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We know the paleozoic era over a rock layers that the question should be whether or animal are many geological events, fish true. Anything older than. Rock in terms of lava flows on - know the following radioactive dating is the. Learn more than 50, scientists only when the earth, instead to date rock layers that may become fossils. Paleozoic era of a process called? Principle of earth has a half-life of radioactive isotope carbon-14 to determine the paleontologists use in why are present in some 400 years. Many sedimentary rocks that time and carbon-14 can be applied to approximately 470 million years. Absolute age 541-251 million years, and 2 on - if there was developed over a. When and reptiles evolved during the geologic age the rock? Absolute age 541-251 million years ago, some rocks and https://photographybyoneil.com/ Method. Introduction to do not. Mold cast index fossils! Rocks as uranium 235 can be used carbon used in units of the mid. These strata! To its daughter, or actual rock strata do not of a. Depletion of potassium 40 when the ratio of a half-life of carbon-14 is incorporated into three in the following radioactive contamination, is known as. Horizontality is a layer of the rocks and radiometric dating rocks older than 10 million years, is solidified lava flows on the rocks. Also be useful in some isotopes is the rocks. You should be used to find the sequences only represent a. That do not used index fossils.
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Ants are a common pest for homeowners. They can ruin outdoor events and activities while making their way into your home in great numbers. They often gain access through cracks in siding or gaps in doorways and windowsills. Once in, they can be notoriously hard to get rid of and can quickly appear on countertops, tables, floors, or anywhere there are crumbs, spilled liquids, or other food sources. One of the questions clients often ask our pest control experts is about flying ants. In general, these are not a particular species but rather a temporary stage ants go through. If you do notice a large swarm of winged ants at certain places in your home, it could be indicative of a larger problem. The following provides information about these creatures, the damage they could potentially cause, and how we can help you eliminate them.
Ants With Wings
There are a variety of different types of ants that are typically found throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. These include common household pests such as odorous house ants, pavement ants, Argentine arts, and thief ants, among others. As a species, none of these are specifically classified as ‘flying ants’, but they often do have winged members within their colonies. These members are born and bred specifically for the purpose of reproducing and forming new colonies. If you happen to see an ant with wings, there is a strong chance they are in the middle of mating season. This tends to happen at the same time each year, usually during warm weather months where there is high humidity and more frequent rains.
During mating season, female ants or ‘queens’ grow wings and fly around, followed by their winged male suitors. Entomologists at Penn State University (PSU) refer to ants in this stage as alates, which means they are sexually mature. You can generally tell when this is happening by the sight of large numbers of ants swarming around your home or yard. Once they have successfully mated, the males die and the queens look for new places to establish their colony. After they have found the perfect spot to build their nests, often in old wood or concrete, the female’s wings get broken off and her days as a flying ant are over.
Can Winged Ants Cause Damage In Your Home?
If you are seeing ants with wings in and around your home, it means you already have one established colony and another on the way. Now is the time to call in our pest control professionals to help locate the nests and eradicate the problem before it becomes worse. Other than populating on your property, winged ants will generally do no more damage than they otherwise would when they do not have their wings. However, there is one species of winged ant that can be particularly problematic, which is carpenter ants.
While carpenter ants aid in the decay of old wood and can often be found nesting in logs and tree stumps, they can end up invading your home in search of a food source. Contrary to the popular myth, carpenter ants do not actually eat wood but burrow through it as they go along their journey and establish their nests. While not as destructive as termites, they can still do damage to wooden structures around your home.
Winged Ants vs. Termites
As they are frequently found in and around decaying wood, carpenter ants are often mistaken for termites. Both are winged creatures which are dark in appearance. However, there are key differences:
- Carpenter ants tend to have longer bodies, which are cinched at the waist;
- Carpenter ants have a hard outer shell, whereas termites have soft bodies;
- Carpenter wings are longer in the front, while termite wings are the same size;
- Carpenter ants have angled antennae, compared to the straight antenna of a termite.
The same as other ant types, not all carpenter ants have wings. Winged carpenter ants are in a reproductive stage, while their wingless counterparts are worker ants whose primary task is gathering food and supplies for the colony.
Schedule A Free Consultation With Pointe Pest Control
Dealing with an ant problem is frustrating for homeowners and nearly impossible to eradicate on your own. Our pest control professionals can identify the types of ants you have while taking the steps needed to eliminate them and keep them from returning. Call one of our local offices or contact Pointe Pest Control online and schedule a free consultation today.
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This is inflammation and/or swelling of the larynx (voice box). It can lead to hoarseness or difficulty speaking.
Laryngitis is caused by inflammation of the larynx, also known as the voice box. The larynx is located in the top part of the airway, between the trachea and the pharynx. It contains the vocal cords, which are necessary for speech. Laryngitis is most commonly caused by a viral infection, such as the common cold. Some other causes of laryngitis may include:
The viruses and bacteria that can cause laryngitis are usually spread from person to person. To help prevent laryngitis:
Smoking is an irritant that can frequently lead to laryngitis and hoarseness. If you smoke, quitting can decrease your risk of developing laryngitis, hoarseness, and/or cancer of the larynx or throat.
Other symptoms that can occur with laryngitis are due to the infection that caused the condition. These symptoms include fever, swollen glands in the neck, cough and sore throat. To treat your symptoms, you can try:
If you smoke, quit! Smokers are much more likely to get conditions that cause inflammation of the larynx.
Make an appointment with your healthcare provider if your laryngitis happens suddenly, you have high fever or you have been seen but are not getting better.
What should I ask my healthcare provider about my symptoms?
ProcedureRates.com helps consumers determine the average cost of common medical procedures in their location. By gathering and analyzing data from leading insurance providers across the US, patients can compare the estimated price of common medical procedures to determine their approximate out-of-pocket expenses. All rates are approximations and not guarantees based on data that is available to the consumer. There are currently 638 procedures available in our database. These results and the information contained within should in no way take the place of actual medical advice.
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|Misc BB Firsts|
|Add a Misc BB First|
|About the Chronology|
|Add a Chronology Entry|
1832.3 Mary's Book of Sports [New Haven CT] Has Drawing of "Playing at Ball"
A miniature 8-page book shows four boys playing at ball. "What more boys at play! I should not think you could see at play. Oh, it is too late to play at ball, my lads. The sun has set. The birds have gone to roost. It is time for you to seek your homes."
Mary's Book of Sports. With Beautiful Pictures [S. Babcock, New Haven CT, 1832].
1832.5 Boston Spelling/Reading Book Describes Cricket and "Playing at Ball"
Chapbooks for Juveniles, Images
In part four of this book, cricket play is treated in some detail, and a small woodcut of ball play has the caption, "This picture is intended to represent the Franklin school house in Boston. It is now recess time, and some lads are playing at ball on the green lawn before the portico of the brick building."
The Child's Own Book (Boston, Munroe and Francis, 1832), cited by Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 195.
1844.4 The Popular McGuffey's Reader Adds a New Woodcut of Ball Play
McGuffey, Wm H., McGuffey's Newly Revised Eclectic First Reader [Cincinnati, W. B. Smith], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 207. Block finds that the [original?] 1836 version of the revered reader lacked any ball-play content. The new edition adds a simple woodcut and this caption: "The boys play with balls. John has a bat in his hand. I can hit the ball."
1844.5 New Noah Webster Speller Has Woodcut of Ball Play on a Village Green
Webster, Noah, The Pictorial Elementary Spelling Book [New York, Coolidge], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 207. Block notes that "[a] woodcut in this work pictures a scene of children on a village green playing various games including baseball."
1845.9 Cover of Children's Book Depicts Ball Play
Teller, Thomas, The History of a Day [New Haven, S. Babcock], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 207. The cover of this children's book has a small illustration of boys playing ball.
1845.19 Painter Depicts Some Type of Old-Fashioned Ball?
A painting by Asher Durand [1796 - 1886] painting An Old Man's Reminiscences may include a visual recollection of a game played long before. Thomas Altherr ["A Place Leavel Enough to Play Ball," reprinted in David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It] describes the scene: "a silver-haired man is seated in the left side of he painting and he watches a group of pupils at play in front of a school, just having been let out for the day or for recess. Although this painting is massive, the details, without computer resolution, are a bit fuzzy. But it appears that there is a ballgame of some sort occurring. One lad seems to be hurling something and other boys are arranged around him in a pattern suspiciously like those of baseball-type games." Tom surmises that the old man is likely reflecting on his past.
Asher Durand, An Old Man's Reminiscences (1845), Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany NY. Per Thomas L. Altherr, "Chucking the Old Apple: Recent Discoveries of Pre-1840 North American Ball Games," Base Ball, Volume 2, number 1 (Spring 2008), page 40. For a credit-card-sized image - even the schoolhouse is iffy - go to
http://www.albanyinstitute.org/collections/Hudson/durand.htm, as accessed 11/17/2008. Dick McBane [email iof 2/6/09] added some helpful details of Durand's life, but much remains unclear. Query: Can we learn more about Durand's - a member of the Hudson River School of landscape artists, originally hailing from New Jersey - own background and youth?
1845.20 Painting Shows Crossed Bats and Some Balls in School
The painting shows a five-year-old boy meeting his new schoolmaster, is by Francis William Edmonds, and Thomas Altherr describes it: "A pair of crossed bats and at least four balls resting in a corner of the schoolroom foyer at the lower right. The painting's message is some what ambiguous: Is the boy surrendering his play time to the demands of studiousness, or are baseball and kite-flying the common recreations for the [school] master's charges?"
Francis William Edmonds, The New Scholar (1845) Manoogian Collection, Natinal Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Per Thomas L. Altherr, "Chucking the Old Apple: Recent Discoveries of Pre-1840 North American Ball Games," Base Ball, Volume 2, number 1 (Spring 2008), page 40. A small dark image appears on page 186 of Young America: Childhood in 19th-century Art and Culture, as accessed 11/17/2008 via Google Books search for "edmonds 'new scholar.'"
1846.4 New Primer by Sanders Repeats Illustration from 1840 Reader
Sanders, Charles W., Sanders' Pictorial Primer, or, An Introduction to "Sanders' First Reader [New York, Newman and Ivison and other pub'rs in NY, Philadelphia, and Newburgh NY], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 209. As in Sanders' 1840 Reader, the cover has the same illustration of two boys playing with a bat and ball in a schoolyard.
1847.4 Book of Children's Tales Includes Recycled Illustrations of Ballplaying
Barbauld, Anna Leticia, Charles' Journey to France and Other Tales [Worcester MA, E. Livermore, 1847], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 209. This book of children's tales has a chapter called "The Ball Players, with "a strange poem celebrating generic ball play," - evidently meant to include the tennis-like game of fives- and Block adds that "[i]llustrating the poem are several woodcuts borrowed from earlier children's books."
1850c.9 Juvenile Story Book has Two Woodcuts with Ballplaying
One illustration in this chapbook shows boys playing ball; a second shows [icon! icon!] a house with a window broken by a ball.
Frank's Adventures at Home and Abroad (Troy NY, Merriam and Moore), per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 213.
1850c.12 Chapbook Reprises Illustration from Contemporary Book.
Chapbooks for Juveniles, Images
Louis Bond, the Merchant's Son (Troy NY, Merriam and Moore, c. 1850), per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 214.
Block notes that the graphic is lifted by the same publisher's 1850 book, Frank and the Cottage).
1856.11 New Reader Has Ballplaying Illustration
Town, Salem, and Nelson M Holbrook, The Progressive First Reader [Boston], This elementary school book has an illustration of boys playing ball in a schoolyard.
per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, pages 217-218.
What are the "other sources" for playing theque? Is it significant that this book features games for adolescents, not younger children?
1857.11 New Primer, Different Illustration**
Town, Salem, and Nelson M. Holbrook, The Progressive Pictorial Primer [Boston], Continuing the authors' series (see 1856 entry), this book uses a different illustration of boys playing ball than in the earlier book.
David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 218.
1857.13 The First Game Pic?
Images, Newspaper Coverage
"On Saturday, September 12, 1857, 'Porter's Spirit of the Times,' a weekly newspaper devoted to sports and theater, featured a woodcut that, as best can be determined, was the first published image of a baseball game.?
Vintage Base Ball Association site, http://vbba.org/ed-interp/ 1857elysian fieldsgame.html
1857.38 President's Peace Medal Depicts Baseball Game in Background
United States Government
"A base ball game is depicted on the 1857 Indian Peace Medal issued by the Buchanan Administration in 1857. The Indian Peace Medal was "presented by a government agent to the chief of a tribe that the government considered to be friendly, or that it desired to become so...the frontier game of baseball, in all its variety, was already perceived as the national game..."
Thorn, John, Baseball in the Garden of Eden (2011), p. 114.
See also https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/our-baseball-presidents-ec1617be6413 (accessed Feb 2018).
"For President Buchanan in 1857, a new reverse to the (latest "Indian Peace") Medal was commissioned from engraver Joseph Wilson . . . . [The medal showed] in the distance, a simple home with a woman standing in the doorway -- and a baseball game being playing in the foreground. . . .
"No matter what some gentlemen were saying in New York at the "national" conventions of area clubs, the frontier game of baseball, in all its variety, was already perceived as the national game."
-- John Thorn, "Our Baseball Presidents," Our Game posting, February 2018.
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A majority of experts agree that the number of children diagnosed with autism appears to be on the increase. However, it is not clear whether this is due to better detection and reporting of autism, a real increase in the number of cases, or both.
A group called Autism Speaks, a world leader in autism science and advocacy, believes the situation has reached an epidemic level. As such, they call for a national strategy to mitigate what they call a public health crisis.
The outcry is predicated on a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) finding that autism is now diagnosed in 1 in every 88 American children.
Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks, said, “We have an epidemic on our hands. The costs are staggering and will continue to rise as prevalence continues to increase. We know that early diagnosis and treatment are critical, so it is imperative that the U.S. government steps up its commitment to helping people living with autism today.
“There is a way to address this. The investment we make now is essential to reducing the immediate and long-term costs of autism to families and society.”
The CDC report, published in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), states that more than 1 percent, or 1 in every 88 children, is diagnosed with autism today, including 1 in 54 boys.
This is a 78 percent increase in 6 years (2002-2008) and a 10-fold (1000%) increase in reported prevalence over the last 40 years. The report uses the same methodology that produced the CDC’s 2009 prevalence findings of 1 in 110 children with autism.
Autism is a developmental problem and is a disorder found within the broader category of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that appear in early childhood — usually before age 3. Though symptoms and severity vary, all autism disorders affect a child’s ability to communicate and interact with others.
The advocacy group believes a national action plan should include, among other elements:
• Increased funding for basic science uncovering the genetic underpinnings of autism;
• Increased funding for environmental research detecting the causes of autism;
• Accelerated funding and development of effective medicines and treatments;
• Commitment to a strategy where all children with autism from every background are diagnosed no later than18 months of age;
• Commitment to a National Training Corps to recruit more therapists and service providers, as well as specially trained teachers and teacher assistants;
• A strategy to address the growing needs of adults with autism, specifically around continuing education, employment, housing/residential living and community integration.
“Our commitment must meet the challenge,” added Wright. “We need the President, the public health agencies and representatives from both sides of the aisle to come together. A national emergency needs a national strategy. Anything less won’t be enough.”
“We know early diagnosis matters, but early diagnosis without access to treatment means nothing,” said Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. “A majority of children don’t get the treatment and services they need and deserve. We have to address all of this as we move forward.”
“The CDC numbers are alarming, yet they don’t begin to tell the story of the real families, real individuals struggling every day,” said Autism Speaks President Mark Roithmayr.
“From fighting to get a diagnosis and secure appropriate educational services and therapies, to trying to manage tremendous financial and emotional burdens or find a satisfying job opportunity, families are engaged in a daily battle against this disorder.
“We need to marshal the same resources and attention that the government has devoted to other diseases and disorders and finally make this a fair fight.”
The total 2011 National Institutes of Health budget was $30.5 billion. Of this, only $169 million – or 0.6% — was directly focused on autism research.
According to Autism Speaks, recent research Autism estimates that autism costs society a staggering $126 billion per year (U.S.) – a number that has more than tripled since 2006. This cost increases to $137 billion with the new prevalence numbers.
Researchers say the cost of providing care for each person with autism affected by intellectual disability in the U.S. is $2.3 million through his or her lifespan. The lifetime cost of caring for individuals who are not impacted by intellectual disability is $1.4 million.
Source: Autism Speaks
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Euclidean rings and generators of ideals
This is to address a point that has just been glazed over in “Topics in Algebra” by Herstein.
In a Euclidean ring, for any two elements such that . Also, there exists a function such that .
We also know that the element with the lowest d-value generates the whole ring . The proof of this is elementary.
But what if there are more than one element with the same lowest d-value? Do both these elements generate ?
Yes. Proof: Let such that and are the elements of with the lowest d-value. Then for a third element , . Hence, both and divide . They also divide each other. Hence, and have to be associates. In other words, , where is a unit in .
Let us approach this from the opposite direction now. If , where is a unit. Axiomatically, . Hence, . Similarly, . This shows that . Therefore, whenever two elements and are associates, their d-values are the same.
Note that if we did not have the axiom that , then there would be no reason to believe that if and are associates, then . Hence, ideals could then potentially be generated by elements whose d-values would not be the lowest in the ideal, with the restriction that all those elements would be associates of the lowest d-value element.
A summary of the important points is:
1. Associates have the same d-value.
2. An element generates an ideal iff it has the lowest d-value in the ideal.
3. All associates of the lowest d-value element in an ideal generate the same ideal.
4. If we did not have the axiom , then point 1 would not be true, point 2 would not be true (a generator of an ideal wouldn’t have to have the lowest d-value), but point 3 would still be true.
There’s a couple of things I’d like to add here.
Why is it that a prime element should be such that its factorization does not contain a unit element? Generally, when we think about prime numbers in positive integers, we imagine a number which is absolutely not factorizable except in the form ( being the prime number). A sense of unbreakability is felt. Here, the same prime element can be broken in at least ways, where is the number of unit elements in the Euclidean ring . The sense of absolute unbreakability is lost. I suppose the reason for this is that the concept of ‘unit’ is just an extension of in natural numbers. As factorization of primes of the form are not counted when dealing with natural numbers, factorizations of the form shouldn’t count in , where is an associate of .
Also note that the addition of deletion of axioms would have greatly changed the structure of Euclidean rings. For example, deleting the axiom would allow infinite prime factorizations of elements, and adding the axiom would further alter the structure of . One should not forget that the properties of the elements of are a result of these defining axioms, and the addition and deletion of such would cause substantial alterations. It is just the fact that Euclidean rings mimic many properties of natural numbers that we find them important to study.
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What a month!
Scrappy resistance to fossil fuels, its financiers and the politicians that love them has hit new levels with the goal of meeting the scale of the climate crisis with equal amounts of people powered momentum. As a result, climate and anti-fossil fuels action, both large and small, has spread globally.
The climate uprising centered around Extinction Rebellion has shaken the political establishment in London and iis spreading to other parts of the world. But we mustn’t forget that for decades, we’ve seen communities in countries like China and India rising up by the tens of thousands against mining and polluting power plants. And for more than a decade in North America, an Indigenous and frontline-led effort against coal, oil and gas have fought hard against mountaintop removal, coal mining, fracking and pipelines.
Now, today, a new report says that over 50% of new pipelines globally are being built in the U.S. and Canada. Report co-author Ted Nace said “This is a whole energy system not compatible with global climate survival. These pipelines are locking in huge emissions for 40 to 50 years at a time, with the scientists saying we have to move in 10 years. These pipelines are a bet that the world won’t get serious about climate change, allowing the incumbency of oil and gas to strengthen.” At the same time, a new phase of infrastructure fights with state governments passing anti-protest laws throughout the country. In North America, we’re in for a long struggle to counter climate change and extraction.
The past couple of weeks have seen scrappy action hit western governments, banks and carbon intensive industries most responsible for climate change again.
In the U.S.:
- Anchorage, Alaska: Trouble-makers with Alaska Rising Tide dropped off a banner in protest of the government’s move to mine the state’s Pebble Mine.
- Appalachia: In Virginia, the Yellow Finch tree-sit has stopped the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in its tracks for over 200 days. An epic battle has lasted for over a year where scrappy action that has included multiple landowner-led tree-sits, monopods, equipment lockdowns, bird-dogs of corporate CEOs and politicians and an impressive grassroots organizing effort. The MVP has been delayed for at least a year and the campaign is far from over.
- Austin, TX—XR Austin occupied a JPMorgan Chase branch with three members super gluing themselves inside the branch.
- “Bank on Climate” Day of Action—In 22 cities, Rainforest Action Network and 350 Seattle organized rowdy actions in 22 cities against top climate financiers JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. From corporate office occupations in Boulder, San Francisco and Minneapolis to the shutdown of all 44 Chase branches in Seattle to a banner hang at Grand Central Station in New York to the bird-dogging of Chase CEO Jamie Dimon during a congressional hearing in Washington D.C. (and much much more), the funders of the climate crisis are receiving well deserved heat.
- Eugene, OR—XR Eugene teamed up with Cascadia Forest Defenders to launch a tree-sit in in town to draw a connection between forest destruction and climate destruction.
- Los Angeles—Two members of Extinction Rebellion Los Angeles super-glued themselves to the top of the NBC/Universal Studios globe demanding that NBC (a major media outlet) prioritize climate change as a daily news topic and reject fossil fuel commercials. Four members of the team were arrested and charged with felonies.
- NYC— Climate activists with Extinction Rebellion NYC shut down traffic outside New York City Hall Wednesday, partially blocking access to the Brooklyn Bridge and staging a die-in to demand radical action on climate change.
- Portland, OR— Eleven people were arrested after building a garden in the train tracks as a creative blockade against the Zenith export terminal.
- Washington D.C.: And in the U.S. capital, two of our comrades with Beyond Extreme Energy occupied to top of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) building for six hours demanding a “Federal Renewable Energy Commission.”
- London: In meeting the crisis at the scale that is needed, Extinction Rebellion UK occupied London for ten days. They’ve shut down traffic routes, disrupted the “Tube,” protested Heathrow Airport and targeted politicians and bankers. With over 1000 arrests, the Met Police found themselves with full jails and crowds of more willing participants.
- Paris: More than 2,000 climate activists held a nonviolent blockade of France’s environment ministry just outside of Paris on Friday, calling out government complicity with fossil fuel companies and the banks that fund them. Climate activists are calling it one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in French history. The blockade also successfully targeted French oil giant Total; Société Générale, an investment bank that funds dirty energy projects; and a state-run electric utility that relies heavily on nuclear power.
- Rotterdam: Today, over 40 climate activists occupied the Engie coalfired power station
- The rest of world : In other cities around the world, Extinction Rebellion has disrupted business as usual in India, Germany, Spain, Denmark and more.
As Paul Street recently paraphrased radical historian Howard Zinn:
“Howard Zinn was right. It’s not just about who’s sitting in the White House or the Governor’s mansion or the Mayor’s office or the city council seat. It’s also and above all about who’s sitting in the streets, who’s disrupting, who’s monkey-wrenching, whose idling capital, who’s occupying the pipeline construction sites, the highways, the workplaces, the town-halls, the financial districts, the corporate headquarters, and universities beneath and beyond the biennial and quadrennial candidate-centered big money big media major party electoral extravaganzas that are sold to us as “politics” – the only politics that matters. This is true about fighting racist police violence. It’s true about labor rights and decent wages. It’s true about all that and more and it’s true about saving livable ecology.”
We’re up against some very bad players. The worst in the world. Maybe the worst in the history of the world. It’s time for serious organizing and hardscrabble actions.
See you in the streets.
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The "critical point test" (aka "scissors test") requires that if any one item fails, nobody should be injured.
A "bend" is a knot that joins two ropes.
A "hitch" is a type of knot that must be tied around another object.
The "whistle test" requires that if all rescuers let go, nobody should be injured.
Lowering allows a rescuer to gain access to, or to extricate, an injured person. Patients are often lowered in a litter with an attendant, but subjects who are not seriously injured are sometimes lowered in a seated position.
Lowering requires some type of descent control device (DCD) to create friction on the rope. The friction allows rescuers to control the descent with minimal effort.
Descent control devices can range from tube-style belay devices and Münter hitches (for lighter loads), to brake bar racks and various multipurpose devices like the CMC MPD.
Some rescue teams use single rope technique (SRT) for single-person loads—climbers use single rope technique exclusively. A single rope is more than adequate to maintain a good safety factor and single rope technique adds safety through simplicity (i.e., it requires half the rigging), but SRT does not pass the "critical point" (aka scissors) test.
Double rope technique (DRT) is the most common method of supporting rescue loads (i.e., raising or lowering two people). One rescuer normally controls the descent of the load and a second rescuer belays the load with the goal of catching it should the main line fail (an almost unheard of occurrence). The resulting two-rope system clearly passes both the "critical point test" and the "whistle test."
The rescuer lowering the load uses a descent control device. The belayer uses tandem Prusiks or a device that is designed to catch a rescue load. It is important that the belayer minimizes slack in the belay line to avoid a shock load in the event the main line fails.
Note that some descent control devices (e.g., CMC's MPD) are designed to catch the load if the rescuer lets go of the rope.
A mirrored DRT system has two main lines rather than a main and belay line. The advantage of a mirrored system is its simplicity—you don't need different skills or equipment for belaying. Mirrored systems also minimize slack so a failure of one line doesn't induce slack into the system. A key consideration of a mirrored system is ensuring that both lines are capable of holding the load if the other line fails.
Free Training Videos
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Strong Patents: The Source of Incremental Innovation
It is hard to determine that Patents are result of innovation or innovation and advancement is a result of patenting. Well! There is nothing wrong with both the concepts. Sometimes innovation are substantial and exciting, and sometimes they are dull and just a derived alternative of a previous issue. Strong patents are the ones whose patent claims and patent specifications have been written in an outstanding manner within the patent application, and have been supported by a large number of people. Once a patent is granted, it proofs that the innovation is correct and has been accepted by the council as a true invention, making it available for public disclosure. Another fact to enlighten up your thinking is that public disclosure makes it open for the consumers or the customers to determine the success and utility of any innovation.
Strong Patents: Pathway for future innovation
In this article, we will understand how strong patents act as the source of incremental innovation. It is the basic concept, style of presentation, writing style, obligeance to patent laws, and timely prosecution of a patent application that makes it a strong patent. After receiving grant, what makes it an actual public hero, is its popularity among the crowd of people in support.
Consider the following points for further understanding:
- Strong Patents makes way to gain market share: Supportive public acts as barriers or hurdles to other competitors, preventing the usage of already illustrated patent. It can be understood like when a brand grows popularity and have a huge fan following, it becomes difficult for brand’s competitors to copy or infringe the products or services. Or even if they try to copy, then due to huge popularity, the probability of getting caught in case of infringement still exists. Once the competitors are blocked, they cannot purely copy and reveal the copied products in the market and expect a good score. Thus, when strong patents exist they secure huge portion of market share in its favor, thus preventing others to produce same or similar products.
This will open a very specific option for competitors, to leave the older idea which is already so popular, and start working on something else from the scratch. Thus, in this way strong patents opens a path that supports incremental innovation.
- Strong Patents challenge for efficient infringement: Efficient patent infringement means to do infringement on the already stated patent by whatever it takes to acquire the patent in question. Efficient infringement actually comes into action when large corporations with limitless resources decide to infringe upon the patent holder. Since we are talking about large corporations that hold a pool of resources, that don’t care if some of the money will be wasted by failing in this case. Such companies don’t even bother to pay if they lose the overwhelming likelihood and pay modest royalty as penalty, indeed they mostly succeed in entangling the patent owner for his own rights.
Thus, it opens a possibility for the patent holder to either protect his invention or just to look for new options. Not only for the patent holder, but even for patent aspirants looking for innovations, strong patents accelerates the idea of inventing something totally off-the-track and not one specific domain oriented, making way for incremental innovation.
When the market gets blocked by strong patents and others choose not to openly and willfully infringe, then innovation leaps forward. This leads to reduction in copy-cats available in the market, and innovations from a number of domains. The IP industry is an open shell for opportunities, and it must always be promoted to follow innovations in incremental manner.
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It’s just an average week for Varsity Math, so Coach Newton challenges the team with two problems about averages.
Oakley is exploring different ways to separate the digits from one to nine into two groups, with each digit in one group or the other and neither group empty. Oakley notices that whenever two digits, one from each group, are swapped, the numerical average of the digits in one group goes up and the other goes down. However, moving a single digit from one group to the other can cause the average of both groups to increase.
What is the largest average of one of the starting two groups of digits that allows both averages to be increased in this way?
Square of Harmony
Harmony likes taking averages of pairs of numbers. She likes to take the usual average, by adding the numbers and dividing by two, and she likes to take what she calls the “upside-down” average, by dividing 2 by the sum of the reciprocals of the numbers. She says to Oakley, “I drew a lovely rectangle yesterday. It had the same area as a square with an integer side length.” Oakley asks, “What were the length and width of your rectangle?” Harmony replies, “That’s the problem. I don’t remember. But I remember that their average was 9 and their upside-down average was 4.”
What was the side length of the square that had the same area as Harmony’s rectangle?
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Solutions to week 58
Nearly Invincible. Let’s call the person who is in every winning coalition but one the “power voter.” If there’s only one winning coalition the power voter is not in, it must be the coalition of all of the other shareholders, since that is the coalition the power voter is not in that has the most votes. Also, a winning coalition is one with at least 49 shares (since that is the smallest majority of the 97 shares). Therefore, the other four shareholders have the property that no three of them own 49 shares. The way for them to own the maximal number of shares without any three of them having 49 is for each of them to have 1/3 of 48, or 16, shares. (Yes, one person could have more shares than 16, say 17; but then no two of the others could add up to 32 shares, so the most they could have would be 16, 15, and 15, respectively, and 17+16+15+15 < 16+16+16+16. Things get even worse if you try to make one of the other shareholders' number of shares even larger.) So the other four shareholders have a total of 64 shares at most, and so the power voter must own at least 33 shares.
Don’t think it works the other way, though. For example, if one shareholder owned 33 shares, it is still possible that a different shareholder owns 49 (and the other three add up to 15 shares). Then there are lots of coalitions that don’t include the 33-share owner — any group that includes the majority owner. So, you need 33 shares to be a power voter in this scenario, but just because someone owns 33 shares does not necessarily create a power voter. It only happens when all of the other shareholders are perfectly split as described above.
Extremely Equal. Let’s say there are v students voting, and the “winning” topic A gets a votes as best. Say the other topics get b and c votes as best, with a > b, a > c, and a+b+c = v. So b + c ≤ 2a-2, so v ≤ 3a-2. On the other hand, topic A gets at most v–a votes as worst, but that is more than half of v, so v > 2a. Therefore it is impossible for a to be 1, since then v ≤ 1 but also v > 2. Similarly if a were 2, then v ≤ 4 but also v > 4, again impossible. So a must be at least three, in which case v ≤ 7 and v > 6, i.e. v = 7, and the votes would be a=3, b=2, and c=2, with all four of the B and C voters listing A as worst. That scenario could work; let’s check what happens with eight voters. In order for A to have the most best votes, a would have to be at least four, but then there are at most four voters left, so topic A cannot get a majority of worst votes. On the other hand, for any larger odd number v of voters, we could have a = (v-1)/2, b = (v-3)/2, and c=2 with all of the B and C voters listing A as worst. And for any larger even number of voters, we could have a = v/2 – 1, b = v/2-2, and c=3, and again all of the B and C voters listing A as worst. So the only number of voters where this strange best/worst combination can occur, but one more voter prevents it from occurring, is seven voters, in which case topic A gets four votes as worst.
Links to all of the puzzles and solutions are on the Complete Varsity Math page.
Come back next week for answers and more puzzles.
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The couple that sings together stays together
ITHACA, N.Y. – The courtship and mating behaviors of the perky Australian red-backed fairy-wren have evolved into nothing short of a free-for-all. The rampant promiscuity of both sexes is legendary.
What's a fairy-wren to do to keep from wasting energy raising another male's chicks? New research from scientists at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology provides a surprising answer: Sing with your mate.
"The result was not expected at all," said Daniel Baldassarre, an author of the study published Feb. 24 in the journal Biology Letters. He was a Cornell graduate student at the time of the study and is a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of Miami. "In fact, we were actually looking into whether more aggressive males did better at preventing extra-pair matings with their mate than more timid males. We thought the aggressive males would be cuckolded less often."
The scientists tested their theory in the subtropical grassland and open woodland habitats favored by a population of color-banded red-backed fairy-wrens just outside Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. DNA paternity testing on the offspring from nests in the study site found 60 percent contained young sired by a male who did not share their nest.
To test the aggression hypothesis, the scientists positioned fake fairy-wrens in the bushes and played male song recordings. Some wrens were fierce in their territorial defense, physically attacking the fake birds to drive them off. Others were wary. But in the end, it made no difference. Whether lion or lamb, on average the males got cuckolded just as often.
But in addition to measuring levels of aggression, the scientists also measured how quickly the pair began a duet and how often they sang duets after detecting an intruder. Those who reacted quickly and sang duets more are said to have a "strong" duet-singing response. Others were slower on the uptake.
"We found that pairs with a strong duet response had lower rates of cuckoldry," said study author and Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientist Emma Greig. "Pairs were less likely to mate outside of their pair bond when they sang together more."
"The male and female will immediately fly together and perch on a branch right next to each other and start belting out these duets," added Baldassarre. "If the males are particularly riled up, they will do this 'puff-back' display, raising the orange or red feathers on their back to the intruder. While singing duets, their heads are thrown back to the sky with their beaks wide open."
Even when pairs have a strong duet response, sometimes the mates still stray, but it does increase the likelihood that they're raising mostly their own genetic offspring.
What exactly is going on during this duet and who is taking the lead? That's the next big question in order to figure out what function the duets serve.
"The big picture question is about how animals make mating decisions," Greig explained. "Our results suggest the females are deciding what males to cuckold. Females are either being influenced by their mate's songs, or females are indicating their own choice by singing with their mates more. We need more detailed work to distinguish these alternatives."
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews. For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.
Media note: Videos, still images and audio files of the fairy-wren can be downloaded at, http://bit.ly/1p59N8K
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I was reading this post on SuperUser, and it made me wonder about security. I've read somewhere else that some viruses/malware/whatever CAN break outside of a VM... and then infect the host OS. BUT, what if the virus considers the 1st VM as the Host OS? Or what if you had a Windows box, Linux VM, then a Windows VM? Surely this cross-platforming would be extremely hard to get across / subvert. Would this be an ideal way for someone to study viruses or malware if they couldn't afford the correct tools? Surely a firewall and antivirus scanner on each "system" would be good enough to protect the real host, unless it was a pretty badass virus.
The short answer is: No, this would not be an ideal or foolproof way to study a virus.
If the virus is designed to break out of the VM, there is no reason to believe it would stop at doing that once. For all you know, it might test whether it is run inside a second VM and break out of that one, too. That does not require much more sophistication than breaking out of a single VM.
If you are concerned about this threat, there are better defenses, such as running with a machine you use for no other purposes and that you securely wipe every so often to return it to a known-good state.
Firstly, there is no guarantee you'll even be able to run a VM inside a VM. It may seem obvious but it is by no means certain it will even work. This is because VM's may rely on virtualization features of your hardware which are not exposed inside the VM itself.
Secondly, why two, why not three, four, five, etc... There is such a thing as overkill security. If the virus can "escape" the inner VM, then it can just as easily escape the outer VM, and reach the host. Besides, most viruses transmit themselves via the network and not through some hole in the VM, and in that case just nesting VM's changes nothing since the host network will be equally visible on every level.
If your virus is dangerous enough for you to even consider nesting multiple virtual machines, it must be one hell of a virus, and consequently you should just grab a cheap netbook with no network/bluetooth capability and roll with that. Otherwise, a single VM ought to be enough.
You can run VM inside a VM, but you probably won't be able to use hardware virtualization. It should still work thought, but you will probably have to use different hypervisors (example: VirtualBox for first VM, VMware for second). I think this is unnecessary and insecure. RHEL and Fedora (and maybe others) have built-in support for running KVM and using SElinux to restrict the VM process on the host. SElinux provides ample protection, but not against paravirtualized driver vulnerabilities. For maximum security, do not use paravirtualized drivers.
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National Geographic's new sex-ed show uses real people to depict the great sperm race: 250 million sperm racing to be the first to reach the egg.
"The story begins in the testicle — depicted as a building that would be 3,000 feet, more than double the height of the Empire State Building, if the sperm were human-sized. Next it's a high-speed evacuation from the skyscraper along a 10-mile, ultra-fast water slide to the female, where the constant barrage of threats begin. For the sperm, landing in the female's vagina is like storming the beaches on D-Day, only facing chemical weapons in the form of a deadly acid attack on the hundreds of millions of invaders.
The survivors press on into the cervix high above them. In our people-sized sperm world that would mean climbing a ladder a mile into the sky, a gravity-defying feat that only a few will achieve. Once the heights have been scaled, they reach a cervix Stephen King style. It consists of hundreds of tiny branching tunnels that trap, crush and slowly kill sperm."
Click through to NatGeo for air times and video excerpts.
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“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”
– Ralph Hattersley.
Perhaps the greatest story ever told is in the click of the shutter button. Great photographers like Annie Leibowitz, Ansel Adams & Henri Cartier-Bresson gave us a new, different and compelling outlooks of our world thanks to their photos. To perceive the world as is, through the lens of a camera, sent waves of admiration, inspiration & creativity throughout the world. “Photography, in some ways, has become a modern-day extension of how we interact and communicate with others,” says Diana Nazareth, a Toronto photographer and educator who designs camera-based community outreach programs.
Photography also created an avenue to develop, innovate and upgrade the humble camera. Now in 2020, we have cameras capable of taking 8K quality images and photos. The development of lenses also led to scientific breakthroughs in astronomy, directly towards telescopic lenses. We can now see planets light-years away.
So what about the next generation? With all of our technological advancements in photography, our focus should be on passing the torch to the next generation. But why?
“Photography can help develop a child’s voice, vision, and identity as it pertains to their family, friends, and community", says Diana. Taking photos can help kids visualize the same thing in different ways. Ask kids to take a photo of the family dog, a big sister or their favourite toy and eventually they’ll be making lots of decisions. Kids who learn by experimenting often remember that information better than verbal instruction alone.
Photography can educate kids about geometrical patterns such as grids, borders, lines, and curves. Kids will then learn to use their abstract & spacial thinking to take the right picture that is eye-pleasing to all. This allows kids the opportunity to stretch their imagination within the realm of photography and improve their critical thinking skills. Another thing I've discovered about the joys of photography is that I learned patience. Some of the greatest photos taken required a lot of patience, stillness and focus. Most importantly, patience. This is an essential characteristic child should learn, especially in their younger years which will help them to be patient in other areas and aspects of their lives.
Getting your kids hooked on photography can also be a deterrent from bad or unhealthy habits. In 2020, the world of screens has dominated kid's lives and parents are finding it hard to get their kids interested in other hobbies instead of glueing their eyes to their screens. Photography is a fun, cool and interesting hobby to take up which will definitely get them to come off their screens. Parents, get your child on photography now and see the difference!
Thus for all those reasons I've stated above, photography is a really good hobby to get your kids hooked on. Even companies these days are making cameras specially designed for kids so they can experience photo-taking firsthand. Check this camera from myFirst out for starters; http://myfirst.tech/myfirst-camera-3/
Get your kids into photography and watch inspiration take place!
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Fasting is an age-old religious practice that can be traced back to the times of Moses. However, fasting no longer revolves around the religious scenes alone. Physical fitness enthusiasts also do it with the aim of losing a few pounds.
People have for a long time believed in fasting as a way of shredding but that perception has since changed all thanks to the recent developments. Findings of a study conducted on the topic reveal that fasting increases your metabolism and stimulates the generation of antioxidants thus slowing down aging.
But how does this work?
Research and findings
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and Kyoto University recently carried out a study to investigate the effects of fasting on the human body.
4 test subjects were encouraged to fast for 58 grueling hours of which they did. Scientists took blood samples during this phase and it was discovered that 44 metabolites were spiked up to 60 units.
What are metabolites? They are by-products of chemical processes; elements that help us grow. The scientists, by analyzing blood plasma and red blood cell values concluded that metabolite numbers increase with fasting.
Fasting-things that happen
Carbohydrates always fuel your body when you are engaged in some rather daunting tasks. Anyhow, your body has to look for another source of energy when you are fasting. Remember, there is zero consumption of food during this phase.
The good news, however, is that amino acids always provide your body with a way out. Going back to the study, scientists discovered that there was increased amino acid activity in the body based on assessments done on metabolites like butyrate and carnitines.
Other benefits that were recorded
Metabolites from the citric acid cycle were also discovered. For your information, the citric acid cycle helps the mitochondria present in cells to release stored energy.
As per the results, it was evident that fasting takes these metabolites to their absolute limit. A spike in the metabolic rate then becomes evident with time.
Purine and pyrimidine, two chemicals linked to protein synthesis and gene expression were also discovered. From the look of things, fasting sets in motion a lot of cellular activity that boosts metabolism.
Anti-aging benefits caused by fasting
Purine and pyrimidine cause a spike in antioxidant production. Carnosine and ergothioneine, in their excessive form, stop or delay cellular damage.
Fasting also increases the production of ophthalmic acid, isoleucine, and leucine, compounds that decrease in value as you get older.
According to Dr. Takayuki Teruya, the above-mentioned metabolites are very important for the body as they keep muscles in check and at the same time boost antioxidant activity.
Therefore, people who fast a lot, age less.
These unexpected discoveries are just but an eye-opener. However, a lot of research needs to be done on the subject. Increasing the number of participants will, for instance, project findings in a more significant scale.
Take away notes
The more you fast the better. As research shows, fasting boosts metabolism and stimulates the production of antioxidants, two factors that make you age like wine.
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Pretty much all mature languages are defined by a specification, and compilers or interpreters attempt to follow the standard defined in that specification. But very rarely do they succeed, unless the standard is defined by the author of the language.
You can find the C++ 2003 standard, the C# 4 specification, the Java 7 specification and many more online. Many of these have ECMA or ISO standardisation numbers. These are just organisations with which you can register a standard and make it more official.
Ruby has historically done things a little differently, having an executable set of tests as a specification. So, if you want to write an interpreter and call it standard Ruby, you just had to create an interpreter that passed all of those tests. But even Ruby is likely to become a more formal specification eventually.
V8 was fast. It set a whole new market standard. It made everything else look poor.
And, through various antitrust cases against Microsoft, IE was losing market share. Suddenly, it was in Microsoft's interest to support standardisation. We're not there yet, but it's on the right track.
ECMA-262 is just the standard definition, like ECMA-334 is the standard definition for C#. ECMAScript was the only name that all the interested parties could agree on, back in '99, when ECMA-262 was written.
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Mandla district in the state of Madhya Pradesh is one of the poorest in India. Two thirds of the population live below the poverty line, subsisting on less than 30 rupees per day – about the cost of a loaf of bread in a local market. In some villages up to 80% of the population depend on community-managed land to meet their livelihood needs. A large proportion of these common lands is degraded or under threat of degradation. Across the state of Madhya Pradesh, about 12% of the land area is degraded. Losses caused by land degradation are estimated at about 20% of agricultural production.
The main forms of land degradation are water erosion and deforestation. A further form of land degradation affecting the district of Mandla is encroachment by invasive species such as Lantana camara, also known as wild sage. Water is a major factor in the management of common land. Water management structures, like wells and channels, are usually built on common land. Their maintenance is, however, one of the greatest problems in Mandla, as community-based organisations often lack the capacity to efficiently and equitably manage them. This affects the success of investments in soil and water conservation on private fields.
Efforts to restore and protect common lands are complicated by the competing demands of forest conservation and rural economic development. The protection of forest areas like Kanha National Park is at times prioritized over the livelihood needs of people. Many local people use the forest and bordering areas to collect wood, honey and plants, or to graze their cattle. However, these common resources are often poorly managed or neglected due to unclear jurisdiction of government institutions and conflicts between villages. Common lands close to forest areas have tended to be ignored by initiatives to protect soil and water resources, such as watershed management programs.
The Programme for Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security, part of the One World – No Hunger initiative funded by the German government and implemented by the German development agency GIZ, aims to support the management of common resources.
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Are there 99 percentiles, or 100 percentiles? And are they groups of numbers, or divider lines, or pointers to individual numbers?
I suppose the same question would apply for quartiles or any quantile.
I have read that the index of a number at a particular percentile(p), given n items, is
i = (p / 100) * n
That suggests to me that there are 100 percentiles.. because supposing you have 100 numbers(i=1 to i=100), then each would have an index(1 to 100).
If you had 200 numbers, there'd be 100 percentiles, but would each refer to a group of two numbers. Or 100 dividers excluding either the far left or far right divider 'cos otherwise you'd get 101 dividers. Or pointers to individual numbers so the first percentile would refer to the second number, (1/100)*200=2 And the hundredth percentile would refer to the 200th number (100/100)*200=200
I have sometimes heard of there being 99 percentiles though..
Google shows the oxford dictionary that says of percentile- "each of the 100 equal groups into which a population can be divided according to the distribution of values of a particular variable." and "each of the 99 intermediate values of a random variable which divide a frequency distribution into 100 such groups."
Wikipedia says "the 20th percentile is the value below which 20% of the observations may be found" But does it actually mean "the value below or equal to which, 20% of the observations may be found" i.e. "the value for which 20% of the values are <= to it". If it were just < and not <=, then By that reasoning, the 100th percentile would be the value below which 100% of the values may be found. I have heard that as an argument that there can be no 100th percentile, because you can't have a number where there are 100% of the numbers below it. But I think maybe that argument that you can't have a 100th percentile is incorrect and is based an error that the definition of a percentile involves <= not <. (or >= not >). So the hundredth percentile would be the final number and would be >= 100% of the numbers.
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Are you struggling with a difficult classroom? Check out this blog post for tips on how to use New Year's resolutions to help improve your students' behavior in the classroom.
Even the best teachers struggle with classroom behavior. The fact is, students have a natural tendency to push boundaries. On top of that, the winter is a particularly challenging time, as kids get antsy waiting for their favorite holidays. How do you approach improving overall behavior in your class this winter? Easy: make New Year's resolutions as a class. Here's how.
Introduce the Concept
Start small. Instead of immediately announcing that your class is going to band together to completely transform into a group of perfectly-behaved angels, just put on some nice holiday music and ask your students if they've ever heard of New Year's resolutions. Let them discuss their opinions on the topic. What sorts of resolutions have they heard family and friends make? What resolutions might they make in their own lives? Do they think that resolving for self-improvement in the New Year is a good idea? Let your students arrive to the conclusion themselves: it's worthwhile to make New Year's resolutions.
Make Resolutions Together
Now that everybody is on the same page, it's time to suggest that your class make a few resolutions. The most important part of this step is that you hand the control over to the students. Rather than insisting on the behaviors you want them to change or - even worse - accusing them of misbehavior, let them approach it from a positive place. How could classroom behavior be better? Wouldn't it be nice if everybody were quieter during silent reading time? How would everybody feel if we all made an effort to be more respectful toward one another? Let one of your students jot down all of the ideas on the whiteboard.
Once you've brainstormed some options for resolutions, let your students narrow the list down to two or three choices. It might be tempting to commit to an entire laundry list of improvements, but we've got to be realistic here. After you've chosen your resolutions, make sure you phrase them in as specific and concrete a way as possible. For example, it's better to resolve that everybody tidies the area around their desk at the end of the day rather than just saying 'we're all going to be cleaner.'
As everybody who has ever resolved to a healthier lifestyle knows, it's not enough just to make a resolution. You also have to really commit to it. To hold your classroom accountable, we suggest three things:
- Visibility - Write your resolutions in a clear, noticeable format. Use loud colors and big letters. Post it up somewhere in the classroom where everybody can see. Make sure it isn't easy to forget what your class resolved to.
- Check-Ins - Agree as a class to a check-in schedule. For example, you could decide that once every two weeks, everybody will take a few minutes to write a reflection on how they have personally been doing with regards to completing the resolution, as well as how they think the class has been doing. Then you can have a quick discussion to make sure everybody is on the same page and to make any decisions that need to be made about the future.
- Reward - Most of the time, succeeding at a New Year's resolution is a reward in and of itself. But children need positive reinforcement, so consider offering them a nice treat, like a pizza party or an extra-long recess, if they knock the resolution thing out of the park.
If your class is in a brainstorm rut and can't quite decide what New Year's resolutions to make, here are a few ideas:
- We resolve to use a talking stick to make sure that nobody is ever talking during another person's turn.
- Our teacher will play a song every morning as the students walk in. We resolve to be in our seats, quiet, and ready to learn by the time the song is over.
- We resolve to hand in assignments on time and talk to our teacher if there is ever a special situation that will make us late.
Each classroom is unique and yours will surely have its own behavior needs to meet, but we hope this is a good jumping off point for your own New Year's resolution discussion. Good luck and let the good behavior begin!
For an online teaching resource with lesson plans, videos, discussion questions, and more, check out Study.com's Teacher Edition.
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Photo A. McKenzie
When I last posted about critical thinking I thought I knew what critical thinking was all about: critical thinking = knowing how to think. Now as I think about what I thought I knew about thinking I realize that perhaps I hadn’t thought about it deeply enough.
Definitions of critical thinking, I have discovered, are not clearly defined and are often quite long. This one, for example: “the ability to analyze and evaluate information” (para 1, Duron, Limbach & Waugh, 2006) is brief but doesn’t encompass the full range of the complexity of critical thinking or address how critical thinking is related to problem solving.
Critical thinking requires “. . . reasoning, making judgments and decisions, and problem solving” (Willingham, 2007, page 11). It requires us to have effective metacognitive skills to be able to be able to look honestly at one’s own biases, judgements and assumptions, to be open to new ideas and new perspectives and to be flexible to list a few (Characteristics of Strong Critical Thinkers, 2013).
It also requires us to have a strong understanding and knowledge base in the area that we are required to critically think. For example, when my laptop starts misbehaving the extent of my critical thinking skills to solve the problem is to turn it off and reboot it. If the problem continues beyond that I am at a loss. When I encounter a problem with a clinical situation in the hospital (provided it is in maternity or another area I have knowledge in) I am able to pull on 25 years of experience and knowledge to help me determine the problem, apply a strategy to solve the problem, reflect on its effectiveness and autocorrect if the problem persists or is not fully resolved. The key here though is that I need to continually monitor that the judgements and assumptions I am making are accurate.
The Pearson’s RED Critical Thinking Model distils critical thinking to 3 key areas. While I like the simplicity of the model, I think it is important to be able to fully appreciate what is involved with each of the three steps.
So how can I help students to engage in critical thinking? More specifically, how can I help RNs new to perinatal nursing engage in critical thinking?
First, I can teach strategies that that will help students be able to apply critical thinking skills. These would include:
- having them look at their assumptions and beliefs about the issue;
- having them look at how they are understanding the issue – are they interpreting the issue based on what they think they know about it or are they trying to understand all of the nuances of the issue;
- looking at the issue through multiple perspectives;
- applying their knowledge of what they know about the issue;
- coming up with solutions and assess them for their potential effectiveness;
- applying metacognitive strategies throughout the process.
Furthermore, it is important for students “. . . to avoid biases that most of us are prey to when we think, such as settling on the first conclusion that seems reasonable, only seeking evidence that confirms one’s beliefs, ignoring countervailing evidence, overconfidence, and others”(Willingham. D.T. 2007 page 13).
To make this happen, I can use case studies but instead of going through them as a group with me leading the discussion I can have students read through a case study presented on a power point and then have the students break off into pairs to critically think through it on their own. Using this approach increases the success of being able to develop the student’s critical thinking skills (Wardlow, L., n.d)
Here is a link to a wonderful infographic made by one of my colleagues about how the ‘Chunk and Chew’ instructional strategy can be used for this purpose.
Willingham (2007) stated: “. . . teaching students to think critically probably lies in small part in showing them new ways of thinking, and in large part in enabling them to deploy the right type of thinking at the right time” (page 15).
My job as an instructor is to help RNs new to perinatal nursing have a greater chance of deploying the right type of thinking at the right time by having them understand the principles of critical thinking, ensuring they have a knowledge base in perinatal nursing, presenting case studies using the chunk and chew instructional strategy and having them apply critical thinking to the case studies that the group can then assess for effectiveness.
Characteristics of Strong Critical Thinkers (2013) Insight Assessment Measuring Thinking Worldwide Retrieved from: http://www.insightassessment.com/Resources/Characteristics-of-Strong-Critical-Thinkers
Duron, R., Limbach, B., & Waugh, W., (2006) Critical Thinking Framework For Any Discipline International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Volume 17, Number 2, 160-166. Retrieved from: http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE55.pdf
Jones, R., (2013) The Instructor’s Challenge: Moving Students beyond Opinions to Critical Thinking Faculty Focus Higher Ed Teaching Strategies from Magna Publications. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/the-instructors-challenge-moving-students-beyond-opinions-to-critical-thinking/
Pearson’s RED Critical Thinking Model (2016) Think Watson Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.thinkwatson.com/the-red-model/red-critical-thinking-model Retrieved from: http://www.thinkwatson.com/the-red-model/red-critical-thinking-model
Wardlow, L., (n.d) Insights From Research on How Best to Teach Critical Thinking Skills Teaching in a Digital Age Always Learning Pearson Research and Innovation Network Retrieved from: http://researchnetwork.pearson.com/wp-content/uploads/DigitalAge-CriticalThinkScience-v2.pdf
Willingham. D.T. (2007) Critical Thinking Why Is It So Hard to Teach? American Educator American Federation of Teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Crit_Thinking.pdf
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Nestled among the complete speeches and writings of Abraham Lincoln are several fragments, or brief notes, that represent Lincoln’s thoughts on a variety of issues. Some of these carefully prepared fragments eventually found their way into major speeches, while others did not. Likely written sometime during the four months between his election on November 6, 1860 and his inauguration on March 4, 1861, this particular fragment expresses what must have been on Lincoln’s mind as the nation stood on the precipice of Civil War. Drawing inspiration from the Bible, specifically Proverbs 25:11, Lincoln reflects that the Union and the Constitution are a “picture of silver” framed around the principle of liberty to all, or an “apple of gold,” from the Declaration of Independence. From this, Lincoln seems to have chartered his course for the coming struggle. In focusing on the connection between the Declaration and Constitution, Lincoln was focusing on what was in the deepest sense the cause of the Civil War. The nation was divided over how to understand the connection between its two founding documents, the Declaration and Constitution. Was the latter and popular sovereignty or the will of the people an authority in its own right? Or did its authority derive from the Declaration’s assertion of human equality and thus liberty for all?
Source: New Letters and Papers of Lincoln, compiled by Paul M. Angle (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1930), 240–241, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000318262.
All this is not the result of accident. It has a philosophical cause. Without the Constitution and the Union, we could not have attained the result; but even these are not the primary cause of our great prosperity. There is something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something is the principle of “liberty to all”—the principle that clears the path for all—gives hope to all—and by consequence, enterprise, and industry to all.
The expression of that principle, in our Declaration of Independence, was most happy and fortunate. Without this, as well as with it, we could have declared our independence of Great Britain; but without it, we could not, I think, have secured our free government and consequent prosperity. No oppressed people will fight and endure, as our fathers did, without the promise of something better than a mere change of masters.
The assertion of that principle, at that time, was the word “fitly spoken” which has proved an “apple of gold” to us. The Union and the Constitution are the picture of silver, subsequently framed around it. The picture was made not to conceal or destroy the apple but to adorn, and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple—not the apple for the picture.
So let us act, that neither picture or apple shall ever be blurred or bruised or broken.
That we may so act, we must study, and understand the points of danger.
- What does it mean that the Union has a “philosophical cause”? What is the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, according to Lincoln? How is that relationship demonstrated by Lincoln’s analogy of the “apple of gold” and the “picture of silver”? What are “the points of danger” that Lincoln might have in mind?
- How does Lincoln’s understanding of the Constitution and Union compare to John C. Calhoun’s (Speech on Abolition Petitions and Speech on the Oregon Bill) and, especially, William Lloyd Garrison’s (“On the Constitution and the Union”)? Does this fragment inform, in any significant way, the argument of Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (First Inaugural Address)?
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Children’s author Mem Fox says of reading picture books, “As we share the words and pictures, the ideas and viewpoints, the rhythms and rhymes, the pain and comfort, and the hopes and fears and big issues of life that we encounter together in the pages of a book, we connect through minds and hearts with our children and bond in a secret society associated with the books we have shared. The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book and the person reading.”
Yes! Picture books spark the fire of literacy. They’re importance in the life of a child cannot be understated. But when someone begins thinking about writing a picture book, there are some basic considerations about the genre that are important to understand. That’s what this post is about…
What is a Picture Book?
Picture books are books in which words and pictures tell the story or concept. Unlike most other book forms, a child must look at the art and listen to the words to follow the story (except for wordless picture books, which would only require looking). The typical picture book audience is 2-8 years old, but there are also longer picture books written for even slightly older audiences (readers of older picture books can typically read the text themselves).
A picture book usually tells the story with a 50-50 balance of words and pictures (although there are exceptions). This is critical to understand as a picture book writer because you must “think in pictures” and consider the potential artwork as you write. Author Anastasia Suen, in her book, Picture Writing, discusses how writers first see a story as pictures in our minds; then translate those images into words on the page. I completely agree! The trick (especially for non-illustrating picture book writers) is to keep considering those images as we write, envisioning what might appear on the page, so we don’t “over tell” the story with unnecessary details. I personally think this is one of the hardest aspects of picture book writing to achieve—the ability to “see” the art as we write and consider how the art can help tell the story.
Last, the picture book length ranges from zero to 1500 words or so, although current editorial needs indicate the ideal length to be around 500 words (or less!). If you’re writing a book for a younger audience (ages 2-5); then 500 words or less works best. If you’re writing for an older audience (ages 4-8); then aim for 500-800 words. And if you’re writing for a much older audience (ages 8-10, typically nonfiction); then aim for 800-1500 words. Note: these are not rules, but good guidelines to follow!
Types of Picture Books
Picture books can fall into one of two very broad categories: fiction and nonfiction. What topics are covered within these two spectrums? Everything! You could write either of these types of books in prose or verse, covering a vast range of topics from a lost duckling to the first day of kindergarten to being homeless. The possibilities are virtually limitless. But for folks who like lists, here the most common types of picture books:
Fiction: These stories typically feature a character who faces some sort of obstacle to overcome in order to get what he/she wants, often using the classic 3-Act story structure. Within the fiction realm, there are various types of stories that exist, from fairy tales to contemporary stories. A classic example is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Nonfiction: Nonfiction books are based upon facts. These include biographies, how-to’s, narrative nonfiction (which uses traditional story-telling elements), expository (books that explain things), or photo-essays. Some examples are You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer! by Shana Corey (biography), See What a Seal Can Do by Chris Butterworth (expository), All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon (narrative nonfiction). An excellent website to learn more on the topic is Melissa Stewart’s Celebrate Science.
Concept: These books (either fiction or nonfiction) introduce children to an idea, concept or theme such as the alphabet, counting, colors or shapes. They sometimes tell a story using a character or can be a simple straightforward concept. A classic example of a straightforward concept book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. An example of a concept book that uses a character to drive the story (along with the alphabet) is Kelly Bingham’s Z is for Moose.
Poetry: Poetry picture books fall into three groups: poem collections written by a single author, anthologies (themed poems written by various authors), and a narrative story written in rhyme or some other poetic device. I should note that poetry is an extremely hard market to break into and writing in rhyme and meter are challenging (but rewarding!). Examples are Winter Friends by Mary Quattlebaum (single-poet collection), A Poke in the I compiled by Paul Janeczko (anthology), and Hummingbird Nest by Kristine O’Connell George (story told through poetry). An excellent online article about this is Dori Chaconas’s Icing on the Cake.
Picture books also have common physical characteristics. Most are 32-pages long (this is due to how printing presses are set up) but variations occur (in 8-page increments, again, due to the printing press set-up). Picture books have parts to them:
Cover: The front of the book, which features eye-grabbing art along with the title, author and illustrator’s name.
Back cover: The back of the book, this sometimes features “sell copy” (a brief synopsis of the story), publisher information, a barcode, ISBN, and price.
Spine: This is the part that faces out when the book is shelved (it hides the book’s binding). It usually holds the title, author and illustrator last names and the publisher’s name or logo.
Endpapers: Perhaps the best definition of endpapers comes from L. R. Sipe who wrote, “These are the first pages one sees when opening the picture book and the last pages one sees at the end of the book before closing it. Endpapers are like stage curtains, framing the performance of a play.” You’ll notice that not all picture books have endpapers though. Paperback editions often lack them. Sometimes the endpapers are glued onto the front and back covers so they are not free to turn. In recent years, endpapers have been used in more creative ways, even being used to carry out the storyline.
Title page: This page gives the title, author, illustrator, and publisher.
Front matter: This page comes before the story text begins (some publishers put this page at the end of the book). It gives the publication information, including title, copyright, and table of contents, introduction, dedication, and other acknowledgements.
Pages: These are the papers on which the story and art is printed. Pages occur in increments of 8, usually with 32 pages.
Double-page spread: This term refers to an open, full page-spread of the book. Quite often, a double page-spread is used to show a single scene in a picture book. This is important for writers to know because it means that in a typical 32-page book, the writer needs at least 14-16 distinct scenes to tell the story.
Becoming Familiar Picture Book Writing
One of the best ways to familiarize yourself with the picture book genre is to read as many books as you can, but I always recommend taking it a step further. If you find a book that really speaks to you, where you say, “Yes! This is the way I want to write!” then I recommend typing out the text. Show where the page turns occur (leave a blank line or use some other marker).
Seeing a text typed out (sans illustrations) is one of the most informative exercises a picture book writer can do. It will SHOW you the sparsity of text, how an author uses the illustrations to help tell the story, and little description is needed when you have the assistance of pictures. I highly recommend it!
For more information on writing picture books, I recommend Ann Whitford Paul’s book, Writing Picture Books. If you’re ready to take a step further, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program offers a variety of on-campus and online courses on writing picture books.
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Due to a bad economic situation in Lithuania, the first wave of Lithuanian immigrants began settling in Baltimore in the 1880s, continuing through the 1920s. With thousands of Lithuanians nestled together in the Hollins-Roundhouse neighborhood, the area became known as “Little Lithuania.”
The push for a community meeting place began in 1903. But when the first attempt didn’t work for the community, the Lithuanian Hall Association was founded to oversee the construction and management of a new building. The Association bought two properties on Hollins Street and reconstructed them into one building, with the Lithuanian state emblem of the Vytis, a charging white knight on horseback, displayed above the door and on the crest at the top. It formally opened on February 17, 1921, with a month-long celebration.
With a second wave of immigration following the Soviet Union’s occupation of Lithuania in 1940, the Lithuanian population in Baltimore grew to around 10,000 at its peak. The Lithuanian Hall was at the heart of it all, serving food and drink, hosting concerts and dances, and housing multiple Lithuanian organizations. One of these was the National Lithuanian Library, possibly the oldest ethnic minority library in America, which is there to this day.
Lithuanian Hall also played an important role in politics. In its early days, Lithuanian Hall hosted speakers from the Communist Party. This changed in the 1940s when the hall became a gathering place for anti-Nazi and anti-Communism events. When the Soviet Union broke down, the Lithuanian Hall community pushed for President George H. W. Bush to recognize Lithuania as independent, which he did in 1991.
In 1978, the Association opened the Baltimore Lithuanian Museum on the third floor, displaying artifacts of Lithuanian history and Lithuanian American history, from historical documents and photographs to folk traditions and recreations. The museum is only open upon request and during the Lithuanian Festival in May, but it’s better to go with someone who has some background knowledge of Lithuanian culture since written explanations are minimal.
Though many of Baltimore’s Lithuanian Americans have since moved from the neighborhood, Lithuanian Hall remains a community fixture. This is because, aside from continuing to host events such as the annual Lithuanian Festival and the Windmills International Folk Dance Festival, Lith Hall has also become known for its nightlife.
Their hottest event is the “Save Your Soul” underground dance party, held on the first Friday of each month at the basement bar. DJs play vintage soul, funk, R&B and Latin in the basement lounge, while the bar serves Lithuanian beer and virytas (honey liqueur) for a low price. Baltimore director John Waters has even been spotted there on occasion!
You’ll also find fun events including concerts, dances and karaoke nights throughout the year. Plus, every Friday night, you can grab a full Lithuanian dinner. Admission to these events is $5 for members and guests, with annual membership itself only $5. Find the full calendar of events here.
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The Forward Pass
Interestingly enough, for a long time, only Association Football allowed the forward pass.
At this point, you are likely already confused.
Chances are, you’ve never heard of Association Football. At least not in those terms. Depending on where you live, you’ve always referred to it as either football, futbol, or soccer.
The point, however, is that unlike Rugby Football and Gridiron Football (American Football), Association Football has always allowed the forward pass. Before the invention of Gridiron Football, Association Football used this as yet another way to differentiate itself from Rugby Football.
At the beginning, Gridiron Football was built around setting up plays where somebody would either run the ball or hand it to a friend who would run it while other friends got in the way of people trying to stop them. It was a game solely based around friends helping each other out of a jam.
Eventually, though, it became clear that they needed to do more than just run. So in the late 1800’s, Gridiron Football started to toy with the usage of the forward pass, since the sport was basically nothing more than Rugby Football with a lot of stops.
What is interesting about this, though, is that every usage of the forward pass in the 1800’s was illegal. Even stranger? It wasn’t clearly defined, so several instances of it being used illegally were allowed.
Likely the earliest example of a forward pass was performed in 1876, during the Yale-Princeton game. Back then, Yale and Princeton playing each other in Gridiron Football used to be a big deal. These days….well….
Yale’s Walter Camp was about to get tackled at a key moment in the game, so he acted on instinct and threw the ball to teammate Oliver Thompson, who scored a touchdown off of it. Princeton protested, but since this was unprecedented, the score stood.
These days, there is a major award named after Walter Camp. It is awarded annually to the biggest cheater in collegiate Gridiron Football.
Nothing was really made of this idea for 30 years, though. That is, until Gridiron Football was almost no more.
1905 was a particularly rough year for Gridiron Football, with a reported 18 in-game deaths. Talk across the nation was that the sport was going to be banned.
Like a badass, he demanded that the rules of the game be reformed to allow the pass and therefore make the game safer.
Reaction to this rule change wasn’t all positive, however. The New York Times reported in September of 1906 that they didn’t believe it could be integrated into the game, saying “There has been no team that has proved that the forward pass is anything but a doubtful, dangerous play to be used only in the last extremity.”
Since, you know, Gridiron Football was so safe before then.
At the time, Eddie Cochems was the head Gridiron Football coach at St. Louis University, and his team threw the first ever legal forward pass. It was incomplete, but they were the firsts to adapt to this revolution. So that’s important.
It took many years for the forward pass to fully catch on in Gridiron Football, though today it is an essential part to any offense.
But things could have been MUCH different.
Because of the high profile of the Yale-Princeton game in 1876, Walter Camp’s forward pass garnered national attention. The referee allowed the play to stand because he hadn’t seen it before. But the decision wasn’t made by him.
He flipped a coin.
That’s right, he was so unsure of what to do, he just left it up to the fates to decide. There was a 50/50 chance that it would have been called back. Gridiron Football could have looked MUCH different.
Imagine if it had not been allowed to stand. There’s a chance that instead of just being an unclear rule, it would have been completely outlawed.
Maybe it is eventually legalized, but much later than 1906, as it had not been experimented with. Gridiron Football today would have developed much slower. It could end up looking like it did years ago.
Or even worse, after the bloody 1905 season, Gridiron Football could have been outlawed entirely. People who these days make millions throwing a large leather egg around would be out of work. What hope would there be for men like Tom Brady?
And what would Americans turn to for athletic entertainment in the fall?
However, the play stood, and history was made. Today, the forward pass is a highly important part of Gridiron Football’s never ending quest to get farther away from Rugby Football, which really is all the sport is about.
And it’s all thanks to the quick thinking of Walter Camp.
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In addition to chewing food, the main function of the teeth is believed to be just aesthetic. The reality is that teeth cannot be seen isolated from the rest of the body: actually, they are the mirror of the body’s health.
The current dentistry is focused too much on the aesthetic function that teeth cover: it is enough to have a look to any degree program in Dentistry or Orthodontics in any university to discover it. However, teeth should be studied through a holistic approach: a healthy and balanced mouth represents a pillar of overall health.
There are several studies recognizing the direct relationship between what we consider as beauty and health. For example, an increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a different tone of skin-color (carotenoid) . Looking to Figure 1, ask yourself which skin tone looks more attractive. When given a choice, people perceived the carotenoid skin-coloration as healthier and more attractive [1,2,3,4].
The same is true for the teeth: beauty is health. A wide smile, with U-shaped palate and straight teeth, is considered more attractive than a narrow V-shaped palate with malocclusion. As the work of John Mew highlights (Figure 2), malocclusion is just a symptom of poor craniofacial development, due to environmental causes. Interestingly, people with perfect straight teeth are those who never went to an orthodontist: their teeth are perfectly aligned because they found space in a forward-grown maxilla that has been shaped by forces coming from the tongue and the teeth in contact.
Malocclusion and narrow palate are symptoms of a down-siding of the entire craniofacial structure, with the maxilla that drops down and back. This reduces the eye support, flattens the cheekbones, narrows the nasal airway, lengthens the mid facial third, and lowers the palate, which narrows and create malocclusion . Furthermore, a vertical growth of the maxilla means the mandible swings back, with the body that compensates with forward head posture [6,7], leading to an increased kyphotic and lordotic curve as further compensation. Then, this causes the pelvis to tilt forward, with consequences to legs and feet.
Thus, it is clear that just by looking at an individual’s teeth it is possible to understand his/her posture. And it does not end here: asymmetries in the teeth highlight asymmetries in the relationship of the skull bones (and facial asymmetries) , with the body that compensates with scoliosis and leg length alignment asymmetry.
When the craniofacial development is not as nature intended, the body actuates compensatory mechanisms in order to find the optimal balance. However, in the long term, these compensations causes predisposition to many problems: muscles tightness, headaches, blood vessels compression, respiratory problems, brain fog, hair loss and so on. The outcome is an increased risks of being dependent in activities of daily living, including higher mortality .
Apart from the alignment and presence of malocclusion, there are other factors that demonstrate how teeth are perfect indicators of body’s health. For example, think about smokers: smoking can lead to tooth staining, gum disease, tooth loss. Indeed, it has been long associated with higher predisposition to develop cancer , together with many other health issues.
Do you need other proofs? A 5-year long study demonstrated that edentulism (that means loss of teeth, Figure 5) is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease and total mortality. Also, presence of periodontitis (gum inflammatory disease that can lead to loss of teeth, Figure 6) is associated with higher mortality rate.
In another 17-year long study , a sample of 9760 subjects has been examined determining that dental diseases (periodontitis, oral debris, dental calculus) are associated with coronary heart disease and higher mortality. Another study linked periodontal diseases to rheumatoid arthritis (pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints): indeed subjects with rheumatoid arthritis were more likely to be edentulous and have periodontitis.
Still not convinced? Ok, then let us consider the essential aim of every living being, that is the survival of the species: for this, reproduction is essential. When a living entity is not able to reproduce, then there is something wrong for sure. Well, not surprisingly a study has found out that chronic periodontitis has a high association with erectile dysfunction.
And in a holistic approach, do not forget the strict connection between body and mind. According to another study , people with severe mental illness have higher odds of having lost all their teeth than the general community. They also have significantly higher scores for dental decay.
So, there are no doubts, the title of this page is correct! Teeth: the mirror of body’s health. Italians use to say “a caval donato non si guarda in bocca” (literally translated as “do not look a gift horse in the mouth“) that is a proverb for saying that if someone gives you a present do not look to its quality since it is a present (so it is for free). This proverb arose since in the past the horse’s dentition was used to identify its age and state of health (Figure 7).
In your case, it is better to check your mouth! And the intention here is not to say that the cure of dental diseases is an appointment with your dentist: this is just a way to treat the symptoms. If you have dental diseases, there is something wrong in your lifestyle: try to understand what it is and avoid it. Prevention is the real cure: if you have already a dental disease it might be already too late. Remember that those with the healthiest teeth are those that never saw a dentist!
Kamitani, Kojiro, et al. “Spinal posture in the sagittal plane is associated with future dependence in activities of daily living: A community-based cohort study of older adults in Japan.” Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences 68.7 (2013): 869-875.
LaMonte, Michael J., et al. “History of Periodontitis Diagnosis and Edentulism as Predictors of Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, and Mortality in Postmenopausal Women.” Journal of the American Heart Association 6.4 (2017): e004518.
de Pablo, Paola, Thomas Dietrich, and Timothy E. McAlindon. “Association of periodontal disease and tooth loss with rheumatoid arthritis in the US population.” The journal of rheumatology 35.1 (2008): 70-76.
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Do we need privacy? Is it important? What is it?
The below image is from the Office of the Australian Commissioner.
As you can see the Australian Government has an entire department dedicated to preserving what they call a "fundamental human right". Privacy is a nebulous concept that many find hard to define but at its core it is a transaction whereby you give up data (in many forms – physical, or digital) so that you are "protected".
Privacy in the modern world is one of those ideas that is back in vogue. If any of you watched the major tech keynotes this year, you will have heard privacy, security and transparency mentioned ad infinitum. This is because consumers are becoming more vocal around what is happening with their data. As we move into smarter urban environments, the concerns around what happens to this data and how it is used become increasingly important.
So much of our lives are located digitally and considering that the internet is powered via attention means that the exploitation of our digital data is rampant and almost unregulated. The legislation in place to protect our digital data and therefore our privacy is woefully inadequate. Unlike Europe with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) many countries to do not strict laws preventing the misuse of personally identifiable information (PII). Australia for example does not consider geolocation data to be personally identifiable information (PII), see this Conversation piece for more information (Goldenfein, 2017).
Considering the lacklustre way that our online digital data is treated by private companies as well as our own government, I cannot imagine our smart city data will not be treated with any more respect or care. See this data breach in the governments own MyHealthRecord (ITNews.com.au, 2019). If the regulatory environment remains as ambigious and easy to bypass, data companies will move into the vacuum to exploit our physical data endpoints.
My research is looking into the relationship between smart cities, data and privacy specifically around the aerotropolis to be built around the new Western Sydney Airport.
This is such an important thing to get right, and I fear that if we continue down our current path that our future will look increasingly unequal.
Concrete Advice Around Safety
It is very likely that someone reading this post will have experienced a data breach. The excellent Have I Been Pwned by Australian security researcher Troy Hunt is an excellent free service to help notify you if any of your emails are found in the wild.
I would also recommend 1Password for keeping your online accounts safe. Safe in that password reuse is a critical point of failure for many, the ability to create and save unique complex passwords for your online accounts goes a long way to ensure that one breach does not compromise your entire digital life. I also use 1Password to save data that is critical to access but unsafe to store in the cloud without encryption, things like ABN, TFN. You can also upload images such as Driver's Licenses and Passports to ensure that you have access to them in an emergency.
Using a service like 1Password (or Lastpass, Dashlane) does pose some issues around single point of failure. Considering that if your 1Password account is breached then bad-actors would have access to your entire life. Considering the way that 1Password treat their security, it is a much safer option to save your information there as opposed to you trying to remember hundreds of unique passwords.
The service is not free (and that's a good thing) and the prices can be found here.
Again, thank you for reading. I hope you've enjoyed it. If you have any questions or even better tips, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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Regular brushing and flossing are generally the most common ways of keeping our teeth clean. Both practices are very effective in removing food particles and sugar that get stuck in between our teeth. These food particles are what allows the bacteria in our mouth to form plaque. Plaque then produces acid that slowly erodes the enamel in our teeth causing cavities. If ignored, cavities can cause bad breath and other dental issues like gum disease. This can be nasty and will not only affect your health - it can wreak havoc in your personal life as well. That is why we take all the precautions to avoid problems like this. Aside from brushing, flossing and going to the dentist, did you know that there are different types of food that will clean your teeth as you eat them? Keep on reading to find out.
Eating apples will clean your teeth and help fight bad breath. Apples being so fibrous act as toothbrushes that scrub at your teeth while you chew on them. Their acidity also helps in reducing the bacteria that cause bad breath. Just make sure to keep the skin on when eating an apple as it is the most fibrous part of the apple.
Tea or coffee? If you want to have cleaner teeth then go for tea. There are compounds, called polyphenols, that are present in black and green tea that slow the growth of cavity-causing bacteria. Tea also has the ability to prevent bacteria from clumping together to form plaque. If plaque is already present, it can reduce its stickiness making it easier to remove when brushing.
A carrot is another fibrous food that will clean your teeth while eating it. It also stimulates saliva production which will naturally clean your teeth. Another benefit that you can get from eating carrots is that they contain vitamin B which helps fight gingivitis.
If you are a cheese aficionado then we have good news for you. Not only is it good for your teeth and bones, but it can also reduce the acidity in your mouth. The acid which is produced by plaque is the one that causes cavities. Just like the carrot, it also stimulates saliva production which cleanses your mouth. So next time you’re hungry, you know what to snack on.
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New test can better predict long-term death risk after heart valve procedure
The test involves pressure measurements within the heart following a transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR. The highly specialized procedure involves repairing a failing heart valve by inserting a functioning valve in its place. Many physicians record pressures inside the heart immediately after the procedure but as many as one-third do not obtain pressures. Patients who had abnormal intracardiac pressure were more than twice as likely to die within two years, the researchers determined.
The findings by researchers from UF Health and the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Gainesville were published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions.
A TAVR procedure is typically performed on patients who have a narrowed valve in the aorta, the main artery that carries blood away from the heart. It is also an alternative for those at high risk for standard, open-heart valve replacement surgery. There were nearly 50,000 TAVR procedures in the U.S. in 2017, and it is now more common than traditional heart valve surgery, according to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
To establish their findings, the researchers analyzed outcomes for 241 VA patients who underwent TAVR procedures between 2013 and 2018. Using blood pressure readings in the aorta and ventricle and the patient’s heart rate five to 10 minutes after a new aortic valve was inserted, the researchers calculated an index to determine whether intracardiac pressures were normal.
“We found that 22% of patients had abnormal intracardiac pressures. Patients who had abnormal intracardiac pressures experienced a doubling in the their long-term mortality,” said Anthony Bavry, M.D., an associate professor in the UF College of Medicine’s department of medicine and a cardiologist at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center.
Bavry said he long believed that intracardiac pressure could be used to predict patient outcomes. But many physicians do not find merit in doing that.
“Obtaining intracardiac pressures after a TAVR procedure is valuable and more physicians should recognize this as a mechanism to potentially improve patient outcomes,” Bavry said.
While further research on the technique is needed, Bavry said having a simple, reliable test that can indicate a higher risk of death could help cardiologists optimize each patient’s treatment.
Next, Bavry and his colleagues are conducting a pilot study to determine if eplerenone, a medication used to treat high blood pressure as well as congestive heart failure after a heart attack, can benefit TAVR patients.
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What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
The TL;DR is that AI is the science of building computers that can solve problems the way humans do. But there's much (much) more to it than that.
In September 1955, John McCarthy, a young assistant professor of mathematics at Dartmouth College, boldly proposed that "every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it."
McCarthy called this new field of study "artificial intelligence," and suggested that a two-month effort by a group of 10 scientists could make significant advances in developing machines that could "use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves."
At the time, scientists optimistically believed we would soon have thinking machines doing any work a human could do. Now, more than six decades later, advances in computer science and robotics have helped us automate many of the tasks that previously required the physical and cognitive labor of humans.
But true artificial intelligence, as McCarthy conceived it, continues to elude us.
What Exactly Is AI?
A great challenge with artificial intelligence is that it's a broad term, and there's no clear agreement on its definition.
As mentioned, McCarthy proposed AI would solve problems the way humans do: "The ultimate effort is to make computer programs that can solve problems and achieve goals in the world as well as humans," McCarthy said.
Andrew Moore, Dean of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, provided a more modern definition of the term in a 2017 interview with Forbes: "Artificial intelligence is the science and engineering of making computers behave in ways that, until recently, we thought required human intelligence."
But our understanding of "human intelligence" and our expectations of technology are constantly evolving. Zachary Lipton, the editor of Approximately Correct, describes the term AI as "aspirational, a moving target based on those capabilities that humans possess but which machines do not." In other words, the things we ask of AI change over time.
For instance, In the 1950s, scientists viewed chess and checkers as great challenges for artificial intelligence. But today, very few would consider chess-playing machines to be AI. Computers are already tackling much more complicated problems, including detecting cancer, driving cars, and processing voice commands.
Narrow AI vs. General AI
The first generation of AI scientists and visionaries believed we would eventually be able to create human-level intelligence.
But several decades of AI research have shown that replicating the complex problem-solving and abstract thinking of the human brain is supremely difficult. For one thing, we humans are very good at generalizing knowledge and applying concepts we learn in one field to another. We can also make relatively reliable decisions based on intuition and with little information. Over the years, human-level AI has become known as artificial general intelligence (AGI) or strong AI.
The initial hype and excitement surrounding AI drew interest and funding from government agencies and large companies. But it soon became evident that contrary to early perceptions, human-level intelligence was not right around the corner, and scientists were hard-pressed to reproduce the most basic functionalities of the human mind. In the 1970s, unfulfilled promises and expectations eventually led to the "AI winter," a long period during which public interest and funding in AI dampened.
It took many years of innovation and a revolution in deep-learning technology to revive interest in AI. But even now, despite enormous advances in artificial intelligence, none of the current approaches to AI can solve problems in the same way the human mind does, and most experts believe AGI is at least decades away.
The flipside, narrow or weak AI doesn't aim to reproduce the functionality of the human brain, and instead focuses on optimizing a single task. Narrow AI has already found many real-world applications, such as recognizing faces, transforming audio to text, recommending videos on YouTube, and displaying personalized content in the Facebook News Feed.
Many scientists believe that we will eventually create AGI, but some have a dystopian vision of the age of thinking machines. In 2014, renowned English physicist Stephen Hawking described AI as an existential threat to mankind, warning that "full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."
In 2015, Y Combinator President Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, two other believers in AGI, co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research lab that aims to create artificial general intelligence in a manner that benefits all of humankind. (Musk has since departed.)
Others believe that artificial general intelligence is a pointless goal. "We don't need to duplicate humans. That's why I focus on having tools to help us rather than duplicate what we already know how to do. We want humans and machines to partner and do something that they cannot do on their own," says Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google.
Scientists such as Norvig believe that narrow AI can help automate repetitive and laborious tasks and help humans become more productive. For instance, doctors can use AI algorithms to examine X-ray scans at high speeds, allowing them to see more patients. Another example of narrow AI is fighting cyberthreats: Security analysts can use AI to find signals of data breaches in the gigabytes of data being transferred through their companies' networks.
Rule-Based AI vs. Machine Learning
Early AI-creation efforts were focused on transforming human knowledge and intelligence into static rules. Programmers had to meticulously write code (if-then statements) for every rule that defined the behavior of the AI. The advantage of rule-based AI, which later became known as "good old-fashioned artificial intelligence" (GOFAI), is that humans have full control over the design and behavior of the system they develop.
Rule-based AI is still very popular in fields where the rules are clearcut. One example is video games, in which developers want AI to deliver a predictable user experience.
The problem with GOFAI is that contrary to McCarthy's initial premise, we can't precisely describe every aspect of learning and behavior in ways that can be transformed into computer rules. For instance, defining logical rules for recognizing voices and images—a complex feat that humans accomplish instinctively—is one area where classic AI has historically struggled.
An alternative approach to creating artificial intelligence is machine learning. Instead of developing rules for AI manually, machine-learning engineers "train" their models by providing them with a massive amount of samples. The machine-learning algorithm analyzes and finds patterns in the training data, then develops its own behavior. For instance, a machine-learning model can train on large volumes of historical sales data for a company and then make sales forecasts.
Deep learning, a subset of machine learning, has become very popular in the past few years. It's especially good at processing unstructured data such as images, video, audio, and text documents. For instance, you can create a deep-learning image classifier and train it on millions of available labeled photos, such as the ImageNet dataset. The trained AI model will be able to recognize objects in images with accuracy that often surpasses humans. Advances in deep learning have pushed AI into many complicated and critical domains, such as medicine, self-driving cars, and education.
One of the challenges with deep-learning models is that they develop their own behavior based on training data, which makes them complex and opaque. Often, even deep-learning experts have a hard time explaining the decisions and inner workings of the AI models they create.
What Are Examples of Artificial Intelligence?
Here are some of the ways AI is bringing tremendous changes to different domains.
Self-driving cars: Advances in artificial intelligence have brought us very close to making the decades-long dream of autonomous driving a reality. AI algorithms are one of the main components that enable self-driving cars to make sense of their surroundings, taking in feeds from cameras installed around the vehicle and detecting objects such as roads, traffic signs, other cars, and people.
Digital assistants and smart speakers: Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and Google Assistant use artificial intelligence to transform spoken words to text and map the text to specific commands. AI helps digital assistants make sense of different nuances in spoken language and synthesize human-like voices.
Translation: For many decades, translating text between different languages was a pain point for computers. But deep learning has helped create a revolution in services such as Google Translate. To be clear, AI still has a long way to go before it masters human language, but so far, advances are spectacular.
Facial recognition: Facial recognition is one of the most popular applications of artificial intelligence. It has many uses, including unlocking your phone, paying with your face, and detecting intruders in your home. But the increasing availability of facial-recognition technology has also given rise to concerns regarding privacy, security, and civil liberties.
Medicine: From detecting skin cancer and analyzing X-rays and MRI scans to providing personalized health tips and managing entire healthcare systems, artificial intelligence is becoming a key enabler in healthcare and medicine. AI won't replace your doctor, but it could help to bring about better health services, especially in underprivileged areas, where AI-powered health assistants can take some of the load off the shoulders of the few general practitioners who have to serve large populations.
The Future of AI
In our quest to crack the code of AI and create thinking machines, we've learned a lot about the meaning of intelligence and reasoning. And thanks to advances in AI, we are accomplishing tasks alongside our computers that were once considered the exclusive domain of the human brain.
Some of the emerging fields where AI is making inroads include music and arts, where AI algorithms are manifesting their own unique kind of creativity. There's also hope AI will help fight climate change, care for the elderly, and eventually create a utopian future where humans don't need to work at all.
We still don't know which direction AI will take. But as the science and technology of artificial intelligence continues to improve at a steady pace, our expectations and definition of AI will shift, and what we consider AI today might become the mundane functions of tomorrow's computers.
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By Ayuko Matsuhashi
Gashamo Woreda, Somali REGION, 6 September 2017 – What if you are told that the water you would have daily for drinking, cooking and bathing is rain-dependent and dries up into a muddy puddle during eight out of the 12 months of the year?
For the lucky ones, life without water is unthinkable. Sadly enough, this still remains a daily life reality in arid and semi-arid areas in Ethiopia.
A shortage of water in Somali region has been devastating due to the ongoing multi-year drought. While climate resilient water source development is a key to mitigate negative impacts of the drought, the majority of the population in Somali region is still dependent on seasonal water harvesting ponds. Farah Abdulahi is a 34 year old single mother of four who has become an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) in Gashamo IDP site from a village which is 15km away. “I came here because I have lost all of my 150 goats and sheep since the onset of the drought,” Farah said. Several hydro-geological complications and costly investments have prevented the WASH sector from actively investing in drilling a deep borehole in the region whereas surface water sources are highly vulnerable to drought and put people at a greater risk. “I used to fetch water from birkas*. But they all dried up because there had been no rain,” Farah describes her life in the previous village before she was displaced. “Thanks to the humanitarian aid providing water at this IDP site, we are barely surviving.”
Ahmed Hussein Brerale, 57 years old, is one of the community elders in Haji Dereye kebele (sub-district) near Gashamo town. As a long time resident of Haji Dereye, he has witnessed the dreadful decrease of water in the area and says, “There is no borehole in this area. We heard that the nearest borehole is 78km away and is the only potable water source in this large woreda (district). What we have here is only seasonal water sources like birkas. As the last two rain seasons failed, the available volume of water in birkas has significantly decreased. We are worried.”
In order to provide access to potable water for children and women such as Farah and her children, UNICEF Ethiopia has started drilling a new borehole near Gashamo town in partnership with a private sector partner with financial support from the Government of Japan’s emergency grant aid for the Middle East and Africa region for emergencies since August 2017. The drilling site was carefully located by using hydro-geological data from satellites in close collaboration with the Somali Regional State Water Bureau. According to the satellite data, the estimated depth of finding an aquifer is at around 500-600 metres. So far one-fourth of the planned depth has been achieved. Since there is no alternative safe and reliable water source in the area, this new borehole is going to be an ‘oasis in the desert’. Although this drilling work is one of the UNICEF’s emergency projects, in a longer term the project will also bring a sustainable solution for the area which is high vulnerability to climate change. The borehole is expected to provide clean water directly to 11,000 – 25,000 people in Gashamo town with a potential to indirect beneficiaries who are passing by from surrounding areas in search of water.
“I heard about the new borehole drilling. I am looking forward to seeing clean water. That has been always my dream to have clean water nearby in my life,” says Farah with a smile on her face.
UNICEF will keep working together with the regional water bureau to ensure that people who have been living without reliable water sources get sustainable access to potable water without interruption.
*Birka – A traditional water harvesting pond which collects run-off water when it rains.
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Charles Darwin was not a romantic. The brutally pragmatic ‘Pros and Cons list’ he wrote before deciding upon marriage to his cousin Emma Wedgwood proves that. We can safely assume that if the nineteenth century’s greatest naturalist ever received two turtle doves in his Christmas correspondence he would not have sung about them as symbols of fidelity and conjugal love. More likely, he would have treated them in the same way as he did other members of the Columbidae family of birds, which includes both doves and pigeons. First he would have studied them, then he would have boiled the flesh from their bones!
Modern readers of the Origin of Species (1859), many of whom pick up the text expecting anti-religious polemic or grand statements about man’s descent from an ape-like progenitor (Spoiler Alert: the Origin contains neither of these) are often bewildered to find a sizeable portion of chapter one spent discussing pigeons. And, unlike the better known insights Darwin gained from studying the beaks of Galapagos finches, his interest in pigeons was not just a matter of observation: it was hands-on, and often quite smelly!
[Image credit: Figure 23 – “Short Faced English Tumbler Pigeon” from Charles Darwin’s book “The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication”, 1868. Image from Wikimedia Commons.]
He first began thinking about how the activities of fanciers, in breeding an astonishing variety of pigeons (fantails, frillbacks, barbs, and more), might provide a model for natural selection, in the late 1830s. But it was in March 1855, about a year before he began to draft the manuscript that would become the Origin, that pigeons became Darwin’s passion.
A loft was constructed in the garden of Down House; fantails and pouters were purchased; specimens (alive and dead) were gathered from correspondents as far afield as India and the Gambia; and the notoriously unsociable Darwin joined two pigeon fancier clubs. On one occasion he even found himself in a South London gin palace, sharing a pipe with a ‘strange set of old men’ trading pigeon breeding anecdotes.
What Darwin wanted from these encounters was evidence of how experienced breeders were able to take the myriad of tiny variations found in nature, and accentuate them, sometimes to monstrous degrees. Back at Down House he was working in the opposite direction: breeding and measuring to demonstrate, as he argued in the Origin, and at even greater length in his Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868), that the marvellous multiplicity of pigeons – pouters, carriers, runts, barbs, short-faced tumblers, and even the turtle dove – were all descended from one common ancestor, Columba Livia, the rock dove.
For anatomical proof, Darwin had to strip the carcasses.
[Image credit: Pigeon skulls, as drawn by Darwin in “‘The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication” by Charles Darwin, 1868. Image from Wikimedia Commons.]
Live birds were gassed with the vapours of prussic acid, released from potassium cyanide, then Darwin would ‘skeletonise’ them by boiling the corpse in a chemical mixture. The smell from the putrid flesh made Darwin, who had a weak stomach at the best of times, retch violently. (The task proved so unpleasant for Darwin, and his unfortunate servant, that in 1856 he began to send the birds to be ‘skeletonised’ professionally.) Once stripped of their flesh, the skeletons were carefully catalogued, labelled, and added to Darwin’s accumulating evidence for natural selection.
This image of Darwin at work, bent over a bucket in his back garden, boiling the flesh from pigeons, is important not only because it helps us to understand one of the key ways in which he confirmed his theory, but also because it helps to demystify Darwin. It is a world away from the depiction of Darwin as an Old Testament prophet bequeathed us by John Collier’s famous portrait.
The same, of course, is true when we think about Darwin and Christmas.
However exceptional Darwin’s scientific insights, his concerns each December were much like ours. His letters show a repeated determination to get tasks done ‘by Christmas’; one Christmas (1854) was made ‘gloomy’ by two sick children; another (1858) found him planning a family visit; and a few years later (1861) he was imploring his adult son (William) to be home for Christmas.
Most commonplace of all, each year Darwin sent and received Christmas wishes. Reading these now can be disconcerting. There is something incongruous in finding Francis Galton (the founder of eugenics) wishing Darwin ‘a very happy Christmas’ in 1869, and Darwin himself, five years later, wishing Ernst Haeckel (a key influence in the development of German scientific racism) ‘a merry Christmas and many of them’.
The Darwins were equally conventional when it came to Christmas dinner. Charles might have recalled wistfully the time when in 1834, three years into his Beagle voyage, while traversing Patagonia, he had shot two Guanaco for fresh meat on Christmas Day, but at Down House Christmas dinner was less exotic. And if the goose was a little too greasy, or the turkey a little too tough, it is almost certain that no one suggested supplementing the meat with boiled pigeon.
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VoIP Bandwidth CalculationPosted on: 2017-11-07 | Categories: VoIP Providers
You cannot begin to deploy any VoIP installation without first calculating bandwidth requirements. VoIP bandwidth consumption is a major concern for any organization looking to upgrade. If your data network is already under heavy load during peak hours, it cannot handle the extra traffic from voice calls. But do you know how much more bandwidth you need?
Fundamentals of VoIP Protocols
VoIP is a broad term that covers a number of protocols and technologies that make voice calling over the Internet possible. Any VoIP audio call requires two types of protocols – one which carries the actual voice packets and the other which handles signaling. The Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) is generally used for transmitting speech. There are many alternatives for the signaling portion including SIP and H.323 among others. In 2017, SIP is the most widely implemented standard for VoIP signaling.
Another important piece for VoIP to function is the audio codec. IP-based networks cannot carry analog signals including the human voice. So an audio codec is used to convert the analog signals into digital audio packets at both ends of the call. An IP phone can generate a voice packet every 10, 20 or even 40 ms. Each word you send requires multiple packets for transmission.
Shorter Versus Longer Audio Packets
Data packets for VoIP can be small or large. There is a very fine balance between the two since each has its own benefits. VoIP calls are sensitive to time delays and the goal is always to reduce it as much as possible. Short packets travel quicker over the network. If a packet goes missing, you don’t lose as much data as with a bigger packet. But shorter packets also require more bandwidth due to packet overhead.
Every data packet has headers that contain information like the sending and receiving port numbers, IP addresses and so on. The size of the header depends on the type of protocol implementation. As you can see, smaller packets will have a higher percentage of overhead than larger packets. This in turn requires more bandwidth for the call. In short, smaller packets will reduce time delays while larger packets are more efficient in terms of bandwidth.
Vendors and organizations have to balance both sides of the equation and achieve an acceptable compromise. Most services have a packet size of 20 or 30ms to address these concerns.
Compression and Encryption
Compression and encryption play a huge role in determining the bandwidth requirements for VoIP calls. Audio can be compressed or uncompressed depending on the codecs. Compressed audio will require less bandwidth than its uncompressed counterpart. However this has a negative impact on quality. While organizations certainly want the highest possible quality for their calls, bandwidth is not infinite or unlimited. So the choice of audio codecs will impact bandwidth calculations for your installation.
Now we come to encryption. Here it is the case of security versus bandwidth. VoIP calls are subject to the same security issues as other types of data on your network. Hackers can break into the system, surreptitiously record calls or eavesdrop on sensitive conversations. Encryption is one tool that can alleviate security concerns. If all the audio calls are encrypted, the contents become unreadable to unauthorized users. However encryption imposes additional bandwidth requirements on each VoIP call.
Given the importance of security to enterprises, most companies prefer to implement encryption rather than leave it out.
Calculating Bandwidth Requirements for VoIP Calls
As you can see, bandwidth calculations take into account many different factors. Individual packet size, compression or the lack thereof, encryption, protocol, audio codecs etc. can influence bandwidth consumption on your network. You need to know three things to calculate bandwidth consumption:
- Total packet size = headers + voice payload size
- PPS = (codec bit rate) / (voice payload size)
- Bandwidth = total packet size * PPS
Suppose you are using the G.720 codec with a bitrate of 8 kbps and the voice payload size is 20 bytes with 8 byte headers. Your calculations would be as follows –
Total packet size = 8 bytes (headers) + 20 bytes (voice payload size) = 28 bytes
Total packet size in bits = 28 * 8 bits per byte = 224 bits
PPS = 8 Kbps (codec bit rate) / (160 bits) = 50 pps
Bandwidth per call = 224 bits * 50 pps = 11.2 Kbps
So you would require 11.2 Kbps as per VoIP call. The total bandwidth consumption would depend on the number of concurrent calls at any time. If you have more bandwidth, you can make more calls at the same time.
Most organizations do not calculate the bandwidth requirements themselves. The vendors will be able to provide you a table with the relevant results. So you can compare between different implementations. However it is useful to have a basic understanding of bandwidth calculations and consumption. This knowledge will be very useful when troubleshooting problems with your system.
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What is Neonatal Encephalopathy (Foals)?
Neonatal encephalopathy is also known by the other names of maladjustment syndrome and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. It is a condition caused by some type of fetal, maternal, or placental abnormality that leads to lack of oxygen to the foal while in utero. Lack of oxygen to the brain causes CNS symptoms such as head tilt, circling, mental depression, lethargy, seizures, and related symptoms. It can also cause other organ systems within the body to develop complications as well. In many cases, diagnosis can be done by clinical symptoms with a rule out process of other probable conditions. Treatment of NE is purely supportive with fluids, oxygen, nutritional support, and any other type of helpful therapies. In uncomplicated cases, prognosis of a recovery is good. However, in more severe cases where the foal does not respond much in his first few days of life, prognosis of recovery greatly declines and is very poor.
Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a disorder affecting the central nervous system (CNS) of some neonatal foals. It can be caused by maternal, fetal, and placental abnormalities. If your foal is displaying any type of lethargy or acting inappropriately, contact your veterinarian.
Book First Walk Free!
Symptoms of Neonatal Encephalopathy (Foals) in Horses
Symptoms may include:
- Head tilt
- Asymmetric papillary reflexes
- Mental depression
- Gastric ulcers
- Gastric reflux
- Transient ileus
- Necrotic enterocolitis
- Inability to find udder
- Persistent tongue protrusion
- Respiratory issues
- Proprioceptive deficits
- Accidental self trauma
Neonatal encephalopathy is associated with perinatal asphyxia syndrome. Asphyxia is caused by lack of oxygen delivered to cells causing decreased blood oxygen content and decreased blood perfusion. It can lead to damage of multiple organ systems including the brain.
Causes of Neonatal Encephalopathy (Foals) in Horses
Causes of neonatal encephalopathy include maternal, fetal, and placental factors. Placental causes can occur when chronic placental separation happens and can lead to fetus hypoxia. Red bag delivery is another cause. Maternal and fetal factors can include hypotension and decreased tissue oxygenation.
Diagnosis of Neonatal Encephalopathy (Foals) in Horses
The clinical symptoms your foal is experiencing may be enough to diagnose his condition or to at least help the veterinarian rule out other probable conditions. She will also want to collect a history of your mare’s previous pregnancies and how the birthing process went. In cases with history of dystocia, placentitis, or premature placental separation, neonatal encephalopathy is a common result.
Blood work will be recommended to look for anything remarkable. A complete blood count (CBC) will show if your foal is suffering from any type of infection or anemia. A chemistry panel will be beneficial to show if any organs are failing.
The veterinarian may need to run other diagnostics in order to rule out other possible illnesses such as bacterial meningitis, equine herpesvirus, brain trauma, congenital defects, and more.
Treatment of Neonatal Encephalopathy (Foals) in Horses
Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for neonatal encephalopathy. The best thing the veterinarian can offer for your foal is supportive care. Monitoring blood pressure and perfusion is key to ensuring cerebral blood flow is maintained to prevent further injury. Intravenous fluid therapy is recommended to prevent dehydration and to encourage the continual flow of blood. Glucose may need to be given via IV as well to maintain normal blood glucose levels. If your foal is unable to nurse, a feeding tube may need to be placed to enable him to receive the nutritional support he needs.
Medications will be administered according to your foal’s needs. Anticonvulsant medications will be administered to stop seizures and to increase cerebral oxygen consumption. Vitamins may be administered along with the fluid therapy to provide needed antioxidants and to give his immune systems the boost it needs.
If any accidental self trauma occurs while seizuring or due to proprioceptive deficits, the veterinarian will administer treatment as she sees fit. She will do everything she can to prevent the condition from worsening and to offer your foal every supportive therapy he may possibly need in order to recover.
Recovery of Neonatal Encephalopathy (Foals) in Horses
In uncomplicated cases, foals with neonatal encephalopathy have a good prognosis of recovery. However, if sepsis develops or other complications arise, prognosis will decrease. If your foal’s condition is poor and remains so, such as he is comatose and difficult to arouse with poor neurologic function during the first few days of life, he has a very guarded to poor prognosis.
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A warming trend of 0.32 °C/decade during 1979–1997 to a cooling trend of − 0.47 °C/decade during 1999–2014.
Remember the much ballyhooed paper that made the cover of Nature, Steig et al, “Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year”, Nature, Jan 22, 2009 that included some conspicuously errant Mannian math from the master of making trends out of noisy data himself? Well, that just went south, literally.
And it just isn’t because the Steig et al. paper was wrong, as proven by three climate skeptics that submitted their own rebuttal, no, it’s because mother nature herself reversed the trend in actual temperature data in the Antarctic peninsula, and that one place where it was warming, was smeared over the entire continent by Mannian math to make it appear the whole of the Antarctic was warming.
The peninsula was the only bit of the Antarctic that suited the Warmists. They gleefully reported glacial breakups there, quite ignoring that the Antarctic as a whole was certainly not warming and was in fact tending to cool. The study below however shows that the warmer period on the peninsula was an atypical blip that has now reversed.
- We examine climate variability since the 1950s in the Antarctic Peninsula region.
- This region is often cited among those with the fastest warming rates on Earth.
- A re-assessment of climate data shows a cooling trend initiated around 1998/1999.
- This recent cooling has already impacted the cryosphere in the northern AP.
- Observed changes on glacial mass balances, snow cover and permafrost state
Recent regional climate cooling on the Antarctic Peninsula and associated impacts on the cryosphere
M. Oliva et al.
The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is often described as a region with one of the largest warming trends on Earth since the 1950s, based on the temperature trend of 0.54 °C/decade during 1951–2011 recorded at Faraday/Vernadsky station. Accordingly, most works describing the evolution of the natural systems in the AP region cite this extreme trend as the underlying cause of their observed changes. However, a recent analysis (Turner et al., 2016) has shown that the regionally stacked temperature record for the last three decades has shifted from a warming trend of 0.32 °C/decade during 1979–1997 to a cooling trend of − 0.47 °C/decade during 1999–2014. While that study focuses on the period 1979–2014, averaging the data over the entire AP region, we here update and re-assess the spatially-distributed temperature trends and inter-decadal variability from 1950 to 2015, using data from ten stations distributed across the AP region. We show that Faraday/Vernadsky warming trend is an extreme case, circa twice those of the long-term records from other parts of the northern AP. Our results also indicate that the cooling initiated in 1998/1999 has been most significant in the N and NE of the AP and the South Shetland Islands (> 0.5 °C between the two last decades), modest in the Orkney Islands, and absent in the SW of the AP. This recent cooling has already impacted the cryosphere in the northern AP, including slow-down of glacier recession, a shift to surface mass gains of the peripheral glacier and a thinning of the active layer of permafrost in northern AP islands.
h/t to “Greenie Watch“
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The Gadsden Purchase half dollar was a proposed commemorative coin to be issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint. Legislation for the half dollar passed both houses of Congress in 1930 but was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover. The House of Representatives sustained his action, 96 votes in favor of overriding it to 243 opposed, well short of the necessary two-thirds majority. This was the first veto of Hoover's presidency and the first ever for a commemorative coin bill.
The proposal to commemorate the 1854 congressional ratification of the Gadsden Purchase was the brainchild of El Paso coin dealer Lyman W. Hoffecker, who wanted a commemorative coin he could control and distribute. He gained the support of several members of Congress from Texas and the Southwest, and a bill was introduced in Congress in April 1929, receiving a hearing 11 months later. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon sent a letter and two officials in opposition to the bill, but it passed both houses of Congress without dissent. On April 21, 1930, Hoover vetoed the bill, deeming commemorative coins abusive. Although only one congressman spoke in favor of Hoover's action during the override debate in the House, the veto was easily sustained.
No commemorative coins were struck during the remainder of the Hoover Administration. They resumed after Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated, but by 1935 Roosevelt was citing Hoover's veto in urging Congress to avoid passing commemorative coin bills. He vetoed one in 1938. In 1946, Harry S. Truman adopted similar arguments in warning he would oppose further coin bills, and he vetoed one in 1947. Dwight D. Eisenhower vetoed three more in 1954. No non-circulating commemorative coins were struck from 1955 until after the Treasury Department changed its position in 1981.
The Gadsden Purchase came as the result of negotiation between the U.S. minister to Mexico James Gadsden and Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna. Following the Mexican–American War, there were border disputes along the Mexican Cession left unresolved by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Specifically, Southerners in the United States sought land over which a southern route of a transcontinental railroad could run. Accordingly, U.S. President Franklin Pierce sent Gadsden to resolve these issues. The resulting treaty was signed on December 30, 1853. Initially, 45,000 square miles (120,000 km2) were to be conveyed in exchange for $15 million. But when the original treaty failed to pass the U.S. Senate, both the land and the payment were reduced by about a third. The Gadsden Purchase, west of El Paso, forms part of the states of Arizona and New Mexico.
During the late 1920s, El Paso coin dealer Lyman W. Hoffecker tried hard to gain congressional approval for a half dollar commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Gadsden Purchase. In 1929, he founded the Gadsden Purchase Commission (essentially just Hoffecker himself). At the time, commemorative coins were not sold by the government—Congress, in authorizing legislation, usually designated an organization which had the exclusive right to purchase them at face value and vend them to the public at a premium. Hoffecker wanted to be able to control the distribution of the Gadsden Purchase half dollars.
The April 1929 issue of The Numismatist printed a letter from Hoffecker, who was said to have designed the proposed coin and would be responsible for its distribution. It stated that Texas Congressman Claude Benton Hudspeth of El Paso had agreed to introduce legislation for the Gadsden piece. Hoffecker related that the coin would have the portrait of Gadsden on its obverse and on its reverse a map of New Mexico and Arizona depicting the purchased lands and El Paso. Ten thousand coins were to be sought, to be issued at $1.50 (equivalent to $22 in 2018) each.
Hudspeth introduced a bill for a Gadsden Purchase half dollar into the House of Representatives on April 25, 1929; it was referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. On January 29, 1930, committee chairman Randolph Perkins of New Jersey sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, enquiring as to the Treasury's views. Mellon replied on the 31st, opposing the bill. He felt that Congress had wisely decided in 1890 that coin designs should not be changed more often than once in 25 years, and that the 15 commemorative coin bills passed since 1920 were wasteful and a burden on the Mint. He noted that in 1927, at the time of the Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar, the Coinage Committee had gone on record in opposition of commemorative coin issues, many of which were only of local and not national significance. Several issues had failed to sell out, resulting in coins being returned to the Mint to be melted, and he suggested that a medal be issued instead of a coin. On March 8, Hoffecker sent a telegram to the committee offering to pay for the entire issue of 10,000 anytime the department wanted, and given that the Mint had produced over 30,000,000 coins for other nations in 1929, any burden posed by commemorative half dollars was slight.
Hearings were held by the committee on the bill on March 10 (briefly) and 17, 1930, with Perkins presiding. On the 17th, Congressman Guinn Williams appeared on behalf of Hudspeth, who was ill. Williams, a Texan, stated that the coin issue was important to the entire Southwest, that proponents would not allow the government to incur any expense, and stated that they were ready to pay for the coins. He also presented a joint resolution of the houses of the Texas Legislature, asking the state's representatives to introduce and support a bill for a Gadsden Purchase half dollar. Next to speak was Albert Gallatin Simms of New Mexico, who assured the committee of his support for the bill, and that of his state's two senators. Hudspeth sent a letter, and his secretary Kate George told the committee that the senators from Texas, New Mexico and Arizona were unanimously in favor of the bill. Hudspeth's letter stated he had been told by Hoffecker's committee that the money from the coins would be used to set up a small monument where the U.S. flag had first been raised in the Gadsden Purchase.
Mellon had sent two Treasury officials to the hearing, Assistant Secretary Walter E. Hope and Assistant Director of the Mint Mary M. O'Reilly. In his testimony, Hope warned that the issuance of commemorative half dollars was leading to confusion, and there was a risk of counterfeiting. Sales for some issues had not met expectations, resulting in many commemoratives being returned to the Mint for redemption and melting. O'Reilly told of a man who was about to be put off a Philadelphia streetcar, having only a commemorative half dollar to pay the fare, something not recognized by the conductor. He was allowed to remain after the superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, also a passenger, paid his fare. Luther A. Johnson of Texas appeared in support of the bill, and presented a letter from Hoffecker dated March 5, stating that the coins could be easily sold, and that when his committee had met with President Herbert Hoover, the president had told them the event should be fittingly celebrated. After the testimony concluded, the Coinage Committee went into executive session and endorsed the bill.
Perkins's committee issued a report dated March 17, 1930, stating that the anniversary of the Gadsden Purchase was of international importance, and there was no risk to the Treasury given the willingness of Hoffecker to pay for the coins. On March 19, Perkins called up the bill before the House, and it passed without debate or dissent. Immediately thereafter, Perkins had another commemorative coin bill passed by the House, for the 300th anniversary of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In the Senate, the Gadsden bill was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency. On April 2, the committee issued a report through Tom Connally of Texas, similar to the House report (of which a copy was attached), recommending passage. On April 7, the bill passed the Senate without debate or opposition. The bill was engrossed and signed on April 9 by the Speaker of the House pro tempore and by Charles Curtis, Vice President of the United States, and was presented to President Hoover on April 10.
On April 21, 1930, Hoover vetoed the bill, returning it unsigned with a list of his objections to the House of Representatives where it originated. This veto was the first of Hoover's presidency, and the first time a commemorative coin bill had been vetoed. The president vetoed the bill on the advice of the Treasury Department. Hoover noted the issuance of 15 commemorative coins over the past decade, something he said allowed the opportunity for counterfeiting. He stated, "the matter is not perhaps one of large importance in itself, were it not for the fact of the great number of other similar proposals"—he noted the five other commemorative coin bills then before Congress, and if the Gadsden Purchase bill were enacted, it would be harder to turn down the other proposals. Deeming the issuance of commemorative coins a misuse of the coinage system, he offered the government's assistance in the production of medals, which could provide a souvenir without impacting the coinage. Hoover's attitude was said to be informed by the return to the Mint for melting large amounts of several commemorative coin issues, something he considered wasteful.
The day after the veto, the House Coinage Committee sought a vote to override it. Many of the bill's proponents came to the House floor to back the override, with the support of members from other parts of the country who sought commemorative coins. Those who would override dominated the debate, with only one speaker, House Majority Leader John Q. Tilson of Connecticut, supporting the president. The override attempt fell well short of the two-thirds needed, as 96 representatives voted in favor of the override, with 243 against it. Five Republicans voted to override Hoover's veto: New Mexico Congressman Simms and four from the East and Midwest.
The New York Sun applauded Hoover's "sound common sense" while Hoffecker's hometown paper, the El Paso Herald, stated that "President Hoover administered a figurative slap to Arizona, New Mexico and El Paso". On April 26, The Washington Post published an editorial in favor of Hoover's action:
It is to be hoped that the practice of minting special coins for occasions of this kind is definitely at an end ... The issuance of commemorative coins has become a nuisance ... Yet if Congress thus favors one celebration, how can it refuse another? The only sound policy is uniform coinage for use only as a means of exchange. The clamor for souvenir coins arises from the fact that they may be sold at a profit. But Congress has authorized the minting of so many souvenir coins recently that profits have fallen off. ... President Hoover's judgment ... meets with general approval.
According to David Bullowa in his 1938 volume on commemoratives, "with the vetoing of the Gadsden Purchase half-dollar proposal ... a statement was issued that commemorative coins were superfluous and that their purpose might be as well accomplished with officially authorized medals. These pieces, if struck, would adequately serve collectors, it was thought, and such pieces would not tend to 'confuse the coinage'."
No commemorative coins were authorized or struck during the remainder of Hoover's presidency. Following the inauguration of Hoover's successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, striking and authorization of commemoratives resumed. By 1935, Roosevelt had warned Congress against issuing large numbers of commemoratives and repeated this in 1937, both times citing Hoover's veto of the Gadsden Purchase bill, and urging the issuance of medals instead. He vetoed a coin bill in 1938 for the 400th anniversary of Coronado's expedition. In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the first authorizations for commemorative coins since 1937, but cited the Treasury's position and stated he would not look with favor on further issues. Citing Hoover's veto, he vetoed a bill for a commemorative half dollar for the centennial of Wisconsin statehood on July 31, 1947. Similar arguments were made by the Treasury under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who vetoed three commemorative coin bills in 1954. No commemoratives were issued thereafter until the department changed its position in 1981, as the Washington 250th Anniversary half dollar was being considered; it was issued in 1982. The government sold the new commemoratives to collectors and dealers, rather than having sales conducted by a designated group.
Although Hoffecker was unsuccessful with the Gadsden Purchase piece, he tried again in 1935. He was the designer and distributor of the Old Spanish Trail half dollar and was also the distributor of the Elgin, Illinois, Centennial half dollar (1936). In 1936, Hoffecker testified before Congress on the abuses committed by the distributors of commemorative coins. From 1939 to 1941, he served as president of the American Numismatic Association. He died in 1955.
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Noah’s receptive language is great; Noah’s ability to make sounds is good, Noah’s use of speech in daily life – not so good.
In my experience with Noah, his confidence in his speech is key to him using his speech in daily life. Because of Noah’s apraxia symptoms it takes lots of PROMPT-ing and lots of drill to program in the words we expect him to recall and use later on. Drilling has negative connotations in speech therapy sometimes because of its lack of emphasis on language and context, but for kids like Noah who have motor planning issues, drilling is appropriate.
We’ve been working on two-word phrases with Noah for the past three years, and we’re just now seeing him put two words together on his own in contexts other than “more (juice) “ or ” (ball) please” verbally. Before now, we would have to model one word at a time and he would repeat one word at a time.
It’s exciting to be moving on from that, and I’ve made three pages of two-word phrase flashcards to share. The first word in each is blue – Noah’s favorite color to speak. The second words are words that Noah has learned to speak. The first three pages of the file are those flashcards. To use them the way I did, cut them in pairs; in other words, blue/boot should be one card, blue/truck should be another card. The last five pages of the file have two picture cards on each page. Cut each of those picture cards out individually.
Depending on where your child is cognitively and with his speech, you may want to only work on the two-picture cards for a while and just use them as flash cards and visual prompts. This is where I started with Noah. I would show him a two-picture card and point to blue and say “blue.” He would repeat. Next, I would point and say the name of the second picture. He would repeat. Then I would say “Your turn.” I would point to blue on the card without speaking and he would say “blue.” Then I would point to the second picture on the card and he would say the word.
Doing this just about broke my heart, but I want to share what apraxia tends to look like in case you are unfamiliar with it but are seeing these symptoms in your child. It doesn’t necessarily mean your child has apraxia, but this would point to a motor-planning disorder
This was my experience with Noah: Understand, on any given day at any given time, if I point to something blue and ask Noah what color it is (and he is in the mood to cooperate), he says a beautiful “blue.” I mean, he gets his “L” in there and everything.
With these two-picture cards, I would point to blue and say blue and he would have no problem saying “blue.” Then I would point to the second word and say it and he would say it reasonably well. When I went back to the beginning of the card and only pointed to blue without speaking it, what came out of his mouth surprised both him and me. It wasn’t anything close to blue. In processing that he was going to have to string two words together, the motor planning for the first word, which he knew inside and out, completely fell apart. It is so great to see him putting effort into speaking these days, but it is also heartbreaking, because at times like these, he gets very frustrated with himself. Wouldn’t you? He knows exactly what to say in his mind, and he opens his mouth and something completely different comes out. It reminds me of what it is like in a dream when I try to speak and have to put great effort into it, yet I still can’t get it out of my mouth. His daily existence. Every. Single. Day. Sigh.
So, we press on, slowly but surely. After several attempts which involve me remodeling the words, he can usually say the two-word phrase. I suggest, depending on your child’s ease in verbalizing these two-word combinations, to drill them once or twice a day, starting with just modeling one word at a time and having your child repeat it back to you. The more times your child pronounces them individually, the easier it will be later when they want to put the two words together and the quicker they will be able to overcome the motor-planning issues that may come into play.
Stepping Up: Taking this one level further involves using the larger one-picture cards you cut out. For this activity, place all the two-picture cards face up in front of your child. Then take one of the larger picture cards, hold it up, and ask your child, “What’s this?” Help your child pick the two-picture card that describes the picture, and then give your child whatever help he needs to read the words outloud. You may find this a good time to work on word recognition with your child, showing him how the words on the two-picture card correspond to the words on the one-picture card.
When introducing a next-step concept like two-word phrases, it’s important to back off of other cognitive demands like new vocabulary or words; that’s why we’re using Noah’s current vocabulary instead of words in a more predictable fashion.
Now it’s your turn. What’s been most effective in teaching your kids two-word phrases?
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I had an idea for a humanoid species that has a significant number more female births than male births, how would this trait have provided enough of an advantage to allow the species to survive to develop civilization?
The evolution of sexual reproduction comes at a significant cost to a species because males cannot produce offspring. Species that are all hermaphrodites are capable of producing twice as many progeny each generation as species with an equal sex ratio. This is called the two-fold cost of sex. Sexual reproduction evolved and persists however because species that routinely recombine their genes are, to put it simply, better at evolution.
So following this line of thought, you need at least some males in order to have a sexually reproducing species. But why does the cost have to be “two-fold”? Why should half the species’ population be male when a much smaller proportion of males could serve the needs of the species. In fact, a lower ratio of males would be evolutionarily optimal from the perspective of the species but it won’t occur because evolutionary game theory occurs at the individual level. It turns out that a 50-50 male/female ratio is an evolutionary stable strategy according to Fisher’s principle. Essentially, if a population has a skewed sex-ratio, then it becomes evolutionarily advantageous for individuals to produce offspring of the minor sex as they will have better reproductive opportunities. Thus the system is always self-correcting towards the evolutionarily stable strategy of 50-50 male/female.
So, having more females than males actually is an evolutionarily favorable strategy as it increases the total potential progeny of the species, but it can never persist stably because evolution is always pushing against it. If you want a population like this you need to break Fisher’s principle in some way. Check out the parasitic/symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia that change the sex of infected insects and the sex of their progeny to suit their own needs.
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The Centre Pompidou is devoting a completely new retrospective, featuring some three hundred works, to the output of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, aka Le Corbusier.
Not only a visionary architect, urban planner and theorist of modernity, but also a painter and sculptor, Le Corbusier made a profound impression on the 20th century in dramatically changing architecture and the way it is «inhabited». His international career flourished long before globalisation made its appearance.
Adopting a decidedly innovative approach, the Centre Pompidou takes a fresh look at the output of this major figure in modernity through the proportions of the human body, which Le Corbusier considered essential as a universal principle. For the architect, this «measurement of man» defined all aspects of architecture and spatial composition.
Central to a colossal and multi-faceted body of work was Le Corbusier’s conception of an essential, universal measurement: the thinking, seeing «mass production man». After his studies, notably in Germany, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (the future Le Corbusier) was influenced by the psychophysicists and by theories on scientific aesthetics, which held that everything was measurable, including sensations, cognitive reactions and human psychology. This concept of measurement lay behind the work of the urban planner, architect and furniture designer, and imbued the work of the painter.
Mathematical it might be, but this line of research never strayed from the human being, and adapted itself to human gestures, viewpoints and thought. The «housing unit» invented by Le Corbusier was small but practical, because on a human scale, while furniture became flexible, to accommodate the movements of the body. The eye and mind of the «perceptive» viewer created a Purist picture whose interpretation was intended to be subjective. The human body – or some of its sensitive components – were subjects for painting: often women’s bodies, but also hands, feet and ears.
In 1943, Le Corbusier created the «Modulor», a system of measurement based on the height of the average man: 183 cm, or 226 cm with the arm raised. Promoted through a book entitled The Modulor: A Harmonious Measure to the Human Scale, Universally Applicable to Architecture and Mechanics, published in 1950, the «Modulor» was presented as a philosophical, mathematical and historical truth, as Le Corbusier’s invention echoed traditional systems.
The new approach taken by this exhibition presents every facet of the artist’s work through some 300 paintings, sculptures, drawings, architectural drawings, models, objects, films, photographs and documents – all illustrating the prolific output of this native of the Swiss Jura, who took French citizenship in 1930, and made Paris his home.
Commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of his death, this key exhibition aims to enlighten audiences on the breadth and complexity of Le Corbusier’s work, thinking and humanism.
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How Do Cryotherapy Machines Work?
Cryotherapy is an athletic treatment used to shorten recovery time between training and workouts. In each session, athletes enter a cryotherapy machine, where extremely cold air (think Antarctica) is blown over their body for approximately two to three minutes.
Nitrogen gas cools the air in the cryotherapy machine, lowering the body’s skin surface temperature by 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit. The cold air and change in skin surface temperature stimulates the body’s sympathetic nervous system, initiates the release of anti-inflammatory molecules and helps to regulate bodily functions.
If you’ve ever strained or injured a joint or muscle, your doctor likely advised using an ice pack on the injured area as part of your treatment plan. The reasoning for this is because cold temperature actually increases blood circulation, which results in pain relief and a quicker recovery. Put simply, a cryotherapy machine is just a giant ice pack for your whole body.
The Goal is to Reduce Inflammation
One of the biggest factors that affect an athlete’s training schedule is inflammation. As one of the biggest challenges for athletes, inflammation and soreness can dictate the frequency between workouts, and training without recovery time to treat inflammation can greatly increase the likelihood of injury.
When the body reacts to cell and tissue damage, the brain signals the area to start recovery, which generally causes inflammation and pain. Cryotherapy machines work to reduce inflammation by initiating vasoconstriction and vasodilation to minimize the amount of inflammation and pain. With minimized inflammation and pain, the body heals more quickly and you’re able to return to the sport you love at a faster rate.
Reduced Recovery Time
Unlike a traditional ice bath treatment, cryotherapy machines are able to cool the skin’s surface to lower temperatures. Traditional ice baths require athletes to submerge themselves between 15-20 minutes. A typical cryotherapy session, which lasts approximately three minutes, reduces treatment time by 10-20 minutes.
For almost all athletes who have experienced them, ice baths are uncomfortable and sometimes even painful. Cryotherapy treatments, on the other hand, generally create less discomfort because of their shortened treatment times. During a cryo session, patients often don’t feel any pain or discomfort whatsoever.
Finally, cryotherapy machine sessions aren’t just for professional athletes. While many professional athletes, such as players for the Denver Broncos, frequently use cryotherapy to recover after games and practices (watch Von Miller in a cryo session here), anyone can benefit from a session. In fact, cryotherapy can be used to treat a variety of injuries, as well as general muscle or joint aches.
Interested in trying out cryotherapy for yourself? Click here to get your first cryotherapy session for $25!
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In several clinical conditions, lipid digestion and absorption are impaired, resulting in the malabsorption of lipids and other nutrients and fatty stools. Abnormal lipid absorption can result in numerous problems because the body requires certain fatty acids (e.g., linoleic and arachidonic acid, precursors of prostaglandins) to function normally. These are called essential fatty acids because the human body cannot synthesize them and is, therefore, totally dependent on the diet to supply them. Recent studies suggest that the human body may also require omega-3 fatty acids in the diet during development. These include linolenic, docosahexaenoic, and eicosapentaenoic acids. Linolenic acid is abundant in plants, and docosahexaenoic and eicos-apentaenoic acids are abundant in fish. Docosahexaenoic acid is an important fatty acid present in the retina and other parts of the brain.
Pancreatic deficiency significantly reduces the ability of the exocrine pancreas to produce digestive enzymes. Because the pancreas normally produces an excess of digestive enzymes, enzyme production has to be reduced to about 10% of normal before symptoms of malabsorption develop. One characteristic of pancreatic deficiency is steatorrhea (fatty stool), resulting from the poor digestion of fat by the pancreatic lipase. Normally about 5 g/day of fat are excreted in human stool. With steatorrhea, as much as 50 g/day can be excreted.
Fat absorption subsequent to the action of pancreatic li-pase requires solubilization by bile salt micelles. Acute or chronic liver disease can cause defective biliary secretion, resulting in bile salt concentrations lower than necessary for micelle formation. The normal absorption of fat is thereby inhibited.
Abetalipoproteinemia, an autosomal recessive disorder, is characterized by a complete lack of apo B, which is required for the formation and secretion of chylomicrons and VLDLs. Apo B-containing lipoproteins in the circulation—including chylomicrons, VLDLs, and low-density lipoproteins (LDLs)—are absent. Plasma LDLs are absent because they are derived mainly from the metabolism of VLDLs. Since individuals with abetalipoproteinemia do not produce any chylomicrons or VLDLs in the small intestine, they are unable to transport absorbed fat, resulting in an accumulation of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm of enterocytes. They also suffer from a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins.
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Trying To Lose Weight Can Be Tough. But... Not Losing Weight and Gaining What You Lost Back, Sucks. If you've ever felt that no matter what you do to lose weight nothing seems to work. If you've ever felt that there has got to be some kind of a system or way to lose weight...but just have not found it yet.
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Tooth Extraction is a more complex procedure, which is used if a tooth may have broken off at the gum line or has not erupted in the mouth properly.
The oral surgeon makes a small incision into your gum and then surgically removes the broken tooth or impacted wisdom tooth.
Tooth Removal Procedure
Tooth removal is usually relatively straightforward, the vast majority are normally performed quickly while you are awake by using local anaesthetic injections to eliminate any pain. Local anaesthetic blocks pain, but mechanical forces are sometimes vaguely felt.
After the tooth is removed, a pack is used to apply pressure to the tooth socket to stop any bleeding. After tooth extraction, we advise you not to rinse your mouth and avoid strenuous activity. Smoking is to also to be avoided for at least 24 hours as it impairs wound healing. We advise you to use hot-water mouth baths which normally start 24 hours after the extraction.
Tooth Extraction | Suitable candidates for tooth extraction
If your tooth is;
- Cracked down to the root
- Too crowded
- Not useful (wisdom teeth primarily)
Then you would be a suitable candidate for tooth extraction.
Tooth Extraction | What are the alternatives?
There are few alternatives if you require tooth extraction, however depending on your circumstance, your dentist may suggest a root canal treatment instead so that you do not lose your full tooth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I brush my teeth after an extraction?
Don't brush your teeth on the day of surgery. The day after you've had your surgery, you can brush your teeth, but avoid brushing near the surgical site for up to 3 days. Rinse with half a cup of warm water and a pinch of salt beginning 3 days after surgery.
How long will my mouth be sore after extraction?
The following will help speed recovery:
- Take the painkillers which your dentist prescribes for you.
- After 24 hours rinse your mouth with warm salt water several times a day. This reduces swelling and relieves pain.
- Make sure you change your gauze pads before they become soaked with blood.
- Relax after surgery. ...
- Avoid smoking.
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ACH payment processing is growing in volume and boasts many benefits to businesses across several industries. In this guide, we’ll explore what ACH payments are, how they work, and how to accept them as a business.
What is ACH payment processing?
ACH payment processing is the electronic movement of money between banks across the Automated Clearing House Network (ACH Network) to facilitate payments. ACH payments are a way to transfer money from one bank to another without the use of paper checks, credit card networks, wire transfers, or cash.
The ACH Network is managed by NACHA, which is the governing body that establishes and enforces the processes and rules for ACH transfers.
How are ACH transfers different from wire transfers?
While both ACH transfers and wire transfers involve the movement of money between bank accounts, there are some critical differences. The main advantage of wire transfers is that you can send funds almost immediately. Typically, there’s no hold on funds sent by wire, meaning that the Receiver can access them right away.
Generally speaking, ACH transfers cost less than wire transfers. For businesses, ACH transfers cost between $0.10 and $2.50 per transaction, depending on processing volume and assessed risk. Wire transfers, on the other hand, can cost between $10 to $35 per transfer, and smaller institutions may also charge a fee to receive a wire transfer.
ACH and wire transfers are also rarely used for the same purpose. ACH transfers are often used for recurring payments, such as direct deposits or bill payments set on autopay. On the other hand, wire transfers are commonly used for larger and more immediate one-time transactions.
You can find more information in our post, ACH Transfer vs. Wire Transfer: What’s the Difference?
How are ACH payments different from eCheck payments?
Both ACH and eChecks require the ACH Network to process payments. The terms are often used interchangeably to describe the electronic movement of money using a consumer’s routing and bank account information.
Sometimes, an “eCheck” may refer to a paper check being processed electronically to make a one-time payment, using a consumer’s routing and bank account information. On the other hand, “ACH” may refer to a one-time or recurring transaction using routing and account information being processed without the use of paper checks.
That said, the compliance regulations and processing methods for both ACH and eCheck payments are the same.
Our blog, ACH vs eCheck: What’s the Difference? covers this topic in greater detail.
How does ACH payment processing work?
ACH transactions involve Originators (e.g., merchants, employers, suppliers & distributors) and Receivers (e.g., customers, employees, manufacturers & retailers). For most transactions, NACHA requires that the Originator receive authorization from the Receiver before being able to debit (or credit) the Receiver’s bank account.
ACH payments get processed in two ways, which can vary in processing speed and cost:
- ACH Debits: Transactions where funds are withdrawn from a Receiver’s account
- ACH Credits: Transactions where funds are deposited into a Receiver’s account
Once the Originator receives authorization and initiates the transaction, an ACH Entry is created and transmitted to the ACH Operator (either the Federal Reserve Bank or EPN/Electronic Payments Network). From there, the Receiving bank (RDFI) will settle the transaction by the ACH Operator’s deadline (e.g., 9:00 AM local time the following business day for standard ACH Entries and 1:30 PM/5:00 PM local time for same-day ACH Entries).
Not all banks have the infrastructure in place to fully offer ACH Origination services to their banking customers. In most cases, an intermediary processor, or a Third Party Sender, with an established account at an Originating bank (ODFI) will process ACH Entries on the Originator’s behalf.
You can find a more detailed introduction to the key players involved in ACH here.
You can find a glossary of key ACH terms here.
Is ACH payment processing secure?
While ACH payment processing does not have the same PCI-compliance guidelines required for credit card processing, it’s generally considered secure.
NACHA requires that all parties involved in ACH transactions implement processes, procedures, and controls to protect sensitive data. Their rules also dictate that the transmission of any banking information (like a customer’s account and routing number) be encrypted using “commercially reasonable” technology. Originators of ACH payments must also take “commercially reasonable” steps to employ fraud detection measures against ACH transactions, identity authentication, and validate routing numbers.
Also, NACHA conducts an annual information security audit to ensure that the financial information the Originator obtains from Receivers is protected by security practices that include “adequate levels” of physical security to protect against theft, tampering, or damage, personnel and access controls, and network security.
Most third party ACH processors should have these security capabilities, as NACHA compliance is a requirement. It’s also worth working with an IT or security professional to ensure your business or organization is processing ACH payments safely.
How much does ACH processing cost?
ACH payments are generally more affordable for companies to process than credit cards or wire transfers. The exact cost of processing ACH payments depends on your merchant account provider (or whatever entity you’re using to process ACH payments).
Some ACH processors charge a flat rate, which typically ranges from $0.25 to $0.75 per transaction. Others charge a flat percentage fee, ranging from 0.5 percent to one percent per transaction. Still, others charge a flat monthly fee that bundles processing, integration, and support costs. Meanwhile, Providers may also charge an additional monthly fee for recurring ACH payments, which can vary.
Actum charges a flat rate per transaction with no additional fees for processing, integration, support, or recurring payments. This means that you only pay for what you use. Often, our customers find that this pricing model is more cost-effective and scalable than monthly, subscription-based service fees.
Why are some ACH payments rejected?
Per NACHA Rules, the Receiving bank (RDFI) has two business days to reject a settled ACH payment. If an ACH payment gets rejected, your bank (OFDI) will reverse the bank transfer and provide the reason in the form of a Return Code. These reject codes, or “Return Codes,” are essential for delivering the right information to merchants as to why a payment didn’t go through.
Here are a few of the most common ACH Return Codes that businesses encounter, listed by order of frequency:
- R01 – Insufficient funds have resulted in not being able to make the requested transaction.
- R08 – The Receiver has placed a stop payment order on the ACH Debit entry, which may be placed on one or more Debit Entries.
- R02 – A previously active account has been closed by the customer or the RDFI.
- R16 – 1) Access to the account is restricted due to specific action taken by the RDFI or by legal action; 2) OFAC has instructed the RDFI or Gateway to return the Entry.
- R03 – The account number does not correspond to the individual identified in the ACH Entry, or the account number designated is not an open account.
- R09 – A sufficient ledger balance exists to satisfy the dollar value of the transaction (i.e., uncollected checks), but the available balance is below the dollar value of the Debit Entry.
Here is a full list of ACH Return Codes, with advice on how to handle them.
Are ACH payments instant?
While the technology and processing times have vastly improved since its inception in 1978, ACH payments are not instant. Why is this the case? There are two reasons:
- ACH is processed in batches throughout the day.
- RDFIs can take up to 2 business days to reject an ACH transaction.
All federally insured depository financial institutions are members of NACHA and maintain master accounts at the ACH Operator level. This structure allows anybody with a bank account to be able to pay with, or get paid through, ACH. Because of this structure, all ACH transactions clear automatically between banks before the Receiver’s account or balance gets verified.
How long does it take for me to get paid on an ACH payment?
The answer: it depends. The type of ACH transaction (ACH Debit or ACH Credit) determines the amount of time that it takes to receive ACH funds.
For ACH Credits, funds can typically clear and become available on the next business day, if not sooner. If the Originator uses Same Day ACH, the transfer has earlier transmission times and can settle faster.
Successfully submitted ACH Credits will always post to the Receiver’s account by 9:00 AM (local time) on the following banking day – or later the same day if you’re using Same Day ACH.
For ACH Debit transactions, funds are subject to settlement periods. Assuming that the Originator (through its ODFI or processor) doesn’t receive a Return from the Receiver’s bank (RDFI), funds are typically made available in 3-5 business days.
Can ACH payments be expedited?
Using Same Day ACH, businesses can expedite ACH payments. Same Day ACH transactions are also getting new enhancements, which include faster transmission times.
According to a recent study, 66.7% of financial institutions are already making Same Day ACH (SDA) funds available by 5:00 PM (local time).
How can I accept ACH payments?
You can accept ACH payments through a bank or a Third Party Sender (i.e., “ACH payment processor” or “ACH provider”). Keep in mind that not all banks have the infrastructure in place to fully offer ACH Origination services to their banking customers. In most cases, a Third Party Sender with an established account at an Originating bank (ODFI) will be your best bet for accepting ACH payments.
To get started accepting payments, you’ll want to do your research and make sure that you find an ACH provider that works best for your use case. Here are a few questions for your consideration: What is the volume of transactions that you will submit? Will you submit transactions via web portal/virtual terminal, batch upload, or API? Are fast transmission times and same day processing important to you?
Once you select a processor, you’ll likely want to contact them to understand pricing and other details related to your use case. Assuming that the conversation goes well, you will then fill out a merchant account application and include the required supporting documentation. This part of the process allows your ACH provider to do their enhanced due diligence on your business or organization.
To get approved, you’ll need to have a risk score that’s deemed acceptable by the underwriting team of the processor you’re applying with. Based on this score, you will either be approved or declined for a merchant account. Many providers offer relatively fast approval times (within a few days or less, in most cases). Some providers market “instant approval,” but there’s a caveat to this approach. In these cases, merchants are generally expected to process few ACH transactions with enforced account validation methods that may either slow down funds or diminish throughput.
After receiving approval, you may, optionally, be seeking to integrate the ACH payment processing into other software platforms you’re already using to accept ACH payments. Many providers offer API documentation and test accounts to help you or your vendor embed payment functionality into your software.
Once you’re up-and-running, you’re ready to start accepting ACH payments.
Learn more about how to accept ACH payments with Actum at the following link: ACH Processing with Actum.
What are some of the best ACH providers?
Depending on your use case, some ACH providers may prove to be a better fit than others.
For instance, if you need to send payouts to global suppliers or a sizeable chunk of your customers have bank accounts outside of the USA, a cross-border payment processor can be a great option. While more expensive, these providers also offer basic accounting features, making it easy to manage supplier relationships and reconcile invoices.
If you’re already using a gateway for an existing credit card merchant account or you’d like to be able to manage your payments on the software platform that you’re already using, an ACH-specific processor may require additional integration time. Most gateways, however, have multiple, pre-integrated processing partners for you to choose from, and they provide a user interface that lets you collect the necessary transaction details to push to the processor of your choice.
Actum is an excellent choice when considering a US-based ACH provider. We support an open API that’s easy to integrate (and pre-integrated) with payment gateways.
If you’re searching to integrate with ACH payment processing, we’ve outlined some of the top factors to consider.
Why Actum for ACH payment processing?
It’s easy to set up and manage one-time and recurring payments using our web portal, powerful API, or batch upload method. Our advanced software also allows merchants across all industries to originate, track, and pull reports on submitted electronic transactions. Our API can also integrate seamlessly into new and existing systems. You can learn more in our Guide for Software Companies.
To minimize risks, we adhere to stringent, industry-standard compliance policies and procedures, with data protection as a top priority. We encrypt all payment data during transactions and offer the option to tokenize bank account numbers— thereby minimizing concerns around holding onto sensitive financial data.
If you’re in the market to start accepting ACH payments, we hope you choose Actum! We’re frequently recognized for our 20+ years of hands-on ACH expertise and client-focused support team.
To learn more about ACH and working with Actum, we invite you to Contact Us.
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On the eve of Thanksgiving in 1992, then-U.S. president George H. W. Bush, in his final weeks in office, approved a major military intervention to relieve a humanitarian crisis in Somalia.
After losing his bid for re-election, Bush was not expected to make any dramatic foreign-policy decisions; lame ducks rarely quack or take unexpected steps. But the first president Bush did.
Today, we vividly remember the chain of events during the Bill Clinton presidency that led to the American withdrawal from Somalia in 1994—the shot-down Black Hawk helicopters, the body of a U.S. soldier dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, the angry crowds taunting American military personnel. We sometimes forget that those tragic events were preceded by a successful mission that saved lives in a war-torn nation on the brink of self-destruction.
In the early 1990s, a bitter civil war freed the people of Somalia from a brutal dictator, Siad Barre, but failed to re-establish order and stability when clan leaders and their militias fought over succession. A combination of civil war, clan conflict, refugee dislocation and drought left the nation unable to feed its population. The emergency generated a routine international response with shipments of food, medicine and relief workers making their way to the country. But continued fighting, particularly in the south and the capital Mogadishu, was so pervasive that the effective distribution of aid was impossible.
When then U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Smith Hempstone, visited refugee camps on the border with Somalia in the summer of 1992, he described his visit in a memo to Washington titled, “A Day in Hell.” In Somalia, hellish starvation and malnutrition were rampant, and as with every famine, the first to die were the young, the old and the infirm. An estimated one in four children under the age of five years old died in the famine, according to some estimates.
In August 1992, the U.S. began an airlift of food and medicine to the southern regions that were inaccessible to relief convoys. These supplies made a difference, but far too often food was captured on the ground by armed groups, who hoarded it and used relief packages as a currency in the crippled Somali economy. Journalists who were able to get to the refugee camps and remote locations within Somalia came back with harrowing stories and pictures of desperation.
The pictures made their way to television screens, first on CNN—where more resources were devoted to the Somalia story—and then more broadly across the media landscape. Two days before Thanksgiving, on the night before President Bush made his decision to send over 28,000 US troops, NBC broadcast heart-wrenching black-and-white photographs of starving Somali children. Tom Brokaw told his viewers: “In Somalia, children under the age of five have all but disappeared…. It’s a place where a thousand die today, and a thousand will die tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.”
The vivid media coverage gave rise to what came to be called the ‘CNN effect’—the theory that widespread media coverage can influence foreign-policy decisions. With this came the suggestion that the U.S. military intervention was the product of excessively emotional public and presidential reaction to images of suffering and starvation.
There is some truth to that conclusion, but less than many commentators recognize. The wheels of government move slowly and it was not a sudden and surprising presidential decision the day after the NBC broadcast that turned everything around. The staff planning in the Pentagon for possible military action began weeks before the final presidential decision. During those weeks, State Department memorandums made the case that only a U.S. intervention could quickly end the famine. Members of Congress and newspaper columnists lobbied for action.
Bush had a long-term interest in the Somali situation and a consistent desire to do something about it. He ordered the airlift in August, then a full-scale intervention in November after the election. Those who knew him well thought of him as a humanitarian who would surely offer U.S. assistance if the risks to our military forces were deemed acceptable.
When the marines landed in Somalia, there were television cameras on the beach and no serious resistance. Explicit diplomatic warnings and the arrival of an overwhelming military force cowered the clan leaders and allowed for the rapid distribution of food and medicine. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger later told me that the U.S. helped the people of Somalia because it was right, and because it could.
Memories of the Black Hawks being brought down make people think of Somalia as being a U.S. foreign-policy failure. It wasn’t. Tens–perhaps even hundreds–of thousands of lives were saved by the American protected distribution of aid. For Somalia in the final weeks of 1992, there was a very real reason for Thanksgiving.
Robert Strong is a professor of politics at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
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Summary: The workplace makes you susceptible to many forms of diseases. Good hygiene plays a big factor in keeping the work environment tidy and productive.
Hand washing alone is not enough to kill bacteria. The use of hand sanitisers is also essential in preventing the spread of illness.
Providing a clean, hygienic workplace is important to keep your staff safe against germs. From wall mounted soap dispenser units, hand drying solutions, to hand sanitisers, hygiene amenities should be complete.
If you want the best hygiene products that are affordable and easy to install, contact Alsco now.
Why Do You Need Hand Sanitisers?
Did you know that the average desk contains about 400 times more germs than a toilet seat? Frequently touched surfaces are also a breeding ground for germs including lift buttons, telephone handsets, and door handles.
Once disease spreads, absenteeism begins. This can become a burden on the company and the rest of the staff. Providing hand sanitisers is one way to help your company’s bottom line. Because it’s convenient, it can easily promote good hygiene and encourage your staff to participate.
How Do Hand Sanitisers Work?
Proper hand washing with soap and water is still the best method to reduce microbes in most situations. However, if soap and water are not available, alcohol-based hand sanitizers that contain at least 60% alcohol are the best substitutes.
Hand sanitisers are typically gels that contain alcohol. It works immediately and effectively in order to kill bacteria and most viruses. Most brands of sanitisers contain moisturisers to minimize skin dryness and irritation.
Hand sanitisers may work well in settings where hands come into contact with germs but are not heavily soiled or greasy. They are more effective in reducing the spread of rotavirus, adenovirus, and rhinovirus.
Why Should You Invest In Hand Sanitisers?
1. Prevents spread of diseases
The flu and common cold are contagious and can be transmitted via airborne droplets and direct contact. The things you touch throughout the day can become a breeding ground for countless bacteria. Hand washing or the use of sanitisers are effective ways to prevent the spread of germs.
2. Keeps environment safe
If you’re working in the food, education industry or healthcare setting, good hygiene and cleanliness of the workplace are paramount. Regular handwashing or use of hand sanitisers can reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
If education is your field, to help you learn all you need to know about the effects of washrooms on making a school a safe, healthy and pleasant environment for students and staff, we’ve created the ultimate School Washroom Guide. It will teach you how your school washroom can meet all the legal requirements, health and safety standards and much more.
3. Reinforce the habit among employees
Hand hygiene is essential for good health, yet many people do not give it much thought. Establish the habit of handwashing among your staff by making hand sanitiser dispensers visible and easily accessible. The sight of the container will remind everyone of what they are supposed to do.
4. Boost work productivity
Preventing the spread of illness is preventing absenteeism. Healthy people make more and that’s a fact. Habitual practice of good hygiene amongst employees will lower the risk of spreading diseases. Keep your team or staff in tip-top shape.
5. Show workers you care
A fresh and hygienic washroom only shows that you care about the comfort and wellbeing of your staff. More so, a washroom that includes complete amenities such as hand soaps, hand sanitisers, paper towels, and hand dryers can create a lasting impression to guests and clients.
What ALSCO Can Offer?
Germs lurk in your work environment every day. Simple steps like putting up hand sanitiser dispensers can go a long way towards keeping employees healthy and productive. Alsco offers a wide range of hygiene products suited to specific needs.
Stop the spread of illness in the workplace and invest in good hygiene practices now!
Want a well-maintained, well-managed washroom and hygiene systems, contact Alsco now.
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Some microglia are from Mars; others from Venus. Well, no. But in some scenarios, to which sex a microglial cell belongs appears to hold some sway over how it responds. Consider tau. At a joint Keystone symposia—Neurodegenerative Diseases: New Insights and Therapeutic Opportunities, and Neural Environment in Disease: Glial Responses and Neuroinflammation—Li Gan reported that female tauopathy mice expressing an AD risk variant of TREM2 exhibited a stepped-up microglial reaction and had worse memory. The same TREM2 mutation did no such thing in male mice.
- In tau mice, the R47H-TREM2 mutation triggered neurotoxic inflammation only in females.
- MicroRNAs disproportionately tweak gene expression in males.
- Chimeric mice allow researchers to explore human microglial responses to Aβ and tau pathology.
Gan, who is now at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, also uncovered profound differences in how microRNAs control gene expression in males versus females. Other researchers found that microglia dictate pain sensitivity in sex-specific ways. In all, the findings cast microglia as pulling the strings behind some sex differences. At least in mice.
Many presentations at Keystone focused on these resident immune cells and TREM2. To name a few, David Holtzman of Washington University, St. Louis, David Hansen, Genentech, and Kim Green, University of California, Irvine, implicated TREM2 and other microglial factors in shaping Aβ plaques, which influenced the subsequent development of tau pathology (see Part 1 of this series). But does TREM2 also affect tau independently of Aβ? On this question, Gan reported surprising results in the P301L model of tauopathy. Her lab made use of a menagerie of mouse lines, including TREM2 knock-ins in which one or both copies of the mouse gene were replaced by the human one. The knock-ins expressed either the common variant of human TREM2, or the R47H-TREM2 variant that boosts risk for AD, and the animals were generated on the wild-type or P301L background. In addition, Gan examined P301L mice on a TREM2 knockout or wild-type background. This is where sex differences became apparent.
Compared to 1-year-old wild-type mice expressing a copy of normal human TREM2, those carrying a copy of the R47H AD variant had a spatial-learning deficit. It was greater in female than male mice. This sex difference grew further when Gan crossed the TREM2 mice to a P301L background. In Keystone, she reported that P301L mice expressing one copy of R47H-TREM2 had the same burden of tau pathology as mice expressing normal mouse or human TREM2. That said, female P301L mice expressing the AD risk variant did more poorly at spatial learning, whereas the mutation appeared to slightly benefit performance of male P301L mice.
Gan pegged maladaptive microglia as a likely culprit behind the greater memory loss in female P301Ls. She reported that microglia in both male and female P301L mice expressed the disease-associated microglia (DAM) signature of genes. However, expression of certain DAM genes shifted only in female mice that expressed TREM2-R47H. In females, R47H dialed up expression of many pro-inflammatory cytokines of the DAM signature and lessened expression of a suite of neuronal genes. In male P301L mice, the R47H variant exerted no overt change on the DAM signature.
Single-nucleus RNA sequencing told a similar story, in that a population of microglia expressing DAM genes was overrepresented in R47H-TREM2 female P301L mice compared with mice expressing the common variant of the microglial receptor.
Gan concluded that the tau-related effects of the R47H TREM2 variant are not equivalent to those of TREM2 deficiency. At least in females. While TREM2 deficiency reportedly dampens the DAM signature in both male and female P301L mice, the R47H mutation ramped it up and shifted it toward a more pro-inflammatory, potentially damaging profile in females, she said. Gan attributed the worse memory loss in female R47H-TREM2s to this shift. She emphasized that this sexual dimorphism was not due to more tau pathology in female P301L mice, but to an altered microglial response to that burden.
The prevailing view in the field holds that R47H saps TREM2 function. Gan acknowledged that her data appear to go against that. Still, she said, the mutation might reduce TREM2’s response to Aβ, which is known to bind TREM2, yet have a different effect in the context of tau pathology alone.
When asked about the shifted microglial response to tau that Gan reported in female mice, Hansen hesitated. The gender difference could come down to timing, he noted. He reported that in his PS2APP TREM2 knockout model, females develop Aβ pathology sooner than males do, but ultimately the sexes even out. Gan’s observation of sex dimorphism—albeit in a tau only model—was made when the mice were 7 to 9 months old. Hansen agreed with Gan’s point that while TREM2 clearly mediates Aβ-instigated tau pathology, the receptor’s function in the context of tau pathology alone could be different.
Gan is exploring the source of this sexual dimorphism in microglial responses further. MicroRNAs are known to fine-tune gene expression—could they be at play here? By comparing microRNA expression profiles in microglia isolated from male and female mice, graduate student Lay Kodama noted a slew of differentially expressed microRNAs. Kodoma also compared the mRNA transcriptomes of microglia isolated from wild-type and dicer knockout mice, which cannot generate mature microRNA. Removing dicer altered the expression of nearly 1,000 genes in male microglia, but only about 100 in female microglia, suggesting that microRNA disproportionately affect gene expression in microglia from males. Indeed, deleting dicer in male P301Ls exacerbated tau pathology, but in female P301Ls it did not. Overall, Gan interpreted her data to suggest that male and female microglia use different biological mechanisms to maintain homeostasis.
“These results indicate that males and females likely respond to AD-like neurodegeneration differently,” commented Li-Huei Tsai of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It would be very interesting to compare the transcriptomes of men and women who carry R47H in multiple cell types to see if there are differences,” she added.
Using single-cell RNA sequencing of human prefrontal cortex samples, Tsai recently reported sex differences in neuron and oligodendrocyte responses to AD, to which she attributed sex differences in AD risk and in white-matter pathology (Jul 2018 conference news; May 2019 news). Her study recovered too few microglia from the human samples to properly compare the sexes. However, at Keystone, Tsai reported that single-cell RNA sequencing from hippocampal samples, which have higher numbers of microglia, is underway, and could support such an analysis.
Next, Gan wants to test whether the sex differences are intrinsic to the cells or are imparted by the brain environment, as well as whether they hold true in human microglia.
Both these questions might find an answer with human microglia chimeric mouse models, such as the one developed by Matthew Blurton-Jones at the University of California, Irvine. At Keystone, Blurton-Jones characterized his model, in which immunodeficient mice receive transplants of iPSC-derived human microglial progenitors. Blurton-Jones generated them in response to mounting data showing that human microglia are different from their mouse counterparts in ways that matter greatly to the study of neurodegenerative disease (May 2019 news).
Alzforum covered some of this work at the AD/PD conference in Lisbon, along with findings from a similar chimeric model developed by Bart De Strooper at the U.K. Dementia Research Institute and KU Leuven (Apr 2019 conference news). Blurton-Jones had reported that when the recipient mice were 5xFAD, transplanted human microglia surrounded plaques but expressed different genes than the DAM signature of mouse microglia. At Keystone, he added that when the human microglia expressed a copy of R47H-TREM2, they were less energetic at rallying around plaques. Blurton-Jones has started transplanting microglia into P301L mice, and his initial findings suggest that transplanted human microglia nibble away at tau-laden neurons.
Both Gan and Blurton-Jones intend to use chimeric models to find out what is behind the sex differences that Gan saw in microglial responses to tauopathy. For example, by transplanting iPSC-derived microglia from women into male mice, or from men into female mice, the researchers can perhaps distinguish relative contributions of the brain environs from microglia-intrinsic properties that might drive the sex differences.
A smattering of other presentations at Keystone highlighted sex-specific differences in how microglia respond to a variety of perturbations. For example, Sandra Siegert from the Institute of Science and Technology in Klosterneuburg, Austria, reported that, in response to treatment with anesthetics, female microglia transformed into phagocytic cells that attacked structures surrounding parvalbumin-positive interneurons. Male microglia ultimately did the same, but responded more slowly. The findings suggest that female microglia may act faster on inhibitory interneurons to counteract dips in neuronal activity.
Julia Kuhn, who was a postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco, and is now at Genentech, reported a finding on pain. In response to peripheral nerve injury, Kuhn found, sensory neurons in the spinal cord pump out CSF-1, which signals through CSF-1R on spinal microglia (Guan et al., 2016). Males, but not females, are known to become hypersensitive to pain following such injuries. At Keystone, Kuhn reported why: The rush of CSF-1 in the spinal cord recruits T cells, which dampen microglial activation. In males, no T cells are recruited, and microglia become overactivated, stoking pain.
Yajing Xu of University College London reported that differences in the way males and females respond to pain could come down to how microglia sculpt nerve fibers during development. During the first week of life, microglia from both sexes engulfed portions of nerve fibers that receive touch and pain signals in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, Xu found. When Xu nicked the hind paw of the mice during this time period, microglia responded by crowding the nerve fibers that transmitted the injury signal. However, only male microglia stepped up their engulfment of nerve fibers, essentially hijacking this normal developmental process, Xu said. She is investigating whether these differences in microglial engulfment of nerve fibers shape pain sensitivity in adulthood.
Overall, researchers agreed that microglia respond differently between the sexes in some instances, but what drives those differential responses, and how they ultimately affect the course of disease, remain to be explored.—Jessica Shugart
- TREM2, Microglia Dampen Dangerous Liaisons Between Aβ and Tau
- A Delicate Frontier: Human Microglia Focus of Attention at Keystone
- When it Comes to Alzheimer’s Disease, Do Human Microglia Even Give a DAM?
- Chimeric Mice: Can They Model Human Microglial Responses?
- Guan Z, Kuhn JA, Wang X, Colquitt B, Solorzano C, Vaman S, Guan AK, Evans-Reinsch Z, Braz J, Devor M, Abboud-Werner SL, Lanier LL, Lomvardas S, Basbaum AI. Injured sensory neuron-derived CSF1 induces microglial proliferation and DAP12-dependent pain. Nat Neurosci. 2016 Jan;19(1):94-101. Epub 2015 Dec 7 PubMed.
No Available Further Reading
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When consumers think about mobile network providers, their primary concern is with regards to coverage, quality, support, pricing, and other factors but when you pick a network carrier, you also make the choice between a GSM network or a CDMA network, at least in the US.
You have probably come across these terms in the past when picking a mobile phone, or when first joining, or switching, network carriers, but what do they mean and what is the difference between the two? We find out, as we take a closer look at GSM vs CDMA and what it signifies for us as consumers.
What is GSM?
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication and is now considered the standard for communication globally, particularly in Asia and Europe, with its availability in over 210 countries worldwide. It functions on four distinct frequency bands, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz in Europe and Asia, and 850 MHz and 1900 MHz in North and South America. The GSM Association is an international organization founded in 1987 with the goal of developing and overseeing the expansion of the GSM wireless standard.
GSM uses a variant of TDMA (time division multiple access) that divides the frequency bands into multiple channels. With GSM, our voice is transformed into digital data, which is given a channel and a time slot. On the other end, the receiver listens only to the assigned time slot, with the call pieced together. Obviously, this happens in a negligible amount of time, and the receiver doesn’t notice the “break,” or time division, that occurs.
What is CDMA?
CDMA, or code division multiple access, was a standard designed and patented by Qualcomm, but subsequently used as the basis for the CDMA2000 and WCDMA standards for 3G. However, because of its proprietary nature, CDMA hasn’t seen the global adoption that GSM has, with less than 18% of the networks around the world using CDMA, and is primarily found in the US, with Verizon Wireless and Sprint both using CDMA networks, as well as in South Korea and Russia. You can find the full list of CDMA networks here.
CDMA networks layer digitalized calls over one another, assigning unique codes to differentiate between them. Every call data is encoded with a different key, and the calls are then transmitted at the same time. The receivers each have the unique key as well, to split the combined signal into its individual calls.
GSM vs CDMA: Main differences
Both are multiple access standards, which means that multiple calls can go through a single tower, but as you can see, the major difference between the two has to do with the way your data is converted into the radio waves that your phone broadcasts and receives. There are, of course, more practical considerations that matter more for us as a consumer, which you can find listed below:
- SIM cards: Before the advent of 4G LTE, the obvious difference between GSM and CDMA devices were with regards to the SIM card. GSM handsets came with a SIM card slot, while CDMA phones did not. In other words, CDMA is a handset-based standard, with a phone number linked to a particular device. If you wanted to upgrade to another phone, you would have to get in touch with the network carrier, de-activate the old device and activate the new one. On the other hand, with GSM devices, the phone number is linked to the SIM card, so when switching devices, all you have to do is pop the SIM card into a new phone and you are good to go. (This is obviously without taking into consideration GSM devices being locked to network carriers, as seen in the US).
- Network coverage: Network coverage doesn’t depend on whether it is a GSM or CDMA network, but rather on the infrastructure the carrier has in place. GSM networks are far more popular globally, but in the US, Verizon Wireless, a CDMA network, boasts the highest number of subscribers and broadest coverage in the country.
- International roaming: In your home market, it doesn’t matter what kind of network it is, with the focus instead on the available coverage. However, when it comes to international roaming, GSM has the upper hand, with a lot more GSM networks around the world, along with roaming deals between these providers. With a GSM phone, you also have the advantage of picking up a local SIM card wherever you are, assuming that you have an unlocked device. You may not get full access to data connectivity, depending on the device and network compatibility though.
GSM vs CDMA: The future
With the advent of 4G and the adoption of LTE and LTE-Advanced as the standard by the majority of network carriers worldwide, the debate of GSM vs CDMA matters less every day. You may have noticed that modern smartphones intended for CDMA networks also come with SIM card slots, to take advantage of the network’s 4G LTE capabilities.
With the move towards 5G, the choice between GSM and CDMA becomes even less relevant, as voice call technologies increasingly moved over to data network brands. Today, the argument is only a consideration as 2G and 3G networks are still used at the backbone of network voice technologies. Eventually, these bands will be repurposed and networks will move away from this older voice technology. For example, AT&T has already turned off its 2G GSM network and Verizon is set to shut down 2G and 3G CDMA come the end of 2019.
While GSM and CDMA handsets cannot be interchanged even now, and will never be cross-compatible, that won’t make a difference as we continue to make a push towards more advanced 4G and 5G networks. Unless international roaming is a factor, as far as your voice call and 3G data needs are concerned, both GSM and CDMA networks are equally good, with factors like availability, coverage, customer service, and price, more at play here.
It’s also worth noting that many CDMA phones — like those offered from Verizon — also have support for GSM technology when roaming, so international travelers don’t really even have to worry much about this anymore.
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The selected works provide an overview of the artists’ graphic output and demonstrate the different approaches each took to printmaking. Friends who rose to prominence in London in the 1950s, Bacon and Freud are widely regarded as the leading figurative artists of the 20th century.
Francis Bacon (1909 - 1992) based his prints on a selection of 35 of his paintings dating from 1955 – 1991. Following a European tradition of artists collaborating with master printers which dates back to the Renaissance, Bacon worked with skilled French, Italian and Spanish printers on a relatively small body of lithographs and a few etchings (totalling only about 40 editions). Marlborough started working with Bacon in 1958 and has carried his graphic works since they were made. Frankie Rossi, Director of Marlborough Graphics explains:
Bacon wanted his prints to look as close to his paintings as possible - his attention to detail and desire for perfection are evident in these works. Prints were produced under his supervision and he personally made changes to proofs when necessary, always ensuring the right colour balance was achieved.
In the lithograph Study for a Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1989), like Bacon’s oil paintings, the work simultaneously repels and intrigues the viewer with its bold, grotesque figure. This paradox remained consistent across his print work. In one of Bacon’s final works, the striking triptych Studies for Self-portrait, the artist’s distorted head emerges from a black background, a representation of the evils and devastation of the human condition. All Bacon prints Marlborough exhibits and deals in were created, approved and signed in his lifetime - with the exception of three editions made in the year of the artist’s death, which he approved but did get the chance to sign. These posthumous prints are stamp signed by the Francis Bacon Estate.
Lucian Freud (1922 – 2011) created his first etching in Paris in 1946, but the height of his graphic output was in the 1990s. The marks and techniques he employed during the etching process were a natural progression from his work as a draughtsman. In his paintings and prints, the influence of one medium on the other can be seen. His subjects were those close and familiar to him, though often anonymous to the viewer. Working in a purist manner, all of Freud’s etchings were devoid of colour (bar two editions) and featured minimal backgrounds. Unsettling and unyielding, the works contain a remarkable honesty and an awkwardness that adds to the nervous nature of the images.
In Woman with an Arm Tattoo (1996), Freud’s interest in the physical qualities of flesh can be seen in the detailed folds of loose skin around the woman's neck and chest. He reveals both the vulnerability and fallibility of the human body. The wear and tear of experience is imprinted, like this woman's tattoo, on the body's surface. Created in the same year, Self-Portrait: Reflection (1996) is an etching printed in black ink on white wove Somerset paper; the plate left unwiped for printing to create a background tone on the paper. Age 74 at the time, Freud’s hollowed features reveal a disillusioned face with ageing skin, furrowed brow, worn empty eyes and a sinewy neck atop an ample expanse of flesh.
Marlborough Graphics was formed nearly 50 years ago and is a leading publisher and dealer in modern and contemporary prints. As well as publishing work by artists including Francis Bacon, Victor Pasmore, Frank Auerbach, R.B. Kitaj and Paula Rego, Marlborough Graphics deals in prints by Picasso, Matisse, Moore, Nicholson, Hockney and Riley. Marlborough Graphics published a catalogue raisonné of Lucian Freud etchings in 1993 and holds one of the largest collections of Freud etchings for sale in the world.
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In addition to tooth decay, your dentist can provide insight about teething irritation, gum disease,
and prolonged thumb or pacifier sucking.
To further promote good oral health in babies, parents can utilize these five tips:
1. As soon as babies start teething, begin brushing them with a small, soft-bristled
toothbrush and water. Consult with your dentist before using toothpaste if your child is
under age 2. Teeth should be brushed for 2 minutes, twice a day.
2. Help tots floss their teeth. The earlier you introduce flossing, the more routine it becomes
for the child.
3. Avoid teeth misalignment by monitoring excessive sucking of pacifiers and fingers.
4. Never allow your child to fall asleep with a bottle containing milk, formula, fruit juice, or
sweetened liquids. Your child’s teeth are more susceptible to cavities caused by the sugar
in these liquids while they are asleep due to a decrease in salivary flow.
5. Encourage children to drink tap or fountain water. If you live in an area where the public
water supply is not fluoridated, consider asking your dentist for a prescription for a
fluoride supplement or purchase water that is fluoridated.
“The best way to teach a child how to brush is to lead by good example,” says Dr. Campbell.
“Allow your child to watch you brush your teeth to teach the importance of good oral hygiene.”
Children, like adults, should see the dentist every six months. For a young child, some dentists
may schedule interim visits every three months to build the child’s comfort and confidence levels
or to perform necessary treatment.
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A new report in Science journal gives details on how carbon-based material graphene can help scientists study liquids more clearly with high-power microscopes.
Graphene can form a clear “window” to see liquids at higher resolution than was previously possible using transmission electron microscopes.
Liquids had been difficult to view at the same resolution as solids because these microscopes require the liquids to be encapsulated by some material.
Traditionally, silicon nitride or silicon oxide capsules, or liquid cells, have been used. But these are generally too thick to see through clearly.
Now, Jong Min Yuk at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues have shown that pockets created by sheets of graphene can be used to study liquids at clear, atomic, resolution using transmission electron microscopes (TEMs).
The researchers used their new graphene-based liquid cell to study the formation of platinum nanocrystals in solution.
With this technique, the team of scientists was able to observe new and unexpected stages of nanocrystal growth as it happened.
They noted how the crystals selectively coalesced and modified their shape.
Graphene consists of a flat layer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb arrangement.
Because it is so thin, it is also practically transparent. The unusual electronic, mechanical and chemical properties of graphene at the molecular scale promise numerous applications.
Its discoverers, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from Manchester University, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010.
The technique described by Jong Min Yuk and colleagues might enable scientists to study other physical, chemical, and biological phenomena that take place in liquids on the nanometre scale.
“Their approach opens new domains of research in the physics and chemistry in the fluid phase in general,” said Christian Colliex, from the Universite Paris Sud in France, who was not involved with the research.
In another paper published in this week’s Science magazine, researchers from the US and Spain report that the stress of pressing the tip of an atomic force microscope into a thin film of material can switch the direction of the film’s electric charge.
This phenomenon, called “flexoelectricity”, could be harnessed to improve memory in electronic devices.
It could achieve this by allowing digital bits of information to be written mechanically but read electrically – which would use less power.
The process has been likened to a nanoscale typewriter – mechanically “writing” changes in the direction of electric charge.
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- According to a new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the more refined—or processed—carbs you have in your diet, the higher your risk is of experiencing insomnia.
- On the other hand, eating a diet rich of complex carbs lessens your chance of having trouble sleeping.
- Refined carbs spike your blood sugar, which results in an insulin response that can lower blood sugar to levels low enough to induce secretion of hormones that can wake you from sleep.
When riding, we tend to rely on fast-acting carbs such as gummies, gels, or energy bars. While these forms of fuel are great to prevent the oh-so-dreadful bonk, filling up on refined or processed carbs (think: white bread, doughnuts, and cookies) out of the saddle isn’t the best for your overall health. Studies have shown it can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. And now, new research out of Columbia University finds that consuming too many refined carbs can even mess with your sleep.
The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at the diets of over 50,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79 who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study over a four-year period of time (1994 to 1998).
The women filled out an initial survey that included questions about the types of carbs they consumed, all based on the Glycemic Index (GI), which, according to the study, is “considered a measure of the quality of carbohydrate-based foods in the overall diet.” For instance, foods such as fruits and vegetables are low on the GI scale because they contain minimally-processed, complex carbs. But foods such as bagels and doughnuts are high on the GI scale because they contain highly-processed carbs.
After a three-year follow-up, researchers found that the more the participants regularly ate foods high on the GI scale (refined carbs—especially those high in sugar), the higher the chances were of experiencing insomnia. Conversely, the more the participants regularly ate foods low on the GI scale (complex carbs—including those rich in fiber), the less they had trouble sleeping.
[Find 52 weeks of tips and motivation, with space to fill in your mileage and favorite routes, with the Bicycling Training Journal.]
So what gives? According to James Gangwisch, Ph.D., lead study author and assistant professor of clinical psychiatric social work at Columbia University, it has to do with how the sugars in refined carbs spike your blood sugar.
“Consuming sugars and refined carbs spikes blood sugar, which results in an insulin response that can lower blood sugar to levels low enough to induce secretion of counter-regulatory hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that can awaken someone from sleep,” he told Bicycling. “Low blood sugar has been shown to produce arousal from sleep and substantially reduce sleep efficiency.”
Gangwisch goes on to say that this study suggests that eating a diet rich in high-GI foods could be a risk factor for insomnia, whereas consuming dietary fiber, fruit, and vegetables could help ensure you get proper shuteye.
And while the study only included postmenopausal women, Gangwisch notes that the results would be applicable to younger women and men of all ages, since most everyone experiences a blood sugar spike after eating refined carbs.
So while processed carbs can help fuel your rides, it’s best to stick to your go-to gels or bars on days when you’re doing hard intervals or riding over an hour. Otherwise, stick to complex carbs—like whole grains, beans, and vegetables—when preparing your everyday meals.
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Biodiesel and Soybeans: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Biodiesel’s history with soybean oil goes back to the very beginning of the biodiesel industry. Today, biodiesel is the second largest user of soybean oil in the United States and its demand for soybean oil grew 300 percent in the last decade. Yet,
biodiesel is still using “what’s left” when it comes to soybean oil.
A glut of soybean oil in the 90’s led soybean farmers to look for alternative uses for soybean oil, which makes up close to 20% of the crop. Soybeans, consisting of both meal and oil, are primarily grown for the meal’s use in livestock feed.
Excess oil created a drag on soybean prices for farmers and cause meal customers to carry more than their share of the value.
Biodiesel’s demand positively impacted the price of soybeans. In fact, today it accounts for an extra 13% in soybean farmers’ pockets. In addition, biodiesel has positively impacted the price of soybean meal for U.S. soy’s biggest customers:
the poultry and livestock industries.
Today, carbon policies at the state level continue to drive biodiesel demand. In fact, the industry will see demand for biodiesel grow by the billions of gallons. With soybean oil still leading the way for biodiesel feedstocks, soybean farmers will benefit
from this growth, as well.
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Scanning probes & corrosion researchLatest updated: December 2, 2019
Corrosion costs industry greatly. An in-depth understanding of the underlying processes related to these processes is therefore essential. Bulk electrochemistry has been used extensively in the study of corrosion; however, this provides a global view, while corrosion often starts and proceeds locally. Scanning probe electrochemistry offers a broad toolkit of techniques to perform local electrochemical investigations, providing a clearer picture of the progression of corrosion. Scanning probe electrochemistry can answer a wide variety of questions about corrosion as outlined in the following table.
|Does changing the content of different components of an alloy affect its corrosion?||LEIS||The homogeneity of the impedance distribution, as well as the magnitude of the impedance change provides information on the corrosion resistance of a system. Lower corrosion resistance is indicated by lower homogeneity in the impedance and larger changes in the magnitude of the impedance.||T. Liu, et al., Corrosion Science 149 (2019) 153-163|
|SKP||The Kelvin potential of an alloy reflects its corrosion potential. The corrosion potential is in turn a reflection of the composition of the alloy.||D. Kong, et al., Applied Surface Science 455 (2018) 543-553|
|How do the corrosion properties vary across, and away from, a sample feature?||SDC||With SDC direct local electrochemical and corrosion studies can be performed in the area directly under the droplet probe. Electrochemical studies can be performed at the feature of interest, before the droplet is moved to the next site for comparison.||J. M. Thuss, J. R. Kish, J. R. McDermid, Magnesium Technology 2012 (2012) 403-409|
|The presence of hydrogen in a metal can lead to hydrogen embrittlement. Where is hydrogen locally present in a sample?||ac-SECM||The measured ac-current magnitude reflects hydrogen charging. Higher local current magnitudes are related to the presence of hydrogen within the sample. Local impedance measurements performed by ac-SECM reflect a lower resistance over regions with hydrogen present than those without.||M. C. Lafouresse, et al., Electrochemistry Communications 80 (2017) 29-32|
|dc-SECM||dc-SECM is used to measure the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) at the probe, which competes with ORR at the sample. While ORR can occur naturally at corroding surfaces, it is enhanced when there is hydrogen present. Therefore, in a dc-SECM measurement the lowest current is measured in regions with high hydrogen content.||R. F. Schaller, et al., Electrochemistry Communications 51 (2015) 54-58|
|Where is corrosion occurring locally?||SKP||SKP measures the work function difference between the probe and the sample, in a non-destructive manner. The work function difference directly correlates to the corrosion potential of a system. Changes in the work function difference reflect local changes in the corrosion potential of a sample. Measurements at different time intervals can show progression of corrosion.||D. Zhang, et al. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance 24 (2015) 2688-2698|
|dc-SECM||dc-SECM measures the Faradaic current of a redox mediator interacting with the sample of interest. The changing Faradaic current represents changing interaction between the sample and the mediator. This can therefore be used to pinpoint areas where, for example, pitting corrosion is occurring.||D. Kong et al. Applied Surface Science 440 (2018) 245–257|
|What is the effect of the sample structure on corrosion?||SVET||SVET locally measures dissolution current density. By correlating the local current density to the known sample it is possible to determine if sample structures give rise to local anodic and cathodic sites.||Z. Y. Liu, X. G. Li, Y. F. Cheng, Electrochemistry Communications 12 (2010) 936-938|
|How does the passive layer form and break down?||dc-SECM||The SECM approach provides information on the rate of electron transfer of a sample. For neat samples positive feedback with the highest rate of electron transfer will be measured. As the passive layer forms the rate of electron transfer will decrease, until eventually negative feedback is measured. When this occurs, the passive layer is fully formed locally. Passive layer breakdown will be apparent from the appearance of positive feedback.||H. Torbati-Sarraf, A. Poursaee, Materialia 2 (2018) 19-22|
|What is the concentration profile of electroactive species during corrosion?||dc-SECM||dc-SECM locally measures the concentration of electrochemically active corrosion products, with chemical selectivity. When the probe is biased to interact with the corrosion product the resulting current is proportional to the concentration of a given species. dc-SECM area scans can be performed at increasing distance distances to build a picture of the concentration profile in x, y, and z.||M. Zhao et al., Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology 48 (2013) 270-275|
|How is corrosion proceeding electrochemically in real time?||SVET||SVET measures the current density in solution above a sample. During corrosion it can be used to visualize anodic and cathodic sites. As corrosion progresses SVET can visualize the movement of anodic and cathodic sites across the sample surface in real time.||C. F. Glover, T. W. Cain, J. R. Scully, Corrosion Science 149 (2019) 195-206|
- Scanning ElectroChemical Microscopy (SECM): Measurement of local electrochemical activity of a sample with chemical selectivity. The local impedance of a sample can also be measured.
- Localized Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (LEIS): Measurement of local impedance differences and point-by-point Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy
- Scanning Kelvin Probe (SKP): Local non-contact measurement of sample work function. Topography can also be measured.
- Scanning Vibrating Electrode Technique (SVET): Measurement of the local current distribution of a sample in electrolyte. Also known as Vibrating Probe.
- Scanning Droplet Cell (SDS): Local electrochemical and impedance measurements of a sample within a droplet.
- Optical Surface Profiler (OSP): Non-contact measurement of the local sample topography.
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PEARS – FOR EATING OR DISTILLATION
Pears are usually grown in concentrated cultivation in regions with well-drained, humus-rich soils. Areas where late frosts are rare are preferred. Sunny locations are ideal, but heat and, above all, dryness have a negative effect on fruit formation and quality. The plant form (high-, half- or low-stemmed) is determined by the rootstock. The high-stemmed fruit trees were replaced because of easier workability and earlier yields after establishment.
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Tea was first served in the royal palaces of both Scotland and England by queens who grew up on The Continent where tea was already a fashionable beverage.
The Duchess of York, Italian born Mary of Modena, picked up her tea habit while living in the Netherlands. She poured the first tea in Scotland in 1680 when it was served at Holyrood Palace at Edinburgh. Her husband would become James II of England.
Catherine of Braganza, England’s first tea-drinking queen, had been drinking tea at Hampton Court since 1662 following her arrival from Portugal to marry Charles II.
Both imported queens were instrumental in sharing their tea ritual with nobility and the exotic – yet expensive – Chinese beverage was quickly infused into the wealthiest households. Everyone wanted to imitate the lifestyle of the royal family!
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Bob Dylan Reads “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”
“Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”
By Maria Popova
In 1823, an anonymous poem titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas” appeared in the pages of the local paper in Troy, New York. It quickly became a proto-viral sensation, reprinted — often with illustrations — in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies around the English-speaking world. Fourteen years later, a man named Clement Clarke Moore — a writer, theologian, and professor of Greek and Asian literature — stepped forth as the author of the poem, by then known under the title “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” which he had written for his own children.
Although some scholars continue to debate Moore’s authorship, the legacy of the work itself remains incontestable — hardly any poem in the entire history of the English language has had a more pervasive impact on the intersection of popular culture and commerce, seeding much of the modern Santa Claus mythology and popularizing the Christmas gift-giving tradition.
Nearly two centuries later and three years before the release of his 2009 holiday record Christmas in the Heart, Bob Dylan gave a deliciously Dylanesque performance of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” on the first season of his satellite radio show. Please enjoy:
A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too —
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Complement with Neil Gaiman’s magnificent performance of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and Margaret Mead’s fictional interview with Santa Claus, a cultural history of generosity and the universal spirit of giving, then revisit Dylan on the unconscious mind and the ideal conditions for creativity.
Published December 23, 2015
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The first Monday of August is a public holiday in many areas of Canada, where schools and businesses have a day off. In other parts, however, it is a normal working day. The holiday is referred to by several names, including Civic Holiday, August Holiday, and Provincial Day.
The celebrations last throughout the entire first week of August in some places, where divers inconspicuous and unostentatious events are organized by community members, such as sports events and barbecues. Bigger events are also held, including fireworks display, cultural festivals, and road races.
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Located miles about an hour and a half to the port of Provincetown, Wood End Light watchtower occupies several acres of sand dunes and there are no other structures in sight. It was lit for the very first time on November 20, 1872 to take the sailors to the lively port of Provincetown.
The Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, known for its excellent work with the restoration and use of Race Point Light over the years, also serves as a guardian to Wood End and long point light. Before Cape Lighthouse was built in 1864, the day of markers were used to guide sailors along the treacherous End wooden bar. Then many boats and their crews fell victim to the wood end bar. Despite the construction of three lighthouses in Provincetown, including Iceland wood Light. Still there were many reports of recent shipwreck that occurred on treacherous bars.
The Long Point Light Station, which was completed in 1875, is an identical design. Topped with a Fresnel lens of the fifth order, 39 meters high, square brick tower, pyramid was painted brown. A half guard wooden house plant was built next to the tower. In 1896, a new house replaced the wooden guard, in addition to a warehouse and an oil house, for the keeper.
What you need to know about Wood End Light
It was in 1896 that the first wooden structure house was built, as well as a warehouse and a small brick house for kerosene storage. This was after may ships fell victim to the treacherous bar and there was a concern that something needed to be done to avoid such disasters.
- Automate in 1961: – After automation in 1961, the light station was unmanned except all buildings and the tower house and the oil were dismantled.
- Eight days before Christmas in 1927, the S-4 Navy submarine and the Paulding Coast Guard collided half a mile south of Wood End Light. 40 men on S-4 died in the disaster. S-4 was charged three months later and was used to develop the most important safety measures for future submarines
- At the tip of Cape Cod winters were hard and kept the Coast Guard from delivering supplies to the station. There was also the fact of the long distance from the lighthouse in the city, this sometimes added to bad weather contributed to supplies not being delivered on time.
- The light station is equipped with a siren that sounds every 30 seconds
- Wood end light was converted to be powered by solar energy in 1981. This helped save on spending on gas which was costly at the time and required constant labour to transport the oil and keep watch of the light house to keep refilling so that the lights keep functioning
- It is possible for you to walk to the wood End of light through the breakwater, which was built in 1911, but the waves are sometimes violently during the flood. It is quite difficult for 30-45 minutes each way to the lighthouse. There is limited parking at the start of the walk. There is an extra walk of about 20 to 30 minutes from the center of the city.
- The headlamp shows a flashing red light every 10 seconds at 45 meters above sea level, which is visible 13 NM. This enables ships at deep see to notice that they are approaching land or that they are passing near a harbor and need to be careful.
Why visit this lighthouse
Great experience on a hike when you love hiking. If you walk during low tide, you can walk on sand from Iceland Lighthouse on the Long Point Lighthouse tour, which is an additional 1 1/2 miles. The tour of the lighthouse and return to the first landing place is approximately 4 hours. With such a long hiking experience you are sure to have lots of time to bond with whoever you brought with you or meet new people who just came for the same experience. It is an experience of a lifetime that you just have to try if you willing.
Boat rides and ferry services are available to go to the lighthouse where you can discover, experience and enjoy things such as historical tours, whale watching, fishing and other trips that enter the port of Provincetown and disembark. You are sure to have lots of fun and you wont regret having visited wood end light.
As one of the international tourist capitals you will find many activities. Provincetown is one of the largest communities of artists in the state, with its numerous cultural events.
Directions to the Wood End Lighthouse
Take Route 6 to Provincetown Commerce (Route 6)
Turn left onto the shopping street and follow to the end of the street where you can park near the breakwater
To reach the lighthouse, you can hike and then another half mile through the sand to the lighthouse, the mile-long breakwater at low tide.
The Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation was authorized by the Coast Guard to restore and maintain Wood End Light. It is still an active aid to navigation today.
Finally, the Beacon Wood End Resort is located at the top of Cape Cod, near the port entrance Provincetown. It is part of the National Park of Cape Cod National Seashore. Coast Guard US keeps optics, which acts as an active navigation aid and is closed to the public. The country and the remaining structures are held by the Cape Cod chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. Light Station is restricted though you can access it using 4 wheel drive, but the National Park service won’t probably allow. So the only option you will be able to access the wood end light would be via hiking as even the boats will only pass close by and if you want to view it close hiking will be the best available option and the hike will be fun as you won’t be alone.
Near the very tip of Cape Cod, Wood End Lighthouse is
now an unmanned light that sounds a horn to alert for fog.
The lighthouse was built in 1872 and the adjacent oil house
was built in 1896. This remote light can only be accessed by
a long hike. If you go, be prepared for hot sun,
biting insects and no drinking water.
Wood End Lighthouse with Race Point light
in the background.
For more information and photos of the Wood End Lighthouse,
visit the webpage at the American Lighthouse Foundation.
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In this course students will continue to investigate, research and create professional character rigs suitable for creating complex animated performances. Students will continue to explore and implement advanced rigging concepts using a variety of technologies designed to enable animators to achieve great animated performances. Students will use advanced simulation and procedural animation to speed up animation production.
Please note: Course outlines of record posted may vary from the section syllabus distributed by each instructor (e.g. textbooks, assignments, timing of midterms).
|Spring 2015 onwards|
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The new laws on data protection, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into force in the UK on Friday 25 May. To help schools understand the new laws and work towards achieving compliance, GDPR in Schools created a series of content for schools looking specifically at the new regulations.
Everyone wants to do the right thing in protecting personal data in schools. However, you must understand the language relating to data protection and privacy, and this can be quite baffling. Where possible misunderstandings can take place, you will inevitably find myths cropping up and a series of terms and phrases that will be new to most people.
Here’s our attempt to turn the GDPR, data protection and privacy terminology into everyday language that every member of staff in schools will understand.
The GDPR – the General Data Protection Regulation
An acronym used regularly today for the new data protection laws which needed to change because the old ones were out of date in today’s digital world.
The Information Commissions Office – sometimes referred to as the UK Supervisory Authority, which is the organisation that oversees data protection in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Any piece of information that can identify a person, directly or indirectly. In particular, where it can be referenced to things like names, location, online IDs, or to specific things such as physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of someone. You will often see this in reference to the term Natural Person.
Sensitive personal data
As above but this is called Special Category personal data and needs to be looked after very carefully; it refers to very specific groups of personal data which could be particularly harmful to individuals if in the wrongs hands, not available when needed or not correct.
Biometric and genetic data
Details about an individual which identifies them uniquely, such as finger prints or DNA.
A collective term when you collect, use, share or store data. The GDPR focuses specifically, but not completely, on digital data such as used in computers, phones and tablets, and on websites.
This is the person or organisation that an individual has allowed, or is obliged, to hold their personal details. The Data Controller decides what, why, how, where and when personal data is processed. A school is most often the Data Controller, but it CANNOT process any data unless there is a lawful basis to do so. Find out more about your school’s obligations as a Data Controller.
This is a person or organisation that the Data Controller has asked to ‘do something’ with the data they control. They must only ‘do’ what is allowed in the data sharing agreement. They would be seriously breaking the law if they used this data for any other purpose. In a number of cases, the Data Controller and the Data Processor is the same person or organisation. If a school collects and uses the data, without it being shared or processed with anyone else, then they are both Data Controller and Data Processor.
Data sharing agreement
You must have one of these with any person or organisation you share data with. It will clearly say what can and can’t be done with the shared data. It will ask for reassurances on issues such as storage security, how long the data is kept and how is the data disposed of. There are good examples of data sharing agreements on the web and the ICO has formal guidance on their website.
This is your notice to the world about the way you handle information you have access to. Every school must have one already and it’s important that all staff know what it says and means. It should also be in clear language so it can be easily understood by parents and children, where relevant.
Lawful basis for processing
Also referred to as legal basis for processing. No person or organisation can process data unless there is a legal reason for doing so. There are six main categories for lawful processing. You must find a lawful basis that fits the reason you are processing data. If you can’t, and you still process personal data, then you are breaking the law. Take a look at what GDPR in Schools think you should consider when identifying your legal basis for processing data.
This is when the data is jumbled up. You need a ‘key’ to unscramble it otherwise it appears unreadable. Personal data that leaves a safe and secure environment, for example, it goes out of school or is sent in an email, must be encrypted.
This is a breach of security, a breach of availability or data that is not correct when it should be; where accidentally or unlawfully personal data has been destroyed or misused. This might lead to physical or mental harm to an individual.
The use of existing information about someone to predict how they might behave in the future. If you shop online, you’ll see it all the time when the website suggests things you should buy as you have bought them before or they complement a purchase. Profiling is used in education to predict students’ end of key stage or examination performance.
Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
Also sometimes referred to as part of a PIA or Privacy Impact Assessment. It sounds very grand, but is just formalising and structuring considerations you probably already do. When you start or review a project or process, you consider all the things that can go wrong regarding aspects of personal data. You then think about how you would put it right or if it’s worth the risk doing nothing. A DPIA is written evidence that you have been through this thought process. Schools are already used to Risk Assessments for safeguarding and H&S, so this is part of what schools need to consider.
Privacy by design
This means you consider data protection and privacy from every angle in everything you do or plan.
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)
A tool used to identify and reduce the privacy risks.
Data erasure/right to be forgotten
An individual can ask the Data Controller to remove and stop processing their personal data. If the Data Controller can justify it needs to process this data, then the request can be refused.
The ability to take data from one Data Controller and transfer it to another. A good example of this is changing banks or energy suppliers. In schools, data is regularly ported when students change establishments. Some data may not be portable due to it only being usable in a particular system but every effort should be made to make it available.
Data Protection Officer (DPO)
An expert on data protection who works independently to oversee that data protection policies and issues are correctly managed. Learn more about who can be your DPO.
Sounds complicated, but it really isn’t! It’s used a lot in education where data is analysed and presented in reports or for examples, but the links to identify individuals are removed.
Subject Access Right
Also known as the Right to Access or SAR. If you hold data on anyone, they have the right to ask you for a report which says what, where, how and with whom you share that data.
A legal term used to be specific about individual human beings rather than a Legal Person, which may be a private or public organisation. Staff, learners, their parents and others whose data is processed by schools will generally be a Natural Person.
Does your school need help complying with GDPR?
GDPR in Schools (GDPRiS) is a new data protection monitoring solution for schools, providing an easy-to-use system for managing data protection processes. Find out more about GDPRiS here.
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We All Play a Role in Preventing Childhood Trauma
Learn how you can help create healthier childhoods and brighter futures for everyone.
Adverse Childhood Experiences—commonly known as ACEs—affect children and families across all communities. ACEs come in many forms, from abuse and neglect to household challenges (e.g., intimate partner violence, household substance abuse, or parental separation or divorce). They can have long-term effects on health, wellness, and life opportunities.
However, ACEs are preventable.
Learn How to Stop ACEs Before They Start
Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences is an online training to help understand, recognize, and prevent ACEs from occurring in the first place. Understand risk and protective factors, associated outcomes, and proven strategies that can be used to reduce or eliminate ACEs.
Just Released: Mental Health Provider Module
Mental health providers are invited to take our latest ACEs training. This training module has been developed as an addition to the introductory ACEs training for professionals providing mental, emotional, and behavioral health services to children and families. Learn about:
- the role of culture and diversity in working with families,
- how to identify risk and protective factors,
- ACEs prevention programs, services, and strategies across the social-ecological model,
- intervention services for children and families, and
- how to educate others and raise awareness.
Take the training to develop skills and knowledge to create healthier lives for all children and families.
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Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S. Current research suggests that depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. Depression is costly, widespread, and can be very debilitating. As an illness, depression can be defined as MOOD disorder that affects the way we think, feel, and behave. Depression as a diagnosis is a label intended to facilitate communication about a group of symptoms (experiences) often reported by people as occurring together.
What are the most common symptoms of depression?
These are the most common symptoms people report when they seek treatment for symptoms of depression:
- Persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood
- Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including sex
- Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down”
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
- Insomnia, early morning awakening or oversleeping
- Appetite and/or weight loss, or overeating and weight gain
- Thoughts of death or suicide, suicide attempts
- Restlessness, irritability
- Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic pain.
A diagnosis of depression does not tell us anything about the underlying causes of the symptoms, which need to be clearly identified and addressed in order to achieve long-term relief.
What are the psychological factors contributing to Depression?
Although there can be many factors causing symptoms of Depression, research points to life events involving loss, as highly associated with the onset of depression. Psychodynamic theories also understand depression as a symptom related to largely conscious and unconscious experiences of loss. Beginning with Freud, psychoanalysts have referred to the losses as the “catastrophes of childhood,” and have identified three themes around which the experience of depressive affect tends to develop: loss of the attachment figure, loss of the love of that parental figure, and loss of the parental approval. There is a fourth “calamity” that also plays a role in the development of depressive affect, related to feelings of guilt and the need to punish ourselves.
Naturally we want to do everything we can to avoid re-experiencing the pain of these childhood catastrophes. For this reason, we are equipped to develop coping strategies (in psychodynamic therapy these coping strategies are called defenses, while in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy this is often referred to as automatic thoughts) that allow us to take reality in bite size by intervening between outside events and our emotional reactions. These defenses, coping strategies, or automatic thoughts, often go unnoticed, and they are so familiar, and believable that we take them as “truths.” Although they operate out of our field of awareness, the parts of our brain in charge of survival strategies is picking up on the messages impacting us at every level.
Take for instance the case of an adult that experienced early childhood abandonment, who has life-long struggles to develop emotionally intimate relationships so that he or she can successfully avoid feeling the pain of another abandonment. The tools used to create emotional distance can be anything that a person can feel, think or do to keep the other person at a safe distance. Although the person achieves certain level of safety or control in the moment, the long-term effect is one of isolation, which can lead to an episode of depression, and ultimately reinforces their self-concept, often unconscious, of being unworthy of love.
We learn to cope with difficult emotions in ways that were effective in the past, and that are effective in the short-term. In the past, they provided very an important protection of our attachments to our parents upon whom our survival depended in childhood. However, the protective mechanisms in childhood, are often root cause of the problems of the adult.
“Defensive processes, organized coping responses aimed at minimizing the experience of distress, function protectively, but not without untoward consequences. The degree of defense in relationships and functioning in the world become the main distinction between resilience and increased vulnerability for developing psychopathology,” Diana Fosha (2000). CBT therapy also recognizes that the maladaptive schemas developed in childhood can make the patient vulnerable to developing or relapsing into depression (Young, Weinberger, Beck, 2001).
When we become adults, defensive/coping strategies that are rotted in childhood wounds are often ineffective. Mainly because we tend to respond to present situations AS IF they are replicas of the past. When our defenses don’t work properly, we experience anxiety or depressive affect, which are usually the reasons why people finally seek therapy.
What should you do if you are experiencing symptoms of Depression?
Emotional pain and sadness are part of life. When people first experience symptoms of depression it can be difficult to know if there is something that needs to be done. Usually, people make adjustments to their life style, such as increased exercise, change in diet, take time off, reach out to friends, or use self-help books/resources. All of these supportive measures can be of help. However, if symptoms don’t go away or if they return, it is best to seek professional help.
Depression is a treatable condition. The sooner you seek a consultation with a mental health professional, the more likely it is that you can experience prompt relief of symptoms. Delaying in seeking help can result in longer and more expensive treatment, not to mention, unnecessary suffering.
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An ultrathin solar cell made of only a fifth of the material previous skinny devices have used to capture sunlight has shown that it still generates electricity impressively well. The gallium arsenide (GaAs) based device made by researchers in Germany and France, led by Stéphane Collin at the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Paris, is 19.9% efficient. That’s in the range of today’s commercial silicon-based cells achieve, although this is just a small 4mm2 research device.
‘If you compare to products that also have such efficiency, you would see that previous work needed 40µm of silicon or at least 1µm-thick GaAs,’ Collin tells Chemistry World. ‘We have only 205nm-thick GaAs.’ Thinner cells use less semiconductor material, and it’s quicker to make such crystalline non-silicon cells using high-temperature deposition techniques, comments Collin’s co-author Andrea Cattoni. ‘50% of the thickness is a 50% reduction in deposition time,’ he says.
However, a thinner cell is normally less able to absorb light passing through it than a fatter one – a previous 2nm-thick cell had much lower efficiency, for example. Putting mirrors behind a cell gives a second chance of absorbing light as it travels back through, a common approach among commercial silicon solar cells today.
Collin, Cattoni and their colleagues took this strategy further, trapping light by making it resonate in the GaAs cell. To do this they made a novel silver back mirror with titanium dioxide non-reflective patterns spaced 700nm apart, producing a grating that diffracts light upwards in different directions. The diffraction traps light in the cell both through total internal reflection and interference between out-of-phase reflected light waves in a process called Fabry-Pérot resonance.
Cattoni notes that the pattern was easily made using nanoimprint lithography. ‘It’s very attractive because it’s very simple and fast,’ he says. ‘This is something we really need whenever we want to introduce a new technology into solar cells, because the profit margins are very small.’ The team has already exploited the approach with other solar cell materials, specifically copper–indium–gallium selenide (CIGS). As part of the European ARCIGS-M project, they are looking to reduce material usage in CIGS cells by around 80%.
The University of Cambridge’s Louise Hirst notes that this cell produces a higher current than an equivalent device with a simple flat rear surface. That’s important because higher current equates to higher power output. ‘However, there is still room for improvement with this concept,’ she adds.
‘This device is unlikely to compete directly with silicon technology in the domestic power generation market where cost is all important,’ Hirst continues. ‘However, it has clear advantages over silicon for emerging high performance applications, such as remote power – the roof of an electric vehicle or wing of an aircraft for example – where efficiency and mass are critical.’
H-L Chen et al, Nat. Energy, 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0434-y
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Slump test is the most commonly used method of measuring consistency or workability of fresh concrete which can be employed either in laboratory or at the site of work. It is not a suitable method for very wet or very dry concrete. It is used conveniently as a control test and gives an indication of the uniformity of the concrete from batch to batch.
Read my post on How To Calculate Workability Of A Concrete Mix for more details.
To determine the workability or consistency of a concrete mix of given proportion by slump test.
Iron pan to mix concrete, weighing machine, trowel slump, cone, scale, and tamping rod. The slump cone is a hollow frustum made of thin steel sheet with internal dimensions, as the top diameter 10 cm. The bottom diameter 20 cm, and height 30 cm. It stands on a plane’s non-porous surface. To facilitate vertical lifting from moulded concrete it is provided with a suitable guide attachment and suitable foot pieces and handles. The tamping rod is 16 mm dia. 60 cm long and is bullet-pointed at the lower end.
Unsupported concrete, when it is fresh, will flow to the sides and sinking in height will take place. This vertical settlement is called slump. Slump is a measu6, 0.7 and 0.8. For each mix take 10 Kg. C.A., 5 Kg., FA and 2.5 Kg. Cement.
- Mix the dry constituents thoroughly to get a uniform colour and then add water.
- The internal surface of the mould is to be thoroughly cleaned and placed on a smooth, horizontal, rigid and non-absorbent surface.
- Place the mixed concrete in the cleaned slump cone in 4 layers each approximately 1/4 in height of the mould. Tamp each layer 25 times with a tamping rod.
- Remove the cone immediately, rising it slowly and carefully in the vertical direction.
- As soon as the concrete settlement comes to a stop, measure the subsistence of the concrete in cm or mm, which gives the slump.
Note: Slump test is adopted in the Laboratory or during the progress of the work in the field for determining the consistency of concrete where nominal max., size of aggregates does not exceed 40 mm. Any slump specimen which collapses or shears off laterally gives incorrect results and at this juncture, the test is repeated only true slump should be measured.
|SL No||Water Cement Ratio||Slump value in mm|
- The strokes are to be uniformly applied through the entire area of the concrete section.
- The cone should be removed very slowly by lifting it upwards without disturbing the concrete.
- During filling the mould must be firmly pressed against the base.
- Vibrations from nearly machinery might also increase subsidence; hence test should be made beyond the range of ground vibrations.
Comment: This test is not a true guide to workability. For example, a harsh coarse mix cannot be said to have the same workability as one with a large portion of sand even though they have the same slump.
Recommended Slump Test Values
|SL No||Description of Works||Recommended Slump Value (mm)|
|1||Road Works||25 – 50|
|2||Ordinary Beam, Slab||50 – 100|
|3||Column of Thin Vertical Section,|
Retaining Wall etc.
|75 – 125|
|4||Mass Concrete (Dam, Runway,|
|25 – 50|
If you have any confusion or suggestion about this, let us know through the comment box below.
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My name is Dibyandu Pal— the guy behind this blog.
A Civil Engineer and a young part-time blogger.
I started my website in Last of January 2018. In my 7 years of Student Life & carrier, I have gone through a lot of books. I learned a lot during this time, so I decided to start a new blog and share what I’ve learned so far.
This blog has been designed in order to provide its readers with some of the most valuable information in the field of civil engineering.
I hope you will enjoy here
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Resting (Static) Tremors
These tremors are most prominent at rest, and may decrease or disappear with voluntary movement. Illustrated is the common, relatively slow, fine, pill-rolling tremor of parkinsonism, about 5 per second.
These tremors appear when the affected part is actively maintaining a posture. Examples include the fine, rapid tremor of hyperthyroidism, the tremors of anxiety and fatigue, and benign essential (and sometimes familial) tremor. Tremor may worsen somewhat with intention.
Intention tremors, absent at rest, appear with activity and often get worse as the target is neared. Causes include disorders of cerebellar pathways, as in multiple sclerosis.
Oral-facial dyskinesias are rhythmic, repetitive, bizarre movements that chiefly involve the face, mouth, jaw, and tongue: grimacing, pursing of the lips, protrusions of the tongue, opening and closing of the mouth, and deviations of the jaw. The limbs and trunk are involved less often. These movements may be a late complication of psychotropic drugs such as phenothiazines, and have then been termed tardive (late) dyskinesias. They also occur in long-standing psychoses, in some elderly individuals, and in some edentulous persons.
Tics are brief, repetitive, stereotyped, coordinated movements occurring at irregular intervals. Examples include repetitive winking, grimacing, and shoulder shrugging. Causes include Tourette's syndrome and drugs such as phenothiazines and amphetamines.
Athetoid movements are slower and more twisting and writhing than choreiform movements, and have a larger amplitude. They most commonly involve the face and the distal extremities. Athetosis is often associated with spasticity. Causes include cerebral palsy.
Choreiform movements are brief, rapid, jerky, irregular, and unpredictable. They occur at rest or interrupt normal coordinated movements. Unlike tics, they seldom repeat themselves. The face, head, lower arms, and hands are often involved. Causes include Sydenham's chorea (with rheumatic fever) and Huntington's disease.
Dystonic movements are somewhat similar to athetoid movements, but often involve larger portions of the body, including the trunk. Grotesque, twisted postures may result. Causes include drugs such as phenothiazines, primary torsion dystonia and, as illustrated, spasmodic torticollis.
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Oral cancer describes any type of cancer that occurs in the back of the throat or mouth. Symptoms can include soreness, irritation, swelling of the throat or jaw, red or white patches inside your mouth and difficulty swallowing or chewing, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Of course, it's always important to consult your doctor if you have any of these symptoms. Check out these oral cancer risk factors to see if you may be susceptible to the disease.
Alcohol and Tobacco Combined Increase Oral Cancer Risk
Alcohol and tobacco are known carcinogens and are linked to oral cancer. Many cancers are related to heavy alcohol drinking, which is defined as more than seven drinks per week for women or more than 14 drinks for men, per the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The alcohol fermentation process, which may include carcinogenic additives, is one reason alcohol is linked to head, neck, esophageal and liver cancer. When your body digests alcohol, the result can have a negative impact on your DNA and lipids, and it may lower your body's ability to absorb needed vitamins and minerals, like vitamins A, B, C, D and E, reports NCI.
Tobacco has long been known to be a primary risk factor for oral cancer. In fact, about 90 percent of people with the disease use tobacco, notes The Mouth Cancer Foundation. The use of alcohol and tobacco together creates an exponentially higher risk, according to OCF. The risk of oral cancer is "much greater" for those compared to people who partake in just one or the other. It's thought that alcohol, which dehydrates your mouth, weakens your cells' defenses in staving off carcinogens found in tobacco. These carcinogens enter your mouth tissue and elevate your risk of developing oral cancer.
HPV and Oral Cancer Link
It may be surprising that the human papillomavirus (HPV) is expected to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of oral cancer in the next 10 years, reports the Oral Health Foundation. HPV one of the most common sexually transmitted disease. For most people, the effects are short-term, lasting only two years, and the effects don't have a wide-reaching impact on your health. But for some infected patients, HPV affects tissue growth that may lead to oral cancer.
Diet and Age Can Lead to Greater Risk
Researchers point out that poor diet can be a by-product of heavy alcohol use and abuse. Nevertheless, a lack of necessary fruits and vegetables can also lead to higher exposure to the disease.
Additionally, studies show that the risk increases for those over 40 years old. Maintaining a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, vitamin C, calcium supplements and antioxidants, like green tea, may lower your risk.
Lifestyle Alterations Lower Risk Over Time
Oral cancer has been coined a "lifestyle disease," according to the Mouth Cancer Foundation. Abstaining from heavy drinking for over 10 to 15 years is one way you can greatly decrease your chances of getting the disease. Stopping use of any tobacco products as soon as possible will also lower your chances of cancer, per the National Institute on Aging.
Keeping your mouth healthy includes more than just daily brushing and regular dentist visits. Practicing a healthy lifestyle is integral to your good oral care. Products like Colgate Peroxyl Mouth Sore rinse, which promotes the natural healing of minor mouth irritations, can help ease discomfort. If you think your lifestyle contains oral cancer risk factors or have questions about causes, always consult your dentist or doctor.
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A new study conducted by researchers from Northwestern could have egg lovers reconsidering their go-to breakfast choice.
The researchers found that consuming large amounts of eggs or foods with high cholesterol could increase the risk of heart disease and death from any cause.
“The take-home message is really about cholesterol, which happens to be high in eggs and specifically yolks,” said researcher Norrina Allen. “As part of a healthy diet, people need to consume lower amounts of cholesterol. People who consume less cholesterol have a lower risk of heart disease.”
A balanced diet
To see how cholesterol -- and egg intake -- was affecting consumers’ overall health, the researchers gathered data from over 30,000 participants from six studies and evaluated their dietary habits.
The most recent iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans that is valid from 2015 through 2020 doesn’t recommend that consumers limit their cholesterol intake; however, prior to 2015, experts put the daily cholesterol target at 300 milligrams per day.
Eggs come into play in this study because the researchers note the popular breakfast food as one of the primary sources of cholesterol intake, as one egg yolk has nearly 190 milligrams of cholesterol. Moreover, the researchers found that, on average, adults nationwide eat roughly three or four eggs per week.
“Our study showed that if two people had the exact same diet and the only difference in diet was eggs, then you could directly measure the effect of egg consumption on heart disease,” said Allen. “We found cholesterol, regardless of the source, was associated with an increased risk of heart disease.”
Ultimately, the researchers found that the more cholesterol the participants consumed, the greater their risk for heart disease and death.
More specifically, eating the average number of eggs per week (three or four) increased the risk of death by eight percent and the risk of heart disease by six percent. However, consuming 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day -- the recommended amount pre-2015 -- increased participants’ risk of death by 18 percent and their risk of heart disease by 17 percent.
The egg debate
The research on eggs -- whether to incorporate them or avoid them -- has gone on for quite some time, and health experts continue to volley back and forth. Most recently, researchers found that an egg a day could keep type 2 diabetes away -- and heart disease and stroke.
Allen and her team don’t think consumers should ban eggs from their diets, but they should take these findings into consideration and limit their intake moving forward.
“We want to remind people there is cholesterol in eggs, specifically yolks, and this has a harmful effect,” Allen said. “Eat them in moderation.”
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Doesn’t technology make everything easier! We rely on it so much that it has become essential to our lifestyles and activities. Everything has a price. Technology has facilitated us in so many ways but it has its downsides too. Hacking, phishing, stealing personal info and confidential data are on a rise. Cybercriminals are coming up with innovative and creative ways for their cybercrimes.
When it comes to cybercrimes, phishing scams are the most common type. Intruders are stealing sensitive and confidential info/data from businesses, consumers, and government offices through well-orchestrated phishing scams. That’s exactly why every individual, office, and company is ensuring internet security protection. They are also willing to learn the best practices to avoid these scams.
First things first. Remember, awareness is your key defense against phishing. You need to know what phishing is in order to spot it and avoid it. According to a rough estimate, in the year 2017, people reported more than $30 million to various phishing scams. You need to stay vigilant against any phishing attempts.
So, what exactly is phishing? Phishing refers to the practice of sending fake emails, texts, and even phone calls and trick people into sharing their personal and confidential info. This info could be bank account numbers, login IDs as well as passwords, social security numbers, and so on.
Once the scammers get hold of your personal info, they can easily steal your money, identity, and personal accounts. They can even contact others in your network and contact list to get hold of more information.
Instances of Phishing
You need to equip yourself with the knowledge of the popular phishing methods. The following are the most common types of phishing.
Emails are the most common method used for phishing scams. These emails attempt to have your personal info. They do in one of the two ways. Either they require you to give away your personal info. Or, they make you click a fake link. With easy access to unlimited high-speed internet these days, they can easily attach malware-carrying attachments. Do not open them.
You can recognize a phishing email. Some identifiable things are:
- They are sent from unknown and suspicious senders.
- The email has multiple recipients.
- They don’t address you directly.
- It may include unnecessary attachments or links.
Avoiding Email Phishing Scams
Investigate the Senders
Phishers tend to hide their identities. They would send emails using generic names such as “customer support” to try to create a sense of credibility. Make sure you view all the details of the email to figure out the actual sender email address.
Hover the Mouse on any Clickable Thing
The best practice is never to click any links from unknown senders. But if you have to, first hover the mouse over the link and examine what’s the web address. You will figure out if it looks suspicious. Avoid clicking it because you don’t want to end up installing malware or landing on a fraudulent site.
Do NOT Open Any Attachments or Images
Make it a regular practice not to open any attachments or images found in the emails by unknown senders. Even if they look harmless!
Create Filters for Email Spams
The best way to avoid phishing emails? Never receiving them in the first place! Creating email filters to block spams, unwanted attachments, and images.
If you believe that you have been targeted for a phishing attempt, you can report it. Find out an official complaint email address provided by the cybercrime investigation department of your country. They will help you.
Avoiding Social Media Phishing
Social media and dating sites are becoming easy targets for phishers. By posing as a romantic interest or a friend, it is easy to make others give away their important info. Many people have been victimized like that. Even in offices with nest WiFi system, there is no screening method on social media to avoid social media phishing.
Here’s how you should avoid it.
- Limit your posts.
- Make your privacy setting low-key.
- Don’t post any personal IDs or confidential personal info.
- Don’t add unknown and suspicious people.
- Always verify who you are talking to.
- Avoid using fake social media sites.
Avoiding Text Message Phishing
Also called “smishing”, phishing via text messages is also a common practice. Often, they would pose as company reps and agents from customer care departments. They also try to target you by offering discounts on products and services.
Here’s what you can do:
- Search the number from which you got the texts.
- See for any warning signs in the SMS.
- Block the texts coming from the internet.
- Reach out to the businesses directly and enquire about the misleading number.
Avoiding Phone Call Phishing
- Use voicemail and caller ID.
- Call back from a different number to figure out if they change their introduction.
- If you are sure that it is a phishing call, just hang up.
The most common method is calling as a customer service rep. For instance; they can act like they are calling from Cox to fix your internet. But you can easily identify the Cox customer service number.
How to stop phishing emails in Gmail?
Use scam filters to avoid receiving any phishing emails in the first place.
What is an online dating scammer?
Online dating scammers target people who give a large amount of info in their profiles. They target scam to steal money, personal info, credit card credentials, and so on.
How can scams be avoided?
Avoid phishing emails, insecure sites, and suspicious profiles on social media. Also, hang up suspicious calls and verify numbers sending suspicious SMS.
How do you know if someone is scamming you?
Figure out if it’s a fake account, number, SMS sender, or email. You can easily figure out the suspicious nature of phishing scams.
How do I report a suspicious email?
There is an official email address that the cybercrime department of every country has. You can report it there. You can also report to your Email service.
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Henry Reynolds' The Law of the Land was first published in 1987 and advanced a radical reassessment of the history of property ownership in Australia.
Reynolds' work challenged the prevailing legal and historical orthodoxy under which it was assumed that as a consequence of colonisation, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia no longer enjoyed any enforceable rights to land arising from their traditional use and occupation.
Since its initial publication, The Law of the Land has been reissued in a new and expanded edition in 1992 and again in 2003. Each of the fresh editions contained additional material that was a response to changing events in the present.
The author is a professor in history and politics at James Cook University whose other books include 'The Other Side of the Frontier'. This edition contains a postscript on the Mabo case, notes, an index and a bibliography.
Get a copy now from your favourite trusted store
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through the below links.
Other books by (or with) Henry Reynolds
- A History of Tasmania
- Aboriginal Sovereignty
- An Indelible Stain? The Question of Genocide in Australia's History
- Black Pioneers: How Aboriginal and Islander People Helped Build Australia
- Fate of a Free People
- Forgotten War
- Frontier: Aborigines, Settlers and Land
- The Other Side of the Frontier
- This Whispering in Our Hearts
- This Whispering in Our Hearts Revisited
- Why Weren't We Told?
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For years, measurements of blood cholesterol have been used to assess the risk of heart disease.
For many different reasons, lowering LDL-C has become a primary goal in cardiovascular prevention. There is substantial evidence available suggesting a relationship between LDL-C and the risk of coronary heart disease.
Medical professionals usually recommend lifestyle measures that lower LDL-C and statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) are used by millions of people worldwide for the sole purpose of lowering LDL-C numbers.
However, to understand coronary heart disease and how plaques form in our arteries (atherosclerosis) we have to understand that focusing only on cholesterol is an oversimplification.
Because cholesterol is a fat substance, it can’t mix with water and can therefore not travel in blood on its own. The body’s solution to this problem is to bind fat molecules to lipoproteins that function as transport vehicles carrying different types of fats such as cholesterol, triglycerides (TG) and phospholipids.
It is important to understand that it is lipoproteins that interact with the arterial wall and initiate the development of atherosclerosis. Cholesterol is only one of many components of lipoproteins.
The Lipid Panel
A standard lipid panel includes total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, and TG. Although LDL-C usually gets the bulk of the attention, evidence suggests that other aspects of the lipid profile may not be less important. For example, non-HDL cholesterol is a strong marker of risk, maybe more important than LDL-C.
Relying on LDL-C alone can be misleading. For example, people with obesity, metabolic syndrome or diabetic lipid disorders often have raised TG, low HDL-C and normal or close to normal LDL-C. These individuals produce very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and intermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) which may increase the risk of atherosclerosis.
Many studies have found that the triglyceride/HDL cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C ratio) correlates strongly with the incidence and extent of coronary artery disease. This relationship is true both for men and women.
One study found that a TG/HDL-C ratio above 4 was the most powerful independent predictor of developing coronary artery disease.
With the increasing prevalence of overweight, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome this ratio may become even more important because high TG and low HDL-C is often associated with these disorders.
The Triglyceride/HDL Cholesterol Ratio. What Is Ideal?
The TG/HDL-C ratio can easily be calculated from the standard lipid profile. Just divide your TG by your HDL-C.
However, when looking at the ideal ratio, you have to check if your lipid values are provided in mg/dl like in the US or mmol/L like in Australia, Canada, and most European countries.
If lipid values are expressed as mg/dl (like in the US);
TG/HDL-C ratio less than 2 is ideal
TG/HDL-C ratio above 4 is too high
TG/HDL-C ratio above 6 is much too high
If you are using mmol/L (most countries except the U.S.) you have to multiply this ratio by 0.4366 to attain the correct reference values. You can also multiply your ratio by 2.3 and use the reference values above.
If lipid values are expressed as mmol/L (like in Australia, Canada, and Europe);
TG/HDL-C ratio less than 0.87 is ideal
TG/HDL-C ratio above 1.74 is too high
TG/HDL-C ratio above 2.62 is much too high
In this article, TG/HDL-C ratio is provided as in the US (mg/dl).
Triglyceride/HDL Cholesterol Ratio and LDL Particles?
Recently, analyzing the number of LDL particles (LDL-P) and LDL particle size has become increasingly common. However, this method is not universally available, is expensive, and has not been widely applied in clinical practice.
High numbers of small, dense LDL particles are associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease in prospective epidemiologic studies. Subjects with small, dense particles (phenotype B) are at higher risk than those with larger, more buoyant LDL particles (phenotype A).
Interestingly, it has been found that the TG/HDL-C ratio can predict particle size. One study found that 79% of individuals with a ratio above 3.8 had a preponderance of small dense LDL particles, whereas 81% of those with a ratio below 3.8 had a preponderance of large buoyant particles.
Apparently, people with high TG/HDL-C ratio tend to have higher than average TG. Just like all other lipids, TGs have to be transported in the blood by lipoproteins; most are carried by chylomicrons and VLDL.
What happens under these circumstances is an interchange of lipids between lipoproteins. TGs are moved from VLDL into LDL and HDL in exchange for cholesteryl ester. The result is that LDL and HDL particles become cholesterol poor and rich in TG. Then, when TGs are removed from these particles, which usually is the case, the particles shrink and become smaller as they’re only transporting small amounts of cholesterol. This explains the relationship between high TG/HDL-C ratio and the number of small LDL particles.
However, the number of LDL particles present in the blood may be more important than particle size. Furthermore, particle number appears more important than how much cholesterol is carried within these particles. Blood levels of LDL-P and apolipoprotein B are strongly correlated with the risk of coronary heart disease. Both these measurements reflect the actual number of LDL-particles.
But, can the TG/HDL-C ratio reflect particle number? As a matter of fact, it can, to some extent. Take a look at the LDL-C, the amount of cholesterol carried in LDL-particles. A high TG/HDL-C ratio indicates that these particles are small. A small particle carries less cholesterol than a large particle. Therefore, a greater number of particles is needed to carry a certain amount of cholesterol if the particles are small than if they’re large. So, a high TG/HDL-C ratio likely reflects a large number of LDL-particles, unless LDL-C is very low.
Triglyceride/HDL Cholesterol Ratio and Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is a condition in which cells fail to respond to the normal actions of insulin. Most people with this condition have high levels of insulin in their blood. Insulin resistance appears to play a significant role in coronary heart disease and can predict mortality. The condition is common among individuals with abdominal obesity and the metabolic syndrome.
A study in which most of the participants were Caucasian and overweight identified TG/HDL-C ratio of 3 or greater as a reliable predictor of insulin resistance.
However, not all studies have found the TG/HDL-C ratio to be associated with insulin resistance. For example, in a relatively small study of 125 African American participants, neither fasting TG nor the TG/HDL-C ratio was shown to be a marker of insulin resistance.
Although confirmatory studies are needed, data suggests that an elevated TG/HDL-C ratio may be clinically useful for the prediction of insulin resistance.
How to Improve Your Triglyceride/HDL Cholesterol Ratio
Improving your TG/HDL ratio aims at lowering TG, raising HDL-C or preferably both.
If you are overweight, losing weight will probably lower your TG levels and so will reducing your intake of added sugar. Studies have found that high intake of fructose leads to high TG. High-fructose corn syrup is a major source of fructose.
Low-fat diets are usually not effective in lowering TG. In fact, low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets may raise TG. Adding omega-3 fatty acids, regular exercise and limiting alcohol may be helpful to reduce TG.
Similar methods may be useful for raising HDL-C. Losing weight, exercising and not smoking may help. In controlled trials, low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets decrease HDL-C, thereby raising theTG/HDL-C ratio.
The authors pointed out that fat-induced increase in TG following a meal is a postprandial phenomenon (we all have high TG for a few hours following a fatty meal) caused by chylomicrons is different from the carbohydrate-induced rise in TG (later found to be caused by an elevation of VLDL).
These findings have been confirmed in several more recent studies. Despite this, low fat, high carbohydrate diets are still being recommended as a primary option to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Although low-fat diets may help to lower LDL-C, low-carbohydrate diets are more effective in improving the TG/HDL-C ratio.
This suggests that solely selecting LDL-C as a target in cardiovascular prevention is an oversimplification, and may have led to wrong conclusions regarding the relationship between diet and heart disease.
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MITCH MCCONNELL is not known for his views on racial justice. But when asked last week whether he thought African-Americans should receive restitution for slavery and the decades of lawful discrimination that followed it, the Republican Senate leader’s response was sound. He was against the idea, he said, in part for practical reasons—for how would the recipients of compensation be selected? He also objected in principle: if African-Americans received reparations, what about the other victims of discrimination, including America’s many “waves of immigrants”? Continued, incremental improvements in the lives of black Americans seemed a more credible response to “our original sin”, said Mr McConnell. “We’ve elected an African-American president. I think we’re always a work in progress in this country.”
Democrats, who were about to hold the first congressional hearing on slavery reparations in over a decade, hit the roof. Senator Cory Booker, one of at least seven candidates in the Democratic primary to have given their support for a bill to launch a congressional probe into the issue, slammed Mr McConnell’s “ignorance”. Another candidate, Marianne Williamson, a self-help guru who has proposed making reparations to African-Americans of up to half a trillion dollars, questioned his gradualist view of racial progress. “You can’t have the future that you want until you’re willing to clean up your past.” Yet Mr McConnell’s view of the matter was similar to that of the first black president he referred to.
Barack Obama considered the idea of reparations to be politically fantastical, because a majority of Americans would never agree to it, and otherwise flawed. That was not to downplay the terrible legacy of slavery and Jim Crow among black Americans, including persistent white-black wealth, income and education gaps. But as a policy prescription, Mr Obama told the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose 2014 essay in favour of reparations, published in the Atlantic, had revived the issue, it was a distraction. “Why are we even having the abstract conversation when we’ve got a big fight on our hands just to get strong, universal anti-poverty programmes and social programmes in place, and we’re still fighting to make sure that basic anti-discrimination laws are enforced?”
This also represented a belief in the hard slog of incremental improvement, ingrained in Mr Obama by his study of history as well as by the political moment. The New Deal and civil-rights era were rare explosions of liberal progress, in special circumstances, which his election alone did not augur. That many Democrats are nonetheless now embracing the reparations distraction shows how much the party has changed since Mr Obama last secured the White House in 2012. That should worry anyone who hopes it will repeat the feat against President Donald Trump next year.
The right’s racially charged opposition to Mr Obama has helped encourage the shift. Blowhards such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck characterised his spending proposals as “reparations”. Congressional Republicans, led by Mr McConnell, obstructed him to an unprecedented degree. Left-wing critics of Mr Obama, including black activists dismayed by his pragmatism, had previously warned that his attempts to meet Republicans in the centre ground would cause them to shift it to the right. The fact that this happened (when Mr Obama adopted a Republican health-care plan, Republicans called it socialism) is a reason many now cite for demanding a bolder agenda. Yet the idea that Mr Obama would have been more successful if he had tried to do the left-wing things his critics falsely accused him of defies reason. In the case of reparations, this would mean Democrats propounding an idea even more unpopular than Mr Trump’s policy of tearing migrant children from their parents. Over 80% of whites oppose it.
Republicans are liable to dismiss any Democratic racial-justice scheme as identity politics. In this case they would be right. Mr Coates, who appeared alongside Mr Booker at the recent congressional hearing, argues that black Americans’ legacy of injustice is incomparably worse than that of any other group. Yet native Americans, a smaller and less Democratic group, would beg to differ. And though some Democrats propose giving them reparations too—last week California’s governor Gavin Newsom announced the launch of a commission to study the issue and Elizabeth Warren has said she might support it—that is less a solution than a warning against embarking on the endeavour at all. It would be liable to keep spreading—maybe to poor Hispanics next.
That such a clearly impractical and politically no-win scheme made it through the Democratic policy machine might seem amazing; but it did not. It flew more or less straight from Mr Coates’s pen to Congress and the presidential primary, where Ms Williamson added noughts to it. No think-tank or policy unit appears to have given real thought to slavery reparations. Its sudden prominence reflects a lack of rigour characteristic of the party’s activist fringe. The Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all, two other fashionable ideas on the left, received similarly scant consideration before being pushed by activists into the mainstream.
The colour of money
In their defence, Democratic candidates have mostly made far more measured commitments to all three ideas than the activists would like. Asked for his reparations policy, Mr Booker points to his proposal to fight wealth inequality by giving cash—in the form of “baby bonds”—to poor families. That is the sort of colour-blind anti-poverty measure which would have benefited African-Americans disproportionately and which Mr Obama would have approved of. Mr Booker should describe it as such. By flirting with reparations the Democrats have already provided Mr Trump with racially incendiary attack lines. And to what end? The issue is not even all that popular with African-Americans, only a small majority of whom support it. They tend to be as pragmatic as Mr Obama was, and so must know that it is a pipe-dream.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "The idea of reparations for slavery is morally appealing but flawed"
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Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article
Abhayākaragupta (11th/12th cent.). Buddhist monk and scholar, especially of Tantric Buddhism. He was born a brahman, but became Buddhist in response to a vision. He wrote many works on monastic discipline, issues in abhidhamma, and tantra. The tr. of his works into Tibetan began under his own supervision, thus extending his influence.
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For the first time, digital audiences can be transported to a sub-antarctic penguin colony to immerse themselves in the lives of penguin species, thanks to a new 3D 360-degree film launched on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 produced with Visualise for BirdLife International’s “Protect a Penguin” global campaign.
BirdLife International, believed to be the world’s largest nature conservation partnership, has worked with London-based virtual reality producer, Visualise, to create Walk with Penguins, an engaging 3D 360 short nature film used to connect audiences with penguin protection – the first of its kind.
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, with only one species, the Galapagos penguin, found north of the equator.
Despite being loved the world over, penguins are the world’s second most threatened group of marine birds, with 10 of the 18 species threatened with extinction due to competition with fisheries, bycatch, marine pollution, disease, habitat disturbance and climate change. Urgent action is needed to better protect them, but public awareness of their situation is low.
BirdLife International wanted to bring the daily challenges and threats to penguins closer to its audiences, and created a high-quality 3D 360 film as part of its digital campaign “Protect a Penguin”.
Richard Grimmett, Director of Conservation, BirdLife International, said: “BirdLife Partners across the globe are already working to tackle some of the threats to penguins, but the size of the challenge demands that efforts are redoubled. Using 3D 360 film, we can get people closer to penguins and give people that magical feeling of being with them – and ultimately that can lead to a greater support for their conservation.”
During the five-month project to capture penguins in their native habitat, the Visualise production team travelled to the remote Falkland Islands in November 2016 (during the breeding season) and filmed incredible scenes using the Google Jump stereoscopic camera system in 3D 360, which provides unfettered, intimate action with penguins and their offspring.
“A fluffy King Penguin chick walks up to you and stares you in the eye; you duck your head as an albatross soars overhead; you are almost splashed with water as penguins squabble for a shower; and you share intimate moments with Southern Rockhopper Penguins, threatened with extinction. As the sun sets on the penguin colony within which you stand, you can’t help but feel an emotional connection to the penguins there, especially as you learn of their plight through the voice over,” added Dr. Grimmett.
Filming proved a major challenge, using untested camera rigs on precipitous cliff faces and in remote environments with no infrastructure. With experience in this arena, Visualise team had to balance the necessity of getting near to the penguins, to ensure great 360 shots, without upsetting the birds in their natural habitat. The net result is one of the world’s first nature films shot using 3D 360 technologies – never before has the action of penguins been captured in such immersive detail.
Will McMaster, Head of VR at Visualise said, “We have loved working with BirdLife and the penguins they are supporting on this project. This film is one of the first nature documentaries created in stereo 360. While most 360 film is shot monoscopic, and therefore has no depth, stereo 360 means that the viewer can see the physical depth of the scene. This means that audiences will be able to feel even more like they’re there, like they could almost reach out and touch the penguins, rocks and the sea. We hope this unique level of immersion will provide an emotional connection with audiences and generate greater support and donations for the campaign. Let’s save the penguins!”
The film has been condensed into a five minutes, and will be live from Wednesday 19 April. For maximum audience reach, the film will be viewable on Facebook and YouTube 360 – as well as through Virtual Reality headsets at BirdLife fundraising events.
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What is major trauma?
Major trauma describes serious and often multiple injuries where there is a strong possibility of death or disability. These might include serious head, chest, abdominal and skeletal injuries sustained as a result of accidents, sport or violence. Major trauma is the main cause of death for people under the age of 45 and is a major cause of debilitating long term injuries. In this region the causes of most major trauma are road traffic collisions or falls under 2metres.
What is a Major Trauma Network?
Major trauma networks are organised groups of services and personnel, who serve a defined population and aim to reduce death and disability following injury. The three overlapping phases (pre-hospital, in-hospital and rehabilitation) of a patient's journey require organisation and co-ordination so that patients are treated at the time and in the place that most benefits them.
What is a Major Trauma Centre?
A Major Trauma Centre (MTC) is part of a Major Trauma Network. It is a specialist hospital responsible for the care of the most severely injured patients who have suffered major trauma injuries. It provides 24/7 emergency access to Consultant-delivered care for a wide range of specialist clinical services and expertise, such as neurosurgery, cardiac and thoracic surgery and specialist orthopaedic surgery. In this region the Major Trauma Centre for adults and children is at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.
What is a Trauma Unit?
A Trauma Unit (TU) is a hospital that is part of the Major Trauma Network providing care for all except the most severely injured major trauma patients. When it is not possible to get to the Major Trauma Centre within 45 minutes, or where the patient needs to be stabilised quickly, they will be taken to the nearest TU for immediate treatment and stabilisation before being transferred on to the MTC.
If a patient no longer requires the specialist care of the MTC, but still needs some medical care, they may be transferred back to their nearest TU to continue this care whilst undergoing any rehabilitation required.
Why did we need to change the way major trauma services are provided?
Whilst there are only a small number of major trauma patients across the region compared to the overall population, this group of patients have complex injuries and need expert care to ensure they have the best chance of survival and recovery.
Whilst all hospitals with Emergency Departments across England used to treat both adults and children involved in major trauma, good patient outcomes have been lower than in healthcare systems in equivalent western economies (National Audit Office Report, 2010) where Major Trauma Networks are already fully operational, such as the USA and Australia..
With the implementation of Major Trauma Networks across the NHS in England, there is a now a much better chance of surviving and recovering from a major trauma injury. Referral pathways from scene to Major Trauma Centre are now much improved and many of the previous delays in the system are gradually being removed. Patients have direct access to specialist teams and state-of-the-art equipment to ensure they receive immediate treatment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
How many people suffer major trauma a year?
In the East oEngland there were approximately 2,000 major trauma patients during 2018 and on average the MTC will treat four to five people a day.
What happens to a major trauma patient under the new system?
Patients with a severe injury are assessed by ambulance staff at the scene of the incident. Then, if they are within 45 minutes of the MTC they are taken directly there if it is safe to do so. If the patient needs stabilisation they will be taken to the nearest TU, prior to likely transfer to the MTC. At the major trauma centre, patients are cared for by an on-site team, including experts in diagnostic tests, traumatic injuries and brain surgery. Patients who have less severe major trauma injuries may receive all of their care at their nearest Trauma Unit.
Will major trauma patients have longer ambulance journey times?
In some cases, patients may have to travel longer in the ambulance to get to a major trauma centre than they would have done previously if they were being taken to their local hospital. However, the journey is unlikely to take longer than 45 minutes and it means patients are treated in a specialist centre with all the facilities and expertise they may need, sooner than before.
For major trauma patients, spending a little extra time getting to a hospital which provides the right team of specialists can be more important than getting to the nearest hospital. Specialist treatment at a major trauma centre has a greater impact than journey time (ie, the time spent in an ambulance) on medical outcomes and can increase survival rates by up to 20 percent (National Audit Office Report, Major Trauma Care in England 2010).
Are major trauma services the same for children as they are for adults?
Major trauma in children is thankfully very rare. We are fortunate to have a highly specialised services for the care of critically ill children at the same hospital as for adults.. The initial pathway is the same for children
What are the benefits of having a major trauma network?
The benefits associated with the implementation of a major trauma network are:
Patient outcomes have improved.
Mortality rates associated with major trauma are reducing.
The major trauma network is able to facilitate the establishment of more effective clinical teams
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Vitamin B3 (a.k.a. niacin) hones in on the health benefits that it exerts in our bodies. This goes beyond its many roles, but actually describes the disease- fighting nature of the vitamin. It has much to do with the flow of blood in the body, as we’ll see here.
1. Hyperlipidemia, Coronary Heart Disease: “Hyperlipidemia” means high cholesterol and triglycerides. Vitamin B3 was used as early as 1955 to treat patients with high cholesterol. The nutrient, at doses of 1,000 to 4,000 milligrams (mg) a day, lowered triglycerides by 20% to 50%, and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 10% to 25%, while increasing HDL (good) cholesterol by 10% to 30%.
A major study in the 1960s and 70s tracked over 8,300 men aged 30 to 64 who’d had a heart attack in the past six years. Niacin, at three grams a day, reduced cholesterol by an average of 10%, triglycerides by 26%, another heart attack by 27%, and stroke by 26%. In another study, niacin was combined with a statin (i.e. a cholesterol-lowering drug) Continue reading
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Different diversity measures of forest floor assemblages were evaluated in order to check if they can be used as indicators of forest naturalness. We compared vascular and bryophyte vegetation of two habitat types in an unmanaged beech-dominated reserve and five managed stands of different ages. We used systematically collected data characterizing four spatial scales obtained by successively aggregating neighbouring quadrats. Species richness did not always differentiate near natural sites from managed sites, and the observed difference depended very much on the spatial scale used. The behaviour of Shannon-Wiener diversity function can only be understood if both the species richness and the evenness components are considered. Near natural plots had high Shannon-Wiener diversity values even at the finest spatial scale not only because of high number of species, but also because of high evenness. We found that a simple measure of pattern diversity – spatial variation of species importance – was the most effective in differentiating the diversity of plots with different levels of naturalness. The absolute values of pattern diversity in the forest floor vegetation were the highest in those plots where the characteristics of important limiting ecological factors were generated by natural disturbance. Vascular and bryophyte species responded differently to tree stand structural characteristics. The diversity of vascular vegetation was determined mainly by the spatial variation of light availability, whereas that of bryophyte vegetation responded to the amount and spatial heterogeneity of appropriate substrates (dead wood, rock). The use of pattern sensitive diversity measures is necessary to reveal diversity-naturalness relationships. We suggest that all diversity descriptors should be calculated for different spatial scales, since their change with spatial scale was as informative as their actual values.
alfa-diversity, Bryophytes, Herbaceous plants, Fagus sylvatica, Forest management, Pattern diversity, Spatial scale, Species richness, Tree stand structure, alfa-diverzitás, mohák, lágyszárú növények, bükk, erdőgazdálkodás, folt diverzitás, fajgazdagság
Címszavazva - VA
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Our education processes need improvement, we need to work with our teachers and help to equip them with the resources they need to be successful. Most importantly, our students need exposure to career opportunities at an early age, so they can have a successful pathway through their education helping them to find their dreams in the workplace.
We need to train the workforce of tomorrow for the jobs of the future and that includes much more modern methods of teaching. We need to support great schools no matter what type of school they are and support options for parents to send their children to the schools of their choosing.
There has been a lot of talk about Public and Public Charter Schools who altogether have not really served our communities very well when compared with other states. We must approach education with more common sense and with student centered learning as the first priority. Too much priority has been placed on educators instead of students. We need to support our teachers and help equip them with modern tools to be successful and we have to get our educational programs to a more modern model that will be successful.
It is a difficult challenge, how do our schools compete to create better education for our children? Most schools currently operate through the huge bureaucracy of the State of California and schools have adopted sluggish systems that do not respond quickly to external needs, but we can make improvements if we can create an adoption by teachers and administrators that continuous change is a positive culture that is necessary for improvement.
Businesses realized that change was a good thing long ago and should be a part of the business culture in order to compete. Unfortunately, school systems have not been effective or efficient with their funds and resources and have not embraced change as a part of their culture and that is the primary reason why other states have surpassed the State of California in education. The solution is to adopt continuous improvement in our schools, to embrace change as a positive objective, and to reduce bureaucratic systems wherever possible. It is a dream, our kids are relying upon us to help them with their dreams.
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Keagan Lynggard was 8 years old when she started having frequent stomach aches and cramps. It felt like “squeezing, twisting, [and] stabbing – all wrapped into one,” she says. The symptoms were so severe at times that “she would roll up in a ball sobbing from the pain,” her grandmother Sharon recalls.
Lynggard was misdiagnosed with food allergies, lactose intolerance, and irritable bowel syndrome until, at age 15, her condition was properly diagnosed as Crohn’s disease. “It was such a relief to finally have an answer to what was causing me so much pain and discomfort,” says Lynggard, who is now 24 and attends college in Southern California.
Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects the gastrointestinal tract. According to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, roughly 700,000 Americans live with the condition. Symptoms may include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, constipation, and rectal bleeding, but they can vary from patient to patient or over time.
“What makes Crohn’s disease so difficult is that the symptoms can be extremely variable in nature,” says John Garber, MD, a gastroenterologist and assistant in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. “One of the things we encounter a lot is that there is a significant delay in diagnosis because the symptoms can be so non-specific.”
Diagnosed with Crohn’s when she was 16, Sue Geyer finds one of the biggest challenges to living with the disease is extreme fatigue. A common symptom, fatigue can be caused by a lack of sleep due to flare-ups, anemia, or nutrient deficiency.
“I’m constantly fighting fatigue,” says Geyer, 51, a mother of four who lives in Alpena, Michigan. “There are days when I am so tired I just need to rest.” Geyer is thankful that she has family and close friends to turn to. “I have a really strong support system,” she says.
The exact cause of Crohn’s is unclear, but it is likely a combination of factors including genetics and an abnormal immune response. “When that happens, the immune system gets activated and then begins to try to defend, perhaps inappropriately, against what would otherwise be a normal constituent of the microbial flora [or microscopic living organisms in the body],” Dr. Garber says. “The result is that you can have inflammation at any point in the GI tract.”
There is no cure for Crohn’s disease, but medication and changes in diet can help manage its symptoms and avoid serious complications. Sometimes surgery may be necessary. Both Lynggard and Geyer have an ileostomy, a surgically created opening in the belly to move waste out of the body.
Besides the physical effects, Crohn’s disease can have a strong psychosocial impact. Studies suggest that the majority of IBD patients feel stigmatized – something that doesn’t surprise Lynggard.
“Talking about digestive diseases and really anything to do with bodily functions isn’t the norm in our culture,” she says. “I think with most people suffering from this disease, it leads to feelings of isolation.”
Lynggard says that joining a local support group for people with digestive disorders “really made the biggest change in my life in feeling comfortable and content with who I am and with my disease... we discuss the physical aspects of the disease, but also how we deal with it at school or at parties and how to talk about it with friends.”
Being diagnosed with Crohn’s and having to constantly manage the condition is very difficult for caregivers as well. “As a parent, you always want to fix what is wrong with your child,” says Lynggard’s mother Kirsten. “Knowing that there is no cure to what my daughter has was devastating at times and is still frustrating to this day.”
Lynggard’s grandmother Sharon stresses the importance of seeing the disease in a broader perspective. “Stop and ask yourself, ‘Do I ask more about my child’s daily physical state than their interests, friends, activities, school, or chores?’” she says. “Encourage and support the person in recognizing that the disease isn’t who they are but a part of their life experience.”
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A Cosmetic Surgery for Ears (Otoplasty)
The anatomy of the protruding ear
Our ears take on their shape during gestation (when we are in our mother’s womb) and continue to grow throughout our early childhood. At about the age of 6, our ears reach a size that is about 80% of what they will be as adults. During our development, an extremely complex system of signals triggers the growth of the ear as well as determines the shape of the ear. The appearance of the ear may take on different degrees of malformation, ranging from the most apparent to minimal. The most apparent form of ear malformation is what is called microtia—whereby the ear fails to form. The complex formation of the ear relies on the formation of specific creases and folds in order for the ear to take on a normal appearance. The most common form of ear malformations is the protruding ear. The protruding is a result of two etiologies: the ear fails to form a specific fold referred to as the antihelical fold and an excess of cartilage which forms the ‘bowl’ of the ear called conchal excess.
At what age can an ear be setback?
Typically, ears can be setback any time after the age of 6 years. At the age of six, the ear has nearly reached its adult size. It is also the age before children enter school and a possible appropriate time for kids to avoid the potential social stigma of protruding ears.
How is an Otoplasty procedure performed?
The procedure can be performed under either local anesthesia in the majority of adult cases or general anesthesia in the case of children. An incision is made in the crease behind the ear in order to hide the scar. This allows for the cartilage to be exposed. The cartilage is then re-shaped through the use of permanent sutures. Careful planning and marking are made to recreate the fold in the proper anatomic location. Dr. Bared uses sutures in order to create a natural-appearing outcome and does not cut the cartilage. Cartilage-cutting techniques may result in the appearance of sharp edges which may be avoided with a suture technique. Lastly, if the ‘bowl’ of the ear is also found to be in excess this area is also made smaller.
Recovery from an Otoplasty procedure
The recovery from an ear-pinning surgery lasts about one week. For the first several days you will need to wear a gauze wrapping to protect the ear and to provide pressure. After this wrapping is removed, you will then need to wear a sports-type headband. In one week, you can then wear the sport-type headband only at night while sleeping. The headband should be worn at night while sleeping for at least 4 weeks after surgery. You will need to avoid vigorous exercise and physical activity for around 3 weeks. The results from an otoplasty are almost immediate. It is one of the few procedures in facial plastic surgery that provides such immediate results.
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Researchers here use some of the more recently sequenced mammalian genomes, of the majority eutherian branch that encompasses all of the mammals you might be familiar with, to investigate a potential role for gene duplication in the evolution of aging and longevity. This is a good example of much of the breadth of research into aging in that it is very far removed from any practical outcome: it is an unhurried process of mapping. Fundamental research is nonetheless essential despite - or arguably because of - the lack of a clear use for the knowledge gained.
One of the greatest unresolved questions in aging biology is determining the genetic basis of interspecies longevity variation. Within Eutherians, bowhead whales live more than 200 years, while short-lived rodents generally live up to 4 years. Gene duplication is often the key to understanding the origin and evolution of important Eutherian phenotypes. Many longevity-associated pathways evolved via gene duplication, and duplication can increase lifespan and impact the pathogenesis of various aging-related diseases. With the availability of genomes from long- and short-lived species and a set of hundreds of genes known to influence lifespan in model organisms, we thoroughly investigated the role that gene duplication played in the evolution of Eutherian longevity from a systematic perspective.
Longevity-associated gene families have a marginally significantly higher rate of duplication compared to non-longevity-associated gene families. Anti-longevity-associated gene families have significantly increased rate of duplication compared to pro-longevity gene families and are enriched in neurodegenerative disease categories. Conversely, duplicated pro-longevity-associated gene families are enriched in cell cycle genes. There is a cluster of longevity-associated gene families that expanded solely in long-lived species that is significantly enriched in pathways relating to 3-UTR-mediated translational regulation, metabolism of proteins and gene expression, pathways that have the potential to affect longevity. The identification of a gene cluster that duplicated solely in long-lived species involved in such fundamental processes provides a promising avenue for further exploration of Eutherian longevity evolution.
We can only speculate whether the inferred duplication patterns in this study could have impacted Eutherian longevity. In reality, longevity evolution is probably the result of many genes exhibiting small effect sizes, meaning that pinpointing the exact source of longevity determination will be extremely difficult to detect, even in large studies. Because we know that the environment and condition of an individual play a massive role on the proteins that are being expressed, perhaps the true meaning of the reason for duplicating these genes in long-lived species may not be fully understood from solely this perspective. However, subtle differences at the genomic level can exert a large phenotypic effect. It is possible that duplicating a small cluster of interrelated genes solely in long-lived species that have core functions involved in RNA and protein metabolism could have directly or indirectly impacted their longevity through their functions in gene and protein networks.
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1896 – Birth of Thomas Gantz Cassady, American World War I flying ace, World War II Office of Strategic Services intelligence officer and businessman.
1924 – The first recorded flight of a live bull takes place when champion breeder Nico V is flown from Rotterdam, Holland, to Paris, France. The bull is carried by KLM in a Fokker F.III transport aircraft.
1941 – In a span of under three hours, three Junkers Ju 88As (shown above) crash in northeast England due to a British radio countermeasure called “Meacon,” which falsifies German navigational beacon signals and apparently caused the planes to fly headlong into coastal hills. Crews of the first two planes are killed in the crashes, while the crew of the third plane is captured.
1944 – Death of Ingvar Fredrik Hakansson, a Swedish World War II pilot in the Royal Air Force; he drowns at sea near Dungeness after his Supermarine Spitfire was damaged when the V-1 flying bomb he was attacking exploded.
1982 – Pan Am Flight 759, a Boeing 727, crashes in Kenner, La., shortly after takeoff; all 145 on board and eight on the ground are killed. Wind shear was later determined to be the cause.
2010 – The Qinetiq Zephyr, a lightweight, solar-powered UAV designed for use in observation and communications relay, takes off for an endurance record. It completed the attempt on July 23, after a flight of 336 hours and 22 mins., more than doubling the previous endurance record for unmanned flight.
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How To Attract Wildlife To Your Garden: The Ultimate Guide
Easter is usually the busiest gardening weekend of the year. For many people it is the first chance they get to put on their boots, pull out their clippers and tidy the garden.
Why not take a little time over the next few weeks to make a few small changes to your garden in able to attract more wildlife?
Like us humans, water is vital for wildlife to survive - yet is often overlooked. Most people will leave out bread and berries for the birds, but forget about providing water too. Adding a water feature like a pond is a great way to significantly increase the chances of attracting new wildlife to your garden. If adding a pond seems a little drastic, a bird bath is an easy and cheap alternative. If you do add a pond, remember to make the edges quite shallow allowing easy access to the water for toads, frogs and newts.
Add water plants
If you do add a pond to your garden, ensure you add some water plants. This will attract insects that frogs and other amphibious animals like to eat, creating a fantastic food source.
Adding a variety of food for birds to feed on is a quick way to attract new wildlife to your garden. A bird feeder is a great way to do this. By changing the food on offer over the winter to high fat, will enable the birds to survive the cold winter months and return the following year. Alternatively you may want to lay the food on a bird table. This will enable other animals like squirrels to feast on it as well. If you do place bird feeders in your garden, remember to place them in places that cats and other predators cannot reach.
Planting berry trees like holly is a great way to provide food for a variety of animals throughout the year, especially throughout the winter. You need to plant them now if you want them ready for the winter months. For earlier in the year, avoid throwing any over ripe fruit away. Cut it up and add it to your bird table for the animals to eat.
Grow your grass long and don't be over-tidy
If you have fruit trees, don’t be too quick to pick up fallen apples, pears etc from the floor. Fallen fruit is an easy and vital source of food for foxes, badgers etc.
Grow your grass long. Keep a patch of grass in your garden quite long. This not only creates a fantastic habitat for animals, but attracts insects which are a vital source of food for other animals.
Add bright coloured flowers
Bees are attracted to bright, vivid coloured flowers. Not only will planting flowers attract bees, it will attract other animals too. Bees are also needed to help spread pollen from one plant to the next helping make your garden flower during the spring and summer months.
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In The Function of Allergy: an immunological defense against toxins, (1991), Margie Profet proposes that an “immune response known as ‘allergy’ evolved as a last line of defense against the extensive array of toxic substances that exist in the environment.” Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are particularly vulnerable to food and seasonal allergies and the associated symptoms can exacerbate cognitive and behavioral challenges. Individuals with ASD are often medically complex, and being aware of early allergy signs and symptoms, as well available treatment options, can help to provide relief and promote overall wellness.
Recent studies have confirmed a significant rise in food allergies in the US. In 2013 the CDC reported that food allergies among children increased 50% between 1997-2011, similar to the trajectory of the rise in autism. Research suggests that 36% of children with ASD have food allergies. So what is the link?
To be explored in this article:
- Immune Dysregulation
- Food Allergy and Sensitivities
- Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE)
- Seasonal Allergies
- Oral Allergy Syndrome
- Ear Infections
- Sleep Disorders
- Mental Health
- Allergy Testing
Allergies and autism share a common underlying issue within the body’s immune system. Studies show that early life immune disruptions are associated with autism. Individuals with ASD may also have overactive immune systems or an imbalance of pro and anti-inflammatory signals. This immune dysregulation appears to be linked with the development of allergies and asthma. In allergic individuals, pattern recognition of danger signals causes the body to perceive pollen or other triggers as pathogens, and the reactions are similar to that of a virus, minus the fever and myalgia.
Inflammation in the body is an immune system response to toxins, irritants and infections, and contributes to health issues including autoimmune diseases, as well as asthma and allergies. Inflammation from food allergies and food intolerances create reactions in the body which can cause physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Immune dysregulation is common in families with autism, especially those with autoimmunity whereby the body attacks its own healthy cells as in Rheumatoid Arthritis, diabetes, and celiac disease. Researchers at the UC Davis Mind Institute have linked maternal inflammation to an increased risk of autism due to maternal antibodies attacking fetal brain tissue. Likewise, a mother’s diagnosis of inflammatory diseases including allergies or asthma increases her child’s risk of developing autism.
Food Allergies and Sensitivities:
Individuals with ASD often have difficult to manage behaviors which can be exacerbated by reactions to food allergens. This is particularly problematic when these symptoms are overlooked by behaviorists and educators who develop behavior plans that fail to address underlying medical issues.
Allergies are an inflammatory response of the immune system which defend the body against what is perceived as danger signals. When a child has a food allergy, immune activating inflammatory proteins send the body into fighting mode by producing antibodies to defend against the invader. This reaction causes allergy symptoms which typically occur within the first few hours after eating an offending food. Food allergens can cause an immediate immune reaction mediated by IgE antibodies, resulting in symptoms from rashes, hives and sneezing, to GI upset and in extreme cases, anaphylactic shock. Anaphylaxis, an acute, potentially life threatening reaction to an antigen, can begin with an itchy rash, swelling in the throat or tongue, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, low blood pressure, vomiting or diarrhea.
At the onset of a reaction, it is common to hear kids complain of itchy mouths and throats or difficulty swallowing. Children with ASD who are non-verbal are particularly challenged in expressing their symptoms; therefore, adults must be aware of the physiological symptoms and behaviors that may indicate an allergic reaction.
Common allergic responses can include:
- Tingling or itching in the mouth.
- Hives, itching or eczema.
- Swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat or other parts of the body.
- Wheezing, nasal congestion or trouble breathing.
- Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting.
- Dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting.
Early warning signs in infants can help parents identify the presence of potential food allergens. Dr. Raffi Tachdjian, Allergy/Immunologist at UCLA and Aire Medical in Santa Monica, CA encourages parents to look for signs including bloody stools, vomiting, diarrhea, fussy or erratic behavior, arching of the back and, swelling and hives. Dr. Tachdjian explains “Children with ASD are commonly reactive to cow’s milk (casein) wheat, nuts, eggs, and soy; however, allergy testing should be considered across a broad spectrum of allergenic foods if allergy or sensitivity is suspected.” A consultation with a board certified allergy and immunologist is recommended if food allergies are suspected.
Common Allergenic Foods
- Peanuts and tree nuts
- Cow’s milk
- Fish and shellfish
Many children experience reactions to foods, however, not all reactions are allergic responses. Intolerance to certain foods or food protein induced enterocolitis (FPIES) can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, irritability, headaches, decreased attention span, hyperactivity or pain. These symptoms could increase negative behaviors such as aggressions and self-injurious behaviors, therefore, food intolerance should be ruled out when developing behavior plans. A board certified allergy and immunologist can help to identify the presence of IgG antibodies or food proteins that are problematic. If an allergy is noted, removing the offending foods from the diet can generally reverse such GI and behavioral symptoms.
The microbiome of the human gut is integrated with the immune system and the brain via the gut-brain access. Recent studies show evidence that inflammation in the body begins in the gastrointestinal tract. The gut is the body’s first defense against infection or disease as it is intended to remove toxins and bacteria before circulating nutrients through the rest of the body. Food allergens provoke an immune response, causing inflammation in the lining of the gut. This inflammation, commonly referred to as “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability, allows foreign substances such as undigested food particles, food preservatives and other toxins to enter the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier, possibly exacerbating neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Common Food Intolerances
- Lactose intolerance
- Gluten sensitivity
- Corn and Soy sensitivity
- Sensitivity to food additives
Picky Eaters and GI issues
Children with ASD frequently have self-selected, restrictive diets. Sensory sensitivities often play a role in food choices; however, food intolerances can also influence food selection. Children with ASD commonly limit their food selection to those foods that contain starchy carbohydrates which are generally tan in color. One theory as to why the “tan food” diet is so common points to a problem in the GI tract. Gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) is a common GI disorder which is caused by a weakened lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Food intolerance can cause reflux and heartburn, and starchy carbs may help to settle the burning sensation caused by GERD, influencing food selectivity.
Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE)
Eosinophilic Esophagitis, also known as asthma of the esophagus, is a condition hallmarked by inflammation and reflux. This swelling of the esophagus can occur from an allergic/immune response and cause abdominal pain, trouble swallowing, vomiting and even a complete obstruction of the esophagus. This allergic condition occurs when a large number of white blood cells, normally not found in this tissue, are present. EOE can only be diagnosed with an endoscopy or biopsy of the tissue. Individuals with a family history of allergies as well as environmental and food allergies are at a higher risk of developing EOE.
Seasonal allergies are reactions to offenders such as pollen, trees, grass etc. as the histamines released in the body cause sneezing, wheezing, itchy/watery eyes, and asthma. Children with nasal allergies are at higher risk for developing asthma caused by inflammation of the airways from exposure to allergens. The CDC reports asthma rates have risen 28% between 2001-2011. Seasonal allergies and asthma can be very difficult to manage for individuals with ASD and frequently increase maladaptive behaviors as a result of both difficult to manage symptoms and/or side-effects of medications.
Oral Allergy Syndrome
Oral Allergy Syndrome is a term used to describe itchy or scratchy symptoms in the mouth caused by reactions to raw foods and vegetables in people who have seasonal allergies. Cross-reactivity occurs when proteins in allergens are structurally similar. Cross-reactivity can occur between foods as well as between foods and certain pollens, or even latex. Inflammation in the body from seasonal allergies can also increase sensitivity to food allergens during the high pollen seasons.
- Birch: apple, carrot, peach, plum, cherry, pear, almond, hazelnut
- Grasses: tomato
- Ragweed: melons, zucchini, cucumber, kiwi, banana
- Latex: banana, avocados
Eczema, an atopic dermatitis, is very common in children with ASD and most often has an allergy basis. Children with eczema frequently have food allergies, and food triggers can cause eczema flare-ups. Dr. Tachdjian says “Much like a nickel or make-up allergy, eczema can have an immediate or delayed response and throw a parent off by not correlating in time with a possible food trigger.” Eczema causes itching and discomfort, and a delayed response can make finding the culprit tricky. If eczema patches appear or flare-ups are noted in response to certain food triggers, it is best to consult with a pediatric allergy/immunologist that may help identify the triggers and treat the eczema.
Recurring ear infections are common in children with ASD and lead to an overuse of antibiotics, ultimately affecting the microbiome of the gut. Ear infections are commonly caused by food or, more likely, environmental allergies. As the Eustachian tubes empty, bacteria from stagnating fluid in the nose have an opportunity to enter and multiply causing infection. The uncomfortable pressure in the ear can also lead to increased behavioral responses. Managing allergies may help to decrease the occurrence of ear infections and avoid the overuse of antibiotics.
Nasal congestion and sore throats from seasonal allergic rhinitis often leads to disruptive sleep patterns. Fatigue from interrupted sleep can affect performance in school and also result in an increase in maladaptive behaviors, often times leading to unnecessary behavior protocols. Proper management of allergy symptoms can improve sleep patterns.
The symptoms of seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis or rhino conjunctivitis and food allergies/sensitivities can provoke irritability, effect sleep, cause fatigue, and many other conditions that impact daily life. Some practitioners in the medical community believe that more complex behavioral and emotional responses are caused by brain and nervous system reactions to foods, additives and preservatives. Sometimes referred to as “brain fog”, or neurotoxicity, symptoms including anxiety, lack of attention, agitation, confusion, weepiness, mania, irritability and jumpiness may be the result of inflammation from antibodies formed against cells in specific areas of the brain, resulting from exposure to allergens. Cow’s milk and gluten are two examples of proteins that interact with opiate receptors in the brain which can cause addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Gluten can be neurotoxic to those with Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivities have been linked to anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Removing the allergens therefore could decrease inflammation and reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Children with ASD who exhibit symptoms such as rashes, eczema, asthma, GI symptoms, recurring respiratory or ear infections and even behavioral issues, should be evaluated by a board certified allergy and immunologist experienced in treating individuals on the autism spectrum.
There are two methods used to perform allergy testing. Skin prick tests are more sensitive in detecting IgE antibodies which identify food allergens. Food intolerances are detected by the presence of IgG and IgA (secretory) antibodies. Both IgG and IgE antibodies can be detected in blood tests; however there is much debate about the clinical relevance of IgG testing. One school of thought is that IgG antibodies are present in allergic and non-allergic individuals. Detection of IgG antibodies indicates exposure to an antigen but not necessarily an allergy. Alternative theories say the presence of IgG antibodies taxes the immune system by increasing inflammatory responses. Physicians experienced with ASD are more likely to consider IgE, IgG and IgA antibodies.
Allergies are best treated with a combination of behavioral and pharmacological interventions.
Treatment for Food Allergy and Sensitivity
In extreme cases, when an anaphylaxis reaction occurs, administration of an EpiPen (epinephrine) and could be lifesaving. Generally, removing offending foods, or elimination diets, are typically prescribed to avoid food allergies and to decrease food sensitivities. Although there is some controversy, many report the elimination diet helps heal leaky gut and reduce symptoms of ADD/ADHD, autism related behaviors, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms. Showering nightly to remove pollen from the body can help decrease allergy symptoms and improve sleep.
When choosing to use pharmaceuticals, understanding pharmacokinetics and ASD is essential because some medications may have negative side-effects, such as lowering seizure thresholds. Variable metabolic factors including DNA differences and liver enzyme processing can change responses to medications. Likewise, fluctuation in therapeutic to toxic levels of a drug can make safe and effective dosing challenging. Although antihistamines and decongestants can be helpful, individuals need to be monitored carefully for side-effects.
Inhalers are commonly used to treat asthma, although they can be difficult to administer. Nebulizers are frequently used for infants and young children, or anyone who has difficulty with the administration of an inhaler.
Allergy shots are the most effective and long lasting treatment for allergies, however, many kids with ASD cannot tolerate weekly shots. For those who cannot tolerate shots, or are unable to swallow pills or take ready tabs, using nasal sprays while they are sleeping can be an effective way to administer medication.
Oral Immunotherapy (OIT)
Oral Immunotherapy (OIT), treating the body with an elimination diet and a slow re- introduction to the antigens found in the trigger foods, may help children with ASD overcome their food allergies. OIT, however, is considered to be experimental and must be supervised by an allergy/immunologist under highly controlled circumstances. As with any experimental treatment, the risk/reward benefit must be weighed.
The medical and mental health complications caused by allergies and immune dysregulation can significantly impact the progress and behaviors of individuals with ASD. Symptoms and medication side-effects are frequently misidentified as maladaptive behaviors, and the underlying medical complexities are often overlooked. An evaluation by an allergy/immunologist experienced in treating individuals with ASD is imperative for effective allergy management to ensure medical stability and to improve educational and therapeutic outcomes.
Meet Sheri A. Marino, MA, CCC-SLP
Pediatric Health Advisor
Sheri is a pediatric speech and language pathologist with over 25 years of clinical experience specializing in autism. She has published numerous articles on autism and shares her clinical expertise through writing and lecturing internationally. Sheri is passionate about treating the “whole child” through integrative medicine and is interested in research that examines the environmental causes of autism. As a consultant to FFH, Sheri contributes her clinical knowledge and management experience to help develop and carry out the mission of the Focus for Health Foundation. She has been featured on CBS News, NBC News, NJN and multiple Cable networks.
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In 1893 Scott and Clarks Tamar Foundry manufactured the Mudie patent Quartz Crusher with Cootes improvements as part of the general work undertaken at this time. This had been built by the firm under the personal supervision of
Charles Coote who had secured patent rights for Tasmania and New Zealand. The occasion of the trial at their William Street works, had caused much comment in mining circles at the time, and many were anxious to personally inspect the machine. In attendance of the first trial were F. W. Grubb and H. I. Rooke, M.L.C.Richard Green, Robert Gardner, Samuel Tulloch, Jas. Barclay, E. M. King, and other gentlemen, together with members of the Launceston Stock Exchange.The machine consisted of a semi-cylindrical chamber in three sections, bolted together and set on rockers. In each chamber was placed a roller 30 in. in diameter and 18 in. fall; this gives a grinding surface of 900 superficial feet per minute. There is a slight fall between each roller, on which are placed copper ripple plates, so that whatever gold was liberated by the crushing of the first roller had a chance to get amalgamated on the first copper ripples, and so with the second chamber where the material passes through a rough grating before entering the third or last chamber, where it was retained until fine enough to go through a 200 punched grating, after which it was passed over the final copper ripples. It was claimed that the machine would save all the free gold. The crusher weight was seven ton and the weight of back roller, 27 cwt. The capacity was 50 tons of material per week, and the horse power required to drive it was only 2 i.h.p. The water required with ordinary stone was about 500gals per ton.The construction of the machinery by the firm of Scott and Clark was well regaurded , and Mr. Coote spoke highly of the way the work was completed.
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Laos - Nature and Wildlife
The landscape of Laos is home to a diverse variety of nature and wildlife. There are over 100 species of large mammals including tigers, Asian elephants and guars (wild cattle). In fact, the Nakai Plateau has one of the largest remaining populations of Asian elephants in Indochina. Primates are common in Laos and there are five species of gibbon, five species of macaque and four species of leaf monkey including the striking Douc Languar.
Many birds are found throughout Laos such as the Green Peafowl, the Blue-breasted Quail, the Siamese Fireback, the Red-collared Woodpecker and the Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo. There are in total 165 species of amphibians, reptiles and snakes like the Rock and Burmese Pythons and King Cobras as well as the large Tokay Gecko which is common in many Laos households. Laos is also home to a large number of beautiful butterflies.
Recent years have marked the discovery of new and unknown species in Laos. The Saola, a forest-dwelling antelope-like creature and muntjacs, a small deer species have been discovered. A small, striped rabbit and Kha-hyou, a completely new family of rodent have recently become known.
Laos has some of the most significant forest areas that remain in Southeast Asia, however, they have come under threat. Excessive logging is destroying natural wildlife and habitats and illegal poaching are posing massive threats to animals like the tiger, gibbons, Asian elephants and crocodiles. In order to combat these threats, the government is working with locals as well as conservation groups to raise awareness.
Twenty National Protected Areas (NPAs) cover nearly 14% of the country. The system of NPAs in Laos has been recognised as one of the best in the world. Some examples of National Parks that are hard at work with conservation efforts include Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area and Bokeo Nature Reserve. Phou Khao Khouay National Park is only 40 km northeast of Vientiane and was established in 1993. Its area covers three provinces in Laos and houses and protects many animals including the Asian black bear, the sun bear, wild dogs like the dhole and jackal, the clouded leopard, otters, mouse deer and many others. The park management team works hard to protect the park by monitoring and controlling any illegal use of national reserves whether it be habitat loss or hunting and poaching.
The Bokeo Nature Reserve is 123,000 hectares of forest in mountainous terrain. It is very rich in biodiversity and is also the site of the Gibbon Experience. The Gibbon Experience is a series of treehouses that are connected by a network of zip lines which allow people to get close views of Gibbons. All funds received from ecotourism get put back into the project. The project works closely with locals to educate them about conservation as well as to change the economy from one that depends on slash-and-burn farming (when farmers set fire to rice stubble and degraded forest to improve soil fertility), logging and poaching to one that centres on sustainable conservation. This project is particularly important due to the discovery of the Black Gibbon in 1997 which was thought to be extinct. An elephant rehabilitation project is also underway.
Laos Travel Information
At Goway we believe that a well-informed traveller is a safer traveller. With this in mind, we have compiled an easy to navigate travel information section dedicated to Laos.
Learn about the history and culture of Laos, the must-try food and drink, and what to pack in your suitcase. Read about Laos's nature and wildlife, weather and geography, along with 'Country Quickfacts' compiled by our travel experts. Our globetrotting tips, as well as our visa and health information will help ensure you're properly prepared for a safe and enjoyable trip. The only way you could possibly learn more is by embarking on your journey and discovering Laos for yourself. Start exploring… book one of our Laos tours today!
Extend Your Trip
After your Laos tour, consider taking the time to visit other destinations. Goway offers exciting China vacation packages, India tours and Thailand vacation packages plus a comprehensive selection of vacation packages in many other Asian countries.
Book your Laos tour with Goway!
ASIA by Goway is an exclusive division that specializes in planning and organizing Laos tours, vacations and experiences. Choose from a simple city stopover, a stay of distinction, a independent travel module, and much more. We want to be your first choice when next you go globetrotting to Laos.
Get a Trip Quote Order a Brochure
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