Heart disease remains the #1 killer in Arkansas which means over one million people are currently living with cardiovascular disease in the state. And while regular wellness visits and lifestyle changes should be done in response to this epidemic, taking targeted, preventative action is critical to pinpoint problems and save lives.
Advanced diagnostics = a more complete picture
While the name may sound intimidating, a nuclear stress test is a very safe tool to diagnose heart disease or rule out concerns. During the test, a small amount of radioactive tracer is injected into a vein to show blood flow in the heart and arteries. A special gamma camera detects the radiation released by the tracer and gives clear images that help providers pinpoint problems. If something is detected, physicians have the accurate information they need to determine a plan of care to help prevent serious, even fatal, heart issues.
What to expect
A nuclear stress test takes 2 to 3 hours, with the stress portion lasting only 7 to 12 minutes. Patients first receive an IV in their arm or hand, and the radioactive tracer goes into the bloodstream. Imaging which shows the heart is then performed. Next, patients walk on a treadmill until they reach their target heart rate. For those unable to walk on the treadmill, the Nuclear Medicine Technologist will administer a medication through an IV that mimics exercise by increasing blood flow to the heart. Last, patients lie still, and final images are recorded.
Why go nuclear?
Pictures taken during nuclear stress tests provide images of the heart muscle and can show if there is any damage. The rest and stress images are processed and can indicate how well the heart muscle functions during activity and rest and may give valuable information about artery health as well. Not only do nuclear stress tests help providers pinpoint issues to accurately diagnose heart disease, they also provide information used to customize safe treatments dependent on each patient’s heart health and unique capabilities. Providers also use the test to evaluate how current heart treatments may be working so they are able to change care plans if needed.
If you have been putting off care, please schedule important wellness visits to make sure your heart is its healthiest. Too many people feel the impact of heart disease but there are also many that don’t even know they have it, which puts them at serious risk of complications—or death. Schedule an appointment with your primary care provider and put your heart in the right place at Howard Memorial Hospital.Posted in: Health


Arsenic levels in Danish groundwater and drinking water: historical data assessment 2001-2013
5th MedGeo Conference
Arsenic is, according to WHO, one of the 10 chemicals/elements of major public health concern as it has well-known carcinogenic effects and as mg l-1 levels may have adverse effects on public health. Drinking water in Denmark is solely of groundwater origin which generally is considered of high quality with low arsenic levels. Danish drinking water quality is routinely monitored and all analyses are added to a public geological and hydrological database, denoted Jupiter.
Here we present a national-scale overview on natural-occurring arsenic concentrations in ground- and drinking water for the last decade. More specifically our goals are: 1) to compare the arsenic concentrations from ground- and drinking water, both at the consumer and at the exit of the water treatment facilities; 2) to find and describe the proportion of samples exceeding the quality criteria; and 3) to visualize the spatial variation. In order to do that, two datasets including all quality-checked water samples containing arsenic data were selected for the period 2001-2013, consisting of respectively groundwater samples (n=29676) and drinking water samples (n=16498).
Our data analysis revealed geographical patterns with naturally occurring arsenic-rich groundwater with the highest density in the eastern part of the country. Table 1 presents a summary with the drinking water samples exceeding the criteria (1.89%); for the last decade only a small fraction of the Danish waterworks have distributed water with elevated arsenic levels to consumers.
In addition, analyses on the spatial distribution of groundwater arsenic levels with respect to the redox water type, depth of extraction, and type of predominant sediment will be presented and discussed in relation to both aqueous chemistry and public health.
Original size: 72 x 36 in


Anandamide was discovered in 1992 by a team working for Raphael Mechaloum. Its name comes from ananda, the Sanskrit word for "bliss", and its is also known in scientific terms as N-arachidonoylethanolamine or AEA, and is a naturally occurring cannabinoid within the human body. Anandamide closely resembles tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Anandamide has an effect on both the CB₁ and CB₂ receptors; with the CB₁ receptors more affected in the central nervous system and the CB₂ receptors more affected in the periphery.
The effects of Anandamide
Anandamide plays an important role in the regulation of appetite, pleasure and reward, and elevated levels may increase the pleasure experienced on consumption of food. Anandamide has been found in chocolate, and is thought to be partly responsible for the intense enjoyment experienced whilst eating it. Anandamide may also be partly responsible for pain regulation and sleep patterns. Paracetamol has been discovered to behave as a weak Anadamide reuptake inhibtor, increasing the amount of Anandamide in the body, which is responsible for at least some of its pain relieving effects.
Anandamide also has an important and as yet poorly understood role in hormonal balance and the reproductive system. During ovulation, plasma levels of Anandamide are at their highest, as are levels of the sex hormones gonadotrophin and estradiol (a type of estrogen). However, it is not clear exactly what relationship these substances have with each other. Anandamide is also vital in ensuring the healthy implantation of the young embryo into the epithelium (wall) of the uterus in early pregnancy.
Current research also points to Anandamide having a role in forming and breaking memories, in a similar fashion to THC's negative effects on short term memory, but on a a much more subtle scale.


Composting is the controlled decomposition of raw organic materials (such as food scraps and dry leaves) that creates compost, a valuable soil amendment. The process is driven by organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Use our new poster to share the magic of compost with your community! It is available for your use (with attribution to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance).
Download the poster here as a: PNG file or PDF file
Creative direction by Linda Bilsens Brolis and art by Clarissa Libertelli.
We want you to be able to share these infographics under creative commons license, free of cost. If you’re publishing on your website, or in one of your publications, please include this sentence:
“The following comes from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (www.ilsr.org), a national nonprofit organization working to strengthen local economies, and redirect waste into local recycling, composting, and reuse industries. It is reprinted here with permission.”
Please, make sure to let people know they should link to: ilsr.org/poster-what-is-composting/ to download the original content for their own publications. They also should include the above attribution language.
Click here to view the Spanish version!
View our other compost posters and infographics, including:
How Composting Combats the Climate Crisis: ilsr.org/compost-climate/
Compost for a Better Planet: ilsr.org/infographics-compost-better-planet/
Compost Impacts More Than You Think: ilsr.org/compost-impacts-posters/
Hierarchy to Reduce Food Waste & Grow Community: ilsr.org/food-waste-hierarchy/


Exporting eiderdown for more than 40 years
From the founding of the company XCO has been exporting eiderdown and eiderdown is still part of the company.
What is eiderdown?
Eiderdown is the down from the Common eider duck (somateria Mollissima). The down is located under the feathers of eiders, for the most parts on the abdomen. When the eider duck is nesting, the female eider picks of part of the down to put in the nest.
Eiderdown has a unique structure and its barbs form pockets that trap air that protect ducks from the cold. Unlike feathers, down does not have a rigid central part.
Why does eiderdown cost so much?
First and foremost eiderdown is the only down to be collected in the wild making it a very precious natural resource. Also, the unique qualities of the eiderdown that can not be replicated with synthetic fillings makes it a very rare product.
Eiderdown is unlike any other material on the planet. Under the microscope, it reveals its magic in a chaos of intertwined threads.
Several unique characteristics of eiderdown
The unique way the down is tangled together gives it many highly unique characteristics
Interesting facts about eiderdown
When you start getting to know more about eiderdown you will find many interesting and surprising thing


ACNE CAN BE MORE DISTRESSING THAN MELANOMA
A global study evaluated 333 diseases and injuries in 195 countries
Acne may have wider-ranging and longer-term effects than skin cancer claims the Global Burden of Disease Study, an initiative for quantifying health costs funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The study evaluated 333 diseases and injuries in 195 countries and territories. Using 11,552 data sources from 2016, it divided more than 1000 skin diseases into categories.
The new system for the classification of skin diseases by injury could lead to the shift of research priorities and change the way dermatologists see their patients, senior author Robert Dellavalle, PhD, from the University of Colorado in Denver, told Medscape Medical News.
Weighing the relative importance of shortened lifespan with disability, researchers give patients hypothetical choices between years of life and years of various kinds of disability. The aim is to measure how the participants weigh the effects.
Example: They might tell patients who have suffered a stroke to imagine they have 10 years left to live and ask them how many years of life they would give in exchange for never having the stroke.If the average patient was willing to give up 5 years of life for the cure, researchers would assign the stroke to 50% of the year's life.
In the Global Burden of Disease Study, skin conditions accounted for 60 million disability-adjusted life-years, which is about 2.5%.
This made skin diseases the 11th most harmful health problem in the categories used by the study, which were ranked.
The study was presented at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) 2018 Annual Meeting.
You can read the entire article in Medscape Medical News.


This is a reprint of an article I found today. Unfortunately, I forgot about the supermoon so missed a look this morning, but tonight should still be a good opportunity. Apparently, our last chance to see the supermoon of this year -and not again until 2034 – will be December 14.
An Extraordinary Sight
The supermoon will look especially big because it’s so close to Earth at the moment it reaches its fullest point. Share this sight with someone special, because we won’t see a supermoon this close until 2034.
About the Supermoon
The moon is a familiar sight in our sky, brightening dark nights and reminding us of space exploration, past and present. But the upcoming supermoon—on Monday, Nov. 14—will be especially ‘super’ since it’s the closest full moon to Earth since 1948. We won’t see another supermoon like this until 2034.
The moon’s orbit around the Earth is slightly elliptical, so sometimes the moon is closer and sometimes it’s farther away. When the moon is full as it makes its closest pass to Earth it is known as a supermoon. At perigree—the point at which the moon is closest to Earth—the moon can be as much as 14 percent closer to Earth than at apogee, when the moon is farthest from our planet. The full moon appears that much larger in diameter and 30 percent brighter. The biggest and brightest moon for observers in the United States will be on Monday morning just before dawn.
Did you happen to witness the supermoon of 1948? Did you see it today?
Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂
That’s neat! I think I saw it, but I am not quite sure – it didn’t look very super here 😉
It should have looked much larger than usual. You probably did see it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person


Common Names:Philodendron glaucophyllum, Philodendron, Tree Lovers
Synonyms:Philodendron elongatum, Philodendron hastifolium, Philodendron domesticum
Description:Philodendron is a popular house plant because it is extremely easy to grow. The leaf blades of Philodendron hastatum are less than leathery to the touch (sub-coriaceous) and are semi-glossy on the adaxial (upper) surface. Rather than having dark green as it's primary blade color, Philodendron hastatum is often a mixture of gray/green and blue gray with elongated (somewhat lanceolate) leaf blades. Each newly emerging leaf blade is protected by a cataphyll. The cataphyll is a bract like modified leaf that surrounds any newly emerging blade and whose purpose is to protect that new leaf.
Pinch the plant. Without pinching, it will grow with long, single stems and become lanky. Try to pinch close to the node because any bare stem that is left will die, and the node will not grow a new stem.
Shape climbing and training
Watering in rest period sparingly
Watering in active growth period moderately
Light bright filtered
Temperature in rest period min 13C max 24C
Temperature in active growth period min 13C max 24C
Begonia propagation f...
Essential Nutrients f...


It is possible that you have already faced this term. Today we will focus on the question: What an addiction is?
In short, addiction is the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance or activity.
Addiction doesn’t happen overnight. It is clearly a process. A person increasingly reaches for a stimulant that provides temporary pleasure, and then the use of a particular drug, becomes a necessity. Often, despite the desire, the addict is unable to stop using a particular bad habits on his own. Furthermore addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease.
There are many factors that contribute to drug and alcohol wrong habits such as:
- genetic influences
- environmental influences
- socioeconomic status
- preexisting mental health conditions
There are two categories for the different types of addiction such as: substance and behavioral.
Kinds of substance addictions:
- Prescription drug
In fact substance addictions are the most commonly referenced forms of addiction. These substances can wreak devastation on a person’s mental and physical health. If someone is suffering from a substance use disorder, it is important that they seek treatment as soon as possible.
Kinds of behavioral addictions:
- Eating disorders
- Video games
- Social media
In a behavioral addiction you physically do something that leads to a possible chemical release within your brain. Moreover behavioral addictions often have a very simple origin. It do not start as an habit but can spiral out of control. It don’t necessarily have the same effect on the person’s physical health, they can certainly impact other areas of life.
For more info about addiction klick here and here or here.
If you want to see our tattoo design inspirations klick here and here or here.


- Goals: to promote interdisciplinary research into the mechanisms by which environmental agents affect lung structure and function and lead to or exacerbate disease.
- Focus: toxicants that predominate in the Southwestern US, such as exposures to arsenic, particulate matter, and dusts.
A characterization of the immune profiles of Amish and Hutterite schoolchildren. The use of mouse models of asthma to study the effect of the environment on airway responses and to create a mechanistic framework for the interpretation of the observations in humans.
CC16 Levels & Arsenic
The association between urinary CC16 and soil arsenic may suggest that localized arsenic exposure in the lungs could damage the airway epithelium and predispose children for diminished lung function. The objective was to determine if urinary CC16 levels in children are associated with arsenic concentrations in environmental media collected from their homes.
Regulation of Cigarette Smoke (CS)-Induced Autophagy by Nrf2
Investigation of the function and regulation of mucin genes in asthma pathogenesis using both in vivo (gene targeting model, induced mouse model of asthma, as well as tissues and secretions from asthmatic patients) and in vitro (differentiated epithelial culture and cell line) models.
Investigators from the University of Arizona Superfund Research Project (UA SRP) and the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) are partnering with an Arizona Tribe to develop an Air Quality and Asthma Project.


Chromosomal diseases are divided into two groups:
- pathologies, the reason of which are structural chromosomes anomalies;
- anomalies of the number of chromosomes (aneuploidies). Process of embryo examination on the fact of common anomalies in the number of chromosomes is called preimplantation genetic screening (PGS).
Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) is a genetic test performed on embryos received as a result of IVF treatment in order to avoid miscarriages and birth defects.
PGS is recommended for couples who:
- Had recurrent pregnancy losses
- Experienced unsuccessful IVF programs
- Are over 35
In some cases, the pregnancy is hard to reach because of the wrong number of chromosomes (aneuploidy) of the embryo – it may lack them or have additional ones (monosomy and trisomy). There are small chances that an aneuploid embryo will implant. Moreover, the higher is woman’s age, the higher chances to transfer the aneuploid embryo if the choice is made based exclusively on embryo’s morphology. PGS genetic test helps to detect such embryos and in such way select healthy embryo for the transfer.
Once embryos reach the appropriate stage of development (blastocyst stage) the biopsy is performed – embryologists extract a few cells from embryos obtained as a result of IVF procedure. These cells are taken from extra-embryonic cells that will form the placenta. Afterward, the material taken is being screened for chromosomal abnormalities by using special technique. All biopsied embryos are vitrified and you can start planning Frozen Embryo Transfer as soon as the result arrives. As a rule, it takes up to 4 weeks to get the result.


July 21st dedicates a giant menu of items to National Junk Food Day. Each year, the day permits us to chow down on the foods we usually don’t include in our daily diet. Junk foods, by definition, typically contain high fats, sugars, salt, and calories and very little nutritional value.
With the advent of packaged foods during the late 1800s, junk food made its way into American life. Still, home-cooked meals remained the standard for several more decades. Eventually, after World War II, the artery-clogging industry took off. Since the population ate out more, traveled more, the industry was primed to produce products at an increased rate.
From the frozen food aisle to fast food chains, a myriad of choices for consumers flooded the market. Potato chips, baked goods and so much more filled supermarket shelves, prepackaged and ready to go.
By the 1970s, junk foods earned a name and a bad one, too. Michael Jacobson, a microbiologist, is credited with coining the phrase. He also set out to curb our appetite for the high sugar, high salt, high preservative foods Americans consumed at an alarming rate.
While deep-fried, fat-laced foods increase our waistlines, cholesterol, and blood sugar numbers, an occasional indulgence shouldn’t impact a healthy, diverse diet and lifestyle. Also, producers make healthy versions of our favorite junk foods to entice us to enjoy a little.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalJunkFoodDay
Snack a little. Chow down on your favorite chip, dip or treat. In fact, treat the family or workplace to a beverage or take out. Post on social media using #NationalJunkFoodDay. You can also celebrate by taking a walk or doing some yard work to burn off those extra calories.


Harnessing symbiotic plant-fungus interactions to improve agricultural productivity
Read our latest thoughts about the interaction of plants with non-host specific fungal endophytes from extreme environments. This is the first of hopefully many publications to arise from our IPSC research consortium.
Pérez-Alonso, M.M. et al. 2020 Journal of Experimental Botany
Global climate change is arguably one of the biggest threats of modern times and has already led to a wide range of impacts on the environment, economy, and society. Owing to past emissions and climate system inertia, global climate change is predicted to continue for decades even if anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions were to stop immediately. In many regions, such as central Europe and the Mediterranean region, the temperature is likely to rise by 2–5 °C and annual precipitation is predicted to decrease. Expected heat and drought periods followed by floods, and unpredictable growing seasons, are predicted to have detrimental effects on agricultural production systems, causing immense economic losses and food supply problems. To mitigate the risks of climate change, agricultural innovations counteracting these effects need to be embraced and accelerated. To achieve maximum improvement, the required agricultural innovations should not focus only on crops but rather pursue a holistic approach including the entire ecosystem. Over millions of years, plants have evolved in close association with other organisms, particularly soil microbes that have shaped their evolution and contemporary ecology. Many studies have already highlighted beneficial interactions among plants and the communities of microorganisms with which they coexist. Questions arising from these discoveries are whether it will be possible to decipher a common molecular pattern and the underlying biochemical framework of interspecies communication, and whether such knowledge can be used to improve agricultural performance under environmental stress conditions. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of plant interactions with fungal endosymbionts found in extreme ecosystems. Special attention will be paid to the interaction of plants with the symbiotic root-colonizing endophytic fungus Serendipita indica, which has been developed as a model system for beneficial plant–fungus interactions.


A mermaid is an aquatic creature which has the upper body of a beautiful female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids exist in different cultures worldwide regardless of location.
According to legends; mermaids are rumoured to sit on rocks and lure sailors to their deaths by singing irresistable songs that make sailors jump ship and drown or crash into rocks.
“It was all a misconception….”
Imagine the sailors of the time the first mermaids were presumably seen. Sailors used to sail for 11 months; crossing vast seas and oceans with no land to set their foot upon and certainly no women. This caused a similar phenomena like mirages. Having missed the sight of a beautiful woman for so long, sailors began seeing seals and walrus as women, and not being able to hold onto themselves they tried to reach them, resulting in a lot of sailors jumping ship and drowning, trying to reach the beautiful women that their minds showed them. As for the beautiful voice and songs of the mermaids, that was seal and walrus sounds combined with the sound of strong winds hitting the sails. If the first sailors that claimed to have seen mermaids, had been all women, the legend would have favored “mermen” or men with fish tails and we would have a “The giant merman” story instead of “The little mermaid”.
“The proof that mermaids don’t exist!”
- They don’t seem to have reproductory organs since they are fish from waist down, which means they are unable to reproduce unless they lay eggs like fish. Considering how caviar is pricy, fish eggs, the size of baby mermaids would have been on the market long ago as we are greedy and would have found them and hunted them down (See: elephant tusks).
- Their upper body parts would freeze for being in water all the time or they would at least have very wrinkly skins. No wrinkly skinned mermaids reported so far.
- Mammals are warm-blooded while fish are cold-blooded and this makes them an impossible breed.
- We can presume that mermaids have lungs, not gills because of their humanly upper bits. This means that they need to breathe and most probably live on land. No mermaid settlement on land has been found, yet.


Excerpts of Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru’s radio address to the nation on November 2, 1947 sharing Indian government’s point on acceptance of accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the dominion of India and subsequent action following tribal raids in Kashmir.
Extracts from Nehru’s Broadcast on 2 November, 1947.
“We have decided to accept this accession and to send troops by air, but we made a ‘condition that the accession would have to be considered by the people of Kashmir later when peace and order were established. We were anxious not to finalise anything in a moment of crisis, and without the fullest opportunity to the people of Kashmir to have their say. It was for them ultimately to decide.
“And here let me make clear that it has been our policy all along that where there is a dispute about the accession of a State to either Dominion, the decision must be made by the people of the State. It was in accordance with this policy that we added a proviso to the Instrument of Accession of Kashmir.
“We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given, and the Maharaja has supported it not only to the people of Kashmir but the world. We will not, and cannot back out of it. We are prepared when peace and law and order have been established to have a referendum held under international auspices like the United Nations. We want it to be a fair and just reference to the people, and we shall accept their verdict. I can imagine no fairer and juster offer.”


Lab Bench Tool of the Day: The Micropipetter
This next section introduces you to the use of a micropipette, which is a very basic instrument used regularly in conducting laboratory experiments. A micropipette allows you to collect and transfer very small amounts of fluid. As we go through this section, you will also see why it is important to familiarise yourself with the metric vocabulary and be able to do conversions that we learnt in the previous section.
How to select a micropipetter
Before we start, I want to emphasise the importance of this topic. Improperly-used pipetmen have been known to explode on contact with hard surfaces, burst into flame while sitting unattended on conference tables, and even destroy the inner workings on the expensive pipetman, annoying your hard-working researcher. OK, now that I have your attention.
- You need to know which pipetman to choose.
- You need to know that pipetmen are not accurate outside of their recommended range.
- You need to know how to interpret the numbers on the volume indicator.
There are several standard sizes of pipetman, but this module will focus on 3 commonly used standard sizes called the P20, P200, and P1000. They measure between 2-20µl, 20-200µl or 200-1000µl respectively. The rule for choosing between them is simple: use the smallest pipetman you can, and use it within the recommended volume ranges.
*Fine print: in most of the pipetmen the volume range (minimum and maximum volume) is indicated on the top of the push button.
For example, say you need to measure out 25 microlitres of a solution. Twenty-five is too big for a P20, so DON’T USE IT, ok? 25 microlitres is within the recommended range of the P200 but not of the P1000, so choose the P200. That way you will get a more accurate measurement. Oh, yeah, then get the tip. In most cases, this part is easy because they’re colour-coded to the plunger on the pipette:
- Yellow plunger = yellow (or clear) tip
- Blue plunger = blue tip
Not exactly rocket science, but can have serious consequences on your results if you get them wrong!
Which Pipette is Which?


Intro to the DOM, as told from a student
Today I want to talk about the DOM, otherwise known as the Document Object Model
So what is the DOM?
I’m a visual learner, so one of the first ways I’d explain what the DOM is that it’s a tree. Some of you may have come across trees when you had to find the greatest common factor. For example, 12 is composed of 3 and 4, and 4 branches from 2 multiplied by 2 (see Figure 1)
So I’m sure nodes isn’t widely known especially if you did not come from a coding background. A node represents each point in the tree. Or in the case of our html page, this means that each <img> tag or <div> or even the <!DOCTYPE> element you see at the top of the page is a node.
We can access every node that appears in the browser by using one of the query selector functions such as document.querySelector or document.getElementById.


From: Pacific Standard
Thinking of Science Strengthens Moral Fiber
Want to be a better person? Spend more time thinking about science.
That’s the implication of newly published research, which finds people who study science—or even are momentarily exposed to the idea of scientific research—are more likely to condemn unethical behavior, and more inclined to help others.
“Thinking about science leads individuals to endorse more stringent moral norms,” report psychologists Christine Ma-Kellams of Harvard University and Jim Blascovich of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Their research is published in the online journal PLOS One.
The researchers describe four experiments, all conducted at UCSB, that back up their surprising conclusion.
Read the whole story: Pacific StandardMore of our Members in the Media >
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The big cat is endangered. For the first time in four years, some tigers were caught on camera in western Thailand, home to about 160 specimens. Some 3,900 wild tigers still exist worldwide, most in India. The trade in protected animals is worth billions of dollars. By 2022, Thailand hopes to boost the tiger population by 50 per cent.
Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – For the first time in four years, three rare Indochinese tigers were caught on video in western Thailand, on the border with Myanmar. The species is endangered, brought to the brink of extinction by poaching.
Remote camera traps captured three specimens in February and March. In one shot, a curious tiger comes right up to the camera to check out the device.
Released on Global Tiger Day, the footage was made public as part of a joint monitoring programme between Thailand, global wild cat conservation organisation Panthera and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
To protect the three young tigers from poachers, their exact location was not revealed. Only 3,900 wild tigers remain in the world, mostly in India, down from 100,000 a century ago. An estimated 160 live in Thailand.
Some tiger species have already become extinct in Southeast Asia, such as the Java and Bali tigers. The tiger populations in China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar have been virtually wiped out.
The illegal trade in protected wild animal species is worth billions of dollars. Tiger parts, such as bones and fur, are used in particular in traditional medicine.
However, the collapse of the Indochinese tiger population is also due to the destruction of their natural habitat as a result of deforestation and other human activities.
Seven years, the Thai government launched a plan to increase tiger numbers by 50 per cent by 2022, with some success.
In 2016, another breeding area for the Indochinese tiger was found in eastern Thailand, inside the UNESCO World Heritage site of Dong-Phayayen Khao Yai forest.
Other tigers are believed to live in Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries in western Thailand.


From preliminary analysis of teacher-nominated examples of successful technology-supported practice in secondary-school mathematics, the use of graphing software to teach about algebraic forms was identified as being an important archetype. Employing evidence from lesson observation and teacher interview, such practice was investigated in greater depth through case study of two teachers each teaching two lessons of this type. The practitioner model developed in earlier research (Ruthven & Hennessy, Educational Studies in Mathematics 49(1):47–88, 2002; Micromath 19(2):20–24, 2003) provided a framework for synthesising teacher thinking about the contribution of graphing software. Further analysis highlighted the crucial part played by teacher prestructuring and shaping of technology-and-task-mediated student activity in realising the ideals of the practitioner model. Although teachers consider graphing software very accessible, successful classroom use still depends on their inducting students into using it for mathematical purposes, providing suitably prestructured lesson tasks, prompting strategic use of the software by students and supporting mathematical interpretation of the results. Accordingly, this study has illustrated how, in the course of appropriating the technology, teachers adapt their classroom practice and develop their craft knowledge: particularly by establishing a coherent resource system that effectively incorporates the software; by adapting activity formats to exploit new interactive possibilities; by extending curriculum scripts to provide for proactive structuring and responsive shaping of activity; and by reworking lesson agendas to take advantage of the new time economy.
Using graphing software in algebra teaching
Kenneth Ruthven, Rosemary Deaney and Sara Hennesy have written an article that was published online in Educational Studies in Mathematics on Saturday. It is entitled: Using graphing software to teach about algebraic forms: a study of technology-supported practice in secondary-school mathematics. Besides having a focus on the use of graphing software, the article also discusses issues related to classroom teaching practice, teacher knowledge and teacher thinking. Here is the abstract of their article:


To begin our perusal of teachers, teaching, and the learning process, it is necessary to first establish some terminology for discussion. After all, the idea of teaching means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Using the “Googlism” tool, we find that Google says:
- teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason
- teaching is a work of heart
- teaching is not a brassiere
- teaching is teaching is teaching
- teaching is a full time profession in quebec
- teaching is better than bossing
Got it? Well, maybe not. How about this: The American Heritage® Dictionary says that to teach is “To impart knowledge or skill to.”
We’re getting closer, but there is still a crucial element lacking. The definition from which I will be working encompasses the lexical meaning, but completes it by giving it an object:
Teaching is communicating knowledge of a subject to a person or persons.
That should be enough to get us started in our discussion. Have I missed anything?
Next week: Subject to Enthusiasm
This post is part of the Teachers & Teaching series, which can be found listed in its entirety here.
1 thought on “Teachers & Teaching: A Definition”
Getting a bit philosophical, I’d say that the first thing a teacher must instill in the student is how to learn. Of course, the parent should have handled this lesson already, but no teacher today can rely on that.
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Gulf of Naples
Location on the Italian Mediterranean coast
The Gulf of Naples ( Italian Golfo di Napoli ) is a sea bay on the west coast of southern Italy . Over a length of about 30 km, it cuts about 15 km into the mainland.
Around the Gulf of Naples - clockwise from northwest to southeast - lie the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Baiae , the city of Pozzuoli with the Phlegraean Fields , the city of Naples, Vesuvius with the excavations of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum , and finally the places Torre del Greco and Castellammare di Stabia . To the southeast, the gulf is closed off by the Sorrento peninsula .
The gulf is extended into the sea by the three islands of Capri (in the south) and the Phlegraean islands of Ischia and Procida (in the north). Other notable islands on the edge of the gulf are Vivara (southwest of Procida) and Nisida (near Pozzuoli). In the center of the gulf, on the other hand, there are no islands, which can easily be explained by the fact that the entire gulf of Naples is probably the huge volcanic caldera of a super volcano ( Phlegraean fields ).
The area around the Gulf of Naples belongs to the Italian region of Campania and, with more than 4.4 million inhabitants, forms the most important metropolitan area in southern Italy.
- Wagner, Horst-Günter: Innovative changes in the agricultural structure on the Gulf of Naples. In: Erdkunde Volume 44 (1990), pp. 181-194.
View from near Sorrento over the Gulf of Naples
Gulf of Naples with fruit dealers, Franz Ludwig Catel , 1822
A caletta on the Gulf of Naples
Coordinates: 40 ° 44 ′ 7 ″ N , 14 ° 16 ′ 31 ″ E


Monilea lentiginosa A. Adams 1853
Description: Shell variable in shape and sculpture; usually wider than high. Whorls rounded, sculptured with smooth to strongly beaded spiral ribs; on penultimate whorl, usually present as 4-5 pairs, sometimes with a secondary riblet between. Basal margin rounded. Base with 8-12 ribs, innermost within the umbilicus, with axial threads in the interspaces. Umbilicus open. Columella curved with a strong spiral rib in the umbilicus corresponding to reflected centre of columella. Outer lip thin, interior of aperture lirate. Colour cream, with axial streaks or splashes of brown; umbilicus white. Interior nacreous.
Size: Up to 24 mm high, 24 mm wide.
Distribution: Central Indo-West Pacific. In Australia, from Cockburn Sound, WA, to Sydney, NSW. Extinct around Sydney, present only as empty shells.
Habitat: In muddy or sandy situations, at low tide and subtidally. Common.
Comparison: Monilea callifera (Lamarck, 1822) (Synonym Monilea belcheri Philippi, 1849) is a similar species found offshore on the Great Barrier Reef and northwards to at least Papua New Guinea. It differs for M. lentiginosa by having finer sculpture on the base, and by having the umbilicus encircled by a spiral rib that has no spiral sculpture. In M. lentiginosa the spiral sculpture on the base extends into the umbilicus.
Synonym: Talopena morti Iredale, 1929 is a synonym based on an unusually tall specimen, probably subfossil, dredged from Sydney Harbour. Several lots of specimens in the Australian Museum, dredged from Sydney Harbour by the dredge Triton, show a range in form from low to high as great as that found throughout the range of M. lentiginosa, so separation of the tall form as a distinct species is inappropriate.
Remarks: Hickman & McLean (1990, p. 128, fig. 83) give figures of the external anatomy of Monilea callifera.
Figs. 1,2: Port Stephens, NSW (C.017916)


In order write an authentic essay, reading what others have written about a subject is an important part of the input process. The cognitive, critical, and more important part is when the writer either uses or ignores what they have read, seen, or heard and then discovers new information about the subject, and then synthesizes their own viewpoint into the mix in the form of a Justified Belief or opinion, or point-of-view; what scientists call a Warranted Belief. In effect, the writer is saying I have considered everything, thought about it, consulted authoritative sources, and this is what I believe. That makes the essay more about the writer rather than the topic. Even if the topic being written about is the American Civil War, the subject of the essay is – You, the writer.
So, the best way to become acquainted with yourself is to write. Essay writing especially is a way to discover who you are by discovering your beliefs.
Properly executed, writing essays can be compared to looking into a mirror: what is or should be seen is an honest reflection of who the writer really is. Essay writing is best understood as a way of further understanding oneself by studying the subject matter identified in a prompt or essay question and analyzing one’s relationship to that subject matter. The rewards of this effort are immense: nothing less than a formation of one’s foundational – Justified Truthful Beliefs through critical thinking and comprehension.
The reader of a college entrance essay does not want to hear about the Civil War. They want to hear about you, the applicant. And authenticity will shine through. A well-thought-out opinion on the conflict expressed in straightforward language will stand out, so will a beautifully written prose composition with nothing to say about the war, but for a different reason. And both will be filed appropriately. The key is Ideation; and children already know how to ideate.
#Ideation #Hybridskills #Justifiedbelief #Futureproof #Infoliteracy
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Excerpted from my book Hybrid Learning.


Flask in Python
- Flask is a web framework. It’s a Python module that lets you develop web applications easily. It’s has a small and easy-to-extend core.
- It’s a micro framework that doesn’t include an ORM (Object Relational Manager) or such features.
- It does have many cool features like URL Routing, template engine. It is a WSGI web app framework.
What is WSGI ?
Web Server Gateway Interface
What is Jinja2 ?
Flask Environment Setup
To install Python flask on the system, You need to have python 2.7 or higher installed on our system.
- Install virtual environment (virtualenv)
- virtualenv is considered as the virtual python environment builder which is used to create the multiple python virtual environment side by side. It can be installed by using the following command.
- Once it is installed, we can create the new virtual environment into a folder as given below.
- To activate the corresponding environment, use the following command
- On windows, use the following command.
- We can now install the flask by using the following command.
- However, we can install the flask using the above command without creating the virtual environment.


Seeing the Invisible Plasma with Transient Phonons in Cuprous Oxide
The emission of phonons from electron-hole plasma is the primary limit on the efficiency of photovoltaic devices operating above the bandgap. In cuprous oxide (Cu2O) there is no luminescence from electron-hole plasma. Therefore, we searched for optical phonons emitted by energetic charge carriers using phonon-to-exciton upconversion transitions. We found 14 meV phonons with a lifetime of 0.916 ± 0.008 ps and 79 meV phonons that are longer lived and overrepresented. It is surprising that the higher energy phonon has a longer lifetime.
L. Frazer et al., "Seeing the Invisible Plasma with Transient Phonons in Cuprous Oxide," Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 1151 - 1157, Royal Society of Chemistry, Feb 2017.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp06532e
Center for High Performance Computing Research
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
Article - Journal
© 2017 Royal Society of Chemistry, All rights reserved.
01 Feb 2017


Communication requires listening with our eyes. Join our herd in learning how communication plays a vital role in learning horsemanship skills or husbandry skills (as they are called in the equestrian world.) Your child will have the opportunity to enter into the “unspoken” world of a horse as they learn and practice what it takes to take care of them. Skills will include learning their non-verbal language, grooming, picking out hooves, haltering and the proper way to lead a horse. As your child will discover how a horse communicates their needs to them, your child will discover how to verbally communicate his/her needs in a responsible manner. On the final day, the youth will apply their skills as they “communicate responsibly” the needs of their horse and human teammates through the Challenge Course.
Target skills: communication, responsibilities, and unique horse vocabulary.
Date: July 17, 18, & 19 – Three consecutive days
Time: Choose 9:00 am to 11:00 am OR 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Group size: Limited to six (6) with a minimum of two youth
Grades: 2nd grade & Up
Program Fee: $80 for 6 hours of individual attention within a group of six.
Program assistance available: Program Assistance Application must be submitted. Families will be notified once all supporting documents has been submitted. Families only need to apply one time per year.
No riding activities. No prior horse experience is needed.
All activities are completed in an outdoor setting.


In most early childhood programs, there is great emphasis on letter and number recognition, phonics, and social development. However, creative curriculum is just as important to a child’s development as these foundational skills. Here are a few ways we allow our students to express their creativity and learn new things outside of their foundational curriculum:
Introducing music into learning is said to improve fine motor skills and coordination, language development, and focus/memory — and it’s also a whole lot of fun too! At The Kangaroo Forest, we offer interactive music education classes for every age group. Our music classes follow themes and include activities that are proven to stimulate development and promote having fun in the classroom.
By the age of 2, children’s fine motor skills become a little more sophisticated, but still require a little practice in order to achieve precision. Dancing is a great way for children to refine these skills and develop coordination. At The Kangaroo Forest, we offer a preschool dance program. Our little dancers will learn the fundamentals of dancing through ballet, jazz, and hip hop.
For kindergarten and first graders wanting to expand on their daily science lessons, we have a program called Science Quest. This weekly program is taught by Mr. Jon, who offers more than 25 years experience in his field. Science Quest is fun, exciting, and educational, providing students with many hands-on experiences.
The Kangaroo Forest also offers classes on fitness and nutrition, Spanish, computer literacy, engineering, and more. Many of these classes are included in each students’ weekly programs or can be added on a fee-based schedule. Interested in learning more? Visit our activities page or contact us today for more information.


Poster submarine Tresher/Permit class
A digital drawing of a Tresher/Permit class U.S. Navy submarine
The Thresher / Permit Class, is a class of fourteen US Navy nuclear attack submarines built between 1958 and 1968 and active between 1961 and 1996, until their gradual replacement by the Sturgeon class submarines and Los Angeles.
The first commissioned submarine of this class was the hapless Thresher who gave the class its name.
After the loss of the Thresher, the class changed its name to the second ship in the class, the USS Permit. In fact, on April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher disappeared at sea 220 nautical miles off the east coast of the United States during diving tests, killing 129 people.
It is the first of two American nuclear submarines lost at sea.
On this class of ships, torpedo tubes are moved to the middle of the hull on ships of this class. This change frees up a large amount of front space necessary for the installation of a new generation BQQ-2 sonar with extremely sensitive low frequency sensors.
Initially armed with the Mark 37 torpedo, the Thresher / Permit class was later armed with a modernized Mark 48 version. It was also equipped with MK-57 mines, anti-submarine warfare missiles, and later anti-ship missiles. .
All Thresher / Permit type ships served under typical Cold War conditions, associated with participation in naval exercises with NATO member state fleets, warfare simulations, research and development of new technologies and the fight against enemy submarines, as well as “special operations”.
These operations are generally intelligence-related or involved in monitoring the Soviet Union's submarine fleet and protecting their own submarines, carrying SLBM ballistic missiles.
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Investigators at Purdue University are reporting that significant progress has been made on developing a diagnostic technique to detect circulating neoplastic cells through noninvasive scanning. Predictably, the technology uses tumor-specific fluorescent probes for detection:
The technique uses a fluorescent tumor-specific probe that labels tumor cells in circulation. When hit by a laser, which scans across the diameter of the blood vessel 1,000 times per second, the tumor cells glow and become visible. The in vivo flow detection was performed on a two-photon fluorescence microscope in Cheng’s lab. [Ji-Xin Cheng is an assistant professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering at Purdue –ed.] The researchers compared several methods and found two-photon fluorescence provides the best signal to background ratio. The technology is able to scan every cell that is pumped through the vessel, He said.
Low’s team has developed two labeling agents that attach to different forms of cancer. One label targets ovarian, non-small lung, kidney and endometrial cancer, and the other targets prostate cancer. [Philip Low is Purdue’s Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry –ed.]
These labels would be administered through an injection. The first label has already been tested in humans and has no adverse side effects and could potentially be administered weekly, He said.
Computed tomography, or CT, scans and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, are the current methods used to track the spread of cancer. These methods have a limited resolution, and a 1 millimeter tumor could go undetected by CT or MRI. The Purdue-developed technology can achieve single-cell resolution and can detect rare cell populations.
“Our method can detect cancer cells early in disease development and the test can be conducted frequently,” Low said. “Discovering the cancer early and knowing whether it has metastasized, or spread, greatly improves a patient’s chance for successful treatment.”
The laser penetrates to a depth of 100 microns and is able to examine shallow blood vessels near the surface of the skin. Advanced optical technology could be incorporated into the technology platform and enable the method to reach deeper vessels that handle larger volumes of blood, Cheng said.
The Purdue team continues to work with the Mayo Clinic and is planning to initiate a clinical trial to further evaluate the technique.
Press release: Purdue researchers develop technology to detect cancer by scanning surface veins …


What is Hair?
About 95% of hair is made of a tough protein called keratin. Keratin is synthesized by keratinocytes and is insoluble in water, enabling impermeability and protection for the hair. Hair plays a significant role in personal identity but also has a purpose and is beneficial overall for your body.
Hair structure can be divided into three distinct parts:
Medulla: innermost layer of the hair shaft, composed of an amorphous, soft, oily substance.
Cuticle: thin protective outer layer that contains the nourishing portion essential to hair growth.
Cortex: main component of the hair, containing long keratin chains that add elasticity, suppleness, and resistance to the hair. The cells of the cortex are joined together by an intercellular cement rich in lipids and proteins.
A hair follicle anchors each hair into the skin. The hair bulb forms the base of the hair follicle. In the hair bulb, living cells divide and grow to build the hair shaft.
Humans have the same amount of hair as apes! The number of hairs on humans is not that much less than on apes, there being about 60 hairs per square centimeter on our naked skin. But human hairs are small and have less pigment than hairs on apes. The reduced density and size of human hair makes heat loss through sweating and evaporation more efficient.
We are "hair" to help!


The village of Castejón del Puente sits on the right hand bank of the River Cinca. Although historically linked to the neighbouring region of Cinca Medio, it currently stands well within the Somontano boundaries.
Since Roman times, the village has been an important communication point between Levante and Cantabria. Because of this, history has left its mark as can be seen in the parish church, chapel, trenches, waterwheel and remains of an old bridge.
Castejón del Puente also boasts two areas listed in the national inventory of Places of Community Interest in relation to biodiversity of natural areas within the Natura 2000 Network. The Soto del Rio Cinca (riverside thickets) and the Cantiles de Yesos (cliffs) are home to a number of unusual species such as the otter, the Egyptian Vulture and the Freshwater Blenny. As well as the many aquatic species, herons and well fed white storks are just a small example of the rich and varied bird life of the area.
Holm oak forests, sparse slopes with typical steppe vegetation, fertile vegetable plots, thickets and meanders make up the varied landscape enjoyed by the residents of Castejón, with fishing (trout, barco, eel) and hunting (wild boar, quail, partridge, and rabbit) both being popular.


1. Briza maxima L. (Medit.) – A very rare and ephemeral alien but possibly slightly increasing lately. First collected, without further details, in 1853 in Walem. In the 19th century associated with grain importation (for instance repeatedly seen near a mill in Hoevenen) and also recorded on the gravelly borders of river Vesdre near Verviers (possibly as a wool alien). More recent records are escapes from cultivation, for instance in Boom, Dendermonde, Gent, Mol (see for instance: http://waarnemingen.be/waarneming/view/56873331), etc. Briza maxima is nowadays usually found in urban areas as a pavement weed (foot of walls), along fences, etc…
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- Some unexpected grain aliens from the Mediterranean and South Africa in Belgium. Or yet from Australia?
- On an extraordinary collection of alien plants on dredging sludge in Bilzen-Genk (Belgium) in 2017
- Tourists as an unexpected vector for the introduction of alien plants in Belgium
- Mini symposium on aliens and invasive species
- Not every Far Eastern mugwort is Artemisia verlotiorum!
- Yet another new neglected alien Rumex in Belgium: Rumex fueginus.
- Leonurus cardiaca subsp. villosus
- Dipsacus strigosus found in Belgium and possibly overlooked
Catalogue of Neophytes in Belgium
Updated Excel Version Modifications in bold (last modified 3 June 2021)


The purpose of science is to make things simpler and not more complicated. Scientists strive to discover theories and explanations that simplify the view of our world and not complicate them. According to Wiliam of Ockham (c. 1288 – c. 1347), if there are competing explanations for a phenomenon, the simpler explanation is to be… Continue reading TS007 – Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler!
Category: Knowers and knowing
TS002 – What are Ethical Dilemmas?
In this episode we will have a look at ethical dilemmas. What are they? What are some different opinions in making an ethical choice? There are several schools of thought in finding a solution to an ethical dilemma. The consequentialist school maintains that actions are either moral or immoral depending on the outcome (the consequence)… Continue reading TS002 – What are Ethical Dilemmas?
TS001 – What is Knowledge?
One definition of Knowledge is Justified True Belief. In this episode, we will have a closer look at what this means. One definition of Knowledge is Justified True Belief. Believing something and knowing something is not the same thing. But you must believe it, in order to know it. The thing that you believe must… Continue reading TS001 – What is Knowledge?
TS000 – What is Theory of Knowledge?
In Theory of Knowledge (TOK) we ask questions, for questions re often more interesting than the answers! In this very first episode, I would like to give you an introduction into the Theory of Knowledge, by introducing to you a mind experiment. It is called the Ship of Theseus. An old wooden ship starts to… Continue reading TS000 – What is Theory of Knowledge?


16 August, 09:42
How to turn a fraction into a division problem?
16 August, 09:52
X/y = x divided by y
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Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that causes inflammation of the liver. It is a significant public health issue in New Zealand. The rising burden of disease includes increasing illness and deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer due to chronic hepatitis C.
This action plan will guide the health sector and services working in hepatitis prevention or treatment. It provides a framework for working towards the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) goal to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
This National Hepatitis C Action Plan will focus on improving equitable health outcomes for all New Zealanders living with hepatitis C, and on advancing the health aspirations of Māori, consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi obligations.
Priority groups are those living with hepatitis C or who are at high risk of developing chronic hepatitis C and the serious long-term complications of infection. In New Zealand this includes people who currently inject drugs, and others living with hepatitis C.
The priority settings for this action plan are needle exchanges, prisons, primary and community care services, and alcohol and other drug services.
The activities outlined in this action plan are grouped into five focus areas that will contribute to the overarching goal to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030:
- awareness and understanding
- prevention and harm reduction
- testing and screening
- surveillance and monitoring
- integration and access to care.
The Ministry of Health will phase delivery of the activities specified in this action plan. An implementation plan will provide a road map for the first phase of work, to be undertaken between 2021 and 2025.


A newly published study has linked high blood pressure to brain diseases, including Alzheimer's. Researchers specifically point to blood pressure later in life, finding that patients with higher systolic blood pressure had a greater risk of brain lesions. The study followed 1288 older individuals until their death, at which point their brains were studied.
The study was recently published in the journal Neurology, where researchers say the volunteers passed away at an average age of 89 years old. During their time in the study, researchers monitored the volunteers' blood pressure; autopsies on their brains were conducted after the volunteers died. From this, researchers found a link between high blood pressure and increased brain disease risk.
The average blood pressure of the participants was 134/71mmHg; anything over 120/80 is considered high blood pressure. Of the volunteers, 2/3rds had high blood pressure in their medical history and 87-percent were on medication for the condition. The autopsies found that 48-percent of the volunteers had at least one brain infarct lesion — that is, areas of dead tissue caused by lack of blood.
Volunteers who had higher than average systolic blood pressure were more likely to have brain lesions than the others. As well, someone who was a standard deviation above systolic blood pressure average was found to have a 46-percent higher chance of large lesions, as well as a 36-percent higher chance of tiny lesions. Unfortunately, declining systolic blood pressure was also associated with increased brain lesion risk.
Diastolic blood pressure was also associated with increased risk, though it was lesser at 28-percent versus systolic's 46-percent. Higher systolic blood pressure was also linked to tangles in the brain, which are associated with Alzheimer's disease.
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Around the globe, hundreds of people die in accidents just because of the shortage of blood supply. Even if blood is available, finding matching blood type in the required amounts is not always possible. Researchers have been trying to discover methods for creating blood artificially. They have been successful in doing so, but the methods were capable of only producing blood in small amounts. Scientists at the University of Bristol partnered with NHS Blood and Transplant and discovered a way of generating a sustainable supply of red blood cells for mass production of artificial blood.
Another older method to produce red blood cells uses stem cells from adult peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood, and pluripotent. While all of these could produce blood cells but the capacity was very limited. Stem cells obtained from these sources produce no more than 50,000 red blood cells before they die while just a bag of blood contains over 1 trillion RBCs. Scientists have now been able to immortalize a line of cells called BEL-A (Bristol Erythroid Line Adult), which are capable of producing a sustainable red blood cell supply.
The BEL-A line of cells is immortalized at the premature stage and then divided to continuously generate red blood cells that continue into other lines of cells. The technique is not only useful for producing blood, but researchers consider BEL-A is a research tool that has the ability to produce many other therapeutic products.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications where the researchers say:
“Cultured red blood cells provide such an alternative and have potential advantages over donor blood, such as a reduced risk of infectious disease transmission, and as the cells are all nascent, the volume and number of transfusions administered to patients requiring regular transfusions (sickle cell disease, thalassaemia myelodysplasia, certain cancers) could be reduced, ameliorating the consequences of organ damage from iron overload.”
Before the method becomes a certified for blood production, it needs to pass clinical trials. The technique is also expensive, and even if it passes the clinical trials, it will be a long time before it becomes a commercially viable method of mass producing blood with reduced manufacturing costs.
Blood is not the hardest thing to obtain for people with the common blood types but for patients with the rare blood types like O Rh positive and B Rh positive, it is an absolute catastrophe. If the method becomes commercially successful, it will be saving millions of lives all across the globe by ensuring sufficient blood supply in hospitals.


This bright and brilliant work by Francis Mora depicts a way of life unique to Valencia, Spain. Beginning in the 18th Century, fishermen off the beach at Cabanyal trawl through the shallow waters near shore. Two boats paired and sailing, typically lanteen-rigged, drag nets behind and when full, return to the beach where teams of oxen pull the boats up onto the sand. Here is the moment of return- the fishermen's wives gather to welcome the boats back, collecting the fish in baskets to walk them into town, where fishmongers will hawk them shouting "Peix d'ara, viu!", Catalan for "Fish now, live!"
The tradition of Fishing with Bulls (Pesca dels Bous) was made famous by Spanish impressionist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. Like Sorolla, Mora embraced the Spanish artistic tradition of "costumbrismo"- the pictorial interpretation of everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, often with a romantic flavor.
It's hard to imagine a more romantic depiction of life on the Cabalyal than Mora painted in this scene. Every surface is bathed in warm light, defining the billowing sails and reflecting colors off the waves. A crowd gathers around boats on the beach while more come in, so laden with fish that their crew must jump out and push with the oxen, whose muscles tense with action. Children play in the foreground while nearby fishermen wind nets in the shallows. The colors are outstanding, particularly in sea and sky which gleam in tones of aquamarine and turquoise. It is that coloration along with excellent composition and great historical subject that put this painting at the top of the artist's output.
This painting is illustrated on page 134 in Lynne Pauls Baron's "F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master." The book's illustration notes that their image is taken from a reproduction print made by Samuel T. Shaw, a New York Patron of contemporary artists in the earth 20th century. Luis won the Shaw prize for this painting. On p. 140 the book notes that Mora sat alongside Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida as both artists painted this scene.
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Better Know An Epidemiologist/History of Epidemiology is an ongoing feature where Mr Epidemiology pays tribute to people and studies that have set the stage for his generation of epidemiologists. All of the articles are listed here.
EDIT 10/01/12: I had indicated (incorrectly) that Typhoid Fever was a viral disease. It is in fact due to a bacterium instead. Thanks to Mike the Mad Biologist for pointing that out!
EDIT 10/01/12: As Brett Keller points out in the comments, Gaetan Dugas was not Patient Zero for HIV. While he contributed to the spread of the virus, he wasn’t the first known case of it, and so the label of Patient Zero is unfairly applied to him.
Patient Zero is a common infectious disease epidemiology term. It refers to the first known case of the disease of interest, and is useful when tracking disease outbreaks. Knowing where the disease starts allows us to track not only the spread of the disease, but also how it spreads – through water, air, person-to-person contact etc.
I heard an absolutely phenomenal podcast through WNYC’s RadioLab podcast about Patient Zero, and that formed the inspiration for this post. I highly recommend listening to it when you have a chance – either through iTunes, on their website. They cover several different “Patient Zero’s,” including Typhoid Mary and Gaetan Dugas (pictured above).
Today, I’ll be talking about Typhoid Mary. To listen exclusively to the Typhoid Mary segment of the RadioLab podcast, click here.
Continue reading “History of Epidemiology: Patient Zero and Typhoid Mary”


Marrubium vulgare growing herbaceous of the genus Marrubium also known as White horehound or Common horehound, Marrubium vulgare perennial evergreen plant, used as medical plant mostly used as ornamental plant, can grow in temperate or subtropical climate and growing in hardiness zone 4-8.
Leaves color green to gray in deltoid shape, the leaves hairy
Marrubium vulgare flower
Flower color yellow to white in small insect shape.
Marrubium vulgare for sale – Seeds or Plants to Buy How to grow Marrubium vulgare growing and care:
Plant / Seed / Vegetative reproduction What is the best way to start growing? No Is it necessary to graft or use vegetative reproduction? ? Difficulties or problems when growing: Spring / Summer / Autumn Planting season: ? Pests and diseases: Autumn / Winter Pruning season: Just for design How to prune: 20-50 cm, 8-20 inches Size of the plant: Fast growing / Medium growing Growth speed in optimal condition: Average amount of water Water requirement: Full sun / Half shade Light conditions in optimal condition for growing: No Is it possible to grow indoor as houseplant? Yes Growing is also possible in a planter /flowerpot / containers: Blooming information Summer / Autumn Bloom season? Yellow to white in small insect shape General information about the flower: Scientific name:
Blooming Seasons Autumn flowers Summer flowers Flower colors White flower Yellow flower Climate Subtropics Climate Temperate Climate Leaf color Ornamental parts Ornamental flower Ornamental leaves Ornamental plant Plant growing speed Average growing plants Fast growing plants Plant life-form Evergreen Herbaceous Perennial plant Plant Uses Colored leaves Medical uses Ornamental plants Planting Season Autumn Planting Spring Planting Summer planting Plants sun exposure Full sun Plants Part shade Plants Watering plants Hardiness zone Hardiness zone 4 Hardiness zone 5 Hardiness zone 6 Hardiness zone 7 Hardiness zone 8


IMPACT OF PETROLEUM SPILLS ON THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE AIR/SEA INTERFACE
Reviewed are the natural forces operating on the oil slick to disperse its constituents into the marine environment. Weathering, dispersion, and air/sea dynamics ultimately degrade the spill to tarlike lumps and/or stable water-in-oil emulsions, both of which have long lifetimes in the sea. Also discussed are how layers of petroleum oils and their attendant monomolecular films influence various properties of the air/sea interface and modify exchange processes between the atmosphere and the ocean. Capillary waves are resisted and attenuated, and the interaction between wind and waves is uncoupled through the elimination of form drag. Gas exchange may be inhibited by oil films, but this effect does not occur to a serious extent in the open ocean. Liquid and solid exchange is altered, organic fallout is concentrated at the surface by the oil, and oil is transported into the marine atmosphere. Although an oil slick can damp its environment by slowing processes at the air/sea interface and resisting interactions between the ocean and atmosphere, a worldwide ocean surface film, capable of global environmental impacts, is deemed unlikely.
Naval Research LaboratoryStennis Space Center, MS United States 39529-5004
- Garrett, W D
- Publication Date: 1972-2-16
- Pagination: 20 p.
- TRT Terms: Biodeterioration; Dispersers; Oil spills; Water pollution
- Old TRIS Terms: Ocean pollution; Oil spill behavior; Oil spill dispersants
- Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management;
- Accession Number: 00034418
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
- Report/Paper Numbers: NRL-7372 Intrm Rpt
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Sep 29 1974 12:00AM


Today, there are more than 7,300 propane school buses on the road in 46 states. That number continues to increase as more school district fleet managers hear about the cost-saving and emissions-reducing benefits of alternative fuel school buses.
Phoenix’s Kyrene School District has converted 85 percent of its existing fleet of diesel-fueled school buses to propane autogas-powered vehicles. Like many school districts in the U.S. that have chosen to convert to propane autogas, Kyrene School District expects these new alternative fuel buses to lower the district’s operating costs while reducing harmful emissions that impact the local environment.
The school district started with propane autogas in 2014 when it purchased 25 alternative fuel buses. This past year, the district added 73 more Blue Bird Vision buses to its fleet; all powered by Ford 6.8L V10 engines and equipped with ROUSH CleanTech propane autogas fuel systems.
With over 85 percent of its school bus fleet now operating on propane autogas, Kyrene School District is averaging $1.15 per gallon compared with $1.50 per gallon for diesel, not including the 36-cents-per-gallon alternative fuel federal tax rebate. Aside from fuel-cost savings, the school district also expects to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 56,000 pounds and more than 1,400 pounds of particulate matter each year compared with the diesel buses that were replaced.
“Kyrene School District has committed to cost-efficient, emissions-reducing propane school buses,” said Brian Carney, group account director for ROUSH CleanTech. “The school district’s transportation department, service department, drivers and students are all seeing firsthand the benefits of lower fuel prices, easier maintenance, quieter performance and cleaner air for the community”.
Propane autogas is a nontoxic, non-carcinogenic and non-corrosive fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies the fuel as a non-contaminant. It is the leading alternative fuel in the United States and the third most commonly used vehicle fuel, following gasoline and diesel. About 25 million vehicles travel worldwide with propane autogas in their fuel tanks.
For more information on ROUSH CleanTech’s deployments of alternative fuel school buses by state and size, click on the map below.


They are one of humankind’s oldest friends. They enrich our lives in so many ways. Understanding them provides insight into how to care for their emotional and physical health and links us profoundly to their ancestry — the wolf. Join our team in a study of Canines, their history, behaviors, and even tips to give them the best life possible. That’s simply what a best friend does.
Carnivores are often mythicized in various ways, mainly as dangerous creatures of lore and legend. Wolves, bears, large cats, and other carnivores are essential to self-managing healthy ecosystems and wildernesses. Join our team as we delve into what makes these animals unique and a great partner to humankind as we work to manage our wild and not-so-wild spaces.
Learning about carnivores can be fascinating. However, the landscape could be profoundly and dangerously altered without the stewardship of apex predators. Our team discusses the recent brief history of the conservation of apex predators, factors that led to threats to survival, and steps to protect their future. From articles to interviews, join our expert biologists and ecologists.
Sawtooth Legacy Quarterly
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The results of the first paper of this series, a study of the plankton in a tropical shallow water region in the Gulf of Mexico, suggested the desirability of extending the observations to more typically oceanic areas in order to analyze productivity factors in relation to the depth of water and to attempt to estimate the relative productivity of northern and southern seas. Opportunity for such an investigation was obtained during a cruise of the "Atlantis" from the northern coast of Cuba to Woods Hole. Eighteen stations were established during the cruise, and measurements were made at each station of temperature, oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, and total plant pigments from the surface to the approximate limit of the occurrence of phytoplankton. In the surface waters of all stations the chlorophyll content was also determined, and experimental measurements were made of the oxygen and nitrate production and consumption in light and dark bottles. Finally, at five of the stations, quantitative collections of zooplankton were made with Clarke plankton samplers....
Riley, Gordon A.. 1939. "Plankton studies. II. The western North Atlantic, May-June, 1939." Journal of Marine Research 2, (2). https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/journal_of_marine_research/550


How to Properly Check Your Tire Pressure
Maintaining the proper PSI is easy and important to the overall tire performance of your vehicle. A properly inflated tire will help provide a longer life, better fuel efficiency, and a smoother ride. Over inflation and underinflation can cause premature treadwear and possible tire failure. The best way to make sure you're getting the most out of your tires is to check your tire pressure on a regular basis.
The tire pressure you use for checking your tire pressure can be standard or digital. Any auto parts stores typically carry both tire pressure gauges. They also sell portable air compressors that run from your car battery or the 12 volt power port. There are even a few gas stations left out there that have air available for a small charge.
Always start with your vehicle's tires being cold if possible. The manufacturer of the vehicle usually bases the specific PSI assuming the tires are cold. Tires are considered cold when the vehicle has been parked for three or more hours.
To find the manufactures recommended PSI for your tires which is the next step can be found on the driver's side door jam. Your front tires may require a different psi than the rear tires. Please write down the psi if you need to, to avoid confusion.
Start by removing the valve cap from one of your tires. Then place the pressure gauge on the valve stem and press hard enough to not be able to hear a hissing sound. Once you apply enough pressure to not hear the hissing sound, your gauge will provide a reading. If you are using a standard gauge, the air pressure will push a small bar out from the bottom of the gauge which will allow you to read the tire pressure of your tire. If you are using a digital gauge, it will show the reading on the screen.
Once you have read all the tire pressures, use a compressor to refill any tires with low air pressure. After you have filled the tires to the correct pressure, check them again with the tire gauge to be sure they are filled to the correct PSI.
If you are unsure of how to check your tire pressure stop by Bob's Main Street Auto & Towing and will be happy to help you. We can check your tire pressure and fill any tires that would need to be filled.


Georgina Adam tells the whole story surrounding the Mexican government’s declaration of a €3m Mayan statue as a fake.
In a widely circulated statement the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its National Institute of Anthropology and History said that the Classic period (550-950 AD) piece was “manufactured recently”. The grimacing stucco figure brandishing an axe was the star lot in a sale of pre-Colombian art at Drouot in Paris on March 21 and was sold by Binoche Giquello; its €2.9m price set a new record for pre-Colombian art. According to Jacques Blazy, specialist for the sale, the Mexican denunciation is politically motivated, “defamatory” and “absurd”.
The statue was part of the collection of a Swiss businessman, Henry Law, and, says Blazy: “It has been widely shown, notably in the Swiss Rath Museum in 1998 [Mexique Terre des Dieux]; the catalogue introduction was written by the Mexican Ministry of Culture, so they had no problem at the time,” says Blazy, who has “total confidence in the piece”.
Behind this saga is a long-running battle between Latin-American countries and France over the sale of pre-Colombian artefacts. Mexico in particular has been demanding the return of archaeological pieces, and even had 10 lots seized from another sale at Drouot in 2008, accusing the owners of theft and handling stolen goods.
The Art Market: Madness in the Art Market (Financial Times)


At Opepe, on the Napier-Taupo Road, is a tiny cemetery containing five graves. Only two of the graves are war graves, containing the bodies of nine members of the Bay of Plenty Cavalry who were killed in a surprise attack by Te Kooti's advance guard on June 7th 1869. The other three graves are of settlers who died after the New Zealand Wars had ended, but the Ministry has assumed responsibility for the care of those graves as well.
The totara headboards are the original ones, which have been repainted several times over the years. However, they were showing the effects of time, and it is suspected that water ingress was causing the paint to peel and crack. With the help of Department of Conservation staff, the headboards were dismantled and removed from the site on 14 June 2010. They were then transported to Manawatu Museum Services for expert repair and renovation.
This process has been completed and the headboards were re-installed in the little cemetery at Opepe by Department of Conservation staff on Christmas Eve 2010.
Attack on Opepe - Roadside Stories
You can also view this Opepe Roadside Story about the 1869 attack on our NZHistory website.
Updated on 7th October 2019


It is important to keep an eye out for the possibility of brain injury in workplace related accidents. Any form of damage to the head can result in short and long term health consequences. But on top of that, you also have to worry about severe trauma in the form of TBIs.
TBIs – traumatic brain injuries – often have a notable impact on a victim’s life and health. But what are the signs of one?
Physical signs of TBI
Mayo Clinic takes a look at signs of traumatic brain injury. You can often identify a TBI due to the fact that severity makes its symptoms more prominent and notable. For example, many people with TBIs will pass out, black out or even fall into a coma. This is a dead giveaway that something is wrong, and it can prompt others around them into action.
Uneven dilation of pupils and even leaking cerebrospinal fluid may also point to TBIs. This fluid is clear and it may drain from the ears or nose if a victim is suffering from a tear or leak in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal column. This is a sign of serious injury and requires immediate medical attention.
Behavioral red flags
Then, you have behavioral differences. TBI sufferers will often feel overwhelmed, confused and agitated. Unusual aggression may also occur, with a victim lashing out at those trying to help them. Keep in mind that they are not behaving like themselves in this moment and simply push through. After all, you need to seek medical aid regardless of the victim’s opinion. This is the only way to ensure you minimize long term damage.


From 1 September Woodside Primary School will be switching to the Inspire Partnership curriculum.
At Woodside, we provide pupils with a global curriculum based on knowledge and skills that is relevant for the 21st century. These skills are critically important for future success. We believe that global learning helps pupils make sense of the increasingly complex and rapidly changing world in which they live. Our curriculum enables pupils to think critically about world issues and to develop an awareness of the impact our own actions can have on others.
The six themes children are exposed to across all year groups are:
- Social justice and equity
- Identity and diversity
- Sustainable development
- Peace and conflict
- Human rights
- Power and governance
These six global learning themes are broken down into knowledge and understanding, skills, and attitudes in the Inspire Partnership Curriculum Map.
Global learning that values diversity and community is achieved through planning learning experiences and journeys linked to our five curriculum drivers.
The five curriculum drivers are:
- Finance and Enterprise
- Digital Literacy and Communication
- Physical and Wellbeing
We provide rich opportunities for the children to explore citizenship and real-life world issues, which at times they may have to grapple with to make sense of it. This, in turn, helps them to develop skills such as collaboration and communication, thus equipping them with the necessary skills for life in the 21st century.


Thesis - Open Access
Master of Science (MS)
Department / School
The condensation of phenols with phthalic anhydride to give acid-base indicators is well known. The preparation of phenolphthalein was first reported by Baeyer in 1871 (1) using concentrated sulfuric acid as the catalyst. Baeyer reported the successful use of sulfuric chloride as the catalyst for the preparation of phenolphthalein in 1880 (2). Early reports of the condensation of resorcinol (3), p-chlorophenol(4) and o-cresol (5) with phthalic anhydride have also been made. The reaction of phenols with coumarin (11), with diphenic acid anhydride (8) and with succinic anhydride (6) to form compounds comparable in structure to the phthaleins has been reported. Very little work was done however toward establishing the indicator properties of the products. Sisson (13) attempted to prepare a number of maleins and succineins from phenols and maleic anhydride and succinic anhydride respectively. While indicator properties were evident he obviously did not isolate pure compounds or study them in detail. Similar results were reported by Doss and Tewari (7) who could not have had pure products. It seemed of interest therefore to repeat some of this work with the hope of obtaining the phenomaleins in a pure condition and of making a more comprehensive study of their indicator properties.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Indicators and test-papers
Includes bibliographical references
Number of Pages
South Dakota State University
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
Kamstra, Leslie D., "The Condensation of Phenols with Maleic Anhydride" (1951). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2215.


Working for an ERA to Maine's state constitution
In the absence of a federal Equal Rights Amendment, many states have chosen to add ERAs to their state constitutions in order to guarantee full equality for all citizens. Twenty-six states, in fact, have taken such action.
In this 2023-24 session of the Maine Legislature, LD 1412 (introduced by Rep. Lois Reckitt (D)) is the ERA bill that would give constitutional backing to the categories of protection long provided by the Maine Human Rights Act.
LD 1412, “RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine Establishing That All Maine Residents Have Equal Rights Under the Law” will align Maine’s Constitution with the Maine Human Rights Act, and protect people based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, physical or mental disability, ancestry or national origin of an individual.
Maine sets a high bar for constitutional amendments. This bill needs to get a ⅔ vote in both the House and the Senate, then it goes before the people as a referendum vote (where it only needs to get 50% plus one).
In 2019 Governor Janet Mills addressed the Judiciary Committee in support of the state ERA.
Maine Human Rights Commission
The Maine Human Rights Commission covers
It does NOT cover
Violence Against Women
Incarceration of Women
The Maine Human Rights Commission is responsible for handling sex discrimination cases in Maine, according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The MHRC has a mandate from the legislature to include certain areas of sex discrimination, but not all. Violence against Women claims, including sexual assault and domestic violence are not included; nor are the increasingly urgent issues of female incarceration, women's pensions, and insurance discrimination. A state ERA would broaden the mandate for the MHRC to more fully do its job.
Map image courtesy of Brennan Center for Justice. View full interactive map here.


What is an Open Textbook?
Student PIRG (2021) offers the following definition for open textbooks: An open textbook is one that falls under an open copyright license, and made available online to be freely used by students, teachers and members of the public. Many open textbooks are distributed in either print, e-book, or audio formats that may be downloaded or purchased at little or no cost. This book has a Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows reuse, revision, and redistribution so long as the original creator is attributed. Please see the licensing information for this book for this book for more information.
University of Minnesota reported that “open textbooks address not only financial issues for students, but pedagogical concerns as well. The open licenses mean that faculty and students can create and edit textbooks that reflect the latest research as well as better speak to their local communities. Content can be updated to reflect recent changes in the law, or breakthroughs in science, and it can be localized and indigenized. By including diverse voices and perspectives as we have done in this textbook, we believe that this has strengthened learning content, and provided context for understanding a variety of issues, particularly the voices of citizens, countries and communities that have historically been silenced.
Open textbooks have also helped tremendously with equity and parity concerns, where voices of BIPOC have been left out of traditional publishing forms (e.g. peer-reviewed journals, textbooks, etc.). Academic publishing is vital to tenure-track professors who must publish as part of their overarching portfolio to move up the track. Also, it is equally important that educational institutions advance the value that the world’s knowledge is public good, where knowledge has been an exclusive right of some, and not all. University of Virginia aptly noted that “now we have an extraordinary opportunity to support affordable learning for all by sharing, using, and reusing educational content and tools. This statement aligns with the goals and values of the editors’ institutions: Adler University and National Louis University, and corporations we are affiliated with.
This textbook is easily accessible, which will alleviate the stress of purchase for students. For more information on how to access and use this book, please see the next section: How to Access and Use This Book. Laptops that students use are easily transformed into e-book containers and this helps tremendously in keeping students on top of their classwork and reduces the inherent stress of the average college campus.


Labwork Short: Measuring Traits
One of my major research focuses is how plant functional traits can improve restoration (and conservation) by helping us to predict how well plants will do given a specific environmental situation. If you haven’t heard of functional traits before, it might help to think about body mass index in humans which can tell us quite a bit about mortality risk and exercise capacity. In plants, similar traits can tell us about ecological strategies. Measurements of physical features such as leaves, roots, and seeds give us insight into how well a plant will do after a drought and disturbance (among many other things). I plan to spend a lot more time talking about the fascinating world of traits in coming posts, but for this lab-work short, I wanted to share a time-lapse video of me processing plant samples and measuring traits.
The video is fast, so here’s a quick break down. You will first see me cut leaves off of stems that have been rehydrated in water overnight, then weigh the leaves, and finally line them up on a whiteboard for a photo. Later on, I will use that “fresh wet” weight, a dried weight of the same leaves, and data from a software program that can calculate leaf area from the photos to determine the specific leaf area (SLA) of each species. SLA relates to growth rate, ability to compete with neighbors, and how much photosynthesis a plant will be able to do. Even though it seems like it would be ideal to have large leaves with lots of chlorophyll with which to photosynthesize, plants cannot infinitely invest in these structures without costing themselves in other areas like seed development and hardiness in stressful environmental conditions. Evergreen trees have needles for that very reason- a big, thin leaf wouldn’t stand a chance in freezing, snowy conditions! SLA helps us to understand the “strategies” that plants “choose” which balance these trade-offs for the best chance at survival and reproduction. Stay tuned for more articles about plant traits and their usefulness to ecologist, restoration practitioners, and conservationists!
Cheers! -Häslein (aka FBK, aka Sienna)


IC 342, Alias Caldwell 5 is a spiral galaxy located Eleven Million Light-years from Earth. Hubble captured a stunning, front-on view at the core of the galaxy. It features entangled tendrils made of dust wrapped around a glowing core of stars, hot gas, and stars.
Few struggles had been there due to obstacles to observing The Spiral Galaxy IC342 NASA stated in a May 11th press release that “it appears near the equator” of the Milky Way’s pearly disc, which is dense with cosmic gas, dark matter, and glowing stars, making it difficult to see. Hubble is capable of seeing concentratedly debris to a range as the telescope has infrared abilities. Infrared light, which is less intense and dispersed by dirt, allows for a finer view of the galaxy beyond the matter of interstellar
Nasa said on the image, “This stunning, face-on view shows the galaxy’s center with intertwined tendrils and dust that wrap around a brilliant Core of hot Gas and Stars.” This is a specific type of region that Nasa has labeled an H II nucleus, an area of atomic hydrocarbon that has been ionized. These regions can be energetic birthplaces for stars, where thousands of stars could form in a matter of a few million years.
Nasa Said that because it emits ultraviolet, the Blue star ionizes and energizes hydrogen in its birthplace. The galaxy would shine brightest if there weren’t too much dust. IC 342 is far too close, only 11 million light-years from Earth. It is roughly partly in the size and mass of our Milky Way. it is also quite massive.
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By now, Canadians are well aware they should be practising social distancing amid the new coronavirus pandemic.
And there’s math behind the idea that cancelling plans, working from home and limiting interaction with others will eventually, ideally, help end the pandemic.
One graphic, created by University of California San Diego assistant professor Robert A.J. Signer and art director Gary Warshaw, shows how it works.
Signer explained to Global News that the calculations were based on initial research from officials around the world.
“There is a universal logic to this,” he said, noting that the exact numbers may vary from country to country, especially as research is done.
The infographic shows how one person who is asymptomatic for five days and doesn’t practice social distancing can spread the virus to 2.5 people.
“Initial studies have suggested that one person infected with coronavirus can transmit the virus to approximately 2.5 people,” he explained.
Signer added that initial research also shows those who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, were asymptomatic for an average of five days.
“The next assumption we made is that after five days, a person will begin experiencing symptoms, will quarantine and no longer infect others,” he said.
If one person transmits the infection to an average of 2.5 people, and those 2.5 people each transmit to another 2.5 people and so on, within 30 days, 406 people would be infected.
Source: Read Full Article


Gelled Ionic Liquid-Based Membranes
Coal-fired power plants provide nearly 50% of all electricity in the U.S. While coal is a cheap and abundant natural resource, its continued use contributes to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. Capturing and storing this CO2 would reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels while allowing power plants to continue using inexpensive coal. Carbon capture and storage represents a significant cost to power plants that must retrofit their existing facilities to accommodate new technologies. Reducing these costs is the primary objective of the IMPACCT program.
Project Innovation + Advantages:
Alongside Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Electric Power Research Institute, the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU-Boulder) is developing a membrane made of a gelled ionic liquid to capture CO2 from the exhaust of coal-fired power plants. The membranes are created by spraying the gelled ionic liquids in thin layers onto porous support structures using a specialized coating technique. The new membrane is highly efficient at pulling CO2 out of coal-derived flue gas exhaust while restricting the flow of other materials through it. The design involves few chemicals or moving parts and is more mechanically stable than current technologies. The team is now working to further optimize the gelled materials for CO2 separation and create a membrane layer that is less than 1 micrometer thick.
If successful, CU-Boulder's design would create a membrane that captures CO2 at a cost of less than $20 per ton, a level significantly lower than current-generation technologies.
Enabling continued use of domestic coal for electricity generation will preserve the stability of the electric grid.
Carbon capture technology could prevent more than 800 million tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere each year.
Enabling cost-effective carbon capture systems could accelerate their adoption at existing power plants.
ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Ping LiuProject Contact:
Prof. Richard Noble
Press and General Inquiries Email:
firstname.lastname@example.org Contact Email:
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI)