline will rely. The better the mother knows her child, and the more the child trusts his or her mother, the easier discipline will be as the child grows.
Each of the AP tools serves to strengthen that foundation, which will be built on with each passing year. (More about this in the next installment of the Attachment Parenting series, "Attachment Parenting: Beyond the baby years".) Not every family will use every tool or use them in the same way. It is the heart behind the tool – the desire to respond sensitively to our children’s needs and to seek ways to build and strengthen a mutually-trusting parent/child relationship – that is of true importance.
Scripture offers many instructions for Christians on how to practically live out the commands to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves. None of these instructions exclude children.
The Bible instructs us to comfort those who mourn, to feed those who are hungry, and to love the unlovely. We are instructed to be compassionate, to sacrifice, and to extend mercy to others. We are exhorted to be gentle and kind, building others up through our encouraging words. When we are walking in the Spirit and practically living out our faith, our lives will begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We circumvent the work of the Spirit when we accept a quick parenting fix in place of the sacrificial hard work involved in relational parenting, with its goal of heart-level change. This sort of convenience parenting – such as leaving an infant to cry alone, spanking a child, or yelling and punishing instead of guiding and teaching – serves the desires of flesh (ease, convenience, outward appearances). It may have short-term gains, but it fails to pay off in the long-term.
When we are living according to the Word, however, we will seek to apply these exhortations not only to other adults, but to our children as well. We will comfort them when they cry, feed them when they are hungry, and sacrifice sleep to meet their nighttime needs. We will be kind and gentle, speaking words of encouragement into their lives. We will guide them in grace and mercy. We will demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit to them rather than demand it from them. In all these things, whatever we do “for the least of these”, we do for Christ himself (Matthew 25:31-46).
Jesus told his disciples that “if anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He then took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking the child into his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:33-37). We are called to a life of loving servanthood. To deny such service to a child is to refuse Christ himself.
God is love (1 John 4:8). Paul describes love in his first letter to the Corinthians:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Patience. Kindness. Humility. Slow to anger and quick to forgive. Protective and persevering. These must be the hallmarks of our love as demonstrated to our children. Attachment Parenting provides a holistic approach to demonstrating this love in the context of a healthy parent/child relationship.
There are three heresies that have worked their way into much of the church, all of which serve to draw us away from a natural, instinctive approach to raising our children. These beliefs encourage a harsh, rule-based approach instead, often starting with newborn babies.
Our children must be punished for their sins
Jesus died for the sins of all, breaking death’s hold on us and opening the way for our restored relationship with God. To say that further punishment is required is to negate the message of the Gospel, and yet many of the big Christian authors will tell you that your child’s salvation depends on you punishing them. Punishment is considered the method of paying for their sin and removing the child’s guilt.
This is completely contrary to the message of the Gospel, which says that all of our sins have already been put to death by Christ on the cross. Punishing our child again takes away from that message. It says that what Christ has already done was not enough.
The idea that any parenting method can save a child is likewise contrary to the Gospel. Only the Holy Spirit can draw our children to Christ. Only Christ can save our children through faith. This faith is a gift of God, lest any man (or parent) should boast.
Moreover, punishment is often unrealistic, as we begin to demand more from our children than we expect from ourselves. We talk of God’s mercy, grace, patience, and kindness when speaking of ourselves; should we then demand perfect obedience from our children and punish them when they fail to achieve it? Our debt has been paid through Christ. We must be cautious, then, not turn around and demand payment from our children for their wrongdoings, lest we become as the unmerciful servant of which we were warned.
God punishes His children when they sin
Rather than saving them, punishment presents a distorted view of God to our children. God raises His children with grace and mercy, not punishment. In His love, He does allow us to experience the natural consequences of our actions, but He does not punish us or send us away from Him. Likewise, Jesus did not punish His disciples, but rather patiently taught them and guided them toward a fuller understanding of God.
The idea that God punishes His children is contrary to His grace. It further serves to negate the Gospel, suggesting that further punishment is needed on top of what Christ has already accomplished on the cross. We feel pain when we sin because we are walking apart from God and from His best for our lives. This pain is self-inflicted as we choose separation from His loving guidance. When we repent and turn back to God, He forgives us without first demanding repayment or inflicting punishment. We are called to offer this same generous forgiveness to those around us - including our children.
God is Love. God is good and merciful, the same then, now, and forevermore. It is a flawed understanding of His character that leads to delineation between the “wrathful” God of the Old Testament and the “merciful” God of the New Testament.
Some argue that God punishes His enemies, those who are evil and unrepentant. Our children are not our enemies and their childish antics are not evil. Even if that were not the case, we are instructed not to take revenge, nor to repay evil for evil, for the Lord is judge and it is His to avenge.
Rules and good behaviour produce Godly people
A strict focus on rules and behaviour suggests that what matters is our outward behaviour. Scripture tells us, however, that God looks at the heart. This misplaced focus also suggests that rules can keep us in line, and yet the Law proved otherwise – and “grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20).
There often seems within the Christian community to be a hyper-focus on verses intended for others. In this case, many parents quote Ephesians 6:1 (“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right”), and yet ignore the verse directed towards parents that follows (“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and discipline of the Lord.”). It is not our place to make our children obey us; that verse contains an instruction for them, not for us. Rather, it is our duty to “bring them up in the training and discipline of the Lord”.
Indeed, we cannot make our children obey us. We can make them comply with our instructions, but true obedience comes from the heart. That sort of obedience can never be demanded from anyone. It arises from a relationship of love and trust. As parents who wish to assist our children in fulfilling that command, we must tenderly cultivate a mutually loving and trusting relationship with them, in order that out of that they may respond to us in true heartfelt obedience.
A proper understanding of child development enables parents to respond to their children in a helpful and understanding way. It allows parents to put aside the false notion that babies cry to manipulate rather than communicate, or that their child’s immature behaviours are sinful rather than normal (and ultimately healthy) developmental stages. With a solid understanding of age-expected behaviours in place, parents are able to actively and respectfully move their children from inappropriate behaviours to appropriate ones, guiding them towards what they should do rather than focusing on what they shouldn’t do.
There is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). You cannot beat a child into salvation. A child is not saved through a parent punishing him in order to "atone for his sin". A child is not saved by "being good". A child is saved through a relationship with Jesus Christ - nothing more, nothing less - and anything that suggests otherwise is outright heresy.
A child’s deepest understanding of God will be formed through their relationship with their parents. In order to ensure we model an accurate picture of God, we must first understand God’s character, design, and instructions for living.
God’s character is one of kindness, compassion, and love. God’s design encourages nearness and responsiveness. Christian instruction points us towards the sort of sacrificial love that leads to the fruit of the Spirit being evident in our lives.
Each of these three areas speaks to the heart of Attachment Parenting. Far more than merely the decision to breastfeed or co-sleep, Attachment Parenting encourages a responsive, relationship-based approach to raising our children. This is what an examination of Scripture calls us to, that we woo our children with kindness, guide them with gentleness, and respond sensitively to their needs. Attachment Parenting provides a holistic approach to demonstrating God’s love and grace to our children in the context of a healthy parent/child relationship.
There are three lies that serve to pull us away from this responsive, relational, instinctive style of parenting. First is the belief that our children must be punished for their wrongdoings. Similarly, next is the belief that God punishes His children for their sins. Last is the belief that rules and good behaviour produce Godly children. Each of these beliefs is contrary to the message of the Gospel, and each serves to suggest that what Christ accomplished on the cross was either insufficient or unnecessary for our salvation and the salvation of our children.
The wages of sin is death, separation from God. It was the sacrifice of Jesus that allowed restoration and reconciliation, opening the way to eternal life. Our children are saved through that relationship, not through punishment, good behaviour, or fear. God loves you, and He loves our children. We must be careful to treat them at all times as cherished creations of a Holy God.
Not every parent will choose to use all of the AP tools, nor choose to use them in the same way. It is not the specifics that are demanded of us, but rather the relational approach behind them. The more we understand God’s character, design, and instructions, the better we can determine the specifics in a way that is right for our family, with an understanding of the underlying heart and purpose: responding sensitively to our children’s needs and seeking ways to build and strengthen a mutually-trusting relationship with them.
1 Thessalonians 2:7
Gentle Christian Mothers
The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
The Complete Book of Christian Parenting and Child Care by William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N. | <urn:uuid:735e776c-147c-4339-86c8-f75c20de10ea> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://hippiehousewife.blogspot.ca/2011/07/attachment-parenting-christian.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223211700.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032011-00206-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962229 | 3,402 | 2.71875 | 3 | The extract provides a comprehensive discussion on Attachment Parenting from a Christian perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding God's character, design, and instructions for living. It promotes a relational, responsive approach to parenting, encouraging kindness, compassion, and love. The text critiques common misconceptions about parenting and God's nature, instead highlighting the value of empathy, trust, and mutual understanding in parent-child relationships.
Educational score: 5 | 5 |
|The northern side of the Prophet's mosque.
The first urban element introduced by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to the city of Madinah was the mosque institution which functioned as a community development center. While in Makkah, the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers were denied the existence and free utilization of their mosques, although they were in dire need of them. As a result, they were denied free and proper practice of their new Islamic faith. They were thus denied some of their basic human rights. They were denied the freedom of thought, expression and practice of their beliefs. However, in order to offset partially this deficiency in Makkah, the first Muslims utilized some Muslim houses, or some quiet, secret and safe spots located mainly in the outskirts of Makkah, to serve the purpose on an interim basis. They even got accustomed to going and visiting the
Ka'bah or al-Masjid al-Haram, albeit without openly and freely performing their religious rituals there. Al-Masjid al-Haram was then controlled by polytheists and polytheistic ideas and customs, both from inside the city of Makkah and from abroad. This way, as much as symbolically only could al-Masjid al-Haram function as the mosque, as well as the nucleus, in the lives of the early believing Muslim community. Such a state of affairs continued for about 13 years following which Allah brought about a change and granted the Muslims and their Prophet (pbuh) that which they had been yearning for. They managed to migrate to Madinah where all the necessary conditions for establishing a well-structured, thriving, free and autonomous state existed.
To what extent the mosque institution was desirable both to propel the struggle for the Islamic cause to a higher level, and to spur and facilitate the overall progress of the Muslims and their young community, testifies the following event. On the way from Makkah to Madinah, the Prophet (pbuh) rested four, or fourteen, or eighteen, or twenty two days in
Quba', a suburb of Madinah about two to three miles to the southeast of the city, whence he next proceeded to his final destination, the city of Madinah proper. Even though his stay in
Quba' accounted for a short interval under some totally new circumstances which everyone was craving for, the Prophet (pbuh) succeeded in establishing a mosque there,
"the Mosque of Piety", to which he later during his subsequent stay in Madinah frequently came, riding or walking. The Prophet (pbuh) is said to have first positioned a stone on the
mosque's qiblah side (the qiblah then was towards al-Masjid al-Aqsa) followed by Abu Bakr, who positioned another stone. Next, the people started building.
|The Prophet's mosque and some of its surrounding areas, seen from a nearby building. The size of
today's ProphetÕs mosque, with all of its adjoining facilities and infrastructure, is approximately the size of what the core of the city of Madinah during the ProphetÕs time was.
The Quba' mosque was the first mosque built by the Prophet (pbuh). Thus, it occupies a special place in the Islamic tradition. The Prophet (pbuh) once said:
"He who purifies himself at home and then proceeds to the Quba' mosque for a prayer will procure the reward of the
'umrah (the lesser pilgrimage)." Certainly, it was because of this that the Qur'an referred to the
Quba' mosque as "the Mosque of Piety". The Prophet (pbuh) loved to go and visit it.
That building and making the most of mosques as a matter of great urgency to the Prophet (pbuh) has been highlighted once again prior to the
Prophet's arrival into the city of Madinah proper. It was Friday when the Prophet (pbuh) set off from
Quba' to Madinah. On the way, before he arrived, the time for the Jumu'ah Prayer drew near. Being used to offering prayers wherever their appointed times overtook him, even if he happened to be in a sheepfold, the Prophet (pbuh) performed the
Jumu'ah Prayer with the tribe of Banu Salim b. 'Uwq because he happened to pass right through their quarter at the time of the prayer. They prayed most probably at a plain that functioned as a makeshift mosque of the Banu Salim b.
'Uwq tribe. That was the Prophet's first Jumu'ah Prayer in Madinah. The number of worshippers was about one hundred; some estimated that it was about forty.
When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) arrived in Madinah from Makkah - an exploit called hijrah or migration -- the first and immediate task relating to the built environment, as well as to the community building process, that he embarked on fulfilling was building the
city's central mosque, also called the Prophet's mosque. Every other undertaking, including building houses for the migrants (muhajirs) who were practically homeless, had to be put off till after the
Prophet's mosque was completed. Herein, too, lies a clue as to the extreme importance of the mosque and the profundity of its message in Islam.
|The Quba' mosque
When the migrants arrived in Madinah, almost all of them were very destitute and virtually homeless. At the same time, the aspiring community had no mosques or any other social institutions. While the first problem the Prophet (pbuh) was able to successfully manipulate and circumnavigate without really abandoning it and so causing any serious harm to the society, the latter predicament, however, could neither be disregarded, even for a short time, nor substituted with another feasible alternatives. Hence, the instituting of a principal mosque in Madinah needed immediate attention. For the housing of the migrants, a workable alternative had to be found.
If the migrants had no houses of their own, there were many other houses in Madinah which if shared were able to offer temporary relief. If truth be told, the migrants needed homes, rather than just houses. The Prophet (pbuh) sought to offer them the former. The latter, he knew, would come in due course. The migrants might have hastened immediately to acquire houses for themselves. But such would have been at the expense of acquiring homes, because they were in a foreign country in Madinah, having been forced to abandon their homes, properties, family roots and quite a number of closest family members in Makkah. Thus, providing homes, and not houses, was a priority for the migrants. That exactly was the thing which the Prophet (pbuh) had in mind and the natives of Madinah (the helpers or ansar) were excited about providing as a solution till the migrants got their own houses and homes. Hence, the helpers offered their houses to be shared with their brethren from Makkah. Although it was transitory in nature, the
helpers' offering the migrants a genuine home went a long way towards the realization of the
Prophet's and Islam's mission in Madinah.
|The Jumu'ah mosque. It was here that the Prophet (pbuh) prayed his first JumuÕah Prayer in Madinah. This mosque was built to commemorate the occasion.
But there was nothing that could offset the absence of a mosque, the house of Allah, in Madinah. There was no existing structure, or an institution, that could offer any relief in case the establishment of a mosque was delayed. Even in the world of ideas, conceptually, a substitute for the mosque phenomenon did not exist. The matter thus could not be deferred, or taken lightly, as every forthcoming initiative utterly depended on it. Glorifying and worshipping Allah at a collective level could not have been deferred any longer. Perceiving and constructing a house of Allah, i.e., a mosque, for the purpose, was an obligation long overdue. The people were kept longing and craving for so long. Once in Madinah, they hardly could wait to bring their elongated unjustifiable misery to an end. Such is the importance of the mosque in the implementation of Islam as a comprehensive way of life. Such is the importance of the mosque, furthermore, in the development of the Islamic community, culture and civilization. The mosque is a lifeline for Islam and Muslims. On it, their survival depends.
Strengthening fraternity among the migrants (muhajirs) and helpers (ansar, or the natives of Madinah) was at all times one of the major goals of the
Prophet's plans and actions. His general planning and building pursuits were no exception. By planning and building his mosque, prior to anything else, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted very much to help everyone in Madinah in terms of their quick and smooth adaptation and acclimatization to what was transpiring around them. Thus, he wanted to help the migrants and ease their pain with reference to the new natural environment and climate in Madinah which they suddenly found themselves in and which apparently did not suit them well, as well as with reference to their distressing economic and psychological conditions that resulted from the migration. Also, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted very much to assist the helpers (ansar), or the natives of Madinah, to come to terms as quickly and as painlessly as possible with a new socio-political landscape that was forming in their homeland, and with a new code of life which most of them had freshly embraced.
This article is an excerpt from the author's recent book
"Islamic Architecture: Its Philosophy, Spiritual Significance and Some Early
Dr. Spahic Omer, a Bosnian currently residing in Malaysia, is an Associate Professor at the Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design, International Islamic University Malaysia. He studied in Bosnia, Egypt and Malaysia. His research interests cover Islamic history, culture and civilization, as well as the history and philosophy of the Islamic built environment. He can be reached at
yahoo.com; his blog is at www.medinanet.org. | <urn:uuid:4975fef9-0d9e-4b2b-b670-d34783b2dc68> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.islamicity.com/Articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC1302-5392 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223211700.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032011-00206-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978707 | 2,137 | 3.421875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical and religious context. It provides some insight into community building, leadership, and teamwork through the Prophet's actions, but these are not explicitly framed as soft skills. The text is more informative and descriptive than interactive or application-oriented.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
GMOs in contained production
The GMOs are handled under contained conditions and only GMOs classified as Class 1 are used in our production of pharmaceuticals. Class 1 is the lowest risk category, covering GMOs which have no know adverse effect to human health or the external environment.
The cells and micro-organisms expressing the genes coding for a particular protein, are in most cases secreting the protein (pharmaceutical products). The GMOs are grown in large-scale growth facilities for production (fermentation tanks). The product is subsequently separated from the cells and transferred into the final recovery and purification process.
Novo Nordisk products do not contain GMOs or gene fragments
The main raw materials used in our closed fermentation tanks are water, nutrients and sugar. During the recovery and purification processes, we use organic chemicals (such as ethanol), inorganic chemicals such as acids, bases and salts, and filter materials such as kieselgel. Some of the processes include antibody affinity purification of the pharmaceutical product, and enzymatic maturation is applied in our insulin production. Novo Nordisk products do not contain GMOs or gene fragments.
Reduced consumption of water, energy and raw materials
Over the years, we have developed new insulins based on a new yeast strain producing more products for each yeast cell. This has helped us substantially reduce the consumption of water, energy and raw materials per produced unit.
Reuse of waste without GMOs
The main waste product is a nutrient-rich organic material known as yeast sludge, which is recycled as raw material for biogas generation. | <urn:uuid:f5acfea5-a0ae-466a-8506-af93dfe81cde> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.novonordisk.com/science/Bioethics/Gene_Ethics_GMO_production.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223211700.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032011-00206-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937191 | 322 | 2.84375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on technical aspects of GMOs in pharmaceutical production. It provides basic information on production processes and environmental considerations, but does not address communication, teamwork, or problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
TAG | PFCs
A recent study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that in almost all of 268 pregnant women tested, eight different types of chemicals were found in their bodies. Chemicals found include pesticides, flame retardants, PFCs from non-stick cookware, phthalates, car exhaust pollutants and even DDT, a chemical that has been banned since 1979!
These toxins can pass right through the placenta and into the fetus. In fact, a previous study, done by the Environmental Working Group, found that unborn babies carry over 200 different chemicals in their bodies, even before they are born.
The study in pregnant women looked for 163 different chemicals, so it only scratches the surface, because over 80,000 new chemicals are introduced each year. The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) was found in 96 percent of these women. Prenatal BPA exposure has been linked to adverse health outcomes, affecting brain development and susceptibility to cancer in later life.
Certain chemical levels found in these women were at levels known to be harmful to children. While concerning, this does not even take into account the additive effect that chemicals have, which is considered to be more dangerous because new chemical compounds can be formed when chemicals mix, and little is known about the possible consequences of this.
Toxins are everywhere. We live in a toxic soup. We can reduce our exposure, but we cannot prevent it. That’s why a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, and supporting the health of the body’s channels of elimination (colon, liver, kidneys, lymph, blood, lungs and skin) are so vital to reducing the harmful effects that toxins can have on our health. | <urn:uuid:77ce9f72-53b3-44cb-a665-2b75606eef78> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://blog.renewlife.com/tag/pfcs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535095.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00414-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967121 | 352 | 2.8125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing instead on environmental health and toxins. It provides informative content but does not address communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
How do you think the new GigE standards will influence the machine vision industry?
Respond or ask your question now!
When a flare erupts, it throws out large clouds of ionized, or electrically charged, gas. A small fraction of the cloud is very energetic and can reach the Earth within a few minutes to hours of the flare being observed. These energetic particles pose a hazard to both astronauts and spacecraft.
Coronal mass ejections, which are often associated with flares, take several days to reach the Earth. Fast, powerful ejections give rise to geomagnetic storms, which can disrupt radio transmissions and induce large currents in power transmission lines and oil pipelines. They have resulted in large-scale failures of the North American power grid and greatly increased pipeline erosion. SXI also will monitor coronal holes -- persistent sources of high-speed solar wind. As the Sun rotates every 27 days, these sources sprayacross the Earth and cause recurring geomagnetic storms.
The Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory at the ATC has a long heritage of spaceborne solar instruments including the Soft X-ray Telescope on the Japanese Yohkoh satellite, the Michelson Doppler Imager on the ESA/NASA Solarand Heliospheric Observatory, and the solar telescope on NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer. The laboratory also conducts basic research into understanding and predicting space weather and the behavior of our Sun including its impacts on Earth and climate.
The ATC is the research and development organization of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC). LMSSC, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates avariety of advanced technology systems for military, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include a full-range of space launch systems, including heavy-lift capability, ground systems, remote sensing and communications satellites for commercial and government customers, advanced space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of | <urn:uuid:af7de107-3694-4bc0-8ba9-7c7fba845016> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.advancedimagingpro.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=2987&pageNum=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535095.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00414-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918454 | 456 | 3.015625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on technical and scientific topics. It provides information on space weather, solar instruments, and Lockheed Martin's products and services, but does not address communication, teamwork, or leadership skills.
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|PDB structures||RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum|
|PDB structures||RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum|
Helicases are a class of enzymes vital to all living organisms. Their main function is to unpackage an organism's genes. They are motor proteins that move directionally along a nucleic acid phosphodiester backbone, separating two annealed nucleic acid strands (i.e., DNA, RNA, or RNA-DNA hybrid) using energy derived from ATP hydrolysis. There are many helicases resulting from the great variety of processes in which strand separation must be catalyzed. Approximately 1% of eukaryotic genes code for helicases. In humans, 95 non-redundant helicases are coded for in the genome, 64 RNA helicases and 31 DNA helicases. Many cellular processes, such as DNA replication, transcription, translation, recombination, DNA repair, and ribosome biogenesis involve the separation of nucleic acid strands that necessitates the use of helicases.
- 1 Function
- 2 History of DNA helicase discovery
- 3 Structural features
- 4 Superfamilies
- 5 Helicase disorders and diseases
- 6 RNA helicases
- 7 Diagnostic tools for helicase measurement
- 8 See also
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Helicases are often used to separate strands of a DNA double helix or a self-annealed RNA molecule using the energy from ATP hydrolysis, a process characterized by the breaking of hydrogen bonds between annealed nucleotide bases. They also function to remove nucleic acid-associated proteins and catalyze homologous DNA recombination. Metabolic processes of RNA such as translation, transcription, ribosome biogenesis, RNA splicing, RNA transport, RNA editing, and RNA degradation are all facilitated by helicases. Helicases move incrementally along one nucleic acid strand of the duplex with a directionality and processivity specific to each particular enzyme.
Helicases adopt different structures and oligomerization states. Whereas DnaB[disambiguation needed]-like helicases unwind DNA as donut-shaped hexamers, other enzymes have been shown to be active as monomers or dimers. Studies have shown that helicases may act passively, waiting for uncatalyzed unwinding to take place and then translocating between displaced strands, or can play an active role in catalyzing strand separation using the energy generated in ATP hydrolysis. In the latter case, the helicase acts comparably to an active motor, unwinding and translocating along its substrate as a direct result of its ATPase activity. Helicases may process much faster in vivo than in vitro due to the presence of accessory proteins that aid in the destabilization of the fork junction.
Activation barrier in helicase activity
Enzymatic helicase action, such as unwinding nucleic acids is achieved through the lowering of the activation barrier (B) of each specific action. The activation barrier is a result of various factors, and can be defined using the following equation, where N = number of unwound base pairs (bps), ΔGbp = free energy of base pair formation, Gint = reduction of free energy due to helicase, and Gƒ = reduction of free energy due to unzipping forces.
- B = N (ΔGbp-Gint-Gƒ)
Factors that contribute to the height of the activation barrier include: specific nucleic acid sequence of the molecule involved, the number of base pairs involved, tension present on the replication fork, and destabilization forces.
Active and passive helicases
The size of the activation barrier to overcome by the helicase contributes to its classification as an active or passive helicase. In passive helicases, a significant activation barrier exists (defined as B > kBT, where kB is Boltzmann's constant and T is temperature of the system). Because of this significant activation barrier, its unwinding progression is affected largely by the sequence of nucleic acids within the molecule to unwind, and the presence of destabilization forces acting on the replication fork. Certain nucleic acid combinations will decrease unwinding rates (i.e. guanine and cytosine), while various destabilizing forces can increase the unwinding rate. In passive systems, the rate of unwinding (Vun) is less than the rate of translocation (Vtrans) (translocation along the single-strand nucleic acid, ssNA). Another way to view the passive helicase is its reliance on the transient unraveling of the base pairs at the replication fork to determine its rate of unwinding.
In active helicases, B < kBT, where the system lacks a significant barrier, as the helicase is able to destabilize the nucleic acids, unwinding the double-helix at a constant rate, regardless of the nucleic acid sequence. In active helicases, Vun is approximately equal to Vtrans. Another way to view the active helicase is its ability to directly destabilize the replication fork to promote unwinding.
Active helicases show similar behavior when acting on both double-strand nucleic acids, dsNA, or ssNA, in regards to the rates of unwinding and rates of translocation, where in both systems Vun and Vtrans are approximately equal.
History of DNA helicase discovery
DNA helicases were first discovered in E. coli in 1976. The discoverers of this helicase described the molecule as a “DNA unwinding enzyme” that is “found to denature DNA duplexes in an ATP-dependent reaction, without detectably degrading”. The first eukaryotic DNA helicase discovery was in 1978 and found in the lily plant. Since then, DNA helicases were discovered and isolated in other bacteria, viruses, yeast, flies, and higher eukaryotes and have thus been accordingly named as “prokaryotic”, “eukaryotic”, “bacteriophage”, and “viral”. To date, at least 14 different helicases have been isolated from single celled organisms, 6 helicases have been isolated from bacteriophages, 12 have been isolated from viruses, 15 from yeast, 8 from plants, 11 from calf thymus, and approximately 25 helicases have been identified from human cells. Below is a short description of the helicase discovery history:
- 1976 – Discovery and isolation of E. coli-based DNA helicase
- 1978 – Discovery of the first eukaryotic DNA helicases, isolated from the lily plant
- 1982 – “T4 jean 41 protein” is the first reported bacteriophage DNA helicase
- 1985 – First mammalian DNA helicases isolated from calf thymus
- 1986 – SV40 large tumor antigen reported as a viral helicase (1st reported viral protein that was determined to serve as a DNA helicase)
- 1986 – ATPaseIII, a yeast protein, determined to be a DNA helicase
- 1988 – Discovery of seven conserved amino acid domains determined to be helicase motifs
- 1989 – Designation of DNA helicase Superfamily I and Superfamily II
- 1989 - Identification of the DEAD box helicase family
- 1990 - Isolation of a human DNA helicase
- 1992 – Isolation of the first reported mitochondrial DNA helicase (from bovine brain)
- 1996 – Report of the discovery of the first purified chloroplast DNA helicase from the pea
- 2002 – Isolation and characterization of the first biochemically active malarial parasite DNA helicase - Plasmodium cynomolgi.
The common function of helicases accounts for the fact that they display a certain degree of amino acid sequence homology; they all possess common sequence motifs located in the interior of their primary structure. These are thought to be specifically involved in ATP binding, ATP hydrolysis and translocation on the nucleic acid substrate. The variable portion of the amino acid sequence is related to the specific features of each helicase.
Based on the presence of defined helicase motifs, it is possible to attribute a putative helicase activity to a given protein, though the presence of a motif does not confirm the protein as a helicase. Conserved motifs do, however, support an evolutionary homology among enzymes. Based on the presence and the form of helicase motifs, helicases have been separated in 4 superfamilies and 2 smaller families. Some members of these families are indicated, with the organism from which they are extracted, and their function.
Helicases have been classified in 6 major groups (superfamilies) based on the motifs and consensus sequences shared by the molecules. Helicases that do not form a ring structure are included in superfamilies 1 and 2 and the ring forming helicases form part of superfamilies 3 to 6. Helicases are also classified as α or β depending on if they work with single or double-strand DNA, α helicases work with single-strand DNA and β helicases work with double-strand DNA. They are also classified by translocation polarity. If translocation occurs 3’-5’ then the helicase is a type A helicase or if translocation occurs 5’-3’ then it is a type B Helicase.
- Superfamily 1 (SF1): In this group helicases can have either 3’-5’ or 5’-3’ translocation polarity. This subgroup is at the same time subdivided in SF1A and SF1B Helicases. The most known SF1A helicases are Rep and UvrD[disambiguation needed] in gram-negative bacteria and PcrA helicase from gram-positive bacteria. The most known Helicases in the SF1B group are RecD and Dda helicases.
- Superfamily 2 (SF2): This is the largest group of helicases that are involved in varied cellular processes. They are characterized by the presence of nine conserved motifs: Q, I, Ia, Ib and from II to VI. This group is mainly composed of DEAD-box RNA helicases. Some other helicases included in SF2 are the RecQ-like family and the Snf2-like enzymes. Most of the SF2 helicases are type A with a few exceptions such as the XPD family.
- Superfamily 3 (SF3): Superfamily 3 consists of helicases encoded mainly by small DNA viruses and some large nucleocytoplasmic DNA viruses. They have a 3’-5’ translocation directionality, meaning that they are all type A helicases. The most known SF3 helicase is the papilloma virus E1 helicase.
- Superfamily 4 (SF4): All SF4 family helicases have a type B polarity (5’-3’). The most studied SF4 helicase is gp4 from bacteriophage T7.
- Superfamily 6 (SF6): They contain the core AAA+ that is not included in the SF3 classification. Some proteins in the SF6 group are: mini chromosome maintenance MCM, RuvB, RuvA and RuvC.
Helicase disorders and diseases
ATRX helicase mutations
The ATRX gene encodes the ATP-dependent helicase, ATRX (also known as XH2 and XNP) of the SNF2 subgroup family, that is thought to be responsible for functions such as chromatin remodeling, gene regulation, and DNA methylation. These functions assist in prevention of apoptosis, resulting in cortical size regulation, as well as a contribution to the survival of hippocampal and cortical structures, affecting memory and learning. This helicase is located on the X chromosome (Xq13.1-q21.1), in the pericentromeric heterochromatin and binds to Heterochromatin protein 1. Studies have shown that ATRX plays a role in rDNA methylation and is essential for embyonic development. Mutations have been found throughout the ATRX protein, with over 90% of them being located in the zinc finger and helicase domains. Mutations of ATRX can result in X-linked-alpha-thalassaemia-mental retardation (ATR-X syndrome).
Various types of mutations found in ATRX have been found to be associated with ATR-X, including most commonly single-base missense mutations, as well as nonsense, frameshift, and deletion mutations. Characteristics of ATR-X include: microcephaly, skeletal and facial abnormalities, mental retardation, genital abnormalities, seizures, limited language use and ability, and alpha-thalassemia. The phenotype seen in ATR-X suggests that the mutation of ATRX gene causes the downregulation of gene expression, such as the alpha-globin genes. It is still unknown what causes the expression of the various characteristics of ATR-X in different patients.
XPD helicase point mutations
XPD (Xeroderma pigmentosum factor D, also known as protein ERCC2) is a 5'-3', Superfamily II, ATP-dependent helicase containing iron-sulphur cluster domains. Inherited point mutations in XPD helicase have been shown to be associated with accelerated aging disorders such as Cockayne syndrome (CS) and trichothiodystrophy (TTD). Cockayne syndrome and trichothiodystrophy are both developmental disorders involving sensitivity to UV light and premature aging, and Cockayne syndrome exhibits severe mental retardation from the time of birth. The XPD helicase mutation has also been implicated in xeroderma pigmentosa (XP), a disorder characterized by sensitivity to UV light and resulting in a several 1000-fold increase in the development of skin cancer.
XPD is an essential component of the TFIIH complex, a transcription and repair factor in the cell. As part of this complex, it facilitates nucleotide excision repair by unwinding DNA. TFIIH assists in repairing damaged DNA such as sun damage. A mutation in the XPD helicase that helps form this complex and contributes to its function causes the sensitivity to sunlight seen in all three diseases, as well as the increased risk of cancer seen in XP and premature aging seen in trichothiodystrophy and Cockayne syndrome.
XPD helicase mutations leading to trichothiodystrophy are found throughout the protein in various locations involved in protein-protein interactions. This mutation results in an unstable protein due to its inability to form stabilizing interactions with other proteins at the points of mutations. This, in turn, destabilizes the entire TFIIH complex, which leads to defects with transcription and repair mechanisms of the cell.
It has been suggested that XPD helicase mutations leading to Cockayne syndrome could be the result of mutations within XPD, causing rigidity of the protein and subsequent inability to switch from repair functions to transcription functions due to a "locking" in repair mode. This could cause the helicase to cut DNA segments meant for transcription. Although current evidence points to a defect in the XPD helicase resulting in a loss of flexibility in the protein in cases of Cockayne syndrome, it is still unclear how this protein structure leads to the symptoms described in Cockayne syndrome.
In xeroderma pigmentosa, the XPD helicase mutation exists at the site of ATP or DNA binding. This results in a structurally functional helicase able to facilitate transcription, however it inhibits its function in unwinding DNA and DNA repair. The lack of cell's ability to repair mutations, such as those caused by sun damage, is the cause of the high cancer rate in xeroderma pigmentosa patients.
RecQ family mutations
RecQ helicases (3'-5') belong to the Superfamily II group of helicases, which help to maintain stability of the genome and suppress inappropriate recombination. Deficiencies and/or mutations in RecQ family helicases display aberrant jeanetic recombination and/or DNA replication, which leads to chromosomal instability and an overall decreased ability to proliferate. Mutations in RecQ family helicases BLM, RECQL4, and WRN, which play a role in regulating homologous recombination, have been shown to result in the autosomal recessive diseases Bloom syndrome (BS), Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS), and Werner syndrome (WS), respectively.
Bloom syndrome is characterized by a predisposition to cancer with early onset, with a mean age-of-onset of 24 years. Cells of Bloom syndrome patients show a high frequency of reciprocal exchange between sister chromatids (SCEs) and excessive chromosomal damage. There is evidence to suggest that BLM plays a role in rescuing disrupted DNA replication at replication forks.
Werner syndrome is a disorder of premature aging, with symptoms including early onset of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis and other age related diseases, a high occurrence of sarcoma, and death often occurring from myocardial infarction or cancer in the 4th to 6th decade of life. Cells of Werner syndrome patients exhibit a reduced reproductive lifespan with chromosomal breaks and translocations, as well as large deletions of chromosomal components, causing genomic instability.
Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, also known as poikiloderma congenitale, is characterized by premature aging, skin and skeletal abnormalities, rash, poikiloderma, juvenile cataracts, and a predisposition to cancers such as osteosarcomas. Chromosomal rearrangements causing genomic instability are found in the cells of Rothmund-Thomson syndrome patients.
RNA helicases are essential for most processes of RNA metabolism such as ribosome biogenesis, pri-mRNA splicing and translation initiation. Besides being involved in all the previous processes RNA helicases also play a very important role in sensing viral RNAs. RNA helicases are involved in the mediation of antiviral immune response because they able to identify foreign RNAs in vertebrates. About 80% of all viruses are RNA viruses and they contain their own RNA helicases. Defective RNA helicases have been linked to cancer, infectious diseases and neuro-degenerative disorders. Some neurological disorders associated with defective RNA helicases are: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, spinocerebellar ataxia type-2, Alzheimer disease, and lethal congenital contracture syndrome.
RNA helicases and DNA helicases can be found together in all the helicase superfamilies except for SF6. All the eukaryotic RNA helicases that have been identified up to date are non-ring forming and are part of SF1 and SF2. On the other hand, ring-forming RNA helicases have been found in bacteria and viruses. However, not all RNA helicases exhibit helicase activity as defined by enzymatic function, i.e., proteins of the Swi/Snf family. Although these proteins carry the typical helicase motifs, hydrolize ATP in a nucleic acid-dependent manner, and are built around a helicase core, in general, no unwinding activity is observed.
RNA helicases that do exhibit unwinding activity have been characterized by at least two different mechanisms: canonical duplex unwinding and local strand separation. Canonical duplex unwinding is the stepwise directional separation of a duplex strand, as described above, for DNA unwinding. However, local strand separation occurs by a process wherein the helicase enzyme is loaded at any place along the duplex. This is usually aided by a single-strand region of the RNA, and the loading of the enzyme is accompanied with ATP binding. Once the helicase and ATP are bound, local strand separation occurs, which requires binding of ATP but not the actual process of ATP hydrolysis. Presented with fewer base pairs the duplex then dissociates without further assistance from the enzyme. This mode of unwinding is used by DEAD-box helicases.
There is a RNA helicase database currently available online that contains a comprehensive list of RNA helicases with information such as sequence, structure, and biochemical and cellular functions.
Diagnostic tools for helicase measurement
Measuring/monitoring helicase activity
Various methods are used to measure helicase activity in vitro. These methods range from assays that are qualitative (assays that usually entail results that do not involve values or measurements) to quantitative (assays with numerical results that can be utilized in statistical and numerical analysis). In 1982-1983, the first direct biochemical assay was developed for measuring helicase activity. This method was called a “strand displacement assay”.
- Strand displacement assay involves the radiolabeling of DNA duplexes. Following helicase treatment, the single-strand DNA is visually detected as separate from the double-strand DNA by non-denaturing PAGE electrophoresis. Following detection of the single-strand DNA, the amount of radioactive tag that is on the single-strand DNA is quantified to give a numerical value for the amount of double-strand DNA unwinding.
- The strand displacement assay is acceptable for qualitative analysis, its inability to display results for more than a single time point, its time consumption, and its dependance on a radioactive bio-hazard for labeling warranted the need for development of diagnostics that can monitor helicase activity in real time.
Other methods were later developed that incorporated some, if not all of the following: high throughput mechanics, the use of less hazardous nucleotide labeling, faster reaction time/less time consumption, real-time monitoring of helicase activity (using kinetic measurement instead of endpoint/single point analysis). These methodologies include: "a rapid quench flow method, fluorescence-based assays, filtration assays, a scintillation proximity assay, a time resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay, an assay based on flashplate technology, homogenous time-resolved fluorescence quenching assays, and electrochemiluminescence-based helicase assays". With the used of specialized mathematical equations, some of these assays can be utilized to determine how many base paired nucleotides a helicase can break per hydrolysis of 1 ATP molecule.
Commercially available diagnostic kits are also available. One such kit is the "Trupoint" diagnostic assay from PerkinElmer, Inc. This assay is a time-resolved fluorescence quenching assay that utilizes the PerkinEmer "SignalClimb" technology that is based on two labels that bind in close proximity to one another but on opposite DNA strands . One label is a fluorescent lanthanide chelate, which serves as the label that is monitored through an adequate 96/384 well plate reader. The other label is an organic quencher molecule. The basis of this assay is the "quenching" or repressing of the lanthanide chelate signal by the organic quencher molecule when the two are in close proximity - as they would be when the DNA duplex is in its native state. Upon helicase activity on the duplex, the quencher and lanthanide labels get separated as the DNA is unwound. This loss in proximity negates the quenchers ability to repress the lanthanide signal, causing a detectable increase in fluorescence that is representative of the amount of unwound DNA and can be used as a quantifiable measurement of helicase activity.
Determining helicase polarity
Helicase polarity, which is also deemed "directionality", is defined as the direction (characterized as 5'→3' or 3'→5') of helicase movement on single-strand DNA. This determination of polarity is vital in determining whether the tested helicase attaches to the DNA leading strand, or the DNA lagging strand. To characterize this helicase feature, a partially duplex DNA is used as the substrate that has a central single-strand DNA region with different lengths of duplex regions of DNA (1 short region that runs 5'→3' and 1 longer region that runs 3'→5') on both sides of this region. Once the helicase is added to that central single-strand region, the polarity is determined by characterization on the newly formed single-strand DNA.
- chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein: CHD1, CHD1L, CHD2, CHD3, CHD4, CHD5, CHD6, CHD7, CHD8, CHD9
- DEAD box/DEAD/DEAH box helicase: DDX3X, DDX5, DDX6, DDX10, DDX11, DDX12, DDX58, DHX8, DHX9, DHX37, DHX40, DHX58
- ASCC3, BLM, BRIP1, DNA2, FBXO18, FBXO30, HELB, HELLS, HELQ, HELZ, HFM1, HLTF, IFIH1, NAV2, PIF1, RECQL, RTEL1, SHPRH, SMARCA4, SMARCAL1, WRN, WRNIP1
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- Fan L, Fuss JO, Cheng QJ, Arvai AS, Hammel M, Roberts VA, Cooper PK, Tainer JA (May 2008). "XPD helicase structures and activities: insights into the cancer and aging phenotypes from XPD mutations". Cell 133 (5): 789–800. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.04.030. PMC 3055247. PMID 18510924.
- Lainé JP, Mocquet V, Egly JM (2006). "TFIIH enzymatic activities in transcription and nucleotide excision repair". Meth. Enzymol. Methods in Enzymology 408: 246–63. doi:10.1016/S0076-6879(06)08015-3. ISBN 9780121828134. PMID 16793373.
- Tirode F, Busso D, Coin F, Egly JM (January 1999). "Reconstitution of the transcription factor TFIIH: assignment of functions for the three enzymatic subunits, XPB, XPD, and cdk7". Mol. Cell 3 (1): 87–95. doi:10.1016/S1097-2765(00)80177-X. PMID 10024882.
- Sung P, Bailly V, Weber C, Thompson LH, Prakash L, Prakash S (October 1993). "Human xeroderma pigmentosum group D jean encodes a DNA helicase". Nature 365 (6449): 852–5. doi:10.1038/365852a0. PMID 8413672.
- Schaeffer L, Roy R, Humbert S, Moncollin V, Vermeulen W, Hoeijmakers JH, Chambon P, Egly JM (April 1993). "DNA repair helicase: a component of BTF2 (TFIIH) basic transcription factor". Science 260 (5104): 58–63. doi:10.1126/science.8465201. PMID 8465201.
- Hanada K, Hickson ID (September 2007). "Molecular jeanetics of RecQ helicase disorders". Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 64 (17): 2306–22. doi:10.1007/s00018-007-7121-z. PMID 17571213.
- Opresko PL, Cheng WH, Bohr VA (April 2004). "Junction of RecQ helicase biochemistry and human disease". J. Biol. Chem. 279 (18): 18099–102. doi:10.1074/jbc.R300034200. PMID 15023996.
- Ouyang KJ, Woo LL, Ellis NA (2008). "Homologous recombination and maintenance of genome integrity: cancer and aging through the prism of human RecQ helicases". Mech. Ageing Dev. 129 (7–8): 425–40. doi:10.1016/j.mad.2008.03.003. PMID 18430459.
- Ellis NA, Groden J, Ye TZ, Straughen J, Lennon DJ, Ciocci S, Proytcheva M, German J (November 1995). "The Bloom's syndrome jean product is homologous to RecQ helicases". Cell 83 (4): 655–66. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(95)90105-1. PMID 7585968.
- Selak N, Bachrati CZ, Shevelev I, Dietschy T, van Loon B, Jacob A, Hübscher U, Hoheisel JD, Hickson ID, Stagljar I (September 2008). "The Bloom's syndrome helicase (BLM) interacts physically and functionally with p12, the smallest subunit of human DNA polymerase delta". Nucleic Acids Res. 36 (16): 5166–79. doi:10.1093/nar/gkn498. PMC 2532730. PMID 18682526.
- Gray MD, Shen JC, Kamath-Loeb AS, Blank A, Sopher BL, Martin GM, Oshima J, Loeb LA (September 1997). "The Werner syndrome protein is a DNA helicase". Nat. Genet. 17 (1): 100–3. doi:10.1038/ng0997-100. PMID 9288107.
- Kitao S, Shimamoto A, Goto M, Miller RW, Smithson WA, Lindor NM, Furuichi Y (May 1999). "Mutations in RECQL4 cause a subset of cases of Rothmund-Thomson syndrome". Nat. Genet. 22 (1): 82–4. doi:10.1038/8788. PMID 10319867.
- Jankowsky, A.; Guenther, U. -P.; Jankowsky, E. (2010). "The RNA helicase database". Nucleic Acids Research 39 (Database issue): D338–D341. doi:10.1093/nar/gkq1002. PMC 3013637. PMID 21112871.
- Jankowsky E, Fairman-Williams ME (2010). "An introduction to RNA helicases: superfamilies, families, and major themes". In Jankowsky E. RNA Helicases (RSC Biomolecular Sciences). Cambridge, England: Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 5. ISBN 1-84755-914-X.
- Ranji, A.; Boris-Lawrie, K. (2010). "RNA helicases: Emerging roles in viral replication and the host innate response". RNA Biology 7 (6): 775–787. doi:10.4161/rna.7.6.14249. PMC 3073335. PMID 21173576.
- Jankowsky E (January 2011). "RNA helicases at work: binding and rearranging". Trends Biochem. Sci. 36 (1): 19–29. doi:10.1016/j.tibs.2010.07.008. PMC 3017212. PMID 20813532.
- Yang Q, Del Campo M, Lambowitz AM, Jankowsky E (October 2007). "DEAD-box proteins unwind duplexes by local strand separation". Mol. Cell 28 (2): 253–63. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2007.08.016. PMID 17964264.
- Liu F, Putnam A, Jankowsky E (December 2008). "ATP hydrolysis is required for DEAD-box protein recycling but not for duplex unwinding". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105 (51): 20209–14. doi:10.1073/pnas.0811115106. PMC 2629341. PMID 19088201.
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- Matson SW, Tabor S, Richardson CC (November 1983). "The jean 4 protein of bacteriophage T7. Characterization of helicase activity". J. Biol. Chem. 258 (22): 14017–24. PMID 6315716.
- Sarlós K, Gyimesi M, Kovács M (June 2012). "RecQ helicase translocates along single-stranded DNA with a moderate processivity and tight mechanochemical coupling". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109 (25): 9804–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.1114468109. PMC 3382518. PMID 22665805.
- Borowiec, J. (1996) DNA Replication in Eukaryotic Cells. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY. 545-574
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helicases.|
- DNA Helicases at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- RNA Helicases at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) | <urn:uuid:ea350dd1-21a8-4e96-b7ea-209f722e8ae5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PcrA_helicase | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537804.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00446-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.802021 | 9,607 | 3.859375 | 4 | The provided extract is a comprehensive article about helicases, enzymes that unwind DNA or RNA molecules. The content is highly technical and focused on the biological and biochemical aspects of helicases, their structure, function, and role in various cellular processes. The article lacks discussion of soft skills, communication scenarios, teamwork, leadership, or any other non-technical skills. The language is formal and academic, indicating that the primary audience is likely professionals or students in the field of molecular biology.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
by Bob Cunningham(Grammar)
Over the years there have been postings to AUE that were based upon the misconception that the genitive case always indicates possession. This fallacy leads to people saying things like 'It can't be right to say "the room's furnishings" because a room can't possess something.'
The genitive case is in fact used for several things besides possession. Bergen and Cornelia Evans, in A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage, discuss seven genitive types:
(The Evanses give a detailed discussion of each type; I've only hinted at their discussions, mostly by giving a few examples.)
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage says, in part:
Bishop Lowth in 1762 used the word possessive in place of the older term genitive; so then did other 18th-century grammarians, and many grammarians since have used it. This change in terminology has led to a few minor usage problems based on the erroneous supposition that the only function of the genitive is to show possession. [...] Fries found that the possessive genitive was the most common, but that it accounted for only 40-percent of all genitives.
They discuss a number of uses of the genitive and give examples of each. Under 'descriptive genitive or classifying genitive', with the comment 'Fries adds the genitive of measure to this', they list:
the room's furnishings
the airplane's speed
the building's foundation
one day's leave
a dollar's worth
a year's wages
the Eighty Years' War
A comment in MWDEU concerns the rephrasing of the genitive with apostrophe to a structure with a prepositional phrase, as in:
'the airplane's speed' => 'the speed of the airplane'.
They point out that in what one grammarian (Evans) has called the genitive of purpose the prepositional phrase must use the preposition 'for' rather than 'of', as in:
'men's shirts' => 'shirts for men', and
'a girls' school' => 'a school for girls'.
Mark Israel's AUE FAQ doesn't cover the genitive-equals-possessive fallacy per se, but he does skirt the perimeter of it with:
The Latin plural of "curriculum vitae" is "curricula vitae".
[ . . . ]
This is a feature of the Latin genitive of content, which
differs in this regard from the more common Latin genitive
A classic story in linguistics lore tells of the grammarian who tried to classify all of the ways the genitive can be used. He eventually threw up his hands and said that the genitive is the case that shows any relationship between two substantives.
This is a temporary page for the development of aue FAQ material and the testing of scripts.
Please do not bookmark this page. | <urn:uuid:c72ba7c8-163e-419b-9ef7-8dbf0b11a46b> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/faqgenitive.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537804.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00446-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936112 | 621 | 2.875 | 3 | The extract focuses on grammatical concepts, specifically the genitive case, and its various uses beyond possession. It lacks discussion of soft skills, emotional intelligence, leadership, and critical thinking. The content is theoretical and lacks practical application, cultural awareness, and digital literacy.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Early Childhood Education (A.S.)
The Associate in Science degree in Early Childhood Education has been designed to provide a thorough understanding of the young child. The program creates a broad perspective on child and family development patterns. Students develop skills to guide children in their early education.
- attain proficiency in basic concepts, theories, writing and methods in early childhood education.
- evaluate ethical principles of early childhood education.
- prepare for a seamless transition to the Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education program with New Hampshire teacher certification in Early Childhood (N-3) and Early Childhood Special Education (Birth-Age 8).
Download a printable version of the curriculum map. | <urn:uuid:69e609b0-98a4-4b2b-93e1-40e5fbb3fa36> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www2.granite.edu/academics/degrees/associate/ece.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537804.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00446-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912849 | 135 | 2.6875 | 3 | The extract provides superficial coverage of basic concepts in early childhood education, lacking depth and practical application. It mentions skill development, but the focus is narrow and theoretical, without complex problem-solving or real-world context. Cultural awareness and digital literacy are absent.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Nothing says summer like the taste of sun-warmed ripe blackberries. Unfortunately, for some blackberry-lovers, moving north of the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone 5 meant giving up a favorite fruit. In recent years, however, breeders have worked to extend blackberry hardiness, and several varieties claim to be hardy into zone 3, where winter lows can run from minus 30 degrees F to minus 40 degrees F. Sun-catching strategies plus winter-weather protection allows home gardeners to try growing blackberries as far north as parts of Canada.
Ask Woodstock Nursery in Wisconsin for information on Darrow and Stenulson blackberries. Although blackberry plants are listed under raspberries, Woodstock assures customers that these are neither a blackberry-raspberry cross nor a black raspberry, but true blackberries. Stenulson is the Woodstock development of a local wild strain, which the nursery notes grows well in its zone 3 microclimate.
Choose Illini Hardy blackberries, advises Bachman's Minnesota Nurseries. Read the descriptions of hardiness zones and suitable plants under "Hardy Plants for 'The Lake.'" Note that the link cited in references will take you directly there or to the full library of Garden Care sheets--there appear to have been recent changes in site organization. Look for "Hardy Plants for 'The Lake'" under "Minnesota Gardening" and learn about good companions for your zone 3 blackberries.
Nova Scotia Berries
Investigate Balsors Hardy blackberries from Nova Scotia, carried by the Canadian branch of Vesey's, for large, sweet late-summer berries. The major heading says zone 4, but the full span of hardiness zones listed runs from 3a to 8b.
Doyle's Patented Berry Bush
Check out Doyle's thornless blackberries, patented by Doyle's Thornless Blackberries in Washington, Indiana. Garden forums speculate whether these bushes, which originated in Alberta, can grow in zone 3. Doyle's merely notes that, at minus 20 degrees F, plants require covering with plastic or a temporary greenhouse. Claims for yield suggest a Doyle's plant produces what 10 others would bear but the site makes no definite hardiness statement. | <urn:uuid:8e3ea304-bc79-403c-b9ad-34e94591dae8> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.gardenguides.com/113911-blackberries-grow-zone-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539665.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00478-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.892503 | 460 | 2.796875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on blackberry cultivation and hardiness zones. It provides information on various blackberry varieties and nurseries, but does not address communication, teamwork, or leadership concepts.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
William Lowell Putnam Competition
Designed for mathematics and physical science majors in colleges and universities, this examination tests originality as well as technical competence. Contestants should be familiar with the formal theories embodied in undergraduate mathematics. This competition is held each December.
Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM), challenges teams of students to clarify, analyze, and propose solutions to open-ended problems. The contest attracts diverse students and faculty advisors from over 500 institutions around the world. This competition takes place over a five-day period each February.
The Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM), an international contest for high school students and college undergraduates. ICM is an extension of the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM). It is designed to develop and advance interdisciplinary problem-solving skills as well as competence in written communication. This competition is held concurrently with the MCM. | <urn:uuid:7f55fbdd-4c3c-4b67-aab7-d3834d574bd9> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.umpi.edu/academics/mathematics/competitions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539665.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00478-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946059 | 183 | 2.59375 | 3 | The extract scores low as it primarily focuses on mathematical competitions without delving into soft skills development. Although it mentions teamwork and written communication, the context is limited to specific mathematical contests. There's no discussion of emotional intelligence, leadership, or advanced problem-solving across multiple contexts.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Australia, the Byfield area in central-eastern Queensland. Sheltered, moist areas in open forest, sometimes in moderately dry sites (Jones 1993).
Chamberlain (1912) found it "so abundant in the Maryvale and Byfield region near Rockhampton that it forms a dense, but easily penetrated underbrush in the prevailing Eucalyptus bush."
This species is currently listed on the index of threatened Australian plant species.
Chamberlain, C.J. 1912. Two species of Bowenia. The Botanical Gazette 54:419-423. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2012.11.25.
Lucas, G. and Synge, H. (comps.) (1978). Bowenia serrulata (Bull) Chamberlain. P.51-52 in: "The IUCN Plant Red Data Book". Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
Last Modified 2012-11-28 | <urn:uuid:aad52f9f-329b-4101-9624-3155637ac117> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://conifers.org/st/Bowenia_serrulata.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223205137.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032005-00510-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.742444 | 198 | 2.75 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on botanical information and species classification. There is no evidence of communication, teamwork, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are minimal.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
kinds of virtual field trips are
What trips can I explore with my students?
How can I integrate virtual field trips into my classroom?
Although you'd love to take your class to Antarctica or Hawaii, it's not realistic. Instead, take your students on a virtual field trip. Use the following resources to locate virtual field trips. You can also do a search in Google for topics such as "wetlands virtual field trip".
What's a Virtual Field Trip? It's a way to visit a place you can't go to in real life. Go to the Michigan 4-H Children's Garden Kid's Tour for a great example.
Many of these tours now include mapping tools such as Google Maps. Go to Trans-Siberian Railway Tour for an example.
Be sure to check out the Virtual Adventures project to learn more about exploring, using, adapting, and creating virtual field trips.
Read the article Get Outta Class With Virtual Field Trips from Education World.
Keep in mind that you can use tools such as Google Maps and Google Earth to build your own exciting virtual field trips. Check out an example by high school teacher Angela Cunningham.
Read Let's Go! Google Earth.
Some educators and librarians are creating subject areas tours using Google Earth. Explore some examples:
Many websites provide panorama images or other ways to fly over places. Explore examples below:
Integrating Virtual Field Trips into the Classroom
There are lots of cool ways to use virtual field trips in the classroom. Apple Learning Interchange has lots of great examples.
Follow CARE workers on adventures around the world
Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia
Estuary Field Trip
Expeditions @ Field Museum
The First Thanksgiving
Follows the voyage of the Mayflower and like in America.
Geology of Mojave National Preserve
JASON Project - no longer free (now subscription-based).
Lower Eastside Tenement Museum Virtual Tour
Tour the history of this area of New York.
National Geographic Expeditions Online - dozens of online adventures
Online Expeditions from
This Old Habitat
Visit habitats and learn about ecology.
US Trek - follow trekkers who explore history, culture, and current events
World War II Remembers
Explore life during World War II
Virtual Exhibition and Museum Tours
If you can't visit a particular museum, check to see if the exhibits are online. Some websites have virtual tours and others have photographs of the exhibits and additional information.
American Museum of Natural History
National Gallery of Air Online Tours
Natural History Museum
Roman Open Air Museum
Links to Virtual Field Trip Websites
Links to geology virtual field trips around the world
Internet Field Trips from Scholastic
Topical approach to using Internet resources.
Also, check out Online Activities from Scholastic
Spot Field Trips
website focusing on virtual field guides and field trips (not really "field trips" more like pathfinders
Virtual Field Trips from Utah Link
Take a trip or create a trip. (some are field trips and others are just pathfinders)
How to Create a Virtual Tour - shows how to use their tools for building one
Explore Virtual Field Trips
Explore online virtual field trips. Brainstorm how you could create your own field trip.
For lots of ideas, go to 100 Virtual Tours. | <urn:uuid:e1f8ebb3-50f7-4152-9a86-1c9814756e9a> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic35.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223205137.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032005-00510-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.783973 | 694 | 3.515625 | 4 | The extract provides a comprehensive overview of virtual field trips, including resources and examples, but lacks depth in soft skills development. It touches on basic communication and teamwork concepts, such as integrating virtual field trips into the classroom, but doesn't offer nuanced interaction or complex problem-solving opportunities.
Educational score: 2 | 2 |
A doctor may suspect that a person has metabolic syndrome if he has central/abdominal obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, but both laboratory and non-laboratory tests are important in establishing the diagnosis. Recommended tests include:
- Glucose. Usually a fasting glucose test is performed but, in some cases, a doctor may also order a post prandial glucose (after a meal) or a GTT (glucose tolerance test – several glucose tests that are taken before and at timed intervals after a glucose challenge). The goal of glucose testing is to determine whether a person has an impaired response to glucose resulting in elevated blood glucose concentrations.
- Lipid profile. Measures HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and VLDL. If the triglycerides are significantly elevated, a DLDL (direct measurement of the LDL) may need to be done.
There are other laboratory tests that are not recommended for diagnosing metabolic syndrome but that may ordered by some doctors to provide additional information. They include:
- C-peptide. A reliable indicator of endogenous (a person's own) insulin production.
- Microalbumin. An early indicator of kidney disease, this test is used to help monitor diabetics and is recommended under the WHO criteria.
- hs-CRP. A measure of low levels of inflammation that may be tested as part of an evaluation of cardiac risk.
- sdLDL. A measurement of the number of small dense low-density lipoprotein molecules a person has. LDL varies in size, and the smaller denser molecules, which tend to form when elevated triglycerides and VLDL are present in the blood, are thought to be more aggressive in causing atherosclerosis. This test is now commercially available, but is not performed by many laboratories and is not ordered frequently. Its ultimate clinical utility has yet to be determined. It may be evaluated in a lipoprotein subfractions test.
- Insulin. The fasting insulin test is considered too variable to be clinically useful in diagnosing metabolic syndrome but, if measured, will usually be elevated in those affected.
Tests for which the clinical utility in diagnosing metabolic syndrome has not yet been established include plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and proinsulin.
- Blood pressure. To check for hypertension
- Weight and waist circumference. To document abdominal obesity
- BMI (Body Mass Index). An alternate measure of obesity that is used by many doctors. It is calculated by taking: (Weight in pounds X 705) / (height in inches squared); for example: (150 pounds X 705) / (67 inches X 67 inches) = a BMI of 23.5. An adult with a BMI greater than 30 is considered obese. This calculation does not, however, describe where the excess weight is on the body. | <urn:uuid:8f44e84d-195b-4296-aedd-d2a4f6cb1d5b> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/metabolic/start/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223205137.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032005-00510-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921111 | 588 | 3.078125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing solely on medical diagnosis and testing for metabolic syndrome. It provides technical information without opportunities for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving. Cultural awareness and digital literacy are absent.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
|Poppies by the roadside, on the way into the village of Thiepval, France.|
The Great War of 1914-1918 was to have been the war which ended all wars, but of course it did not have that result. It was a war thought so savage and so cruel as to never be repeated. In one of the last letters he wrote home from the Somme, Thomas Michael Kettle put it best when he described Europe at war saying,
"We have lived to see Europe degraded to a foul something which no image can so much as shadow forth...Every landmark has been submerged in an Atlantic of blood...We are gripped in the ancient bloodiness of that paradox which bids us kill life in order to save life."
Men such as Thomas Kettle were horrified by what they saw and endured in trench warfare, but despite that they allowed themselves to believe in the best of humanity, and the possibility of a world without war. In another of his final letters he wrote,
"I want to live, too, to use all my powers of thinking, writing and working, to drive out of civilisation this foul thing called War, and to put in its place understanding and comradeship."
On this Remembrance day, let us not forget this one man's dream.
|The altar at Thiepval, The Somme, France|
One of nine stone tablets, Island of Ireland Peace Park, Messines, Belgium. This one bears the words of Terence Poulter, 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and reads:
Hostilities will cease at 11.00am on the 11th day of the 11th month. After that time all firing will cease.
This was joyous news. Approaching eleven o'clock in our sector you could have heard a pin drop. When eleven o'clock came there were loud cheers. The war was over as far as we were concerned.
Click on images to view larger versions.
Click on the names of those memorialized to link to posts about them. | <urn:uuid:7a43cd64-e481-4bb7-851a-8f5873b41fee> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.thesearchforanneandmichael.blogspot.com/2013/11/remembrance-day-lest-we-forget-one-man.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609530136.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005210-00055-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979672 | 423 | 2.703125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical context and remembrance. While it promotes empathy and understanding, it doesn't provide opportunities for practical application, critical thinking, or problem-solving. The content is more informative than interactive, limiting its educational value for soft skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Profile Source: Bethany World Prayer Center
Introduction / History
While the origins of the Azerbaijani, (also known as the Azeri), are unclear, we do know that they have been subjected to numerous invasions throughout their history. They were first conquered by the Persians in the sixth century B.C. Islam was introduced into the area during the seventh century A.D., and has been practiced there ever since.
By the eleventh century, Persian influence was overpowered by Turkic influence. Eventually, during the thirteenth century, this region of Asia fell under the dominion of Genghis Khan.
These numerous invasions, combined with the tribal nature of the people, caused the Azeri to spread throughout Central Asia. Significant Azeri communities can be found in Russia, Ukraine, Iran, and Iraq. Some are farmers, while many others have moved into the cities to work in industry. They often have low skill jobs under "foreign" managers.
What are Their Lives Like?
In the past, the clan-type family structure was common among the Azeri. The clan, or hoj, was usually named after a common ancestor. Clan members shared pasture land and were bound to provide mutual aid to each other. They frequently acted as a unified entity in business dealings. It was also common for up to forty members of an extended family to live together in large dwellings called gazma. Landless peasants, called tavyrga, made up the lowest social class of Azeri.
In a desire to protect their culture, marriage within the family was encouraged. Unions between first cousins were considered the most desirable. Marriage to a non-Azeri was almost unheard of prior to the Soviet period. Polygyny (having more than one wife) was only allowed in cases of infertility.
The Azeri diet consists mainly of rice pilaf and a variety of grilled and boiled meats including beef, goat, and lamb. Traditional dishes include bozartma (mutton stew), dovga (a soup made from yogurt), meat, and herbs. Tea and wine are popular drinks.
The Azeri language belongs to the southwestern (Oguz) branch of the Turkic language family. There are two main subgroups of Azeri: Azerbaijani North and Azerbaijani South. The main differences are in the sounds and basic grammatical structure of the languages. Azeri has a written tradition that dates back to the fourteenth century. Arabic script is used in Iran and the Cyrillic alphabet is used in Azerbaijan. Azeri serves as the somewhat hybrid, yet common, language of eastern Transcaucasus, southern Dagestan, and northwestern Iran.
What are Their Beliefs?
The Azeri living in the Ukraine are primarily Muslims of the Ithna Ashari tradition, but there are some Hanafite Muslims as well. Twenty percent of the Azeri in the Ukraine do not practice any form of religion.
Traditionally, Islam among the Azeri is a reflection of the historical ties that exist between Azerbaijan and Iran. Until the twentieth century, most Azeri identified themselves as Muslims rather than Azerbaijani or Turks. They believe that being a "spiritual community of Islam" was much more important than being a nation.
Among the Azeri Muslims, religious practices are less restrictive of women's activities than in most of the other Muslim countries. The majority of Azeri women have jobs outside the home, and a few have attained leadership positions. However, some evidence of the traditional, restrictive female role remains.
What are Their Needs?
While there is more freedom to share the Gospel in the Ukraine than Azerbaijan, the Azeri remain very resistant. Progress has been very slow. The New Testament and the Jesus film are available in their language. Christian radio and television broadcasts as well as literature are needed to successfully reach them with the Gospel.
* Ask the Lord to send long-term Christian workers to the Ukraine to share Christ with the Azeri.
* Pray for God to bring vision for outreach to Ukrainian believers who are currently living among the Azeri.
* Ask God to send prayer teams who will break up the soil through worship and intercession.
* Pray that God will open doors for Christian businessmen to share Christ with the Azeri.
* Ask the Holy Spirit to soften their hearts towards Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel.
* Pray for God to give wisdom, favor, and strategies to the missions agencies that are focusing on the Azeri.
* Ask the Lord to raise strong local churches among the Azeri.
|Profile Source:||Bethany World Prayer Center||Copyrighted ©: Yes||Used with permission|
|Submit a new profile or correction| | <urn:uuid:751de48e-b925-476a-9cd5-de3c702074ca> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/10528/UP | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535535.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00087-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969444 | 976 | 3.140625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on cultural and historical information about the Azerbaijani people. It provides some insight into their traditions, beliefs, and needs, but does not offer opportunities for developing communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Language: PL/SQL Highlight Mode: PLSQL Last Modified: March 04th, 2009
TRUNC(DATE,[ format ])-- date is the date to truncate.-- format is the unit of measure to apply for truncating. -- If the format parameter is omitted, the trunc function -- will truncate the date to the day value, so that any hours, -- minutes, or seconds will be truncated off.SELECTTO_CHAR(SYSTIMESTAMP)FROM dual;SELECTTO_CHAR(TRUNC(SYSTIMESTAMP))FROM dual;TRUNC(TO_DATE('22-AUG-03'),'YEAR')-- would return '01-JAN-03'TRUNC(TO_DATE('22-AUG-03'),'Q')-- would return '01-JUL-03'TRUNC(TO_DATE('22-AUG-03'),'MONTH')-- would return '01-AUG-03'TRUNC(TO_DATE('22-AUG-03'),'DDD')-- would return '22-AUG-03'TRUNC(TO_DATE('22-AUG-03'),'DAY')-- would return '17-AUG-03'/*
Unit Valid format parameters
Year SYYYY, YYYY, YEAR, SYEAR, YYY, YY, Y
ISO Year IYYY, IY, I
Month MONTH, MON, MM, RM
Day DDD, DD, J
Start day of the week DAY, DY, D
Hour HH, HH12, HH24
SQL University.net courses meet the most demanding needs of the business world for advanced education
in a cost-effective manner. SQL University.net courses are available immediately for IT professionals
and can be taken without disruption of your workplace schedule or processes.
Compared to traditional travel-based training, SQL University.net saves time and valuable corporate
resources, allowing companies to do more with less. That's our mission, and that's what we deliver. | <urn:uuid:3d031551-805b-49b3-a398-1aeabf8885cb> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://psoug.org/snippet/Oracle-PL-SQL-TIMESTAMP-TRUNC_618.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535535.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00087-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.72788 | 446 | 2.953125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on technical PL/SQL concepts and SQL University.net's course benefits. It provides superficial coverage of basic communication through promotional text, but lacks meaningful depth, practical application, and cultural awareness.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Following the success of last year’s collaboration, the Darwin and Gender project is delighted to team up again with students at the Department of the History of Science, Harvard University.
Students of Prof. Sarah Richardson’s Sex, Gender and Evolution course have used the correspondence to produce a series of projects on the theme of ‘Darwin and Gender’. Three of the most thought provoking, inspiring and entertaining entries have appeared on the Darwin and Gender blog over few weeks.
Our final entry was written by Andrew Lea. Andrew is a sophomore concentrating in History and Science with a focus in mind, brain, and behavioral sciences. He has particularly enjoyed taking Professor Richardson’s “Sex, Gender, and Evolution” as it has encouraged him to think about and approach common scientific, historical, and cultural episodes in new ways.
Andrew’s fascinating essay considers the way in which Darwin and some of his contemporaries imagined and described the work they did. Andrew places Darwin and his correspondents’ perception of scientific work in its broader cultural context and considers how ideas about the physically-laborious nature of the scientific process impacted on women’s participation in the world of science.
Posted by Philippa Hardman | <urn:uuid:e39ab467-6aa2-49f8-a4ef-229db99038c7> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/gender/2012/08/05/harvard-project-4-physical-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535535.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00087-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94924 | 252 | 2.53125 | 3 | The extract showcases a collaborative project between students and a university department, demonstrating teamwork and communication skills. However, it lacks depth in discussing soft skills, emotional intelligence, and complex problem-solving scenarios. The focus is on a specific academic project, with limited emphasis on professional development, cultural awareness, and digital literacy.
Educational score: 2 | 2 |
Louis XIII of France was born in 1601 and died in 1643. Louis was the son of Henry IV and Marie de Medici. He was king from 1610 on, the year of his father’s assassination. His monarchy was dominated by the careers of the Duke de Luynes and Cardinal Richelieu. His monarchy saw an expansion of absolute monarchical power started by Louis XI and advanced by the likes of Francis I and Henry II. The power of the monarchy was weakened during the French Wars of Religion and Louis wanted to build on the increase in monarchical power that his father, Henry, had introduced once the war had ended.
Louis became king at the age of nine. Therefore, as a minor, France was governed by a Regent – in this case, his mother Marie de Medici. She allowed her favourites, Galigai and Concini, to do as they wished, thereby discrediting the monarchy after the exalted heights Henry IV had taken it to.
From 1614 on, Louis became more and more influenced by Charles, Duke de Luynes, who favoured an extension of royal absolutism. Both Luynes and Louis were implicated in the murder of Concini and the concocted trial that found Galigai guilty of being a witch, a decision that lead to her execution. Once both former favourites were out of his way, Luynes used his position to expand his power, but also the power of Louis.
From 1617 on, France witnessed an expansion of monarchical power at the expense of the power of the magnates. Marie de Medici was exiled to a chateau at Blois and kept out of the royal court.
Louis had married at the age of 14. His wife was Anne of Austria, the Spanish Infanta. It was an arranged marriage (it had been settled as early as 1611 in the Treaty of Fontainbleau) and it was not a happy marriage. Louis and Anne spent years living apart, and the birth of their son, the future Louis XIV, surprised many but was the result of a rare night spent together. "It was probably out of a sense of duty to his kingdom." EN Williams
Louis was a mass of contradictions. He came across as modest and reserved but he could be very cruel and ruthless – as the murder of Concini indicated. He was a very religious man who sanctioned murder. He was also a hypochondriac who always believed that he was ill yet he enjoyed leading his soldiers into battle.
Louis knew that he did not possess the ability to grasp the detail needed to run his kingdom well – hence his reliance on Luynes and Richelieu. However, both men were in favour of absolute monarchy and they formed a formidable team between 1617 and 1643; Luynes until his death in 1621 and Richelieu until the death of the king in 1643. The final decision on policy always rested with Louis. | <urn:uuid:58eb2816-2928-41f9-935c-726186003263> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/louis_xiii_of_france.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535535.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00087-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991959 | 598 | 3.703125 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical facts about Louis XIII of France. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness is limited to historical context.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
Accessible: In the case of a facility, readily usable by a particular individual; in the case of a program or activity, presented or provided in such a way that a particular individual can participate, with or without auxiliary aid(s); in the case of electronic resources, accessible with or without adaptive computer technology.
Accommodation: An adjustment to make a program, facility, or resource accessible to a person with a disability.
Adaptive technology: Hardware or software products that provide access to a computer that is otherwise inaccessible to an individual with a disability.
Address: A sequence of characters that identifies a network user or computer.
ALT attribute: HTML code that works in combination with graphical tags to provide alternative text for graphical elements.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII): A standard for unformatted text which enables transfer of data between platforms and computer systems.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): A 1990 comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public services, public accommodations and services operated by private entities, and telecommunications.
Applet: Computer program that runs from within another application.
ASCII (The American Standards Code for Information Interchange): A standard format for representing text that can be understood by all computers.
Assistive technology: Technology used to assist a person with a disability, e.g. wheelchair, handsplints, computer-related equipment.
Auxiliary aids and services: Includes a) qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; b) qualified readers, taped texts, or other effective methods of making visually delivered materials available to individuals with visual impairments; c) acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and d) other similar services and actions (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Baud: Approximately one bit per second transfer of data.
Binary file: A file containing information that is not represented in the file by ASCII characters. This may be a graphic, a formatted file, or even a computer program.
Bookmark: A marker that your World Wide Web browser allows you to keep so that you can automatically connect to the resource at a later time.
Braille: System of embossed characters formed by using a Braille cell, a combination of six dots consisting of two vertical columns of three dots each. Each simple Braille character is formed by one or more of these dots and occupies a full cell or space.
Captioned film or videos: Transcription of the verbal portion of films or videos displayed to make them accessible to people who are deaf.
Chat: Real-time communication on the Internet where one person types words on a computer and others can see them on their screens almost instantaneously.
Client software: A software program that allows you to use a service from a server on the Internet.
Closed Circuit TV Magnifier (CCTV): Camera used to magnify books or other materials to a monitor.
Command: A direction that you give a computer.
Communication software: A program that allows your personal computer to communicate with other computers over phone lines.
Compensatory tools: Adaptive computing systems that allow people with disabilities to use computers to complete tasks that they would have difficulty doing without a computer (e.g. reading, writing, communicating, accessing information).
Cyberspace: Essentially, the whole Internet.
Dial-up: Connecting to a computer by using a telephone line.
Digital: Computer formatted data or information.
Disability: Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having an impairment (American with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Discrimination: Act of making a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit.
Discussion: A group of people interested in a topic who are subscribed to a list which is maintained on a computer on the Internet.
Download: To move files from a remote computer to your computer.
Electronic information: Digital data for use with computers or computer networks including disks, CD-ROMS, World Wide Web resources.
Electronic mail (e-mail): A message transmitted over a network.
Ethernet: A method for directly connecting a computer to a network in the same physical location.
Facility: All or any portion of a physical complex, including buildings, structures, equipment, grounds, roads, and parking lots.
FAQ: Frequently asked questions.
File: A collection of information stored on a computer.
FM Sound Amplification System: Electronic amplification system consisting of three components: a microphone/transmitter, monaural FM receiver and a combination charger/carrying case. It provides wireless FM broadcast from a speaker to a listener who has a hearing impairment.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A process that allows you to copy files from one computer to another on the Internet.
Freeware: Free software programs.
Gopher: A text-based system for connecting to resources on the Internet.
Graphical User Interface (GUI): Program interface that presents digital information and software programs in an image-based format as compared to a character-based format.
Hacker: A person that breaks into computer systems and accounts.
Hardware: Physical equipment related to computers.
Hearing impairments: Complete or partial loss of ability to hear caused by a variety of injuries or diseases including congenital defects. Frequently limitations include difficulties in understanding language or other auditory messages and/or in producing understandable speech.
Helper: An external program that can be called up by a Web browser to display specially formatted material, such as word processed documents or video/sound pieces. The Helper program is launched by the Web browser as a separate application to view or play the file.
Home page: The first page that appears on your screen when you access a WWW site.
Host: A computer that holds Internet resources for access by others, or the computer that maintains your Internet access and electronic mail account.
HTML validation: A process that analyzes HTML documents in comparison to standard HTML rules, identifying HTML errors and non-standard codes.
Hyperlink: Highlighted word or graphic on a Web page that when selected allows the user to jump to another part of the document or another Web page.
Hypermedia: Documents which combine hypertext links and multimedia elements.
Hypertext: Documents which contain links to other documents within them.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): Communication protocol used by the World Wide Web to transfer text, graphics, audio, and video.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): Programming language or code used to create World Wide Web pages.
Image map: Picture or graphic on a Web page in which hyperlinks are embedded.
Input: Any method by which information is entered into a computer.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): A very fast digital service provided over phone lines.
Internet: Computer network connecting government, education, commercial, other organization and individual computer systems.
Internet Protocol (IP): The Internet standard protocol that provides a common layer over dissimilar networks, used to move packets among host computers.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): A service that provides access to the Internet.
Interpreter: Professional person who assists a deaf person in communicating with hearing people.
IP address: The numeric address of a computer connected to the Internet; also called Internet address.
Java: Programming language used to create programs or applets that work with some World Wide Web browsers to include features with animation or other characteristics not available through standard HTML.
Log off: To disconnect from a host computer.
Log on: To sign on to a host computer.
Login name: The name you use when you log on a computer.
Logout: To quit using (or, log off) a computer.
Lynx: Text-based World Wide Web browser.
Major life activities: Functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, and participating in community activities (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Mainstreaming: The inclusion of people with disabilities, with or without special accommodations, in programs, activities, and facilities with non-disabled persons.
Microsoft Internet Explorer™: A graphical Web browser.
Mobility impairment: Disability that affects movement.
Modem: Hardware that allows your computer to transmit data over phone lines.
Multimedia: The combination of several forms of media including text, graphics, audio, full-motion video, fax, and telephone to communicate information.
NCSA Telnet: Internet software that allows you to log on to another computer on the Internet; it was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois.
Netiquette: Network etiquette.
Netscape Navigator™: A graphical Web browser.
Network: A group of computers connected together.
Offline: Not connected to a computer network.
Online: Connected to a computer network.
Operating system: Basic software that runs a computer (e.g., Windows, UNIX, VMS, or Macintosh™ System 8).
Optical character recognition (OCR): Technology system that scans and converts printed materials into electronic text.
Output: Any method of displaying or presenting electronic information to the user through a computer monitor or other device.
Physical or mental impairment: Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genitourinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine; or any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Plug-in: Separate program written to be launched by a specific Web browser to display or run special elements in Web pages, such as animation, video or audio that the Web browser does not have the capability to display.
Point of Presence (POP): A place where your computer dials in to access the Internet.
Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP): Procedure that allows a computer to use Internet protocols using regular telephone lines and high-speed modems.
Posting: The act of sending a message to a discussion list, Usenet newsgroup, or bulletin board.
Protocol: A mutually determined set of formats and procedures governing the exchange of information between systems.
Qualified individual with a disability: An individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modification to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Reader: Volunteer or employee of a blind or partially sighted individual who reads printed material in person or records to audio-tape.
Remote access: The ability to access a computer from outside a building in which it is housed. It requires communications hardware, software, and physical links.
Search engine: A program that searches for resources on the Internet.
Server: Any computer that stores information that is available to other users, often over the Internet.
Shareware: Software you can try before you purchase.
Sign language: Manual communication commonly used by deaf. Sign language is not universal; deaf persons from different countries speak different sign languages. American Sign Language (ASL) is the most commonly used sign language in the United States.
Software: Computer programs.
Specific learning disability: Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in difficulties listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing mathematical calculations. Frequent limitations include hyperactivity, distractibility, emotional instability, visual and/or auditory perception difficulties and/or motor limitations, depending on the type(s) of learning disability.
Speech impairment: Problems in communication and related areas such as oral motor function, ranging from simple sound substitutions to the inability to understand or use language or use the oral-motor mechanism for functional speech and feeding. Some causes of speech and language disorders include hearing loss, neurological disorders, brain injury, mental retardation, drug abuse, physical impairments such as cleft lip or palate, and voice abuse or misuse.
Standard HTML: Version of HTML accessible by all browsers.
System administrator: Someone who operates and maintains a computer system.
T1, T3: Very fast data transmission lines used by Internet providers.
Tag: HTML code that prescribes the structure and formatting of Web pages.
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) or Teletypewriter (TTY): A device which enables someone who has a speech or hearing impairment to use a telephone when communicating with someone else who has a TDD/TTY. TDD/TTYs can be used with any telephone, and one needs only a basic typing ability to use them.
Telnet: An Internet tool that allows you to connect to a remote computer.
Text: Words or other sequences of letters and numbers.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): A system that allows computers to communicate with one another over the Internet network.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Open and closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Universal design: Designing programs, services, tools and facilities so that they are usable, without modification, by the widest range of users possible, taking into account a variety of abilities and disabilities.
Universal Resource Locator (URL): A standard format for an address a specific resource on the Internet. For example, DO-IT's URL is http://www.washington.edu/doit/.
Unix: The operating system that most Internet host computers use.
Upload: To copy a file from your computer to a remote computer.
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML): A tagging language for conveying three dimensional information over the Internet using a VRML browser.
Virus: A program designed to spread itself to computer, stay undetected, and cause problems on the computer systems it infects.
Vision impairment: Complete or partial loss of ability to see, caused by a variety of injuries or diseases including congenital defects. Legal blindness is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, or widest diameter of visual field subtending an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees.
Web Browser: Software that allows you to navigate through the World Wide Web.
Webmaster: A person in charge of maintaining a Web site.
Wireless network: A method which uses infrared, ultraviolet, or radio waves to connect computers into a network.
World Wide Web (WWW, W3, or Web): Hypertext and multimedia gateway to Internet resources. | <urn:uuid:0c1f6600-aa02-4b64-8709-3bb4764ee775> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.washington.edu/doit/CampN/glossary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535535.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00087-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875612 | 3,177 | 3.234375 | 3 | The provided extract is a comprehensive glossary of terms related to digital accessibility, technology, and disability. It lacks discussion of soft skills, realistic scenarios, emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, and critical thinking opportunities. The content is primarily theoretical and informative, focusing on definitions and technical aspects.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Short Strolls After Meals May Lower Diabetes Risk
Walking 15 minutes three times a day was better for blood sugar levels than one 45-minute walk, small study found
By Kathleen Doheny
WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults at risk for getting diabetes who took a 15-minute walk after every meal improved their blood sugar levels, a new study shows.
Three short walks after eating worked better to control blood sugar levels than one 45-minute walk in the morning or evening, said lead researcher Loretta DiPietro, chairwoman of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C.
"More importantly, the post-meal walking was significantly better than the other two exercise prescriptions at lowering the post-dinner glucose level," DiPietro added.
The after-dinner period is an especially vulnerable time for older people at risk of diabetes, DiPietro said. Insulin production decreases, and they may go to bed with extremely high blood glucose levels, increasing their chances of diabetes.
About 79 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes, in which the body doesn't make enough insulin or doesn't use it effectively. Being overweight and sedentary increases the risk. DiPietro's new research, although tested in only 10 people, suggests that brief walks can lower that risk if they are taken at the right times.
The study did not, however, prove that it was the walks causing the improved blood sugar levels.
"This is among the first studies to really address the timing of the exercise with regard to its benefit for blood sugar control," she said. In the study, the walks began a half hour after finishing each meal.
The research is published June 12 in the journal Diabetes Care.
For the study, DiPietro and her colleagues asked the 10 older adults, who were 70 years old on average, to complete three different exercise routines spaced four weeks apart. At the study's start, the men and women had fasting blood sugar levels of between 105 and 125 milligrams per deciliter. A fasting blood glucose level of 70 to 100 is considered normal, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The men and women stayed at the research facility and were supervised closely. Their blood sugar levels were monitored the entire 48 hours.
On the first day, the men and women did not exercise. On the second day, they did, and those blood sugar levels were compared to those on the first day.
The men and women were classified as obese, on average, with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30. The men and women walked on a treadmill at a speed of about three miles an hour (a 20-minute mile, which DiPietro described as the lower end of moderate).
The walks after meals reduced the 24-hour glucose levels the most when comparing the sedentary day with the exercise day.
A 45-minute morning walk was next best. | <urn:uuid:85d95805-5c78-404b-9768-e420822f0b41> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20130612/short-strolls-after-meals-may-lower-diabetes-risk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535535.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00087-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97071 | 623 | 2.609375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on a scientific study about the benefits of short walks for blood sugar control. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios, and cultural awareness and digital literacy are absent.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
remely pleasant to every one.
All the mothers and fathers of the neighbourhood were present, and minders were continually arriving to compete for the prizes. There were at least one hundred policemen to keep order, and the music was provided by the band of the militia, lent for this occasion by the kind-hearted general. Each member of the band performed on a separate harmonium borrowed from the vicar. Refreshments also could be had by every one who could prove that he or she was hungry.
[Illustration: ALWAYS INVENTING NEW WAYS OF MINDING]
The first event was the egg-and-spoon race, which was decided in the following way. A well-pinched baby and a glass of milk were placed at the end of the course, and each competitor had to run to them balancing a new-laid egg on a spoon; when he had reached them, he had to beat up the egg in the glass of milk and pacify the child with the beverage. The competitor who did it in the shortest time won the prize.
Some murmurings were heard when it was | <urn:uuid:eb7992bb-0f72-43c3-9c12-704e92a799e5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://manybooks.net/titles/robinsonwh3357033570-8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538022.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00119-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99505 | 229 | 2.734375 | 3 | The extract lacks meaningful discussion of soft skills, focusing on a descriptive narrative with limited depth. While it showcases a community event, it doesn't provide opportunities for practical application, problem-solving, or nuanced interaction. The extract is more of a creative story than an educational resource for soft skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
WASHINGTON - Maryland health officials reported the first hypothermia-related death of the winter Thursday.
The man died in Frederick County and was at least 65 years old. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the cause of his death during the past week.
State health officials released no other details.
Fifteen hypothermia-related deaths were reported last winter. One death had been reported by this time in December 2011, according to the medical examiner's office.
With winds gusting Thursday and another round of snow headed for the region this weekend, health officials remind Marylanders to bundle up before heading outside.
"A few extra moments to prepare could keep you safe as we head into the coldest months," said Laura Herrera, a deputy secretary with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Hypothermia occurs when the body temperature drops below 95 degrees. Frostbite destroys frozen body tissue. Areas most likely to freeze are toes, fingers, ears, cheeks and the tip of the nose, the health department says.
Those with poor circulation, the elderly, very young children and anyone who stays outside for prolonged periods of time are at greater risk for these conditions. Staying outside while wet increases the danger, the health department says.
The health department offers these tips to stay warm in cold weather:
- Cover your head to retain body heat.
- Wear several layers of lightweight, loose-fitting clothing. The air between the layers help insulate you from the cold.
- Cover your mouth with a scarf. Also cover your ears and the lower part of your face.
- Wear mittens instead of gloves as the close contact of fingers keeps your hands warmer.
- Wear warm leg coverings and heavy socks or two pairs of lightweight socks.
- Wear waterproof boots or study shoes to keep your feet warm and dry.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.) | <urn:uuid:5c7942de-1e65-431a-969a-cdce897be5b7> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://wtop.com/267/3173573/Man-dies-of-hypothermia-in-Frederick-Co | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538022.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00119-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955475 | 396 | 2.625 | 3 | This extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on conveying factual information about hypothermia and cold-weather safety. It provides basic tips but doesn't include communication scenarios, teamwork, or problem-solving opportunities.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Hurricane Sandy tore through the New York metropolitan region on the evening of October 29, 2012. Two separate weather fronts combined with a high tide to produce astronomical tides approximately 5 percent higher than normal, with water levels at the Battery reaching an unprecedented 14 feet (measured as feet above the average low tide). The damage was enormous; impacting approximately 98,000 housing units in New York City alone.
Shortly after the storm, ideas such as tidal barriers across the entire mouth of the Hudson River and sea walls around lower Manhattan were proposed as future flood control strategies, pointing to civil engineering innovations similar to those embraced by the Netherlands and London. The costs in dollars of such strategies are enormous.
Suspicious of such large-scale solutions, a group of NYC civic organizations, under the coordinating mantle of Happold Consulting New York, undertook an assessment of the successes of various smaller scale strategies in avoiding or mitigating the impact of the storm. What they found, outlined in a report recently released to the public (www.sandysuccessstories.org), was that small, inexpensive, and relatively easy to implement measures were effective in mitigating the storm's impact with many of them providing quality of life benefits to New Yorkers during non-storm events.
The 19 case studies produced by the group touch on energy, building design, site planning, and land use approaches. Together they speak to a range of immediately implementable strategies and technologies. Concrete Plant Park along the Bronx River, for example, was reclaimed from its industrial past by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in collaboration with community partners.
Although its primary purpose was to provide more recreational space for the neighborhood, the carefully designed park increased the area's capacity to detain water and created a buffer that protected the surrounding communities from flooding. Equally effective was the Lower East Side People's Mutual Housing Association's disaster preparedness plan; clear procedures that had been put in place for their buildings prior to the storm that reduced damage to mechanical systems and ensured business continuity during and after the event.
The case studies also include a number of what might be termed serendipitous successes; such as a residential high-rise at 4705 Center Boulevard in Queens, where contamination at the site required the developer to build at higher elevations than he might otherwise have done. But they also include very deliberate ones like the green infrastructure component of the city's sustainability plan, where the creation of small vegetated triangles, curbside bump-outs, and trees helped reduce flooding and pollution outflows into the city's waterways.
Some of the solutions were initiated by people without any outside prompting: e.g. one beachside community relied on volunteers to help build and plant a double dune system to protect their homes. Others, including a new development in Queens known as Arverne by the Sea, were forced upon developers by increasingly sustainable local planning regulations. In the future, however, there is little question that it is the government's responsibility to manage the planning of the built environment with an eye to the new climate based challenges.
Whether or not New York City and State have the capacity to implement these ideas is unclear. But if the enthusiasm of the groups behind Sandy Success Stories remains in place, any new mayoral administration will think twice before endorsing controversial, expensive and risky civil engineering solutions at the expense of more doable, less expensive, and more beneficial ways of adapting to the new environmental realities we face. | <urn:uuid:70011535-b26e-436f-af07-972ec7c79c62> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.burohappold.com/knowledge-and-news/article/sandy-success-stories-a-report-of-small-interventions-with-big-impact-2111/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538022.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00119-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963571 | 694 | 2.9375 | 3 | The extract scores 3 points as it includes discussion of soft skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking through the presentation of realistic scenarios and case studies. It highlights the importance of collaboration, community engagement, and adaptive planning in addressing complex environmental challenges. However, it lacks sophisticated communication, strategic thinking, and advanced problem-solving across multiple contexts, and does not fully integrate cultural awareness and digital literacy.
Educational score: 3 | 3 |
Christmas Through Mary's Eyes
Text: Luke 1:46–55
Topic: What Mary declared as the core of Christmas
Big Idea: Christian celebrations of Christmas are only set apart from the rest of the world when they focus on Jesus.
Keywords: Celebration; Christmas; Holidays; Jesus Christ
Filters: Worship, Seekers
Illustration: Different cultures have celebrated the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21st) for thousands of years, and several Christmas traditions stem from those celebrations.
Christmas as a celebration is not inherently Christian.
We would probably recognize the celebrations of many ancient cultures around the end of December, even if Jesus hadn't been born yet.
Illustration: Christmas was first celebrated as the birth of Jesus between A.D. 325 and 350.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these celebrations.
Illustration: When the Puritans first came to America, they outlawed many of the holiday traditions we observe today.
Christmas means different things to different people.
Transition: I wonder what would happen if you were to ask Mary, Jesus' mother, the question, "What does Christmas mean to you?"
Mary is central to the Christmas story.
Illustration: Dr. Alexander Whyte said, "We must give Mary her promised due; we must not allow ourselves to obtain a grudge against the mother of our Lord because some have given her more than her due."
Mary had a strong faith and was well-grounded in the Scriptures.
Transition: I want to repeat three things Mary said about the birth of Jesus.
Mary knew that Jesus would be mighty (v. 49).
Mary knew that Jesus was God in the flesh.
Mary knew that Jesus would be holy (v. 49).
Saying that Jesus' name was holy was very significant in the Jewish culture.
Our world is craving for contact with something that is powerful and just.
Mary knew that Jesus would be merciful (v. 50).
If it wasn't for God's mercy, we would still view Christmas in the same way that the ancient cultures did.
Jesus is the core of Christmas for Christians.
Illustration: If Mary were to see the way we celebrate Christmas today, she'd lament that we've missed both her son and the point of it all.
Christmas Through Mary's Eyes
December 21st is the shortest day of the year. On that day, something happens that makes human beings look out at the world—and particularly look at the sun, look at the light, the darkest day of the year—and say, "Now, that is as bad as it's going to get. From now on, it's all down hill. The 22nd will be brighter, the 23rd will be brighter, the 24th will be brighter, and on down through January will be brighter." For thousands of years, regardless of their culture or regardless of how barbarian they may have been in other areas of their lives, people have always chosen some time just after December 21st to have an enormous party, where they celebrated the fact that the darkness was over.
And after that party, the light started to increase again, and they said, "From here on end, if we've made it up to this point, if we haven't died, if sickness hasn't taken us, if age hasn't taken us, if we've managed to get over this hump, there is a good chance we'll make it through the spring. And we'll make it through the summer. And we'll make it to the fall."
And so the world has celebrated that time of the year, we call it the solstice. It's that time when, to the human eye, the sun appears to be standing still. In the Roman Empire they celebrated it. Emperor Aurelia declared in the year A.D. 274 that December 25th was going to be a special vacation or holiday to commemorate the birthday of the unconquered sun. And you know how they had celebrated it? Listen to some of this: they decorated evergreen trees, they exchanged gifts, they did a lot of feasting, they sang songs, they decorated their houses with greenery and with lights, and they were particularly kind to poor people. Do you realize that if somebody from the Roman Empire were to be put down in the middle of Toronto tonight, he would feel almost completely at home? He would say, "This is holiday time! The people of Toronto are worshipping the unconquered sun! Let's eat! Let's drink! Let's be merry! Let's have a ball!" And he'd feel right at home, the same kind of man that would have put a Christian in an amphitheatre and have him attacked by lions celebrated this time of the year exactly as you and I celebrate it. I mean, with all the details correct.
Then, of course, the Germans, whom the Romans looked upon as Barbarians, kept coming south farther and farther and eventually sacked Rome. Those Barbarians and the Norsemen, the Scandinavians, also appreciated December the 21st as a sort of turning point, and a few days after it they had a great big celebration. They called it Yuletide. And one of the things they did was to get a log—a Yule log, ever done that?—and burn it. You know what for? They burned it as on offering to their god of thunder and lightening. His name was Thor.
Have you ever heard someone say, "Hey you Christians, you with your virgin birth and your miracles and your story of creation, don't you know that every nation in the world for thousands and thousands of years has had the same kind of mythology and folklore as you say is real in the Bible?" In some ways, that's true. If you'd have gone into the Roman Empire, or if you had visited the Germanic tribes when they were still Barbarians, or if you'd gone north into Scandinavia and met the Norsemen at this particular time of the year, you would look around at what they're doing you'd say: "Oh my goodness, I didn't think they'd ever heard of Christmas, but they're celebrating Christmas. Hey look, they've got evergreen tress, they've got beautiful lights, they've got decorations and they're having a ball with each other. They're caring for the poor; there is a lot of good will going around. Man these Romans have really got it on!"
Christmas was first celebrated as the birthday of our Lord somewhere between A.D. 325 and 350. It was a natural thing, when Christians were looking for a good time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It was very natural to look at what the Roman Empire was doing and what the Germans were doing and what the Scandinavians were doing and—at a time of the year when everybody was celebrating something— say, "Why don't we just choose that day to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ?"
Now at this point, I think some of my friends get a little bit carried away and illogical. They say, "Look, if everything we do can be traced back to the Roman Empire, which was made up of heathens, or to the Germanic tribes, who were Barbarians, or to the Norsemen, who had some oddball ideas about their gods, and if we use Christmas trees and we use lights and have a big dinner, then Christmas is a heathen kind of an activity." I don't really think so.
You see, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with evergreens. God made them. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with lights. God is light. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with singing. God gave us voices. I was behind the door when voices were given out, but most people got them. And we can sing. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with gifts. God gave his only begotten son. There is nothing wrong with food. God created us to be people who eat and, in our eating, we socialize. There is nothing wrong with any of that.
But when the Puritans first came to the United States, some of them learned that all of these activities came from the Barbarians and the Roman Empire, long before Jesus was ever born. So they said, "Okay, we're going to ban everything that is connected with that kind of celebration. No more evergreen trees to celebrate with." Do you know that for a while they actually banned mince pies? That was an illegal thing. You see, when the Puritans were here, they not only ran the church, they ran the country as well. And mince pies were connected with Yule cakes.
And so it took quite a while before Canada and America began to again celebrate Christmas in some of the same ways that the Roman Empire and the Germanic barbarians had celebrated their solstice. Now, say you ask one hundred people, "What is Christmas?" They'd say, "Boy that's a dumb question, everybody knows what Christmas is." I don't know if that's correct.
For instance I go up to one person and say, "What does Christmas mean as far as you're concerned?" He might say, "Oh, Christmas, it's a warm, happy time. We get the old Yule log out and we put it on the fireplace and we light it and the family gathers around and we get a bit of Yule time grog and we…oh, I love Christmas. It's Yule time."
But if I go to somebody else and say, "As far as you're concerned, what is Christmas?" She might say, "Well, at Christmas we really go out of our way to fix our house up. We get a lot of cookies in and fruits and nuts, all that kind of thing. We really want everybody to know at Christmas that we are a home of great hospitality."
Or someone else might say, "It is a time we have reunions and parties, we express good will to everybody. Good will to our next door neighbors (we never talk to them the rest of the year, but it's good will on Christmas), and we kind of swing the good will around a little bit so everybody can have some. That's what Christmas is to me. Everybody kind of gets in a huddle, like a football team, and dedicates each other to something. Good will. That's Christmas."
Another person: "Oh, Christmas is a time when we try to help the forgotten. We try to help the poor. We'd like poor people to realize that once a year we think about them. And we try to take baskets to them and flowers to them. That's Christmas to me, it's giving. It's giving to the poor people, the unfortunate, the lonely people of the world."
I ask somebody else, "What's Christmas to you?" "Oh, Christmas to me is Santa Claus. You know, the old fat guy who comes down the chimney and puts gifts under our tree, and we sit and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Everybody's happy. We all show each other how much we love each other. I can hardly wait for the exchange of gifts at Christmas. This is what Christmas means to me."
I wonder what would happen if you were fortunate enough to be able to talk to the girl that was the human vehicle that God used in order to visit this world. The girl that made the incarnation possible. She was a virgin, of course, and her name was Mary. Probably the most highly favored eighteen-year-old girl that ever lived. You know, it's kind of sad that in Protestant churches we almost totally ignore Mary. And yet, she takes up quite a little bit of the gospel story. Dr. Alexander Whyte, the great Scottish Theologian who preached many, many years in Edinburgh, said this: "we must give Mary her promised due, we must not allow ourselves to obtain a grudge against the mother of our Lord because some have given her more than her due."
Mary undoubtedly was an extremely dedicated girl, a girl of enormous faith. You see, when the angel gave his talk to Mary, he asked her to believe some totally impossible things: that she'd give birth to a baby while she was a virgin, that she'd give birth to a baby as a result of the power of the Holy Ghost, of God. She was asked to believe that she could call his name Jesus, because this baby was going to save the people from their sins.
Imagine it, an eighteen-year-old girl and boom, right out of heaven, and angel comes and says, "You're a virgin. The Holy Ghost is going to come upon you. You're going to have a baby. You'll call the baby Jesus, because he'll save his people from their sins. Further, he will be called the son of the highest, so you can call him by any name that we now call God and it will apply to Jesus." That's what the angel told Mary. "Son of the highest, he'll sit on the throne of his father David, he'll rule forever, he'll be called the Son of God."
This eighteen year old virgin loved the Lord so much, she was so totally dedicated, she had such an enormous faith, that she believed. Remember what she said to her cousin when she went to visit her? It's in Luke 1:46. We call this the magnificat. Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior, for he hath regardeth the humble state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, Holy is his name, his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He has showed strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart, he hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree, he hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent away empty. He hath helped his servant Israel in the remembrance of his mercy, as he spake to our father Abraham, and to his seed forever."
Now let me repeat three things Mary said about the birth of Jesus. See, she knew her Old Testament, and she knew that Isaiah had prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bear a child and be called Immanuel, which is God leaving heaven and becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us. Mary knew that. She was the first human being that ever knew that. She knew that before Joseph knew it. She knew it before Simeon knew it. She knew it, but for a long, long time she had to just keep it in her heart until it began to happen.
But as Mary talked about her God who was going to be born by way of her virgin body—even though she couldn't understand that—she believed it. She said: "Remember as you're worshipping Jesus—he is the mighty God. He isn't a crying baby, helpless, useless, that needs his diapers changed, that needs to be fed on the hour every hour. This baby is not like any other baby in the world. This is the mighty God become flesh and dwelling among us."
Mary thought back to the Old Testament where again and again and again Jewish people looked up to God and called him the Lord of Hosts. What's a host? Well it's a big cloud. No, it isn't. It's a big cloud of soldiers…it's a military term. The Israelites called God the Mighty One of Israel all the way through the pages of the word of God. God is described, amongst other things, as all mighty, all powerful, invincible, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Mary knew that, and so she connected that theme with the birth of Jesus Christ. She says, "For he that is mighty has done to me great things…."
And the second thing Mary knew was that he was absolutely holy. "He is mighty," says Mary, "and holy is his name." Now you know enough about Oriental culture, particularly eastern ways of life, to know that among the Jewish people a name was so closely attached to a person that they became inseparable. Whatever a person's name was, that was the person. In other words, Mary is not saying that Jesus Christ as God is going to act in a holy manner. She's saying that he is holy. Is holy. He is holy!
You'll see it. As we look around in this world, if there's any one thing that we need, it's contact with a God who's got some power. It's contact with a God that's got some justice. Mary says, "God has that. He is the mighty one. He is the holy one." I think back over the last year or two and in our world I think of the hostages in Iran. The Korean aircraft shot down. War in the Falkland Islands. War in Granada. Russia moving into Poland. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, the slaughter of the marines in Beirut, the power that nobody knows how to control, organized crime that gets away with just about everything they wish to do. The drug traffic…yesterday a bomb attack right in front of a department store in London, killing nine people. That list can go on and on and on and on and if you look honestly at your list and at the world, unless you know that there is a God in heaven that's going to make things work out right eventually, you would lose your sanity in this world. How can a person who isn't anchored to the rock possibly read the newspaper everyday and go on living with a degree of sanity?
Finally, she said, "His mercy is on them that hear him." You see, Mary knew that all of us need mercy because we can't pay our own bail. We just can't. We can't forgive our own sin. We can't save our own souls. If there's any one thing in this beautiful poem that reaches my heart, it's the word mercy. But for the mercy of God, none of us would be here. But for the mercy of God, we would be with the Barbarians in the Roman Empire, still celebrating the dead, helpless gods. But for the mercy of God that looks at a sinner such as I and says, "Paul, I can forgive you, I can cleanse your sin, I can pardon you, I can change your life." Ladies and gentlemen, that's the kind of God that I have to have. "'Tis mercy," says Wesley, "'tis mercy, mercy, mercy, 'tis mercy, all, and it found out me."
I wonder if we could bring the Virgin Mary into the service this morning, over a period of say nearly two thousand years, and ask her to comment on our celebrations, I wonder what she'd say. I think we'd ask her to stand about here, and I imagine the first person that comes along is the owner of the store in Toronto that has the largest Christmas sales. And this man comes excited, he says, "Mary, Mary, it's time for the dinner. Man, have we got it laid on today. You won't believe the size of turkey we've got and the number of vegetables there are going to be and the English Plum Pudding. Mary come with us, we're going to celebrate! Don't…hey, don't bring Jesus! Couldn't you get Elizabeth to look after him? See, we wouldn't enjoy our dinner if Jesus were there. It'd put kind of damper on the whole thing."
I imagine Mary would say, "My dear friend, why don't you forget your dinner and go out and find your God. Christmas isn't dinner. Christmas is God in the flesh."
The next person that comes along is a mother of a big household, six kids, two boys and four girls, a mother and dad. She comes to where Mary is and says, "Mary, you know what we did this year? Man, it was great. We took our family to the North and actually cut down our own Christmas tree! Beautiful Scotch pine, about six feet tall and bushy. We took it home and the entire family decorated it together. Man, we had a ball and you should see the gifts underneath the tree. Wow! What a time we're going to have! Mary, come on in and visit us at our tree. We're going to celebrate with our family."
"But mother," Mary would say, "Christmas is not a Christmas tree, it's not decorations, it's not food. Christmas is when I gave birth to the Son of God, and if you can't make a prominent place for the Son of God around your tree, you are simply repeating what the Romans did two thousand years ago."
Finally, another person comes in and says, "Mary, you know what we're going to do tonight? We are going to sing. Hey, we've got this group together and we're going to have a couple of drinks first so we'll feel alright, loosen up our voices a bit, then we're going to go out in the street, we're going to carol until midnight tonight! What a ball we're going to have! Come on, Mary, leave him, come out with us, and let's go caroling!"
"Man," would be her reply, "when are you going to get this straight? Christmas isn't caroling. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the tree or against the caroling or against the dinner, but I'll tell you what I am against. I'm against the fact that millions of people are celebrating the birth of my son, and they've never given him a place in their lives."
Mary might say, "I have a friend who I think explained it better than what I am doing. His explanation went something like this:
'I thought it was tinsel, I thought it was the tree, the girls and boys and fancy toys made Christmas real for me. But, one day, I discovered how wrong I'd always been. For there was something missing, I couldn't find out what it was until someone showed me Jesus, and I trusted him. Now, you may say you're happy, that Christmas really swings, it's prairie time and the whole world forgets its woes and sings! For you're still missing, there's so much more than this. For you're still missing something that can turn your life around. That something, that something is my Savior and I tell you this because it isn't Christmas until you know the one who came so long ago. It isn't Christmas until the holy child becomes your risen Lord. It isn't Christmas until the Christ of Christmas lives within your heart.'"
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW
Read more articles by EARL ADAMS or search for articles on the same topic or others.
Earl, I was awed as I read this. You have covered so many bases, and you did it with gentleness. You shared an enlightening look at how Christmas would surely be seen through Mary's eyes. I would be thrilled to share your article in my web site, www.dustonthebible.com with your permission. You may find my email address in my profile. Thank you for sharing. Thomas | <urn:uuid:773a8711-d87b-4418-a8a6-20d2fb2415e1> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=55056 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538022.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00119-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985046 | 4,871 | 3.5 | 4 | The extract scores 1 point as it provides superficial coverage of basic communication and teamwork concepts without meaningful depth or practical application. The discussion revolves around the true meaning of Christmas, with Mary's perspective being the central theme. However, the content lacks complexity, nuanced interaction, or real-world problem-solving opportunities, focusing primarily on theoretical knowledge and limited cultural awareness.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
I read somewhere that an actual bomb requires enrichment quite a bit higher than 90% ...
Nope. You can use lower enrichment with no problem, as long as you use the right component design (gun-type or implosion) and mass of enriched uranium.
The Hiroshima "gun-type" bomb used 64 kg of uranium. 50 kg were enriched to 88%, and 14 kg were enriched to 50%. The average enrichment was just under 80%.
The critical mass for 85% enriched uranium is approximately 50 kilograms / 110 lbs. This is a sphere about 6-3/4" in diameter.
The Hiroshima bomb, as a gun-design, was not even tested prior to dropping. The design concept was deemed so reliable it was considered guaranteed to work.
Approximately 21 to 30 ounces (est.) of the core mass actually converted into energy in the explosion. The explosive force was equivalent to 32,000,000 lbs of TNT - (16 kt = 32 million pounds). | <urn:uuid:b880ea91-89ef-4372-97c7-bdef73802032> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2982366/replies?c=10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538022.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00119-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97259 | 201 | 2.5625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on technical information about bomb design and nuclear physics. It does not provide opportunities for developing communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills. The content is informative but limited to theoretical knowledge without practical application or cultural awareness.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Physicists argue that the amounts of matter and antimatter were equal when the universe began, but shortly after, antimatter became extremely rare in the part of the universe we know anything about.
To understand why, the authors take us on a journey through the history of mistakes, misunderstandings, and triumphs of physics. This is a broad overview of modern particle physics encompassing early concepts through modern quantum field theory.
The authors rely on analogy to encourage understanding of complex concepts. “Imagine another day at the races,” they urge “one car is matter and the other is antimatter.” The analogy is used to explain a theory of the symmetry of nature. They also describe interesting characters that help fill the human aspects of the science.
One of the authors, Nir, describes a presentation for the Russian physicist Andrei Sakharov. “I… was so surprised to find myself explaining physics to him, that I literally lost my words. This was by far the poorest presentation that I gave in my life.” In another section the length of a seawall is compared with the length of waves that crash against it and the subsequent change in the waves is used as a prelude to a discussion about how scientists can “see” disturbances in particle waves. There are good descriptions of current cosmological thinking such as the Grand Unified Theory as well as the Standard Model. There are efforts to apply thinking to test these models and indeed, to question their viability. “Like good detectives we must return again and again to the scene of the crime, to the underlying laws of physics,” the authors write. Having established the premise for a basic understanding, the authors then get to the real topic of the book: What happened to the antimatter?
The title and the book’s typography lend a note of lightness to readers’ expectations. Beware: the book is serious science with a dose of serious math. But for high school or college students, or anyone wanting to know how physics works and physicists think, the writers have made a difficult topic comprehensible as well as compelling. | <urn:uuid:db3305be-5dc7-4edc-a65f-bd5103e0d4cc> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-mystery-of-the-missing-antimatter/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609538022.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005218-00119-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959179 | 435 | 3.40625 | 3 | The extract scores low in soft skills development, as it primarily focuses on scientific concepts and theories in physics, with minimal discussion of communication, teamwork, or emotional intelligence. While it mentions presentations and interactions between scientists, these are brief anecdotes rather than in-depth explorations of soft skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
HTML components are independent objects that can be combined in various ways. Related components are organized into classes. There are two major groups of component classes:
Basic Component classes– Components used to display and edit a single value.
Container classes– Components that can contain one or more components.
Common component classes include the components that are used to display and edit a single value. These components are defined in the section titled Basic Component Classes.
A container class defines a collection of components that are visually organized in a certain way. Typically, creating a container class results in the generation of an HTML table tag. Simple containers can concatenate the components horizontally or vertically. Other containers allow more flexible positioning of components and may add ornamentation around the components.
Because containers are themselves components, any container can be placed inside another container. You can use this mechanism to build complex page layouts. For example, many pages consist of a title, followed by a list of editing fields, followed by a row of form submission buttons. You can create this by creating a Panel component using vertical orientation that contains a Label component, an EditForm component, and a ButtonRow component. The EditForm component itself contains some number of subcomponents. The ButtonRow component is simply a Panel that uses horizontal orientation and contains a list of Button components.
Defines five regions (north, south, east, west, and center) into which items can be placed. Components in the north and south regions are positioned horizontally. Components in all other regions are positioned vertically.
eastWidth– Specifies the width of the east region
westWidth– Specifies the width of the west region
Sets default options for button placement. Extends the Panel component.
buttonDivStyle - Specifies the CSS class to apply to a div surrounding the buttons.
defaultAlign - Specifies the default alignment of the buttons in the row. Identity Manager consults this property if the align property has not been explicitly set on the row. Defaults to left.
defaultDivider - Specifies whether to render a divider above or below the button row. Identity Manager consults this property if the divider property has not been explicitly set on the row. Defaults to false.
divider– Specifies whether the divider should be rendered as a horizontal or blank line. When true, the divider will be rendered as a horizontal line (for example, an <hr>). (Boolean)
dividerStyle - Specifies the CSS class to use to style the divider if it is rendered. If this property is not set, Identity Manager renders a horizontal rule. Defaults to unset.
pad– Specifies where to insert this space between the button row and an adjacent component. Allowed values are top and bottom. If the value is null, no space is added. Default value is top.
This display component is the default display class used to render forms in a browser.
Form components are positioned in two columns, with titles on the left, and components on the right. Flyover help can be included with the titles. Multiple components can be concatenated on a single row.
Most edited properties include title, subTitle and adjacentTitleWidth.
<Form name=’Default User Form’ help=’account/modify-help.xml’> <Display class=’EditForm’> <Property name=’titleWidth’ value=’120’> <Property name=’adjacentTitleWidth’ value=’60’> </Display>
Additional EditForm properties include:
adjacentTitleWidth– Specifies the width of the titles of adjacent fields. If this property is not defined, it defaults to zero. If you define adjacentTitleWidth as equal to zero, columns titles will automatically resize. If set to a non-zero value, then the title width of adjacent columns (for example, the second and third columns) will be the value of adjacentTitleWidth.
border - Specifies the width in pixels of the table that contains the EditForm component. Defaults to 0, which indicates no border.
cellpadding - Specifies the cellpadding of the table that contains the EditForm component. Defaults to 5.
cellspacing - Specifies the cellspacing of the table that contains the EditForm component. Defaults to 0.
componentTableWidth– Specifies the width (in pixels) of the EditForm. If not specified, this defaults to either 400 pixels or the value of the defaultComponentTableWidth global property for EditForm
defaultComponentTableWidth - Specifies the width in pixels of the table in which Identity Manager renders each component. Identity Manager consults this property if the componentTableWidth property has not been explicitly set on the EditForm. When this component is not set, no width is specified for the component table.
defaultRequiredAnnotationLocation - Specifies the default location (left, right, or none) with respect to the component to render the required annotation. Identity Manager consults this property if the requiredMarkerLocation property has not been explicitly set on the EditForm. Defaults to right.
evenRowClass - Specifies the CSS class to use to style the even rows of the EditForm table (if the noAlternatingRowColors property is not set to true). Defaults to formevenrow.
helpIcon - Specifies the icon to render for flyover help messages for components. Defaults to images/helpi_gold.gif.
noAlternatingRowColors– Specifies whether rows in the EditForm are rendered in the same color. When noAlternatingRowColors is set to true, every row in the EditForm is rendered the same color. If not specified, this defaults to false.
oddRowClass - Specifies the CSS class to use to style the odd rows of the EditForm table (if the noAlternatingRowColors property is not set to true). Defaults to formoddrow.
requiredAnnotation - Specifies the annotation to render next to a required field. This defaults to an image of a red asterisk.
requiredClass - Specifies the CSS class to use to style the required field legend. Defaults to errortxt.
requiredLegendLocation - Specifies the location (top or bottom) at which to render the required legend if the form contains any required fields. Defaults to bottom.
rowPolarity - Specifies the polarity of alternating gray and white row colors in a table. The default is true. A value of false inverts the polarity and gives the first form field a white background. The code shown in the following example results in a table whose first form field has a white background.
<Display class=’EditForm’> <Property name=’componentTableWidth’ value=’100%’/> <Property name=’rowPolarity’ value=’false’/> <Property name=’requiredMarkerLocation’ value=’left’/> <Property name=’messages’> <ref>msgList</ref> </Property> </Display>
tableClass - Specifies the CSS class to use to style the table that contains the EditForm component.
tableWidth - Specifies the width in pixels of the table in which Identity Manager renders the EditForm component. Defaults to 400.
titleClass - Specifies the CSS class to use to style help messages for components.
Consists of three classes: Menu, MenuBar, and MenuItem.
Menu refers to the entire component.
MenuItem is a leaf, or node, that corresponds to a tab on the first or second level.
MenuBar corresponds to a tab that contains MenuBars, or MenuItems.
Menu contains the following properties:
layout - A String with value horizontal or vertical. A value of horizontal generates a horizontal navigation bar with tabs. A value of vertical causes the menu to be rendered as a vertical tree menu with typical node layout.
stylePrefix - String prefix for the CSS class name. For the Identity Manager End User pages, this value is User.
MenuBar contains the following properties:
default - A String URL path that corresponds to one of the MenuBar’s MenuItem URL properties. This controls which subtab is displayed as selected by default when the MenuBar tab is clicked.
MenuItem contains the following properties:
containedUrls - A List of URL path(s) to JSPs that are ”related” to the MenuItem. The current MenuItem will be rendered as “selected”if any of the containedUrls JSPs are rendered. An example is the request launch results page that is displayed after a workflow is launched from the request launch page.
You can set these properties on either a MenuBar or MenuItem:
title - Specifies the text String displayed in the tab or tree leaf as a hyperlink
URL - Specifies the String URL path for the title hyperlink
The following XPRESS example creates a menu with two tabs. The second tab contain two subtabs:
<Display class=’Menu’/> <Field> <Display class=’MenuItem’> <Property name=’URL’ value=’user/main.jsp’/> <Property name=’title’ value=’Home’ /> </Display> </Field> <Field> <Display class=’MenuBar’ > <Property name=’title’ value=’Work Items’ /> <Property name=’URL’ value=’user/workItemListExt.jsp’ /> </Display> <Field> <Display class=’MenuItem’> <Property name=’URL’ value=’user/workItemListExt.jsp’/> <Property name=’title’ value=’Approvals’ /> </Display> </Field> <Field> <Display class=’MenuItem’> <Property name=’URL’ value=’user/otherWorkItems/listOtherWorkItems.jsp’/> <Property name=’title’ value=’Other’ /> </Display> </Field> </Field>
In the Identity Manager User Interface, the horizontal navigation bar is driven by the End User Navigation User form in enduser.xml.
The userHeader.jsp, which is included in all Identity Manager User Interface pages, includes another JSP named menuStart.jsp. This JSP accesses two system configuration objects:
ui.web.user.showMenu - Toggles the display of the navigation menu on/off (default is true).
ui.web.user.menuLayout - Determines whether the menu is rendered as a horizontal navigation bar with tabs (the default value is horizontal) or a vertical tree menu (vertical).
style.css contains the CSS style classes that determine how the menu is rendered.
Defines the most basic container. Panel renders its children in a simple linear list.
horizontal– Aligns components horizontally, when set to true. (Boolean)
horizontalPad– Specifies the number of pixels to use for the cell padding attribute of the table surrounding horizontal components.
verticalPad– Specifies the number of blank lines added between components. (Boolean)
The default orientation is vertical, but can be set to horizontal.
Provides a single- or multi- valued field (similar to Text or ListEditor components, respectively) with search fields below. After a search is executed, Identity Manager displays results beneath the search fields and populates the results into the value field.
Unlike other container components, Selector has a value (the field we are populating with search results). The contained fields are typically search criteria fields. Selector implements a property to display the contents of the search results.
fixedWidth– Specifies whether the component should have a fixed width (same behavior as Multiselect). (Boolean)
multivalued– Indicates whether the value is a List or a String. (The value of this property determines whether a ListEditor or Text field is rendered for the value). (Boolean)
allowTextEntry– Indicates whether values must be selected from the supplied list or can be entered manually. (Boolean)
valueTitle– Specifies the label to use on the value component. (String)
pickListTitle– Specifies the label to use on the picklist component. (String)
pickValues– the available values in the picklist component (if null, the picklist is not shown). (List)
pickValueMap– a map of display labels for the values in the picklist. (Map or List)
searchLabel– Labels the button next to the input text field with the supplied text. If not set, the text defaults to “...”.
sorted– Indicates that the values should be sorted in the picklist (if multivalued and not ordered, the value list will also be sorted). (Boolean)
clearFields– Lists the fields that should be reset when the Clear button is selected. (List)
The following properties are valid only in a multi-valued component:
ordered– Indicates that the order of values is important. (Boolean)
allowDuplicates– Indicates whether the value list can contain duplicates. (Boolean)
valueMap– Provides a map of display labels for the values in the list. (Map)
These properties are valid only in a single-valued component:
nullLabel– Specifies a label to use to indicate a value of null. (String)
Arranges components in a grid with an optional row of column titles at the top.
columns– Defines the column headers. Usually a list of message keys, but can also be simple strings. (List)
rows– Defines the cells of the table. Each cell must be a component. (List)
columnCount– Specifies the number of columns if there is no column title list.
border– Determines the width of the table border. Set to 0 to create invisible borders.
noItemsMessage– Specifies the message to display in the table when there are no rows.
Use to render a tabbed panel that displays a row of tabs as shown below. By default, the tabs are aligned horizontally.
leftTabs– When set to true, aligns tabs along left margin, not along the top. (Boolean)
border– Draws a border around the main panel under the tabs, when set to true. (Boolean)
renderTabsAsSelect– Renders tabs as a Select drop-down rather than tabs, when set to true. This is useful when a form contains many tabs that would cause the browser to scroll horizontally. Do not use in conjunction with aligning the tabs on the left.
tabAlignment– Determines the position of the tabs relative to the page content. Valid values include left (default setting), top, right, bottom, center, and middle.
validatePerTab -- When set to true, Identity Manager performs validation expressions as soon as the user switches to a different tab.
<Field name=’MainTabs’> <Display class=’TabPanel’> <Property name=’leftTabs’ value=’false’/> <Property name=’tabAlignment’ value=’left’/> </Field>
Use to create a Panel capable of horizontal alignment.
Use to create a table whose contents can be sorted by column header.Child components determine the content of this table. Create one child component per column (defined by the columns property). Columns are typically contained within a FieldLoop.
This component respects the align, valign, and width properties of the children components when rendering the table cells.
emptyMessage– Specifies the String or message key to display in the table when the table has no rows. If you omit this property, Identity Manager displays a generic message.
pageButtonAlign– Determines position of buttons relative to page content. Valid values include left, right, bottom, and center. The default value is right.
sortEnable– Enables column sorting when set to true. (Boolean)
sortURL– Identifies the URL that Identity Manager posts to when column sorting is selected. If column sorting is not set, Identity Manager uses the _postURL of the HtmlPage. (String)
sortURLParams– Specifies the parameters that get passed along with the sortURL. (String)
sortColumn– Specifies the number of the column that we are currently sorting by. The default is to set this value to the first column. (Integer)
sortOrder– Specifies the sort order. Values includes asc (for ascending) or desc (for descending). Default value is asc. (String)
linkEnable– Indicates if this table is to be generated with the first column as links. (Boolean)
linkURL– Specifies the URL that Identity Manager links to when generating links. If not specified, defaults to the post URL of the containing HtmlPage. (String)
linkURLArguments– Indicates the arguments to include in the link URL.
linkColumn– Specifies the column number that will be used for the generated links as specified by the linkURL attribute. (Integer)
linkParameter– Specifies the name of the post data parameter that will have the value of the link row id. The default value is id.
selectEnable– Indicates whether a column of checkboxes is displayed along a MultiSelect table’s left margin. When set to true, Identity Manager displays a column of checkboxes. (Boolean)
columns– Lists table column headers. (List of strings)
pageSize– Specifies that the table should display at most _pageSize entries simultaneously. If more than _pageSize entries exist, then interface elements allow paging through the results. If _pageSize is less than 1 (the default setting), then all entries are displayed at once. (Integer)
useSavedPage– If the value of pageSize exceeds 0, then the sorting table saves the current sorting table page on the HTTP session in the <fieldName>_currentPage attribute. The _useSavedPage property indicates whether the current page should be retrieved from the HTTP session and displayed. By making the value of this property the result of an XPRESS expression, the form or view can control when the current page is recalled after when returning back to the JSP containing the SortingTable component. (Boolean)
For example, if the SortingTable component displays the results of a query containing editable items, to ensure that Identity Manager displays the results page that contains the edited item after the user has edited an item in the result table, enter a value that exceeds 0.
Use to render one of several child components (typically EditForms) that use wizard-style Next and Previous buttons to navigate between components.
button– Specifies a value for child component’s location property that will place it in the button row. (String)
nextLabel– Specifies the label to display on the Next button. The default text is Next. (String)
prevLabel– Specifies that the label in the Previous button is displayed. (String)
cancelLabel– Specifies that the label in the Cancel button is displayed. (String)
okLabel– Specifies that the label is displayed in the OK button. (String)
noOk– Specifies that the OK button is not displayed. (Boolean)
alwaysOk– Determines that the OK button is displayed, when set to true. (Boolean)
noCancel– Specifies that the Cancel button is not displayed, when set to true. (Boolean)
topButtons– Causes the buttons to be rendered at the top of the page rather than the page bottom, when set to true. (Boolean)
noButtons– Suppresses all button rendering when set to true. (Boolean) | <urn:uuid:3d8233e4-f40c-407f-9a7c-45995a35e26e> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19225-01/820-5821/bvbzf/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539776.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00151-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.707745 | 4,245 | 3.4375 | 3 | The extract provides detailed technical information about various HTML components, their properties, and usage, but lacks any substantial discussion or application of soft skills. The content is highly specialized and focused on technical aspects of web development, with no apparent connection to soft skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Falsetto and headvoice are NOT the same thing! Here is an article from my book raise Your Voice 2nd Edition on the subject-
Useful Tip: Simplifying Vocal Terminology
Full voice, falsetto, head voice, mixed voice… What is the difference? This question comes up a lot. So let me give you my interpretation of each classification, because teachers of varying methods will describe each tonal quality in different terms. To me, full voice is simply full voice, or your real voice. Falsetto is your false voice, or the sound used by singers like Prince and the Bee Gees.
Chest voice and head voice are both, in my opinion, just classifications of full voice—chest voice referring to the tone below the break (when resonance is felt in the chest) and head voice being up above the break (when the resonance is mainly felt in the head). Some teachers refer to head voice as a lighter voice that is a blend of full voice and falsetto. I find this term used in this manner a lot with teachers who mainly work strictly with pop and country artists.
(So in other words, head voice is your real full voice in the higher register whereas falsetto is that light breathy tone like Prince, The Bee Gees or Justin Hawkins from the Darkness)
I use the term mid-voice for the area right above the break that lasts for generally five to seven notes, or until you feel the resonance up in the head, or your head voice. One of my favorite vocal coaches, Roger Love, describes this area in range as the “middle voice”, but I believe he is referring to a blend of falsetto and full voice as opposed to full voice.
Many teachers, such as Roger, will show students how to “blend” the tones of falsetto and full voice to create a mixture of the two. Hence, terms like mixed voice and middle voice were created. In fact, one of the main exercises in this book, the Transcending Tone exercise, will show you how to take your voice from falsetto, through a blend and into your full voice, regardless of the pitch.
Bottom line: Don’t get too caught up on the terminology. Develop your voice to its fullest potential and use whatever tonality sounds the coolest to you.
Many vocal teachers classify singers by the typical break point. Depending upon which pitch your voice begins to break, you could be branded a bass, baritone, tenor, alto, or a soprano. Although I find this classification to at times put limitations on singers, I still feel the need to present the basic categorizations of these registers. Vocal classification is simply a way to categorize the range of an individual singer, usually applying emphasis to the highest note of one’s range. The following description will show the typical range and typical break point of each voice type.
The number beside each note represents the pitch of the note relative to the notes on a piano. C4, or Middle C, represents the fourth C note on a piano. C5, or Tenor C, represents the fifth C note on a piano. C6, or Soprano C, represents the sixth C note on a piano. Each individual note is numbered by the octave it represents until the next octave is reached. For example:
C4, C#4, D4, D#4, E4, F4, F#4, G4, G#4, A4, A#4, B4, C5…C6
CLASS RANGE BREAK POINT
BASS E2-E4 G3
BARITONE B2-A4 E4
TENOR D3-E5 E4
ALTO A3-E5 A4
SOPRANO C4-F6 E5
These are all just very basic classification guidelines. We could get very technical and discuss the falsetto range, multiple break points, vocal fry, and whistle register, or differences between lyric tenor, countertenor or sopranist (an adult male who sings alto or soprano parts), mezzo-soprano, coloratura soprano and more, but these guidelines are all that you need for this book. I have also found in my teaching that a lot of baritones and tenors seem to have the same break point. The main difference being that tenors carry the sound easily higher in the beginning and the tonality is lighter. I personally believe vocal classification to be unjust. This point of view can place serious mental limitations upon a singer.
If you are to be put into a vocal class, you should be classified by your lowest note, not your highest, because it is easy to extend your upper range, but your lower range is mostly dependent on the length and thickness of your vocal cords.
Your lowest notes are produced when the vocal cords are as short and thick as possible. A man’s vocal cords are typically longer and thicker than a woman’s, resulting in a lower speaking voice. This is due to the fact that the vibrating space between the vocal cords (glottis) is larger.
The physical rule is that the smaller the vibrating space between the vocal cords, the higher the pitch. As far as high notes are concerned, the sky is the limit. Both men and women can sing soprano notes and beyond in full voice if they are willing to put in the time and effort that vocal training requires. Hopefully you won’t let yourself get caught up in the vocal classification trap because, as mentioned previously, your upper range can easily be extended through proper voice training and vocal exercises.
During my experiences in college, before I began voice training, I was classified as a bass/baritone because I could sing in the bass range and my voice cracked on an E4 (below tenor C). I felt trapped, with no hope for change. For some time, I allowed vocal classification to put limitations on me as a singer. Now I just laugh it off because I can sing many notes in the soprano range as clear as a bell, as well as low bass notes too. The next time someone talks about your break point, just laugh it off and realize that the break point is not a limitation but a minor hindrance that, as you will see in the next few chapters, can be overcome with patience, perseverance, and practice.
Useful Tip: Multiple Break Points?
Through years of teaching I have found that most singers seem to experience several break points: the initial break point that we have been discussing and what is commonly referred to as a second break, roughly six to seven notes higher than the first break. Again, it is just a coordination and strength issue; and each break should no longer be considered a break, but simply a switching of gears, so to speak. The first break is a switching of gears from chest to mid-voice and the second break is a switching of gears at the point of your mid-voice to your head voice.
Hope this helped | <urn:uuid:af4126c5-2f5e-476a-9f1d-e8653c8bf634> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://metaltabs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38295&page=2&pp=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539776.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00151-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95159 | 1,481 | 2.984375 | 3 | The extract focuses on vocal techniques, terminology, and classification, with no direct discussion of soft skills. It provides technical information and personal anecdotes, but lacks scenarios or opportunities for developing communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
New Volunteer Corps Aims At Conserving Wildlife Habitat
GAINESVILLE—The people in University of Florida conservationist Will Sheftall’s class have one thing in common: They want to be good neighbors.
Not just to the Joneses next door or the Smiths across the street, but to the animals in their own back yards.
Sheftall is teaching a new program developed at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences aimed at training volunteers to be master wildlife conservationists.
The program is modeled on UF’s successful master gardener program. UF provides the training and the participants then serve as a community resource, helping others with questions about fostering wildlife habitat.
To the students in Sheftall’s class, being a good citizen means more than voting and recycling and such. It means making sure furry friends — and scaly ones — are not pushed out by urban growth and development.
“We’ve had master gardener volunteers for years, and 4-H volunteers and now we’ll have conservation volunteers,” said Sheftall, an agent in Leon County’s Cooperative Extension Office, a part of UF. “These citizens are interested in helping others in their community understand how they can manage their own property and neighborhoods for wildlife, and at the same time for good water quality and diversity of plant life, which make up good wildlife habitat.”
The graduates of the inaugural class earlier this year were commissioned to be educators in their communities. Their new duties include doing consultations and presentations to neighborhood associations and civic groups and sharing with others how they can help manage property for wildlife and for good water quality for aquatic animals.
Sheftall said the interest in conservation is a natural.
“People seem to have a natural interest in providing a home for animals as animals are displaced by urban growth,” he said. “And as communities grow, there seems to be an overwhelming interest on the part of residents to maintain wildlife habitat in the form of greenbelts, corridors and regional parks.”
But conservation is not limited to large parcels of land. In the suburban landscape, the volunteers are willing to go lot by lot to help each homeowner develop a yard that would woo wildlife. At times, a volunteer might do a demonstration with one yard to show that a site will still look good when it’s wildlife habitat. That, in turn, recruits neighbors who are interested in wildlife, Sheftall said.
“We have to understand that other things are important to a homeowner, too, not just wildlife,” Sheftall said. “But conservation won’t negatively affect those other priorities. You can still have turf for kids to play ball, children’s play areas, gardens and ornamental landscaping.
“It’s reassuring for a property owner to talk to someone who’s realistic. We do consider the goals of the landowner and the potential of the site itself. We wouldn’t recommend plants that wouldn’t naturally do well on a site. We work with the site, not against it.”
Sheftall’s inaugural class of 52 graduates from Florida’s Panhandle now is entering another phase of the program: learning how to mentor the conservation recruits that will come after it. The group has been divided into teams, and once those teams are operating well, another class of volunteers will be brought in for the 12-week course. Interest has been so strong that the next class, like the first, likely will have to turn people away.
Sheftall said he wants the graduates to get a few successes under their belts and become veteran educators before they are expected to mentor the novice conservationists. As representatives of UF, he said, they had to meet stringent requirements and even pass a certification exam.
“One of the things extension does is help people with technical information about how to accomplish their goals,” Sheftall said. “So communities that want better wildlife habitat in their urbanizing portions can look to extension, and eventually to these volunteers, as sources of information.”
Dawn Lachter, a UF zoology graduate who lives in Tallahassee, said she applied for acceptance into the conservationist program because of a strong interest in animals.
“We don’t all have inherent knowledge, so it’s good to have people you can go to to identify animals that are part of the community and part of the ecosystem,” Lachter said. “It’s important to be able to conserve the land, keep the animals there and understand how everything is related.”
Class member Elaine Burnett, who signed up through the Wakulla County extension office, agrees.
“If each person realizes that their own yard is a little habitat in itself, and if they can manage that habitat to the best of its ability, then that will help everybody else around them,” Burnett said. “Maybe they can help their neighbors learn how to do it, and if we all start managing for wildlife just a little bit, it will save us in the long run.”
- Cindy Spence | <urn:uuid:30975331-217c-492b-8e13-87e80a0941f5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://news.ufl.edu/1997/12/29/wildlife-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539776.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00151-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961651 | 1,088 | 2.53125 | 3 | The extract scores low as it primarily focuses on conservation and wildlife habitat, with minimal discussion of soft skills. While it mentions community engagement, teamwork, and education, these aspects are not explored in depth. The text lacks scenarios that integrate emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, and critical thinking opportunities, resulting in limited professional development and cultural awareness.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
SPACE Opening February 1st
SDASM presents Space: A Journey to Our Future, opening February 1, 2011. Produced by Evergreen Exhibitions and presented in collaboration with NASA, this dynamic, multimedia exhibit looks back into the history of aeronautics and examines the many unknown questions of existence posed by future space exploration.
In December 1972, Apollo 17 took what became one of the most widely publicized and famous images of the twentieth century. The iconic view of Earth as a "Blue Marble" floating in space revolutionized public perception of our fragile planet during the rising environmental consciousness of the early 1970s, highlighting a sense of vulnerability and shared responsibility.
Nearly four decades later, our planet is still a very small and fragile part of a vast universe. We share its destiny and its limitless possibilities.
Look forward to these out-of-this-world experiences in the exhibit:
- Explore a future Lunar Base Camp including bunk beds and a kitchen!
- Build an Ares rocket.
- Create your own mission to Mars.
- Ride a bike-powered centrifuge and experience the physiological challenges of space flight.
- Hold a piece of the universe! Touch actual Moon meteorites and Mars rocks.
- Get an up-close look at artifacts from the space program.
- Meet today's explorers who are working to understand how to protect our planet.
- Look far into the future of the universe exploration in a 360-degree theatre.
- Experience the past, present, and future of space through these and dozens of other displays and interactives.
- Come explore Space: A Journey to our Future and dare to dream! | <urn:uuid:32afd066-98db-46f2-a955-fcc0144d1c15> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://sandiegoairandspace.org/calendar/story.php?id=122 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539776.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00151-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911655 | 338 | 3.03125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on promotional content for an exhibit. It provides some interactive experiences but doesn't explicitly address communication, teamwork, or problem-solving. Basic cultural awareness is present through the mention of environmental consciousness and shared responsibility.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
The logical design of the database, including the tables and the relationships between them, is the core of an optimized relational database. A good logical database design can lay the foundation for optimal database and application performance. A poor logical database design can hinder the performance of the whole system.
Normalizing a logical database design involves using formal methods to separate the data into multiple, related tables. Several narrow tables with fewer columns is characteristic of a normalized database. A few wide tables with more columns is characteristic of an non-normalized database.
Reasonable normalization frequently improves performance. When useful indexes are available, the SQL Server query optimizer is efficient at selecting rapid, efficient joins between tables.
Some of the benefits of normalization include the following:
Faster sorting and index creation.
A larger number of clustered indexes. For more information, see Clustered Index Design Guidelines.
Narrower and more compact indexes.
Fewer indexes per table. This improves the performance of the INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements.
Fewer null values and less opportunity for inconsistency. This increases database compactness.
As normalization increases, the number and complexity of joins required to retrieve data also increases. Too many complex relational joins between too many tables can hinder performance. Reasonable normalization frequently includes few regularly executed queries that use joins involving more than four tables.
Sometimes, the logical database design is already fixed and total redesign is not realistic. However, even then it might be possible to normalize a large table selectively into several smaller tables. If the database is accessed through stored procedures, this schema change could occur without affecting applications. If not, it might be possible to create a view that hides the schema change from the applications.
In relational-database design theory, normalization rules identify certain attributes that must be present or absent in a well-designed database. A complete discussion of normalization rules exceeds the scope of this topic. However, there are a few rules that can help you achieve a sound database design:
A table should have an identifier.
The fundamental rule of database design theory is that each table should have a unique row identifier, a column or set of columns used to distinguish any single record from every other record in the table. Each table should have an ID column, and no two records can share the same ID value. The column or columns serving as the unique row identifier for a table are the primary key of the table. In the AdventureWorks database, each table contains an identity column as the primary key column. For example, VendorID is primary key for the Purchasing.Vendor table.
A table should store only data for a single type of entity.
Trying to store too much information in a table can hinder the efficient and reliable management of the data in the table. In the AdventureWorks sample database, the sales order and customer information is stored in separate tables. Although you can have columns that contain information for both the sales order and the customer in a single table, this design leads to several problems. The customer information, name and address, must be added and stored redundantly for each sales order. This uses additional storage space in the database. If a customer address changes, the change must be made for each sales order. Also, if the last sales order for a customer is removed from the Sales.SalesOrderHeader table, the information for that customer is lost.
A table should avoid nullable columns.
Tables can have columns defined to allow for null values. A null value indicates that there is no value. Although it can be useful to allow for null values in isolated cases, you should use them sparingly. This is because they require special handling that increases the complexity of data operations. If you have a table with several nullable columns and several of the rows have null values in the columns, you should consider putting these columns in another table linked to the primary table. By storing the data in two separate tables, the primary table can be simple in design and still handle the occasional need for storing this information.
A table should not have repeating values or columns.
The table for an item in the database should not contain a list of values for a specific piece of information. For example, a product in the AdventureWorks database might be purchased from multiple vendors. If there is a column in the Production.Product table for the name of the vendor, this creates a problem. One solution is to store the name of all vendors in the column. However, this makes it difficult to show a list of the individual vendors. Another solution is to change the structure of the table to add another column for the name of the second vendor. However, this allows for only two vendors. Additionally, another column must be added if a book has three vendors.
If you find that you have to store a list of values in a single column, or if you have multiple columns for a single piece of data, such as TelephoneNumber1, and TelephoneNumber2, you should consider putting the duplicated data in another table with a link back to the primary table. The AdventureWorks database has a Production.Product table for product information, a Purchasing.Vendor table for vendor information, and a third table, Purchasing.ProductVendor. This third table stores only the ID values for the products and the IDs of the vendors of the products. This design allows for any number of vendors for a product without modifying the definition of the tables, and without allocating unused storage space for products with a single vendor. | <urn:uuid:384f8bea-9d20-463e-aa73-af28663f4244> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms191178(v=sql.90).aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539776.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00151-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875722 | 1,128 | 3.125 | 3 | The extract focuses on technical aspects of database design, specifically normalization and relational database theory. It lacks discussion of soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, or leadership, and does not provide opportunities for practical application of these skills. The content is theoretical and technical, with no apparent consideration for cultural awareness, digital literacy, or professional development beyond database design.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
The Supreme Court
Schools always struggle with the issue of how to appropriately discipline students to maintain control in the school. Paddling is still used in 22 states, while suspensions are more common in others. Both methods have been challenged in cases brought to the Supreme Court. We'll review two of them: Ingraham v. Wright, which looks at rules for paddling, and Goss v. Lopez, which sets rules for suspensions.
Just the Facts
In 2003, two-thirds of Florida school districts still spank students. There is a move though toward using suspensions as the preferred mode of discipline. About 11,000 Florida students were paddled in 2003, according to the Florida Department of Education. Most schools that still use the paddle are in small, rural counties. Larger, urban counties opt instead to either send students home or use “in-school” suspensions, where the students are segregated from their classmates. Twenty-two states allow teachers to paddle students.
James Ingraham and Roosevelt Andrews were students at Charles R. Drew Junior High School in Dade County, Florida, when they filed suit in U.S. district court in 1971 complaining about a disciplinary paddling they received at the school. Florida law does allow teachers to paddle students provided they consult first with the principal and that the punishment is not “degrading or severe.” Florida actually specifies the length and width of the paddle and mandates that all blows are to the student's buttocks. Evidence in court showed that the paddling was exceptionally harsh. In fact one of the boys was unable to attend school for 11 days and the other lost use of his arm for one week.
Ingraham and Andrews accused school officials of inflicting punishment that was in violation of the cruel and unusual provision of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and said they did not receive due process for their actions.
The district court dismissed the case because it found that there was no constitutional basis for relief. The circuit court agreed with the district court, so it was appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts and found:
Justice Powell wrote in his opinion for the court announced on April 9, 1977:
Many schools choose to suspend students rather than paddle them today. You may be surprised to learn that the Supreme Court actually ruled that suspension can raise a constitutional question.
In February and March 1971 there was a period of unrest in which many students were suspended from schools in Columbus, Ohio. Nine of these students filed suit in district court claiming they had been suspended from public school for up to 10 days without a hearing. They said these suspensions violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they were deprived their rights to an education without a hearing of any kind. Students also asked that references to these suspensions be removed from their student records.
Six of the students attended Marion-Franklin High School and were suspended for disruptive or disobedient conduct because of a demonstration in the high school auditorium. None of the students was given a hearing to determine the facts, but each was offered the opportunity to attend a conference with their parents after being suspended to discuss the student's future.
The named plaintiff, Dwight Lopez, testified that 75 students were suspended from his junior high, Central High. He said he was not a party to the destructive conduct in the lunchroom, but was only an innocent bystander. There was no evidence in the court record from the school administrators that questioned Lopez's testimony. Lopez was never given a hearing.
School officials contended there was no constitutional right to an education at public expense and that the due process clause did not protect against expulsions. The Supreme Court disagreed in a split 5 to 4 decision. Justices White, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart and Marshall were in the majority. In delivering the opinion for the Court on January 22, 1975, Justice White wrote:
In its decision the Supreme Court held that a 10-day suspension is not de minimis and may not be imposed in complete disregard of the due process clause. The Court specified that due process requires a student be given oral or written notice of the charges against him or her. If he or she denies them, an explanation of the evidence authorities have must be presented and the student must be given a chance to present his or her version.
De minimis is the Latin word for “of minimum importance” or “trifling.” In law it refers to something or a difference that is so small or tiny that the law does not refer to it or consider it. For example in a contract deal, a $1 million error could be questioned legally, while a $10 error is de minimis.
This notice and hearing should precede the student's removal from the school and in most cases does almost immediately follow the misconduct before the student is removed from the school. In some cases where the student is so disruptive he or she must be removed from school property immediately, the notice and hearing can take place after removal as soon as practicable.
Sarita Sarvate, a reporter for Pacific News Service (PNS), learned close-up how this works when her son was suspended from school in 2002 and she wrote up her experiences for PNS. In her story, she described how she received a call from the principal saying her son had stolen a substitute teacher's sunglasses and there were witnesses to the crime. Her son insisted the sunglasses had fallen from the teacher's desk and when he picked them up the lenses popped out. The sunglasses were never found, but her son insisted he didn't take them.
Sarita Sarvate and her husband were in the principal's office the next day where they were shown the written notice of the charges as required by the Supreme Court. After trying to defend their son's position, her husband told the principal, “When the CEO of Enron lies, he is offered First Amendment protection. But when a child denies guilt, he doesn't get Miranda rights?” They asked for a hearing but were denied and were told an internal investigation had already been conducted. The written notice was all the proof they were going to get that their son had been judged, condemned, and given his sentence.
Sarvate raised numerous questions that many parents are probably still asking today about the suspension process:
The situation might actually be worse if Justice Powell's dissenting opinion had been the majority rule. Chief Justice Burger and Justices Blackmun and Rehnquist joined Powell's dissent. Powell wrote:
Do you know your school's policies on punishment for your child? As a parent it's a good idea to understand exactly what the school can and cannot do before your child comes home after being tried and convicted for an action in school.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Supreme Court © 2004 by Lita Epstein, J.D.. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. | <urn:uuid:ca888e1c-bd02-43ef-b933-0a6432cc5057> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.infoplease.com/cig/supreme-court/punishing-students.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609539776.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005219-00151-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983086 | 1,434 | 2.90625 | 3 | The extract provides a detailed analysis of two Supreme Court cases related to student discipline, discussing the due process clause and the rights of students. However, it lacks direct discussion of soft skills, emotional intelligence, and leadership challenges. The extract focuses on legal concepts and historical cases, offering limited opportunities for practical application of soft skills.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Teaching Tip Sheet: Flexible Therapeutic Frames
Important Issues or Topic in Psychology
Flexible therapeutic frames address the need to move along a continuum of roles and therapeutic styles in accordance with a client's changing circumstances. This approach to therapy is also known as "bending the frame" (Winiarski, 1993a). The setting of limits or therapeutic boundaries is a central issue in clinical and counseling psychology. Limit setting occurs primarily around the formal aspects of the patient-therapist interaction (Singer, 1970). The importance of boundaries can be traced to Freud's (1915) belief that cure and emotional well-being are the outcome of judiciously applied deprivations and frustrations. The lack of boundaries is believed to engender in patients terrifying feelings of omnipotence and paradoxically a disturbing sense of nothingness and nonexistence. Limiting the patient-therapist relationship strictly to the therapeutic setting is believed to promote purer transferences. Thus, therapists are admonished to avoid allowing patients see them in other settings and to reveal as little as possible about themselves to their patients. HIV/AIDS has forced psychologists not to limit themselves to traditional roles but, as necessity demands, to go beyond the ordinary limits and established boundaries. Psychologists have responded to the needs of their patients in roles that take them outside of the traditional setting with no harm done to the patient and often with extremely therapeutic results. In this way, HIV/AIDS has broadened counseling and clinical psychology's understanding of the practice of psychotherapy.
Lessons Learned from HIV/AIDS
The term "bending the frame" first appeared in Winiarski's (1993a) description of an integrated system of medical and mental health care for people living with HIV. The term was then appropriated by the American Psychological Association's AIDS training curriculum. In practice, bending the frame may include making home visits, counseling patients on spiritual issues, providing basic medical information such as the common side effects of HIV-drugs, and case management. Eversole (1997) writes that this requires:
Development of a large repertoire of skills and resources with which to serve clients. Provider roles now encompass a field of skills as diverse as advocacy, case management, and existential psychotherapy.
Deliberate, ethical, and theoretically sound selection of therapeutic responses to client needs. Bending the frame brings with it responsibilities. In practice, professionals must re-examine the legal and ethical aspects of their work, their real and therapeutic relationships, and the sources of personal authority from which they practice.
HIV/AIDS also has challenged the established construct of the therapeutic frame by requiring psychologists to examine the nature of multiple therapeutic relationships. The role of a psychologist providing care to someone living with HIV may often come in conflict with a narrowly defined notion of limited client-counselor interaction. In his discussion of multiple relationships in working with people living with HIV, Kain (1997) writes that because the HIV/AIDS community is a small one, a psychologist involved in any active way in AIDS education, advocacy or fundraising, will almost assuredly meet patients in "social" situations. Psychologists must take care to consider what impact this may have on patients and confidentiality must be a priority.
It is inevitable that psychologists working with HIV positive patients will bend the frame. Kain (1997) maintains that what is of ultimate importance is how psychologists bend the frame or enter into multiple roles. Is bending the frame acknowledged to patients or down-played? Are patients encouraged to talk with their therapists about the effects on them (both positive and negative) of multiple roles or are such discussions avoided? Is consultation sought out when psychologists become confused (or anticipate becoming confused) about multiple roles or is talking with colleagues avoided for fear of being judged unprofessional or unethical? Are psychologists aware of their own limits when new roles are taken on particularly in terms of their education, experience, and training. Are they equally aware of their personal limits, of their comfort in taking on new HIV-related roles, and of their emotional capacity to engage in such activities? Kain (1997) maintains that the clearer psychologists can be about bending the frame with themselves, their clients, and those they turn to for professional and personal guidance, the more they can rest assured that bending the frame is in the service of their patients.
Eversole (1997) provides a table comparing traditional mental health services and bending the frame (see below) which provides the foundation for an excellent classroom exercise. Give students a copy of the table with only the first column completed. Ask students to fill in the remaining columns. Use students' responses to generate class discussion. You might add a forth column entitled "what I would be willing to do" and have students delineate their own comfort zone for each topic, or how far they would be willing to bend the therapeutic frame.
Comparison of Traditional Mental Health Services and "Bending the Frame" (Eversole, 1997)
|Topic||Traditional||Bending the frame||What I would be willing to do|
|Home visit request||Decline visit||Consider visiting|
|Case management||Refer to case manager||May do varying degrees of case management, making contacts for client, etc.|
|Spiritual/Religious issues||Refer to clergy||Sharing, disclosure, discussion|
|Self-disclosure||Usually very limited||Often more disclosive, mentoring, modeling|
|Medical information||Usually refer to medical worker|
|Advance directives||Explore meaning of directives in context of therapy||Often educate and facilitate client's decision process|
|Contact with family, partner, friends||Minimal or none||At client's request: joint sessions, other meetings, grief work|
Eversole, T. (1997). Psychotherapy and counseling: Bending the frame. In M. G. Winiarski (Ed.), HIV mental health for the 21st century (pp. 23-38). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Freud, S,. (1915). Observations on transference love. In E. Jones (Ed.), Collected papers of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 2. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Kain, C. D. (1997). Coloring outside of the lines: Multiple relationships in working with people living with HIV. In B. Herilhy & G. Corey (Eds.), Boundary issues in counseling: Multiple roles and responsibilities. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Singer, E. (1970). Key concepts in psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Craig Kain, PhD | <urn:uuid:76480406-ed2b-464c-9e8b-39567cd5ac62> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://apa.org/pi/aids/resources/education/frames.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933993 | 1,356 | 3.3125 | 3 | The extract discusses the concept of "bending the frame" in therapeutic relationships, particularly in the context of HIV/AIDS counseling. It explores the need for flexibility and adaptability in therapeutic roles and boundaries, and provides examples of how psychologists can navigate complex situations. The extract also includes a teaching tip sheet with a classroom exercise, promoting critical thinking and discussion among students.
Educational score: 4 | 4 |
A 230-million-year-old mite preserved in amber
An insect trapped in amber, perfectly preserved for millions of years: the image is familiar to fans of Jurassic Park, but in fact, few insects got stuck in sticky tree resin until about 130 million years ago—long after the Jurassic period ended. That’s when trees first began to produce enough of it to ensnare flies and mites.
Or so paleontologists believed. Three newly discovered bugs in amber may force a revision of that timeline. As a new study reports in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these specimens are 230 million years old.
Heliconius numata (top) mimics the wing
pattern of Melinaea mneme (bottom).
What’s the News: A single species of butterfly in the Amazon is able to copy the wing patterns of several neighboring species to avoid being eaten by hungry birds—a wide-ranging talent that has long perplexed evolutionary biologists. Now, an international team of scientists studying the mimicking butterfly Heliconius numata has finally solved this puzzle that plagued even Charles Darwin.
Writing in the journal Nature, researchers found that a specific supergene—a cluster of genes that is passed on to offspring as one big chunk—controls the different elements of wing patterns, allowing related butterflies to display distinct markings despite having the same DNA. “These butterflies are the ‘transformers’ of the insect world,” lead researcher Mathieu Joron said in a prepared statement. “But instead of being able to turn from a car into a robot with the flick of switch, a single genetic switch allows these insects to morph into several different mimetic forms.” | <urn:uuid:0f881d3f-7485-4697-871a-2e42b9a58281> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/tag/insect/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917954 | 354 | 3.578125 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on scientific discoveries and evolutionary biology. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving scenarios. The content is informative but does not provide opportunities for professional development or cultural awareness.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
[David Steeman] sent us this project. He uses a consumer scale to measure rocket engine thrust. He wanted to be able to map the thrust curve of his homemade rocket motors to determine whether they are meeting the design goals. It does this by measuring the force applied by the rocket engine via a microcontroller that records it in a text file on a computer. He then analyzes this data in an Excel spreadsheet.
The sensors were harvested from a consumer scale while the rest of the electronics were built by hand. He’s using a PIC 18F2550 microcontroller which has a built in USB interface. He has breakdowns of each piece with detailed information on how it works as well as some nice pictures. There is also a list of future improvements that he would like to do such as increasing sample speed, integrating it with the ignition, and decreasing the physical size. Files for the schematic, firmware, and excel spreadsheet are available for download at the bottom of the page, so keep scrolling down. | <urn:uuid:0b4a7d22-c77d-42ec-ac80-f31c8ac8f304> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://hackaday.com/2008/08/29/hacking-a-scale-to-test-rocket-motors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971419 | 205 | 3.09375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on technical details of a project. While it demonstrates problem-solving and critical thinking, it does not explicitly address communication, teamwork, or cultural awareness. The content is informative but limited in scope for soft skills development.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Social phobias affect about 15 million adults in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and surveys show that public speaking is high on the list of such phobias. For some people, these fears of social situations can be especially acute: For example, individuals with Asperger’s syndrome often have difficulty making eye contact and reacting appropriately to social cues. But with appropriate training, such difficulties can often be overcome.
Now, new software developed at MIT can be used to help people practice their interpersonal skills until they feel more comfortable with situations such as a job interview or a first date. The software, called MACH (short for My Automated Conversation coacH), uses a computer-generated onscreen face, along with facial, speech, and behavior analysis and synthesis software, to simulate face-to-face conversations. It then provides users with feedback on their interactions.
The research was led by MIT Media Lab doctoral student M. Ehsan Hoque, who says the work could be helpful to a wide range of people. A paper documenting the software’s development and testing has been accepted for presentation at the 2013 International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, known as UbiComp, to be held in September.
“Interpersonal skills are the key to being successful at work and at home,” Hoque says. “How we appear and how we convey our feelings to others define us. But there isn’t much help out there to improve on that segment of interaction.”
Many people with social phobias, Hoque says, want “the possibility of having some kind of automated system so that they can practice social interactions in their own environment. … They desire to control the pace of the interaction, practice as many times as they wish, and own their data.”
The MACH software offers all those features, Hoque says. In fact, in randomized tests with 90 MIT juniors who volunteered for the research, the software showed its value.
First, the test subjects — all of whom were native speakers of English — were randomly divided into three groups. Each group participated in two simulated job interviews, a week apart, with MIT career counselors.
But between the two interviews, unbeknownst to the counselors, the students received help: One group watched videos of interview advice, while a second group had a practice session with the MACH simulated interviewer, but received no feedback other than a video of their own performance. Finally, a third group used MACH and then saw videos of themselves accompanied by an analysis of such measures as how much they smiled, how well they maintained eye contact, how well they modulated their voices, and how often they used filler words such as “like,” “basically” and “umm.”
Evaluations by another group of career counselors showed statistically significant improvement by members of the third group on measures including “appears excited about the job,” “overall performance,” and “would you recommend hiring this person?” In all of these categories, by comparison, there was no significant change for the other two groups.
The software behind these improvements was developed over two years as part of Hoque’s doctoral thesis work with help from his advisor, professor of media arts and sciences Rosalind Picard, as well as Matthieu Courgeon and Jean-Claude Martin from LIMSI-CNRS in France, Bilge Mutlu from the University of Wisconsin, and MIT undergraduate Sumit Gogia.
Designed to run on an ordinary laptop, the system uses the computer’s webcam to monitor a user’s facial expressions and movements, and its microphone to capture the subject’s speech. The MACH system then analyzes the user’s smiles, head gestures, speech volume and speed, and use of filler words, among other things. The automated interviewer — a life-size, three-dimensional simulated face — can smile and nod in response to the subject’s speech and motions, ask questions and give responses.
“While it may seem odd to use computers to teach us how to better talk to people, such software plays an important [role] in more comprehensive programs for teaching social skills [and] may eventually play an essential step in developing key interpersonal skills,” says Jonathan Gratch, a research associate professor of computer science and psychology at the University of Southern California who was not involved in this research. “Such programs also offer important advantages over the human role-players often used to teach such skills. They can faithfully embody a specific theory of pedagogy, and thus can be more consistent than human role-players.”
One reason the automated system’s feedback is effective, Hoque believes, is precisely because it’s not human: “It’s easier to tell the brutal truth through the [software],” he says, “because it’s objective.”
While this initial implementation was focused on helping job candidates, Hoque says training with the software could be helpful in many kinds of social interactions.
After finishing his doctorate in media arts and sciences this summer, Hoque will become an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Rochester in the fall. | <urn:uuid:01d2ba6a-a302-4898-8938-74dd31e9446b> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://scienceblog.com/63845/automated-coach-could-help-with-social-interactions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963313 | 1,105 | 2.78125 | 3 | The extract discusses the development of software to help individuals practice interpersonal skills, particularly those with social phobias. It highlights the importance of emotional intelligence, leadership challenges, and critical thinking opportunities in professional development. The software provides realistic scenarios, practical applications, and feedback, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to soft skills development.
Educational score: 4 | 4 |
A shy visitor just peeks into view in the west as darkness falls this week. It sets about an hour and a half after the Sun does, so there’s not much time to see it.
Mercury is the solar system’s innermost planet, so it never strays far from the Sun as seen from Earth. At best, it’s visible for a little while before sunrise or after sunset.
It’s putting in a pretty good appearance right now. It’s low in the west as the Sun sets, and slowly becomes visible as twilight begins to fade. You should be able to find it by about a half-hour after sunset, shining like a bright star about 10 degrees or so above the horizon — roughly the width of your fist held at arm’s length. Buildings or trees will block it from view, though, so you need a clear horizon to spot it.
Not only is Mercury the Sun’s closest planet, it’s also its smallest. And those two facts are related.
The planets took form as mountain-sized chunks of rock, metal, and ice merged to form larger and larger bodies. In the outer solar system, that eventually built up giant planets. But in the inner solar system, the heat of the young Sun vaporized the ices in the planetary building blocks, leaving only the rock and metal. So the innermost planets are all small and solid.
Mercury is the smallest of them all, and also one of the densest. It has a large core of iron and nickel surrounded by a layer of rock — a tiny but heavy world that snuggles close to the Sun.
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2012
For more skywatching tips, astronomy news, and much more, read StarDate magazine. | <urn:uuid:abcdc6b4-277f-4d4c-8931-bdf1b1ba586a> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://stardate.org/print/9633 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949499 | 376 | 3.921875 | 4 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on astronomy and planetary information. It provides factual knowledge without opportunities for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving, and does not address cultural awareness or digital literacy.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
Mid-Book Test - Easy
|Name: _____________________________||Period: ___________________________|
This quiz consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. To Iranaeus, the monotheism of the Valentianians was a kind of ________, a hoax that would allow them to participate in the orthodox church.
2. Some Gnostic authors see Sophia as the ___________ benevolently having provided the gift of self-awareness to Adam and to Eve.
3. The Romans believed in divine authority for __________, which eventually led to Inanaeus' death sentence for treason.
(a) Their gods.
(b) Their teachers.
(c) Their men.
(d) Their priests.
4. ___________ was the issue of the day for the orthodox church, according to Pagels' findings in this chapter.
5. A __________ tourist in 1769 bought a Coptic codex near Thebes, which helped to explain more about the time period of the gospels.
6. The Gospel of the Egyptians from the Gnostic texts highlights the Great, Invisible ___________ in its lines.
7. Valentinus described the Mother as the Grace, the Silence, the _________ and the Mother of All.
8. In 1896, the amazing manuscript called the Gospel of _________ was found by a German Egyptologist.
9. Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of __________" in one of his statements about the resurrection.
10. In the Hypostasis of the Archons, ________ is elevated to being the spiritual mother of Adam, even though other stories contradict this.
(c) Mary Magdalene.
11. Which of the three principals in the Holy Trinity is genderless, according to Pagels' observations?
(d) Holy Spirit.
12. The Gnostic teachers tell the story of the ___________ differently from their orthodox brethren, according to Pagels.
(d) Garden of Eden.
13. There are some descriptions of the resurrection that could raise some questions about the _____________ of the event.
14. Theologians from many Western religions do contend that God is beyond ____________, according to Pagels.
15. Pagels recounts how in the story of _________ that Jesus tells his disciples to reach out and touch him to show he is flesh and bones.
Short Answer Questions
1. Who is one of the followers who did not recognize Jesus when he reappeared after the resurrection?
2. Another Gnostic text, the Gospel of ____________, highlighted a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus.
3. What does Jesus eat before the eyes of his disciples after he has risen from the death, according to some accounts?
4. Marcus offered the cup of wine and says into which ___________ may flow during the masses he gave.
5. What did Muhammed not want to do when he first found the jar during the dig with his brothers?
This section contains 455 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) | <urn:uuid:dcb7a574-f167-434c-9477-bdac5fd3eb98> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/gnosticgospels/test1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890474 | 661 | 2.546875 | 3 | The extract appears to be a quiz with multiple-choice and short-answer questions focused on religious history and Gnostic texts. It lacks discussion of soft skills, emotional intelligence, leadership, and critical thinking opportunities. The content is theoretical and lacks practical application, cultural awareness, and digital literacy.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Data reported by the weather station: 562470
Latitude: 30 | Longitude: 99.1 | Altitude: 2589
|Main||Year 1982 climate||Select a month|
To calculate annual averages, we analyzed data of 365 days (100% of year).
If in the average or annual total of some data is missing information of 10 or more days, this is not displayed.
The total rainfall value 0 (zero) may indicate that there has been no such measurement and / or the weather station does not broadcast.
|Annual average temperature:||12.4°C||365|
|Annual average maximum temperature:||20.8°C||365|
|Annual average minimum temperature:||5.2°C||365|
|Annual average humidity:||42.2%||365|
|Annual total precipitation:||538.27 mm||365|
|Annual average visibility:||29.9 Km||365|
|Annual average wind speed:||4.5 km/h||364|
Number of days with extraordinary phenomena.
|Total days with rain:||127|
|Total days with snow:||5|
|Total days with thunderstorm:||41|
|Total days with fog:||0|
|Total days with tornado or funnel cloud:||1|
|Total days with hail:||4|
Days of extreme historical values in 1982
The highest temperature recorded was 35.1°C on June 4.
The lowest temperature recorded was -11.6°C on December 27.
The maximum wind speed recorded was 97 km/h on April 10. | <urn:uuid:d61fcbcb-37b6-4265-80a9-8d56ffd06a45> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/BATANG/1982/562470.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.858035 | 351 | 2.578125 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing solely on presenting weather data. There is no coverage of communication, teamwork, leadership, or problem-solving concepts. The content is purely informative and lacks practical application, cultural awareness, and digital literacy elements.
Educational score: 0 | 0 |
- 09.25.12 |
- 8:25 am |
Scientists do not operate in a vacuum, and neither do they operate independent of where they are. Collaborations often begin because scientists have chance interactions, and many researchers form groups defined by their location.
Using this fundamental insight as a starting point, a team of researchers in Finland set out to understand this in a detailed fashion. In a paper posted to the arXiv entitled “World citation and collaboration networks: uncovering the role of geography in science,” the researchers explore how science and geography are interrelated at the country and city levels.
I’ll just highlight a few findings, because there is a lot in this paper:
We have performed the first comprehensive study of citation and collaborative interactions between different geographic locations. We used one of the world’s largest citation databases to derive the citation and the collaboration network, i.e. weighted networks where nodes are cities and links are citations and collaborations between the corresponding cities.
For example, looking at the level of cities, through the use of latitude and longitude data, the researchers found that “the probability that there is a link between two cities in the collaboration network decreases as a power law as the distance between the two cities increases.”
Going a bit larger-scale, they also explored science at the national and global level. For example, they looked at the relationship between the outcomes of research and the level of funding:
The authors conclude:
Citation and collaboration streams between distinct locations are strongly correlated, with an approximately linear relation. An increase in the number of collaborations between two cities is then expected to be followed by a proportional increase in the flow of citations between the cities. This is justified from the fact the people/groups working in similar fields and subject area are more likely to cite as well as collaborate with each other, and also suggests a natural bias towards self-citation, of which we have provided strong quantitative evidence. From the point of view of scientific impact, it pays off for a team to put together several institutions with a strong international participation. As a consequence, we expect to observe an increasing tendency to form large teams with members of many different countries in the future. | <urn:uuid:819f6381-9e05-4294-a691-1808b99e7268> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.wired.com/2012/09/geography-and-the-scientific-endeavor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952582 | 456 | 2.75 | 3 | The extract scores low as it primarily focuses on scientific research and geography, with minimal discussion of soft skills. Although it mentions collaboration and teamwork, the context is limited to scientific research and lacks practical application of soft skills like communication, leadership, or problem-solving.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Provide the conjugate acid of the following base: CH3CH2OH
Hey everyone :) I'm getting ready for my first Organic test this Monday (Wish me luck!), and I am having trouble with a couple questions.
1) Provide the conjugate acid of the following base: CH3CH2OH
I chose a) CH3-CH2-OH2+...Now my thinking was, if CH3CH2OH is a base, it has to donate a lone pair of electrons...meaning O needs to bond to another H+....
The key says that c) CH3-CH2-O- is the correct answer...but this indicates that the molecule acted as an ACID and gained an e- pair from the H atom...I think he may have marked the wrong one...
2) Which of the following is most likely to behave as a lewis acid?
a)NH3 b)AlCl3 c)PBr3 d)CF3-
Now I eliminated A and D because they have no vacant orbitals to accept and e- pair. Being left with B and C, I chose B because it had the lower e- negativity (Opps now that I've typed this out I see my error...should have chosen the one with higher e- negativity, right?) Meaning C is the correct answer.
3) Which is more stable?
a) CH3O- b) HC(=O)-O-
Now the only distinct features are:
1) B has a double bonded O to the central atom.
I don't really even have a hunch to this question...my though was that since B has 2 O atoms...they'd both carry a negative charge and repel eachother making the molecule unstable... but that is obviously incorrect as the correct answer is B..Any insight here would be much appreciated---I'm obviously missing a concept.
4) Alkanes are ________ dense than/as water
a) more b) less c) as
Okay...d=m/v, but where does this play in? The most simple alkane, methane...CH4 has a mass of about 16g/mole, where as H2O has a mass of about 18g/mole. Now assuming they both occupy the same volume...water is more dense....But what about anything larger than methane....then the alkane is more dense...so how am I supposed to determine this?
5) Energy is released when bonds are broken.
a) true b) false.
I'm really frustrated with this question. Teachers need to stop asking this, the answer tends to change from person to person.
Now is it not true that: Energy needs to be put into a bond to break a bond...BUT after it is broken, some energy is released?
Now, I'm not saying that the system will have an overall energy gain, as more energy may be needed to break the bond than what is released....(would this be endergonic?)
Anyways...He says that enery is NOT relesed when bonds are broken..and would like to defy all cases of where ATP--> Energy+ADP in our bodies...
Thanks for everyone's help!! | <urn:uuid:4aa73995-c91d-4744-adbc-9b00381493f5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://yeahchemistry.com/questions/provide-conjugate-acid-following-base-ch3ch2oh | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206118.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00183-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953629 | 675 | 2.78125 | 3 | The extract lacks coverage of soft skills, focusing on chemistry questions and the author's struggles with them. It shows basic communication skills in seeking help but lacks teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving scenarios.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's stalemate with the fracking industry and full-on war with the nuclear industry could deny New York residents the relatively clean and cheap energy these sources can provide. Cuomo's confused decisions reflect the popular environmentalism in New York that claims hydraulic fracturing and nuclear power are bad for the environment. Our other options are far worse, however.
Cuomo is doing everything he can to shut down the Indian Point nuclear power plant, which supplies one-quarter of New York City's energy and is being considered for the renewal of its license this year. Nuclear energy produces zero greenhouse gas emissions; by reducing nuclear energy production we force an increase in carbon-intensive processes such as coal burning and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Nuclear isn't the only domestic energy source Cuomo opposes. Natural gas, which New York has in abundance, produces half as much greenhouse gas as other fossil fuels and could reduce global warming as we decrease our dependence on coal and crude oil. The combination of nuclear power and natural gas, if supported, has the potential to provide clean, cheap energy as well as create jobs and improve the environment.
So why is Cuomo adding hydraulic fracturing to his list of things to ban in New York? Many people think hydrofracking would do irreversible damage to our environment, yet using it to increase the production of natural gas is our best alternative to coal and crude oil-economically as well as environmentally. Alternative technologies are simply not ready to replace fossil fuels entirely.
The stigma attached to fracking is misplaced. For instance, a recent op-ed in the New York Times claimed that fracking uses "5 million gallons of toxic water per well," when in reality, the average well uses 4 million gallons, 99.5 percent of which is clean water. The remaining 0.5 percent contains chemicals that occur in higher concentrations in household products such as table salt, household cleaners, cosmetics, deodorant and even ice cream. You are more likely to ingest these chemicals from getting lipstick on your teeth than from the fracking process.
Hydrofracking takes place between 4,000 and 9,000 feet below wells that supply home drinking water. Therefore, it is very unlikely that fracking fluid could contaminate home drinking wells or even aquifers. Post-fracking wastewater is either recycled and used again at another fracking site, or treated as per local regulations along with other wastewater.
Fracking also uses less space and is far easier to reclaim than coal mines. For example, the drilling needed for fracking is completed in less than one month and can supply gas for upwards of 30 years, whereas coal and crude oil extraction through processes such as mountaintop removal are a far worse use of land and are equally detrimental to the environment. Earthquake and radioactivity exposure risk are virtually non-existent with the fracking process.
Natural gas is ripe with economic benefits that New York is missing out on because of Cuomo's refusal to act. Hydraulic fracturing will create high-paying jobs that will benefit local businesses and turn struggling local economies into thriving ones. Fracking will decrease energy costs, and savings could be channeled into research and development of alternative energies such as wind and solar, which have the potential to be even cleaner future energy sources.
Environmentalists should be banging down Cuomo's door demanding that he allow fracking in New York. The energy savings could replenish the dwindling resources in alternative energy research and development while decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions and causing an eruption of jobs and economic growth across the state.
A comprehensive energy plan for New York must include both hydraulic fracturing for natural gas as well as nuclear power, yet the current state administration is failing on both points. In 2014, if Cuomo runs for re-election, my vote will be for someone who supports New York businesses and families and protects our environment. My vote will be pro-fracking.
Kristen Ferries is an undergraduate student studying financial economics at the University of Rochester.11/23/12 (c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:6409599f-20a6-4ea6-84cb-42bfce5093d2> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://mailto:[email protected]/article.asp?size=1&aID=193262 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609521558.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005201-00359-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94143 | 831 | 2.609375 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on argumentation and persuasion in a public policy context. It presents a one-sided argument without exploring emotional intelligence, leadership, or teamwork. While it demonstrates critical thinking and problem-solving, its scope is limited to a specific issue.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Archive for the ‘Make History timelines’ Category
Version 1.0.12 of the MakeHistory timeline authoring tool has just arrived from the developer. This primarily fixes a couple of bugs relating to the date/time format of events. If you’d like to know more about what you can do with MakeHistory, take a look at this earlier post: https://blog.lboro.ac.uk/elearning/?p=673 .
The screenshot on the left is taken from a timeline being created in MakeHistory by the Library here at Loughborough. The timeline shows a typical year in the life of a fresher at Loughborough, and the intention is to use it as part of the Library’s induction materials for new students this autumn.
If you’d like to try out MakeHistory, get in touch with me via c.f.g.shields [at] lboro.ac.uk .
Existing (or would-be) users of our ‘Make History’ timeline authoring tool might like to know that V1.10 is now available. As well as fixing bugs identified in earlier versions, it allows you to create events of less than one day.
See my earlier blog post for more about the tool.
Working with Professor Chris Szejnmann, Head of History, as part of his Teaching Innovation Award, we’ve developed a new e-learning authoring tool called Make History which enables Chris and his colleagues easily to create Flash-based historical timelines without the need for any technical skills. Each timeline is exported by the tool to a single *.zip file which can be uploaded to Learn.
There are a number of free timeline authoring tools available on the Web but the Loughborough tool scores in terms of its suitability for HE.
Once you’ve set the start and end dates for your timeline, you can add an introduction, colour-coded themes and events, and each event can have an image or short audio . video clip associated with it.
Since my original post about Make History last August, the tool has had further development work and is now close to fulfilling its potential. Applications of the tool are not limited to History; it could be used in any other discipline where it is useful to illustrate the development of theories etc through a scrolling timeline.
If you’d like to try it out, get in touch via c.f.g.shields [at] lboro.ac.uk . You can also view the Make History support pages at http://blog.lboro.ac.uk/makehistory . | <urn:uuid:5492bcee-1503-47ed-a4a8-fa5ae96f76c5> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://blog.lboro.ac.uk/elearning/?cat=49 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609530895.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005210-00391-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937226 | 544 | 2.796875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing primarily on the features and updates of the MakeHistory timeline authoring tool. While it mentions collaboration and potential applications across disciplines, it does not provide scenarios for emotional intelligence, leadership, or critical thinking.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
It all began one morning when a blood vessel burst in her brain and developed into a clot as big as a golf ball, which pressed on her speech centres. What started out as a life threatening, excruciatingly scary but curiously euphoric moment became an opportunity to relate theory to practice.
At TED, Jill Bolte Taylor demonstrates we each have two clearly separate brains by showing us a real but deceased brain complete with several feet of spinal cord.
The "separateness" of the two brains is visually astonishing. Most of us just accept the seamless one-ness of our brains. But Jill Bolte Taylor explains that each brain has it's own personality and unique way of engaging with the world. Serial left and parallel right, joined together by 300 million nerve fibres across the corpus callosum and connected to our bodies via the central nervous system.
In a sense we are "energy beings" says Jill Bolte Taylor. The left hemisphere of the brain tends to define us as a unique individual - an unconscious automatic "I"-ness. The right hemisphere tends to connect us consciously to the universe in an integrated "we-ness".
The right engages with the world through pictures, sounds, tastes, smells and touch. It's the sense-making lobe that makes meaning from the constant stream of energy that floods into our senses.
The left works with language, symbols and signs. It busily organizes, categorizes and sequences activity. It is a successive processor that performs speech or motor actions for us, so we don't have to think about it.
With her language out of action Jill discovered she could not express or understand any words. The spoken word sounded like her Labrador, "woo woo woo woo" and when she tried to speak, the words came out the same way. She also struggled to recognize the printed word and numbers, so dialing a telephone number to get help became an almost impossible task.
Unhampered by the filters, rules and limitations imposed by the left hemisphere, she became overwhelmed by the energy that flowed into her brain, which hurt at first, but developed into feelings of euphoria and a sense of one-ness with the universe.
Here are some questions and activities to explore the world that Jill Bolte Taylor discovered:
1. Thought experiment one: Imagine you only have a left hemisphere brain. What would like be like if you had just a simultaneous "we" cognitive processor? No pattern detector. No processor to interpret incoming sounds, visual images, touch sensations, tastes etc.
2. Thought experiment two: Imagine you only have a right hemisphere brain. What would like be like if you had just a successive "I" cognitive processor? No categorizer. No sequences of new complex actions.
3. What is it about serial cognitive processing, categorizing etc, that might help us define us as individuals - our "I"?
4. What is it about simultaneous processing, sense making, seeing patterns etc, that helps define us as part of the whole - our "We"?
5. The brain features successive and simultaneous process. What other parts of the human body functions feature interdependent pairs. Make a list and explain how do they work together e.g. lungs, breathing in and breathing out.
6. How could you switch off one side of your brain to focus on the kind of thinking performed by the other hemisphere?
7. If you could spend more time exploring the "we"-ness of the right hemisphere of your brain, what journeys of discovery might you want to pursue?
8. Based on Jill Bolte's unintended "experiment", what is Nirvana?
9. How might Near Death Experiences be explained by Jill Bolte's "experiment"?
10. How might we more powerfully connect our inner and outer worlds?
11. What can we learn from reverse-engineering the integrated whole systems approach of our brains to better manage/control/deal with interdependent pairs of activities in our lives that we often consider unique/separate e.g. cost and quality, centralized and decentralized, incremental and transformational innovation? | <urn:uuid:05609dfc-ee88-47ec-a762-bfdabfee77af> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://colorfulconversations.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609530895.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005210-00391-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944581 | 836 | 3.125 | 3 | The extract scores low as it primarily focuses on a scientific explanation of brain function, with limited discussion of soft skills. While it encourages critical thinking and exploration through thought experiments and questions, it lacks practical application, nuanced interaction, and emotional intelligence.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
It’s official! The median income has actually gone up here in California. As of May 1, 2012, the median income for a one-person household is $49,188.00, up from $48,814.00. For a comprehensive table reflecting median income figures for all 50 states as of May 1, 2012 visit the U.S. Department of Justice website by clicking here.
Why does this matter? Because median income figures are used to determine a person’s eligibility to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy relief, and are also used to determine several other factors including the duration of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy plan. So, when median income figures rise, it becomes that much easier for people whose income is “on the fence” to qualify for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy relief.
Simply put, if you make too much money you may not be eligible to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Congress decided in 2005 under the Fair Debt Collection and Consumer Protection Act that people whose income exceeds a certain amount should not be able to discharge their debts in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and should instead be required to repay all or a portion of their debts in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.
Eligibility for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is determined using a “means test”. If a person’s income is below the median income based on their household size, the automatically pass the means test and are eligible to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. If their income is above the median income, they have to complete and pass the means test by applying permissible expense deductions to their income, some of which are predetermined and others of which reflect actual living and other expenses. If they pass the means test they can file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, if they fail the means test then that have to repay some of their debts through a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy repayment plan.
The good news is that incomes are on the rise (at least temporarily) and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy just got that much easier for consumers to file. | <urn:uuid:823f7e17-b350-4895-8c67-fa8654ea1b5e> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.dpflegal.com/category/median-income/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609530895.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005210-00391-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954766 | 421 | 2.5625 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on technical information about bankruptcy and median income. It provides straightforward explanations without nuanced interaction, complex problem-solving, or emotional intelligence.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
Some miners were injured in explosions or electrocuted. Others fell off ladders, slipped on rocks, inhaled silica dust, or suffered from mercury, lead or arsenic poisoning. Many got sick from drinking dirty water and living too close together. Miners faced immediate dangers, as well as health problems that developed over time. Improved technology increased production, but added new risks.
So why become a miner?
"When you consider the options of that time, whether it was sea faring, coal mining, working in a steel mill or railroading, your choice of dangers was relativistic," said Pierce Mullen, professor emeritus of history at MSU and one of the organizers of the conference, "Mining and Medicine: Drills, Dynamite, Dust and Disease."
Workers after the Civil War saw their incomes flatten during business cycles that reflected the world's economy, Mullen added. Severe depressions during the 1870s and 1890s left hundreds of thousands of workers without work for a year or more.
"People will do it (mine) if they are desperate enough," Mullen said. "Out here in the West, at first, they didn't seem to worry much about the dangers. A lot of things were dangerous."
Frederic Quivik, a consulting historian of technology, noted that mining in the United States didn't start in the West. People along the Atlantic Seaboard were already mining copper and iron during Colonial times. Westward expansion brought lead mining to the Mississippi Valley. Mining in the American West began with the California Gold Rush of 1848 and spread to Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Montana.
A former Butte resident, Quivik has researched and written extensively about the environmental history of the copper industry in Butte and Anaconda. Besides his consultant work, he is an adjunct instructor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Gold and silver lured prospectors to the West, Quivik said. Once here, they discovered other metals like copper, lead and zinc and non-metallic minerals like asbestos, talc and borax.
Mullen added, "Mining has always had this glittery Powerball mentality.You can strike it rich, even if your chances aren't good."
Quivik said some early miners used a series of ladders that descended hundreds of feet into the ground. At the end of the day, when the miners were tired, not everyone made it to the top successfully. Hoists and open cages replaced ladders, but miners sometimes fell or banged into jutting rocks.
Power drills and electric lights were advancements that also carried risks, Quivik said. Power drills created more dust, so miners who inhaled too much silica developed the chronic lung disease called silicosis. Many miners were electrocuted after electric lights were installed in underground mines.
Other conference speakers discussed the Anaconda smelter and human health and the treatment of miners at the Galen Sanitarium. Brett Walker, head of the Department of History and Philosophy at MSU, compared mining in the West with the Kamioka Mine in Japan. Quivik looked at litigation in the early 1900s involving the Anaconda smelter. The conference ended with a discussion of mining in Libby.
The April 24 conference was held at MSU's Museum of the Rockies. It was sponsored by the Volney Steele Endowment for the Study of Medical History, the WWAMI medical education program, MSU's Department of History and Philosophy and the Museum of the Rockies.
Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or [email protected] | <urn:uuid:8f4c4f04-fcfa-444d-b312-1e08b460f6ab> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.montana.edu/news/4838/miners-faced-rough-times-in-early-american-west | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609530895.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005210-00391-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969379 | 757 | 3.21875 | 3 | The extract lacks discussion of soft skills, focusing on historical information about mining and its dangers. It provides some quotes from experts, but doesn't offer scenarios for communication, teamwork, or problem-solving.
Educational score: 1 | 1 |
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